info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Smoky Hill Museum in Salina hosts presentation to focus on ancient site of Etzanoa

info2018-09-04T10:02:09-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Etzanoa. For centuries it lay buried beneath the Kansas soil, holding its secrets and waiting. It waits no more. Join Dr. Donald Blakeslee as he discusses this exciting archeological discovery. This free presentation is hosted by the Smoky Hill Museum on Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. To accommodate a larger crowd, the presentation will be held at the First United Methodist Church’s Fellowship Hall, 122 N Eighth St., just across Iron Avenue from the museum. Spaniards called it the Great Settlement, while a native name for the town was Etzanoa. This ancient settlement in southern Kansas was home to more than 20,000 [...]

Shawnee Mission looking to make gun locks available for pick up at schools

info2018-09-04T09:59:03-05:00September 4th, 2018|

As part of its continuing efforts to provide the safest and most secure learning environments possible, the Shawnee Mission School District’s police department is mounting an effort to promote gun safety within the homes of students. Giving an update on the department’s current strategy and tactics to the board of education this week, Director of Safety and Security John Douglass said that staff will be working with schools to promote a “culture of safety” that extends beyond the school building. Part of that push will be encouraging parents to lock gun cabinets in their homes and otherwise secure weapons. The district [...]

City of Topeka considers raising sales tax to aid Cyrus Hotel investment

info2018-09-04T09:55:48-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Topeka’s governing body, which two years ago authorized a 1 percent extra sales tax upon purchases made at downtown Topeka’s Cyrus Hotel, on Tuesday will consider raising that to 2 percent. A proposal to make that move is among items on the agenda when that body, consisting of the nine city council members and Mayor Michelle De La Isla, meets at 6 p.m. in its chambers at 214 S.E. 8th. The city’s governing body plans to hear public comments and consider raising the special sales tax imposed to aid development of the $30 million Cyrus Hotel and restaurant property, which remains [...]

McPherson business owners push for Sunday liquor sales

info2018-09-04T09:54:19-05:00September 4th, 2018|

McPherson residents are renewing a push to allow liquor sales on Sundays. Stores like Dotties Girls are closed on Sundays meaning McPherson residents have to drive out of town just to get alcohol, something the owners hope changes soon "There is so many people that have it, canton, Lindsborg, Salina, so we figured why not here in McPherson." Rhonda Boyston and Amy Russell own Dottie's Girls Liquor Store in McPherson. They've been pushing for Sunday sales for a while now, something they say is long over due. Mcpherson is one of the few cities in Kansas that does not have sales [...]

They created a new downtown ‘basically out of a field.’ Lenexa City Center is booming

info2018-09-04T10:32:10-05:00September 4th, 2018|

The line of customers formed early and kept coming Saturday at the Red Kitchen Tamales food stall in Lenexa City Center’s Public Market. Owner Alejandra de la Fuente paused briefly from serving to reflect on her start-up’s remarkable blossoming over the past year. “I think it’s amazing,” said de la Fuente. “There are always more and more people coming.” Red Kitchen Tamales’ success is just one example of the progress at Lenexa City Center, the new heart of the suburb 15 miles from Kansas City. It has sprouted from what was farmland not too long ago, west of Interstate 435 at [...]

Manhattan, Kan., hit by ’500-year event.’ Hundreds evacuated in flash flood.

info2018-09-04T10:32:35-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Nearly 9 inches of rain that pounded Manhattan, Kan., overnight and into the day Monday caused major flash flooding, forcing more than 300 people to evacuate their homes. Some 750 homes still lack power, the city of Manhattan reports. “We’re saying it is a 500-year event, perhaps a 700-, 800-year event,” said Manhattan’s Municipal Government Manager Mark Fehr at a 2 p.m. press conference Monday. Aerial photographs posted by the Riley County Police show buildings flooded nearly to their roofs. Two emergency shelters have been established, one at Cico Park and a second at Bramlage Coliseum. ‘”It is estimated that about [...]

Labette County supports widening U.S. 400

info2018-09-04T09:46:50-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Labette County commissioners on Friday approved a resolution that recommends prioritizing U.S. 400 in Southeast Kansas as the Kansas Department of Transportation and Kansas Legislature consider the next statewide transportation program. Jim Zaleski, the city of Parsons economic development director, brought the resolution to commissioners for their support. He said the Parsons City Commission will consider a similar resolution on Tuesday. The hope is that U.S. 400 will become a four-lane road in the near future. The highway recently received passing lanes and county commissioners and Zaleski noted on Friday that much of the right-of-way is probably purchased for the [...]

Parsons applying for grant to help fund, light and extend trail

info2018-09-04T09:43:56-05:00September 4th, 2018|

The city of Parsons likely will apply for a grant that would add lighting and concrete to much of the trail in Tolen Creek Park while also extending the path. During a Thursday afternoon work session, the Parsons City Commission gave its approval for the city staff to prepare an application for a Kansas Department of Transportation grant through the agency’s Transportation Alternatives Program. The grant would be used to pave the portion of the gravel trail that begins on Cattle Drive and follows the west side of the park to underneath the U.S. 400 bridge continuing northwest to near [...]

New ordinance in place for downtown sidewalks in Spring Hill

info2018-09-04T09:40:42-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Bicycles, skateboards and other similar modes of transportation are no longer allowed on the sidewalks in Spring Hill’s downtown area. At the Aug. 9 City Council meeting, Ordinance No. 2018-12 was approved, determining the use of bicycles, skateboards, coasters, roller skates, roller blades and other similar devices a public nuisance on the sidewalks of Main Street downtown. “The Governing Body finds that the use of such devices on the public sidewalks in the downtown area creates a hazard to the physical safety of the general public due to the limited setbacks between the sidewalk and the downtown structures fronting the [...]

Wyandotte Co. DA to create new unit for reviewing claims of wrongful convictions

info2018-09-04T09:39:44-05:00September 4th, 2018|

In his 18 months in office, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree Sr. said he has heard from about hundreds of people in prison or from their families who claim wrongful convictions. Now, his office will have the funding and staff to look into some of those claims. A spokesman for the Unified Government Commission said the district attorney’s office will receive two payments of about $167,000 each in the fourth quarter of 2018 and fourth quarter of 2019 for a new conviction integrity unit. Dupree said at a press conference Friday that his office expects to hire three people [...]

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