News

Clay Center was incorporated 150 years ago on June 11th, 1875. To celebrate the town’s 150th birthday, this year’s Piotique theme will be “Stars, Stripes, & Small-Town Pride.” The event will take place on Saturday, September 27th. Source: KCLY Radio

Round after round of rain led to widespread flooding in south central and eastern Kansas on Tuesday. Water pooled on roads as drivers tried to make it through, only to stall their cars out. One part of Wichita that always floods is Bleckley Drive. Tuesday was no different. The city is currently working to fix the issue, but many people got stranded in high water, including a woman in her 80s. Right in the middle of the storm, cars were stranded in every direction. The Wichita Fire Department moved boats in to rescue those trapped in unreachable cars. The water sometimes [...]

Tuesday's flooding prompted evacuations in Butler County. There have been evacuations in southwest El Dorado, with firefighters going from house to house by boat to pull people out of their homes. Even a senior living center was evacuated. As of 10 p.m., the rain has mostly died down, but waters are still high north of El Dorado. Cars on the streets look more like ships on the ocean. With the raging rapids on what used to be Main Street, reaching homes further down the hill is almost impossible without boats. Source: KSN-TV

Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena is punching above its weight, ranking as the 18th busiest arena in the world among venues of its size, according to Billboard Magazine’s Midyear 2025 Report. Among arenas with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000, Intrust also ranked 10th in the continental U.S., thanks to strong ticket sales from October 2024 to March 2025. Source: KSN-TV

A Manhattan-based development company is setting its sights on a small town in rural north-central Kansas this year where it plans to inject life into some aging historic structures. Tyler Holloway with Frontier Development Group (FDG) has some big ideas for downtown Marysville. Specifically, he and his workers hope to transform a block of historic structures tied to the local Koester family into new living areas for local tenants called the Broadway Lofts. Source: KSNT 27 News

City leaders are looking to put $291,000 more into Hotel Topeka. Following two executive sessions in a special meeting on Monday, the Topeka Development Corporation decided it will move forward with requesting another round of funding. Since the city owns the hotel, it is required to make up for any operational losses from Hotel Topeka. At the end of last year, the TDC approved the budget with a net operating loss estimated at $870,000. Since Hotel Topeka is not generating enough revenue to cover its expenses, the city needs to invest more money into the hotel to help make up the [...]

Despite hearing from more than a dozen people in opposition, Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted 3-1 to stop livestreaming their meetings on YouTube. The Kansas Legislature this session passed a change to the Kansas Open Meetings Act (in HB 2134) to state that “A public body or agency that voluntarily elects to live stream their meeting on television, the internet or any other medium shall ensure that all aspects of the open meeting are available through the selected medium for the public to observe.” The law goes into effect July 1. Source: The Lawrence Times

University of Kansas and state legislative leadership broke ground on major renovations at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Hutchinson on May 23, part of a bold campus master plan to support its competency-based curriculum and to expand programs to meet the training needs of partners in public safety. Source: KU News

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will consider adopting a resolution to no longer livestream their meetings on YouTube rather than stream the entire meetings, including the general public comment periods. The Kansas Legislature this session passed a change to the Kansas Open Meetings Act (in HB 2134) to state that “A public body or agency that voluntarily elects to live stream their meeting on television, the internet or any other medium shall ensure that all aspects of the open meeting are available through the selected medium for the public to observe.” The law goes into effect July 1. Source: The Lawrence [...]