News – Page 557 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Appraisal increases match housing market changes

info2024-01-17T10:56:17-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Appraisals in the county have increased significantly, with the county appraiser saying it’s the highest she’s ever seen in the past three years. Real estate agents say there are changes in the housing market that explain these increases. Brad Elliot, a real estate agent in the county, said interest rates increasing in recent years has kept many people from selling. This causes increased competition for the houses that are put on the market and drives prices up. Elliot thinks, with interest rates decreasing again, more houses will be added to the market. People who had been unwilling to move because their interest rates [...]

Markets Expect Rate Cuts Soon. Central Banks Say Not So Fast.

info2024-01-17T10:55:09-06:00January 17th, 2024|

There may be a middle ground between blindly trusting central bankers’ interest-rate guidance and disregarding it completely. On Tuesday, stocks fell, Treasury yields jumped and the U.S. dollar rose against other currencies after Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller warned that any lowering of interest rates this year will need to be “carefully calibrated and not rushed.” Though he is a well-known hawk, many other officials have also recently suggested that investors may be expecting borrowing costs to come down too far and too fast. European Central Bank rate setters made the same point at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, including chief economist Philip [...]

New zoning code could bring in different events around Century II

info2024-01-17T10:52:10-06:00January 17th, 2024|

More special events could be coming to downtown Wichita. The City Council unanimously passed a zoning change on Tuesday, which not only removed outdated zoning but also opened up the facility to more events and opportunities in the area around Century II. It came about after an artist began to fight to keep his shop in Old Town, and a group looked into holding a tattooing convention there, but the Central Business District prohibits tattooing. A few months after Afterlife Tattooz opened in Old Town, the owner got a letter from the City telling him tattoo shops were not allowed in his part [...]

Prairie Village moving ahead with plan to build new city hall

info2024-01-17T10:51:11-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Prairie Village is moving forward with plans for a new city hall — unchanged from a design the previous city council supported before last fall’s elections altered the makeup of the governing body. During the first discussion of the new city hall facility in 2024, the city council on Tuesday decided to ultimately exclude two proposed changes to a roughly $30 million design that the previous council had asked city staff to explore last year. The plan backed by the council calls for a completely new 18,000-square-foot city hall building on the south side of the parking lot outside the current municipal complex. [...]

Panasonic answers concern Kansans to pay for electricity infrastructure serving De Soto plant

info2024-01-17T10:49:11-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Panasonic executives involved in construction of the $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant at De Soto said Tuesday the facility would begin production in early 2025 and negotiations continued with Evergy on delivery of electricity to manufacturing space occupying 4.7 million square feet. The company broke ground in July 2022 on a project backed by up to $1 billion in state economic incentives with the promise of employing 4,000 people in production of lithium-ion batteries used in vehicles. In testimony to the House energy committee, Panasonic said the December decision not to build a comparable plant in Oklahoma didn’t indicate presence [...]

Halstead expands funding to revitalize downtown

info2024-01-17T10:47:49-06:00January 17th, 2024|

After seeing some businesses struggling to maintain their buildings downtown, the City of Halstead started a grant program for these businesses. The grants, known as “DRAGON Grants,” provide businesses with between $1,000 and $10,000. Reimer said that, in the past, the city allotted $40,000 for grants each year, but the city council voted to expand that to $50,000 for 2024. City Manager Ethan Reimer said these grants are a way for the city to provide some support to businesses in the community that they don’t get elsewhere. “It’s a recognition of the fact that some of our larger businesses qualify for [...]

Lawrence city commissioners express support for updates to land development code, hope to implement it this year

info2024-01-17T10:46:12-06:00January 17th, 2024|

City commissioners on Tuesday received an update on the city’s new land development code, which aims to update zoning regulations to allow for more sustainability, affordable housing and equity. Elizabeth Garvin of Clarion, a national land-use consulting firm, gave a presentation to commissioners outlining the work of city staff, planning commissioners and a steering committee for the updated code. The city began work to update the land development code in 2022 and is hoping to implement the new one this year. Currently, the project is in its third of four stages, which is drafting the new land development code. One of the [...]

Johnson County application window opens for Senior and Disabled Veteran Property Tax Relief program

info2024-01-17T10:44:34-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Johnson County residents who are 65 or older or are a disabled veteran and who meet income and other requirements may now apply for up to $200 in property tax relief. Residents can now apply to participate in the new program online by completing the application form and submitting it, along with proof of income and/or disability status. The form can be submitted in person, by email or by postal mail. Those interested in participating in the program should submit the application before the April 15 deadline. Residents must be at or below income limits and have a home with a [...]

AGCO’s Hesston facility welcoming back furloughed employees

info2024-01-17T10:43:23-06:00January 17th, 2024|

AGCO said in a news release Friday facility the critical updates to the facility in Hesston went live on Jan. 1, and the company is welcoming back furloughed employees. The news release says the upgrades required all production areas to be shut down and that employee furloughs were not demand-related. "During this time, AGCO has worked to provide impacted eligible employees with supplemental pay and retention bonuses," AGCO said in the release. The employees' return will happen in waves The first group returned to work the first week of January, an additional wave returned the following week, and the rest of the [...]

Newton Fire/EMS practicing ice rescues on frozen Spring Lake Pond

info2024-01-17T10:42:39-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Newton Fire/EMS is practicing ice rescues on Spring Lake Pond, which has frozen over. "We don't often get weather like this that we can afford as a training and the real-world experience with the ice, so we're taking advantage of it," said Newton Fire/EMS Division Chief Zane Hansen. Hansen says they cut a hole in the ice to simulate a rescue and then have a crew go out in ice suits to rescue a "victim." "They're gonna have the ice suits, and we're gonna tether them to rescuers on the shore. So they're gonna move out to the ice, trying to [...]