News – Page 2370 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Marion County Commission agrees to commission expansion proposal

info2018-09-06T08:29:17-05:00September 6th, 2018|

Marion County Commission might grow by two members in January, depending on how the November election goes. Commissioners at Friday’s meeting passed the decision unanimously, cancelling the need for chairman Dianne Novak to circulate a petition. If the resolution passes in November, commissioners will have until Jan. 1 to restructure county districts with balanced populations. “I believe the voters in the county want to decide that,” commissioner Kent Becker said. If the county expands the commission, it cannot change district numbers for four years. “It feels like the further away you get from Marion, the more you find people who want [...]

Wichita is close to a deal with New Orleans Baby Cakes Triple-A baseball team

info2018-09-06T08:27:22-05:00September 6th, 2018|

Wichita is in talks with the New Orleans Baby Cakes franchise, an affiliate of the Miami Marlins, to be Wichita’s new Triple-A team, several sources said Wednesday. The deal is close to being finalized but is not yet done, sources say. Mayor Jeff Longwell plans a baseball announcement of some sort at his regular Thursday briefing. Longwell didn’t return a call for comment, nor did Augusto “Cookie” Rojas, the Baby Cakes senior vice president and general manager. The Wichita Wingnuts, an independent baseball franchise, played its final game on Monday. The city plans to tear down the 84-year-old Lawrence-Dumont Stadium downtown [...]

Great Bend City Administrator to hold quarterly community chats

info2018-09-06T10:53:39-05:00September 6th, 2018|

Taking over the job July 30, Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis is making an effort to make himself more accessible to the public. Francis announced at Tuesday’s Great Bend City Council meeting that he would be holding “Kendal’s Coffee” on a quarterly basis. During the coffee sessions, community members can come to talk to Francis about concerns or thoughts on the City. (Read more: Great Bend Post)

Great Bend moves forward with no Public Works Director

info2018-09-06T10:54:21-05:00September 6th, 2018|

When Charlie Suchy resigned as Great Bend Public Works Director in June, no timeline or procedure to find his replacement was announced. Now it appears that for the time being, the city will operate without a Public Works Director in place. According to Great Bend City Attorney Bob Suelter, City Administrator Kendal Francis will oversee the Public Works Department with assistance from a newly hired Assistant Public Works Director. Suelter says Francis has a background in public works, serving for nearly 20 years in Beloit with the city’s water and wastewater department. That person will be Simon Wiley who began his [...]

Attorney General, Sunshine Coalition to offer free training sessions on open government laws in Topeka

info2018-09-06T07:04:27-05:00September 6th, 2018|

Free training sessions on Kansas open government laws will be offered next month in Topeka and Johnson County, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government announced today. “Open access to the functions of government is important to self-government,” Schmidt said. “As our office investigates complaints of violations of open government laws, most often we find the violations were inadvertent and can be avoided through better education. I encourage public officials, candidates for public office, staff, members of the media and the public to participate in these training sessions to learn more about how these laws [...]

Church fire mistake sparks new sharing agreement between city and county departments

info2018-09-06T07:03:48-05:00September 6th, 2018|

Two months after a historic church suffered major fire damage and a Wichita fire truck was prematurely called back from the scene, the city and county have reached a new agreement on sharing resources to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again, officials said Wednesday. The new agreement places the decision of whether to release equipment in the hands of the on-scene commander at an emergency, said County Manager Michael Scholes and City Manager Robert Layton. The new accord on shared support was reached Aug. 30. The agreement rises from the ashes of the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Andale. [...]

Kechi receives funding for arts district

info2018-09-06T10:57:58-05:00September 6th, 2018|

It's been a long time coming. The City of Kechi announced this week that it received funds to design and construct a downtown arts and business district in the city. The city has been waiting for approval for four years. "The city council and staff members have been going the extra mile over the last few years to get to this point," said City Administrator Robert Conger. "Once the planning phase is complete, things should move rather quickly since the funding has already been approved." In a 2015 strategic plan, residents expressed a vision for a vibrant, downtown arts and business [...]

Valley Center considers prepay fuel law

info2018-09-06T10:59:21-05:00September 6th, 2018|

On Aug. 25, Valley Center police responded to a gas drive-off at Casey's General Store in the 200 block of South Meridian. An older-style, red, two-door vehicle driven by a white male with long hair pumped $26 worth of fuel and left without paying. Officers searched the area, couldn't find the suspect and returned to the gas station to get information for a theft report. It's a familiar scenario, which rarely has a successful conclusion for either law enforcement or the gas station. That's why the city and the police department are proposing an ordinance that would make Valley Center a [...]

Junction City Commission Consensus: Sell Land Bank Lots Without Specials

info2018-09-06T06:45:41-05:00September 6th, 2018|

The Junction City Commission by consensus has decided to leave lots in the Land Bank available for sale without special assessments. Those assessments are normally used to fund infrastructure related to the lots, but the City has several hundred of those lots available and they are not selling rapidly. There was a push by a contingent of home owners in the Land Bank area to require the lots to be sold with the specials. They pay special assessments and are concerned that when the time comes to sell their homes they will not be able to do so since newer homes [...]

Atchison restricts smoking, approves demolitions

info2018-09-05T08:52:00-05:00September 5th, 2018|

Smoking on areas of land owned by the City of Atchison will be prohibited following a divided vote by its governing body on Tuesday. Resolution No. 6950, which prohibits the use of certain products within 25 feet of a playground, passed 3-2 during the regular City Commission meeting held following the Labor Day break. Now-prohibited items include, but aren’t limited to, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, pipes, electronic smoking devices and any nicotine infusion device or product that isn’t backed by the Food and Drug Administration for use in addiction cessation.Chief Mike Wilson said after the meeting that City Attorney Bob [...]