JoCo Notes: New zero-fare bus route connects Lenexa to Mission

Welcome to a new week, Shawnee Mission!

☁️ Today’s forecast: Mostly cloudy but gradually sunnier throughout the day. High: 80. Low: 63.

🚨 Happening today

Starting Monday, a new zero-fare bus route will take riders from Lenexa City Center to downtown Mission.

Johnson County Transit says the new Route 487 will be the “first east-west connecting route between 75^th and 95^th streets.”

By design, it connects several local farmers’ markets — including those in Lenexa and downtown Overland Park — as well as other popular local destinations along the 87th Street corridor, like Central Resource Library.

The route ends at the Mission Transit Center on Johnson Drive in downtown Mission, where riders can connect to several other buses that take them to Kansas City, Missouri.

The new Route 487 is part of a recent expansion of services for the county bus system, funded by a $15.3 million allocation in federal funds approved by the county commission.

🗓 Public meetings Monday

• Prairie Village City Council, 6 p.m. [View agenda]
• Roeland Park City Council, 6 p.m [View agenda]
• USD 232 school board, 6 p.m. [View agenda]
• Leawood City Council, 7 p.m. [View agenda]
• Westwood Planning Commission, 7 p.m. [View agenda]
• Overland Park City Council, 7:30 p.m. [View agenda]
• Shawnee Planning Commission, 7:30 p.m. [View agenda]

🚀 Post’s top stories since Friday

1. 💵 5 to Try: Post readers’ best picks for cheap eats in JoCo
2. 3 teens arrested following reports of Lenexa car break-ins
3. KC’s Café Europa coming to Leawood under new name
4. Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy Baby close in near-empty Southglen shopping center
5. Local obituaries for Aug. 1-3

📰 Other local news

• Johnson County allocates fourth round of COVID relief money. The county commission cleared $3.68 million in federal coronavirus relief dollars to go towards several initiatives, including $500,000 to help some families pay their monthly utility bills. [JoCoGov.org]
• Hedge fund buys shares in floundering Yellow. Boston-based MFN Partners bought nearly 9.3 million shares in the struggling freight company’s stock, increasing its stake and becoming Yellow’s largest shareholder as it careens towards a potential bankruptcy. [Kansas City Business Journal]
• Overland Park Citizens Police Academy taking applications. The annual course put on by OPPD aims to educate residents about police procedures, including crime scene investigation and use of force policies. [Twitter]

📸 A thousand words

A lifetime of reading begins here. A nice moment, catching these two little ones getting their first library cards from Johnson County Library. Photo via Instagram.