info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

2024 January Kansas Employment Forecast Released

info2024-01-31T10:42:37-06:00January 31st, 2024|

Kansas has rebounded strongly, surpassing the national and the Plains region averages in each quarter of 2023. The state's growth peaked at 9.4% in Q3 of 2023, significantly higher than the national average of 4.8% and the Plains region of 5.1% in the same quarter. The underlying contribution to the growth within the state over the previous year was agriculture, which was from a combination of prices and drought insurance. Manufacturing regained its strength in the second and third quarters of the year, as agriculture waned slightly. Both industry drivers have fueled additional growth within construction, retail, and government, which picked [...]

Recycled ambulance saves fire department money

info2024-01-31T10:26:12-06:00January 31st, 2024|

By reusing the old box, the Newton Fire Department saved nearly $100,000 when replacing its ambulance. The department had its old ambulance box remounted onto a new vehicle. According to logistics division chief, Joe Martin, this recycling practice is common among departments. “Remounts have come a long way,” Martin said. “It’s becoming an industry norm as budgets don’t keep up with inflation.” Martin said the department was particularly excited by the addition of a power load system to the ambulance. The power load system manually lifts and lowers the stretcher so they don’t have to pick up everyone being loaded into the ambulance. The [...]

USD 440 Steering committee completes bond information meetings

info2024-01-31T10:24:17-06:00January 31st, 2024|

USD-440 and the district’s steering committee completed its third and final bond information meeting last week at Bentley Primary School, holding one in each of the three schools. After receiving feedback from the community, the steering committee will have one more meeting to shore up their plan that they initially introduced to the school board in January. With a month to consider the committee’s recommendations, the board will discuss and possibly make a decision on whether to proceed during their Feb. 12 meeting. Steering committee chair Alex Williams said that, to date, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. He said the biggest input [...]

See an extra 1% charge on your receipt in Overland Crossing? Here’s why.

info2024-01-31T10:22:41-06:00January 31st, 2024|

If you’ve been shopping recently in the Overland Crossing Shopping Center and noticed an extra charge applied to your receipt near the sales tax, that’s a private fee. The fee — that appears on a Whole Foods Market receipt in the center as “OVRLAND GIF” — is a private general improvement fee, or GIF, of 1% on each purchase. Dave Claflin from Legacy Development said the GIF functions similarly to a Community Improvement District or a Tax Increment Financing District, in that the revenue generated by the extra fee pays for improvements within a set area. These private financing arrangements are sometimes called a [...]

KwiKom asks for county buy-in with broadband

info2024-01-31T10:20:49-06:00January 31st, 2024|

County co-investment in a broadband grant application process was central to Tuesday’s commissioners meeting. KwiKom Communications of Iola is currently seeking the county’s assistance in a $2 million broadband project that will bring internet to the area between Iola and Humboldt, as well as near the airport. “It’s a $1 million Kansas Broadband Acceleration grant, but a $2 million project,” noted John Terry, KwiKom Director of Government Affairs and Business. “The state will be putting $1 million towards this project and KwiKom will be investing $1 million.” Terry clarified that any county contribution will offset Kwikom’s share of the project. Initiated in 2020, [...]

New exhibit showcases 1951 JoCo time capsule. Here’s what was found inside.

info2024-01-31T10:19:20-06:00January 31st, 2024|

The Johnson County Museum will display the contents of a time capsule discovered in the cornerstone of the 1952 Johnson County Courthouse through May. The new exhibit is called “Inside the Box: A 1951 Time Capsule.” The capsule, a 10.5-inch-by-13-inch copper box at the center of the exhibit, was all but forgotten to history until crews found it while demolishing the old courthouse in downtown Olathe after the new courthouse opened across the street. “A lot actually was stuffed into that box, and it gives a really good picture of the immense change that the county was going through in the post-war era,” said Andrew Gustafson, curator [...]

Barton house moving down the road

info2024-01-31T10:18:03-06:00January 31st, 2024|

Bobbi and Guy Barton of Halstead are planning on moving, but they’re doing it a little differently than most people. Instead of just moving out of a house, they’re having the house moved, since they had another one built on their property and live there now. The home where they used to reside in rural Halstead is devoid of people now. “We can’t have two houses on the property,” Bobbi said, adding they wanted someone to move it, versus having to tear it down. Because of Harvey County code, they’re not allowed two houses on one property, Bobbi said. The white [...]

Library offers non-traditional items to community

info2024-01-31T10:09:47-06:00January 31st, 2024|

Reading books and using computers are just some of the reasons people are piling into the Wichita Advanced Learning Library. Behind its doors, podcasts are being made, medical equipment is being checked out, as well as other items like hot spots and telescopes. "We decided that we wanted to listen to what community members want through surveys and customer feedback and that's how we started building our library of things," said Communication Specialist Sean Jones. Introducing non-traditional items began back in 2021. Jones said the library is considered an urban library and part of a network called the Urban Libraries Counsel. [...]

City of Marion asking McAnarney to serve as interim city manager

info2024-01-31T10:02:42-06:00January 31st, 2024|

The city of Marion is looking for a new city manager, and it has reached out to former Emporia city leader Mark McAnarney to fill the role on an interim basis. Marion is looking for a city manager after the resignation of Brogan Jones on Nov. 15, as reported by the Marion County Record. McAnarney served the city of Emporia for over 30 years, first as assistant city manager starting in 1989 and then as city manager in 2013. He retired in late 2021. McAnarney has not said whether he plans to take the Marion post. He served as Neodesha’s interim city manager between [...]

Jackie Robinson statue found burned and in pieces at Wichita park amid citywide manhunt

info2024-01-31T10:01:03-06:00January 31st, 2024|

A Wichita youth-baseball league’s Jackie Robinson statue — which was cut at its feet and stolen from McAdams Park last week, leading to a citywide manhunt and national media attention — was found charred and in pieces Tuesday morning in Garvey Park. Garvey Park is in south Wichita, about seven miles from where it was stolen. “It’s not salvageable at this time,” Wichita police spokesperson Andrew Ford said. Ford said they are still investigating to find suspects. First responders were called to a trash can fire at the park around 8:38 a.m. and found the statue. When firefighters extinguished the flames, they found pieces of [...]

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