(316) 264-3400|info@ransonfinancial.com
FacebookXLinkedIn

Municipal News & Jobs

Municipal News & Jobs2026-08-07T10:07:18-05:00

Kansas Municipal News

Ellinwood awarded construction funds for new hospital

Ellinwood’s work to secure funding for a replacement hospital through the USDA has proven to be worth the hard work and efforts. The Ellinwood Hospital District Board of Trustees has been notified that the $25 million in requested funding has officially been obligated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Construction of a new hospital and clinic and is expected to begin late this year or early in 2023, CEO Kile Magner stated in a news release. “This has been quite a process to say the least, and we are thrilled that all of the team’s hard work has paid off,” Magner said.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

KDOT shortages could hinder efforts this winter

The Kansas Department of Transportation is committed to keeping the highways cleared when inclement weather impacts the state, but staffing shortages continue to affect the agency with not enough snowplow operators in many areas. These ongoing shortages could affect KDOT’s ability to clear snow and ice from highways in a timely manner, said Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz. “We want motorists to know ahead of time – it’s not a matter of if the highways will be cleared this winter, but when,” Lorenz said. “KDOT crews will be proactive by shifting crews and pretreating surfaces whenever possible but having fewer employees could cause delays in removing snow and ice from all the affected roadways.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Schwan’s to build new distribution center in Salina, bring more jobs

Schwan’s Company announced Thursday it plans to build a 140,000-square-foot refrigerated distribution center at its pizza-manufacturing facility in Salina. Company leaders joined government and civic officials in Salina to share details of the new project and thank the Salina and greater Kansas community. The distribution center is a new project in addition to the 400,000-square-foot expansion currently underway, the company said. The project, which is expected to begin in 2023 and be completed in early 2025, will expand the total distribution center space to 245,000 square feet.  The new distribution center space will be used to store food produced by employees at the company’s pizza plant.
Source: KAKE – News

Wichita Superintendent Alicia Thompson plans to retire at end of school year

Alicia Thompson, the first woman and first Black superintendent of Wichita Public Schools, will retire at the end of the school year, district officials said on Thursday. Thompson, 53, has held the top position for the state’s largest school district since 2017. She has worked for USD 259 for 31 years, starting as a kindergarten teacher at Ingalls Elementary School. In a letter sent to parents on Thursday afternoon, Thompson said she will be eligible to retire through KPERS — short for Kansas Public Employees Retirement System — at the end of the school year.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Parsons voters to decide fate of public safety sales tax increase

Next week Parsons voters will decide the fate of a public safety sales tax. Parsons voters will be asked to increase the current half-cent sales tax to a one-penny sales tax that would go into effect on January 1st, 2024. This will provide money for both the Parsons Police Department and the Fire Department for things like ensuring competitive wages to retain staff, modernizing and replacing old equipment, as well as house fire and police together in a new modern facility. “The sales tax, again it is critical for police and fire this year that an increase will help us to you know stabilize our wages for police and fire over the past 25 years. Both the police and fire department have really been a training ground for other agencies, larger agencies. They can pay much more competitive wages,” said Robert Spinks, Chief of Parsons PD.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Parsons Police to participate in No Shave November, preparing for Shop with a Cop event

In past years, No Shave November was observed by members of the Parsons Police Department. With the COVID-19 pandemic and mask mandates for officers, that tradition was halted. This year, officers can choose to participate in this tradition. Officers and staff members allowed to participate in this year’s No Shave November event will contribute to the department’s Shop with a Cop program, which helps support underprivileged children in the community. Working in conjunction with the Duke Mason Band and other community members and organizations, the department, with the help of Labette County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Parsons Fire Department and Labette County EMS, 25 children got to shop with first responders last year.
Source: Parsons Sun

John Brown’s Underground is proposing a change to Lawrence city codes on downtown liquor sales. The bar’s survival depends on it

