info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Shawnee library temporarily closes after potential termite found in materials

info2020-09-02T07:40:32-05:00September 2nd, 2020|

Johnson County Library temporarily closed its Shawnee branch Tuesday, after potentially finding a termite in returned materials. The book return is still open. “Termites love cellulose, whether in wood or paper, so they are a concern for libraries,” says Adam Wathen, Associate Director of System-Wide Services. “The last thing we want to do is send termites home with one of our patrons, so we’re taking an abundance of precaution in this situation.” The branch, located at 13811 Johnson Dr, will undergo an insect inspection and Library materials will be heat-treated. Pending the inspection’s results, the library plans to reopen Wednesday. Source: [...]

The Fed could be locked into zero rates for five years, or even longer

info2020-09-01T08:25:22-05:00September 1st, 2020|

Interest rates near zero likely will stay in place not for months but instead years as the Federal Reserve seeks to re-engineer an economy characterized by low inflation and an uneven labor market. Wall Street is prepping for a return to the post-financial crisis days, when rock-bottom short-term rates prevailed for seven years before the Fed even tried moving them higher. Fed officials have outlined a revised policy in which it now will target "average inflation," meaning a higher tolerance for inflation above 2% before hiking interest rates from current levels. In the past, the Fed would look to rate cuts [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for August 31, 2020

info2020-09-01T08:15:26-05:00September 1st, 2020|

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.

History revealed during demolition of Irene B. French Community Center in Merriam

info2020-09-01T08:14:36-05:00September 1st, 2020|

Construction workers found an unexpected treasure while knocking down the Irene B. French Community Center in Merriam. The oldest part of the building was a school dating to 1911, and workers found a time capsule inside the cornerstone placed that year. The contents included a “Laws Relating to the Common Schools of Kansas” pamphlet from 1909, a list of those present when the cornerstone was set, and the signatures of students and other Merriam residents, including descendants of the city’s founder, David Gee Campbell, who settled the area in 1864. (Merriam was originally called Campbellton but later renamed for a railroad [...]

State grants ’once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to boost broadband — if applicants win race against time

info2020-09-01T08:13:42-05:00September 1st, 2020|

Most rural hospitals have fallen on hard times — but not in Atchison. Atchison General Hospital has seen a growth in the number of patients it served in recent years, and the hospital has even been planning to grow, buying the assets of a shuttered facility in Horton. But there is at least one barrier still remaining, according to assistant city manager Justin Pregont: broadband internet connectivity. While the hospital, like the city itself, is served by AT&T and Vyve Broadband, they both use one set of cables. That means if there is an outage, both the hospital and Atchison residents [...]

Merriam resident group calls on city for traffic calming measures along Knox Avenue

info2020-09-01T08:11:29-05:00September 1st, 2020|

A group of Merriam residents last week asked the city to work alongside them for traffic calming measures along Knox Avenue between Johnson Drive and 55th Street. The group of residents submitted a letter for public comment during the Aug. 24 city council meeting to express frustration with speeding on Knox. The 14 residents acknowledged the city’s 2019 and 2020 speed and traffic studies, which came to the conclusion that not enough people were speeding to merit a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Knox Avenue and 57th Street. Source: Prairie Village Post

New partnership will give Crawford County inmates access to mental health services

info2020-09-01T08:10:32-05:00September 1st, 2020|

After noticing inmates in the Crawford County Jail weren’t getting adequate treatment for mental health issues and substance abuse, a new partnership was born. Crawford County Sheriff Danny Smith, said, “It’s vital that we address mental health.” Crawford County inmates will now have access to a mental health treatment program. Eric Thomason, Director of Behavioral Health Services, Community Health Center SE Kansas, said, “There’s a subset of populations that just aren’t getting adequate treatment and after meeting with Sheriff Smith, we recognized that the Crawford County jail population is one of them.” Source: KSNF/KODE

Suffering casinos: Kansas loses 20 million dollars in revenue and counting

info2020-09-01T08:10:02-05:00September 1st, 2020|

State-owned casinos in Kansas are losing out on millions of dollars because of the coronavirus pandemic. Compared to last year’s revenues, casinos are down more than 90 million dollars since the crisis began. Casinos closed in March and were shut down for all of April. They began reopening in late May. The state gets 22 percent of what a casino makes in revenue, which means Kansas has lost about 20 million dollars from casinos alone. That money could be spent on paying down debt and infrastructure improvements or to help reduce taxes. As the number of cases started to decrease in [...]

Skunked dogs have ruff day out, rescued from Bel Aire drain pipe

info2020-09-01T08:09:11-05:00September 1st, 2020|

Two dogs and a skunk spent part of their morning trapped in a drain pipe in Bel Aire on Monday. It happened at 9:45 a.m. The Bel Aire Police Department received a call notifying them there was a dog stuck inside of a drain pipe. “When officers and fire personnel got here they discovered that it was not only a dog, but a skunk,” said Bel Aire Police Chief, Darrell Atteberry. “We are guessing the dog chased the skunk into the drain hole and now they’re both stuck.” Chief Atteberry said the drain pipe is about 50 feet long and because [...]

$330M development planned on Schlitterbahn water park site

info2020-09-01T08:08:22-05:00September 1st, 2020|

Two former soccer club executives are hoping to help fund a planned $330 million redevelopment of the shuttered Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, with sales tax funds. Robb Heineman, Sporting KC’s former CEO, and Greg Cotton, its former chief operating officer, and chief counsel, have proposed building a multisport complex on the site, which was sold in June last year. Unified Government of Wyandotte County-Kansas City officials say the redevelopment would “remove (the) blight and political stigma” that has tainted the park since 2016 when a 10-year-old boy was decapitated while on a ride billed as the world’s tallest [...]

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