Sedgwick police chief becomes interim city administrator

For the next six months, Brian Daily will be both Sedgwick’s police chief and its city administrator. The city council voted Wednesday to hire Daily as interim city administrator, effective through Jan. 1, 2023. He will continue with his duties as police chief, a position he’s held since June of 2020. “It’s going to be busy, without a doubt,” he said. “But I think there’s a degree of overlap already between the positions.” He noted that over the past year, he had already been taking on more administrative responsibilities. “It’s going to be a lot to accomplish, but we have a good vision, and the truth is we have great staff at the city and excellent department heads,” Daily said. “If I give them the support they need, things are going to go very well.”
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:30:31-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Bomb threat closes Dodge City Community College campus

On Thursday, Dodge City Community College was closed due to a bomb threat. According to a press release from Dodge City Community College, at 1:04 p.m. they received a call from a person saying there was a bomb in the art room. They say the caller described the bomb, described its location in the back of the classroom and that it would go off in just over an hour. Police, Fire and EMS responded and coordinated with campus security to evacuate the area and sweep the stated location. They did not find anything. It was also learned that the same report had been made at multiple campuses across the nation. Each ending the same way, with nothing being found.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2022-07-07T22:30:12-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Prairiefire sets date to pay outstanding Overland Park bond interest

An Overland Park mixed-use heading into its development home stretch later this month will settle up on bond interest it has owed, in part, for more than two years. UMB Bank has scheduled July 22 as the date to pay $286,465 in bond interest, on which Prairiefire previously had defaulted, with a special record date set for Monday, according to a June 30 event notice. The bank is trustee for $14 million in community improvement district (CID) revenue bonds issued by Overland Park in 2012 to help finance Prairiefire through sale tax revenues generated at the development. Prairiefire is located between Lamar and Nall avenues, south of 135th Street.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:31:20-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Roeland Park moves toward offering curbside glass recycling program

The Roeland Park City Council took further steps Tuesday night toward offering curbside glass recycling to residents. The council authorized city staff by a 6-1 vote to create a draft agreement with Ripple Glass of Kansas City, Missouri, to provide glass recycling for an estimated $94,500 a year. …In a Roeland Park citizen survey last year to rate support for a curbside glass recycling program that would cost $3.50 a month per household (regardless of participation), 34% said they were very supportive of such a program and 34% said they were not supportive. The city approved a six-month pilot program in August 2021 for Ripple Glass to provide biweekly curbside glass recycling services and paid the company $9,000 for the program.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:32:54-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Prairie Village’s $10K radio donation makes it to Ukrainian sister city

Prairie Village’s donation of $10,000 worth of radios to its Ukrainian sister city, Dolyna, have been received and are being put into action. Prairie Village developed a sister city relationship with Dolyna, Ukraine, in the early 2000s. Though the two cities hadn’t been in touch often in recent years, when the news about the Russian invasion broke, Prairie Village city staff worked to rekindle the relationships. Dolyna is located in the western part of the country in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, or district. The western Ukrainian city is acting as a hub for the collection of humanitarian aid.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:35:35-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

85 Airports Awarded Nearly $1B for Terminal Improvements

The Federal Aviation Administration awarded nearly $1 billion to airports across the country for projects that will improve terminal capacity, efficiency and accessibility, according to a release from the administration. The money, which was made available in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will be distributed among 85 airports, the FAA said. This is the first round of grants; under the law, the FAA will annually administer $1 billion in airport terminal grants for five years. “Americans deserve modern airports that meet the needs of their families and growing passenger demand,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the release. The “grants will improve airport terminals while also creating good jobs in communities across the country.”
Source: Route Fifty – All Content

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:35:44-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Randy Smith officially hired to lead Cowley College

The Cowley College Board of Trustees hired Randy Smith to become the next president of the college starting Monday. The board held a short meeting Wednesday to approve a contract with Smith. The meeting followed a farewell reception in the Wright Room for current president Dennis Rittle, who will become president at Northwest Arkansas Community College next week.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2022-07-08T07:34:11-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Summer Virtual Education Series, Free to All City Clerks in Kansas (sponsored by CCMFOA)

First Session: July 13 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Expert Stacy Jaramillo with the Kansas Department of Administration, will share budget best practices, Revenue Neutral Rates and general reminders for budget submission. We’ll also have a County Clerk on the line to help with any additional questions.

Save the date for additional sessions:

August 25 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
September 22 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
October 20 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Series sponsored by City Clerks and Municipal Finance Officers of Kansas. All CCMFOA members will be eligible to submit for CMC/MMC points with an assessment for education.

Register Now

Ranson Financial2022-07-07T13:55:03-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Muni rates fall as focus turns to potential recession

Municipals rallied Wednesday, ignoring a selloff in U.S. Treasuries, after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes reiterated the Fed’s position it would raise rates 50 to 75 basis points at its July meeting to stave off inflation. Equities ended slightly up. Municipals were in their own lane Wednesday and triple-A yields fell four to 10 basis points, depending on the scale, while the two-, three-, five- and seven-year USTs rose above the 10-year, with some in the market seeing the FOMC minutes as dated now that the focus has turned the focus to a potential recession away from inflation concerns. The Fed “wants slower economic growth to curb inflation using interest rates as a brake on the overheated job market,” said Carl Ludwigson, managing director at Bel Air Investment Advisors. The good news, he said, is “the bond market may have already priced in much of the Fed’s action plan. The threat to asset prices is broad based inflation pushing central banks to tighten monetary policy even more rapidly than expected.” If the Fed’s policy response “proves too aggressive, then Treasuries and high-quality municipal bonds will again be the place to hide as tighter financial conditions lead to demand destruction,” he said.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2022-07-07T07:12:25-05:00July 7, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for July 6, 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 Financial2022-07-07T06:56:56-05:00July 7, 2022|News|