Pittsburg unveils new fast-charging station

23 Thursday, February 23

Pittsburg unveils new fast-charging station

info2023-02-23T09:54:52-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

As of Wednesday afternoon, Pittsburg has a new fast-charging station that has literally put the city on the map for electric vehicle (EV) drivers. “If you looked at a map of charging stations in Kansas this morning, Pittsburg wasn’t there,” said Colonial Fox Foundation Executive Director Vonnie Corsini, “But this afternoon, we are.” Before Wednesday’s unveiling, the closest fast-charging station was outside of Joplin, at the interchange between I-44 and I-49. Although another charging station is in Pittsburg, near the Kansas Technology Center, it is not a fast-charging station. The new station can fully recharge an EV in two hours or [...]

23 Thursday, February 23

Municipal Bond Trends for February 22, 2023

Henry Schmidt2023-02-23T08:53:42-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.

23 Thursday, February 23

Fed minutes show members resolved to keep fighting inflation with rate hikes

info2023-02-23T07:20:24-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

Federal Reserve officials at their most recent meeting indicated that there are signs inflation is coming down, but not enough to counter the need for more interest rate increases, meeting minutes released Wednesday showed. While the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting concluded with a smaller rate hike than most of those implemented since early 2022, officials stressed that their concern over inflation is high. Inflation "remained well above" the Fed's 2% target, the minutes stated. That came with labor markets that "remained very tight, contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices." Consequently, the Fed approved a 0.25 percentage point rate [...]

23 Thursday, February 23

Harvey County approves sixth-month moratorium on renewable energy projects

info2023-02-23T07:06:05-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

The Board of Harvey County Commissioners adopted a resolution Tuesday morning that placed a six-month moratorium on commercial renewable energy projects on a 2-1 vote in what was at times a tense meeting. Commissioners took action on a separate resolution that would have called for an advisory election. Source: Harvey County Now

23 Thursday, February 23

Bullard still favors hiking rates to 5.375% as fast as possible

info2023-02-23T00:26:58-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the U.S. economy is proving more resilient than expected and repeated his call for the central bank to keep raising interest rates. "I think we are going to have to get north of 5%. Right now I'm still at 5.375%," Bullard told CNBC in an interview Wednesday. "We've got a little ways to go here and I've argued that 'hey, let's get to where we want to go' and then from there we can see how the data come in. Let's hope that we get disinflation in 2023." Source: The Bond [...]

23 Thursday, February 23

Fed minutes show members resolved to keep fighting inflation with rate hikes

info2023-02-23T00:26:02-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

Federal Reserve officials at their most recent meeting indicated that there are signs inflation is coming down, but not enough to counter the need for more interest rate increases, meeting minutes released Wednesday showed. While the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting concluded with a smaller rate hike than most of those implemented since early 2022, officials stressed that their concern over inflation is high. Inflation "remained well above" the Fed's 2% target, the minutes stated. That came with labor markets that "remained very tight, contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices." Source: Finance

23 Thursday, February 23

Integra Technologies announces megaproject site for Wichita-area semiconductor plant (in Bel Aire)

info2023-02-23T07:11:38-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

Integra Technologies has selected a site to build its microchip manufacturing and testing plant, part of a heavily subsidized $1.8 billion project aimed at winning the international competition for semiconductor superiority. The 1-million-square-foot building will be built at the southeast corner of the intersection of Rock Road and U.S 254 in Bel Aire. A training center and interim headquarters will be at 3718 N. Rock in Wichita, where Integra is leasing space. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

23 Thursday, February 23

Four out of five Sedgwick County homeowners will see tax appraisals increase again

info2023-02-23T00:23:59-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

Four out of five Sedgwick County homeowners will see higher tax appraisals when notices are mailed out March 1. “In a very hot market, demand exceeded supply for homes, and prices, they went up,” County Appraiser Mark Clark told the County Commission on Wednesday. Tax appraisal increases are driven by sales of new and existing homes. The median sale price for a home in Sedgwick County increased to $225,000 from $203,000 in 2021, which was the first time the median price point had topped $200,000. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

23 Thursday, February 23

Harvey County’s rescue workers describe response in the event of a train derailment

info2023-02-23T07:12:17-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

As hazmat crews continue to clean up the site of a train derailment in northeast Ohio that exposed residents to toxic chemicals, Harvey County’s top rescue officials were questioned about how they might respond if such an incident happened here. “We would respond with an appropriate accoutrement of resources, eyes on the ground to see what we have,” Newton Fire Chief Steve Roberson said. He said he would try to get accounts from first responders to size up the situation instead of bystanders. Source: Harvey County Now

23 Thursday, February 23

City of Sedgwick leaders interact with the community at Sodality Place

info2023-02-23T07:12:36-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

The City of Sedgwick held a meet and greet on Tuesday to allow community members to interact with the new city administrator (Kyle Nordick), the new chief of police (Lee Nygaard), and the new full-time officer (Josh Blanding). Nordick said he truly appreciated everyone who came out and that it was great to see and meet new people. “Personally, the people I met last night were all new connections which is exactly what I had hoped for,” Nordick said. “This allowed us to conversate on things and obtain perspective on how well we are doing in the city, as well as [...]