info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Old bridges of Ellis County require close monitoring

info2019-04-03T08:27:02-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

While seven of Ellis County’s more than 200 bridges are in poor condition, they don’t need closed, but new heavy vehicles will force weight limits on more of them in coming years. “My estimate right now is that 50 to 60 percent of the bridges that we inspect will have to be posted some way or another,” said civil engineer Jordan Dettmer with Penco Engineering, Plainville, who inspected the county’s bridges in November 2018. “You guys are currently at 21.2 percent of your bridges are posted. So that will double; something to be aware.” Kansas Department of Transportation requires the inspections [...]

Missouri River continues to recede in Leavenworth area following rain

info2019-04-03T06:59:41-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

After plateauing over the weekend, the Missouri River has resumed a slow recession in the Leavenworth area. At 1 p.m. Monday, the river was at a depth of 22.88 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The river remains in a flood stage. But floodwaters have been receding since the river reached 31.3 feet on March 23. The river leveled off over the weekend around 24 feet following rainfall in the area. But by Sunday afternoon, floodwaters had started to recede again. A NWS forecast on Monday predicted the river will drop below its flood stage of 20 feet on Wednesday. [...]

County Commissioners To Assist Greenwood County Hospital

info2019-04-03T06:57:00-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

Representatives of the Greenwood County Hospital (GWCH) board of trustees once again expressed the need for county funds, during the Greenwood County Commissioners meeting, on Monday of this week. With the half-cent sales tax not going into effect until April 1, GWCH will not see the benefit until early summer, which has put the hospital in a bind. Board President Pam Brown and Treasurer Randy Cox expressed the urgent need for approximately $32,000, which will go towards two supply vendors. President Brown shared that during their recent board of trustees meeting (see related article), CFO Melody Curnutt stated they have made [...]

Great Bend City Council members reflect on Washington D.C. trip

info2019-04-03T06:43:09-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

The Great Bend City Council meeting Monday night was the first meeting following the Western Kansas Congressional Delegation in Washington D.C. Great Bend sent City Administrator Kendal Francis, council members Cory Urban, Jessica Milsap, and Andrew Erb, and Great Bend Chamber of Commerce CEO Jan Peters to the nation’s capital to discuss topics of interest to the western part of Kansas with elected officials. Urban spoke of the experience as a great chance to talk with counties making similar improvements to their communities. The delegation was March 23-25 and the Great Bend representatives were able to speak with Senators Jerry Moran [...]

City gives resident OK to keep bees

info2019-04-03T06:41:36-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

The Salina City Commission approved a request Monday afternoon from a Salina resident to keep bees in the city to pollinate her vegetable garden. City staff received a request from Lynn Grinage to keep bees in two bee hives next to her vegetable garden located at 1000 W. Walnut St. She also plans to use the bees to pollinate apple, peach and orange trees. David Dupy, a health officer from the Saline County Health Department found no public health concern from the request. Dupy and Jason Tiller, director of the Saline County Health Department, granted their approval to the application. The [...]

Fire calls down in Geary County

info2019-04-03T06:40:25-05:00April 3rd, 2019|

The number of fire calls for the Geary County Rural Fire Department are down so far this year. The Geary County Commission received an update on Monday, with Chairman Charles Stimatze providing the numbers. “Year to date fires for 2019 are 27. In 2018 they had 48 at this time, eight just in March alone. (Read more: Junction City Post)

Montgomery County and Coffeyville Resources issue settlement on decade-long tax dispute

info2019-04-02T09:20:24-05:00April 2nd, 2019|

A decade-long tax dispute filed by one of Montgomery County’s largest industries was declared settled and resolved on Monday. The Montgomery County Commission announced that a settlement had been reached with Coffeyville Resources concerning the property tax appeal filed by the company regarding the valuation applied to its nitrogen fertilizer plant in 2008. Under the terms of the settlement, Coffeyville Resources will forego an immediate refund of $7.9 million to which it would be otherwise be entitled under a decision rendered by the Kansas Court of Appeals in September 2018. Montgomery County sought to have that decision reviewed by the Kansas [...]

Wayne Developers files petition against Shawnee for invoking eminent domain

info2019-04-02T07:00:55-05:00April 2nd, 2019|

After the city of Shawnee moved to use eminent domain to plan for the conversion of a piece of private property into a new building for a parks and recreation facility, the property owner has filed a countering petition against the city, urging the Johnson County District Court to enter a restraining order and prohibit the city from pursuing its claim. The private property being contested in Johnson County District Court is located at 18570 Johnson Drive in western Shawnee and is owned by Wayne Developers LLC. Wayne Developers, which is affiliated with Republic Services Inc., a provider of solid waste [...]

Public to vote on designs for next city of Topeka flag

info2019-04-02T06:59:14-05:00April 2nd, 2019|

Three designs have been chosen as finalists for the next city of Topeka flag, out of more than 300 submitted. Now the public will vote to pick the winner, with ballots being cast by going online to topekaflag.com or sending text messages to (785) 425-4393, according to a document in the agenda packet for Tuesday’s Topeka City Council meeting. Voting will be open until 11:59 p.m. April 9, that document said. City council members plan to hear a report on the Topeka Flag Redesign Initiative when they meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their chambers at 214 S.E. 8th. Forge, the [...]

Pothole ruin your car? Cities, states can help pay for repairs but good luck with that

info2019-04-02T06:56:55-05:00April 2nd, 2019|

Stuart Hall is still livid over the Kansas City pothole that ate his car — blew two tires, bent one rim — and left him with a $410 bill, towing not included. “I’m still pissed,” he said. That was over a pothole not from today, with thousands of them in the wake of a harsh winter still pockmarking roads from Liberty to Olathe, turning the Kansas City area’s streetscape lunar. It’s from six years back, when a crater-like pothole opened at Brookside Boulevard and 50th Street, rattling the bones of his then wife, Christina, along with the undercarriage of their Mazda [...]

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