Kansas Municipal News
Chickens and pigs join Yoder Charter School
hickens and pigs are a new addition at Yoder Charter School and they are teaching the students some valuable life lessons. Yoder has been a project-based school for quite some time. Their unique teaching style instills values such as being responsible while implementing academics. They do this by having the kids read to the animals or counting the eggs. Principal, Shannon Atherton, said the community, students, parents, and stakeholders have all been very supportive of this program.
Source: KAKE – News
Hayden named as Renwick USD 267 superintendent
Tim Hayden will become the superintendent of Renwick USD 267 on July 1. His hiring was announced by the board of education on Monday night. Hayden is currently principal at Amelia Earhart Elementary School in Goddard. He was a finalist for the superintendent position in Cheney, but apparently pulled out of the running after being selected as a finalist for the Renwick position. …The BOE decided to go outside of the school district boundaries for its new leader, although not far.
Source: Times-Sentinel Newspapers
Inflation cools further ahead of expected interest rate hike
U.S. households turned cautious at the end of last year, cutting spending during the holiday shopping season and increasing savings, adding to signs of an economic slowdown. Consumer spending fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in December from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Friday, the second straight monthly drop following solid spending increases during several months last year. Adjusted for inflation, spending fell 0.3% last month. The pullback in spending came as inflation cooled, giving consumers some relief from rapidly rising prices. Households cut spending on goods as prices fell for gasoline and other energy products, the department said. They increased spending on services, where prices climbed. … The figures leave Fed officials on track to raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point to a range between 4.5% and 4.75% at their meeting next week, where they also are expected to debate how much higher to raise rates this year. The Fed raised rates aggressively last year in a campaign to cool the economy and bring down high inflation.
Source: WSJ
Topekans reach out to unhoused residents
Low wind chills and 1.1 inches of overnight snow greeted city of Topeka employees and volunteers from sunrise to sunset Wednesday as they counted individuals experiencing homelessness in the capital city. The United States Department of Housing requires a count each year to ensure cities can obtain appropriate funding needed to provide programs and other needed services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Source: CJonline
Who can compete in Kansas? Bill would give homeschoolers right to play high school sports
A potential law would allow virtual and homeschooled students to join public school athletic teams and activities in Kansas. But opponents of the bill, including the state’s high school athletics governing body, say the measure would undermine the academic component of participation in school activities and competition.
Source: Salina Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for January 26, 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.
Affordable housing, development hurdles among concerns raised by Lawrence residents regarding development code
Concerns expressed by the public in a meeting about the city’s update of its development code included both the city’s shortage of affordable housing and the difficulty in building housing at all. Consultants working on the code update said both are issues they want the update to address. Consultants with Clarion Associates recently completed a four-month review of the city’s existing development code, which determines where and how Lawrence grows, and have drafted 80 recommended changes. Consultants sought input on the draft as part of a public meeting Thursday. Meeting attendee Lacee Roe said she was excited that the recommendations sought to encourage more mixed-used zoning and diverse housing types, and wanted to know what barriers Lawrence has to developing affordable housing and which barriers can be removed through zoning revisions.
Source: LJWorld
GDP growth slows to 2.9% in fourth quarter
U.S. economic growth slowed to a 2.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2022, bringing an end to a year marked by high inflation. In the third quarter of last year, real GDP increased 3.2%, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday. “The deceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected a downturn in exports and decelerations in nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending and consumer spending,” according to the Commerce Department report. “These movements were partly offset by an upturn in private inventory investment, an acceleration in federal government spending, and a smaller decrease in residential fixed investment.”
Source: Atchison Globe Now
Jackson County Commissioners continue to research solar farm regulations
The Jackson County Commissioners continue to research regulations regarding commercial solar projects in an effort to “do what’s best for the entire county,” according to Commissioner Keith Kelly. Commissioners Kelly, along with Commissioners Dan Brenner and Mark Pruett, addressed several members of the public during their meeting on Tuesday afternoon this week regarding a large solar farm being proposed near Delia by NextEra Energy of Florida. County resident Mitchell Nicol and Matt Wheeler of KansaSolar, a local residential and commercial solar company out of Holton, met with the commissioners and asked them about the county’s role in the proposed solar field and their timeline for adopting any new regulations regarding solar energy.
Source: Holton Recorder
Don’t eat the fish: Arkansas River, other Kansas waters remain under advisory
This is your annual reminder: If you fish the Arkansas River in Wichita, limit or don’t eat any bottom-feeding fish you catch. Those fish, which include buffaloes, carps, catfishes, sturgeons and suckers, could have chemical contamination, according to an advisory issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Health officials advise people not to eat bottom-feeding fish from a portion of the Arkansas River stretching from the Lincoln Street Dam to the Cowskin Creek near Belle Plaine in Sumner County.
Source: Wichita Eagle
School choice debate gets started at Capitol
The debate over school choice opened in earnest at the Capitol on Wednesday with a proposal to expand a program that offers state tax credits for donations to private-school scholarships. The K-12 Budget Committee spent more than two hours late Wednesday afternoon hearing testimony over a bill that for the second time since 2021 would expand a program making tax-subsidized scholarships available for more students to attend private schools.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
New bill seen as first step toward fixing problems in Kansas juvenile justice system
Lawmakers have begun evaluating legislation in an effort to fix years of built-up problems within the juvenile justice system. First up: A bill that could expand access to behavioral health treatment through crisis intervention centers. During a House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee meeting Monday, a week after lawmakers heard from attorneys and foster care workers who urged for more juvenile crisis intervention centers and adequate resources, lawmakers said they were trying to quickly come up with solutions for young offenders who need more intensive help.
