Kansas Municipal News
Gov. Kelly Requests Extension Of Federal Authority Enabling Use Of State National Guard For COVID Response Efforts
Governor Kelly announced Monday that she sent a letter to President Trump, requesting that he approve an extension of Title 32–which allows the state to continue using the Kansas National Guard to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Title 32 allows governors to mobilize the national guard in their state so that it can respond to natural disasters and other emergencies. Kelly said that by authorizing utilization of the Kansas National Guard pending President Trump’s approval, the extension will enable Kansas to maintain community-based testing and continue to distribute critical medical supplies; which would ensure that Kansas can remain open.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Parsons firefighters train with new tool
Parsons firefighters recently received an addition to their current “Jaws of Life” vehicle extrication equipment arsenal and are training on its capabilities and what it can do in the field. Firefighters will be at Parsons Auto Parts on 24000 Road east of Parsons for the next few days working on stabilizing and lifting vehicles that have been involved in auto accidents. Jordan Stice of Parsons Auto Parts donated the vehicles and space for the training. “It is part of our civil duty to have our local firefighters be able to train on their equipment in a non-emergency setting before the real thing happens and our citizens need them,” Stice said.
Source: Parsons Sun
Topeka’s St. Francis critical care capacity at 111%
St. Francis Campus hospital’s critical care capacity is at 111%, and Stormont Vail is considering sending patients to other hospitals. “This is a very fluid situation and can change minute by minute,” said CEO of Stormont Vail Robert Kenagy in a Monday email. “We may come off of this status throughout the day, but then may return to it as patient acuity changes and our staffing changes.” In the email, Stormont Vail is asking anyone qualified to apply so the hospital can address its staffing needs. Kenagy said the 103 COVID-19 patients is stretching staff thin.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal
Montezuma museum display features prairie towns
A special photographic exhibit is on display at the Stauth Museum in Montezuma until Saturday, Nov. 28. “Considering the Commonplace: Prairie Towns Through the Lens of Bob Regier” is organized around eight themes: elegance, entrances, light and shadow, locomotion, sacred space, sentinels, signs and lines, windows and walls. This exhibit features digital photographs by Kansas artist Bob Regier, Bethel College professor emeritus of art and Kauffman Museum senior design consultant. For twenty years, the artist/teacher of North Newton, KS, traveled the main streets and backroads of Kansas with his wife, Vernette, and friends, Keith and Aldine Sprunger.
Source: News – Butler County Times Gazette
Arkansas City announces ‘Crushing COVID’ partnership
Arkansas City is joining other partners in Cowley County in a public health awareness campaign, “Crushing COVID in Cowley County.” It is a joint collaboration of the cities of Arkansas City and Winfield, the City-Cowley County Health Department, the Community Health Center in Cowley County, Cowley County, Cowley County Emergency Communications, Cowley County Emergency Management, Cowley First, Legacy Foundation, RISE Cowley, South Central Kansas Medical Center, Southwestern College, USD 465, USD 470, William Newton Hospital, and the Winfield and Arkansas City area chambers of commerce. “The central theme of ‘Crushing COVID’ is that it is ‘Up to You,'” said Mayor Karen Welch. “We cannot do this as government alone. We need each and every Arkansas City resident to voluntarily do what they can to slow the spread of COVID. Only together can we keep our teachers healthy and put our kids back in school classrooms, keep our businesses open, and prevent our local and regional hospitals from overflowing, not to mention protect our vulnerable neighbors from severe disease or even death.”
Source: KSN-TV
Gardner city’s toilets to be touchless
All city buildings in Gardner will have touchless toilets and lavatories, after the Gardner City Council approved an additional $6,100 at their Nov. 16 council meeting. At the Nov. 2, 2020, regular council meeting, $42,985 plus a ten percent contingency was approved for installation of touchless flush toilets and lavatories and was approved by Johnson County for reimbursement through CARES funding. The agreement was for the conversion of manual lavatory fixtures to touchless fixtures utilizing automatic eye technology, and included the removal and replacement of 29 stool flush valves and spuds, five urinal flush valves and spuds, and 34 lavatory faucets.
