info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

STAYCATION | Strong City, Cottonwood Falls provide small town surprises

info2024-07-08T13:48:18-05:00July 8th, 2024|

Located 60 miles south of Manhattan, Strong City and Cottonwood Falls both may be small in size, but they make up for it with history and opportunities for exploration. The hour-long drive down Kansas Highway 177 takes you into Strong City first, which is also accessible via U.S. Highway 50 west of Emporia. Continue down K-177, and then you’ve hit Cottonwood Falls. Toni Schneider, executive director of the Chase County Chamber of Commerce, said in an email that the unique thing about the twin-city area is “the feeling.” “The feeling you get when you see the magnificent Flint Hills, not just [...]

Chanute’s Santa Fe Park playground ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for Friday

info2024-07-08T13:44:57-05:00July 8th, 2024|

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for the grand opening of the new Santa Fe Park playground at noon Friday, July 5. “We are very happy that we will get to cut the ribbon for the children of Chanute so they will have a safe place to play,” said Debbie Shields, chairperson of the Chanute Parks Advisory Board. The new playground equipment is inclusive and has something for every youth, Shields noted. The Chanute Community Foundation received $70,000 in match grant funding from the Patterson Family Foundation for the new playground equipment at Santa Fe Park in December. In November, the Sunderland [...]

As Kansas home values rise, major property tax relief will wait until at least next year

info2024-07-08T13:42:46-05:00July 8th, 2024|

Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republican lawmakers hailed the tax cuts package signed into law in June as significant relief for residents. But on property taxes, no one views the new law as a smashing success. The compromise reached by Kelly and GOP leaders contained only a modest property tax cut, even as lawmakers almost universally say high property tax bills are the biggest complaint of constituents. Instead, action in the statehouse focused largely on income tax reductions. Demonstrating the anger over property tax bills, the Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas, Unified Government’s commissioners voted last week to not collect [...]

Lawsuit over rejected Shawnee apartment plan could go to Kansas Supreme Court

info2024-07-03T09:32:11-05:00July 3rd, 2024|

A lawsuit between the city of Shawnee and a Johnson County-based development company may find its way to the Kansas Supreme Court. Attorneys for Austin Homes, a development company owned by Greg Prieb, are now appealing an April decision by the Kansas Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of the city after it denied developers’ application five years ago to build a multi-family project near Johnson Drive and K-7 Highway. Source: Johnson County Post

DOJ, Wichita schools reach settlement in race, disability discrimination investigation

info2024-07-03T09:31:32-05:00July 3rd, 2024|

Wichita Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached a settlement after an investigation into Kansas’ largest school district uncovered race and disability discrimination in how discipline is dealt out. “The department’s investigation revealed, among other things, that the district’s Black students were disciplined more frequently and more severely than white students who engaged in similar conduct and had similar backgrounds and disciplinary histories,” a Tuesday DOJ release states. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Riley County jail close to reaching capacity with more incarcerations

info2024-07-03T09:31:09-05:00July 3rd, 2024|

The Riley County Jail has been close to reaching capacity in recent month. Jail captain Mark French on Monday told county commissioners the 147-bed correctional facility has an average daily population of about 114 inmates, and sometimes, that number gets up to 120. “We’re pretty maxed out when it comes to the classification system,” French said. Source: themercury.com

Kansas Launches National Campaign to Attract and Retain Talent

info2024-07-02T10:02:01-05:00July 2nd, 2024|

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland, alongside leaders from across the state, today unveiled Love, Kansas, a dynamic talent attraction campaign aimed at boosting Kansas’ population by inviting past residents to choose the Sunflower State as their future home. This national marketing initiative will highlight Kansas as an exceptional place to live, work and raise a family, with a special emphasis on “boomerangs” – individuals with previous ties to the state. The campaign was launched at the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, where Lieutenant Governor Toland shared his personal journey back to Kansas that was inspired by a [...]

Cuts looming for city staff as Manhattan looks to increase its cash balance

info2024-07-02T10:00:19-05:00July 2nd, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners are talking about laying off as many as 70 city employees as they consider cost-cutting measures to avert what they say is a potential budget crisis. City officials during Tuesday’s meeting weighed options to increase the general fund. The fund’s cash balance is expected to drop from $11 million to $6 million by the end of 2024. Officials have said they like to keep the cash reserve above $10 million. Commissioners have initially targeted a combination of staff reductions and tax increases. Personnel currently makes up around 70% of the general funds’ expenses. Commissioners are looking at cutting [...]

Fort Scott City Commission talks tax incentives for downtown buildings

info2024-07-02T09:53:36-05:00July 2nd, 2024|

Fort Scott City Commissioners on June 18 discussed Reinvestment Housing Incentive Districts. Bourbon County Regional Economic Development Director Robert Harrington said a RHID for the downtown area would fund “any upper-story living,” while the lower level must be commercial. The RHID would not pay for such items as appliances and furniture. A RHID is a program designed to aid developers in building housing within communities by assisting in the financing of public infrastructure improvements. RHID captures the incremental increase in property taxes created by a housing development project for up to 25 years. The revenue can be used for reimbursement for [...]

Political signs not allowed on right of way

info2024-07-02T09:52:25-05:00July 2nd, 2024|

It’s a sign of the season – political campaigning and the posting of campaign signs. The Kansas Department of Transportation reminds the public that all political campaign signs or billboards are prohibited from being placed on state highway right of way. By law, all right of way on state highways is exclusively for public highway purposes. Only regulatory, guide signs and warning signs placed by KDOT are allowed on the 9,500-mile state highway system. KDOT has jurisdiction over all interstate, Kansas and U.S. routes. When KDOT maintenance crews find political signs on state highway right of way, the signs will be [...]

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