Municipal News & Jobs

Danny McKarnin, who has worked in the City of Iola’s power plant for 30 of his 34 years as a city employee, appreciates the knowledge he’s gained through the years. McKarnin, 62, retired earlier this month. If there’s one thing Danny McKarnin learned as a longtime City of Iola employee, it’s that he couldn’t help but learn something new every day. “I think anybody out there would agree with me,” McKarnin said. “You learn something new every day. There are so many variations of what you might be working on. And that’s what I liked most about it,” he continued. “There was something different every day.” McKarnin, 62, retired Sept. 19 after a 34-year career with the city, the last 30 as a power plant technician.
Read more: The Iola Register

Shopping carts of belongings abandoned on the street. Tents pitched on trails and in tunnels. Liquor bottles left on park tables. More people facing homelessness are coming to Manhattan, some local officials say, but when they get here they may face higher housing costs and find that they don’t qualify for services. That can leave already desperate folks with even fewer choices. When people can’t find housing, many turn to public spaces, which creates additional challenges for local businesses.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

The Buhler Frolic is an annual event where people make good memories each year, and the community comes together. At the Buhler Frolic, the weather was perfect, and a pleasant atmosphere and laughter prevailed. The day kicked off with a pancake feed breakfast. Then, a bit later, there was the parade down Main Street—the parade along with the middle school and high school bands. The firefighters and police also participated in the parade. Many other businesses also participated in the parade.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio | Your Hometown Radio Stations & Local News Source

Leavenworth officials aren’t backing down from holding private prison company CoreCivic accountable to development regulations even after the U.S. Department of Justice jumped into the case Tuesday. The DOJ filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court case between Nashville-based CoreCivic and Leavenworth, arguing the city was violating the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution. “The federal government’s filing does not change our view of the case or the approach we plan to take,” said W. Joseph Hatley, a Kansas City, Missouri, attorney representing the city of Leavenworth. “The arguments in that filing mirror arguments CoreCivic has previously made, without success.”
Read more: Butler County Times-Gazette

“I always felt like our facilities in certain aspects were really holding the kids back.” In 2023 Bluestem Public Schools USD 205 passed a $13.5 million bond that improved classrooms, athletic facilities and gave students what Superintendent Joel Lovesee describes as more opportunities that have been a long time coming. After trying to pass a bond to improve the school district several times in past years, Lovesee says he’s relieved to have it passed once and for all. He says with these improvements, USD 205 can finally be on the same playing field as other schools after decades of being overlooked.
Read more: Butler County Times-Gazette

On Saturday, September 13, the Andover Police Department set up patrol vehicles outside of Dillons Marketplace to collect food donations for the Andover Community Food Bank. In doing so, they raised a ton of food – literally. This year was the 11th year of the food drive, bringing in pounds and pounds of food each year for the Andover Community Food Bank. The local food bank is organized and run by the Andover United Methodist Church with the intention of providing food assistance to Andover residents in a caring and respecting manner, according to their website.
Read more: Butler County Times-Gazette

A fight over money designed to help cut crime has the two largest counties in Kansas on opposite sides. The issue is how much money each county will get for programs designed to keep criminals from breaking the law again. One county benefiting from the change is Johnson County, Kansas. Johnson County wouldn’t talk with FOX4 on camera Friday, but they did have a member on the committee that decided how the funding would be allocated. Also of note, the person who developed the formula for this funding was a county employee. On Thursday morning, the Sedgwick County Commission held a special meeting to approve a letter being sent to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, asking her to stop these Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) funding changes.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Progress on proposed updates to the city of Garden City Neighborhood Revitalization Program was given at a joint Garden City Commission, Finney County Commission and Holcomb City Council meeting on Sept. 16. Danielle Burke, Garden City Assistant City Manager, said for the past several years staff from the city of Garden City and Finney County have been working through updating the NRP, a tax rebate program that’s intended to help revitalize portions of the community.
Read more: Garden City Telegram

