Edgerton City Council discussed the details of writing a city ordinance for all-terrain vehicles, golf carts, low-speed vehicles, micro-utility trucks and work-site utility vehicles. The ordinance would be voted on at a future council meeting. In September 2020, the Edgerton City Council held a work session to discuss possible regulations to allow various types of vehicles on city streets.
Source: Gardner News
Meeting Monday, the Hoisington City Council directed city staff to draft a tobacco-free ordinance to be enforced at city parks. Details of the proposed ordinance provide no exemptions and include a $50 fine with court costs. “Prior to drafting an ordinance on the issue, our staff felt it was critical to get council input on enforcement and whether there would be any exceptions,” said City Manager Jonathan Mitchell. “We will draft an ordinance for a future meeting but it will likely include all forms of tobacco as well as e-cigarettes.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in November, after holding the office since 2005. Gerlach, 66, has led Johnson County’s largest city through the Great Recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s been at the helm of Overland Park as leaders have worked to redevelop areas such as the Metcalf Avenue corridor and the downtown, attracted new luxury apartment buildings and businesses, plus added 25,000 new jobs in the past 16 years. He felt this year was the right time to retire, he told The Star. He plans to spend more time with his family and traveling, but also looks to continue volunteering and serving the community.
Source: Joco 913 News
The Merriam City Council on Monday passed an ordinance banning pedestrians from medians at the city’s nine busiest intersections, despite some concerns that the law would push out the homeless and panhandlers. City officials said the law is aimed at cutting down on car crashes and ensuring the safety of pedestrians, and is not meant to penalize panhandlers — a fear brought up by Councilwoman Whitney Yadrich and some residents. … The ordinance prohibits pedestrians from standing or sitting on medians at nine high-traffic intersections, other than to legally cross the street. Police Chief Darren McLaughlin brought the idea before the council, saying that distracted driving is a main cause of accidents at the intersections, where more than half of the city’s crashes occur each year. He worries about an increase in people stopping traffic to collect money there.
Source: Joco 913 News
Sedgwick County says it’s vaccine distribution at INTRUST Bank Arena is going well. But when an anticipated jump in distribution affects vaccine supplies, the county wants to expand to as many places as they can. On Tuesday, County Manager Tom Stolz told commissioners he had begun preliminary conversations with pharmacies in Wichita and elsewhere, about sharing it’s supply when they start receiving more. Stolz told KAKE News that he expects the supply the county receives to only go higher over the next few weeks. “Can you (pharmacies) be a site in the future where we begin to get all of this vaccine in, to help us efficiently distribute it to the community?” he said of his conversations.
Source: KAKE – News
Kansas legislators are once again considering a renewal and modification of sales tax revenue bonds that would allow for use of public funding on rural redevelopment, hospital and company headquarters projects. Sales tax revenue, or STAR, bonds, is an economic development tool allowing Kansas municipalities to issue bonds to finance major attractions that bring in tourists from out of state. The bonds are currently available in metropolitan areas to projects with an anticipated investment of $50 million and with a projected gross annual sale of at least $50 million. There is no specific threshold in rural areas, but it must be of major state or regional significance. The bonds are paid off through sales tax revenue generated by the project. The program is set to expire at the end of June.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Various agencies and businesses in southwest Kansas congregated Tuesday over Zoom to discuss emergency response matters and COVID-19. This get-together was an opportunity for each entity to discuss all pertinent issues and find ways to better collaborate moving forward. Colleen Drees, Finney County Public Health Director, said they have experienced significant declines in COVID cases in their community. Finney County has administered around 1,000 vaccine doses, plans to administer an additional 700 this week, and has an estimated 1,000 for next week. … Garden City Schools Public Information Coordinator Roy Cessna shared that their district surveyed staff members, and of the 87-percent [1,122 employees] of staff that responded to the survey, 51-percent of staff said they would take the COVID vaccine.
Source: KSN-TV
The Harvey County Commission has loosened the requirements of a local health order that limits mass gatherings in Harvey County. The health order increases the gathering limit size from 10 to 50 people. The commission, which serves as the board of health, and in consultation with Public Health Officer Dr. Doyle Detweiler, voted to revise the order at its Feb. 9 meeting. The order requires gatherings be limited to 50 individuals where 6 feet of distance cannot be maintained. It does not limit the occupancy in a facility or event if 6 feet of distance can be maintained between groups at all times.
Source: KSN-TV
The city of Pittsburg is offering an incentive to support downtown businesses this Valentines Day. Beginning Friday, the city will host, Dancing Downtown. People can shop or eat local for Valentines Day Weekend – and potentially earn a chamber gift card of $100. All they need to do is pick up a dance card and have three of the designated businesses fill it out.
Source: KSNF/KODE
The top doctor leading the Kansas response to the coronavirus pandemic said the state needs five times as many COVID-19 vaccine doses each week in order for Kansans to have a normal summer in 2021. The comment from Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, came during a Tuesday morning media briefing hosted by the University of Kansas Health System. Norman was asked: “What is the rate of ramp-up that we would have to have across Kansas in order to get back to summer fairs and fall festivals and baseball and weddings, or is that number even achievable?”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
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