Riley County receives grant to start drug treatment court program

Riley County recently received a grant from the Department of Justice to start a new drug court program. The $550,000 grant was awarded to Riley County Community Corrections Dec. 9. It essentially creates an alternative to incarceration for criminal or juvenile offenders and parents with pending child welfare cases who have alcohol and other drug dependency problems become and remain sober. The goal of the program is recovery so as to reduce future criminal activity.
Source: 1350 KMAN

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:15:40-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Overland Park considers using federal pandemic relief funds for environmental projects, like bike trails and tree planting

Environmental projects like tree planting, bike and sidewalk infrastructure may become a part of spending on an upcoming batch of federal COVID-19 relief money coming to Overland Park. Members of the City Council’s Community Development Committee said Wednesday they’d be open to an idea of putting some of an upcoming $9 million disbursement of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act into such projects, as long as they meet the federal government’s rules for how the money is spent. The money is half of another $18 million of federal relief money headed Overland Park’s way from the U.S. Treasury.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:14:22-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Mayors urge Johnson County Commission to take action as Omicron spreads

Ahead of Thursday’s regular Board of County Commissioners meeting, a group of nine Johnson County mayors is urging commissioners to take countywide action to help tamp spread of the Omicron variant. In a letter addressed to the commission Wednesday, the mayors say that though cities have taken their own steps to try to mitigate spread, “additional prompt action is needed by the [county] to assist our cities in weathering this latest and strongest COVID surge.”
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:13:56-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Erie library participating in seed program

The Erie City Public Library is part of a growing movement of seed libraries and has shelves stocked full of seed as well as books to help gardeners with tips. “A seed library is a place where community members can get seeds for free and is run for the public benefit,” said Julie Coover Kent, library director. “Helping people to start gardens for their families is the goal of our library.” The idea is for people to take a packet of seed and leave a packet of seed or bring one in later to help perpetuate the seed library into the future. You may have a packet of bush bean seeds and want a packet of green pepper seeds so you can switch them out.
Source: Parsons Sun

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:13:10-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Single and looking to rent? The top city for an apartment is in Kansas, study says

Wichita is the most affordable U.S. city for a single person to rent an apartment, an analysis of 1.2 million studio apartment listings has concluded. The RentHop Singles Index ranks cities based on the median cost of a studio apartment relative to the average salary of single people who live there. Researchers for the apartment rental service determined that single Wichitans spend less of their annual income on rent than their counterparts in any of the nation’s 50 largest cities.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:12:29-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Pickleball growing big following in Iola

Pickleball, a relatively new sport, is gaining followers across the country and in Iola. Lyle Kern is the pioneer of the game in the area and the game is gaining a robust following in Iola and LaHarpe. Pickleball is growing in popularity across America, and here in Iola. A mix of different sports, pickleball has a dedicated following in Iola. So what exactly is Pickleball? Lyle Kern, one of the more seasoned pickleball players in the area, tells it best. “I tell people it’s like if you could stand on a ping-pong table and play ping-pong,” Kern said. “You have a paddle made of wood and a ball that’s more like a wiffleball instead of a tennis ball. It doesn’t bounce nearly as high. You can get four pickleball courts in one tennis court. Some of the rules like how to serve and volley are similar to tennis.”
Source: The Iola Register

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:11:17-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Plan for faster COVID-19 testing being worked on in Sedgwick County

The surge in COVID-19 cases leads to a rise in testing. First, there is an issue of people getting an appointment. Many testing slots are booked in just an hour after opening, and if you make it to a testing site, some people are waiting in line for hours. Commissioners are looking to open an emergency testing site.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:09:59-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

Kelly issues executive order to ease hospital burden

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday declared a new short-term emergency, signing executive orders aimed at relieving hospitals and nursing homes struggling with staffing shortages as COVID-19 rages again with the spread of a new variant. Kelly declared a 15-day emergency, clearing the way for executive orders that will give hospitals and nursing homes more flexibility to use staffers to treat and test Kansans who are coming down with COVID-19 in increasing numbers. “Our hospitals have sounded the alarm of the impact this surge is having on the facilities, their staff and their patients,” Kelly said. “We needed to do this and we needed to do this as soon as we possibly could to alleviate the shortage,” she said.
Source: Sunflower State Journal

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:09:34-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

City of Pittsburg businesses prosper, lead to housing and future job market

Over the past year one southeast Kansas community has been seeing its hard work pay off — improving its quality of life and laying the groundwork for the years ahead. “It’s going to be business as usual,” said Daron Hall, Pittsburg City Manager. The usual for Pittsburg is pretty impressive. The city has seen some big advancements over the past year. Many local businesses say its seen some of their best sales in 2021. “We’ve been very fortunate, our sales tax is up 11.5%, which is unprecedented, but it’s constantly a struggle to keep amenities and things that draw people to your community, and so when you see the sales taxes up that high, it means that people are in town, they are shopping,” said Hall.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:08:56-06:00January 7, 2022|News|

A Kansas small town crime is creating big problems

A vandalism incident is creating a lot of headaches for people living in and around Reading, Kansas. That’s not because of the damage that needs cleaned up, but because of the long term implications that could come from it. Reading’s downtown consists of a café, a Church, a bank, the Fire Department, and the Post Office. … On Monday, someone vandalized the lobby area of the Post Office, where individual mail boxes, posters, and package boxes are located. … Basic vandalism, with a big impact for people trying to send or receive mail.
Source: KSNT News

Ranson Financial2022-01-07T07:08:26-06:00January 7, 2022|News|