info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Kansas governor vetoes bill to strip power from public health officials on vaccines, quarantines

info2023-05-15T09:30:39-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation Friday that would have stripped the power to enforce quarantines from public health officials and squashed COVID-19 vaccination requirements for children attending childcare or schools. “Preventing Kansas’ local and state health officials from providing even basic testing for contagious human and zoonotic diseases — including measles, meningitis, Ebola, and polio — will hurt our ability to stop unnecessary outbreaks in the future,” Kelly said in a news release. The bill proposed limiting the clout of state health officials by restricting their ability to enforce testing and quarantines. Source: KAKE - News

Going once, going twice, gone! Auctions are moving online and changing a rural tradition

info2023-05-15T13:29:22-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Tractors, four-wheelers, a truck, a skid-loader and more are neatly parked in rows outside a northeast Nebraska farmhouse. The farmer who owns this equipment is retiring and is holding an auction on this chilly spring day to sell to the highest bidder. About 200 people, including Anthony Thoene, crowd into a machinery shed to browse. Thoene was hoping to get some fishing rods for his grandkids but was outbid. ... For rural communities, auctions like these are often a social event to see neighbors and friends. But it’s not just the bundled-up neighbors looking for a deal. Internet bidders are logging [...]

Weskan community comes together to clean up after severe storms tear through town

info2023-05-15T09:26:51-05:00May 15th, 2023|

The Weskan community is picking up after severe storms hit the town Thursday, uprooting trees and damaging homes and buildings, including the high school. Earlier in the day, there was tornadic activity happening just across the Colorado state line. "It was terrifying," said Sandy Miller, Weskan resident. "It was shocking, like 'Oh man, it really did happen,'" said Jeff Montero, Weskan High School Principal. Source: KSN-TV

Pittsburg Police utilize What 3 Words app

info2023-05-15T09:20:27-05:00May 15th, 2023|

The Pittsburg Police Department is encouraging citizens to start using a cell phone app in their spring safety campaign that could help them help you. They recently began using the free cell phone app What 3 Words. This app provides a way for emergency responders to help locate you when you are not certain of your exact location. If you're going camping or out on a hike, you might not know the closest crossroads, or even a way to describe your location. When you download the app it divides the world into a grid of 10 feet by 10 feet squares, [...]

The highest and lowest-paying school districts in Kansas

info2023-05-15T09:19:27-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Kansas ranks in the bottom third for teacher salaries nationwide and average pay by district ranges from $41,318 to $74,989, according to government records. In 2021, Kansas ranked 36th in the nation for public school salaries with an average public school salary of $53,932 or $11,158 less than the nation's average, according to the Kansas Department of Education. Some of the higher-paying districts in Kansas include Shawnee Mission, Olathe and Lawrence which offer salaries over $60,000 per year, according to govsalaries.com. The districts with higher pay tend to be in more affluent areas of Kansas with higher property values and tax [...]

Governor vetoes broad tax bill barring government competition against private sector

info2023-05-15T09:16:18-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a broad tax bill that prohibited governments from running businesses that compete with the private sector, a measure that critics said was intended to help one statewide business. The vetoed bill had 18 tax provisions, including one that would provide real and personal property tax exemptions for some businesses in cities where a government facility competes against a similar business. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Fed’s Bostic casts doubt on rate cuts this year even if there’s a recession

info2023-05-15T13:30:45-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Monday that he doesn't foresee rate cuts at least through 2023, even if there's a recession. "For me, inflation is job No. 1. We've got to get back to our target," he told CNBC's Steve Liesman during a "Squawk Box" interview. "If there's going to be some cost to that, we've got to be willing to do that." His comments came as the Fed has raised rates 10 times since March 2022 in an effort to bring down inflation that a year ago was running at its highest levels since the early 1980s. Source: [...]

Please don’t use guns to fish, Kansas officials warn

info2023-05-15T09:14:13-05:00May 15th, 2023|

Officials from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks came across a fishy situation last Friday after finding a firearm allegedly being used to fish. A Finney County Game Warden seized a 9 mm handgun "that was being used to take fish in Garden City," Kansas game wardens said in a Facebook post May 5. The wardens said that written violations were issued for "illegal means of take of fish" and "no fishing license." They also reminded Kansans that "firearms are not a legal means to take fish." While firearms can't be used to fish in Kansas, it is however legal [...]

‘It will look like it did in 1926.’ $5M grant expected to restore Jayhawk Theatre to former grandeur

info2023-05-15T13:31:09-05:00May 14th, 2023|

A $5 million grant announced Thursday is expected to enable downtown Topeka's Historic Jayhawk Theatre to be restored to its former grandeur. "For the untrained eye, you'll be able to walk in there and it will look like it did in 1926," said Scott Gales, a board member for that historic entertainment venue and chairman of the fundraising committee for its restoration project. Source: CJonline

Our love affair with uniform landscapes kills trees. So Kansas and Missouri are going for variety

info2023-05-12T10:28:00-05:00May 12th, 2023|

Each fall, as temperatures drop, people in this suburb can count on head-turning displays of richly hued maple leaves. But maples make up about one-third of the city’s street trees, and Overland Park has learned the hard way that too much of a good thing can mean fragility. So last year, the city put the kibosh on planting more maples. The emerald ash borer — a tiny, shiny green hitchhiker from Asia with a voracious appetite for a different beloved street tree — taught this city and others across Kansas and Missouri a painful lesson. Now some communities are hedging their arboreal bets [...]

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