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Local govt officials share how public service has — and has not —changed

A panel of three local government officials shared Thursday with participants in the Wichita Business Journal’s Emerging Leaders program how public service has — and has not — changed over their years in the industry. What’s remained steadfast, city manager Robert Layton said, is government’s core mission of making life better for the people that it serves.
The public’s perception of government, though, has taken on a new tone the last few decades. “We have to work harder to earn the public’s trust, and when you see things in the media about the times that we stub our toes… People still hold us accountable and expect the best from us,” Layton said.
Source: Wichita Business Journal

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T19:34:10-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

School districts are increasingly turning to four-day school weeks as a way to attract and retain staff, despite objections from some parents over child-care demands

Districts facing teacher shortages are increasingly turning to four-day school weeks as a means to attract and retain staff, despite objections from some parents over child-care demands and some evidence of lower test scores. So far, the trend has been particularly pronounced in rural communities in some Midwestern and Southern states. Dozens of districts in Texas, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma have adopted four-day weeks in recent years.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Ranson Financial2022-09-16T07:08:18-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for September 14, 2022

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T08:19:03-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Audit reveals two-thirds of $48.5 million in broadband aid allocated to southern Kansas

Nearly two-thirds of $48.5 million in COVID-19 funding earmarked for expansion of broadband services to Kansas homes and businesses was invested in upgrading internet connectivity in the southern half of the state, an audit report said Wednesday. The Kansas Legislature’s auditing arm told a joint House and Senate committee the three southern regions of the state absorbed 35 of 66 grants or $30.4 million approved by Gov. Laura Kelly and legislators on the State Finance Council. The four northern regions took on the balance of the projects budgeted at $18.1 million. Overall, auditors said, the state didn’t find a suitable recipient for $1.5 million available for broadband improvements in unserved or underserved locations. State evaluators rejected 16 applications.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T01:05:33-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Johnson County expanding public trails onto former Sunflower ammo plant site

This week, Johnson County’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approved the latest step in the county’s efforts to expand Kill Creek Park trails onto the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site. Johnson County is expanding its Kill Creek trail system into the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site. Johnson County’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners at a special board meeting Monday approved an agreement paving the way for JCPRD to eventually expand the Kill Creek Streamway Park trails onto the site of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Army Plant.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T08:11:52-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Derby business community’s input sought on sales tax future

With the pending sunset of the Derby Difference sales tax in 2024, the city has started efforts to generate public feedback to shape the direction of future sales tax utilization. In line with that, the city hired Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center to direct feedback efforts and create a community survey regarding the Derby Difference sales tax. As part of that, WSU staff will be holding focus groups to shape the survey – with members of the Derby Chamber of Commerce the first to participate in one held at a luncheon on Sept. 8.
Source: Derby Informer | News

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T00:55:04-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Wind turbines going up in Marion County

Pieces of wind turbines for Sunflower Wind Farm will be seen on highways and roads in the county starting Oct. 3, planning and zoning director Sharon Omstead told county commissioners Monday. Erection of turbines is expected to begin Oct. 6. Omstead told commissioners excavation of turbine locations was 70% complete and turbine foundations were 40% complete.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T08:16:03-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

School security a top priority for districts

Keeping students safe in Jackson County’s three school districts remains a priority for the districts’ superintendents, particularly with a new school year just getting started and the effects of one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation’s history still reverberating with educators across the country. Officials in all three of the school districts — Holton, Jackson Heights and Royal Valley — worked with law enforcement agencies this past summer on how to bolster security in school buildings, with those efforts led by Joe Romans, a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office who, as Royal Valley Superintendent Aaric Davis noted, serves as a “school safety specialist” for all county schools.
Source: Holton Recorder

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T00:49:56-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

‘It’s a numbers game’: Residents asking when downtown Wichita will finally get a grocery store

“We get that question a lot and really what it comes down to in that industry is it’s a numbers game,” said Jason Gregory with Downtown Wichita. Gregory with says right now there are about 3,500 people who live in what he calls the core of downtown. But, while there is a gap there, Gregory says it could be closed pretty quickly with businesses locating downtown and the potential of another school, WSU and KU’s joint health sciences’ campus, coming in the next few years. “I think we’re on the precipice of, you know, an explosion of growth. It’s really exciting times for downtown and I think the next five years are going to be some of the most exciting that we’ve seen yet.”
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T08:17:32-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

A giant solar farm project is pitting neighbor against neighbor

Frank Gieringer rides a flatbed trailer toward rows of apple trees loaded with Galas, Crimson Crisps and other varieties, ready for the picking. His family owns this bucolic orchard and berry farm outside Edgerton, Kansas. Just beyond its borders lie 2,000 acres of land, a potential location for the state’s first utility-scale solar farm. Gieringer says he’d welcome the new neighbor. “To really look at ‘em, it’s not a heck of a lot of difference than looking at an orchard or a vineyard really. It’s just rows of panels,” Gieringer says. “They’re harvesting sun. Same thing I’m doin’. All of agriculture sells the sunshine.”
Source: The Lawrence Times

Ranson Financial2022-09-15T00:45:19-05:00September 15, 2022|News|

Local govt officials share how public service has — and has not —changed

School districts are increasingly turning to four-day school weeks as a way to attract and retain staff, despite objections from some parents over child-care demands

Municipal Bond Trends for September 14, 2022

Audit reveals two-thirds of $48.5 million in broadband aid allocated to southern Kansas

Johnson County expanding public trails onto former Sunflower ammo plant site

Derby business community’s input sought on sales tax future

Wind turbines going up in Marion County

School security a top priority for districts

‘It’s a numbers game’: Residents asking when downtown Wichita will finally get a grocery store

A giant solar farm project is pitting neighbor against neighbor

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