Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

A divided Federal Reserve cuts key rate for 2nd time this year

A sharply divided Federal Reserve cut its key benchmark interest rate for a second time this year while saying it’s prepared to continue doing what it deems necessary to sustain the U.S. economic expansion.

The Fed’s move will reduce its benchmark rate by an additional quarter-point to a range of 1.75% to 2%. The Fed’s key rate influences many consumer and business loans.

The action was approved on a 7-3 vote, with two officials wanting to keep rates unchanged and one arguing for a bigger half-point cut. It was the largest number of Fed dissents in three years.

(Read more: Augusta Gazette)

County will take care of poor farm cemetery

An old, neglected cemetery on Old Mill Rd., once part of the county poor farm, will be mowed and maintained now that county officials have discussed the land is the county’s responsibility.

County clerk Tina Spencer told commissioners Monday she researched the cemetery’s ownership after a question arose during public comments at the Sept. 9 meeting.

The cemetery is at the corner of nine to 10 acres of land the county has owned since the poor farm was in operation.

(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)

Newton makes commitment to future library project

Newton has hired a design and fundraising firm for what will likely be a new library project.

The commission approved accepting a contract with HBM Architects at a special meeting Wednesday night at 5 p.m. concerning the upcoming project. The costs for the design and fundraising process are estimated at $1.45 million, however it will be split up in phases, allowing the city and library to opt out should they choose to not move forward. Costs could also change depending on the size of the project.

“You’re committed to the project and going through the phases,” City Engineer Suzanne Loomis said of the commission’s decision. “If we trigger it to go to the next phase, it goes.”

(Read more: Newton Now)

County uses rail cars for bridges

Work began Tuesday on unloading and placing two of four railroad flat car panels that will form the base of two bridges being replaced northwest of Edna.

The bridges are on 6000 Road west of K-101, the highway that goes to Edna and connects to U.S. 166. The first bridge is about 8/10ths of a mile west of K-101 and was built in 1925 and had a 60.5 sufficiency rating in 2017. The second bridge is on 6000 Road near the intersection with Irving Road, about a quarter of a mile west of the first bridge. It was built in 1920 and had a sufficiency rating of 49.5 in 2017.

(Read more: Parsons Sun)

Thomas County voters approve sales tax to complete criminal justice center

Voters in Thomas County Tuesday night approved a one-quarter-cent sales tax increase.

The additional money will go to complete the criminal justice center in Colby …

Unofficial results show the sales-tax increase passing by a margin of 700 to 412.

(Read more: KWCH News)

Pottawatomie County Commission approves disaster emergency proclamation; will submit application for Kansas Department of Transportation grant

The Pottawatomie County Commission approved a proclamation of a State of Local Disaster Emergency during their meeting Monday Morning.

This is in response to sinkholes that recently formed along Hayes Drive due to flooding a couple weeks ago.

The commission also unanimously voted to submit an application for a grant from a new Kansas Department of Transportation cost-share program. Public Works director Peter Clark describes the project for which the grant would be used.

Peter Clark 1

This project would cost between $1 million and $1.5 million to complete. K-DOT would look for the party receiving the grant to provide at least 15 percent of the cost to the project.

(Read more: 1350 KMAN)

USD 250 bond project is complete

Walking through the entryway, Pittsburg High School is nearly unrecognizable in comparison to years ago.

What was once low ceilings and closed-in space is now a tall, brightly lit area which welcomes students, staff and guests into the building.

PHS was one of the largest projects from the USD 250′s $31 million bond issue which voters approved in March 2017. With only a few “button” items to do, the district has announced the completion of the project which was led by Crossland Construction.

(Read more: Education – Morning Sun)

Four Olathe middle school students collecting goods for kids at school with special needs

Four metro girls are spending some of their lunch hour collecting supplies for a special needs class at Mission Trail Middle School in Olathe.

“The whole reason why we’re doing this project is because we’re reading ‘Flower for Algernon.’ The lead character has a disability. It made me feel like I wanted to help and do something,” Kolby Brown said.

