Municipal News & Jobs

Sometimes things can be interesting, and other times, things can be quiet on a weekend night in Hesston.
Source: Harvey County Now

The city of Wichita recently opened a request for proposals for visual artists interested in creating permanent outdoor sculptures for 14 existing pedestals located throughout Wichita’s central core districts of Old Town, Downtown and Delano.
Source: www.derbyinformer.com – RSS Results in news/area_news of type article

During its June 11 meeting, the Sedgwick County Commission took the first official steps on a project that will extend a pedestrian pathway from Derby to fully connect with Rose Hill.
Source: www.derbyinformer.com – RSS Results in news/area_news of type article

The Merriam City Council on Monday night discussed moving forward with a $120 million development project. The mixed-resident and retail development would be built at the site of the former Johnson County Library branch, just north of Shawnee Mission Parkway. The city council approved all 13 items presented during the special meeting, including planning and zoning the issuance of general obligation bonds and a community improvement district to help fund the Grand Market Place Development, which includes a new grocery store and apartment complex.
Source: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports

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.

Kevin Frymire said his transition from the private to the public sector is going well so far. Frymire took over as Harvey County Administrator on May 27, moving from his longtime career as an assisted living administrator. The county began searching for a new administrator after Anthony Swartzendruber announced his resignation in December.
Source: Harvey County Now

Scott Boden has served as the Goessel High School Principal for 14 years, but starting next month, he will move into the position of USD 411 Superintendent. “Mr. Boden is in an excellent position to step in and just do an exemplary job. He knows the role of a district leader. He’s built a trust of the students and the staff and the community, and it’s going to be a very seamless transition,” said USD 411 Superintendent Mark Crawford.
Source: Hillsboro Free Press

Lenexa is conducting a rare swap with a local home builder in which the city is getting land for a future city park while the developer gains acreage for a 175-home subdivision next door. Earlier this month, the Lenexa City Council approved the deal and preliminary plan for the property that will be used for the housing development.
Source: Johnson County Post

Edgerton is welcoming its first housing subdivision in several years to address growing affordable housing needs. Located on 80 acres near 207th Street and Edgerton Road, Dwyer Farms is a 275-home neighborhood that is just starting to come online as homes get sold. A sales agent with the mortgage company for the neighborhood said six homes were occupied as of last week.
Source: Johnson County Post

Despite resident apprehension and pushback over the years, Lenexa continues to march westward with its development. The latest will be discussed during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Referred to as Solera, Lenexa-based civil engineering company Schlagel & Associates is applying on behalf of Prairie Star Land Associates LLC to develop retail, a grocery store and more than 500 housing units on the southeast corner of Prairie Star Parkway and the K-7 Highway.
Source: Homepage

Nine months after Monroe County Hospital in rural South Alabama closed its labor and delivery department in October 2023, Grove Hill Memorial Hospital in neighboring Clarke County also stopped delivering babies. Both hospitals are located in an agricultural swath of the state that’s home to most of its poorest counties. Many residents of the region don’t even have a nearby emergency department. Nationwide, most rural hospitals no longer offer obstetric services. Since the end of 2020, more than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies, according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform, a national policy center focused on solving health care issues through overhauling insurance payments. Fewer than 1,000 rural hospitals nationwide still have labor and delivery services.
Source: Kansas Reflector

After the Hen House Market closed in 2018 following its two decades in Merriam, residents have said they wanted to see a replacement come forward, no matter what it takes. Nearly seven years later, they could see its replacement come to fruition if the Merriam City Council approves a new project plan, tax incentives and rezoning for a sprawling redevelopment during a special meeting on Monday.
Source: Local Kansas City Missouri & Kansas News |

A Kansas City auto plant will be part of a $4 billion investment to boost production of gas and electric vehicles in the United States. General Motors announced in a news release that the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, will be part of the two-year investment plan, which will allow for 2 million more vehicles to be built each year.
Source: Local Kansas City Missouri & Kansas News |

The Chapman Center for Rural Studies and the Riley County Genealogical Society (RCGS) are collaborating to present ‘Big Dam Foolishness: The Drowned Settlements of the Blue River Valley’ in the Manhattan Public Library Auditorium on Sunday, June 22nd at 2:30 p.m. The Presentation, presented by KSU senior Dakota Boyles, will speak about the lost town of Carnahan Creek and other communities due to the construction of the Tuttle Creek Reservoir.
Source: KCLY Radio

Kansas hospitals continue to face financial challenges, straining their ability to serve communities. To better understand the situation, the Kansas Hospital Association partnered with national CPA firm PYA to evaluate hospital finances, commercial insurer strength, and regional comparisons.
Source: KCLY Radio

Federal Reserve officials get to voice their outlook this week on the future path of interest rates along with the impact that tariffs and Middle East turmoil will have on the economy.
While any immediate movement on interest rates seems improbable, the policy meeting, which concludes Wednesday, will feature important signals that still could move markets.
Source: Economy

The city of Prairie Village is locked in on a $30 million municipal complex project, despite some resident calls for a public vote on the issue. On Monday, the Prairie Village City Council in two separate 9-2 votes made critical decisions that moved the $30 million project — for a $23 million city hall and a $7 million police department renovation — forward.
Source: Johnson County Post

Thunderstorms moving through south-central Kansas Tuesday morning caused wind damage, flash flooding and power outages across the region, including in Wichita. The National Weather Service recorded a 101 mph wind gust at 4:22 a.m. at the Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita. Several other locations reported gusts of 60 mph or more.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

The city of Westwood wants the public’s input on the future of the former Westwood View Elementary property, months after a public vote effectively scuttled a previous plan that would have turned it into a park. Now, the city finds itself going back to the drawing board to have a say in what happens in one of the last blocks of green space in Westwood. That process is beginning with a community input survey, available online through June 25.
Source: Johnson County Post

The month of May brought a stomach-turning moment to the residents of Greensburg, a rural Kansas community that was 95% obliterated by a tornado on May 4, 2007. On May 18, a storm bearing a vivid tornadic signature on radar seemed to be aimed at the town, prompting the second time in Greensburg’s history that a tornado emergency was declared. The one other time was 18 years earlier. But what Greensburg accomplished after a 1.7-mile-wide EF-5 tornado ripped through the town, killing 12 people and flattening public buildings, businesses and private homes, is a testament to what can happen — and will become necessary — as temperatures rise and weather patterns shift.
Source: KLC Journal