Kansas Municipal News
Hollywood writer brings first look at a film about Hutchinson to Fox Theater
A Hollywood writer is headed to Hutchinson to show off his script and get input. On Sunday, Jake Farrago, the writer of “No Place Like Hutch” — a film about Hutchinson and its history, will hold a reading at the Fox Theater. The film is currently not yet in production, but before Farrago began filming, he wanted the residents of Hutchinson to have the first look through a table read of his script with local actors. “It’s usually not something we do publicly, but I think it’s important, especially for something so focused on the DNA of the town,” Farrago said. “I would love for (the film) to bring back love and a renewed interest in the town itself.”
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for April 27, 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.
Atchison’s Memorial Hall reaches on beyond century mark
Atchison County native Colonel Leroy Stutz, USAF, retired, Vietnam POW addressed a crowd of veterans, families, and friends who gathered in tribute to celebrate the first 100-year milestone for the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Atchison. Stutz, a Hanoi Hilton survivor, spoke about his personal military experiences that began in Memorial Hall as a Kansas National Guardsman. He also shared insight about his connections to farm life in Atchison County in rural Effingham near Monrovia. The event was Sunday, April 24 in the facility built to honor all in military service in WWI from Atchison County as a community activity center and as a memorial for the men and women in military service who gave all.
Source: Atchison Globe Now
Sports gambling in Kansas could get done this week
Place your bets. Sports gambling has a shot at passing this week. “It should pass in the Senate,” said Rep. Stephanie Clayton (D) District 19. “It’s pretty tight.” Clayton lives in the Kansas City area, where she says casinos and other sports venues could bring in a lot of revenue from sports gambling being legalized inside the State of Kansas. She says the key is the Kansas senate. “If there are more than 21 votes in the Senate, it would go to the governor,” said Clayton. Wichita Representative Tom Sawyer says if the measure passes, the money the state would make on betting would not have to go to the general fund.
Source: KSN-TV
Shawnee prohibits shared room rentals in residential areas of city
Shawnee has officially adopted new city code that restricts shared room rentals in all residential zoning districts. Shawnee is believed to be the first municipality in the Kansas City metro to adjust its city code in order to restrict such shared room, or co-living, rental arrangements in which people lease individual rooms within a larger property but share common areas. The practice has grown in popularity in recent years in the U.S. as housing costs have increased, according to CNBC, especially in high-priced metropolitan areas like San Francisco.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Labor, housing in Marysville discussed with visiting officials
Four state officials have visited Marysville in recent weeks, each learning about the area’s shortage of labor and affordable housing, among other issues. Lieutenant Gov. David Toland visited Landoll Company on April 11 and toured Marysville’s new fire station, which was funded largely through the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant program.
Source: The Marysville Advocate
1970s art installation in Shawnee Mission Park now a hidden gem
A Johnson County sculptor whose artwork is in collections around the world and were featured in Marvel© and DC© comics-related movies was also the creator of a public artwork recently “rediscovered” in Shawnee Mission Park. The piece in question consists of three steel and wooden cylinders with seats inside located overlooking the lake near Shelter #4 just north of the marina on the lake’s north side. They were created and donated to the park in the early 1970s by local artist Arlie Regier, who passed away in 2014. Earlier this year, JCPRD officials came across a 1972 newspaper clipping about the art installation. This comes at a time when the park district is actively working toward installing new public art in district parks.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Wildfire burns around 180 acres in northern Riley County
Firefighters battled a wildfire Tuesday evening in a rural swath of northern Riley County. It began around 7 p.m. in the area near Bjorling Road, northeast of Randolph, starting near the recent Carlson Road fire. An estimated 180 acres burned into the evening, according to Riley County Fire District No. 1. There were no reports of any structural damage. Crews cleared the scene by 11 p.m. and will be returning this morning to check for hot spots. The fire was caused by a permitted, controlled burn in the area that got out of control.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Sedgwick County to conduct a different test for outdoor warning sirens
Sedgwick County Emergency Management is planning a different test for the outdoor warning sirens. The sirens are usually tested on Mondays at noon in an alert mode, which is a steady tone used for tornado warnings. The test on Monday, May 2nd will be in attack mode, which is a rising and falling tone. Deputy Emergency Management Director Jonathan Marr said the attack mode has a more traditional sound and it would be used during times of war or for enemy attack. He said the message with both modes is the same, urging people to take shelter and check with news sources to get warning information.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Jaws of Life: Newton firefighters train to save lives
Many people are familiar with the Jaws of Life, a type of rescue equipment first responders use to rescue people trapped in vehicles following an accident. What people don’t know is what they themselves need to do in that situation and what they can expect. “Other than just be patient, there’s going to be lots of pops and loud noises, all this cracking you hear,” said Newton Fire/EMS Department Acting Officer Colton Garcia while he and others in the department did vehicle extraction training Tuesday morning at All Metals Recycling in Newton. They’ve been doing the training last week and this week.
