Overland Park committee creates canopy streets award

The city of Overland Park Legacy of Greenery committee created the Canopy Street of Excellence award — and named its first-ever honoree recently.Residents on 101st Street from Hemlock Street to Hardy Drive, part of the Pinehurst Estates subdivision, won the canopy street award this year. Canopy streets are defined, per the city’s website, as those with “continuously spaced trees near the street, with overarching limbs that are usually touching, creating a canopy.”
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T07:52:28-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

City Council sides with neighbors, rejects mixed-use plan in east Wichita

In a rare break with the Planning Commission, Wichita’s City Council has rejected a proposed complex of apartments, office and retail service space proposed at the site of a closed-down school in a historically Black neighborhood in east Wichita. Siding with neighbors opposed to the plan, the council rejected the Nguyen Senior Village, a proposal for 78 apartments with a gathering center for residents, rental office space and personal service businesses that may have included such uses as a barber shop, beauty salon and laundromat. The five-acre site is the former location of Holy Savior Catholic Academy and before that, was a public school, Carter Elementary.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T07:43:24-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

Johnson County: Schools should mandate masks for unvaccinated

The health department in Kansas’ most populous county urged its public schools Monday to require students and staff who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear masks indoors when classes resume for the fall. The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment’s guidance came with confirmed cases of the faster-spreading delta variant continuing to rise across Kansas and fueling larger numbers of new COVID-19 cases overall. “We want a return to normalcy, but we need to be cautious and get vaccinated if eligible.” said Dr. Sanmi Areola, the department’s director.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T07:42:29-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

Fate of masks in schools this fall

As COVID numbers continue to increase in parts of the state, many school districts are considering masks in the classroom this fall. The Wichita school district has announced masks won’t be required, but that decision could change…. Terri Moses is the safety director for Wichita schools. She says staff are paying close attention to COVID trends in the county and taking the advice of medical experts. If hospitalizations and positive cases increase, the school board will adjust. “Change is a constant part of our response. And then in order to work with our community and keep our buildings as safe as possible, we’ve got to be ready to change when that change is necessary,” says Moses.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T07:41:55-05:00July 21, 2021|News|

It’s official: The Covid recession lasted just two months, the shortest in U.S. history

The Covid-19 recession is in the books as one of the deepest — but also the shortest — in U.S. history, the official documenter of economic cycles said Monday. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the contraction lasted just two months, from February 2020 to the following April. Though the drop featured a staggering 31.4% GDP plunge in the second quarter of the pandemic-scarred year, it also saw a massive snapback the following period, with previously unheard of policy stimulus boosting output by 33.4%. “In determining that a trough occurred in April 2020, the committee did not conclude that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity,” the NBER said in a news release. “The committee decided that any future downturn of the economy would be a new recession and not a continuation of the recession associated with the February 2020 peak. The basis for this decision was the length and strength of the recovery to date.”
Source: CNBC

Ranson Financial2021-07-21T07:38:31-05:00July 20, 2021|News|

South Hutchinson bridge in need of repair, ownership in question

A bridge in South Hutchinson desperately needs repairs. But before the bill is paid, Reno County and the city need to figure out which one of them actually owns it. The bridge on Scott Boulevard in South Hutchinson was built in 1963. It’s not clear if the city or county built it initially, but the county has maintained it over the years. The cost to repair it is $700,000. The city is asking the county to split the bill so it doesn’t come at the expense of taxpayers. “We’ve asked the county to participate as a 50/50 partner on this bridge and they refused to contribute one penny to the project. They won’t budge,” says Joseph Turner, the South Hutchinson city administrator.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-20T07:31:52-05:00July 20, 2021|News|

‘Giving patrons a calming place to go.’ Johnson County library gardens grow interest in plants

While Johnson County’s libraries are growing a readership inside, outside their green spaces are growing an interest in botany. Several branches have gardens on their properties for educational or community use. At Corinth in Prairie Village, there’s a large container garden just beyond the emergency exit door in the children’s section that opens to the public for specific library programs. Diana Spencer, youth information specialist, and Meagan Condon, youth services librarian, took what was a fairly bare concrete area and made it bloom.
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2021-07-20T07:27:59-05:00July 20, 2021|News|

Busy weekend ends Ark City’s 150th celebration

Arkansas City’s five-day, 150th anniversary celebration concluded Sunday with a weekend full of events. A free concert, featuring both Bad Mechanix and BackRhodes, was presented Friday evening in the Wilson Park Rotunda. The concert was sponsored by Burford Theatre Arts, which also operated a beer garden at the event. The concert was followed by a firework display that was postponed Thursday due to the threat of inclement weather.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2021-07-20T07:27:38-05:00July 20, 2021|News|

Bull riders, ropers and barrel racers from across the country bullseye for the Pretty Prairie Rodeo this week

The PRCA Pretty Prairie Rodeo is ready to roll. According to the group’s organizers, this year will bring top cowboys and cowgirls to Pretty Prairie to compete for prize money. Last year’s rodeo paid off more than $80,000 in prize money. “We’ll have something for everyone,” said Julie Graber, executive secretary of the booster club that puts on the rodeo. The show starts at 8 p.m. this Wednesday through Saturday, July 21-24.
Source: Hutch News.

Ranson Financial2021-07-20T07:21:26-05:00July 20, 2021|News|

Access ridership in Hays down by half during pandemic

Access public transportation in Hays has seen its ridership cut in half since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The service usually provides 65,000 to 70,000 rides per year in Ellis County. It typically serves about 1,000 clients per year. The service closed for about a month in April 2020 as a result of the statewide shutdown. It has been operating since with COVID restrictions, which means riders must wear masks and only two riders can be on the bus at the same time to allow for social distancing.
Source: Hays Post.

Ranson Financial2021-07-20T07:20:39-05:00July 20, 2021|News|