Kansas Municipal News
Topeka’s haunted trails aim at providing safe outdoor activity for community
Halloween will look a lot different in 2020 than in any previous year as many of the venues that provide an enjoyable amount of terror to patrons will be closed due to the lingering pandemic. But two outdoor venues are terrifying guests without putting them in jeopardy of real danger from COVID-19. Fear Zone, located at 3909 S.W. Burlingame Road, is open for its second year, having made some virus-protocol modifications. Owners Scott and Kelly Heston said they have had an increase in customers thus far in 2020 over a successful first year.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal
Sedgwick County official extends bar and club curfew despite COVID-19 cases rising
Despite a growing number of COVID-19 cases, the Sedgwick County health officer approved an order on Friday that extends the time bars and clubs can stay open from midnight to 1 a.m. “Locally, our case numbers have started increasing but testing has not increased,” Dr. Garold Minns said in a news release. “I appreciate our community’s diligence in following the recommended healthy behaviors but we need to really stick to them during cold and flu season.” In a phone interview, Minns said he doesn’t have strong evidence that the case increase is attributable to businesses serving alcohol.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Officer-involved shooting in Lyons leads to large police response
A Lyons man is in custody on Friday after a few-hour standoff following the shooting of an officer and a man, officials said. It started at around 3:40 p.m. when a man mowing a lawn was threatened by a man with a gun at a neighboring home in southeast Lyons. The threatened man called 911. A responding officer was shot by 40-year-old Adam Hrabik, according to Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Melissa Underwood. The officer was shot multiple times and also shot back, according to KBI special agent in charge Cory Latham.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Renwick receives grant for ‘telerobots’
High schools in the Renwick School District will receive more than $450,000 in grants to support STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education.Garden Plain High School and Andale High School, plus 18 other Kansas high schools, will receive funds through a telemedicine grant targeted to rural and underserved communities. The funding – $451,480 – will be used for 10 telepresence robots, five for each of the district’s two high schools.
Source: Times-Sentinel Newspapers » Feed
Maple Leaf Festival At Baldwin City Goes Virtual This Year
Like many events this year, the Maple Leaf Festival will be in an entirely different format. Officially, the traditional 63rd annual Maple Leaf Festival in historic downtown Baldwin City is cancelled. “Decision to cancel the 2020 Maple Leaf Festival is necessary,” said Mike Curran, committee president. “It is the right step for public health safety during the coronavirus pandemic.” The annual festival typically draws 30,000 people to Baldwin City fueled by 300 booths from across the country. “It supports the local nonprofit community through food booth proceeds,” Curran added.
Source: WIBW News Now
As 60% of Johnson County schools report COVID cases, guidance for returning is eased
The Johnson County health department has issued more lenient guidance on whether school districts should allow older students back into classrooms when there is high community spread of COVID-19. Unlike under the previous criteria, districts could now allow middle and high schoolers to return to in-person learning in a hybrid model — going to class part time and taking online classes for the rest of the week — as long as safety precautions are implemented. The guidance for elementary students has remained the same, as officials continue to recommend they can return to classrooms full time.
Source: Joco 913 News
Last of major Johnson County districts says older students can return to classrooms
Following the Johnson County health department relaxing coronavirus guidance for schools, the Olathe district announced it will allow older students to return to classrooms part time later this month. Superintendent John Allison said in an email that middle and high school students will start in-person learning on Oct. 19, in a hybrid model. Middle schoolers will go to school buildings for part of the week, then learn online the rest. High school students will attend school for half days, five days a week.
Source: Joco 913 News
LaHarpe starts talk on stop signs
LaHarpe City Council members will chew over a request by city employees to add as many as 26 stop signs around town. Code Enforcement Officer Penny Miller and City Superintendent Mike Hedmon have driven every block in town in search of potential trouble spots for motorists due to obstructed views at intersections or where unfettered traffic pose safety hazards. Miller provided the Council members with a color-coded map identifying intersections she thinks would be better served if motorists had to stop.
Source: The Iola Register
Pittsburg hospital limits procedures as virus cases climb
Pittsburg’s hospital is putting the brakes on some procedures as coronavirus cases continue to climb steadily statewide and the positivity rate tops 17%.<
Randy Cason, President of Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, said this week that the plan to pause elective and non-emergent procedures allows leaders to reallocate staff to help care for an influx of patients.
Source: The Iola Register
COVID-19 a challenge for Kansas schools
COVID-19 is threatening the way Kansas schools do their work. Randy Watson, state education commissioner, told members of the Kansas Association of School Boards recently that the way schools deliver education currently is “not sustainable.” Although 1A to small 4A schools are returning to traditional five-day-a-week on-site classes because they can keep class sizes to fewer than 15 and require masks and social distancing, most larger schools are obliged to operate differently. They are using all online, remote or hybrid models where students alternate attending on-site for part of the week and study remotely the remainder of the week.
