What you can do for your city

6 Friday, September 6

What you can do for your city

info2024-09-06T09:35:35-05:00September 6th, 2024|

In a call-back to JFK, Neighbor Advisory Committee (NAC) member Bob Gilmore pointed out the negativity he sees in certain residents. He said all they do is complain, but never step up and do anything; that they want the city to solve all their problems. “We need to stop asking what the city can do for us,” Gilmore said, “but what we can do to help our city.” Homelessness and petty theft top the list of grievances. Gilmore suggested each neighborhood begin standing up their own neighborhood watch to report unusual activity to the police. A neighborhood watch can patrol the [...]

6 Friday, September 6

The Kansas State Fair opens Friday and will be a more digital experience this year

info2024-09-06T09:34:15-05:00September 6th, 2024|

The Kansas State Fair will open today in Hutchinson with several new high-tech features that will try to pull the down-home event into the digital age. Though the fair, which runs through Sept. 15, has had an app in the past, the newest iteration has lots of bells and whistles that will help people find exactly what they want while on the grounds, Schulz said. The app includes lots of “wayfinding” information as well as details on where to get certain foods. If, for example, fairgoers are craving funnel cakes, they just type the words “funnel cake” into the app and [...]

6 Friday, September 6

Lineman working for Wellington died after ‘contact with an energized piece of equipment’

info2024-09-06T09:32:41-05:00September 6th, 2024|

A city of Wellington employee was killed after “coming into contact with an energized piece of equipment,” according to a city news release. It happened around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday at the city’s power plant. The electric distribution “lineman was part of a crew performing maintenance on wildlife guarding equipment,” the news release says. “Fire & EMS personnel transported the lineman to the local emergency room. Two other linemen at the work site were uninjured.” City manager Jeff Porter said they are not releasing “additional information about the employee or circumstances at this time.” Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

6 Friday, September 6

Olathe advances massive development with warehouses, apartments, duplexes on 247 acres

info2024-09-06T09:31:48-05:00September 6th, 2024|

The Olathe City Council has approved tax incentives for a massive industrial and residential development off of US 169 Highway. The council recently voted 7-0 to rezone 247 acres of rural land, northeast of 167th Street and 169 Highway. The developer, Blue Springs Safety Storage South, is looking to build 13 warehouses, apartments, townhomes, duplexes and single-family homes. This week, the council voted 6-0 approving $252 million in industrial revenue bonds for the construction of the warehouses as part of a new business park, on 139 acres of the larger project, on the east side of 169 Highway between 159th and [...]

6 Friday, September 6

‘She walked where only men had’: Johnson County mourns longtime leader Annabeth Surbaugh

info2024-09-06T09:31:02-05:00September 6th, 2024|

A citizen activist, Surbaugh started pushing leaders to do something, regularly showing up to meetings of the then-rural water board. Deciding she would need to sit on the board to enact the changes she wanted to see, Surbaugh joined in 1988, becoming its first female member. It was the start of a long career of firsts. She led the merger of the rural district with the county’s much larger public water utility. She later became the first woman to serve as chair of the WaterOne board. In 1992, she won a seat on the Johnson County Commission, and years later became [...]

6 Friday, September 6

Wyandotte County approves $1 million plan to treat tuberculosis outbreak, prevent spread

info2024-09-06T09:29:45-05:00September 6th, 2024|

As diagnosed tuberculosis cases in Wyandotte County this year have eclipsed those seen across all of Kansas in 2023, local public health officials are putting forward a roughly $1 million plan to deal with the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease. Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, commissioners on Wednesday evening greenlit a months-long health department program that will use leftover federal COVID-19 pandemic relief money to stem the rising number of cases. Under the plan, public health officials plan to work with schools and employers to advise precautionary measures. Another component would involve routine, one-on-one [...]

6 Friday, September 6

‘Burden’ or ‘benefit’? KCK Mayor Garner floats selling the BPU to address cost concerns

info2024-09-06T09:28:37-05:00September 6th, 2024|

Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner is calling on city leaders to join him in taking a critical look at Wyandotte County’s publicly owned utility — suggesting the local government should consider selling its nonprofit electric and water provider. Citing concerns over the cost of utility bills, the mayor says he’s heard from some Wyandotte County residents who think owning the Board of Public Utilities is “a burden” and “should be more of a benefit” than it is. “I think it’s time that we take a hard look at that,” the mayor told The Star by phone Friday, “to see what [...]

6 Friday, September 6

Pig verdict rendered, appeal could be in the works

info2024-09-06T09:26:33-05:00September 6th, 2024|

Ginger the pig must be out of Newton within 30 days, pending an appeal. Judge Kelly Schodorf rendered the verdict after a trial of an hour and 20 minutes. “Ms. Grigoreava shall become compliant with the city code within 30 days of the order,” Schodorf said. “If the defendant remains uncompliant to the city code, the animal shall be confiscated and ownership transferred to the City of Newton.” The trial involved the city attempting to convince the court that Jessica D. Grigoreava harbored a pig. City ordinances do not allow residents to have pigs.For evidence, the city presented four body camera [...]

6 Friday, September 6

Hillsboro to take over bowling alley

info2024-09-06T09:24:17-05:00September 6th, 2024|

The Hillsboro City Council met on Tuesday, Aug. 20 where they approved an agreement for the city to take over the bowling alley. “As we have discussed since spring, Hillsboro Development Corporation wants the city to take over ownership of the bowling alley to ensure that the operations continue. In the agreement the city would receive the bowling alley, all the equipment and existing bank accounts for the sum of $1. There are no outstanding liabilities against the property or operation. The value of the accounts is likely to be more than $20,000 which will be used to support operations at [...]

6 Friday, September 6

County hears wind farm concerns

info2024-09-06T09:23:01-05:00September 6th, 2024|

The Marion County Board of Commissioners heard concerns about wind energy expansion from Goessel residents led by Brian Stucky. He explained that in October 2023, a story appeared in the Marion County Record to say that the Orsted Energy company was now looking to expand to the west part of the County, in the townships of West Branch, East Branch, Menno and Liberty. “Now we face the real possibility that 500-foot tall wind turbines will be near Goessel. There are positives and negatives. There are some who see wind turbines as a good thing, but there are some who absolutely do [...]