Kansas Municipal News
Kansas schools resume classes amid COVID case surge and full hospitals after Christmas, New Year
Kansas schoolchildren and teachers return to the classroom this week amid a post-Christmas and New Year coronavirus surge and pleas from doctors to wear masks. Kansas Department of Health and Environment data suggest the COVID-19 case surge in the week after Christmas has been worse than any previous peak in the pandemic. “If you want to keep schools open and you want to keep businesses open, you got to keep people healthy,” said Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, when asked Monday whether mask mandates should be reinstated. “You’re either not going to have enough teachers or enough staff, or too many students out, in this omicron wave to think that you’re going to really have successful schools, in my opinion, or the business is going to be able to work if they don’t have enough employees.”
Source: CJonline
Historic Rice County Jail transformed into an Airbnb and escape room
Jail cells line the second floor of a bright, vintage-looking home. During years past, sheriffs of Rice County and their families lived on the ground floor, processing inmates and addressing drunken troublemakers. In 1929, the Rice County Jail opened, serving the community until 2001 when Rice County built the new Law Enforcement Center, which is west of town near the Lyons Airport. Today, the historic site purchased by Chris McCord in 2020 is an Airbnb and escape room named The Slammer Historic Rice County Jail, where guests can stay in a piece of Rice County history or learn the narrative of the location through a historical tour and escape room activity.
Source: Salina Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for January 3, 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.
Geary County hospital to close ICU, citing nursing shortage and ‘fiscal’ problems
Geary Community Hospital is closing its intensive care unit by Feb. 1, hospital officials announced Monday. “Due to a national COVID-19-exacerbated nursing shortage, as well as fiscal situations beyond our control, Geary Community Hospital can no longer effectively operate an intensive care unit (ICU),” officials said in a written statement released Monday afternoon. “We assure you closing a unit of the hospital is not an easy decision, and we understand how this impacts the community.”
Source: themercury.com
Manhattan Modifies Mask Requirement for Indoor City-operated Facilities
Beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, visitors will no longer be required to wear masks when inside City-operated facilities, except when entering secure, staff-only areas where mask required signage is present. To protect the workforce and maintain programs and services, City employees are still required to wear masks that cover their mouth and nose when inside all areas of indoor City-operated facilities. The decision to modify the mask policy for City facilities was made by City Manager Ron Fehr.
Source: Manhattan – News Flash
The Pride of Wildcat Land joins K-State football in Houston, plays crucial role in gameday atmosphere
The gameday atmosphere at a Kansas State football game is special, but that atmosphere simply doesn’t happen without the Kansas State Marching Band. The band and the football team share a special connection. “It’s a complete package. We go to bowl games because they win a lot of football games. They have a great coaching staff, they have great players and they have a great tradition. We’ve built that with the band we think, and we just look at it as a tag team approach,” band director Dr. Frank Tracz said. The band put in a lot of effort and some long hours to prepare for the trip. The trip itself wasn’t easy either.
Source: KSNT News
New City of Topeka Lien Release Program will improve thousands of lives
The new year is looking bright for Topeka residents already. On Monday the city announced the new Lien Program will release thousands of people from paying back their loan. The new policy is projected to help between 8,000 to 10,000 Topekans. The city reports 80 releases have already been complete, putting an estimated $300,000 into low income households. This policy is only for those who have a current lien with the city’s housing services division – or those who apply for future rehabilitation loans.
Source: KSNT News
Topeka Municipal Court suspending most in-person dockets due to COVID-19 spread
The Topeka Municipal Court is suspending the majority of its in-person dockets due to an increase in community spread of COVID-19 in Shawnee County. The suspension starts Monday and is expected to last through January 14. The City of Topeka announced the decision last month. According to a city press release, all impacted cases will be rescheduled and all impacted defendants and defense counsel will be notified by mail.
Source: KSNT News
Johnson County to consider ending school mask mandate Thursday as COVID-19 cases soar
Johnson County leaders will decide Thursday whether to scrap their current school mask mandate for elementary school children or leave it in place through the spring semester as the highly contagious omicron variant pushes COVID-19 cases to record highs. The current county order, in place since August, requires masks in schools that serve students as old as sixth grade in an attempt to slow the virus’s spread while vaccination rates among children remain low. But the rule has come under fire from a litany of state and local officials who argue such mandates should be left to individual school districts to decide. The order will remain in effect through May 31 unless the Johnson County Board of Commissioners amends or revokes it and critics have pleaded with the board to do just that at the board’s meeting Thursday.
Source: Joco 913 News
Parsons leadership creates safe exchange zone for community
Safety is always a primary concern throughout any community. With the increased use of online shopping through platforms, this has community leaders looking for ways to create an environment for any in-person exchanges. And soon, one of those will be coming to Parsons. “Marketplace and Craigslist and all that stuff has really gotten huge over the past few years,” says Leland Crooks, Parsons City Commissioner, “It’s individuals selling to individuals, there’s no guarantees, you don’t have a store you can go back to.”
Source: KSNF/KODE
Bel Aire getting disc golf
Bel Aire residents could have a new outdoor activity available by the spring if everything goes according to plan. The city is in the early stages of planning a disc golf course at Alley Park. Alley Park is located near the Park Vista subdivision north of 48th North and Oliver. Currently, the park doesn’t offer many amenities. It is a natural park with a large fishing pond and plenty of space.
