News – Page 2299 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Planning commission turns down zoning request for bio-fuel plant in Sumner County

info2018-11-09T11:04:47-06:00November 9th, 2018|

he Sumner county Planning Commission Wednesday turned down a company's conditional use permit to build a bio-fuel plant in north Sumner County and a zoning-change request for the land where it planned construction. Sumner Newscow reports the planning commission voted 7-1 to deny VNA Corporation a conditional-use permit for the project and voted 6-1 to deny the rezoning request to rezone about 100 acres west of the Ninnescah River from rural to heavy industrial. The opposition does not put a fork in the company's plan for its plant. The Sumner County Commission does have the power to overturn the planning commission's [...]

Lawrence adopts ‘more concrete’ ethics policy for city employees and commissioners

info2018-11-08T08:34:42-06:00November 8th, 2018|

City leaders have approved a new ethics policy to replace a more general policy that was created in 1991. At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to approve a revised ethics policy that now explicitly applies to all city employees, elected officials and appointed officials, which includes advisory board members, and provides more specific language regarding what constitutes an ethics violation. City Attorney Toni Wheeler told the commission that the goal of the new policy was to clarify whom the policy applies to and to “make the provisions more concrete and less aspirational.” Wheeler said the city consulted [...]

Voters favor expanded Marion County Commission

info2018-11-08T08:33:45-06:00November 8th, 2018|

Marion County commission will go from three members to five after 2,450 voters voted in favor and 2,016 voted against a ballot question asking if the commission should change to a five-member district. Dianne Novak, who first brought up the idea of a five-member commission, was pleased to hear the measure passed. “I believe this is going to really benefit Marion County,” Novak said. “I think this is a good move on the part of the county. I think it will make a difference in the way things are done in the county.” (Read more: PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin)

Wellington city council adopts amended animal ordinance

info2018-11-08T07:05:35-06:00November 8th, 2018|

After two meetings with lengthy discussions, and a whole two hour work session devoted to the subject, the Wellington City Council quickly passed the 2018 amended changes to the city animal ordinance. By a 6-0 vote, the council passed the ordinance with no discussion at its regular meeting Tuesday night. The new ordinance defines what is considered a “dangerous” dog and what animals owners can have within the city limits. The revised codes were adapted from the City of Wichita. One provision just recently added to the ordinance included a “adequate lighting” of a pet enclosure. (Read more: Sumner NewsCow)

Supreme Court: Federal Age-Discrimination law applies to all local govt, no matter their size

info2018-11-08T07:03:25-06:00November 8th, 2018|

All local and state governments—no matter their size—need to comply with a federal law banning discrimination against employees on the basis of age, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday. The case stems from a dispute between a small Arizona fire district and two firefighters, who were laid off in 2009 during a budget crisis. John Guido and Dennis Rankin say they were terminated because they were the oldest employees at the district covering the Santa Catalina Mountains, later filing an age discrimination lawsuit. But the issue before the Supreme Court was not whether the Mount Lemmon Fire District discriminated against Guido [...]

Shawnee photographer sets focus on city hall, helps change ordinance

info2018-11-08T06:48:45-06:00November 8th, 2018|

Only a small percentage of Shawnee citizens cast a ballot in a local election each year. A typical city council meeting attracts very few residents. And less than a year ago, Shawnee mom Sarah Chou couldn’t have told you the names of the elected officials who represent her ward. When her life was nearly turned upside down because of a single phone call, however, she found herself in the midst of an unexpected civics lesson, and on the path to changing a city law. For the past five years, Chou has been a successful professional photographer, with a home-based studio. Marie [...]

Sales tax passes in Chanute

info2018-11-08T06:44:31-06:00November 8th, 2018|

Chanute voters passed a proposal to extend a quarter-cent sales tax for economic development, and incumbent county commissioner Paul Westhoff appeared to have won re-election in Tuesday’s elections in Neosho County. Thayer-area voters appeared to favor a school bond proposal for USD 447, but the measure failed on opposition from Cherryvale voters. In the results counted Tuesday evening, the Chanute sales tax question passed 1,308 in favor to 849 against. The proposal will extend an existing sales tax, due to sunset at the end of March, which supported the Maring Aquatic Center construction. The new sales tax to fund economic development [...]

Derby businesses featured on new board game “Derby-Opoly”

info2018-11-08T06:39:24-06:00November 8th, 2018|

Mark Staats sported a smile worthy of a kid on Christmas morning when he looked over the first copy of a new board game, Derby-Opoly, last week. “I’m impressed,” said Staats, president and CEO of the Derby Chamber of Commerce, as he went through the box. As the name implies, it’s based on the best-selling and world-famous game of Monopoly, but it’s a strictly local endeavor. Or as Staats put it: “Everything has a Derby connection.” Chamber officials picked up on the game concept and decided it would be a good fit for Derby and its businesses. They were right on [...]

Voters approve expansion of Leavenworth County Commission

info2018-11-08T06:36:50-06:00November 8th, 2018|

The Leavenworth County Commission will expand to five members. A ballot question seeking to increase the commission from three members to five passed in Tuesday’s election, according to the unofficial results. There were 15,662 “yes” votes in favor of the expansion, and 9,357 “no” votes. The question was placed on the ballot in Leavenworth County after a group calling itself Give Me Five collected the necessary signatures earlier this year. Now that the measure has passed, county commissioners will approve the boundaries for five commission districts. The county will have a special election to determine who will fill the two additional [...]

City of Pittsburg may buy trucks to improve ice, snow removal

info2018-11-08T06:31:25-06:00November 8th, 2018|

The city of Parsons could begin pre-treating streets prior to winter storms instead of just reacting to the slick mess that follows. On Monday evening, city commissioners gave permission to the city staff to spend up to $35,000 on two trucks with brine tanks. All of the public works employees attended a snow removal seminar in Burlington recently in which among other things the Kansas Department of Transportation described how the highways are treated with brine before storms. Brine, which is a mixture of salt and water, lessens the ability of ice and snow to adhere to roads, making it much [...]