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.

Newton High School seniors Toby Spreier and Izabella Hinojos know what it’s like to be tased. It’s not because they’re on the wrong side of the law; it’s because they’re in training for employment on the right side of the law. One of the highlights of his internship was taking part in a ride-along with an officer who got a call to do a vehicle check in Sedgwick. It turned out to be a hit-and-run DUI suspect, he said. Both have internships at the Harvey County Sheriff’s Office, with Hinojos doing it for a year and Spreier for a semester.
Read more: Harvey County Now

The results are in, and the Harvey County Planning and Zoning Commission decided not to move forward with nuisance regulations at this time. That was Karen Rothe’s message to commissioners on Tuesday morning. Rothe, the county’s planning, zoning and environmental director, said the survey conducted earlier this year showed that an overwhelming number of people didn’t want to see any changes. The results show that 470 people responded to the survey, the most responses the P&Z received on a survey in over 10 years.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Wichita may have another sales tax initiative on the horizon after Justice Together, a grassroots interfaith coalition, prompted elected officials to verbalize their commitment to put one on the ballot to support affordable housing and homelessness.  All three council members in attendance Monday, Joseph Shepard, Dalton Glasscock and J.V. Johnston, said they would give Wichitans a chance to vote on the initiative if it had sufficient public backing to justify an election. 
Read more: KLC Journal

Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against the post-meeting statement said they didn’t think it was appropriate to signal that the next interest rate move would be lower. Regional presidents Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Beth Hammack of Cleveland released statements explaining their votes, offering similar rationale regarding the verbiage in the statement — but not over the decision to keep a hold on rates form their current position.
Read more: CNBC

The Riley County Commission on Thursday adopted a policy for handling complaints related to a recent state law prohibiting transgender Kansans from using facilities associated with their gender identity. “It’s relatively straightforward,” county counselor Jacob Hansen told commissioners. “The purpose, of course, is that individuals who want to make a complaint pursuant to that law are able to do so.” Senate Bill 244, which has been in effect since Feb. 26, established that it’s unlawful for people to enter a multiple-occupancy private space — such as bathrooms and locker rooms — in a government-owned building that is “designated for use only by individuals of the opposite sex.”
Read more: News Radio KMAN

A man who was electrocuted while working on a City of Winfield-owned substation in 2020 has sued the city and other defendants, alleging that a city employee failed to ensure the equipment was de-energized and safe to work on prior to the incident.
Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com

Stafford County Economic Development is beginning a planning effort to revitalize and define the future of downtown Stafford and St. John by developing two unique Downtown Master Plans. This process will bring together the public and stakeholders to guide decision-making and help identify priorities for future opportunities in each downtown.
Read more: Great Bend Tribune

Hundreds of people lined Mission Road on Saturday morning to enjoy a glimpse of Prairie Village down through the years. The city hosted a parade marking its 75th anniversary, with the theme of “Prairie Village Through the Decades.” It was one of the largest activities the city has planned this year to mark the milestone. More than 50 participants created floats representing different decades, with everything from a 1960s “peace and love” theme by advocacy group People for PV to a 1950s diner scene from the Claridge Court retirement community.
Read more: Johnson County Post

A Johnson County developer has sued both Olathe Public Schools and the city of Olathe, accusing them of abusing eminent domain powers to help the school district sell land to another preferred private developer. In a suit filed last month in Johnson County District Court, developer Cherry Park Properties alleges that the district, through the city, used eminent domain to acquire easements on its property for a sewer line to help the district sell nearby land to developer CB Holdings, which is owned by Clay Blair, a prominent civic leader and donor to area causes, including Olathe schools. In court documents, Cherry Park argues that the acquisition of its land serves a private buyer and not the public, which it says is an illegal use of the eminent domain power.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Spring Hill saw a lot of changes in the last year; from a new city council, public safety updates, budget updates to preparing for a comprehensive plan. Spring Hill Mayor Chad Young spoke about the changes and looked toward the future during his State of the City address April 15 at the Spring Hill Civic Center, hosted by the Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce. About 100 community and business leaders attended the event.
Read more: Johnson County Post

A little more than a month after rural Johnson County residents celebrated a win with the withdrawal of a massive data center proposal, another one popped up just 5 miles down the road. San Francisco-based data center developer Beale Infrastructure recently submitted a proposal to Gardner to build a 16-building campus on 300 acres near the northeast corner of 191st Street and South Clare Road. It’s still unclear who would use the center or how much it would cost to build.
Read more: Kansas City Star

Olathe Public Schools is considering whether to end its Voluntary Early Retirement Plan (VERP) and Health Reimbursement Agreements (HRAs) as part of cost-saving efforts due to budget shortfalls, according to a teacher’s union and a district spokesperson. The early retirement plan has been part of ongoing bargaining agreements ahead of next school year between the district and Olathe NEA, the labor union that represents public school teachers and staff.
Read more: Kansas City Star

A new lawsuit claims Olathe Schools and the city is misusing eminent domain to aid the sale of district-owned property.
Read more: Kansas City Star

“Let’s fire up your Thunderbird, put in $2 worth of gas, and drive over to the drive-in and see a movie.” If that sounds like I’m in a time warp or having flashbacks to the 1950s, hold on. Other than buying cheap gas, it is still possible to enjoy the experience of going to a drive-in movie, right here in rural Kansas.  Jessica Eagle Moyer and Tyson Moyer are the owners of the Kanopolis Drive-In in Kanopolis, Kansas. Jessica grew up in Leavenworth County. Tyson grew up near Ellsworth and attended the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Art Institute.  He was working on marketing materials for the Kansas City Chiefs and Monarchs when he and Jessica met and were married. In the summers, they traveled back to Ellsworth County to see his family. A local attraction was an old drive-in movie site, one of the few still operating. In October 2024, they had the opportunity to purchase it. They moved back to Ellsworth where Tyson works remotely. Jessica is board-certified in health and wellness and operates her own wellness business in addition to the drive-in.
Read more: KCLY Radio

Residents of Gardner, Kansas, are confronting a new data center proposal from Beale Infrastructure just weeks after a similar proposal was withdrawn. Members of the community are concerned about the impact on their environment, utilities, and noise levels.
Read more: KCUR

The battle over the R9 Ranch water rights is a complex saga involving decades of legal maneuvering, legislative shifts and environmental concerns. 
Read more: KLC Journal

Fights over water in the West tend to follow a particular contour: Scarcity develops. A supply is located. Competition ensues. Government agencies become involved. Judges tend to get the last word. The squabbles are all the same and every one is different. Both the residents of parched Hays and Russell in northwest Kansas and those of thirsty Edwards County, some 60 miles south, covet the water beneath the sprawling R9 Ranch south of Kinsley, seeing it as a matter of survival in a coming era when the precious resource becomes even more scarce. Now, three decades later, the $140-million-dollar project remains on hold, delayed by years of legal challenges. Over the past 11 years, Hays has spent $11 million in its battle, $8 million of that in legal fees. 
Read more: KLC Journal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced Thursday that over $80 million is available to support stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs across the country. The funding comes from the EPA’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program. It allows communities to pay for improvements to safely capture and manage stormwater and keep pollutants, including untreated stormwater, from reaching nearby waterways. Kansas is receiving a total of $467,000 that will be divided among the communities that apply through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program.
Read more: KSN-TV

The discussion about a solar farm and battery energy storage system in Sedgwick County is on hold. The Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission was set to vote on the Galena Solar Project proposal on Wednesday, but decided to defer it and gather more information. The commission will pick up the discussion again on June 11. People for and against the project agree that the deferral was a good move.
Read more: KSN-TV