Happy Thursday, Blue Valley!
☀️Today’s forecast: Mostly sunny. High: 57. Low: 37.
🚨 One thing to know
Overland Park residents can now have more native plants that have long been considered weeds in their gardens and yards.
On Monday, the Overland Park City Council voted 11-0 to update the city’s weed and vegetation enforcement. Councilmember Sam Passer was absent from the meeting.
Under the new rules, residents can plant flora like milkweed, which was previously on the city’s list of noxious weeds, and blue sage, which are encouraged in what Overland Park’s Sustainability Manager Lara Isch calls “planned sustainable landscapes.”
Native plants are species that are naturally adapted to an ecosystem. These plants don’t need fertilizer and require less general care than nonnative plants. Such plants once thrived in northeast Kansas but became less prevalent as suburbanized landscapes favored more uniform grass lawns.
Read more about what this change means here.
🗓 Public meetings Thursday
- Johnson County Board of County Commissioners at 9:30 a.m. [agenda]
- Roeland Park Public Works Committee Meeting at 12 p.m. [agenda]
- Johnson County Library Board Meeting at 4 p.m. [agenda]
- Overland Park Environmental Advisory Council at 6 p.m. [agenda]
- Westwood City Council at 7 p.m. [agenda]
🚀 Post’s top Wednesday stories
- ‘A+ Team’ sweeps to victory in Blue Valley school board seats
- 5 big takeaways from local 2023 elections in Johnson County
- Marc Elkins defeats Steve Hentzen to become Leawood’s next mayor
- JoCo Notes: Olathe North athlete charged with criminal threat
- Three Overland Park incumbents out as local elections shake up city council
📸 A thousand words
The leaves are turning at Overland Park’s Strang Park near 88th Street and Farley Street. Photo credit Kaylie McLaughlin.
