BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Wading, skiing, and swimming at Marion Reservoir were banned Thursday under a public health advisory issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
High levels of toxic blue-green algae mean water in the reservoir is considered unsafe, and direct contact with it is prohibited.
The annual July Fourth parade adds excitement to the celebration for which Peabody has been known for decades. This year’s event is looking like it will take its place with more than 90 other parades from past holidays.
“Even though the Fourth is on a Thursday this year, we expect a good crowd for the whole day,” said Fourth Celebration Society co-chairman Preston Hodges. “When the holiday falls in the middle of the week, there really isn’t time for people to go any distance. Lots of people come back to Peabody for the fireworks show and the events of the day. We look for the same type of crowd again this year.”
Phil Cihiwsky is walking across the nation with a purpose: to call attention to seniors’ meal program and alleviating senior hunger.
“It’s something we should all care about,” he said. “Eventually, we all need someone to lean on.”
Peabody City Administrator Shane Marler told city council members Monday that complaints about the tree stumps downtown had increased.
“I think it is time to pursue the original plan that Darren Pickens proposed last winter,” he said. “He got a bid for about $700 to grind down the stumps and replace the broken and shifting concrete slabs. My recommendation would be to get the work done. The public is tired of seeing the stumps wrapped in caution tape.”
Sharlene Lynette Brooks, 45, died Saturday at her home in Peabody. She battled cancer for nearly four years.
She was born Aug. 8, 1967 to LeRoy Fredrick Brunner and Eleanor Louise (Gaines) Brunner in Newton.
Gerald Kessler, 76, of rural Lehigh died June 4 at his home. He was born March 2, 1937, to Rudolf and Katherine (Kasper) Kessler in Hillsboro.
He married Joyce Thiessen on June 9, 1958, in Hillsboro.
Dairy farmer Kent Sterk did not invent the phrase “bad things come in threes,” but he lived it recently at his rural Hillsboro farm.
First, a three-year-old dairy bull nearly killed him three weeks ago when he was trying to load it in a trailer bound for a Salina sale. Then two weeks ago, he wrecked the family SUV while checking fences, and finally, last week, he injected himself with pink eye medication while treating heifers.
People driving past PrairieLand Partners in Marion have seen construction in progress for several weeks.
The John Deere dealership is adding a 6,750-square-foot shop to its facility so it can move setup of large equipment indoors. Store manager Chad Gormley said that work has had to be done outdoors. The construction wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Klee Watchous and his employees at Wildcat Creek Ranch are fans of Coneburg Inn restaurant in Peabody.
Coneburg owner Lindsey Marshall has witnessed one instance a few times with her Wildcat Creek regulars. When they get a call about a sick calf on the ranch or a cow on another landowner’s pasture, the ranchers leave their meals steaming and bolt out the door like doctors on call.
CHS, a large mid-western cooperative, and Mid-Kansas Cooperative have approved an agreement to form a limited liability company to build and operate a high-speed shuttle-train-loading facility at Canton this year.
The facility will be located on the Union Pacific rail line, two-and-a-half miles west of Canton, and will load 110-car trains bound for export terminals in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast, and Mexico. On-site storage will be more than 3 million bushels.
New Spur Ridge Veterinary Hospital veterinarian Cade Moses describes himself as a steward of animals.
What he means is sometimes caring more about animals than about his own well-being.
Peabody has a supply of Altosid mosquito control briquettes to help residents fight mosquito infestation if the weather stays cool and damp.
The briquettes will control mosquitoes in small bodies of water such as roadside or alley ditches, fish or ornamental ponds, marsh areas, abandoned swimming pools, and storm drains. Any place that retains standing water that will attract mosquitoes.
Marion County Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini resigned in a letter county commissioners read Monday. His resignation will be effective June 20.
Commission Chairman Randy Dallke said the resignation was because D’Albini was moving out of the county.
