US communities face tough choices on opening public pools

Public pools will look very different this summer if they open at all with the coronavirus threat still looming, as teenage lifeguards will be tasked with maintaining social distancing and spotting COVID-19 symptoms in addition to their primary responsibility of preventing drownings. Pools that do plan to open will take precautions, including screening temperatures on entry, requiring lifeguards to wear masks and significantly reducing the number of swimmers allowed in the water and locker rooms, said Dr. Justin Sempsrott, the medical director for the lifeguard certification program Starguard Elite and executive director of Lifeguards Without Borders, which works to reduce drownings worldwide. “It’s definitely not going to be business as usual this season,” he said.
(Read more: KSN-TV)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:29-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

‘We’ve got to know who they are’: Contact tracing vital as county reopens

Who were you with on Mother’s Day? Did you go to a restaurant? Did you carpool to work with someone? These questions may seem personal, ones that you would most likely discuss with a friend or family member. But for contact tracing nurses to accomplish their job, these are inquiries they must make to determine who is a potential contact for a positive COVID-19 case. Contact tracing nurses have to be nosy. To successfully slow the spread of COVID-19, nurses must learn how to be a detective and dig into every minute of someone’s life. It is not a cutting-edge method of tracking down people who have been in contact with a positive case, but instead one that historically has been used in Shawnee County to identify those who are a contact for someone who has measles and chicken pox.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T06:59:44-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Merriam police officers save owl stuck in soccer net

Merriam police officers demonstrated their ability to adapt to any situation last weekend and saved an owl stuck in a soccer net at Waterfall Park, 5191 Merriam Drive. After a concerned citizen alerted the police department about the owl, four officers responded to the scene as there were no animal control officers on duty at the time, Captain Chris Brokaw said. The officers took it upon themselves to free the owl, although saving wild animals isn’t a regular occurrence for police, he said. “Nothing in our day is routine, you just never know what you’re going to get,” Brokaw said. “I’m sure they never thought in a million years that they were going to have to come across something like this. You kind of roll with the punches and adapt to it, and try to handle it as best you can.”
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:00:31-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Newton Rec Commission eyes June 15 opening of municipal pool

The hopes of swimming in the municipal pool this summer are treading water — delayed, it seems, by each new announcement from Gov. Laura Kelly as she has signed executive orders moving the state through a phased reopening plan in attempts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, published in black and white on a revised reopening plan, there is a date for the pool to reopen. The plan given to the Newton Recreation Commission by Rec Commission staff lists June 15 as the day to get into the water. If the plan stands, the pool will be open for four hours a day, with likely two evening swims a week for families. It will not be available for group rentals, though local swim teams will be able to use the pool.
(Read more: Newton Kansan)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:04:32-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Neosho County to assist Erie 101 district

Neosho County Commissioners voted Thursday evening to assist the Erie school district with improperly-installed air conditioning at the high school. Erie’s USD 101 Superintendent Troy Damman requested assistance from the funds Apex Clean Energy, developer of the Neosho Ridge Wind electric generation project, is paying in lieu of property taxes (PILOT funds). Commissioners voted to provide $200,000 to correct improper installation of Erie High School’s ground-source heat pump. The funds will also assist with curriculum and textbook updates and safety at the Galesburg Middle School, which is part of USD 101.
(Read more: www.chanute.com)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:06:29-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Survey finds 32 states withholding CARES aid to local governments

The National League of Cities reports that 32 states are withholding federal funding to local governments that was approved under the CARES Act that was signed into law March 27. The survey completed May 18 found most municipal governments have received “no indication when, or if, funds will ever be made available,” the NLC said. Many congressional lawmakers have been under the impression that local governments already have received a share of the CARES Act funding, but that’s not the case. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act established a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund that dispersed $8 billion to tribal governments, $3 billion to territories and the District of Columbia and the remaining $139 billion to all states as well as counties and cities with populations over 500,000.
(Read more: The Bond Buyer)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:11-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Centura Health – St. Catherine Hospital, LiveWell Finney County work together to distribute much-needed supplies

With the number of positive COVID-19 cases continuing to rise rapidly in several southwest Kansas communities, Centura Health – St. Catherine Hospital saw a growing need for supplies and community outreach in the region. After identifying the need, Centura Health, a health system covering Colorado and western Kansas, rounded up supplies to the tune of 25,000 masks, 2,000 eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer, and gloves and deployed them to Garden City. In Saturday and Sunday, a team of leaders and caregivers from Centura Health-St. Catherine Hospital and representatives of LiveWell Finney County rolled up their sleeves and began distributing the supplies, as well as informational handouts about COVID-19, to residents in some high-risk neighborhoods in Garden City.
(Read more: Greater Garden City » Feed)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:20-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

April passenger traffic decreased 95% at Eisenhower National Airport

Wichita’s Eisenhower airport reports a 95% decrease in airline traffic in April of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019. The monthly passenger total this April was 7,363 people. Last year’s April numbers stand at 136,125. For the year, passengers are down 36%. COVID-19 has devastated air travel around the country and the world as passengers have virtually stopped traveling. Fear of catching the virus, stay-at-home orders and closures have kept people home. As required by the CARES ACT, airlines reduced flights to a bare minimum. At ICT, capacity for quarter two of 2020 has been slashed 50% compared to Q2 2019.
(Read more: KAKE – News)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:32-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Kansas unemployment surges to 11.2% in April, number out of work up 130,000 from year ago

The Kansas unemployment rate quadrupled in April to 11.2% as coronavirus infection and the government’s response to the pandemic reverberated through the state’s economy, officials said Friday. The Kansas Department of Labor reported unemployment in Kansas escalated as COVID-19 spread. The state’s jobless mark was 2.8% in March. The comparable figure was 3.2% in April 2019. The seasonally adjusted estimate showed total Kansas nonfarm jobs declined by 130,400 from March. Private-sector employment, which is a subset of total nonfarm jobs, fell by 121,600 from the previous month, while government decreased by 8,800 jobs.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:45-05:00May 25, 2020|News|

Rose Hill music festival cancelled

Rose Hill’s summer music festival, which is usually held in June, has been cancelled. The event’s organizer, Gerald Amato, said that “with the uncertainty of public gatherings we faced this year, we decided that this event would not be able to take place this June. There is a lot of planning that takes place, [and] it was very difficult to know when we would be able to have the event.” The music festival will return in 2021.
(Read more: DerbyInformer.com – news,news/)

Ranson Financial2020-05-26T07:08:58-05:00May 25, 2020|News|