Municipal News & Jobs

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 Lawrence Police Department will soon host an event to talk to residents about Connect Lawrence, a controversial camera surveillance program the department rolled out in July without community input. The program is run by tech company Axon Fusus. Residents and businesses can volunteer to register their security cameras and contact information with the police department, allowing police to see where cameras are located and request footage if a crime occurs nearby. According to the program’s website, camera locations and footage will also be used by the fire department. “It’s about helping our officers respond smarter, more efficiently, and helping the community feel more secure,” Lawrence police Chief Rich Lockhart said in a news release. Experts and dozens of community members have spoken out against the surveillance program since its sudden implementation, calling it dystopian and a threat to privacy. The Lawrence Transparency Project organized in opposition to the police department’s adoption of the Axon Fusus program. To date, the group’s petition against the rollout has garnered 469 signatures.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

The Hutchinson Recreation Commission recently announced that it is starting a new Neighborhood Ambassadors program this year as part of the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative, according to The Hutch Tribune. Per HRC Director of Community Denice Gilliland, the ambassador role is an informal position open to anyone interested in making their block, street or neighborhood more welcoming “to inspire connection … and create communities where people know each other.”
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

The Arbor Day Foundation has named Garden City a 2025 Tree City USA in honor of its commitment to plant, grow, and maintain trees to benefit its community. This is the 48th consecutive year that Garden City has received this recognition. The Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees; its network of more than a million supporters and partners has helped the organization plant more than 500 million trees in forests and communities across more than 60 countries.
Read more: Garden City, KS – News Flash

On Friday, May 1, McPherson will commemorate the rule of law in the American system of government with public screenings of a video “The Rule of Law: If you can keep it.” The video, which was filmed in McPherson, will premiere at the McPherson Museum (1111 E. Kansas Avenue). Two showings will take place at 12:00 noon and 5:30pm in the Museum’s Gathering Room. The events are free and open to the public.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio

Lyon County Engineer Wayne Scritchfield appeared before the Lyon County Commission Thursday to discuss a potential new method to stabilize gravel roads, reduce the need for frequent grading and prevent pothole formation. The new method would involve applying a proprietary road stabilization product by mixing it approximately eight inches deep into the base of gravel roads. The product is designed to harden and stabilize the road surface, with several counties in Iowa and other areas with increased traffic and severe weather using it extensively.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

A wandering bull was located in Olathe, Kansas on Monday afternoon, and police are looking for the owner. The Johnson County Sheriff’s office found the bull near 151st Street and Evening Star Road. An animal control deputy is working to find the bull’s owner.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

The Halstead Heritage Museum and Depot has the only working telegraph open to the public in the state of Kansas, according to 2024 Historical Society Volunteer of the Year Joe Trego, who recently installed the museum’s new feature. The telegraph is original to the depot, removed by Lauren Mac (LM) Watkins in 1981 when the railroad closed the depot. Watkins was the last station agent, according to his son, Mike Watkins, who had been storing the telegraph in his basement until recently.
Read more: Harvey County Now

With no clear answers, communication or even a timeline on the ever-present grocery store question, a study may offer an alternative. With oversight from the United Way of Harvey and Marion Counties, the Healthy Harvey Coalition has received a grant to help fund a study to see if Hesston could sustain a fresh foods market in a possible brick and mortar location. This idea came about thanks to the overwhelming response to the Hesston Farmers’ Market.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Kansas and the nation face a veterinarian shortage, and state agriculture experts are collaborating to draw more vets to practice in rural areas. Kansas State University officials are supporting programs that introduce veterinary students to rural lifestyles and gathering data to understand where shortages exist, said Brad White, director of K-State’s Beef Cattle Institute and director of the Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas. The United States has lost about 90% of its food animal veterinarians since the 1940s, according to a 2023 Johns Hopkins study. But it is challenging to get a handle on specific needs within the state, White said. About 2,500 licensed vets practice in Kansas, a number that has been steady for a few years, according to a survey published last year by the Farm Journal Foundation and the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The difficulty is tracking specific areas in Kansas that have veterinary shortages and in what practice areas those shortages are occurring, White said. Veterinarians may have mixed animal practices, meaning they care for large and companion animals, or they may specialize, he said.
Read more: Hays Daily News

