Kansas Municipal News
Ark City police get special 150th anniversary badges
Arkansas City police officers were each gifted a limited series 150th Anniversary badge this holiday season. The City of Arkansas City turned 150 years old this year, and despite 2020 being a year in which celebrations could not physically take place, ACPD celebrated in its own fashion. “To celebrate and commemorate our city’s 150th anniversary, we have designed and had produced a special badge,” Police Chief Dan Ward said. “The old badge design and our current badge design were used to overlay and incorporate into one badge, which pays respect to the past and the present.”
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Rural communities, first responders seeing increased need for suicide prevention
The coronavirus pandemic has been stressful for all of us. The federal government said it’s worse in rural communities. In rural communities, the rates of suicide and depression are higher than in suburbs and metro areas, according to the CDC. People live farther apart, internet access is limited and during the pandemic people in larger cities have relied heavily on the internet for entertainment and comfort. “The isolation is exacerbated times. I don’t even know what the number is,” said Denise Shelbee-Koch, a social worker in Jefferson County. Social workers like Shelbee-Koch said they see the effects in kids.
Source: KSNT News
Municipal Bond Trends for December 21, 2020
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.
City of Topeka enhancing safety of Kansas River with new weir
In September, construction began to modify the existing river weir and banks of the Kansas River to enhance public safety, provide reasonable fish passage, improve navigation around the weir all while maintaining adequate upstream pool elevation for water intakes to the treatment plant. On Dec. 12, the contractor poured the first chute for the weir project, as well as creating a rock base for the second chute and basin. Limitations imposed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism prohibit work in the river during the summer months to protect native fish, therefore the work is being broken down into two phases.
Source: KSNT News
Kansas officials hope to create new courts to help veterans
Officials in Kansas’ judicial system want to establish more special courts aimed at keeping veterans with behavioral, mental health or substance abuse issues out of prison. But The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that they are pursuing the idea amid the coronavirus pandemic and the state’s own budget problems. Johnson County established the state’s first veterans court in 2016, and it remains the only one in Kansas.
Source: KSN-TV
Despite pandemic limits, 12 kids still get presents this year in PV’s annual ‘Shop with a Cop’ event
In its 10th year, Prairie Village’s annual Shop with a Cop event was transformed to fit COVID-19 safety measures. Above, Chief Tim Schwartzkopf (far left) and Maj. Byron Roberson (far right) stand with Santa and the Grinch during the drive-thru event. The coronavirus pandemic put a stop to a number of annual events this year, but Prairie Village’s 10th annual “Shop with a Cop” wasn’t one of them. Police officers in the city normally take 10 or so children shopping for gifts for themselves and their loved ones, but with COVID-19 still prompting limits on many activities, the department took a different tack.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Kansas wind farm expansion brings more renewable energy to KC
Enel Green Power North America began operating a 199-megawatt expansion of the Cimarron Bend wind farm in Clark County, Kan., bringing power generation for the entire project up to 599 megawatts and making it the company’s largest renewable energy plant. The Cimarron Bend project was designed by Lenexa-based Tradewind Energy LLC, a brand that was retired after Enel Green Power acquired the company in March 2019. Enel acquired and built the Cimarron Bend project, about 20 miles south of Dodge City. The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, which serves Kansas City, Kan., has a 20-year deal to buy about half of the power from Cimarron Bend. Google Inc. bought the other half, part of an initiative it has underway to eventually become 100% powered by renewable energy.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal – The Business Journals
Wellington City Clerk Carol Mericle retiring after 20-plus years
“City Clerk/Finance Director Carol Mericle is retiring on December 31. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we are not able to have a traditional celebration for her but we do have a couple of ways for you to help celebrate her successful 20+ years with the City of Wellington: … Mail cards to: City of Wellington, Attn: Carol Mericle, 317 S Washington, Wellington KS 67152. Let’s show her our appreciation for her service to the City and a job well done!”
Source: Sumner NewsCow
Municipal Bond Trends for December 18, 2020
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.
Kitty City exhibit offers sidewalk viewing of ‘psychedelic’ cityscape filled with kittens
No matter what’s going on in the world around it, the sky is always blue and the sun is always out in Kitty City. The funky neon cityscape in the Lawrence Arts Center’s window has now served as the temporary home of multiple litters of kittens as they wait to be adopted. Its skyscrapers are decorated with feathers and connected by plastic tubes and catwalks, and passersby on the New Hampshire Street sidewalk can watch the city’s residents play — and even consider taking one of them home. It’s a collaborative effort between the Arts Center and the Lawrence Humane Society, and so far it’s helped the Humane Society find homes for several litters of kittens.
Source: LJWorld.com.
