Kansas Municipal News
Days before school shooting, Olathe voters OK’d spending millions for safety
Days before a shooting at Olathe East High School left three people injured on Friday, Johnson County voters approved a $298.3 million bond initiative to help improve safety across the district. Three people were shot and injured: a school resource officer, an assistant school principal and the suspect, who is a student and was shot in the abdomen, according to radio traffic from the officer, captured by Broadcastify.com. The incident came after voters passed a bond measure on Tuesday to to replace a middle school building and fund several facility, technology and safety improvements.
Source: Joco 913 News
Newcomers to Dodge City break the ice with silly signs
The silly signs started on Super Bowl Sunday, when four newcomers from Syracuse, Kan., agreed to do something weird and fun to break the ice and make friends in their new home. Lydia Cook and her daughters, 8-yearold Taegan and 6-year-old Violet, agreed her boyfriend JT Menasco spoke the truth that Sunday when he said, “We don’t know anybody here. And there aren’t enough smiles.” They moved to Dodge City this year to enjoy the pleasures a bigger city affords. Cook and Menasco both secured jobs, but said they had a week to wait for work-mandated physicals. That’s when they decided, as a family, to take markers to poster boards and let their silly sides scribble.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe
School resource officer, injured in Olathe shooting, is praised for quick response
Erik Clark has been identified as the school resource officer who was injured in the shooting at Olathe East High School on Friday, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. Clark suffered injuries along with an assistant principal. The suspect, who is a student, was shot in the abdomen, according to radio traffic from the officer, captured by Broadcastify.com. The Olathe Police Department said the shooting occurred in an office area, and a suspect was in custody. Officials at Overland Park Regional Medical Center said in a written statement Friday afternoon that the two victims had been discharged from the hospital. The student remained there in critical condition.
Source: Joco 913 News
Commissioners have ‘no appetite’ for truck route
County commissioners have made it clear they do not want a truck route in Miami County. “There is no appetite in this room to put in a truck route – anywhere,” Chair Rob Roberts said during the commission’s study session Wednesday, March 2. At a recent commission meeting, several northern Miami County residents spoke out against establishing a truck route in the county. The residents said intermodal truck traffic has damaged their property, blocked their roads and created safety hazards. The County Commission’s recent discussion about a truck route should not be misinterpreted as a sign commissioners want to establish one, Roberts said. “Everybody went on the defensive saying, ‘We don’t want it,’” Roberts said. “Nobody here said we are doing it.”
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Three wounded at Olathe East after student and school resource officer exchange gunfire
Gunfire erupted between an 18-year-old student and a school resource officer at Olathe East High School, leaving three people wounded Friday morning. The school resource officer, identified as Erik Clark, responded to the school’s main office at 10:38 a.m. to what police described as an administrative matter with the student. Shots were exchanged after the student displayed a handgun, said Sgt. Joel Yeldell, a spokesman for the Olathe Police Department. The officer, a school administrator and the student were injured in the shooting. According to audio captured by Broadcastify, the officer radioed into dispatchers, saying, “I’ve been shot.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Manhattan to finalize STAR bond district expansion March 15
Manhattan City Commissioners unanimously approved expanding the Downtown sales tax and revenue (STAR) bond district on first reading at their Tuesday meeting, and now look to March 15 to finalize approval. If approved on second reading, commissioners will see the topic before them again in April to review the proposed project plan. “It isn’t often that we have an opportunity like this,” says Mayor Linda Morse. “Most people with their projects come to the city and say […] we want you to give us money to do this. This is an opportunity where a local investor is coming forward for the benefit of the city.”
Source: 1350 KMAN
Camp removal highlights issue of homelessness
A homeless encampment that was cleared last week from the Winfield Fairgrounds had already been abandoned by the time it was removed, officials said this week. Winfield City Manager Taggart Wall said the campsites, consisting of two tents and two campers, were cleared Feb. 25 from the Pecan Grove at the Winfield Fairgrounds after several notices were given to the occupants for non-payment of camping fees. The campers left the fairgrounds and relocated elsewhere, leaving behind items that were then disposed of by city staff. “When the campers left, they left items behind. We removed (the items),” Wall said. Wall said it isn’t uncommon for people who camp at city facilities to leave things behind for workers to pick up.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Lyon County valuations indicate ‘inflationary trend’
The Lyon County Appraiser’s Office has completed the annual revaluation of all real estate property in the county. Lyon County appraiser Ryan Janzen said 2022 Change of Valuation notices began going out on Feb. 25. A study of the residential and commercial real estate market indicated an overall inflationary trend. “For 2022, residential and farmstead properties in Lyon County saw a median valuation increase of 9% compared to their 2021 valuation,” the report read. “Eighty-nine percent of residential and farmstead properties saw an increase in property valuation from 2021 to 2022.
Source: Emporia Gazette
Lawson leaving Ark City for Manhattan post
Andrew Lawson, public information officer and special projects coordinator for the City of Arkansas City, is leaving that job to become the public information officer for the City of Manhattan, Kan. Lawson said in an email Friday that he will leave effective March 22, and City Manager Randy Frazer will handle public information duties until a new spokesperson is found.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
KDOT announces aviation projects selected for funding
Thirty-six projects have been selected for Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP) funding for the purpose of planning, constructing or rehabilitating public use general aviation airports. KAIP receives $5 million annually through the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, known as IKE, and requires airport sponsors to share in the project costs by paying between 5% and 50% of the total project. The Kansas Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation, which manages the program, considered 145 project applications this year with a combined total project value of over $78 million. Among those projects selected was Rose Hill’s Cook Airfield, which will receive $87,120 for runway/taxiway repair and pavement preservation of the entire airfield.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Commissioners debate charging business license fee
Fort Scott City Commissioners on Tuesday had a lengthy debate about whether the city should require a business license fee. Local business owner Angela Simon said she believes the county should be able to recoup some tax revenue from business that are operating illegally. She said one way to do that is for the city to require business licenses.
