Kansas Municipal News
Sprint and the 1Million Project Announce Major Expansion of Initiative to Give Device and Anytime Internet Access to Every Eligible High Schooler in the Atlanta Metro
Sprint (NYSE: S) and the 1Million Project Foundation today announced new, significant investments to support Atlanta area high school students who lack home internet access and face unnecessary challenges to do their homework and reach their full potential. Doug Michelman, president of the 1Million Project Foundation, outlined a drastic expansion of the organizations’ efforts to give free devices and internet access to every eligible high schooler in the Atlanta Metro who do not have reliable broadband service at home. The program has expanded locally from two districts to seven, and nearly doubled the number of Atlanta area student participants to a total of nearly 20,000.
At an event hosted by Atlanta Public Schools at Benjamin E. Mays High School attended by superintendents representing four Atlanta area school districts, Michelman also offered details on the 1Million Project Foundation’s partnership with 100 Black Men of America to support the program by providing mentoring to participating high school students.
(Read more: Atchison Globe Now)
National debt surpasses $23 trillion mark, adds $4.1 billion more in one week
The national debt has surpassed $23 trillion for the second time, adding $4.1 billion in one week. It broke the $23 trillion mark on Nov. 1 for the time in history, barely nine months after the debt broke records surpassing $22 trillion on Feb. 11. The debt has grown some 16 percent since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, when it stood at $19.9 trillion.
Of the $23 trillion, $16.98 trillion is debt held by the public and $6 trillion to intergovernmental holdings.
Despite record highs in the stock market, a booming economy, record jobs and employment reports, and the longest economic expansion since the post–World War II era, “Washington shows no fear,” Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the fiscally conservative Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF) said in a statement. “Piling on debt like this is especially unwise and unnecessary in a strong economy.”
(Read more: DerbyInformer.com – news,news/)
1% City Sales Tax Funds To Cover River Street Repairs
Voters within the Eureka City limits went to the polls last Tuesday knowing that regardless of the outcome, River Street repairs would begin in 2020.
Residents voted in favor of the one-cent sales tax, that will increase sales tax by 1% in April of next year. The tax will generate approximately $300,000 each year.
(Read more: Eureka Herald RSS)
USD 308 School Board approves strategic plan
The USD 308 School Board took an important step toward creating a new strategic plan Monday.
The board approved mission and vision statements for the district and core values. Members have been working on the statements for nearly a year. The board is working to revamp the 2014-19 strategic plan.
The mission statement “Educating, empowering and preparing every student for life” was approved.
(Read more: Hutch Post)
Cerner Corporation cuts more jobs in Kansas City
The layoffs announced Tuesday come after the North Kansas City-based company laid off 255 workers in early September.
The health care information technology company said the job reductions comes as it looks for ways to diversify its current operations.
Cerner is the Kansas City area’s largest private employer, with about 14,000 workers across the metropolitan area.
Cerner says it remains committed to creating jobs in Kansas City and has hired several thousand workers this year.
(Read more: Junction City Post)
Lansing project selected for cost share program
A Lansing road improvement project has been selected for a new Cost Share Program being offered by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The project will pay for improvements to the intersection of Kansas 7 Highway and Eisenhower Road. Lansing Public Works Director Mike Spickelmier said city officials are looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the intersection.
Spickelmier said the city of Lansing is the primary sponsor for the project. But Lansing and Leavenworth officials agreed to jointly submit the project.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Topeka mayor, council adopt new city flag
Topeka’s mayor and city council voted 8-1 Tuesday evening to adopt a new city flag featuring a white five-pointed star at Topeka’s site on the state map.
Mayor Michelle De La Isla and Councilmen Brendan Jensen and Mike Padilla spoke positively of the new design, which has been a topic of discussion in the community for several months.
“I was particularly excited to see how everybody embraced this,” Jensen said.
Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz cast the dissenting vote, saying she likes the new flag but felt like it had been “rammed down my throat.”
(Read more: Local Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
City of Garden City Names New Fire Chief
The City of Garden City is pleased to announce the appointment of William “Bill” Beaty as the City’s new Fire Chief. Beaty will fill the position vacated by the retirement of Chief Allen Shelton earlier this year.“Bill’s enthusiasm for the fire service and his commitment to education and training, both for himself and those who work for him, stood out during the process,” said City Manager Matt Allen.
“Bill showed an appreciation for what has been done so far in Garden City by Fire Department leadership and staff but will undoubtedly contribute in new ways to the department and the City organization.”
(Read more: Greater Garden City » Feed)
Wichita City Council approves up to $23 million in IRBs for Spirit AeroSystems
The Wichita City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the issuance of up to $23 million in industrial revenue bonds to Spirit AeroSystems Inc.
The IRBs are being issued following the completion of construction on Spirit’s (NYSE: SPR) 150,000 square-foot Global Digital Logistics Center at the northern end of its local headquarters campus.
The facility was part of a collaboration between the company and local government.
(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)
Sustainability board now supports plastic bag ban or fee; Lawrence to consider both options
City leaders will now also be considering an outright ban of plastic disposable bags in addition to a previously proposed disposable bag fee.
The Lawrence Sustainability Advisory Board previously recommended that the city charge a 16-cent fee for disposable plastic and paper bags, but it has since updated that recommendation to indicate it would also support a ban. The board issued a statement of support for a ban should a ban be “deemed most feasible by city staff,” according to a city staff memo provided this week to the City Commission.
Read more: LJWorld.com.
