Housing in Salina is a difficult thing to find. Although there's a unique option in downtown, it's just about as scarce. More than 50 lofts can be found above the various businesses and restaurants along Santa Fe Avenue and surrounding streets, and the owner of more than half of those said every unit he has is currently filled. Brian Richardson got involved in renovating upstairs units along Santa Fe 15 years ago. ... He said it started with some of the old Brown Mackie College buildings that were downtown, which sat vacant for nearly 10 years by the time he began [...]

A predicted crisis in Kansas schools' ability to staff classrooms with teachers may not be quite at emergency levels. But high levels of burnout and stress are leading to a dwindling pool of candidates to fill positions that do open up, and researchers worry the effects of continued attacks on the profession could snowball into few people becoming teachers in the first place. A Kansas Department of Education Teacher Vacancy and Supply Committee report from the spring showed that across the state, there were a little under 1,400 teacher vacancies in March 2022. A few months after the report, state education [...]

A new ceiling tile installed in Wellington City Hall could reduce the cost of cooling. The tile, called passive thermal energy storage ceiling tile, is best described as a sponge, said Barry Dicker, president of Decent Energy Inc. and project leader. The ceiling tile absorbs heat. Then, after temperatures drop, the tiles release the stored heat. The new tile was placed above the existing tile and under the fiberglass insulation already in City Hall. Source: Wichita Eagle

After working to bring other projects, including the "Mural at the Mill" at the HD Flour Mill, the Salina Kanvas Project wants to continue to bring works of art to downtown Salina, with the Boom! Street Art and Mural Festival coming to the city in October. The festival is bringing artists to Salina beginning Oct. 6 to paint murals on five walls in downtown Salina to celebrate and enhance the visual landscape of the city. Eric Montoy, one of the co-founders of the Kanvas Project, said the idea behind both the project and the festival is to bring people from all [...]

A typical Reno County home listed for $125,000 in July, down 5.7% from the previous month's $132,500, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. The median list home price in July was down about 10.7% from July 2021. Reno County's median home was 1,666 square feet for a listed price of $81 per square foot. Source: Hutch News