A new wave of major Kansas City area school districts dropping COVID mask mandates

A new wave of school districts throughout the Kansas City metro this week dropped mask mandates as COVID-19 cases fall. They include the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission districts in Johnson County and the Independence and North Kansas City districts in Missouri. The decisions come as school officials expect both the Johnson County Board of Commissioners and the City Council of Kansas City to let their school mask orders expire. In Johnson County, the board at its meeting on Thursday is expected to consider whether to end its health order mandating masks in all schools that serve students as old as sixth grade. The Gardner Edgerton school district last week already decided to drop its mask mandate in all schools, starting on Monday.
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T23:05:59-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Wildfires fanned by high winds force evacuations in Reno, Butler counties

Grass wildfires in both Reno and Butler county have triggered evacuations as authorities work to contain the spread, according to social media posts. Butler County Emergency Communications says there is fire in the area of northwest Highway 196 and northwest 10th. They are asking people to avoid the area. In Reno County, the Hutchinson Fire Department is working a large grass fire in the area east of Hutchinson south of 30th Street and Obee. Traffic is being blocked on 30th to allow fire crews to fight and contain the spread. People are advised to evacuate the area.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T22:56:50-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Former water plant site eyed for development

Two separate entities have expressed interest in the vacant lot at 513 W. Washington Ave., the former site of the Arkansas City water treatment plant. During a city commission work session Friday, City Manager Randy Frazer said that he had been approached by local contractor Brandon Jellings about the possibility of putting up housing on that site. Cowley College President Dennis Rittle had also expressed interest. Frazer said that he recently met with Jellings to tour the property and explain a few of its drawbacks. Old water tanks and other types of debris had been buried on site after demolition.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2022-02-16T06:50:04-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Park board OKs private management of Wichita’s public golf system; council vote to come

Wichita is one step closer to privatizing management of its public golf courses after back-to-back profitable years. The city’s park board on Monday gave its stamp of approval to a five-year agreement that would shift management of the city’s golf system to an out-of-state private company. Wichita city government would retain ownership of its four golf courses and pay Kemper Sports Management $200,000 a year to manage them. The city would be responsible for any losses.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T22:39:52-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Iola schools to be converted into apartments

Iola got a sweetheart deal on Valentine’s Day, as school board members learned a Kansas City company wants to convert all three of its elementary schools into housing, an investment worth about $20 million. At a meeting Monday, school board members voted to pursue an agreement with BNIM, an architecture and design firm based in Kansas City, Mo. Under the deal, BNIM would partner with two other entities to secure financing including tax credits for low-income housing and historic preservation. They would remodel all three elementary schools in three phases: Jefferson and McKinley Elementary schools would be renovated to create 39 apartments in the first phase; Lincoln would be converted into 22 apartments in the second phase; In the third phase, they would build single-family homes, duplexes and possibly quad-plexes on land surrounding the schools, such as areas currently used for parking lots or playgrounds.
Source: The Iola Register

Ranson Financial2022-02-16T06:50:32-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Dawn Johnson named superintendent of Hutchinson Schools

The USD 308 Board of Education voted in Dawn Johnson, Ph.D., as Hutchinson Public Schools’ new superintendent upon the retirement of current superintendent, Mike Folks…. “While a global search was possible, the Board is confident it found the most qualified candidate in Dr. Johnson. Her understanding of the Kansas education landscape, her expertise and experience in multiple areas of administration and teaching are proven qualities. We look forward to working with Dr. Johnson as our next USD 308 Superintendent,” said Board President Greg Meredith. Johnson has more than 30 years of experience in education. She earned her doctorate in education from Wichita State University and holds two master’s degrees. Before coming to USD 308, Johnson served as principal in USD 444 Little River/Windom for six years and superintendent of USD 309 Nickerson/South Hutchinson from 2016-2021. Earlier in her career, Johnson taught high school English.
Source: Hutch News

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T07:58:05-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for February 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 Financial2022-02-15T07:23:47-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Counties press for expanded use of pandemic funds

County leaders should keep the heat on the House to pass a bill that allows for more flexibility with pandemic relief funds. That was the message Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn delivered Monday to the National Association of Counties during its 2022 legislative conference in Washington. Cornyn is one of several D.C. lawmakers and officials to appear at the conference, with President Joe Biden set to speak Tuesday. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Monday to highlight ways that federal dollars in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can flow more quickly to counties.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T07:21:09-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Total crimes in Paola dropped substantially in 2021

The Paola Police Department has released its year-end statistics for 2021, and the total reported criminal offenses decreased from 585 in 2020 to 421 in 2021. That’s a decrease of 28 percent in total crimes. The police department announced more good news in its year-end report, as the overall crime clearance rate increased from 69 to 77 percent, which is well above the national average.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T07:20:21-06:00February 15, 2022|News|

Hundreds of small Midwestern towns passed on federal COVID money rather than fight red tape

The question caught Mark Gentert off guard. Had the village of Holstein, Nebraska, gotten its COVID relief money from the federal government yet? What COVID relief money? After all, it’s a town of just 200 people. “So I contacted my clerk and she said she hadn’t gotten the paperwork in and we lost our shot at it,” said Gentert, who was Holstein’s chairman at the time. “And I’m like ‘Oh, really?’” The town had missed out on a little over $42,000. It’s a problem many small towns ran into when the federal government offered almost $20 billion to small communities for pandemic recovery. With tiny populations and limited resources, many towns found the money to be more of a headache than a lifeline and decided to not pursue the funds.
Source: KCUR News

Ranson Financial2022-02-15T07:18:49-06:00February 15, 2022|News|