Municipal News & Jobs

A disaster relief center has been set up in Plevna after a tornado entered the town late Sunday night into early Monday morning, leaving behind damage to buildings, vehicles, and trees. Ten minutes away in Abbyville, a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) serves a different purpose than the relief center. It’s much more focused on getting families and homeowners set up for long-term relief than providing food, water and supplies. The goal is to take people in and assess their needs.
Source: KSN-TV

Hays is seeking feedback on a proposed ordinance allowing residents to raise chickens. A community survey is now available online, and residents are encouraged to participate to guide the City Commission’s decision-making process. Under the suggested guidelines, residents could keep up to five hens, while roosters would not be permitted. Chickens would only be allowed on properties with permanent structures and must be kept within an enclosed, secure coop.
Source: KSN-TV

Topeka Police and Topeka Fire competed for the most blood donations with Monday’s 9th annual Battle of the Badges Blood Drive. Those donations go to support patients all around the Sunflower State. A member of the local Red Cross says that while we aren’t in a critical blood shortage now, this time of year is imperative for blood drives. The summer season has unique challenges that make it a difficult time to collect donations.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Public health leaders in Douglas County are concerned about a spike in suspected opioid overdose cases. It’s said to be twice the number of cases they’re accustomed to seeing. The community’s public health department isn’t sure why this uptick exists. Emergency response workers in Douglas County say they see a steady stream of suspected opioid overdose cases, as many emergency medical teams do. Since early 2025, that first response agency has seen a 69 percent increase in total incidents, 83 percent of which involves a patient needing an ambulance to reach emergency care.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Year-round fireworks sales will be prohibited within Wichita city limits, despite a new state law allowing it.The Wichita City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance prohibiting the year-round sale of fireworks and prohibiting permanent firework retailers in the city.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

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.

A company hopes to infuse the Topeka housing market with reasonably priced homes produced in a fraction of the time it takes to build traditional stick or modular housing. The answer to Topeka’s problem, its leaders say, is to produce 3D printed homes.
Source: CJonline

Twenty-one tornadoes were reported to have touched down late May 18 in western and central Kansas, according to a graphic posted on the website of the weather service’s Topeka office. Tornadoes damaged homes just before 7 p.m. at Grinnell, along Interstate 70 in northeast Kansas, and just before midnight in the area of Plevna, southwest of Hutchinson in south-central Kansas, the weather service said. No injuries had been reported.
Source: CJonline

An ongoing legal battle between a Kansas town and a burger joint over an unfinished mural is sparking controversy in the community, with lawyers claiming the city violated free speech rights. Steve Howard, owner of The Cozy Inn, filed a lawsuit last year after the city of Salina told him he had to stop painting a mural on the side of his restaurant because it violated city codes for signage. The Kansas Justice Institute, which filed the suit on behalf of Howard, said the city’s actions violate free speech.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

After nearly 17 months, Marion will have more than an interim city administrator starting this summer. City council members voted 5-0 Wednesday to hire Brian Wells to fill Marion’s city administrator position, vacated in January, 2024, by Brogan Jones. Retired Emporia city manager Mark McAnarney has been filling in as interim administrator since then.
Source: Marion County RECORD

The City of Lawrence on Monday will begin using parking boots to immobilize vehicles of people who have three or more unpaid parking tickets that are 60 days or more overdue. The new system is replacing a criminal process that required people to go to Lawrence Municipal Court to handle outstanding fines. Effective Monday, May 19, city staff members will be able to put boots on cars of people who are considered habitual violators. “The violators will get a 48-hour notice that the car could be impounded if the outstanding parking tickets aren’t paid before then,” according to the city’s parking website. There will be a 24-hour call system with the booting company so drivers can call, pay and get a code to remove the boots.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Frontenac’s City Commission meeting Wednesday night was short, sweet and to the point. The stand-out piece of business was adopting a new ordinance regarding mobile homes. Not considered to be permanent structures handicaps the city’s attempts to condemn mobile homes considered to be a nuisance and in need of demolition. Like a vehicle, they have a vehicle identification number (VIN) and are taxed as personal property, meaning the city has to do a title search to locate the owner. The new ordinance mirrors other ordinances regarding homes with the addition that trailer park owners will be required to register new trailers.
Source: – Latest Stories

