News – Page 1053 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

State has $56 million for homeowners struggling to pay mortgages

info2022-06-23T22:02:20-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

In the first quarter of 2022, the state of Kansas had nearly 10,000 past-due mortgages. Six of 10 of those mortgages were at least three months late and considered seriously delinquent, according to Marilyn Stanley, the program director for the Kansas Homeowner Assistance Fund. A new $56.6 million statewide program funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act aims to help homeowners who are struggling financially due to the pandemic. The program offers up to $45,000 to homeowners for past-due mortgage payments, property tax payments, utility payments and more. Source: Derby Informer | News

Bike program helps at-risk youth in Wyandotte County

info2022-06-23T21:46:51-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

High-risk youth in Wyandotte County are being helped through a program that focuses on working on bicycles and attitudes. Martin Cervantes Sr. said the program started about three months ago, and about 10 students are involved in it currently. Some of the students in the program are involved with the court system, on probation or house arrest, he said. The Lowrider and Leadership Club is the project of Cervantes, with assistance from the Olathe Lowrider Bicycle Chapter, and space provided through the KCK PAL (Police Athletic League) Program. The bike program is allowed to use space at the PAL location at [...]

Inflation poses biggest threat to IIJA rollout: U.S. DOT official

info2022-06-23T21:17:32-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

Six months into the roll out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, inflation, coupled with chronically high cost of building U.S. transportation projects, is proving to be the biggest challenge. And the longer it takes to spend the money, the more cost pressures threaten to swallow the once-in-a-generation level of funding. “Externally our biggest headwind is the current economic environment,” said Katie Thomson, director of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Implementation at the U.S. Department of Transportation, speaking Wednesday during a webinar on the six-month anniversary of the IIJA hosted by the Eno Center on Transportation. Source: The Bond Buyer

Fed’s Bowman backs raising rates 75 basis points in July

info2022-06-23T21:16:11-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she supports raising interest rates by 75 basis points again in July and following that with a few more half-point hikes. The hawkish remarks Thursday come roughly a week after the central bank delivered the largest rate increase since 1994. Fed officials are sending a strong signal that they will do what is needed to rein in soaring inflation, while acknowledging that it’s becoming more challenging for them to achieve a soft landing on the economy. Source: The Bond Buyer

Emporia Municipal Band plays Thursday

info2022-06-23T21:15:17-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

The Emporia Municipal Band invites the community to travel the world with music this week. The band hits the stage at Fremont Park at 8 p.m. Thursday. The theme is “Travel Around the World with EMB.” The musical offerings include “The Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key and arranged by John Philip Sousa; the “Orpheus Overture,” “Russian Sailors’ Dance,” “Festivo,” “At the Dixieland Jazz Funeral” and much more. The Emporia Municipal Band is currently in its 80th season. All concerts are free and open to the public. Source: Emporia Gazette

Muni yields fall on back of UST strength

info2022-06-24T06:36:05-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

Municipals outperformed (dropped in yield more than) moves in U.S. Treasuries Thursday, playing catch up to taxables' massive flight-to-safety rally that hit Wednesday, while equities ended in the black. Municipal triple-A yield curves saw up to 10 basis point bumps on the long end while UST saw yields fall four to eight basis points. Source: The Bond Buyer

Bentley residents cleaning up after storm

info2022-06-23T21:08:29-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

Bentley residents have been dealing with the aftermath of a severe storm Wednesday evening that hit the city with straight-line winds and golf-ball sized hail. Resident Doug Frazier spent several hours Thursday morning cleaning limbs up from his front yard on Devinshire Avenue. “I’ve got most of it down now,” he said. “I’ve got a few more limbs to trim off that [tree] there.” Two weeks ago, he’d cut down a large tree in his back yard, and he was thankful that was gone before the storm. “Otherwise I probably would have had more damage,” he said. Source: Harvey County Now

Kansas schools are poised to ditch class hours for real-world training as graduation requirements

info2022-06-23T21:04:10-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

For more than a century, Kansas students have earned credits — and, after enough of them, a high school diploma — based on how much time they spend in a classroom. The age-old “Carnegie unit” approach to education became the academic law of the land way back in 1906. And it stuck: One credit equals about 120 instructional hours in one subject. Kansas requires students to pass at least 21 credits to graduate from high school. But a group in charge of evaluating the state’s graduation requirements says that classroom time makes for a poor yardstick for measuring learning. So it [...]

Nickerson aims to revitalize the high school library

info2022-06-23T08:23:10-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

With encyclopedias from the 1960s and other literature students have not checked out in decades, the Nickerson High School Library aims to renovate the space into a student-focused location, including a coffee shop and a new “student union” feel. This summer, Nickerson High School staff plan to take the first step toward a new renovation of the library by removing old books and reorganizing shelves to create more space. From Thursday, June 23 to Saturday, June 25, Nikki Barton, a paraeducator at Nickerson High School, said she plans to give away about 5,000 old books from the library. “There are still [...]

Topeka sees rise in number of authorized fireworks vendors

info2022-06-23T08:22:09-05:00June 23rd, 2022|

Local residents hoping to paint the sky this Independence Day have an increased number of places at which to buy fireworks. Licenses to peddle pyrotechnics have been issued for 50 sites in Topeka and Shawnee County, up from 47 last year. Twenty-eight are in Topeka and 22 are outside the city limits ... People outside Topeka city limits face a mish-mash of differing rules on when fireworks may be sold or discharged, depending on where they’re located. Source: CJonline