John Brown’s Underground, a speakeasy-inspired craft cocktail lounge in downtown Lawrence, has made a creative addition to the local bar scene since it opened in 2014. But a city code that was designed to limit liquor sales downtown is now threatening the business’s future. This rule requires establishments with liquor licenses to derive no more than 45% of their sales from liquor. Passed in 1994, the rule allowed exemptions for 29 existing locations, including Louise’s and Harbour Lights. The code still exempts new bars that open in the same buildings as any of those original 29.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Kansas might let homes take more toddlers amid child care shortage. Critics worry about safety

Corinne Carr has about a half dozen seven parents the waiting list to enroll their children in her home day care business. Changes pending with state regulators would let her take in more children, but she’s not headed in that direction. “I don’t feel that it’s safe for the children,” she said. Currently, a child care operation with two workers can take in four children younger than 18 months. Now the state is looking at loosening the rules so that family child care providers with just one worker could look after up to four toddlers, or children under 12 months old, at once and still enroll two children between the ages of 1 and 5 years old.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Planners begin to outline Chanute’s 150th celebration

Planners for Chanute’s 150th anniversary celebration will meet next Thursday to begin their work. Chanute Area Chamber of Commerce & Office of Tourism Director Jane Brophy told members of the Tourism Committee at Wednesday’s meeting that the 150th anniversary committee will meet at 5:15 pm Thursday, Nov. 10, at the office of Main Street Chanute, which is partnering with the Chamber to take the lead on the anniversary celebration. Brophy shared the results of a survey of proposed events, which the committee will review, she said. It will also set a year-long timeline for events, and plans to be on the city commission agenda Nov. 14 to present preliminary ideas.
Source: www.chanute.com

Reno County puts liquor by drink without food sales on 2023 ballot

The next round is on the voters. The Reno County Commission on Tuesday agreed to put a question on the ballot this time next year asking voters whether to allow businesses to serve alcohol by the drink without a minimum food sales requirement. The issue was raised in September when Hutchinson microbrewery owner Pippin Williamson ran into trouble with state regulators who threatened not to renew his license because he’d not met the state requirement that 30% of gross sales come from food. The community rallied around Williamson and Sandhills Brewery during a week of nightly events, and he raised more than $35,000 from food sales to meet the minimum.
Source: Hutch News

Garden City discusses childcare crisis

The local childcare shortage was discussed at the Garden City Commission’s regular meeting Tuesday. Community member Brock Kendrick voiced his concern on the shortage of daycare within Garden City, especially among the temporary closure of the Community Day Care Center this week. While temporarily closed, Kendrick said the center is battling through “its last title wave before it’s set to sink”. The Community Day Care Centers Board held an emergency meeting on Oct. 28, choosing to close for a week with the possibility of closing within three to five months if no help is given. The day care has been struggling in multiple areas for some time now, Kendrick said. On the financial side, it’s been operating in the red for an extended period of time, on remaining open until recently because they were using the government provided Paycheck Protection Program funds which were originally supposed to be a loan COVID-19 relief but was later chosen to be forgiven.
Source: Garden City Telegram

Fed rate hikes could go even further than expected as Powell commits to stomp out inflation

Going into this week’s meeting, markets were hoping for a sign that the Fed, after a fourth straight 0.75-percentage-point rate increase, might soon pivot to a slower tightening pace, and perhaps an outright pause. The Fed statement released at 2 p.m. Wednesday suggested it would: “In determining the pace of future increases…the [Fed] will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy [and] the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation.” The resulting jump in stock prices and the fall in bond yields was short lived. Soon after Mr. Powell started his press conference at 2:30 p.m., he explained that even if rate increases slow, “we may ultimately move to higher levels than we thought at the September meeting.”
Source: WSJ

Fed approves 0.75-point hike to take rates to highest since 2008 and hints at change in policy ahead