Wichita records largest earthquake in at least five years as multiple shakes hit area
The United State Geological Survey has reported a sixth earthquake in Wichita on Saturday. The latest was a 2.9 magnitude at 8:39 p.m. with an epicenter southeast of 13th and Rock. All six of the reported earthquakes have been in east Wichita and ranged in magnitude from a 2.5 to a 3.5. More than 200 people reported feeling the latest earthquake. Most were in Wichita but there were also reports of people feeling it in Texas, Tennessee and Iowa.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Market opens in Oxford
Oxford welcomed the new Hometown Market at the store’s grand opening Wednesday. Without a grocery store for the past year or more, Oxford residents had to drive either to Wellington, 10 miles west, or Winfield, 10 miles east to purchase groceries. Owners Beau and Stacie Gilliland thought the people in Oxford and surrounding area had a need for a grocery store, so in September, they began doing the paperwork, contacting suppliers and cleaning up the former grocery store building in Oxford. They live on Dalton Road and used the Oxford grocery frequently before it closed.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Manhattan, Junction City home sales up 20.1% in 2020
Manhattan and Junction City home sales through November 2020 increased by 20.1% when compared to the same time period last year. Through November 2020, 1,701 homes have been sold, up 285 from 1,416 sold through November 2019, according to data from a Flint Hills Association of Realtors report for the area. This report takes multiple listing services and data from the Flint Hills Association of Realtors, including information combined from Manhattan and Junction City areas.
Source: Derby Informer | News
New courthouse trees ‘something Bill would have loved’
Cowley County will put up a stone in front of a maple tree by the courthouse to honor Bill Taylor, longtime county counselor, who died in 2012. “You can’t go through county records without seeing his name everywhere. He lives in our documents,” said county administrator Lucas Goff. “And it’s because of Bill that we had trees around the courthouse in the first place.” At a county commission meeting a number of years ago, Taylor said the county needed to put in trees around the courthouse itself, Goff said. The county planted several trees at that time. But the Kansas weather took a toll on the trees, Goff said, so they had to be taken out from the front of the courthouse this past year.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Week after Thanksgiving was the worst of the pandemic in Sedgwick County, new data show
New data from the Sedgwick County Health Department show the week after Thanksgiving was the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Both the rate of new cases and the positive test rate — two key indicators used to measure the spread of COVID-19 in the Wichita area community — spiked in the days following Thanksgiving. The health department’s latest recovery metrics report, dated Friday, shows a record-high positive test rate in Sedgwick County of 28.3% for the week of Nov. 29. The 3,668 new cases of COVID-19 and the resulting rate of 714.2 new cases per 100,000 people were also record highs for one week.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Bar owners spar with county officials over health orders
The Crawford County Commission heard concerns Friday from local bar owners about COVID-19 mitigation enforcement — the second time this week that they’ve received such complaints from at least one owner. Unlike Tuesday’s meeting, county health officials were present to address bar owners’ concerns and respond to them, which may have cleared up some of the issues raised. Other questions, however, appeared unresolved — with more restrictive rules for the general public rather than just business owners discussed as possible solutions.
Source: Pittsburg Morning Sun
Valley Center Public Schools getting onsite health clinic in 2021
An ongoing project that started three years ago for Valley Center Public Schools is finally coming to fruition in January 2021. The School district is opening a part-time medical clinic at Valley Center High School in mid-January. “For students and staff it’s just eliminating the drive into Wichita,” said University of Kansas School of Medicine Wichita Medical Practice Association Executive Director, Aaron Ryan. “We hope that leads to more preventive care visits, more timely visits, decreased time away from the classroom.”
Source: KSN-TV
Major changes on the horizon as Lawrence marks 20 years of citywide bus service
The city marked the transit system’s 20th anniversary this month, but the idea of a citywide bus system had been talked about long before the first buses went into service. By the time the City Commission approved spending property tax revenues for the service in 1999, which together with federal and state transportation funding got the service started, it had been a topic of discussion for more than a decade, according to newspaper archives. As with many government decisions, there were critics, but when the choice to continue funding the service with a special sales tax was put to voters in 2008 and again in 2017, the answer was a resounding yes.
Source: LJWorld.com.
Mayor dons cop uniform again at 72
Years after retiring as a full-time cop and city administrator, Marion mayor David Mayfield has plunged back into part-time police work. Mayfield, 72, now works part-time transporting prisoners for the sheriff’s office. “I’m a jail deputy,” Mayfield said. “It’s just prisoner transports.”… Mayfield has known sheriff Rob Craft for many years because both worked for the Kansas Highway Patrol and were trainers at KHP academy.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
New commission to benefit Belle Plaine
Following a vote in the 2020 general election, the community of Belle Plaine now has a formal Parks and Recreation Commission – a first for the city. While the community wasn’t lacking for recreational sports opportunities, Parks Advisory Board vice chairman Jessica Ferguson noted the entity behind those summer and fall leagues – the Belle Plaine Recreation Organization – was a volunteer group. Additionally, with a Parks Advisory Board instead of a Recreation Commission, the organization kept running into issues pursuing opportunities for the community.
Source: Derby Informer | Area