Kansas Municipal News
El Dorado school district gets logo refresh, and the community is not thrilled
Wilbur, the famous wildcat mascot for El Dorado High School has had many faces throughout his time. “There are 25 different faces for Wilbur the wildcat [throughout history],” said Kimberly Koop, the USD 490 director of community engagement and recruitment. But the inconsistencies with his figure will discontinue after this week, because last week District 490 announced a logo refresh. Many from the community are unhappy with the recent change. “It’s cold, stale, not something you want to fight for,” said Linette Liby, an El Dorado HS alumni. “I don’t understand why we have to change it for one thing. I’m happy with the logo we have,” said Sindi Sundgren, an El Dorado community member. “It seemed a little colder than what we’re used to. A little bit more, I’ve heard a couple people say, robotic,” said Katlyn Utech, an El Dorado HS alumni. But it comes out of necessity according to the district, which says there is a need for visual unity and visual assets for the district with copyrights and mascot protections.
Source: KAKE – News
Rural Kansas hospitals use strategies to stay open
On the heels of Herington Hospital announcing its closure, other rural hospitals are speaking out about the challenges they face to remain open. This summer, Kiowa County Memorial Hospital was listed in a study that suggests it is at risk of closure. The CEO of the hospital, Morgan Allison, said she was shocked to learn the hospital is at risk because the staff had been working to avoid the same problems that have closed other rural hospitals. Rural hospitals are challenged by a lack of patients. “In the past, we had a lot of issues with patient volumes, but we have seen quite a change here at the hospital here in the last three years,” said Allison. In the last year, Kiowa County Memorial Hospital has increased its patient revenue by 48% while increasing its expenses by just 28%. A big reason for that is the opening of a new unit that brings in $100,000 of revenue yearly.
Source: KSN-TV
City of Wichita votes to amend residency requirement, allowing remote and hybrid workers to live across the state
The Residency Requirement for the City of Wichita has been the same since 1994. On Tuesday, the City of Wichita City Council voted to amend it. The old residency requirement states the following: “The Wichita City Council passed a resolution that requires all City employees hired on and after April 12, 1994, shall either live within the corporate limits of Wichita, or within 30 minutes lawful driving time of the corporate limits of the City, by the most direct route. Such employees are to maintain their residence according to the requirements of the ordinance as long as the City of Wichita employs them.” The Senior Human Resource Specialist for the City of Wichita, Pam Pennington, asked for the amendment to the residency requirement to allow for more remote work possibilities. “We are hoping that this will help widen our recruiting pool for certain positions, not all,” said Pennington.
Source: KSN-TV
Gardens across Lawrence school district allow students to learn by growing
There’s now a blooming garden at every school site in the Lawrence school district. One school garden, cared for by the Billy Mills Middle School Garden Club, grows tomatoes, purple peppers, radishes, garlic and an abundance of other vegetables. Club members plant flowers and tend to natural species of plants while engaging with the insects fluttering, crawling or wriggling within the ecosystem. Billy Mills sixth grader Delyla Kring-Hicknan said she feels fully connected to nature when gardening, especially since club members don’t spray herbicides or pesticides on the garden. And they get to enjoy the food they grow. “I just love to get out there and explore and smell the flowers, look at the bugs, pick the ripe fruits and vegetables,” Delyla said. “You actually get to feel how it feels to plant your own food and eat it, because normally fresh grown vegetables or fruits itself, they taste much better because they’re naturally grown.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
Audit questions spending by school districts
Republican lawmakers are eying punitive measures for Kansas school districts, including potentially having them repay state aid meant to target students who are the highest risk of not graduating, after a state audit found that administrators haven’t followed strict guidelines for those funds. Among several other education issues, the Kansas Legislature’s Special Committee on Education honed in on the results of a report this summer from the Kansas Legislative Post Audit that examined how schools used more than $400 million in at-risk funding during the 2021-22 school year. … The audit, released over the summer as a follow-up to a 2019 audit, had found several continuing deficiencies in the way schools have been spending that funding, as well as manner in which the Kansas State Department of Education guides and oversees that funding.
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for October 6, 2023
The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.
