Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Tourism on the Rise in Fort Scott

Tourism is the act of spending time away from home in pursuit of recreation, relaxation, and pleasure, while using commercial services, according to Britannica Dictionary. Local tourism is looking healthy as evidenced by the transient guest tax from 2015 through 2022, which just completed its first quarter, Jackson Tough, Fort Scott’s Public Relations and Tourism Director said. “Transient guest tax is probably the most common form of raising funds to promote tourism in a given community,” Tough said. “It’s simply a tax on hotel/motel rooms that visitors pay when they stay in Fort Scott.”
Source: Fort Scott Biz

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:04:00-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Residents push back on Shawnee’s controversial ‘co-living’ restrictions

Shawnee resident Val French said she first learned about the city’s controversial co-living restrictions by scrolling through Twitter. She said she was upset. She didn’t get a direct notice from the city or her councilmember and was concerned her housing would soon be in jeopardy. French currently lives with her blended family of five, including herself, her husband, her son, her stepson and her son’s girlfriend, who are all over 18. The recently passed ordinance states that “co-living” is defined as four or more “unrelated” people living together. It also states that if one person in a group is unrelated to another adult, the entire group will be considered unrelated.
Source: KC Star Local News

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:04:49-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Concerns expressed for firefighters in Sedgwick County budget hearing

Employee retention and competitive wages were some of the common themes at Monday’s Sedgwick County budget hearings. Commissioners will determine next year’s budget for all county departments. Emergency Communications, EMS, Fire District 1, Regional Forensic Science Center, Emergency Management, Corrections and MABCD gave budget presentations Monday afternoon. The head of RFSC testified that it’s struggling to meet accreditation requirements and said 50% of its staff leave every two years. RFSC also reported that deaths in Sedgwick County are increasing, pointing to a rise in drug overdoses, specifically Fentanyl overdoses.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:09:29-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Inman passes $5M sports complex bond

On Monday, Inman Schools revealed that the $5 million bond that would help the town of Inman improve its sports complex passed by a vote of 387 to 381. On May 3, voters in Inman were presented with the following question: “Shall Unified School District No. 448, McPherson County, Kansas (Inman), issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $5,000,000 …” That night, the bond initially failed by two votes, but 16 votes were still being “investigated.”
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:06:48-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Study: Remote learning a ‘primary driver’ of widening achievement gaps

A new working paper analyzed testing data from 2.1 million students in 49 states plus D.C. and found that “remote instruction was a primary driver of widening achievement gaps.” The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research, and NWEA, a nonprofit research and educational services provider, collaborated to write “The Consequences of Remote and Hybrid Instruction During the Pandemic.” The paper follows mounting research that pivoting to remote learning harmed students’ mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while annual learning assessments displayed suffering reading and math grades.
Source: Parsons Sun

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:04:15-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Sedgwick County Had Siren Silent Spots

Sedgwick County officials acknowledge that some residents living in rural areas likely did not hear sirens going off before an EF-3 tornado roared through parts of the Kansas county April 29th. While much of the attention after the storm focused on heavily populated Andover, rural areas close to the city and in Butler County also sustained significant damage from a tornado that was on the ground for nearly 13 miles. Some residents there say they did not hear sirens before the tornado hit. Sedgwick County Emergency Management Director Julie Stimson stressed that the sirens were never intended to warn people inside their home or other structures.
Source: WIBW News Now

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:03:02-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Johnson County Planning Commission to take up solar farm regulations for a 10th time

The Johnson County Planning Commission has spent more than a year working on regulations for commercial solar facilities. On Tuesday, it will take up the contentious issue again — this time with firm marching orders from county commissioners to make proposed regulations less onerous. The debate on regulations for large and utility-scale solar facilities started in September 2020, when NextEra Energy Resources LLC put forward plans for a $450 million, 320-megawatt solar farm on 1,600-2,500 acres west of Gardner. In addition to solar panels, the NextEra project would include battery storage. County staff worked with Virginia-based Berkeley Group to look at best practices for regulation of utility-scale solar in other areas of the country.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:08:07-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

10-year Treasury yield rises to its highest level since November 2018

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit 3.17% on Monday morning, as investor focus remained on inflation and economic slowdown concerns. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed 4 basis points to 3.1726% at 4 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond moved 4 basis points higher to 3.2659%. The 10-year rate reached the 3% mark at the beginning of last week, for the first time since 2018, and had hit 3.14% by Friday. The Federal Reserve announced a 50-basis-point interest rate hike on Wednesday but the central bank’s efforts to combat rising inflation with more aggressive rate raises has also sparked concerns that this could potentially drag on economic growth. Investor focus this week will be on April inflation data, due out on Wednesday.
Source: Bonds

Ranson Financial2022-05-09T07:32:39-05:00May 9, 2022|News|

As trail project moves forward in Baldwin City, officials seek $20M grant for another one that would run to Ottawa

A multi-use trail project along more than three blocks of Midland Railway tracks will soon be moving forward in Baldwin City, and city officials will also be seeking $20 million in grants for a project that would link the city with a 51-mile trail that connects Ottawa and Iola. On Friday, Baldwin City Administrator Glenn Rodden said the Kansas Department of Transportation would soon be starting the bidding process for construction of a concrete multi-use trail on the east side of the Midland tracks. The trail will be 8 feet wide and will run from the existing multi-use trail on Elm Street to the old Santa Fe Depot just south of High Street. KDOT approved the city’s grant application for the trail two years ago. The bidding process will take place in the summer or early fall, Rodden said, and KDOT will then decide whether the trail will be constructed this year or in the spring of 2023.
Source: LJWorld.com

Ranson Financial2022-05-09T07:22:22-05:00May 9, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for May 6, 2022

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Ranson Financial2022-05-08T20:52:10-05:00May 8, 2022|News|

About Ranson Financial

Tourism on the Rise in Fort Scott

Residents push back on Shawnee’s controversial ‘co-living’ restrictions

Concerns expressed for firefighters in Sedgwick County budget hearing

Inman passes $5M sports complex bond

Study: Remote learning a ‘primary driver’ of widening achievement gaps

Sedgwick County Had Siren Silent Spots

Johnson County Planning Commission to take up solar farm regulations for a 10th time

10-year Treasury yield rises to its highest level since November 2018

As trail project moves forward in Baldwin City, officials seek $20M grant for another one that would run to Ottawa

Municipal Bond Trends for May 6, 2022

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