Mandatory cat licenses in Wichita? The animal control board just recommended it

The Wichita Animal Control Advisory Board recently recommended a plan to overhaul pet licensing, including requiring cat owners to license their animals. All dogs five months and older must be licensed with the city. Wichita pet owners might soon be required to license their cats as well as their dogs with the city every year. Mandatory licensing and microchipping are part of a 14-point plan recommended by the Animal Control Advisory Board earlier this month. “If we can get you to microchip your cat, we can not only get it back to you but we can know that it’s been vaccinated,” board President Mike Marlett said. “It’s just safer for your cat. It’s safer for everyone else.” The issue of cat licensing in Wichita “has been controversial for a long, long time,” as City Manager Robert Layton put it. City leaders rejected cat licensing proposals in 1977 and 1982. In interviews with The Eagle, Wichita cat owners expressed a wide range of opinions on the issue.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Ranson Financial2023-05-30T12:21:53-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Lack of officers hampering Wichita police department’s efforts

Wichita’s police force is about 66 officers short of its authorized strength of 468 officers, according to Police Chief Joe Sullivan. The police department faces a “retention crisis,” some analysts have said, which has complicated the department’s relationship with the community and ability to mend an internal culture criticized in a consultant’s report earlier this year. Workforce shortages put officers in the position, Sullivan said, of constantly answering emergency calls, which limits more positive interactions with the public and adversely affects the officers’ own mental health. “When you’re in a department that’s not fully staffed, and you’re responding to more emergencies than you normally would, and it’s constant one after another with no break, and you’re being asked to work overtime to fill in for those vacant positions, you’re experiencing more trauma, and you’re beginning to experience exhaustion and eventually burnout,” he said. “So that’s something that we’re keenly aware of, and we are working as quickly as we can to put together an officer wellness program.”
Source: KLC Journal

Ranson Financial2023-05-30T12:18:45-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Overland Park ‘build-to-rent’ subdivision offers alternative to buying a home

A subsidiary of Mission Peak Capital is finishing the initial homes of the first subdivision in the metro area consisting of all-new single-family rental homes. Renting a home in the Overland Park subdivision offers a more affordable alternative amid a still tight housing market and higher interest rates, the developer says. … The houses will have a mix of three and four bedrooms. Rent averages about $2,400 a month. The development offers an affordable alternative to buying a similar-sized home in today’s market, said P.J. Ventola, managing director of development at Mission Peak, whose subsidiary, Peak Homes, is working on The Homes at Wolf Creek. “We are less expensive than it costs to buy the same home (with) today’s interest rates,” Ventola said. “It is designed to be with like-minded people who are renting by choice.”
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

Ranson Financial2023-05-31T12:59:00-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Andover YMCA reopens water park

People got to slide down the slide, hang out in a pool and float along the lazy river today in Andover, because the YMCA water park is back open, just a year after a tornado ripped through the city. “I’m happy about it because we used to have to drive far to go to other parks. Now we can drive closer,” exclaimed 10-year-old Elijah Jamerson. The water park has some new features, such as a splash pad and climbing areas. “I’m glad it’s open,” said Amber Lowen of Rose Hill. “We love the Andover Y. We come here every summer.” The YMCA says the park’s first two weeks of operation are for members only.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2023-05-30T12:16:00-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Halstead considers updating their code enforcement process

The Halstead City Council considered a proposal by City Manager Ethan Reimer at their latest meeting to change the way the city addresses code enforcement issues. The city does not have a code enforcement personnel, so for an issue to be addressed, a citizen must submit a complaint, which administrative staff or the city manager will investigate. … Reimer said that since the police department already proactively patrols the city, has summons power to municipal court, and enforces other codes such as animal control regulations, the city staff would like to see the police department handle other code violation issues, such as tall grass and weeds or other nuisance issues in the city.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-05-31T13:12:18-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

New additions brighten downtown Sedgwick

Downtown Sedgwick recently got a little color and class with the addition of flowers and flower buckets and the Hometown Hero banners now displayed along Commercial Street. Sedgwick City Administrator Kyle Nordick said the banners will be displayed until Veterans Day, which is in November. “I want to again publicly thank the American Legion here in town for splitting the cost of our Hometown Hero banners,” Nordick said.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-05-31T13:13:05-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Rural Kansans wait to see how long prescriptions by telehealth last after the pandemic

The pandemic allowed people to receive prescriptions for mental health and opioid addiction through telemedicine. Now Kansas clinicians want those flexibilities to be permanent. At the Citizens Health hospital in Colby, pandemic-driven rule changes let doctors prescribe chronic pain and mental health medications over virtual appointments. That gave hundreds of patients in northwest Kansas access to life-changing drugs. “Everybody struggles with access to mental health care,” Jenny Niblock, a nurse practitioner at the medical center, said. “Rural Kansas struggles even worse.” Before the pandemic, the only way to get a prescription for a federally regulated drug was through an in-person doctor’s visit.
Source: Garden City Telegram

Ranson Financial2023-05-31T13:13:47-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Lenexa updates it fence code

Planning to install a new fence, wall or retaining wall at home? The City of Lenexa recently updated its code related to these types of projects. Under the new code, fences along the side street on corner lots may be installed 15 feet from the property line as long as they are 4 feet tall and open-style (50% or less opaque). If a fence is taller than 4 feet or is privacy-style, it cannot be installed in front of the required setback. When a fence is located within 3 feet of or directly on top of a retaining wall, the height of the fence plus the height of the retaining wall shall not exceed 10 feet. Retaining wall tiers are limited to 10 feet per tier. Additionally, there must be at least three feet of horizontal space between tiers of a tiered wall.
Source: City of Lenexa

Ranson Financial2023-05-31T13:11:26-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Debt ceiling deal spares state and local pandemic aid

The White House and Republicans reached a deal over the holiday weekend that will avoid the nation’s first breach of its debt limit and leave untouched leftover pandemic aid allocated to cities and states. A House vote on the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 is set for Wednesday to move the bill ahead of a U.S. default as soon as June 5. The House Rules Committee is set to take up the legislation Tuesday afternoon. “The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history,” President Joe Biden said Sunday night at a White House press conference. It “takes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table.” The 99-page bill would cap discretionary spending for six years — but with a sequester mechanism in place only for the first two years — as well as rescind enforcement funding for the Internal Revenue Service and streamline energy infrastructure project permitting.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2023-05-30T12:04:54-05:00May 30, 2023|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for May 26, 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 Schmidt2023-05-29T19:59:05-05:00May 29, 2023|News|