Municipal News & Jobs

A new housing initiative is set to launch soon across several counties in North Central Kansas aimed at addressing the issue of dilapidated residential structures. The “Demo to Dirt” program provides financial assistance to help property owners remove unsafe or blighted housing, contributing to safer neighborhoods and enhancing the overall appearance of communities.
Read more: KCLY Radio

Clay County General Public Transportation (CCGPT) is pleased to announce that it has expanded its partnership with Clay County Medical Center (CCMC) to include not just Clay County patients, but patients in parts of the surrounding counties. This partnership will expand CCGPT’s outreach while greatly benefiting patients of CCMC and its area Family Physician Clinics. Don Wright, Public Transportation Director, spoke of this growing partnership.   “We have been working with CCMC about picking up patients and clients to transport to and from appointments. Recently, our surrounding community transportation agencies had asked us if we could expand a little bit to bring patients in since they were unable to.”
Read more: KCLY Radio

A company with a vision of installing “discreet, bespoke,” small, nuclear reactors 1 mile underground for data centers and other electricity-hungry industries plans to put its first reactors in Kansas, Texas and Utah. Deep Fission, which says its technology could meet the “explosive demand for power from artificial intelligence” has signed letters of intent with undisclosed partners in each of those states. In email exchanges, the company said it will not currently disclose the partner and location in Kansas, but would “share more information soon.”
Read more: KCUR News

Silver Lake Schools superintendent Brad Womack announced that he will be retiring in June of 2026, capping off 28 years at the school district. Womack has more than three decades of experience in the Kansas public education system, working his way up from custodian to superintendent. He made the announcement in a letter Thursday, so the Board of Education could begin searching for candidates.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

The School Board is trying to recruit nonresident students to the district to increase enrollment and erase disparities between high school and kindergarten class sizes. During Thursday’s board meeting, Superintendent Stu Moeckel said the district will graduate 140 students this year, and the odds that the district is “going to bring 140 kindergartners in are not going to happen.” Moeckel said this is the second year the district has had nonresident enrollment. He said the first year it started, the district had 61 applicants. He said this year the district ended with 101 applicants, and most of them enrolled. He said at least 10% of the student population in total are nonresident students.
Read more: The Eudora Times

The Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education approved renewing the district’s license for its virtual school platform, but Superintendent Dawn Johnson said the district may need to shop around in the future after a price increase this year. With the renewal, the per-student cost of the Acellus Gold Spark Program will increase to $790. With a combined 368 students using the platform between virtual school, alternative school, and Reno County Youth Services, that puts the total cost at $290,720. Johnson said base state aid for 368 students amounted to around $2 million.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

LaHarpe volunteer firefighters paid a visit to My Second Home Daycare in LaHarpe Friday to show the youngsters the equipment they use to keep families safe. The youngsters were allowed to hold the fire hose and check out the department’s various vehicles and equipment. They also were allowed to give the siren and horn a quick blast, much to the delight of the other kiddos.
Read more: The Iola Register

The initial log jam grew significantly after additional rain events, extending its length from 350 feet to around 1,000 feet.
Read more: Salina Journal

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.

The city of Topeka plans to consider a $292,500 settlement for a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a retired fire captain. This would be the fourth discrimination settlement paid by the city since June 2023.
Read more: CJonline

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.

A proposed 45,000 head swine farm 30 miles north of Salina won’t need the approval of the Ottawa County Commission due to its business structure, according to a Sept. 18 opinion from the Kansas Attorney General.
Read more: CJonline

Crews begin replacing 20 miles of water pipe line across the entire city, this coming Tuesday. This is a grant-funded project and it’s goal is to take rusted and corroded steel pipes, and replace them with new PVC pipes that are supposed to last for the next hundred years.
Read more: KSNF/KODE

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.

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced $250,000 is available under the Residential Opportunities on Main Street (ROOMS) grant program to support new upper-floor housing in commercial buildings in Designated Kansas Main Street communities. “Rural downtowns are full of history and character — and many have unused upper-floor spaces that could be utilized for additional housing options,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “These funds give our community leaders the resources to turn these historic assets into vibrant, livable spaces — and increase the number of customers within a short walk of downtown restaurants and shops.”
Read more: Kansas Department of Commerce

The entrepreneurial energy of Central Kansas will take center stage this Thursday at 7:00 PM as the third annual Ignite Rural Business Competition lights up the Crest Theatre in downtown Great Bend. Hosted by Great Bend Economic Development (GBED), Ignite Rural celebrates the innovation and resilience of rural entrepreneurs. This year’s competition features five local finalists vying for $95,000 in total prize funding to help launch or expand their businesses.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio | Your Hometown Radio Stations & Local News Source

Buhler residents gathered Monday morning at the Buhler Adult Community Center to discuss the city’s current housing-related needs and goals for the future. The informational session and forum were hosted by Buhler Community Foundation Coordinator Lauren Meadors on behalf of the Hutchinson Community Foundation. In Hutchinson Community Foundation’s recent “Love Where You Live” survey, the top priority given by Buhler residents was attracting new businesses, and the second ranked priority was removal or renovation of housing blight.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

When Sedgwick’s EMS director position came open last summer, Zane Hansen, the city’s fire chief since 2019, stepped up to fill the role. “Great to see somebody with hometown pride take over,” City Administrator Kyle Nordick said about Hansen’s willingness to take the position. “It seemed like he would be the right fit instead of putting the city through the process of trying to go out and find somebody. We already had somebody in-house that the team was familiar with, and so there’s that level of comfortability, as well.” Hansen, who’s lived in Sedgwick his entire life, not only brings familiarity to the EMS employees but to the community as a whole. He said a lot of people have thanked him for taking on the responsibility of EMS director.
Read more: Harvey County Now

This small town is moving forward with plans for major developments even though Panasonic may delay full production at its new electric vehicle battery plant. The newest developments include plans for hundreds of housing options with apartments, homes and a hotel, in addition to the opening of a data center and an expansion to Merck Animal Health’s facility. De Soto is a town of about 6,500 people, so the planned hiring of 4,000 people at Panasonic, in addition to new housing and other businesses coming to town, means at least an additional 60% of people spending time at local businesses and using roads and other town infrastructure. Some residents are coping with the changes to the town’s character and desire for more information about environmental impacts from new development.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Lawrence elected officials and civic professionals speaking during a panel Monday identified trends they say disrupt the public discourse necessary to make progress. Amber Sellers, Lawrence city commissioner; Kelly Jones, Lawrence school board member as well as candidate running for reelection in November; Patrick Kelly, Douglas County Commission chair; and Rich Lockhart, chief of the Lawrence Police Department shared reflections on their roles as public officials. Kyle Velte, University of Kansas School of Law faculty member, added legal perspectives and knowledge. The League of Women Voters of Lawrence-Douglas County hosted the panel event, “Bringing Civility Back to Civic Discourse.” Co-Vice President Sonja Czarnecki moderated the discussion, taking questions from the packed audience in addition to prewritten prompts.
Read more: The Lawrence Times