News – Page 1402 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Baldwin City Council looks to ban private water wells in city

info2021-06-23T07:43:13-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

The Baldwin City Council is moving forward with an ordinance to ban private water wells in the city, but the action may come too late to prevent the first active well from being dug. ... The ordinance was drafted in the wake of two recent applications to dig water wells in the city. The permit applications by the owners of the new car wash on U.S. Highway 56 and by resident Dan Nelson, 102 Dearborn St., were made with the county health department, which has the jurisdiction to issue well permits in Baldwin City because there is no local ordinance giving [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for June 22, 2021

info2021-06-23T07:36:56-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

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.

Overland Park Approves Adding Toll Lanes To U.S. Highway 69. What Happens Next?

info2021-06-23T02:22:17-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

The Overland Park City Council on Monday night approved adding toll lanes to U.S. Highway 69, in a move aimed at easing congestion south of 103rd Street. Why it matters: City leaders say expanding U.S. 69 is long overdue. The highway serves as a major artery for residents in Overland Park’s growing southern half. But it’s also increasingly congested, creating daily headaches for commuters. The Kansas Department of Transportation lists U.S. 69 as the state’s busiest four-lane road with an estimated 80,000 vehicles passing through the corridor daily. What happens next: The toll lane proposal must now be approved by the [...]

Overland Park overwhelmingly approves adding toll lanes to highway despite opposition

info2021-06-23T02:20:39-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

In a near-midnight vote Monday, the Overland Park City Council agreed to move forward with a plan to add express toll lanes to U.S. 69 to help fund the expansion of the highway in Johnson County — a decision that has drawn opposition from many residents. The highway would be widened to six lanes from 103rd to 151st streets — paid for in part by making a lane in each direction a toll lane. Drivers could choose to pay a toll for a faster commute. The other lanes would remain free. The City Council voted 10-2 to enter into an agreement [...]

Wichita, Sedgwick County moving to merge parks and culture, facilitate privatization

info2021-06-23T02:18:53-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

The Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission unveiled a plan Tuesday to merge their parks and cultural arts departments with an eye toward providing better services through public-private partnerships. The plan was presented to a joint session of the two groups by Misty Bruckner of Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center, who said it would maximize efficiency and reduce bureaucracy. “It creates opportunity for collaboration,” Bruckner said. “It puts people in the same room having discussions about the community, the residents and the visitors that they are trying to serve.” Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Mission OK’s $2M in facilities upgrades, prompting debate about Sylvester Powell’s future

info2021-06-23T02:17:02-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

The Mission City Council has approved $2 million in upgrades at several city facilities, including the Sylvester Powell, Jr. Community Center, aimed at making city operations more environmentally friendly. As part of a conservation improvement program sponsored by the Kansas Corporation Commission, the city will be installing several new items like improved thermostat controls at all city buildings. Upon completion, the upgrades could result in an annual reduction of more than 950 metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to city documents. The planned changes will also eliminate the use of harmful refrigerants in city facilities. While most city councilmembers were in [...]

Governor Laura Kelly Announces 80 New Jobs in Tonganoxie

info2021-06-23T02:15:23-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

Governor Laura Kelly today applauded Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s plan to build a new pet food manufacturing plant in Tonganoxie. Hill’s will invest more than $250 million to construct a new 300,000-square-foot facility, bringing at least 80 new jobs to the community by 2025. “Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s decision to invest $250 million in Kansas and bring 80 new jobs to Tonganoxie is further proof that Kansas’ Animal Health Corridor can out-compete any region in the world for these industry investments and jobs,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “With our central location, talented workforce and reputation as a global leader in animal health and [...]

Williams says Fed’s rate liftoff still way off in the future

info2021-06-23T07:39:25-05:00June 23rd, 2021|

A discussion about raising interest rates is still quite a ways off as the Federal Reserve begins debating tapering its bond-buying program, New York Fed President John Williams said. “That’s still way off in the future,” Williams said of rate hikes during a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday. “Right now, really, I think the attention is on the taper.” The U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, on which Williams sits, is debating when it will be appropriate to begin scaling back the bond-buying program it put in place last year at the outset of the pandemic. ... At the [...]

Consumption zone coming to downtown GB

info2021-06-22T08:31:49-05:00June 22nd, 2021|

In an effort to rekindle downtown Great Bend and make the community more competitive, the City Council Monday night approved a resolution creating a common consumption area in the city’s center to be known as Great Bend Alive Plaza. The request for the designation came from Great Bend Economic Development Inc. for Forest Avenue from the west side of Main Street to the east side of Williams Street. Great Bend Alive Inc., a non-profit offshoot of GBED, will be licensed to operate the area. “This is an opportunity to provide another gathering spot and other area for people to come downtown, [...]

As shootings ‘skyrocket,’ Wichita police want council approval for federal crackdown

info2021-06-22T08:09:46-05:00June 22nd, 2021|

Amid a surge in violent crime in Wichita, police are asking the City Council to approve a partnership with the U.S. Marshals for a federal crackdown. The request follows what Police Chief Gordon Ramsay called a “busy weekend” with seven shootings where nine total people were shot. One of the shootings hospitalized an officer, who was shot in the head and legs with what a police captain described as “an AR-15 style assault rifle.” “We have seen since a little over a year ago, we saw shooting numbers skyrocket,” Ramsay said Monday during a news conference where he provided an update [...]