Local school districts tackle rising costs as they make plans to reopen safely

Local school districts are working on reopening plans and one of their major challenges is finances. As districts work to implement new safety measures, the costs are piling up. Local mom Brandy Nelson has got her hands full with two kids, one who’s going into first grade. “I want to send him to school,” Nelson said. “I tried homeschooling for a couple of months when the whole thing started and I can not do homeschooling.” Schools want students back too, but they’re trying to figure out how to do it safely. Lew Faust is the Director of Business Services for the Manhattan-Ogden School District. He said there’s a whole list of safety supplies they’re stocking up on. “Hand sanitizers and bottles for buses to have hand sanitizer on every bus, classrooms cleaning supplies, all the various things that are a part of it, masks for students and staff,” Faust listed.
(Read more: KSNT News)

Ranson Financial2020-07-24T08:39:01-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

Lindsborg’s first house undergoes renovation

When James Prugh bought the oldest house in Lindsborg, he had an idea — renovate the old stone house and open a guest house. “My contractor stripped everything away to its ‘bare stones,‘” Prugh said.” It was rebuilt to take full advantage of its historic features with every modern amenity seamlessly integrated into the structure. My vacation rental is called ‘Stenhuset,’ Swedish for ‘the stone house.’” There was a big challenge to overcome in the project — because of its age, the house lacked plumbing and electrical wiring. To create a vacation rental that had to change. Non-historic additions to the house were demolished and hauled away. Stripping away the plaster on revealed its original dark Dakota sandstone blocks, foot-thick walls and carved stone lintels, horizontal supports above each window.
(Read more: McPherson Sentinel)

Ranson Financial2020-07-24T08:40:34-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

McPherson County Fair goes on despite COVID-19

An event like a county fair takes months of preparation by dozens of volunteers. With the uncertainty of mandates for closures due to the COVID-19 virus, the McPherson County Fair Board decided to proceed with caution and take advantage of the open-air setting for participants and fairgoers to spread out and social distance. A few events like the Pedal Tractor Pull and free BBQ and ice cream dinner were cancelled, but the competitions went on, including the Junior Rodeo, CPA Rodeo and Demolition Derby. “Some departments were down on entries, but we were pleased overall with participation,” Vaughn Ingram, one of the fair organizers, said. Ingram organizes the floriculture division competition and there were 116 entries this year.
(Read more: McPherson Weekly News » Feed)

Ranson Financial2020-07-24T08:40:48-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

Roeland Park sees positive property, sales and use taxes despite COVID-19 shutdowns

The Roeland Park City Council on Monday evening heard a second quarter financial report that included the impact COVID-19 shutdowns had on sales taxes. Although the city of Roeland Park anticipated sales and use taxes to be negatively impacted due to the shutdowns, Assistant City Administrator Jennifer Jones-Lacy said the city’s overall sales taxes are up by 4% compared to 2019. The city’s larger businesses — including grocery stores, a hardware store and a general purpose store — remained open, causing the sales tax figures to “come in quite well,” Jones-Lacy said. “The good news is that Roeland Park is doing really well when it comes to sales tax,” Jones-Lacy said. “Our projections were much more bleak like all of our neighboring communities in Johnson County and the county itself. Everyone had anticipated a significant drop.”
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)

Ranson Financial2020-07-24T08:41:47-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

City of Wellington and Ascension Via Christi- St. Francis enters into lease agreement to build E.R. in early 2021

While most of the discussion was about mask mandates, perhaps, the biggest story of the night was the one that received little discussion of all. The City of Wellington entered into a lease agreement for a portion of the former Sumner Regional Medical Center so that Ascension Via Christi in Wichita can build an emergency care center. Under the agreement approved by the Wellington City Council at its meeting yesterday, the ER will re-open in early 2021 as a department of Ascension which is the legal entity that operates Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph. The lease provides Ascension approximately 8,600 square feet of the building for the operation of an emergency department. The lease also addresses the improvements to be made by Ascension and the City’s contribution towards those improvements.
(Read more: Sumner NewsCow)

Ranson Financial2020-07-24T08:41:57-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for July 22, 2020

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 Financial2020-07-23T07:59:11-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

Governor Laura Kelly and Department of Commerce Launch New Kansas Certified Sites Program

Governor Laura Kelly today announced the Department of Commerce’s launch of the new Kansas Certified Sites program, a critical tool that will help accelerate economic development efforts throughout the state. The program, originally created and administered by the Kansas Economic Development Alliance (KEDA), lets developers know when the state has deemed a potential site ideal for investment and development.
(Read more: Kansas Department of Commerce)

Ranson Financial2020-07-23T07:54:43-05:00July 23, 2020|News|

Emporia Main Street cancels the Taste 2020

After postponing the event to September, the Emporia Main Street Board of Directors have officially canceled The Taste. The announcement was made Tuesday. The event, originally scheduled for April 4, was postponed to Sept. 26 as the community grappled with the early stages of the novel coronavirus pandemic. “There was no way we felt like we could put the quality of people required to make that event work in an in-door location and make that safe for everyone involved,” said Casey Woods, Executive Director of Emporia Main Street. “We went through in fine detail [of research] and just didn’t think we could do The Taste justice.”
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Ranson Financial2020-07-23T07:55:08-05:00July 22, 2020|News|

Madison passes real estate covenant ordinance

The Madison City Council met in an online meeting Monday evening to discuss a new proposed ordinance that will affect property owners, as well as several bids for COVID-19 safety measures. “What [the real estate covenant ordinance] does is stop a current property owner trying to tie up a piece of real estate in downtown Madison and not allow it to be used for commercial purposes in the future,” said Paul Dean, Mayor of Madison. “It doesn’t make anything illegal, it just voids those provisions. It allows people to use the property they bought the way they desire to use it.” The new ordinance is only targeted in regard to commercial real estate properties when a restrictive covenant is placed that prohibits the property from being used again in the future.
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Ranson Financial2020-07-23T07:56:27-05:00July 22, 2020|News|

Topeka City Council bans use of police no-knock warrants

The Topeka City Council has banned the use of no-knock warrants by law enforcement in the city. The Capital-Journal reports that the council voted 8-to-1 Tuesday night to adopt the ordinance banning the controversial practice. Police Chief Bill Cochran has said this department already had a policy of not allowing no-knock warrants before the ban was made local law. Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala was the only member to vote against the measure. She said while she opposes the use of no-knock warrants, she doesn’t trust the city’s police auditor to offer an independent review of possible violations because he answers to the city manager.
(Read more: KSN-TV)

Ranson Financial2020-07-23T07:56:40-05:00July 22, 2020|News|

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