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved a fourth consecutive three-quarter point interest rate increase and signaled a potential change in how it will approach monetary policy to bring down inflation. In a well-telegraphed move that markets had been expecting for weeks, the central bank raised its short-term borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage point to a target range of 3.75%-4%, the highest level since January 2008. The move continued the most aggressive pace of monetary policy tightening since the early 1980s, the last time inflation ran this high.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Washington County to receive almost $1.6 million from wind farm over next decade

Towers will be at least 1,500 feet from non-participating occupied primary residential dwellings and 1.2 times the tower height away from non-participating property lines from the center of the base of the tower. Towers will be setback at least 1.1 times the tower height plus 30 feet from any county, township, state or federal right-of way currently in existence, excluding private roads. No turbines will be installed within a mile of a town. Four agreements with High Banks Wind, LLC, were unanimously signed by the Washington County Commission on Monday for the High Banks Wind Project, including a development agreement, road use agreement, contribution agreement and decommissioning agreement.
Source: Backroads News

Panasonic breaks ground on massive De Soto battery plant predicted to transform KC region

Panasonic officially started construction of a new electric vehicle battery plant in De Soto, Kansas, on Wednesday. It’s the largest economic development project in the history of Kansas. The Japanese company said it will begin mass producing batteries in De Soto for the booming electric vehicle market by March 2025. Panasonic said building cylindrical “2170” lithium-ion batteries in De Soto will spur innovation and provide critical production capacity to fuel economic growth and other opportunities for the entire region.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

City of Emporia set to rollout new mass notification system Monday

The city of Emporia is set to expand communication with local residents with the rollout of a new mass notification system. According to City Communications Manager Christine Johnson during the Emporia City Commission’s regular action/study meeting Wednesday, beginning next week the city will be utilizing the CodeRed mass notification system for non-life threatening emergency situations and general notifications. This includes water line breaks, street closures and the like. Johnson says increased communication with local residents has been a major goal for the city in recent months and this is a great tool to help reach that goal.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

Osawatomie celebrates trail grant

Representatives of federal, state and local government agencies joined members of the community on Saturday, Oct. 29, to celebrate a $24.8 million federal grant recently awarded to improve and expand the Flint Hills Trail State Park, which begins at the Mile Zero trailhead in Osawatomie. The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant will help make infrastructure improvements on 40.5 miles of the trail and open 27 new miles of the trail, from Council Grove to Herington, according to a news release.
Source: republic-online.com

Grant will increase high-speed internet in 2 counties

Blue Valley Technologies has received another major grant to boost high-speed internet in Marshall and Washington counties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural development office will provide $3,066,752 for faster web access by deploying fiber inside the city limits of Frankfort, Waterville, Hanover and Washington. About 3,000 people along with 255 business and 14 educational facilities will benefit from this area’s project, according to BVT and USDA news releases. “High-speed internet is essential for success in education, health care and business in the 21st century,” said Christy Davis, Kansas director for USDA rural development.
Source: The Marysville Advocate

Pottawatomie County approve raises for employees

Pottawatomie County commissioners approved a second cost of living adjustment for its employees Monday. The move will give county employees an overall 10 percent boost in their COLAs after the commission OK’d a 3.5 percent increase in July. The county deferred any additional increases to see if inflation concerns would diminish. County Administrator Chad Kinsley noted department heads began tightening their belts to ensure they could take on the adjustment for the remainder of the year. The commission already had approved a 6.5 percent COLA for the 2023 budget, amounting to roughly $1 million.
Source: 1350 KMAN

Sedgwick celebrates Halloween with downtown activities

Sedgwick held its third-annual Trunk or Treat on Halloween evening, closing down Commercial Street so trick-or-treaters could safely walk the streets and collect candy from residents and businesses alike. Activities included decorated trunks, candy distribution, a haunted tunnel, and free hot dogs.
Source: Harvey County Now

Wichita plans to replace two tennis courts with six pickleball courts at east-side park

