info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Elected officials consider scrapping residency rule

info2019-05-06T06:59:48-05:00May 6th, 2019|

Topeka’s governing body, consisting of Mayor Michelle De La Isla and the nine city council members, will consider doing away with the city’s requirement that all its employees be “bona fide residents of Shawnee County” within six months of their hiring. The proposed change needs six votes for approval. Council members Karen Hiller, Jeff Coen and Tony Emerson are on record as supporting the proposal, while Councilwoman Sandra Clear suggested at the Feb. 19 council meeting that she would be willing to support it. De La Isla and Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz spoke against the proposal at that meeting, where Councilman Brendan [...]

Hutch City Council to consider renaming Avenue A Park

info2019-05-06T06:58:24-05:00May 6th, 2019|

A Hutchinson park could be getting a new name. A push is underway to convince the city council to rename Avenue A Park “Smallville Park.” The matter will come before the city council Tuesday. The city has been tagged as Smallville — the official birthplace of Superman — and has held the Smallville Con for several years now. Chris Wietrick, who has been one of the forces behind the Smallville movement, has gathered a number of supporters for the name change. The park, which is more than 20 years old, is also in need of a facelift. Wietrick feels the name [...]

Lyon County grants ESU’s appropriation request

info2019-05-06T06:56:06-05:00May 6th, 2019|

Commissioner Scott Briggs brought up a comment made to him by a constituent, seeming to complain about the use of tax money to fund ESU scholarships when their own children had to pay their own way. Briggs asked Garrett to justify the use of taxpayer dollars — the program uses sales tax money — for this purpose. She responded that ESU was an economic driver for the area and the community. “One of the other things that is absolutely true that I hear from business leaders is, it is extraordinarily difficult to find talent,” Garrett said. “We’ve got some great business [...]

Parsons aims for $25M highway project

info2019-05-06T06:52:45-05:00May 6th, 2019|

Instead of making improvements to North 16th Street by piecemeal, the city may apply for a federal grant for a $25 million project. City commissioners on Monday will consider a $30,000 agreement with transportation planning and engineering firm TranSystems to assist in the completion of a U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant. BUILD stands for Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development. If approved, the grant would make major improvements to 16th, which also is U.S. 59. Although in the preliminary stages, a map shared by Jim Zaleski, economic development director, during a Thursday work session shows the proposed project beginning south [...]

Garden City discusses Neighborhood Learning Center funding

info2019-05-06T06:51:01-05:00May 6th, 2019|

During an update and check-in with the Garden City Commission at a monthly town hall Tuesday, the Cultural Relations Advisory Board’s Allie Medina asked the commission for direction, including whether the board should offer grant funding opportunities for organizations like the Neighborhood Learning Center or Ethnic Empowerment Network. The Neighborhood Learning Center, a resource center in the Garden Spot Rentals apartments off Mary Street that has provided health screenings, basic English classes, citizenship prep, life skills and a wealth of other services for local refugees and immigrants for six years, will close at the end of June unless it secures new [...]

Emergency communications facility opens in Ford County

info2019-05-06T06:46:31-05:00May 6th, 2019|

City and county officials opened the doors to the new Ford County Emergency Communications on Friday. The new location at 1506 W. Comanche Street, is the new home to the Ford County Communications 911 dispatch center and Ford County Emergency Department. The previous location for the Ford County departments were held at the Government Center at 100 Gunsmoke Street and has been a three-year process in moving to the new site. “This has been a tremendous amount of work,” said Ford County Communications director Elliot Linke. “There have been a lot of people involved. Every person in this room has had [...]

Emporia approves water treatment plant improvements

info2019-05-06T06:42:01-05:00May 6th, 2019|

Improvements to Emporia’s Water Treatment Plant will soon be underway following Wednesday’s meeting of the Emporia City Commission. The improvements were first discussed during last week’s study session. They were designed to address and prevent the formation of bromate in the city’s water supply. A notice was sent out to water customers last year about a violation in a drinking water standard for the city’s water supply. “We kept having to raise the dosage of [our ozone equipment] because our residuals weren’t where they needed to be,” Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Phil Cooper said. “The bromates went really high.” Cooper said [...]

Valley Center rec board settles with ex-director

info2019-05-06T08:42:46-05:00May 6th, 2019|

It's been more than six months since the Valley Center Recreation Commission board fired longtime director Steve Geddes. Since then, the rec commission staff roster has undergone a sea change that officials say will help the organization grow into the future. "We have a good staff," said Blake Peniston, the rec commission's interim director. "I'm lucky to have who we have." Meanwhile, lawyers for Geddes and the rec commission have settled what was essentially a wrongful termination lawsuit that Geddes filed after his October 2018 firing. He had sought $250,000 in damages, the equivalent of two years of salary and benefits. [...]

Sumner Community Hospital celebrates grand opening and ribbon cutting Wednesday

info2019-05-06T06:37:31-05:00May 6th, 2019|

The Sumner Community Hospital grand opening and ribbon cutting was a huge success Wednesday. The big day included the opening of Sumner Primary Care Center and featured several fun-filled activities and tour of the many changes of the new hospital in Wellington. (Read more: Sumner NewsCow)

Lawrence City Commission to consider controversial downtown apartment project

info2019-05-06T08:38:31-05:00May 6th, 2019|

City leaders will soon consider controversial plans to build a five-story apartment and retail building near the southern entrance of downtown Lawrence. The Hub at Lawrence would stretch the width of the block between Massachusetts and New Hampshire streets and include more than 550 bedrooms targeted to college students. Due primarily to the main building’s height and size, the city’s historic preservation board recently denied the project two required certifications. Developers appealed that decision to the Lawrence City Commission, which will consider the appeal as part of its meeting Tuesday. Read more: LJWorld.com.

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