The Kansas City Metro area is the fastest growing region in Kansas but, like the rest of the state, it struggles to fill the housing needs of its community. Preliminary results of a statewide survey, the first of its kind in 30 years, found that 30% of homes in Kansas were built before 1960 and that the state lacks diverse housing options for middle income buyers and renters. Full results of the housing needs assessment, conducted over the past year by the Office of Rural Prosperity and Kansas Housing Resource Corporation, will be released in December or January. Before that, researchers [...]

Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden announced on Tuesday his office will work with a biotech company to allow employees to test their immunity to COVID-19. Aditxt, the biotech company the sheriff’s office is partnering with, will draw blood from users and test their antibody levels against COVID-19. Civilian and sworn staff can access the test for free to check their immunity to the virus. The partnership comes after Kansas Governor Laura Kelly promised late Monday to sign legislation making it easy for workers to avoid COVID-19 vaccine mandates from their workplace. Aditxt has an immune monitoring technology, AditxtScoreTM, meant to provide [...]

The Spring Hill Police Department’s newest member — a 2-year-old Malinois and Shepherd mix from Olesno, Poland, is getting a second chance at life. Loki, a dog who made his way from Poland, to a kennel in Pennsylvania, recently made the trip to Kansas when the Olathe Police Department took interest in him as their newest K9. But a medical screening found Loki had an undeveloped kidney. Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article255922441.html#storylink=cpySource: KC Star Local News

An attorney in Overland Park filed a $7 million federal civil lawsuit against the city of Overland Park, it’s police chief, the Johnson County District Attorney and the county sheriff alleging she was falsely arrested and detained following an altercation with a relative. Shauna McRoberts said she was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic assault and detained for 22 hours on Sept. 16, 2018 by Overland Park police after they responded to her parents’ home. In the 37-page lawsuit, McRoberts said she was the victim of an assault but police arrested and detained her for no reason. Source: KC Star Local News

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities announced it will be lifting the moratorium on disconnects for its utility service for non-payments starting in November. As of Nov. 3, the BPU will start disconnecting those who have yet to pay their utility bill, according to a release. The board will work with customers who are behind on payments to assist them with payment plans. Utility disconnects have been suspended since March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting people’s ability to pay their bills, with several businesses closing and others laying off or furloughing workers. Source: KC Star Local News

A Kansas middle school student has died of COVID-19 as the state continues to experience statewide clusters of infection in the classroom, a state education official said Wednesday. Education Commissioner Randy Watson shared the news during a video conference with Gov. Laura Kelly’s Safer Classrooms Workgroup. He said he learned of the death shortly before joining the meeting. “On an extremely sad note I was just informed literally before I walked in this other room to join you, that we did have a middle school student pass away of COVID just in the last, maybe, day,” Watson said. Source: KC Star [...]

The United Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas has extended its public health order requiring masks be worn in public spaces as the region continues to deal with the latest surge of COVID-19. Commissioners on Thursday evening unanimously approved the extension, which goes through Nov. 18. It mirrors the existing order that was passed in August first reinstating masks for the area. Under the health order, everyone ages 5 and up is required to wear a mask when visiting indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status. Some exceptions are offered for people with a medical condition or a disability that would [...]

"The Road to Santa Fe" premieres on KCPT on Sept. 24 and then will be distributed to public television stations nationwide. The program explores the history of the Santa Fe Trail. … On Sept. 1, 1821, William Becknell set out from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with five other men. That journey has gone down in most histories as the opening of the 870-mile-long Santa Fe Trail. ... what sets the Santa Fe Trail apart from, say the Oregon Trail or the California Road, was that, initially, its primary purpose for Americans was trade. “The Santa Fe Trail was [...]

Crews have finished demolishing the old Johnson County County Courthouse in downtown Olathe, and it will be replaced by an outdoor public space called Johnson County Square. The last walls of the old courthouse, left empty when a new courthouse opened across Santa Fe Street in January, came down early on Aug. 25. The demolition is being followed by debris removal and back-filling of the foundation with about 15,000 cubic yards of dirt that were removed during excavation for the new courthouse. In a news release, project manager Kyle Heltne estimated that the recycled dirt weighs about 33 million pounds. It [...]

AA new fire station, expected to open the week of Sept. 6 to serve growing southwest Olathe, was built with firefighters, equipment and the surrounding neighborhood in mind, according to the Olathe Fire Department.... Fire department spokesman Mike Hall said the station is designed for firefighter convenience so crew members can work more easily. For instance, interior glass will allow employees to quickly locate materials and co-workers. In addition, the alert system features different volumes and light colors to reduce physiological stress on the firefighters. In their bunkrooms, firefighters can customize the alerts to what best suits them when awakened to [...]