Municipal News & Jobs

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.

A branch of the University of Kansas has gotten into the business of evaluating the operations of law enforcement agencies across the state and offering accreditation to police and sheriff’s departments. The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, which is based in Hutchinson but run by KU, has recently launched the Kansas Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The program reviews police and sheriff’s departments that sign up for the program, and ultimately certifies whether the agencies are meeting a set of best practices for law enforcement.
Source: LJWorld

The city of Lawrence is no longer allowing new residents in its sanctioned camp for the homeless, but now there is concern that an unsanctioned camp along the railroad tracks in East Lawrence is growing. At the unofficial camp behind the Amtrak depot near Seventh and New Jersey streets, there are now tents for the homeless about 25 paces from the active Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad line. A business neighbor, Tony Krsnich of Kennedy Glass, said that’s closer than he’s seen at any point in the last two years, and he estimated the footprint of the overall campground has approximately doubled in recent weeks.
Source: LJWorld

After assessing Lawrence’s development code for the past few months, city-hired consultants have laid out some changes for an update that will affect where and how the city grows. Those include changes to the setup of both residential and commercial districts and what types of developments and uses are allowed where. … The development code update will implement the community’s comprehensive plan, Plan 2040, and the development-related aspects of the Downtown Lawrence Plan. It also seeks to establish simpler and more consistent development procedures, according to a project overview. The purpose of the code assessment is to establish a framework for the code update. Specifically, the assessment will identify issues with the current code; identify potential regulatory approaches to address the issues; and create an organizational framework to ensure that the code drafting process is comprehensive. The code assessment, which began in September, will be released for review in early January, ahead of the committee’s next meeting on Jan. 26.
Source: LJWorld

The City of Eudora will be looking for a new city manager just as the eastern Douglas County community is expected to see an influx of growth from development of the nearby $4 billion Panasonic battery plant. Longtime City Manager Barack Matite announced at Monday’s Eudora City Commission meeting that he had accepted a job as deputy city manager in Rockville, Maryland, a community of about 70,000 people in the Washington, D.C., metro area. He will start that position in late January. Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said the City Commission would soon announce an interim city manager and would begin working to find Matite’s replacement.
Source: LJWorld

Many starting wages at the new $4 billion Panasonic battery plant in nearby De Soto will be in the $20 to $25 an hour range, a Lawrence consultant working with the company said. That’s good information for potential job seekers to have, but also valuable information for area companies as well, Rob Richardson, the Panasonic opportunities manager for the Lawrence chamber, told a crowd on Tuesday. Many area companies indeed will be vying for the same workers that Panasonic hopes to employ. “That is kind of what the competition is going to be,” Richardson said as he announced the $20 to $25 per hour wage range to the crowd. Richardson said Panasonic expects to be hiring at least 200 employees per month in 2024. In many months that number may be higher, as the plant is expected to employ 4,000 people and begin production of electric vehicle batteries in the first quarter of 2025.
Source: LJWorld

In May of last year, the Lawrence Police Department warned the community about a potent drug that was killing area residents. It was not the usual “stay away from drugs” message directed at teens, but something far more urgent and directed at everyone: “About three to five grains of table salt — that’s the potential fatal dose of fentanyl for an adult,” a department news release stated. “We’re not trying to scare people,” interim Chief of Police Adam Heffley was quick to say. “What we’re trying to do is save someone’s life.” A year and a half later, the dire warning has largely gone unheeded — with devastating results for many local families.
Source: LJWorld

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.

A rebranding committee is still split on the potentially offensive nature of Hays High School’s Indian mascot. The Hays USD 489 school district rebranding committee met for the first time on Monday night. The school district conducted a survey and found a majority of respondents wanted to keep the Indian mascot. However, at a community meeting on Nov. 15 and at the rebranding meeting Monday, some community members said they believe the high school mascot should be changed.
Source: Hays Post

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.

Shawnee County would greatly extend the lifespan of its Rolling Meadows Landfill by offering curbside recycling, county commissioners were told in 2012 as they prepared to establish that program. But nearly a decade later, that landfill’s life expectancy has risen by only four months, commissioners learned last month from Bill Sutton, director of the county’s solid waste department. Meanwhile, the cost of offering curbside recycling has risen to the point where it is increasingly impractical for government entities.
Source: CJonline

Hutchinson City Council approved both a new city manager and a new hotel during Tuesday’s meeting. Kendal Francis, who is currently the city administrator of Great Bend, will begin work in Hutchinson in January. Francis started in Great Bend in mid-2018. Francis also served as city manager in Coffeyville. He is a graduate of Kansas State University, having a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the school. … “We’re going to roll up our sleeves and we’ll get to work soon,” Francis, a Kansas native told the commissioners.
Source: Hutch News