info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

KS Supreme Court: Local Zoning Powers (American Warrior, Inc. v. Board of Finney County Comm’rs)

info2024-07-26T09:34:37-05:00July 26th, 2024|

K.S.A. 12-741(a) grants counties the authority to enact zoning regulations without state interference so long as those local enactments do not conflict with the Planning, Zoning, and Subdivision Regulations in Cities and Counties Act, K.S.A. 12-741 et seq. Exercising that authority, Finney County adopted local rules delegating the issuance of conditional use permits to a separate Finney County Board of Zoning Appeals. A Court of Appeals panel majority held the County could not do that, while a dissenting judge agreed with the district court that it could. See American Warrior, Inc. v. Board of Finney County Comm'rs, 63 Kan. App. 2d [...]

‘We have a housing shortage’: Topeka wages are static as rentals costs rise

info2024-07-26T08:23:19-05:00July 26th, 2024|

“We definitely need more housing in Topeka. That’s been an ongoing issue for quite some time,” said Topeka Housing Authority CEO Trey George. “We have a housing shortage across all types of housing. There’s a need for approximately 4,000 additional units for home ownership and rentals.” Renting has become the most viable option for many families due to the rising costs associated with owning a home. Source: CJonline

Hospitals give medical students a taste of rural Kansas hoping they’ll eventually work there

info2024-07-25T12:10:18-05:00July 25th, 2024|

Footsteps and excited chatter of medical students from the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine fill the CommonSpirit hospital in Dodge City. ... The students are part of a program that immerses them in rural areas, specifically in southwest Kansas, to let them shadow health care professionals. Officials from the program hope this will encourage more future physicians to consider practicing in western Kansas, where health care facilities are regularly understaffed. Source: KCUR News

Mission latest JoCo city to consider stricter short-term rental rules

info2024-07-25T09:19:26-05:00July 25th, 2024|

The city of Mission may limit how many short-term rental licenses can be issued to a single owner. ... Other cities like Fairway, Merriam and Shawnee have all adopted ordinances this year regulating short-term rentals in some way. Prairie Village is also looking into requiring all rentals in that city to have a 30-day stay minimum, which would effectively ban short-term rentals in that city. Source: Johnson County Post

Centralized campuses are a common answer to the homeless crisis. Wichita has plenty to learn from

info2024-07-25T09:17:46-05:00July 25th, 2024|

The multiagency center, or MAC, will be new to Wichita, but the concept of it — a dual resource center and shelter — has been tried and tested for years in cities across the country, from Eugene, Oregan to Bowling Green, Kentucky. In hopes of answering residents’ questions, The Journal connected with similarly-operating navigation centers in three cities — San Antonio, Phoenix and Reno, Nevada — to learn more about how their resource got started and the impact it has made on its community. Source: KLC Journal

Crawford County residents provide feedback on U.S. 69 Highway study

info2024-07-25T09:16:41-05:00July 25th, 2024|

"A generational highway" that was the reaction of one Crawford County resident after attending the U.S. 69 highway study meeting in Pittsburg today. "Yeah, I think this is an interesting process that they're doing, sharing with us information, and then gathering information from us," said Belinda Brumfield, Crawford County resident. Belinda Brumfield is one of many Crawford County residents who attended the second round of the Kansas Department of Transportation's U.S. 69 highway study meeting. Source: KSNF/KODE

Topeka proposes TPD pay increase to address officer shortage

info2024-07-25T09:15:44-05:00July 25th, 2024|

The City of Topeka is trying to address a shortage of police officers by offering more competitive pay. The city budget manager said there's a shortage of 40 officers, and that there's a growing pay gap for officers in the Topeka Police Department (TPD) compared to similar cities. Robert Perez, Topeka's city manager, said addressing the officer shortage is a high priority. He says currently the city is forced to rely on cops working overtime. Source: KSNT 27 News

Wichita to step up efforts to reduce water use

info2024-07-24T16:27:22-05:00July 24th, 2024|

The City of Wichita will be asking residents to do more to reduce water use in order to hold off mandatory water restrictions. Public Works Director Gary Janzen talked about a “call to action” during a workshop meeting Tuesday with the Wichita City Council. He said the plan is for the city to restrict its own water use, while calling on residents to take voluntary steps, and there will be a proposal to raise water rates for higher volume users. Janzen said the goal is to reduce water consumption by ten percent. He said the city historically sees an increase in [...]

Clearing up confusion around solar ban

info2024-07-24T15:22:31-05:00July 24th, 2024|

At a recent Harvey County Commission candidate forum, a question was posed: how does a solar farm operate in the county, with a ban on solar farms? The question came after candidates were asked if they supported the wind and solar ban currently in place in the county. Kyle McCaskey, the communications director for the county, said that the solar farm near East Lake is on private property, not county property. McCaskey said it’s run by Butler Electric Cooperative. Karen Rothe, director of the planning, zoning and environment department, provided further information about regulations for private solar farms or projects in [...]

Task force hoping for full-time child care coordinator in Harvey County

info2024-07-24T15:20:24-05:00July 24th, 2024|

With a large gap in child care options in the county, a child care task force hopes a dedicated employee could lead the charge in finding solutions. The task force is working to address issues around child care in the county. According to Child Care Aware of Kansas, the county currently can only fulfill 25 percent of the potential child care slots needed and needs up to 1,400 more child care slots. In the past, they reached out to child care providers to learn what their biggest issues and needs were. Now, to be as effective as possible, the task force [...]

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