Kansas Municipal News
Virus vaccine distribution plan set for Cowley County
A COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed to critical health care workers first, then the elderly who are most at risk, before being made available to the general public, City-Cowley County Health Officer Tom Langer said Tuesday regarding the county’s plans for when a vaccine becomes available. Although a firm time frame for availability hasn’t been established yet, Langer said it could be available in the county as soon as next month. The county’s rollout plan for a vaccine will be performed in conjunction with federal and state guidelines, Langer said. Once a vaccine is available, it will be released locally though a tiered plan.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Anson Burlingame, 19th century statesman, brought Kansas ‘noble kindliness’ for today
It’s likely few Kansas residents could find the city of Burlingame (population 968) without a GPS. Even fewer, one suspects, know much about the city’s namesake. This year, the 200th anniversary of Anson Burlingame’s birth, provides an opportunity to make his acquaintance. As a Massachusetts congressman, outspoken abolitionist, and pioneering diplomat, Burlingame devoted his life to causes as relevant today as two centuries ago — racial equality, social protest and international diplomacy. Just as citizens today march for racial justice, Burlingame took a principled stand against slavery during the run-up to the Civil War. He barnstormed the country giving stirring abolitionist orations at a time when, his friend Mark Twain wrote, “it was neither very creditable nor very safe to hold such a creed.”
Source: Joco 913 News
Kansas City, Kansas, school board votes to return to in-person classes in April
Students in the Kansas City, Kansas, school district won’t head back to the classroom until April, the board decided Tuesday night. The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools board voted Tuesday to move the start of in-person classes to April. Instead of returning in January, as the board previously decided on doing in October, students will return to in-person classes on April 5.
Source: Wichita Breaking News, Sports & Crime |
Sedgwick County may buy old hospital, make it into a new government center
The Sedgwick County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a purchase contract to buy the former Riverside Hospital for $4.1 million for a new government center. The sale is contingent on the county inspecting the facility over the next 90 days and determining that it can cost-effectively be converted to government office space. The county put a $25,000 earnest-money deposit on the building, which is refundable if the county decides not to proceed, County Counselor Mike Pepoon said.
Source: Wichita Breaking News, Sports & Crime |
911 emergency system at ‘breaking point’ as coronavirus surges, advocacy group warns
Ambulance services in the U.S. have been pushed to a “breaking point” as the country stares down another surge in coronavirus cases, advocates warn. Without additional funding, they fear the industry is on the brink of collapse. “The 911 emergency medical system throughout the United States is at a breaking point,” Aarron Reinert, president of the American Ambulance Association, said in letter to federal authorities. “Without additional relief, it seems likely to break, even as we enter the third surge of the virus in the Mid-West and West.”
Source: Wichita Breaking News, Sports & Crime |
Derby approves county enforcement measures on health orders
Following a resolution passed by the Sedgwick County Commission on Nov. 10, the option was made available for area municipalities to join the county’s enforcement efforts regarding emergency public health orders – an item addressed by the Derby City Council at its most recent meeting Nov. 24. Through the resolution, area cities would be able to enter into an agreement with Sedgwick County to mirror its enforcement efforts (tied to COVID-19 orders), which treats infractions as a code violation that carry a potential penalty of a $250 to $500 fine. Violations would be processed by the County Court. Derby actually took on its own enforcement efforts early in the pandemic, with the city council voting to make a violation of public health orders part of the Derby Municipal Code in March.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Pittsburg finance director retires after 38 years of service
City of Pittsburg Finance Director Jaime Clarkson is retiring this week after serving nearly 40 years with the city. “The impact Jamie has had on our organization is immeasurable,” said City Manager Daron Hall “I am happy for him as he begins the next chapter in his life and thank him for his professionalism and dedication to Pittsburg. His work ethic is tremendous and we will miss him.” Clarkson began his career with the city in 1982, working in several different positions within the finance department before being promoted to finance director in 2012.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Municipal Bond Trends for December 1, 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.
Merriam to install license plate cameras at two busy intersections to aid criminal investigations
The Merriam City Council last week approved the purchase of five license plate camera readers to be placed at the intersections of 75th Street and Kings Cove Drive and 67th and Carter Avenue. Recently taken off the city council’s consent agenda for discussion by Councilmember David Neal, the approved purchase comes as an investment “in tools that help us be both proactive in preventing crime and also provide evidentiary information to solve crimes,” according to city documents. Neal raised privacy concerns and told the council about the National League of Cities’ push to shield the personal data of residents from third party vendors.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Increases approved for water, sewer rates in Wichita
Wichita city council members have approved increases for water and sewer rates for 2021. Public Works Director Alan King said the increases are needed for improvements in equipment and facilities, along with operating costs. King said the water and sewer system has some big challenges ahead and 80 percent of the revenue from the rate increases will go toward capital needs, with 20 percent for operating costs. King said a federal loan for a new water treatment plant in northwest Wichita will combine with engineering and savings programs to keep rate increases stable over the next ten years.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Rose Hill airport receives funding for improvements
The Kansas Department of Transportation recently announced that 32 projects have been selected as part of the Kansas Airport Improvement Program this year for planning, constructing or rehabilitating public use general aviation airports. A total of 93 project applications were received in 2020 for a combined total project value of $27 million. Rose Hill’s Cook Airfield was among those selected to receive funding, getting $51,000 to add security gates and $13,500 to crack seal taxiways and runways.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Widespread 911 outage causes alarm for Kansas officials
Some officials charged with upgrading Kansas’ 911 system say a nearly three-hour outage across the southern part of the state on Sunday revealed the potential for future major disruptions to emergency operations. During the outage, which began about 1:35 p.m., multiple counties weren’t able to log into the state’s 911 system. The impact varied, with some agencies posting alternative emergency phone numbers on social media or rerouting calls before service was restored around 4:40 p.m., The Kansas City Star reported. A 2018 audit warned that the system was at risk of outages, and Sunday’s incident was third major 911 failure in four years.
