News – Page 513 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Jackie Robinson statue found burned and in pieces at Wichita park amid citywide manhunt

info2024-01-31T10:01:03-06:00January 31st, 2024|

A Wichita youth-baseball league’s Jackie Robinson statue — which was cut at its feet and stolen from McAdams Park last week, leading to a citywide manhunt and national media attention — was found charred and in pieces Tuesday morning in Garvey Park. Garvey Park is in south Wichita, about seven miles from where it was stolen. “It’s not salvageable at this time,” Wichita police spokesperson Andrew Ford said. Ford said they are still investigating to find suspects. First responders were called to a trash can fire at the park around 8:38 a.m. and found the statue. When firefighters extinguished the flames, they found pieces of [...]

Towns struggle as aquifer dwindles

info2024-01-31T09:59:02-06:00January 31st, 2024|

Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field. He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots as he makes his way to a decommissioned irrigation well. He unspools a steel highway tape measure a few feet at a time and feeds it into the well until gravity takes over. He keeps a thumb on it to control the speed. How much of the tape comes out wet lets [...]

How could Kansas’ new open enrollment law change Johnson County and KCK schools?

info2024-01-31T09:50:15-06:00January 31st, 2024|

After this school year, Kansas students will be allowed to go to any public school district in the state, as long as it has the room. Previously, districts have had discretion over whether to admit students from outside of their attendance areas. But starting this summer, schools are required to do so, which has created a complicated situation for highly ranked districts in Johnson County, which are now scrambling to prepare for a potential influx of students. “Really since the legislation passed, certainly the number of people calling us has increased. We get a few calls every week from people either [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for January 30, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-01-31T08:46:13-06:00January 31st, 2024|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. 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.

Municipal Bond Trends for January 29, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-01-30T09:14:46-06:00January 30th, 2024|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. 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.

USD 392 Osborne County Hires New Superintendent

Chloe Henderson2024-01-29T11:46:53-06:00January 29th, 2024|

USD 392 Board of Education announced the selection of Mr. Ron Orsak as the new Superintendent of Osborne County School District. Mr. Orsak will take the helm on July 1, 2024, from Mr. Langdon who officially resigned from his post in November of last year and will be the new Elementary Principal at Sacred Heart Schools in Colby this Fall. We thank Mr. Langdon for his efforts and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Mr. Orsak emerged from a very thorough search process as the right candidate to lead the district. The initial step was to gather input utilizing [...]

Sewer bills going up for Andover residents

Chloe Henderson2024-01-29T11:45:25-06:00January 29th, 2024|

Starting in February, Andover residents will see their sewer bills increase. The City says they are wrapping up the design phase for the expansion of the wastewater plant. This year Andover will begin the process of upgrading and expanding the facility to address increasing demand and replace and update equipment to meet upcoming regulatory requirements. The rate will increase by $5 to $40 a month for residential customers. Later this year, the Andover City Council will decide on a multi-year billing structure based on the projected costs of the expansion project. Andover’s wastewater facility was first constructed in 1977 and underwent upgrades, expansions, and [...]

City of Galena clarifies when school crossing light is supposed to run

Chloe Henderson2024-01-29T11:43:28-06:00January 29th, 2024|

The Mayor of Galena, KS, Ashely Qualls Groves, addresses the ongoing concern regarding a Galena school traffic lights and the timing of them. "I want to clarify that those are set automatically and although it seems like odd hours, the school has after school programs nightly throughout the school year. Many kids attend these programs and in working with the school personnel, our goal is to provide the utmost safety protocols for our students." According to city officials, they receive a lot of complaints about reckless drivers in the school zones therefore they are working to make the existing protocols safer [...]

City of Fort Scott addresses foam seen on local river

Chloe Henderson2024-01-29T11:41:49-06:00January 29th, 2024|

The City of Fort Scott addresses complaints regarding foam accumulation being seen in the river at Gunn Park. The following is from the City of Fort Scott Facebook post: "The foam that is being seen in the river at Gunn Park is caused by the amount of phosphorus in the water and is not harmful to our water supply. It is caused by the change of weather we have had over the last week (thank God for the rain). The Dam in Gunn Park is before the City of Fort Scott's River Intake system so the water will be treated with [...]

Agriculture built these High Plains towns. Now, it might run them dry

Chloe Henderson2024-01-29T11:38:26-06:00January 29th, 2024|

Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field. He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots as he makes his way to a decommissioned irrigation well. He unspools a steel highway tape measure a few feet at a time and feeds it into the well until gravity takes over. He keeps a thumb on it to control the speed. How much of the tape comes out wet lets [...]