Concerns about the proposed Flint Hills Digital Campus dominated Wednesday's Emporia City Commission meeting as a large crowd of residents voiced opposition to the project and the annexation of land associated with the proposed development. Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Emporia is a city known for several different things: gravel cycling, drinking water, and now walkability. In a list published by the website walkscore.com, Emporia was named the most walkable city in Kansas with a walk score of 45 out of 100. That score places Emporia at the top of a list of 24 cities in the Sunflower State, ahead of cities including Lawrence, Manhattan and Wichita. The website uses the distance of walking routes to popular amenities, pedestrian friendliness, population density and certain road measurements to determine a score measuring the walkability of cities across the U.S. and Canada. Read [...]

Heading into its second year, the Hesston Farmer’s Market looks to expand on the overwhelming success of the first year. With the first installment happening on June 3, the endeavor helps fill a hole left by the lack of a grocery store in Hesston, and this year, a study will be conducted to see if a farm-fresh market using ideas from the farmer’s market could be feasible. This study is being done by the Healthy Harvey Coalition and the United Way, with an idea if the market could be sustainable in a brick-and-mortar location both during the season and off-season. Read [...]

An incident involving a Holton resident and a representative of a telecommunications company at­tempting to sell services to the resi­dent was the focus of discus­sion at a recent Holton City Com­misssion meeting. During the commission’s Tues­day, May 19 meeting — held a day later than usual due to severe storms that moved through the area the previous day — commissioners met with Holton resident Jim Rick­etts about a recent incident involv­ing a representative of Brightspeed whom Ricketts said got aggressive with him when he asked the em­ployee for a copy of a solicitor’s permit. Door-to-door salespersons visit­ing Holton are required to [...]

A motion to put a six-month pause on data centers in Gardner died Monday night, despite support from residents and the backing of one city councilmember. The discussion comes as multiple Johnson County cities, including Gardner, have been weighing data center proposals in recent months. Earlier this spring, a data center application was withdrawn in Spring Hill. Then, a California-based company withdrew its data center application in Gardner, following community pushback. And Edgerton currently has a data center application on the table, even as De Soto also moves forward with another. Ono Monday night, the Gardner City Council discussed a measure [...]

As a girl, Dawn Buehler loved floating the Kansas River as it passed her family’s farm. As an adult, she’s floated all the major rivers of the Ozarks. Last summer she floated and camped along rivers in Washington and Montana. She hopes to keep floating new rivers. Some of the rivers she’d most like to float are just an hour or two from her home in rural Douglas County, and include the Elk, Marais des Cygnes and Verdigris. All begin amid the grand grasslands of the Flint Hills and eventually flow through prime forests near the Kansas border. But those rivers, [...]

Deep Fission announced Tuesday a partnership with Day and Zimmermann for the construction of a nuclear reactor in Parsons. Deep Fission is a company that makes small advanced nuclear reactors and chose Parsons, Kansas, to build a test version of its new underground reactor. The site will be in the Great Plains Industrial Park. Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

Pittsburg's only movie theater has permanently closed, leaving residents without a local option to watch films on the big screen as summer approaches. AMC Classic Pittsburg 8 shut its doors for the final time on Sunday, May 31, according to a statement from AMC Theatres. The closure came as a surprise to many regular customers who had no advance warning. AMC Theatres confirmed the closure in a statement to KOAM, saying the company "routinely reviews the theatres in our circuit and makes decisions based on what will strengthen the company going forward." The sudden closure has left longtime patrons confused and [...]

After hearing from the public, the Wichita City Council amended an ordinance on Tuesday to make back-in parking legal in most city spaces. Council members approved the amendment 7-0, despite staff’s recommendation to keep the current ordinance that had been in effect since 2008. The council ultimately agreed with the public, who sent dozens of emails speaking against the back-in parking rule. The only spots where backing in will still be illegal are on-street parking. This was a safety concern since many of the spots are angled, and drivers could be pulling out into traffic. Council members were also worried that [...]

A new dairy held its grand opening in western Kansas on Tuesday. Twin Circle Dairy, owned by Blue Sky Farms, opened its facility just south of Lewis. The $250 million facility houses about 23,000 to 24,000 head of cattle and will be able to produce roughly 19,300 gallons of milk each day. “We’re just very excited about this day, and finally everything is full, and we’re ready,” Blue Sky CEO Harry Dwit said. Read more: KSN-TV