Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Smaller Lyon County communities share life during pandemic

The smaller Lyon County communities are also enduring the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Gazette spoke with the mayors and city clerks of these communities to glean insight into how the small city, rural life is continuing. 2020 marks Reading’s sesquicentennial, and its birthday party has been postponed until gatherings are safer. Mayor Todd Hensley said Reading has seen a lot of things in its 150 years, “but I don’t believe we’ve ever seen anything like this,” he said. The community is resilient, though that is apparent whether or not the world is enduring a pandemic. The local Miracle Cafe is offering curbside service, and the bank and elevator are still doing business. The local beauty shop and park are still closed, and “it’s kind of sad not to see the kids down there playing,” Hensley said. “We spent a lot of time and effort putting all of that stuff up, and now it’s closed off to them, but it will open back up, and kids will be able to go down and play again.” Otherwise, “Reading doesn’t have a lot to reopen,” he said.
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:57:53-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Sedgwick County correcting speed limit conflict on 159th Street East

Sedgwick County is correcting a problem with conflicting speed limits on a section of roadway that borders Butler County. Sedgwick County commissioner Jim Howell called attention to safety concerns with 159th Street East, between Harry and Pawnee. The west side of the roadway is under the jurisdiction of Sedgwick County, and Howell said no speed limit was posted there for southbound traffic. By default, that would mean that cars could travel up to 55 miles an hour under state statutes. On the east side of the road, controlled by Butler County, the speed limit is 40 miles an hour for northbound traffic. Howell there has been construction in the area along with an increase in traffic, and that creates a safety issue. County commissioners have approved a change to post a speed limit of 40 miles an hour for southbound traffic.
(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:58:15-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Projects chosen for new Kansas highway program

Preliminary engineering work is getting started for 40 major highway projects across the state of Kansas. The projects are the first ones to move forward under the Eisenhower Transportation Legacy Program, also known as IKE, which was created in March. Major modernization and expansion projects will be selected every two years rather than once a decade under previous highway programs. The change allows the state to address the most pressing needs and adjust to changes in state revenue.
(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:06-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Kansas Cosmosphere reopens

The Kansas Cosmosphere has reopened in time for Memorial Day weekend. The space and science center in Hutchinson has taken steps to help keep visitors and staff safe and prevent possible exposure to Covid-19. All staff will be wearing masks and visitors are encouraged to as well. Disposable masks will be available for visitors and temporary Plexiglas shields have been installed at all points of sale. There are markers on the floor at 6 feet intervals to allow visitors to maintain social distancing and hand sanitizing stations have been set up across the facility. Seating inside the Digital Dome Theater, Dr. Goddard’s Lab, and the Planetarium is limited and every other row will remain unoccupied. Visitors are also being encouraged to purchase all tickets online rather than in person. To see all the precautions the Cosmosphere is taking, click here. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit their website.
(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:13-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

US communities face tough choices on opening public pools

Public pools will look very different this summer if they open at all with the coronavirus threat still looming, as teenage lifeguards will be tasked with maintaining social distancing and spotting COVID-19 symptoms in addition to their primary responsibility of preventing drownings. Pools that do plan to open will take precautions, including screening temperatures on entry, requiring lifeguards to wear masks and significantly reducing the number of swimmers allowed in the water and locker rooms, said Dr. Justin Sempsrott, the medical director for the lifeguard certification program Starguard Elite and executive director of Lifeguards Without Borders, which works to reduce drownings worldwide. “It’s definitely not going to be business as usual this season,” he said.
(Read more: KSN-TV)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:29-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

‘We’ve got to know who they are’: Contact tracing vital as county reopens

Who were you with on Mother’s Day? Did you go to a restaurant? Did you carpool to work with someone? These questions may seem personal, ones that you would most likely discuss with a friend or family member. But for contact tracing nurses to accomplish their job, these are inquiries they must make to determine who is a potential contact for a positive COVID-19 case. Contact tracing nurses have to be nosy. To successfully slow the spread of COVID-19, nurses must learn how to be a detective and dig into every minute of someone’s life. It is not a cutting-edge method of tracking down people who have been in contact with a positive case, but instead one that historically has been used in Shawnee County to identify those who are a contact for someone who has measles and chicken pox.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:44-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Merriam police officers save owl stuck in soccer net

Merriam police officers demonstrated their ability to adapt to any situation last weekend and saved an owl stuck in a soccer net at Waterfall Park, 5191 Merriam Drive. After a concerned citizen alerted the police department about the owl, four officers responded to the scene as there were no animal control officers on duty at the time, Captain Chris Brokaw said. The officers took it upon themselves to free the owl, although saving wild animals isn’t a regular occurrence for police, he said. “Nothing in our day is routine, you just never know what you’re going to get,” Brokaw said. “I’m sure they never thought in a million years that they were going to have to come across something like this. You kind of roll with the punches and adapt to it, and try to handle it as best you can.”
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:00:31-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Newton Rec Commission eyes June 15 opening of municipal pool

The hopes of swimming in the municipal pool this summer are treading water — delayed, it seems, by each new announcement from Gov. Laura Kelly as she has signed executive orders moving the state through a phased reopening plan in attempts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, published in black and white on a revised reopening plan, there is a date for the pool to reopen. The plan given to the Newton Recreation Commission by Rec Commission staff lists June 15 as the day to get into the water. If the plan stands, the pool will be open for four hours a day, with likely two evening swims a week for families. It will not be available for group rentals, though local swim teams will be able to use the pool.
(Read more: Newton Kansan)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:04:32-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Neosho County to assist Erie 101 district

Neosho County Commissioners voted Thursday evening to assist the Erie school district with improperly-installed air conditioning at the high school. Erie’s USD 101 Superintendent Troy Damman requested assistance from the funds Apex Clean Energy, developer of the Neosho Ridge Wind electric generation project, is paying in lieu of property taxes (PILOT funds). Commissioners voted to provide $200,000 to correct improper installation of Erie High School’s ground-source heat pump. The funds will also assist with curriculum and textbook updates and safety at the Galesburg Middle School, which is part of USD 101.
(Read more: www.chanute.com)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:06:29-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Survey finds 32 states withholding CARES aid to local governments

The National League of Cities reports that 32 states are withholding federal funding to local governments that was approved under the CARES Act that was signed into law March 27. The survey completed May 18 found most municipal governments have received “no indication when, or if, funds will ever be made available,” the NLC said. Many congressional lawmakers have been under the impression that local governments already have received a share of the CARES Act funding, but that’s not the case. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act established a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund that dispersed $8 billion to tribal governments, $3 billion to territories and the District of Columbia and the remaining $139 billion to all states as well as counties and cities with populations over 500,000.
(Read more: The Bond Buyer)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:11-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

About Ranson Financial

Smaller Lyon County communities share life during pandemic

Sedgwick County correcting speed limit conflict on 159th Street East

Projects chosen for new Kansas highway program

Kansas Cosmosphere reopens

US communities face tough choices on opening public pools

‘We’ve got to know who they are’: Contact tracing vital as county reopens

Merriam police officers save owl stuck in soccer net

Newton Rec Commission eyes June 15 opening of municipal pool

Neosho County to assist Erie 101 district

Survey finds 32 states withholding CARES aid to local governments

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