(316) 264-3400|info@ransonfinancial.com
FacebookXLinkedIn

Municipal News & Jobs

Municipal News & Jobs2026-08-07T10:07:18-05:00

Kansas Municipal News

As COVID-19 cases in Kansas rise, state is a step closer to ramping up testing

Kansans may soon see widely expanded COVID-19 testing after a state task force Wednesday approved a plan for the distribution of millions of dollars in leftover federal pandemic aid. Gov. Laura Kelly’s Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas, or SPARK, task force’s proposed strategy for the $290 million in remaining CARES act funding emphasized three areas of need: public health, essential needs and services, and workforce support. “I think there are still a lot of needs out there in business and health and we can make really good decisions about where we spend everything, but it needs to go out and get spent and help our economy right now,” said Sen. Tom Hawk, a Manhattan Democrat. “Sometimes, we can’t make the very best decision because we don’t have the luxury of the time to go through our normal legislative paralysis of analysis.”
Source: Kansas Reflector

Sedgwick County and law enforcement communities remember Sheriffs’ Deputy Robert Kunze

This Wednesday marks two years since a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s deputy lost his life in the line of duty. The community and those that knew Deputy Robert Kunze remember the man, the peacekeeper, and ally. Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Kunze died September 16 2018 after sustaining gunshot wounds after responding to a suspicious character call in northwest Sedgwick County on a rural stretch of road near Garden Plain. In a fantastic display of effort, the fatally wounded 41-year-old deputy managed to get himself to his feet to pursue his assailant, firing his weapon and taking the suspect down before the deputy collapsed, according to the National Sheriff’s Association. Kunze’s efforts may have also saved the lives of two eyewitnesses who reported the incident and followed the suspect until law enforcement arrived.
Source: KSN-TV

City of Wichita cites 4 bars over mask mandate

The mask ordinance due to COVID-19 has been in effect for more than two months in the county and the city of Wichita. It requires everyone in the city to cover their mouth and nose in public. Mayor Brandon Whipple says not everyone is complying. This week, Whipple said the city cited four more bars because staff and patrons were not wearing masks. “The way I view this is protecting people from COVID is just like protecting people from food poisoning, protecting them from other bacteria, protecting them from anything else that could be out there right now,” said Mayor Whipple. Whipple says tickets are the last resort. Officers will try to educate people on why masks are important.
Source: KSN-TV

Kechi Mayor and wife rallied by the community as they fight COVID-19

Community Kindness is keeping the Kechi Mayor and his wife’s spirits up as they battle Coronavirus. The same virus, but different symptoms. For John Speer, the virus left him with no energy and struggling to breathe for several days. It was far more serious for his wife. Speer said there were moments doctors didn’t think she would pull through. “It was life threatening,” said Mayor John Speer. For the past nine days, Speer’s wife was in the ICU fighting for her life, but Tuesday afternoon she was brought to the hospital’s COVID-19 unity and has stabilized. 
Source: KSN-TV

Sedgwick County moves to ease bar and club curfew after weekend of defiant after-hours revelry

Following a weekend of defiant late-night and early morning revelry across the Wichita area, Sedgwick County commissioners moved Wednesday toward easing an 11 p.m. curfew placed on bars and nightclubs to fight the spread of COVID-19. The commission voted unanimously to recommend to County Health Officer Dr. Garold Minns that he move the curfew to midnight for bars, clubs and restaurants that serve alcohol. The curfew was originally set at midnight in July for restaurants serving alcohol. Minns moved it to 11 p.m. in mid-August when he also lifted an order that had closed bars and nightclubs entirely.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Proposed development prompts debate about Paola community garden

For the past eight years the Paola Community Garden has sat on city-owned land in the Paola Industrial Park, but garden volunteers have always known they may need to move the amenity if a developer was ever interested in the property. Over time the garden’s footprint has grown along with its produce, and it now features a bridge, picnic table, shelter, shed and a butterfly garden that includes a memorial tree in memory of Regan Johnson, a 16-year-old Paola High School junior who took her own life in December 2017. Her death led to the creation of the Shifting Gears for Regan suicide prevention organization.
Source: The Miami County Republic

