Study determines central Topeka could support a full-service grocery store

After the Dillons food market at 1400 S.W. Huntoon St. closed almost four years ago, residents of central Topeka’s neighborhoods were devastated.

“I knew it was coming, because me and the manager, Bob, talked a lot,” said Emma Ray, who was a resident of central Topeka at the time. “But it was like, ‘Oh my god. What are we going to do now?’ ”

Ray has since moved to another area of the capital city, but the longtime central Topekan makes a point to stay connected with her former neighbors.

Ranson Financial2020-01-09T06:57:30-06:00January 9, 2020|News|

Dog park proposed for Marion County Lake

Marion County Park and Lake is the newest proposed site of a dog park Marion’s girl scouts have been working on for months.
The original proposed site was south of the Marion High School football stadium.
When that didn’t work, the girl scout troop got permission to install it across the street from Ann’s Park on N. Roosevelt St.
The troop’s fence installer said water drainage would cause a problem there, so the troop asked Marion council members if the dog park could be installed at Ann’s Park.

(Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Ranson Financial2020-01-09T06:57:09-06:00January 9, 2020|News|

Why Shawnee Mission Teachers – Already The Best Paid In Kansas – Are Asking For More Money

Negotiators for the Shawnee Mission School District and the teachers union are at an impasse and will now present their cases to a neutral party. On one side are teachers who feel overworked and underpaid. On the other side are school administrators who say the union’s demands will ultimately put the district in the red. It’s a dispute with deep roots in the Great Recession and all the years Kansas seriously underfunded schools, happening amidst a national conversation on teacher pay. “We’ve reached a critical point,” said Samantha Feinberg, an English teacher at Shawnee Mission East. “We need the district leadership to know that we can’t do our best for students and for families.” Now what’s known as a “fact finder” is getting involved. Appointed by the Kansas Department of Labor, the fact finder will hear both parties out before making a recommendation.

(Read more: )

Ranson Financial2020-01-09T06:54:39-06:00January 9, 2020|News|

County’s bill for autopsies tops $10,000

Marion County spent $10,216 in 2019 to have autopsies conducted in Kansas City and Wichita but there is no good alternative, said Karen Selznick, an assistant in Marion County Attorney’s office.
According to Marion County’s 2019 reports, there were three autopsies conducted at Frontier Forensics Midwest in Kansas City, which cost $5,150 between them.
“It’s just something we have to do,” Selznick said. “We’ve recently had a rash of them, but it doesn’t normally work that way.”

(Read more: PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin)

Ranson Financial2020-01-09T07:02:56-06:00January 9, 2020|News|

Another push to save Century II, but will it help?

In an effort to help save Century II, a local group is petitioning to gain more than 5,000 signatures in hopes of moving the process one step forward.

From buttons to yard signs and even t-shirts, Century II supporters are now pushing harder to save one of the city’s icons.

“This is our chance to make a stand,” said Celeste Racette with Save Century II.

(Read more: KSN-TV)

Ranson Financial2020-01-09T06:55:05-06:00January 9, 2020|News|

Pott. County Sheriff aiming to improve community outreach, launching new social media page

Pottawatomie County Sheriff Shane Jager (left) and Undersheriff Doug Adams (right) appeared on KMAN’s In Focus on Wednesday morning. (Brandon Peoples/KMAN)

Some changes are on the horizon for outreach efforts for the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office.

Shane Jager was promoted in November by the Pottawatomie County Republican Party from Undersheriff to Sheriff, replacing Greg Riat who resigned to take a position on the county commission. Jager is serving the remainder of the term and has filed for re-election as Sheriff in 2020.

Jager has worked with the department since 1993, spending 15 years as the Undersheriff before his promotion. One of his top priorities since taking over has been improving how the department communicates its efforts to the public.

(Read more: 1350 KMAN)

Ranson Financial2020-01-08T19:15:18-06:00January 8, 2020|News|

Topeka City Council OKs ordinance regarding panhandling

Topeka’s city government will ban pedestrians — including panhandlers — from interacting with people in vehicles at 23 of Topeka’s most dangerous intersections, though not at any other crossings.

City council members voted 8-1 Tuesday evening to approve an ordinance putting those rules in place.

Council members Sandra Clear, Sylvia Ortiz, Tony Emerson, Mike Padilla, Brendan Jensen, Neil Dobler, Jeff Coen and Mike Lesser voted in favor of the proposal. Councilwoman Karen Hiller voted against it.

Hiller said she couldn’t support the ordinance because she questioned whether it would really “advance anything” in terms of safety. She said she wasn’t aware of panhandling having been responsible for crashes at any of the intersections listed on the proposal approved Tuesday.

Ranson Financial2020-01-08T19:06:54-06:00January 8, 2020|News|

Saline County to pay $800K up front for new road equipment

In a unanimous vote during its 9 a.m. Tuesday meeting, the Saline County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of the 2020 Caterpillar 150 units from a bid by Foley Equipment.

The bid includes a trade guarantee for the machines, meaning that in five years or 7,500 hours of use, Foley will guarantee a trade value to the county of over $500,000 total for the three machines.

According the request for action document, although there is a high up-front cost to purchase the equipment, the total cost when taking the trade guarantee into account is only $309,297.

(Read more: News – Salina Journal)

Ranson Financial2020-01-08T19:05:23-06:00January 8, 2020|News|

Leawood council signs off on final development plan for Ranch Mart North, paving way for major work to begin

The Leawood city council this week approved final development plans for a major revamp of the northern portion of Ranch Mart Shopping Center at 95th Street and Mission, paving the way for substantial construction work to being in the coming weeks.

The council approved a 1% community improvement district sales tax application in April 2019. Funds from that CID, which will increase the sales tax from 9.1% to 10.1% for purchases at stores in the center north of 95th Street starting July 1, will provide an estimated $13.45 million toward the total project cost of $47 million.

Trip Ross of Cadence Commercial Real Estate, which represents the property’s owner, Bob Regnier, who is also President and CEO of the Bank of Blue Valley, said patrons can expect to start seeing work on the exterior part of the project getting under way soon.

Ranson Financial2020-01-08T18:59:32-06:00January 8, 2020|News|

Abrupt closure shocks some Basic Energy employees in Pratt

Basic Energy Services, LP with corporate offices in Ft. Worth, Texas, shut down their Pratt pumping operation mid-December, laying off the entire work crew of an estimated 25 employees.

“It was a shock and unexpected. I didn’t see it coming,” said Darrell Martinez of Pratt, who had been employed as a Basic Energy Services driver for seven years.

Rocky Pierce, also of Pratt and another of the laid-off employees, said the shutdown didn’t take him by surprise, given the current economics of the oil field industry.

The shutdown affected 13 Basic Energy drilling operations in six states, with the Pratt and Liberal locations being the only ones in the state of Kansas.

(Read more: Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune)

Ranson Financial2020-01-08T18:57:48-06:00January 8, 2020|News|

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