info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Incoming county commissioners say safety net, changing demographics are top priorities

info2018-12-18T08:54:09-06:00December 18th, 2018|

They’re sitting quietly amongst other spectators and staffers in the county commission hearing room, listening and taking notes as money is allocated to human service funds and transit contracts. In just a few weeks, Becky Fast and Janeé Hanzlick will be in the same hearing room, looking out from the dais as newly elected county commissioners. Both women defeated incumbents in the November election. Both have backgrounds in social services. And both say they’d like to see the county focus more sharply on the needs of the vulnerable – mental health clients, the elderly and those who are being pinched by [...]

As JoCo breaks ground on new facility, commission approves coroner staff changes

info2018-12-18T08:53:10-06:00December 18th, 2018|

County breaks ground on new autopsy lab, approves staff moves at coroner. Johnson County will have the beginnings of a new system for dealing with unexpected or suspicious deaths when Dr. Diane Peterson takes over next month as county coroner and medical examiner. The county commission appointed Peterson, currently chief medical examiner in Jackson County, Mo., to head Johnson County’s medical investigator team. The commission also appointed Dr. Robert Prosser, who has been county coroner for 21 years, to be one of seven deputy coroners. The appointments are part of an effort to update the county’s coroner system as the population [...]

Topeka’s water main break total for 2018 its third highest on record

info2018-12-18T08:52:04-06:00December 18th, 2018|

Topeka has seen 42 water main breaks this month, bringing the city’s total for the year to date to 849, city manager Brent Trout said Monday in his weekly report posted on the city’s website. In contrast, the city had 393 water main breaks by this time last year, Trout indicated. The city’s record for water main breaks in a year is 1,009, set in 2000, according to Capital-Journal archives. The second-highest total was 984 in 2012, those archives show. Topeka’s fourth-highest number of water main breaks for a calendar year was 2011, with 651. The city maintains about 850 miles [...]

Lawrence city leaders to consider joining study to determine racial breakdown of police stops and searches

info2018-12-18T10:49:44-06:00December 18th, 2018|

Years since the idea was originally proposed, a study could soon be underway to determine the rates at which local law enforcement agencies pull over motorists of color. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider entering into an agreement with Douglas County, Eudora, Baldwin City and the University of Kansas to fund and conduct the study. The city’s share of the costs would be $84,000 over two years, and funding for the study has already been included in the city’s budget for 2019. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which was established by the county commission in [...]

Topekans ask Supreme Court to intervene in business relocation dispute with City Hall

info2018-12-17T08:17:42-06:00December 17th, 2018|

Two tenants who lost business leases to accommodate a city of Topeka drainage project urged the Kansas Supreme Court on Friday to interpret state law to require payment by the government of relocation expenses to displaced renters even when a landlord sold property without imposition of eminent domain. Tenants Charles Nauheim and Hal Richardson filed a lawsuit after the city encouraged the landlord in 2013 to complete negotiations of the sale in a manner avoiding condemnation proceedings by the Topeka City Council. The deal was closed and the tenants moved out, but the city argued it wasn’t obligated to pay relocation [...]

Commissioner says JoCo should end non-partisan commission races

info2018-12-17T08:15:39-06:00December 17th, 2018|

Political parties were so active in this year’s county commission election that Commissioner Mike Brown says the county should drop the pretense of non-partisanship. To that end, Brown is trying to get the county commission to amend the charter and end the non-partisan aspect of elections that have been in place since the county charter was crafted in 1999. Brown said he expects to get a discussion going at next Thursday’s commission meeting, though he doesn’t know if he’ll have enough votes to get anything done. The commission can amend the charter with a supermajority of four-fifths, or 6 votes. But [...]

Oswego police to get new weapons

info2018-12-17T06:50:11-06:00December 17th, 2018|

Oswego police will soon carry stun guns. The Oswego City Council on Monday approved the purchase of five of the guns at a cost of $4,385, according to City Clerk Carol Eddington. The PhaZZer Enforcers are similar to the Tasers that law officers carry in many jurisdictions. They send an electrical pulse into combative suspects that knocks them to the ground, but the surge does not cause permanent injury. Some officers will need to go through training before the devices are put into full use. (Read more: Parsons Sun)

Neosho County discussion revolves around wind project

info2018-12-17T06:46:29-06:00December 17th, 2018|

Neosho County Commissioners continued to hear comments about the proposed Neosho Ridge wind generation project Thursday. The commission heard from a half-dozen opponents and supporters during a half-hour public forum, then continued to take discussion from Lori Whitworth and Dustie Elsworth for more than an hour on the regular agenda. Apex Clean Energy has proposed building an electrical generation facility of 100 to 130 wind turbines on an area of approximately 41,000 acres in the southwest portion of Neosho County. Opponents Cheryl Burk and Shirley Estrada read prepared statements. Ron Vyhlindl asked the opinion of Commissioner Paul Westhoff, whose district covers [...]

‘A four-letter word’: Villa West developer may seek economic development incentives in Topeka

info2018-12-17T06:43:37-06:00December 17th, 2018|

But as they looked at the work to be done on Villa West, which is in much better shape than White Lakes but still faces significant deferred maintenance, Ferd Niemann, director of development and acquisitions, said his company will consider an application for tax incentives for part of the redevelopment. “When a building’s in ill repair like that, it has a ton of deferred maintenance, which is not nearly as easily fixable on purely the free market without some sort of subsidy,” he said. “Then the community has to assist with it. If the community is willing to do that, it’s [...]

Grow Hays has changed, but mission is still the same

info2018-12-17T06:36:10-06:00December 17th, 2018|

Streaming movie giant Netflix and the co-working BriefSpace at 219 W. 10th have something in common. Hays’ unique co-working space provides high-speed Internet that benefits the world’s largest online entertainment provider, according to Doug Williams, executive director of Grow Hays, the developer of BriefSpace. “We’ve got a kid down there now, he just came down, he’s renting an office down there, he needed the high-speed Internet and he does video-editing for Netflix,” Williams told the Hays City Commissioners on Thursday evening. “He’s editing 4K video and he needed high-speed bandwidth, and he just loves the place, because he can come down [...]

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