911 call outage: Sedgwick County Commissioners look into what happened on July 25

A two-hour 911 outage in Sedgwick county this past weekend is raising questions about how the current system works. Elora Forshee, the county director for emergency communications said in Tuesday’s County Commissioner’s meeting that while they knew on Sunday AT&T was going to do testing on the system, they were told everything would remain working. However, being left in the dark for hours with calls not going through was unacceptable, Forshee said during the meeting. “Those are the redundancies that I am pushing back on the coordinating council to say, ‘hey this is not working as promised, you need to evaluate this because we really should not get to a point where the redundancy is pulled at multiple layers where you get to the point to the backup or to another county,'” Forshee said.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2021-07-28T00:45:19-05:00July 28, 2021|News|

As COVID-19 continue to rise, will Wichita or Sedgwick County issue another mandate?

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple has been watching the COVID-19 numbers closely over the last year. “COVID’s spiking again, it’s just like what we saw last year after a big holiday,” said Whipple. But even with the more contagious delta variant now responsible for most of the new cases in the state, he doesn’t plan on issuing any mandates. “The difference today than it was a year ago is individuals have it within their own power to protect themselves from COVID. Everyone now can go get a free vaccine that has shown to be incredibly effective, even with these new variants,” said Whipple.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-28T00:43:41-05:00July 28, 2021|News|

National program aims to bring Wichita families more fresh fruits and vegetables

More than 1,000 Wichita families will receive fresh fruits and vegetables through a national program that launched Monday in Wichita. Good Food for All, an initiative of the nonprofit Partnership for a Healthy America, will distribute more than 600,000 servings of the fruits and vegetables through the Kansas Food Bank and the Greater Wichita YMCA. Families who participate will receive 50 servings of fruits and vegetables weekly for 12 weeks — meant to be enough for each family member to have at least two servings of produce per day.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2021-07-28T07:38:53-05:00July 28, 2021|News|

Just A Small-Town Girl — Stewart reflects on her big Olympic moment

Kelsey Stewart has seemingly accomplished it all. She once struck out all nine batters while pitching a three-inning perfect game in a 19-0 victory against Wichita West in the Class 5A Regional playoffs. She was Kansas Gatorade Softball Player of the Year as a sophomore at Arkansas City High School. She picked up where she left off after two successful seasons for the ACHS softball team with two stellar seasons at Maize High School. She was a four-time All-State first-team selection while also earning letters in basketball and volleyball. Oh, and she was an All-American cheerleader.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2021-07-28T07:39:33-05:00July 28, 2021|News|

USDA provides $480,000 grant to Erie, KS

The USDA has released a $480,000 loan for the city of Erie.The loan comes from the Rural Economic Development Program. Through the program, the USDA provides zero-interest loans and grants to utilities. This loan, will be used to help the city of Erie buy and operate Stubs Market, the only grocery store in Erie.
Source: KOAMKOAM

Ranson Financial2021-07-28T07:40:19-05:00July 28, 2021|News|

COVID-19 exposure closes aquatic center in Garden City

Garden Rapids at The Big Pool in Garden City will be closed through Sunday after the Finney County Health Department notified the aquatic center that some of its employees had been exposed to COVID-19. The business said Monday that the exposure is limited to employees, not patrons, and that the health department is doing contract tracing protocols on many of its employees.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-27T08:05:33-05:00July 27, 2021|News|

An outlier in Johnson County, Shawnee Mission to mandate masks for elementary students

The Shawnee Mission school district will require its elementary students to wear masks this fall — making it the only district in Johnson County with a mask mandate for children who are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. The other five school districts in the county have made masks optional, and only strongly encourage unvaccinated students and staff to wear them. Monday night’s decision by the school board means Shawnee Mission is the only school system following the county’s advice on opening schools safely next month. In the rest of the Kansas City metro, Shawnee Mission is now the third district to require masks for at least some students. Kansas City Public Schools and the Kansas City, Kansas district plan to require everyone to wear masks.
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2021-07-27T08:05:13-05:00July 27, 2021|News|

Sedgwick County COMCARE facing its biggest worker shortage in history

Sedgwick County mental health services are in a crucial situation. COMCARE, the largest mental health center in the state, now sits at only 58 percent of its usual staffing. More than 200 positions are open after a lot of employees left over the past year. Executive director Joan Tammany says a big reason workers are leaving is pay. On top of that, after serving as grief counselors in many ways during the pandemic, some workers need to take care of their own mental health now.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-27T08:04:52-05:00July 27, 2021|News|

Fuel shortages drove February blackouts, Southwest Power Pool investigators find

Rolling outages that left thousands without power in February were driven overwhelmingly by fuel shortages — especially in natural gas, executives with the Southwest Power Pool said Monday. This winter, sustained frigid temperatures across the Midwest and South forced huge demand for energy while the weather made generators struggle to keep up. The Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization spanning 17 states, twice instructed its member utility companies, including Evergy, to shut off customers’ power or “shed load” in order to keep the grid stable and avoid uncontrolled outages like those seen in Texas. For five months, SPP has been reviewing the events of February and coming up with a plan to not let it happen again. Its most urgent action items center on better predicting how much energy it will have and ensuring the fuel it needs shows up on time.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2021-07-27T08:03:38-05:00July 27, 2021|News|

Short-End Yields Pushed to Record Lows

Municipals were stronger on the short end Monday, hitting record low levels for the second time this year in quiet trading while U.S. Treasuries were treading water and equities did much the same as all markets await Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting announcement.
Source: Bond Buyer.

Ranson Financial2021-07-27T07:51:39-05:00July 27, 2021|News|