Shawnee County using cameras and AI to help catch criminals

Connect Shawnee County is a registry of 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 officers time. “Officers generally have to walk or drive the area to determine if there are cameras available; this system reduces that time, allowing officers to be available for other policing activities,” Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Shayna Anderson said. Citizens of Shawnee County can participate in the program by registering their cameras with the sheriff’s office. Those who register their cameras may be contacted by investigators when they need access to a camera.
Source: KSNT 27 News

info2024-10-09T09:37:22-05:00October 9, 2024|News|

NLC, Local Infrastructure Hub Help 1,000+ Cities Develop Competitive Federal Infrastructure Grant Applications

The National League of Cities (NLC) announced today that more than 1,000 cities have utilized the Local Infrastructure Hub’s free grant-writing trainings designed to help communities develop competitive grant applications for federal funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. NLC runs a program within the Local Infrastructure Hub focused on helping small and mid-sized cities, towns and villages effectively pursue federal infrastructure funding. To date, participating cities have secured more than $315 million in federal infrastructure dollars for their communities. The Local Infrastructure Hub has designed resources to help cities craft competitive applications for specific federal grant programs; resources include training sessions, individualized coaching, and peer learning sessions. Throughout seven phases that have taken place since the program launched in 2022, resources have been tailored to help cities secure funding to improve roadway safety, install electric vehicle charging stations, repair and restore bridge infrastructure, reconnect communities and neighborhoods by modifying surface transportation structures, and develop natural hazard mitigation plans.
Source: NLC

info2024-10-09T09:35:40-05:00October 9, 2024|News|

OZtoberfest returns to Wamego

The town on Saturday transformed into the land of Oz as people came from all over to partake in the OZtoberfest festivities. The city holds the annual event celebrating “The Wizard of Oz” on the first weekend of October each year. In addition to the costume contest, OZtoberfest included an outdoor market, car show and beer and wine garden along with other activities. Wamego Chamber of Commerce event and tourism coordinator Tegan Kreider said many groups came together to help the community deal with the influx of people. “There’s a lot of groups involved,” Kreider said. “The car show group, which actually is a fundraiser for the Honor Flight, and then the group with the Oz Museum, the Columbian Theater, along with our city crews that come in and shut the highway down at 4 a.m. and do our roadblocks. So, yeah, it’s definitely a group effort.”
Source: themercury.com

info2024-10-09T09:33:05-05:00October 9, 2024|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for October 8, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt2024-10-09T07:54:46-05:00October 9, 2024|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for October 7, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt2024-10-08T10:05:50-05:00October 8, 2024|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for October 4, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt2024-10-07T09:58:19-05:00October 7, 2024|News|

Ribbon-cutting held for Wichita’s new water plant

Wichita officials had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the city’s new water treatment plant. Mayor Lily Wu said the plant won’t be commissioned until next year, but it has reached functional completion. She said it will serve about 20 percent of Kansas residents with clean and safe drinking water. Public Works Director Gary Janzen gave credit to previous director Alan King for his guidance and direction in starting the project. Janzen said the next steps will be to conduct performance testing, which has already begun. He said the facility will be pumping an average of 50 million gallons per day to its customers, with a capacity to supply 120 million gallons per day. The plant will provide water for 500,000 customers in the Wichita area. The $569-million plant will open in April on a 40-acre site near Zoo Boulevard and Hoover Road. The city will be looking to hire more workers to operate the facility.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

info2024-10-07T09:56:21-05:00October 7, 2024|News|

City intents to issue new STAR Bonds for Sports of the World

The Garden City Commission approved a resolution declaring the city’s intent to issue STAR Bonds for a Phase II of the Sports of the World project at its regular meeting Tuesday. Danielle Burke, Garden City Assistant City Manager, said the resolution came about after the project developers expressed interest in expanding the STAR Bond District to include a Phase II. “The project is anticipated to include four softball fields, four baseball fields and several areas for future development needs,” she said. “The fields can be used as soccer fields or flag football fields as well.” The bonds would be given in an amount not to exceed $38.5 million and would finance a portion of the costs associated with Phase II, Burke said.
Source: Garden City Telegram

info2024-10-07T09:55:07-05:00October 7, 2024|News|

JoCo lifts cap on property tax refund pilot for low-income seniors

Older, low-income residents and disabled veterans can apply next year to have the entire amount of their county property tax bill refunded under changes approved Thursday by the Johnson County Commission. Commissioners unanimously voted to continue a pilot program for 2025 that issues relief payments toward the part of their tax bill that goes toward the county taxing district. But they removed a $200 cap that is in place for the current year. The portion of the tax bill to which this applies is for the county operations only and does not include individual levies for county parks, libraries or schools and city taxing districts.
Source: Johnson County Post

info2024-10-07T09:53:57-05:00October 7, 2024|News|

Olathe set to get $2.4M from opioid settlement — Here’s how city wants to use it

Olathe plans to use some of its opioid settlement funds to build on existing health programs and add to a growing coalition of city employees and contractors working to address substance abuse issues. That will include a brand new pilot program specifically focused on addressing barriers to substance abuse recovery for individuals and some new hires to aid in that effort. At least initially, all of these additions will be covered by settlement dollars. On Tuesday, representatives from the Olathe Fire and Police departments presented their plans for the new positions and program to the Olathe City Council.
Source: Johnson County Post

info2024-10-07T09:53:06-05:00October 7, 2024|News|