News – Page 568 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

City water exceeds standard for HAAs

info2024-01-22T11:25:54-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

The city of Parsons sent out a public notice recently about haloacetic acids being found in drinking water samples at levels greater than the state allows. The water was sampled on Nov. 13 and tests showed that the water exceeded the Kansas Department of Health and Environment standard for the HAA5s, a group of five haloacetic acids. The standard for any one HAA is 60 ug/L. Results for samples the city collected showed that Parsons’ water plant exceeded the standard or maximum contaminant level (MCL) for HAA. Three of the samples were 72 ug/L, 79 ug/L, and 71 ug/L, respectively, according [...]

Thousands of students in Kansas and Missouri have left public education. Here’s why

info2024-01-22T11:17:32-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

Thousands of students in Missouri and Kansas have left public school in the last four years, in line with a national trend of more families disengaging from public education. An analysis by the Associated Press, Big Local News and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee found enrollment in Missouri’s public schools dropped by 2% from the 2019-2020 school year to the 2022-2023 school year — making up nearly 18,000 students. Public school enrollment in Kansas is down about 16,000 students from its peak in 2015. Statewide enrollment numbers just released for 2023-2024 show 505,515 students in school this year, a 3% drop from the [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for January 19, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-01-22T09:22:16-06:00January 22nd, 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.

When cold coal froze, wind farms helped Evergy power Kansas through winter weather

info2024-01-21T08:05:12-06:00January 21st, 2024|

Evergy maintained "normal operating conditions for extreme weather," despite coal freezing, thanks in part to high winds powering wind farms through the recent blustery conditions. "The bottom line is we had enough power over the last week or so and in particular through the weekend when we had the coldest weather to meet demands," said Chuck Caisley, an Evergy executive, about the previous weekend. He added that with a midweek warming, "I think we are out of the biggest danger of not having adequate supplies." Source: CJonline

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic

info2024-01-19T15:29:03-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic so the public can no longer hear it, and Harvey County is doing it this week. The block on Harvey County’s law enforcement radio traffic comes after a change to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security policy. The policy now says law enforcement agencies can’t pass sensitive information unencrypted across public networks. Source: KSN

Girard Council discusses water leaks

info2024-01-19T11:36:00-06:00January 19th, 2024|

With negative temperatures and water leaks, last week proved to be a wild one for City of Girard employees. At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, the city notified residents on Facebook that a vehicular accident involving a hydrant left residents experiencing outages or low pressure, forcing city crews to work continually through the freezing temperatures along Buffalo Street on the western side of town. In an update on Thursday morning, Jan. 11, the city said its crews continued to work on multiple leaks caused by the accident. The account noted that the city engaged a third-party contractor to assist the City [...]

Rural school district celebrates 1,000 adult graduates

info2024-01-19T11:34:32-06:00January 19th, 2024|

USD 112 Central Plains recently celebrated its 1,000th adult diploma completion program graduate after just three years of offering a free, online high school program for Kansan adults. "As a small, rural school district, it has been exciting to see the impact the Central Plains Diploma Completion Program has had on the adult population in Kansas," Central Plains Superintendent Bill Lowry said. "Education has no boundaries, and we've been able to serve students from all four corners of Kansas and everywhere in between." Students who complete the program graduate with a standard high school diploma from USD 112 Central Plains. To date, 250 [...]

County renews sheriff’s office contract with Edgerton

info2024-01-19T11:32:18-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners renewed a $538,858 contract last week for Edgerton to continue receiving law enforcement services from the sheriff’s office in 2024.The issue was discussed during the board’s Thursday meeting. Brian Seidler, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office budget director, said the county has held the agreement with Edgerton since 1996 since the city does not have its own police department. According to the agreement, the sheriff’s office patrols a district that includes the Johnson County line on the west and south, West 167th Street on the north and Gardner Road/Center Street on the east. Source: Gardner News

GB seeing more growth in tourism

info2024-01-19T11:30:15-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Tourism is a big deal for Barton County, an excited Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night. She had received the most recent Tourism Economic Impact Report from Kansas Tourism, and it contained promising information and helped solidify the importance of promoting the community to lure more visitors. “We paid for this as Barton county because Great Bend accounts for 95% of the tourism in Barton County,” she said. The report was costly enough, so by doing this, it saved the CVB about $3-4,000. Hayes said they don’t buy this report every year because it [...]

City commissioners approve cemetery master plan

info2024-01-19T11:29:20-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a master plan to implement infrastructure changes at Sunset and Sunrise cemeteries. The improvements — which will cost $6 million for Sunset Cemetery and $3 million for Sunrise Cemetery — will include a new building for equipment and a joint maintenance facility the Sunset Cemetery will share with Sunset Zoo. Sunrise Cemetery will receive a new office and maintenance shop, a remodel of the existing shop, and ongoing road maintenance and expansion as needed. The Cemetery Advisory Board voted unanimously to support the final draft master plan as presented on Nov. 9. Commissioner Karren [...]