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Treasury yields drop as investors look for safety after AI sell-off in stocks

2025-01-27T09:42:57-06:00January 27th, 2025|

U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as investors sought out safe-haven assets amid a massive stock market sell-off. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped seven basis points to 4.557%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 4.225% after falling close to five basis points. One basis point equals 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices. Stocks tumbled on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite being hit hard by a large decline in the technology sector. Last week, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released an open source AI model that reportedly outperformed OpenAI’s in several tests. The company said it launched the large-language [...]

Johnson County park district will end bike rental program

2025-01-27T09:41:23-06:00January 27th, 2025|

The “cruiser” style bicycles that were for rent at three Johnson County parks will be going away this year, as the park district board mulls how to replace a service that consistently lost money. The governing board voted to cancel the contract with BikeWalkKC for the program that allowed visitors to rent bikes by the minute at Shawnee Mission, Heritage and Meadowbrook parks. Park staff will bring back options for other bike services — which could include mountain bikes — at the board’s March meeting. Rental revenues have not covered the operating costs of the program for every quarter since the [...]

Panasonic is hiring for new De Soto plant, hopes to be ready for production this spring

2025-01-27T09:40:12-06:00January 27th, 2025|

A little over two years ago, local, state and federal officials gathered in a dirt lot on a windy day to celebrate construction beginning on Panasonic’s new electric vehicle battery facility in western Johnson County. Officials gathered again earlier this month to celebrate the plant — only this time inside the 4.7 million-square-foot facility. But there’s still a ways to go before the facility is fully operational. As of this month, Panasonic is just slightly behind its previously stated hiring goals, and it’s still unclear if it will meet its anticipated timeline for opening. Source: KC Star Local News

Single-family home construction in Lawrence continues to decline as home prices rise

2025-01-27T09:38:40-06:00January 27th, 2025|

Construction of single-family homes in Lawrence continued to decline in 2024, reaching a new low with only 57 permits granted by the city. After averaging in the mid-100s for years, single-family home construction dropped off considerably in 2022 and fell even lower last year. “It’s just been even worse than what we would have anticipated,” said Bobbie Flory, executive director of the Lawrence Homebuilders Association. At the same time, sale prices for single-family homes have continued to rise. Source: The Lawrence Times

Kansas House looks to cut property tax that funds public schools by $800M over five years

2025-01-27T09:37:27-06:00January 27th, 2025|

Public school advocates are asking lawmakers to proceed with caution as they consider slashing the statewide property tax that directly funds public education. Legislation in the House would lower the state rate from 20 to 18.5 mills in the next fiscal year, which starts June 1, and then freeze the annual tax collections at the current level for future years. The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates the impact would be $823.6 million over five years, assuming property values grow by 5% each year from 2026 to 2030. Debate Wednesday in the House Taxation Committee centered on concerns that the Legislature would [...]

Mystery odor in Galena sparks concern among residents

2025-01-27T09:35:43-06:00January 27th, 2025|

A suspicious odor is in the air in the city of Galena. It has residents puzzled, and city leaders working to get to the bottom of it. City officials and residents say the odor is more potent in the early morning and in the late evening. “Smells like a combination of gas and rotten eggs and whatever else. I don’t know,” said Alumbaugh. Galena mayor Ashley Groves says for months the city has worked hand in hand with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help solve the mystery. Source: KSNF/KODE

Parsons deputy chief prepares for FBI National Academy

2025-01-27T09:33:08-06:00January 27th, 2025|

A member of the Parsons Police Department is joining the FBI National Academy. Deputy Chief Dennis Dodd will join the 10-week program this summer. He was nominated by former police chief Jason Sharp back in 2017 and his nomination was reaffirmed in 2018 by the current police chief Robert Spinks. He tells us the process usually takes around 3 to 5 years to get in – and started when he was first nominated. The program includes a comprehensive coursework in intelligence theory – terrorism and terrorist mindsets – management – behavioral and forensic science – law and law enforcement communication. Source: [...]

Senate Tax Committee approves capping annual valuation increases to 3%

2025-01-27T09:31:37-06:00January 27th, 2025|

The Kansas Senate Tax Committee cleared the first hurdle for major property tax reform in the state by approving a proposed constitutional amendment limiting yearly increases in property valuations to 3%. If approved in both the Senate and House by 2/3 majorities, Kansas voters would go to the polls in November to decide the fate of SCR 1603. Source: The Sentinel

Law restricts township fire station efforts

2025-01-26T15:39:37-06:00January 26th, 2025|

Soldier Township’s fire station is about 50 years old, but the laws governing how it could issue bonds for a new station are even older, and are preventing the community from even considering putting a question to its voters to fund a new station. ...current laws on townships cap how much they can bond for. Source: CJonline

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