Kansas Municipal News
WPD studies Retail Pet Sales Bans, offers suggestion
It has been six months since the Wichita Animal Control Advisory Board asked the Wichita Police Department (WPD) to research a Retail Pet Sales Ban. On Tuesday, the WPD took its report to the Wichita City Council. People who want the ban see it as a way to shut down sales avenues for commercial breeding operations sometimes referred to as puppy mills. Captain Dan East, over WPD Administrative Services, told council members that his team spent a lot of time researching the topic. He says they met with people both for and against the ban and discussed the issue with the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Source: KSN-TV
New bill could create change on where you drink alcohol in Kansas
A new bill introduced in the Kansas Legislature may create new common consumption areas across the state. House Bill 2059 was introduced in the Committee on Federal and State Affairs on Tuesday at the request of the City of Topeka and support from the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce. If the bill is passed, it would allow cities across Kansas to expand the use of common consumption areas. According to the City of Topeka, these areas already exist in states such as Arkansas, Colorado, Tennessee and others. They allow people over the age of 21 to drink alcohol from various liquor-licensed businesses in a common area. In the capital city, this could be put in place in an area like downtown or the North Topeka Arts District.
Source: KSNT
Consultant’s report on Wichita police department to be released online soon, city says
Jensen Hughes, a top law enforcement consulting firm in the U.S., is expected to issue its report suggesting reforms to the Wichita Police Department next month. City officials say that analysis will be published online in its entirety. The report, which will investigate the breadth and depth of bias within the police force, focusing on racism, officer discipline, public oversight and violent interactions with civilians, is on track to be finalized sometime in February. “I do not have a date yet for the final report that we will receive in February but it will be posted on the website,” city spokesperson Megan Lovely told The Eagle.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Mayors Try to Cope With Pickleball Craze
In a crowded room during a gathering of mayors in Washington, D.C. last week, Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando, Florida acknowledged that his fellow city executives in other conference sessions were discussing “some pretty heavy issues,” like homelessness and drug addiction. But, he said, bringing chuckles to the audience, “we’re gonna talk pickleball.” A game where people loudly whack a ball with a paddle back and forth over a net may not have the same stakes for municipal leaders as issues like housing or immigration. But even so, mayors and their cities are taking steps to respond to the game’s rising popularity.
Source: Route Fifty – All Content
Municipal Bond Trends for January 23, 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.
Will Shawnee County residents pay for curbside recycling? Here’s how many are opting out
About 4% of Shawnee County curbside recycling customers have opted out of that service rather than pay $3.50 a month to keep it, county solid waste department director Bill Sutton told county commissioners Monday. “Four percent is a very good number,” Sutton told The Capital-Journal. “That means the community is very interested in recycling and is willing to pay for the service.”
Source: CJonline
Suspect dead in Dodge City shootout, 3 deputies shot
A man is dead, a woman is in critical condition, and three deputies have been shot in a high-speed pursuit from Clark County that ended with gunfire near the American Implement dealership in Ford County on Highway 50 and 113 Road at around 10 a.m. Jan 23. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed the male, a wanted suspect, was fatally shot. Two Ford County Sheriff’s Deputies were also shot. One is in serious condition and was transported to a Wichita hospital and the other is in good condition, according to the KBI. A Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy was also injured by gunfire, as was a female passenger in the pursued vehicle, and both were transported to a Wichita hospital.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe
Lawmakers told public defenders in Kansas at crisis point
Kansas public defense is at a crisis point, officials say, with overworked attorneys struggling to provide adequate services in the midst of a worker shortage. Heather Cessna, executive director of the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services, gave lawmakers an overview of the agency’s situation Thursday, during a House Judiciary Committee meeting. Kansas doesn’t have enough criminal defense counsel to meet the volume of cases being charged by prosecutors. Cessna said the agency was drowning, grappling with a worker shortage, poor pay and long hours.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Kansas lawmakers debate sales tax holiday for back-to-school shopping
Three bills that would help Kansas parents trying to save money on school supplies were received favorably by legislators on Thursday. During a Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation meeting, Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, committee chair, said she was optimistic about passing some form of legislation to help out Kansans buying for school in August. Tyson said states that had some form of sales tax holidays, such as Missouri and Oklahoma, were taking dollars from Kansas parents who needed supplies. She said some of the original opposition to this sort of sales tax holiday in 2011, when it was first discussed, came from lawmakers who didn’t believe people would go to a different state to save money.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Derby school employee recognized for promoting student-police synergy
After Dr. Jennifer Cox, physical therapist for the Derby school district, attended a safety and security in-service training last fall she turned her attention to developing a plan to ensure special needs students and security officers were in sync during emergency situations. As a result of her leadership, Cox, known to her co-workers and students as Dr. Jenn, was awarded the 2022 Derby Police Department Volunteer of the Year Award on Jan. 9. The ceremony took place with students and co-workers at Tanglewood Elementary School, the site of the in-service training.
Source: Derby Informer | News
As other real estate markets cool, Kansas City among ‘hottest.’ JoCo city is most popular
When he bought his first home 25 years ago, real estate agent Bill Allen said buyers could attain the quintessential Prairie Village home — a cape cod spanning about 1,500 square feet — for about $100,000. Now, those homes go for $400,000 or more. “That’s amazing, above-average appreciation,” he said. And the real estate market in the northern Johnson County community shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Real estate giant Zillow recently named Kansas City among its top 10 “hottest” real estate markets. And last month, the company named Prairie Village as its most popular city of 2022. That ranking took into account page-view traffic, sales, price appreciation and other housing metrics Zillow tracks across thousands of zip codes within the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.
Source: KC Star Local News
Crawford County hotels experience record-breaking stays
A new report shows a record number of people stayed in Crawford County hotels last year. According to “Smith Travel Research”, in four out of the last five years, Crawford County surpassed one hundred thousand hotel room stays in a year. Last year that number hit 109,750, the highest ever reported for the county. Tourism leaders say contributing factors include allowing spectators back in sporting events, as well as construction projects like the new Fed Ex building and the highway construction.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Abilene named finalist in best historic small town contest
Abilene will have another shot at being named as the best historic small town in 2023. USA Today’s 2023 Reader’s Choice Best Historic Small Town content includes the town of Abilene for the fifth year in a row, according to Julie Roller Weeks, Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau director. This will give Abilene another opportunity to take the number one spot after being rank second in 2022. “This is so exciting,” Weeks said. “Receiving this recognition once is a big deal, let alone five years in a row. It’s unimaginable!”
Source: KSNT 27 News
Public input sought on Wall Park playground
The McPherson Public Lands and Facilities Department invites the public to give feedback on the playground design for Wall Park. The Wall Park Playground, which was put in place in 1988, was removed from use in 2019 for safety reasons. Most of the money required to buy new playground equipment has been raised, thanks to contributions from an unidentified donor and Larry and Pat Bruce of McPherson. The project can now proceed after a little over three years. Seven designs were collected from five vendors. The City of McPherson, McPherson Public Lands and Facilities, and the park department are asking for the public’s input and will then consult with the donors on the type of playground that should be installed in the park.
Source: McPherson Weekly News » Feed
Lawrence to hold public feedback meeting on land development code assessment
A committee has assessed the document that regulates how land is used and what can be built where in Lawrence. Now, members want feedback from the public to know how well that assessment reflects needed changes. The city’s current land development code is based on a nearly quarter-century-old vision for the city, and it’s due for an update, local leaders decided last year. The city’s strategic plan, published in 2021, and an updated comprehensive plan, Plan 2040, are serving as guiding documents for the update to the code.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Mayor of Cameroon visits Hays, signs friendship resolution
Mayor Fongu Cletus Tanwe is the Mayor of the English-speaking region of the country of Cameroon. He is Mayor of Bamenda III Council, NKWEN region. A meeting with City of Hays Mayor Mason Ruder and Mayor Fongu Cletus Tanwe was held Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at City Hall. It was agreed that they would sign a friendship resolution on Friday before Mayor Fongu departs. Mayor Fongu met Cindy Elliott and Mehran Shahidi through Sister Cities International (SCI) about 10 years ago, when he attended one of SCI’s annual meetings in Virginia Beach. He attended subsequent meetings in Aurora, CO and Houston, TX and in Houston, he signed a Memorandum of Intent to recruit students to come to FHSU.
Source: Hays Daily News
Rural economy growing slowly, headwinds on horizon
The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI), that was released on Thursday, climbed above the growth neutral threshold, 50.0, for a second consecutive month, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy. Economist Ernie Goss said that the ag sector has actually done fairly well lately. … Farmers generally are doing pretty well cash wise, which is good news for them, but not necessarily for the bankers that the survey covers, but as conditions soften, Goss sees use of credit by farmers as more likely soon. “That’s going to probably turn upward in the weeks and months ahead, probably as input prices do increase a bit,” Goss said. “Some of the agricultural commodity prices will likely come down somewhat. That will be prices of corn, soybeans and others. We are seeing an opening up of China, which is good, more of an opening up. That’s a good market for agricultural commodities from this part of the country.” The expiring farm bill and how its renewal shakes out could mean a lot to rural main street by year’s end.
Source: Hays Post
As Douglas County expands to 5-member commission, a look at nearby counties that have done the same
Though voters will have to wait nearly two more years to fill the two vacant seats on the newly expanded five-seat Douglas County Commission, at least one nearby county has completed the same process in recent years and could provide some clues about what’s to come here. Douglas County voters approved a ballot measure that expanded the commission from three seats to five in November, and since then county leaders have crafted a new map of commission districts and have decided when the two new commissioners should be elected. Based on the commission’s recommendation, Gov. Laura Kelly gave her approval last month for those new commissioners to be chosen during the next general election in 2024. Of the 105 counties in Kansas, just 18 of them now have a five-member commission following the November general election, according to data from the Kansas Association of Counties.
Source: LJWorld
How can Kansas put students into teacher pipeline? Start with more money, task force says
As Kansas schools struggle to hire teachers from a much more limited pool of candidates, one Kansas Board of Regents task force is working on ways to get more Kansas high school students into the state’s teacher preparation programs. Earlier in the fall, the Kansas State Department of Education’s estimated more than 1,600 empty teaching positions around the state, a sharp uptick from the prior year. The state department has been working on several of its own initiatives to address teacher vacancies, particularly from a licensure standpoint. At the same time, the Kansas Board of Regents appointed an Educator Work Force Task Force, made up of deans and representatives from the state’s teacher preparation programs, that has worked in parallel to the state education department to determine how Kansas’ higher education system could help reduce vacancies and supply more teachers to K-12 schools.
Source: CJonline
Fed Sets Course for Milder Interest-Rate Rise in February
Federal Reserve officials are preparing to slow interest-rate increases for the second straight meeting and debate how much higher to raise them after gaining more confidence inflation will ease further this year. They could begin deliberating at the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 gathering how much more softening in labor demand, spending and inflation they would need to see before pausing rate rises this spring. In recent public statements and interviews, Fed officials have said slowing the pace of rate increases to a more traditional quarter percentage point would give them more time to assess the impact of their increases so far as they determine where to stop.
Source: Wall Street Journal