Flamingo at Kansas lake draws visitors

29 Friday, September 29

Flamingo at Kansas lake draws visitors

info2023-09-29T07:50:28-05:00September 29th, 2023|

The Chase County State Fishing Lake is a popular place to be Thursday after a flamingo was spotted seemingly enjoying the warm Kansas weather. The local sheriff's office says the bird's name is Flint. "We know this is an unusual sight to see and the lake is a popular place today," the Chase County Sheriff's Office said. "So with that said we remind everyone to please watch for pedestrians and park where access is not restricted." The sheriff's office said state game wardens have been contacted and that people should not attempt to catch the flamingo. Source: KAKE - News

29 Friday, September 29

Lawsuit against City of Wichita claims court system doesn’t do psych evaluations before trial

info2023-09-29T07:48:25-05:00September 29th, 2023|

A lawsuit against the City of Wichita covers what its court system is not offering certain defendants. That class action lawsuit claims Wichita's Municipal Court doesn't provide psychological evaluations to determine if a defendant suspected of having mental health issues should stand trial. The lawsuit says The City has been wrongfully convicting people who aren't competent for years and it needs to stop. Attorney Mark Schoenhofer says his client was wrongly convicted on charges related to drugs, petty theft, and urinating in public because there was no psych evaluation before she went to trial. Source: KAKE - News

29 Friday, September 29

More affordable tiny homes coming to McPherson

info2023-09-29T07:46:20-05:00September 29th, 2023|

"It's a $1.2 million project that will build seven homes, permanent homes for families and provide supportive services. Which means they need a doctor, if they need to get a better job, if they need education, if they need to get an attorney, we can actually provide those services for those families so that they stay stably housed," said Chris Goodson with the McPherson Housing Coalition. Source: KAKE - News

29 Friday, September 29

Johnson County is creating more courts to divert people to treatment, not jail

info2023-09-29T07:44:55-05:00September 29th, 2023|

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health approximately “44% of people in jails and 37% of people in prison have a mental illness.” The number of people in prison with a substance abuse issue is estimated to be 65%. Specialty courts with focuses on veterans, mental health and drug treatment are systems aimed at providing individualized plans for qualifying offenders to treat underlying issues that may have contributed to non-violent crimes. Currently, Johnson County has a veterans treatment court and juvenile drug court, and in October, the 10th Judicial District will begin operating a mental health and adult drug treatment court. [...]

29 Friday, September 29

Wichita explains why it is selling off affordable housing

info2023-09-29T08:27:57-05:00September 29th, 2023|

Two days after the City of Wichita announced it is selling 13 public housing units, the mayor explained why and what it could mean for people who need public housing. Why? "A lot of these houses, keep in mind, are not occupied," Mayor Brandon Whipple said. "Frankly, they are the ones I get calls about on, 'Why are they boarded up?' 'The city owns this,' and 'It's a drag on the neighborhood.'" He said there is a blight issue with the houses, so the city wants to find buyers to get the homes fixed and then get people living in the [...]

29 Friday, September 29

Municipal Bond Trends for September 28, 2023

Henry Schmidt2023-09-29T00:52:49-05:00September 29th, 2023|

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.

28 Thursday, September 28

Kansas Is Attracting Wealthy Millennials

info2023-09-28T10:20:20-05:00September 28th, 2023|

The millennial generation — those currently aged 27 to 42 — is America’s largest, and as they move solidly into their peak earning and spending years, they are quickly asserting their economic power. Millennials faced a tough economic outlook in their early working years. The impacts of the Great Recession, unprecedented levels of student loan debt, and stagnant wage growth made it difficult to find good jobs and build wealth. But over time, the outlook has improved. Millennials are now the largest segment of the labor force. Within the last few years, they have also become the largest share of homebuyers.⁴ [...]

28 Thursday, September 28

Kansas attorney general proposes statewide limits on foreign ownership, leasing of land

info2023-09-28T10:18:24-05:00September 28th, 2023|

Attorney General Kris Kobach floated a proposal Tuesday calling on the Kansas Legislature to ban foreign individual and corporate purchases of parcels of land bigger than 10 acres and to limit leases of land by foreign entities to two years in a bid to constrain the influence of adversarial countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Kobach, who testified before a joint House and Senate committee dedicated to foreign investments and land purchases, said the solution to bigger and bigger slices of Kansas’ 52 million acres being gobbled up by companies, people or governments outside the United States was [...]

28 Thursday, September 28

Augusta’s four legged “weed eaters”

info2023-09-28T10:16:43-05:00September 28th, 2023|

The City of Augusta has hired 140 new employees to clear out a tangle of weeds and poison ivy. That may sound like a lot of workers, but these contractors are much easier to get along with and require zero time to train. Those workers aren’t human, but in fact a herd of locally raised goats! When Frank Sortini, Parks Superintendent for The City of Augusta, received a called from Rex Rutledge, Owner of Restoration Grazing, he knew it was the perfect time to bring in the goats. It’s been a goal of Sortini’s to switch the city’s weed management to [...]

28 Thursday, September 28

Peabody water main break drains tower

info2023-09-29T08:30:18-05:00September 28th, 2023|

A Tuesday night water main rupture in Peabody drained the entire water tower and the city is now under a boil water advisory. City clerk Jylle Wilson said water was gushing out of the ground like “a very large fountain” when a resident spotted it on 5th St. between Locust and Plum Sts. at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The water main break was located six blocks from the water tower. The crack in the six-inch pipe was six feet long, Wilson said. Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal