Emporia Main Street is inviting the community to celebrate downtown's interactive murals with the Main Street Mural Crawl. The murals, located in four places along the retail corridor along Commercial Street, offer the public a place for a fun photo opportunity while encouraging a walk downtown. "Emporia Main Street has been wanting to bring more public art work to downtown for a while," said Community Development Coordinator Jessica Buchholz. "We know that public art increases pedestrian traffic, which then results in an increase of potential consumers in our retail corridor." Source: Emporia Gazette

City commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with Ignite Emporia to roll over $200,000 in unutilized private-public partnership funds from 2020 toward the project’s housing development initiatives in 2021 during a joint study/action session Wednesday. The vote passed 3-1 with Commissioner and Ignite Emporia Director Rob Gilligan abstaining and Commissioner Becky Smith providing the lone “nay” vote. Beforehand, Smith said she was apprehensive on two key points, the first being the perception of favoritism by members of the board and the other being a lack of defined plan for the funds. Source: Emporia Gazette

Larry Finley is the first person in Emporia to receive the COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, after Newman Regional Health received 160 doses in its first allocation Wednesday afternoon. The vaccine arrived five days after the Food and Drug Administration approved Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccine. Finley, a certified registered nurse anesthetist and director of anesthesiology at Newman Regional Health, was one of five health care providers to receive the vaccine in the hospital’s walkthrough for Thursday’s mass vaccination. Source: Emporia Gazette

City of Emporia Commissioners renewed a long-standing agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a combined study/action session Wednesday morning. Board members reviewed their obligations included as part of FEMA’s Regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation plan, which is traditionally completed every five years, incorporating each community in Lyon County along with the county itself. The plan includes a Threat Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, or THIRA, which examines the likelihood of severe weather, flooding and wildfire events, identifying potential area projects and mitigation strategies to manage such threats. Source: Emporia Gazette

The City of Emporia may soon be getting increased access to close-contact COVID-19 testing. During Wednesday’s meeting of city commissioners, City Consultant Jim Witt updated the board on his efforts to increase availability, saying the initiative would be a partnership between Newman Regional Health and Lyon County Public Health. As with other necessary health resources during the pandemic, Witt said the added tests will also be funded through SPARK funds and are expected to total around $105,000. “We’re at the point where [the organizations] would like to be able to start the close contact testing by Monday ...” Witt said. “There [...]

Lyon County commissioners approved an updated public health order prioritizing “flexibility” and “individual responsibility” Thursday after weeks of community input and discussion with local leaders. Set to begin Friday and run through Nov. 12, the new order maintains the same language on recommendations for travelers, high-risk individuals, long-term care centers and area businesses, again “highly encouraging” the use of masks in favor of mandating them. The majority of changes come in the category of mass gathering limits, which will be raised significantly moving forward. Source: Emporia Gazette

A citywide mask mandate will remain in effect through Oct. 21 following a decision by Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday night. City Attorney Christina Montgomery said no changes had been made to the language of the mandate, other than its expiration date. The mandate, which was passed unanimously, requires a mask or other face covering that covers both the nose and mouth to be worn in indoor and outdoor public spaces when social distancing is not possible. It applies to all businesses, organizations and non-profits located within city limits, including all employees, visitors, customers, members and non-members. Source: Emporia Gazette

Like other cities around the state, Emporia saw a surprising increase in sales tax revenues for June and started the 2021 fiscal year with a 2.9% increase over the previous year, despite the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. According to the Kansas Department of Revenue’s August report, which reflects mostly revenues from June, the City of Emporia brought in $395,463.23 in August — a 9.3% increase over Aug. 2019. The city ended the 2020 fiscal year, which ran from July 2018 - Aug. 2019, with $746,474.57. The 2021 fiscal year ended with $768,258.48 — 2.9% increase over 2019. So far, the city [...]

Bill Murphy, the new Deputy Secretary of Business Development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, shared his vision for economic development, business retention and staying competitive in the national talent pool, Thursday afternoon. Murphy, who took part in the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce’s virtual Day In Topeka, said he was excited by the “determination” he saw to rebuild the Department of Commerce prior to his coming on board. The goal, he said, is to capitalize on the strengths of the department and reenergize and renew its enthusiasm as funding sources returned. “What I’m seeing is, for the first time in [...]

City of Emporia commissioners approved amendments to the city’s existing sidewalk enhancement policy during a brief action session Wednesday afternoon. Originally drafted in 2012, the document provides guidance to area businesses on the temporary placing and permanent affixing of “enhancements” — such as displays, signs, tables, benches, bike racks and more — on sidewalks, right-of-ways, streets, and private/public parking spaces so as “not to impede traffic or pedestrian movements. “[The amendments] are proposed in order to offer additional options and flexibility for local businesses … Source: Emporia Gazette