Affordable Housing Advisory Board recommends that Lawrence provide $475,000 to two housing projects
Faced for the first time with funding requests from multiple large-scale affordable housing projects, the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board recommended that the city fund senior apartments and mixed-income townhomes.
As part of its meeting Monday, AHAB voted unanimously to recommend that the city provide $350,000 of its affordable housing funding to Bethel Estates, apartments for seniors that will be temporarily affordable for 30 years. The board also voted to recommend that the city provide $125,000 to 23 Tenn Flats, a mixed-income townhome community where a portion of the homes will be permanently affordable.
Read more: LJWorld.com
Rural Kansas Loves Its Hospitals, But Keeping Them Open Only Gets Harder
Few things signal a rural community’s decline more powerfully than the closure of its hospital.
Like shuttered schools and empty Main Streets, an abandoned hospital serves as a tangible reminder of the erosive power of decades of population loss and unrelenting economic trends.
“Our rural communities are challenged and, because of that, our small hospitals are challenged as well,” said Tom Bell, the head of the Kansas Hospital Association. “It’s sort of a chicken-and-egg thing.”
In just the last 15 years, 160 of the nation’s rural hospitals have closed, including six in Kansas.
(Read more: KCUR)
Kansas town holds longest-running Veterans Day celebration
The town of Kensington held its 100th Veterans Day celebration Saturday.
Over the last 100 years, the town has only canceled twice. Once during World War II and once because of a blizzard.
Kensington holds a Veterans Day parade, a dance at the American Legion, and invites a guest speaker. This year, it’s a bagpiper who played on the beaches of Normandy during the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
(Read more: KWCH News)
This JoCo downtown could get ‘first big redevelopment.’ Will it force businesses out?
Olathe has been working for years to attract private development to its downtown — something other than government buildings, the Johnson County Jail and law offices. And finally, the city is poised to get it.
But the announcement of the downtown’s so-called “first big redevelopment” has led to a firestorm with neighbors, business owners and members of the 120-year-old Old Settlers group.
Indianapolis-based development company Milhaus is proposing two, four-story apartment buildings. One would take the place of the library at 201 E. Park St. The other would take over a city-owned public parking lot at the southwest corner of East Santa Fe and North Chestnut streets.
(Read more: KC Star Local News)
Century II activist wants a better explanation for tax district expansion
In its first meeting after a contentious election, the Wichita City Council is being asked to approve millions of dollars in improvements and incentives for some of the mayor’s signature projects.
One community activist says the city should slow down …
The city’s proposing expanding a tax district west of the new baseball stadium, approving more than $100 million dollars in Industrial Revenue Bonds and signing a complicated development agreement for four downtown buildings that includes up to 500 city-owned parking spaces. The buildings are part of a new education complex that will include a medical school, a culinary arts school, hotel and student housing. About $90 million of the Industrial Revenue Bonds would support that education complex known as the Kansas Health Science Center.
(Read more: Local News |)
More than 200 people participate in Kansas City and Topeka local consult meetings this week
The more than 200 northeast Kansans who gathered in Topeka and Kansas City emphasized the importance of flexibility during the second round of Local Consult meetings this week.
KDOT used the input gathered at the first round of Local Consult meetings in August to shape not only the public input sessions that are underway now, but also the next major state transportation plan, known as FORWARD. The second round of meetings is designed to make sure we are on the right track with FORWARD’s design – and to make sure we better understand regional priorities for expansion and modernization projects.
(Read more: Kansas Transportation)
Kansas Gov. Kelly issues disaster declaration after grass fires rage in Cheyenne County
Governor Laura Kelly has issued a disaster declaration after multiple large grass fires broke out on Saturday in northwest Kansas.
The fires started in the morning on Nov. 9 near the Colorado border. Several homes were evacuated and other families were on standby, ready to leave if the fires grew out of control.
The fires, mainly two large ones, are now contained, but they first spread more than 19 miles along U.S. 36 Highway.
Picture from the National Weather Service out of Goodland, Kansas.
(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)
Library makes way for new apartments in Olathe. But a new branch is coming to downtown
An Indianapolis company wants to build apartments where the Olathe Downtown Library is now, but library director Emily Baker assures residents that a public/private partnership is in the works to create a bigger, more modern library downtown.
The Milhaus development company is proposing to replace the library and its parking lot with two four-story apartment buildings containing 170 market-rate units, ground-floor office space and on-site amenities, said Emily Carrillo, senior planner for the city of Olathe. That development, southeast of Chestnut and Park streets, is known as Chestnut South.
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
Wichita to operate the first electric buses in Kansas
The state’s first electric buses are coming to Wichita.
KCUR reports that the city’s first battery-powered bus will hit the roads this month, with 10 more expected to join the fleet next year.
The city’s transit director, Mike Tann, scored a nearly $2 million federal grant to purchase four low-emissions buses from ProTerra. He has also bought seven smaller electric buses to replace aging buses that look like old trolleys using another grant.
(Read more: KWCH News)
USDA provides loans to three rural Kansas Electric Cooperatives
Three rural electric cooperatives serving south-central and southwestern Kansas will receive more than $32 million in financing to build and improve rural electric infrastructure in their regions.
Nationally, USDA is providing $1.4 billion in financing to 27 projects through its Electric Loan Program.
In Kansas, the following electric cooperatives received financing:
• Ark Valley Electric Cooperative Association Inc. will receive a $5.74 million loan.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)