News – Page 585 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Kansas court officials confirm details of international cyberattack

info2023-11-29T12:41:55-06:00November 29th, 2023|

Foreign cybercriminals launched the attack on the Kansas judicial branch’s information system in October and stole records of appellate cases and judicial administration files potentially regarded as confidential under state law, officials said in a Nov. 21 announcement. Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court issued a joint statement confirming perpetrators “stole data and threatened to post it to a dark website if their demands were not met.” The release didn’t say whether the judicial branch complied with demands of the attackers, nor did it disclose whether evidence existed Kansas court information was forwarded to secretive illicit portions of the web. “This [...]

Governor Kelly Announces Over $12M Awarded to Fall 2023 KDOT Cost Share Projects

info2023-11-30T10:03:15-06:00November 29th, 2023|

Governor Laura Kelly and Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed announced that more than $12 million state dollars will be awarded to 16 transportation construction projects across Kansas through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Cost Share Program for fall 2023. This investment will leverage $7.2 million in community matching dollars for a total investment of over $19 million. Fall 2023 Cost Share recipients are: City of Abilene – 14th Street and North Van Buren Street intersection City of Baldwin City – U.S. 56– Pedestrian Crossing Safety improvements City of Deerfield – Main Street reconstruction project City of Halstead – North Street reconstruction and sidewalk improvements City of Harper – [...]

Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr announces retirement

info2023-11-29T12:32:22-06:00November 29th, 2023|

Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr has announced his retirement after more than two decades in the position. Fehr spent seven weeks in Houston, Texas earlier this fall undergoing treatment for cancer, something that factored into his decision. He says the cancer was caught early and so far the prognosis is good and he hopes to keep it that way. Hired in January 1982 as the Forestry and Parks Supervisor, for the newly formed Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department, Fehr has spent his entire professional career with the City and was appointed City Manager in April 2000, succeeding Gary Greer. Other roles he’s [...]

WPD bus program has helped nearly 1,000 stranded homeless get off streets

info2023-11-29T12:30:10-06:00November 29th, 2023|

"You kind of just have to grit your teeth and push through whatever you have to push through to get yourself out of that situation. Because if you don't, you increase your chances of just, I'll put it bluntly, death. It kills out there," Joey Walters said. Walters says after the foster system failed him in Nebraska, he moved to Wichita to stay with family, but his life quickly fell apart. "Made some mistakes along the way. Done some stuff that I regret a lot. I put me in a situation where they couldn't really house me anymore. So I ended [...]

Wichita has an affordable housing gap. Could microMansions help fill it?

info2023-11-29T12:23:47-06:00November 29th, 2023|

Mary Lull, 22, is starting to look at buying her first house. But she says her and her fiancee’s budget limits them to older homes in need of a lot of work. “Anything that we could afford right now, we would have to fix up quite a bit, which would be a lot of extra costs,” she said. Lull is also the design coordinator for a company called microMansions, which sells ready-made tiny homes. The three-person business operates a warehouse in Columbus, a southeast Kansas town, that packages the homes into kits for individuals or developers to assemble. One of the [...]

Bringing Amtrak back to Wichita – KDOT wants input

info2023-11-29T12:16:13-06:00November 29th, 2023|

It has been more than four decades since Amtrak had service in Wichita, and the push to bring it back continues. The Kansas Department of Transportation is analyzing what expanding the service would mean for south-central Kansas. It wants to hear from Kansans, Oklahomans, and Texans. KDOT, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and the Texas Department of Transportation are interested in extending the Heartland Flyer daily passenger rail service from Oklahoma City to Newton, where it would connect with the Southwest Chief national route. The Heartland Flyer currently provides service between Ft. Worth and Oklahoma City. The Southwest Chief offers daily roundtrip [...]

1920s era mural adds to Hiawatha building

info2023-11-30T10:04:25-06:00November 29th, 2023|

The Hiawatha World mural made a drastic step toward completion this fall – however, the artists and owner of this historic downtown building say there is more to come. This past summer, a group of mural artists who have been making a colorful splash around the community connected with Richard and Pam Tesoriero, owners of the Hiawatha World. Last fall, these five artists completed a Welcome to Hiawatha mural on the south side of the old Maple Lanes Bowling alley (now owned by Andy and Wendy Pederson) on South First Street. They added another in downtown Hiawatha on the east side [...]

Prairie Village formulates plan to reach zero carbon pledge by 2050

info2023-11-29T12:03:11-06:00November 29th, 2023|

Prairie Village recently took a first step towards achieving its commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Prairie Village City Council last month approved a municipal operation climate action plan, the first citywide plan aimed at helping Prairie Village achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions — per its Cities Race to Zero commitment first approved in 2021. The commitment calls for the city to reach net zero emissions in its municipal operations — including emissions from public buildings and city vehicles — by the 2040s or sooner. The city worked with Indiana-based sustainability consultant Keramida to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions [...]

Walkability Enhancement: Pittsburg’s plan for school route sidewalk

info2023-11-29T11:57:00-06:00November 29th, 2023|

The City of Pittsburg is looking to install a sidewalk near Meadowlark Elementary School. Pittsburg city staff applied for a "Safe Routes to School Grant" to install a sidewalk on the south side of East 20th Street from Meadowlark Elementary School to Rouse Street. The city's Active Transportation Advisory Group identified the need for a sidewalk through parents and students. The Kansas Department of Transportation has a Safe Routes to School program to help support connectivity to schools and walkability. "This sidewalk helps identify a need for a safe route if you will for walkability from Meadowlark Elementary to our one of the city's fire [...]

Shawnee Airbnb owners push back against banning rentals

info2023-11-30T10:05:07-06:00November 29th, 2023|

After months of discussion, the Shawnee City Council remains in a holding pattern on whether to regulate short-term rental properties or ban them outright. At a Shawnee City Council committee meeting on Monday, councilmembers asked city staff to explore the idea of issuing special use permits for short-term rentals, like Airbnb and VRBOs. Since the meeting was only meant to gather feedback from the community, no vote or motion was taken by the council. While previous committee meetings about short-term rentals have mostly centered on feedback from neighbors who say they have been negatively affected by Airbnbs in Shawnee, Monday’s meeting drew more short-term rental [...]