News – Page 2264 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Tomorrow! …. Utility Rates & Financial Planning Workshop (in Topeka) … Sign up now!

info2018-12-18T10:58:36-06:00December 18th, 2018|

The Kansas Department of Health Environment (KDHE) Capacity Development Program, in partnership with Wichita State Environmental Finance Center (EFC ), Ranson Financial and Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), encourages representatives from your utility to attend an upcoming rate setting and financial planning training. The session provides participants with an understanding on major considerations when setting rates; rate structure options and pricing objectives; financial planning considerations; and strategies for communicating rate information to your board and community. The training will provide classroom instruction as well as interactive participant exercises and discussion. Training is approved for 1 CMC Experience or 1 MMC Advanced Education [...]

Lawrence planning commission discusses new comprehensive plan, voicing support for new annexation policy

info2018-12-18T10:48:49-06:00December 18th, 2018|

As Lawrence continues to grow by about 1,000 residents per year, not everyone agrees with proposed development policies that would favor infill development over expanding the city’s borders. Plan 2040, the proposed comprehensive plan for Lawrence and Douglas County, lays out policies that will shape how the city grows for the next 20 years. Under the current plan, land bordering the city is open for annexation into the city limits, but the new plan prioritizes development within the city’s borders and puts more restrictions and requirements on annexations. Read more: LJWorld.com.

Half of Wichita’s new police review board failed to meet training requirements

info2018-12-18T08:59:05-06:00December 18th, 2018|

More than half of the people on Wichita’s new police review board have failed to meet a city requirement, but they may not be removed if the City Council changes the rules. The city formed the Citizen’s Review Board in part to increase transparency with the Wichita Police Department and improve community relations. People on the board are required to go through the department’s Citizens Police Academy within a year of appointment. But fewer than half of the 13 appointees to the board have done so as the January deadline approaches. The City Council on Tuesday will hear a proposal to [...]

Roeland Park asks Mission to de-annex small sliver of land near Johnson Drive and Roe Boulevard

info2018-12-18T08:57:55-06:00December 18th, 2018|

Roeland Park has asked Mission to consider redrawing its city limits to de-annex a half-acre piece of land divided by Johnson Drive. The land currently within Mission’s limits would connect the property on the north side of the street to the rest of Roeland Park. Mayor Mike Kelly and city administrator Keith Moody of Roeland Park discussed the city’s request at the Mission community development committee meeting Wednesday. City limits are often drawn along major dividing lines, such as streets and waterways. After the Kansas Department of Transportation realigned the northeast corner of Johnson Drive at Roe Boulevard, it created a [...]

Sumner County Commissioners unanimously vote to change Planning Commission regulation wording

info2018-12-18T08:57:14-06:00December 18th, 2018|

The Sumner County Commissioners voted unanimously to change the Planning Commission wording in its regulations that will return the board to its original ‘advisory” role when it comes to issuing Conditional Use Permits. The commissioners voted to strike the word “and” from the regulation language, after it was interpreted by Judge William Mott in Sumner County District Court to read that in order for Conditional Use permits to be issued it must get the approval of both the planning commission and the Board of Commissioners. A Conditional Use permit allows a property owner to use his land in a way not [...]

Final piece of save-the-Starlite deal to go to Wichita City Council on Tuesday

info2018-12-18T08:56:25-06:00December 18th, 2018|

The last piece of the deal to save the Starlite Drive-In is about to fall into place. The Wichita City Council is poised to lend the operator $200,000 to purchase new digital projectors, the key to reopening the Starlite in late February. Money to fund the loan will come from a $1 million allocation to the south Wichita council district of Councilman James Clendenin. Each council member was allocated that amount for district improvements when the council sold the city-owned Hyatt Hotel in 2016. Clendenin said he has no doubt the five-year, 1 percent interest loan will get paid back. Starlite [...]

Incoming county commissioners say safety net, changing demographics are top priorities

info2018-12-18T08:54:09-06:00December 18th, 2018|

They’re sitting quietly amongst other spectators and staffers in the county commission hearing room, listening and taking notes as money is allocated to human service funds and transit contracts. In just a few weeks, Becky Fast and Janeé Hanzlick will be in the same hearing room, looking out from the dais as newly elected county commissioners. Both women defeated incumbents in the November election. Both have backgrounds in social services. And both say they’d like to see the county focus more sharply on the needs of the vulnerable – mental health clients, the elderly and those who are being pinched by [...]

As JoCo breaks ground on new facility, commission approves coroner staff changes

info2018-12-18T08:53:10-06:00December 18th, 2018|

County breaks ground on new autopsy lab, approves staff moves at coroner. Johnson County will have the beginnings of a new system for dealing with unexpected or suspicious deaths when Dr. Diane Peterson takes over next month as county coroner and medical examiner. The county commission appointed Peterson, currently chief medical examiner in Jackson County, Mo., to head Johnson County’s medical investigator team. The commission also appointed Dr. Robert Prosser, who has been county coroner for 21 years, to be one of seven deputy coroners. The appointments are part of an effort to update the county’s coroner system as the population [...]

Topeka’s water main break total for 2018 its third highest on record

info2018-12-18T08:52:04-06:00December 18th, 2018|

Topeka has seen 42 water main breaks this month, bringing the city’s total for the year to date to 849, city manager Brent Trout said Monday in his weekly report posted on the city’s website. In contrast, the city had 393 water main breaks by this time last year, Trout indicated. The city’s record for water main breaks in a year is 1,009, set in 2000, according to Capital-Journal archives. The second-highest total was 984 in 2012, those archives show. Topeka’s fourth-highest number of water main breaks for a calendar year was 2011, with 651. The city maintains about 850 miles [...]

Lawrence city leaders to consider joining study to determine racial breakdown of police stops and searches

info2018-12-18T10:49:44-06:00December 18th, 2018|

Years since the idea was originally proposed, a study could soon be underway to determine the rates at which local law enforcement agencies pull over motorists of color. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider entering 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, and funding for the study has already been included in the city’s budget for 2019. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which was established by the county commission in [...]