Municipal News & Jobs

The developer will renovate an elementary school, build a community center + rec park, preserve farmland, train workers, build trails + solar, buy a fire truck, and it replaces an idle aluminum smelter. As stated in the agreement, also known as a Developer Rights and Responsibilities Agreement or DRRA (that promises the county $110 million for schools, parks and other public projects) the developer would be protected from rezonings, downzonings, or land removals that would prevent the completion of the data center campus.
Read more: Baltimore Sun via MSN

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.

Warsh at Jackson Hole gave a more hawkish reading of the economy than he had in July. He said elevated prices needed to be the Fed’s main focus and described financial conditions as not being broadly restrictive, a change from his July press conference, when he said they were uneven. He did that while swiping back at his critics and insisting his policy of deliberate ambiguity about Fed policy is here to stay. “We can be held accountable for delivering on our remit — the only true test of our credibility,” Warsh said, dismissing widely echoed critiques that he had come across as not credible at his July press conference.  The Fed won’t meet to set rates until mid-September, and Warsh didn’t explicitly say how the Fed would handle interest rates. But he dived into several of the critiques recently leveled at him. 
Read more: CNBC Bonds

Riley County officials recommended commissioners designate data centers and battery storage systems as “special use,” allowing for review by county staff, the planning board and the county commission while also allowing for public input. The standards for data centers and battery energy storage systems would differ from those for wind and solar energy, but Riley County planning and special projects director Amanda Webb said creating specific criteria would be consistent with the county’s existing approach to specialized land uses.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

Continuing ongoing discussion regarding the development of data centers in Sedgwick County, the Sedgwick County Commission considered — and ultimately approved — a third extension of the interim development control period on data centers at its latest meeting on Sept. 2. Initially, the commission imposed an interim development control on Jan. 14, 2026, as some potential data center developments were being explored. At the time, it was found that Sedgwick County had no formal regulations in the Wichita -Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code addressing data centers.
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

This time, the town hall is revolving around asking the questions and not being told what is needed. On Wednesday, Sept. 19, an open town hall meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Hesston Performing Arts Center to discuss if a farm-fresh market is a viable and sustainable option in Hesston. This joint effort is in collaboration between the United Way of Harvey and Marion Counties and the Healthy Harvey Coalition, with the Hesston Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Horizon Foundation, and Harvey County Food and Farm Council.
Read more: Harvey County Now

On August 27, the cities of Hays and Russell filed a motion with the Kansas Water Transfer Panel asking that group to hold the hearing for the final approval of the R9 water transfer application. Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty announced the filing at the end of last week’s City Commission Meeting. He reminded commissioners that the R9 water transfer application was approved in February 2025; however, the Water Transfer Panel delayed the final step of approval, a statutorily required hearing. “They [the Water Transfer Panel] used the Supreme Court case as justification to hold off on their final hearing. We’ve pointed out in previous motions that these two cases are separate legal matters,” Dougherty said.
Read more: Hays Daily News

Mortgage holders know interest rates have risen over the past year. But they’re not alone: governments and business borrowers are facing the same pressure. In the United States, 10-year interest rates sit around 4.7%, surging nearly half a per cent just this year, while the benchmark 30-year bond is near a two-decade high. In the UK, 10-year bond rates on Tuesday hit the highest level since the global financial crisis. In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia also lifted the cash rate to fight inflation. That government now has to offer investors more than 5% on its 10-year bonds, which hit a 15-year high on Tuesday after a long period of low interest rates since the global financial crisis in 2008. Higher rates mean higher interest payments for governments too, leaving less room for other spending or for tax cuts. This trickles down to state and local communities.
Read more: Kansas Reflector

Erie, Kansas has maintained the Old Soldiers and Sailors Reunion for 153 consecutive years, making it the longest continuous military celebration in the United States. Founded in 1866 after the Civil War, Erie was established as an affordable place for veterans to purchase land and reconnect with fellow soldiers. The town combines its military heritage with modern attractions including a dinosaur park, local businesses, and community initiatives like a scavenger hunt that celebrates everyday details residents often overlook.
Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

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 to fill openings in rural areas across Kansas and Missouri. 
Read more: The Eudora Times

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.

Iola already has many of the ingredients of a strong community. What it needs now, according to the ideas emerging from a community conversation last week, is a clearer plan for bringing those pieces together and creating a future that gives people reasons to stay. By the end of the evening, dozens of ideas had been narrowed to three broad priorities: recreation, kids’ safety and city pride.
Read more: The Iola Register

Kansans are increasingly clashing with local governments and law enforcement over the use of automated license plate readers. Two Kansas communities have terminated their contracts with camera manufacturer Flock Safety following resident pushback.
Read more: CJonline

Andover’s city administrator, Jennifer McCausland, will leave her position at the suburb and begin her new one in Wichita in late October. McCausland has worked in Andover for more than 15 years. She was promoted to the city administrator position in September 2019 after being assistant city administrator for nine years.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

