info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Kansas contemplating $200-$250 million overhaul of law enforcement training facility

info2021-05-25T07:23:50-05:00May 24th, 2021|

Proposed modernization of the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson at a cost of $200 million to $250 million would adhere to curriculum and instructional reforms necessary to prepare a new generation of public-safety officers, officials said. Implementation of a campus master plan — the first since the center was authorized in 1968 — would require approval of the Kansas Legislature. The anticipated price tag could lead the state to embrace a private-public partnership in which the infrastructure was financed and built by a private company and leased to the state for a period leading to acquisition. Source: Kansas Reflector

Kansas education funding hike, school choice eligibility expansion signed into law

info2021-05-25T07:24:20-05:00May 24th, 2021|

Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday commended a new bipartisan education law increasing education spending that fully funds Kansas education for the third year in a row while also expanding eligibility for private school scholarships. House Bill 2134, the product of negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers and the governor’s office, funds the state’s 286 local public school districts at an annual rate of $5.2 billion for the budget year beginning July 1. It also places restrictions on public schools’ use of remote instruction and directs local school boards to use federal COVID-19 aid to give district employees a $500 bonus, among [...]

WPD helps celebrate students moving on to middle school

info2021-05-25T07:27:27-05:00May 24th, 2021|

Over the weekend, four Wichita police officers joined a group of kids in celebrating a big milestone, graduating from the fifth grade. "I will never forget this day," said Kieamarion Burton, graduated from the fifth grade. The kids said they did not know the officers were going to be joining them. It was a pleasant surprise for all the grads. "I thought somebody was going to jail or something, but they said it was for our graduation," said Burton. Source: KSN-TV

Natoma residents and others in Osborne County must report flood damage by state’s June 8 deadline

info2021-05-25T07:27:29-05:00May 24th, 2021|

The State of Kansas says there is a deadline for people in Natoma and the rest of Osborne County to report flood damage. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management wants to hear from residents by Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Officials will submit the information and a request for assistance to the Small Business Administration which will make an eligibility determination for low-interest disaster loans. Osborne County residents who have flood damage should call 785-646-2522 or e-mail ng.ks.ksarng.list.kdem-damage-collection@mail.mil. Source: KSN-TV

McCue comes back to South Hutchinson

info2021-05-24T15:31:37-05:00May 24th, 2021|

New South Hutchinson City Manager Joseph Turner announced Monday that former city clerk Denise McCue is returning to South Hutchinson and will resume that role once again. McCue held that position for 18 years before resigning last year. She replaces Kara Neilsen who resigned this spring. ...Turner consulted with the governing body and devised a strategy to get McCue to come back. Under a new agreement the city clerk will no longer be an annual appointed position. Instead, McCue will now work under the terms of a three-year contract with severance package provisions and can only be terminated by the city [...]

Natoma residents continue cleanup after flooding

info2021-05-24T07:24:01-05:00May 24th, 2021|

It's been nearly a week since flooding devastated the town of Natoma in Osborne County. While residents have been cleaning up their homes since Monday, all of the damage from Sunday's floods have turned places such as the local park into a dumping ground for everything that has been destroyed. "It was devastating, really," Ronda Hitschman said, looking at her home. All of her salvageable belongings are in her front yard. "It's overwhelming. It's totally overwhelming." Hitschman and her family have been cleaning up their home since Monday, as have other Natoma residents. The locals say that things have been "chaotic" [...]

New Wichita loan program aims to support minority-, women-owned businesses in District 1

info2021-05-24T07:07:47-05:00May 24th, 2021|

The city of Wichita is rolling out a new program designed to bolster businesses in the city’s District 1 by providing short-term loans to minority- and women-owned businesses. The PROPEL program, which stands for Providing Resources & Opportunities for Proprietors, Entrepreneurs & Lenders, opens for applications Monday. The city will lend business owners up to $15,000 at 3% interest, and loans must be repaid within 36 months. The revolving fund will start as an $88,000 pool of money from District 1’s cut of the 2016 Hyatt Regency Wichita sale, when each district was awarded $1 million. Source: Wichita Eagle

Municipal Bond Trends for May 21, 2021

info2021-05-24T07:03:03-05:00May 24th, 2021|

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.

Economist: Why rises in bond yields should be only modest

info2021-05-24T06:58:35-05:00May 23rd, 2021|

The COVID-19 pandemic made it abundantly clear that central banks had the tools, and were willing to use them, to counter a dramatic fall-off in global economic activity. That economies and financial markets were able to find their footing so quickly after a few downright scary months in 2020 was in no small part because of monetary policy that kept bond markets liquid and borrowing terms super-easy. Now, as newly vaccinated individuals unleash their pent-up demand for goods and services on supplies that may initially struggle to keep up, questions naturally arise about resurgent inflation and interest rates, and what central [...]

Fed’s Daly says inflation pressures likely to ease in 2022

info2021-05-24T06:59:34-05:00May 23rd, 2021|

Factors pushing U.S. inflation higher are likely to ebb at the start of 2022, said Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly. “There’s just going to be a sequence of these temporary factors that are going to persist probably through the end of the year,” Daly said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg News. “They will start to roll off at the beginning of next year. How many of them will roll off or whether other bottlenecks will emerge as we start to get the economy back into shape and get back into recovery is hard to say.” Daly, [...]

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