Kansas Municipal News
Lenexa wants to collect 1,000 pounds of used plastic bags to make into bench
The city of Lenexa is looking to get a new public bench through unconventional means — by recycling more than 1,000 pounds of plastic bags. Taking a cue from neighboring cities like Merriam, the city has launched a year-long project where it ask residents to donate plastic bags at three locations in hopes of reaching the magic number of 1,000 pounds, enough to craft a bench.
“This was just something that was a little different that could benefit the community and the environment,” Heather Howell, Lenexa’s human resources specialist and member of Lenexa’s We Care Committee, said .“People do have a lot of plastic, I will say,” she said. “I know, personally, the Amazon bags that I get every single day that you can’t just toss into the recycling bins, they end up somewhere else. So bring them to Lenexa.” While Lenexa’s We Care Committee hosts a variety of projects for people in need, it wanted to shift its focus to the environment and making something useful out of plastic waste. “Traditionally, we’ve done a coat drive, we’ve done a canned food drive, we’ve done Warmth Trees in December,” Howell said. “The environment is something we’re really passionate about, as well.” The program was inspired by Merriam’s plastic bag drive in 2023, which gathered enough plastic bags to make two benches.
Source: Johnson County Post
Lenexa adopts new long-term plan to guide city through next 20 years
After three years of planning, the Lenexa City Council on Tuesday approved a new comprehensive plan that lays the groundwork for the city through 2040 and beyond.
At its meeting Tuesday night, the council gave the green light to a revised comprehensive plan, a document that serves as an aspirational roadmap for the next 20 years of development and land use in the city. The council passed the plan with a 5-2 vote. One of the big changes the new plan predicts is a shift away from big box retail spaces and offices to more housing and non-office business parks. “In 2016, the office market and big box retailers were very strong, and additional office parks and big box retailers were envisioned in the community,” the newly adopted plan states. “Today, these markets are more volatile, and additional office parks and large retail uses are not expected.” The plan also focuses on amenities that residents want to see more of, including recreational trails and parks, as well as potentially thorny issues like missing middle housing.
Source: Johnson County Post
Prairie Village weighs buying church property. Could it become part of new city hall?
Prairie Village is considering purchasing a church property on Mission Road that could become part of a still-evolving plan to build a new city hall. At a special city council work session on Monday, discussion of the church appeared to inadvertently come up as councilmembers were hearing about a slightly revised site design layout for a new prospective $30 million city hall plan that the city has been discussing for more than a year. Whether purchasing the church property would mean the city uses that building or the land it sits on for a new city hall has yet to be determined, city officials told the Post.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Galesburg Fire Dept. awarded $5,000 grant through Nutella partnership
The Galesburg Fire Department is receiving a grant from Nutella through a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council. According to the fire department, the $5,000 grant is to help secure necessities the fire department needs including equipment, gear, training, recruitment, retention initiatives, community outreach, education efforts, or other necessities. The Galesburg Fire Department says the grant was awarded by Nutella through its “Stacks for Giving Back” program. The purpose of the program is to shine light on those who spread positivity in the community. The program is awarding a combined total of $25,000 to five fire departments in the U.S.
Source: KOAM News
City of Emporia mourns loss of Mayor Danny Giefer
The City of Emporia is in mourning as it announced the death of longtime City Commissioner and Mayor Danny Giefer, who died at his home on July 6. Giefer and his wife moved to Emporia over 50 years ago in 1970. The city said in a news release it is better because of that decision. “Emporia is a better place, because in 1970 newlyweds Danny and Betty Giefer chose to move here to live and to rear their children. We are grateful they did,” the news release said. Giefer was sworn into the Emporia City Commission in 2013 because, the city said, he wanted to help the people of Emporia. “He used his business acumen to the benefit of Emporia,” the news release said. “When he voted on an issue, whether yay or nay, we knew that he had thoroughly researched the issue, talked with constituents, and based his vote on what he believed would be best for Emporia.”
Source: KSN-TV
Reno County considers expanding zoning, solar farms
Reno County is asking residents to share their opinions about the possible expansion of countywide zoning and solar farms in the unzoned areas of the county.