Independence Appoints Kelly Passauer as City Manager

The Mayor and City Commissioners are proud to announce the appointment of Kelly Passauer to the position of City Manager effective immediately. Over the last several months, the Commission discussed the specific needs of Independence, realizing there is a need to develop a long-term direction for the community. In doing that, they interviewed various candidates for the position and discussed the new direction with all finalists. The Commission felt that it would be necessary for the City to move in a new direction, breaking the traditional model that has been a guide in the past. The new model would develop a strong team between the Commission and the City Manager that would look beyond the typical relationships and consider Independence as a regional community.
Source: Independence, KS – News Flash

Wastewater Operator could face up to 3 years in federal prison

An operator of the Wamego Wastewater Treatment Facility was indicted Wednesday on federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act, said U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister. According to the office of the United States Attorney Stephen McCallister, David Schleif, 47, of Belvue, was charged with discharging untreated and inadequately treated sewage from the Wamego Wastewater Treatment Facility into the Kansas River. The crime is alleged to have occurred between May 2017 and August 2019. Schleif was also charged with 19 counts of including falsified data in discharge monitoring reports.
Source: KSNT News

Efforts underway to build walking trail to new school site in Iola

One of the potential hurdles to extending the Missouri Pacific Trail through east Iola has been cleared, even before the project has entered the city’s radar. Iola City Council members approved the purchase of a parcel of land at 308 N. First St. for $1,500. The land held a recently demolished house that had been condemned by the city because of its unsafe condition. It also happens to be the only portion of the old Missouri Pacific Rail Line that Iola did not have sufficient easements necessary to extend the walking and biking trail from downtown Iola to the new Iola Elementary School site. Rather than be fitted with the entire $3,275 demolition bill, the property owners have agreed to deed the property to the city for the trail project, whenever it begins. 
Source: The Iola Register

California intern learns to build community ties in Allen County

Californian Anya Poplavska came to Allen County this summer to learn more about the Midwest and work on environmental projects. She left last week with a better understanding about what it means to be part of a community. Her introduction to Allen County, though, came with an eye-opening city council meeting in a small town. She felt the judgmental stare from a local resident, who seemed to be sizing her up as a West Coast elitist. “I’d never experienced anything like that, and it was a taste of my own medicine,” she said. “It made me realize we like to put people in boxes. We think we understand people before we even get to know them.” Poplavska spent just about a month in Iola, working as an intern for Thrive Allen County. Though it was a relatively brief time, she took advantage of the opportunity to throw herself into a couple of projects she hopes will benefit the community for years to come. More importantly, she said, she challenged her own assumptions and developed a greater appreciation for the region.
Source: The Iola Register

Fed sees interest rates near zero until at least 2023

The Federal Open Market Committee, excluding four members, sees interest rates staying at the zero to 0.25% range they’re in now for the foreseeable future, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Summary of Economic Projections, released after its meeting, which ended Wednesday. “The Committee expects to maintain an accommodative stance of monetary policy until” it hits its goal of maximum employment and 2% inflation over the long-term, according to its post-meeting statement. “We will maintain current rate until inflation reaches 2.0%,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his press conference. “Progress has been better than expected, but even so, overall activity is lower than pre-pandemic, and further recovery is unpredictable and uncertain.” He noted median inflation projections have now “increased to 1.2% for this year, 1.7% next year and 2.0% in 2023.” The post-meeting statement, “affirmed the Fed’s commitment to use all measures necessary to boost inflation and improve labor market conditions,” according to Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. “With the zero interest rate policy now expected to last through 2023, the Fed continues to give a green light to investors with little near-term risk of removing the markets’ punch bowl.”
Source: The Bond Buyer

New owners plan to redevelop, rename and build more on Overland Park’s Sprint Campus

New owners of the Sprint Campus plan to rename, renovate and expand the sprawling office park in Overland Park. Wichita-based real estate development firm Occidental Management, which purchased the campus from Sprint Corp. in July 2019, announced plans Wednesday to renovate existing buildings and add as much as 2.7 million square feet in new construction. The company plans to add new multi-family housing, office, retail and restaurant space. Sprint opened its iconic campus in 2001 but as the telecommunications company’s fortunes changed, it dramatically reduced its workforce on the 190-acre site, which has nearly 4 million square feet of office space. T-Mobile, headquartered in the Seattle area, completed its $26 billion merger with Overland Park-based Sprint in April.
Source: Joco 913 News

Fed Meeting to Focus on Laying Out Interest-Rate Strategy

Federal Reserve officials resume deliberations Wednesday about how to detail plans to support the economy now that they have formally adopted a strategy to keep interest rates lower for longer. Officials’ public remarks before entering their traditional pre-meeting quiet period two weeks ago suggested they hadn’t yet decided how to reconfigure their policy statement to reflect the new framework. This raises the prospect they could make a few changes now and more extensive ones later this year. The central bank releases its policy statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time along with new economic projections. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell follows with a press conference at 2:30 p.m., at which he could explain how he and his colleagues are thinking about possible additional steps.
Source: Wall Street Journal.