Before my mother died three years ago, my sister, Karen, and I were at least smart enough to ask her about the names of the people, the events in which everyone was pictured, and the dates and places. The three of us had enjoyable conversations about the memories the pictures triggered. I made trips to Colorado to see her and don’t regret one. She filled in blank spaces about her life — information we can pass on to our children. Her mind was sharp right up until her death. I bet she remembered who had the camera and who took the pictures, too.
I am using a picture of her and one of her sisters as my profile picture on my Facebook page. She and my aunt were about 15 or 16, standing in front of a billboard near their father’s general store in a tiny Arkansas town where they were raised. The billboard boasts a huge old Coca-Cola advertisement.
Middle school Principal Missy Stubenhofer told the school board of a new phenomenon she has fought against: 19- and 20-year-old males going to middle school lunch to hit on seventh-grade girls. These visitors come under the guise of having lunch with a relative but end up be halfway across the lunchroom, chatting up 12- and 13-year-old girls.
At the board meeting, she asked what a 19- or 20-year-old sees in a seventh-grade girl. It was a rhetorical question. They see easy pickings.
HOPE IN THE HEARTLAND:
Henry and Edward
It was a normal Monday for Brenda Casanova of Marion when she discovered she made a crucial mistake: she put the wrong zip code on a package.
“What an idiot,” she thought as she picked up her phone and started dialing the number for the local post office. Moments later, Casanova was pouring out her heart to postmaster Lori Kelsey, explaining how important it was for that very box to get to its proper destination.
In 2011, Casanova’s nephew, Kurtis Montgomery, went to the doctor just before his 50th birthday, thinking he had a serious sinus condition. When a 10-day round of antibiotics did not make the pain go away, he went to an ear, nose and throat doctor who gave him the grim diagnosis: He had throat cancer.
While it was treatable with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Montgomery still cannot swallow or talk. He makes the most of the situation with a dry erase board and marker, but currently lives day to day not able to utter a sound.
A $500 donation from Friends of Marion County Lake will increase the prize pool for this week’s open stage contest at Bluegrass at the Lake.
Instead of $100, the best performance will earn $300. Second place will net $200; third, $100. The group hopes increased prizes will attract more musicians to the open stage from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
When Josh Smith of Marion began looking for a house in town to rent with his girlfriend, Samantha Jo Alvarez, he found that anything to his liking was renting for $450 per month or more. So instead of renting, he decided to look at buying his first house.
“I would rather pay to own than to rent,” he said.
Peggy Blackman decided to cancel the reservoir tour, dinner, and meeting on June 4 because she only had six people who had signed up.
She was planning for at least 75 attendees.
Peter Smith, 6, looked at the cars at the Route 56 Classic Car Show knowing that one day he would own one of the hotrods.
“My dad said he’d get me one when I got bigger,” the 6-year-old said. “I don’t know what I want yet, but I want it to be blue. Blue’s my favorite color.”
Jennafer Sevart of Peabody was inducted into the Pinnacle Honor Society at Kansas State University. She was one of 77 students whose hard work and academic excellence earned them admittance into the nontraditional student honor society.
She is a junior, majoring in business administration.
Carolan McFarland will present a program on relaxation and biofeedback at 7 p.m. Thursday at Marion Presbyterian Church.
ANNIVERSARIES:
Arnetts married 50 years,
Litkes to celebrate 65th anniversaryCORRESPONDENTS:
Burns,
Wonsevu
Marion County Special Education Cooperative will screen children from birth through age 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 25 at Marion Presbyterian Church.
Vision, hearing and development in learning, motor, language, and social areas will be checked.
Lucas Larsen and Hunter Pickens, both graduates of Peabody-Burns High School, have been selected to play in the 28th annual Kansas 8-Man All-Star Football Division I game Saturday in Beloit, and Trey Schmidt and Nicolas Buller, both graduates of Goessel High School, have been selected to play in the Division II game.
All four will play on the East team. The Division II game begins at 10 a.m. and the Division I game begins at 1 p.m.
