The weather was perfect for tree planting Thursday morning at Soden's Grove Park. City Horticulturist Joshua Nelson, assisted by Lori Edie planted a Cottonless Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) in honor of Mayor Becky Smith as part of Arbor Day festivities. Mayor Smith proclaimed April 29th as Arbor Day in Emporia during the April 20th City Commission meeting. The Cottonless Cottonwood is a fast-growing tree that it does not produce the cotton that the eastern cottonwood does, making it a less messy variety. They can reach heights of 70-80 feet. A tree is planted each year in honor of the mayor. It is [...]

The Emporia Public Library became one of the first libraries in the state to eliminate late fines in Dec. 2019. Now, many other libraries throughout the state are following suit. Robin Newell, library director says discussions about removing library fines took place from 2016 to 2018. Those discussions started with staff considering three main issues. The first issue staff considered was how library fines were preventing access for individuals, specifically low-income individuals. “When we looked at it, fines were a barrier, people couldn’t afford the fines and then they weren’t coming back in,” Newell said. Source: Emporia Gazette

The Emporia City Commission gave the green light for the next phase of improvements at the David Traylor Zoo of Emporia, Wednesday afternoon. Zoo director Lisa Keith asked the commission to allow for a request for quotation on the expansion and renovation of the zoo education center. She expected work to begin this fall. “This would be an expansion/remodeling project that would bring the square footage from 3,600 square feet to 8,600 square feet with an additional outdoor space that would add an additional 1,500 square feet outdoors,” Keith said. The project encompasses a number of improvements including the additional of [...]

The city of Emporia expressed support for improvements to the Southwest Santa Fe Skateboard Park, as commissioners reviewed renderings of the project Wednesday afternoon. The skateboard park received an anonymous $250,000 donation last year to make improvements and updates. The donation came after Maddox Gutierrez, a local teenager, petitioned the city to make improvements to the park. The city will review renderings from American Ramp Company and pricing quotes for construction. According to its web site, American Ramp Company has been in the action sports park business for more than 20 years. Source: Emporia Gazette

Lyon County appears to be doing well financially, based on a report to the county commission Thursday. County Controller Dan Williams said sales tax collections are up 16% from the first three months of 2021. But Chair Rollie Martin admitted there are different ways of looking at that. “It might be a little bit of an inflation factor, too,” Martin said. Collections in March totaled about $267,000. That’s $40,000 more than last year. The commission also discussed changing some language in its employee policy manual about harassment complaints. “It was recommended to us by a consultant that… everybody has the opportunity [...]

Chase County’s fire chief issued an urgent plea during Monday’s meeting of the board of commissioners. Steve Fillmore told the commission that landowners needed to start calling in their controlled burns or big changes to the county burn policy would be needed. “If we keep going the way we’re going, we’re going to have to change our burn policies,” Fillmore said, his frustration apparent. “Four of the five calls we’ve been on this year could have been prevented very easily.” He said there have been several calls where those burning were not adequately prepared in the event their burns got out [...]

Visit Emporia is pleased to announce we have awarded $11,600 in tourism grants to 10 entities to assist with events/projects taking place in Emporia. The recipients are: $1,000 Awarded to Emporia Freedom Fest for 2022 Emporia Freedom Fest. $500 Awarded to Natural Resources Advisory Board for Emporia Earth Day Extravaganza. $500 Awarded to Flint Hills Beef Fest for Flint Hills Beef Fest. $1,500 Awarded to Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow for HOTT Cinco de Mayo Festival & 5K. $1,500 Awarded to No Coast Film Fest for No Coast Film Fest. $2,000 Awarded to National Teachers Hall of Fame for NTHF Induction [...]

The city of Emporia is reexamining its fireworks policy but initial discussions among the city commission Wednesday morning did not seem to indicate that changes are on the horizon. Commissioner Susan Brinkman said it was her understanding that there were few fireworks-related complaints last year in late June and early July. “I genuinely don’t see anything wrong with leaving it stand the way that it is, from the time that they’re sold,” Brinkman said. “Not having had (police chief Ed Owens) come to us with a lot of complaints and not seeing anyone here today really advocating for (changes) tells me [...]

The Lyon County Appraiser’s Office has completed the annual revaluation of all real estate property in the county. Lyon County appraiser Ryan Janzen said 2022 Change of Valuation notices began going out on Feb. 25. A study of the residential and commercial real estate market indicated an overall inflationary trend. “For 2022, residential and farmstead properties in Lyon County saw a median valuation increase of 9% compared to their 2021 valuation,” the report read. “Eighty-nine percent of residential and farmstead properties saw an increase in property valuation from 2021 to 2022. Source: Emporia Gazette

The Madison City Council faced a fuel question Friday afternoon: propane, natural gas or diesel? “I don’t think we want diesel,” Council member Earl Murphy said during a special meeting,. “It doesn’t keep in storage.” The rest of the council agreed, voting to apply for a propane generator for the city water plant and natural gas to power the city sewer plant. Source: Emporia Gazette