Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Liberal attempts Guinness World Records for pancakes

Liberal is attempting to break two Guinness World Records ahead of the 75th International Pancake Day (IPD) race on Tuesday. The race is a pre-Lenten tradition between Olney, England and Liberal. The race in Olney dates back to 1445. In Liberal, the race will take place at 11:55 a.m. The race will start at 6th and Kansas Avenue. On Monday, the IPD hosted an attempt to break the record for the longest line of pancakes. Each pancake had to touch each other in a continuous line. The IPD used 120 feet of tables to lay out 900 feet of pancakes which amounted to about 2,800 cakes. The pancakes will be repackaged and will go to food banks. On Tuesday, a record will be attempted to break the highest pancake toss. The current record stands at 31 feet, 2 inches and is held by Mike “Mr. Pancake” Cuzzacrea. Frank Hampton, the proclaimed “Pancake Maestro,” will attempt to break the record. For more Pancake Day information, go to www.pancakeday.net.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:34:16-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Exploring Kansas heritage with the Osage Trail

Members of the Southeast Kansas Museum Alliance are hoping a proposed project will help people learn more about Kansas history. Leaders in the Southeast Kansas Museum Alliance are discussing an official Osage Trail Byway designation through the Southeast Kansas region. So far, the Oak Grove School Historical Society has restored the Oak Grove School House which was built in 1877, it is southeast of Neosho County. “We’re getting ready to open it up to school districts in the Southeast Kansas region to bring fourth-grade school classes out. When they learn about Kansas history for the first time. And they can have a history, lesson, experience and activities there in the schoolhouse,” said Roger Pruitt, Oak Grove School Historical Society Treasurer. The schoolhouse was built along the Osage Trail Byway, a mile west of the Neosho River. “The Osage Trail had two main arteries. One came down from the north and came through Missouri and then down along the western bank of the Neosho River, all the way to Indian territory in Oklahoma. And the other one came across southern Missouri into the southeast corner of Kansas and went west all the way to the Santa Fe Trail,” said Pruitt.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:32:39-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

No injuries after train derails in southwest Kansas

Authorities say no one was hurt when a train derails near Hazelton in south-central Kansas early Monday morning. The incident happened at around 5:20 a.m. east of Hazelton in southeastern Barber County. A county emergency management official said there were no reports of injuries, no hazardous materials were involved, and no homes were in danger. Investigators are on scene working to determine the cause. Barber County Emergency Management shared a photo on Facebook showing multiple cars piled up and told KAKE News there were three piles like it. Director Mike Loreg later shared additional photos.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:28:46-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Prices rose more than expected in January as inflation won’t go away

Inflation rose more than expected in January as stubbornly high shelter prices weighed on consumers, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of the prices shoppers face for goods and services across the economy, increased 0.3% for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. On a 12-month basis, that came out to 3.1%, down from 3.4% in December. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a monthly increase of 0.2% and an annual gain of 2.9%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI accelerated 0.4% in January and was up 3.9% from a year ago, unchanged from December. The forecast had been for 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively. Shelter prices, which comprise about one-third of the CPI weighting, accounted for much of the rise. The index for that category climbed 0.6% on the month, contributing more than two-thirds of the headline increase, the BLS said. On a 12-month basis, shelter rose 6%. Food prices moved higher as well, up 0.4% on the month. Energy helped offset some of the increase, down 0.9% due largely to a 3.3% slide in gasoline prices. Stock market futures fell sharply following the release. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off more than 250 points and Treasury yields surged higher.
Source: Economy

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:25:59-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

What’s in Humboldt’s century-old time capsule?

A mystery 100 years in the making was recently solved in Humboldt, Kansas. “We started trying to get into it last year,” said Amber Wheeler, Superintendent, Humboldt Schools. Humboldt superintendent Amber Wheeler says despite having newspaper coverage to go off of, this box, a time capsule from 1922, remained elusive for more than a year. “When they pulled out the little black box it was an excitement for everybody,” said Wheeler. Wheeler says they knew the capsule was somewhere around the cornerstone of the high school… but when they pulled the bricks around it last year, they came up empty. “There wasn’t anybody to ask. One hundred years ago is a long time. There was nobody to ask where they really put it, or how they had put it in there. We had one newspaper article and a whole lot of guesses,” said Wheeler. This year, they pulled the cornerstone out as part of adding on to the school. And inside of the cornerstone — was the capsule. “Who knows what’s in there, and how things have survived in the last 100 years,” said Wheeler. Monday night, they found out. “What we can see right now is that there is obviously something that was a baseball at one point in time,” said Wheeler.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:23:28-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Newton sees resignation of high school, grade school principals

