All officers within the Emporia Police Department will soon be trained in the use of Narcan, Captain Ray Mattas announced Thursday. Narcan is used to help neutralize the effects of narcotics during a drug overdose and can be vital is saving someone’s life when they are in this medical emergency. According to a written release, the Emporia Police Department responded to nine known drug overdose calls from illicit drugs between Feb. 1, 2021 — Feb. 1, 2022. Two of the overdose calls were from fentanyl, four from LSD, two from methamphetamine, two from heroine and one overdose from prescription narcotics. Source: [...]

The Chase County Commission committed $125,000 for the Cottonwood Falls dam repair project Monday morning, after a discussion with Bruce Boettcher of BG Consultants and Pat Larkin, representing the city of Cottonwood Falls. The dam has been a cause of concern since 2013 when deterioration became visible on the outside walls. It has been monitored over the past nine years. The dam, which was originally constructed of wood in the 1860s, and later replaced with limestone and concrete in 1906. Source: Emporia Gazette

A handful of Chase County communities were recently featured in a travel blog that seeks out the “hidden gems” of Kansas. John Wise posts videos of his explorations of Kansas ghost towns under “Travel with a Wiseguy” on YouTube. He told the Leader-News this week that he travels often through his job as a track and field coach at Wichita State University. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports in 2020, he was left feeling pretty antsy. “We travel all the time, so it was kind of a strange deal,” he said, adding that his traveling started that summer. “I didn’t [...]

The Lyon County Emergency Communications Center will become the first 911 center in the state to utilize a text message-based instruction and quality assurance service. The Lyon County Commission approved the purchase of a year’s subscription to CueHit, a program offered by PowerDMS. LCECC director Roxanne Van Gundy said the service provides several benefits, such as passing along follow-up information to callers after they have hung up with 911. Source: Emporia Gazette

How should Emporia present itself to the heavy traffic that passes through on I-35 every day? That was the question put in front of city commissioners Wednesday morning. The water tower at the corner of 12th Avenue and Lakeview Street near Dillon’s is set to undergo a rehabilitation project, and as part of that, the commission has the opportunity to put something new on it. What that something new is, though, is still undecided. Prior to Wednesday’s study session, the commission received a few mockups of potential designs for the water tower, including one heralding Emporia’s reputation as the founding city [...]

Some Chase County employees will see an increase in pay this year after commissioners approved a 5% increase for elected and appointed personnel, as well as increases in some department budgets. The increase was approved during a lengthy special meeting held Tuesday morning at the courthouse. Jail administrator Larry Sigler came to discuss detention center salaries and wages. He told commissioners that new hires in security will come in at a rate of $18.50 per hour. Tenured employees will move to $19 per hour. Sigler also asked commissioners for “additional compensation” for salaried employees that are on guard duty. Source: Emporia [...]

The Emporia City Commission approved the creation of a housing opportunity overlay district to allow for the potential development of smaller residential properties Wednesday night. The housing opportunity overlay district — which was created in a 16.8-acre vacant lot directly east of the intersection of Soden’s Road and South Exchange Street — decreases the minimum lot sizes in a certain area from the 9,000 square feet mandated in city codes to 5,800 square feet. This would consequently increase the number of residential units that could be built within the identified area and could be a more cost-effective means of developing housing. [...]

There’s a leak at Madison City Hall. Not the political kind, but a real leak. “There is rain leaking in from outside, and it drips down a wall onto the floor,” City Clerk Victoria Stewart said during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The Council voted to have Quality Masonry of Emporia repair the leak on the south side of the building. It was the only business Stewart found that would offer a bid, at about $3,700. “This is a wall we had waterproofed by a mason years ago,” Mayor Paul Dean said. The mayor was satisfied with the proposal. Source: Emporia [...]

As Emporia continues to battle its housing shortage, the city commission discussed the possibility of decreasing lot sizes in a potential development area. At its study session Wednesday morning, the commission heard a proposal from planning and zoning specialist Justin Givens to create a Housing Opportunity Overlay in a 16.8-acre vacant parcel of land directly east of the intersection of Soden's Road and South Exchange Street. A Housing Opportunity Overlay would allow a developer to decrease lot sizes from the 9,000 square feet minimum requirement in city codes to 5,800 square feet, which would consequently increase the number of residential units [...]

Ignite Emporia announced Tuesday afternoon that it will work in partnership with the Center on Rural Innovation’s Future is Digital Challenge skills development program to provide high-demand digital job training for 20 individuals in the Emporia community. Emporia was selected by CORI to be a part of the program, which is funded by a grant from Microsoft and will equip participants with professional skills coaching in one of three tracks: digital marketing, project management or sales representation. “It’s open to the general public, anybody that’s interested in adding this to their plate for the spring of 2022,” said Ignite Emporia director [...]