City of Topeka to hold budget engagement workshops

Topeka’s city government on Tuesday will hold the first of nine public engagement workshops aimed at giving citizens a chance to learn about the city’s process of crafting its 2021 budget.

The gatherings come at a time when city manager Brent Trout has said he might ask the mayor and city council to vote later this year to raise Topeka’s property tax mill levy for the first time they have voted to do that since August 2013.

The mayor and council are expected in August to consider approving the city’s 2021 budget.

“How would you spend $96.5 million of the city of Topeka’s money?” the city asked Monday in a news release announcing the upcoming workshops.

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:13:29-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Shawnee County property values rise most north of Kansas River

Shawnee County property values recently increased by more in areas north of the Kansas River than in areas south of the river, county appraiser Steve Bauman said Monday.

About 80% of properties in Shawnee County saw a rise in their valuation, with values increasing on average by 4% for residential properties and 3% for commercial properties, Bauman told County Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays at their morning meeting.

Bauman showed the commission a graphic illustrating that valuations rose by an average of 4% in most areas north of the Kansas River, compared to 3% in most areas south of the river.

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:12:41-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Lawmakers want school districts to perform budget assessments

Kansas lawmakers are looking at bringing more oversight to how schools create their budgets.

The Senate Education Committee discussed a bill Monday that would require school districts to conduct a yearly assessment of student needs. Districts would then use that information to create the annual budget. The goal is that district money will be allocated to areas that would best help students succeed.

“What we as legislators are wanting to do, again, is to circle back and make sure that school districts are very intentional in how they’re spending the money,” explained Senator Molly Baumgardner, (R) Louisburg.

Supporters of the bill say the required assessment would help school districts better serve the needs of at-risk or under-performing students.

(Read more: KSN-TV)

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:11:44-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Area lakes among clearest in Kansas

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has announced rankings of the clearest lakes in the state — and several of those at the top of the list are located in the Mined Land Wildlife Areas scattered throughout Crawford and Cherokee counties.

“Aquatic vegetation, underwater structures, and even fish may be visible at these lakes, providing a unique view of what lies beneath the waters’ surface,” the KDWPT press release notes. “From paddleboarders looking for that Instagram-worthy photo, to anglers after the ultimate fishing challenge, Kansas’ clearest lakes should be a part of your 2020 travel plans.”

(Read more: Pittsburg, KS – Morning Sun)

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:11:05-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Recycling changes ripple across Harvey County

Following a discussion of recycling policies late last year between Harvey County administration, the county commission and the county’s outside contractor, Waste Connections, changes went into effect at the start of 2020.

With a shrinking market for recyclables and a growing contamination rate among the loads being brought in to the Harvey County Solid Waste transfer station, Waste Connections came before the county commission with two options this past fall — to restructure its contracted hauling rates or eliminate the county’s policy on mandatory recycling.

Harvey County commissioners officially moved to repeal Resolution 2010-8, enforcing mandatory recycling for county residents, in November 2019 and also approved the implementation of a new system with bans and fines to be levied to haulers bringing in recycling loads that exceeded the acceptable contamination rate (10%) for Waste Connections.

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:07:37-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Wichita Mayor Whipple takes Hot Ones challenge; eats fiery wings and says funny stuff

It’s not every day you get to watch the mayor of a large midwestern city snarf down eye-wateringly hot hot wings while being interviewed about his personal life.

But that actually happened Monday night at Newman University, where Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple joined two other local notables, Miss Kansas Annika Wooten and Newman basketball coach R.J. Allen, in a “Hot Ones” style challenge.

The event, part of Newman’s basketball homecoming week, was a local takeoff on the hit Web series in which celebrities answer interviewer questions while gagging on progressively spicy chicken wings. A television version of the show premiers Thursday on the truTV network.

(Watch: Local News |)

Ranson Financial2020-02-19T06:42:49-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Firefighters who can sew? Shawnee team may get teased but save department time, money

When a firefighter rips his or her uniform, repairing it isn’t quite as simple as ironing on a patch. Although it used to take weeks or months of waiting and thousands of dollars to repair their gear, the firefighters at the John B. Glaser Fire Station in Shawnee can have everything fixed in a few days.

Capt. Andy Fenstermann, who has been a firefighter for Shawnee for seven years, was the first to take on the task of learning to repair firefighting gear. And it’s not quite as simple as many might think. At the time, Fenstermann had pants that needed to be fixed.

“I actually approached the chief with, ‘Hey, can my mom just fix these?’ And he said, ‘No.’ So I did a little bit of research and found that most manufacturers for the gear will teach you how to sew and certify you in fixing your own bunker gear for your department, and they’ll do it for free,” he said.

(Read more: Joco 913 News)

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T17:03:28-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Changes coming to look of Hutchinson water tower – eventually

The City Council on Tuesday agreed to relight the city’s elevated water tower off of Avenue A with spotlights shining up from the ground, rather than atop the tower.

The board, however, couldn’t reach consensus on a paint design for the million-gallon tank which marks the city’s southern entrance and tabled the issue for two weeks.

The city staff presented two design options.

The first is with the entire tower painted in a blue-gray color, with the Hutchinson city flag and the word “Hutchinson” in black across the top half of the tank.

(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)

Ranson Financial2020-02-19T06:41:14-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Uniontown High School moving away from standardized testing

The Uniontown Schools Board of Education is receiving an update on a re-design project at the high school.
Uniontown High School wants to move the focus away from standardized testing to prepare juniors and seniors for after high school.
The school will provide break-out sessions for students to learn life skills.
Some of the sessions will discuss filing taxes, buying a car, personal finance, credit card education, surviving the first year of college, and more.
The school district is currently in the planning phase and hopes to completely implement the re-design next school year.

Ranson Financial2020-02-19T06:42:01-06:00February 18, 2020|News|

Nine-month long boil water advisory lifted for City of Ozawkie

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced it’s rescinded a 9-month long boil water advisory on Tuesday. The advisory was issued on May 11, 2019 due to a flooded well.

People of Ozawkie had to get their drinking water from bottles or from a tank of water brought to the middle of the town.

KDHE said the latest laboratory testing samples collected don’t show any evidence of contamination. The department also said all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed to be resolved.

(Read more: KSNT News)

Ranson Financial2020-02-18T16:58:59-06:00February 18, 2020|News|