Vaccine maker, drug companies accused in opioid crisis giving Kansas cut of $26 billion settlement

Kansas will get a slice of a $26 billion lawsuit settlement with four companies accused of contributing to the nation’s opioid epidemic, the state’s Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson, who recently developed a one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, as well U.S. pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal Health Inc., McKesson Corporation and AmerisourceBergen Corporation, will pay $26 billion in total for their part in the nation’s prescription-drug crisis, according to the attorney general.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2021-07-23T06:58:09-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

Coronavirus in Kansas: 20 more deaths, 81 new hospitalizations, biggest jump in 4 months

Kansas health officials say 20 more Kansas deaths have been linked to COVID-19 in the past two days. That is the biggest increase in deaths since early March. The state’s death toll is 5,218. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) also reports 81 new hospitalizations since Monday. That is the biggest jump in hospitalizations in the state since February. The KDHE does not track recoveries. The KDHE says 1,541 Kansans have tested positive for the coronavirus since Monday, while 3,529 have tested negative. Since Monday, another 154 Kansans have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 delta variant, bringing the total number of delta variant cases in the state to 1,104. (See county-by-county information in the charts below.) Kansans continue to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Since Monday, 3,269 more Kansans got their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 1,889 got their second dose.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2021-07-22T18:14:16-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

Governor Laura Kelly Announces $23 Million for Road Improvement Projects in 36 Kansas Cities

Governor Laura Kelly today announced 36 Kansas cities will receive a combined total of $23 million to improve highways and intersections as part of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP). … Highway Infrastructure Program funds coming to Kansas enabled this round of CCLIP funds to increase from $18 million to $23 million for use in fiscal years 2022-2024. A City Connecting Link is any routing of the State Highway System located within the corporate limits of a city. Demand for CCLIP funding was high with cities having dealt with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. KDOT received 61 applications requesting $37 million in funding towards $47 million in total construction. View a map of the CCLIP awards here.
Source: KS Governor.

Ranson Financial2021-07-23T07:08:39-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

Douglas County Commission approves request to divide rural property for residential use

Douglas County leaders have approved a request to rezone 25 acres currently zoned for agricultural use into residential lots. The commission voted unanimously as part of its meeting Wednesday to approve a request from property owners Patrick Halpin and Erin Callahan-Halpin to rezone 25 acres at 981 East 1549 Road, roughly 3 miles south of Lawrence, from its current agricultural zoning to a cluster preservation district. The new zoning will allow the property to be divided into up to five residential lots.
Source: LJWorld.com.

Ranson Financial2021-07-22T07:59:56-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

Garden Rapids sees increase in usage over past years with Big Pool

Aaron Stewart, Garden City Parks and Recreation director, gave the Garden City Commission a mid-season report on Garden Rapids at the Big Pool at their regular meeting Tuesday. Since opening, the pool has had an average of about 893 people per day as of July 14, Stewart said. The number has fluctuated, being as high as 1,000 a day and as low as 800 a day. Compared to an average of 309 in 2019 and 330 in 2018, it’s a significant increase, Stewart said. …The number of swimmers has also increased, with 39,308 in 2021. In 2019 there were 25,610 and 27,721 in 2018, Stewart said. “There will be 71,469 swimmers if we continue on this average, that would be our year total,” he said.
Source: GC Telegram.

Ranson Financial2021-07-22T07:58:47-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for July 21, 2021

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 Financial2021-07-22T07:56:13-05:00July 22, 2021|News|

AG Derek Schmidt files notice of appeal in Kansas Emergency Management Act case, asks court to put ruling on hold

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today filed a notice of appeal in a Johnson County District Court case that recently held unenforceable 2021 Senate Bill 40, a newly enacted law that reforms the Kansas Emergency Management Act. Schmidt today notified the Johnson County court that he is appealing the decision to the Kansas Supreme Court. In addition, he filed a motion asking the lower court to stay its decision in the case, pending the appeal. In the filings, Schmidt noted that the court’s ruling was causing “unnecessary and disruptive confusion,” in part because many provisions of Senate Bill 40 were not at issue in the case but it nevertheless appears the court ruling may have invalidated them. Schmidt warned that failure to stay the ruling could result in “legal anarchy,” and “potentially hamper the State’s ability to respond to a future disaster emergency.”
Source: Kansas Attorney General News Releases

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T20:23:09-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

Proposed Paola rec commission may be on November ballot

City of Paola and USD 368 officials are working together to finalize a ballot question that would ask voters in November to approve the creation of a joint recreation commission. The possibility of a joint rec commission in Paola has been discussed for years, but the issue has come to the forefront recently because Paola is considering constructing a new sports complex in Wallace Park. During a June 1 work session, Paola City Council members directed Paola City Manager Sid Fleming to reach out to Paola Superintendent Matt Meek about the possibility of forming a task force with city and school district representatives to discuss the creation of a joint rec commission.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com

Ranson Financial2021-07-22T07:57:06-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

Prairie Village remains outlier with no plans to return to in-person city meetings

As COVID-19 precautions ease up, Prairie Village appears to be one of the only cities still hosting virtual-only meetings. However, Mayor Eric Mikkelson on Wednesday morning told the Post the city has been working on plans to convert to hybrid meetings and is “waiting on some tech replacement parts to facilitate that.” “Of course our current plans to go hybrid could change if conditions deteriorate,” Mikkelson told the Post. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, cities quickly shifted gears and took their regular meetings online with platforms like Zoom or GoToMeeting. Some cities like Lenexa returned to in-person meetings as early as summer 2020, while others like Shawnee and Merriam didn’t return to in-person meetings until May 2021 or later. Many cities like Westwood, Fairway and Mission are opting for a hybrid style, in which the city councilmembers meet in-person and the public can participate in-person or online.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T20:09:06-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

The bond market is torn over the potential for higher inflation and lower growth

A volatile environment for government bonds is reflecting a highly uncertain future for the U.S. economy, pointing to both slower growth and stubborn inflation. After a burst higher earlier this year that scared markets, Treasury yields have fallen back sharply as investors have switched their focus from worries about price increases to the potential that the rapid burst in post-pandemic activity could start to slow down. In the 1970s, the mix of higher prices and lower growth was called “stagflation,” a pejorative that has garnered little attention since then as inflation has remained tame over the past few decades. However, the word is coming up more and more these days as the growth picture gets cloudier. “The market is trading on the stagflation theme,” said Aneta Markowska, chief financial economist at Jefferies. “There’s the idea that these price increases are going to cause demand destruction, cause a policy mistake and ultimately that slows growth.” For her part, Markowska thinks the trade that sent 10-year Treasury yields tumbling from a peak of around 1.75% in late March to about 1.18% earlier this week was a mistake. Yields trade opposite price, so a slump there means that investors are buying up bonds and pushing prices higher.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Ranson Financial2021-07-22T07:50:40-05:00July 21, 2021|News|