“Now that it's rainin' more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
Ella-ella, ayy, ayy, ayy”

“It's so much better, When everyone is in, are you in?”

“I would encourage us to communicate with our federal representatives about this,” Heley said. “I’m sure there’s others in the metro who are impacted as well.”

Last week at the public safety committee, Councilmember Heley encouraged city staff to keep working with members of the congressional delegation to come to a resolution on some of the confusion that stems from the freezes and other changes at the federal level, including layoffs and restructuring.

“It just seems wild to me that there was training that was canceled basically 24 hours or one business day before it was supposed to happen,” said Councilmember Heley.

Overland Park has regularly sent firefighters and officers to trainings put on by the academy. The Trump Administration has enacted job cuts at the academy, which is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

As for the National Fire Academy training cancellations, some firefighters and other city fire department employees got next to no notice that the training they planned to attend sometime earlier this month at the national headquarters in Maryland was off.

“I’m not sure anybody views that as efficient or effective government,” Heley said, specifically referencing a last-minute cancellation of National Fire Academy training that Overland Park fire officials had planned to attend.

Avian Flu is a major contributing factor too www.axios.com/2025/01/03/e...

“When you’re responsible for that ongoing operational cost you wanna make sure it’s built right the first time,” said Heley.

After the 2024 market season, the City will remove the pavilion to make way for a new market building and downtown gathering space, set to open in spring 2026. The Farmers’ Market will operate at Matt Ross Community Center for the 2025 season.

During the event, attendees wrote farewell messages on the pavilion, creating a lasting tribute to this cherished space. The pavilion will be donated to Garnett, Kansas, where it will continue to serve as a farmers’ market structure.

It's not a quick fix, but a good way to make progress over time until a higher authority pays for a speedier solution.

My suggestion has been to bury overhead wires when our city does those neighborhood projects. It would be great if the state and federal governments and utilities would help us pay for it.