Kansas Municipal News
Harvey County Sheriff’s Office looking for owner of cows ‘trying to hitch a ride on the Interstate’
The Harvey County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is looking for the owner of two cows who they say are “trying to hitch a ride on the Interstate.” “We are working to get them to safety, but we need help identifying their owner,” said the HCSO. The HCSO says one cow is all black and that the other is red with a white face and underbelly. Both have green ear tags. “We first received calls on these two last night in the area of Southeast 84th Street and South Kansas Road,” the HCSO said. “They’re now in the area of I-135 and Southeast 125th Street.”
Source: KSN-TV
Flags ordered to fly half-staff until sundown Tuesday
Governor Laura Kelly has ordered all flags in Kansas to fly at half-staff from now until sundown Tuesday. It’s to honor former Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan. Stephan was Kansas’s longest-serving Attorney General from 1979 to 1995. He was a graduate of Washburn University’s law school and went on to practice law in Wichita. He served as a district judge in Wichita from 1965 to 1978 before becoming Kansas Attorney General. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Church of the Ascension in Overland Park.
Source: KSN-TV
Topeka volunteers celebrates Shawnee County law enforcement
Today is National Law Enforcement Day, and a group of Topeka volunteers is showing its support all day and night. The group is holding a 24-hour meal donation providing law enforcement a free meal any time of the day. Volunteers have been handing them out since midnight, and they will be out until midnight tonight. “The officers, sometimes when you’re out there working in the streets, sometimes you lose track, of how much you’re appreciated. And this is an opportunity for the citizens to show their appreciation for law enforcement,” says Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee Chairman John Sidwell.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Change is coming to the Shawnee County Commission
The Shawnee County Commission currently holds meetings every Monday and Thursday to vote on local matters, but that is being changed. Now, every Monday will be a work day where department heads can present their proposals and the commissioners will have more time to discuss it before giving their official decision during the Thursday meetings. “The main thing is it gives us an opportunity to talk amongst ourselves as commissioners to discuss projects and what’s the best route to go,” said County Commission Chairman Bill Riphan. “It’ll be a good opportunity for department heads to give presentations not in one of our formal meetings but in a less formal way.”
Source: KSNT 27 News
Kansas in line to receive over $45 million total from latest wave of opioid settlements
The state of Kansas will receive over $45 million total from two pharmaceutical companies as the state’s fight against opioid abuse continues. Outgoing Attorney General Derek Schmidt says Teva has agreed to pay nearly $29 million. Part of that particular settlement involves Teva agreeing to stop promoting or lobbying for opioid products. Teva also has to monitor and report “off-label” use of fentanyl-based products, share clinical data through and disclose records to a third-party entity and pay for an independent agency to ensure compliance.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Projected enrollment decline causes financial concerns for Lawrence school district
Lawrence schools are expected to steadily decrease in enrollment over the next five years, causing district budget concerns as well as questions about the future of the Lawrence community as a whole. According to future enrollment projections made by RSP & Associates, the outside consulting firm hired by the district, Lawrence Public Schools will lose just more than 300 students by the 2027-28 school year. School board President Shannon Kimball said during the board’s meeting on Monday that the district and community together must recognize the severity of this and commit to a solid plan, especially if the Kansas Legislature does not provide districts with increased state funding, following the Consumer Price Index (CPI), during this legislative session.
Source: The Lawrence Times
$40 million project could remove some of west Wichita from FEMA floodplain map
Flood relief could be on its way for west Wichita. Wichita and Sedgwick County are hoping to tap a federal grant program to help cover a $40 million project aimed at reducing flooding in fast-growing west Wichita and areas outside the city limits. The city and county would each pitch in $5 million, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities,” or BRIC, program would cover the rest of the cost.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Kansas remains number one in wheat
Agriculture is big business in Kansas, with just shy of 88% of Kansas land being farmland. Reno County has more than 1,500 farms and 17% of its workforce dedicated to agriculture. That’s why the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce gathered a group of community leaders, businesspeople and farmers together to tour the several agricultural facilities on Jan. 5 in Manhattan, Kansas. Kansas Rep. Joe Seiwert, Reno County Commissioner Ron Hirst, Hutchinson’s new mayor and vice-mayors, Jon Richardson and Greg Fast, former Kansas Sen. Ed Berger and Hutchinson’s new city manager Kendal Francis, joined agricultural manufacturer Mike Bergmeier, chamber CEO Debra Teufel and others on the tour. Many are on the agriculture committee at the chamber. While touring the KDA building, the group was given lots of facts that will help them understand the impact that agriculture has on Reno County and Kansas.
Source: Hutch News
Topeka eyes ordinance ban to stem rising tide of thefts
Catalytic converters can be stolen from the underside of a vehicle “in a matter of seconds,” says a proposed ordinance being considered by the Topeka City Council. That measure is aimed at helping slow down a surge in catalytic converter thefts the city has seen in recent years. The proposal would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to possess a catalytic converter that has been detached from a motor vehicle — unless they can prove they have a legitimate reason for it. “If enacted, this ordinance will provide capital city law enforcement an impactful tool, with criminal penalties, to aid in deterrence and crime reduction,” Topeka Police Chief Bryan Wheeles told The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Source: CJonline
Salina Police Department has new chief beginning in February
Beginning next month, the City of Salina will have a new chief of police, after the hiring of Clarence “C.J.” Wise, was announced Wednesday. City Manager Mike Schrage, who made the announcement by a news release, introduced Wise to the Salina City Commission during a special meeting Friday morning. “C.J. has a number of years experience in law enforcement, as well as a breadth of experience in law enforcement,” Schrage said. Wise comes to Salina with 25 years of experience, a member of the Edmond Police Department in Oklahoma since 1998. He rose within the ranks of the department in Edmond, serving as an officer, sergeant, captain and now as a major in the Edmond PD.
