Republican lawmakers are eying punitive measures for Kansas school districts, including potentially having them repay state aid meant to target students who are the highest risk of not graduating, after a state audit found that administrators haven’t followed strict guidelines for those funds. Among several other education issues, the Kansas Legislature’s Special Committee on Education honed in on the results of a report this summer from the Kansas Legislative Post Audit that examined how schools used more than $400 million in at-risk funding during the 2021-22 school year. ... The audit, released over the summer as a follow-up to a 2019 [...]

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.

Putting on special events will now cost less in Salina after the city commission approved a reduction in permit fees for such events at its meeting Monday. The move, which sees the city's Special Event Permit fee cut in half, comes after many people in the community were concerned that events, like the annual Salina Toy Run, would not continue because of the increase of fees. City Manager Mike Schrage said the fee process for getting a special event permit is two-fold, with an initial application fee and then a fee for the permit itself. "The permit fee is after the [...]

It's fall festival season and one of Hutchinson's newest favorites is Hutch Fest, which will take place Friday and Saturday downtown. In its third year, organizers say the two-day festival is even more jam-packed with activities than ever before, with a hot rod and classic car show, a 5K and fun run, a craft brew festival, live music, food, movies and other fun activities for all ages. "We brought back Hutch Fest after years of not having this annual event," said Amy Conkling, assistant executive director of Hutch Rec. "Hutch Fest was a huge hit in the 80s and 90s, and [...]

With visitors coming from around the world in numbers that more than triple the town's population, the biennial Svensk Hyllningsfest is back this month in Lindsborg, Kansas' own "Little Sweden." Meaning "Swedish Honoring Festival," Hyllningsfest, founded in 1941, takes place every odd-numbered year and celebrates the Swedish immigrants and pioneers who settled in the Smoky Valley during the late 1860s. Festivalgoers will join with the community to "become Swedish" with art, crafts, music, food and entertainment happening throughout the day on Oct. 13 and 14. Source: Hutch News

Salina will host top high school tennis players from across the state this weekend for the first time in two decades. The Kansas State High School Activities Association's 5A Girls State Tennis Tournament will be held in Salina for the first time since 2003, after the completion of a new state of the art tennis facility in town made it possible. For at least five years, the city, school district and community partners have been working on getting local tennis facilities up to a higher standard. The culmination of this effort resulted in updates to the Salina South tennis courts ahead [...]