City of Salina cuts special event permit fees in half amid concerns
Putting on special events will now cost less in Salina after the city commission approved a reduction in permit fees for such events at its meeting Monday. The move, which sees the city’s Special Event Permit fee cut in half, comes after many people in the community were concerned that events, like the annual Salina Toy Run, would not continue because of the increase of fees. City Manager Mike Schrage said the fee process for getting a special event permit is two-fold, with an initial application fee and then a fee for the permit itself. “The permit fee is after the application is approved and is structured to be based on the level of (city) services needed and provided,” Schrage said.
Source: Salina Journal
Hutch Fest will bring classic cars, 5K run, craft brews and live music to Hutchinson
It’s fall festival season and one of Hutchinson’s newest favorites is Hutch Fest, which will take place Friday and Saturday downtown. In its third year, organizers say the two-day festival is even more jam-packed with activities than ever before, with a hot rod and classic car show, a 5K and fun run, a craft brew festival, live music, food, movies and other fun activities for all ages. “We brought back Hutch Fest after years of not having this annual event,” said Amy Conkling, assistant executive director of Hutch Rec. “Hutch Fest was a huge hit in the 80s and 90s, and after a break, we’re back and in the fall. We listened to the community and their wants and desires for Hutch Fest, not only going with their nostalgia and memories, but also accommodating the festival to fit what works best now.”
Source: Hutch News
Celebrate Lindsborg’s Swedish heritage at Svensk Hyllningsfest
With visitors coming from around the world in numbers that more than triple the town’s population, the biennial Svensk Hyllningsfest is back this month in Lindsborg, Kansas’ own “Little Sweden.” Meaning “Swedish Honoring Festival,” Hyllningsfest, founded in 1941, takes place every odd-numbered year and celebrates the Swedish immigrants and pioneers who settled in the Smoky Valley during the late 1860s. Festivalgoers will join with the community to “become Swedish” with art, crafts, music, food and entertainment happening throughout the day on Oct. 13 and 14.
Source: Hutch News
Students building bridges across the American divide (Dodge City featured on CBS Sunday Morning)
High school grads participating in the American Exchange Project are sent on a free, week-long trip to a hometown very different from their own – crossing boundaries of blue and red states to find grey areas of common ground…. Under a nearly full moon in the unpolluted darkness of the night sky over Kansas, a group of student stargazers sat in a circle taking turns on the telescope. “It’s weird. Like, some craters are super-tiny,” said one. It was a bonding experience that was out of this world, especially given that only a day before they were as foreign to each other as the lunar landscape itself. Franely Rodriquez, a Dodge City, Kansas, native, said, “Politically and just morally, what we believe is completely different. So I was like, are we gonna get along?” Kaya Woo, who hails from just north of Berkeley, California, said, “Everyone, they’re like, ‘What’s your summer plans?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to Kansas.’ And without fail everyone was like, ‘Why? Why would you go to Kansas?'” Why? The better question may be why not.
Source: Sunday Morning – CBSNews.com
Salina hosts state tennis for first time in 20 years. A community effort made it possible
Salina will host top high school tennis players from across the state this weekend for the first time in two decades. The Kansas State High School Activities Association’s 5A Girls State Tennis Tournament will be held in Salina for the first time since 2003, after the completion of a new state of the art tennis facility in town made it possible. For at least five years, the city, school district and community partners have been working on getting local tennis facilities up to a higher standard. The culmination of this effort resulted in updates to the Salina South tennis courts ahead of this season, as well as 12 new courts at a facility that has become the crown jewel of the Salina tennis community.
Source: Salina Journal
Overland Park Police completes international trust building initiative
Overland Park has taken a number of steps aimed at building trust in the community, all outlined in an international police pledge. The Trust Building Campaign initiative, which the department embarked on earlier this year, is through the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Despite completing the pledge, the Overland Park Police Department has faced scrutiny for what some have alleged are untrustworthy actions, particularly in regards to its handling of an officer who shot and killed a teenager in a mental health crisis in 2018.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Lane County using unique method to address housing issues
There has been a push in Lane County to build more homes, and the Lane County Community Foundation has an interesting way of achieving that goal. The foundation and the “Dighton Builds The Future” initiative are fundraising for the efforts with a $70,000 match from the Patterson Family Foundation. Logan Campbell, the executive director for the Lane County Community Foundation, said housing has always been an issue, but now, they are losing teachers and workers because of it. The method for solving the housing issue? If you build it, they will come, Campbell said.
