Douglas County to hold meeting on open space plan

Members of the Lawrence and Douglas County community are invited to learn about the county’s open space planning progress and share their feedback during an open house this week. … “It is an opportunity for community members to stop by and learn about the project team’s progress and to provide feedback,” according to a news release from the county. “There will be activities for children and a raffle entry for all attendees.” This open house will build on previous events held in May and June. Project team members will look to gather feedback on the focus areas and preliminary recommendations, according to the release. “A structure, tools and funding source are necessary to protect, restore, support and manage existing and potential future open space,” according to the release.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T12:09:02-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Child care options revitalized with $11.5M grant

To help remedy the state’s child care shortage, 27 organizations have been allocated $11.4 million to open up more child care slots across the state. Gov. Laura Kelly, in conjunction with the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, announced a second wave of funding for child care programs Thursday as part of an initiative meant to accelerate the development of more child care options statewide. “Building off the grants announced this summer, this funding will be transformational for families and communities across the state,” Kelly said. “Expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care will spur economic growth by allowing more families to participate in the workforce and support the healthy development of Kansas children.” The first round of funding went out in June, allocating $43 million for the creation of 4,211 child care slots. This round of funding will open up around 1,468 spots, creating a total of 5,655 in 67 communities.
Source: Garden City Telegram and Governor of the State of Kansas

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T12:10:33-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Pittsburg State’s new division focuses on growing SEK economy

A new division at Pittsburg State is looking into ways to grow the economy in Southeast Kansas. The Economic Development and Community Engagement division hopes to use the resources of the university for partnerships and collaborations with businesses. Officials say the goal is to transform southeast Kansas into a place where students will want to live and work after they graduate. The division was previously known as University Strategic Initiatives, which renovated four historic buildings in Pittsburg and helped develop the Kansas Polymer Research Center into the National Institute for Materials Advancement. “Now we’re just sort of taking that to the next level in our planning, revising some of those strategic plans that we’ve done in the past. Working together with the city of Pittsburg to continue to help develop strong economic development policy. We also have the opportunity now with engaging on the research enterprise side off things and help build that out,” said Shawn Naccarato.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T11:45:10-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

As more Kansas students miss school, districts look for ways to entice them back to class

Three years after the pandemic sent most Kansas kids home to learn, schools have a vexing new challenge: getting them to come back to class. Missing school has become a crisis statewide. More than one in four Kansas students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year, which means they missed at least 10% of instruction time. That figure nearly doubled over the previous two years. State education leaders are still compiling data from last school year, but they expect the problem is getting worse. “Definitely a dramatic uptick … which is not what anybody would want to see,” said Robyn Kelso, who monitors attendance for the Kansas Department of Education. “At the same time, I don’t know that I’m necessarily surprised.” Many older students struggled with the transition to remote learning and then back to a normal school routine. Some saw their mental health suffer and lost the motivation to attend class.
Source: Garden City Telegram

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T11:43:25-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

‘Choose Topeka’ sees boost after Telemundo coverage

A local organization is seeing record interest for a program that aims to bring more people into the Capital City. Greater Topeka Partnership (GTP) team members are wrapping up the third year of “Choose Topeka” in big way. GTP told 27 News around 140 individuals and families have moved to the community through that program so far. For the past week, they’ve seen quite the large influx in interest outside of the state, thanks to coverage by Telemundo in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. The Choose Topeka team has received hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails from all over the world within the last week. The incentive program has been around since 2019, but the recent boost in eyes has workers excited about bringing even more people from all over into the city.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T12:12:11-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Heartland Flyer subject of virtual public meeting

Expansion of the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Newton will be the subject of a virtual public meeting being hosted by the Kansas Department of Transportation. KDOT is looking at providing rail service between Oklahoma City and Newton, where it would connect with Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. The Heartland Flyer currently provides daily service between Ft. Worth, Texas, and Oklahoma City. The Southwest Chief provides daily roundtrip service between Chicago and Los Angeles. It also has stops in Garden City, Dodge City, Hutchinson, Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City, Missouri, in addition to Newton. The virtual meeting is scheduled for Nov. 8, starting at 12 p.m. until 1 p.m. There will be a presentation, and then the public will have a chance to submit questions or comments for the project team.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T11:40:14-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Leawood plans to cap building heights to 4 stories along 135th

Concrete plans to cap building heights in Leawood, but only along 135th Street, are starting to take shape. The Leawood City Council on Oct. 16 considered creating specific rules for new office and mixed-use buildings on 135th Street. City leaders had initially proposed and discussed capping building heights on all new office and mixed-use developments citywide. The city council’s decision last week comes as the latest of extensive discussions in Leawood about amending the city’s development ordinance to keep future developments from creating too much density in the southern part of the city. The Leawood Planning Commission first saw the city council’s request to bring maximum building heights down from 90 feet to 55 feet this summer. At the time, the commission widely disapproved of the plan, voicing concerns that the move would stunt growth in Leawood too severely. The topic itself stemmed from concerns from city councilmembers who wanted to avoid a “canyon effect” along 135th Street with incoming projects like the East Village development.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T11:33:24-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Mulvane Fire Rescue gets new tools to increase efficiency for extrication

Mulvane Fire Rescue received a Firehouse Subs grant for over $24,000 to buy new extrication tools. One of those is more commonly known as the jaws of life. Extrication tools help get victims out of trapped vehicles, machinery, buildings or debris. The most common use is for car crashes. Mulvane Fire Rescue responds to roughly 150 crashes a year, using the extrication tools about once a month on average. Every second counts in an emergency and the new tools will make the extrication process quicker. “The ultimate goal is to get them out as quickly as possible because we have what we call the golden hour where from the time the incident happens till the time they get to a trauma center,” Mulvane Fire Captain Jason Mundell said. “So this helps us get them out quicker because we’re able to use multiple tools at one time. We can attack it from different angles and things like that and get them out quicker.” The new tools are replacing old ones that date back to 1998.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T11:26:36-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

City of Pratt employee held at gunpoint; Wife listened on the phone

The man who led law enforcement on a multi-county chase on Monday pulled a gun on a City of Pratt employee. The victim’s wife was on the phone during the incident. Catelyn Shaw says she was at home when her friend messaged her about the police chase. Soon after, her husband called during his lunch break at Casey’s. She was shocked by what she heard on the phone. “He was like, ‘Oh my God, they just pulled into Casey’s.’ And I was like, ‘No way,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, they did,'” explained Shaw. The typical day took a turn as Shaw’s husband walked out of Casey’s and into the middle of a police chase. Shaw says he sought out safety inside of his work truck. “He was on the phone with me, and next thing I know, I hear another man’s voice in the background. And he was like, ‘Get out,’ and my husband was like ‘No,'” she explained. But the suspect pulled out a gun and told him to get out again, so her husband got out of his truck. Shaw’s phone then went silent.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2023-10-25T12:13:25-05:00October 25, 2023|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for October 24, 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 Schmidt2023-10-25T10:41:13-05:00October 25, 2023|News|