News

Topeka leaders approve $74 million lead pipe replacement plan

2024-11-13T09:41:43-06:00November 13th, 2024|

The Topeka City Council voted to allocate nearly $75,000,000 to fund a lead pipe replacement plan. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Topeka leaders passed a resolution to amend the 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan and 2025-2027 Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) to include the Lead Service Line Replacement Project. This vote approved the total budget of the project for the amount of $74,280,000. The council also voted to consider applying for a $74,280,000 loan from the Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund by Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The loan will have an estimated $37,585,680 in loan forgiveness with payments to [...]

Lake Shawnee will soon see 7,000 pounds of trout

2024-11-13T09:40:34-06:00November 13th, 2024|

Lake Shawnee will be stocked with more trout later this month. Shawnee County Parks + Rec (SCP+R) announced on social media Tuesday that annual fall trout stocking is scheduled for later in November. Members of the community are invited to watch 7,000 pounds of rainbow trout get released into Lake Shawnee. To give the fish time to acclimate to the Lake Shawnee’s water temperature, fishing will be closed from Nov. 22-29. The Lake will reopen for fishing Saturday, Nov. 30 and trout season will start on Sunday, Dec. 1. Source: KSNT 27 News

Riley County police increase enforcement to combat increasing traffic accidents

2024-11-13T09:39:32-06:00November 13th, 2024|

The Riley County Police Department (RCPD) is stepping up enforcement efforts as a way to stop the increase of traffic collisions. The RCPD said its officers responded to a “concerning increase in traffic collisions” last month. The department posted on social media that October of 2024 registered the highest amount of traffic accidents of any month over the last five years. Source: KSNT 27 News

City staff take action after bad smells reported in the Oakland area

2024-11-13T09:38:24-06:00November 13th, 2024|

Staff at the Topeka wastewater treatment plant took action after locals complained of bad smells in the Oakland neighborhood this past weekend. Amanda Knowland with the City of Topeka told 27 News that city staff made some adjustments to the plant on the weekend of Nov. 9-10 following complaints from locals of strong odors in the Oakland area, possibly coming from the nearby wastewater treatment plant at 1115 Northeast Poplar Street. She said the source of the odors may be tied to multiple different factors. “First, there was a larger number of high-strength waste deliveries due to the holiday,” Knowland said. [...]

Capital City works to empower small business owners

2024-11-13T09:37:02-06:00November 13th, 2024|

The City of Topeka is calling on small business owners to attend a workshop to grow their skills later this month. GO Topeka is working with city officials to host a Supplier Diversity Workshop, according to a news release from City of Topeka. This workshop will prepare small business owners with tools they might need to succeed, such as insight to work successfully with the government. Source: KSNT 27 News

With eye on future projects, Merriam hashes out new incentives policy

2024-11-13T09:36:07-06:00November 13th, 2024|

The city of Merriam is looking to possible expand the types of public incentive it can offer developers. On Monday, the Merriam City Council discussed a new policy that would allow the city to consider applications for community improvement districts, or CIDs. This comes roughly a year after Kansas City-based real estate company R.H. Johnson Company requested a CID to refurbish Merriam Town Center, a shopping center near Antioch Road and Johnson Drive currently anchored by a Cinemark theaters and a Home Depot. Still, City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council on Monday that the policy is not being considered [...]

Report: Broadband can transform a rural community

2024-11-13T09:33:27-06:00November 13th, 2024|

One of the biggest rural gaming events in the country, the GigaZone Gaming Championship and TechXpo, is supporting young people to explore technology and all it offers in Bemidji, Minnesota. “We had started to see nationally some very large events that were selling out quickly, all about eSports,” Gary Johnson, CEO of Paul Bunyan Communications, told the Daily Yonder in a Zoom interview. “And we thought, what a better way to deliver a new, exciting opportunity for our region and leverage the network that we have built and our members have invested in.” The eSports event was highlighted in a report [...]

Lawrence City Commission approves land development code update, despite public outcry

2024-11-13T09:31:50-06:00November 13th, 2024|

Lawrence city commissioners heard from more than 50 community members Tuesday, most asking them to hit pause on the updated land development code. Ultimately, they voted to approve the update. The land development code regulates development in the city, including zoning regulations, residential occupancy limits and more. The document has wide-ranging implications for the growth and direction of the city. In the summer of 2022, the city started reviewing the code to make it simpler and aligned with goals like sustainability and housing. The commission created the Land Development Code Update Steering Committee to work on the process. Source: The Lawrence [...]

City to continue work on policies for housing incentive districts

2024-11-13T09:29:52-06:00November 13th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners at Tuesday’s work session will revisit policies on Reinvestment Housing Incentive Districts, or RHIDs. These districts are part of a state program meant to help developers build housing by assisting in the financing of infrastructure improvements. Specifically on Tuesday, commissioners will discuss RHID policies it recently adopted related to infill, which is housing projects that use existing infrastructure, and greenfield, which is housing on land that hasn’t yet been developed. Source: themercury.com

How Topeka is dealing with affordable housing with need outpacing supply

2024-11-11T10:38:03-06:00November 11th, 2024|

A lack of affordable housing options in the capital city has been blamed for a growing number of unhoused Topekans. The Topeka Housing Authority is providing solutions by monopolizing on something the city has plenty of — vacant properties. Source: CJonline

Go to Top