info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Counties press for expanded use of pandemic funds

info2022-02-15T07:21:09-06:00February 15th, 2022|

County leaders should keep the heat on the House to pass a bill that allows for more flexibility with pandemic relief funds. That was the message Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn delivered Monday to the National Association of Counties during its 2022 legislative conference in Washington. Cornyn is one of several D.C. lawmakers and officials to appear at the conference, with President Joe Biden set to speak Tuesday. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Monday to highlight ways that federal dollars in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can flow more quickly to counties. Source: The Bond [...]

Total crimes in Paola dropped substantially in 2021

info2022-02-15T07:20:21-06:00February 15th, 2022|

The Paola Police Department has released its year-end statistics for 2021, and the total reported criminal offenses decreased from 585 in 2020 to 421 in 2021. That’s a decrease of 28 percent in total crimes. The police department announced more good news in its year-end report, as the overall crime clearance rate increased from 69 to 77 percent, which is well above the national average. Source: Local News | republic-online.com

Hundreds of small Midwestern towns passed on federal COVID money rather than fight red tape

info2022-02-15T07:18:49-06:00February 15th, 2022|

The question caught Mark Gentert off guard. Had the village of Holstein, Nebraska, gotten its COVID relief money from the federal government yet? What COVID relief money? After all, it’s a town of just 200 people. “So I contacted my clerk and she said she hadn’t gotten the paperwork in and we lost our shot at it,” said Gentert, who was Holstein’s chairman at the time. “And I’m like ‘Oh, really?’” The town had missed out on a little over $42,000. It’s a problem many small towns ran into when the federal government offered almost $20 billion to small communities for [...]

Elkhart has Super Bowl watch party for Kansas coach

info2022-02-15T07:17:18-06:00February 15th, 2022|

Did you know that Darrin Simmons, the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, is from the small town of Elkhart, Kansas? Some Elkhart residents say the Cincinnati Bengals special teams coach had an amazing ride this year getting to the Super Bowl. "Sometimes, when people leave a small town, they tend to forget where they came from," said Mica Nave, as she organized a Super Bowl watch party in Elkhart on Sunday. "And this is one guy that, Elkhart is his home. He's proud to say that, and he's never forgotten where he came from." Source: [...]

No more overdue fines? Wichita Public Library board considers eliminating them

info2022-02-15T07:15:29-06:00February 15th, 2022|

Roughly 44,000 Wichita Public Library card-holders are blocked from checking out books because they owe more than $10 in fees. The library’s board of directors is considering a proposal that would do away with overdue fines on books and other items in a move aimed at making city libraries more equitable. Library Director Jaime Prothro said she thinks wiping out library debt, which has become a nationwide trend, would encourage wayward readers to revisit the library collection without stress or shame. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

How will Wichita recruit and select its next police chief? Community input promised

info2022-02-15T07:15:15-06:00February 15th, 2022|

Wichita City Manager Robert Layton is ultimately responsible for hiring the city’s next police chief. He already has basic ideal-candidate criteria in mind. But he says what the community wants will also shape his opinion. With current Police Chief Gordon Ramsay out on March 1, the city is gearing up to find his replacement. The last time Wichita searched for a police chief, in 2014, finding the right person for the job took over a year. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Lawrence school board consensus: No school closures this year

info2022-02-15T07:12:21-06:00February 15th, 2022|

The Lawrence school board, partway through a Monday evening budget work session, decided to take school closures off the table. Board members gave a general consensus that at this time, and with the school closures that have been proposed, no schools should be closed as soon as the 2022-23 school year. Though some board members said they might consider closures down the road, but not with the tight timeline in which they would need to make those decisions to go into effect for the fall. The district faces a $3.2 to $3.85 million budget shortfall. School district committee members, staff and board [...]

Fed’s Bullard says the central bank’s ‘credibility is on the line,’ needs to ‘front-load’ rate hikes

info2022-02-14T21:45:06-06:00February 14th, 2022|

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard made his case for a rapid move higher in interest rates, saying Monday that the central bank needs to react to accelerating inflation. “I do think we need to front-load more of our planned removal of accommodation than we would have previously. We’ve been surprised to the upside on inflation. This is a lot of inflation,” Bullard told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during a “Squawk Box” interview. “Our credibility is on the line here and we do have to react to the data,” he added. “However, I do think we can do it in a [...]

Broadband leaders tout initiatives, programs

info2022-02-14T21:39:50-06:00February 14th, 2022|

Kansas state broadband leaders say federal and state funding established last year to improve connectivity across the state helped support nearly 100 projects, and they are optimistic additional funds are on the way. During the pandemic, the SPARK task force earmarked $60 million in CARES Act funding for two broadband grant programs related to the pandemic response. Connectivity Emergency Response Grants totaling $50 million are funding a total of 65 projects across the state and 25 Broadband Partnership Adoption Grants totaling $10 million helped facilitate internet access for low-income households, defraying internet subscription costs, funded hot spots, and provided devices to [...]

Riley County appraiser analyst says home values up 7% from 2021

info2022-02-15T07:21:24-06:00February 14th, 2022|

A Riley County appraiser analyst says the average home valuation has increased more than 7% in the last year. Allen Todd spoke to Riley County commissioners on Monday to discuss the local real estate market. He told The Mercury the average valuation for existing single family homes in Riley County increased 7.21% between 2021 and 2022. He said the increase in Manhattan is 7.43%. Meanwhile, the average valuation for single-family homes in Riley County is $229,682. The average in Manhattan is $244,865. Source: themercury.com

About info