Kansas Municipal News
Labette County views study to expand internet
A 256-page study could serve as a roadmap for internet service providers to expand broadband coverage in Labette County. Labette County commissioners, who paid Finley Engineering of Lamar, Missouri, $69,350 to complete the study, accepted the work on Monday and reviewed highlights with Jim Zaleski, the city of Parsons economic development director. The county paid for the study with its American Rescue Plan Act funding from the federal government. The study featured in-depth interviews with residents, businesses and internet providers in the county. The study also listed varied broadband speeds in the county, most of which are poor. Much of southern Labette County reported download speeds of 10 to 13 megabits per second and upload speeds of 1 mbps. Oswego reported faster speeds, though County Counselor Brian Johnson, who lives in Oswego, noted that he pays for a 25 mbps download speed and has topped out at 13.
Source: Parsons Sun
Court rules against officers in Kansas wrongful conviction
A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by several Kansas law enforcement officers who were seeking qualified immunity for their roles in the arrest and prosecution of a man who was wrongfully convicted of killing a young girl. Floyd Bledsoe spent 16 years in prison after being convicted of killing 14-year-old Camille Arfmann in November 1999 in rural Jefferson County, Kansas. Floyd Bledsoe’s brother, Tom, was originally charged with murder after he confessed and led authorities to the body. But those charges were dropped and Floyd Bledsoe was arrested. He was convicted in 2000 of murder, kidnapping and indecent liberties with a child and sentenced to life in prison.
Source: Wichita Eagle
USDA Rural Development Invests $108 Million to Improve Health Care in Colby Kansas
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas State Director Christy Davis today announced that USDA is lending $108,249,000 to help Citizens Medical Center in Colby expand critical healthcare services. “There is no better way to celebrate National Rural Health Day than to invest in our state’s rural healthcare infrastructure.” Davis said. “USDA is committed to ensuring rural Americans have access to reliable quality health care, like that provided by Citizens Medical Center.” The details of this investment are: $108,249,000 in loans will help construct a 184,000 square foot replacement hospital and rural healthcare clinic facility in Colby. The Citizens Medical Center project will deliver quality patient care that meets current and future needs for the area.
Source: USDA
Salina bike sharing program revamps user experience
KANcycle, a bike sharing program through OCCK Transportation, has updated its system to be more userfriendly via a mobile app. The new offering enables riders to plan a multimodal trip and unlock a bike in just a few steps in the Transit app. As a worldwide service, the Transit app allows users to navigate public transit with accurate real-time predictions, trip planning, step-by-step navigation and convenient payments. Now, Salina’s local bike sharing program can be viewed and accessed through the app.
Source: Salina Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for November 16, 2022
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 and Beth Warren.
Manhattan to start Aggieville parking garage fees January 2nd
Starting January 2nd, Manhattan will begin charging for parking in the Aggieville Parking garage, with the first two hours free – with street parking also limited to two hours from 8 to 5 on weekdays. The Commission Tuesday unanimously approved the regulations – previously considering a 1-hour free parking time frame at a prior meeting before agreeing to a compromise on the matter with the Aggieville Business Association. Manhattan is hoping to incentivize long-term parkers to utilize the garage, leaving street stalls open for quicker stops in the district.
Source: 1350 KMAN
USD 235 applies for grant to rehab walking trail
A list of facilities improvement projects to be considered at USD 235 has not yet to be determined. In the meantime, Uniontown USD 235 Board of Education members on Monday, administrators are working towards funding renovation of the walking trail and replacing some playground equipment.
Source: Fort Scott Tribune
County to transfer former hospital building, COVID-19 funds to Legacy Health; specifics not revealed
Bourbon County officials are making the next steps toward the future of health care in the county. On Tuesday, Bourbon County Commissioners approved a series of motions related to a potential future project involving the Bourbon County Medical Building, formerly the Mercy Hospital building. County officials will sign agreements with Legacy Health LLC, a California company.
Source: Fort Scott Tribune
Fed’s Waller says he’s open to a half-point rate hike at December meeting
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Wednesday he’s open to reducing the level of interest rate increases soon so long as the economic data cooperate. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee is set to meet Dec. 13-14, with market expectations running high that policymakers will approve another rate hike, but this time opting for a 0.5 percentage point, or 50 basis point move. That would come after approving four consecutive 0.75 percentage point increases.
Source: Economy
Giant Communications receives grant to expand service in Denison
Giant Communications has been awarded nearly $900,000 in grant funds from the state to expand internet services to residents living in Denison and the surrounding area, Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Monday. “This grant will allow Giant to build fiber-to-the-home to the town of Denison and close surrounding areas,” said Austin Taylor, Giant Communications general manager. “This was one of our largest problem areas during the COVID pandemic, when attempting to connect homeschoolers, anyone in need of telemedicine and folks who needed to work from home.” A total of $15.7 million will be awarded to seven service providers, including Giant, that will bring high-speed broadband service to underserved, economically distressed and low-population areas of the state, it was reported.
Source: Holton Recorder
Hays USD 489 discusses potential branding changes
The Hays USD 489 community could soon be debating on whether or not to change the high school’s mascot: The Hays High Indians. That’s why the district held a community conversation Tuesday night. The district’s superintendent says the goal of the meeting was not to make any final decisions or changes but rather to create a “launch point” to gauge how the Hays community feels about the district’s branding moving forward.
Source: KSN-TV
How a Kansas ghost town got its name
Tucked away in Butler County, not far from a bend in the Little Walnut River, lies the ghost town of Boder. There’s not much left of the town itself. There’s the old post office which closed shortly after the start of the 20th century, a farmhouse, the ruins of a grist mill, and the Little Walnut Pratt Truss Bridge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. However, Boder isn’t the town’s true name. It’s not even Bodarc, as it was often pronounced.