Picklers just scored a key victory in the ongoing turf war between Wichita’s pickleball and tennis communities over the use of city parks facilities. The Wichita City Council on Tuesday approved the conversion of two tennis courts at Edgemoor Park into six more pickleball courts. Parks and Recreation Director Troy Houtman said the problem with the six existing pickleball courts at Edgemoor is there are no court lights, limiting their use in the evenings.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Wichita and Coffey County are competing for Kansas megaproject incentives, sources say

Wichita appears to be competing with Coffey County for a massive state subsidy package aimed at helping Kansas land billion-dollar “megaprojects” — the same incentives program used in July to lure Panasonic to the Kansas City area. It’s a competition because APEX incentives can go to only one more project before the program expires at the end of 2023. To qualify, companies must agree to spend $1 billion or more to expand operations or relocate their headquarters anywhere in Kansas.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Governor Laura Kelly Announces $1M For Central Kansas Affordable Housing Development

Governor Laura Kelly today announced $1 million will be going to the City of Russell to increase affordable and moderate-income housing options in central Kansas. Russell is using the funds, allocated through the bipartisan House Bill 2510 Governor Kelly signed this past May, to redevelop the former Holland Hotel into loft-style apartments. “Across Kansas, we are expanding housing in innovative ways so every Kansas family can afford to put a roof over their head – and so we can attract and retain the workers needed to continue our record-breaking economic success,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I applaud the City of Russell for finding a solution that preserves their history and benefits future generations.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

Worthwhile book digs into Cowley’s 100 year history

Who knew that Cowley College started out in 1922 and was referred by first-time students as “BU” or Basement University, due to the first classes being held in the lower level of the Arkansas City Senior High Building? Or that Renn Memorial Library is named after Oscar Renn, who was the head of the new Social Sciences Department in the fall of 1923? Between the Roaring Twenties is a new book authored and compiled by the Cowley College Centennial Book Committee, and it is a truly fascinating trip through a century of life in Ark City.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Firefighters continue to watch burned area at Park City recycling facility

Sedgwick County firefighters are still on the scene of a fire that burned a ten-acre area at a Park City recycling facility. The fire broke out Sunday evening and burned wood pallets and mulch at Evergreen Pallet Recycling near 53rd Street North and Broadway.  It continued to burn through the day Monday before it was contained, and crews have remained on the scene to keep water on the burn piles and watch for any hot spots. Sedgwick County Fire District 1 Chief Doug Williams said the cause of the fire has not been determined.   He said investigators are looking at surveillance video and call logs to see what may have been disposed of before the fire.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Amendment on electing, removing sheriffs stirs debate

A constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot would take away local attorneys’ abilities to investigate sheriffs. Some citizens and lawyers are worried that Kansas voters don’t know the full implications of rewriting the constitution to remove the ability of local district attorneys to start legal proceedings against local sheriffs if they believe there’s been misconduct. The amendment would require counties that elected sheriffs in January 2022 continue to elect sheriffs — meaning a sheriff’s position could never become appointed. The exception would be Riley County, which abolished the sheriff’s office after consolidating city and county agencies in 1974.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Panasonic’s location for EV battery plant in De Soto gets a new name

As Panasonic Energy Co. Ltd.’s groundbreaking nears for its new $4 billion battery manufacturing operation at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, the owners of the De Soto property have renamed the location. The 9,035-acre property now is called Astra Enterprise Park, according to Kessinger Hunter & Co., a managing member for Sunflower, alongside RESIGHT Holdings LLC of Littleton, Colorado, and Midland Properties Inc. of Mission Woods.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Here’s why the Fed’s next big rate hike may be its last

The Federal Reserve is on track to issue another massive rate hike Wednesday before slowing down the pace of its battle to fight inflation. Analysts and economists are confident the Fed will hike its baseline interest rate range by another 0.75 percentage points at the end of a Wednesday meeting. The Fed’s move will mark the fourth consecutive rate hike of a size it once considered “unusually large.” It may also mark a turning point as the Fed faces growing pressure to take its foot off the brakes of the economy.
Source: KSN-TV

