Municipal News & Jobs

As the 150th anniversary of Pittsburg’s founding approaches, community leaders and private citizens are planning birthday celebrations throughout 2026. The executive committee, which is made up of the heads of the subcommittees, met on Wednesday to compare notes. While still in the planning stages, Pittsburg 150 is exploring several options across several categories to celebrate the auspicious occasion.
Read more: – Latest Stories

The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board plans to urge Lawrence city commissioners to adopt an environmentally friendly ordinance that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions while saving renters money. The policy would require owners and landlords of certain covered properties to submit energy consumption data to the city annually, a process known as energy benchmarking. Then, the data would be available in the public record to increase transparency for tenants about a building’s energy efficiency.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

The City of Winfield is proposing a ban on mini-bikes in the city limits, with an ordinance doing just that on the City Commission agenda Tuesday. City Manager Taggart Wall explained that mini-bikes are best described as miniature motorcycles, low to the ground and often difficult for other motorists to see.
Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com – RSS Results

Several weeks ago, Girard Police Chief Jesse Snider approached the Girard City Council, notifying council members of a potential project in which the police department donates bicycles in their custody, so new homes can be found for them. “Under our code 10-203, and many cities have this, if we have property that the police department takes custody of, however they take custody, at some point we can dispose of it after 90 days,” said city attorney Steve Angermayer at the meeting on Aug. 11. “… Code says if they are less than 100 bucks, they can be disposed of in a manner which benefits the public as approved by a majority of the council.” Snider provided further details on the bike initiative. “We have 33 bicycles, some from 2001,” said Snider. “… We got ahold of Brian Jackson through the Girard Chamber. He works to restore; they fix up bicycles and hand them out to kids. He’s accepted to come over and pick them up and go fix them and hand them out.”
Read more: – Latest Stories

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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, or Henry Schmidt.

Both City Commissioner Alaina Cunnigham and Mayor Sandy Jacobs used a portion of their Commissioner Comment time on August 14th to ask the public to watch out for kids on scooters as school begins. And on August 18, 2025, an Ellis resident asked the Ellis City Council to address the same problem, kids on scooters darting out between cars, before someone gets hurt.
Read more: Hays Daily News

The Kansas attorney general’s office issued a $250 fine to the Haysville City Council for violating the Kansas Open Records Act, officials said Wednesday. City employees declined without explanation to release copies of photographs requested under the state government transparency law. The photographs should have been released under KORA. The photographs were subsequently presented in court during a jury trial and led to the examination of whether the city committed a KORA violation.
Read more: Homepage

Many streets north of Waterman downtown soon will have paid parking meters installed. The city will begin to place meters after Labor Day on many of the north-south streets downtown, as well as the remainder of Douglas Avenue and other east-west streets. “Installation is expected to take several weeks,” a city news release said. This phase of parking will include some 15-minute parking spots that are free for visitors. Some of those spots will be on South Topeka near the Kansas Leadership Center and the Hilton Garden Inn Wichita Downtown.
Read more: Homepage

In part of east Wichita, a gun crime was 9.4 times more likely to happen at or within 300 feet of a gas station. It was 5.2 times more likely within 300 feet of a bar and 3.6 times more likely within 300 feet of a phone store. That’s what Wichita police learned from one of the department’s latest strategies to curb gun violence, the risk terrain modeling program. Risk terrain modeling software, from a company called Simsi, looks at the underlying factors of an area that might lead people to go there to commit crime. Wichita police are focusing on gun crime now.
Read more: Homepage

The dream of turning the old tennis courts at Wilson Park in Arkansas City into pickleball courts scored a big victory last week with the city announcing it had been awarded a $115,840 grant from the National Park Service.
Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com – RSS Results

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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, or Henry Schmidt.

There’s a certain comfort that communities take in being able to pick up the phone, dial 911 and get help on possibly the worst day of their lives. Elijah Robinson of Newton is one of those people at the other end of the call who rush to help, and he’s doing that as an EMT with Hesston Fire/EMS.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Girard Events, gearing up for its annual Fall Festival celebration, visited the Girard City Council Monday evening to discuss common consumption at its annual event. Scheduled to take place Friday, Oct. 17 through Saturday, Oct. 18, the annual Girard Homecoming and Fall Festival is a longstanding tradition, offering a parade, live music, kids’ games, and much more. During Monday’s meeting, Girard Events/Chamber Board member Kylie Smith and Girard Chamber Director Greg Scott visited city hall to seek approval from councilmembers. The council and Smith first talked about the city’s common consumption ordinance. Read more: – Latest Stories

At Tuesday morning’s county commission meeting, the commissioners discussed establishing a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID) somewhere in the county. According to the Kansas Department of Commerce, RHID is a program designed to aid developers in building housing within communities by assisting in the financing of public infrastructure improvements. RHID captures the incremental increase in real property taxes created by a housing development project for up to 25 years. The revenue can be used for reimbursement for incurred costs or to pay debt service on bonds.
Read more: – Latest Stories

Friday’s booming rally turned into Monday’s reality check as investors weighed just how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be on lowering interest rates and how the moves might impact the broader business and economic climate. Chair Jerome Powell, in his annual address at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, symposium, gave Wall Street hope of easier days ahead when he said conditions “may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” which is generally seen as “Fedspeak” for cutting rates.
Read more: Finance

As a regional librarian for the Johnson County Library, it’s Chris Koppenhaver’s job to be around books inside. As a dad of two boys, it’s been Koppenhaver’s joy to be around books outside. Koppenhaver and his sons have been among the countless patrons of the library system’s Walk and Read — a program that takes storytelling outside a library building. Walk and Read posts pages from children’s books on a series of real estate signs placed along walkways. This fall, Walk and Reads will be offered in seven parks and the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center.
Read more: Homepage

Iola City Council members discussed Monday a proposal to handle requests if someone wishes to have a person’s remains moved from either of the city’s two cemeteries. Iola will likely soon have an ordinance in place to follow in case the city receives a request to have a person’s remains removed from either Highland or Iola Cemetery. The discussion is both proactive and reactive, Parks and Cemetery Superintendent Robby Droessler said at Monday’s City Council meeting. He relayed a discussion he had with an individual in June who had inquired about having a relative’s urn removed from a cemetery plot in Iola.
Read more: The Iola Register

The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the microschool movement across the country, as families sought alternatives during shutdowns and remote schooling. The trend has continued post-pandemic, as part of a broader desire for educational choice. Last summer, the district reached out to several families who had planned to pull their kids out of Wichita schools. Some were headed to private or religious schools, others to homeschool. They changed their minds and instead enrolled at Creative Minds Academy.
Read more: The Iola Register

A grant that was initially meant to establish one more free Narcan vending machine will now support eight machines around Lawrence, and the first three were installed this week. Lawrence’s Homeless Solutions Division received $200,000 in grant funding from Kansas Fights Addiction to set up one Narcan vending machine. A partnership with Schmidt Vending allowed the city to repurpose used machines rather than purchasing brand new, meaning the money will stretch to cover eight machines. Narcan or naloxone, the FDA-approved, over-the-counter nasal treatment, blocks the effects of opiates on the brain and restores breathing. It’s effective against all opiates and opioids — heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, and similar prescription and street drugs — although some overdoses may take multiple doses to reverse.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

The City of Lawrence is seeking community feedback on a draft policy that details how the city will invest in affordable housing projects and what criteria developers must meet. The 54-page draft policy lays out details such as definitions of affordability; requirements that proposals must meet; various types of incentives the city will consider providing for projects; how long housing units must remain affordable and much more. The policy is a piece of larger city and county initiatives intended to increase housing availability in Lawrence, particularly for financially stressed households, and to reduce homelessness.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

How is it that a political candidate is simultaneously in the running for two local boards? And, can a public utilities board member also snag Wyandotte County’s top leadership role? In Lisa Walker-Yeager’s and Rose Mulvany Henry’s cases, government ethics and elections officials say the distinction between whether someone can put their hat in the ring for multiple spots — which they can — and whether they can actually serve in those roles is subject to legal interpretation. In other words, it’s not immediately clear if someone who runs for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas’s commission and the Board of Public Utilities can win and keep both positions.
Read more: Homepage

A portion of Route 66 in southeast Kansas has a new feature. It’s a Centennial Arch on Front Street in Galena. In case you’re unaware, The Mother Road turns 100 years old next year. And, the idea for this project has been brewing for quite some time. Former mayor, and self-described Route 66 roadie, Dale Oglesby came up with it in 2011.
Read more: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

Carolyn Caiharr is running unopposed for re-election as mayor of Edwardsville in November. In September, her Wyandotte County constituency will grow about five times larger. Caiharr faced no challengers earlier this month when local Republican precinct committee members chose her to replace outgoing Rep. Mike Thompson, who is retiring from politics to care for his ailing wife. House District 33 includes Edwardsville, much of Bonner Springs, the southwest corner of Kansas City, Kansas, and the northernmost tip of Lake Quivira.
Read more: Homepage

