Workers begin disassembling the ornaments and Christmas tree at Blue Earth Plaza in 69传媒, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. The display was up for a little longer than intended due to January69传媒檚 winter storm.
Workers begin disassembling the ornaments and Christmas tree at Blue Earth Plaza in 69传媒, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. The display was up for a little longer than intended due to January69传媒檚 winter storm.
MART co-founder and Army veteran Aaron Estabrook speaks during the organization69传媒檚 second annual block party in September 2024. Estabrook says the agency69传媒檚 board of directors will be seeking a development director to lead fundraising.
The executive director of the 69传媒 Area Resettlement Team is resigning amid federal funding freezes affecting refugee assistance.
Ana Mendonca said her last day as leader of the nonprofit organization will be Feb. 7. Virginia Rodriguez, the agency69传媒檚 program manager, will serve as interim executive director until the position can be filled permanently. Mendonca said she will continue to volunteer her time helping refugees resettle.
Mendonca told The Mercury she decided to resign after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January halting new refugee arrivals and suspending grant funding used to offset those arrivals. The Associated Press reported the order could affect more than 26,000 refugees and recipients of special immigrant visas.
The executive order creates a murky future for the nonprofit agency. Mendonca said MART volunteers have assisted 34 people for fiscal year 2025, but now they will go without any refugees for at least three months. Since the agency69传媒檚 creation in 2021, more than 200 people from Afghanistan and other countries have resettled in 69传媒 with MART volunteer assistance.
Mendonca was hired alongside Rodriguez in 2023 to manage the organization69传媒檚 operations and relieve the workload of MART69传媒檚 co-founders, U.S. Army veterans Fatima Jaghoori and Aaron Estabrook. Estabrook and Jaghoori founded the organization in fall 2021 to help fleeing Afghans settle into their new lives in 69传媒.
Mendonca said the agency is continuing 69传媒渂usiness as usual69传媒 in assisting refugees in the area. Estabrook wrote in a text message that the organization remains steadfast in its mission despite the funding freeze and Mendonca69传媒檚 resignation.
To offset the funding cuts, Estabrook wrote that he and the organization69传媒檚 board of directors will seek to contract with a development director to assist with fundraising. A scope of work will be drafted by mid-February, and then the board will accept applications from qualified candidates.
The Mercury recently reported that 69传媒 city commissioner Susan Adamchak, a MART volunteer, asked her colleagues during a commission retreat to consider ways to help protect immigrant families living in the community legally while abiding by the executive order. She did not offer any specific ideas.
Grace Smith (center) was recognized for her years of service to the county. She works in the appraiser69传媒檚 office. She69传媒檚 pictured with commissioners Dee McKee, Bill Drew, Terry Force and Merl Page.
Pottawatomie 69传媒 commissioners on Monday discussed a bill that would change the planning authority of cities.
Commissioner Dee McKee attended 69传媒 Government Day in Topeka on Jan. 22 and sat in on discussion concerning the extraterritorial planning authority of cities into counties. A Senate bill would repeal the 3-mile extraterritorial planning authority that now exists for cities.
69传媒淭here were lots of cities and counties there that had concerns about (extraterritorial expansion) happening with no vote,69传媒 McKee said. 69传媒淓ven long-range planning things, the planners coming across from the city and saying, 69传媒榃e own 3 miles and here is what you have to do or have to build,69传媒 and there69传媒檚 no vote. Some people, like in Emporia, couldn69传媒檛 sell their farms or couldn69传媒檛 do certain things. And they felt like there was no dialog and no recourse.69传媒
69传媒淚 guess I69传媒檓 a little confused on the extraterritorial issue,69传媒 said commissioner Merl Page, turning to county counselor John Page. 69传媒淐orrect me if I69传媒檓 wrong, John, but if the city wants to expand the extraterritorial, they can69传媒檛 do that without the county commission.69传媒
Watt nodded in agreement.
69传媒淪o, my point is, the county does have some control as to whether or not they will extend that extraterritorial,69传媒 Page said. 69传媒淪o, I69传媒檓 trying to wrap my head around the actual concern here. I guess my point is, extraterritorial is really up to us as a body.69传媒
He said he thinks there are already checks and balances in place.
