Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $770 Million for Rural Infrastructure Projects During Investing in America Tour

22 Thursday, February 22

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $770 Million for Rural Infrastructure Projects During Investing in America Tour

info2024-02-22T09:32:30-06:00February 22nd, 2024|

During a visit to Edgecombe County, N.C., a Rural Partners Network community, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden today announced that USDA is funding 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands to bring high-speed internet, clean water, state-of-the-art infrastructure and economic growth to rural communities as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda. The new projects, totaling $772.6 million in investments, will benefit more than 1 million people living in remote areas of the country by providing reliable high-speed internet access, clean, safe water and a range [...]

21 Wednesday, February 21

Municipal Bond Trends for February 20, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-02-21T08:17:08-06:00February 21st, 2024|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. 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.

21 Wednesday, February 21

Narcan vending machine gives Hutchinson tool to prevent overdose deaths

info2024-02-21T07:14:54-06:00February 21st, 2024|

Hutchinson will soon have a vending machine available that dispenses free Narcan so the public will have quick access to life-saving intervention in opioid overdoses. The vending machine will be officially introduced 11 a.m. Thursday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Crossover Recovery Center, 400 W. 2nd Ave. A new naloxone vending machine is located at Crossover Recovery Center, 400 W 2nd Ave. to provide free public access to emergency opioid overdose medication. Residents can access the free naloxone by simply entering their ZIP code. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. Source: Hutch [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Privatizing cemetery upkeep in Galena

info2024-02-20T21:02:21-06:00February 20th, 2024|

The City of Galena has something in the works when it comes to its cemeteries. It's accepting bids from contractors to privatize upkeep at the three it currently owns and maintains "The Old Galena,” "Oak Hill," and "Hillcrest" cemeteries. ... "We believe that the cemeteries deserve the utmost respect, and they need to look pristine all the time. We do our best to keep, to make that — although sometimes we fall short. So, our hope is that by putting out for bid, we will have some contractors put some bids in that are within our budget — that they can [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

McAnarney agrees to Marion’s interim city administrator role

info2024-02-20T12:14:36-06:00February 20th, 2024|

There’s a new position ahead for Mark McAnarney, if only for a short period of time. McAnarney has reached an agreement with Marion city officials to serve as the city’s interim city administrator. The Marion County Record says McAnarney begins his work Thursday. The Record also says McAnarney will work three days a week at a full-day rate of $488 per day or a five-hour maximum of $244 per day. Employee benefits will not be included. Marion had been looking for a city manager after the resignation of Brogan Jones on Nov. 15. There is currently no word on when the city [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

New $20M Overland Park police training facility back on table

info2024-02-20T12:13:33-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Overland Park is almost ready to move ahead on a new Overland Park Police Department training facility and some other major public safety investments. In the city’s draft capital improvement plan list for 2025-28, the city has budgeted nearly $20 million for the new facility. Overland Park plans to build the new training center at police headquarters, on the W. Jack Sanders Justice Center campus located at 12400 Foster St. Source: Johnson County Post

20 Tuesday, February 20

Brown County commissioners meet with planning committee over survey results

info2024-02-20T12:10:33-06:00February 20th, 2024|

The Brown County commissioners-Richard Lehmkuhl of District 1, Lamar Shoemaker of District 2 and William Pollock of District 3-met with Brown County Planning Commission members-who included Bill Vonderschmidt-on Monday over results collected from the survey conducted by Olathe-based ETC Institute. The commissioners and Planning Commission met with ETC Director of Community Research Jason Morado via Zoom call about the 2023 Community Survey that was conducted in Brown County. Morado gave some specifics of the survey. “The survey was five pages long,” Morado said. “On average, it takes residents about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey. The survey was administered by a [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

North Newton pursuing public transportation

info2024-02-20T12:09:40-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Harvey County entities have been meeting to talk about a transportation planning grant. That’s what North Newton City Administrator Kyle Fiedler told North Newton City Council members during their regular Monday night meeting this week at City Hall. Those entities include North Newton, Newton, Harvey County, Bethel College, USD-373, NMC Health, Prairie View, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, housing authorities and several others. “The plan would help identify options for transportation in Newton and North Newton,” Fiedler said. “Options could include a fixed schedule route that a bus runs through both communities or an on-demand service, where a person requests a ride and [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Manhattan discusses housing in newest downtown plan

info2024-02-20T20:52:51-06:00February 20th, 2024|

City commissioner Karen McCulloh says downtown development plans need to focus more on creating housing. During a presentation on the city’s updated Beyond Tomorrow downtown plan at Tuesday’s commission meeting, McCulloh said there should be less emphasis on building office space and more on developing residential areas. She pointed to the higher rate of people working from home since the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for this. “It appears to me that we seriously need to put more housing in every nook and cranny down there,” McCulloh said. Senior planner Ben Chmiel, who presented the most recent version of the Downtown [...]

20 Tuesday, February 20

Pittsburg Ascension Via Christi transfers ownership to Mercy

info2024-02-20T10:47:19-06:00February 20th, 2024|

Mercy Joplin announced Thursday they will take over Ascension Via Christi in Pittsburg – and planning for that transition is now underway. Mercy Hospital administrators expect it will be official in about four months – and there are already some goals for the future mercy hospital in Pittsburg. They plan to expand primary care options, saying there aren’t currently enough for the market. And Mercy Hospital officials expect to offer more choices for patients in need of specialty medical care. “We want to strengthen the current specialists that they have. They’ve got really good physicians. We’re going to do that with recruitment, some outreach [...]