Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn is passing the torch after 27 years in office

15 Friday, December 15

Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn is passing the torch after 27 years in office

info2023-12-15T12:17:12-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Leawood, Kansas, will swear in a new mayor next month for the first time in 27 years. Mayor Peggy Dunn announced in June that she wouldn't run again. Dunn first entered public office in 1993 as a city councilmember, and after two terms in that role, she was elected mayor in 1997. Among her most significant contributions to the city were establishing major commercial shopping areas, like Park Place and Town Center, which allowed the city to keep property taxes down. "I kept running because I enjoyed it so much, and the city was in a time of historic growth," Dunn told KCUR's Up [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Kansas Amelia Earhart Museum contender for top new museum in the United States

info2023-12-15T12:15:05-06:00December 15th, 2023|

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum is in the final stretch of online voting as one of 16 new museums across the United States nominated for the “Best New Museum” by USA Today's Reader’s Choice Travel Awards for 2024. “With thousands of Amelia Earhart fans and admirers casting their vote for us — every day — until Christmas Day — we think the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum can soar to the top spot,” said Mindi Love Pendergraft, the museum’s executive director. Celebrating Earhart’s aviation legacy in aviator’s Atchison, Kansas, hometown, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum is the only museum in the Midwest among [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Amid enrollment declines and aging buildings, Wichita district could shutter some schools

info2023-12-15T12:12:32-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Consultants hired by the Wichita school board say the district has too many small elementary schools and can’t afford to maintain them all. The consulting firm is developing a proposal that could recommend closing some school buildings. It plans to present options to the Wichita board before the end of this school year. David Sturtz, a partner with Ohio-based Cooperative Strategies, said nearly half of Wichita’s 54 elementary schools have fewer than 350 students, which is inefficient and costly to maintain. Twelve elementaries have fewer than 300 students. “Having a few schools that are that low (enrollment), you can supplement (budgets),” [...]

15 Friday, December 15

City shuts off water at some Towne West Square businesses for non-payment

info2023-12-15T11:58:22-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Some stores in Towne West Square are without water after the City of Wichita disconnected service for not making payments on their bill, a city official said. “Two businesses at Towne West Mall had water turned off yesterday and one business was shut off today,” city communications manager Tyler Schiffelbein said. “The property manager for these businesses has not been making payments.” No other businesses will be impacted or have their service interrupted until the city makes contact with the property manager. “The Water Utility is reaching out to the property manager regarding significant lapsed payments for water service at the [...]

15 Friday, December 15

JoCo Notes: Johnson County merges 988 and 911 call centers

info2023-12-15T11:55:54-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Call takers at Johnson County’s Mental Health Center and Emergency Services have merged into one centralized location. On Tuesday morning, county officials celebrated the merger with a ribbon cutting and hosted an open house at the County Communications Center, 11880 S. Sunset Dr., in Olathe. This means Johnson County callers dialing 911 for emergency help or he 988 for a mental health crisis will be directed to the same dispatch center. County officials say the merger will make way for infrastructure and technology improvements for 988, and allow 911 dispatchers and mental health professionals to work more closely together on calls [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Funding gap for water sector remains despite federal assistance, Fitch says

info2023-12-15T11:54:27-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Despite the significant infusion of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Fitch Ratings said it estimates a funding gap in excess of $85 billion over the next five years for water and sewer utilities that will need to be covered by paygo or additional debt. According to Fitch, federal funding under ARPA and the BIL is supportive of water utility credit quality as it helps maintain and improve existing infrastructure, thereby moderating increases in Fitch’s life cycle ratio, a measure of the age of capital assets. Federal grants under these laws also offset some [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Board approves land transfers with two neighboring districts

info2023-12-15T11:45:39-06:00December 15th, 2023|

After months of public discussion, speculation and closed-door conversations among the Prairie Hills USD No. 113 Board of Education (BOE) members and their attorneys, land transfer agreements have been made with two of the three neighboring school districts. After 55 minutes of executive session during their regular board meeting on Monday, Dec. 11, the Prairie Hills USD No. 113 board of education members — Leslie Scoby, Kathy Lippert, Phillip Buessing, Jim Scoby, Doug Renyer, Stan Keim and Kent Saylor — unanimously approved Memorandum of Settlement Agreements (MOSA) for land transfers with Vermillion USD No. 380 and Jackson Heights USD No. 335. [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Atchison Public Schools preparing anew for future vision.

info2023-12-15T11:43:03-06:00December 15th, 2023|

The USD 409 Phoenix mascot from this point on has a new look to call its own. Board members unanimously approved the re-branding of the image as part of the business at their meeting Monday. The action came after District Activities Director Tyler Lueckenhoff delivered some clarification. The proposed Phoenix image designed by Christa Reiger, of Storyweaver Studio, was introduced at the previous meeting as mainly composed in a scheme of four primary colors: red, gold, white, and black. Lueckenhoff said the Mascot colors remain the same as throughout school history red and gold. The white and black colors are utilized [...]

15 Friday, December 15

Joe Waters, longtime county leader, to retire next week

info2023-12-15T11:40:52-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Joe Waters, long-time Johnson County administrator, will retire next Friday after decades of service to the community. He is currently the assistant county manager, serving in that position for the past 10 years. “It has been my honor and privilege to spend most of my career in this outstanding organization that epitomizes excellence in public service and commitment to community,” Waters said in an emailed statement. His final day on the job is Dec. 22. Waters, an architect, started his career in consulting and facilities management. A University of Kansas grad, he would go on to work as an architect and assistant [...]

15 Friday, December 15

New Beloit City Manager Announced

info2023-12-15T11:38:39-06:00December 15th, 2023|

Mayor Tom Naasz and the Beloit City Council report that Halley Roberson is their approved candidate to be Beloit’s next City Manager. At its regular meeting on December 6, the City Council unanimously voted to move forward with finalizing Roberson’s employment agreement. “Ms. Roberson will arrive in Beloit with a proven municipal track record in overseeing construction of vital infrastructure projects,” said Mayor Naasz. “Her leadership skills and public service align seamlessly with our community goals. Our city is poised for sustainable growth under her guidance. ”Roberson’s diverse experience spans more than 20 years in local, state, and federal government management [...]