Since the Olpe Downhome festival was reinstated in 2003, its purpose has been fundraising for improvements at Olpe’s Jones Park. Multiple activities on Saturday provided a day filled with family-oriented fun, from a 6:30 a.m. breakfast provided by the Methodist church to a street dance lasting until midnight. “This is our 21st year,” Joyce Wilson, festival organizer and Olpe City Clerk, said. “There was no event in 2020, due to COVID. We actually had celebrations sporadically through the 1980s and early 1990s–originally, the festival was put on by the fire fighters to raise money.” Wilson and her husband brought the festival [...]

Kansas Office of Broadband needs your help to identify gaps in internet coverage across the state. They need to know where you have connection, as well as what speeds you’re experiencing. Let’s make sure our communities have the resources they need to thrive in the 21st century. Head over to broadbandks.com to take a quick speed test and survey to help figure out where we need upgrades. It only takes a few minutes and it’s a big help. Join in helping the Kansas Office of Broadband bridge the digital divide and ensure reliable broadband internet for everyone. Take a few minutes [...]

The City of Emporia unveiled a new mass notification system Monday, after receiving community feedback. According to a written release, moving to a new notification platform, Civic Ready, will allow the City to distribute information in a more efficient and streamlined manner; directly connecting its social media platforms, website, and other city platforms used for distributing information. Source: Emporia Gazette

Downtown Emporia is full of smiling faces today, as work continues on the Faces of Emporia Mural at 907 Commercial St. Pasted and sealed with wallpaper glue on the south side of the Nick Jacobs American Family Insurance building, 188 photos of smiling Emporians will make up the latest in a series of five new murals as part of the Visit Emporia Community Arts Alliance. The Faces of Emporia mural follows the Hispanic Heritage Mural on El Marmol restaurant, funded and talent scouted by local volunteer organization Emporia Celebrates the Flint Hills, with help from the Emporia Community Foundation, Kathryn L. [...]

Short-staffing was the headline of the Chase County Commission meeting Wednesday morning at the Courthouse. EMS director Scott Harris presented commissioners with a budget request, telling commissioners that this year, his crew’s requests were very specific. Harris said each year before he brings his budget to the commission, he asks his staff what changes they would like to see. While previous years elicited the response of more money, Harris said this year, his staff was focused on increasing staffing. Source: Emporia Gazette

As more than 4,000 gravel enthusiasts and their support crews descend upon Emporia for the 17th annual UNBOUND Gravel weekend, local economic development and tourism experts say the continued impact on the area is undeniable. The value of that impact was upwards of $6 million in 2018. Visit Emporia director LeLan Dains said while he doesn’t have firm numbers to cite just yet, the financial impact has only increased five years later. Source: Emporia Gazette

Emporia Police Department officers and Lyon County Sheriff’s Office deputies will carry the Special Olympics Kansas Flame of Hope through Emporia and Lyon County next week. Officers will collect the torch on May 31 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 75 and Old U.S. Hwy. 50, and bring it into Emporia. Runners will set off at 9:00 a.m. June 1 after a brief ceremony in front of Emporia State University, 1 Kellogg Cir. In total, this leg of the torch run will travel 105 miles as part of an overall 1,600-mile journey for the Flame of Hope across Kansas as part [...]

Commercial Street came alive with food, music, dancing and more for the annual Cinco De Mayo celebration. Hundreds packed into downtown Emporia to try one of the many food, drink and snack options, listen to musical stylings of Erick Sánchez, Jaime Izaguirre, Ladee J and the Orquesta Cambalache and enjoy the dance performances from Raíces Hispanas Grupo Folklórico and the Latin Fit Zumba group. The day was packed with CincoK race in the morning, Los Puentes graduation, Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow scholarship recognition, royalty coronation and more. Source: Emporia Gazette

Humanities Kansas recently awarded a $10,000 grant to PBS Kansas, based in Wichita, Kan., to support the “Kansas Ghost Towns Documentary, Part 2.” The documentary is part of a continuing exploration of towns that have disappeared across the state. Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. “The humanities connect people to place over time and across generations,” shared Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “This documentary will create a space for important conversations that will help us see more clearly our past and plan [...]

The question of open saloons will once again be up for a vote in Chase County. The Chase County commission passed a resolution at its meeting Friday, April 28 to include the open saloon question — which allows an establishment to sell alcohol by the drink without the requirement to derive revenue from food sales — on the November 2024 general election ballot. County attorney Bill Halvorsen told commissioners that the operation of open saloons within the county, which passed in the 2021 local election, was recently called into question by the Kansas Department of Revenue. Source: Emporia Gazette