The Newton City Commission approved an incentive package aimed at making Newton an easier and nicer place for travelers to stay. Community Development Director Zach McHatton discussed the plan at the city’s Aug. 26 meeting. “Over the past several months, staff have reviewed best practices from peer communities and evaluated Newton’s current economic development policy to determine how hotel-specific incentives can be structured effectively,” he stated in materials presented at the meeting.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Emergency personnel are dealing with a gas leak in the new Fox Ridge subdivision in Newton. Lee Miller, assistant director for Harvey County Emergency Management, requested and received a disaster declaration from the county commissioners on Tuesday morning, formalizing the verbal declaration he previously made. According to the City of Newton, the Kansas Gas Service discovered the emission last Friday as it conducted a site survey near Southeast 10th and Logan. Since investigating, Kansas Gas states that the gas is not coming from its lines.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Newton Fire and EMS used their ladder truck to help lower a person in handcuffs from a roof early Friday morning. The event occurred around 5 a.m. on August 22, at the apartment building on the corner of Fifth and Main Street in Newton. According to Deputy Police Chief Scott Powell, law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance where two roommates were arguing.
Read more: Harvey County Now

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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, or Henry Schmidt.

There’s a certain comfort that communities take in being able to pick up the phone, dial 911 and get help on possibly the worst day of their lives. Elijah Robinson of Newton is one of those people at the other end of the call who rush to help, and he’s doing that as an EMT with Hesston Fire/EMS.
Read more: Harvey County Now

A new $3.1 billion large-scale data center campus will be built near the new Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant in De Soto starting next year. On Thursday, the De Soto City Council approved the proposed 290-acre development backed by industrial revenue bonds, with little opposition voiced from the public. Data centers house computer servers and networking equipment and provide the infrastructure the storage and processing of large amounts data.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The City of Shawnee has launched a new wayfinding plan for downtown to help residents and visitors navigate the area, find parking and enjoy sightseeing. On Thursday at its monthly Moonlight Market event, the city launched the Downtown Shawnee Wayfinding Plan, a feedback gathering initiative where residents voice their opinion on parking and accessibility downtown, as well as places and landmarks people should visit, which all reflect the spirit of downtown. From there, permanent signs will be created to highlight the feedback they received.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The city flag of Overland Park has long been considered among the worst in the nation. A new flag set to be adopted next month, with its tree motif and green and white color palette, is much more effective, according to the North American Vexillological Association.
Read more: Up To Date

A 26-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, Police officer was hit and killed early Tuesday by a fleeing suspect in a stolen car, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said, exactly one month to the day after a Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy was killed. Officer Hunter Simoncic, 26, was intentionally struck while throwing stop sticks in the 7200 block of State Avenue after 12:40 a.m. while officers were attempting to apprehend a man, the KBI’s Dustin Wallace said. Dennis Mitchell III, 31, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, theft, criminal possession of a firearm, and aggravated failure to appear.
Read more: News

Plentiful wind and finite water shape life on the Plains. Audrey Rupp, a lifelong resident of western Kansas, knows the region well. These days, she manages a 1,660-acre recreational park in Hodgeman County that surrounds HorseThief Reservoir, a refreshing anomaly that long existed only in the imagination.   “It’s crazy to me that people started talking about building a reservoir out here back in the 1930s,” she says with a grin. HorseThief Reservoir glimmers among rugged bluffs made verdant by summer rains. This is Rupp’s fourth year serving as park manager. The native of Tribune, a community of about 750 people in northwest Kansas, didn’t follow any of the local discussions about creating the reservoir while she was in high school. She graduated in 2009 and then took classes at Garden City Community College and Fort Hays State University.
Read more: KLC Journal

City leaders from Hays and Russell met Wednesday to review progress on their joint R9 Regional Water Supply Project, a decades-long effort to secure a sustainable water source for both communities. The two cities have been working together for years to develop a property they own in Edwards County into a long-term supply. Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty said the project has been in the regulatory process for a decade. “Hays and Russell are jointly developing a property they own in Edwards County as a long-term water supply,” Dougherty said. “We are nearing the end of the process, but we have been following it for 10 years now.”
Read more: KSN-TV

Another Kansas community is exploring the creation of a common consumption area. Dodge City is looking at creating common consumption areas. On Tuesday, Sept. 2, the city commission will be taking public comment on creating common consumption areas where visitors can openly transport alcoholic beverages between bars and restaurants in certain portions of the city.
Read more: KSN-TV

A Kansas emergency medical service needs stuffed animals. Ellis County EMS is seeking new teddy bears to stock their ambulances. The department gives the animals to children who have to ride in their ambulances to make the experience less frightening for them.
Read more: KSN-TV

The Park City City Council approved a $145 million STAR bond proposal on Tuesday to fund the Champtown development by a vote of 8-1. The planned $500 million, 160-acre development would include an 80,000-square-foot aquarium, retail, restaurants, a butterfly wonderland, and a baseball and softball complex.
Read more: KSN-TV

