Continued concerns over methane flaring at the Johnson County Landfill prompted the Shawnee Planning Commission this week to take the rare step of issuing a revised special use permit with a shorter timeframe than such permits normally get.
Source: Johnson County Post
One of Johnson County’s wealthiest cities has tapped a longtime development executive to oversee its strategic planning efforts. Leawood appointed Julie Hurley as its next planning director. She will begin her new role on Dec. 2. Hurley has spent the past decade working for Leavenworth, where she most recently was the director of planning and community development. She comes to the new role with more than 20 years of experience in municipal government, including time spent as a city planner in Shawnee, Overland Park and Olathe.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
New roads in De Soto could drive future development at Astra Enterprise Park, where Panasonic is building a $4 billion battery plant. For about 80 years, thousands of acres of undeveloped land in northwest Johnson County have been cut off from the surrounding region. Johnson County now is partnering with De Soto, Edgerton, Olathe, Gardner, Douglas County and the Kansas Department of Transportation on a $250,000 study to evaluate ways to reconnect the business park with surrounding roadways.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
Firefighters brought the grass fire in northeast Wichita under control around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Sedgwick County crews remained on the scene throughout the night and into Friday morning, putting out hot spots. At last check, around 300 acres burned. However, crews expect to get a better look at the damage on Friday morning. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. KSN has learned the fire is not close to containment, and crews will be out in the area for several hours. There is no immediate danger to people at the moment, but people are leaving the area on their own.
Source: KSN-TV
New roundabouts are coming to Topeka and Shawnee County in the years to come as local officials look to increase safety for drivers and pedestrians. Working for you, 27 News reached out to the Shawnee County government and City of Topeka to learn more about local roundabouts and where people might expect to see new ones appear. Two are currently in the works, with another two possible roundabouts still in the planning stages. Shawnee County spokeswoman Amanda Monhollon, responding to a 27 News information request, said two roundabouts are under construction at two different places in the county. The completion of these projects will bring the total number of roundabouts up to 17.
Source: KSNT 27 News
The Topeka City Council Policy & Finance Committee says the parking reserve fund could be depleted by 2027 unless changes are made. The City of Topeka is spending $22.2 million over the next three-and-a-half years to improve eight parking garages. The funding was approved in fall of 2022. Included in the renovations are updated security cameras, pigeon-proof netting, waterproofing, façade facelifts and structural improvements. In the most recent Policy & Finance meeting on Oct. 22, the city heard there is an estimated loss of $415,965 for 2024 and a budgeted loss of $454,775 in 2025. The city is now considering subsidizing parking from other revenue sources because the current forecast would see the parking reserve fund depleted by 2027.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Shawnee County employs around 30 high-end AI ‘force-multiplier’ cameras capable of tracking suspects, should you worry about being surveilled? Connect Shawnee County is a registry of around 30 high-end AI cameras, 321 registered cameras and 855 integrated cameras that police and deputies use to canvass areas. The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office said the registry lets officers quickly find cameras in an area, saving them time when working cases. According to the Connect Shawnee County website, CORE Elite AI, the brain inside the cameras, can set alert profiles using a list of parameters law enforcement sets. 27 News asked the sheriff’s office what parameters are used to set the alert profiles. Christian said the cameras are only used to track suspects under certain contexts. She said a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime in a vehicle can be tracked while the vehicle is in motion and in range of a camera. The AI search feature is not employed for general suspect searches or searches through facial recognition.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Contract crews are gathering near the site of a significant water main break that has drained Olpe’s water supply. Olpe City Clerk Joyce Wilson tells KVOE News the failure site was discovered around 8:30 am Friday, better than 12 hours after water issues were first reported to city officials by 6 pm Thursday. The break site is on an 8-inch line near Road 130, or about two miles south and a mile east of the Olpe pump station, which is just south of the old Fanestil Meats plant on Kansas Highway 99 south of Emporia. Crews and city staff worked through the night and past sunrise to find the leak — a process made more difficult by night and up to 0.50 inches of rainfall from thunderstorms. Wilson says it could be early Friday afternoon before the break is fixed and the water tower can start filling. However, both Wilson and Mayor Keith Pimple expect a boil water alert — advisory or order — is coming once the tower is full. Wilson expects it will be at least Monday morning before Olpe can send test samples to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for review, meaning it will likely be Tuesday at the earliest before affected residents don’t have to boil their water.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Wichita water customers should brace for higher-than-expected rate hikes over the next decade as the cost of operating a new water treatment plant outpaces the city’s budget. City projections show water and sewer bills increasing by more than 70% over the next 10 years to pay for the new plant and other major infrastructure projects. Low-use residential customers who pay $60 to $70 a month this year would pay $103 to $126 a month by 2034, according to an Eagle analysis of city estimates presented to the City Council during a work session on Tuesday. And those projections could be on the low end of what to expect. The new plant — Wichita Water Works — is scheduled to open April 1, six months late, at a cost of $573 million, $20 million over the city’s 2019 budget. The city will continue operating the Main Water Treatment Plant until at least 2026.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Lawrence voters will soon decide whether to approve a sales tax increase that would add 1 cent per $20 spent in order to fund affordable housing and homelessness services. It’s the second of two questions on Lawrence voters’ ballots in the Tuesday, Nov. 5 general election.
Source: The Lawrence Times
200 W Douglas Ave, Suite 110
Wichita, KS 67202
(316) 264-3400
info@ransonfinancial.com
Registered municipal advisor with the MSRB and SEC
© 2026 Ranson Financial Group LLC. All rights reserved.
