Hutchinson health educator testifies on fentanyl strips

15 Wednesday, March 15

Hutchinson health educator testifies on fentanyl strips

info2023-03-15T10:00:16-05:00March 15th, 2023|

As the amount of fentanyl deaths continue to increase, Kansas lawmakers are introducing a bill that would make synthetic opioid testing strips legal. Last week, the substance misuse health educator for Reno County, Seth Dewey, gave testimony before the Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee with regards to Bill 2390. The House passed the bill a few weeks ago. Drug overdose deaths in Kansas have increased throughout the last decade, a September 2022 Kansas Department of Health and Environment report stated. ... Kansas House Bill 2390 would decriminalize testing strips for fentanyl, ketamine, flunitrazepam and gamma hydroxybutyric acid, sometimes known [...]

15 Wednesday, March 15

Colorado city looks to Kansas for first female manager

info2023-03-15T09:41:59-05:00March 15th, 2023|

The Florence City Council voted to offer a contract to hire its first female city manager in recent history. In a Special Meeting, the council voted to offer a contract to Amy Nasta. Nasta's job offer comes after the city spent more than 18 months without permanent leadership. ... Nasta currently serves as the Deputy City Administrator in Gardner, Kansas. Source: KRDO

15 Wednesday, March 15

Atlanta firefighters to hold chicken and noodles dinner

info2023-03-15T12:16:16-05:00March 15th, 2023|

The Atlanta Volunteer Fire Department and women’s auxiliary will hold its 20-something annual homemade chicken and noodle dinner with vegetables, salads and desserts March 25 at the Atlanta Community Building. The firefighters will begin serving at 5 p.m. ... This is a fundraiser to benefit the fire department, and free donations will be appreciated with the money received going to various current and future projects. Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

15 Wednesday, March 15

Goose reduction efforts working at Derby park

info2023-03-15T12:16:35-05:00March 15th, 2023|

For several years, Derby has dealt with issues of invasive geese – particularly on the east side of town, near High Park and Rock River Rapids. According to an annual report from Director of Public Works Robert Mendoza, those remediation efforts are working, as evidenced by the decreasing numbers seen in the city’s annual goose roundup efforts in 2022. While McConnell Air Force Base used to assist Derby through its water fowl harassment program, the city now partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Fish and Wildlife Service to help manage the geese at high park through the latter’s capture [...]

15 Wednesday, March 15

Reno County taking action after years of residents having high nitrate levels in water

info2023-03-15T08:51:11-05:00March 15th, 2023|

Reno County is working to find a new water source for some residents after another test showed high nitrate levels in Rural Water District 101, the district that serves the Yoder area. Water collected early last week had a nitrate level of 10.5 mg/L, which exceeds the Kansas and federal (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L for public water supply systems. The County says nitrates have increased due to people using inorganic fertilizers and because of animal manure in agricultural areas. Source: KSN-TV

15 Wednesday, March 15

These are the incentives Integra secured from Bel Aire, Sedgwick County

info2023-03-15T08:50:02-05:00March 15th, 2023|

Local governments agreed last week to support the Wichita-based Integra Technologies and its plans to build a nearly $2-billion semiconductor facility in Bel Aire by passing a series of incentives, as well as pledging support necessary for the company to go after federal funding. It marks the "beginning of a very long partnership," Integra president and CEO Brett Robinson said during a March 7 Bel Aire City Council meeting. Integra announced last month plans to build a 1 million square-foot production facility on a 100-acre site at the southeast corner of K-254 and Rock Road. The project is expected to create 2,500 jobs [...]

14 Tuesday, March 14

Cities’ Credit Ratings Are at Risk Because There Aren’t Enough Accountants

info2023-03-14T17:45:04-05:00March 14th, 2023|

Municipalities across the US are at risk of having their credit ratings downgraded or withdrawn by S&P Global Ratings because staffing shortages have delayed financial disclosure documents. S&P has placed 149 long-term, underlying and program ratings on a negative credit watch this year because the ratings company hasn’t received 2021 financial statements from the issuers. That’s the most since at least 2018, and materially higher than the prior five-year average of 95 such moves, according to S&P data. “If we don’t have the financials, then bondholders don’t have the financials,” Jaime Blansit, a rating associate at S&P, said in an interview. [...]

14 Tuesday, March 14

Fed’s Tightening Plans Collide With SVB Fallout

info2023-03-14T13:12:14-05:00March 14th, 2023|

The collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank give Federal Reserve policy makers two good reasons to hold off on raising rates when they meet next week. But the latest run of economic data can only serve to remind them why, until last week anyway, they planned to keep raising rates. Investors’ expectations for the Fed have been whipsawing this year. Early on there were hopes that cooler inflation would lead the Fed to raise its range on overnight rates by a final quarter point at its March meeting, and then go on hold. A monster January employment report and [...]

14 Tuesday, March 14

Banks got hammered by SVB’s collapse. But the Fed might still raise rates

info2023-03-14T13:11:49-05:00March 14th, 2023|

A joint guarantee by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation wasn't enough to stop the bank rout. Regional banks were hammered by the second- and third-largest bank collapses in U.S. history. ... Despite the turmoil in the banks, markets and analysts expect the Fed to go through with rate hikes. If the Fed pauses, it would "invite markets and the public to assume that the Fed's inflation fighting resolve is only in place up to the point when there is any bumpiness in financial markets or the real economy," explained Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst. Source: [...]

14 Tuesday, March 14

Kansas sales tax cut on food would cost local governments $180M. Here’s what might happen.

info2023-03-14T08:30:42-05:00March 14th, 2023|

If a Kansas Senate plan to exempt food from state and local sales taxes becomes law, local governments could be facing a collective $180 million shortfall, leaving little option but to raise property taxes if the state doesn't compensate them. Senators passed the bill last month knowing that local governments would lose what was then an unknown amount of revenue, but promised to follow up with a plan to make them whole. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, did so on Thursday, rolling out a plan that would put a one-time payment of $220 million into a fund that local governments could [...]