News – Page 1930 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Church Sues Lenexa For Denying Its Request To Operate A Homeless Shelter

info2019-11-26T21:51:28-06:00November 26th, 2019|

A Lenexa church is suing the city for denying its request to use its building as a temporary homeless shelter. Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church says the denial infringes on its exercise of religion, violating the Constitution, state law and federal law. The church, at 9400 Pflumm Road, occupies a former elementary school building adjoining commercial and office properties, although the building is zoned residential single family. The church recently partnered with Project 1020, a nonprofit that provides temporary housing to homeless people, to provide overnight shelter for up to 40 homeless individuals per night from December through March. (Read more: [...]

For some rural US TV viewers, local news is anything but

info2019-11-25T22:07:52-06:00November 25th, 2019|

When Dianne Johnson channel-surfs for news in her rural western Nebraska home, all she sees are stories about Colorado crime and car crashes from a Denver television station more than 200 miles away. It’s frustrating for the 61-year-old rancher, who wants to know the latest developments in Nebraska politics and sports. When floods devastated huge swaths of Nebraska this year, Johnson struggled to keep tabs on what was happening. “If we actually had local news, we would watch it,” she said. “But all we get is Colorado drug busts and stories about who got murdered in Denver. It has nothing to [...]

12 years after Greensburg, rebuilding as been a mixed success

info2019-11-25T22:06:55-06:00November 25th, 2019|

A dozen years after a tornado nearly wiped out Greensburg, city leaders acknowledge that the decision to rebuild as quote “the greenest community in America” has been a mixed success. The E5 tornado that touched down May 4 2007, killed 11 people and destroyed most of Greensburg. The Kansas news service is reporting that the decision to rebuild in an environmentally friendly way was to set itself apart from other rural towns. City administrator, Stacy Barnes acknowledges some expectations at the time were unrealistic but says the town continues to work on projects, and she remains optimistic about the town’s future. [...]

Badges and Burgers

info2019-11-25T22:06:40-06:00November 25th, 2019|

The Pittsburg Fire and Police Departments Fire Up the grill to help kids in the neighborhood. It was the annual badges and burgers event. This year, the proceeds go to the Children’s Advocacy Center. The center provides child safety specialists who serve children in Pittsburg. (Read more: KSNF/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com)

Lenexa exempting itself from state law requirement for official city newspapers

info2019-11-25T18:42:37-06:00November 25th, 2019|

The city of Lenexa no longer has The Olathe News as an official city newspaper for publishing legal notices. City leaders have agreed to exempt Lenexa from K.S.A 64-101, the state law regarding official city newspapers. And The Johnson County Legal Record is now the only official publication for Lenexa’s public notices. In 1997, the city had passed a charter ordinance exempting itself from the state law so it could designate multiple newspapers by resolution. At that time, The Johnson County Legal Record and The Olathe Daily News (renamed The Olathe News in 2009) became Lenexa’s official newspapers. Since then, The [...]

County takes step toward creating Family Park master plan

info2019-11-25T18:36:27-06:00November 25th, 2019|

A comprehensive master plan for southwest Topeka’s Family Park, featuring trails and pickleball courts, should be complete in three to five months, Shawnee County parks and recreation director Tim Laurent said Monday. He spoke after County Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays voted 3-0 Monday morning to solicit proposals from qualified companies interested in contracting with the county to develop that plan at a cost not to exceed $71,000, while accepting input both from the public and from Laurent’s department. The master plan is to cover matters that include design, layout and future maintenance of the park, which will [...]

Wichita will receive $14.2 million grant to replace transit center

info2019-11-25T18:33:52-06:00November 25th, 2019|

The City of Wichita will receive $14.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build a replacement transit center to meet current and future regional transportation needs. The building will connect 17 bus routes, four circulator trolleys, commuter transit and boost economic development in the West Bank area of the Arkansas River. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced that the Federal Transit Administration will award $423 million in transit infrastructure grants nationwide to improve the safety and reliability of America’s bus systems and enhance mobility for transit riders. A list of the selected projects is available online. “Public bus [...]

Barton County extends rent-free agreements for two agencies

info2019-11-25T18:31:47-06:00November 25th, 2019|

As a means of community support, the Cottonwood Extension Council and the State of Kansas Parole Office are housed in the county office building at 1208 Kansas in Great Bend. Each agency gets to stay there rent free but reimburses Barton County for a portion of the building’s utility costs. “They pay their utilities and phone system costs,” said Barton County Administrator Phil Hathcock. For years, the county has extended office space to these two agencies rent free because they are taxing agencies. If Barton County started charging rent, then the agencies would have to raise their taxes to pay the [...]

Commission approves 2020 funding for senior centers

info2019-11-25T18:29:37-06:00November 25th, 2019|

Butler County commissioners unanimously approved contracts for senior centers within the county at their Nov. 19 meeting. Senior centers within Butler County will receive a slight increase in funding budgeted by the commission for fiscal year 2020. “We try to budget in a slight increase annually based on what we can afford within the budget,” William Johnson Jr., Butler County administrator, said. Funding for FY2020 is as follows, according to the meeting agenda found on www.bucoks.com: Senior clubs level II — Benton $2,300, Whitewater $4,000; Senior centers level I — Cassoday $9,200, Towanda $11,200; Senior centers level II — Douglass $31,800; [...]

Pawnee Mental Health receives USDA grant to expand telemedicine and rural access to mental health

info2019-11-25T18:27:29-06:00November 25th, 2019|

Rural access to mental health care is expanding in Kansas thanks to a $42.5 million US Department of Agriculture grant announced last week. Those dollars are being invested in 133 distance learning and telemedicine projects including Manhattan-based Pawnee Mental Health Services. Executive Director Robbin Cole says Pawnee was awarded nearly $500,000 to expand video conferencing services to Jewell, Mitchell and Washington counties in north-central Kansas. “With this grant, we’ll be able to place equipment in those offices as well as the county health departments in those counties to enable residents to receive the mental health services that they need five [...]