News – Page 2358 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Hays IT Director: ‘Cybersecurity keeps me up at night’

info2018-09-17T08:27:51-05:00September 17th, 2018|

The city of Hays has a $2 million line of cyber liability in its commercial insurance policy with MPR (Midwest Public Risk), a group of public pooling entities across Missouri and Kansas. Cybersecurity insurance is being sought by an increasing number of U.S. cities, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal. Hays has two main data centers located at city hall and at the police department, with 48 network routers and approximately 248 PCs and servers in 11 locations. The IT Department, which recently relocated from the downtown city hall to a larger space in the Hays Welcome Center, [...]

Hutchinson picks Riley County PD captain as city’s next police chief

info2018-09-17T06:42:39-05:00September 17th, 2018|

The Hutchinson Police Department Friday says following an extensive search process, the city selected its next police chief. The city says Jeffrey Hooper will take leadership of the Hutchinson Police Department on Oct. 22. Hooper replaces Chief Dick Heitschmidt who's retiring Monday after 26 years guiding the department. For the past 27 years, Hooper served with the Riley County Police Department where he currently serves as a captain, a position he's held for 14 years. His other roles with the RCPD included police officer, detective, sergeant and lieutenant. The City of Hutchinson says Hooper has a decree in sociology/criminal justice and [...]

Chief Heitschmidt takes his last call

info2018-09-17T06:41:52-05:00September 17th, 2018|

Responding to a police call a couple of years ago, Hutchinson Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt found himself the first officer on the scene – “with four or five young guys who were not behaving.” “It ran through my mind that these guys could take a 60-year-old pretty quick,” Heitschmidt said last week as a reminisced about his years of service with the department. He decided then perhaps it was time to cut back on the weekend night patrols, or at least arrive later. He still occasionally goes on calls – “I still feel capable of lending a hand if someone needs [...]

National Fireworks Association closes out convention in Andover

info2018-09-17T06:36:35-05:00September 17th, 2018|

“We’re really excited,” said Alaina Dudley and Quinn Hamilton, who came to watch the fireworks with their families. It’s all thanks to the National Fireworks Association. The annual convention has been in town all week shooting off fireworks and it finished off with a bang. “I didn’t even know there was a National Fireworks Association so to hear that they do this every year is really, really cool,” said Krista Gerlach, who brought her family to see the fireworks. As a thank you to the city, the association set off a huge public display on Friday night, featuring synchronized music. “Synchronized [...]

Licenses to grow industrial hemp in Kan. could be ready by spring

info2018-09-17T06:35:17-05:00September 17th, 2018|

The Kansas Department of Agriculture hopes to start issuing licenses for farmers to grow industrial hemp in time for next year’s spring planting season. Agency spokeswoman Heather Lansdowne said on Friday that proposed rules and regulations were submitted earlier in the week to the Department of Administration. That’s the first step in a long process required to establish an industrial hemp program in Kansas. The program will initially allow growing hemp only for research. But officials said in an economic impact statement that a successful research-based pilot program may lead to the eventual legalization of commercial industrial hemp. (Read more: The [...]

Neosho County continues to hear opinions on wind project

info2018-09-17T06:34:31-05:00September 17th, 2018|

Residents of southwest Neosho County continued discussion of the pros and cons of a wind generation project during Friday morning’s county commission meeting. Opponent Bryon Coover took issue with information presented at a town hall meeting in Galesburg and in letters to residents. Dale Jeffrey gave information about mutations and deformed animals near European wind generation areas because of low-level noise. Opponent Andrew Burnett encouraged distributing a map of the footprint of the proposed area, and said some land owners do not realize they will be inside it. He also discussed declines in grassland bird populations near wind generation sites. Leroy [...]

Technology council forming to help retain and attract talent to Wichita

info2018-09-17T06:28:53-05:00September 17th, 2018|

Few sectors are more coveted by any community working to grow its economy than the high-paying technology industry. And in Wichita, an important new initiative is coming together that its stakeholders believe will give the city a new edge in retraining and recruiting the kind of tech talent that will help fuel regional growth. A yet-to-be named technology council is in its formative stages that Dave Cunningham, CEO of Flint Hills Group and the board chairman of the planned council, says will provide the kind of overarching and unbiased connective resource that the industry has never had locally. A nine-person board [...]

Topeka mayor diagnosed with Lyme disease after tick bite

info2018-09-17T06:26:05-05:00September 17th, 2018|

opeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla says she has been diagnosed with Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick. She said she was bitten by a tick after exercising outdoors and hiking. KTKA reports that in order to get better, De La Isla said she will be administered high levels of Doxycycline for a month. She will also undergo a spinal tap and other medical procedures to help her recover. A new report shows that Lyme disease is on the rise in all 50 states, and even in areas where it has not typically been in the past. (Read more: [...]

Century II committee: Iconic building ‘past its useful life’

info2018-09-17T06:23:42-05:00September 17th, 2018|

One of downtown Wichita's most iconic buildings was described Friday as a crumbling, leaky and obsolete structure. That was the general sentiment expressed during a Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center citizens steering committee meeting at the downtown facility. "I speak for myself, but I think we've all felt that it has to be now," said Mary Beth Jarvis, the committee's chairwoman. "If you don't change for the future now, when does your future start?" During the hour-long lunchtime meeting, committee members seemed to agree that Century II has long since outlived its usefulness as a top-tier performance arts space. [...]

Douglas County Commission signals intent to raise age to buy tobacco products

info2018-09-14T11:50:07-05:00September 14th, 2018|

The Douglas County Commission signaled Wednesday that it would pass an ordinance increasing the age to legally buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping liquids, to 21. All three county commissioners said they favored the age increase. But commissioners said formal action would have to wait until county counselor John Bullock reviewed the measure, which was proposed by the LiveWell Lawrence Tobacco 21 task force and Resist, a Boys & Girls Club anti-smoking team. Commissioners said the age increase would be mostly symbolic. There are only four stores in the county’s unincorporated areas that would be affected. One of the issues [...]