After months of work and a few clarifications, Riley County on Monday unanimously approved amendments to short-term rental regulations for properties in unincorporated areas of the county. One amendment defines how the county may waive the 500-foot separation requirement between units. “Thus it was proposed to revise the language to directly focus on primary issues, which were traffic and parking,” county planner Bob Isaac said. “It’s a matter of phrasing, but it includes that and gets directly to the point.”
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Within the same breath, 10 years can feel both as if decades have passed or it has just been a few minutes, and for many, the moment happens at the same instant. On Feb. 26, 10 years will have passed since a random act of violence shook Hesston to its core during the Excel shooting, where Joshua Higbee, Renee Benjamin and Brian Sadowsky were killed, along with the perpetrator, Cedric Ford, and 14 others were wounded. Ford’s rampage began when he fired shots at cars near the intersection of 12th and Meridian, in Newton, followed by more shooting at Old 81 and Meridian before he returned to Hesston. Even though many memories are forever etched for those who were there, worked or responded to the tragedy, one thing that never changed was the Hesston community’s ability to heal.
Read more: Harvey County Now

A stretch of Lee Boulevard between 81st Street and 103rd Street now has a lower speed limit in the latest effort by Leawood officials to address parents’ demands for pedestrian safety. The council unanimously voted last week to lower the speed limit from 35 to 30 miles an hour, beginning Friday, Feb. 20, with the intent to review the effects in six months to decide if the limit needs to be lowered even further. Speed limits, crosswalks, helmets and signals have been at the top of the council’s to-do list for the past few months, since the death of 10-year-old Duke Ommert in October. Duke was hit by a car while riding an electric scooter on Lee Boulevard. Since then, parents have regularly brought their suggestions on safer streets to council meetings, and the council has begun to take action, recently requiring helmets for youths operating electric scooters and bikes.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Students and parents in the Shawnee Mission School District are heading for a significantly more tech-centric bus riding experience next school year, now that school board members have approved a seven-year contract with Zum, a Redwood City, California, company. Expectations were high last month as the Shawnee Mission Board of Education gave unanimous approval to engage Zum (pronounced Zoom) at an estimated $21 million a year and an $18 million initial cost. In return, Zum advertises a completely air-conditioned fleet and modernized tracking systems that optimize routes, show parents and school officials where a bus is at any given time and also keep track of when and where students get on and off.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The Overland Park Police Department is one step closer to having a true, on-campus training center for its officers. For years, the department has utilized a temporary space, originally intended as a garage, for physical fitness training. Additional training, such as mandatory shooting practice, is completed elsewhere, either at another police department facility in the area or at private facilities. But on Monday, city leaders, department officials and retired members of Overland Park Police marked the formal start of construction on a dedicated, more sustainable training facility on the W. Jack Sanders Justice Center campus with a groundbreaking ceremony.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Marysville Mayor Todd Frye is looking to incorporate the youth of the community to help design the city’s next flag. Frye said Marysville’s over-50-year-old flag could use a refresh, and decided it would be fun to involve the youth. He said he is hoping to branch off the city’s coloring page competitions that the council hosts for the students. “I’m hoping to kind of branch off of that, but also include junior high and high school kids in the community.” “The students can just draft whatever they think of as a flag that would represent Marysville and what it means to them.” The top designs will then go back to the Marysville Junior and Senior High students, who will vote on the next flag design for the city. Frye said the council and organizations try to stay invested in the youth, hoping projects like this helps them decide to stay or come back to Marysville as adults.
Read more: KCLY Radio