Municipal News & Jobs

El Dorado Lake rapidly rose on Tuesday after heavy rain in the area. The US Army Corps of Engineers reported that the level was 1,344 feet on Wednesday. For comparison, at midnight on June 3, the lake was 1,339, a 5-foot increase. On Tuesday, the inflow to the lake reached 50,000 cubic feet per second or 22 million gallons per minute.
Source: KSN-TV

A local park in Emporia is set to get a makeover in the near future with the addition of new equipment to make visiting the space more exciting. 27 News spoke with Deon Morrow, Lyon County Healthy Pathways coordinator with the United Way of the Flint Hills (UWFH), on Thursday, June 5. The UWFH recently made it to the top three for Evergy’s People’s Choice Energizing our Environment Hometown Grants program, taking in $10,000 to go towards environmental and sustainable initiatives.
Source: KSNT 27 News

MakeMyMove, an online marketplace for relocation programs, on Monday proposed a conditional contract with Riley County to encourage people to move into rural communities like Ogden and Leonardville. “We think that this is a great opportunity for the area and region,” said Ben Ledo, vice president of enterprise sales from MakeMyMove, at the commission meeting.
The MakeMyMove website offers a list of communities that offer incentives to attract new residents. Ledo said about half of the people interested in relocating are bringing a job with them, and the rest are seeking jobs.
Source: themercury.com – RSS Results in news of type article

Multiple factors merged to create a fuel shortage affecting western Kansas and three other Midwest states, and one expert expects it to take months for fuel storage capacity to return to normal. Brian Posler, executive director of Fuel True, said the complex system that maintains fuel stores to avoid shortages was hit by several unusual events this year. Fuel True is a nonprofit trade association representing Kansas fuel distributors and convenience stores. 
Source: Kansas Reflector

The Girard City Council recently approved amending the city’s code of ordinances, adjusting the sale and discharge of fireworks in response to action Governor Laura Kelly took in early April.
Under the new ordinance, those looking to sell fireworks through a permit are allowed to do so between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. June 20 to July 2 and 8 a.m. to midnight from July 3 to July 7.
Source: – Latest Stories

Kansas public health officials have reported seven new cases of measles in the past week as the outbreak in the southwest corner of the state continues to grow.
Source: Hutch News

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.

Senate Bill 199 allows the sale of fireworks at any time during the year for brick-and-mortar stores. It also expanded the timeframe seasonal retailers can sell by a week.
Source: CJonline

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.

Governor Laura Kelly announced Monday that the Freestate Middle Mile Network, a program aimed to close digital gaps across the state, will officially break ground this month. “The Freestate Network represents yet another transformative step in strengthening our digital future by laying the groundwork for long-term growth and connectivity in our communities,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “The network underscores my administration’s commitment to making Kansas a national leader in broadband innovation and infrastructure.” The project is funded by a nearly $43 million federal grant from the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA). The Freestate Network will allow providers to connect Kansas communities by enabling high-speed internet infrastructure for residents and businesses across Kansas.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated the 90th Birthday of the Macksville City Library. Alumni and community members were invited to visit our growing space, look at old yearbooks, and peruse memorabilia from Macksville’s history and our 90 years of service. We also had a special author talk by Cheryl Unruh, MHS graduate, Class of 1977.
Source: Homepage

The City of Bentley held a ribbon cutting for its new ball field, just east of the senior center, last Friday evening. City Administrator James T. Bryan thanked a few dozen people for coming out. He said the ribbon cutting was something they wanted to do to unveil what’s taking place with the field officially. Bryan said the city was put in the position of finding an alternate location for rec sports, because Bentley Primary School is undergoing major renovations that include the elimination of the t-ball field. The renovations are part of the USD-440 bond project.
Source: Harvey County Now

Kansas is the only state or local government to pass a plan to fund a Kansas City Chiefs or Royals stadium project. Dysfunction in the Missouri General Assembly might also mean the Show Me State has nothing to offer. A last-minute plan by Gov. Mike Kehoe to help finance stadium projects for the Royals and Chiefs wasn’t even debated in the Senate. Missouri lawmakers return June 2 for a special session to, among other things, pass a stadium proposal. But as it stands now, Kansas is in the driver’s seat to get, in theory, both the Royals and Chiefs. Notably, an affiliate of the Royals recently purchased a mortgage in Overland Park secured by the Aspiria campus, which is at 119th Street and Nall Avenue.
Source: Johnson County Post

The city of Westwood has bought more time for a new plan to emerge to repurpose the old Westwood View Elementary School property off Rainbow Boulevard. Still, it remains to be seen whether some residents’ hopes the school site can become part of a larger park will come to fruition.
Source: Johnson County Post

The Overland Park City Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that names the Johnson County Post’s print edition as an official city newspaper. The move clears the way for Overland Park to begin publishing legal notices in the Post, which has the biggest community news audience in Johnson County, reaching approximately 200,000 users each month.
Source: Johnson County Post

The first of many public discussions about a new billion-dollar project in Overland Park will kick off next month. Global engineering firm Black & Veatch proposed a redevelopment plan for its headquarters and the surrounding area including multiple forms of housing, retail and a park. The first public hearing — scheduled for July 7 at 7:30 p.m. — will focus on tax incentives and creating a community improvement district for the proposed area, which could add special taxes to pay for special services or upgrades in the district, located off 115th Street and Lamar Avenue.
Source: Homepage

Clay Center was incorporated 150 years ago on June 11th, 1875. To celebrate the town’s 150th birthday, this year’s Piotique theme will be “Stars, Stripes, & Small-Town Pride.” The event will take place on Saturday, September 27th.
Source: KCLY Radio

Round after round of rain led to widespread flooding in south central and eastern Kansas on Tuesday. Water pooled on roads as drivers tried to make it through, only to stall their cars out. One part of Wichita that always floods is Bleckley Drive. Tuesday was no different. The city is currently working to fix the issue, but many people got stranded in high water, including a woman in her 80s. Right in the middle of the storm, cars were stranded in every direction. The Wichita Fire Department moved boats in to rescue those trapped in unreachable cars. The water sometimes flooded up through the windshields, and people were still driving through.
Source: KSN-TV

Tuesday’s flooding prompted evacuations in Butler County. There have been evacuations in southwest El Dorado, with firefighters going from house to house by boat to pull people out of their homes. Even a senior living center was evacuated. As of 10 p.m., the rain has mostly died down, but waters are still high north of El Dorado. Cars on the streets look more like ships on the ocean. With the raging rapids on what used to be Main Street, reaching homes further down the hill is almost impossible without boats.
Source: KSN-TV

Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena is punching above its weight, ranking as the 18th busiest arena in the world among venues of its size, according to Billboard Magazine’s Midyear 2025 Report. Among arenas with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000, Intrust also ranked 10th in the continental U.S., thanks to strong ticket sales from October 2024 to March 2025.
Source: KSN-TV