Local government officials consider hyperscale data center development with an eye toward economic benefits and property tax revenue that would allow them to meet Kansas residents’ demands to lower taxes. But in Kansas and nationally, an outcry against data center development is rising, with a recent Gallup Poll showing that 48% of Americans “strongly oppose” building data centers in their neighborhood, while an additional 23% fall into the “somewhat oppose” category. A scant 7% “strongly favor” and 20% “somewhat favor” the idea. Data center distrust is so strong that Kansans are putting forward petitions to stop local governments from developing the facilities. In return, at least three Kansas cities are suing constituents over those petitions — Edgerton, El Dorado and Emporia. In Tonganoxie, residents are raising money to start a legal fight over a proposed data center.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

During its Aug. 17 meeting, the Mulvane City Council took action to approve an ordinance updating a section of the city code with new regulations on the use of e-mobility devices (e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc.). Presented for discussion in July, the final ordinance includes restrictions that prohibit operation of the regulated devices on sidewalks within the Central Business District. The ordinance also addresses applicability, disability exceptions, sidewalk speed limits, helmet requirements and more.
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

Emporia voters will have their say on two of the most contentious development issues facing the city this year after city commissioners voted Wednesday to place citizen-initiated ordinances addressing high-impact data centers and battery energy storage systems on the November. Commissioners unanimously approved Resolution 3799, placing a proposed ordinance prohibiting the installation and operation of high-impact data centers within Emporia on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Country music icon Dolly Parton, whose influence stretched far beyond the stage and into the homes of millions of children — including families in Lyon County — died Tuesday at age 80. Parton died Aug. 25 following a brief battle with cancer, according to her representatives. She died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville surrounded by loved ones. (People.com) Parton leaves behind a career spanning more than six decades as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist. But for thousands of Kansas families, Parton’s legacy can also be found on children’s bookshelves.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

A Kansas City, Kansas, street has been renamed in honor of a local officer killed in the line of duty one year ago. A ceremony took place Wednesday afternoon, on the one-year anniversary of the tragic line-of-duty death of Officer Hunter Simoncic. Campus Boulevard at Kansas City, Kansas Community College is now Officer Hunter Simoncic Boulevard from the intersection at State Avenue through campus, to Parallel Parkway.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Finney County residents showed up on the sidewalk along the 2300 block of East Kansas Avenue, in front of Tequila’s Mexican Grill, on Saturday to protest against the development of data centers in the county. Husband and wife, Rance and Shelby Schribvogel, organized the protest. Shelby Schribvogel said they organized it because the people’s voices need to be heard since the Finney County Commission, local city commissions and the Finney County Economic Development Corporation have been ignoring people against bringing data centers to the county.
Read more: Garden City Telegram

While the city held a public hearing about its budget, it was Flock cameras that drew the most comment at Newton’s Aug. 24 commission meeting. For the third meeting in a row, residents asked for public discussion and more information about a system of 11 automated license plate readers installed around Newton. “Put it on the agenda,” Newton resident Maggie Snow said to the commission. “Review the procurement. Who among you is willing to ask that Flock be placed on a future agenda so these questions can be publicly discussed?” The cameras are a part of a larger network of tag readers that take pictures and store information about vehicles that drive by them. The sheriff’s office employs them in Harvey County, as does the City of Hesston. According to the company, there are roughly 120,000 of these cameras in the U.S. in 6,000 cities.
Read more: Harvey County Now

A new park in North Newton will have a variety of features to mimic the natural surroundings. That’s according to North Newton City Council Member and North Newton Parks and Recreation Committee Chair Marissa Murphy. She said those could include logs, grasses, moveable parts and water. The structures still are yet to be determined, Murphy said. The proposed park is north of Kauffman Museum’s main entrance, as well as around the sidewalk there into the trees.
Read more: Harvey County Now

A strange smell prompted a call to the Hesston Police Department. Coming from the area of Emma Creek Road and Hesston Road, the HPD was notified of a possible gas odor. When officers responded, it was quickly determined the smell was not gas but rather the application of chicken manure to fields to be used as fertilizer.
Read more: Harvey County Now

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 Johnson County Department of Health and Environment and the Mid-America Regional Council partnered to host workshops for cities and other community partners in the region to develop a model policy for e-mobility devices – which includes e-bikes, e-scooters and more. A copy of the model policy is available online. The initial convening in January 2026 highlighted the need for consistent policy throughout the region that improved safety and was easy for the public to understand. Representatives from local municipalities have provided feedback multiple times to shape the final version of model policy.
Read more: Johnson County Kansas

