The Kansas Court of Appeals has largely sided with a district court judge’s rulings on three controversial resident-led petitions that roiled Prairie Village nearly two years ago. Like the Johnson County judge’s 2023 ruling, the three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals on March 7 found two of the three Prairie Village petitions — one dealing with limitations on rezoning and another that aimed to adopt a new city government — ineligible to go before voters. The appellate court also agreed with Judge Rhonda Mason’s decision that a third petition, which seeks to abandon the city’s current form of government, can appear on a ballot. Both the city of Prairie Village and PV United, the resident-led group behind the petitions, had appealed the district court decision, which put their fate in the hands of the state appellate court.
Source: Johnson County Post

One Kansas City Democrat has developed a plan that he believes could lower Wyandotte County homeowners’ tax bills and utility costs as division among Kansas Republicans threatens to undermine the relief lawmakers promised in 2025. It’s not the first time Sen. David Haley has proposed giving counties the authority to impose a local earnings tax of up to 1%. But it is the first time his bill calls for 100% of new collections to help offset the property tax revenue that makes up most of local governments’ budgets. Like in Kansas City, Missouri, where voters have renewed their support for a local earnings tax every few years since 1963, Haley’s bill would authorize local governments to tax both residents and people who commute to the county to work.
Source: Local Kansas City Missouri & Kansas News |

Lawrence’s Rock Chalk Park is one of three sites in the Kansas City-area that could be selected as a base camp for a 2026 World Cup team. A base camp includes medical staff, trainers, chefs, fans, the team and family, and could draw up to 15,000 people to the area. That’s according to Ruth DeWitt, a sales operations manger with eXplore Lawrence and a member of the Unified Command planning team. The Unified Command — comprised of the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, University of Kansas and eXplore Lawrence — is assessing how the Lawrence area will address hospitality, transportation, public safety, and economic impact. Kansas has approved $28 million in World Cup funding. However, what of that funding is accessible to Lawrence is currently unknown.
Source: Up To Date

The Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday evening meeting on implementing a city-wide municipal ID program to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as the homeless. If passed, IDs will be issued at the Multi-Agency Center starting sometime in April. The IDs, also called Air Capital Cards, will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment. Lacking ID prevents many homeless people from establishing residency and applying for jobs or housing. It is also harder to apply for benefits, fill prescriptions or open a bank account without any photo identification. Officials committed last May to establishing a municipal ID after Justice Together, a grassroots coalition of interfaith communities in Sedgwick County, lobbied city and county officials on homelessness policies.
Source: KLC Journal

Nitrate levels for the water district that serves the Yoder community are still too high. The Reno County Public Works Department says tests earlier this month show that Rural Water District 101’s nitrate levels remain above EPA guidelines. The EPA recommends that public water supplies have a nitrate level of 10 mg/l or less. The district’s nitrate level is 12 mg/L. High nitrate levels are especially dangerous for infants and can lead to a life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia. It decreases the infant’s oxygen-carrying blood cells’ ability to transport oxygen across the body. Studies have also shown an increased risk of colon, kidney, and stomach cancer in those who ingest higher water nitrate and eat larger quantities of meat. High nitrate levels are often seen in agricultural communities — runoff from fertilized fields, animal waste, and septic systems can lead to higher nitrate levels in groundwater. Upon request, the county is providing bottled water to all households in the water district for those with increased risk due to nitrate exposure, including infants under 6 months of age, pregnant or nursing mothers, and other at-risk customers served by Rural Water District 101. Reno County has been working on a permanent solution to the nitrate problem.
Source: KSN-TV

Months ago, Lawrence city commissioners approved an increase to the number of adults who can live in a home in most areas of town. With two weeks left before the change is set to take effect, some neighborhoods are pushing back. The city’s new land development code was created over a two-plus-year process, with a 14-member steering committee and several public meetings. Yet when commissioners approved the code in November, many community members said they felt the process had moved too quickly. The code aims, among other things, to improve affordability and availability of housing. One way the code intends to do that is by increasing the occupancy limit in some neighborhoods from three to five unrelated people who can live in a home together. Some neighborhood groups are saying the code change will have the opposite effect, and they’re asking the commission to keep the cutoff at three. Others in the community say that lower occupancy limits are rooted in classism and racism, and that they hurt people’s chances of affording housing and prospering.
Source: The Lawrence Times

As the measles virus spreads around the country, with Kansas’ first case reported in Stevens County March 13, Sedgwick County health officials are preparing for possible cases. “It’s a matter of time before it reaches Sedgwick County,” Adrienne Byrne, the county’s health department director, said in a March 12 interview. If the measles is confirmed in Sedgwick County, Byrne said the agency is planning ways to educate the public on the virus, which hasn’t been widespread in the U.S. in more than two decades. The measles is a highly contagious virus that’s spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The current U.S. outbreak has 301 confirmed cases in 15 different states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been a total of three outbreaks reported with the majority of cases being tied to known outbreaks. One child associated with the outbreak in Texas has died. “It is extremely contagious, and it’s a respiratory illness, and it can really can cause life-threatening illness to anyone who’s not protected against the virus,” Byrne said. If cases do reach Sedgwick County, this will be the first time in eight years the county has seen the measles, Byrne said. The last time the county confirmed cases was in 2017, and before that, 2014. “We’ll be sending out information through the medical society, because … the majority of physicians have not dealt with measles before,” Byrne said.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

One resident of a Yates Center nursing home did suffer smoke inhalation after Friday’s fire destroyed the facility. The remaining residents, patients, and staff were all safely evacuated following the wildfire. Fire officials say they are not 100% certain what caused the rapidly spreading prairie fire that burned down the Yates Center Health & Rehabilitation facility, in Woodson County, Kansas. According to a news release issued by Mission Health Communities, owners of Yates Center Health and Rehabilitation, they say it was a “swift and coordinated response” by everyone that saved lives Friday. Reports say the fire initially set a group of cedar trees ablaze, south of the facility, and eventually spread to the building’s roof. Dry conditions and high winds drove the fire to quick acceleration, requiring an immediate emergency response. Temporary quarters at Yates Center High School were used to house the 38 residents and patients.
Source: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

Residents needing some sidewalk repairs may be able to get some help from the city of Emporia. The city is publicizing its annual Hazardous Sidewalk Program, and City Engineer Jim Ubert says it’s a good way to get portions of sidewalks replaced. Sidewalks are considered hazardous — and thus eligible for repairs under the program — if they have portions deemed unsafe because of “broken or missing pieces, unevenness or upheaval which causes a ½-inch or more difference in height between two adjoining portions of the sidewalk.” Sidewalks are also eligible if they have “an abrupt change in elevation.” As Ubert mentioned, the program is a cost share, where residential owners pay 25 percent of the cost and commercial owners pay 50 percent of repairs. The city picks up the remaining amount in either case. Homeowners can also hire their own bonded contractors for work at set unit prices if approved. Replacing any connected sidewalks and handicapped-accessible ramps is done at no cost to the owner, and the city does not include those costs in the cost-share agreement.
Source: d2430

A bill that would limit local governments’ ability to regulate what is described as a “no-impact” home-based business failed to get out of a Senate committee Monday. The Senate Commerce Committee voted down a bill limiting city regulations on a “no-impact” home based business despite attempts to allow a little more municipal regulation. The bill had been opposed by cities across the state including Shawnee, Topeka, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Liberal and Garden City.
Source: Sunflower State Journal