Manhattan is considering amending laws on smoking and vaping in public areas as well as in stores that market the wares.
The Manhattan City Commission Tuesday discussed combining regulations on the use of e-cigarettes and ordinary cigarettes under the same ordinance, requested by the Flint Hills Wellness Coalition in January. As it was a work session, they held no official vote.
Riley County Health Department Director Jennifer Green says vaping has doubled among high school students in Riley County in the past year. She says smoking rates decreased 10 percent since the smoking was banned in public 10 years ago, and that education campaigns are not enough to do the same in regard to vaping.
“Knowing better does not always result in doing better,” says Green. “We need to create norms and policy change that will help that and we can do that through a policy change like this.”
Designing a strategic plan for the future of Ellis County drew the biggest interest and group during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Strategic Doing Re-Start for Ellis County.
Volunteers gathered at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall in Hays to winnow down the number of project ideas for community improvements generated at a meeting last month.
As attendees enjoyed bierocks and green bean dumpling soup, facilitator Betty Johnson, Lawrence, polled the group for their top topics. Many of the people had been at the first meeting and others were there for the first time.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has announced approved bids for state highway construction and maintenance projects in the area. The letting took place Sept. 18 in Topeka.
In Reno County, workers will be doing some pavement marking on K-61 for 8.6 miles. RoadSafe Traffic Systems of El Dorado won the bid for $183,135.82.
In Kingman County, a bridge replacement over South Fork of the Ninnescah River on Southeast 80th Avenue near Murdock will be done by King Construction Company and subsidiaries for a cost of $991,506.50.
A federal grant will help homeless residents in Southeast Kansas find shelter as soon as possible.
Catholic Charities of Southeast Kansas is the recipient of a grant for more than a $100,000 from housing and urban development. The funding will be used to help the homeless across an 11-county area who qualify as being without a home, into housing.
Director Casey Brown says this is the first time his organization applied for the grant money. And, he says it will hopefully change the lives of many people the charity serves.
“Our hope is to meet with them as soon as possible and wrap around services with them and to be able to provide services to get them housed stably as soon as possible,” Brown explained.
Opposition to the proposed 25-year, $29.9-million school bond issue has spurred a write-in campaign in a Nickerson-South Hutchinson USD 309 school board race.
Larry Meadows, who applied this summer to fill a vacant seat on the school board only to see the appointment vote delayed until after the election, has launched a write-in race against Mike Apfel.
One-term incumbent Apfel is running unopposed for Position 1 – a South Hutchinson seat – on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Meadows said he had toyed with the idea of filing to run for the seat, but missed the June deadline. He was on the steering committee as the district considered a school improvement bond issue, and he saw the development of the bond issue go “horribly wrong,” he said.
Meadows is conducting a “face-to-face” campaign, and he said he’s “not talked to anybody who’s been in favor” of the bond issue. A few have been opposed to any bond issue, but a majority are in favor of a smaller bond issue, he said.
Wichita’s new water plant has fallen behind schedule, delaying a City Council decision on whether to keep its contract with Wichita Water Partners until well after the November election.
Wichita Water Partners, a team lead by Burns & McDonnell and Alberici, was supposed to design 30% of the plant and come up with a final cost estimate by Oct. 4, according to its contract with the city.
The City Council was scheduled to approve that cost at the end of October and authorize Wichita Water Partners to start building the plant.
The United States Department of Agriculture is providing $150 million in disaster grants through its agencies community facilities program.
FEMA has issued three major disaster declarations for Kansas this year: for storms, straight-line winds, and flooding Feb. 24; for tornadoes and flooding May 29; and for severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, and landslides and mudslides on June 19. Nearly 71 of the state’s counties, including Marion, are eligible major disaster declarations.
Cities, public bodies and nonprofit organizations with populations of fewer than 20,000 are eligible for funding.
Special education, a new ag complex, vaping and the search for a new superintendent were discussed by Marysville USD 364 Board of Education candidates during last Thursday’s candidate forum at Marysville City Building.
School board Position 1 candidates Catherine Ray and Brenda Arntt, who is the incumbent; Position 3 candidate Melissa Borgerding; and Position 7 candidate Michelle Reinhart attended the forum. Not present were Position 3 candidate Susan Pacha, Position 7 candidate Chris Ridey and Position 2 candidate Lanny Carpenter, who is the incumbent.
The board has begun its search for a new superintendent after the resignation last school year of Superintendent Bill Mullins.
Lawrence city leaders expressed strong interest Tuesday in moving forward with sanctuary city policies that ensure local police are not used to enforce noncriminal immigration matters.
At a study session, the Lawrence City Commission discussed potential policies regarding how Lawrence police handle requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and how police and other city staff otherwise interact with undocumented immigrants. Though the city has some practices in place, all four commissioners present said they wanted to further discuss written policies to ensure immigrants feel safe in Lawrence.
A new project between governments in Sedgwick County, Mulvane and Derby hopes to connect the two cities via bike path.
Approximately two miles of bike path will be added alongside Rock Road between Mulvane and Derby. The project adds on to the more than 25 miles of bike and walking paths already inside Derby, and the sprawls of bike paths in the rest of the county.
Eighty percent of the project’s budget was covered with federal dollars through the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WAMPO). Sedgwick County, Mulvane and Derby each chipped in a third of the remaining 20 percent of the project’s funding — about $57,000.
Some Ellis County residents in the coming weeks will get notified that the floodplain classification for their property may be changing.
The change is being made based on new maps developed with digital technology for determining elevation, according to Mason Ruder, environmental planning supervisor for Ellis County.