Source: Ark Valley News
Wichita’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance Passed in October Goes Into Effect New Year’s Day
A new non-discrimination ordinance for the City of Wichita that was passed in October goes into effect today. The ordinance prohibits discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodation based on age, color, disability, familial status, gender identity, genetic information, national origin or ancestry, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other factor protected by law. It allows people to have their discrimination complaints for housing, employment and public accommodation filed with the city and adjudicated locally.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Processional for Wichita Firefighter stretched for miles as first responders and residents pay their respects
t the corner of Central and Elder in West Wichita, sits Fire Station 8 where Joshua Bruggeman was assigned. “We are family. It’s like losing a brother. It is losing a brother,” Chief Derek Davis said. “Today the least we could do was pay our respects.” Joshua Bruggeman was a 17-year member of the Wichita Fire department. Friday morning, there was a procession from Wesley Hospital to the mortuary. The procession passed by his former station, where his protective gear was on display.
Source: KAKE – News
Flurry of small earthquakes in Salina area spur questions about responsibility oil and gas industry
Linda Berry, spokeswoman for the KCC, said the commission’s staff was working with the Kansas Geological Survey and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to investigate potential links between the latest earthquakes in Saline County and drilling or injection activity. She said there had been no drilling in the past three months adjacent to the earthquakes south of Salina in central Kansas. That serves to rule out theories hydraulic fracturing directly induced the quakes, she said. There are no KDHE-regulated Class I wastewater disposal wells within 15 miles of the earthquakes, Berry said. There are approximately 38 KCC-regulated Class II Arbuckle disposal wells within the 15-mile investigation area, she said. “KCC staff has compiled the injection data for these wells dating back to 2015 and shared it with KGS and KDHE,” Berry said. “As we analyze this data, we will look for any patterns or trends that could be leading to the increased number of earthquakes.”
Source: The Iola Register
City of Lawrence requiring masks in all facilities, suspending exercise and free play at rec centers
The City of Lawrence is once again putting in place more strict measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Among those measures, recreational facilities will be closed to general exercise and free play, the city announced Friday. “Scheduled programs at these facilities will be limited and facility cleaning will be enhanced.” In addition, masks will again be required inside all city facilities for anyone ages 2 and up. Officials with Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health have moved the county’s community transmission indicator status to red, meaning the rolling 14-day average number of new cases reported daily has topped 50 — as of Wednesday, it was 55.79 — and total active cases in the county have topped 1,000. Wednesday’s update showed 1,216 active cases.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Municipal Bond Trends for December 31, 2021
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.
Cash Floods Municipal-Bond Market
Investors have poured more money into municipal bond funds so far this year than they have in decades, providing the fuel for borrowing by states and cities to fund new bridges, sewers and other state and local projects to a second-straight 10-year high. Municipal bond funds now hold an unprecedented 24% of outstanding debt compared with 16% five years ago, according to Federal Reserve data. The move marks the latest step in a fundamental shift away from a buy-and-hold market where individual investors quietly collect interest year after year. The record levels of borrowing and investing in 2021 are evidence that investors have moved well past their early worries the pandemic would drive a wave of municipal defaults and bankruptcies. Buoyed by stimulus funds, state and local governments issued $301.9 billion of debt for new projects as of Dec. 21, the most in at least a decade.
Source: Wall Street Journal
South-central KDOT crews pretreating some highways
In anticipation of wintry precipitation starting Friday — going into a holiday weekend — Kansas Department of Transportation crews in south-central Kansas are pretreating some highways. They are especially focusing on elevated areas including bridges, where the surface tends to freeze faster. Pretreatment varies within the region because of varied forecasts from area to area. Around Lyons, for example, a crew has been pretreating with a mix of brine and beet juice. Beet juice is sticky, so it holds the ice-fighting brine to the pavement longer and at lower temperatures. The beet juice looks brown, and it can be washed off vehicles.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Developer plans to bring 3.5 million-square-foot industrial project to De Soto
A recent annexation by the city of De Soto, Kansas, could lead to a new industrial development taking root in western Johnson County. In November, the De Soto City Council approved the annexation of roughly 367 acres of land near Edgerton Road and 103rd Street. The annexation also included 6,000 acres of land within the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant north of 127th Street. On Dec. 2, the De Soto City Council voted 3-1 to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Flint Development for the development of roughly 350 acres near Edgerton Road and 103rd Street. The MOU outlines the city’s intent to incentivize development on the property through a 10-year, 85% tax abatement. In return, the developer commits to fund upgrades to public streets, water and sewer infrastructure.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF
City of Wichita says no road pre-treatment ahead of snowy weather
With just two days away from a winter storm heading toward KAKEland, the City of Wichita says it will not have crews laying down pre-treatment ahead of the drastic changed conditions. “We are watching the forecast and will change, if necessary,” said interim assistant director of public works with The City of Wichita. Nelson says that the rain would wipe away the work that crews would have to do ahead of time so you won’t see the ‘brine’ solution placed in the streets ahead of Saturday.
Source: KAKE – News