Municipal News & Jobs

USD 246 is in rare company for a district that serves approximately 500 students, recognized alongside much larger school districts such as Hesston USD 460, Hutchinson USD 308, Piper USD 203, Shawnee Mission School District and Wichita Public Schools for its efforts in providing pathways for students beyond high school. The Northeast School District recently received recognition for its efforts with its Individual Plans of Study (IPS), offering kids a roadmap to explore potential pathways post-secondary.
Read more: – Latest Stories

Nine current and former students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Lawrence Public Schools, alleging the district’s use of a controversial AI surveillance tool violates student privacy. The AI tool, called Gaggle, sifts through anything connected to the district’s Google Workspace — which includes Gmail, Drive and other products — and flags content it deems a safety risk, such as allusions to self-harm, depression, drug use and violence. But Gaggle also censors “messages containing innocuous phrases such as ‘called me a,’ ‘called her a,’ ‘very uncomfortable,’ and ‘my mental health’,” the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges Gaggle violates students’ Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures and First Amendment rights protecting free expression and a free press. 
Read more: The Lawrence Times

New trails and other nature experiences are among the possible plans for a 3,000-acre park near Panasonic. Johnson County Park and Recreation is asking for the public’s opinion during an open house Saturday as it works on plans for the park – the biggest in the county’s history. The county wants to bring both new recreation activities and outdoor experiences to residents in the area while also preserving green space in a rapidly developing part of the county, spokesman Kellen Jenkins said.
Read more: The Eudora Times

Jenny and Chris Garmons’ house caught on fire last year when construction workers rebuilding a home on the lot next door used a backhoe to knock down a tree, ripping the electrical wires off the couple’s home. Their house aflame was a more extreme aftermath, but the Garmons said that on a more regular basis their home shakes when construction next door is happening, with the noise carrying over into their house easily. As homes in their neighborhood continue to be torn down and rebuilt, the near-constant construction is starting to take a heavier toll on their quality of life, the Garmons said. Garmon said she wants to see the city try to limit the number of teardown-rebuilds that could happen at the same time in the same neighborhood.
Read more: Homepage

A bobcat was spotted in a Johnson County neighborhood Wednesday, July 30, a few weeks after a baby bobcat was rescued and returned to its mother in the same area. The bobcat was found at 7 a.m. Wednesday at the southeast corner of 95th Street and Santa Fe Drive Trail in Lenexa, according to a report from local television news station WDAF.
Read more: Homepage

Wichita police officers now have access to the gunshot detection technology the department has been testing since February 2022. Police said that they found that 83% of gunshots in testing areas were never reported. The hope is that Flock Safety’s Raven gunshot sensors will catch those gunshots, ensuring police respond to any shots that are fired in the areas where the sensors are up.
Read more: Homepage

For years, I’d been hearing about a little Italian restaurant in a little Kansas town that might be worth checking out. Recently, a close friend who loves both restaurants and road trips was having a birthday, and I was trying to think of a fun way to celebrate with a group of 10 people. That little restaurant came to mind. It’s called Renaissance Cafe, and it’s the only restaurant in tiny Assaria, population 425, which sits roughly midway between McPherson and Salina. In fact, says chef and general manager Adrienne Lynn, it’s the only restaurant in about a 20 mile radius.
Read more: Homepage

U.S. Treasury yields tumbled Friday after investors considered a far weaker-than-expected July nonfarm payroll report and weighed the effect of President Donald Trump’s raft of new tariffs on economic growth. The 2-year yield note yield plunged more than 24 basis points to 3.702% as traders reassessed the likelihood for a Federal Reserve interest rate reduction at the central bank’s next meeting in September. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell 14 basis points to 4.222% while the 30-year bond yield pulled back 7.6 basis points to 4.809%.
Read more: Bonds

With a snip of scissors, a vibrant splash of color was officially unveiled to help enliven the popular pocket park. Recent Sedgwick High School graduate Austin Thieme spent over 200 hours painting his “Postcard from Home,” mural which was displayed on Aug. 1. Thieme’s studio name, BThieme Studios has given the University of Arkansas bound student a chance to leave a lasting mark and legacy. The mural was painted in regular outdoor, latex paint with his goal to diversify in all mediums.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Two Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against holding a key interest rate in place explained their decisions Friday, both indicating that the central bank is making a mistake by waiting to ease policy amid rising threats to the labor market. Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman both said they wanted a quarter percentage point reduction, as they see tariffs having only a temporary impact on inflation. They said staying on hold, as the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee has done since December, poses risks to the economy.
Read more: Finance

