Signs of the times: Kansas using turnpike banners to lure out-of-staters to its rural 'opportunity zones'

Kansas really wants people to relocate to its rural areas. Signs that read "Live tax free in Kansas" and "Let Kansas pay your student loans" have been placed on overpasses in clear view of motorists driving the busy Kansas Turnpike between Topeka and Wichita to promote Rural Opportunity Zones that offer income-tax waivers for up to five years and student loan payments up to $15,000 for out-of-staters who move to designated rural counties, Tim Carpenter reports for The Topeka-Capital Journal. (Photo submitted to Capital Journal)

The list of counties participating in the three-year-old program will increase to 77 next month. So far, the program has approved 800 applicants, with 250 more pending. (Read more)