Wichita State University launched a new system on Thursday that’s designed to collect data from across the state and store it in one place. The Kansas Data Trust can collect information like demographics and service utilization in a secure way that can be used by public agencies, researchers and nonprofit organizations. Nigel Soria, a research manager for the project, said those details will help answer difficult questions relating to issues like homelessness and education.
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A large crowd turned out Thursday for Sedgwick County’s town hall meeting on data centers. The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners adopted a 90-day resolution — set to expire April 17 — to review and develop zoning regulations and pause any potential data center applications. Lori Kraus, a Colwich resident who spoke against the projects, said she wants commissioners to take constituents’ concerns seriously. “I spoke on national security,” she said. “I think it’s one topic that they did not address. Especially anyone in news, it’s very apparent that they are a soft target because the military does use these sites also, and this is a hyper-scale data center. I don’t think people realize how large this is. They have a thousand acres already leased in the Garden Plain area.”
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The Food Bank of Reno County celebrated the grand opening of its new facility in Hutchinson on Thursday. Lance Patterson, chairman of the food bank, said the new facility is five times larger than the previous one and is designed like a grocery store. “It’s really, really cool to see how much the community rallied around this project, how much people care about our community, and how much this looks and feels like a real grocery store,” Patterson said. Each person who visits the food bank will be given a certain number of points to spend based on the size of their family. There are also some staple items like juice and produce that don’t cost any points.
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As data centers remain a hot topic across the state, an informational meeting in Hutchinson on Thursday aimed to calm fears over the facilities. The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce hosted the event with state officials and energy and artificial intelligence companies. The speakers said they hoped to combat misinformation. They pushed for the positives, arguing that data centers drive economic growth by creating jobs and drawing business. The main concerns people express about data centers typically revolve around energy consumption, particularly the use of water.
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The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners will pause applications for battery energy storage systems for now. During Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to halt development until the county can come up with zoning regulations. The battery systems, commonly abbreviated as BESS, are used to store power when the demand is low and save it for when people need it. The county is also in the middle of deciding regulations for data centers.
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When Colton Glenn became Peabody fire chief at age 25, he found himself leading a department in a town where he had fire trucks race down streets as a kid. Despite seven years of firefighting experience, Glenn is one of the youngest fire chiefs leading a volunteer department in Kansas. “I never in a million years thought I’d end up becoming fire chief when I joined,” he said.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

This historic Kansas prison town will allow CoreCivic to hold federal immigration detainees after a year of legal wrangling and public outcry from opponents. Four out of five city commissioners voted to grant CoreCivic’s application for a special use permit. The decision allows the company to operate its dormant 1,000-bed facility as a detention center on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The compound has sat at the center of a drawn-out legal battle — and furious criticism from opponents of Leavenworth becoming a regional hub for President Trump’s immigration agenda. Commissioners said they had amended the permit to ensure accountability and transparency, by including plans to form a community review board or task force.
Read more: The Lawrence Times