Chanute, Evergy to build solar plant

19 Wednesday, April 19

Chanute, Evergy to build solar plant

info2023-04-19T10:19:36-05:00April 19th, 2023|

Chanute is adding a 6-megawatt solar plant to its energy portfolio. Chanute City Commissioners agreed at their April 10 meeting to proceed with the plan. Evergy energy company will build and operate the solar farm on 47 acres of land, the Chanute Tribune reported. The city will purchase the electricity from the solar farm at a fixed rate, and has an option to buy the facility after six years. Commissioners noted, however, Chanute likely will not be in a position to buy the solar farm then, the Tribune reported, because of anticipated water treatment and sewer projects. Source: The Iola Register

19 Wednesday, April 19

Mulvane to add use of county alert system

info2023-04-19T10:18:35-05:00April 19th, 2023|

The Mulvane City Council recently approved the use of a new mass notification platform through Sedgwick County that will now be available to all residents, as of the council’s April 3 meeting. In August 2022, the county alerted the city of Mulvane to its system – available to all cities in the county at no cost, with residents able to opt-in. The system is primarily email based, but also offers the ability to send text messages for urgent matters. Source: Derby Informer | Area

19 Wednesday, April 19

Derby discusses expansion of golf cart usage

info2023-04-19T12:36:03-05:00April 19th, 2023|

After updates made in 2021, Derby is once again looking at expanding golf cart usage in city limits. Following its addition to the priority list, an update to the municipal ordinance regarding golf cart usage was brought before the Derby City Council at its April 11 meeting for a first reading. The proposal would change the ordinance from allowing golf carts on public streets in The Oaks residential neighborhood to allowing golf carts on all city streets – with certain restrictions. Source: Derby Informer | News

19 Wednesday, April 19

Emporia commission to discuss homelessness taskforce findings this week

info2023-04-19T12:29:47-05:00April 19th, 2023|

The Emporia City Commission will receive its first report on the homelessness taskforce, created to find workable solutions for the community last year. The taskforce is expected to recommend that a camping ordinance be maintained in the City of Emporia through July 8, in order to give the group more time to study the ordinance and formulate longterm solutions and recommendations for the city. The homelessness taskforce was established in Dec. 2022 following the city’s approval of an “unlawful camping” ordinance on Nov. 17, 2022. Source: Emporia Gazette

19 Wednesday, April 19

Wichita City Council approves multi-million dollar pickleball complex

info2023-04-19T10:14:57-05:00April 19th, 2023|

Drive around some Wichita parks on a day like Tuesday and you'll find people enjoying the nice weather by playing pickleball. It's a sport people like Patti Mackey love. “It all started, my husband was at the downtown Senior Center and he called me and he said, 'Patti, there are some older people on this court with a little yellow ball and I just keep hearing, ping, ping, ping.'" Mackey is a volunteer ambassador for USA pickleball and was in the crowd Tuesday as the Wichita City Council voted 7-0 to put an additional $3.15 million towards its proposed pickleball complex [...]

19 Wednesday, April 19

Wichita approves $300,000 for improvements to city’s dog parks

info2023-04-19T10:13:32-05:00April 19th, 2023|

The City of Wichita has approved spending $300,000 to make improvements to the city's dog parks this year. The City Council unanimously approved the measure during its regular meeting Tuesday. A total of $600,000 is set aside in the city’s Capital Improvement Program for the project. Half the money is available this year and the other in 2024. “Not only do people love pets, but really want the best for their pet, and if we want to keep Wichita a vibrant city, we have to respond to the wishes of the public,” Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said. Whipple said the push [...]

19 Wednesday, April 19

A lack of affordable housing in Kansas prevents Section 8 tenants from using rent subsidies

info2023-04-19T10:12:05-05:00April 19th, 2023|

Kamber Corpening felt relief when she first landed a Section 8 voucher in 2020, a promise that she qualified for substantial rent subsidies from federal taxpayers. Then came the hard part — finding a landlord willing to deal with the accompanying red tape and to open units to lower-income tenants. She tried almost 100 places over the course of a year and found few that took Section 8 vouchers. In the meantime, she crashed at shelters, in the homes of friends and with family. Source: KCUR News

19 Wednesday, April 19

Pratt voters to decide on USD 382 school bond issue

info2023-04-19T10:10:32-05:00April 19th, 2023|

Advance mail voting begins in Pratt for the school district's special election. Election Day is May 9. Residents are deciding whether to support a $16.6 million bond. The money would renovate the ACE building or the old high school into a fourth and fifth-grade center. It would also add four new classrooms to the elementary school, which could double as a storm shelter. "We're going to have our PreK there, and we can expand our PreK to all day three-year-olds, which is also part of that answering the challenge for child care and helping people get their kids to preschool so [...]

19 Wednesday, April 19

Take a closer look at northeast JoCo’s newest playground

info2023-04-19T10:07:27-05:00April 19th, 2023|

The long-awaited playground at R Park in Roeland Park is finally open, completing the final phase of a three-part plan to revitalize the park on Juniper Drive. Improvement efforts for the park on the site of a former elementary school began in 2015. Weather-related delays this past winter set the playground’s completion date back earlier this year. Now that the playground is open — and the days are sunnier and warmer — children and their caretakers are flooding R Park to play and enjoy the new amenity. Source: Prairie Village Post

19 Wednesday, April 19

Rural childcare shortage

info2023-04-19T10:03:46-05:00April 19th, 2023|

Kansas is now facing a need for more childcare options for working parents. The problem is significant in our rural areas of Kansas. The COVID-19 pandemic further exasperated the shortage; many in Kansas now refer to this as a childcare crisis. According to Child Care Aware of Kansas, Kansas meets 49 percent of the needed childcare slots. Since 2020 Kansas has lost 344 childcare providers. Currently, Kansas needs 85,000 childcare slots to meet the current demand. Our local area faces similar childcare challenges as the rest of the state. The Meadowlark Extension District, which encompasses Jackson, Jefferson, and Nemaha counties, needs [...]