Source: The Iola Register
Central Kansas law enforcement, residents support each other after Lyons officer-involved shooting
Rice County residents and law enforcement spent Saturday reflecting on yesterday’s officer-involved shooting in Lyons that hurt two people. 17 agencies across the state responded to the shooting, including several smaller agencies in central Kansas. "When you got a five man agency and one of your guys is shot its devastating," Sterling Police Chief Derrick Ploutz said.
Source: KSN-TV
Beef continues to rule economically in Kansas
Once again, beef leads the pack in sales and jobs for Kansas’ agricultural businesses.Contributing more than $8.7 billion to the Kansas economy, the beef cattle ranching and farming sector, which includes feedlots, is the state agricultural leader in jobs as well, with just shy of 39,000 employed in this market, according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s latest reports. Economic contributions of agriculture in Kansas totals more than $70 billion…
Source: Local – The Hutchinson News
Train noise on your nerves? Old Lenexa residents soon to catch a break
By the summer of 2021, people who live and work near Old Town Lenexa should be hearing less noise from passing trains. That’s when — thanks to an extra infusion of city money — wayside horns will be installed at two BNSF Railway crossings: Pflumm Road and Noland Road. “Noise from passing trains has long been an issue for the 1,200 residents and businesses who live within a half-mile of these crossings,” the city said in a news release.
Source: Joco 913 News
Topeka modernizes parking payments with launch of new app
The City of Topeka, Kansas will be introducing a new way to pay for parking with the Passport Parking mobile app. The app, which will be the first mobile pay solution for parking in the City, will offer drivers a contactless option for paying for and managing parking and can be used at over 1,200 metered spaces. With the Passport Parking app, users can pay to park quickly and remotely from their smartphones. Additionally, users can receive alerts when their parking sessions are ending, get email receipts and view their parking history from one place.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Parsons adds Pocket Park to Main Street
It’s a tiny park between pre-existing buildings — a new way towns and cities around the country are adding life to their communities. This started off as inspiration from a group of friends. Rod Landrum, SEK Point of Pride, said they would go out and they would travel, they would bring ideas back and implement them in our town. Then, that inspiration hit Rod Landrum and his wife as they were traveling to the East coast. “We thought, here’s an idea.” Once they returned to Parsons, they introduced the idea to Southeast Kansas Point of Pride. The city of Parsons is getting — what they call a Pocket Park — on Main Street. It all started with just one donation.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Public-private coalition financing $24 million KU bioscience, tech research expansion
Light shovel work and bipartisan speeches marked launch of a $24 million public and private partnership to significantly expand the bioscience and technology business innovation center at the University of Kansas that has been at maximum capacity for a couple years. The administrations of President Donald Trump and Gov. Laura Kelly celebrated awarding of a $7.8 million federal grant to reinforce city, county, state, university and private funding for the 66,000 square foot building that could eventually create 225 jobs and generate $140 million in private investment. The federal aid emerged from an economic development law adopted in 2019 in response to a series of natural disasters that included flooding, tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Douglas County stands behind health order that’s facing legal challenges
Douglas County issued a statement Thursday in support of an embattled health order that, among other things, limits the hours that bars can be open amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In addition, attorneys John Bullock and Bradley Finkeldei, of the law firm Stevens & Brand, filed a legal brief on the county’s behalf in response to one of two lawsuits that question the health order. The order mandates that any restaurants and bars that hold liquor licenses must stop serving at 11 p.m. and close at midnight; however, establishments that do not hold liquor licenses face no hour restrictions.
Source: LJWorld.com.
Lawrence seeks input from residents regarding how pandemic affects long-term plan for downtown
Though obviously not planned when the process first began two years ago, the city’s master plan for the downtown will now account for how the COVID-19 pandemic and related changes affect the future of downtown. … So far, the consultants are on the sixth of seven steps in the process, which have included community input, a market and demographic analysis, and creation of goals and a vision for downtown. Consultants began the process of drafting the plan at the beginning of this year, but will now reopen community input due to the pandemic.
Source: LJWorld.com.
Municipal Bond Trends for October 15, 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.
Pittsburg school board approves new Wi-Fi network funding as some remote learners struggle
The Pittsburg Community Schools Board of Education approved funding for a private LTE network at their meeting on Tuesday. The network, funded by money from the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) taskforce, will provide a connection to students with unstable Wi-Fi connections or access, and allow them to connect to the school’s protected network.
Source: Education – Morning Sun