69传媒淚 agree with you that we need to keep an eye on it, but quite frankly this body here has a lot of control on that extraterritorial moving forward.69传媒
69传媒淚 want you to be right,69传媒 McKee responded. 69传媒淚69传媒檒l give you an example. This one gets me. They have police. We have a sheriff that69传媒檚 legally to the county line. But the city pays 80 percent of the police in Riley 69传媒, so on our side we are paying Riley 69传媒 costs, and there69传媒檚 never been a negotiation on that.69传媒
69传媒淏ut that69传媒檚 not an extraterritorial issue,69传媒 said Page. 69传媒淓xtraterritorial is not the same as annexation. That69传媒檚 a whole separate issue as far as jurisdiction on emergency responses. Responses to jurisdictions are based on whether they are outside the city or inside the city. Period.69传媒
69传媒淚 do think it69传媒檚 something we need to monitor,69传媒 Page said. 69传媒淲e do need to keep an eye on it. But I do feel, unless they do a wholesale change, the county, this body, has a lot to say as far as the expansion of extraterritoriality.69传媒
COUNTY TREASURER
The county treasurer69传媒檚 office will meet with a new company this Thursday about potentially utilizing their services on tax foreclosure sales. In the past, tax foreclosures were handled by Watt. With Watt set to retire at the end of the month, the county needs to consider other options.
69传媒淭raditionally, county attorneys or county counselors did the tax foreclosure sales,69传媒 Watt said. 69传媒淚t was normally a year-long process, and one of the things that would be of interest to me is how (this company) would handle redemptions.69传媒
Watt said there is a statutory process where the land owners have the ability to redeem their property.
69传媒淭hey go into the Clerk of the District Court, they sign various forms, it69传媒檚 coordinated with the county treasurer. They pay the back taxes that are owed, and they are then removed from the tax foreclosure process,69传媒 he said.
In Watt69传媒檚 past experience, a majority of properties are redeemed and very few end up in a tax foreclosure sale. Therefore, he is curious to know how a company would collect their fees on properties that are redeemed prior to going on a sale.
The last tax foreclosure sale was in 2018, according to county treasurer Lisa Wright. She has compiled a rough list of approximately 180 properties that will possibly be included in the tax foreclosure sale process, although Wright believes there are probably duplicate entries that need to be removed.
SERVICE AWARD
Grace Smith was recognized by the county commission for her five years of service to the county. Smith works in the 69传媒 Appraiser69传媒檚 Office.
69传媒 Regional Airport reached new heights on passenger numbers last year.
Airport Director Brandon Keazer said 2024 set a new record for the number of enplanements at MHK. 69传媒69传媒檚 hub for air travel boasted 81,712 enplanements, a 5% increase from the former record in 2019, as well as 81,971 deplanements.
Increased regional passenger usage and enhanced marketing efforts were listed as some of the reasons for last year69传媒檚 rise. Because of an increase in aircraft size, he said American has also been able to offer improved air travel amenities, such as first class options, larger overhead bins, more seats and two on-board restrooms. Keazer also listed a new runway and the ease of use of 69传媒69传媒檚 terminal as driving factors for a record-setting year.
69传媒淎irports are considered the front door to a community, and having a beautiful terminal and a brand-new runway offers a great first impression for anyone visiting the community,69传媒 he said.
Though numbers are rising, Keazer stated the two main infrastructure projects for the airport are now behind them, and that 69传媒69传媒 Regional Airport is positioned well to handle the increase in passenger usage.69传媒
Keazer said he would like more residents to think of 69传媒 Regional Airport for their future travel plans and said American Airlines is adding capacity to the 2025 schedule, which he hopes will allow MHK to break the record again at the end of the year.
The 69传媒 Area Chamber of Commerce has launched a new website focused on regional growth.
Chamber officials discussed the site at the recent Regional Growth Summit, where officials presented data that showed 69传媒69传媒檚 economy is currently stagnant with little job growth, and a consultant shared a plan to turn it around.
Chamber president and CEO Jason Smith said Tuesday in a statement that demographic trends, troop movements and other factors have decreased the number of people at our two major cornerstones, Kansas State University and Fort Riley, since 2014.
69传媒淭he Chamber and our affiliates are committed to making growth a priority in 2025 and beyond,69传媒 Smith said in a statement. 69传媒淲e believe very strongly that if we don69传媒檛 turn around some of the trends impacting us today, we will see a drop in our community69传媒檚 quality of life and a continued decline in the economic opportunities for our children and grandchildren.69传媒
Consultant Matt Tarleton has made a strategy for economic growth. His recommendations centered on investment in economic development infrastructure including industrial sites, policies that incentivize desirable growth, process improvement for private investment, and increased partnerships with regional entities.
The new website, , is part of the strategy. The site shares the plan as well as resources and updates.
