The City of Sedgwick broke ground on its new fire and EMS station on Friday. City officials say the project was roughly 10 years in the making. Fire and EMS Chief Zane Hansen, for the City of Sedgwick, said the new building will provide essential support to the city’s emergency services. He estimates the current station was built in the 1970s, adding that due to its age, it cannot adequately support all of the department’s needs. “Some of the equipment barely fits by inches, and so we’re building a facility that’s going to be able to grow with us into the future,” Hansen said.
Read more: KSN-TV

A developer is sharing new details about a $50 million “luxury” apartment complex coming to Topeka’s downtown area. We got in touch with David Wingerson, a developer with Flaherty & Collins Properties, to learn more about what Topeka locals should expect from “The Hutch,” a new 192-room apartment complex with a price tag of $50 million. The four-story complex is set to be constructed in the city’s downtown area between Southwest Van Buren Street and Southwest Jackson Street along with between Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest Seventh Street.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

Overland Park Police could begin releasing body camera footage in critical situations involving police officers, like shootings or instances of potential misconduct — something, historically, the department has rarely done. This week, the department announced it was rolling out a revised policy on body cameras, crafted with input from department leadership, community stakeholders, the civil rights group ACLU and legal professionals, Police Chief Doreen Jokerst said. “I wanted to make sure that it was clear and defined that we would be releasing [footage] post-officer-involved shooting [and] critical incidents,” she said. The new policy, which became official Tuesday, takes effect a couple of months after Overland Park Police rolled out new body cameras as part of a technology overhaul with what department officials have described as a more integrated, more efficient and easier-to-use system.
Read more: Johnson County Post

As dozens of local officials and advocates recently took a peek at Maura Heft’s new three-bedroom home, she proudly showed off her spacious kitchen with dark wood cabinets and joyfully explained that the home came with a finished basement. Heft and her 6-year-old daughter were moving into their first home that they own. They are the first tenants to move into a new type of affordable housing constructed by Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City on the southern edge of Olathe in Johnson County. It’s a 14-home neighborhood built on a community land trust. That’s a real estate tool that allows the organization to sell the homes at a reduced price — and keep them affordable in the future. Habitat for Humanity sold the home to Heft for about $250,000, less than half of the average home price in the county.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Property owners in Wyandotte County who want to cash in on World Cup demand will navigate a new application system that includes third-party inspections but promises to be faster.
Read more: Kansas City Business Journal

“Our landlord, he’s able to work with us, that way my kids can have a place of their own,” Juan Horn said. “It means a lot to have a home of our own … to be able to say that we have a home and this is ours.” Having a stable roof over his head has changed the life of Horn for the better. And the lives of his family members. He and his children were living in a homeless shelter when the shelter told him about new modular homes being made available to renters in north-central Wichita. Now, they’re living situation has improved tremendously. The house that Horn calls home as a tenant was made possible by a partnership. Wichita Affordable Housing LLC, a social impact fund, is working with Rev. Dr. Kevass J Harding and Hope Community Development Corporation, and Prime Craftsman Homes out of Oklahoma to build high quality affordable homes in the Wichita area. 
Read more: KLC Journal

If you tried to make an online Wichita water bill payment Monday, you may have experienced a problem. The City of Wichita said BridgePay, a third-party credit card processing vendor, is reporting a nationwide service disruption. The disruption has impacted credit and debit card payments and auto payments on link.wichita.gov. But checking accounts are working, the city said.
Read more: KSN-TV

A tried-and-true process has recently been brought to the U.S., and more recently to Kansas. Thanks to the 2019 Farm Bill, hemp is allowed to be used in new affordable homes built by Habitat for Humanity with the help of volunteers and students at Kansas State University. Michael Gibson, an architecture professor at K-State, has been working with Habitat for Humanity of the Northern Flint Hills since 2020 to help confront the affordability crisis in Manhattan. Gibson has led a seminar where his students, in collaboration with the non-profit, have built affordable homes in Ogden. During his fall 2024 seminar class, Gibson completed some research on what they can use in this home that would not only make it affordable but also allow it to be net positive.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

The City of Topeka is rolling out a revamped online map system to make city maps and geospatial information more accessible for locals. The city’s new interactive online map system aims to modernize its website by transitioning the Geographic Information System Hub into a dedicated “.gov” domain, where city geospatial information is centralized. The GIS Hub consists of geographic information about the city, along with city maps and applications.
Read more: KSNT 27 News