Murals becoming a trend across rural Kansas

From Hays to Great Bend to Lecompton, small towns across the state increasingly turn to larger-than-life works of art to inspire pride among residents and attract tourists. And as more towns blaze this artistic trail, the economic benefits of murals — and the roadmap to getting them done — come into focus…. The mural movement Murals in rural Kansas go back at least 100 years, to companies like Coca-Cola commissioning artists to hand-paint advertisements on brick walls. But Marci Penner, executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, said the idea of outdoor art as a means for boosting a small town’s bottom line and staving off population loss has now become, well, trendy. “The trend to utilize (murals) as an economic development tool … to bring people in, to improve quality of life,” she said, “that’s on the rise.” And Penner credits Clay Center, a north-central Kansas town with just under 4,000 residents, as the place that launched a thousand paintbrushes.
Source: Garden City Telegram

2021-10-21T06:44:07-05:00October 21, 2021|News|

$800,000 in grants going to support law enforcement

U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall announced $839,491 in Department of Justice grants to support Kansas law enforcement. These grants will be dispersed to 10 communities, including Sedgwick County – which is slated to receive $443,481 through the grant funding. The grants are intended to help departments purchase new equipment, develop outreach programs, update outdated technology and more.
Source: Derby Informer | Area

2021-10-21T06:36:03-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

Sedgwick County Commissioners to vote on regulating firearms being discharged across property lines

Community members of a newer development in north Derby are demanding action after many of them say their properties have been damaged by others firing guns outside city limits. Sedgwick County commissioners are now looking to crack down on the issue, with up to a 500 dollar fine. Some of the community members say they would have never expected to be worried about their children getting shot when they moved into the neighborhood. They said this resolution needs to pass to ensure the safety of their community. “That’s the dirt pile I hid behind to make sure I wasn’t going to get hit,” said Bryan Greene, who lives in the area.
Source: KSN-TV

2021-10-20T22:41:47-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

Bridge dedicated to Ark City fallen solider

A special ceremony dedicating a bridge on U.S. 166 east of Arkansas City as the Sgt. Tyler A. Juden Memorial Bridge was held Saturday in the Wright Room at Cowley College. The 23-year-old Juden was was killed when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire near Turan, Afghanistan on Sept. 12, 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan as a sniper for the US Army’s 82nd Airborne division.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

2021-10-20T22:39:43-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

Overland Park Police create new mental health crisis unit — here’s how its response could be different

The new mental health unit of the Overland Park Police Department will make its debut next year with toned-down uniforms, plain black vehicles and a therapy dog — all intended to keep anxiety levels down when responders go on a mental health call. Earlier this month, Police Chief Frank Donchez gave the city council’s public safety committee an early look at what to expect when operations begin. The new section of the police department is being created partly with funds from a one-mill property tax increase approved this year. Another $232,000 will come from a federal Community Oriented Policing grant to be used for crisis intervention training.
Source: Prairie Village Post

2021-10-20T22:32:01-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

South Wichita food desert getting another Dollar Tree in place of former grocery store

Hamid Bakhtiari is the newest owner of the former Save-A-Lot building at Pawnee and George Washington Boulevard in south Wichita. He thought Save-A-Lot would be there for at least five more years when he first signed the deal. “We thought, you know, it’s a national company. It’s got to be a good tenant,” said Bakhtiari. In December 2020, the store decided to abruptly close. In an area that’s already part of Wichita’s 44-plus square miles of food desert, Bakhtiari knew it was important to try to get another grocery store in its place.
Source: KAKE – News

2021-10-20T22:29:48-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

City officials vent about issues with KDOT

Repaving is on the way to parts of Madison. But that doesn’t mean everyone in town wants it. “They have raised the highway up so high that they’re higher than our curbs,” city employee James Paugh told Monday night’s Madison City Council meeting. Paugh, who manages the city’s water treatment plant, said he’s been informed by the Kansas Department of Transportation that state repaving is planned either in 2022 or 2023, beginning from Southwest Boulevard or K-249. “We don’t have that drainage,” Paugh said. He promised to talk with KDOT staff members in Topeka about cutting down the pavement.
Source: Emporia Gazette

2021-10-21T06:39:42-05:00October 20, 2021|News|

Atchison approves emergency pump as water supply ‘insurance’

City Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a Raw Water Intake pump during Monday’s regular meeting in case water levels drop in the Missouri River this winter to levels that would otherwise interrupt the city’s water supply. The pump, which was quoted to cost $101,900, with installation costs estimated up to an additional $50,000, would allow the Raw Water Intake (RWI) – which is where water is taken from the river for use by city residents, businesses, and industries – to function even if water levels recede below the current input location. Currently the RWI can function with river levels as low as about 5 feet.
Source: Atchison Globe Now

2021-10-21T06:40:59-05:00October 20, 2021|News|
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