Source: Fort Scott Tribune
Drought persists in southwest Kansas as fire season begins
Spring is nearly here and there is drought in Finney County and across southwestern Kansas. Jonathan Finch, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, said extreme western Finney County is in D3, extreme drought, from Garden City moving east it’s in D1, moderate drought, and in between its D2, severe drought.
Source: Garden City Telegram
Peabody residents working to renovate only performing arts theater in town
A group in Peabody is working to renovate a local building into a performing arts theater. Members of the Sunflower Theatre Committee say the arts in their rural community are underserved, so they’re working to change that. The Sunflower Theatre was built in the 1920s, but was later turned in to a bowling alley, which later closed. The building has been vacant for a few years now. The committee is working on the $1.6 million renovation project to restore it. They’ve already received an $85,650 Heritage Trust Grant from the Kansas Historical Society. The committee is working to raise the rest of the funds through different events. They are presenting a Reader’s Theater featuring comedy sketch performances this Sunday at 3 p.m.
Source: KAKE – News
Evacuations ordered as large Reno County fire moves into Harvey County
Evacuations are underway as strong winds push a large grass fire from Reno County into Harvey County. There’s also a smaller fire burning northeast of Towanda, in Butler County. Just before 3 p.m., Harvey County ordered an evacuation between Woodberry and Sand Hill roads from Highway 50 to NW 48th in the northwest part of the county.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Judge overturns Johnson County’s last pit bull ban, allowing Leawood family to reunite with dog
Leawood’s ordinance banning pit bulls, which is believed to be the last in Johnson County, has been ruled unconstitutionally vague by a judge. Johnson County District Judge Thomas Sutherland has decided in favor of Leawood resident Kristi Bond’s appeal to bring her dog, Lucy, back to the family home. Lucy, five years old and now blind, had been living in another city since September of 2020 while Bond’s case was pending. When Bond was charged in Leawood Municipal Court with keeping a “dangerous animal,” Leawood and Overland Park were believed to be the last two major cities in the county and among only a few in the metro still banning pit bulls. Overland Park has since rescinded its ban.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Study says Manhattan has a workforce housing problem; commissioners to discuss data Tuesday
As home price growth speeds past income growth, housing in Manhattan is getting more expensive. Manhattan city commissioners will take their first look at a housing market analysis beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 1101 Poyntz Ave. Meeting documents indicate six observations in the housing market analysis: Manhattan has a workforce housing problem. A worker has to earn $17.50 an hour or $35,000 per year to afford a two-bedroom house of safe and decent quality, plus utilities. There is a mismatch between what people can afford and what housing is being built. The median household income in Manhattan is $51,000, which, according to city documents, means that households can afford a $160,000 to $180,000 home. The median price for a new home is $329,000. Housing prices are increasing rapidly and the market is very competitive. The median sale price rose from $117,000 to $199,000, or more than 70 percent, since 2003, which is more than double the rate of increase for income.
Source: themercury.com – RSS Results in news of type article
Wasinger promoted to Manhattan assistant city manager
City manager Ron Fehr on Friday announced the promotion of Jared Wasinger from assistant to the city manager to assistant city manager. Wasinger will help with the day-to-day management of city operations, including supervising staff and administrative policy, working with Fehr and deputy city manager Jason Hilgers on various projects and redevelopment activity. Wasinger also will serve as the designated representative on the Riley County police board and staff liaison to the city-university special projects fund committee. “I believe Jared will continue to have a positive impact within the organization and the community by assisting with day-to-day project management as well as helping identify creative and innovative solutions to community challenges while enhancing city services,” Fehr said in a written statement.
Source: themercury.com
School leader: ‘What’s going on in our larger community?’ Lawrence’s enrollments decline even as the city’s population grows
Take a drive in the countryside northeast of Lawrence, and be prepared to find something that many Lawrence residents likely would deem odd. There, along Kansas Highway 32 in adjacent Leavenworth County — just a bit past Linwood and that community’s livestock auction barn — is a big, new building under construction. It is a new elementary school for the Basehor-Linwood school district. In Lawrence, the idea of needing to build a new elementary school is an odd thought. Talk in recent weeks has been dominated by the idea of closing elementary schools in Lawrence. But others could argue that the oddity isn’t happening near Linwood, but rather in Lawrence.
Source: LJWorld.com
Treasury yields remain lower after jobs report, investors flock to safety amid Ukraine crisis
Treasury yields slumped on Friday as investors continued to buy safe-haven assets amid Russia-Ukraine conflict. The decline in yields came even after a strong jobs report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 10 basis points to 1.736%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell 8 basis points to 2.142%. … 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. Nonfarm payrolls for January grew by 678,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.8%, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That compared to estimates of 440,000 for payrolls and 3.9% for the jobless rate.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Sticker shock time? JoCo mailed more than 200,000 residential appraisal statements
If you own a residence in Johnson County, it’s likely that its appraised value has increased since last year. In fact, 97.5% of residential properties increased in value, Johnson County Appraiser Beau Boisvert told the Johnson County Commission a few days before the county began mailing more than 200,000 residential appraisal statements on Feb. 28. Only 2.4% of residential properties declined in value. Behind the numbers, Boisvert said, is a lack of inventory.
Source: Joco 913 News