The city of Shawnee suffers from a lack of affordable housing, according to a study by United Community Services of Johnson County. Nearly half of its tenants are rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. Last week, Shawnee’s city council made a change that critics say disadvantage low-income renters further. It voted unanimously to ban “co-living,” which it defines as four or more unrelated adults living together. “Households making under $50,000 who rent have more difficulty finding attainable options than those that can purchase, because of fewer options and rents increasing faster than incomes,” the study [...]

Last week, the Shawnee City Council voted unanimously to ban co-living in all of its residential districts. The decision came as a surprise to some, but the city council had been discussing the role of co-living in the city for some time. Some renters concerned about affordable housing have expressed frustration at the council’s move to eliminate an option that allows people to share rent costs. But Shawnee 4th Ward City Councilmember Jill Chalfie said the ordinance is primarily in response to arrangements that treat co-living more as a business and less of a communal space. Source: KC Star Local News

Officials with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas gave few new details on the nature of a cybersecurity attack during a press conference Friday. Mayor Tyrone Garner and Interim County Administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee spoke for less than 10 minutes, calling the cyberattack a “fluid situation.” “What we may have realized tomorrow may not be what we have realized today,” Garner said. The cyberattack took place April 16 and was discovered later that day by a Unified Government employee. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were notified. Local, state and federal officials are assisting in the investigation. Garner [...]

On Monday, a Johnson County city unanimously voted to ban a living arrangement aimed at helping tenants decrease the amount of rent they pay. The Shawnee City Council voted 8-0 to ban co-living, becoming among the first Kansas City area municipalities to prevent the practice, which has gained popularity in recent years as rent and home prices have soared. The new ordinance defines a co-living group as a group of at least four unrelated adults living together in a dwelling unit. The ordinance stated that if one adult is unrelated to another adult, then the entire group will be classified as [...]

As officials continue to investigate last month’s shooting at Olathe East High School that left three injured, they say they are reviewing whether the incident might have been better handled. They are looking at what led up to the shooting, how it was handled and how procedures were followed, Brent Kiger, the district’s director of safety services, told the Olathe school board Thursday night. He said administrators are meeting with law enforcement to review protocols, as well as interviewing all personnel who responded to the shooting. “But we also understand that there might have been a few things we could do [...]

The Olathe school district is planning to cut about $20 million from next year’s budget and eliminate some positions, officials said, due to declining enrollment during the pandemic and other challenges. The move could be a sign of what’s to come for some other districts that face similar obstacles as they launch into their budget deliberations. In Olathe, while reductions in department budgets are expected across the board, the district has confirmed it will cut library clerk positions next school year — about 15 total at middle and high schools, spokeswoman Becky Grubaugh said. Source: KC Star Local News

Bob Winner has spent almost every night this winter on a plain cot inside the Lenexa church where the nonprofit Project 1020 hosts Johnson County’s only emergency shelter for single adults who find themselves without a place to stay. The building is warm, the food is good and the volunteers are kind. Yet Winner rarely sleeps. He is consumed with what will happen to him and hundreds of other unhoused people who have sought help from the shelter come April 1, when the winter-only facility closes its doors for the season, exposing a hole in the Kansas City area’s safety net [...]

Karl Oakman looked out at a crowd of about 200 people gathered Saturday morning at Mt. Zion Church in Kansas City, Kansas, and felt proud that a “peace walk” hosted by the police department had drawn such a large gathering. The event was organized to bring residents of Wyandotte County together with members of the police department. Police Chief Oakman hoped the walk would inspire more collaboration and positive engagement. “I really wanted to let the community see that the police is here to work with them,” said Oakman, who was sworn in as the new leader in June. “Rather than [...]

Property owners in Wyandotte county can expect to see their home appraisal values in the mail soon, and most can expect the value of their property to go up. According to Wyandotte County Appraiser Matthew Willard, 96% of homes in the county will see an increase in value. The county’s overall median home price went up 17% in 2021 in comparison to the previous year. The average home sale price is $206,176 and the year over year increase is 13.20%. ... The market is hot. One of the main factors driving up home values is the lack of supply in the [...]

A former accountant for the Johnson County District Court Clerk’s Office is accused of embezzling more than $1 million in payments that were made to the clerk’s office over the course of 10 years, according to a federal complaint. Dawna Kellogg, of Paola, Kansas, is accused of running a fraud scheme in which she re-directed payments made to the clerk’s office into her personal account. A criminal complaint outlining the case was filed by federal prosecutors in the U.S. District of Kansas on Friday, alleging eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing a false tax return. According to [...]