The Barber County Commission approved a Google data center before a packed chamber during a special meeting on Monday. Commissioners finalized the agreement by a vote of 2-0. One commissioner abstained. The new data center, dubbed Project Helium, is going up north of Sharon and will be 1.7 million square feet and house thousands of computer servers. Google said the data center will create up to 500 new jobs, and most of the positions will be on-site and full-time. Read more: KSN-TV

Shawnee County leaders are looking for ways to save money as costs rise for a widely-used weight loss drug. Shawnee County commissioners held a work session on Monday, Aug. 31 to discuss issues impacting the county's employee benefit program. One of the major contributing factors to these problems includes the rising cost of GLP-1 weight loss medications. Read more: KSNT 27 News

Merriam is welcoming its first grocery store in eight years with a new Trader Joe's opening Wednesday morning at Antioch and Shawnee Mission Parkway. The city has been without a grocery store since 2018. Now, residents are getting two at once Trader Joe's and an Aldi, which is joining Merriam Town Center just a few blocks away. Read more: KSHB News

After years working as a traveling dentist, Dr. Michael Kemmling was ready to fill a different gap. When a dental broker reached out about an opening in Eudora, he said he jumped at the opportunity to serve a smaller community that still allows him to enjoy his family life in Shawnee. For the past three months, he’s owned Eudora Dental. The move comes six years after he last owned a dental practice. After 10 years of running his own practice in Shawnee, Kemmling sold the business to explore different opportunities in dentistry, like working for a pediatric surgery center before leaving [...]

During its peak season, Carey Park uses around 400,000 gallons of drinking water a day, mostly irrigating the Carey Park Golf Course. But the City of Hutchinson is making plans to replace that with treated wastewater that would otherwise be released into the Arkansas River, Utilities Department Project Manager Erin Patterson said on Thursday, Aug. 27, at a public meeting about the project. As part of those plans, the city is considering how it could simultaneously enhance the pond north of Stremel Fields for recreation. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

In the meantime, the county will release proposed zoning regulations for data centers to the public on Sept. 24 to gather public feedback and plans to consider whether to continue the pause into 2027 at a meeting on December 2. Read more: Wichita Eagle

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

In the early 2000s, city officials at the time decided to “get back to the basics,” with Vision Metcalf, a strategic plan that emphasized building community areas with an emphasis on walkability and community gathering spaces — including the city’s downtown. Read more at: KC Star

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.