Council members agree to ‘start small’ during debate over city-run recycling

24 Wednesday, January 24

Council members agree to ‘start small’ during debate over city-run recycling

info2024-01-24T11:00:44-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Heeding the warning of “start small,” Iola Council members agreed to a phased approach to recycling Monday evening. Members discussed the potential of establishing a city-run recycling utility, agreeing it would be best to start small and gradually expand the initiative. The ultimate vision includes weekly residential curb-side pick-up of recycling materials and would require a three-person crew for pick-up; two-person crew for sorting and baling. A monthly fee of $15 would be necessary to pay for the additional service. A substantial portion of the proposed initial costs would be dedicated to the construction of a building modeled after Nemaha County’s recycling [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Fast food hamburgers are helping Kansas ranchers save dwindling native grasslands

info2024-01-24T10:58:46-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Kelly Anthony, a cattle rancher in southwest Kansas, drives through his pasture, blaring a siren he uses to get the attention of the herd. As he flicks it on and off, the cattle surround the truck. Cattle ranching has been Anthony's way of life for 25 years. Cattle ranches fuel the beef industry and the western Kansas economy. People like him also own much of the remaining native grasslands that once covered 71 million acres of the southern High Plains. Now, 80% of those native grasslands in Kansas are lost, and cattle ranchers like Anthony could be the key to saving [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Liberal repeals ordinance on color of buildings after pink building controversy

info2024-01-24T10:52:48-06:00January 24th, 2024|

On Tuesday, the Liberal City Commission repealed the ordinance requiring color changes in the Kansas Avenue Overlay District to get approval from the zoning and planning commission. The vote to repeal the ordinance passed 5-0. "[If] someone wanted to do something as minor as paint, paint the building, right? They could add a month to their project, just waiting for the proper approval. And that's the kind of thing we've been trying to get to get away from," said Liberal Vice Mayor Jeff Parsons during the City of Liberal Commission Meeting on Tuesday. The repeal comes after a local business, Chikas Fresas, was forced [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Counties where children have the best opportunity for economic mobility in Kansas

info2024-01-24T10:51:03-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Americans have long understood that their birthplace can significantly affect their futures, and academics have increasingly been able to connect tangible early life factors like where they live and the friendships they've cultivated with potential future income. Among the most recent studies shedding light on what's known as economic mobility—a person's ability to move themselves and their families up the socioeconomic ladder over their lifetime—are a series of papers authored by Harvard University researchers leveraging vast troves of social networking data. As part of a national analysis, Wealth Enhancement Group used data from Harvard University's Social Capital Atlas project to identify where in [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

‘Chicken on the lam’: Junction City cops nab rogue chicken after weeks-long pursuit

info2024-01-24T10:44:53-06:00January 24th, 2024|

The Junction City Police Department (JCPD) says a feathered fugitive has been taken into custody on Thursday. On Jan. 18, the JCPD took to social media to share with the public that the local “chicken on the lam” was successfully captured by an animal control officer. This chicken was on the loose for weeks in the Junction City area, with numerous locals and organizations reporting sightings on social media in late December, 2023 into January, 2024. “We’re thrilled to report that she’s now pecking around happily in a loving home outside the city limits, where she can cluck to her heart’s content,” JCPD [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Overland Park lands College Baseball Hall of Fame. And Patrick Mahomes helped.

info2024-01-24T10:43:22-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Prairiefire in southern Overland Park will be the new home of the first-ever permanent College Baseball Hall of Fame. State and local leaders, as well as representatives from the College Baseball Foundation which oversees the Hall of Fame, announced the decision on Tuesday at an event at the Museum at Prairiefire on 135th Street. The new Hall of Fame is expected to open late next year in a space in the museum previously set aside for traveling exhibits. Warren Wilkinson, president and CEO of Visit OP, the city’s tourism bureau, called it a “historic milestone” for the city. “Prairiefire was built for this [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Celebrating four decades of fire service

info2024-01-24T10:38:56-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Longtime Osawatomie Fire Chief Brian Love has had a passion for fighting fire ever since he was 12 years old and going on fire runs with his dad, Bob, in Hiattville, Kan. Bob was a volunteer firefighter and farmer in the rural community southwest of Fort Scott, and Brian has childhood memories of the fire phone ringing in the house when there was a fire. “It would sound one solid ring until someone answered,” Brian said. “When we picked it up, we would just listen to get the details of the fire. It was like a party line.” After high school, [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Westwood wants judge to rule in legal back and forth over controversial project

info2024-01-24T10:36:32-06:00January 24th, 2024|

The city of Westwood has filed a lawsuit seeking a judge’s ruling on whether a state law applies to the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park to make way for a much-discussed new office and park development on Rainbow Boulevard. The city last week filed the lawsuit in Johnson County District Court seeking a declaratory judgment on three items — including whether the law, K.S.A 12-1301, applies to the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park at the corner of 50th Street and Rainbow. That statute specifically deals with the sale of public park land, and a group of Westwood residents has argued the city [...]

24 Wednesday, January 24

Municipal Bond Trends for January 23, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-01-24T10:17:08-06:00January 24th, 2024|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. 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.

24 Wednesday, January 24

Topeka and police chief seek suit dismissal

info2024-01-24T11:18:49-06:00January 24th, 2024|

Topeka’s city government and Police Chief Bryan Wheeles filed a motion for summary judgment Friday seeking the dismissal without trial of a gender discrimination suit filed last January by three female Topeka police administrators. The motion includes explanations of Wheeles’ reasoning behind key decisions in which he chose to promote men instead of the women who filed the suit, Major Jana Harden and Capts. Colleen Stuart and Jennifer Cross. In each case, the document says, Wheeles picked the best person for the job. “The Plaintiffs have been promoted by males and over males for the entirety of their careers,” the motion said. “COT (the [...]