Zaleski talks Parsons transient guest tax

The city’s tourism tax is rebounding after a downturn because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re getting there, but not quite,” said Parsons Economic Development Director Jim Zaleski. Officials budget the city’s transient guest tax at approximately $145,000 annually for funding income. “We expected that to increase in 2020 with the new hotel,” Zaleski said. “COVID hit.” “To be honest, we’re a lot stronger than what we thought we might be, so that’s good news,” Zaleski added. In February 2020, the Holiday Inn Express, 1500 Cattle Drive, opened, but travel across the state and country was shut down in March due to the pandemic. Since then, travel has increased and begun to gradually return to normal.
Source: Parsons Sun

New redistricting plan approved by Topeka City Council

A lot took place at Tuesday night’s Topeka City Council meeting, but a big part of the agenda came from the vote to change district lines. Only seven of the eight council members were present at Tuesday’s meeting, but with seven yes votes, district lines will be changed to better even out the population of all nine districts in the capitol city. The previous census showed a decline in population coming from districts one and two while districts eight and nine saw an increase. Before going into Tuesday’s meeting, members considered five different map proposals. The council ultimately approved Plan A: this will unite Oakland with district 2, thus making all the districts more evenly populated and even help with future voting.
Source: KSNT 27 News

City of Topeka opens new rental assistance program

A new program launched by the City of Topeka aims to create a more collaborative community approach to ensuring equity and access to housing and shelter. Equity Access Shelter (EAS) will enhance homeless services to ensure all people receive rent assistance with a single point of access. EAS is located within Topeka’s Housing Services Division. “No longer does a person needing rent assistance have to call multiple agencies to try to get help,” said Carrie Higgins, senior program administrator for the City of Topeka. “One phone number means individuals are able to access help quickly, and without further trauma. EAS uses an assessment to score each individual’s level of need, as well as coordinated entry to assist those individuals based on prioritization.”
Source: KSNT 27 News

Analysts looking past the week’s FOMC meeting

With a 75 basis point rate hike expected, analysts will focus on clues about the Federal Open Market Committee’s thought about slowing future increases. “We expect the Federal Reserve to raise the fed funds rate by another 75 basis points at the November meeting, followed by a 50 basis points hike in December,” noted Scott Colbert, director of fixed income and chief economist at Commerce Trust. “… We don’t anticipate a rapid decline in interest rates going forward.” Inflation hasn’t cooled “enough to warrant easing interest rate hikes just yet,” said Steve Skancke, chief economic advisor at Keel Point, “but also not bad enough to support a full 1% rate hike in November.” Additionally, the September minutes showed official are more worried about “taking too little action to bring down inflation compared to the cost of being too aggressive,” he said. While a pivot won’t be suggested, Skancke said, Fed Chair Jerome Powell could suggest “smaller rates hikes lie ahead: 50 bp in December and 25 bp in January, as signs of abating inflation become more evident.”
Source: The Bond Buyer

A fire that erupted Sunday evening north of Wichita continues to burn

Firefighters still were working to contain a large fire at the Evergreen Pallet Recycling Center in Park City on Monday afternoon. The fire was reported around 6:48 p.m. on Sunday at the center, 300 W. 53rd Street N. in Park City. The intensity of the fire closed a portion of 53rd street between Arkansas and Broadway that has since been reopened. People are being asked to drive safely through the area as the fire is still burning, the Park City Police Department said. The fire is “consuming multiple piles of pallets and mulch, covering approximately 10 acres of the grounds,” Sedgwick County Fire District 1 said in a Facebook post.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Two Overland Park police officers help out trick-or-treaters on Halloween