Overland Park officials are considering a complete overhaul to the city’s zoning code that would eliminate single-family-only districts and rezone all 76 square miles of the city under a new “character-based” framework. It would be a departure from how Johnson County’s biggest city has handled zoning for decades, and a move without apparent precedent in the Kansas City metro. Notably, the new code, called the Unified Development Ordinance, if enacted, could allow for the construction of more housing types, including duplexes and townhomes, in residential areas that are currently zoned only for traditional single-family homes. Some officials have acknowledged the scale of what the city is attempting as they’ve discussed these changes in focus groups, workshops and public meetings.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Olathe is the latest Johnson County city to pass new regulations on e-scooters and similar devices as local leaders respond to growing safety concerns. The Olathe City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an updated ordinance in a 7-0 vote after several months of discussion, revisions and feedback from residents and city staff. Cities across Johnson County have been updating their rules for e-scooters and e-bikes over the past year as the devices — some of which can clock speeds approaching 40 miles per hour — have grown in popularity, particularly among children and teens. Those efforts have been given renewed urgency following the death of 10-year-old Duke Ommert, who was killed while riding a motorized scooter in Leawood last October.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Nearly one-fifth of Americans relied on drinking water systems with elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrate in recent years, according to a new study released Thursday. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined test data collected by water systems across the country between 2021 and 2023, the most recent data available.  Water systems serving more than 3 million people exceeded the federal safety limit of 10 milligrams per liter over the three years, the research and advocacy organization found. The analysis also found that thousands of water systems serving more than 62 million people reported nitrate levels above 3 milligrams per liter at least once during those years, which indicates human-caused drinking-water contamination.  States with big agricultural industries recorded more reports of elevated nitrate levels. In fact, the report found that 64% of all water systems that recorded nitrate levels at or above the legal limit were in just five states: California, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. 
Read more: Kansas Reflector

The Geary County Historical Society recently hosted its 4th annual “History Alive” reenactment event. On Friday, April 17, organizers said more than 400 students in grades 8–12 attended a special school-day program. That Saturday, hundreds of community members visited the event at the Spring Valley Historic Site in Geary County, which covered nearly three acres. Reenactors from across Kansas and even other states helped bring history to life by showing what life was like in the mid-1800s. Visitors could watch and try activities such as spinning, weaving, archery, flintknapping, and pioneer household chores. There were also cultural demonstrations, including traditional Ojibwe dancing.
Read more: KCLY Radio

Convention centers and their viability were big news in three Midwestern cities this spring. Omaha, Nebraska, officials have been celebrating a milestone in their $200 million convention center expansion project: the topping out of the refurbished CHI Health Center. Half the funding for the downtown center, expected to open in fall 2027, is coming from voter-approved general obligation bonds, while the other half is from private funding. Within a year or two after Omaha passed its bond issue, campaigns were underway to persuade residents of Wichita and Springfield, Missouri, to vote for taxes that would fund renovations and expansions to their convention centers. There was celebrating there, too, but not by the proponents. The ballot measures in both cities — a 1% city sales tax in Wichita and a 3% lodging tax increase in Springfield — failed.
Read more: KLC Journal

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly executed her veto power Monday on five different bills, including a property tax relief bill. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate will need to achieve two-thirds majorities in order to defeat Kelly’s veto of the following bills: HB 2043 would have allowed Kansans to petition against increases in property tax revenues. It would also continue reimbursements from the taxpayer notification costs fund for an additional five years. HB 2111 would have exempted certain registered agritourism operations from local code and regulation enforcement. HB 2515 would have established the Kansas Legal Tender Act. This act reaffirms gold and silver coin as legal tender and provides an income taxation subtraction modification for gains from the sale of coined metal. HB 2044 would have provided a tax deduction for compensation for serving in the armed forces. It also prevents those who have previously qualified from losing eligibility for a homestead property tax refund claim or the selective assistance for effective senior relief tax credit if their valuation exceeds $350,000. HB 2763 would have required school districts provide a certain amount of daily recess time for students and established a state fitness test. It also prohibited limiting or withholding recess for disciplinary reasons.
Read more: KSN-TV

After years of preparation, Sedgwick County has the tools necessary to cut the public off from listening to law enforcement scanners. On Tuesday, law enforcement agencies in Wichita and across Sedgwick County will transition to encrypted radio channels. The change complies with an FBI mandate that went into effect in December 2022. Agencies were given time to purchase and install the necessary technology. The FBI said the policy aims to protect the privacy of victims, witnesses and suspects whose personal information may be transmitted over a law enforcement radio.
Read more: KSN-TV

The City of Sylvia has worked through a slate of problems with its water system this month — the latest being a now-fixed leak that popped up on Tuesday. The city had another major leak earlier this month and has been continuing to work on cleaning the water tower as well. Last week, residents were told not to drink city water. Normally when a water line breaks, people are supposed to boil water before drinking it. But Sylvia’s water supply has high nitrate levels, and boiling can actually increase the concentration of nitrates. On Friday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lifted the advisory and gave residents the all-clear. But aging infrastructure means something like that could happen again, and problems like these are not unique to the Reno County town.
Read more: KSN-TV

City officials are sharing the results of a recent budget survey as they try to find ways to address a $15 million deficit. City of Topeka spokesman Dan Garrett said in a press release that more than 1,000 people responded to the survey. He said a majority of residents highlighted a need for streets and infrastructure to be designated top priorities in the next budget. Other highlights included safety services, social services and affordable housing.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

At their April 27 meeting, the South Hutchinson City Council ordered their city administrator to draft a six-month data center and battery energy storage system (BESS) moratorium. Some council members even expressed strong opposition to such a facility under any circumstances. City Administrator Jeff Schenk first explained to the council what a moratorium is: a temporary, but complete, restriction of development for a facility like a data center or a BESS. Schenk said that the question is coming up in the region because municipalities are wondering if such moratoriums are needed to create proper regulations.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune