The second annual Christmas Window Contest in downtown Great Bend has shown what businesses and decorators can do for an encore, following last year’s inaugural success. Thirty windows were decorated this year in hopes of being crowned “Best Christmas Window.” The contest ensures that downtown Great Bend is once again merry and bright for the holiday season. The anonymous donor who provided the incentive of $3,000 in prize money for the second consecutive year is impressed with the quality of this year’s windows. Source: Great Bend Tribune

Bob Dole and Russell's Main Street are inextricably linked. It is the site of Dole's first job, working a soda fountain at a downtown drugstore, the same place locals fundraised to help ease the financial strain of his war wounds years later. Later, its stores and railroad crossing served as a backdrop where the powerful U.S. senator campaigned on two presidential runs, projecting the 4,600-person community to international recognition. But the town was quiet Friday morning, with a few locals out running errands at the bank, marveling at the lack of media attention — a rarity since Dole died Sunday morning [...]

Inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since 1982 in November, the Labor Department said Friday, putting pressure on the economic recovery and raising the stakes for the Federal Reserve. The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, rose 0.8% for the month, good for a 6.8% pace on a year over year basis and the fastest rate since June 1982. Source: CNBC

Representation was a main issue among those who turned out Thursday for a listening session about whether the Douglas County Commission should expand from three members to five. The commission tabled the topic this summer because few residents had expressed interest in the idea, but Commission Chair Shannon Portillo said that after media coverage of that decision, the commission heard from “quite a few folks.” That led the county to schedule Thursday’s listening session. “Our goal today is to listen and to hear from the community,” Portillo said. Source: LJWorld.com.

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.