Overland Park police officers Amanda Burns and Shelbe Piggie were riding around town to find the perfect trick-or-treaters. The officers wanted to use their down time to connect with the community. It was also a way to make sure kids were being safe. “Whenever we’re not on calls, we are encouraged to go into the neighborhoods, not only for the safety of the kids, but to be around making sure they’re using their crosswalks,” Officer Burns said. “We like for them to cross at street corners, but also looking for drivers speeding through neighborhood and not stopping for the kids.”  Neighbors said they enjoyed seeing the officers  “It’s really awesome,” resident Breanne Lindeman said.  “I would’ve loved seeing it when I was younger. I would’ve thought it was the coolest thing, so I’m so happy the kids now can see this.”
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

Traders Expect Higher Interest Rates to Stay

Wagers on rates remaining higher for longer have crept upward most of the year and are now nearing their highest levels since 2013. Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next decision on Wednesday, derivatives markets show the federal-funds rate sitting at around 3.5% for the long run. That is a full percentage point higher than the central bank’s own latest forecast. Those wagers have crept higher throughout most of the year, and are now nearing levels not seen since the 2013 bond-market rout known as the “Taper Tantrum.”
Source: WSJ.com: Markets

Gage Park mini-train to stay in Topeka

The Gage Park mini-train is officially retired, giving it’s last ride over the weekend, but that does not mean it is going anywhere anytime soon. Although the train will most likely never be giving anyone rides ever again, Shawnee County Parks and Rec is already making plans to preserve the locomotive. The train will be replaced with an electric counterpart, but the old steam engine will remain in Gage Park on display. There is currently no official placement, but the Director of Parks and Rec says it will be staying home.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Shawnee Mission launches pay incentives for some staff in effort to fill vacancies

Shawnee Mission has launched a pilot pay incentive program aimed at attracting and retaining paraeducators and custodians at a time when the district is struggling to fill those positions. Shawnee Mission’s Board of Education last week unanimously approved spending more than half a million dollars on the program, which is aimed at addressing staffing shortages for classified, or non-teacher, staff.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Panasonic to break ground on new Kansas battery plant in November

Panasonic Energy will begin construction on a new EV batter plant in De Soto, Kansas, in November. The new facility will produce batteries that will be used in electric vehicles. “As the global shift to EVs accelerates, we are looking into ways to strengthen our battery production capacity in North America and meet the growing demand from our automotive partners,” Kazuo Tadanobu, President, CEO of Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., said. The company says the batteries are in high demand, and the De Soto site will help expand production capabilities with goals of mass producing EV batteries in 2025.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

Doggone project soon gone: Pet owners in Overland Park will receive permanent tags

If you own a pet, you know the drill. You properly license the dog or cat before receiving a tag that’s good for one year. That’s the easy part. Then comes the epic struggle to replace the old tag with the new one on the animal’s collar. It may take pliers or fingernails of steel, if you can get the dang things to move at all. But with a new licensing procedure that will take effect in January, Overland Park hopes fewer people will be growling in frustration. And the city will save some money, too. Pet owners will now receive a permanent tag, instead of one that must be replaced each year. The licenses still must be renewed annually, but the original tag remains valid as long as the license is renewed.
Source: KC Star Local News

Johnson County residents concerned about rise in coyote attacks on dogs

Residents in Johnson County are worried about coyotes attacking their pets. Some emergency vet clinics say they’ve seen a spike in small dog attacks and most are blaming coyotes. For dog owners like Maggie Uhruh, coyotes are a big concern. “I have a dog that is seven and a half pounds, and we don’t have a fence,” Uhruh said. “I always worry when I let her out that a coyote is just going to snatch her up.” She says she’s been seeing more coyotes around her neighborhood lately.
Source: KMBC.com

Annual Emporia Main Street trick-or-treat draws crowd downtown

Emporia Main Street’s annual downtown trick-or-treat event was held Saturday morning, following the Dia de los Muertos parade. Children of all ages could be seen walking along Commercial Street sidewalks picking up candy from area businesses and booths. A photo contest is still ongoing, and winners will receive Emporia Main Street gift certificates. Categories include babies ages 0 – 2, kids ages 3 and up and families.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top