The sounds of laughter and the tell-tale sizzle of fried fish could be heard during the Emporia Eastside Community Group’s annual fish fry fundraiser Saturday at the Emporia Recreation Center. The group raised $900. Founded in 1998, members of the Emporia Eastside Community Group have dedicated their time to making sure their neighborhoods are friendly, safe and enjoyable. Members range from lifelong Emporians to those who came to the area from Pennsylvania, New York, California and more. The group uses the money raised to fund its scholarship programs, the Memorial Day Community barbecue, purchasing equipment for the Eastside Memorial Park and [...]

At a recent Greenwood County Hospital board meeting, CEO Sandra Dickerson addressed comments made by County Commission Counselor Paul Dean concerning issues regarding public information. Dickerson and Board President Pam Brown were present at a recent county commission meeting when Dean spoke to them, “specifically about the hospital’s financial information and that it wasn’t being shared when requested,” she said, adding, “Paul was specifically referring to open records requests.” She referred to Dean’s quote in the paper that said, “I’m just here to tell you that no, that’s incorrect. If anybody on the board wants that information, anybody at the hospital [...]

City commissioners will soon decide on the installation of a new sound system for downtown Emporia. Emporia Main Street Executive Director Casey Woods spoke to the city commission about the proposed project during a Wednesday morning study session. The system would be used to play music and relay messages downtown. It could also be used to announce emergencies during events. “The downtown speaker system is a project we have been working on in Emporia Main Street for a number of years,” Woods said. “We initially worked on a speaker system with Ed Rathke, the former facilities manager, and the technology didn’t [...]

The Emporia City Commission pledged its support for an economic development grant during an action session Wednesday afternoon. The i6 Economic Development Grant is a program of the Economic Development Administration that was identified by Commissioner Rob Gilligan as an opportunity to bring more tech-based jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities to Emporia. The $750,000 grant requires matching funds. The city has tentatively pledged $225,000 over three years toward the grant. Mayor Jon Geitz said the goal was not to take away from the work that Emporia Main Street or the Regional Development Association already do in attracting businesses to the region, but [...]

The Lyon County Commission tabled a discussion about a communications tower last week and sent the application for it back to the county planning and zoning board. This discussion has been ongoing since February. AT&T and Network Real Estate have requested agricultural land on Road 190 be re-zoned to allow the tower to be placed there. The commission removed the discussion from the table and put it back into play. Chair of the Lyon County Planning and Zoning Board Sam Seeley addressed the commission about the tower. He said the county planning and zoning board had voted 2 to 1 in [...]

Purchases in Greenwood County will cost a bit more as of Mondy as the sales tax will increase by .5 percent. The half-percent sales tax increase, passed in last November’s election, is designated to the Greenwood County Hospital to pay off its accounts receivable. This is in addition to a 1 percent county sales tax that is currently in place for GWCH, making the total county sales tax 1.5 percent. The state sales tax is 6.5 percent. With the additional half-percent added, most locations in Greenwood County will now pay 8 percent sales tax on purchases. The City of Eureka has [...]

Emporia City Commissioners are closer to considering a resolution to improve some city sidewalks, bike paths and sharrows as part of a Healthier Lyon County initiative. Healthier Lyon County Grant Director Daphne Mertens told city commissioners that $100,000 was available for the project during Wednesday’s study session. The money is part of Healthier Lyon County’s $500,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways grant that was awarded in 2017. Mertens said city commissioners had turned over discussions on the initiative to the Multi-Use-Path Planning Board to identify possible locations where enhanced or added sidewalks would be the most beneficial to residents. The board [...]

The Lyon County Commission spoke with Regional Development Association Chair Rob Gilligan about a possible i6 federal grant application Thursday at the courthouse. If RDA receives the grant of about $75,000 per year for three years, it could be used on a project called THINK Emporia, which stands for “Tech Hub Innovation Network of Kansas. The project is meant to bring work-from-home tech job opportunities to Emporia, if it can get the funds for which the RDA is applying. “Our model will be one that can help other communities similar to us,” Gilligan said. (Read more: Emporia Gazette)

The Emporia City Commission approved an incentive compliance agreement for Glendo Inc. during its Wednesday night action session. This will exempt the business, which produces engraving tools that are sold all around the world, from property taxes for 10 years on an expansion it has planned that will add space to its business and create new jobs. The expansion will add a roughly 40,765-square-foot building and cost about $4.3 million. Included in the expansion plan is Glendo’s classroom, which serves about 400 people a year, according to Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kim Pember./blockquote> (Read more: Emporia Gazette)

A visitor to the Buck Fund Dog Park recently asked me to provide additional information about the Buck Fund. They knew the Buck Fund was associated with the dog park but wanted to know more about how community members can support the Buck Fund and what the Buck Fund does for animals. The H. Dale Buck Animal Welfare Memorial Fund, commonly known as the Buck Fund, was named after the brother of Dorothy Matile, who started the fund after her brother died. The Buck Fund has been involved in many projects related to animal welfare. The Buck Fund donated money for [...]