info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Prairie Village takes legal action to keep petitions off ballot

info2023-08-18T10:29:32-05:00August 18th, 2023|

The increasingly testy fight over three Prairie Village petitions to put rezoning and governance measures on the ballot is now going to court. The city announced Thursday afternoon that it has filed a lawsuit seeking to have the petitions declared “legally insufficient,” arguing that both the petitions and the process to gather signatures for them violated state laws. Because of those reasons, the city argues, the petitions should not be put on the ballot. Prairie Village city officials want a Johnson County judge to reach a “declaratory judgment” that will “once and for all” decide the legal status of the three citizen-led measures before the Nov. [...]

Pittsburg featured in KCUR’s Adventure! newsletter

info2023-08-18T07:44:05-05:00August 16th, 2023|

The history of Pittsburg, Kansas, runs deep. Located in Crawford County — the Fried Chicken Capital of the World — the city started out as a mining camp. It became “New Pittsburgh” in 1876 (named for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), though it dropped the “New” and the “h” somewhere along the way. Now the southeast Kansas city is a center for academics, artists, entrepreneurs, and technology. ... The city of Pittsburg is centered around the intersection of 4th and Broadway, where two of the original buildings are still standing. Check out the Downtown Walking Tour, which includes over 100 locations of historic buildings, mostly [...]

City of Salina looking to move public notices online

info2023-08-16T13:13:30-05:00August 16th, 2023|

The City of Salina has started the process to move public notices onto the city's website this week. During its meeting Monday, the Salina City Commission voted, on first reading, to "charter out" of a Kansas statute requiring it to publish legal notices in a print newspaper. This is the first step the city will need to take if it wishes to move such notices to the city's website. "Adoption of this charter ordinance would allow, in the future, if the city commission decided to, to designate the city website as the official city newspaper," said Shawn Henessee, assistant city manager. [...]

Girard City Clerk achieves MMC designation

info2023-08-16T08:44:34-05:00August 16th, 2023|

Girard City Clerk Karen Buck recently earned the prestigious Master Municipal Clerk (MMC) designation from IIMC, the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, Inc. At Monday’s regular meeting, Mayor Mickey Pyle presented a plaque to Buck for her hard work and dedication towards obtaining the designation. The council members also expressed their appreciation to Buck during council comments. Marking the 33rd-ever clerk in the state of Kansas to obtain the MMC, the designation is granted only to municipal clerks who complete demanding education requirements and have a record of significant contributions to their local government, their community, and state. Source: Morning Sun

Westwood neighbors push back on tall, colorful Rainbow project

info2023-08-16T08:44:00-05:00August 16th, 2023|

A redevelopment project along Rainbow Boulevard in Westwood remains in the discussion phase amid recent concept changes. The Westwood Planning Commission on Aug. 7 discussed a preliminary development plan — along with two rezoning requests and two replatting requests — for the mixed-use project Mission Woods-based developer Karbank Holdings LLC, wants to build. After about three hours of hearing from the developer and dozens of public commenters, the planning commission decided to revisit the item to the September meeting. The most recent conceptual designs show taller, colorful buildings on the site, which sparked pushback from several residents who spoke at the [...]

Wichita to close tax financing district in Old Town

info2023-08-16T08:38:43-05:00August 15th, 2023|

Wichita City Council members have approved the closing of a tax financing district in Old Town. The Old Town Cinema Redevelopment District was established in 1999 with a project for a parking garage, a plaza and street improvements. The project included improvements to Rock Island and Mosley streets between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The city issued close to $5 million in debt to finance the project costs, using the increases in property tax revenue from the district. Mark Manning with the city’s finance department told the council that the debts have been paid and the district has reimbursed the city’s debt service fund [...]

Kansas sets $5.5 billion agricultural export record in 2022

info2023-08-15T23:21:43-05:00August 15th, 2023|

Governor Kelly announced that agricultural exports reached $5.46 billion in 2022, the highest export total in decades. In a press release issued Tuesday, Kelly touted significant agriculture industry growth since she took office; citing $3.8 billion in exports in 2019. The top export for Kansas was red meat, which made up $2.1 billion (38.9%) of all agriculture exports. Second were cereals (including corn, wheat, and sorghum), and third was oil seed (primarily soybeans), making up 24.5% and 12.5% of total agricultural exports, respectively. Mexico was Kansas’ largest ag importer with $2.17 billion in 2022, Japan was the second largest with $781 [...]

Derby set to decide sales tax future in general election

info2023-08-16T08:39:23-05:00August 15th, 2023|

Following efforts that started back in fall 2022, the city is nearing a tipping point on an important question: Do Derby citizens want to pay a 1% (one cent) sales tax to help fund the city’s budget? It’s a question that will be answered in the Nov. 7 general election. After discussion with focus groups, a community survey was put out at the start of 2023 to help shape the future of sales tax utilization in Derby. From input received, top priorities identified by local residents were public safety, parks maintenance and street maintenance – with all three outlined as areas [...]

Loose dogs a big concern for many residents after vicious attacks

info2023-08-15T23:19:22-05:00August 15th, 2023|

Halstead’s city council was met Monday night by a room full of residents with one thing on their mind: dog attacks. In total, 13 people voiced their concerns about dangerous dogs roaming free and the threat to everyone’s safety that those dogs impose. Bud Bryant started by saying that he was attacked by two pit bulls recently, and they drew blood. He said for several towns it’s a one-time deal and then the dog is euthanized. He said he was told that a one-time attack means the dogs can’t be in the city. Source: Harvey County Now

A new dog park is coming to west Wichita

info2023-08-15T23:17:50-05:00August 15th, 2023|

The Wichita City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to create a new dog park on the city's west side. The 7-0 vote approves the design and construction of the dog park at Country Acres Park northwest of Central and Ridge Road. The 2023-2032 Capital Improvement Program contains $750,000 for design and construction and $50,000 for public art. The council proposal said the city has received many requests for a dog park on that side of town. The only other one on the west side is K-9 Rooster Dog Park at 21st Street North and Meridian. Source: KAKE - News

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