News – Page 1637 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

COVID-19 cases increase, McPherson reconsiders mask ordinance

info2020-09-16T07:33:23-05:00September 15th, 2020|

Cases of COVID-19 have increased in McPherson County, leading city commissioners to reconsider the mask ordinance. Just last week the city commission voted unanimously to allow the mask ordinance to expire. “I am less impacted by petitions and comments and more impacted by data,” Mayor Tom Brown said Monday morning. “And the data showed on Wednesday I believe that we had five cases per 100,000 seven day moving average. That is very low. Unfortunately, we had a spike of 25 to 30 positive cases. As of the last report I saw from the health department we had 40 active cases. We [...]

Mission police officers who answered shooting call near Highlands Elementary among those honored at recent ceremony

info2020-09-16T07:35:06-05:00September 15th, 2020|

Officer Jay Fleer (right) and Samantha Kunzler-Bryant (middle) receive the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Gold Award for Uncommon Valor in connection to their response to the March 2019 Highlands Elementary shooting incident. Photo submitted by Emily Randel. The city of Mission recently honored Officers Jay Fleer and Samantha Kunzler-Bryant for their response to the Highlands Elementary shooting incident in March 2019. Although Mission would typically present officer awards during city council meetings — which have turned virtual due to COVID-19 — the city held a socially-distanced officer award ceremony Friday to honor police going above and beyond. Fleer and [...]

The Fed could could still move markets Wednesday even with rates on hold for the foreseeable

info2020-09-16T07:37:03-05:00September 15th, 2020|

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the January 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, in Washington, DC on January 29, 2020. While committed to keeping interest rates low for the next several years, the Federal Reserve still has plenty of work to do as it steers the U.S. economy through the pandemic. As central bank officials gather Tuesday and Wednesday for their policy meeting, a number of items are on the agenda, even as the mystery of where rates are headed has disappeared. The Federal Open Market Committee will provide its quarterly update on where [...]

Topeka, KS offers $10K for remote workers to relocate

info2020-09-16T07:37:15-05:00September 15th, 2020|

GO Topeka, an economic development group in the Topeka, KS area, is the latest to establish a remote work incentive program dubbed the Choose Topeka Relocation Initiative. The initiative will offer remote employees nationally up to $10,000 toward the purchase of a home in Topeka or Shawnee County or $5,000 toward a one-year lease in the region, in an effort to grow the Topeka-area community. The program is prepared to accept about 10 to 20 applicants, said Barbara Stapleton with the Greater Topeka Partnership. The effort is an expansion of a 2019 job relocation program that required candidates take a job [...]

Wichita police issue tickets for violating city’s mask mandate

info2020-09-16T07:37:25-05:00September 15th, 2020|

The Wichita Police Department is now issuing tickets for violations of the city’s mask ordinance that requires most people to wear protective face masks in public to fight the coronavirus. The ordinance passed July 3, but was not enforced until Saturday, when four tickets were issued at bars that were operating after the county’s 11 p.m. curfew. City officials say the tickets were issued only after education attempts failed and some bars and nightclubs across Wichita rebelled against COVID-19 restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Municipal Bond Trends for September 14, 2020

info2020-09-15T07:46:15-05:00September 15th, 2020|

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.

Compliance with face mask and bar curfew order is no longer voluntary in Sedgwick County

info2020-09-15T07:45:09-05:00September 15th, 2020|

Compliance with the coronavirus public health order on face masks and a bar curfew is no longer voluntary in Sedgwick County. Health officer Dr. Garold Minns signed a new emergency public health order on Monday, removing the phrase “voluntary compliance” from the existing COVID-19 order. The mandatory health order goes into effect first thing Tuesday morning and runs through the end of day Oct. 21. “Any persons or organizations within Sedgwick County must comply with the order,” county officials wrote in a news release. “Minns will continue to review and monitor COVID-19 trends in the community and will consider lifting restrictions [...]

Pretty Prairie wind farm lawsuit dismissed, allowing it to be appealed

info2020-09-15T07:43:39-05:00September 15th, 2020|

The Pretty Prairie Wind lawsuit was dismissed by a Reno County judge on Monday after attorneys for the developer filed a motion asking to dismiss all claims in the suit except on an issue the district court already ruled on. The action effectively allows the corporation to appeal to a higher court an earlier ruling by District Judge Tim Chambers on a motion for summary judgment. It has 10 days to file a notice of appeal. Pretty Prairie Wind LLC, a subsidiary formed by NextEra Energy to develop an 82-turbine wind farm in the southeast quadrant of the county, filed the [...]

Manhattan City Commission looking at giving city staff power to raise Parks & Rec fees

info2020-09-15T07:42:39-05:00September 15th, 2020|

The Manhattan City Commission is looking into giving city administrators the power to set Parks & Recreation fees without seeking commission approval first. Deputy City Manager Jason Hilgers said city staff already have the ability to do this with new Parks & Rec programs, but the laws are inconsistent. Hilgers said older programs, like youth baseball and basketball, are wrapped up in another city ordinance. “We’ll have administration evaluate these programs,” Hilgers said. “Look at the cost to bring the program to bear and then correspondently charge the participants basically a cost recovery rate to try to pay for that program.” [...]

“It will be drastic and very harmful,” Governor Kelly warns of possible budget cuts

info2020-09-15T07:42:06-05:00September 15th, 2020|

The SPARK Task Force was assembled to distribute millions of dollars in federal CARES Act funding in three rounds. The task force is working to finalize and send out the final $290 million to communities. Governor Kelly said some of that final round money will go to additional testing in the state; including the testing of asymptomatic individuals. But that money was not permitted to be used to pay off state debt or backfill state revenue loss. Governor Kelly said the federal government must send additional funding to help the state’s work their way out of the economic impact of the [...]