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The Kansas City Chiefs have informed administrative officials that they will announce their move to Kansas today, according to sources who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Read more: KC Star

SEK Animal Advocates rescued 29 cats outside a residence in Altoona last weekend. An Altoona woman, Carol Sharp, died in a car crash last week, leaving dozens of cats without care. Volunteers with SEK Animal Advocates, a non-profit foster-based dog and cat rescue, spent hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday catching cats and setting traps for the more feral felines. By Sunday night, they had captured 29 cats, with more still in the area. Read more: -The Morning Sun

The Girard Department has a new high-tech tool that may assist with situational awareness and fire safety. Earlier this month, the Girard Fire Department announced that it received a donation of an advanced, top-of-the-line drone. The drone was donated by Heather Scales, alongside her daughter Maddie, as the two gave the piece of equipment, which will help the Girard Fire Department in numerous ways such as providing an aerial perspective and delivering real-time data during an emergency. Scales is the daughter of the late Ronald E. “Pete” Scales. An active member of the SEK Chiefs Association along with the Crawford County [...]

Riley County Police Department will be solely responsible for enforcing animal-related ordinances as of Jan. 1 after entering a new contract with the city. The Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board approved an agreement Monday for the city to transfer specialty vehicles and equipment for animal control needs. RCPD acknowledged and agreed that it will be the sole enforcement authority of animal-related ordinances within city limits. The Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board approved the contract Monday in a 5-2 vote, with Barry Wilkerson and Kathryn Focke voting against. Read more: News Radio KMAN

A new camera surveillance agreement will allow the Riley County Police Department to access city camera feeds in real time. Manhattan city commissioners approved the license agreement with RCPD and the Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board on Tuesday. RCPD has a contract with the intelligence platform Axon Fusus to deploy a RealTime Intelligence Center program. Fusus allows RCPD to integrate with RCPD’s existing cameras and third party camera systems such as local business and now the city of Manhattan’s camera system, including its traffic cameras. Read more: News Radio KMAN

A newly-approved compensation tool will bring a salary increase for most City of Arkansas City employees and create a more unbiased method of setting compensation. Finance director Jennifer Waggoner said implementation of the new structure will cost $259,399 in 2026 and was included in the budget. Human Resource Director Marla McFarland said the approach will determine the proper compensation level for a position and then consider a number of factors to determine the proper pay for each individual employee in that position. Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com

Garden City Community College has announced the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with three fellow Western Kansas institutions: Colby Community College, Dodge City Community College and Seward County Community College. The agreement was officially signed Dec. 4 on GCCC’s campus, marking a historic moment for regional collaboration in higher education. The Western Kansas Consortium MOA strengthens partnerships among the four colleges and creates new opportunities to expand educational access, support workforce development, and maximize resources for students and communities across western Kansas and the state. For more than a century, the community colleges of western Kansas have each [...]

A southwestern Kansas county plans to sue the state for more than $2 million after nearly a decade of mistaken payments, mounting concern for democratic processes. Voters in Morton County, which borders the Oklahoma panhandle and Colorado, approved a countywide sales tax in 2015 that directed funds to their local hospital. But an early administrative error that the county tried to fix resulted in the Kansas Department of Revenue sending checks to the county’s cities, which spent the money. Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

The only major grocery store in downtown Kansas City, Kansas will close its doors in less than two weeks. The announcement of The Merc Co+op, a community-owned grocery store, closing came as quite a hit for leaders trying to fill a food desert. The parking lot at 501 Minnesota Avenue was already a bit of a ghost town on Wednesday. Mostly empty shelves and freezers inside likely play a part. Dedric Moore was there in 2020 when they cut the ribbon on Downtown KCK’s Merc Co+op. “It was a big step for the community that we were going to have a [...]

When Gallery Mostaza came to downtown Newton, promoters of the city’s core hoped to have scored a coup. The hand-thrown pottery store had a history of drawing crowds to Harper, Kansas, with its events. Yet the question remained: could it do the same in Newton? Anecdotally, that answer following its October pumpkin event was very much yes. The store sold a huge amount of goods, saw lines at opening, and resulted in a downtown that looked much fuller than normal. Businesses reported upticks. With its big Christmas event scheduled, businesses in the downtown organized and remained open for their own events. [...]