The municipal bond tax exemption emerged untouched Wednesday after a 17-hour House Ways and Means session on the tax portion of the Republicans’ massive budget reconciliation bill. The marathon mark up — and early Wednesday morning passage — of the $3.8 trillion tax legislation advances President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” encompassing his domestic agenda. The municipal market for months worried that the tax portion would target muni bonds in part or whole, but reported feeling cautiously optimistic after the bill’s first draft left munis untouched.
Source: The Latest

In dry western Kansas, the sound of artificial rain spraying from center pivot irrigation sprinklers fills the spaces between the small towns. Irrigation has turned this region into a productive agricultural powerhouse, churning out millions of bushels of grain. Heath Koehn farms with his dad near Montezuma over the Ogallala aquifer that supplies farmers with irrigation and communities with drinking water. He knows that changes are coming to the way they farm. “Changes are going to have to be made with that aquifer. It’s like adapt or die,” Koehn said.
Source: Garden City Telegram

The Macksville City Library addition was completed in the spring of 2023. After having raised funds for over a decade, the dream was finally a reality – with space for programming, for a children’s area, for tornado safety, for community gatherings, and more.
Source: Homepage

Panasonic’s main customer — almost certainly Tesla — wants the Japanese company to move a little faster getting its gigantic EV-battery plant in De Soto up and running. Tesla no longer uses a Chinese-made battery for its ubiquitous Model 3 after pivoting to domestically produced cells last year to qualify for federal subsidies, the Financial Times reports. President Trump’s tariffs also make using Chinese batteries less profitable. When the 4.7 million-square-foot plant comes fully online, it’s expected to increase Panasonic’s EV-battery output by 60%, while other leading automakers, such as Honda and Toyota, delay launching their battery factories, the report says.
Source: Kansas City Business News – Local Kansas City News | Kansas City Business Journal

Tom Nass and BG Gilliam from Pineville, Missouri, completed their 891.7-mile journey along the Chisholm Trail today, arriving in Abilene, Kansas— named one of the Top 10 True Western Towns by True West Magazine. Their journey in the saddle began on February 14 near San Antonio, Texas, and spanned 88 days, testing them through all types of weather, including snow, dust storms, and intense heat. Gilliam had dreamed of this adventure for years, and it didn’t take much convincing for Nass to saddle up for the ride. Brenda Dyer accompanied the pair, scouting the route and providing critical support throughout their journey.
Source: KCLY Radio

The city of Andover is leaning into what one local writer called its “fling with the Wild West” as inspiration for a new community event on May 17. Several HeritageFest activities tie into Andover’s beginnings in the late 1800s as a stop on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and the July 16, 1898, robbery of both the train depot and the daily nighttime passenger train. The free HeritageFest is happening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at The Heritage, a mixed-use development with a public plaza at Kellogg and Yorktown Road.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

A new internet project near Wichita State University is expected to bring faster, more reliable service to homes, schools, and businesses throughout south-central Kansas. On Thursday, Wichita State leaders joined state officials and representatives from the nonprofit Connected Nation to break ground on Kansas’s first “carrier-neutral” Internet Exchange Point (IXP). The facility, which will be located across from WSU’s Eck Stadium, is expected to be completed by spring 2026.
Source: KSN-TV

Public universities across Kansas are asking the Board of Regents for permission to raise tuition by 8% next fall. Only one university requested no rate change. The schools say they’re under financial pressure to keep up with inflation, and in some cases, a reduction in government funding. Wichita State University is asking for a 3.5% increase, 1% more than their average hike.
Source: KSN-TV