This may have started out as a class project. Now, it’s turned into something even bigger.

Right now, Kolby and her friends, Laci Lister, Lydia Fink and Emmy Harkrader are collecting everything from laundry detergent to board games.

“We asked her (special needs teacher) her specific needs. What do you not have enough of? What do you need new?” Lister said.

(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)

Series of earthquakes continues to rattle Kansas

After four earthquakes over the past two days, the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.4 magnitude quake approximately 8 miles southeast of Caldwell in Sumner County Tuesday morning.

Just before 9p.m. Monday, the USGS reported a 3.2 magnitude quake approximately 8 miles east of Marion, Kansas. Just before 10a.m. Monday, a magnitude 3.6 quake shook the same area.

The quake follow a 3.9 magnitude quake at 2:37 a.m. Monday approximately 10 miles west of Cottonwood Falls in Chase County and a magnitude 2.8 quake at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Reno County.

(Read more: Hays Post)

Ellis Co. Conservation District photo contest opens

Local photographers are encouraged to participate in the Ellis County Conservation District plat book cover photo contest. Entry forms may be picked up the ECCD office, 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays.

The rules are:

ELIGIBILITY: The Ellis County Conservation District Photo Contest is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Ellis County, KS. (An amateur photographer is one whose majority of income does not come from photography.) Persons of any age may compete in this contest. Ellis County Conservation District board of supervisors and employees and family members and employees working in the Hays Field Office are not eligible to enter.

SUBJECT MATTER: Photos should be taken within Ellis County. Photos can be of community events, friends, family, scenic, historical structures, or conservation practices** within the county. Do not use or show any copyrighted material in the photo.

(Read more: Hays Post)

Former Kansas officer fights brain cancer, hopes to wear uniform again

A former Rose Hill police officer is in a fight for his life.

Steve Frahm, 30, always dreamed of becoming a police officer.

“There are so many things police officers can do to impact people’s lives,” said Steve Frahm.

Steve was the victim of a robbery when he was a teenager.

“I got to see how, when police officers arrived, they kind of took that bad feeling away, made you feel safe and from that point, that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.

(Read more: KSN-TV)

Greater Salina Community Foundation announces grant awards

The Greater Salina Community Foundation announced $41,000 in grants were awarded to projects and organizations in Saline County.

The 11 organizations receiving funds were:

The Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas received $5,000 to purchase playground equipment for children who access services a the new DVACK facility.

The Heartland Early Education received $5,000 for food to send home with children from birth to age five with food insecurities.

(Read more: News – Salina Journal)

Museum opens exhibit on GCCC’s 100-year history

The latest exhibit in the Finney County Historical Museum’s Front Door Gallery opened Monday, marking the 100th anniversary of Garden City Community College.

Entitled “Institution with a Distinctive Heritage,” the display draws its name from a 1960s era sign that marked both the former and previous campuses of the college. The exhibit includes nearly 20 early photographs, six historic documents and a few artifacts representing GCCC’s 100 years of service to the community and to southwest Kansas.

Among the oldest items are a 1918-1919 advertisement promoting the then-upcoming opening of the school and the first Manual of Studies for students, published in 1919 by Ernest F. Monroe, the college’s first dean. The artifacts also include the shovel used to break ground on the present campus in September of 1967, and scenes from each location where the college has been housed over 10 decades.

Study planned to create citywide housing market strategy

Topeka’s city government is teaming up with a private consulting firm to carry out a study aimed at creating a citywide housing market strategy.

The city is paying $95,000 to Development Strategies, the St. Louis-based urban planning and real estate consulting firm carrying out the study, Topeka City Council members learned at their Tuesday evening meeting.

Development Strategies was selected through a competitive request for proposals process, said Molly Hadfield, the city’s media relations director.

GCCC Boasts #1 Practical Nursing Program in Kansas

Garden City Community College boasts the number one practical nursing program in the state, according a national group dedicated to championing the growth and professional advancement of nurses nationwide.

The study from Practicalnursing.org, which ranked 17 Kansas schools overall, put GCCC at the top of the list, based on student scores from the National Council Licensure Examination, a standardized test students take after graduating from an accredited program to receive their license.

According to the group’s 2019 rankings, more practical nursing students from GCCC have passed this national exam on a first-time basis than any other Kansas institution, based on data available from 2014 to 2018, according to the organization.

(Read more: Western Kansas News)

Quixotic at OP Arboretum; Gardner Edgerton High to pilot mental health course

The Johnson County Mental Health Center and the Gardner Edgerton School District have been chosen as one of only 35 entities nationwide to pilot a program called teen Mental Health First Aid, which will be offered to all 10th graders at Gardner Edgerton High School.

The training, which originated in Australia, is the first of its kind developed for U.S. high school students, officials said.

“We are thrilled to introduce teen Mental Health First Aid to our community,” Gardner Edgerton Superintendent Pam Stranathan said in a news release. “The program will teach high school students to recognize and respond when their friends are experiencing the early stages of a mental health or addiction concern.”

(Read more: Joco 913 News)

Air Ambulances Woo Rural Kansans With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging

On a hot June day, as the Good Ol’ Days Festival was in full swing, 7-year-old Kaidence Anderson sat in the shade with her family waiting for a medevac helicopter to land.

A crowd had gathered to see the display pre-arranged by staff at the town’s historic fort.

“It’s going to show us how it’s going to help other people because we don’t have the hospital anymore,” the redheaded girl explained.

Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed at the end of 2018, leaving this rural community about 90 miles south of Kansas City without a traditional hospital. The community has outpatient clinics run by a regional nonprofit health center and — at least temporarily — an emergency department operated as a satellite of a hospital in the next town over.

(Read more: Rural Messenger)

Economic border war between Kansas, Missouri isn’t quite over yet

There may be a cease-fire, but the economic “border war” involving the use of incentives to lure jobs across the state line in the Kansas City area isn’t exactly over.

Missouri officials plan to award more than $62 million in incentives to financial firm Waddell & Reed, based in Overland Park, Kansas, the Kansas City Star reported Monday. Holly Koofer-Thompson of the Missouri Department of Economic Development said the incentives come from the Missouri Works program, which offers payroll tax withholdings or tax credits in exchange for growing or retaining jobs.

The company said it will invest about $90 million in its new Missouri headquarters and employ more than 1,000 workers at an average salary of $157,138. The specific location has not been announced.

City services uninterrupted by basement flooding

All City of Independence services are fully operational this morning after a weekend water line break caused basement flooding at temporary city hall, 811 W. Laurel. Some repair work is underway in the basement today, so citizens needing to access the Independence Police Department or Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office should go to the second floor of the building and use the courtesy phone to contact these departments.

David Cowan, director of Safety and Code Enforcement for the city, explained the break in an 8-inch water line on the west side of the building occurred approximately 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, causing flooding to an elevator shaft and eventually some basement flooding as incoming water overtook the sump pump and shorted out electrical wiring. Cowan said staff on duty Saturday afternoon reacted quickly to contain the water and minimize damage by removing computers and electronic equipment in the water’s path. Both police and sheriff dispatch services are located in the basement, but there was no disruption of 911 service, Cowan said. Network services that were temporarily lost were restored by 5 p.m. Saturday, and the water line repair was completed by 8 p.m., he noted.

Boot Hill’s first advertiser

One might argue Dodge City Boot Hill Museum got its impetus on Sept. 14, 1935 when Morris Cannon erected his billboard.

Three years before, dentist O.H. Simpson had placed boots and faces at Boot Hill Cemetery as a joke for visiting Rotarians.

The joke caught on and the Cemetery became a tourist destination. Cannon capitalized on the new attraction by advertising the cemetery site and setting up a curio wagon.