Transforming Halstead: SEED and HEAL Grants Fuel Prosperity and Community Growth

4 Wednesday, October 4

Transforming Halstead: SEED and HEAL Grants Fuel Prosperity and Community Growth

info2023-10-04T07:44:07-05:00October 4th, 2023|

For this month’s Spotlighting Prosperity, we are excited to showcase the City of Halstead and the great work they have been doing to help their community prosper. In the past year, they were awarded a SEED grant, and more recently, a HEAL grant. With assistance from the SEED grant, the Kansas Learning Center for Health facilitated an amazing Outdoor Fitness Equipment project that was recently completed and the library is getting some much needed updates. Utilizing the HEAL grant, they are expanding the Daphne Mae Café in their downtown. This will allow more dining seating, event space, and provide a new [...]

4 Wednesday, October 4

Bond yields could race through 5% in next couple of weeks, market forecaster warns

info2023-10-04T13:19:51-05:00October 4th, 2023|

Wall Street forecaster Jim Bianco expects Treasury yields to go a lot higher — and possibly overshoot through five percent in the next couple of weeks. "I don't think we're near the end of this move in the bond market," the Bianco Research president told CNBC's "Fast Money" on Tuesday. If the Federal Reserve hints about ending interest rate hikes while investors still sense inflation, Bianco warns they won't buy bonds. "That's what I think has been killing the bond market," he said. "The more the Fed talks about being done, waiting [and] assessing all the rate hikes they've done — [...]

4 Wednesday, October 4

A new Johnson County program gives landlords reasons to accept housing choice vouchers

info2023-10-04T07:34:59-05:00October 4th, 2023|

Housing choice vouchers, also known as Section 8 vouchers, help people in need find affordable housing. But landlords often won't accept them, saying they don't want to fill out the paperwork or are worried that tenants will damage their units. A new program in Johnson County aims to increase the number of landlords who do take vouchers by offering incentives to do so. Landlords who take on such a tenant will gain access to a damage claim fund and receive a one-time bonus equivalent to two times a unit's rent. Source: KCUR

4 Wednesday, October 4

City of Wichita changes policies to meet housing needs

info2023-10-04T07:33:36-05:00October 4th, 2023|

On Tuesday, the Wichita City Council voted to approve the 2024 Annual Agency Plan and 2024-2028 Capital Fund Grant Five-Year Action Plan Estimate to address housing needs in the community. A topic of discussion was the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Currently, all 3,420 vouchers are being used, and over 5,000 are on the waitlist. At Tuesday's Wichita City Council meeting, the housing and community services department asked the council to approve changes to policies to meet regulations and local needs. Source: KSN-TV

4 Wednesday, October 4

Kansas collects $7M in first year of sports betting

info2023-10-04T07:32:36-05:00October 4th, 2023|

The state’s first year of sports betting brought in $7 million in state revenue from $1.85 billion in wagers. In a Sept. 28 update to committee lawmakers, Kansas Lottery finance director Matt Schwartz said revenue projections were basically on track with expectations. “Sports wagering revenues, we’re now a little more than 12 months in,” Schwartz said. “The state’s share of revenues for the first fiscal year, which was 10 months of operation, was a little more than $5.8 million.” The fiscal year ended June 30. From the September 2022 introduction of sports betting through the end of August this year, the state [...]

4 Wednesday, October 4

Schools update cybersecurity training

info2023-10-04T07:29:59-05:00October 4th, 2023|

Dennis Elledge, Director of Technology for Derby schools reported that cyberattacks are on the rise at the Sept. 25 Derby Board of Education meeting. Eldridge said major organizations like MGM Grand and Paramount Studio are falling victim. He says many breaches begin with deceptive emails that trick recipients into clicking on a link leading to a compromise .October is cybersecurity month and the technology department is providing information, training and procedural changes to increase awareness for district staff. Source: Derby Informer | News

3 Tuesday, October 3

Workers uncover Topeka’s historic streetcar rail system

info2023-10-03T10:50:45-05:00October 3rd, 2023|

A downtown Topeka street construction project has uncovered a piece of Kansas history. In September, crews working along Jackson Street came across buried railing from the Capital City's long-retired streetcar system. Schuetz Construction foreman Scott Schuetz said workers found the rails as they replaced the existing street. "There's a set of trolley tracks we were told down Jackson Street that we dug across several times connecting the services to the buildings, and then there's a set of tracks that we dug across in 10th Street as well as in Eighth Street." Katie Keckeisen is a local history librarian at the Topeka [...]

3 Tuesday, October 3

Want to open a restaurant? Haysville willing to pay $15,000 if you’ll do it there

info2023-10-03T10:48:52-05:00October 3rd, 2023|

Sometimes, when a city wants something badly enough, it has to go after it. In the case of Haysville — the city of about 11,200 just south of Wichita — residents want more restaurants, says economic development director Danielle Gabor. So the city has come up with three incentive packages that it hopes will help draw the specific kinds of restaurants the growing city most needs. Entrepreneurs who want to open one of three types of restaurants in Haysville — a sit-down coffee shop with a drive-through, a full service steakhouse, brewery or family dining restaurant, or a fast food/quick service [...]

3 Tuesday, October 3

Governor Kelly Announces $47M in Federal Funds for Two Kansas Rail Projects

info2023-10-04T13:32:35-05:00October 3rd, 2023|

Governor Laura Kelly announced two short-line railroad companies in Kansas are being awarded a combined $47 million in federal funding for rail improvement projects as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Watco, based in Pittsburg and with rail operations across the western and southeast portions of Kansas, is being granted up to $15.7 million to convert eight locomotives into fully battery-powered units. In southeast Kansas, the Neodesha Subdivision of the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL), a subsidiary of Watco, will receive up to $31.2 million for track-related improvements. Source: Governor of the State of Kansas

3 Tuesday, October 3

Governor Kelly Releases Kansas Broadband Digital Equity Plan for Public Comment

info2023-10-04T13:33:01-05:00October 3rd, 2023|

Governor Laura Kelly announced the Kansas Digital Equity (DE) Plan for high-speed internet connectivity is available for public review and comment. While the recently announced Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Five-Year Action Plan outlines the state’s plan to provide access to high-speed internet, the Digital Equity Plan focuses on specifically connecting users. The DE Plan outlines digital skills training, affordable service plans, and the availability of broadband-ready devices as top priorities. Additionally, the plan emphasizes technology’s positive effect on various areas of everyday life, such as health care, education, and civic engagement. “Digital equity empowers Kansans with the tools they [...]