County, City eco devo team up

Barton County will join forces with Great Bend Economic Development Inc. to the tune of $40,000 for a national campaign aimed at bolstering the county’s and Great Bend’s profile, and making them more competitive. The County Commission approved the funding Wednesday morning for advertising and project development support, doubling what was sought by GBED. While all commissioners favored the initial $20,000 requested, support for the increased amount was not unanimous. GBED requested the $20,000 to help with targeted advertising to aid in recruiting new businesses and individuals. With county funds included in the overall marketing budget, GBED would have the funding necessary for professionally created video and print campaigns, said GBED President Sara Hayden.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Ranson Financial2021-07-09T07:53:57-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Downtown Great Bend loft project a go

Although it did not garner unanimous support, the Great Bend City Council Tuesday night approved spending half of the city’s $2,271,654.71 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for a downtown rehabilitation project to assist in sprinkler system installation and other improvements to downtown lofts. The city will receive two equal ARPA installments, with the first direct payment coming by July 31. The second half will come about a year later. Great Bend Economic Development Inc. President Sara Hayden proposed using half of those funds to reimburse owners of multi-story buildings in the downtown district on an application basis. The council action granted this up to $1 million with half coming from each of the ARPA payments. “There are 18 buildings that want to move forward with this,” Hayden said.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Ranson Financial2021-07-09T07:54:33-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

COVID’s Delta Comeback In Southeast Kansas Has Health Officials Pleading People To Get Vaccinated

Just a few weeks before COVID-19 vaccines became available, Teddi Van Kam got sick from the virus. The director of the Crawford County health department, in far southeast Kansas, was laid out for four weeks. As the pandemic became increasingly dire in her community, she was too sick to work. “I was scared,” Van Kam said. “I couldn’t breathe.” By the time she recovered, the vaccines were available. She got her shot and went back to tackling the pandemic. And she became a vaccine evangelist. But lately, converts have become hard to find. A year and a half into the outbreak, less than half of Crawford County residents are fully inoculated with a potentially life-saving vaccine. “You wish you could convey to them how bad this could be,” Van Kam said, “but you have to be careful how you do those things.” Now, she faces a new challenge: convincing vaccine-hesitant, pandemic-weary people in her community that the danger remains, that things are getting scarier.
Source: KCUR News

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T22:38:35-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Lack of accessible parking attracts threat of suit

Marion’s lack of fully accessible downtown parking despite a recent streetscape project has resulted in a warning from a lawyer representing a disabled Marion resident. The lawyer’s letter demands the city tell, by Tuesday, what it plans to do to resolve the problem. “Failure to do so will result in continued escalation of this matter,” lawyer Josh Boehm wrote. “Our client is committed to seek an appropriate resolution through continued escalation of this matter, including but not limited to filing suit if necessary.”
Source: Marion County RECORD

Ranson Financial2021-07-09T07:56:42-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Cowley County to conduct drive-thru Q-Box distribution

The Coronavirus Relief Funds, as part of the CARES Act, provided Cowley County with the opportunity to purchase and distribute Q-Boxes to those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID numbers are trending in a positive direction and the infection rate is low, some county residents are still feeling the impacts of the pandemic, including not enough to eat. Cowley County will be offering Q-Boxes to those in need on a drive-thru basis behind the Cowley County North Annex in the 300 block of East Eighth Avenue in Winfield. The distribution is from 8 to 11 a.m. Friday and again July 17. The effort is being called the Bret Smith Memorial Community Care Drive. Smith died at age 35 in May.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T22:33:32-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Wichita is debuting flashing yellow left turn signals

The City of Wichita is implementing a new type of traffic signal in an effort to provide a safer, more efficient left turn for drivers. The city said Thursday that flashing yellow arrows will begin debuting on West Street at Walker and at Harry. At signalized intersections, the city said there is often a separate signal indicator to let drivers making a left turn know when they either have and are protected from opposing traffic, which is stopped. But in a permissive left turn, drivers can only turn when there is a safe gap in oncoming traffic, which has historically been conveyed to motorists by a circular green light.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2021-07-09T07:58:03-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Douglas County cuts funding for group bringing high-tech jobs to town; future discussion likely about county’s role in eco devo funding

Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday agreed to cut $50,000 in funding from the Bioscience & Technology Business Center for the 2022 budget year. That ended up being a less significant cut than the $100,000 that county commissioners were discussing on Tuesday. The significance, though, probably is best measured in sentiment, not dollars. The sentiment on Wednesday included some commissioners openly wondering whether part of the money they spend on trying to attract high-wage bioscience jobs — the county this year is spending a little more than $400,000 on the BTBC — would be better spent on trying to foster more blue-collar job opportunities.
Source: LJWorld.com.

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T08:00:58-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

$129M in improvements coming to Sedgwick County’s worst bottleneck, other traffic tangles

More improvements for Sedgwick County’s notorious North Junction and three other south-central Kansas road projects were announced Wednesday by Gov. Laura Kelly. The projects, totaling $129 million in construction costs, will address transportation needs in Sedgwick, Sumner, Harvey and Marion counties, including a historically deadly stretch of U.S. Highway 50 between Burrton and Peabody. The North Junction exchange ties together four highways: I-135, I-235, K-96 and K-254. It’s a commuter’s nightmare that backs up morning and evening on virtually a daily basis.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T07:57:11-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Emporia hires firm to find next manager

The Emporia City Commission selected a search firm to identify candidates to become the next city manager during its action session Wednesday afternoon. Osenbaugh-Deardoff Consulting out of Derby will assist the city in the process of replacing current city manager Mark McAnarney, who announced last month that he will retire by the end of this year. Osenbaugh-Deardoff was one of five candidates determined by special projects coordinator Jim Witt and was the firm that received his top recommendation “because of their location in Kansas, knowledge of Kansas, how non-metro service centers like Emporia function, and to me that’s an important factor.”
Source: Emporia Gazette

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T07:56:11-05:00July 8, 2021|News|

Sunflower Summer Program gives students chance to learn while visiting attractions

A new program will help children stay engaged in learning throughout the summer months while spending quality time with family members and friends touring some of Kansas’ greatest attractions – all for free. The Sunflower Summer program, which is being funded by federal COVID-19 money to offer summer enrichment activities for Kansas students, is a collaboration between the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), Kansas Department of Commerce, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, KU Center for Public Partnerships and Research, and Greenbush Education Service Center.
Source: Local News | hiawathaworldonline.com

Ranson Financial2021-07-08T07:54:05-05:00July 8, 2021|News|