Multiple agencies are investigating after natural gas was detected in the new Fox Ridge housing development in Newton. Newton Fire/EMS says Kansas Gas Service crews are using vacuum trucks to remove gas from the ground to reduce any risk of ignition. Officials say homes in the area are not in danger, but the source of the gas remains unknown. The gas was first discovered Friday during a site survey near Southeast 10th and Logan. Kansas Gas Service later determined the gas is not coming from its utility lines.
Read more: KSN-TV

Starting next week, you can walk along downtown Salina with an alcoholic drink in hand. The city’s common consumption area begins Sept. 1. People 21 and older can buy alcohol from licensed, participating businesses and drink it in the designated area. “Maybe somebody had dinner and drinks across the way at a restaurant or bar, and they’re now going to make their way down to the theatre for a show, but they want to stop at your gallery on the way, you can decide,” Lauren Driscoll, Salina Director of Community and Development Services, said. “You can take that drink with you and enjoy our sculpture tour, and the local art, and our local murals. You can visit one of our plazas and look at our landscaping and our planters. You can meet some friends, you know that kind of stuff. There’s a lot of different options.”
Read more: KSN-TV

Assistant City Manager Braxton Copley presented two options to the City of Topeka Transient Guest Tax Committee (TGTC) Wednesday to help recover the $17.7 million that has been spent so far on Hotel Topeka. The TGTC voted unanimously to implement a transient guest tax structure to recoup costs related to Hotel Topeka on Aug. 27. The proposal that was approved will result in a 7% transient guest tax increase until 2028 for all other hotels in Topeka, when the rates will drop to 6% and then to 5% in 2033. To recoup the costs, Hotel Topeka will have its own special tax rate of 8%. Any tax revenue collected above the base year of 2025 will be used exclusively to reimburse the city for the purchase price, capital expenses and operating losses of Hotel Topeka. Once the city is fully reimbursed, the 8% special rate will expire, according to the ordinance. Copley said it could be close to the end of 2060 before the city can recoup the costs associated with Hotel Topeka.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

You wouldn’t know it by looking at it, but a small well on the northeast corner of Yates Center’s downtown square plays a part in the town’s history. The hand-dug well proved back in the 1800s that if residents wished to locate there, they’d still have a source of water. Wells were dug, at the insistence of landowner Abner Yates, to prove there was sufficient groundwater to put a community smack dab in the middle of Woodson County. It’s why, after a pair of hotly contested elections in the early 1870s between Neosho Falls and Kalida townships, to determine the Woodson County seat, voters opted for Yates’s vision. They voted to call Yates Center the county seat, the only such designation in the state for a town that hadn’t been created yet.
Read more: The Iola Register

Since 2020, Lawrence has gone from staffing three animal control officers to one, and pressure has mounted for the Lawrence Humane Society and the public to fill in the coverage gaps. An attack from a dog in Centennial Park recently hospitalized a 70-year-old woman and resulted in the death of her chihuahua. Investigations into the incident are ongoing. The aggressor dog, unleashed at the time of the attack, was sent to be quarantined at the Lawrence Humane Society. It isn’t entirely clear who the owner is, according to Lawrence Police Department spokesperson Laura McCabe. The incident has fed into broader community concerns regarding the number of stray and at-large animals in Lawrence versus animal control’s reach.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Park City took an important step Tuesday on a project plan for proposed sales tax revenue bond incentives for the $500 million Champtown development. The major project will span 160 acres in Park City showcasing a boardwalk with an aquarium, butterfly pavilion, multi-sport venues, retail and hotel along I-135. It has been in discussions as part of the STAR bond program for the past three years after a previous project proposed for the site, the former Echo Hills golf course, hadn’t seen any forward movement for years. The City Council approved the project plan, also considered a development agreement, during its Tuesday meeting.
Read more: Wichita Business Journal – Local Wichita News

Wichita Transit drivers have been trained on how to use naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses. Drivers were shown how to recognize signs of an overdose and how to use the medication during training provided by local non-profit Safe Streets at a monthly safety meeting. “Naloxone is here to save lives,” Aonya Kendrick Barnett with Safe Streets said. “It does not encourage drug use.
Read more: Homepage

After months of gathering input, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing the city’s center has put together a picture of what they say Wichitans want downtown to become: a community-centric space with more housing options, better walkability, a livelier riverfront and a neighborhood that feels like home. Now Downtown Wichita is preparing for a third open house from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27, at their 501 E. Douglas office. The come-and-go event will be the nonprofit’s final big push for community feedback before it assembles a new Downtown Wichita Action Plan.
Read more: Homepage