Source: KSN-TV
Commissioner contends new Emporia policy prohibiting ‘unlawful camping’ on public property is aimed directly at local homeless population
Emporia City Commissioners have enacted a new policy that will make “unlawful camping” in a public space a misdemeanor crime. The ordinance will establish a new city code prohibiting camping on public property without a permit. According to City Attorney Christina Montgomery, the city, in cooperation with the Emporia Police Department, will now begin developing the permit application process. Commissioners approved the ordinance 4-1 with commissioner Susan Brinkman serving as the lone no vote. During the meeting, Brinkman stated the ordinance was full of “sanitized language” and believes the ordinance directly targets the city’s homeless population.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Planners to consider container facility
A Rose Hill man’s application to create a facility to modify shipping containers a mile south of Hillsboro will be reviewed Dec. 1 by the county planning and zoning board. Quentin Heidt wants to build a staging and operating location to modify new and recycled containers to customers’ specifications. Heidt listed one of his reasons as providing assets for community members.
Source: PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin
Bodycam video shows Leawood Police pull woman from burning SUV
Bodycam video released by Leawood Police show officers pulling a woman from a burning vehicle. A 51-year-old woman suffered severe burns Monday afternoon after her SUV crashed and caught fire near the Tomahawk Creek trailhead, just east of Tomahawk Creek Parkway and Town Center Drive. First responders got to the scene just before 2:10 p.m. and found the SUV flipped on its side, its front engulfed in flames. The video clip released by Leawood Police is just under minute long and shows the perspective of one arriving officer, who approaches the SUV as other officers and Leawood firefighters are attempting to extricate the woman.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Task force seeks retail ban on single-use bags, Dillons working on phased elimination
Lori Lawrence, of Bag Free Wichita, and Sheila Regehr, of Dillons Food Stores based in Hutchinson, outlined on the Kansas Reflector podcast strategies aimed at taking a bite out of demand and supply of plastic bags. Lawrence is part of the Wichita City Council’s task force studying potential of an ordinance prohibiting use of plastic bags by businesses starting in 2023. Regehr is on Wichita’s task force but said Dillons, which is part of Kroger Co., has a plan to eliminate use of these bags in its stores by 2025. “I’ve been an environmentalist for some time and plastic bags are something that cannot be avoided in our city at this point. They are everywhere in the stores, but they’re also everywhere on the streets and in the trees and in our parks,” Lawrence said. “We finally got the single-use plastic bag task force set up with the city of Wichita, and we’ve had a great group of people working on this. We’ve come to a decision on banning bags.”
Source: Pratt Tribune
Future of Kansas town’s library uncertain after outpouring of support at commission meeting
Following public outcry about censorship, the St. Marys City Commission decided to table a vote on renewing the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library’s lease. The lease is under threat because the library refused to comply with the commission’s request to remove all LGBTQ, sexual, racial or otherwise “socially divisive” content from its shelves. But with the lease ending in December, the library is still in a precarious situation. Every chair in the commission meeting room was filled for Tuesday night’s discussion about the library, with residents lined up against the walls to listen to debate. The majority of residents who spoke said they wanted the library to stay open.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Lawrence City Commission wants to consider a moratorium for rule on downtown liquor sales
Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday deferred an amendment to city code that would have allowed John Brown’s Underground to keep operating — but they want to look at ways to expand the opportunity to other businesses, too. A long-standing city rule requires establishments with liquor licenses to derive no more than 45% of their sales from liquor. Passed in 1994, the rule allowed exemptions for 29 existing locations. The code still exempts new bars that open in the same buildings as any of those original 29. JBUG had maintained compliance with the rule in recent years by factoring in food sales from Wake the Dead, a brunch restaurant that was located directly above the bar. But the owner encountered health issues, and Wake the Dead closed its doors in 2021, leaving JBUG in a precarious position and out of compliance with that ratio.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Fed’s Daly sees rates rising at least another percentage point as ‘pausing is off the table’
San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said Wednesday she expects the central bank to raise interest rates at least another percentage point, and possibly more, before it can pause to evaluate how the inflation fight is going. Daly told CNBC in a live interview that her most recent estimate in the Fed’s summary of economic projections puts the benchmark overnight lending rate around 5%. She added that the right range is probably from 4.75% to 5.25% from its current targeted range of 3.75%-4%. “I still think of that as a reasonable landing place for us before we hold, and the holding part is really important,” she told Steve Liesman during the “Squawk on the Street” interview. “It’s a raise-to-hold strategy.” Thus far, the Fed has hiked the fed funds rate, which spills over into a slew of other consumer debt products, six times, including four consecutive 0.75 percentage point moves. Looking ahead, market pricing is largely in line with what Daly suggested. Traders see the central bank adding another 0.5 percentage point when it meets again in mid-December, then moving a bit higher before stopping around the 4.75%-5% range.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Lenexa taking Republic to court over trash pickup problems
Complaints about missed trash collections and slow response to customers by Republic Services are on the rise in Lenexa — so much so that the city has issued a citation. Complaints have been increasing the past few months about failures of the Phoenix, Ariz.-based company to pick up trash and recycling in a timely manner, said Scott McCullough, Lenexa community development director. To that end, the city has charged Republic with a code violation based on one of those complaints. The citation carries a possible $2,500 fine and is on the municipal court’s docket for Thursday, Nov. 17.
Source: Prairie Village Post