Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Wichita rental market stays hot to begin 2023

According to a new national report, finding an apartment or other rental unit in the Wichita market is not getting any easier. On Monday, apartment search website RentCafe.com released a study that listed the city as having the ninth-hottest small-sized rental market in the U.S. based on competitive score. Wichita’s score of 106 was tied to several metrics, as of the close of 2022’s fourth quarter, including average vacant days (23 in Wichita, according to RentCafe), occupancy (96.5%), prospective renters per vacant unit (seven), lease renewal rate (65.1%) and share of new apartments completed during Q4 2022 (0%).
Source: Wichita Business Journal

Ranson Financial2023-03-28T06:59:20-05:00March 27, 2023|News|

Overland Park is the most pickleball obsessed city in U.S., study finds

A Johnson County city has an obsession with pickleball, according to a new ranking. Betting and online casino guide website, Offers.bet, says Overland Park is the top pickleball-obsessed city in the country. The game started becoming wildly popular during the pandemic. Offers.bet said 83% of current pickleball players started playing in 2020 or later. While the popularity of pickleball is skyrocketing, one of the problems is that there aren’t enough courts, even with public courts and the opening of businesses like SERV and Chicken ‘n Pickle. Some fans have turned to playing pickleball on tennis courts, and have even added courts to their yards. That doesn’t always go over well with neighbors because of the noise pickleball makes.
Source: fox4kc

Ranson Financial2023-03-27T08:47:24-05:00March 27, 2023|News|

State lawmakers eye local limits: Bills would prevent plastic bag bans, vacant home fees and more

Several bills in the Kansas Statehouse are designed to take away local control from local governments. In one, legislators from across Kansas could roll back pieces of Topeka’s registry of vacant properties, as well as those in other communities. As introduced, House Bill 2083 would have banned cities from creating vacant property registries. It was later amended to allow those registries — but if passed would ban local governments from imposing fees on owners of vacant properties. … Lawmakers are considering legislation proposed by the Kansas Chamber, House Bill 2446, that would block local governments from banning, regulating or taxing “auxiliary containers.” … Pushed primarily by the Kansas Chamber, HB 2447 would ban cities and counties from banning the sale of products that are otherwise legal under state law. The original version of the bill also applied to services.
Source: Hutch News

Ranson Financial2023-03-27T08:41:40-05:00March 27, 2023|News|

Rural grocery stores are dying off. Here’s what some communities are doing to save them

in many small towns, a grocery store is a thing of the past. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 76 counties nationwide are without a single grocery store, and 34 of those counties are in the Midwest and Great Plains. Rural communities have been losing population for decades making it harder for businesses to stay afloat, said Rial Carver, program leader for the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University. “So as small towns get smaller, that means fewer sales coming in the door for our grocery store,” Carver said. Big box stores and grocery consolidation have added even more pressure on local grocers. A recent USDA report shows the percentage of grocery sales from the nation’s top 20 retailers more than doubled from 1990 to 2020, while the consolidation was more pronounced in rural areas. The Rural Grocery Initiative was created in 2006 to help establish and sustain grocery stores in rural communities throughout Kansas. Carver said innovation can help keep stores in small towns.
Source: KCUR News

Ranson Financial2023-03-27T08:28:21-05:00March 27, 2023|News|

Home rule again on chopping block

Kansas is officially a Home Rule state. It has been since 1961, when an amendment to the Kansas state constitution officially declared that Kansas cities are “empowered to determine their local affairs…except when” such actions are “limited or prohibited” by an act of the state legislature. That’s an important acknowledgement of local democracy—or at least potentially so. In my observation over the years, though, our elected representatives in Topeka tend to pay far more attention to the “except when” clause, thus leading the principle of Home Rule to be observed more often in the breach than in fact.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Ranson Financial2023-03-27T06:55:09-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

County to apply for grant on behalf of SCK Health

Cowley County commissioners agreed Tuesday to apply for a grant on behalf of SCK Health that, if awarded, could help the provider transition to the Rural Emergency Hospital designation. The State of Kansas has set aside $10 million for the Rural Hospital Innovation Grant program to help hospitals convert to the new REH designation in the next two years, according to a letter from SCK Health trustees. The grant requires counties to apply on behalf of the hospitals seeking funds, and is open to all rural counties in Kansas. The program is a 2:1 matching grant. SCK Health is requesting $1 million in grant funds from the state, and plans to raise another $2 million through the SCK Health Foundation.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Ranson Financial2023-03-26T23:53:53-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

AC hospital takes steps toward scaled down facility

The SCK Health Board of Trustees in Arkansas City took a step toward becoming a Rural Emergency Hospital on Thursday, and also moved to officially close its obstetrics department. CEO Jeff Bowman said that after discussion about converting to a Rural Emergency Hospital, which provides more funding opportunities to the hospital, but limits hospital stays to 24 hours on average, more than half of the OB department resigned in that one week.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Ranson Financial2023-03-26T23:52:41-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

Gimme shelter: In wake of bank fail fallout, municipal bonds in demand

Municipals finished out a nerve-wracking week on a strong note, with yields falling by as much as nine basis points on the short end while U.S. Treasuries strengthened and equities came under pressure. As holders of bank stocks headed for the exits and muni investors looked on nervously from the sidelines as the Federal Open Market Committee met this week, bonds have seen renewed interest as the idea of safety suddenly became uppermost in eyes of buyers one again. The muni market started off the week on a quiet note, with action subdued in both the primary and secondary ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the Fed raised rates once again, the market remained calm.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2023-03-26T23:50:27-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

Ruined beauty of Kansas: Ghost towns and buildings splinter under weight of time

We first stopped by the unincorporated community of Miller, in Lyon County. Its post office had closed 65 years ago. On the main drag, a new fire department building sat on one side of the road, while an abandoned and overgrown former fire department building sat on the other side, a block away. My son and I, of course, looked over the abandoned one. On this March day, the gray undergrowth and blue sky lent the brick structure an austere kind of beauty. To the side of the building, you could glimpse this decayed sign, which suggested better times in the past. We poked around town some more, but we didn’t see much else that excited my son (or me, for that matter). Like many of the tiny Kansas settlements listed on “ghost town” websites, Miller isn’t totally abandoned. A few houses still obviously had residents, and gargantuan long-haul trucks parked in driveways suggested their occupations.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2023-03-27T07:01:20-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

How small rural towns can access Inflation Reduction Act funding

Rural towns and utilities could get funding for all kinds of projects through the federal Inflation Reduction Act — but experts say it will take dedicated community members stepping up to help make that happen. The act, passed in August, has money for rural development and energy infrastructure, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure and incentives. There are incentives for homeowners to make energy efficient improvements to their houses. Communities with coal plants or natural gas plants can repurpose those into cleaner energy sources.
Source: KCUR News

Ranson Financial2023-03-26T23:45:57-05:00March 26, 2023|News|

About Ranson Financial

Wichita rental market stays hot to begin 2023

Overland Park is the most pickleball obsessed city in U.S., study finds

State lawmakers eye local limits: Bills would prevent plastic bag bans, vacant home fees and more

Rural grocery stores are dying off. Here’s what some communities are doing to save them

Home rule again on chopping block

County to apply for grant on behalf of SCK Health

AC hospital takes steps toward scaled down facility

Gimme shelter: In wake of bank fail fallout, municipal bonds in demand

Ruined beauty of Kansas: Ghost towns and buildings splinter under weight of time

How small rural towns can access Inflation Reduction Act funding

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