Source: Gardner News
Governor Laura Kelly Announces Three New Openings in Program to Revitalize Downtown Corridors, Strengthen Economic Development
Governor Laura Kelly today announced the Kansas Main Street program will be accepting applications for up to three new communities in the state interested in joining. The Main Street program – designed to develop and strengthen downtown corridors – has been a proven success for rural communities throughout the state…. Communities wishing to submit applications will be required to first attend an application workshop, scheduled for 2 p.m., Thursday, December 10. This virtual workshop will explain the Main Street Approach, and the process for successfully completing the application. To register for this workshop, visit this link. Applications must be submitted no later than January 29, 2021, and new communities selected as part of a competitive process will be announced in mid-February.
Source: KDOC.
Municipal Bond Trends for November 20, 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.
Wichita Public Library goes back to curbside service
Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 25, all Wichita Public Library locations will go back to offering only curbside and drive-up window services. The decision was made by library staff due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Wichita and Sedgwick County. Customers will still be able to borrow materials from the Library by using the online catalog, catalog.wichitalibrary.org, to browse the collection and place holds on items. Hold and transfer fees will be waived at this time. Once materials are ready to be picked up, customers will receive a notification to retrieve materials. Customers will arrive at their designated branch, call the phone number on the signs in the parking lot, and staff will assist with their curbside pickup.
Source: KSN-TV
Garden City schools will transition to remote learning starting Monday
USD 457 Garden City Public Schools will transition all students to Level 6 ‐ Remote Learning beginning on Monday, Nov. 23. All learning will continue remotely at‐home for all students through December 22, 2020. The district said in a letter that the community is experiencing a high rate of COVID and it has impacted many families and staff members in the district. The district said they had shortages of teachers, paraeducators, nursing staff, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, and administrators due to COVID-related absences. The district said they have been able to complete 10 weeks of on‐site classes and two weeks of hybrid classes.
Source: KSN-TV
Hutchinson police return to Tier II response plan due to COVID
Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Hutchinson Police Department moved to Tier II of its response plan on Friday. The department will continue to respond to all crimes in progress, but all other calls for service will be handled over the telephone. HPD is not allowing walk-in reporting at the Law Enforcement Center. For assistance, call 620-694-2816. HPD will also continue to respond to injury accidents or alcohol-related accidents, but if involved in a non-injury accident where the vehicles are operable and there is no alcohol- or drug-use suspected, motorists are advised to move their vehicles to a safe area and exchange information required by insurance carriers.
Source: Local – The Hutchinson News
Solar farms coming
Solar farms are coming to the region, thanks to agreements between power cooperatives and Today’s Power Inc. of Arkansas to create the Kansas Cooperative Sun Power Program. “Co-ops across the state have come together across the state,” said Sarah Madden, public relations director for the Butler Electric Cooperative.” … These 12 have banded together to provide solar for our customers at a low cost for decades to come. … This is great for our entire state.” The Kansas Cooperative Sun Power Program is a series of solar farms developed by Today’s Power Inc. to harvest renewable energy in the state for 12 participating electric cooperatives. The 25-year program will result in the construction of more than 20 megawatts of solar power spread out across more than 800 miles of Kansas.
Source: McPherson Sentinel
Ulysses and Garden City hospitals appeal for community’s support
The COVID-19 pandemic has impactfully touched communities all across southwest Kansas and our care teams at Centura Health’s Bob Wilson and St. Catherine hospitals have responded with compassion and courage to meet the needs of our patients, our neighbors and each other. Centura Health hospitals, Bob Wilson in Ulysses and St. Catherine in Garden City, and our clinics across southwest Kansas continue to follow COVID-19 protocols from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our local county agencies and partners. Across southwest Kansas, we are seeing an increase in the prevalence of COVID-19 across our communities. Our incredible physicians, nurses, nurses’ assistants, technicians and therapists are fully committed to meeting the health and well-being needs of every patient, and we need the support of our communities to ensure we slow and stop the spread of COVID-19.
