Topeka USD 501 network under attack

It was a normal spring school day in Topeka USD 501 when district technicians noticed something suspicious in their network activity. The districtwide computer network that allows the district’s students and teachers access to the internet was seeing a huge spike in traffic. Normally, Topeka USD 501’s bandwidth can easily handle the average network load of students turning in online assignments and teachers checking email, with the district rarely using up more than 30% of its bandwidth, said Scott Gowan, chief information officer for the district. But there was no mistaking the signature of the spike in activity, and after the surge brought down the district’s internet access for about five minutes, the technicians were sure of one thing. The district was under a DDoS attack.
Source: CJonline

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:13:19-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Hutchinson-area homes for sale rise in price to $99,900

A typical Reno County home listed for $99,900 in March, up 5.3% from a month earlier, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. The median list home price in March was down about 7.7% from March 2021. Reno County’s median home was 1,464 square feet for a listed price of $81 per square foot. The Reno County market was busy, with a median 36 days on market. The market added 64 new home listings in March, compared with the 64 added in March 2021. The market ended the month with some 49 listings of homes for sale.
Source: Hutch News

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:11:59-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for May 9, 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 Financial2022-05-10T07:08:34-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Most top Kansas schools are in Johnson County, but KCK high school ranks No. 1: Report

Seven of the top 10 high schools in Kansas are in Johnson County, according to a new national ranking, but once again, the No. 1 school in the state is in Kansas City, Kansas. Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, was named the top school in the Kansas rankings, compiled by U.S. News & World Report. Nationwide, Sumner placed 32nd, making it the highest ranking public high school in Kansas or Missouri. Sumner has regularly landed at No. 1 in Kansas in recent years, including in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:20:51-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Atchison Intern Earns Scholarship for Public Administration Program

Current City of Atchison intern and Benedictine College senior Olivia Ortiz was awarded the Virgil Basgall Scholarship for next year as she is preparing to attend the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration. Ortiz has been a management intern with the city since Spring of 2021. Ortiz is planning to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration, with an emphasis on city/county management. “This is a well-deserved honor for a fantastic intern who will no doubt make a great city manager one day,” Atchison City Manager Amy Finch said. Ortiz has taken on such tasks as running the city’s Citizen’s Academy, supporting and filling in for the city clerk, researching policy issues, and teaching staff newer technology.
Source: Atchison Globe Now

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:03:39-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Tourism on the Rise in Fort Scott

Tourism is the act of spending time away from home in pursuit of recreation, relaxation, and pleasure, while using commercial services, according to Britannica Dictionary. Local tourism is looking healthy as evidenced by the transient guest tax from 2015 through 2022, which just completed its first quarter, Jackson Tough, Fort Scott’s Public Relations and Tourism Director said. “Transient guest tax is probably the most common form of raising funds to promote tourism in a given community,” Tough said. “It’s simply a tax on hotel/motel rooms that visitors pay when they stay in Fort Scott.”
Source: Fort Scott Biz

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:04:00-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Residents push back on Shawnee’s controversial ‘co-living’ restrictions

Shawnee resident Val French said she first learned about the city’s controversial co-living restrictions by scrolling through Twitter. She said she was upset. She didn’t get a direct notice from the city or her councilmember and was concerned her housing would soon be in jeopardy. French currently lives with her blended family of five, including herself, her husband, her son, her stepson and her son’s girlfriend, who are all over 18. The recently passed ordinance states that “co-living” is defined as four or more “unrelated” people living together. It also states that if one person in a group is unrelated to another adult, the entire group will be considered unrelated.
Source: KC Star Local News

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:04:49-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Concerns expressed for firefighters in Sedgwick County budget hearing

Employee retention and competitive wages were some of the common themes at Monday’s Sedgwick County budget hearings. Commissioners will determine next year’s budget for all county departments. Emergency Communications, EMS, Fire District 1, Regional Forensic Science Center, Emergency Management, Corrections and MABCD gave budget presentations Monday afternoon. The head of RFSC testified that it’s struggling to meet accreditation requirements and said 50% of its staff leave every two years. RFSC also reported that deaths in Sedgwick County are increasing, pointing to a rise in drug overdoses, specifically Fentanyl overdoses.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:09:29-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Inman passes $5M sports complex bond

On Monday, Inman Schools revealed that the $5 million bond that would help the town of Inman improve its sports complex passed by a vote of 387 to 381. On May 3, voters in Inman were presented with the following question: “Shall Unified School District No. 448, McPherson County, Kansas (Inman), issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $5,000,000 …” That night, the bond initially failed by two votes, but 16 votes were still being “investigated.”
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T07:06:48-05:00May 10, 2022|News|

Study: Remote learning a ‘primary driver’ of widening achievement gaps

A new working paper analyzed testing data from 2.1 million students in 49 states plus D.C. and found that “remote instruction was a primary driver of widening achievement gaps.” The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research, and NWEA, a nonprofit research and educational services provider, collaborated to write “The Consequences of Remote and Hybrid Instruction During the Pandemic.” The paper follows mounting research that pivoting to remote learning harmed students’ mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while annual learning assessments displayed suffering reading and math grades.
Source: Parsons Sun

Ranson Financial2022-05-10T01:04:15-05:00May 10, 2022|News|