Newly discovered photos tell unique Udall tornado story

Greg Proctor, 69, said he was helping his friends Joyce and Bill Shook at their home this summer when the couple showed him some photos they found buried away in their belongings. “So I took them home and looked at them. The more I looked at them, I realized they were original pictures because they had original handwriting on the back from whoever took them,” said Proctor. Proctor scanned the photos depicting the aftermath of the tornado and posted them to Facebook. “People started piping in that they had never seen those pictures before,” Proctor explained. “Gosh, within just a few days we had over 100 hits on those pictures with people with their individual stories and personal accounts.”
Source: KSN-TV

COVID-19 hits the Great Bend Police Department prompting a request for assistance from the Barton County Sheriff’s Office

Overwhelming call loads and officer shortages is the reality the Great Bend Police Department is facing after more than two dozen employees have either tested positive or are in quarantine for COVID-19. The exposures have impacted officers from command to patrol, straining the Great Bend Police Department’s rank-and-file and making it difficult to keep up with the call load. The department has even been forced to start moving their detectives to patrol. However, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office is now offering their help to keep up with the demand.
Source: KSN-TV

Wichita Police Department launches program to help clear non-DUI traffic warrants from records

The Wichita Police Department announced Tuesday they are launching ‘Second Chance Thursday’ — a program providing an opportunity for citizens to quickly clear traffic warrants on their records without going through the Sedgwick County jail.  This opportunity is only for city-issued traffic citation warrants that don’t involve driving under the influence.  Second Chance Thursday will take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Patrol West Community Policing Office, 5803 W. Central.
Source: KSN-TV

Harvey County Commission extends face mask order through Oct. 19

The Harvey County Commission voted at its commission meeting on Tuesday to extend a local order requiring face masks to be worn through Oct. 19 in a continued effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The face mask order requires individuals to wear a face mask over their nose and mouth in any indoor or outdoor public space where social distancing cannot be maintained at all times. It is the second extension of the local face mask order. The commission implemented a local order beginning July 15, and extended it on Aug. 11.
Source: KSN-TV

Girard residents to receive free meals thanks to grant

Starting this Friday, Girard residents will be eligible for free meals through a grant. Greenbush and the city of Girard partnered together to offer this with CDBG funds. Residents can get free meals from September 18th through the 25th at 102 North Ozark from 10:30 a.m. To 12:30 p.m. All they need to bring is either their driver’s license or a bill to show their proof of residency. Food will be given out on a first come first served basis.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Continuing mask order in Johnson County, Kansas, will go up for debate this week

Johnson County, Kansas, leaders will consider whether to keep requiring residents to wear masks this week. It comes after a county commissioner falsely claimed the mask mandate had already been lifted. ShananiGanns Boutique in Shawnee is chock full of unique items. Tucked in with all the merchandise are row after row of face masks. “We have masks for first communions, for weddings, for every high school and grade school,” said ShananiGanns owner Kristina Gann Albright. Sales of the coverings have helped lift the small business up after losses suffered during the stay-at-home orders when its doors were closed.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

Basehor establishes Municipal Services Department

The city of Basehor has created a new Municipal Services Department. City Administrator Leslee Rivarola said in a news release that the department will oversee all public infrastructure in Basehor. This will include building permits and inspections. According to Rivarola, the city is taking a “one-stop shop” approach to deliver construction services by consolidating certain services under the leadership of one department.”
Source: Leavenworth Times

