Kansas Municipal News
Innovative artist uses old brick as canvas for digital Dodge City murals
The Dodge City Convention and Visitors Bureau shall unveil a trio of new Dodge City murals on historic downtown buildings Monday at 3:30 p.m. These murals are not unlike traditional painted murals and yet are made of a media better suited to preserve the integrity of historic buildings. They each are vibrant in color, rich in local symbols and large enough to draw attention from drivers and walkers alike. When inspected closely, one may notice the appearance of digital brushstrokes that were printed on a material called Mighty Wrap and applied directly to the red brick walls.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe
Chase County to be featured in PBS Kansas ghost towns documentary
Humanities Kansas recently awarded a $10,000 grant to PBS Kansas, based in Wichita, Kan., to support the “Kansas Ghost Towns Documentary, Part 2.” The documentary is part of a continuing exploration of towns that have disappeared across the state. Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. “The humanities connect people to place over time and across generations,” shared Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “This documentary will create a space for important conversations that will help us see more clearly our past and plan for our future.”
Source: Emporia Gazette
Chase County voters to again decide on open saloon question
The question of open saloons will once again be up for a vote in Chase County. The Chase County commission passed a resolution at its meeting Friday, April 28 to include the open saloon question — which allows an establishment to sell alcohol by the drink without the requirement to derive revenue from food sales — on the November 2024 general election ballot. County attorney Bill Halvorsen told commissioners that the operation of open saloons within the county, which passed in the 2021 local election, was recently called into question by the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Source: Emporia Gazette
County approves drone purchases for Sheriff’s Department
The Lyon County Commission approved the purchase of a drone for the Sheriff’s Department at its meeting Thursday morning. The drone, in the amount of $26,000 will be used for search and rescue, suspect apprehension and scene documentation. The cost also includes training for deputies to operate the drone safely. The commission also approved a quote of Nortex Concrete Lift and Stabilization of Fort Worth, Texas, to lift and stabilize the approaches to the Neosho River Bridge on Road 175 with high-density polyurethane foam. The lift and stabilization will cost $30,420 from the Special Bridge fund.
Source: Emporia Gazette
2,100 students losing bus service in a JoCo school district. Another may do the same
As a Band-Aid solution to address an ongoing shortage of drivers, the Olathe school district will eliminate some bus routes next school year. Just to the west, Blue Valley school officials are considering similar cuts, as other districts in the Kansas City area have already done. And Olathe district officials may eventually revisit a broader, and more controversial, fix for the shortage: changing the times schools start and end.
Source: Joco 913 News
You can rent a kayak to use on the Arkansas River via an app now. Here’s what to know
New self-service kayak stations are open in three of Wichita’s riverside parks. These stations will be operated through the Rent.Fun app, which park and recreation partnered with to complete the project. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Riverside Tennis Center on Friday, and to continue the celebration the Park and Recreation department is offering a 50% discount on all rentals May 6-12. Entering the promo code “ParkandRec” in the app will automatically add the discount.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
What sales taxes on food am I still paying in Johnson County?
Now that the dust has settled from the 2023 session of the Kansas Legislature, it’s time to sort out what, finally, to expect when it comes to the sales tax on food. Although an early end to the state food sales tax was discussed, the idea failed after it was folded into a larger tax bill that would have, among other provisions, set a single rate for individual income tax. That measure passed both chambers of the GOP-dominated Legislature but was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Humboldt tackles issues, large and small
For all of its successes — and there are many — Humboldt faces challenges similar to countless other rural communities these days. Local employers are unable to keep fully staffed because of a dearth of quality and affordable housing, a lack of quality daycare centers; and an ongoing “brain drain” wave in which the best and brightest students often go elsewhere to find their niche in life. For that matter, too many youths are the unwitting victims of a digital society, in which they’ve become accustomed to spending hours of screen time instead of play time — and their mental health has begun to suffer.
Source: The Iola Register
Skaters from Lawrence and beyond celebrate new vert ramp at Centennial Park
Corey Lawrence would have loved the vert ramp built in his honor at Centennial Park, several attendees at the ramp’s dedication on Saturday agreed. Lawrence, from the Kansas City area, died in May 2021 after suffering injuries from a fall while skateboarding in Florida. Justin Shiney, of River Rat Print and Skate; Sean Ingram, of Merchtable; Dan Askew, of Escapist Skateboarding; and members of the Lawrence Skate Association raised funds and worked with the city to make the ramp in Lawrence’s honor a reality. The new half pipe is the only one of its kind within a 500-mile radius, project organizers have said.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Municipal Bond Trends for May 5, 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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.
