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.
The Wamego community was able to use its own power plant during rolling blackouts from Evergy this week. It’s something the city manager says she and her colleagues are proud to have. Stacie Eichem, city manager of Wamego, said it used to be more common for towns to have their own power plants decades ago. While many were removed or are out of service, Wamego’s is used when needed. The harsh weather and power outages presented an opportunity to turn it on. The town was hit twice during the series of rolling outages, and at one point contributed to powering the entire town. The first blackout came without warning, on Monday morning.
Source: KSNT News
The notion of paying a toll to use designated express lanes on U.S. Highway 69 will take some selling before it’s widely liked by Johnson County motorists. That’s according to focus groups held by the engineering firm studying potential solutions for one of Kansas’ most congested highways. Only about a third of focus group participants said they liked a proposal to use tolls to help pay to expand the capacity of U.S. 69 in Overland Park. Others said they’d like to see the traffic flow improved, but would rather other types of taxes be used to add lanes.
Source: KCUR News
Interest rates are expected to continue their upward march, but for now they’re not expected to get high enough to harpoon the stock market. Treasury yields have been rising quickly in the last week, and the benchmark 10-year yield has been on a tear – reaching 1.33% in the early morning hours Wednesday before retreating below 1.30%. Yields move opposite price, and the 10-year has risen from about 1.15% just a week ago to levels that are close to where they were when the pandemic started hitting the economy last February.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Sedgwick County Chairman Pete Meitzner signed a State of Local Disaster Emergency Declaration for the county Wednesday due to the effects of the extreme weather and cold. The declaration is in effect starting Wednesday and will continue to remain in effect for seven days unless otherwise determined by the Board of County Commissioners. Sedgwick County stated thee Board of County Commissioners are expected to discuss this in the next few days. Sedgwick County residents are currently experiencing not only severely cold outdoor temperatures, which have led to a strain on utility services, but also experiencing water damage, water main breaks, the need for warming stations, and seeing an increase in the demand for natural gas and electricity.
Source: KSN-TV
An anonymous survey conducted by the Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita on who would receive the COVID-19 vaccine was presented to the Sedgwick County Commission. The survey was conducted in a seven-county region in south-central Kansas. Of the 9,018 residents surveyed in Sedgwick County, 65% plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine while 19% said they may get it. The rest said they do not plan to get the vaccine. The survey in other counties had similar results. The survey was completed by 2.3% of the county’s total population of 18 years or older. Most of the respondents identified as female with a large majority reported being non-Hispanic and White/Caucasian (92%).
Source: KSN-TV
While a majority of Kansans rely on power companies to give them electricity, some do not have to because they have their own power supply. Dozens of Kansas communities are part of a public power group, and they each provide their own power almost like an engine. The engines are run by diesel in Mulvane at its power plant. “They are big, and they are loud,” said Brad Modlin, utility director. The engines can be anywhere between 600 to 800 degrees hot.
Source: KSNT News
After kicking the tires, Sedgwick County has dropped a plan to buy the former Riverside Hospital to turn it into a government center. The old hospital building at 2622 W. Central had marked the most serious effort to date to move county government out of the downtown courthouse to clear space for more courtrooms and prosecutors’ offices. “A number of commissioners have walked through the facility, we’ve had our facilities folks take a look at the condition of the building . . . we’ve had architects over there looking at three or four different options on that building,” said Commissioner David Dennis. “What is obvious is that building does not meet the needs of Sedgwick County as we move forward.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health issued a new public health order Wednesday, expanding the mass gathering limit to 25 people and extending the hours of operation for bars and restaurants. The new health order includes the following changes: The mass gathering limit is expanded from 10 people to 25 people. If there is an outdoor event, the gathering is limited to 200 people and attendees must comply with social distancing rules. An indoor capacity limit of 50% of the lowest occupancy load on the certificate of occupancy for the facility where the gathering is occurring is now added to the order.
Source: KSNT News
Emporia city leaders and Jefferson County leaders voted to extend their mask ordinances on Wednesday. Jefferson County Commissioners voted 2-1 to continue the mask mandate until March 1, 2021. The ordinance was extended on Feb. 2nd and set to expire on Feb. 16. Commissioners re-evaluated it at their meeting on Tuesday to extend it again.
Source: KSNT News
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