Source: Greater Garden City » Feed
Topeka hospitals face ‘a staffing crisis.’ One has requested resources from the Kansas National Guard; another looks to FEMA.
Like many health systems across the country, Stormont Vail is experiencing “a staffing crisis,” according to Matt Lara, the system’s public relations specialist. That staffing crisis led Stormont recently to submit a request for resources to Shawnee County Emergency Management. The department forwarded the appeal to the Kansas National Guard, and after receiving the request Thursday, the State Emergency Operations Center has been working to fulfill it. According to Lara, Stormont is seeking more than 150 additional personnel — 50 registered nurses, 25 licensed practical nurses, 40 patient care technicians, five medical assistants, 20 respiratory therapists, three medical laboratory scientists and technicians, five phlebotomists, three pharmacy technicians and three pharmacists.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal
Who enforces county health orders? It depends on the infraction.
Shawnee County has mask requirements, gathering limits, restrictions to bars and restaurants’ operating hours and a suspension of organized sports, excluding high school athletics. But what county department enforces theses restrictions? The recently approved emergency health order warns of a $2,500 civil penalty for anyone intentionally violating health orders. The department responsible for enforcing restrictions depends on the nature of the violation. If an individual person violates a health order it follows a different track than if a business violates a health order, but county officials said education is always the first step in the process.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal
Kansas hospitals buckle, schools pull back amid virus surge
Hospitals across Kansas are buckling as coronavirus cases swell, leading many schools to scale back in-person learning and one county to intensify plans for a possible field hospital. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment added 5,939 cases to the state’s pandemic tally since Wednesday, bringing the total to 134,533. The state’s seven-day average of new cases now stands at 2,718, nearly four times higher than it was a month ago. The number of COVID-19 related deaths also rose by 84 to 1,410. “Case increases are the worst we have seen since the pandemic began,” Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told local officials and legislators during a call Friday as the state’s seven-day average for new hospitalizations and deaths jumped to record highs. “Our hospitals are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. Health care workers are burned out.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Dodge City alters annual Parade of Lights
With many special events canceled or put on hold this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the undeterred organizers of Dodge City’s annual Christmas Parade of Lights were determined to come up with a safe solution to ensure the tradition but with a twist. “The parade is a cherished holiday tradition enjoyed by hundreds of residents and out-of-town guests and we couldn’t let 2020 end without having something available for our community to enjoy,” said Jerri Whitley, with Victory Electric. “But we knew having that many people gathered along a parade route would make the task of keeping citizens safe and enforcing spectators to socially distance next to impossible.” With support from community officials and effort to create a safe, fun environment for all, parade organizers redesigned the traditional parade into a “reverse” parade format. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on November 30, spectators will drive past stationary, socially spaced floats as they “Make Your Way Down Candy Cane Lane.” The new parade format allows for social distancing between parade entries and no direct contact with spectators.
Source: News – Butler County Times Gazette
Ellis County notes seniors most vulnerable to COVID-19
COVID-19 numbers continue to rise dramatically in Ellis County. All deaths related to the pandemic in the county are among people older than 65. “This virus disproportionately affects those over 65, statewide,” Jason Kennedy, Ellis County Health Services director, said Monday during the Ellis County Commission meeting. Although only 18% of those over 65 have COVID-19, Kennedy said, this age group represents “100% of mortality” in the county. In Ellis County, 20 people have died of COVID-19.
Source: News – Salina Journal
Saline Co. adopts new health order limiting gatherings
The Saline County Board of Commissioners approved a public health order Friday, the same day that the county passed 2,000 total cases of COVID-19, limiting gatherings at indoor spaces to no more than 15, with several exceptions. The board accepted the order by County Health Officer Jason Tiller, but voted unanimously 4-0 to make two amendments to it. The order, which goes into effect beginning at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, will prohibit gatherings of more than 15 in indoor spaces in the county and asks people to socially distance outdoors in a park, stadium or open-air entertainment venue and wear facial coverings if they are not actively participating in a sporting activity.
Source: News – Salina Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for November 19, 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.