info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

When cold coal froze, wind farms helped Evergy power Kansas through winter weather

info2024-01-21T08:05:12-06:00January 21st, 2024|

Evergy maintained "normal operating conditions for extreme weather," despite coal freezing, thanks in part to high winds powering wind farms through the recent blustery conditions. "The bottom line is we had enough power over the last week or so and in particular through the weekend when we had the coldest weather to meet demands," said Chuck Caisley, an Evergy executive, about the previous weekend. He added that with a midweek warming, "I think we are out of the biggest danger of not having adequate supplies." Source: CJonline

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic

info2024-01-19T15:29:03-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic so the public can no longer hear it, and Harvey County is doing it this week. The block on Harvey County’s law enforcement radio traffic comes after a change to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security policy. The policy now says law enforcement agencies can’t pass sensitive information unencrypted across public networks. Source: KSN

Girard Council discusses water leaks

info2024-01-19T11:36:00-06:00January 19th, 2024|

With negative temperatures and water leaks, last week proved to be a wild one for City of Girard employees. At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, the city notified residents on Facebook that a vehicular accident involving a hydrant left residents experiencing outages or low pressure, forcing city crews to work continually through the freezing temperatures along Buffalo Street on the western side of town. In an update on Thursday morning, Jan. 11, the city said its crews continued to work on multiple leaks caused by the accident. The account noted that the city engaged a third-party contractor to assist the City [...]

Rural school district celebrates 1,000 adult graduates

info2024-01-19T11:34:32-06:00January 19th, 2024|

USD 112 Central Plains recently celebrated its 1,000th adult diploma completion program graduate after just three years of offering a free, online high school program for Kansan adults. "As a small, rural school district, it has been exciting to see the impact the Central Plains Diploma Completion Program has had on the adult population in Kansas," Central Plains Superintendent Bill Lowry said. "Education has no boundaries, and we've been able to serve students from all four corners of Kansas and everywhere in between." Students who complete the program graduate with a standard high school diploma from USD 112 Central Plains. To date, 250 [...]

County renews sheriff’s office contract with Edgerton

info2024-01-19T11:32:18-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners renewed a $538,858 contract last week for Edgerton to continue receiving law enforcement services from the sheriff’s office in 2024.The issue was discussed during the board’s Thursday meeting. Brian Seidler, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office budget director, said the county has held the agreement with Edgerton since 1996 since the city does not have its own police department. According to the agreement, the sheriff’s office patrols a district that includes the Johnson County line on the west and south, West 167th Street on the north and Gardner Road/Center Street on the east. Source: Gardner News

GB seeing more growth in tourism

info2024-01-19T11:30:15-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Tourism is a big deal for Barton County, an excited Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night. She had received the most recent Tourism Economic Impact Report from Kansas Tourism, and it contained promising information and helped solidify the importance of promoting the community to lure more visitors. “We paid for this as Barton county because Great Bend accounts for 95% of the tourism in Barton County,” she said. The report was costly enough, so by doing this, it saved the CVB about $3-4,000. Hayes said they don’t buy this report every year because it [...]

City commissioners approve cemetery master plan

info2024-01-19T11:29:20-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a master plan to implement infrastructure changes at Sunset and Sunrise cemeteries. The improvements — which will cost $6 million for Sunset Cemetery and $3 million for Sunrise Cemetery — will include a new building for equipment and a joint maintenance facility the Sunset Cemetery will share with Sunset Zoo. Sunrise Cemetery will receive a new office and maintenance shop, a remodel of the existing shop, and ongoing road maintenance and expansion as needed. The Cemetery Advisory Board voted unanimously to support the final draft master plan as presented on Nov. 9. Commissioner Karren [...]

Fed’s Raphael Bostic expects rate cuts to happen in the third quarter

info2024-01-19T11:26:54-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic expects policymakers to start cutting rates in the third quarter of this year, saying Thursday that inflation is well on its way back to the central bank's goal. Bostic, a voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, asserted that the goal ahead is to calibrate policy to be not so restrictive as to choke off growth while still acting as a bulwark against persistently elevated prices. However, he said a "golden path" scenario of tamping down inflation while promoting solid growth and healthy employment is getting closer than many Fed officials [...]

Grant to improve election security

info2024-01-19T11:25:43-06:00January 19th, 2024|

To bolster election security in Barton County, the County Commission Tuesday morning accepted a $94,096.91 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Security Grant. County Clerk Bev Schmeidler said the funding, which requires a 10% local match, will help with election equipment storage, a new trailer to haul supplies to polling locations, rolling bags to haul gear and other needs. “We had the opportunity to go out for a grant offered through the Secretary of State’s office for federal HAVA funds,” Schmeidler said. Since the money can be used for anything to improve election security, “there is quite a list of things that we [...]

City of Claflin hosting rabies clinic

info2024-01-19T11:24:37-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The City of Claflin is hosting a rabies clinic from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 20. The clinic will be held at the city shop, 710 Front St. in Claflin. Services will be provided by Hoisington Vet Clinic staff. As a reminder, all dogs in the city limits must have current proof of rabies vaccination and must be licensed by March 1. A $5 penalty will be assessed to dog owners after the March 1 deadline. Cost of dog tags is $5 for spayed or neutered dogs and $7.50 for dogs not fixed. Source: Great Bend Tribune

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