Gov. Laura Kelly announces new school safety workforce

Governor Laura Kelly announced a new initiative on Wednesday during her tour at Wesley’s Children’s Hospital. Kelly says the ‘Safer Classrooms Workgroup’ was created to protect Kansas students, teachers, and staff from the threat of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Safer Classrooms Workgroup will be composed of pediatricians, family physicians, school nurses, pharmacists, school psychologists, and other health professionals. They will meet weekly to highlight the spread of COVID with educators, parents, and advocates about their experiences as schools work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Source: KSN-TV

2021-09-01T22:40:24-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

New program introduced by Wichita police aims to reduce violence among teens and young adults

Reducing violence among teenagers and young adults, that’s the goal of a new initiative called SERV (Strategic Engagement to Reduce Violence) from Wichita police. Police will work with violent offenders, educating them on consequences if they continue breaking the law. The community policing initiative comes from a Department of Justice partnership with the police. The chief of police says a lot of violent crime is related to what he calls habitual offenders. “This program really aims to get on early and pull people out of the lifestyle and get them on a trajectory that will be better for themselves as well as others in the community,” said Chief Gordon Ramsay.
Source: KSN-TV

2021-09-01T22:37:26-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Labette bike share community program up and running

A new community program is up and running in Parsons — more appropriately, biking. Bike Share Labette is underway. The free program was started as a part of the Labette Leadership program, and is designed to promote the exploration of city parks and trails. Organizers hope to make it bigger, and have started a fundraising campaign to expand it throughout the county. “Right now we’re trying to establish an endowment where we can be hands off for any kind of repairs or expansions and with that we’re hoping to raise 20 thousand dollars for that endowment and we’re currently at nine thousand,” said Hailey Barnett, Bike Share Labette Project Coordinator
Source: KSNF/KODE

2021-09-01T22:35:26-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Parsons getting new soccer field with help from former NFL Quarterback Shaun Hill

Former NFL Quarterback, Shaun Hill, is helping to give his hometown of Parsons its own field of dreams. Construction is nearly complete on the new athletic and practice fields for the Parsons School District. The project began about four-years ago with a donation from the Shaun Hill Pass Fund. it then grew to include sponsorships from members of the community and local businesses. “It means the world to Parsons and definitely to our youth, he’s a great example of giving back and being generous. He’s supported P-R-C for many years, 503 for many years and many other things in Parsons as well,” said Gary Crissman, Project Manager.
Source: KSNF/KODE

2021-09-01T22:33:50-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Water Conference brings in hundreds to Capital City

People from all over Kansas are in Topeka to learn about new innovations in the wastewater and water treatment industry. The 12th annual conference is put on by the Kansas Water Environment Association and the Kansas Section of the American Water Works Association. Attendees brush up on their skills by taking classes, hearing presentations, watching demonstrations of new technology, and participating in contests. Organizers said the end goal of the conference is to get workers educated on new technology so that the people of Kansas can get and dispose of their water efficiently. “Infrastructure is failing across the board, we’ve got a lot of old infrastructure and I think it’s really important for the community to understand that we need to make those repairs,” said Jason Patty, president of the Kansas Water Environment Association. “We’ve put those off for 50 or 60 years, and it’s time.”
Source: KSNT News

2021-09-01T22:32:18-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Goessel, Burns, Marion buck census trend

Goessel, Burns, and Marion seem to have bucked the trend for declining population in Marion County. The Census Bureau has not yet listed 2020 population figures by municipality for communities of less than 5,000 people. However, it has released data arranged by geo-location and geographic boundary that state partner organizations have used to calculate what can be regarded as authoritative, if not final, census data for municipalities of fewer than 5,000 residents.
Source: Marion County RECORD

2021-09-01T22:30:35-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Population growth a benefit for McPherson County

McPherson County experienced growth according to the recently released 2020 Census data. In fact, the population of McPherson County rose from 29,180 in 2010 to 30,223 for the 2020 census. This equals a 3.57 percent increase in residents over the last 10 years.  City Administrator Nick Gregory says making sure every resident was counted became a group effort of city and county officials.  “We met with the colleges, we reached out to areas that we thought would have a harder time completing the census, we worked with engineering to make sure census had all current addresses, we launched a social media campaign and worked with the public library to make sure people had access to computers to complete the census,” Gregory said. “It was an effort on the part of many to make sure every resident was counted.”
Source: McPherson Weekly News

2021-09-02T06:47:32-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Jantzen retiring after 39-year career with Moundridge

When Terry Jantzen started working for the City of Moundridge, Elm Street was at the northern edge of town, and the eastern extremity was just east of the high school. The longtime city employee will be clocking in for the last time next week after 39 years of service. A reception is being held in his honor from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10. “Thirty-nine years is a long time for somebody to be in one place,” Moundridge City Manager Murray McGee said. “There’s a wealth of knowledge there. He’s told us we can call him any time.” Jantzen was just looking for something different than working on the family farm with his father when he began working for the city in March 1982. He said Norm Unruh took a chance on hiring a 25-year-old on a temporary basis.
Source: McPherson Weekly News

2021-09-02T06:47:43-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

Local Law Enforcement Explains What Happens To Seized Firearms

… the Newton Police Department and the Harvey County Sheriff’s Department … both do business a little bit differently. Newton, for instance, trades in seized firearms acquired through civil forfeiture with their equipment dealer when purchasing new equipment for the department. “We have these things sitting here, and whatever value we get for them is money the taxpayer doesn’t have to spend,” Newton Police Lt. Mike Yoder said. They work through a company, GT Distributors, based out of Kansas City and trade the seized firearms as well as old department service firearms to lower the cost of purchasing new equipment… The sheriff’s department can follow a similar procedure, according to information provided by County Public Information Officer Kyle McCaskey. “The firearm can be sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to be destroyed, can be used for department use, or it could be used to trade for equipment needs,” he said. “For example, the firearm can be traded to a licensed firearm dealer, and in turn, that funding could be used for equipment the sheriff’s office needs. In turn, the licensed firearm dealer can resell it, pending background checks, etc.”
Source: Harvey County Now

2021-09-01T07:37:09-05:00September 1, 2021|News|

USD 439 bond passes easily with two-thirds support

Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the Harvey County Elections website posted the unofficial results from the USD 439 Special Bond Election. The bond passed with two-thirds of the votes, 319-159. According to the website, registered voters numbered 1,415, which means the 478 ballots cast results in a 33.78% turnout. The bond, which is not-to-exceed $13.8 million, is the first bond passed for USD 439 since the late 1990s. The successful vote authorizes USD 439 to complete several major construction projects that include connecting the elementary and secondary buildings with a secure entrance and a new library/media center, building a new gym with an indoor track, weight room, and storm shelter, and elevating the football field and adding a new 8-lane polyurethane track.
Source: Harvey County Now

2021-09-01T07:34:28-05:00September 1, 2021|News|
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