Source: KSN-TV
Quindaro Ruins in Kansas City, Kansas, are one step closer to National Historic Landmark status
Before local preservationists focused attention on the decaying ruins of the town of Quindaro in the 1980s, the overgrown and largely forgotten site, hidden on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, was nearly turned into a landfill. Since then, community members and legislators have pushed for official recognition and the resources that come with it. Preservation advocates got one step closer to their goal on Tuesday. Three U.S. House representatives, two Democrats and one Republican, introduced a bill to further protect the ruins in northeast Kansas City, Kansas. Sharice Davids (D-KS), along with Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Jake LaTurner (R-KS), introduced the bill Tuesday that would make the Quindaro site one of 2,600 National Historic Landmarks across the country.
Source: KCUR News
Stevens County Fire Department teams up for Fire Prevention Week
The Stevens County Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) — the official sponsor of Fire Prevention WeekTM (FPW) for more than 100 years — to promote this year’s FPW campaign, “Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire preventionTM.” The campaign works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take when cooking to keep themselves and those around them safe.
Source: Hugoton Hermes News
Kansas on track for $2.6 billion state revenue surplus, $1.6 billion stash in rainy-day fund
Kansas budget director Adam Proffitt said Tuesday the state government was on track to meet revenue projections necessary to create a $2.6 billion ending balance in the current fiscal year and reinforce the state’s financial position with $1.6 billion in a rainy day emergency account. He told participants at Washburn University’s economic outlook conference the state generated $2.2 billion in revenue during the initial three months of the fiscal year. That was a 0.5% or $10 million above the estimate issued in April. If all goes as assumed, he said, the state would spend only $9.4 billion of $10.3 billion in revenue flowing into the state general fund during the year ending June 30, 2024.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Winfield City Lake at lowest level since 1992, new way to track levels
Winfield City Lake is at its lowest level since 1992. The City of Winfield says this is because of the extended drought conditions in Cowley County and the Upper Timber Creek Watershed Area. “The City of Winfield addresses its short-term water shortage problems through a series of stages based on conditions of supply and demand with accompanying triggers, goals and actions,” said Winfield. “Each stage is more stringent in water use than the previous stage since water supply conditions are more deteriorated.” The City Manager is authorized by ordinance to implement the appropriate conservation measures. There is a new way to track the water level at Winfield City Lake. Data is added weekly, if not more often, to the new tool.
Source: KSN-TV
Wichita has 9 active TIF districts — where they are, how they’re performing
Tax increment financing, one of the tools in the city’s economic-development toolbox, has supported several notable commercial projects locally. The Wichita area has nine active TIF districts that have helped finance a range of projects, including the construction of Riverfront Stadium, the renovations at Union Station and a housing development in Riverside, among others. So, what is a TIF? TIF districts are designed to fund redevelopment costs in blighted areas of the city through the incremental increase in property taxes that occurs over time because of the investment. The incremental increase is used to reimburse bonds that were sold to finance the project, or to reimburse the developer on a pay-as-you-go basis. The funding can go toward costs such as land acquisition, site preparation, infrastructure, parking structures and other related costs.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
Panasonic details its hiring to date and future plans for De Soto plant
Panasonic is ramping up hiring for its $4 billion electric-vehicle battery factory in De Soto. To date, the company has hired 70 people for the plant and has filled out its senior leadership team, said locally based Kristen Walters, vice president of human resources. The newly hired employees are roughly a 50/50 split between area residents and outside hires, she said. New hires and open positions are across the board, and include areas such as human resources, finance, supply chain and logistics, procurement, production/operations and engineering. Some engineers will be training in Nevada and Japan before working at the De Soto plant. The company also is collaborating with area universities to train the future workforce it needs.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
What’s next for Wichita’s housing market?
Wichita’s housing shortage will likely get worse in 2024, according to a new forecast from the Wichita State Center for Real Estate. Home prices are expected to stay high, and fewer units will be sold next year than in 2023, said Stanley Longhofer, the center’s founding director who pens annual analyses of Kansas’ major real estate markets. At least that’s his best guess, based on local and national economic indicators. “Housing markets have been so crazy over the past few years, it can be hard to see through the distortions to understand what ‘normal’ really is,” said Longhofer, who will present his findings at the Kansas Association of Realtors Annual Conference in Manhattan on Thursday. The center projects that home sales in Wichita metro area will end the year down by 10.4% with 9,470 units sold and that that figure will drop another 80 units in 2024.
Source: KLC Journal