Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Olpe Downhome Days celebrates community improvements

Since the Olpe Downhome festival was reinstated in 2003, its purpose has been fundraising for improvements at Olpe’s Jones Park. Multiple activities on Saturday provided a day filled with family-oriented fun, from a 6:30 a.m. breakfast provided by the Methodist church to a street dance lasting until midnight. “This is our 21st year,” Joyce Wilson, festival organizer and Olpe City Clerk, said. “There was no event in 2020, due to COVID. We actually had celebrations sporadically through the 1980s and early 1990s–originally, the festival was put on by the fire fighters to raise money.” Wilson and her husband brought the festival back to life. “We just needed a community event,” she said. “It’s had its ups and downs. The park flooded at least one time, and we’ve had torrential rains.” An afternoon parade lined up at the school, featuring tractors, bicycles, ATVs, a horse-drawn buggy, fire trucks, and police vehicles proceeding through downtown Olpe. The firemen’s barbeque drew a hungry crowd and led to even more downtown events like bed races, military service personnel appreciation, and a street dance with DJ Chuck Torres. The Olpe Fire Department Equipment Fundraiser featured a drawing for three separate firearms, with a limited number of tickets available for purchase. A 20-year class reunion was also held in conjunction with the Downhome festival.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Ranson Financial2023-07-17T10:28:46-05:00July 17, 2023|News|

Marion’s new city administrator is settling in

Marion gained a new city administrator on May 1. Marion City Administrator Brogan Jones graduated in May with his Masters in Public Administration from Wichita State University. He just turned 28 at the end of June. This is his first time being a city administrator, but he lived in and worked for the city of Lyons in code enforcement building inspections so there is some crossover for him. Jones, who is married with a child on the way—his wife is due in August—is happy to be settling into small town Marion. He and his wife moved there recently and enjoy many things about it. “We like that it’s not too far from home. It’s just an hour away. It’s still a small town like we’re used to. So we get out, and go on walks,” said Jones. “It’s quiet where we bought our house. So it’s just a nice small quiet town, and it’s got a lot of character that we don’t have back home. Everything back home is straight lines and boxes, but it’s not like that here.”
Source: Hillsboro Free Press

Ranson Financial2023-07-17T10:25:18-05:00July 17, 2023|News|

Kansas has record high teacher vacancies. But are schools finally at a turning point?

The number of teacher vacancies in Kansas schools remains at a record high, but state education officials have reason to believe a tide of increasing educator attrition is starting to turn. Kansas, as of earlier this spring, had 1,634 teaching vacancies, as reported by school districts to the Kansas State Department of Education’s licensure division, said director Shane Carter. That’s compared to 1,628 vacancies in fall 2022. Comparatively, school districts reported 1,381 vacancies in spring 2022, and 1,253 vacancies in fall 2021.
Source: CJonline

Ranson Financial2023-07-17T08:26:29-05:00July 17, 2023|News|

Indigo Moo’d offers ice cream and a place for Lindsborg residents to gather

With memories of grabbing a cone as a child, and realizing the city didn’t have an ice cream shop, one woman decided to open one in downtown Lindsborg. Alison Replogle, who owns and operates Indigo Moo’d, said that when she and her husband, Shawn, would take walks in downtown Lindsborg, they would talk about how there weren’t many places open in the evening for families and other people in the community. “It’s (here) to have a place for people to gather and celebrate,” Replogle said.
Source: Hutch News

Ranson Financial2023-07-16T08:20:57-05:00July 16, 2023|News|

Engage Dodge Program: Connecting citizens to Dodge City

The City of Dodge City is excited to announce the launch of the 2023 Engage Dodge Program, an interactive educational opportunity designed to introduce citizens to City services, programs, and the dedicated employees who serve the Dodge City community. This program aims to enhance awareness, understanding, and engagement in local government, creating stronger connections between residents and the city they call home. The Engage Dodge Program consists of eight evening sessions, held on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m., starting Aug. 8 and concluding on Sept. 19.
Source: Dodge City Globe

Ranson Financial2023-07-16T08:19:09-05:00July 16, 2023|News|

Johnson County $4 billion Panasonic plant may get $8 billion in taxpayer incentives: report

Panasonic is expected to invest some $4 billion in a new De Soto battery plant, but it could receive twice that amount in taxpayer incentives. The Japanese electronics giant is poised to get as much as $6.8 billion from provisions in last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act. That’s according to incentive watchdog group Good Jobs First, which analyzed the potential windfalls five electric vehicle battery plants could receive from a new tax credit program. Good Jobs First says the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, which aims at increasing production of electric vehicles, could cost American taxpayers $200 billion over the next decade — far higher than previous estimates. State and local taxpayers have already heavily subsidized Panasonic’s battery plant, which crews are currently building on a portion of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant.
Source: Kansas City Star

Ranson Financial2023-07-14T11:56:34-05:00July 14, 2023|News|

Park City to see changes after license approved for historic horse racing facility

The Wichita Greyhound Park will now be transformed into the Golden Circle Historic Horse Racing Facility. Being the only one in Kansas, many expect the new attraction — home to 1,000 historic horse racing machines — to bring in people from all across the region. “You have a large building on almost 80 acres up in Park City. It’s a three-story building. The bones of the building are in great shape, but obviously, it hasn’t been in use for a decade and a half,” said Jason Watkins with Ruffin Holdings, Inc. … The facility adds another piece of economic development for the Park City area. “We hope as the star bond project progresses, that we’ll have an aquarium, more hotels, we have ball facilities. There’s a lot of things in the pipeline,” said Park City Mayor John Lehnherr.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2023-07-14T11:55:36-05:00July 14, 2023|News|

After school shutdown, rural Kansas community tries to divorce district

Barton County residents will decide whether to break up with their school district and “start fresh” following heartbreak and anger over the closure of a rural community’s high school. The change could result in hundreds of students displaced and three more schools shut down. The Aug. 1 disorganization vote is a test case for rural communities that increasingly have to make decisions to shut down or consolidate as populations dwindle and schools face financial strain. “This is brand new territory for the Department of Education, for the State Board of Education and basically every district in the state of Kansas,” said KSDE general counsel Scott Gordon during a June 27 meeting in Claflin. Dissolving the district is likely to have widespread consequences for all district schools and likely will increase residents’ taxes, according to opponents of disorganization.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Ranson Financial2023-07-14T11:47:00-05:00July 14, 2023|News|

Overland Park tourists spend $850M, helping pandemic rebound

Overland Park’s tourism is bouncing back after a dive in 2020, when visitor spending declined 40.4% from the year before. In 2021, Overland Park saw a 42.1% increase in visitor spending, as well as a 19.5% increase in 2022. The data comes from a recent report from Tourism Economics. “Overland Park’s visitor economy has rebounded beyond pre-pandemic levels,” Warren Wilkinson, president of Visit Overland Park, the city’s marketing organization, said in a release.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Ranson Financial2023-07-14T11:39:45-05:00July 14, 2023|News|

This poisonous weed is growing in Wichita yards this summer. How you can identify it

A poisonous plant that bloomed in great numbers in the Wichita area last year has recently caught the attention of the public on online forums like Nextdoor. Poison hemlock is an invasive plant found throughout North America since its introduction in the 1800s. With a two-year life cycle, the noxious weed is usually not noticed until the second year, when they can reach 4 to 10 feet tall. Because of the number of poison hemlock plants in bloom last year, Matthew McKernan, horticulture agent with the Sedgwick County Extension Office, expects most in the area this year to be in their ground-level phase.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2023-07-14T11:39:17-05:00July 14, 2023|News|

About Ranson Financial

Olpe Downhome Days celebrates community improvements

Marion’s new city administrator is settling in

Kansas has record high teacher vacancies. But are schools finally at a turning point?

Indigo Moo’d offers ice cream and a place for Lindsborg residents to gather

Engage Dodge Program: Connecting citizens to Dodge City

Johnson County $4 billion Panasonic plant may get $8 billion in taxpayer incentives: report

Park City to see changes after license approved for historic horse racing facility

After school shutdown, rural Kansas community tries to divorce district

Overland Park tourists spend $850M, helping pandemic rebound

This poisonous weed is growing in Wichita yards this summer. How you can identify it

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