Finding ways to save rural Kansas hospitals
JoLynn Foster isn’t happy about it, but she’s convinced the only way to save her hometown hospital is to shut part of it down. “There’s no other alternative,” said Foster, a longtime resident of Arkansas City, a town of about 12,000 people south of Wichita. Foster and about 100 other residents of the southeast Kansas town recently attended a meeting about the fate of SCK Health, Arkansas City’s only hospital. They listened as hospital officials explained their decision to restructure SCK Health so that it can qualify for enough federal money to keep it open and delivering limited, but essential services.
Source: LJWorld
Proposal to revamp pay structure for Lawrence teachers calls for $3M to increase salaries
The Lawrence school board will soon get its first look at a proposal to revamp the pay structure for teachers and provide about $3 million in pay increases — amounting to an average raise of about $3,000. Should it move forward, the proposed new salary schedule would increase the earning potential for the district’s most experienced teachers, as well as address other problematic areas of the current salary schedule. As the Journal-World previously reported, a committee that has been studying the issue said that the district has been losing teachers at particular times in their careers due to the structure of the district’s pay schedule, which maxes out after 13 years of service. There are also other times in teachers’ careers where the schedule falls behind pay offered by comparable districts in the area.
Source: LJWorld
Municipal Bond Trends for May 4, 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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.
Zoning change triggers neighbors: Proposal for more senior housing in Topeka will get a closer look
Topeka’s mayor and city council asked for further analysis late Tuesday when faced with a proposed North Topeka zoning change supported by the Topeka Planning Commission but opposed by residents of the area involved. The measure’s passage would help clear the way for Eugene & Paramore LLC to carry out its proposed project to build affordable duplexes and fourplexes, which it intends to primarily rent out to senior citizens. The mayor and council voted to send the proposal back to the planning commission and direct that body to look at four potential concerns raised by neighbors.
Source: CJonline
Cultures of Garden City to be showcased at multicultural event Saturday
The people and their different cultures of those that make up southwest Kansas will be honored at the third annual Cinco de Mayo Multicultural Community Celebration this Saturday at Stevens Park. Marco Rodriguez, secretary for the Cultural Empowerment and Development Foundation’s Multicultural Community Celebration Committee, said the event has been a lot of work to put together, it’s all done by volunteers from the community, but he’s really excited for it.
Source: GC Telegram
W. Kansas town reminisces 50 years after being featured in ‘Paper Moon’
The town of Wilson is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the movie “Paper Moon.” Locations in the Ellsworth County town served as settings for the movie and some locals are in the movie as extras. This Friday, May 5, the Midland Hotel in Wilson is hosting the 50th anniversary celebration for the movie starring actor Ryan O’Neil and his daughter, actress Tatum O’Neil. “The Midland is very lucky in that we played a major role in what happened in the film, so we can have that here,” said Wilson Tourism Hub Director Melinda Merrill. The hotel was used for filming and much more.
Source: KWCH
Fed increases rates a quarter point and signals a potential end to hikes
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved its 10th interest rate increase in just a little over a year and dropped a tentative hint that the current tightening cycle is at an end. In a unanimous decision widely expected by markets, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee raised its benchmark borrowing rate by 0.25 percentage point. The rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending but feeds through to many consumer debt products such as mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
GPT in local government: The age of hyper productivity in government has begun
Seems like everyone is talking about ChatGPT nowadays. It’s the hot new buzzword, and the source for anything from delighting examples of writing rhymed poems about any topic, to people worried it’s the harbinger of doom. GPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a machine that generates human-like text based on a given text. GPT is pre-trained on vast amounts of data to develop a comprehensive understanding of language patterns and structures, enabling it to generate coherent and contextually relevant responses that are mostly accurate but not always. However, it is surprisingly good at things like summarizing text and data tables, supplying human-like answers to casual questions in a chat, and even describing images and can even pass the LSAT exam for you. There have been a few versions of GPT out there, and the most advanced version that exists at the time of writing is GPT version 4, or GPT-4.
Source: ELGL
Governor Kelly Announces $30 Million to Increase High-Speed Internet Availability
Today, Governor Laura Kelly announced a new program aimed at helping Kansas communities that lack high-speed internet. The Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program will provide $30 million in competitive funding opportunities to build the infrastructure needed for more homes and businesses to access broadband. “This investment builds on my administration’s commitment to bring critical high-speed internet to every corner of the state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “These funds will ensure that reliable internet is available regardless of location so every Kansan can participate in the global economy.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Derby City Council, staff work on honing next sales tax ballot question
Starting in March, staff and the Derby City Council began to take measures to shape the ballot question regarding a new sales tax (with the current Derby Difference sales tax to expire in 2024). With the council in general agreement to pursue a new 1% sales tax to be voted on in the 2023 general election, staff brought forward three usage options for where exactly to dedicate those funds in the city, which the council considered at its April 25 meeting.
Source: Derby Informer | News