Future of downtown Wichita being planned

The future of downtown Wichita is already being planned. The planning and design firm Sasaki is partnering with Downtown Wichita to develop an action plan for 2035. The executive director of Downtown Wichita says the firm is helping guide them in transforming the city’s core and focusing on attracting development. Housing is a key part of that growth. Sasaki will send a team to Wichita in the spring to hold community workshops, get input and create a plan to present to Downtown Wichita.
Source: KSN-TV

info2024-12-11T08:50:17-06:00December 11, 2024|News|

Kansas broadband internet disparities persist despite huge investments

It doesn’t take a lightning-quick internet connection to theorize income, education and geographic disparities underly Kansas’ digital divide. But the nonprofit and nonpartisan Kansas Health Institute’s latest research demonstrated with online county-by-county maps that broadband deficits and computer ownership gaps plaguing Kansas were intertwined with social and demographic influences. Thirty-one percent of low-income Kansas households making less than $20,000 annually didn’t have high-speed connections, KHI said. However, 4.5% of Kansas households earning more than $75,000 were in the same predicament in terms of broadband access.
Source: Kansas Reflector

info2024-12-11T08:48:45-06:00December 11, 2024|News|

A total phone ban for students: What Kansas is recommending to school districts

Kansas K-12 education officials are telling local districts that they should ban students from using phones in classrooms — and during the entire school day. The Kansas State Board of Education voted unanimously on Tuesday to formally accept the recommendations of a task force established earlier this year to study student screen time and cellphone use in schools. Local school districts aren’t required to follow the new recommendations.
Source: CJonline

info2024-12-10T13:55:20-06:00December 10, 2024|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for December 9, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt2024-12-10T09:58:23-06:00December 10, 2024|News|

Wichita City Hall spent $3.4 million on police retention bonuses. Did they work?

At least 48 Wichita Police Department employees who received $5,000 retention bonuses last December left their jobs within a year, The Wichita Eagle has found. And they get to keep the money. The Wichita City Council reopened the city’s negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police last year to approve $3.4 million in unplanned spending for the bonuses in an effort to encourage officers to stay with the department in the wake of a mayoral election where police staffing was the dominant topic.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

info2024-12-10T09:22:30-06:00December 10, 2024|News|

Lawrence City Commission to consider plan for separated bike lanes on section of Mass Street

Lawrence city staff members are recommending a design for the stretch of Massachusetts Street between 14th and 19th streets that includes 3-foot curbs to separate bike lanes from vehicle traffic. Community members asked the Lawrence City Commission in April to push for the stretch of road, which was already set for a redesign, to include protected bike lanes. City staff members looked at street designs with protected bike lanes in several cities to help evaluate options. The proposed design would include one lane of vehicle traffic in each direction, a center lane for turns, and 5-foot-wide bike lanes separated from the street by a 3-foot-wide median. Residents along the stretch could put their trash carts in the median zone, and solid waste workers could complete trash pickup from the lanes of traffic, according to the meeting agenda.
Source: The Lawrence Times

info2024-12-10T09:20:27-06:00December 10, 2024|News|

Cyber attack on plant detailed

The FBI and Homeland Security have completed their investigation of the cyberattack against the Arkansas City water treatment plant that occurred in late September. City Manager Randy Frazer gave a report of those findings to the city commission last week. He said that a detailed analysis by Homeland Security’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed that no data had been acquired during the attack. He said according to the report, files were accessed but no staging or transfer of data took place. “There was no personal information compromised,” he said. “None of the citizens information of the employee’s information, so we’ll be closing that investigation out.” But the attack was costly for the city. Frazer said the city carries insurance for such attacks that only covered the legal fees and investigation costs. He said those costs came to $58,550, of which all but the $10,000 deductible was reimbursed.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

info2024-12-10T09:18:39-06:00December 10, 2024|News|

Commerce Launches New Quality of Place Grant for Rural Revitalization

Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced today the launch of the new Towns grant program. This program is an initiative designed to spur quality-of-place improvements in rural Kansas communities that have received no funding from the Kansas Department of Commerce in the past three years. This new opportunity will have $100,000 available for its first round of funding. The program provides grants that range from $1,000 to $10,000 to support small-scaled projects that will deliver meaningful results in rural communities, with a focus on increasing local capacity, fostering community and youth engagement, and mobilizing volunteers and local investment…. Grant applications open Monday, December 16, and will close February 28, 2025. Awardees will be announced mid-April 2025.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

info2024-12-09T14:53:24-06:00December 9, 2024|News|

Kansas Tourism Announces 13 Attraction Development Grant Awardees

Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced that more than $400,000 has been awarded for projects that will boost tourism throughout the state. Funding from the Attraction Development Grant program, which focuses on assisting local communities in the development of sustainable travel experiences through new and existing tourism attractions, will be divided among 13 entities…. The grant program is an initiative designed to provide financial assistance to public, private and nonprofit entities to invest in enhancing tourism across the state. The initiative will create a positive economic impact through job creation, capital investment, higher revenue and increased visitation.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

info2024-12-09T14:52:34-06:00December 9, 2024|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for December 6, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt2024-12-09T09:38:14-06:00December 9, 2024|News|