After hearing from residents on Nov. 12, the Leawood City Council decided against moving the former City Hall from its current site at 9615 Lee Blvd. City leaders had considered placing the building close to the current City Hall at 4800 Town Center Drive, leaving more green space for a park that’s being planned on the Lee Boulevard property. Chris Claxton, the city’s parks and recreation director, said most residents who spoke at the meeting favored keeping the building on its current site. However, the old City Hall will have to be moved to different spot to accommodate construction of a [...]

Anyone who has driven U.S. 69 in Overland Park knows rush hour traffic is getting worse and the chance of accidents more prevalent. In fact, it’s the most congested four-lane highway in Kansas, with 80,000 vehicles per day. So Overland Park leaders are urgently appealing to the state for highway funds to help widen U.S. 69 to six lanes from I-435 south to 159th Street. “This by far is the No. 1 project that will keep the economic impact coming to the state and to the city of Overland Park,” Mayor Carl Gerlach told members of a joint legislative transportation task [...]

The City of Leawood is considering moving its former City Hall from 9615 Lee Blvd. to a spot near the current City Hall at 4800 Town Center Drive. All residents are invited to comment on the idea when the City Council meets at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at the new City Hall. Speakers will have two minutes to make their remarks. After hearing the comments, the council will discuss the idea and possibly take action. The city is using the old City Hall for storage. Its relocation is being considered to create more green space for a yet-to-be named future park [...]

Nearly 9 inches of rain that pounded Manhattan, Kan., overnight and into the day Monday caused major flash flooding, forcing more than 300 people to evacuate their homes. Some 750 homes still lack power, the city of Manhattan reports. “We’re saying it is a 500-year event, perhaps a 700-, 800-year event,” said Manhattan’s Municipal Government Manager Mark Fehr at a 2 p.m. press conference Monday. Aerial photographs posted by the Riley County Police show buildings flooded nearly to their roofs. Two emergency shelters have been established, one at Cico Park and a second at Bramlage Coliseum. ‘”It is estimated that about [...]

A drought emergency was declared in 22 additional counties in Kansas on Tuesday, including Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Miami and Douglas. A total of 72 counties — virtually the entire eastern half of the state — are now under a drought emergency. The city of Gardner has issued water-use restrictions. “Counties in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes,” according to an announcement from the Drought Response Team in Gov. Jeff Colyer’s office. “They also become eligible for water in some federal reservoirs.” All 105 Kansas counties are either in a drought emergency or under [...]

Johnson County's new library has its grand opening from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in western Shawnee. It emphasizes community, convenience and customer-friendly features. (Read more: KC Star Local News)

Three Overland Park police officers have resigned and more than 200 pending traffic tickets have been dismissed after an internal investigation into false seat belt citations. Police Chief Frank Donchez Jr. said Wednesday that personnel within the department became aware that some officers apparently were ticketing motorists for not wearing seat belts. In fact, they had been wearing them but had committed a different traffic violation. Instead of a speeding ticket, he said as an example, a motorist would be falsely cited for not buckling up. He said he did not know the motivation behind the officers’ actions. (Read more: KC [...]

For many longtime Merriam residents, the essence of summer has been hanging out at the 50-meter Vavra Park community pool that they consider the best in Johnson County, with its high-dive board and children’s play area. So when they found out recently that the new $30 million community center and aquatics center would lead to a smaller outdoor pool with no high-dive board, they felt blindsided over what they considered to be a broken promise from the city. Tina Cheatham and several other residents complained Monday to the City Council that reducing the outdoor pool wasn’t explained in campaign materials before [...]

A proposal to build soccer fields at Lexington Lake Park is getting a cool reception from Johnson County recreation officials who worry about the project’s cost and potential effects on boaters and other park visitors. The city of De Soto asked the county’s Park and Recreation District last year for space in one of its parks to relocate the city’s recreational soccer program, which now operates in the city’s Miller Park. The park district’s Board of Commissioners on Wednesday reviewed the results of a concept study looking at building soccer fields at Lexington Lake Park, 8850 Sunflower Road, just west of [...]

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., got a surprise recently: Its taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the Kansas Attorney General’s costs on the Schlitterbahn investigation. So far, the UG is budgeting $1 million to pay the Kansas Attorney General for costs associated with the criminal case against Schlitterbahn and key employees accused of recklessness in the 2016 death of a young boy at the KCK water park. “We’re hoping it doesn’t cost that much,” said UG spokesman Mike Taylor. “It’s basically $1 million in a surprise expense.” The UG is responsible for the bill because former [...]