info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

JoCo clears $500K to help tenants pay rent, avoid eviction

info2024-01-19T11:21:00-06:00January 19th, 2024|

A new round of incentives for landlords aimed at preventing homelessness and evictions won approval Thursday from the Johnson County Commission. Commissioners voted to expand pilot programs on eviction mediation and housing choice vouchers — both programs that have seen success in getting low-income renters into stable housing. The commission voted to add $500,000 to the eviction mediation project. But this time, the money will go to direct aid to tenants in arrears rather than mediators. Eviction mediation began in September in district court and will run through December of this year. Commissioners last year authorized $146,000 to pay court-certified mediators [...]

Johnson County police scanners will soon go silent. What will that mean for transparency?

info2024-01-19T11:17:18-06:00January 19th, 2024|

For 13 Johnson County police agencies and hundreds of listeners to police radio scanners and phone apps, Jan. 23 will be “Encryption Day.” Law enforcement officials see it as the day they take back control over how much of their operations — including sensitive private information on the people they encounter — will go out over airwaves to be noted by anyone with the right technology. Scanner listeners, including some local crime journalists, see it differently. To them, “Encryption Day” will be the day the lights dim over police transparency, the day their desktop scanners become expensive paperweights and phone apps all but useless [...]

Johnson County allocates additional funds to SLFRF-backed pilot programs

info2024-01-19T11:12:21-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The Landlord Incentive Pilot Program provides financial incentives when landlords rent to a family with a federally funded voucher for available units. Three county programs developed with federal Coronavirus funds received an additional boost in funding to help qualified community members with affordable housing, child care licensing and rental assistance. On Thursday, Jan. 18, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners approved $950,000 in allocations from the interest accrued on the county’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The United States Department of the Treasury, directed by the U.S. Congress, distributed these funds to cities, counties and other governmental bodies [...]

Wichita selling more public housing units, holding open houses

info2024-01-19T11:01:11-06:00January 19th, 2024|

If you are looking for a fixer-upper, the City of Wichita is selling off more of its public housing units. You can see the homes during open houses this Sunday, Jan. 21, and next Tuesday, Jan. 23. The open houses are from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, and from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23. The homes are part of a group of 37 homes scattered throughout Wichita that were recently approved for sale by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Anyone can bid on the properties. Questions may be directed to city staff at HousingDevelopment@wichita.gov. The city has reserved dates in February [...]

Over 30 people begin firefighter certification in Girard at Firefighter One Academy

info2024-01-19T10:48:36-06:00January 19th, 2024|

More than 30 men and woman took their first step to becoming certified firefighters. The Firefighter One Academy had their first class last night at the Girard Fire Department. It's lead by an instructor from the Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute. Students will meet twice a week for the next four months. Last night they began hazmat awareness, which goes for the next month. After that, they will learn firefighter skills. "This is real exciting for us. I believe this is probably one of the biggest fire one classes that's been hosted in this area in a long time so we're real excited [...]

Humboldt readies for winter gas prices. A revised plan helps avoid market fluctuations

info2024-01-19T10:47:34-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Almost three years out from the “perfect terrible storm,” Cole Herder, Humboldt administrator, says the city is on much better footing should it find itself in another prolonged deep freeze. Beginning Feb. 9, 2021, much of the country’s middle section was held in the icy grips of a polar vortex. To make matters worse, clouds hung low blocking the sun and the winds did not blow, forcing municipalities to forgo their reliance on wind and solar to help power utilities. Sensing chaos, natural gas utility producers took advantage of the surge in demand. Prices surged from $3 to more than $600 per unit in [...]

City commissioners say KSU should continue paying for fire services

info2024-01-19T10:43:30-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners Tuesday said Kansas State University should continue to pay for fire services. City staff asked commissioners to consider updating an agreement with K-State that since 1994 has allowed the university to receive fire services on property located outside city limits. As previously reported, to pay for those services, the city had been withholding an increasing amount every year, now around $225,000, in city/university fund revenue instead of transferring money to that fund. However, the new agreement calls for the city to provide fire services to K-State for free in exchange for the university allowing the fire department’s headquarters [...]

Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council come together for a common cause

info2024-01-19T07:54:36-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council had never held a joint meeting to focus on a specific issue during Kevin Cook's 11 years on the commission. That changed Wednesday[as] members shared ideas for dealing with this community's problems regarding homelessness in a joint meeting at Topeka's Great Overland Station. Source: CJonline

Lawrence City Commission approves new historic resources code, adds 2 locations to historic register

info2024-01-17T11:02:27-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the replacement of the Conservation of Historic Resources Code with an updated version. Lawrence established the historic resources code as article 33 of the city code in 1988. This chapter, designed to conserve historic resources, mandated a review every five years. However, it had not been reviewed since its inception. In 2014, the Historic Resources Commission was advised to assess and suggest changes. A subcommittee identified significant modifications, leading to a complete revision proposal. The biggest changes in the revised chapter encompassed aspects such as allowing administrative review for most projects and streamlining the approval [...]

Burrton considering selling natural gas

info2024-01-17T11:01:04-06:00January 17th, 2024|

The City of Burrton is considering selling off its natural gas, but City Clerk Kim Ryan said the decision wasn’t final. Ryan said the city had received interest from both the Kansas Gas Service and Black Hills Energy. The Kansas Gas Service set the original deadline for Feb. 4 but extended it for a later meeting. Ryan said the city plans to have a meeting on Feb. 5 and expects a decision to be made by the middle of February. According to Ryan, the city is considering selling because of all the state regulations. “You almost need a couple of full time people [...]

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