Kansas Municipal News
Newton police collect thousands of pills from new drug drop-off box
The Newton Police Department is hoping to fight prescription drug abuse in its community and has already collected thousands of pills from its drug drop-off box.
Lt. Bryan Hall says the box was installed just last week. The evidence custodian has already had to empty it out several times since it was put in.
“It’s only been a few days and we’re already into thousands of pills,” he said. “I can’t even count at this point.”
It’s a no-questions-asked drug drop-off box. Lt. Hall says people will not be arrested if they drop off illicit drugs. In fact, he says he’s had several messages from people wanting to drop off illicit drugs in order to better their lives.
“Our goal isn’t to arrest people. It’s to help people,” Hall said. “our history shows a lot of violent crimes in the last few years have been associated with the illegal drug trade.”
(Read more: KAKE – News)
Night of community and engagement on tap at Meridian Center for Newton’s Talk20
In hopes of sparking conversation, creating community, understanding different perspectives and providing Newton with a good way to spend a Friday night, Newton Now will host its first annual Talk20 Event at 7 p.m. Friday, April 6, at the Meridian Center.
Ten community members will give short, photo-illustrated talks about experiences and situations unique to their lives.
There will be an intermission in the middle of the talks. Afterwards, the venue will remain open and there will be a bar and non-alcoholic drinks available for people to mingle, socialize and discuss.
“We have been attending such events in Hutchinson for a number of years and have always left impressed,” Publisher Joey Young, who helped organize the event, said. “We wanted to bring something like this to Newton, because we think the community deserves it and that it will catch on.”
Newton Now staff sat down and selected the various speakers for the event, based on their unique perspectives and the quality of the stories they had to tell.
Each speaker will present with 20 slides behind them, speaking for 20 seconds for each slide. The format forces speakers to be concise and to also provide compelling imagery that illustrates their speech.
(Read more: Newton Now)
Shawnee unveils new fire station design
The community was given a sneak peak into the design for the new western Shawnee fire station during an open house on Thursday.
Shawnee fire chief John Mattox and several of the city’s firefighters were on hand at the meeting, which was held at Riverview Elementary School, to answer questions and offer insight into the new building.
The new Station 74 is proposed for 53rd Street and Woodsonia Drive; it will be roughly 9,000 square-feet.
It will feature six individual bunkrooms, a fitness room, a gear washing station, an expansive storage area and a community/training room, among other necessities and amenities.
“It will meet all of our needs now into the future,” Mattox told the Dispatch. “We’re excited to get started.”
(Read more: The Dispatch stories)
Lawrence City Commission approves study to identify better cleanup methods for contaminated Farmland site
Consultants will soon undertake a study to come up with a new strategy for the city’s cleanup of the former Farmland fertilizer plant.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to approve a more than $200,000 contract with a consulting firm, GHD Inc.
GHD will complete an analysis of the city-owned Farmland site, conduct community input meetings and come up with a new plan to deal with the nitrogen-contaminated water at the site. The plan will have at least five contingencies, each with a cost-benefit analysis, in case one or more methods become infeasible.
“Last fall you had two alternatives; neither were good,” GHD project engineer David Hempleman told the commission. “What we are trying to do for you is come up with five alternatives, each of which on any given day would work.”
(Read more: LJWorld.com stories: Local news)
Harvey County rescinds bid award; winning bid didn’t meet specs
The cargo bed is too small.
That detail caused the Harvey County Board of County Commissioners to rescind a bid offer to purchase three Utility Terrain Vehicles from 321 Kawasaki of El Dorado.
Last week, the county approved paying $41,653 to the company for three UTV vehicles to go to the parks and solid waste departments.
However, this week county administration asked the commission to instead rescind that offer because it found that the bed of a vehicle it was to purchase, a Kawasaki Mule Pro FXR, was 13.9 square feet and not 20 square feet, meaning it didn’t meet the county’s previous specifications.
County Public Information Officer Kyle McCaskey stated that county administration noticed the error and was also notified by another vendor, Dan’s Cycles, of the mistake. At the meeting, County Administrator Anthony Swartzendruber suggested that the county go with the lowest bidder it had that still met specifications.He said that if they allowed 321 Kawasaki to change its bid, they’d need to do that for all bidders.
The next lowest bidder was Dan’s Cycle out of Hesston, with a total cost of $41,769.
Krehbiel, after hearing Lewis’ explanation of why its bid didn’t meet specifications, responded.
“I can appreciate what you’re saying and understand,” he said. “But what we’re getting at here is if it doesn’t meet specs, we need to not accept it period.”
(Read more: Newton Now)