News – Page 1199 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Wyandotte County passes Safe and Welcoming Act, providing municipal IDs for immigrants

info2022-02-11T07:13:52-06:00February 11th, 2022|

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County’s Board of Commissioners passed the Safe and Welcoming Wyandotte Act late Thursday night by a vote of 6-4, a move advocates call a win for immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, elderly residents and the formerly incarcerated. The new measure will provide municipal IDs to residents without legal identification. Yazmin Bruno Valdez, a community organizer for Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, was among the supporters who attended Thursday's meeting. Valdez is an immigrant who said she lived without legal identification for more than 20 years. ... According to Valdez, 20% of Wyandotte County residents do not [...]

Kansas judge OKs lawsuit that claims gas price gouging by energy titan BP last winter

info2022-02-10T07:23:40-06:00February 10th, 2022|

Residents of the tiny southeast Kansas town of Mulberry have won the first round in a lawsuit claiming energy giant BP gouged them on natural gas prices during the freeze emergency last February. A Crawford County judge dismissed a motion by BP to shut down the lawsuit and ruled Wednesday that several Mulberry townspeople have the right to sue the mega-corporation, formerly known as British Petroleum. “The big issue here is the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and the right of individuals to file a claim,” said James Zakoura, a lawyer representing Mulberry and its municipal gas consumers. “The judge said yes, [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for February 9, 2022

info2022-02-10T07:20:05-06:00February 10th, 2022|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Wichita Public School district keeps mask mandate

info2022-02-10T01:25:41-06:00February 10th, 2022|

The Wichita Public School district’s positive test rate for COVID is about 16%, Sedgwick County is at about 15%. This is one of the reasons that some Wichita Board of Education members voted against dropping the mask mandate in the district, but other members still say parents should be able to decide. After an open discussion Monday night, the BOE voted 4 to 3 in favor of keeping the mask mandate in place for the district. "I'm disappointed that the vote didn't support looking at the mandate,” said Diane Albert, one of the newest BOE members. Albert made a motion to [...]

Fed’s Bostic says more than 3 hikes possible this year, but needs to see how economy responds

info2022-02-10T01:22:24-06:00February 10th, 2022|

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Wednesday he anticipates hiking interest rates three or four times this year, but he stressed that the central bank isn’t locked into a specific plan. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the policymaker signaled a view that is less aggressive than the market’s on rates. “In terms of hikes for the interest rates, right now I have three forecast for this year,” he said. “I’m leaning a little towards four, but we’re going to have to see how the economy responds as we take our first steps through the first part of this year.” Source: [...]

How the Local Government Credit Ratings Strengthened in 2021

info2022-02-10T01:20:42-06:00February 10th, 2022|

In the midst of the COVID-19 public health emergency and tumultuous economic outlooks, local governments managed to build onto their fiscal strength—credit to federal economic stimuluses and diverse revenue sources that helped them to weather the COVID-19 storm. Furthermore, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) views all local government sectors as having a positive/stable outlook going into 2022, except for high education; these local government sectors were viewed with a negative outlook by S&P ratings in the beginning of 2021. However, the undeniable long-lasting impacts of COVID-19 are likely here to stay: employers adjusting to their workforce working from home, changing travel patterns for [...]

Fed’s Mester says ‘each meeting is going to be in play’ for rate hikes this year

info2022-02-10T01:14:03-06:00February 10th, 2022|

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester laid out an aggressive plan for reducing easy-money policies this year, saying the central bank will be ready to hike rates at any meeting and should be looking at shedding mortgage-backed securities it is holding. "Each meeting is going to be in play," Mester said at an event hosted by the European Economics and Financial Centre. "We're going to assess conditions, we're going to assess how the economy's evolving, we're going to be looking at the risks, and we're going to be removing accommodation." Her comments come with markets widely expecting the Fed to raise [...]

Osawatomie and Evergy Announce Solar Partnership

info2022-02-10T07:04:41-06:00February 10th, 2022|

The City of Osawatomie will partner with Evergy to explore building up to 3 megawatts of solar to power the Osawatomie, Kan., community. “Osawatomie’s strong leadership shows their investment to continued growth in renewable energy and commitment to our partnership,” said Lloyd Jackson, managing director, Evergy Energy Partners. “Our Evergy team is proud to partner with Osawatomie as they expand their energy sources that will continue to serve the community.” City of Osawatomie Deputy City Manager Bret Glendening said, “We are very excited to work with Evergy and KMEA on this solar project, and they have been great partners to work [...]

Garden City names Assistant City Managers

info2022-02-10T07:05:31-06:00February 10th, 2022|

After a nationwide search and an extensive assessment center process with five outstanding finalists, the City of Garden City has hired Danielle Buschkoetter and Derek Ramos as the new Assistant City Managers. Danielle and Derek will begin their employment with the City on March 28. “The goal of our Assistant City Manager search was to identify one, or possibly two, highly talented professionals to add to our team to not only fill recent senior management team vacancies but to also build capacity for where we are heading as an organization,” City Manager Matt Allen said. Allen said the assessment center process, [...]

Bird Scooters Available in Atchison Starting Thursday, February 10th

info2022-02-10T01:04:08-06:00February 10th, 2022|

The City of Atchison is pleased to welcome Los Angeles, California based, environmentally friendly electric transportation company, Bird Rides, to the Atchison market. Bird intends to bring their shared e-scooters to the city in the coming days. The scooters are available through a mobile phone application and riders pay to use the scooter per minute, at no cost to the city. Mayor Bartlett stated, “Our 2020 Strategic Plan specifically calls out the exploration of alternative and emerging modes of transportation. I think they’ll be a great addition to the community.” The electric scooters can be used on roads and in bike [...]