The Federal Reserve will stay on hold until 2023, according to CNBC survey

In the first CNBC Fed Survey since the Federal Reserve announced its new, more dovish monetary policy strategy, respondents now forecast no rate hikes from the central bank until 2023. The results are a potential first sign that the Fed’s new strategy of targeting average inflation, where it will allow inflation to run above its 2% target for an unspecified time, have had an immediate impact on the rate outlook. The new average forecast, which has the Fed on hold until February 2023, is six months later than the July survey and comes amid more upbeat views on the economic recovery and higher inflation forecasts. Under the previous strategy, where the Fed aimed for a symmetrical 2% target, those conditions might have brought forward the outlook for rate hikes.
Source: CNBC

A production company is filming a Netflix-funded documentary at Haysville’s Campus High

Haysville, Kansas, is getting a shot at stardom. Some of its high school students are, at least. A New York City television production company called Left/Right Productions now has at least three camera crews at Haysville’s Campus High School following 10 different seniors through their final year of high school. They’re working on a documentary project titled “The Graduates” that has funding from Netflix and may eventually be picked up and aired by the streaming service, said Adia Ludwig, the communication director for USD 261 in Haysville.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

The Keeper statue stolen from Planeview Park has been recovered

The Keeper statue that was taken from Wichita’s Planeview Park by vandals over the weekend has been found and returned to Together Wichita, the group that initiated the Keeper 150 project. But it’s so badly damaged that it’s not likely repairable, they said on Tuesday. On Monday, a resident spotted the missing statue in the grass beside a creek that runs by Colvin Elementary School, said Tessa Brungardt, who manages the Keeper project for Together Wichita. That resident called Brungardt, who alerted the city of Wichita. Its maintenance workers retrieved the statue on Monday evening. The creek is not far from Planeview Park, 2819 Fees St.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

COVID-19 cases increase, McPherson reconsiders mask ordinance

Cases of COVID-19 have increased in McPherson County, leading city commissioners to reconsider the mask ordinance. Just last week the city commission voted unanimously to allow the mask ordinance to expire. “I am less impacted by petitions and comments and more impacted by data,” Mayor Tom Brown said Monday morning. “And the data showed on Wednesday I believe that we had five cases per 100,000 seven day moving average. That is very low. Unfortunately, we had a spike of 25 to 30 positive cases. As of the last report I saw from the health department we had 40 active cases. We jumped all the way to 23 cases per 100,000 seven day moving average. That is only two cases away from being in the highest category.” 
Source: McPherson Weekly News » Feed

Mission police officers who answered shooting call near Highlands Elementary among those honored at recent ceremony

Officer Jay Fleer (right) and Samantha Kunzler-Bryant (middle) receive the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Gold Award for Uncommon Valor in connection to their response to the March 2019 Highlands Elementary shooting incident. Photo submitted by Emily Randel. The city of Mission recently honored Officers Jay Fleer and Samantha Kunzler-Bryant for their response to the Highlands Elementary shooting incident in March 2019. Although Mission would typically present officer awards during city council meetings — which have turned virtual due to COVID-19 — the city held a socially-distanced officer award ceremony Friday to honor police going above and beyond. Fleer and Kunzler-Bryant were among awardees, and received the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Gold Award for Uncommon Valor in connection to the Highlands shooting.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

The Fed could could still move markets Wednesday even with rates on hold for the foreseeable

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the January 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, in Washington, DC on January 29, 2020. While committed to keeping interest rates low for the next several years, the Federal Reserve still has plenty of work to do as it steers the U.S. economy through the pandemic. As central bank officials gather Tuesday and Wednesday for their policy meeting, a number of items are on the agenda, even as the mystery of where rates are headed has disappeared. The Federal Open Market Committee will provide its quarterly update on where it sees GDP, unemployment and inflation heading. It also will take up the issue of whether it should provide clearer guidance on what it will take to raise rates in the future, and it could switch its bond-buying strategy to go beyond supporting market functioning to one that backstops the broader economy as well.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Topeka, KS offers $10K for remote workers to relocate

GO Topeka, an economic development group in the Topeka, KS area, is the latest to establish a remote work incentive program dubbed the Choose Topeka Relocation Initiative. The initiative will offer remote employees nationally up to $10,000 toward the purchase of a home in Topeka or Shawnee County or $5,000 toward a one-year lease in the region, in an effort to grow the Topeka-area community. The program is prepared to accept about 10 to 20 applicants, said Barbara Stapleton with the Greater Topeka Partnership. The effort is an expansion of a 2019 job relocation program that required candidates take a job with a Topeka-based company.
Source: Smart Cities Dive – Latest News

