info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Reality of public service not always what Kansas officials expected

info2023-10-27T10:47:53-05:00October 27th, 2023|

The adage “you get out what you put in” usually is attached to manual labor or building a business. It’s also applicable to elected officials, both novices and veterans, as they carry out the duties of their public roles. Kansans will go to the polls Nov. 7 to vote for their choices for city government, school boards and community college boards. These elections typically draw fewer voters than those for state and national offices, but the disruptions of the pandemic shifted the context of their roles. This year’s vote represents a return to normalcy of sorts. No longer do city councils [...]

Cell phone tower in Andover catches fire

info2023-10-27T12:00:02-05:00October 27th, 2023|

The City of Andover says a cell phone tower at a local park caught on fire Wednesday afternoon but the cause is unknown. Hal Larcher said he was spending his day at Central Park in Andover getting pictures and video of some of the flooding happening there, when suddenly he turned around and saw a thick black smoke filling the sky. He says it was clearly coming from the cell phone tower in the middle of the park. "I was shocked for sure," said Larcher. He says it's unlike anything he's ever seen before. Larcher explains when he was looking at [...]

About the city of beautiful maples

info2023-10-27T10:45:23-05:00October 27th, 2023|

Hiawatha’s beautiful maples have a rich history that makes the fall splendor of the town even more intriguing. This year, fall took its sweet time settling. An unusually dry late summer and early fall certainly took its toll on the maple trees. Their beautiful colors were a little late turning, and maybe not quite as bright as a wetter year would be, but the maples still were magnificent. After Monday’s rain, many leaves have fallen, but a walk around Hiawatha can truly be inspirational and full of so many colors of autumn. Hiawatha has long been known for its beautiful maples, [...]

Kansas court system down nearly 2 weeks in ‘security incident’ that has hallmarks of ransomware

info2023-10-27T10:31:31-05:00October 27th, 2023|

Kansas officials are calling a massive computer outage that’s kept most of the state’s courts offline for two weeks a “security incident” and, while they had not provided an explanation as of Wednesday, experts say it has all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack. The disruption has left attorneys unable to search online records and forced them to file motions the old fashioned way — on paper. Courts are limping along, although the growing piles of paper are a mess that will have to be sorted and scanned eventually. “It’s really just slowed the whole system down,” said Chris Joseph, a [...]

Johnson County’s rural towns are growing. Do they need new libraries?

info2023-10-27T10:29:03-05:00October 27th, 2023|

Spring Hill Councilmember Wendy North has been on a mission to Johnson County Library officials this fall. Her message: Don’t spend $4 million next year to upgrade the tiny Spring Hill library branch. Save the money to build a new one four miles north and east, where more houses are likely to go up. North has told county commissioners and the library board that an informal offer from a developer of single-family homes would allow the city to acquire land near Spring Hill High on 199th Street that could eventually become a new municipal center with an adjacent library similar to what Lenexa [...]

Manhattan holds one of the highest ranking floodplain management programs in the state

info2023-10-27T12:01:27-05:00October 27th, 2023|

The stormwater compliance engineer said the city’s floodplain management program is one of the highest rated programs in the state. During Tuesday’s Manhattan City Commission meeting, stormwater compliance engineer Bill Heatherman gave an update to fulfill an audit requirement. The program will have an audit on Nov. 8. The floodplain management program creates plans and projects that help the city improve the floodplains in the area. The city is a member of the National Flood Insurance Program. The city also adheres to the Community Rating System, an elevated set of requirements through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is a ranking [...]

Osawatomie power outage likely to continue into Saturday

info2023-10-27T10:24:47-05:00October 27th, 2023|

Osawatomie officials are confident that a transformer acquired from Garden City, Kan., will fix the power outage problem that has been ongoing since the evening hours of Tuesday, Oct. 24, but it is not estimated to be online until the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 28. Meanwhile, an estimated 250 to 300 residents remain without power, according to city news release updates. A critical failure at the city of Osawatomie’s power plant substation caused the initial power outages in the overnight hours of Tuesday, Oct. 24, into Wednesday, Oct. 25. On Wednesday morning, power was restored to some neighborhoods through the city’s [...]

Overland Park to formally end old city staff pay structure

info2023-10-27T12:02:22-05:00October 27th, 2023|

Overland Park is taking more steps to update its city employee salary structure and get rid of its old system. Last week, the Overland Park City Council Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee voted 6-0 to recommend the city council rescind a 2002 resolution that formalized the old compensation system. With the city manager shifting city employee pay into a new compensation structure, the old system was obsolete and no longer needed. The committee’s recommendation to get it off the books would make it official. Source: Prairie Village Post

Clay Center debates lifting pit bull ban

info2023-10-27T12:02:49-05:00October 27th, 2023|

The Clay Center City Council is asking for feedback on whether the city should lift its ban on pit pulls. Councilwoman Karla Sweet reported at last week’s council meeting that the council’s Administrative Committee is considering the change, but wants to hear more about it from the public. Sweet said she received an email about it, but hasn’t heard much from constituents. Over the course of about 50 minutes, council members also debated whether to add more breeds to the ordinance, whether to modify it by requiring DNA testing of a suspected pit bull and discussed what makes pit bull attacks [...]

Local business owners transforming historical building into event center for Halstead

info2023-10-25T12:04:05-05:00October 25th, 2023|

Reba Lee, and her husband, Jeremy, are turning the former Harvey County Independent building, located at 220 Main Street, into an event center for the community to rent out. The Lees originally bought the building, intending it to be an office for Jeremy Lee, but after trying to host a birthday party for their children, they realized the town was missing an event center for community members to host parties. “I said, ‘Hey we just bought this building; let’s just have the kids’ birthday party up there,’” Reba Lee said. She said this led to the idea of using the space [...]

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