Fed Governor Christopher Waller warns that interest rates could go higher than expectations

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday talked tough on inflation, warning that the fight is not over and could result in higher interest rates than markets are anticipating. Speaking to an agribusiness conference in Arkansas, Waller said the January jobs report, showing nonfarm payroll growth of 517,000, indicated that the employment market is “robust” and could fuel consumer spending that would maintain upward pressure on inflation. Consequently, he said the Fed needs to maintain its current plan of action, which has seen eight interest rate hikes since March 2022. “We are seeing that effort begin to pay off, but we have farther to go,” Waller told the Arkansas State University Agribusiness Conference in prepared remarks. “And, it might be a long fight, with interest rates higher for longer than some are currently expecting. But I will not hesitate to do what is needed to get my job done.”
Source: CNBC

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:22:40-06:00February 9, 2023|News|

Washington’s Old City Hall is ‘for sale’

The old city hall building in Washington could be yours for free, but only if you have a plan for the building. At Monday night’s city council meeting, council members agreed to attempt to give the building away one more time. It was said that multiple previous attempts to give the building away have been unsuccessful. The council is now planning to demolish the building this year if someone doesn’t take the building. The council is preliminarily planning to allocate all of this year’s money for housing demolition to take down the old city hall building. Council member Theresa Herrs said she wanted to attempt to give the building away one more time before scheduling the wrecking ball.
Source: Backroads News

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T00:08:44-06:00February 9, 2023|News|

Sedgwick County commissioners approve spending plan for ARPA funds

Sedgwick County commissioners have voted to approve spending plans for 2023 and 2024 for federal funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act, but commissioners want to have meetings later to make changes in some items. The largest item on this year’s spending plan is $25.9 million for district court to help with a backlog of cases. In addition, construction is underway to renovate spaces in the courthouse that were left vacant when several county departments left the building. The spaces will be turned into additional courtrooms. There will also be almost $3 million to go toward public health response efforts this year. Other funds will go toward COVID-19 protection efforts, employee recruitment and other areas.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:24:58-06:00February 9, 2023|News|

Downtown district dominates Larned council meeting

The city’s downtown business district received the lion’s share of discussion at Monday’s meeting of the Larned City Council. Beginning with public perception of the pros and cons of the drive down Larned’s Broadway street, discussion in the three-hour session segued into ideas of what it could look like and what it would take to get there.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Ranson Financial2023-02-08T23:59:52-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

Burrton discusses four-day school week

On Feb. 2, there was a special meeting open to the public in the library where Matt Goetz provided 15 pages of findings from two months of research on the subject of a four-day school week verses a five-day school week. There was a handful of audience along with the Burrton Board of Education in attendance…. “The reason why we are approaching a four day school week is our enrollment,” Goetz said. “Ever since I have been here the enrollment has declined. We ran some numbers a couple days ago, where enrollment September 2021 to where we are currently at is down 19 percent. We are in a prime location where that shouldn’t be a problem. So our thought here is how can we fix this problem?”
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:49:39-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

Newton BOE weighs consolidation

The USD-373 Board of Education held a frank discussion about cost-cutting for more than two hours Feb. 1 as it looks for a solution for losing nearly 500 students in enrollment. Potential solutions included closing the Walton Rural Life Center or reducing it from two sections to one. The district also discussed the possibility of expanding alternative schooling options for students in seventh and eighth grades by next year.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:25:37-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

USD 439 board discusses the district’s future

For the last three weeks, community members, school board members, school administration, and students have met to consider the state of the district and discuss priorities to guide the board of education’s vision for the next five years. The final piece of that brainstorming came at last week’s special Board of Education meeting where Sue Givens with the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) led the board members through a series of discussions to help focus on areas of agreement and disagreement and what their priorities are from the community discussions.
Source: Harvey County Now

Ranson Financial2023-02-08T23:50:32-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

New hospital in Caldwell boosts healthcare options in Sumner County

Doctors and patients are settling in at the brand-new Caldwell Regional Medical Center. The new building is a major upgrade over the old hospital on the other side of town. Marion Metzinger, he’s already noticing changes when he comes in for a check-up. “I’ve had to travel to other towns to have the treatment and this facility can handle all of the new treatments that we had to go out of town for.” Plans to build the new hospital building started in 2019 and it was needed. The new place is twice the size of the old hospital and with the upgrade, Caldwell Regional is able to offer many more services to patients.
Source: KAKE – News

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:26:53-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

Legislation challenges Kansas law allowing city zoning 3 miles into unincorporated area of county

The House Local Government Committee began examination Wednesday of House Bill 2150. It would repeal the three-mile law available to city councils and grant zoning and planning authority within that territory to county commissions. The bill was endorsed by two dozen House Republicans and one House Democrat. Opposition came from representatives of more than a dozen cities, including Wichita, Manhattan, Clay Center, Moundridge, Overland Park, McLouth, Derby, Lawrence, Topeka, Scott City and Maize. Spencer Duncan, governmental affairs director of the League of Kansas Municipalities, said amendment of state law could undermine municipal utility agreements, projects financed through bonding, state or federal regulatory practices, metropolitan or regional planning commissions and joint city and county infrastructure collaboration…. Bradley Pendergast, city administrator in Scott City, said he opposed the House bill because his growing community in southwest Kansas had an interest in making certain areas beyond the current boundary were regulated in a way that didn’t compromise infrastructure expansion if later annexed into the city. … Angel Cushing, of Allen, said she supported the House bill repealing the three-mile zone because current state law essentially made county government subservent to city government.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2023-02-09T07:32:03-06:00February 8, 2023|News|

Emporia’s new chicken ownership policy appears to have been well received by residents

Since going into effect at the start of the year, the City of Emporia’s new residential chicken ordinance seems to be favorable to residents. According to City Manager Trey Cocking, the city allowed the residential ownership of chickens dating back to 1998 until a moratorium was placed on the matter in 2013. The Emporia City Commission took up the conversation and eventually approved a new policy this past fall. Cocking says the ordinance comes with several requirements all of which help chicken owners be considerate to their neighbors.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

Ranson Financial2023-02-08T23:43:33-06:00February 8, 2023|News|