News – Page 1301 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Kansas Mainstreet Program to expand its investment in downtown Kansas

info2021-10-20T07:05:04-05:00October 19th, 2021|

Plans to expand the Kansas Mainstreet Program by up to three additional communities is scheduled to happen this winter according to Gov. Laura Kelly. “When our main street businesses succeed, our whole economy succeeds,” Kelly said. “That’s why my administration restarted the Kansas Main Street Program, to help communities program was launched in 1985 reinvest in small businesses.” The program was launched in 1985 but closed by former Gov. Brownback in 2012, then brought back by Kelly in late 2019. According to the current administration, the program invested more than $600 million in its first 27 years. Earlier this year, the [...]

Is city street funding fair? Mayor, council member want to pave south-side dirt roads

info2021-10-20T07:06:09-05:00October 19th, 2021|

The city of Wichita is on track to spend $11.5 million on road repairs next year, but the mayor and a council member say the city should do more to pave roads in poorer neighborhoods, particularly south of Kellogg. Wichita has roughly 100 miles of unpaved streets. Covering those roads in pavement requires property owners to undergo a lengthy and arduous process of gathering petition signatures and convincing neighbors to accept tax increases. Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple made his case for paving some of those unpaved streets Tuesday during the City Council’s debate over the city’s street-repair program. Source: Local News [...]

Topeka ranks #4 in Wall Street Journal’s Emerging Housing Markets Index

info2021-10-19T21:26:14-05:00October 19th, 2021|

Many Americans are still moving to suburban areas because they can work from home. Recent signs of an economic slowdown driven by the Delta variant made people reconsider their plans and kept smaller and more rural housing markets in the top spots for the hottest new places to live and own. To help home buyers decide on the best place to make housing investments, The Wall Street Journal collaborated with Realtor.com to rank which housing markets are expected to provide both a strong return on investment—and are a nice place to live. Source: Wall Street Journal

Garden City Water Department earns award

info2021-10-19T07:50:57-05:00October 19th, 2021|

The Garden City Water Department was recently awarded the 2021 Smart Water Application Technologies Outstanding Public Engagement Award for the city’s customer water use report. The report educates customers on their water use and shows how their use compares to other water customers in the community. Before this program, customers were generally uninformed regarding their water consumption, aside from paying the cost of their water bills. Source: Greater Garden City » Feed

Peace Poles add color to this Johnson County park

info2021-10-19T07:50:14-05:00October 19th, 2021|

The modern peace sign has been an iconic symbol since the late 1950s. Now the City of Lenexa has on display another take on conveying peace: colorfully decorated poles created by local artists. Through the summer, 37 poles have been on display at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park as part of the Peace Poles Community Art Project. Two additional poles are on display at the Lenexa Civic Campus to help promote the exhibit. The public’s last chance to see the exhibit comes at the end of the month. The poles will remain on display at the park through Oct. 31. Source: Joco 913 [...]

One Johnson County city to let mask mandate expire, while another extends its order

info2021-10-19T07:49:38-05:00October 19th, 2021|

One northeast Johnson County city on Monday agreed to let its mask mandate expire at the end of this month, while another extended its mandate through mid-November. The Prairie Village City Council decided against prolonging its citywide mask mandate, meaning it will expire at midnight Oct. 31. Meanwhile, the Roeland Park City Council decided to extend its mask order until Nov. 16. The decisions come as the number of new COVID-19 cases steadily declines in Johnson County, after sharp peaks this summer. On Monday, the county reported an incidence rate — or the number of new cases per 100,000 people in [...]

Baxter Springs resident helps restore a piece of Southeast Kansas history

info2021-10-19T00:22:16-05:00October 19th, 2021|

Sometimes it's hard to avoid the toll time can take on a building. Over hundreds of years a structure can fall into disrepair and sometimes the only option is to tear it down and salvage what remains, erasing history in the process. One man is trying to save the past in Baxter Springs, and while it's taken some time, the community is standing behind him. "It is such a symbol of what was going on in America at that time," says Carla Jordan, Historian, "The boom bust history of Southeast Kansas is also the history of America." Source: KSNF/KODE

Jason Sudeikis Day in Overland Park honors homegrown star and ‘Ted Lasso’ creator

info2021-10-19T00:18:59-05:00October 19th, 2021|

Johnson Countians don’t need an official reason to brag on homegrown Hollywood star Jason Sudeikis, but now they have one in Overland Park. The city has declared Monday, Oct. 18, “Jason Sudeikis Day.” An official proclamation urges residents to “congratulate and celebrate Jason Sudeikis and his many accomplishments.” The city gives a nod to Sudeikis’ incessant citing of his hometown pride in the show. “He brings a slice of home to the show, whether through references to local barbecue joints or his character’s articulate Midwestern persona, based on his high school basketball coach, Donnie Campbell,” the proclamation reads. Source: Prairie Village [...]

These 6 Johnson County hospitals will get millions from state to help retain stressed out staffs

info2021-10-19T00:15:06-05:00October 19th, 2021|

Over the last year-and-a-half amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local hospitals and their staff have struggled with long hours and demanding workloads. As a result, many of hospitals in the region have struggled to retain nurses and other workers and remain fully staffed. In order to combat this issue, six hospitals in Johnson County, along with three other facilities on the Kansas side of the greater Kansas City metro, are set to receive a total of $14.66 million in stimulus aid to help them retain their workforce. The money comes from Kansas’ $50 million Frontline Hospitals Workers Retention Plan, which was approved [...]

Saving the Santa Fe Trail

info2021-10-19T00:13:09-05:00October 19th, 2021|

This time last year, Lynda Fort got cabin fever. As a way to pass the time, she started driving along the Santa Fe Trail, beginning in Marion County and ending up in Rice County. It took three days of driving, and in that time she sought out all 67 of the markers in the southwest district – which begins in Wichita and ends near the borders of Colorado and Oklahoma – of the trail. These boulders were originally placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1906. When tourists or students from nearby schools visit, Fort said, the markers serve [...]