info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Pittsburg area hotels rebound

info2023-01-26T10:58:23-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Explore Crawford County announced Monday that for the fourth time in five years, hotel room demand in the county has surpassed 100,000 rooms for the year, with 2022 hitting a record high of 109,750 rooms. The county also surpassed 10,000 rooms in a month six times during 2022 — doubling the previous high. Since 2015, room demand had been increasing each year until the 2020 pandemic. Demand reached 106,000 rooms in 2021, but was still just shy of the previous record for the entire year — 107,743 in 2019. According to Explore Crawford County Executive Director Dave Looby in a December [...]

Swaths of Kansas lack written policies on exculpatory evidence

info2023-01-26T10:57:44-06:00January 26th, 2023|

The Brady and Giglio cases establish two different, but related, rights for criminal defendants. Under Brady v. Maryland, the prosecution is obligated to turn over to the defendant any exculpatory evidence — that is, evidence that tends to assist the defense. Generally, that requires the disclosure of virtually anything in the prosecution’s possession that relates to the case. Meanwhile, the rule announced in Giglio v. United States requires law enforcement agencies to deliver to defense counsel “material” evidence of a law enforcement’s dishonesty. The application of this rule can be fraught, as the parties involved may disagree on what counts as [...]

Rural America grew in the pandemic’s early days. But mostly recreational counties saw gains

info2023-01-26T10:55:14-06:00January 26th, 2023|

COVID-19 accelerated death rates and slowed birth rates, exacerbating an existing trend of natural population loss in rural, or nonmetropolitan, areas. But because more people moved to rural areas, the U.S. rural population didn’t decline. “That’s extremely unusual historically, and so we’re still trying to understand all the nuances of this and whether it's just a short-term thing or if it's going to reflect longer-term changes,” said Kenneth Johnson, the author of the article and a professor of sociology and senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. “But in any event, it’s unusual [...]

Moody’s upgrades Lindsborg’s GO bond rating to A1

info2023-01-26T07:34:38-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the City of Lindsborg, KS' general obligation unlimited tax bonds to A1 from A2. ... This action concludes a review for possible upgrade that was initiated on November 3, 2022 in conjunction with the release of the US Cities and Counties Methodology. ... The A1 issuer rating incorporates a stable economic base, strong financial position, and low leverage that will grow in the near term. ... The rating also incorporates the city's very strong reserves that are anticipated to marginally decline on a nominal basis in the near term, but remain very strong as a percent [...]

Douglas County’s Housing Stabilization Collaborative to switch rent and utility assistance distribution to lottery system

info2023-01-26T07:19:01-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Douglas County’s Housing Stabilization Collaborative is changing the way it distributes rent and utility assistance funds in hopes of increasing equity for applicants, the county announced Wednesday. The HSC, which is the county’s local rent and utility assistance provider, is shifting from a first-come, first-served approach to a lottery system, citing an overwhelming need for rent and utility assistance in the county and a lack of available funding to meet that need. The first-come, first-served method has been in place since the HSC first began its rent and utility assistance program in the fall of 2020. Source: LJWorld

“Hutch rebuilds Hutch”: renovation of historic downtown building

info2023-01-26T07:17:28-06:00January 26th, 2023|

“Hutch rebuilds Hutch” is how Mark Davenport describes the complete renovation of the historic Hoke Building — the iconic downtown Hutchinson property that first went up in 1910 as office space and sat vacant and waiting for decades. When Mark and his wife Phoebe Davenport, a Kansas City-based couple who develop large residential and commercial properties, first began the journey of restoring the dilapidated building at First Avenue and Walnut Street in early 2021, they committed to using local contractors as much as feasibly possible. Source: Hutch News

Could new rental properties help with Salina’s housing issues?

info2023-01-26T07:15:42-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Beginning in 2021, the city of Salina has continually engaged with developers seeking interest for various housing projects in an effort to bring new rental housing to the community. It’s a project that has been in the works for years addressing one of the most significant issues in Saline County communities — housing. This week, the city and county discussed those efforts, and Lauren Driscoll, Salina community development services director, provided the county an update on how American Rescue Plan Act monies were being contributed to the overarching project. Source: Salina Journal

Sedgwick County unveils new public alert system

info2023-01-26T07:07:00-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Sedgwick County Emergency Management (SCEM) recently launched the first phase of a free service, called Civic Ready Alerts, that can notify residents by phone or email of emergencies or important news. Citizens can opt-in to receive messages regarding public safety, health, weather or other community bulletins. By sharing a home address, residents will also be able to receive alerts targeted for their neighborhood, through geo-fencing. Source: Derby Informer | News

Local governments tasked with spending opioid settlement funds

info2023-01-26T00:08:25-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Local governments will be faced with decisions in the coming months about how to spend thousands of dollars in opioid settlement payments paid by pharmaceutical companies and retailers for their role in the prescription-drug epidemic. So far, Harvey County has received $6,413, but it is expected to receive an additional $71,807, according to County Administrator Anthony Swartzendruber. Newton has received about $4,000 and is expected to receive an additional $40,000. Sedgwick has received $6,413. Source: Harvey County Now

Odle brings experience and education to Burrton’s police department

info2023-01-26T00:07:01-06:00January 26th, 2023|

Burrton Police Chief David Odle, who officially took over the position after Dave Becker retired on Dec. 23, 2022, realizes he has some work to do for the community to get to know him. He’s served part-time with the Burrton Police Department since 2020 but he’s an outsider trying to get the community to trust him. He said he is here to help and that Burrton is his responsibility. “I’m a new face,” Odle said. “I’m not a Burrton guy. I wasn’t born here. I wasn’t raised here. Burrton only knows me from me running around.” Source: Harvey County Now

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