A statewide survey of ideas for making rural Kansas a more compelling place for young adults to put down roots revealed the need for government investment in expansion of child care options and strengthening of entrepreneurial business pipelines. The state’s Office of Rural Prosperity worked with the Kansas Sampler Foundation to examine what Kansans aged 21 to 39 thought about recruiting and retaining them in small towns and remote counties suffering depopulation. The foundation drew upon 460 survey responses from all 105 counties and 175 follow-up interviews to identify why people chose to live in rural areas and why it might [...]

Anybody who remembers the 1970s remembers the Great Inflation, when retirees on fixed incomes struggled to make ends meet. They probably also remember what happened next, when the Federal Reserve under Paul Volker tightened the money supply, driving down prices by driving down the economy, forcing two recessions that lowered consumer spending and increased unemployment. For the last four decades, inflation has been not much more than a bad memory for most people. This year, however, it has reappeared as a cause for concern. Fear of a return to 1970s-style inflation is driving calls for a retreat from the free-spending goals [...]

Electric cars and trucks might prove a perfect fit for rural Kansas. “They’re better vehicles. They’re more reliable. They’re less costly. They’ll save people money,” said Peter Zalzal, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund. “They’ll clean up the air and they’ll help to address climate change.” While the building of charging stations has come mostly in urban areas, Zalzal said rural areas have built-in advantages — along with some hurdles that urban areas don’t. Most people in rural areas live in single-family homes. That gives them easier access to electricity in a garage or carport to charge overnight than someone [...]

People in Missouri and Kansas risk lead exposure from drinking water at greater rates than almost any other state, a new report found.  The Natural Resources Defense Council released findings Thursday that as many as 12 million Americans may be receiving drinking water through lead pipes without realizing their water is contaminated.  “There is no safe level of lead, which causes irreversible harm to people’s health, particularly for children,” a release announcing the report says.  Missouri has the 6th most lead service lines, the pipes that carry water from water mains into residents’ homes, of any state in the U.S., putting [...]

Possibly realizing they were up against powerful forces, Humboldt Council members changed their tune Monday evening and decided not to pursue Sunday morning sales of alcohol. About 15 local citizens attended the meeting specifically to oppose the city changing its ordinance to allow sales to begin at 9 a.m., rather than at noon. At their June 14 meeting, council members seemed inclined to approve the request after hearing appeals from Dan Onnen of Freedom Liquor Store and Suzanne Whitcomb of Pete’s Convenience. ... During the intervening month, however, it seems the idea has festered with some. At Monday’s meeting several letters [...]

Our Market grocery store and butcher shop celebrates its grand opening today in Humboldt. Yet amidst all the fanfare, it’s easy to forget how long a road it was in getting here. In what follows, then, we take a look back over the past two-and-a-half years in order to construct a timeline of events that ultimately made Our Market a reality. We'll begin on the last day of the year, Dec. 31, 2018, when Register veteran reporter Bob Johnson wrote the Moon’s Hometown Market building in Humboldt had been purchased by Monarch Cement. Owner Mike Moon of Osawatomie had been facing [...]

Matt Godinez has the recipe for success in housing. He’s director of the Chanute Regional Development Authority (CRDA), an organization working to revitalize and rebuild not only Chanute, but communities throughout the region. “We can all be feeding off of each other,” he said, and contended that regionalism is a key ingredient to economic development projects of all kinds, where county borders and city limits matter less than perhaps they used to. Consider the following example. “OK developer,” Godinez said, “you won’t build five houses in Chanute, but what if I can get you to build 100 houses in southeast Kansas?” [...]

It appeared they were at an impasse. Josh Works had asked Humboldt city council members to close off three of the streets surrounding the downtown square for the better part of the Aug. 14 Water Wars. Dan Onnen protested, saying the 2019 event “cost me an entire day of business,” at his liquor store, Freedom Liquor, on the south side of the square. “I lost hundreds of dollars in sales that day,” Onnen said. “I’m all for A Bolder Humboldt, but I also have a business to run.” Read the diplomatic ending here: The Iola Register

The Symphony in the Flint Hills is back after two years of cancellations — and so far there’s no threat of another cancellation on the horizon. Through art, music and educational presentations, the Symphony in the Flint Hills tells the story of one of the last standing tallgrass prairies in North America. The 2019 event was cancelled after storms damaged the concert site, and the pandemic was the culprit in 2020. As vaccinations rise and the weather forecast looks more promising, Operations and Donor Relations Manager Kelly Tastove said she is excited to welcome people from across the country to the [...]

Should county employees who worked through the COVID-19 shutdown receive hazard pay? That was the question up for debate during Tuesday’s county commission meeting. Sheriff Bryan Murphy spurred the conversation by asking if any decisions had yet been made regarding spending plans for the over $2 million received by Allen County via the America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The maximum additional compensation for workers, according to ARPA, is $13 per hour with a cap of $25,000. “There were county employees that were sent home with pay,” Murphy said. “But there were other county employees … They were essential workers and they [...]