The USD 308 School Board took an important step toward creating a new strategic plan Monday.
The board approved mission and vision statements for the district and core values. Members have been working on the statements for nearly a year. The board is working to revamp the 2014-19 strategic plan.
The mission statement “Educating, empowering and preparing every student for life” was approved.
(Read more: Hutch Post)
The layoffs announced Tuesday come after the North Kansas City-based company laid off 255 workers in early September.
The health care information technology company said the job reductions comes as it looks for ways to diversify its current operations.
Cerner is the Kansas City area’s largest private employer, with about 14,000 workers across the metropolitan area.
Cerner says it remains committed to creating jobs in Kansas City and has hired several thousand workers this year.
(Read more: Junction City Post)
A Lansing road improvement project has been selected for a new Cost Share Program being offered by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The project will pay for improvements to the intersection of Kansas 7 Highway and Eisenhower Road. Lansing Public Works Director Mike Spickelmier said city officials are looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the intersection.
Spickelmier said the city of Lansing is the primary sponsor for the project. But Lansing and Leavenworth officials agreed to jointly submit the project.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Topeka’s mayor and city council voted 8-1 Tuesday evening to adopt a new city flag featuring a white five-pointed star at Topeka’s site on the state map.
Mayor Michelle De La Isla and Councilmen Brendan Jensen and Mike Padilla spoke positively of the new design, which has been a topic of discussion in the community for several months.
“I was particularly excited to see how everybody embraced this,” Jensen said.
Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz cast the dissenting vote, saying she likes the new flag but felt like it had been “rammed down my throat.”
(Read more: Local Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
The City of Garden City is pleased to announce the appointment of William “Bill” Beaty as the City’s new Fire Chief. Beaty will fill the position vacated by the retirement of Chief Allen Shelton earlier this year.“Bill’s enthusiasm for the fire service and his commitment to education and training, both for himself and those who work for him, stood out during the process,” said City Manager Matt Allen.
“Bill showed an appreciation for what has been done so far in Garden City by Fire Department leadership and staff but will undoubtedly contribute in new ways to the department and the City organization.”
(Read more: Greater Garden City » Feed)
The Wichita City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the issuance of up to $23 million in industrial revenue bonds to Spirit AeroSystems Inc.
The IRBs are being issued following the completion of construction on Spirit’s (NYSE: SPR) 150,000 square-foot Global Digital Logistics Center at the northern end of its local headquarters campus.
The facility was part of a collaboration between the company and local government.
(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)
City leaders will now also be considering an outright ban of plastic disposable bags in addition to a previously proposed disposable bag fee.
The Lawrence Sustainability Advisory Board previously recommended that the city charge a 16-cent fee for disposable plastic and paper bags, but it has since updated that recommendation to indicate it would also support a ban. The board issued a statement of support for a ban should a ban be “deemed most feasible by city staff,” according to a city staff memo provided this week to the City Commission.
Read more: LJWorld.com.
Faced for the first time with funding requests from multiple large-scale affordable housing projects, the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board recommended that the city fund senior apartments and mixed-income townhomes.
As part of its meeting Monday, AHAB voted unanimously to recommend that the city provide $350,000 of its affordable housing funding to Bethel Estates, apartments for seniors that will be temporarily affordable for 30 years. The board also voted to recommend that the city provide $125,000 to 23 Tenn Flats, a mixed-income townhome community where a portion of the homes will be permanently affordable.
Read more: LJWorld.com
Few things signal a rural community’s decline more powerfully than the closure of its hospital.
Like shuttered schools and empty Main Streets, an abandoned hospital serves as a tangible reminder of the erosive power of decades of population loss and unrelenting economic trends.
“Our rural communities are challenged and, because of that, our small hospitals are challenged as well,” said Tom Bell, the head of the Kansas Hospital Association. “It’s sort of a chicken-and-egg thing.”
In just the last 15 years, 160 of the nation’s rural hospitals have closed, including six in Kansas.
(Read more: KCUR)
The town of Kensington held its 100th Veterans Day celebration Saturday.
Over the last 100 years, the town has only canceled twice. Once during World War II and once because of a blizzard.
Kensington holds a Veterans Day parade, a dance at the American Legion, and invites a guest speaker. This year, it’s a bagpiper who played on the beaches of Normandy during the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
(Read more: KWCH News)
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