Newton’s birthday party planned for 2-22-22

There was a dark side and a lighter side to Newton when the town came into existence about 150 years ago. On the seedier side was Hyde Park, a place with pop-up saloons where gunslingers and cowboys bellied up to bars and poker tables. There were ladies of the evening and one particular Sunday became famous for a gunfight, giving the town the moniker, “Bloody Newton.” There also were folks on the other side of the moral coin, who started churches and made sure their children attended school. Families did things together and people ran other kinds of businesses, like grocery stores and newspaper stands. There probably were people in between, as well.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:27:56-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Bike Across Kansas returns to Hutchinson for overnight stay after two-decade-plus absence

It has been 23 years since riders in the annual Biking Across Kansas had a scheduled stop in Hutchinson. … There will be some differences in this year’s BAK. During that 25th annual ride in June 1999, riders chose from three routes, so there were only 300 or so who stopped in Hutchinson overnight and stayed at the high school gym, recalled Bob Updegraff, owner of Harleys Bicycles on North Main Street.
Source: Hutch News

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:21:44-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for February 17, 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 Financial2022-02-18T08:18:13-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Mester backs faster Fed rate-hike pace if needed to tame prices

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she supports raising interest rates next month and tightening policy at a faster pace if needed to curb inflation. “I believe it will be appropriate to move the funds rate up in March and follow with further increases in the coming months,” Mester said Thursday in prepared remarks for a virtual event hosted by the New York University Stern Center for Global Economy and Business. “If by mid-year, I assess that inflation is not going to moderate as expected, then I would support removing accommodation at a faster pace over the second half of the year.” During their January meeting, Fed officials concluded that they would start raising rates soon from near zero and were on alert for persistent inflation that would justify a faster pace of tightening, according to minutes of the Jan. 25-26 meeting released Wednesday. Chair Jerome Powell told reporters after the meeting that officials were leaning toward moving next month to quell the hottest inflation in 40 years.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:17:40-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Bullard says Fed may need to raise rates above 2% to curb prices

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said bringing down inflation may require the central bank to overshoot a neutral target interest rate, which he sees as about 2%. “If you wanted to put downward pressure on inflation, you’d actually have to get to neutral — go beyond neutral,” Bullard said at an event by hosted by Columbia University and SGH Macro Advisers in New York on Thursday. “And I think that’s a major concern of mine — we’re not really in a position to do that right now, but we have to get in a position to do that” in case inflation doesn’t moderate as expected, he said. Bullard repeated his view that Fed should raise interest rate by 100 basis points by July 1 and start balance-sheet run-off in the second quarter, in response to the fastest inflation in 40 years.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:17:18-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Riley County commission approves ambulance in nothern county

Riley County commissioners unanimously approved to add an ambulance to the northern part of the county. The commission gave EMS administration the go ahead to start the process for building a new ambulance station. This includes finding an architect, position requests, and determine where to put the station. “To me, it’s obvious that we need to put a station up there, we have ARPA money. It will basically just need a small house and an oversized garage. We have a chance to do that now,” says Commission Chair Greg McKinley. … “I’m always fiscally conservative, but I think this something beyond that. More of a basic health issue that people expect to have services for their health, or services the city and rest of the county have,” says Focke.
Source: 1350 KMAN

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:16:43-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Johnson County to end school mask mandates, defer to districts to set COVID-19 rules

Johnson County ended its school mask mandate for its youngest students, effective Thursday, in favor of allowing individual school districts to set their own rules as COVID-19 cases continue to drop from last month’s record highs. Eliminating the countywide order does not necessarily mean that masks are optional for all students and staff immediately, however, as four of the county’s six public school districts still have measures in place that will reinstate temporary mask mandates should cases rise to certain thresholds at different campuses. “We’re not just kind of throwing our hands up in the air, there are some measures in place to keep us from going off the rails, so to speak,” County Commissioner Janee Hanzlick said. “This situation does not mean the pandemic is over, it doesn’t mean we’ll never have to revisit any measures or orders in the future.”
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:15:43-06:00February 18, 2022|News|

Fed’s Bullard says inflation ‘could get out of control,’ so action is needed now

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard cautioned Thursday that without central bank action on interest rates, inflation could become an even more serious problem. “We’re at more risk now than we’ve been in a generation that this could get out of control,” he said during a panel talk at Columbia University. “One scenario would be now you get a new surprise that hits us that we can’t anticipate right now, but we would have even more inflation. That’s the kind of situation that we want to … make sure it doesn’t occur.” Bullard has made news lately with his calls for aggressive Fed action. He has advocated for a full percentage point of rate increases by July in an effort to stem price surges that are running at the fastest pace in 40 years. In his remarks Thursday, he repeated his assertion that the Fed should “front-load” rate hikes as way to get ahead of inflation running at a 7.5% pace over the past year.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Ranson Financial2022-02-17T23:05:37-06:00February 17, 2022|News|

North Newton City Council agrees to purchase police canine

The North Newton Police Department is getting a canine, in the form of Odie, after the North Newton City Council voted 3-2 to obtain the dog. Voting against the decision were Councilmen Mark Jenkins and Dennis Campbell. Odie is 7-½ to 8 years old and will be paired with Officer Colt Pfautz, who is certified to work with a canine and has worked more than a year part-time with the North Newton Police Department and then was hired full time. Now, the police department will have a canine unit again. “It’s a positive we already have someone certified,” Mayor Ron Braun said. One citizen, Nathan Koontz, spoke out about the town getting another police dog during the citizen’s comments portion of the meeting, which happened before the council took a vote and discussed the matter themselves.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2022-02-17T23:03:42-06:00February 17, 2022|News|

March informational meetings planned in Wamego, St. Marys regarding solar farm draft regulations

Informational public meetings are scheduled in March surrounding the future of solar farms in Pottawatomie County. The county plans to host two come-and-go meetings where people can ask questions from county planning and zoning officials regarding proposed regulations regarding solar facilities. The meetings are a precursor to an anticipated formal public hearing this spring with the Planning Commission. Planning Commission and Planning and Development staff have been drafting regulations since last March for large-scale solar farms.
Source: 1350 KMAN

Ranson Financial2022-02-18T08:10:45-06:00February 17, 2022|News|