Pilot night-court program in Lawrence Municipal Court discontinued after 6 months of low turnout

9 Saturday, March 9

Pilot night-court program in Lawrence Municipal Court discontinued after 6 months of low turnout

info2024-03-09T07:43:04-06:00March 9th, 2024|

After about six months, a pilot night-court program in the Lawrence Municipal Court is being discontinued after failing to draw enough participants outside of the court’s regular hours. City Manager Craig Owens announced the move during the Lawrence City Commission meeting earlier this week. Since last summer, the court has remained open on the third Wednesday of each month for an additional hour and a half for a night court session, which was intended to reduce the number of instances in which defendants failed to appear for a scheduled court date. Source: LJWorld

8 Friday, March 8

UG hires CFO with 30 years of local experience

info2024-03-08T13:22:29-06:00March 8th, 2024|

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, hired Shelley Kneuvean as CFO, effective later in March. As CFO, Kneuvean will work with UG staff, county administration, the mayor’s office and the UG Board of Commissioners to give financial direction and plan for the future. She brings more than 30 years of experience to the UG, both in leadership and financial and operational management Source: Kansas City Business Journal

8 Friday, March 8

Overland Park unlikely to crack down further on short-term rentals

info2024-03-08T13:21:53-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Overland Park is unlikely to make any further changes to city codes for short-term rentals like Airbnbs and VRBOs at this time. Leslie Karr, the city’s planning manager, told the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee on Wednesday that the current situation with short-term rentals in the city is “manageable.” With that in mind, city staff is recommending Overland Park maintain the status quo for now but plan to continue monitoring the situation around short-term rentals for the foreseeable future. Source: Prairie Village Post

8 Friday, March 8

Hiawatha citizens speak out against road diet at Informational Meeting

info2024-03-08T12:10:34-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Hiawatha citizens spoke out against the Kansas Department of Transportation’s road diet at the Informational Meeting about the First Corridor on Monday evening. The Informational Meeting, which was hosted by the City of Hiawatha and held at the Fisher Center, was presented mostly by Public Works Director Brad Scott and BG Consultants representative Jason Hoskinson. KDOT Area Engineer Michael Hagemann and KDOT District Engineer Leeroy Koehn were also present during the meeting. Mayor Becky Shamburg was also present. The main topic regarded the flashing yellow and red traffic signals at the First Corridor, located at the intersection between First Street and [...]

8 Friday, March 8

Western Johnson County braces for ‘intense development.’ Can the rural roads take it?

info2024-03-08T12:08:08-06:00March 8th, 2024|

With multi-billion-dollar industrial development cropping up and standing to transform Johnson County’s more rural, western end, a big question still hangs in the air: How will people get there? County and city officials are preparing for the expansive redevelopment of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in De Soto, kicked off by construction of the $4 billion Panasonic battery plant that’s expected to open in 2025. They say it will require major infrastructure work to reconfigure disconnected and nearby roads, some of which are still gravel, as well as in surrounding communities most likely to feel the development boom. “There will [...]

8 Friday, March 8

Hilgers to be interim city manager, but won’t be a candidate for the job

info2024-03-08T12:07:10-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Deputy Manhattan City Manager Jason Hilgers will assume the role of interim city manager next month, upon the retirement of long-time City Manager Ron Fehr. City commissioners approved a contract agreement at Tuesday’s legislative meeting that will pay Hilgers his base salary plus 13%, while he maintains his current position and the interim role, which will begin on April 19 until a successor is selected. “Once the interim role is complete, I’ll return back to my role as deputy city manager,” Hilgers said following Tuesday’s meeting. Hilgers, who has worked with the City of Manhattan for 24 years says he has no [...]

8 Friday, March 8

Douglass’ first brewery “leaps” into town

info2024-03-08T12:01:57-06:00March 8th, 2024|

After the Beer Freedom movement of 2022, where residents voted to overrule the 30% food rule for establishments that sold alcoholic beverages, there seems to be a plethora of new breweries and distilleries popping up in the county. We’ve seen two distilleries in El Dorado alone and there are two upcoming breweries in Augusta. Today we are going to talk about the newest member of craft beer establishments in Butler County located in Douglass, Green Frog Brewery & Tasting Room. The husband-wife duo and Owners of the new microbrewery, Shelby and Shawna Green have been in the Douglass community for a [...]

8 Friday, March 8

Powell says the Fed is ‘not far’ from the point of cutting interest rates

info2024-03-08T11:59:50-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress," in Dirksen Building on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday indicated that interest rate cuts may not be too far off if inflation signals cooperate. In remarks to the Senate Banking Committee, the central bank leader didn't provide a precise timetable of when he sees easing happening, but noted that the day could be coming soon. "We're waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably at 2%. When we [...]

8 Friday, March 8

City discusses industrial revenue bonds as support for low-income housing

info2024-03-08T11:58:08-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Manhattan City Commissioners provided feedback Tuesday to city staff on potentially using industrial revenue bonds (IRB’s) to fund future rental housing development projects. City staff are refining a draft policy that would give the city some clarity on certain projects targeting specific projects and areas of town for infill and rural housing incentive districts. Commissioners discussed possible criteria for the housing, including location, type and number of units. Commissioner John Matta says location is key. Commissioner Karen McCulloh says understanding limitations on number of units needs to be prioritized. Commissioner Peter Oppelt says construction time is another important criteria to consider. Mayor Wynn [...]

8 Friday, March 8

Goessel City Council bids farewell to long-time city clerk

info2024-03-08T11:56:38-06:00March 8th, 2024|

Goessel City Council met on Feb. 26 and recognized long-time city clerk Jennifer Bliss for her 10 years of service to Goessel. In addition to city clerk duties, she has also been the court clerk for those 10 years. She has resigned from her Goessel position and accepted the city clerk position for the city of McPherson. Mayor Evan Esau presented a plaque to Bliss in honor of her years of service to Goessel. In a statement from Esau, he expressed his appreciation for her work: “Working alongside Jennifer has been a pleasure since I started on council, and especially since [...]