“FEMA and the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources started a project a few years ago on updating our paper maps that are currently from 1986 for the floodplain,” said Ruder, speaking Monday evening to the Ellis County Commissioners during their regular meeting at the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main St.
Using three-dimensional elevation information captured with LiDAR, or light detection and ranging technology, FEMA and state officials have developed new maps considered more precise than the current ones, Ruder said.
Another award has come to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. This time the American Heart Association presented a Quality Achievement Award to the Primary Stroke Center as a tribute to the hospital’s successful treatment of stroke patients.
Brie Pringle, Heart Walk development director for the AHA, said the organization is proud to recognize HRMC’s dedication to providing the highest quality care for all patients who sought treatment for stroke symptoms.
The award signifies that the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center Primary Stroke Center met achievement measures at 85% or higher and quality measures at 75% or higher for two consecutive years.
A Topeka City Council committee will look at potentially authorizing the Topeka Human Relations Commission to conduct investigations while adding “gender identity and sexual orientation” to the list of protected classes covered by city code provisions regarding discrimination and fair housing.
The city’s mayor and council voted 9-0 Tuesday evening to approve city manager Brent Trout’s recommendation that they “refer certain chapters contained without the Topeka Municipal Code to the council policy and finance committee for its evaluation, review and subsequent recommendation to the full governing body.”
Members of that committee are Tony Emerson, Brendan Jensen and Jeff Coen, according to the city website.
In an effort to be supportive of teachers in USD 398, Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) is currently running a grant cycle for needs and/or opportunities that are outside of the school district’s annual budget. Student groups working in collaboration with a teacher may also apply. Up to ten $250 projects will be funded. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 17 and may be found online at centralkansascf.org under the “apply” tab.
Grants will be awarded at the fourth annual #GivingTuesday/Winterfest event from 5-8 p.m. on Dec. 3 at Peabody-Burns High School. The evening is jointly sponsored by Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) and USD 398.
Leading up to #GivingTuesday the school district is partnering with PCF for community-wide activities on the Tuesdays in November. On Nov. 5, thank-you cards will be sent to volunteer fire fighters, police, city council members, and others who serve the community. On Nov 12 personal care items will be collected for the community’s care facilities. On Nov. 26, food items will be collected for the Food Pantry at Peabody’s United Methodist Church. Collection points will be the elementary and junior/senior high school buildings, Peabody Market, and Vintage Bank. On Tuesdays throughout the month, students will be cleaning up the community after school.
Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) released the following statement applauding the president’s signing of the US-Japan Trade Agreement:
“The trade agreement between the United States and Japan is a win for Kansas farmers and ranchers. Japan is the second largest export market for agricultural products from Kansas and this agreement will result in even greater market access for beef, wheat, sorghum and pork, and put American producers on a level playing field with our foreign competitors. It will also benefit Kansas dairy producers by expanding cheese exports, and will eliminate tariffs on certain types of ethanol. As farmers and ranchers continue to struggle with low commodity prices, we must continue to find new export opportunities for the food, fuel and fiber produced in Kansas. I commend President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer and Ambassador Doud for their leadership in securing this much-needed victory for our producers.”
Gov. Laura Kelly pledged to work with Kansas industries and economic development specialists Monday to craft the first comprehensive blueprint for hastening statewide business growth since the 1980s.
The project coordinated by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the McKinsey consulting firm has the central goal of analyzing the state’s economy, outlining a plan for seizing opportunities and shaping implementation a development strategy to advance such economic indicators as population growth, labor participation and gross domestic product.
“It’s been more than 30 years since the state had a formal strategy to accelerate economic development,” Kelly said. “The economic challenges facing Kansas require innovative solutions and a well-coordinated approach.”
Labette County Commission Chairman Doug Allen wants commissioners to create setback restrictions in case a wind developer wants to build wind turbines in the county.
Wind farms are being built or in the process in Allen and Neosho counties and commissioners previously heard that developers have been talking to Labette County landowners.
The setbacks would set the distance between wind turbines and non-participating property owners. Commissioners have discussed having setbacks start at the property line rather than any house foundation but commissioners only spoke in broad strokes on Monday.
Two derelict hotels that became an eyesore and crime magnet near Shawnee Mission Parkway and Metcalf Avenue are back on track to be torn down, this time with a hard deadline of Nov. 30.
Actions by the Overland Park City Council put the Metcalf Crossing project – which will bring a self storage building, car wash and office space to the site – back on track Monday. The developer, Wes Grammer, also has until Feb. 1, 2020 to begin construction.
Council members were excited about the development and the prospect of bulldozing the hotels when the development was first brought forward more than a year ago. But in the months that have passed and as the development plans have changed, their enthusiasm has morphed into resignation. A few expressed regret Monday that the city did not prepare a vision plan for the Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor at Metcalf, a northern gateway to the city.
A Pathways Grant will be used to purchase 40 bicycles for bicycle safety and education in USD 475 grades five and six, and PE One at Junction City High School. The Board of Education authorized the use of the grant funds, totaling $30,000 for the acquisition of the bicycles.
This Blast curriculum is designed to teach the skills for safe and effective riding. The curriculum has been developed by bicycle advocates and reviewed by educators and parents.
The bikes will spend about two-and-a-half to three weeks at each school beginning with modules which emphasize safety including helmets, bikes and rules of the road, along with the fundamentals of riding a bicycle. The bikes would consist of three different sizes and would be stored in a 24-foot trailer.
The Blast curriculum will become part of the K-12 Physical Education curriculum.
A Pathways Grant will be used to purchase 40 bicycles for bicycle safety and education in USD 475 grades five and six, and PE One at Junction City High School. The Board of Education authorized the use of the grant funds, totaling $30,000 for the acquisition of the bicycles.
