Planning to seek office this year? Election filing deadline is coming right up

If you’re interested in seeking a local elected office this year, you’re running out of time to make a decision.

The filing deadline for the November general election and the August primaries, if any are needed, is at noon on June 1.

Offices being filled this year include mayoral posts in Overland Park, De Soto, Edgerton, Fairway, Gardner, Lake Quivira, Merriam, Mission, Mission Hills, Mission Woods, Roeland Park, Spring Hill and Westwood Hills. Some council seats are up for grabs, too.

Also on the ballot are school boards throughout the county and the governing board of Johnson County Community College.

For a complete list of offices on the ballot, go to jocoelection.org/content/november-2-2021-general-election. For information on how to file, visit jocoelection.org/how-file.

Olathe to upgrade fire stations

The Olathe City Council has authorized a $1 million program to renovate its fire stations.

Among other things, the project will separate sleeping areas at three stations to provide privacy for staff members, regardless of their gender. All beds in those facilities — Stations 3, 4 and 6 — are now in a common bunkroom. The newest standard calls for individual sleeping rooms that can accommodate any ratio of male and female firefighters.

Other work will improve security at the stations, standardize a more reliable system for alerting fire crews to incoming calls and improve the system for protecting firefighters from harmful exhaust fumes.

The project will begin this year and be completed in 2022.

Prairie Village launches energy assistance

Prairie Village is offering grants of up to $2,500 to help residents make their homes more energy efficient.

The grants are available to one- and two-family residences where homeowners “go above and beyond what is currently required in our municipal code,” according to a memo to the City Council. The projects must cost at least $2,500, and the city will match 20% up to the $2,500 ceiling.

Eligible projects could include home energy audits, insulation, energy-efficient windows and doors, water heaters or heating and cooling systems — as well as solar, wind or geothermal installations.

The city has allocated $20,000 to the program this year. Residents must apply for funding and receive approval before the work begins.

National honor for Lenexa police

The Lenexa Police Department is the first municipal agency in the country to earn national certification for its effort to meet the needs of people with mental illness.

The department’s Crisis Intervention Team program earned gold-level certification this year from CIT International.

“Our personnel are trained to recognize when a person may be in crisis and divert them away from the criminal justice system,” Police Capt. Wade Borchers, who oversees the program, said in a news release.

“Through this recognition and diversion, it gives those in crisis the opportunity to heal and recover through treatment. This fosters the best possible outcome for all of those involved.”

Lenexa police have been part of CIT since 2005, and more than half of the department has completed crisis intervention training. CIT International recommends that agencies reach at least the 20% level.

The gold-level certification is the third-highest of four levels.

“We received good feedback and are examining it to see what we can do better,” Borchers said by email.

The top level will be difficult to achieve, he added, because of how Lenexa fits into the county’s response system.

“For example, we do not have a robust crisis stabilization center,” Borchers said. “Our stabilization center at Rainbow Services Inc. is working towards offering more services, and things like that will help.”

KC SuperStar announces top singers

Twenty-two semifinalists are still in the running for scholarships offered by this year’s KC SuperStar competition for high school vocalists.

They were chosen after virtual auditions, and will perform virtually starting at 7 p.m. June 23.

The public can watch that performance and help select the 10 finalists by casting votes, no more than once a day, between June 12 and June 20. Music industry professionals serving as judges also will have a say in the selections.

The championship performances will be Aug. 22.

The semifinalists:

▪ Blue Springs School District: Vaysia Knust.

▪ Blue Valley School District: Claire Anderson, Abby Augustine and Emma-Kate Salin.

▪ De Soto School District: Bryson Kendall.

▪ Kansas City, Kan., School District: Celeste Bishop and Jasmine Dupree.

▪ Leavenworth School District: Daysia Reneau.

▪ Lee’s Summit School District: Elaine Watson.

▪ Liberty School District: Reyna Myvett.

▪ Olathe School District: Leah Abai, Sydney Elmore, Willa Walberg and Kloe Wagner.

▪ Park Hill School District: Jack Blackburn.

▪ Piper School District: Maddie Lamb.

▪ Shawnee Mission School District: Brooke Mertz.

▪ Private/parochial/charter schools: Annie Harsch of Summit Christian Academy, Darcie Hingula of St. Teresa’s Academy, Janelle Moreno of Kansas City Academy, Cara Parisi of Bishop Miege High School and Gioia Serra of Notre Dame de Sion High School.

Olathe jazz ensemble reaches finals

The Olathe Northwest High School Raven Jazz I ensemble is among 15 groups nationwide chosen for the 2021 Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Festival.

The 26th annual event will be virtual on June 4-5, and Olathe Northwest is only the second Kansas high school to be named a finalist, according to Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The Essentially Ellington program strives to make Duke Ellington’s music accessible to high school musicians and support their schools’ music programs. Sixty-six schools submitted recordings of their performances for judging.

Each of the 15 selected ensembles will receive a workshop led by a professional musician.

“In spite of such an atypical year, these band members have found new ways to reach higher. They have been persistent in spite of challenges and changes,” Olathe Northwest band director Robert Davis said in a news release.

Career/tech students honored

Several Johnson County schools are represented in the list of 50 Kansas high school seniors who have been named 2021 Kansas Career and Technical Education Scholars.

The designation, announced by the Kansas State Department of Education, recognizes students for their community service, workplace experience and technical skill achievement. Applicants also write a short statement outlining their career vision and plans for the future.

This year’s scholars from Johnson County schools:

▪ Gardner Edgerton HIgh School: Kaden Armstrong.

▪ Olathe South High School: Mychael Britt, Cooper Dady, Boston Randall and Ethan Ross.

▪ Olathe West High School: Autumn Hughey.

▪ Olathe Northwest High School: Gavin Kennedy.

▪ Olathe North High School: Emilee Peet.