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Consultants working on the city of Leavenworth’s First City Vision Zero Action Plan held an open house this week to provide information about the project and gather additional input.

For now, Leavenworth County commissioners appear to be moving forward with a tax increase for the county’s 2025 budget. But they still can reduce the budget before approving it later this month.

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It was a sunny Saturday for the Fall for Leavenworth Block Party that packed the streets with activities, food trucks and vendors for several blocks downtown. The party was the third such initiative by First City Creatives and the Leavenworth Antique Mall, 5th and Delaware, to block off some of the downtown streets for festivals.“Between the downtown shops and the vendors, there’s probably 100 places to shop down here right now,” said First City Creatives owner Cari Payer. The timing of Saturday’s festival serves as an early welcome for the newly arriving Fort Leavenworth families. “We have 1,200 new families coming from the post every year,” Payer said. “As a military spouse myself, I understand that you get orders and the first thing you do is Google ‘things to do in Leavenworth.’ So, this is giving them the opportunity to have the town put their best foot forward and walk around down here and see what we really have. If you get out in a fun, festive environment, then you’re more likely to come back.”Charlotte and Dennis Hepworth, who recently moved to Leavenworth from Kearney, Missouri, said the festival helped them get to know Leavenworth businesses better. “It’s a good way to get a feel for everybody,” she said. “I picked up a lot of cards to be prepared to buy gifts in the future. There’s just a lot more going on in Leavenworth.”Jessica Schnellbacher had a perspective as a member of the military.“I’m an Army person,” Schnellbacher said. “I’ve been moving for 20-plus years now. I know it can take eight months to a year before you feel settled enough to even think about things beyond your own home. So, things like this (festival) that kind of brings things all in one place, make things much more accessible – and make it fun – are much more of a draw for me than having to go find all that on my own.”Both shops and vendors benefitted from the crowd attracted to the festival. Hunter Duncan with the Bordner Home Improvement booth said attending festivals is a part of the company’s overall marketing strategy. “I think events like this always have great potential,” Duncan said. “Especially as they go on year after year and kind of accumulate traffic and attention through social media and other ways. It’s always interesting to see events as they grow and progress and get bigger. I think there’s a lot here.”