Despite protests from a room full of dozens of Douglas County residents, county leaders on Wednesday approved permits for an out-of-state energy firm to install devices on properties scattered around southwestern Douglas County that gauge the viability of a future wind energy project. The decisions — taken in five separate votes by the Douglas County Commission at its meeting Wednesday night — followed more than two hours of cumulative public comment mostly from about 20 people who said they live in the southwestern portion of Douglas County. That’s an area Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources has previously confirmed it’s exploring as a [...]

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.

The Federal Reserve nudged up short-term interest rates by a quarter-percentage point and signaled it was on track to do so again at its meeting next month while officials consider whether and when to pause increases late this spring. The decision Wednesday to raise the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate followed six larger, consecutive increases to combat inflation, which hit a 40-year high last year. Officials raised rates by a half point in December and by 0.75 point in November. Officials agreed to slow rate rises to gain more time to study the effects of their moves. “We’re talking about a couple [...]

NOEL Lodge, a non-profit emergency shelter serving the people without homes, recently expanded their hours to accommodate people needing assistance. The facility, located at 200 W. 6th Street, operates two first-come, first-served sessions. The daytime session runs 7 am-3:30 pm and the nighttime session from 4 pm-7 am. With 25 beds available, NOEL is operating at capacity. President and CEO Shara Gonzales noted several factors are causing an increase in the number of people needing the emergency shelter’s services. “We are looking at new people falling into homelessness. The cost of living, insurance, and property tax has all gone up. People's [...]

Volunteers counted 365 unsheltered people last year in Topeka during the annual Point in Time Homeless Count. Meanwhile, one chronically homeless person costs taxpayers an average of more than $35,000 a year, says the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Multiply those and the total is $12.78 million. Compare that to the roughly $76,000 Topeka's city government is considering paying a consultant to help the city better deal with homelessness and "that $76,000 is a pretty small number," said city manager Stephen Wade. Source: CJonline