At its February 12 meeting the USD 373 Board of Education approved a personnel report that included the names of two building administrators under the resignation column. Newton High School Principal Blake Smith’s name was listed with his final day with the district being June 30 – the last day of the school’s fiscal year. Smith worked as an assistant principal at the high school starting in 2019, before taking over in August of 2022, replacing then principal Caleb Smith. Sherri Terrell, who’s been principal of South Breeze this school year was also listed as resigning, with her departure date in June. Harvey County Now reached out to both administrators late Monday night after viewing the personnel report and hopes to add more information to this article, once they’ve replied.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T10:19:51-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Topeka petition seeks to demand ‘a public vote before they raise our taxes’

Keeping Topeka’s city government from raising property taxes without a public vote is the aim of a recently initiated petition drive. The petition calls for the passage of a proposed ordinance that would ban the city from collecting more property taxes in any given year than it collected the previous year, said Topekan Earl McIntosh, the petition drive’s leader.
Source: CJonline

Ranson Financial2024-02-13T07:22:22-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Rush County hospital transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital’

Rush County Memorial Hospital announced Friday that the hospital will be transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital.’ The hospital will continue to provide a 24/7 emergency room, lab and radiology services, outpatient care, physical therapy, the Wellness Center, and the medical clinic. In addition, Locust Grove Village will continue to provide nursing home services. The intermediate swing bed unit (formerly long-term care) will be closed. In addition, the rural emergency hospital model does not support inpatient services such as swing bed and acute care. The hospital cites Covid, reimbursement changes, declining population, and increasing business costs as the reasons behind the change. “The decisions were made with careful consideration to the impact they would have on our community,” a statement from the hospital reads. The hospital will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the changes and answer questions Thursday, February 15, at the La Crosse City Auditorium.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2024-02-12T11:07:33-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces third solar project

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. is partnering on a 150-megawatt solar energy project near Fort Dodge Station, the company’s electric generating facility one mile southeast of Dodge City, Kan. Expected commercial operation is during the first half of 2026. Sunflower is a cooperatively operated wholesale generation and transmission utility serving seven member distribution utilities located in western Kansas. The Boot Hill Solar Project will join Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Johnson Corner Solar Project (JCSP), which came online in April 2020, and Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell Project, scheduled for commercial operation in January 2025, in providing solar power to Sunflower’s members and those they serve. Because it produces on-peak energy during the hottest days of the year when the Sunflower system experiences its peak demand for electricity, the Boot Hill Solar Project will complement the company’s other generation resources, which are powered by natural gas, coal, and wind. In addition to providing on-peak renewable energy, the project will also provide the system with incremental capacity. The Victory Electric Cooperative Assn., Inc., located in Dodge City, joins Sunflower’s six other member-owners in supporting the Boot Hill Solar Project, which will surpass the JCSP and the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell projects as the largest operating solar facility in the state. Strategically locating the Boot Hill Solar project near existing Sunflower assets will provide cost and schedule benefits to all of the member-owners.
Source: Sunflower Electric Power Corporation

Ranson Financial2024-02-12T11:06:26-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Prairiefire bank seeks court guidance over how defaulted bonds should be paid

Prairiefire is looking for guidance on how to pay down the first tranche of almost $65 million in defaulted debt, since the Overland Park development hasn’t yielded enough sales taxes to fully cover those obligations. UMB Bank, the trustee for Prairiefire’s sales tax revenue (STAR) bonds, seeks guidance through a legal petition filed in Minneapolis, where its Corporate Trust Services department is based. The bank on Jan. 30 asked a Hennepin County District Court judge to confirm how about $4.2 million in available funds should be applied to $14.9 million in bond principal and $1.75 million in interest that came due for Prairiefire in mid-December. Kansas’ STAR bond program is designed to draw new out-of-state visitors by helping municipalities finance commercial, entertainment and tourism projects. The bonds are covered by new sales taxes generated through the projects. However, in Prairiefire’s case, initial sales projections were overestimated. State auditors in 2021 said the project would take anywhere from 14 to 72 years longer than expected to retire the bonds. Prairiefire produced $389,459 in sales taxes to cover $16.6 million in total bond principal and interest owed as of Dec. 15, and UMB Bank transferred the $3.78 million entirety of the bonds’ reserve fund to help cover debt service. However, the bank raised conflicting provisions in its trust indenture with Overland Park on how those funds should be allocated toward principal and interest payments in the event of a shortfall. The provisions applied will affect which bondholders are due payments, and in what amounts.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Ranson Financial2024-02-12T11:01:16-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

About Ranson Financial

Liberal attempts Guinness World Records for pancakes

Exploring Kansas heritage with the Osage Trail

No injuries after train derails in southwest Kansas

Prices rose more than expected in January as inflation won’t go away

What’s in Humboldt’s century-old time capsule?

Newton sees resignation of high school, grade school principals

Topeka petition seeks to demand ‘a public vote before they raise our taxes’

Rush County hospital transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital’

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces third solar project

Prairiefire bank seeks court guidance over how defaulted bonds should be paid

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