info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

#Myarkcity is the hashtag to help Ark City win $500,000

info2018-11-30T07:03:09-06:00November 30th, 2018|

The Small Business Revolution-Main Street TV show will announce on Dec. 10 the 10 finalists for the $500,000 community development prize. Arkansas City is one of the top 20 finalists, and community supporters hope to make the cut and be included in the next round. Several groups in the community are making an all-out effort to make sure Ark City remains in the contest. Jill Wineinger, a strong supporter of the campaign, said it was especially important for all citizens to rally their support on every possible social media platform. She encouraged residents to use the hashtag #myarkcity and tag the [...]

Should Kansas raise the gas tax to pay for highways? Some officials are discussing it

info2018-11-30T07:00:12-06:00November 30th, 2018|

ansas drivers may pay more at the pump — or pay a fee if they own an electric car — to help fund future highway improvements, under ideas proposed by state lawmakers and officials. One senator says the current gas tax of 24 cents a gallon should increase to 29 cents a gallon. Discussion of a higher gas tax and fees comes as Kansas begins crafting a new long-term transportation plan that will guide highway projects for years to come. A state task force finalized recommendations on Thursday for a program that will eventually replace T-WORKS, the 10-year, $8 billion transportation [...]

Shawnee’s 2019 CDBG plan dedicates funds to city street infrastructure

info2018-11-30T06:57:52-06:00November 30th, 2018|

Shawnee has submitted its application for Community Development Block Grant funding for the next five years. Should the Kansas Department of Commerce accept Shawnee’s application as is, the city would receive $285,302 in CDBG funds. A majority of the city’s funding request is $217,602 to be dedicated toward street infrastructure improvements on 60th Street between Flint Street and Nieman Road. CDBG funds are designed to provide assistance to low- and moderate-income residents. The city’s five-year plan was updated to include housing rehabilitation, stormwater and street and sidewalk improvements, subsistence payments to low-income Shawnee residents, payments to subsidize child care, and funding [...]

Longwell: Public will have input on Wichita baseball team nickname

info2018-11-30T06:55:36-06:00November 30th, 2018|

Plainsmen? Flyers? Wind Sox? Whatever the nickname turns out to be for Wichita's new Triple A baseball team, it sounds like the public will get a say. That's according to Mayor Jeff Longwell, who said during his Thursday media briefing that the public will be involved in the process to rename the New Orleans Baby Cakes, the Triple-A baseball franchise that plans to move to Wichita for the 2020 season. "The team wants the public involved," Longwell said. "That process will organized by the (Baby Cakes). They have a website they're almost ready to launch and their goal is to have [...]

El Dorado to consider task force on homelessness

info2018-11-30T06:54:50-06:00November 30th, 2018|

Concerned citizens, individuals from a number of community organizations and representatives from City, County, and State departments all gathered at the Civic Center Tuesday evening to discuss the issue of homelessness in El Dorado. The City Commission led a fact-finding conversation to address questions received from community members regarding homelessness. City Manager David Dillner facilitated the conversation which began following a welcome by Mayor Vince Haines who also thanked everyone in attendance for their interest and desire to make a difference. He expressed a sentiment felt by many in the room, “We do not have an answer, if we did we [...]

City Manager Matt Allen given award for excellence in public management

info2018-11-30T06:53:07-06:00November 30th, 2018|

Garden City City Manager Matt Allen recently was named the recipient of the Buford Watson Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Management by the Kansas Association of City/County Management during the association’s annual conference Nov. 14 through 16 in Pittsburg. Under the leadership of Allen, who has been city manager since 2008 after having served as the assistant city manager for six years, his team has received state and national recognition for innovation in areas of public participation, local government social media, fiscal transparency, embracing diversity and healthy community design for rural communities, according to a press release from the City [...]

Lenexa hosts training to teach first responders about signs, prevention of sex trafficking

info2018-11-30T06:50:21-06:00November 30th, 2018|

The Kansas City area has been identified as a hotbed for human traffickers with both victims in transit and as a destination, an expert told a group of law enforcement officers this month. And police officers are on the front lines of helping identify victims. Lenexa hosted Opal Singleton, president and chief executive officer of Million Kids, an anti-trafficking organization working to raise awareness in California and nationwide, to present a workshop on the signs of sex trafficking and how to prevent it. Singleton’s three-hour crash course in anti-trafficking came a month after a Minnesota man was charged in Johnson County [...]

Leavenworth renews agreement for K-7 corridor

info2018-11-30T06:49:36-06:00November 30th, 2018|

When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth city commissioners voted to renew a memorandum of understanding with the Kansas Department of Transportation regarding the management of a Kansas 7 Highway corridor. And Leavenworth Mayor Mark Preisinger expressed concern about the possibility of additional traffic lights or slower speed limits along K-7 in Wyandotte County. The memorandum of understanding was renewed Tuesday with the City Commission’s approval of a supplemental agreement to the earlier agreement. The memorandum of understanding between the city and KDOT was signed in 2007. But Leavenworth Public Works Director Mike McDonald said the agreement had expired and KDOT officials were [...]

Plan to colonize Wichita’s feral cats not quite ready to hunt

info2018-11-30T06:47:51-06:00November 30th, 2018|

A Wichita board has rejected — for now — a proposed ordinance to allow residents to keep colonies of up to eight feral cats in their yards. But the plan will come back after more fine-tuning in December or January. The proposal before the Wichita Animal Control Advisory Board would allow “community cat caregivers” to register with the city to establish outdoor colonies of feral felines. The idea is to try to reduce the stray cat population by trapping, neutering and releasing them to backyard cat colonies, where they could live out their lives but not produce more cats. A motion [...]

Dino park ironing out financial matters

info2018-11-30T06:44:29-06:00November 30th, 2018|

Field Station: Dinosaurs is working through financial issues that it has recently faced and is paying its bills, according to Executive Producer Guy Gsell of the recently opened attraction. “All the vendors from Field Station: Dinosaurs’ build-out, including Dondlinger, have been paid in full,” Gsell said in an email to The Informer. This fall, two liens were filed in Sedgwick County Court. Since the park is in a STAR bond district, it uses special financing vehicles, including a percentage of state sales tax revenue, for its development. The park recently received an infusion of $700,000 from the district. The money was [...]

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