News – Page 1190 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Bullard says Fed may need to raise rates above 2% to curb prices

info2022-02-18T08:17:18-06:00February 18th, 2022|

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said bringing down inflation may require the central bank to overshoot a neutral target interest rate, which he sees as about 2%. “If you wanted to put downward pressure on inflation, you’d actually have to get to neutral — go beyond neutral,” Bullard said at an event by hosted by Columbia University and SGH Macro Advisers in New York on Thursday. “And I think that’s a major concern of mine — we’re not really in a position to do that right now, but we have to get in a position to do [...]

Riley County commission approves ambulance in nothern county

info2022-02-18T08:16:43-06:00February 18th, 2022|

Riley County commissioners unanimously approved to add an ambulance to the northern part of the county. The commission gave EMS administration the go ahead to start the process for building a new ambulance station. This includes finding an architect, position requests, and determine where to put the station. “To me, it’s obvious that we need to put a station up there, we have ARPA money. It will basically just need a small house and an oversized garage. We have a chance to do that now,” says Commission Chair Greg McKinley. ... “I’m always fiscally conservative, but I think this something beyond that. [...]

Johnson County to end school mask mandates, defer to districts to set COVID-19 rules

info2022-02-18T08:15:43-06:00February 18th, 2022|

Johnson County ended its school mask mandate for its youngest students, effective Thursday, in favor of allowing individual school districts to set their own rules as COVID-19 cases continue to drop from last month’s record highs. Eliminating the countywide order does not necessarily mean that masks are optional for all students and staff immediately, however, as four of the county’s six public school districts still have measures in place that will reinstate temporary mask mandates should cases rise to certain thresholds at different campuses. “We’re not just kind of throwing our hands up in the air, there are some measures in [...]

Fed’s Bullard says inflation ‘could get out of control,’ so action is needed now

info2022-02-17T23:05:37-06:00February 17th, 2022|

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard cautioned Thursday that without central bank action on interest rates, inflation could become an even more serious problem. "We're at more risk now than we've been in a generation that this could get out of control," he said during a panel talk at Columbia University. "One scenario would be now you get a new surprise that hits us that we can't anticipate right now, but we would have even more inflation. That's the kind of situation that we want to ... make sure it doesn't occur." Bullard has made news lately with his calls [...]

North Newton City Council agrees to purchase police canine

info2022-02-17T23:03:42-06:00February 17th, 2022|

The North Newton Police Department is getting a canine, in the form of Odie, after the North Newton City Council voted 3-2 to obtain the dog. Voting against the decision were Councilmen Mark Jenkins and Dennis Campbell. Odie is 7-½ to 8 years old and will be paired with Officer Colt Pfautz, who is certified to work with a canine and has worked more than a year part-time with the North Newton Police Department and then was hired full time. Now, the police department will have a canine unit again. “It’s a positive we already have someone certified,” Mayor Ron Braun [...]

March informational meetings planned in Wamego, St. Marys regarding solar farm draft regulations

info2022-02-18T08:10:45-06:00February 17th, 2022|

Informational public meetings are scheduled in March surrounding the future of solar farms in Pottawatomie County. The county plans to host two come-and-go meetings where people can ask questions from county planning and zoning officials regarding proposed regulations regarding solar facilities. The meetings are a precursor to an anticipated formal public hearing this spring with the Planning Commission. Planning Commission and Planning and Development staff have been drafting regulations since last March for large-scale solar farms. Source: 1350 KMAN

County Commissioners allocate $25,000 in ARPA funds to each city

info2022-02-18T08:11:48-06:00February 17th, 2022|

Each city is eligible to receive up to $25,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds through the county following recent action taken by the Jackson County Commission. The commissioners agreed to allocate $25,000 in ARPA funding to each of the nine cities in the county. The county has received $1,279,156 in ARPA funding from the federal government, so far, and is expected to receive another $1,279,156 in July totaling $2,558,312. Previously, ARPA funds could only be spent on COVID-19 response, bonuses for essential workers and investing in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure, it was reported. A recent ruling was approved, however, [...]

Overland Park officials worry city could lose millions in annual tax revenue with Walmart ‘dark store’ win

info2022-02-17T22:43:03-06:00February 17th, 2022|

If the Kansas Supreme Court rules against Johnson County in its appeal of a lower court’s ruling on how to appraise Walmart stores’ properties, it likely won’t be a budget killer right away for Overland Park, said City Manager Bill Ebel. But he cautions that future structural changes that upset the balance of property tax, sales tax and user fees collections could be “concerning” in the long run. Ebel recently said that a “substantial portion” of the estimated $1.5 million the city might have to refund due to the ongoing Walmart case has already been set aside in a liability account, should [...]

City of Overland Park sets five-year plan for public safety improvements

info2022-02-18T08:12:46-06:00February 17th, 2022|

The city of Overland Park has set a five-year lineup for public safety capital improvements. At last week’s Public Safety Committee meeting, councilmembers reviewed the city’s projected costs for public safety improvements budgeted for 2023 through 2027. The committee approved the five-year projections for recommendation to the city council’s Committee of the Whole, which handles budgets and capital improvements. The five-year plan includes capital improvements — which typically encompass new facilities or fixes to existing ones — along with some maintenance repairs and recurring costs for the city’s Fire and Police departments. Source: Prairie Village Post

Eliminating Kansas’ food sales tax may be pushed to 2024

info2022-02-17T22:38:23-06:00February 17th, 2022|

Kansans may not see a total elimination of the state's hefty food sales tax until 2024, under a new Senate proposal. The Senate Tax committee unanimously approved a bill with a long list of changes. One of those changes would set the date for the plan to go into effect to January 1, 2024. That's about one year later than anticipated from some democrats, who expected the timeframe to be much sooner. Senator Ethan Corson, a democrat from Fairway, who sits on the committee, told Kansas Capitol Bureau on Wednesday that he's hoping there will be room for negotiation once the [...]