info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Letter carrier drives onto freshly laid road surface in Prairie Village causing thousands of dollars in damage

info2018-10-15T07:23:12-05:00October 15th, 2018|

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor clearly marked traffic barrier was going to keep one U.S. Postal Service worker from delivering the mail in Prairie Village yesterday. Road crews had recently completed a road microsurfacing project on 72nd Street east of Nall Ave. on Thursday when a mail carrier looking to make deliveries on the street arrived. The crews had put up barricades to keep traffic off the street while the thin layer of fresh asphalt emulsion cured. The driver apparently didn’t think those barricades were applicable to the U.S. Postal Service vehicle, though, and maneuvered around the barricade leaving [...]

Certified voting machines?

info2018-10-15T07:21:36-05:00October 15th, 2018|

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office failed to produce records this summer showing it had certified the voting equipment used by hundreds of thousands of Kansans. Kansas statute requires the Secretary of State to certify equipment before counties purchase it and to keep such certification on file. But the office, responding to a Kansas Open Records Act request in June, could provide only two letters of equipment certification that Kobach issued in the past five years. Yet some counties - including Reno and Finney, as well as Sedgwick, Wyandotte, and Shawnee - have purchased systems since October 2013 that were [...]

City of Leavenworth auctions old vending machines

info2018-10-15T07:15:01-05:00October 15th, 2018|

When the Leavenworth City Commission purchased a vacant downtown building this summer, the city inherited dozens of old vending machines. The machines, which were in the basement of 301 Delaware St., are now being sold by the city through an online auction service. “We’re not looking to make a lot money or anything on it,” said Mike McDonald, public works director for the city of Leavenworth. But McDonald said it would be a shame to dispose of the machines without giving collectors an opportunity to bid on them. There are 34 vending machines. Nineteen of them were designed for hot or [...]

Grievance policy makes comeback in Winfield

info2018-10-15T07:12:29-05:00October 15th, 2018|

A new grievance policy could make its way back into the City of Winfield employee handbook after the previous one was removed earlier this year. Winfield city commissioners were presented with recommendations for a proposed policy by Human Resources Director Jamie Chism at their Thursday work session. Chism said members of the city’s Employee Action Committee made changes to the previous policy, then took it back to their respective departments for feedback. “We didn’t want to just put the old one back in,” Chism said. “We wanted to make it the employees’ policy.” Chism said the feedback from other employees on [...]

Chase County’s handbook discussion covers residency and paid time off vs. sick leave and vacation

info2018-10-15T07:10:36-05:00October 15th, 2018|

The Chase County Commission continued discussion on suggested updates to a county employee’s handbook during a meeting earlier this week at the courthouse. The commissioners have been discussing edits to the publication for several weeks with Deputy Clerk Tiffany Harshman, who has been in charge of the project. Department heads were invited to bring concerns to the discussion before the handbook undergoes its next round of edits. Some of the proposed changes include dropping residency requirements for county employees, which would open the pool of prospective workers to include people from outside of Chase County. Department heads agreed with the change, [...]

Gardner has new management team

info2018-10-15T07:03:34-05:00October 15th, 2018|

Gardner has a new management team on board, with at least one familiar face to long-time Gardner residents. Laura Gourley was named as interim city administrator, effective Sept. 17, 2018. Gourley is the granddaughter of Melvin Argo, who was Gardner’s mayor from 1957-1959. One of Gourley’s first jobs was working as typesetter for The Gardner News while still in Gardner Edgerton High School. She recalls typing into a machine and the type printed out on long, white sheets that was pasted to the page. She and Ruth Lundy, formerly of the Gardner Police Department, would then proofread, she said. Gourley has [...]

Justice Center construction on track in Gardner

info2018-10-15T06:53:56-05:00October 15th, 2018|

Countdown for completion of Gardner’s new justice center is on track. Gardner voters approved a new justice center by about 71 percent and issued 13.75 million in bonds to construct the facility near 167th and Moonlight in August of 2017. It will house both the police department and municipal court. Originally scheduled to open in August, 2019, it may squeak up to July, according to Sgt. Steve Benz, public information officer for the Gardner Police Department. (Read more: Gardner News)

Bourbon County Commissioners get volunteer fire fighters input on ambulance service

info2018-10-15T06:53:00-05:00October 15th, 2018|

As Bourbon County Commissioners continue to work on a solution to bring an ambulance service after Mercy Hospital closes its doors Dec. 31, on Tuesday, they heard from officials from the Bourbon County Fire District 3. District 3 Chief Delwin Mumbower, Hiattville Fire Chief Lou Howard and volunteer firefighter Shawn Wyatt attended the meeting to share their concerns on the future of ambulance services in Bourbon County. “We’re not an ambulance service by no means, but I think we provide a valuable service out there in first response,” Mumbower said. “You know, we spend a lot of time with a patient [...]

Newton City Commissioner speaks at rail summit

info2018-10-15T06:50:53-05:00October 15th, 2018|

About a hundred people gathered at Great Overland Station for the Kansas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Summit to talk about the state of, and future of, passenger train service in the area. Barth Hague, former mayor and city commissioner of Newton, was the morning keynote speaker. If Amtrak can keep the Southwest Chief, and extend the Heartland Flyer, Newton would become a rail hub. Hague spoke of the regional need to see an extension of the Heartland Flyer, and why cities along the proposed line have banded together. “There is a real attitude of what is good for one is good for everyone,” [...]

Conflict over Haysville’s rules for campaign signs

info2018-10-15T06:38:29-05:00October 15th, 2018|

Saturday, Sept. 22, marked 45 days until Tuesday, Nov. 6: Election Day. A state law the Kansas Legislature passed in 2015 says that cities and counties, including Haysville, now have to allow political signs on both private property and unpaved city or county right-of-way. That is a straightforward enough requirement, but just two weeks after the Kansas law, KSA 25-2711, was signed by Gov. Sam Brownback in June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that cast doubt on its constitutionality. The ruling, in “Reed v. Town of Gilbert,” held that municipalities can apply “content-based restrictions” – restrictions based [...]

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