info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Sure it has books, but you can borrow lawn tools at this library, too

info2018-09-11T09:08:20-05:00September 11th, 2018|

Books, movies, magazines and music. You are certain to find those at your local library. But lawn and gardening tools? In Olathe, the answer is yes. The city and the Olathe Public Library are piloting a Tool Lending Library at the downtown location, 201 E. Park St. Borrowers can check out small items like pruners and trowels, as well as axes, shovels, tree pole saws, push lawn mowers, post hole diggers, spreaders and wheelbarrows, both metal and polyester. The tool library is open to people 18 or older with a Johnson County or Olathe library card account in good standing. To [...]

Commissioners consider priorities for Salina parks

info2018-09-11T09:07:15-05:00September 11th, 2018|

City Commissioners discussed how to prioritize spending on Salina parks during a study session Monday. The discussion took place within the framework of the Parks and Recreation Master plan, a document accepted by the commission in July. Interim City Manager Mike Schrage provided commissioners with an overview of the 436-page document, which contains recommendations for individual parks and survey results from Salina residents identifying what they value most from their parks. Commissioner Mike Hoppock thanked Schrage for providing the commission with more information about the report. “I tried looking through the report originally, and I thought, ‘I need the parks for [...]

Florence City Council turns down agreement to continue lease for water

info2018-09-11T09:48:06-05:00September 11th, 2018|

The Florence City Council Monday turned down a proposal to continue leasing spring water from a local family. People packed Florence City Hall Monday night to make their voices heard on the hot-button issue for the Marion County community. The city's had a lease with the DeForest family since 1961 to keep getting water from the family's spring. That lease is set to expire in May 2019. (Read more: KWCH News)

Community celebrates unveiling of Salina library exhibit

info2018-09-11T09:03:53-05:00September 11th, 2018|

The exhibit, which will remain through Oct. 12, features photos of memories made at the library since its official opening on Sept. 29, 1968. The exhibit details dates from throughout the library’s history, including in 1965 when voters approved the issuance of a bond that helped build the current facility. Salinan JoAnn Neuman recalls the “snowy and exciting” day that year when it was announced that voters had approved the bond. “My household was probably the happiest home in Salina that day,” she said. Neuman, the widow of Richard “Dick” Neuman, the first director of the Salina Public Library at its [...]

Discussion of comprehensive plan dominates Shawnee County Commission meeting

info2018-09-11T09:00:49-05:00September 11th, 2018|

After considerable public comment, and discussion among themselves, Shawnee County commissioners on Monday morning approved by a 3-0 vote a number of edits and deletions they made to the Shawnee County Comprehensive Plan. The amended plan then was turned back over to the Shawnee County Counselor’s office, which will incorporate the additions and deletions made at Monday morning’s meeting into the comprehensive plan. The updated document, which will be posted on the county’s website for public viewing after it has been updated, will be presented for final adoption or further consideration at the Oct. 1 Shawnee County Commission meeting. Kevin Cook, [...]

Shawnee County officials: Landfill height capped at 1,164 feet above sea level

info2018-09-10T07:26:52-05:00September 10th, 2018|

Shawnee County doesn’t necessarily ban Rolling Meadows Landfill from letting its trash rise higher than the surrounding hills, but it does impose a height restriction on the facility, county officials say. Rolling Meadows is prohibited from exceeding an elevation of 1,164 feet above sea level, deputy county counselor Jonathan Brzon said this past week. County officials didn’t know the landfill’s current elevation but said it was 1,136 feet in 2002, the year then-county counselor Rich Eckert said Rolling Meadows officials considered the landfill to be within the rules so long as it did not exceed the elevation of “adjacent land.” Brzon [...]

Election under way for new city of The Highlands (in Reno County)

info2018-09-10T08:23:33-05:00September 10th, 2018|

Eight residents of The Highlands cast ballots Thursday, the first day of early walk-in voting at the Reno County Courthouse Annex, 125 West 1st Ave. “More than I thought, really,” said Reno County Deputy Election Officer Jenna Fager, of the turnout. There are 304 eligible voters in the Reno County city’s special election. The city is seeking voter approval to levy property taxes to raise $60,000 for its 2019 budget. Citizens indicated by a show of hands at a meeting this summer that they would support a budget of that size. City officials, in turn, submitted the ballot question. The Highlands [...]

Citizens sold on sales tax

info2018-09-10T07:24:44-05:00September 10th, 2018|

A permanent, one-cent sales tax for South Central Kansas Medical Center received strong support among voters during a mail-in vote counted on Thursday. The unofficial results showed 66 percent of the votes cast were in support of the proposal set forth by city and hospital officials to establish a long-term funding source for the financially struggling hospital center, while at the same time lowering overall sales tax going to the medical center from 1.5 percent to 1 percent. Cowley County Clerk Karen Madison reported Thursday afternoon that 1,320 votes, more than 66.3 percent were cast in support of the measure with [...]

Pratt area flood was ‘probably a quarter or half a century event.’

info2018-09-10T07:23:29-05:00September 10th, 2018|

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is back in business issuing licenses after a flood of historic levels shut down offices headquartered east of Pratt earlier this week. The waters that damaged KDWPT offices and deluged other regions of the city and county were at a 35-year high, according to Steve McClain, president of Sterling Drilling Inc. in Pratt. McClain referred to information on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website which, he said, showed that this flood event crested higher (at 14.66′ at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2018) than any previous flood event since at least 1983. [...]

Reporter participates in Cowley County Emergency Management full-scale exercise

info2018-09-10T07:20:32-05:00September 10th, 2018|

As a journalist I mostly observe and ask questions about any event I cover, but Thursday I had the opportunity to actually participate in the Cowley County Emergency Management department’s full-scale exercise as both an observer and a role player. A full-scale exercise is held every year to test the capabilities of CCEM, its volunteer groups and partner organizations. During the exercise, partners test and evaluate an emergency operations plan and receive feedback. This year’s exercise involved a simulated scenario in which an emergency shelter was set up at Tisdale United Methodist Church, and residents evacuated there due to an EF-4 [...]

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