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1 week ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
The Olathe Police Department is moving forward with plans to build a new police shooting range near Interstate 35 and 167th Street, after receiving the city council’s approval earlier this month. The Olathe City Council approved rezoning to make way for the new shooting range at its meeting on May 6. The vote was 6-0 with Councilmember Dean Vakas absent.
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1 week ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
Nancy Fry, 76, moved into the Crestone Senior Living facility shortly after it opened last May. It’s close to her family, she said, plus its appearance was well-kept and it offered activities to keep her busy. “They have a group that’s called short stories,” said Fry, of Olathe. “We all read like five stories that week and then we meet once a week to talk about the stories and that’s good.
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2 weeks ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
After 18 months of near-constant supervision, meetings, testing and check-ins, George Radee and Brandon Stevens are the first to graduate from Johnson County’s new adult drug treatment court. “I’m just ready for the future that I have and what I’ve built and the foundation that I have now to continue on,” Radee said.
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3 weeks ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
The city of Olathe is kicking off the summer with a new program to draw in families and visitors looking for things to do. The Olathe One Pass is a new addition to the city this year — allowing residents unlimited visits to the Olathe Community Center, Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm, the city’s pools and The Beach at Lake Olathe. The pass is active from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It costs:$260 for families of up to five members.
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1 month ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
David and Betty Matthews, both retirees, lived in Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner for two years. That was two years of filling their bathtub every other week for when the water would go out; two years of uncompleted maintenance requests; two years of never-ending problems and frustration. The Matthews are now two of roughly 200 Aspen Place residents who on Tuesday were given 48 hours to vacate their homes after the city condemned the complex.
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1 month ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
The city of Olathe is conducting a space needs study to plan for city staffing changes over the next decade. The Olathe City Council recently approved spending $191,000 on the space needs study for city employees, which will consider staffing changes and help the city plan for the next 10 years. As part of the deal, the city council agreed on March 18 to hire Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viet, Inc. — an architecture, design and planning firm.
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1 month ago | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
The Blue Valley School District has announced its next superintendent: Gillian Chapman, a former Shawnee Mission School District administrator who left Johnson County 10 years ago to lead a school district in Wyoming. The Blue Valley Board of Education’s decision, made in a special meeting Friday, comes after a months-long search to replace outgoing Superintendent Tonya Merrigan, who announced her plans to retire this summer at the end of the current school year.
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Feb 20, 2025 | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
Blue Valley Schools is adding a dozen social workers to its schools, the latest step in the district’s years-long efforts to address student mental health. The Blue Valley Board of Education last week approved adding 12 bachelor’s-level social workers to 12 schools in the district, under the Kansas Mental Health Intervention Team grant.
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Feb 14, 2025 | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
While it appeared Martha Stewart pulled some very impressive dance moves during her Skechers Super Bowl commercial, two professional dancers were behind those moves, including Olathe West graduate Kaden Potter. Both Potter and fellow dancer Brett Kessler were featured in the ad, with Stewart superimposed over their bodies. So while it looked like Stewart, the dancing was done by Potter and Kessler.
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Feb 11, 2025 | 
johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott
Two key sections of Lone Elm Road in Olathe are primed for major upgrades. The Olathe City Council voted 5-0 last month to approve spending more than $32 million on two separate projects along the thoroughfare. The projects include adding turn lanes on Lone Elm between 119th and Harold Streets and expanding Lone Elm between 159th and 167th Streets from two lanes to four. Councilmembers Kevin Gilmore and Matthew Schoonover were absent from the meeting on Jan. 21 when the vote as taken.
