News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The city of Liberal has undergone some big changes in recent times, and 2024 especially saw some shakeups throughout the city.

“For 2024, I feel like there's been a lot of positive forward movement on a lot of really critical work that needed to happen, and it needed to happen in a certain order,” Public Affairs Director Keeley Moree said. “When you look at where we'd like to go and some of the things we'd like to accomplish, being able to really hone in on housing development has been a big deal, because as we look at some of the large economic development projects on the horizon, we're definitely expecting a big increase in our population within a few years. In terms of timing, I feel like things have landed really well throughout 2024 to make sure we're expanding the infrastructure we need in order to continue expanding our transportation network, which has continued to be a big part of what we're doing. All of that work combines to really support those large-scale projects coming our way. Another big piece that stands out to me about 2024 is the Comprehensive Plan we've been working on and the progress we've made in putting that together so we have that 10-year development plan and guide as to which areas we want to focus on. Not just so we have a roadmap for ourselves, but also so the community and people outside the community can have an understanding of who we are and what we're looking to develop, and that's really important especially when you transition from one commission to another or circumstances like that. When you have a good plan in place that's based on community feedback, that's really going to help us with going forward in a strategic way.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

As 2024 draws to a close, progress continues on road projects in Seward County.

C.W. Harper of Kirkham Michael & Associates, the firm the county hired to help with those projects, updated commissioners on some of the work being done at the commission’s Dec. 16 meeting.

Much of Harper’s presentation centered on what has been an ongoing project for some time in the county, and that is the Masoni Bridge.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal community has seen some changes in terms of businesses throughout 2024, and the Liberal Chamber of Commerce had a big hand in making that work happen.

As Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rozelle Webb tells it, 2024 kept the staff very busy.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The state of Kansas has undergone some major changes throughout recent years, and 2024 was no exception, according to Gov. Laura Kelly.

“All in all, I feel like 2024 ended on a very high note. We were able to pass a budget that continues to fully fund our public schools, including a bit of extra money for Special Education,” Gov. Kelly said. “We were also able to continue on with our comprehensive transportation program – we closed the 'Bank of KDOT' and are fully funding that program now, so roads and bridges and broadband are being taken care of all throughout the state. We were also able to continue our record-breaking economic development, that has not slowed down since my administration took office. In fact, we were recently awarded our fourth consecutive Gold Shovel Award from Area Development Magazine, which is amazing for us. We've done all of that while also having the largest budget surplus in state history, the largest rainy day fund in state history, and also giving back $1 billion in tax cuts every year to Kansans. Overall, 2024 was a very good year.”