Wyandotte County is expected to serve as a base camp for one of 48 nations participating in World Cup 2026 at Compass Minerals and also welcome teams who hold practices at Children’s Mercy Park before heading to Arrowhead Stadium for six matches in June and July next year. Thursday night, the Mayor’s Wyandotte County World Cup Readiness Task Force convened to brief Unified Government commissioners on progress so far in getting ready for the event and other ways it can welcome fans to the community and engage residents.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports

A proposal to extend Johnson County’s public safety sales tax is headed for the voters four months later than originally planned, so the county can prepare for legal opposition likely to come from Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. County commissioners voted Thursday to withdraw the item from this November’s general election ballot and instead schedule it for a special mail-in election on March 3, 2026. The change will come with about a $950,000 price tag for the election expenses, but commissioners said the delay will give them time to ask a judge whether county commissioners can ask for the election under home rule or whether doing so would exceed their authority, as Kobach has said.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The city of Prairie Village could soon become the next Johnson County city to deploy drones as front-line emergency responders. Last week, the Prairie Village City Council discussed entering a contract with Houston-based Paladin Drones during a committee of the whole meeting for its own “Drone as First Responder” program. This is the same program that the city of Lenexa has been using since March and expanded in June, also under contract with Paladin. Lenexa Police now have a total of seven drones docked on various city properties that can be operated remotely, lifting off and flying to the scene of a 911 call within minutes.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The Abilene Kansas History GeoTour, launched by Visit Abilene Kansas at the end of March, is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about geocaching destinations in the Midwest. In just three months, nearly 300 geocachers from 24 states have completed the GeoTour, which leads visitors on a GPS-guided treasure hunt through Abilene’s most iconic historical sites and attractions.
Read more: KCLY Radio

Based on where you’re standing, Wichita’s first 24/7, year-round homeless shelter, now located in a sprawling red-brick, former school building, can look very different. From the chair of an organizer, the emerging one-stop shop, known as Second Light, is the next chapter in the story of Wichita’s efforts to address homelessness. Almost everybody agrees it can be a lifesaver, a haven not just from the cold of the winter but also from late spring thunderstorms and oppressive summer heat. The people who sleep there would like more of the services they’ve been assured would be offered and better conditions inside the shelter. Their perspectives vary; they are disabled, able-bodied, white, Black, young and senior citizens. 
Read more: KLC Journal

Kechi Police, with assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, have conducted a raid of a warehouse of a local business selling CBD products. Kechi Police say on Tuesday, they received a tip about the “illicit sale and distribution of illegal substances” in their community. The department says a three-day investigation began involving assistance from Bentley Police, the KBI, and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. A search warrant was executed on Thursday at a small warehouse located in the 1300 block of East Kechi Road, belonging to CBD Plus USA, which Kechi Police says also serves as the company’s corporate warehouse.
Read more: KSN-TV

A coordinated community effort in Grinnell is helping people recover from the tornado that hit back in May. A mission group from Dighton, along with other Kansas churches, spent a week rebuilding a family’s home. KSN News talked to the pastor who was compelled to do it.
Read more: KSN-TV

A local rural school district is struggling to find bus drivers before the new year, a problem that means longer wait times for kids and more work for faculty. Officials say there are many different problems causing the shortage. Issues like mandatory training for commercial driver’s licenses, scheduling, and pay are just a few reasons these roles are hard to fill, leaving faculty from Northeast USD 246 no choice but to step up to the plate, and leaves schoolchildren with a longer wait.
Read more: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

While Marion County and its cities are still pondering their 2026 budgets, Council Grove’s already is proposed and is being reviewed by the public online. It’s posted prominently on the city’s website, not just as a bunch of numbers but with easy-to-understand narratives about individual projects, initiatives, and changes and the rationale for them.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

The Kansas Forest Service has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer in Bourbon County on privately owned land north of Barnesville, the third confirmed sighting found in Kansas this year. KFS, working with K-State Research and Extension, captured and confirmed one dead adult insect and several live larvae specimens on July 28. KFS officials first noted signs and symptoms of the pest and a follow-up site visit resulted in the official detection of verifiable physical specimens.
Read more: The Sunflower State Radio Network