News

City approves Comprehensive Plan

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Following many months of community engagement, research, and assistance from city planning professionals, the Liberal City Commission officially adopted a new 10-year Comprehensive Plan for developing the community at its most recent meeting Tuesday evening.

“As you all know, our last comprehensive plan was developed in 2003. In 2024, we started working with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) and Wichita State’s Public Policy and Management Center to create a 10-year plan for Liberal’s development,” Chief Communications Officer Keeley Young said. “The Launch Liberal 2035 Comprehensive Plan communicates our aspirations and goals to private sector investors, local institutions, businesses, and residents. The plan serves as a playbook for local leaders to understand the appropriate types of development and land uses in the city, realizing that each new development or redevelopment project creates a lasting impact on the city’s design, built form, economic well-being, and quality of life.”

Heritage club provides 4-H experience for local homeschool youth

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

The Five State Fair recently wrapped up, and much of the fair’s fun is centered around the works of 4-H youth.

Fairs of the past featured two of Seward County’s most well-known 4-H groups, Wide Awake and Onery Otters, and recently, a new group joined the ranks of local youth in the organization.

What makes the Heritage 4-H Club unique, though, is the youth from the group, as well as the leaders, are homeschool students and parents.

Sen. Moran joins colleagues in introducing bill to modernize weather radio emergency alerts

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The need for up-to-date emergency weather information cannot be understated and recently, some new legislation was introduced to help with just that.

Monday, Sen. Jerry Moran joined Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in introducing the NOAA Weather Modernization Act, which would modernize weather radio equipment to enhance the reliability of emergency communications during severe weather and bolster the nationwide accessibility of critical warnings. This legislation is also cosponsored by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), according to a release from Moran’s office.

Governor Kelly announces Kansas Office of Early Childhood implementation team

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The Kansas Office of Early Childhood has been in the works for a while, and as of Tuesday, there is officially an implementation team in place.

Tuesday, Gov. Laura Kelly announced the appointment of an interagency transition team and transition director to oversee the implementation of House Bill 2045, which consolidates early childhood services and programs in the state into the Kansas Office of Early Childhood.

County accident sends South Dakota man to SWMC

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

A South Dakota man was taken to Southwest Medical Center after an accident Friday afternoon in eastern Seward County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, a 2022 International MV607 was westbound on U.S. Highway 54 about six miles east of Liberal.

KHP said the vehicle drifted into the westbound ditch on the north side of the highway, overcorrected attempting to return to the roadway and rolled over onto its passenger side, coming to rest partially on the shoulder and ditch.

The driver, 39-year-old Mitchelle Wayne Bailey of Watertown, S.D., suffered a suspected serious injury and was taken to SWMC. KHP said he was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident.