State officials explain possible ramifications of USD 112 vote to dissolve

7 Friday, July 7

State officials explain possible ramifications of USD 112 vote to dissolve

info2023-07-07T14:12:57-05:00July 7th, 2023|

Two representatives from the Kansas State Department of Education met with patrons of USD 112 Central Plains on June 27 to answer questions about the upcoming Aug. 1 vote. The vote will give patrons of the district the option to disorganize with a “yes” vote or remain the same with a “no” vote. “I’m not here to convince you how to vote,” said Scott Gordon, general counsel for KSDE. “I want you to know what will happen afterward. “You may have heard rumors or information from people who say they’re on the inside. They don’t know what they’re talking about. Nobody [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Larned council tackles water issues

info2023-07-07T12:02:58-05:00July 7th, 2023|

Water issues dominated agenda discussion at the Larned City Council’s meeting Monday. In the first item of new business, the council approved the establishment of a Water Rights Task Force followed up with the purchase of a new rotary fan press filtration unit for the city’s wastewater plant. City Manager Brad Eilts told the council that the statutory window was closing on the city’s ability to secure water rights for the community based on peak usage. For the past four decades, the city has operated under an unsecured water right to consume 601.2 million gallons annually. By state statute, a community [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Wichita hopes to get homeless veteran population to functional zero by 2024

info2023-07-07T14:13:52-05:00July 7th, 2023|

The City of Wichita is partnering with United Way of the Plains, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Sedgwick County to effectively end veteran homelessness in Wichita by the end of next year. "Homelessness is a complex social issue," says United Way of the Plains president Pete Najera. "And it will take a collective community response to bring it to functional zero." The City of Wichita's Housing and Community Services department will play a crucial role in achieving the goal. Director Sally Stang said that the department plans to work with landlords on finding a way to provide the roughly [...]

7 Friday, July 7

WPD looking at changes to code after being called out to City Nightz multiple times in last year

info2023-07-07T14:14:19-05:00July 7th, 2023|

Since June of 2022, the Wichita Police Department says it has responded to 13 different incidents at City Nightz including the shooting there over the weekend that injured 11 people. Of those 13 incidents, six were either simple battery, aggravated battery or aggravated assault. Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan told KAKE on Monday he is working with the city’s law department to see what sort of new ordinances could be put into place for the department to better deal with businesses who are repeat offenders. “Give me more bite, if you will, so that I can take stronger action and more [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Chalk the Town colors Hutchinson with positivity

info2023-07-07T11:32:52-05:00July 7th, 2023|

The City of Hutchison, Downtown Hutchison and Kara Vaughn hosted their second day of the 2023 Chalk the Town Event at Carey Park Sunday. The event was inspired by Vaughn’s viral TikTok video. The video gained over 30 million views when Vaughn’s landlord told her to remove her chalk art. In response, Downtown Hutchinson and the City of Hutchinson teamed up with Vaughn to host the two-day event. Participants were able to take part in demonstrations and prize drawings, as well as a scavenger hunt to find chalk creations around the park. Despite her situation, Vaughn says she is excited to [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Mission to consider updating tax abatement policy

info2023-07-07T14:18:18-05:00July 7th, 2023|

The Mission City Council is set to consider an updated tax abatement policy later this month. This comes after two developers for separate apartment projects, 58 Nall and Milhaus, asked the city for tax abatements in the last year.... The policy was drafted following a May 31 city council work session and presented to the finance and administration committee on July 5. ... developers who are approved for a tax abatement in Mission would pay 55% of their property taxes to the city. Developers must meet eight criteria in order to qualify for the 45% tax abatement, including a minimum capital [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Kansas audit of election security exposes strengths weaknesses of voting systems

info2023-07-07T14:19:03-05:00July 7th, 2023|

The auditing division of the Kansas Legislature reported Thursday election officials in more than a dozen counties studied maintained adequate overall security practices and management of election computers but raised questions about the security of ballots and vote tabulation machines. The objective of the review was to provide a partial picture of Kansas’ election security by comparing practices in Kansas against a set of policies recommended by federal election regulators. “Our results showed Kansas counties have many practices for ensuring the accuracy and security of elections,” the report delivered to House and Senate members said. “They’re also missing or have weak [...]

7 Friday, July 7

Municipal Bond Trends for July 6, 2023

Henry Schmidt2023-07-07T04:37:27-05:00July 7th, 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.

6 Thursday, July 6

Desire for Interest on Deposits Is Bad for Main Street Banks

info2023-07-06T09:19:03-05:00July 6th, 2023|

When the Fed started raising interest rates to fight inflation, the conventional wisdom was that it would be a boon for Main Street banks. They were expected to increase the rates they charged on loans faster than those paid to depositors, pocketing the difference. Instead, the opposite is happening. The Fed’s hikes and the failures of a trio of midsize banks are prompting once-loyal customers to pull their money out of checking accounts that pay no interest. Banks are paying much higher rates on the deposits they are retaining, which is eclipsing the benefit of charging more on loans. They also [...]

6 Thursday, July 6

Anyone missing a pet in the Wichita area? This one is hard to miss Kansas police say

info2023-07-06T09:17:59-05:00July 6th, 2023|

Andover police Lt. Joe Hardy got one of the strangest calls he’s had in his decades in law enforcement Wednesday. “I got a call that somebody had a giant, 10-foot-plus python in their yard,” he said. “I was thinking it would not be a python. So I went out there and I was like, ‘Wow, for once the reporting party is actually totally correct.’” The 10-foot report was conservative. An animal handler who was then called guessed it was more like 15 feet. Andover allows only snakes under 6 feet. Hardy thinks the yellow and white snake is a Burmese python, [...]