Kansas Court of Appeals: “When you do business with a city in Kansas, you must be cautious.”

There is a lot of history and discussion about the Cash-Basis Law and the Budget Law in this opinion. The opinion begins:
When you do business with a city in Kansas, you must be cautious. It differs from doing business with an ordinary person or company. There are many complex laws and rules that govern a city’s actions that do not apply to others. A failure to understand this complexity can lead to losing what once was thought certain. This case is an example of that peril.
Farmers Bank & Trust thought it had a loan guaranty from the City of Junction City but later found it was unenforceable. Farmers also made tort claims against the City and some of its officers but disregarded a fundamental notice provision in the law. Farmers lost when the court granted summary judgment to the City and the individual officials. Because the laws and the cases that interpret them constrain what cities may do with tax expenditures and how they can be sued for redress, we hold the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the City and the other defendants was proper. We affirm.
Read the opinion of Farmers Bank & Trust v. Homestead Community Development, et al.

2020-10-02T09:52:06-05:00October 2, 2020|News|

Rent a bicycle at parks and places across Lenexa

Lenexa’s new bike share program has arrived just in time to enjoy our parks’ stunning autumn scenery on a leisurely trail ride. The City of Lenexa has partnered with BikeWalkKC’s RideKC Bike program to offer electric-assist bikes — also known as E-bikes — and rental hubs at locations throughout the city. These hubs and bicycles were ready to use starting Oct. 1. The bikes will be available through Nov. 30 and stored indoors through the winter.
Source: Lenexa

2020-10-02T07:28:40-05:00October 2, 2020|News|

As 60% of Johnson County schools report COVID cases, guidance for returning is eased

The Johnson County health department has issued more lenient guidance on whether school districts should allow older students back into classrooms when there is high community spread of COVID-19. Unlike under the previous criteria, districts could now allow middle and high schoolers to return to in-person learning in a hybrid model — going to class part time and taking online classes for the rest of the week — as long as safety precautions are implemented. The guidance for elementary students has remained the same, as officials continue to recommend they can return to classrooms full time.
Source: Joco 913 News

2020-10-02T07:27:33-05:00October 2, 2020|News|

The historic Brookville Hotel announces closure

The Brookville Hotel, known for its family style chicken dinners, announced after generations under family ownership, it would close its doors. Owners Mark and Connie Martin announced on Facebook on Thursday that the restaurant would be closing due to COVID-19 and lack of traffic. “We hung on as long as we could , but the writing was on the wall,” the Facebook post said.
Source: KAKE – News

2020-10-02T07:26:45-05:00October 2, 2020|News|

New Derby arts facility a hub of activity

Nothing in 2020 has been “normal,” and the opening of the new Hubbard Arts Center certainly falls into that category. Originally scheduled to have a grand opening in April, those plans had to be put off and the center – an extension of the Derby Recreation Commission – didn’t officially open for programming until mid-June. Even with those delays, the market for the Hubbard Arts Center and the programs it offers has been clear from the start – with the center drawing a number of individuals from Derby and the surrounding area for its classes since its summer opening.
Source: Derby Informer | News

2020-10-02T07:14:45-05:00October 1, 2020|News|

Derby preparing for transition to city of the first class

As Derby prepares to transition to a city of the first class, staff is managing the inherent changes to operations – with that process coming before the Derby City Council at its Sept. 22 meeting. With that first class status – a mandatory transition once a city’s population reaches 25,000 – comes a number of statutes that apply to cities of that size. Those statutes though, City Attorney Jacque Butler pointed out, predate the Home Rule Amendment of the Kansas Constitution, which allows cities to exempt themselves from non-uniform statutes. Charter ordinances allow for those exemptions, but Butler pointed out Derby’s current ordinances will be invalid after the transition as they apply to second class cities.
Source: Derby Informer | News

2020-10-02T07:15:12-05:00October 1, 2020|News|

Spirit Aerosystems to close Oklahoma plant, some work will move to Wichita

Spirit Aerosystems has announced it will be closing its plant in McAlester, Oklahoma. The closing is due to the downturn in the commercial aviation market caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jetliner. The company said it now has an excess of production capacity. Spirit plans to consolidate some operations over the next few months and the work in McAlester will be moved to facilities in Wichita and Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The McAlester plant has had around 175 workers.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

2020-10-02T07:17:30-05:00October 1, 2020|News|

Emporia moves forward with expanded COVID-19 testing initiative, discusses library reopening

The City of Emporia may soon be getting increased access to close-contact COVID-19 testing. During Wednesday’s meeting of city commissioners, City Consultant Jim Witt updated the board on his efforts to increase availability, saying the initiative would be a partnership between Newman Regional Health and Lyon County Public Health. As with other necessary health resources during the pandemic, Witt said the added tests will also be funded through SPARK funds and are expected to total around $105,000. “We’re at the point where [the organizations] would like to be able to start the close contact testing by Monday …” Witt said. “There were questions from the commission that came up as to how this would affect our overall positivity rate, and I received an answer which was more or less that it should, but might not depending on who’s tested … If you’re doing just people that have been in close contact, you could see an upswing in positivity rate.”
Source: Emporia Gazette

2020-10-02T07:18:00-05:00October 1, 2020|News|
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