Kansas Municipal News
Shawnee Mission district must pay family $400K in special ed dispute
A court ruling that the Shawnee Mission School District denied an elementary school student appropriate special needs services will have a financial impact on the district as a new school year begins. The district has been ordered to pay $400,000 in attorney fees for the parents who brought the suit, as well as hire an independent specialist to develop the child’s education plan and hire a behavior analyst to track the child’s progress as he attempts to make up for the three semesters he had been denied appropriate services. The district already has incurred $432,503 in legal fees from the three years the matter wound its way through various hearings and a lawsuit in federal district court.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Lawrence Municipal Court receives big haul in school supply drive to reduce ticket fines
A Lawrence Municipal Court initiative that allowed people to pay for $50 worth of traffic tickets with $15 worth of school supplies brought in more than 900 items. Vicki Stanwix, court administrator, said via email Tuesday that 44 people donated items in exchange for a reduction in parking or infraction fines. The court also received donations from some people who owed less than $50 in fines, and from people who did not owe fines to the court but wanted to give back to the community, she said. Altogether, the court received 924 school supply items including 187 glue sticks, 160 boxes of crayons, 79 notebooks, 55 packs of pencils and 15 backpacks, Stanwix said.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Addition will double the size of Wakefield Museum
On Friday, the small museum in Wakefield broke ground on an addition that will not only about double the museum’s size to display items, but board members hope it will become a place that members of the community will use to host events. According to Mick Zurmely, a member of the Building Expansion Committee behind the planning, fundraising and activities that made the addition a possibility, increased display space is the primary goal of the 60-foot by 90-foot building addition under construction on the north side of the Wakefield Museum.
Source: www.ccenterdispatch.com
Leawood is still debating how tall buildings can be in the city
The Leawood City Council insists that capping building heights at four stories is best for the city. The city council on Monday remanded a proposed ordinance lowering the maximum height for office buildings and mixed-use projects to the Leawood Planning Commission for further review. The commission has already recommended the city council deny the ordinance, citing concerns that it would hamper development and growth in southern Leawood. The proposed city code caps building heights at four stories. The change would lower the maximum height for buildings zoned for planned office or mixed use from 90 feet to 55 feet. This would generally mean capping buildings at four stories, instead of Leawood’s current maximum of six stories. Under the new ordinance, the city would make exceptions for a “signature building” with a unique design or for sites that already have tall trees.
Source: Prairie Village Post
More express toll lanes in Johnson County? Kansas talks of adding them to crowded K-10
As Kansas’ first-ever express toll lanes are under construction on U.S. 69 in Overland Park, the state is now considering adding more to ease congestion on another highway in Johnson County: Kansas 10. The Kansas Department of Transportation is studying how to address traffic and safety issues on the 17-mile stretch from the interchange with Interstates 435 and 35 in Lenexa, west through Olathe and De Soto to the Douglas County line. And officials said one option could be widening the highway with one express toll lane in each direction. The other lanes would remain free. “Expanding K-10 with express lanes is one option being considered,” Steven Cross, KDOT project manager, told the Star in an email. “This can be a good solution for addressing long term congestion especially on corridors like K-10 which are anticipated to experience continued growth in traffic.”
Source: Joco 913 News
Lawrence may become first city in Kansas to protect Black residents from hair discrimination
According to a CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study, approximately two-thirds of Black women change their hair for a job interview, and 41% change their hair from curly to straight. “We know that the traditional white standard of beauty is one that is centered in professional settings, and that is something that Black women and men have had to conform to, and that takes them out of their identity of who they are,” Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers told KCUR’s Up To Date. Sellers was one of the commissioners who voted to adopt the CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” at a city meeting last week. The commission will cast a final vote to pass the ordinance on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
Source: KCUR
SEED Grants Available to Invest in Rural Quality-of-Life Initiatives
Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced today that $275,000 will be available through a second round of Strategic Economic Expansion and Development (SEED) grants. The SEED program supports economic development and revitalization efforts in smaller counties across Kansas through investments in quality-of-life initiatives. “SEED grants help improve community appeal and have already been game-changing for more than 60 cities across the state,” said Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland. “The Kelly Administration is committed to developing community assets and investing in new opportunities that will support growth in rural areas throughout Kansas.” The grants will be administered through the Kansas Department of Commerce to communities in 78 designated counties with a population of 5,000 or less.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Municipal Bond Trends for August 22, 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.
Hollywood studio comes to Kansas: Pure Imagination will set up a $40M site at K-State Salina campus
Officials from across the state were in Salina on Tuesday morning as a $40 million partnership was announced between Kansas State University and an independent Hollywood studio. Kansas Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said Pure Imagination Studios is partnering with K-State to bring a 58,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, advanced spatial computing and learning studio to the university’s Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus. … Named the Kansas Advanced Immersive Research for Emerging Systems (K-AIRES) facility, Toland said the studio is set to employ more than 100 people in “high-wage, highly-skilled positions.”
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for August 21, 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.
Landlords’ lawsuit against City of Lawrence over source of income, immigration status will continue, judge rules
A lawsuit arguing that changes to the City of Lawrence’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which now prohibits landlords from refusing to accept rental applications based on source of income, are unconstitutional is set to continue following a ruling Monday in Douglas County District Court. Along with preventing landlords from refusing applications from tenants who receive rental assistance such as Section 8 housing vouchers, the amended nondiscrimination ordinance approved by the Lawrence City Commission in February also makes it unlawful to discriminate based on someone’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or stalking, and based on someone’s immigration status.
Source: LJWorld
Property taxes could be fully refunded for some Wichitans next year
The City of Wichita is considering a temporary program to knock property taxes down to zero for seniors, lower-income families and disabled veterans who qualify. The City wants to piggyback on a state program that offers a 75% property tax refund. People already receiving the state refund would be able to apply for an extra 25% refund from the City of Wichita, which would fully cover property taxes. The 25% refund was added in an amendment to the proposed budget for 2024 this week, but it won’t be set in stone until the City holds a final public hearing Tuesday and then votes on whether to approve the program.
Source: KSN-TV
Public Transit: Countywide Transportation Program in Bourbon County
In the coming weeks, folks in Bourbon County will have a source of public transportation. “Right now currently there’s only one option for public transportation and that’s through a taxi service here in Fort Scott,” said Rachel Carpenter, HBCAT Director for the Center of Economic Growth. On August 28th, the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team will partner with the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program to bring a county-wide public transportation service to Bourbon County. “Transportation has always been an issue, especially wheelchair-accessible transportation. We’ve been serving Crawford County, Pittsburg, Neosho County for several years and we’ve been looking to get back into Bourbon County,” said Scott Christiansen, SEK-CAP Director of Transportation.
Source: KSNF/KODE
New funds released to preserve history in Kansas small towns
Governor Laura Kelly announced Friday that new federal funding will be going toward preserving the history of rural Kansas towns. A total of $750,000 will be used to preserve historic properties in the downtown areas of Kansas’ rural communities with populations under 30,000, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor. Thirteen subgrant programs across 12 states received funds through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants, including the Kansas Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office. “Kansas is home to many historical and cultural sites that tell the story of our state’s and our nation’s past,” Kelly said. “Thanks to the National Park Service and the Kansas Historical Society, we can protect our rural communities for future generations to learn from and enjoy.”
Source: KSNF/KODE
Committee recommends City of Lawrence nix sustainability board, consolidate others
A committee’s revised plan to update the city’s many boards recommends that the Sustainability Advisory Board and Public Incentives Review Committee be dissolved, among numerous other changes. Over the last several months, the Board and Commissions Structure Committee has been tasked with limiting the number of city advisory boards, committees, commissions and task forces to 10, not counting those that are required by state statutes. In a previous draft recommendation, the committee suggested consolidating 13 boards down to five and nixing another. The update comes after an online questionnaire and two listening sessions.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Lawrence community memorializes victims of Quantrill’s Raid as 160th anniversary approaches
Lawrence community members gathered at the Watkins Museum of History Saturday morning for the annual reading of the names of known victims who died in Quantrill’s Raid. Monday, Aug. 21 will mark 160 years since the proslavery forces attacked the town, largely considered an antislavery stronghold, killing between roughly 160 and 200 people and destroying much of the property. The town quickly rose from the ashes as the people rebuilt. Anthony Boynton, writer and member of B.L.A.C.K. Lawrence, gave an original reading during the event. He said it was a poem written from the perspective of someone who knows history has been whitewashed.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Why the Era of Historically Low Interest Rates Could Be Over
Despite the Federal Reserve’s raising interest rates to a 22-year high, the economy remains surprisingly resilient, with estimates putting third-quarter growth on pace to easily exceed its 2% trend. It is one of the factors leading some economists to question whether rates will ever return to the lower levels that prevailed before 2020 even if inflation returns to the Fed’s 2% target over the next few years. … At issue is what is known as the neutral rate of interest. It is the rate at which the demand and supply of savings is in equilibrium, leading to stable economic growth and inflation. … Analysts see three broad reasons neutral might go higher than before 2020.
Source: WSJ.com: US Business
Municipal Bond Trends for August 18, 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.
Kansas wants public feedback on its plan to expand broadband internet access
Kansas is seeking feedback on an initiative that will focus on getting underserved locations across the state better access to high-speed internet. The state announced early this month that the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (referred to as BEAD) initial proposal is available for public viewing and feedback as the state develops a five-year action plan. The initial proposal makes up “Volume 1” of the plan, with Volume 2 and the five-year plan working to identify served, unserved and underserved areas throughout the state. … The deadline to provide feedback is Aug. 30. The form can be accessed here.
Source: Salina Journal
Tiny town of Yoder to welcome thousands to celebrate its heritage
Set for Saturday, Aug. 26, in Yoder, Kansas, Yoder Heritage Day began in 1989 as a celebration of the town’s centennial. A few years later in 1992, a committee was formed to continue organizing a similar event to bring people in and celebrate Yoder, and it is now established as a tradition for both locals and travelers. “The goal of our event is to showcase the Yoder community and the Amish and Mennonite heritage of the Yoder community,” said Mervin Fisher, advertising manager. “It is a homecoming reunion for former Kansans where we provide a great family-friendly atmosphere with no alcohol and it is free to get in and all events are free to watch.”
Source: Hutch News