Source: Harvey County Now
Kansas voters to decide constitutional amendment question on election of county sheriffs
The November general election ballot added girth in terms of verbiage with adoption of a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution requiring election rather than appointment of county sheriffs. On Tuesday, the House affirmed a final version of House Concurrent Resolution 5022 previously endorsed by the Senate. It passed 91-31 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate — above the required two-thirds majorities necessary to place the amendment on statewide ballots. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican running for governor, lobbied for the amendment and vowed to campaign for passage of the amendment related to election of sheriffs and potential removal of sheriffs.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Sedgwick County sirens will be in attack mode Monday
If you are in a place where you can hear the Sedgwick County tornado sirens Monday, May 2, you may notice they sound a bit different. Sedgwick County Emergency Management will test the Outdoor Warning System’s attack mode. Usually, the Monday test at noon is the alert mode, a steady tone. “The attack mode is very different,” Jonathan Marr, Emergency Management deputy director, said. “It’s a rise and fall tone. In some cases, it can be rather alarming for some people. The test is going to last for approximately three to five minutes.”
Source: KSN-TV
Osawatomie endures thousands of cyber threats
The city of Osawatomie’s network servers were subjected to 47,000 cyberattacks during a one-month period earlier this year. Most of the attacks emanated from inside Russia. Bill Justesen, the city’s director of information technology, delivered that sobering news during the City Council’s April 14 meeting. The city has two networks, one for City Hall and the other for the Osawatomie Police Department, Justesen said. Two internet service providers connect the city’s two networks to the internet, he said. “Between January and February, we had approximately 47,000 attacks against our network,” Justesen said. “That’s 47,000 direct attacks against our servers.”
Source: republic-online.com
Louisburg delays action on pit bull breeds until May
The fate of pit bull breeds in Louisburg will have to wait until May. At its meeting April 18, the Louisburg City Council delayed voting on an ordinance that would remove the pit bull ban from city code until staff had a chance to make revisions to existing city code regarding vicious animals. That would allow council members to consider both the pit bull and vicious animal revisions to city code at the same meeting. The council’s next meeting is May 2.
Source: republic-online.com
Anonymous campaign clouds Inman bond election
An unidentified person or group has sent out postcards to Inman voters in opposition of a bond election that will be decided May 3. The postcard contains the district’s logo, but the district had no part in communicating the message. Superintendent Scott Friesen put out a release expressing concerns about “unnecessary confusion” the postcard might cause voters. We want to make sure the community knows that there are only two locations online that are official from the district, a website—usd448bond.com—and a Facebook page called ‘USD 448 Inman Bond Project.’” I know it’s not the school putting that information out. It’s anonymous, coming from different places,” he said.
Source: McPherson Weekly News
State poised for major investment in rural housing
The state of Kansas is about to invest nearly $200 million in rural housing as part of a broad initiative to foster economic development in areas without enough homes to support a robust work force. The Kansas Legislature this week passed a worth roughly $120 million in tax credits to jump start the housing market in rural Kansas plus more than another $65 million that’s earmarked in the state budget for constructing new homes.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
Attending the KMU conference in Wichita? Come by our booth and say hello!
We are proud to be a Silver sponsor of the 2022 Kansas Municipal Utilities Conference at the Hyatt in Wichita. Stop by our booth and say hello to some of our staff. Learn how we can assist your community!
Municipal Bond Trends for April 26, 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.
Miners Hall looks back at Arma’s history
The Miners Hall Museum in Franklin hosted Rediscover Arma, a short program about the founding and history of the town, on Sunday. Christie Nicoletti Parrish, Linda Robers and Mike Doue sponsored the event, inviting three speakers to give a brief lecture, coupled with their own recollections, about growing up and living in Arma. The program is part of a series the museum intends to run throughout the summer. …Joan Barbieri, whose grandparents immigrated to southeast Kansas in the late 19th century, started with the founding of Arma as a small mining camp in 1886 on 65 acres of land owned by William Armacost, the city’s namesake, and populated mostly by European immigrants, especially from Italy. According to Barbieri, mining camps were temporary. When a mining camp closed, the houses were torn down and loaded onto a wagon to be moved to the next site.
Source: Morning Sun
Merriam City Council gets first look at new $136M concept to remake former Kmart site
The Merriam City Council on Monday got its first look at a development concept that could remake the abandoned Kmart property on Shawnee Mission Parkway. After some uncertainty over the property’s future, Overland Park-based Drake Development appears to be holding steady on its plans to turn the long-vacant lot into a mixed-use development. But several more steps must occur before any plans for the prominent site are finalized.
Source: Prairie Village Post