Source: The Chanute Tribune
Kansas educators share personal insights in quest to reverse statewide teacher shortage
Byron Lewis was a student at Topeka High School when allowed to use study hall to read to kindergartners at his old elementary school. It was the first time Lewis — now an elementary school teacher in the Turner district — thought a career in education could be in his future. He earned an education degree at Kansas State University and was introduced to programs that urge men of color to enter the profession. Statewide, it’s just not enough. Entering the fall 2022 academic year, there were an estimated 1,500 teacher vacancies in Kansas. “It’s an uphill battle,” Lewis said during a panel discussion Monday sponsored by Kansas State’s College of Education at the Topeka Center for Advanced Learning and Careers.
Source: The Chanute Tribune
Officials discuss updates to Imagine Pittsburg plan
Representatives from Imagine Pittsburg updated the city commission Tuesday evening on the progress of the next stage of Imagine Pittsburg (IP), a civic initiative originally known as Imagine Pittsburg 2030 (IP 2030) that began in 2010 to plan and implement economic and infrastructure improvements in Pittsburg. The IP representatives also discussed their plans over the next six to seven months for community engagement and a timeline for the next phase. Dubbed Imagine Pittsburg 3.0, this will be the third iteration of IP2030. Joe Dellasega, former chair of IP 2030 who oversaw the second phase, said that during last five years, his committee expanded the original four community pillars — housing, economic development, infrastructure, and public wellness — to include education and marketing.
Source: Morning Sun
Pittsburg area hotels rebound
Explore Crawford County announced Monday that for the fourth time in five years, hotel room demand in the county has surpassed 100,000 rooms for the year, with 2022 hitting a record high of 109,750 rooms. The county also surpassed 10,000 rooms in a month six times during 2022 — doubling the previous high. Since 2015, room demand had been increasing each year until the 2020 pandemic. Demand reached 106,000 rooms in 2021, but was still just shy of the previous record for the entire year — 107,743 in 2019. According to Explore Crawford County Executive Director Dave Looby in a December presentation to the county commission, those figures only represent the four major hotel chains in Pittsburg. They do not take into account the rooms booked at the four privately-owned hotels.
Source: Morning Sun
Swaths of Kansas lack written policies on exculpatory evidence
The Brady and Giglio cases establish two different, but related, rights for criminal defendants. Under Brady v. Maryland, the prosecution is obligated to turn over to the defendant any exculpatory evidence — that is, evidence that tends to assist the defense. Generally, that requires the disclosure of virtually anything in the prosecution’s possession that relates to the case. Meanwhile, the rule announced in Giglio v. United States requires law enforcement agencies to deliver to defense counsel “material” evidence of a law enforcement’s dishonesty. The application of this rule can be fraught, as the parties involved may disagree on what counts as “material” evidence of dishonesty. … Of the seven most populous counties in the state (Sedgwick, Wyandotte, Johnson, Shawnee, Douglas, Riley and Leavenworth), only four have both Brady and Giglio policies in writing. Riley and Johnson lack written Brady policies, and Wyandotte County has neither a Brady nor Giglio policy in writing.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Rural America grew in the pandemic’s early days. But mostly recreational counties saw gains
COVID-19 accelerated death rates and slowed birth rates, exacerbating an existing trend of natural population loss in rural, or nonmetropolitan, areas. But because more people moved to rural areas, the U.S. rural population didn’t decline. “That’s extremely unusual historically, and so we’re still trying to understand all the nuances of this and whether it’s just a short-term thing or if it’s going to reflect longer-term changes,” said Kenneth Johnson, the author of the article and a professor of sociology and senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. “But in any event, it’s unusual and surprising, even to someone like me, who’s studied rural America for his whole career,” he added. The U.S. rural population grew by approximately 0.13%, or 77,000 residents, between April 2020 and July 2021, while urban areas only grew by 0.1%. Although it’s a slight increase for the country’s rural population, Johnson said it’s rare for its population increase to be larger than urban, or metropolitan, areas.
Source: KCUR News
Municipal Bond Trends for January 25, 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.
Moody’s upgrades Lindsborg’s GO bond rating to A1
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the City of Lindsborg, KS’ general obligation unlimited tax bonds to A1 from A2. … This action concludes a review for possible upgrade that was initiated on November 3, 2022 in conjunction with the release of the US Cities and Counties Methodology. … The A1 issuer rating incorporates a stable economic base, strong financial position, and low leverage that will grow in the near term. … The rating also incorporates the city’s very strong reserves that are anticipated to marginally decline on a nominal basis in the near term, but remain very strong as a percent of revenue.
Source: Moody’s
Douglas County’s Housing Stabilization Collaborative to switch rent and utility assistance distribution to lottery system
Douglas County’s Housing Stabilization Collaborative is changing the way it distributes rent and utility assistance funds in hopes of increasing equity for applicants, the county announced Wednesday. The HSC, which is the county’s local rent and utility assistance provider, is shifting from a first-come, first-served approach to a lottery system, citing an overwhelming need for rent and utility assistance in the county and a lack of available funding to meet that need. The first-come, first-served method has been in place since the HSC first began its rent and utility assistance program in the fall of 2020.
Source: LJWorld