The county is hosting three town hall meetings this month for County District 1 and District 2. The first meeting is Monday evening. Some of the county officials who will be at the meetings include Reno County Administrator Randy Partington, the county commissioners who represent District 1 and District 2, the director of Public Works, and the county planner. The town hall meetings will be informal. They will start with information about planning and zoning and what it would mean to residents in the rural areas of Reno County.
Then, officials will seek feedback to see if people living in the unzoned areas of Reno County are interested in commercial solar farms, either prohibiting or allowing them.
Source: KSN-TV
Baxter Springs enhances annual Light Up the Sky celebration with new attractions
Baxter Springs is looking to take their annual Light Up the Sky celebration to another level. The city’s public works crew lead the fundraising and organizing efforts, getting 20 sponsors to donate to help put the celebration on. Previously the event took place on 19th St, but this year it’s returning to Kiwanis Park. The celebration will have many new additions this year, including police barrel rides, a disk golf contest, a water dunk tank and the new pickle ball courts. Mayor Kelly Abbott said they want to provide the things the community enjoys doing.
“I think everybody looks forward to this event and comes out every year to it. So you know we want to provide for everybody and and provide those things that people will remember and comeback to,” said Mayor Abbott.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Pittsburg celebrates 4th of July and 71 years of Kiddieland
There were plenty of smiles in Pittsburg Thursday to celebrate the 4th of July. The City of Pittsburg hosted a full day of celebrations in Lincoln Park and at Kiddieland. In fact, this year marks the 71st year of Kiddieland’s existence in Pittsburg. “Not just on the 4th of July, but all the time. We have families and grandpas that will come in and go, I want to bring my grandkids here. I remember coming here when I was a kid. Some of the rides are exactly the same as they remember. And so seeing their kids and grandkids enjoy the same thing is super. It’s really neat,” said Kris Paapanen. “It’s good. It’s really consistent. It’s something that we’re used to that we always know this is going to be here every year and we get to know the small business owners. We get to know the community really well,” said Andrea Ascanio.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Cherryvale’s Claim: The forgotten author of the Pledge of Allegiance
For more than a century, Americans have said the Pledge of Allegiance, from the newest citizens, to presidents, to school children. But for one southeast Kansas community, it’s more than an oath. It’s part of the story of their town. “We claim that Frank Bellamy, who lived back at the turn of the century, as in 1890’s to 1900, we think that he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Mike Wood, Cherryvale Historical Museum. Frank Bellamy was born in 1876 in Indiana, the anniversary of our nation’s independence. His father, a prominent judge, moved the family first to Girard, and then to Cherryvale. The story of the Pledge of Allegiance begins with an 1890 writing competition in a magazine distributed in classrooms nationwide, called the Youth’s Companion.
“His teachers encouraged him to submit what he’d written as a Pledge of Allegiance to a competition, and he did that. He submitted it, and he didn’t hear anything back,” said Wood.
Source: KSNF/KODE
City of Parsons fire truck that was ordered in 2022 arrives
A fire truck the city of Parsons ordered in 2022 has arrived last week. The city of Parsons ordered a Pierce Enforcer pump truck in 2022 at a purchase price of $684,032.62.
Brad Boss, Parsons fire chief, told city commissioners on Thursday that the department is in the process of switching equipment over to the new truck. He said the department is taking two trucks and putting equipment into one. The process will take a bit longer than normal, he said. But “we do have it,” Boss said the truck that is parked in the Washington Avenue station.
Source: Parsons Sun
STAYCATION | Strong City, Cottonwood Falls provide small town surprises
Located 60 miles south of Manhattan, Strong City and Cottonwood Falls both may be small in size, but they make up for it with history and opportunities for exploration.
The hour-long drive down Kansas Highway 177 takes you into Strong City first, which is also accessible via U.S. Highway 50 west of Emporia. Continue down K-177, and then you’ve hit Cottonwood Falls. Toni Schneider, executive director of the Chase County Chamber of Commerce, said in an email that the unique thing about the twin-city area is “the feeling.”
