Johnson County commissioners voted 5-2 Thursday afternoon to mandate masks for all elementary schools. The board voted to require masking for all students through 6th grade in local school districts. Faculty and staff at elementary schools would also be required to wear masks. The new mask rule will apply in both public and private schools. It gets more complicated when addressing middle schools. The new mask rule says: “This requirement includes children in higher grades who attend school in buildings where children in 6th or lower grades also attend school unless 6th graders are physically separated from higher grades throughout the school day.” Shawnee Mission School District has already mandated masking for elementary schools, but vaccinated teachers can opt out of masking. De Soto School District also voted this week that all staff and students, regardless of age or vaccination status, will wear masks at school.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

The Board of Public Utilities board of directors have extended the moratorium for residential utility disconnections for non-payment until October 6. The BPU says people should continue to pay their bills on time so they don’t get too far behind. They said one of the main reasons for the action was to allow more time for people to take advantage of the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance program, a program funded by the 2021 Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act. The act provided Kansas with about $200 million for rental assistance and is administered by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation. Tenants who rent their home, whose 2020 household income did not exceed 80% of the area’s median, households where at least one person is going through documented financial hardship due to COVID-19, or at least one person that is uncertain of where they will stay or become homeless.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF