info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Pretty Prairie water plant nearly ready

info2019-06-27T12:46:21-05:00June 27th, 2019|

The city of Pretty Prairie’s new reverse osmosis water treatment plant should begin operating in July. A ribbon-cutting for the reverse osmosis plant, near the corner of Santa Fe and Booth, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday, in conjunction with Final Friday’s Night on the Prairie. That’s a monthly celebration, from April through August, inaugurated this year. For decades, the nitrate level in the city’s municipal water supply has exceeded desired levels. The federal and state limit is 10 parts per million. The most recent test results showed Pretty Prairie’s water sample at 23 parts per million. (Read more: Local - [...]

Pittsburg adopts five-year financial plan

info2019-06-27T12:47:19-05:00June 27th, 2019|

City Manager Daron Hall and Finance Director Jamie Clarkson presented the City’s five-year financial forecast at Tuesday’s Pittsburg City Commission meeting, highlighting various aspects of the city’s fiscal planning through 2023. Prior to Tuesday’s presentation, on May 18, city commissioners and staff reviewed the financial forecast document, Clarkson noted. Following the presentation by Clarkson and Hall, the city commission voted to approve the plan, and Pittsburg Public Information Manager Sarah Runyon sent out a media release Wednesday summarizing it. “A recap of the five-year plan shows a steady increase in sales tax revenues, a healthy balance in reserves, declining debt service, [...]

Vote makes mayor, council available to attend Gary Woodland event

info2019-06-27T09:03:31-05:00June 27th, 2019|

Topeka’s mayor and city council on Tuesday changed the schedule for their meeting next week to enable them to attend a downtown block party for professional golfer and native Topekan Gary Woodland. The Greater Topeka Partnership will throw a free outdoor block party from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 2 in the 700 block of S. Kansas Avenue to celebrate the U.S. Open championship Woodland won June 16 in Pebble Beach, Calif. Woodland is expected to attend. Topeka’s governing body, consisting of the mayor and the nine city council members, had initially planned to meet at 6 p.m. July 2 in [...]

Citizen simulators say increase Wichita police and fire services, cut golf and arts

info2019-06-27T08:56:06-05:00June 27th, 2019|

Wichita’s fire and police departments got high scores while golf courses and cultural affairs departments suffered in budget simulations run by local residents, the city government said Wednesday. The city released the results of the budget simulation drill during a social media town hall Wednesday. About 1,400 residents responded to the invitation to complete the simulation, the first time the city has used that type of technology to help guide its spending decisions. (Read more: Local News |)

Hospital debt cost shrink

info2019-06-27T08:52:09-05:00June 27th, 2019|

Taxpayers will save more than $11 million over the next several years under a restructuring of the construction debt for the South Central Kansas Medical Center. The refinancing was approved Tuesday night by both the Building Commission and the City Commission. The current amount due on the original bonds issued in 2009 to build a replacement medical center that opened in 2011 is $37 million, with combined principal and interest. The $11 million savings will occur with a drop in the interest rate on the new bonds to between 3 and 5 percent, compared to the previous rate of between 4 [...]

Mini-Max grocery coming to Winfield to fill food desert

info2019-06-27T08:49:15-05:00June 27th, 2019|

The new Mini-Max grocery and variety store set to open in Winfield later this summer is part of a chain of stores owned by Bill Johnson, a Muskogee, Okla.-based entrepreneur with a goal of opening stores in food deserts to help serve others. The store in Winfield is scheduled to open around July 1, according to signs in the from of the former Save-A-Lot space at Winfield Plaza. Employees are currently being hired. The former J.C. Penney store next door is also set to reopen as a Mini-Max variety store, offering discounted home products. (Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com - RSS Results)

KDOT sets new “transportation stakeholder” meetings

info2019-06-27T08:44:03-05:00June 27th, 2019|

The Kansas Department of Transportation is again scheduling a series of “stakeholder” meetings in August to receive input from community leaders around the state on project priorities and ideas for future transportation planning. KDOT has scheduled meetings at eight locations during the last two weeks of August. During the first hour of each meeting, according to KDOT news release, the agency will listen to local officials about specific projects and perceived transportation needs. (Read more: News - The Hutchinson News)

County may seek federal aid for controlling mosquitoes

info2019-06-27T08:42:25-05:00June 27th, 2019|

With thousands of Culex mosquitoes captured in traps in rural Reno County every week over the past month, local health officials are appealing for federal assistance to control the pest that potentially carries the West Nile virus. Reno County Health Department Director Nick Baldetti updated the county commission Tuesday morning on current efforts. Swarm of mosquitoes The number of Culex mosquitoes have continued to grow, both in numbers and as a percentage of the mosquitoes trapped at six locations in the county, since mid-May. (Read more: News - The Hutchinson News)

JoCo parks board reverses course, will allow e-bikes on trails for 6-month pilot

info2019-06-26T12:06:54-05:00June 26th, 2019|

People who need a little help getting up those hills will soon be able to ride their electric power assisted bicycles on Johnson County trails. The county park district board reversed its December denial of e-bikes and will now allow them for a six-month test period, beginning in early July. The park board has contemplated e-bikes on the trails for almost a year – ever since one trail user asked whether he could ride his electric power-assisted unicycle on them, said Bill Maasen, county superintendent of parks and golf courses. He still can’t. Unicycles are not included in the test. Neither [...]

Lawrence to consider 16-cent fee for plastic, paper bags

info2019-06-26T09:57:08-05:00June 26th, 2019|

City of Lawrence leaders will soon consider whether to start charging people for disposable grocery and shopping bags in an effort to reduce plastic waste. The city’s Sustainability Advisory Board voted last summer to make the issue of single-use plastics one of its priorities, and since then a committee has been studying a potential plastic bag ban. The committee has completed its review and is recommending that a fee for plastic and paper bags be imposed instead of an outright ban, according to the committee report. Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Director Jasmin Moore, who is the staff liaison to the board, said [...]

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