The stock market has been the acute point of stress for investors the past week. But the bond market hasn’t given them much of a break either. On Tuesday, as the S&P 500 tumbled for a fourth straight day, prices of long-term U.S. Treasury debt fell, too. That drove their yields, which move in an inverse relationship to prices, higher. It was especially confounding because long-term Treasury prices in preceding days hadn’t gained as much as they normally would in the face of a steep-stock market selloff. So much for government debt being a haven at a time of upheaval. The [...]

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Last week, Wichita city leaders extended an agreement with the McPherson County Conservation District. The agreement is meant to work with farmers to reduce levels of atrazine in the Little Arkansas River, keeping those chemicals from being recharged into the Equus Beds Aquifer.... "That we pay farmers $100 an acre when they plant cropland back to grass," Howard Miller, a leader for the Cheney Lake Watershed, said. Source: KSN-TV

A new partnership between Fort Hays Tech Northwest and the Goodland Police Department may help speed up investigations for the department. ... The school says the agreement will establish a fully functioning fingerprint lab at the Goodland Police Department. Source: KSN-TV

The Villalobos family has been raising chickens in their backyard for five years. "So, at the start of COVID, we got chickens. We decided to hedge against some security. As everything started locking down, we wanted the kids to have something to do for fun, and it also gave us eggs," Jeremy Villalobos said. Source: KSN-TV

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday signed seven more bills, bringing to 29 the number of pieces of legislation that she has signed into law this year. So far, she has vetoed four bills, including two on Monday. She has been overridden twice so far, with the Legislature scheduled to return April 10 for more veto override votes. She has allowed three bills to become law without her signature. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that he expects President Donald Trump's tariffs to raise inflation and lower growth, and indicated that the central bank won't move on interest rates until it gets a clearer picture on the ultimate impacts. In a speech delivered before business journalists in Arlington, Va., Powell said the Fed faces a "highly uncertain outlook" because of the new reciprocal levies the president announced Wednesday. Though he said the economy currently looks strong, he stressed the threat that tariffs pose and indicated that the Fed will be focused on keeping inflation in check. Source: Bonds

Should Wichita’s mayor have more power? Or should an unelected city manager continue to be the city’s most powerful official? As it stands, the mayor is the only official elected citywide. But she has no executive powers and can’t enact her agenda without the support of three other council members, who represent smaller districts. The city manager, who is appointed by the council, prepares the budget, chooses department heads and manages the daily operations of the city government. Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |