Plan would turn former Kansas prison into tourist attraction

It’s a place where thousands of men paid for their crimes. One Leavenworth County city hopes to rescue an old prison from the wrecking ball and turn it into a tourist destination and a testament to local history. City leaders in Lansing hope to save a large section of the Lansing Correctional Facility, the state’s oldest penitentiary, which has roots that date back to the 1860s. The Kansas Department of Corrections still uses some of the campus. Plans to demolish the old state pen may go on hold for history’s sake. “There’s so much history here. Just like they saved Alcatraz,” Debra Bates-Lamborn, president of the Lansing Historical Society, said. Bates-Lamborn supports a proposal to preserve the old prison, including some inmate cells and the prison auditorium, where country music legend Johnny Cash played a concert for inmates. “I think it gives people a place to come and see a prison in a prison town. For years, we’ve been known as a prison town,” Bates-Lamborn said. At one point in time, Leavenworth County had five prisons at different security levels. Historians here point to a widespread interest in tourism based on defunct penitentiaries. Nowadays, Jermaine Wilson is the mayor of nearby Leavenworth, Kansas. However, times were different for him in 2008, when he was sentenced to three years in the Lansing lockup after being convicted of drug possession. Thursday was his first return to the old prison since his release. Wilson now works for a prison ministry, helping counsel and guide active inmates.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:40:46-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Fort Scott officials working to maintain local ER access

Fort Scott officials are still working to make sure Bourbon County residents still have local access to an emergency room after December 20th. That’s the date Ascension Via Christi has given for when they’ll cease operations of the emergency room in Ft. Scott. Fort Scott Mayor Matthew Wells said they’ve been working with U.S. Senator Jerry Moran’s office to give the current facility the Rural Emergency Health Care (REH) designation. When an eligible facility converts to an REH, it allows them to provide emergency department services, observation care, and additional outpatient medical and health services that don’t exceed an annual per-patient average length of stay of 24 hours. Wells said without Moran’s bill, they may not be able to get the REH designation. “As everyone knows, it was stated that on December 27, 2020, if you’re not an active hospital, you would not be able to apply. That has put our hospital and up to 100 other, I’m told, in the position where they can’t reopen or apply for that REH designation,” said Wells. Wells adds they’ve been working with the county to ensure there’s an increase of EMS services and extra ambulances available, as well as ensuring the helipad stays completely operational. Wells adds they’ve been working with two different strategic health care initiative partners who believe they’ll be able to reopen the ER after the first of the year.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:39:17-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Topeka City Council votes to extend interim city manager’s contract

The Topeka City Council approved multiple items at its Dec. 5 meeting. City leaders voted to extend the contract of Interim City Manager Richard Nienstedt. He will stay in this position until a permanent city manager can be hired. Nienstedt has held the position since June, following the sudden departure and later termination of former City Manager Stephen Wade. The city has enlisted the help of a recruiting company from Texas to fill the role. The council also signed off on a street project near the Oakland neighborhood. The voted unanimously to spend $1 million for mill and overlay work on Northeast River Road between Northeast Crane and Northeast Emmett streets. The work must be completed in 2024 so the road can be used as a detour while the Polk Quincy Viaduct construction work closes the Kansas Avenue and Topeka Boulevard bridges. This project will be funded by the city’s half-cent sales tax. The council also approved an amended version of the funding requested for the 2023 Alcohol and Drug grants. Topeka’s Special Alcohol and Drug (SAD) program requested $670,000 for programs across the city. Councilmembers approves Councilman Spencer Duncan’s motion to give PARS $169,000, the same funding it received in 2023, instead of the $131,000 recommended by the SAD committee. All participating agencies will now be funded through 2024 either the same or more than what the committee recommended.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:38:23-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Uniontown SD receives hydroponic farm from Leafy Green Farms

Last week the Uniontown district received a hydroponic farm from Leafy Green Farms. The district is partnering with Leafy Green Farms for five years to have a hydroponic farm classroom on campus so students can learn how to grow organic vegetables. This is a phase one initiative to place a hydroponic farm at ten schools in southeast Kansas. The project is a partnership between Leafy Green Farms and Community Green Farms. Leafy Green Farms is providing everything the school needs for the first three months of operations, including training, all equipment, seeds, and nutrients. Superintendent Vance Eden says they’re planning to use some of the produce in their food services. “We do plan on having it up and running at least the food service side of it in early January and then again we’ll have some community open house dates. And then also we’ll do the same thing in a similar scale for teachers, where teachers can come in and kind of see oh this is what it does, this is how it looks,” said Eden. Eden said their plan is to have an expert teach faculty and staff how to utilize the farm.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:35:37-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for December 7, 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.

Henry Schmidt2023-12-08T10:34:59-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Bel Aire finds manager at City Hall

Bel Aire looked no further than City Hall to find its next city manager. The city council on Dec. 5 chose current finance director and assistant city manager Ted Henry to replace Ty Lasher on April 1. Henry has served as the city’s finance director for seven years. Mayor Jim Benage said the governing body’s confidence in Henry and its familiarity with him made the decision not to spend money searching for other potential candidates an easy one. Lasher’s final day will be March 29, 2024. Lasher has been considering retirement since 2022 and was asked to give the city a six-month notice when he made the decision to step down. He gave that notice in early October. Lasher was hired by the city in 2007 after serving as city administrator in Cheney about six years. He was awarded the Buford Watson Excellence in Public Service award by the Kansas Association of City/County Managers in 2020.
Source: Ark Valley News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T10:45:48-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Matt Jensby to lead City of Kechi

Matt Jensby has been named Kechi’s new city administrator. Jensby replaces Kamme Sroufe following her resignation this fall. Jensby served as the police chief in Maize for 18 years after growing up in Valley Center. He is a 1990 Valley Center High School graduate and worked for the Valley Center Police Department for three years before transferring to Maize in 1996. Jensby said he witnessed incredible growth in Maize while working in the city and was inspired to pursue a second career in public administration.
Source: Ark Valley News

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T08:25:09-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Committee working to revise Lawrence’s Land Development Code talks incentives, energy

While members of the Land Development Code Update Steering Committee didn’t take a look at any new sections of the revised rules for how Lawrence should grow on Thursday, they did participate in plenty of discussion about incentives and energy. … Those topics, in part, included a discussion of what types of zoning incentives could work in Lawrence. That resulted in a decently-sized list, including ideas like providing more options for developers through less linear incentives, waiving system development charges for affordable housing projects and offsetting the costs for developers creating open spaces or other public amenities.
Source: LJWorld

Ranson Financial2023-12-08T08:15:22-06:00December 8, 2023|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for December 6, 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.

Henry Schmidt2023-12-07T08:01:07-06:00December 7, 2023|News|

Johnson County might buy this $6M hotel to convert into a long-needed homeless shelter

Johnson County is considering spending $6.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding to purchase a Lenexa hotel to be converted into a permanent homeless shelter. It would be a major step forward to meet a growing need in Kansas’ most affluent and populous county, after years of debates and inaction. Next week, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners is expected to consider purchasing the Lenexa property at 9461 and 9471 Lenexa Drive, the site of La Quinta Inn and Suites off of Interstate 35.
Source: Joco 913 News

Ranson Financial2023-12-06T15:10:09-06:00December 6, 2023|News|