Airbnb donates $15K for Choose Topeka program that pays moves to capital city

Home renting app Airbnb has donated $15,000 to the Choose Topeka program that pays people to move to the capital city, the Greater Topeka Partnership announced Thursday. Airbnb’s cash injection signals a national partnership with the Choose Topeka program after it was extended into 2021. The funds are intended to give potential Choose Topeka applicants free housing while they visit the area to tour neighborhoods and jobs. “As some consumers think through relocating, local, hosted stays enabled by Airbnb provide a fantastic option to explore neighborhoods before making a decision,” said Barbara Stapleton, vice president of business retention and talent initiatives at GTP. “Through this partnership, potential residents will be able to ‘try before they buy,’ prior to making the commitment to the Choose Topeka program – and can truly experience what life could look like here if selected.”
Source: KSNT News

2021-05-10T07:07:54-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Governor Laura Kelly Announces 490 New Jobs in Leawood, Kansas

Today, Governor Laura Kelly applauded the announcement of a major investment in Leawood from Torch.AI, a global leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company will invest $45 million and create 490 high-paying, full-time cybersecurity-related jobs in the community. “With our strong public schools and top-tier workforce, Kansas is one of the best places in the nation to do business,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “Torch.AI will bring sophisticated, high-wage tech jobs to Kansas and will improve our ability to recruit forward-thinking tech experts to our state. I look forward to seeing the incredible developments that will undoubtedly come from this new facility.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

2021-05-10T07:08:13-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

New school funding, choice plan advances in Kansas with promise of Kelly’s signature

Kansas lawmakers sent a new plan to modestly expand school choice eligibility in Kansas while providing full funding to K-12 public schools to Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk Friday evening.

Both chambers passed the bills with overwhelming support after minimal debate. It was in stark contrast to the heated arguments last month over the GOP’s original plan to tie school funding to what would have been the state’s largest school choice measure ever.

The House approved the bill 107-9 while the Senate passed it 35-4.

Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

2021-05-09T22:07:46-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Lack of demand causes Kansas to severely cut back on vaccine orders

Kansas has requested less than 9% of its federal allocation of COVID-19 vaccine doses for this week, as Republican state lawmakers try to revive proposals to ban government vaccine passports and restore limits on tracing the close contacts of people exposed to the virus. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s office said Thursday that the state asked for fewer than 14,000 vaccine doses for the week, out of a federal allotment of almost 162,000. While the state sought its full allotment of 6,400 doses of a one-shot vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, it requested only 7,510 doses of its allocation of 155,540 doses of two-shot vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna.
Source: The Iola Register

2021-05-10T07:08:48-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Kansas Legislature wraps 2021 session with late-night property tax deal

After months filled with long days of prickly debate, Senate President Ty Masterson brought the legislative session to a close late Friday night by thanking his colleagues for working diligently and patiently through a jam-packed schedule of bills. In the final day, the House and Senate came together to tie up loose ends to school finance after negotiations with the governor’s office, and finalized the state budget by injecting cash into Kansas universities, increasing pay for judges and restricting the use of vaccine passports. Legislators also sent bills to Gov. Laura Kelly creating a COVID-19 small business relief act, and amended state insurance code and liquor laws.
Source: Kansas Reflector

2021-05-10T07:09:54-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Cattle drive marks Caldwell, Kansas’s 150th birthday

The city of Caldwell celebrated its 150th birthday this weekend, and what better way to do that than to pay respect to the city’s history with a cattle drive? The drive began on Monday in Oklahoma, following along the historic Chisholm Trail. The journey is part of a celebration for those in Caldwell and Sumner counties. Those who participated in the event were tired coming into Caldwell, but happy with the experience.
Source: KAKE – News

2021-05-10T07:12:00-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Cowley County businesses have 100+ vacant jobs, find out how to apply

In Kansas, some small communities said they’re having problems finding people to fill vacant positions. In Cowley county, there are more than 150 job openings and employers said there is just not enough interest. “It’s crisis mode we really really need people to fill jobs,” said Kerri Falletti, the Economic and Community Director of Cowley County. Falletti said businesses all over have a growing list of available jobs. “That’s from all sectors health care education manufacturing, retail food service, everything there’s just a demand in every sector,” he said.
Source: KSN-TV

2021-05-10T07:12:19-05:00May 9, 2021|News|

Hutchinson talks reducing historic designations

As the Hutchinson City Council on Tuesday considered adopting updates to a “Historic Preservation Action Plan” drafted by the city’s Landmarks Commission, the discussion took an unexpected turn. The proposed three-year plan includes applying for a Historic Preservation Fund Grant to survey “all modern/ mid-century modern structures that have become historic,” said Hutchinson Planning Director Ryan Hvitlok. … Rather than add more properties to historic designation lists, Vice Mayor Sara Bagwell suggested, can’t the city remove some. “From a personal perspective, I don’t see any benefit to being a historic building that outweighs the nuisance of red tape you have to go through,” Bagwell said. “I’m over here saying ‘let’s pump the brakes.’ Some areas of residential in Hutch should be taken out of historical. Let’s see who we can take off and not add so much.” Mayor Steve Garza noted he lives in an area with a historic neighborhood designation and neighbors have visited his home complaining about remodeling restrictions on their properties.
Source: Hutch News.

2021-05-08T07:37:45-05:00May 8, 2021|News|
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