News – Page 2156 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Kansas law gives counties new options for polling sites

info2019-04-18T14:02:44-05:00April 18th, 2019|

A new law gives Kansas counties the legal option of letting voters cast ballots at any polling site within their county, but spotty internet service and aging voting equipment is expected to curtail its availability in many places, election officials say. The legislation signed this week by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly aims to expand and improve voting opportunities in Kansas by giving local election officials the discretion to allow all registered voters on Election Day to cast their ballot at any polling place in their county, rather than only at an assigned polling site. It is still unclear how many counties [...]

Agriculture census shows farm numbers decreasing, sizes increasing

info2019-04-18T14:01:31-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Results of the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture were released last week, and following a trend that has continued over the past decade, they show the total number of farms in the state decreasing as the average farm size increases. The Census of Agriculture is taken every five years. Although the last one was in 2017, the results were not published until April 11 of this year. In 2007 there were more than 65,500 farms recorded in Kansas, a number which decreased to less than 62,000 in 2012, and most recently dipped below 60,000 for a total of 58,569 farms in [...]

Louisburg expands facade improvement program funds to assist with residential repairs

info2019-04-18T14:00:21-05:00April 18th, 2019|

The city’s Facades of Louisburg Improvement Program (FLIP) has expanded its pool of money available to qualified residents who want to spruce up their homes. City Administrator Nathan Law said the residential portion of FLIP has been successful this year, and that just more than $4,000 of the $5,000 set aside for the 2019 program has been allocated for reimbursement to residential property owners. The money is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Law said city staff receives multiple inquiries weekly about the program. The residential program provides money to homeowners or renters to make improvements to the fronts of their [...]

Mulvane police settling into new facility

info2019-04-18T13:54:06-05:00April 18th, 2019|

After 30 years in the basement of city hall, the Mulvane Police Department has a new home. Located at 410 E. Main, the building was formerly leased to Cowley County by Dennis Donahue of Topeka. He sold the building in 2018 to the City of Mulvane for $675,000. The funds came from $1 million in bonds issued by the Mulvane Public Building Commission. That left about $300,000 for the police department to equip and renovate the new station. “Overall, [the new station] just gives us the ability to run the way we should be running,” said Gordon Fell, director of public [...]

No quick fix to train horn noise on west side of Derby

info2019-04-18T13:51:53-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Tom Wilhite, who owns and operates Wilhite Auto Service just a few yards west of the city’s railroad tracks, knows about train horn noise all too well. “It blows out the shop when they come by here,” he said. “I just have to stop talking to people a lot of times.” As if to reinforce that point, an interview with an Informer reporter was interrupted by the sound of a loud train horn blasted several times. Wilhite is not alone. There have been complaints and comments about the frequent sounds of the horns blown by train engineers as they past through [...]

Reno County Commission approves rate increase in annual landfill fee; funding to start expansion project

info2019-04-18T13:46:43-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Another rate hike in the Solid Waste User Fee charged to all Reno County property owners was approved on Tuesday by the Reno County Commission. The annual assessment will climb from $92 to $96 per year per household, effective on the November property tax statement. It’s the second consecutive year that the commission has approved a $4 jump in the annual assessment, with a third, similar hike, also is planned for next year, bringing the fee to $100 by 2021. The additional funding is necessary, according to the landfill staff and an outside consultant advised the commission, to start an expansion [...]

Topeka defers action on proposed sales tax hikes to aid development

info2019-04-18T13:45:17-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Topeka’s mayor and city council postponed action late Tuesday on two proposals that would enable developers to assess customers an additional 1 percent sales tax at each of two shopping centers along S.W. Wanamaker Road. Mayor Michelle De La Isla and the nine council members first voted 10-0 to defer action until their May 7 meeting on one proposal that would establish a community improvement district. That CID would levy a 1 percent sales tax — in addition to the sales taxes they already pay — upon customers at retail properties at the southeast corner of S.W. 17th and Wanamaker Road [...]

City commission rejects 2 requests for streetlights

info2019-04-18T13:44:00-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Parsons city commissioners rejected two requests for new streetlights Monday. Rob Montee requested a streetlight at his property at 3631 Morgan Ave. because of suspicious vehicles near the dead-end, and Mike Godbey wanted a light added by his property at the end of South 29th Street near Ashwood Avenue. The city has an unwritten policy to add and maintain streetlights only at intersections, but commissioners have discretion to add others. The city pays Westar Energy about $9 a month per streetlight. Commissioners earlier this year considered a cost-share program for residents wanting to add streetlights not normally covered by the policy [...]

Bourbon County 2019 budget now includes ambulance service

info2019-04-18T13:41:16-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday amended the 2019 budget to include the newly organized Bourbon County Emergency Medical Services. The ambulance budget is set for $1,020,000. During the public hearing held Tuesday, commissioners said of that amount, $316,000 was already set aside in the budget to pay Mercy Hospital Fort Scott for EMS it provided through a contract with the county. The remaining funds are expected to come from Medicare and insurance reimbursements, although county officials said they don’t know how much that will be. (Read more: Fort Scott Tribune)

Prairie Village council has questions about enforcement of proposed drone regulations in city

info2019-04-18T14:18:00-05:00April 18th, 2019|

Questions about enforcement by the Prairie Village city council on Monday stymied significant progress on the advancement of a new ordinance to regulate unmanned aerial drones. The council had directed city staff back in January to fine tune draft ordinance language that would prohibit recreational use of drones in situations that could be seen as an invasion of privacy for residents. But upon review of the updated language this week, a number of members of the council raised concerns that putting a new law regarding drones on the books could make people liable for unintended actions and could pose enforcement headaches [...]