Wichita police issue tickets for violating city’s mask mandate

The Wichita Police Department is now issuing tickets for violations of the city’s mask ordinance that requires most people to wear protective face masks in public to fight the coronavirus. The ordinance passed July 3, but was not enforced until Saturday, when four tickets were issued at bars that were operating after the county’s 11 p.m. curfew. City officials say the tickets were issued only after education attempts failed and some bars and nightclubs across Wichita rebelled against COVID-19 restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Compliance with face mask and bar curfew order is no longer voluntary in Sedgwick County

Compliance with the coronavirus public health order on face masks and a bar curfew is no longer voluntary in Sedgwick County. Health officer Dr. Garold Minns signed a new emergency public health order on Monday, removing the phrase “voluntary compliance” from the existing COVID-19 order. The mandatory health order goes into effect first thing Tuesday morning and runs through the end of day Oct. 21. “Any persons or organizations within Sedgwick County must comply with the order,” county officials wrote in a news release. “Minns will continue to review and monitor COVID-19 trends in the community and will consider lifting restrictions as trends move in a positive direction.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Pretty Prairie wind farm lawsuit dismissed, allowing it to be appealed

The Pretty Prairie Wind lawsuit was dismissed by a Reno County judge on Monday after attorneys for the developer filed a motion asking to dismiss all claims in the suit except on an issue the district court already ruled on. The action effectively allows the corporation to appeal to a higher court an earlier ruling by District Judge Tim Chambers on a motion for summary judgment. It has 10 days to file a notice of appeal. Pretty Prairie Wind LLC, a subsidiary formed by NextEra Energy to develop an 82-turbine wind farm in the southeast quadrant of the county, filed the suit in July 2019 after it failed to obtain a conditional use permit to build the project. That after landowners in the development area who opposed the project successfully filed a protest petition which forced a unanimous county commission vote to grant the permit, but the vote was split 2-1 in favor of the permit.
Source: Local – The Hutchinson News

Manhattan City Commission looking at giving city staff power to raise Parks & Rec fees

The Manhattan City Commission is looking into giving city administrators the power to set Parks & Recreation fees without seeking commission approval first. Deputy City Manager Jason Hilgers said city staff already have the ability to do this with new Parks & Rec programs, but the laws are inconsistent. Hilgers said older programs, like youth baseball and basketball, are wrapped up in another city ordinance. “We’ll have administration evaluate these programs,” Hilgers said. “Look at the cost to bring the program to bear and then correspondently charge the participants basically a cost recovery rate to try to pay for that program.”
Source: KSNT News

“It will be drastic and very harmful,” Governor Kelly warns of possible budget cuts

The SPARK Task Force was assembled to distribute millions of dollars in federal CARES Act funding in three rounds. The task force is working to finalize and send out the final $290 million to communities. Governor Kelly said some of that final round money will go to additional testing in the state; including the testing of asymptomatic individuals. But that money was not permitted to be used to pay off state debt or backfill state revenue loss. Governor Kelly said the federal government must send additional funding to help the state’s work their way out of the economic impact of the virus. She said, without this help, Kansas will likely see major budget cuts in fiscal year 2022.
Source: KSNT News

Muni-Bond Downgrades Rare Even With Few Spared Pandemic’s Blows

Even as America’s states and cities brace for hundreds of billions of dollars tax collections to disappear, the two biggest credit-rating companies have been slow to downgrade municipal debt amid increasing risk for the $3.9 trillion market. Since the pandemic raced through the U.S., S&P Global Ratings Inc. and Moody’s Investors Service have downgraded about 1% of the municipal borrowers they rate, even as sports stadiums close, college towns and dormitories are emptied after some campuses canceled in-person classes, and the steep drop in travel batters airports and tourism-driven cities. Halfway through September, Moody’s has cut the ratings of about 125 of the approximately 12,000 public finance entities it tracks, 90 fewer than the second and third quarters of 2018, when the economy was eight years into a record expansion. S&P lowered those on 175 of about 20,000 borrowers since late March.
Source: Bloomberg.

