Kansas Town Moves Meetings Virtual, Ends Public Comment Amid Data Center Outcry
404 Media · rss · 2026-08-07
The city of Emporia, Kansas, has moved its commission meetings online and eliminated public comment periods in the name of "public safety" following intense controversy over a proposed 1,000-acre gigawatt data center. This decision follows a previous incident where a resident was arrested for clapping during a meeting.
City officials cited death threats as the reason for the shift. Frustrated residents gathered to protest the lack of transparency. During the recent virtual meeting, the commission voted unanimously to send a petition aiming to ban high-impact data centers to a judge, seeking an outside legal decision to avoid potential lawsuits.
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