Politics

A Neodesha man is reappointed to the State Board of Agriculture. Governor Laura Kelly reppointed Michael Springer to the State Board of Agriculture on Friday. Springer is a part of the Springer Family Foods farming organization between Sycamore and Neodesha. He is a third generation farmer and a graduate of Kansas State University. Springer joins Tracy Brunner of Ramona, Thad Gieger of Troy, and Bill Pracht of Westphalia in being reappointed to the State Ag Board.

The Southeast Kansas Independent Living Resource Center (SKIL) has announced Chanute resident Rick Macias as the 2023 Marty Wooten Advocacy award recipient. “It makes me feel good. It makes me feel recognized that I am doing a good job with everything …,” Macias said. “And it does feel good to be appreciated and recognized for everything. Even though I just do it just because I enjoy doing it.”Visit here for more details.

The High Prairie Pioneers 4-H Club members recently took part in the Wilson County Club Days on February 17 at North Lawn Elementary in Neodesha. Those who won Top Blue honors represented Wilson County at the Regional Club Days at Neosho County Community College in Chanute on February 24.

Stacker compiled a list of the warmest and coldest Februaries in each county's history using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

The City of Neodesha agrees to employ the services of a grant writing group to help the city. At yesterday's city commission meeting, commissioners heard from Garrett Nordstrom of Governmental Assistance Services from Lawrence. Nordstrom says the city of Neodesha is very close to being eligible for a variety of beneficial grants.

LAFONTAINE, IN- Fountainvue LLC has announced that they have. responded to and addressed all issues raised by the Town of LaFontaine regarding. water and sewer services provided to the Fountainvue Community. Despite this,. the Town has issued a threat to cut off services to tenants who have been. punctually paying...

LENEXA, Ks - Systech Environmental Corporation will pay $98,513 in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the terms of its Hazardous Waste Management Facility Permit.

Wilson County has made a decision on replacing the boilers in the boiler room. The county received a second bid from Seely Plumbing in Chanute for $65,000. Commissioners elected to accept the bid of McElroy Plumbing in Topeka for a bid price of just under $74,000, due to a long relationship of work with Wilson County.

NEODESHA, Kan. (KOAM) - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Kansas State Director for Rural Development Christy Davis today announced that USDA is funding nine Kansas infrastructure projects. This $22.4 million investment will provide reliable high-speed internet access, clean water, and sanitary wastewater systems for rural communities. 

LAFONTAINE, IN- Residents of the Fountainvue Mobile Home Park may soon face disconnection of their water and sewer utility services. On February 15, 2024, the Town of LaFontaine issued a notice to park residents, advising that service may be disconnected as soon as March 15, 2024 due to the failure of Fountainvue ownership to properly maintain its pipes and utility infrastructure. Because the park lies outside of Town limits, utility service is provided to the park through a contract between the Town and park ownership. The notice stated that the owner of the park failed to comply with its obligations under the contract, causing the Town significant financial losses. The Town has lost $12,580.86 worth of unbilled water since October 2022 due to the situation. “It’s so unfortunate,” said Town Council President Jay Gillespie. “Many of the people who live at the park have faithfully paid their utility bills on time each and every month for years. It just gotten to the point where the Town is losing thousands of gallons of unbilled water each month because Park ownership won’t repair its pipes. We’re also having to treat excess amounts of wastewater because of inflow and infiltration issues. The Town can’t continue to absorb these financial losses.” The park is owned by Fountainvue LLC, which is owned and managed by Michael Cummins, of Las Vegas, Nevada. “We’ve done everything we can to try to persuade Mr. Cummins to fix his infrastructure and get into compliance with the contract,” said John Krhin of the LaFontaine Town Council. “Nothing has worked, so we feel like we don’t have any other option at this point.” The Town’s notices state that utility service to park residents will be shut off on or after March 15, 2024 unless Mr. Cummins “shows documented proof of substantial efforts to make the necessary repairs to the Town within 10 days.” “We really hope that Mr. Cummins does what’s right. It’s a shame that the residents could be the ones to suffer,” said Gillespie.

The Chanute City Commission gave approval of professional services with Midwest Engineering Group, LLC for a wastewater treatment plant. At last week’s city commission meeting, the commission heard from Daniel Coltrane of Midwest Engineering Group, LLC, who presented preliminary plans for the project. The engineering costs will be covered by the I&I Fund. In addition, city staff will look for project funding toward the end of 2025, according to officials. The total cost is set at $25,085,000, according to the plan by Midwest Engineering Group, LLC.Visit here for more details.

CHANUTE, Kan. (KOAM) -- The Chanute Public Library announces a new monthly program, Silent Book Club.

The Chanute Entertainment Series will present Kathy Kaefer's award-winning show, 'Kiss Me Once: Stories from the Homefront' on March 9 at 7 p.m. at the Chanute Memorial Auditorium. The show pays tribute to the people of the World War II era and includes songs from that time.

FORT SCOTT, Kan. — The Southeast Kansas Museum Alliance is hoping you’ll visit museums across the state, all you need is a passport. But it’s not the same passport you would use to travel the world. For the second year, the alliance is encouraging people to pick...

NEODESHA, Kan. (KOAM) - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Kansas State Director for Rural Development Christy Davis today announced that USDA is funding nine Kansas infrastructure projects. This $22.4 million investment will provide reliable high-speed internet access, clean water, and sanitary wastewater systems for rural communities. 

25 Years Ago February 4-10, 1999 Nathan Fouts and his Construction Technology students from the Southeast Kansas Technical School built a gazebo for the residents of Medicalodge, added onto the Girl Scout House in the American Legion Park and are now busy on a new steel garage at the bus barns. The new garage is being constructed of Simpson Steel Building material and will be 100 x 25 feet in…

The Fredonia City Commission makes good on its promise to combat blight in the city. At their January 19 meeting, the Fredonia City Commission promised citizens to take steps to combat blight in the city by taking care of abandoned and dilapidated houses. At last night's (Wednesday's) meeting, they took definite steps toward keeping that promise. The main part of the agenda was to begin condemnation proceedings against several houses. Mayor Allen Miller read the resolutions and Commissioner Brandon Tindle made the motions.

There will be a notable change to the ballots for upcoming elections in Wilson County. County Clerk Kayla Busch says ballots will have a watermark moving forward. The first election with the change will be on March 19th. Additional items of business at this week's commission meeting is that the...

(KOAM) - Another in-person information session regarding the new location of the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System (VAEKHCS) will take place tonight, February 9, 2024 in Chanute, see below for time and address.

The Eureka Management Unit, Greenwood, Coffey, Woodson and Wilson County Conservation Districts, will be hosting a Local Working Group (LWG) meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. at 605 S. 3rd Street, in Burlington.The purpose of this meeting is to make recommendations to the Natural Resources Conservation ...