KS - Cinco de Mayo 2025

First-Time Homeowner at 60: Local Nonprofit Makes Dream Affordable Amid Funding Hurdles

Kansas Construction Costs Climb: Tariffs Hit Hardware, Steel Despite Stable Lumber Prices

Drought Forces First Cedar Bluff Water Release in Over a Decade to Aid Hays, Russell

Virus Outbreak Threatens Kansas Wheat: Farmers Face Potential Total Losses from Mosaic Diseases

Topeka Scarecrows Set for October Debut as City Welcomes Return of Pro Hockey Franchise

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First-Time Homeowner at 60: Local Nonprofit Makes Dream Affordable Amid Funding Hurdles

When Greg Thompson’s home was being built, he stopped by the construction site so much that some began calling him “the superintendent.” Often, Thompson peppered the construction crew with questions. “I was always … asking the builder, ‘And what’s that there?’” Thompson said. “‘Yeah, that ain’t big enough for a room.’ “That’s actually – they filled that in. And that’s my front porch.” His palpable excitement stemmed from years spent doing construction work – and the fact that, in his 60s, this would be Thompson’s first time buying a home. The nonprofit HOPE Community Development Corporation built and sold the home to Thompson for $105,000, about $75,000 less than it cost to build. The Rev. Kevass Harding – a pastor at Dellrose United Methodist Church – established HOPE in 2017. Thompson’s home, the nonprofit’s first house, didn’t get built and sold until 2023. HOPE built two more in 2024. Harding says securing construction loans from banks as a small nonprofit is a major challenge to scaling up.

Kansas.com

Kansas Construction Costs Climb: Tariffs Hit Hardware, Steel Despite Stable Lumber Prices

TOPEKA — Building a new house in today’s market doesn’t yet mean extra dollars for lumber or manufactured wood products, but Kansas building supply managers warn that tariffs have driven up other construction costs. While on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian timber are currently off, Kansans should prepare to pay more for just about everything else in the house, they said. “You take the hardware and the millwork portion of our business, and we’re getting daily price increases because a lot of that product is imported from China, some from South America,” said Jay Robinson, manager of Wichita’s Mill Creek Lumber and Supply Co. “The import steel business has been affected. It’s up about 15 to 18% over the last 45 days, and we’re getting pretty much daily price updates. Fasteners, nails, screws, products for building connectors, have all seen 20 to 25% price increases.” Hardware, like doorknobs and door hinges, is up 20 to 25%, he said.

Kansas Reflector

Drought Forces First Cedar Bluff Water Release in Over a Decade to Aid Hays, Russell

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - On Monday, the Kansas Water Office opened the gates at Cedar Bluff Reservoir to release water. The release will recharge groundwater in the Smoky Hill River, which is a portion of water that the towns of Hays and Russell rely on. The gates at the reservoir have not opened for the two municipalities since 2013. Toby Dougherty, the City Manager in Hays, said the water will get the streambed wet so that when that area receives rain, Hays and Russell can use the water rather than it soaking up the ground.

KWCH

Virus Outbreak Threatens Kansas Wheat: Farmers Face Potential Total Losses from Mosaic Diseases

If being $2 a bushel below cost of production isn’t enough, now Kansas wheat farmers have what could be a very serious disease problem on their hands with wheat streak mosaic as well as Triticum mosaic virus. In worst cases, entire fields may be lost. Dennis McNinch who farms in northern Ness County says his Whistler variety is really being clobbered and may not be worth cutting. He was going to have the field sprayed with a fungicide for leaf rust, but cancelled the order because of the viral disease that is just now starting to show up. He points out that there is probably a very strong difference between varieties in their resistance. “I’ve got the new KS Bill Snyder planted right beside the Whistler and it looks green as Ireland.” Here on our farm in Lane County, I’ve seen fields that are solid yellow. I’d say those fields are going to be a total loss. In addition, I talked to a farmer in western Scott County, and he was also reporting a lot of wheat streak mosaic. As we all know, once the plant is infected with the virus, there is nothing you can—there is nothing you can spray on the crop like a fungicide. And the penalty can be severe—it can range from a mild 10% loss on up to the entire crop. Too, the infections frequently occurred last fall when the wheat curl mite moved from neighboring fields of volunteer wheat to the newly planted crop. Often the symptoms don’t show up until the spring. The virus is easily controlled by simply killing volunteer wheat back in the fall. But some farmers don’t do that. Kansas State University southwestern Kansas agronomist Logan Simon, Garden City, has been getting a lot of calls about the disease. “We’re seeing it as far east as Kingman County in southcentral Kansas and from there all the way to Colorado.”

HPJ

Topeka Scarecrows Set for October Debut as City Welcomes Return of Pro Hockey Franchise

TOPEKA — With each passing month, professional hockey is nearing a return to Topeka. Monday marked another milestone for the new franchise that will begin play this fall. In a press conference, the franchise announced the new team name: Topeka Scarecrows. In fact, it’s far from new, but an ode to the past. The Scarecrows debuted as the first Topeka professional hockey team in 1998. The team played in the Central Hockey League for three years. This time, the Scarecrows will compete in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. The season begins for the Topeka Scarecrows on Oct. 17.

CJOnline

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Sources

1. https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article304947606.html?tbref=hp
2. https://kansasreflector.com/2025/05/05/kansas-builders-face-uncertain-prices-as-u-s-and-canada-keep-flexing-their-muscles-on-tariffs/
3. https://www.kwch.com/2025/05/05/severe-drought-forces-first-opening-cedar-bluffs-reservoir-gates-over-decade/
4. https://hpj.com/2025/05/05/kansas-west-central-wheat-crop-faces-disease-challenge/
5. https://www.cjonline.com/story/sports/2025/05/05/the-new-topeka-fphl-hockey-franchise-releases-team-name/83456117007/