The Fort Scott City Commissioners on Tuesday discussed the creation of a loitering ordinance. Interim City Manager Mark McCoy said city hall and the police department have received several calls in recent weeks about an increase of vagrancy in the downtown area. He said people sleeping inside and outside Heritage Park at 1st Street.
Source: Fort Scott Tribune
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed back above 1.56% early on Wednesday, ahead of the release of ADP’s September employment change report due later in the morning. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 3 basis points to 1.564% at 3:20 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond jumped nearly 4 basis points to 2.137%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. The 10-year rate topped 1.56% last week, which was its highest point since June, amid inflation and tighter monetary policy concerns.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Kansas State University received a $3.4 million grant from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services to create a new research and biosecurity development lab space. University officials announced the grant Friday. The money comes from the National Institutes of Health and will be used to build up K-State’s laboratory capacity and help the university become “a premier institution in advancing the discovery and development of biosecurity strategies for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases,” according to a statement from KSU officials. More specifically, the grant will be used to bolster the KSU Biosecurity Research Institute, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), and the USDA Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit. Bonnie Rush, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement Friday that the current labs are isolated from each other and “have limited access, research productivity, and collaboration” between faculty members.
Source: Atchison Globe Now
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall announced a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration for Wichita State University and the Wichita Entrepreneurship Coalition. The grant will support the resources needed to recruit, support, and enable regional entrepreneurs, and improve the coalition’s access to technology and startup resources.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Some local Kansas governments are operating with 10% of their positions unfilled, making it hard to deliver the services that citizens expect. Across the state, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that Kansas has seen a 4.7% drop in the number of public sector workers, which translates into about 12,000 vacant jobs, but some towns are being hit harder. The pandemic has made the situation worse because the competitive labor market has made it hard to replace older employees who decided to retire. And private companies, which are also struggling to hire, have more flexibility in pay and benefits that city governments generally do. In Concordia, city manager Amy Lange said the government is down to the bare minimum needed to perform city functions, but with six positions open — which accounts for 10% of the city’s workforce — workers are stretched thin.
Source: KAKE – News
A Kansas firefighter is doing much more than protecting his community; he spreads joy through music. Colby Fire Chief Bob McLemore spends the majority of his day answering emergency calls. When he’s not at the firehouse, he is either planning or preparing for Colby’s bluegrass festival, Pickin’ on the Plains, or setting up the sound system for the city’s Picnic in the Park. “I do sound for Picnic in the Park every Wednesday,” said McLemore of the June and July event. Picnic in the Park, put on by the Colby Chamber of Commerce, invites people to enjoy their lunch outside while listening to local musicians. McLemore has been a part of the sound crew for the event for more than 20 years.
Source: KSN-TV
The Manhattan Regional Airport will be receiving a nearly $6 million grant to help reconstruct the airport’s runway. According to the city, the project is expected to cost more than $47 million. The current runway is 150 feet wide and 7,000 feet long. Airport Director Jesse Romo said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will only participate in funding 100 feet of that width. That is where the DOD grant comes in to help. Romo said losing that extra 50 feet would be hugely detrimental for the region.
Source: KSNT News
A local business is celebrating the official opening of its new facility. GreatLIFE North’s Top City Golf will provide the ultimate golfing experience to the Capital City. The concept of Top City Golf is just like Topgolf in Kansas City. The closer you can get the ball to your target, the more points you earn. City officials welcomed the golf experience to Topeka with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They said it should give Topeka yet another fun activity for people to enjoy in town. Top City Golf is located at 350 NE U.S. 24 HWY.
Source: KSNT News
Understaffing has always been an issue for guards in detention centers, but since the pandemic, the issue has only worsened. The pandemic, the overtime, the time away from families and the mental health effects have deterred people from working at correctional facilities. At Shawnee County Jail, they have felt these effects for a while. “Everybody’s tired but on top of being exhausted from working so many hours, ” said Sgt. Caitlyn Ross, “It’s now the workload because you’re now working for other officers because we don’t have them.” The department currently has 120 officers working but is budgeted for 180 workers. This means that they have 60 vacancies, which is 50% of the workers they have on staff right now.
Source: KSNT News
It may not feel this way to some local residents, but Arkansas City is one of the most affordable cities in Kansas. That’s according to a research group attempting to rank cities of 5,000 people or more by affordability. SmartAsset, a New York company that offers online financial advice, said it examined closing costs, real estate taxes, homeowners’ insurance, mortgage rates, and the cost of home ownership in 64 Kansas cities each over a five-year period. That cost was then measured as a proportion of median household income to determine affordability, and indexed on a scale from 0 to a top score of 100. This year marked the seventh annual study. Ark City landed as fifth most affordable city in Kansas. It held the same ranking in 2020 but was not in the top 10 in 2019, according to the SmartAsset website. With increasing water rates, planned increases in sewer rates and rising landfill costs, some might find it hard to believe Ark City’s ranking. But city commissioners contacted Monday welcomed the information even as they said they were surprised by it.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
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