Before the year winds to an end, we want to give a very special shout-out to Eudora machinist Wayne Neis who fixed the Courthouse clock!

County Commissioners approved a map for five districts during their Dec. 21 meeting. They also will recommend waiting until the 2024 general election for election of the two new Commission districts. They will send their recommendation to Governor Laura Kelly. 

• Click here for a downloadable copy of the map along with maps by district with precincts.

Douglas County Commissioners will discuss a map option for five districts during their next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 5:30 p.m. in the County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., on the second floor in the Commission meeting room. The meeting also is available by Zoom. Meeting information is posted here: http://dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings. There will be an opportunity to hear from the public during the meeting.

Engage Douglas County received the Coalition of Excellence Award for Coalition in Focus from CADCA, the nation’s leading substance use and misuse prevention organization. The Coalition of Excellence award is part of CADCA’s Got Outcomes! award program, which gives national recognition to exemplary coalitions that have clearly documented their impact on population-level substance abuse outcomes. Engage Douglas County will receive this prestigious award on Feb. 2 during CADCA’s 2023 National Leadership Forum at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Douglas County Commissioners will continue their discussion about map options and the process for moving to five Commission Districts during their Wednesday, Dec. 14, meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., on the second floor in the Commission meeting room. The meeting also is available by Zoom. Meeting information is posted here: http://dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.

Douglas County Commissioners will discuss map options and the process for moving to five Commission Districts at their Dec. 7 meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the historic County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., on the second floor in the Commission meeting room. The meeting also is available by Zoom. Meeting information is posted here: http://dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings. There will be an opportunity to hear from the public on the five districts during the meeting.

The Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council was recently accepted into the National Network of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (NNCJCC) by the Justice Management Institute. Douglas County is among 12 new member jurisdictions, bringing the total number of councils represented in the network to 40.

Douglas County District Court Administrator Linda Koester-Vogelsang received the Culture of Health Award from WorkWell Douglas County during the LiveWell Douglas County annual celebration breakfast on Nov. 18 at the Cider Gallery. Linda leads the Douglas County District Court wellness program, and her team was recognized for their continued wellness efforts through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Douglas County Sustainability Office recently received a 2022 LiveWell Community Wellness Grant for the Common Ground 10th Anniversary Enhancement Project in the amount of $10,000.

The grant is funded by Douglas County Community Foundation in partnership with the Kansas Health Foundation.

In an effort to include diverse and equitable community input on the Climate Action Plan, Douglas County Sustainability is conducting targeted focus groups to gauge how community members throughout the county experience climate impacts. Input shared from these sessions combined with narrivatives of lived experiences collected by community members and survey data will guide policy and strategy recommendations in the Douglas County Climate Action Plan.

There will be a town hall meeting about the five Douglas County Commission districts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper St. 

The Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) is seeking the community’s input on potential areas of focus through a survey. The results will be used to help develop the next strategic plan.

The survey can be found here: http://dgcoks.org/cjccsurvey22, and it will close on Nov. 30.