Source: KAKE – News
Expected staffing shortages could hit rural Kansas hospitals hard
Anticipated staffing shortages amid surging coronavirus cases could hit rural hospitals especially hard because smaller communities have more limited options for finding providers to cover for sick workers, medical providers say. “We are doing what we can to make sure our staff are staying healthy and safe and able to be available to treat the community, but we also have heard that with post-holiday, this could be a challenge,” said Cindy Samuelson, senior vice president for the Kansas Hospital Association. “There is lots of potential for community spread.” About 44% of the state’s hospitals on Monday were anticipating staffing shortages this week with an expected rise in COVID-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the association’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Source: KAKE – News
Gov. Kelly turns to Amazon finance manager to replace retiring state budget director
The state budget director who balanced the books for Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is retiring and will be replaced by an Amazon finance manager who previously had oversight of Kansas’ Medicaid program. Adam Proffitt, who was at Amazon after leaving state government and had career stops at Payless ShoeSource and Capital Federal Savings Bank, will assume the role of director of the budget. His task is to serve interests of the executive branch and work with the Republican-led Legislature on state government budgets that balance and conform to mandates of the Kansas Constitution. “Adam brings a wealth of experience from both the public and private sector, including previously serving as the state Medicaid director in my administration,” Kelly said.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Situation continues getting more critical at Hutchinson hospital
The intensive care unit and the COVID-19 ward at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center are both now full, including double beds in some rooms, and the hospital’s overflow COVID ward is nearly full, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday morning. There were nine people on ventilators Tuesday morning, and the hospital is running out of specialized equipment for new patients, said Chuck Welch, HRMC vice president. “We’re literally down to a handful of vents and a handful of beds,” Welch said. “We’re buying everything we can get hands on, but none are available. Shortages are extending past PPE (personal protective equipment) to actual physical machinery.”
Source: Local – The Hutchinson News
Expected staffing shortages could hit rural hospitals hard
Medical providers say anticipated staffing shortages amid surging coronavirus cases could hit rural hospitals especially hard because smaller communities have more limited options for finding providers to cover for sick workers. The Kansas Hospital Association reports that about 44% of the state’s hospitals on Monday were anticipating staffing shortages this week amid an expected rise in COVID-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday. Five rural Kansas counties — Rush, Republic, Ellsworth, Rawlins and Kearny — rank in the top 25 counties in the nation with the new cases per capita in the past 14 days.
Source: KSN-TV
Hospital braces for ‘surge on top of a surge’ of COVID-19 cases in Shawnee County
Though Stormont Vail Health’s hospital capacity has dropped slightly from last week, the impending fallout of Thanksgiving-weekend gatherings could reverse that course. During a virtual media briefing Tuesday, Stormont CEO Robert Kenagy told reporters the hospital was at about 90% capacity that morning, after hitting 100% capacity the week before. But, Kenagy said, “a surge on top of a surge” of COVID-19 cases may be on the horizon. “The incubation period is up to 10 to 14 days,” Kenagy said, “so we anticipate seeing a surge on top of a surge sometime next week.”
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal
Up to half a foot of snow could be dumped on parts of Kansas, weather service predicts
A wintry storm is expected to dump snow across much of the state with some areas of south-central Kansas receiving up to half a foot of snowfall. The National Weather Service office in Wichita issued a winter weather advisory that runs from noon Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday. “Heavy snow possible,” the NWS advisory said. “Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches possible. Locally higher amounts may also occur.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Before Kansas’s 911 system failed, audit warned risk of outages hadn’t been eliminated
Children are taught from a young age to dial 911 in an emergency. Whether it’s a heart attack, a break-in or a fire, 911 answers the call right away. A widespread 911 service outage across Kansas on Sunday afternoon is testing that assumption. A roughly three-hour disruption sent police and sheriffs scrambling to post alternative phone numbers to social media. Multiple counties were unable to log into the state’s 911 system during that time. What happened if you called varied from area to area, with some agencies able to reroute calls before service was fully restored by around 4:40 p.m.
Source: Wichita Eagle.
911 call centers running, but what happened Sunday?
The 911 lines are back up and running. “We had 911 calls that were coming in. People calling but we could not answer calls,” said Elora Forshee with Sedgwick County 911. It was not just a Sedgwick County problem for roughly two hours early Sunday afternoon. Nearly all of the southern tier of counties in Kansas experienced similar issues.
Source: KSN-TV