info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Wichita placed under boil water advisory for second time in eight months

info2022-06-08T08:08:24-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Wichita has been placed under a boil water advisory, as of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday. At a press conference, city officials said the earliest the advisory could be lifted is Wednesday evening. “During routine maintenance at the water treatment plant, for a short period of time, an unexpected water quality change occurred, resulting in a slight increase in turbidity,” a city news release states. A news release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment termed the condition high turbidity and said the advisory would remain in effect “until the conditions that placed the system at risk of bacterial contamination are resolved.” [...]

Parsons approves vacant building ordinance

info2022-06-08T08:09:10-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Parsons city commissioners Monday approved an ordinance related to registration of vacant buildings and properties in the city. The ordinance also outlines procedures related to maintenance and inspections of empty buildings. Commissioners wanted to remove a section of the ordinance that said the city provides commercial and residential solid waste removal, electric, water and sewer service at no cost for 60 days. It now reads that the city will provide these services (minus the electric portion) at a discounted rate of 50% for the 60 day period. The cap is set at $200, officials said. The electric portion was removed in [...]

Overland Park taps Johnson County native, former city official as new city manager

info2022-06-08T01:16:16-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Following a months-long search, the city of Overland Park has found its new city manager to replace Bill Ebel, who retired earlier this year. Who is it? At Monday’s meeting, the Overland Park City Council announced Lori Curtis Luther as the new permanent city manager, just the city’s sixth in its history. Curtis Luther is not completely new to Overland Park, having served as assistant city manager from 2001 to 2005. She currently serves as the city manager in Beloit, Wisconsin, a position she’s held since 2015. She graduated from Olathe North High School and has a Master’s degree in public administration [...]

Leawood to look at amending city code following complaints about pickleball noise

info2022-06-08T01:12:51-05:00June 8th, 2022|

On Monday, the Leawood City Council unanimously voted to have city staff review the city’s sports court ordinance after receiving noise complaints about a backyard pickleball court. Background: Concerns about the ordinance were brought to the council’s attention by Councilmember Debra Filla, who said she had received complaints from residents in northern Leawood about a neighbor’s private backyard tennis court being used for pickleball. “This was approved for a tennis court,” Filla said. “The sound differential for pickleball is like having a ping pong ball on steroids. It is not a soft tennis ball.” She said there have also been issues with how [...]

Leawood names experienced interim manager following sudden death of city administrator

info2022-06-08T01:10:25-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Following the unexpected death of longtime city administrator Scott Lambers, the Leawood City Council on Monday unanimously voted to approve local business executive Patrick Geschwind as interim city administrator. Who is he? Geschwind served as an area manager for AT&T for 25 years before becoming a performance-based consultant with a specialty in interim management. He is the owner and senior consultant at Patrick Geschwind & Associates. Geschwind as served in prominent interim managerial roles before, including as interim city administrator for Roeland Park and interim CEO for Visit KC, Kansas City, Missouri’s visitors and tourism bureau. Source: Prairie Village Post

Johnson County approves looser solar farm regulations

info2022-06-08T08:09:44-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Johnson County commissioners overruled the county planning commission Monday, favoring a less-restrictive set of regulations for solar farms that solar power advocates say is more friendly to the farms’ future development. What was approved: After a three-hour discussion and 36 comments from the public, the county commissioners rejected proposed rules recommended by the planning commission that had been criticized as some of the most restrictive in the country. Source: Prairie Village Post

Leawood names interim city administrator after sudden death of previous official

info2022-06-08T08:12:31-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Leawood has named Patrick J. Geschwind as the interim city administrator after the sudden death of the previous administrator Scott Lambers in May. Lambers, 66, was found dead in his home May 31 after working for the city for over 20 years. The Leawood City Council unanimously voted to approve Geschwind on Monday, according to a statement. Geschwind worked for SBC, which is now AT&T, for over 25 years before starting his own business in management consulting, according to the statement. He previously was the interim city administrator for Roeland Park, interim CEO of VisitKC, superintendent of Blue Ridge Christian School [...]

Overland Park announces new city manager — a familiar face here from the early 2000s

info2022-06-08T08:13:06-05:00June 8th, 2022|

Lori Curtis Luther, who has been hired as Overland Park’s new city manager, might have a familiar look — she worked for the city in the early 2000s. Luther, most recently the city manager for Beloit, Wisconsin, is returning to Overland Park where she served as the assistant city manager from 2001 to 2005, the City Council and Mayor Curt Skoog announced in a news release on the city’s website. “Lori has a proven track record of local government leadership, and I’m excited about her passion and energy to move our organization forward,” Skoog said in the news release. Source: KC [...]

With funds dwindling, spending Kansas’ COVID relief funds has been marred by opacity, finger-pointing

info2022-06-07T08:17:25-05:00June 7th, 2022|

In March 2021, Kansas lawmakers got the news they had been waiting for: The state would be in line for $1.6 billion in direct aid from Washington, D.C., to help cope with the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials soon learned, however, the problem with having over a billion dollars in funding: Everyone has a billion ideas for spending the windfall. The state initially was slow to spend the funds, with lawmakers instead intent on setting up a process to identify worthy projects outside the normal appropriations process controlled by the Legislature. In the months since, observers have complained of a [...]

Biking Across Kansas to return to southwest Kansas

info2022-06-07T08:16:12-05:00June 7th, 2022|

The longest-running bicycling event in Kansas history, a 512-mile ride across the State, begins Friday, June 10, after canceling the tour due to the pandemic in 2020 and hosting a three-day rally in 2021. Biking Across Kansas is an eight-day tour originating at the Kansas-Colorado line with an anticipated 600 bicyclists, including support staff. The bicyclists will start at the Kansas-Colorado line west of Syracuse and will stop overnight in Garden City, Spearville, St. John, Hutchinson, Hillsboro, Olpe, and Ottawa on the route. The cyclists’ final night together will be in Ottawa Friday, June 17. Source: GC Telegram

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