To Christopher Kaberline’s two young girls, Dolly Parton isn’t an iconic global music legend. She’s “Grandma Dolly.” That’s because they’ve grown up reading books provided for free by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, titles like “I Am A Rainbow,” “Ice Cream Face” and “Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?” On Tuesday, after news of Parton’s death at age 80, Kaberline of Prairie Village took to social media to honor the singer and philanthropist and her impact on his daughters and other children who have received books over the years.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Olathe’s industrial footprint continues to expand. The Olathe City Council unanimously approved up to $239.8 million in industrial revenue bonds for three facilities that will manufacture electrical and power systems for data centers on Aug. 18. The buildings, operated by Wisconsin-based Faith Technologies, will be about 500,000 square feet each. The development will cover more than 118 acres southwest of 167th Street and Lone Elm Road. The council also approved an 80% property tax abatement for 10 years. Faith Technologies would receive a full property tax exemption but make payments in lieu of taxes equal to about 20% of what it otherwise would owe.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Two years after Prairie Village’s housing debate was effectively put to rest, a new state law is forcing the city to delve back into housing discussions. Senate Bill 418, known as the by-right housing bill and signed into law earlier this year, removes barriers to home building that might slow down the process or increase costs for home builders. The goal of SB 418, spearheaded by Kansas Sen. TJ Rose, Republican, of Olathe, is to bring back “starter homes.” SB 418 eliminates some administrative steps in the home building process, opens up the definition of what qualifies as a single-family home and removes some notification requirements on single-family developments. Under the new law, townhomes, duplexes and other types of housing traditionally considered to be multifamily could go next to single-family homes, potentially without a city having to rezone a property.
Read more: Johnson County Post

De Soto is weighing new rules for how it handles public disclosures for economic development projects. The City Council will consider adding a process for the city to follow when asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) related to potential economic development opportunities. The city has not set a date for a work session to review the policy proposal, which Councilmember Zack Bradley originally proposed.
Read more: Kansas City Business Journal

The Dickinson County Commission recently passed a three year moratorium on data centers, battery storage and alternative/renewable energy sources in the county. Kenny Roelofsen, commissioner and chairman of the Board of Commissioners, explained what the moratorium means. “This isn’t a prohibition on these different industries. This is an exploratory moratorium so that we can better define and better regulate these types of industries,” he said. “I think a lot of people think of a moratorium as a ban, and that’s not what it is. It’s a brief period of time to allow the planning and zoning to develop adequate, and accurate more importantly, regulations.” Roelofsen said the county will focus on one of the three areas per year, with the moratorium on each area ending after that year.
Read more: KCLY Radio

The city of Coffeyville is asking residents to report the city’s worst potholes to help public services crews prioritize repairs on paved city streets.
Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

A recent study shows that many Kansas rural hospitals are at risk of immediate closure. Some Kansans are working together to modernize rural healthcare through the use of drone technology. Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems hosted its Third Annual Kelly Hills Field Day on Wednesday, where they demonstrated different drone types. In 2024, Kelly Hills began using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a way to potentially help farmers. Company officials said the goal was to simplify agricultural processes using drone technology. Founder of Kelly Hills Lukas Koch began to wonder what other aspects of rural life could be made easier through drone use.
Read more: KSN-TV

Two Phoenix, Arizona, suburbs became the latest municipalities Wednesday to terminate their contracts with Flock Safety, cancelling their use of the company’s automated license plate readers that have drawn widespread privacy concerns. The city of Tempe, which had an $80,000 contract with the company, said it would turn off all of its Flock cameras due to mounting reports of data “misuse” in other regions. Three hours later, the nearby town of Cave Creek also announced it had ended its contract with Flock and completely removed the technology. Flock offers a system able to recognize license plates immediately. The technology uses cameras and audio devices to record plate numbers, as well as identify what the company calls a “vehicle signature.” Though ALPRs do not collect any biometric data or facial recognition. An early August Washington Post investigation found more than 50 law enforcement officers had been accused, charged with or convicted of misusing ALPRs for unauthorized purposes — including to stalk past partners without their consent.
Read more: KSN-TV

A major milestone for people fighting against data centers in El Dorado after a judge ruled on a citizen-led petition to ban them Friday night. The 13th District Judge declared the petition a legislative function of municipal government. This means the city will either adopt the ordinance as written, which would ban data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in city limits, or leave the decision up to a vote. People behind the push to ban them held a watch party for Friday night’s decision and say their fight is not over yet.
Read more: KSN-TV

Steve Roberson, chief of the Newton Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department, retired on Friday after more than 30 years of service. Roberson began his career in 1995 with the Newton Ambulance Department, before it merged with the fire department in 1997. He was promoted to deputy chief in 2016 and later to chief in 2019. In 2023, Roberson received the professional designations of chief fire officer and chief EMS officer, becoming one of only 99 people in the world at that time to hold both titles.
Read more: KSN-TV

For months in 2003, Morgan Marler had a problem. A blue-green algae bloom had taken over Marion Reservoir, unlike anything the lake had seen before. Hillsboro’s water treatment plant, which gets its water from the reservoir and also supplies water to Peabody, was shut down for nearly a month.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

In an overwhelming show of civic unity, Tuesday, citizens of Pittsburg from all walks of life and backgrounds united against the city’s proposal to install parking enforcement cameras along five blocks of Broadway in the downtown area.
Read more: The Morning Sun