info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

12 ways to celebrate Wichita’s 150th birthday

info2020-07-17T09:18:02-05:00July 17th, 2020|

It’s not the sesquicentennial celebration many people and organizations envisioned, but even a global pandemic can’t stop the city of Wichita and Sedgwick County from turning 150 years old. Tuesday, July 21 is the city’s official birthday while the county first elected officials earlier in 1870. There is one toned-down event that survived restrictions on gatherings intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 along with several date-specific activities still on the calendar to celebrate the 150th. There also are other ways to commemorate the milestone when and how you’re comfortable. (Read more: Local News | Wichita Eagle)

Parsons seeks more businesses to apply for COVID-19 grants

info2020-07-17T09:17:40-05:00July 17th, 2020|

City officials hope that a deadline extension will spur more businesses to apply for COVID-19 relief grants. Labette County and the city of Parsons received $132,000 each in a special disbursement of Community Development Block Grant funding. The county also has about $67,000 left from a 1999 business loan program that will be added to the grants. The money is allocated for reimbursement of expenses to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 50 businesses expressed interest in receiving grant money, but only 18 qualified businesses had applied before the July 8 deadline, Laura Moore, community development director, said. Eleven others [...]

Erie moves to buy the town’s only grocery store

info2020-07-17T09:17:00-05:00July 17th, 2020|

The city of Erie is moving forward with the purchase of the town’s only grocery store. ... The city has been considering the possible acquisition of the store since last summer after the Mahurins introduced the proposal. The Mahurins haven’t been able to find a buyer for the store, and the council wants to prevent the store from closing. An economic development committee negotiated a deal with the Mahurins to pay the couple $300,000 for the building and fixtures, plus inventory value at the time of the sale and 0.5% of gross sales for 10 years. (Read more: Parsons Sun)

Local Leaders Racing Against the Economic Impact of COVID

info2020-07-17T09:15:52-05:00July 17th, 2020|

Like Mayor Panto’s municipality, 74% of municipalities in the United States have already been forced to make unavoidable cuts and adjustments. It has been more than six months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit our country. With the economy at risk, the National League of Cities (NLC) reached out to its members with an opportunity to share how the pandemic impacted the fiscal budgets of cities, towns, and villages. Many cities, towns, and villages’ fiscal budgets rely on tax revenues. But with closing businesses and social life adjusting to a new reality, local leaders face unprecedented challenges to protect the future of their local [...]

Shawnee County sees uptick in advance ballots, hopes to recruit more election workers

info2020-07-17T09:14:21-05:00July 17th, 2020|

With less than three weeks until the Aug. 4 primary election in Kansas, Shawnee County is seeing an uptick in the number of advanced ballots being requested locally. According to Shawnee County election commissioner Andrew Howell, his office had received more than 11,000 advance ballot requests as of Wednesday. He said that number is close to exceeding the volume of requests fielded by his office during the entire election season of 2018. "It’s early in the process, but it’s definitely up," Howell said. He hasn’t yet heard many county residents voice concerns about in-person voting this year but said a few [...]

Storm cleanup in Oswego could take a month

info2020-07-17T09:12:28-05:00July 17th, 2020|

Oswego city crews and others continued the cleanup Monday in Oswego from Saturday’s storm that brought large hail and high, sustained winds that toppled trees and snapped others 20 feet in the air. No injuries were reported, but four to 10 homes may have been destroyed. That assessment is still in progress, according to Oswego Mayor Daniel Chapman. The high wind, estimated between 70 mph and 100 mph, came from a possible microburst, which is a large column of sinking air (a downdraft) from a thunderstorm. (Read more: Parsons Sun)

County officials want better information on hospital capacity as part of COVID-19 reporting

info2020-07-17T09:10:49-05:00July 17th, 2020|

As Johnson County’s cases of COVID-19 continue to increase, county commissioners expressed alarm that information on hospital bed capacity is inaccurate. Commissioners have been asking about a change in hospital data reporting procedures for weeks, but that took on a new urgency Thursday as Public Health Director Sanmi Areola, PhD, reported the positive test results have been increasing exponentially. The county had 920 new cases in the first ten days of July, compared with 848 for the entire month of June, Areola said. That increase cannot be attributed to more tests conducted, he said, noting that the percentage of tests that [...]

Following council’s review of Lenexa police use-of-force policy, city staff to draft joint statement on racial justice

info2020-07-17T09:10:27-05:00July 17th, 2020|

Following a review of the Lenexa Police Department’s use of force policy, the Lenexa City Council expressed interest in a city staff-drafted racial justice statement. As Johnson County cities have begun conversations about racism, City Manager Beccy Yocham asked the city council if it was interested in a joint statement on racial justice. Cities in northeast Johnson County — such as Fairway, Prairie Village, Mission and Roeland Park — have either passed or are in the middle of conversations about similar statements and actions. Councilmember Courtney Eiterich said as a mother to a black son, she wanted to discuss a potential [...]

County ups ante in wind farm road dispute

info2020-07-17T09:09:49-05:00July 17th, 2020|

Who’s responsible for the weather is a key element of what’s likely to be a major lawsuit between the county and its northern wind farm. County commissioners contend Diamond Vista is obligated to make $473,020 worth of road repairs. The wind farm contends some of the damage was caused by weather and not their responsibility. Commissioners consider storm damage to be an expected part of Kansas weather and the wind farm’s responsibility. After nearly an hour in executive session with lawyers, commissioners voted unanimously Monday to have staff prepare documents seeking to collect road repair money from Diamond Vista wind farm. [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for July 16, 2020

info2020-07-17T08:47:48-05:00July 17th, 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.

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