Vandals have stolen one of the just-installed Keeper statues celebrating Wichita’s 150th

If you go out searching for the 13 Keeper statues that were just installed as a celebration of Wichita’s 150th birthday, you can mark one off the list — for now. Over the weekend, the new statue at Planeview Park was somehow knocked off its base and stolen. The 10-foot-tall fiberglass statue, which had been painted by artist Tereza Zardoz, had just been put in place near the park’s playground two weeks ago. It’s the first time since the Keeper project started in 2015 that a statue has been stolen, said Tessa Brungardt, the project manager. And only one other statue has ever been vandalized.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Prairie Village councilmembers approve voluntary compost-collection service agreements

The Prairie Village city council last week voted to allow two local compost companies to provide curbside collection service for interested residents. The council’s Tuesday action follows its June 2021 budget discussion where the council decided not to proceed with a citywide curbside compost and glass collection program that would have been paid for from the solid waste assessment fee on property taxes, according to council documents.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Lawrence to consider additions to ordinance that provides protections for undocumented immigrants

City leaders will soon discuss additional provisions of a nondiscrimination ordinance meant to create transparency regarding how the police interact with undocumented immigrants. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider adopting the ordinance on second reading following some changes the commission directed city staff to make in July. At that time, the commission approved the ordinance on first reading but requested that city staff draft language to incorporate one addition and further review another. Both additions were requested by the local immigrant advocacy group Sanctuary Alliance, which began the conversation last year by calling for the city to adopt sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants.
Source: LJWorld.com.

Lawrence seeks residents’ views on systemic racism as part of reconsideration of police force’s role

The City of Lawrence will soon be starting a conversation about systemic racism to help inform potentially fundamental changes in policing and other city functions — with the city’s multimillion-dollar police budget in the balance. Following local and national protests this year over police killings of Black people and systemic racism, Mayor Jennifer Ananda in June called for the city to consider about a dozen reforms, including reallocation of some police funding for social services. The Lawrence City Commission later agreed to consider the changes and to create a process for residents to weigh in on the discussion.
Source: LJWorld.com.

USDA Expands Access to Broadband Infrastructure for Rural Businesses and Residents Under Select Rural Development Programs

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand today announced that USDA released a final rule to allow the use of funds under select programs to help expand access to broadband services for America’s rural businesses and residents. Effective immediately, entities may be eligible to use up to 10 percent of a loan, grant or loan guarantee to build, improve or acquire rural broadband facilities and equipment in areas not served by a minimum acceptable level of broadband service which is 25 megabits downstream and 3 megabits upstream for both mobile and fixed service. Eligible programs are…
Read more: USDA.

Kansas Department of Commerce official optimistic of state’s economic growth, opportunities

Bill Murphy, the new Deputy Secretary of Business Development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, shared his vision for economic development, business retention and staying competitive in the national talent pool, Thursday afternoon. Murphy, who took part in the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce’s virtual Day In Topeka, said he was excited by the “determination” he saw to rebuild the Department of Commerce prior to his coming on board. The goal, he said, is to capitalize on the strengths of the department and reenergize and renew its enthusiasm as funding sources returned. “What I’m seeing is, for the first time in seven years, the department has a full business recruitment team in place,” Murphy said. “That team is spread out across the country to attract businesses to the state of Kansas. Having worked in three other states, each state has a different approach to business recruitment.”
Source: Emporia Gazette

Anthony, KS memorial tells story of fallen firefighter to future generations

There’s a piece of Sept. 11, 2001 history in Kansas. The town of Anthony, Kansas is home to a September 11th memorial that has gained recognition from across the country. It highlights the connection between the town and a firefighter who gave his life in New York. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” says Donna Crowe, the now 9/11 Memorial Committee Chairperson of Anthony. The former mayor asked Crowe to do a difficult task. “He asked me to try to get ahold of somebody in New York City to see if we could adopt a fireman who had lost his life,” she says.
Source: KAKE – News

Kansas school bus equation complicated by virus, social distancing

Just northwest of Wichita, the small school district of Maize has a difficult time finding interested and qualified drivers in a normal year. Add in a couple of retirements and general challenges from COVID-19, and superintendent Chad Higgins said it’s even more difficult. “More buses and more bus routes really isn’t an option because it’s the drivers,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many buses you have if you don’t have anyone to drive them.” Maize’s problem is threefold: It can’t add buses or routes, each bus carries fewer students and routes need to be as short as possible.
Source: Leavenworth Times

Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top