McAnarney agrees to Marion’s interim city administrator role

20 Tuesday, February 20

McAnarney agrees to Marion’s interim city administrator role

info2024-02-20T12:14:36-06:00February 20th, 2024|

There’s a new position ahead for Mark McAnarney, if only for a short period of time. McAnarney has reached an agreement with Marion city officials to serve as the city’s interim city administrator. The Marion County Record says McAnarney begins his work Thursday. The Record also says McAnarney will work three days a week at a full-day rate of $488 per day or a five-hour maximum of $244 per day. Employee benefits will not be included. Marion had been looking for a city manager after the resignation of Brogan Jones on Nov. 15. There is currently no word on when the city [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

New $20M Overland Park police training facility back on table

info2024-02-20T12:13:33-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Overland Park is almost ready to move ahead on a new Overland Park Police Department training facility and some other major public safety investments. In the city’s draft capital improvement plan list for 2025-28, the city has budgeted nearly $20 million for the new facility. Overland Park plans to build the new training center at police headquarters, on the W. Jack Sanders Justice Center campus located at 12400 Foster St. Source: Johnson County Post

20 Tuesday, February 20

Brown County commissioners meet with planning committee over survey results

info2024-02-20T12:10:33-06:00February 20th, 2024|

The Brown County commissioners-Richard Lehmkuhl of District 1, Lamar Shoemaker of District 2 and William Pollock of District 3-met with Brown County Planning Commission members-who included Bill Vonderschmidt-on Monday over results collected from the survey conducted by Olathe-based ETC Institute. The commissioners and Planning Commission met with ETC Director of Community Research Jason Morado via Zoom call about the 2023 Community Survey that was conducted in Brown County. Morado gave some specifics of the survey. “The survey was five pages long,” Morado said. “On average, it takes residents about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey. The survey was administered by a [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

North Newton pursuing public transportation

info2024-02-20T12:09:40-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Harvey County entities have been meeting to talk about a transportation planning grant. That’s what North Newton City Administrator Kyle Fiedler told North Newton City Council members during their regular Monday night meeting this week at City Hall. Those entities include North Newton, Newton, Harvey County, Bethel College, USD-373, NMC Health, Prairie View, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, housing authorities and several others. “The plan would help identify options for transportation in Newton and North Newton,” Fiedler said. “Options could include a fixed schedule route that a bus runs through both communities or an on-demand service, where a person requests a ride and [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Manhattan discusses housing in newest downtown plan

info2024-02-20T20:52:51-06:00February 20th, 2024|

City commissioner Karen McCulloh says downtown development plans need to focus more on creating housing. During a presentation on the city’s updated Beyond Tomorrow downtown plan at Tuesday’s commission meeting, McCulloh said there should be less emphasis on building office space and more on developing residential areas. She pointed to the higher rate of people working from home since the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for this. “It appears to me that we seriously need to put more housing in every nook and cranny down there,” McCulloh said. Senior planner Ben Chmiel, who presented the most recent version of the Downtown [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Pittsburg Ascension Via Christi transfers ownership to Mercy

info2024-02-20T10:47:19-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Mercy Joplin announced Thursday they will take over Ascension Via Christi in Pittsburg – and planning for that transition is now underway. Mercy Hospital administrators expect it will be official in about four months – and there are already some goals for the future mercy hospital in Pittsburg. They plan to expand primary care options, saying there aren’t currently enough for the market. And Mercy Hospital officials expect to offer more choices for patients in need of specialty medical care. “We want to strengthen the current specialists that they have. They’ve got really good physicians. We’re going to do that with recruitment, some outreach [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Did your teeth just rattle over that pothole? Here’s how to report it to Wichita, county

info2024-02-20T10:32:36-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Unexpectedly driving over a pothole is not a fun surprise. Not only are potholes nuisances, but in some cases they can also cause significant damage to your vehicle. According to auto club AAA, in 2021, damage caused by potholes cost more than $26 billion in the U.S. The average cost that year for pothole damage was about $600 per repair, according to the same release. While you may not be able to avoid potholes during your morning commute, there are ways to report them to ensure the city of Wichita knows where repairs are needed. Anyone can report a traffic issue, including [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

County forms new 911 advisory board

info2024-02-20T10:31:10-06:00February 20th, 2024|

A couple of years ago, according to Sedgwick County Emergency Communications Director Elora Forshee, efforts began in earnest to seek out a way to engage the community voice regarding 911 operations. In the wake of those ongoing efforts and feedback heard from a 2022 task force formed in response to the death of Wichita teenager Cedric Lofton, a community advisory board (CAB) was suggested and officially approved by the Sedgwick County Commission at its Feb. 7 meeting. Representing first responders (Wichita-Sedgwick County Emergency Communications Advisory Board) and staff (Employee Advisory Board), county 911 was getting input from two of the three [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

City of Lawrence to launch revamped SeeClickFix mobile app

info2024-02-20T10:25:52-06:00February 20th, 2024|

The City of Lawrence will soon launch a mobile app where community members can report code compliance issues, missed trash pickups and more, according to a city news release. Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 20, the app, powered by SeeClickFix Inc., will be free to download and use on smartphones. The city in June 2022 announced that it was pausing its SeeClickFix app for about nine months so the city could “revamp and improve the system to better serve our community.” Next week’s launch will mark 20 months since that announcement. Community members will be able to submit requests for city assistance in seven service categories, [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Hesston approves property sale tied to grocery store project

info2024-02-20T10:15:15-06:00February 20th, 2024|

The Hesston City Council approved selling property it owns to BHF Grocery Store, LLC, owned by Beneficient Heartland Foundation Inc. At its Feb. 12 meeting, the city council voted 5-0 to sell 0.57 acres of property located at the corner of Old Highway 81 and North Lancaster Street to the company for $50,000. “The 50,000 offer for the property is well above our investment in the property,” City Administrator Gary Emry said, adding that the city had invested $42.000 to $44,000 in the property so far. “I think it’s a good offer.” Emry described the property as serving as a domino piece in [...]