News – Page 2247 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Hillsboro Community Hospital faces Friday shutdown

info2019-01-10T12:45:34-06:00January 10th, 2019|

If Hillsboro Community Hospital doesn’t pay $28,644.31 owed to the city of Hillsboro for utilities, service will be shut off at noon Friday. “I have directed city administrator Larry Paine to shut off utilities at noon Friday if the bill is not paid in full by that time,” mayor Lou Thurston told city council members Tuesday. A second debt owed by the hospital gave rise to a half-hour executive session to discuss potential litigation. “We may have been sued as a co-defendant by the mortgage holder, Bank of Hays,” Thurston said when he called for the executive session. Back in open [...]

Miami county disbands fire district boards

info2019-01-10T12:42:08-06:00January 10th, 2019|

Miami County commissioners opted Jan. 2 to disband the county’s two fire district boards — culminating several recent discussions and a Dec. 19 public hearing about transferring governance to the county. County commissioners voted 4-1 to disband the First District No. 1 board, which the commission had established in 1974. Commissioner Danny Gallagher cast the dissenting vote, saying the fire district board had done everything asked of it. “We asked them to put together budgets for each (community fire department), and they did that,” Gallagher said. “We asked them to do long-range planning, and they did that.” Commissioners voted 5-0 to [...]

Road conditions lead to tax protest

info2019-01-10T12:41:23-06:00January 10th, 2019|

Cattleman Merle Schlehuber paid his property taxes under protest because of the condition of county roads running by his land. So did Chasen Gann and James Enns. All told, county appraiser Lisa Reeder said Monday, annual property taxes on 37 parcels are scheduled for tax protests because of the conditions of county roads. Their exact reasons are unclear, as are the prospects for successfully protesting their taxes due. Clearly, there is dissatisfaction with county roads. At Monday’s county commission meeting, rural Marion resident Chuck Seifert gave commissioners a piece of his mind about consultant fees about road and other projects. Seifert [...]

Contract to set price for jail project signed by Marshall County Commissioners

info2019-01-10T12:39:29-06:00January 10th, 2019|

The Marshall County commissioners signed a contract Monday with Loyd Builders, Ottawa, to determine the cost for a jail expansion. The contract gives Loyd Builders permission to work with project architect TreanorHL, Lawrence, to develop a guaranteed maximum price. The contract is a precursor to a potential ”Construction Manager at Risk” agreement between the county and Loyd Builders. (Read more: The Marysville Advocate)

Arma council member resigns, disapproves of council behavior

info2019-01-10T12:38:06-06:00January 10th, 2019|

Arma City Council Member Richard Kerley resigned Monday night on the basis of treating people with “dignity and respect.” Kerely resigned Monday, effective immediately. Arma Mayor Rock Anderson read his letter of resignation to the council. After reading the letter, Anderson said, “It’s really a big loss, the guy had so much talent and did so much work and saved the city a God-awful amount of money, with water and other things he did. “He has so much knowledge pertaining to public works, water, gas, all kinds of things. A great councilman.“ The council agreed and said it was “senseless” to [...]

His time in prison behind him, Leavenworth mayor inspires county’s ‘Expungement Day’

info2019-01-10T12:35:38-06:00January 10th, 2019|

Jermaine Wilson needed a plan. He was behind bars in the maximum security wing of Lansing Correctional Facility. “Like a caged animal,” he said. He took up paper and pen there in 2007 and began listing the way it was going to be. He had God in his life now. No more drugs. No more “chasing the money.” He was going to get back to his 8-month-old son, Jermaine Jr. He was going to take classes in prison. Get out and start a life of service. Go to work. Start a non-profit. Not on his list? Become the mayor of Leavenworth. [...]

Pittsburg continues to explore creating public electric utility

info2019-01-10T12:34:43-06:00January 10th, 2019|

The City of Pittsburg is continuing its exploration of the possibility of owning the city’s electric service. The city commissioned a study from GE Warren Associates on the feasibility of purchasing — as state law allows — the local electrical grid from Weststar and forming a public utility. At Tuesdays’ Pittsburg City Commission meeting, the representative from GE Warren — who said he was a “big proponent” of public power — said the number of customers in Pittsburg would make a city-owned power utility larger than 85 percent of public utilities in the U.S. Additionally, he said, the utility would generate [...]

South Hutch Council votes not to retain police chief

info2019-01-10T12:33:19-06:00January 10th, 2019|

The City of South Hutchinson is down to three police officers and no chief after the City Council on Monday night voted not to re-appoint Chief Mark Thompson. Mayor Mandi Blumanhourst, in an email, confirmed the council’s action. The News was unable to reach any city council members or the chief for comment. “The council voted to not reappoint Mark Thompson as police chief,” Blumanhourst stated. “I have no further details to provide.” Patrol Sgt. Paul Allen said the council appointed no interim chief, but he otherwise had no comment. Thompson, who worked at the police department nearly 17 years, took [...]

Louisburg city council discusses fixes to stormwater system

info2019-01-10T12:30:08-06:00January 10th, 2019|

While most of Louisburg’s stormwater system is in good condition, members of the City Council were told recently that it would take more than $1 million to fix problems with the pipes and structures. Brent Johnson with the civil engineering firm Olsson presented a stormwater master plan Dec. 17 to the Louisburg City Council. He said preparation of the plan, which included inspection of most of the city’s stormwater infrastructure, started in early summer and wrapped up in the fall. He said there was minor work to be done on the final report to the city, but it should be completed [...]

Great Bend working on online payment option for utility bills

info2019-01-10T12:28:25-06:00January 10th, 2019|

The City of Great Bend altered how they attempt to collect late utility payments, and there is now an effort to provide an option for citizens to pay their bill online. City Administrator Kendal Francis says the City has been approached multiple times requesting the online payment option. Francis acknowledged the online payment is a goal for 2019, but the City first wants to establish the utility network. Great Bend started a policy January 1, 2019, that if you are late on your bill, your utility service will be cut off without a face-to-face reminder. The move was made to eliminate [...]