News – Page 2263 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Roeland Park council moving forward with plan to end year-round pool operations

info2018-12-19T07:24:48-06:00December 19th, 2018|

The Roeland Park Aquatic Center will shift from being a year-round pool to a summer-season only facility, members of the city council tentatively agreed Monday. The council unanimously signaled its support for moving forward with a summer season that would span from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The new schedule will come up for a final and formal vote during a January council meeting. Pool Advisory Committee member Tom Madigan said the committee had considered an option that would keep the pool open until October, but the alternative was voted down after determining the low usage during those additional months did [...]

Lawrence to join study to determine racial breakdown of police stops and searches

info2018-12-19T07:24:43-06:00December 19th, 2018|

City leaders have approved funding for a study that will determine the rates at which local law enforcement agencies pull over and search people of color. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Douglas County, Eudora, Baldwin City and the University of Kansas to fund and conduct the study. The city’s share of the costs would be $84,000 over two years. A team from Northeastern University in Boston will assist the law enforcement agencies to develop and implement a program for documenting the racial breakdown of motorist and pedestrian stops [...]

Geary County Health Department receives funding to monitor community health status

info2018-12-19T07:21:47-06:00December 19th, 2018|

Monitoring health status to identify and solve community health problems is one of the ten Essential Public Health Services, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Geary County Health Department has been funded to do just that. According to Health Department Director Tammy Von Busch, the ESSENCE multi-county regional pilot funding of $10,000 from the CDC and Kansas Department of Health and Environment will assist the Health Department in working with regional partners to monitor community health status. ESSENCE is an acronym for Electronic Surveillance System for Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics. The software enables public health departments [...]

Riley County Commission hears ambulance response comparisons, update on Pawnee Health Services facility

info2018-12-19T07:19:57-06:00December 19th, 2018|

Riley County EMS presented ambulance call for service comparative numbers to the Riley County commission on Monday. The totals showed an increased total cash collection by more than $350,000. EMS Director David Adams presented the total numbers of calls for this year compared to last year. Adams says the majority of calls from northern Riley County came from the Madison Township, with an average of 33 percent of the total calls. He also added they had 86 calls with an average response time of around 18 minutes. Adams said they also need to take into account the type of calls received, [...]

Wichita City Council to discuss $200K loan for drive-in

info2018-12-19T07:17:27-06:00December 19th, 2018|

The Wichita City Council approved a $200,000 loan for the Starlite Drive-in on Tuesday. The money comes from the sale of the Hyatt Regency hotel in 2016. It will be used to buy two new projectors. The drive-in closed in mid-October, but an investment group recently acquired the land. The group agreed to lease the facility to a Tulsa drive-in owner who says he expects to re-open the drive-in by late March. New Starlite Drive-in owner Blake Smith says the business's previous owner sold the digital projects. Smith says the cost of a projector is similar to the cost of a [...]

Ellis County to start building rainy-day cushion in 2019

info2018-12-19T07:16:38-06:00December 19th, 2018|

The way County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes explains it, creating a cushion in the Ellis County budget for a rainy day is like leaving a little extra money in the family checkbook over and above normal expenses. Without one, there’s no safety net. If all goes well, no problem, Smith-Hanes explained Monday to The Hays Daily News. If it doesn’t? “Then we could be in a really difficult position, because we’re not carrying enough cash year to year to be at a comfort level,” he said. That will change in 2019. The Ellis County Commission on Monday evening at its regular meeting [...]

3 Ways Tax Reform Has Impacted the Muni Market

info2018-12-19T07:43:51-06:00December 19th, 2018|

When Congress passed the tax overhaul last December, some worried that it would ultimately hurt the way governments finance major infrastructure projects by making the municipal bond process more expensive. In some ways, it has. But there have also been some pleasant surprises. Overall, 2018 has been a good year for governments issuing bonds. (Read more: GOVERNING)

Cowley County election official agrees with others, there is no voter fraud problem

info2018-12-19T07:11:02-06:00December 19th, 2018|

An American Civil Liberties Union survey has found that county-level election officials in Kansas reject the notion that voter fraud is either a major or minor concern. The report released Friday contradicts claims of widespread voter fraud by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Election officials in 85 of the state's 105 counties partially or completed responded. Sixty-six of them said voter fraud was "not a problem at all." None deemed it a "significant problem." Cowley County Clerk Karen Madison said she does not recall receiving the survey, but indicated that voter fraud hasn’t been a problem in Cowley County. She [...]

Work toward ordinance to handle Wichita’s feral cat population continues

info2018-12-19T07:07:55-06:00December 19th, 2018|

People in Wichita Monday met to discuss proposed changes for a Trap, Neuter (or spay) and Release (TNR) program for feral cats in the city. A proposed ordinance would allow people to register with the city and maintain cat colonies once feral cats are trapped and spayed or neutered. Under the proposed rules, caregivers would be allowed to maintain eight cats in one colony. Wichita's Animal Control Advisory Board held the meeting Monday to discuss proposed changes with the public. The board says it wants to find a balance with people who are enthusiastic about the program and those who don't [...]

Douglas County Commission to consider $350,000 subsidy to hire 3 psychiatrists for Bert Nash, Heartland

info2018-12-19T07:25:29-06:00December 19th, 2018|

The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider a proposal that would add three new psychiatrists to the county health system in 2019. The proposal would have the county subsidize the cost of hiring three new psychiatrists at a cost of $350,000, said Bob Tryanski, county director of behavioral health projects. The positions would be funded from the $1.9 million the County Commission allocated in the 2019 budget for behavioral health initiatives. The proposal is a modification of a $900,000 line item that County Commissioners approved for the 2018 budget, which was to have added four new positions through the hiring [...]