info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Derby’s next plan for the future puts deeper emphasis on mixed-used development, walkability

info2020-10-09T08:00:45-05:00October 9th, 2020|

A 40-year comprehensive plan being developed by Derby city leaders takes input from residents gathered through community events and online engagement. It's a roadmap designed to help guide city decisions and policy, as well as a helpful tool for developers to find inspiration for growth. It replaces the last one adopted in 2006. "There's been a lot learned and a lot done in communities all over the country and really all over the world that we're learning from people's mistakes, capturing the best practices and trying to accomplish that here in Derby," city planner Scott Knebel said. Source: Wichita Business Journal

Gardner city council discusses, amends social media policy

info2020-10-09T08:00:02-05:00October 9th, 2020|

Gardner’s social media policy was amended by the council at their Oct. 5 council meeting. The changes to the policy give the city administrator and public information officer more authority to oversee social media for boards, commissions, committees, the city Council and mayor. ... Amended language to the policy includes allowing the city administrator or public information officer to contact an elected or appointed official requesting they stop commenting on a particular issue. Source: Gardner News

Wichita State releases 2021 employment forecasts for Kansas and Wichita

info2020-10-09T07:41:29-05:00October 8th, 2020|

Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development and Business Research has released updated employment forecasts for Kansas, Wichita, Topeka, and Kansas City. Total employment in Kansas increased to 1,423,200 workers in 2019, with 0.5% growth, as unemployment declined 3.2%, its lowest level since 1978. Nine consecutive years of declines in unemployment ended in the second quarter of 2020, as employment fell 8% in the second quarter of 2020. This was the single largest one-quarter drop in state history, with a reduction in employment of more than 113,000 workers. Source: KSN-TV

City of Wichita conducts pilot program for new scooters

info2020-10-09T07:45:36-05:00October 8th, 2020|

With Zagster’s departure from Wichita earlier this year, Wichita lost its orange Spin scooters along with its bike ride share program. VeoRide scooters remain, and now there’s a second option for scooter fans through a new pilot program with Santa Monica-based Bird scooters. “There was a new opportunity in the market,” spokeswoman Jasmine Wallsmith said. Source: Carrie Rengers: Business Columns & Blogs |

Renowned architect Moshe Safdie remembers Exploration Place as ‘a seminal project’

info2020-10-09T07:41:43-05:00October 8th, 2020|

World-renowned architect Moshe Safdie probably could be forgiven if he didn’t remember many details of his time in Wichita designing Exploration Place two decades ago. After all, the 82-year-old has gone on to do acclaimed, massive international projects in many more exotic places, such as Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport and its Marina Bay Sands development, Brazil’s Albert Einstein Education and Research Center and Israel’s Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Still, Safdie not only has what he called vivid memories of his time in Wichita, he regularly checks back on Exploration Place. Source: Carrie Rengers: Business Columns & Blogs |

Shawnee County makes $93,000 investment in mail-in ballot equipment

info2020-10-09T07:41:57-05:00October 8th, 2020|

Shawnee County Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a ballot sorting machine and scanner to aid the elections office with the "record number" of mail-in ballot requests. Election commissioner Andrew Howell said at the Oct. 8 county commissioners meeting, 701 N. Kansas Ave., the county already received over 20,000 requests for mail in ballots, which is a sharp increase from the 8,000 requests in 2016. Howell said the sorting machine will increase the efficiency of ballot sorting, and the scanner will help the county match signatures on ballots with election office records. If any signature is not similar, election office staff [...]

Saint Luke’s to close community hospitals in Overland Park

info2020-10-09T07:42:05-05:00October 8th, 2020|

Saint Luke’s Health System says it will close its two community hospitals in Overland Park at the end of the year. Both hospitals opened just a couple of years ago. The health system, which took over management of Allen County Regional Hospital in Iola in July, said declining patient volumes were behind the decision. “Overall, our community hospital model has performed remarkably well and has allowed us to effectively expand access in a critical segment of our market,” Bobby Olm-Shipman, CEO of Saint Luke’s South and East, said in a statement. Source: The Iola Register

South central Kansas could provide new Space Command headquarters

info2020-10-09T07:42:30-05:00October 8th, 2020|

At the start of September, four Kansas cities were announced as potential sites for the new U.S. Space Command headquarters – with Derby and Wichita among that short list. The U.S. Air Force announced its search for a new location for Space Command – currently operating out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. – back in May, distributing screening information to governors across the country. Criteria in order to be considered included being within the top 150 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., being within 25 miles of a military base and scoring at least 50 points (out [...]

After repeated warnings, Topeka police make camping violation arrest

info2020-10-09T07:42:49-05:00October 8th, 2020|

Topeka police on Wednesday arrested a man they said repeatedly refused to stop violating a city ordinance by camping beneath the Interstate 470 overpass that crosses over Wanamaker Road, where he was blocking the sidewalk. Eugene Frank Richardson, 63, was being held on a $500 bond Thursday after being booked at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday into the Shawnee County Jail in connection with unlawful camping in public infrastructure, according to jail records. The arrest came in connection with an alleged violation of an ordinance Topeka’s mayor and city council approved last December banning camping in some locations. Source: Local News | Topeka [...]

Casino in Park City moves forward with construction

info2020-10-09T07:43:29-05:00October 8th, 2020|

Construction for a casino in Park City is right on schedule. ...managers expect to open in mid-January. The Wyandotte Nation purchased the land of about 100 acres nearly 30 years ago. Some people in Park City tell us the opening of Crosswinds Casino could not have come at a better time. “I do think it would bring in some money and give a lot of jobs which this town needs bad,” says Debra Cimmiyotti, Park City resident. Source: KAKE - News

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