“The feeling you get when you see the magnificent Flint Hills, not just the first time, but every time,” she said. “The feeling you get when you meet someone from the other side of the world on main street, the feeling you get when you see your neighbor helping a stranger and the feeling you get when someone tells you they are so glad they came to visit or live here.”
Source: themercury.com
Chanute’s Santa Fe Park playground ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for Friday
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for the grand opening of the new Santa Fe Park playground at noon Friday, July 5. “We are very happy that we will get to cut the ribbon for the children of Chanute so they will have a safe place to play,” said Debbie Shields, chairperson of the Chanute Parks Advisory Board. The new playground equipment is inclusive and has something for every youth, Shields noted. The Chanute Community Foundation received $70,000 in match grant funding from the Patterson Family Foundation for the new playground equipment at Santa Fe Park in December. In November, the Sunderland Foundation awarded $100,000 to the Chanute Community Foundation for the new park playground equipment.
Source: www.chanute.com – RSS Results in news,news/* of type article
As Kansas home values rise, major property tax relief will wait until at least next year
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republican lawmakers hailed the tax cuts package signed into law in June as significant relief for residents. But on property taxes, no one views the new law as a smashing success. The compromise reached by Kelly and GOP leaders contained only a modest property tax cut, even as lawmakers almost universally say high property tax bills are the biggest complaint of constituents. Instead, action in the statehouse focused largely on income tax reductions. Demonstrating the anger over property tax bills, the Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas, Unified Government’s commissioners voted last week to not collect additional property tax revenue in the next budget year. The decision came after a contentious hours-long public hearing where residents voiced frustration with the size of their bills. Kansas lawmakers insist they will advance substantial property tax relief next year.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Municipal Bond Trends for July 5, 2024
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.
Municipal Bond Trends for July 3, 2024
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.
Municipal Bond Trends for July 2, 2024
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.
Lawsuit over rejected Shawnee apartment plan could go to Kansas Supreme Court
A lawsuit between the city of Shawnee and a Johnson County-based development company may find its way to the Kansas Supreme Court. Attorneys for Austin Homes, a development company owned by Greg Prieb, are now appealing an April decision by the Kansas Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of the city after it denied developers’ application five years ago to build a multi-family project near Johnson Drive and K-7 Highway.
Source: Johnson County Post
DOJ, Wichita schools reach settlement in race, disability discrimination investigation
Wichita Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached a settlement after an investigation into Kansas’ largest school district uncovered race and disability discrimination in how discipline is dealt out. “The department’s investigation revealed, among other things, that the district’s Black students were disciplined more frequently and more severely than white students who engaged in similar conduct and had similar backgrounds and disciplinary histories,” a Tuesday DOJ release states.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Riley County jail close to reaching capacity with more incarcerations
The Riley County Jail has been close to reaching capacity in recent month. Jail captain Mark French on Monday told county commissioners the 147-bed correctional facility has an average daily population of about 114 inmates, and sometimes, that number gets up to 120. “We’re pretty maxed out when it comes to the classification system,” French said.
Source: themercury.com
Kansas Launches National Campaign to Attract and Retain Talent
Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland, alongside leaders from across the state, today unveiled Love, Kansas, a dynamic talent attraction campaign aimed at boosting Kansas’ population by inviting past residents to choose the Sunflower State as their future home. This national marketing initiative will highlight Kansas as an exceptional place to live, work and raise a family, with a special emphasis on “boomerangs” – individuals with previous ties to the state. The campaign was launched at the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, where Lieutenant Governor Toland shared his personal journey back to Kansas that was inspired by a heartfelt phone call from a family friend about a job opportunity in his hometown of Iola. “It’s simple: We need more humans in Kansas to keep up with the phenomenal economic growth our state is experiencing,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “The best way to do that is to first approach Kansans who left the state for economic opportunities elsewhere and invite them to build a life in a place they know and have connections to, whether in their hometown or elsewhere in the state. And with the Love, Kansas campaign, we aren’t just extending an invitation to those who once called Kansas home to come back – we’re also inviting families from around the country to build their lives in the Sunflower State.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce