info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Lawrence City Commission to consider city’s legislative priorities, including support for state tax relief measures

info2020-01-07T07:12:21-06:00January 6th, 2020|

City leaders will consider adding five issues to their list of legislative priorities, including support for a measure that would effectively freeze property tax rates for low-income seniors and a measure that would provide rebates for sales tax charged on groceries to low-income residents. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider approving its Lawrence Legislative Priority Statement, which it provides annually to the local state legislative delegation and which guides input on proposed legislation, according to a city staff memo to the commission. The newly seated commission provided initial direction at a meeting last month to [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for January 3, 2019

info2020-04-16T08:06:52-05:00January 5th, 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 Advisors.

Rural Kansas struggles to attract psychiatrists

info2020-01-05T20:45:13-06:00January 5th, 2020|

Psychiatrists are so hard to come by in some rural parts of Kansas that out-of-state doctors now commonly treat patients through video conference. The Kansas News Service reports that Kansas is seeing an increase in patients seeking mental health treatment and the state can’t find enough doctors, nurses and therapists to treat them. One measure from the federal government suggests only nine Kansas counties have enough psychiatrists, and they’re mostly in or near populated areas. The state passed a law in 2017 adding psychiatry to the medical student loan program, but it’s too early to tell how well it’s working. (Read [...]

Fearing noisy concerts, Johnson County residents take arboretum protest to next level

info2020-01-05T19:40:46-06:00January 5th, 2020|

With their demands still unmet, neighbors say the fight against an expansion of the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is far from over. The Overland Park Planning Commission last month approved a $12.4 million expansion at the venue, off U.S. 69 and 179th Street. But neighbors — who organized over shared concerns and hired a lawyer — have filed a protest petition, sending the project to the City Council for a final vote. Many people opposed to the project are angry the vote has been tacked on to the end of a long agenda planned for a special City Council [...]

Former Herington officer apologizes for coffee cup hoax

info2020-01-05T19:36:41-06:00January 5th, 2020|

A former Herington Police Department officer issued an apology for making up a story that a fast food worker wrote an expletive on his coffee cup. William Darling, who resigned his position after admitting the hoax, issued a statement late Friday to The Herington Times. “I want to express my deepest, most sincere apology to McDonald’s (in Junction City), the law enforcement community, the citizens and law enforcement officers in the Junction City area, the citizens of Herington and the Herington Police Department," Darling wrote. Police Chief Brian Hornaday posted a photo to social media Dec. 28 showing a McDonald's coffee [...]

Officer recruitment, community policing, youth programs: Cochran discusses plans for Topeka Police Department

info2020-01-05T19:35:20-06:00January 5th, 2020|

Nearly two years into his role as chief of the Topeka Police Department, Bill Cochran said he is staying the course by placing a high priority on community relations and actively recruiting officers that will help the department achieve its goal of being more diverse. He also continues his efforts to reduce crime in the capital city by assigning officers to areas determined to be hot spots for crime, while also taking guns out of the hands of criminals. Cochran on Thursday met for nearly an hour with nine members of The Topeka Capital-Journal’s editorial board, where he provided an update [...]

Topeka to consider proposal regarding panhandling

info2020-01-05T20:42:17-06:00January 5th, 2020|

The Topeka City Council on Tuesday will consider banning pedestrians — including panhandlers — from interacting with people in vehicles at 23 of Topeka’s most dangerous intersections, though not at any other crossings. “We’re just essentially asking people to choose intersections that are not as dangerous as others,” Councilman Brendan Jensen said last month. Jensen was chairman of a committee of council members and community leaders who voted 5-0 on Dec. 9 to recommend the council approve the measure, which is among items on the agenda when the mayor and council meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their chambers at 214 [...]

Shawnee County considers proposal regarding recycling of glass

info2020-01-05T20:42:26-06:00January 5th, 2020|

The Shawnee County Commission on Monday will consider taking a step toward removing the recycling of glass from the county’s current single-stream recycling operations to be carried out separately. The proposal involved is among items on the agenda when Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays meet at 9 a.m. in their chambers in Room B-11 of the County Courthouse, 200 S.E. 7th. “Glass is a major component of the recycling costs in our current single-stream recycling program,” Sutton told commissioners in a recent memorandum, which is part of that meeting’s agenda packet. “By removing the glass from the current [...]

Winfield residents respond to survey

info2020-01-05T20:43:00-06:00January 5th, 2020|

Housing, sidewalks and blighted properties are some of the top issues for Winfield residents, according to answers collected from a survey conducted in November. Surveys were mailed to residents and were also available electronically on the city web site. The survey received more than 900 responses. Some questions focused on future development. When asked if they would like more big box stores and chain restaurants, or locally owned businesses, over the next 20 years, 65.5 percent said they would like the local businesses. (Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)

Low Rates Could Get Even Lower, Senior Central Bankers Warn

info2020-01-05T19:26:48-06:00January 5th, 2020|

The already low level of interest rates in the U.S. and the rest of the industrial world could fall further, three senior central bankers said on Sunday. Speaking at the American Economic Association’s annual meeting, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams, European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane, and Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent all saw a possibility that so-called R star -- the neutral level of interest rates that neither spurs nor restricts growth in their economies -- might drop in the future. “You could see R star go lower because of demographics,” Williams told [...]

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