Johnson County Government today announced it will receive a $21 million Federal Aviation Administration infrastructure grant to support the full reconstruction of Runway 18-36 at New Century AirCenter. The 7,300-foot runway is a critical piece of aviation infrastructure serving corporate, military and general aviation operations across the region.
Read more: Johnson County Kansas

When you think of Kansas, you probably don’t think of mountains — or mountain lions. But in recent years, the number of sightings of mountain lions in the state has skyrocketed. In the past two years, there have been 117 sightings of the big cats in the state, more than the previous 15 years combined, said Jon Beckmann, a wildlife supervisor for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. As mountain lion populations continue to become reestablished in the Great Plains, increasing across the four states that border Kansas, it’s likely that they will rise in this state as well, he said.
Read more: KPR News

Children all across southeast Kansas are learning the ins and outs of dairy thanks to a mobile class. The Southeast Kansas Community Action Program Mobile Dairy Classroom came to Galena early Wednesday to show kids how their milk gets from the farm to their kitchen table. Children from Galena Head Start got hands on experiences with dairy farming, animal care and more. The 30-minute demonstration included a portion featuring Hazel Grace the milk cow getting milked.
Read more: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

The Topeka Fire Department is inviting the public to visit various fire stations around the Capital City as they host open houses. Starting on Oct. 3, the TFD will start holding open houses at different fire stations around the city. The city is inviting the public to visit the 12 different stations around Topeka on various dates through to September 2026. “Everyone is invited to come and take a tour, as well as meet some of the fire staff in their area,” City of Topeka spokesman Dan Garrett said.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

One of the companies leading the charge to deploy safer, smaller, faster-to-build nuclear reactors is hoping to find a site for one in Kansas. TerraPower, cofounded by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, began construction last month on its first power plant of this kind in southwest Wyoming as a $4 billion demonstration project cofunded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Now it is interested in building one in Kansas to generate power in utility company Evergy’s service area.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Another mixed-use development is on its way to Andover. Kentucky-based housing developer Winterwood Inc. has proposed a new development featuring a mix of commercial uses to be built out in phases, according to documents submitted to the city of Andover. It’ll be located across a 19-acre parcel called the Thoroughbred at the southwest corner of Kellogg and Allen, just across from the Buffalo Ridge Apartments.
Read more: Wichita Business Journal – Local Wichita News

An officer with the Hays Police Department was killed in the line of duty over the weekend. Just before midnight on Saturday, police received a 911 call from a woman who said she had escaped a domestic violence incident at a home in the 2000 block of E. 21st St. She told officers her significant other had rammed her vehicle with his truck as she tried to flee. She ran to a nearby home for help. Around 1:55 a.m., while officers and a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper were setting up a perimeter near the suspect’s backyard in the 2200 block of Downing St., a single shot was fired from inside the home, striking one of the Hays officers. The officer was flown to a regional hospital, where he died from his injuries just after 4 a.m.
Read more: KSN-TV

Police didn’t provide an age for the threat maker but described the caller who left a voicemail indicating that there was a bomb attached to an airplane at the airport as “a juvenile male.”
Read more: KWCH

Downtown Liberal was once the economic center of the community when the traffic was calm and the parking allowed the district to be pedestrian friendly. Later the avenue was changed to two lanes with the State of Kansas designated the road as Highway 83. But that was changed when the highway was diverted to the east side of Liberal, but the roadway was never returned form four lanes to two lanes.
Read more: Leader & Times

Vehicle owners in Barton County may only face the hassle of paying for new or renewed tags once a year, but for Barton County Treasurer Jim Jordan and his team, the financial strain of providing that underfunded state-mandated service is year-round. “County treasurers across Kansas are mandated to provide vehicle tag and title services,” Jordan said. “But the monies provided by the state to the county for this work do not match the cost of providing that service.”
Read more: Great Bend Post

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.

Many Kansas hospitals, especially in rural parts of the state, are in trouble. Hospitals are sounding the alarm as long-term sustainability approaches crisis levels with challenges stemming from a shortage of nurses and doctors, rising operational costs, and declining payments from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance programs.
Read more: Wichita Business Journal