Source: Salina Journal
Saline County residents can apply for program that aims to reduce energy bills
The Community Housing Development Organization of Central Kansas is running a Weatherization Assistance Program to help reduce energy costs for low to moderate income households in Saline County. By increasing the efficiency of homes, the program aims to reduce the overall cost of utility payments Saline County residents might be paying in the colder months of the year through weatherization efforts. The Weatherization Assistance Program is funded through a grant made possible by American Rescue Plan Act monies, some of which the Saline County Commission has allocated to the CHDO for the project.
Source: Salina Journal
‘Like driving a huge, yellow electric golf cart’ — electric school buses roll into Kansas
They don’t smell like school buses. They don’t sound like school buses. They don’t even feel like school buses. But they ARE school buses, albeit electric ones, and Wabaunsee USD 329 superintendent Troy Pitsch is convinced that his district is at the forefront of an inevitable movement to cleaner, greener student transportation. With the help of a nearly $800,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant, the rural district has received and is getting ready to debut two new electric school buses, believed to be the first in a Kansas school district. Wabaunsee USD 329 expects to give students their first ride on the bus in the coming week, as the district finalizes a few technical details with the buses.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for January 6, 2023
The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
De Soto residents love ‘small town feel.’ Will Panasonic turn it into suburban sprawl?
Steve Prudden believes things are about to drastically change for De Soto, a Johnson County community that’s long teetered at the intersection of rural and suburban. Three generations of Pruddens have processed and sold ground beef, bacon and steaks at his local Steve’s Meat Market. With only 6,200 locals in De Soto, the butcher relied on restaurants and grocery stores across the metro area to stay afloat for the last 53 years. But the fabric of De Soto is about to be forever changed by Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, which is building a massive electric vehicle battery plant on the site of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant just south of K-10. Panasonic expects to hire 4,000 workers for the nearly 4-million-square-foot plant. “I believe we’re getting ready to explode,” Prudden said. No one knows how many of those workers might live in or near tiny De Soto. But this community was already changing and growing from the relentless sprawl that has defined the state’s wealthiest and most populous county in recent decades. Locals just celebrated the addition of a Taco Bell, which gave the town a total of four fast food franchises. Now, locals expect major developments to follow the $4 billion plant to De Soto.
Source: KC Star Local News
What Wichita can learn from a city that reinvented mental health crisis intervention
There remains growing interest around the country in rethinking how law enforcement responds to residents in mental health crises, with some programs, like CAHOOTS, working to take them out of the equation when possible. Wichita is among the cities that are adapting. The county’s community mental health center, Comcare, operates a non-911 phone number for mental health emergencies. Teams of therapists and case managers respond to situations, but funding and manpower has been limited. In 2019, the city and the county established a pilot program within the police department called Integrated Care Team (ICT-1) in response to an increase in calls related to mental health. Similar to Eugene, teams of qualified mental health professionals and paramedics respond to 911 calls involving a mental health crisis, including suicidal ideation, substance use and psychosis and delusions. But for every situation, regardless whether it’s nonviolent, law enforcement officers on duty are also sent as a co-responder.
Source: Wichita Eagle
‘A new era’ for open records in Kansas: Court says yes, electronic records must be provided electronically
When a person requests a copy of an electronic public record under the Kansas Open Records Act, public agencies must provide that copy in electronic format, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday. This means, for instance, that agencies can’t print off copies of Excel spreadsheets — they must provide the spreadsheets themselves. “The opinion ushers in a new era of presumed and prompt access to electronic records in Kansas,” said Max Kautsch, the Lawrence attorney who argued the case and president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Kansas teacher shortage prompts calls for higher salaries, paying student teachers
As Kansas faces the worst teacher shortage it’s ever known, one group says the state needs to raise teacher pay, elevate the profession and offer student teachers a paycheck. “Part of the problem is our salaries in education stink,” said Rick Ginsburg, dean of education at the University of Kansas. “Add to that working conditions that are challenging, a public that is rather critical. … So what you end up with is something that is awfully challenging.” Ginsburg heads a task force created by the Kansas Board of Regents that’s looking at strategies to ease the teacher shortage. The group includes deans of education at all the public universities in Kansas.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Mulvane firefighters protect life, property for 20 years
For Lt. Fred Heersche and Lt. Mike Fells, working with the Mulvane Fire Department is about making a difference – and it’s been that way for the past two decades. With that in mind, the two were recently recognized at a Mulvane City Council meeting for each providing 20 years of service to Mulvane and the surrounding areas. Heersche is one of two full-time paid members of the department and Fells is a volunteer, who receives a modest stipend for being the on-call overnight firefighter once a week.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Trains, mass transit for most-populated counties should be looked into, Kansas lawmakers say
Lawmakers say it may be time to get on board with trains and other mass transit options as ways of attracting young professionals to the state. During a Friday legislative budget committee meeting, the last before the start of the legislative session next week, Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, recommended that the Kansas Department of Transportation conduct a study looking into mass transit systems for Johnson and Sedgwick Counties. Waymaster also recommended the department look into potential federal funding. With more jobs coming into the state through the Panasonic deal, Waymaster said, new forms of mass transit would be a significant draw for young professionals.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Lenexa releases final design for $1M skatepark revamp
After months of collecting community feedback, the City of Lenexa has unveiled the final design for an upgraded skatepark within Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. The city’s current skatepark is over 20 years old and the pavement is starting to deteriorate. Lenexa will spend $1 million to upgrade the skatepark and nearby parking lot. New Line Skateparks will design and build the skatepark. Professional skateboarder and New Line’s lead designer Kanten Russell said the design of the new park is all about making an inclusive space for all types of skaters and cyclists.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF