info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

SVB Collapse Shows Smaller Banks Can Pose Risk

info2023-03-21T09:55:25-05:00March 21st, 2023|

For 15 years, regulators and legislators have assumed the biggest risks to the financial system came from a handful of “too big to fail” banks. This month’s failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank—and last week’s bank-led rescue of a third lender, First Republic Bank FRC 39.67% increase; green up pointing triangle—suggests that focus on size may have blinded officials to the threat posed by smaller lenders, observers and former regulators say. Source: WSJ.com: US Business

Fed Faces Tough Decision on Rate Increase

info2023-03-21T09:51:44-05:00March 21st, 2023|

Central-bank officials must balance inflation concerns with new worries about spillovers from banking turmoil. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues this week face one of their toughest calls in years: whether to raise interest rates again to fight stubbornly high inflation or take a timeout amid the most intense banking crisis since 2008. The decision over whether to raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point is likely to hinge in part on how markets digest the forced marriage Sunday of two Swiss banking giants, UBS and Credit Suisse, and other steps to calm fears of contagion in the banking [...]

Valley Center Public Library is celebrating its 100th birthday

info2023-03-20T08:22:09-05:00March 20th, 2023|

There have been many constants at the Valley Center Public Library over the years. Storytimes. Easter egg hunts. Best-selling novels. Newspapers. And the bell at the front door. "We still have it," said Terry Foster, the library's assistant director. "It's a counter. It's a patron counter," Director Janice Sharp said. "And if you're out in the stacks, you know somebody has come in," Foster added. And they've been coming in for a century. The Valley Center Public Library is celebrating its 100th birthday this month with a party from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20 and with a look back [...]

Water Wise: Hays residents meeting challenges of water conservation, quality

info2023-03-20T08:19:10-05:00March 20th, 2023|

Two water officials in Hays, Kansas say that policies put in place in the 1990s are still paying dividends for a city that is often seen as a model for water-use efficiency. Holly Dickman, a water conservation specialist with the City of Hays, said the nearly three-decade-old water policies are important because Ellis County relies on groundwater mostly from alluvial (shallow) aquifers around the Smoky Hill River and Big Creek, which flow near the city. “So, you can imagine that if it doesn’t rain, those rivers and creeks aren’t running quite as much as they would be and so our well [...]

Fed poised to approve quarter-point rate hike this week, despite market turmoil

info2023-03-20T07:20:56-05:00March 20th, 2023|

Even with turmoil in the banking industry and uncertainty ahead, the Federal Reserve likely will approve a quarter-percentage-point interest rate increase next week, according to market pricing and many Wall Street experts. Rate expectations have been on a rapidly swinging pendulum over the past two weeks, varying from a half-point hike to holding the line and even at one point some talk that the Fed could cut rates. However, a consensus has emerged that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his fellow central bankers will want to signal that while they are attuned to the financial sector upheaval, it's important to continue [...]

Local Banks Could Leave Gaps That Are Hard to Fill

info2023-03-20T07:07:36-05:00March 19th, 2023|

Tighter belts for smaller banks could count as a big problem for some parts of the U.S. The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank as well as questions about First Republic Bank’s future have cast a sudden pall on the banking sector. An emerging concern is that customers at community and regional banks, worrying that their deposits aren’t safe, might pull their money, putting it into money-market funds or accounts at bigger banks. Regulators’ move last Sunday to protect depositors at SVB and Signature, and big banks coming together on Thursday to shore up First Republic with a $30 billion infusion of deposit [...]

Smaller Banks’ Role in Economy Means Distress Raises Recession Risks

info2023-03-19T22:39:21-05:00March 19th, 2023|

Main Street businesses and American families are likely to find it harder to get a loan because of turmoil in the banking industry, denting economic growth and raising the risk of a recession. “The risk in terms of the spark from SVB is real,” said Greg Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, a strategy consulting unit of Ernst & Young LLP. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank set off fear among depositors that led to the failure of Signature Bank and the move to rescue First Republic Bank. Source: WSJ.com: US Business

Sedgwick residents turn out to defend their chickens

info2023-03-19T22:34:41-05:00March 19th, 2023|

A full council room of residents concerned about a proposed city ordinance to regulate chickens convinced the Sedgwick city council to table the matter until further changes were made. City staff drafted the proposed ordinance and presented it in January to the council, who chose to hold off until they could get public input. The prior ordinance limited the number of fowl to six but didn’t address coop setback limitations, according to City Administrator Kyle Nordick. He said his research showed neighboring cities with coop structure regulations ranging from 30-50 feet from neighboring dwellings, regulations of the location to include only [...]

Wichita looking at plan to shape downtown parking options

info2023-03-20T07:12:32-05:00March 19th, 2023|

If you look around downtown Wichita and you’ll see cars parked everywhere, on the street or in lots. It is something that often goes unnoticed by most but the city of Wichita thinks about parking a lot. Councilman Brandon Johnson says the city has “been looking at downtown streets and parking for quite some time and trying to get more efficient. So looking at where parking is needed, compared to where all it is, what that looks like this plan.” On Tuesday the City Council will vote on a parking plan that looks to improve parking in the city, mostly in [...]

Wichita just updated its tobacco ordinance. What’s changed?

info2023-03-20T07:13:39-05:00March 19th, 2023|

Retail stores, not cashiers, will now shoulder fines and fees when caught selling tobacco to underage customers after the Wichita City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to update the city’s tobacco retail licensing. Previously, individual cashier clerks who sold tobacco, e-cigarettes or vapes to someone under the age of 21 were fined $55 for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $150 for any subsequent offenses — an approach that critics say inappropriately shifted blame away from management. Source: KLC Journal

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