Local photographer retires, becomes new utility clerk

Longtime Hiawatha resident Deb Christian started her first full day as the new utility clerk for the City of Hiawatha on Dec. 3. Christian’s official start day was on Dec. 1, which is the same day she retired from photography and operating Deb’s Images. “I’m still finishing out some accounts in my photography business,” Christian said. “But I’m not taking any new clients.” Christian learned about the utility clerk position in the newspaper and saw it on Facebook a few times. “It was a couple of months ago,” Christian recalled. “And I thought ‘I wonder if I am qualified to do that job,’ decided to step out of my comfort zone and apply and that’s what happened. And I got it!” Christian is in her training phase in the clerk position. She also remarked that it has kept her busy and she is being trained on processing water payments. “There’s a lot to learn!” Christian remarked. Before becoming a utility clerk, Christian practiced photography for 30 years, and has operated a storefront for 25. She remembered enjoying photography but also gave reasons for needing to retire. “I loved every aspect of it except for the physical part, which was getting to be harder and harder and harder for me as I get older,” Christian explained. “And I have some health issues that are restricting me from doing the best of my ability.”
Source: Local News | hiawathaworldonline.com

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T11:02:42-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Pool code update goes to Derby’s trades board

Following lengthy discussion and input, the Derby City Council took action at its Nov. 28 meeting for staff to take pool code language changes to the Building Trades Advisory board for review. The change would be to the international residential code (IRC) portion of the municipal code. After council feedback, staff brought an amended pool code policy forward for consideration. The updated policy would leave all pool safety requirements currently in the municipal code (needing security fencing, to follow nuisance abatement requirements, etc.) for in-ground and above-ground pools over 24” in height. However, any soft-sided above-ground pools (defined as movable prefabricated swimming pools that are constructed with nonmetallic, molded polymeric walls, or inflatable fabric walls) would be exempt from permitting requirements. Staff reported Derby has permitted and inspected 66 in-ground pools and 16 above-ground pools since 2018.
Source: Derby Informer | News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T11:10:44-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

The state, county and Ideatek undertake Internet project for eastern Harvey County

The Kansas Office of Broadband Development awarded $3.9 million to Ideatek to fund building 150 miles of fiber-optic lines to serve 450 residents and businesses in eastern Harvey County. Harvey County, in turn, will pay up $250,000 for the project. In a release, Ideatek stated the total cost of the project to be $5 million. “This grant really helps us hit that business case that we need to bring fiber optic out to these rural areas,” James Krstolich, community and public relations manager for Ideatek, said. “The whole point of these grants is they help us get to these residents that wouldn’t be served any other way.” County Commissioner Randy Hague stated in the release by Ideatek that the expansion will provide improved access to information and services for residents and businesses alike. “These grant funds will deliver meaningful service in their everyday lives,” he said. “We appreciate Ideatek and the Kansas Department of Commerce for collaborating on this opportunity to benefit our citizens.” According to the release, the project will begin in 2024 and will be completed in phases. The work would connect into the City of Walton.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:57:13-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

A Hidden Risk in the Municipal Bond Market: Hackers

Local governments are spending big to mop up after hacks and prevent new ones. That means peril—and opportunity—for the investors who buy their bonds. Hacks are on the rise across all industries, but the public sector’s weak protections make it an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals. Cybercrime has left schools, hospitals and utilities from Baltimore to Los Angeles struggling to pay ransom, restore services and boost security. Finances have suffered, threatening credit ratings. The number of K-12 public schools suffering ransomware attacks almost doubled between 2021 and 2022 to almost 2,000 a year, according to a report by Emsisoft, a cybersecurity company. The growing use of technology in education, which was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as healthcare’s reliance on IT infrastructure, has made schools and hospitals particularly vulnerable, according to analysts. “This year alone, we’ve seen a lot more of these attacks compared to prior years, and it’s a concern that has come up in almost every discussion that we have with issuers,” said Li Yang, lead analyst at S&P Global Ratings.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T11:13:16-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Wichita library adds locks to some bathroom doors for public safety

As you walk to the family restrooms at the Advanced Learning Library in Downtown Wichita, you’ll run into a problem. A small silver lock. The only thing that can open it is a tiny gold coin that you get from the service desk. The library added the locks a couple of months ago because it says there were multiple incidents of people locking the doors and spreading human waste around the bathroom as well as other things. “We have had some instances to be quite honest of drug use, and some other things going on,” said Sean Jones, the library’s communications specialist. That’s why the library installed locks on two of its three family restroom doors about two months ago. Jones says there was originally some confusion but now most people understand why this change is taking place. “It’s a little bit more inconvenient but if it helps with safety it’s fine,” said library visitor Behrooz Rahbar. Jones says the family restroom in the children’s area remains unlocked because he knows sometimes children have emergencies and parents need to be able to access the restroom quickly. While there’s now a coin slot it is still completely free to use the public restroom. Visitors will need to go to the front desk to get a small gold coin that they will use to unlock the door.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:53:22-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Overland Park moves to allow e-bikes, e-scooters on city trails

Overland Park plans to permanently allow e-mobility devices, like e-bikes and electric scooters, on its city trails. On Monday, the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the new ordinance and the repeal of an existing one prohibiting motorized devices and vehicles on trails. “To me, this kind of seems like something that’s coming to us whether we like it or not,” Councilmember Logan Heley, who chairs the committee, said. “They’re probably going to use the trails whether we say it’s OK or not.” Former Councilmembers Scott Hamblin and Fred Spears previously sat on this committee, but their terms have expired and the mayor has yet to fill their seats on the committee. The proposed ordinance formalizes two pilot programs that allowed e-bikes and scooters on city bike and hiking trails. The initial pilot program, which started in 2020, permitted some e-bikes on Overland Park trails. About a year and a half later, the city expanded the pilot to include more types of e-bikes and scooters. Mike Burton, park project coordinator for Overland Park, told the committee this week that allowing e-bikes and scooters on the trails was met with mixed reviews from the community, though the feedback leaned positive overall.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:51:49-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Double Trouble: Investors Fight Fed on Two Fronts

Investors are betting against the Fed—twice over. The first bet is the sudden turn from expecting the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer to instead expecting rapid and deep cuts next year. The second bet is almost the exact opposite, that the Fed will have to keep rates much higher in the long run than it says it will. Treasury yields have come down, but at around 4.1% the 10-year yield remains more than 1.5 percentage points above the Fed’s forecast of long-run interest rates. Both bets go against the popular market dictum: Never fight the Fed. Yet, there are good reasons to think the Fed might be wrong, stronger in my view for the long-term wager than the short-term. The bet on rapid rate cuts became received wisdom remarkably quickly, which in itself is concerning. Six weeks ago the market was convinced that the Fed would keep rates high next year, with only two rate cuts priced in. Now, five cuts are priced in, against a Fed forecast in September of just one cut from current levels. The most extreme investors expect cuts really soon, with federal-fund futures showing a 14% chance of a rate cut in January, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T11:15:02-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Emporia discusses rental registrations, vacant property ordinance

City commissioners were undecided on how to proceed with possible rental registrations and updates to the vacant property ordinance on Wednesday afternoon. According to the Director of Building and Neighborhood Development, Kory Krause, the city last discussed rental registration “364 days ago,” but it has come up several times over the last few years. Krause said a rental registration program would help ensure safer rental properties and improve accountability of rental units within the City of Emporia. “We’re still having problems,” Krause said. “We do have issues with rental properties. We’ve had some bad landlords here in town.” He mentioned that about 51% of the single-family homes in Emporia are rental properties. The problem arises when people purchasing the properties aren’t transparent about their intentions and aren’t completing work up to code. “What they’re doing is buying them, flipping them, and renting them out,” Krause said. “Sometimes we don’t hear about it. We’ve come across shoddy work. … Most of these are unpermitted.” This means people are doing the work without pulling the appropriate permits with the city first.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T11:15:32-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Power back on for most of Emporia after ‘equipment failure’

The lights are back on for nearly 3,000 Evergy customers in Emporia after an “equipment failure” took power offline for more than two hours Thursday afternoon. The outage, caused by a downed power line, knocked power out for 2,739 customers in Emporia according to the Evergy Outage Map. The outage was first reported just before 3:30 p.m. The outage stretched along U.S. Highway 50 from just west of Prairie Street and east to Sylvan Street, along parts of 12th Avenue, down Commercial Street, and south on Highway 99 past the David Traylor Zoo. As of 5:40 p.m., about 56 customers were still reported to be without power and Evergy was “reassessing” the situation.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:44:38-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Proposed overnight homeless shelter in Butler County causes controversy over location

For years some in the Butler County community of El Dorado have had no choice but to live on the street. But that could change when the El Dorado City Commissioners vote on a special permit for a proposed new building. The Butler County Homeless initiative applied for the new building. However, the Planning Commission recommended to the City Commission 7 to 1 to deny the application. But one homeless man we spoke to could use an overnight shelter in El Dorado. “I had a shower today, the first time I had a shower in three months,” said Richard Clark. Clark has been on the streets in El Dorado since he was 29. Now six years later, he talks about how this all began. “My family just pretty much disowned me, I lost a lot of love for them. My dad died before my 28th birthday, he died in 2016 and ever since then, I’ve been going downhill,” said Clark. Then came another tragedy in April. “My mom passed away this year and I didn’t even get to go to her funeral,” said Clark. Now, yet another setback for Clark and others like him. City Planning Commission members recently rejected a plan to turn this vacant building on West Central Avenue into El Dorado’s only homeless center. It came after complaints from residents who didn’t want it so close to their homes. The head of the group that wants to open the shelter, The Butler County Homeless Initiative says she thinks the fears are unwarranted. “Homeless people are not dangerous people, they are unhoused people,” said Debbie Hill, executive director of the Butler County Homeless Initiative.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:42:50-06:00December 8, 2023|News|