PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin

HEADLINES

Community foundation finds success
From Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, the Peabody Community Foundation launched an active funding campaign with the addition of two anonymous $10,000 donations to be used to match donations made to the foundation before the end of 2012. “The Challenge Match was a great success for the foundation and for the Peabody community,” said foundation president N. M. Patton. “In addition, a second dollar-for-dollar match from the Kansas Health Foundation meant even more growth.”
Most election races uncontested
Most of the April 2 city and school district elections will be uneventful matters, with only a handful of contested races, while no City of Marion positions are up for election. The filing deadline for candidates was noon Tuesday. The only contested board of education race is in Peabody-Burns USD 398, where five candidates have filed for three at-large positions. The candidates are Shayla Clark, Travis T. Foth, Barry Peter, Jarrod Gaines, and Julia Ensminger.
Riggs joins college opera production
Jordan Riggs, a sophomore at Pittsburg State University, will play the part of Bill Bobstay in the university’s production of “H.M.S. Pinafore,” an opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, on Feb. 15 and 17. Riggs grew up in the Peabody area and graduated from Hillsboro High School in 2011. He is studying music education with an emphasis on vocal music.

DEATHS

Frank J. Heath Jr.
Frank J. Heath Jr., 98, died Thursday at his home in Burns. He was born Jan. 19, 1914, in rural Burns to Frank J. Sr. and Lizzie (Whitlock) Heath.
Milford Klaassen
Milford Klaassen, 61, of Hillsboro died Monday at St. Luke Hospital in Marion. He was born Oct. 18, 1951, in Hillsboro to Ted and Rubena (Leppke) Klaassen. He was the owner of JAMM Mowing. He married Janell Schmidt on June 21, 1986, in rural Goessel.
Billy Wayne Lucas
Billy Wayne Lucas, 84, of Marion died Monday at Peabody Care Center. He was born March 30, 1928, in Marion to Art and Zula (Buford) Lucas. He was a retired employee of the City of Marion and a member of Marion Christian Church.
Ann Truax Judson Moench
Ann Truax Judson Moench, 72, of Hurley, Mo., died Jan. 8. She was born Sept. 2, 1940, in Lyons to John and Eloise Cockley Truax. The family moved to Manhattan and then Emporia where Ann graduated from high school.

DOCKET

GOVERNMENT

Trash dumping a big problem
“We’ve got a problem,” Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt said. “It’s not a small problem.” It was multiple problems actually, lumped together at the Marion County Commission meeting under the heading of nuisance.
Revitalization exemptions granted
Marion County Apraiser Cindy Magill asked for opinions from Marion County Commission on three separate neighborhood revitalization cases. Neighborhood revitalization provides tax breaks for builders. Under the 10-year program, a builder would receive 90 percent of taxes back on the specific piece of property and then that amount would decrease 10 percent every year. Under the current five-year plan, neighborhood revitalization stops after 50 percent is returned.
Commission to change recylcing plan
The city of Goessel fills up four different recycling bins each week. Bins in Florence and Centre schools have been equally utilized. Still, it costs the county more per month to pay the $138 fee to Waste Connections for the recycling bins than it does does for those materials to be transported to the Butler County Landfill as trash, Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt said Tuesday. The cost for all of the bins in the county, including bins in Burns, Durham, Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Pilsen, and Tampa, is $16,620 per year.
Road and Bridge looking for grants
Road and Bridge Superintendent Randy Crawford brought two options for summer work to Marion County Commission on Tuesday. Option one is for chip seals for seven miles of Quail Creek Road, from 290th to 360th, one half mile of Nighthawk Road west of Peabody, and for 30th Road between Old Mill Road and the Harvey County line. All of that totals $306,504 in estimated cost. Crawford also included cold mix cost for blade patching, including 340th Road for an additional $525,000. The total for option one is $831,504.

OPINION

A merry un-birthday to us
In two weeks or so Janet Post and I will celebrate a dozen years in the newspaper business. Ah yes, we went to work for Hoch Publishing the first week in February of 2001. I know I have told you this before, but in case we have some new Peabody Gazette-Bulletin readers in the community, I will say it again. We were just supposed to be filling in for six months or so until a new batch of journalism majors graduated and Hoch Publishing could hire one with a “fire in his belly” to be a small town editor. I am not sure what happened to that plan.
Dialogue resolves miscommunication
It turns out it was an unfortunate miscommunication rather than an attempt to hide government business from the public that led to County Commissioner Dan Holub’s proposal last week not to publish the full text of public notices. Unaware that the county had ceased publishing notices in the Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin long before a below-cost discount had expired because it wasn’t being used, Holub apparently was less concerned about saving money at the expense of informing the public than he was about figuring out how to keep information flowing at a reasonable price.
BALANCING ACT:
Miracles can happen
HOPE IN THE HEARTLAND:
Jesus and junk

OTHER NEWS

CDDO meeting is Monday
Harvey-Marion County Community Developmental Disability Organization will have a board of directors meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at the organization’s office, 500 N. Main, Suite 204, Newton. The board regularly meets on the third day of the month, but the meeting was moved because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Winter heating help available
The Kansas Department for Children and Families will be accepting applications for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program Today through March 29. The program provides an annual benefit to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. Individuals with disabilities, elderly persons, and families with children are the primary groups assisted. An average benefit of $520 was provided to 53,683 homes in 2012.
Wild west feature of Kansas Day event
Marla Matkin of Hill City will portray “The Contessa” in a program about the Wild West for Kansas Day at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eastmoor United Methodist Church. This is the 13th annual Kansas Day Celebration in Marion. The evening will include a catered dinner. The cost is $15, and reservations are required. For more information, contact Janet Bryant at (620) 382-3418.
Anti-bullying training available
KVC Behavioral Healthcare is sponsoring free training from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Emanuel Baptist church, 229 Walnut, Marion. Rose Alderson will provide hands-on training in dealing with bullies and preventing bullying. For more information or to register to attend, contact Pam Loewen at (620) 947-3960.

PEOPLE

Family gets assistance through hard times
Laura Hasenbank waited impatiently for her boyfriend to return home one night in December. She was starting to get worried, when her son came barreling through the front door with the news: Ike Boone had been in a rollover. “It was really hard on all of us,” Hasenbank said. “Ike had become a big part of our lives. I found out after the accident that he was going to propose to me on Christmas.”
Schroeder gives budget, school update
The 2013 legislative session is off and running. We began the session on Jan. 14 with the usual ceremony the sessions typically begin with. The governor’s State of the State address was Jan. 15. Of course, the message the governor gives is a reflection of his goals for the future of the state as well as the priorities he has for the current legislative session. Many of his goals center around efficiency and smaller government.
CORRESPONDENTS:
Burns, Tampa
DAYS OF YORE:
Days of yore

SCHOOL

Technology levels the playing field
If schools substituted iPads or mini-iPads for textbooks, all students would have access to the same amount of information regardless of economic status. That was the message keynote speaker Corrine Hoisington conveyed to 340 educators who gathered at Hillsboro High School Monday for the 2013 Technology Excellence in Education Network conference.
K-State honors 20 from county

SENIOR LIVING

Air Force life was a dream
Sharolyn Tibbetts of Hillsboro is one of the few that can say she lived a dream come true, and she’s not even retirement age yet. At age 63, Tibbetts enjoys swimming every day at the USD 408 Sports and Aquatic Center, she enjoys getting to know people at the Hillsboro Senior Center where she serves on the board of directors, and she enjoys involvement at Hillsboro United Methodist Church along with her husband, Gary. The dream she lived however, was seven years of service in the United States Air Force where she learned to ask questions, multitask assignments, and prioritize her responsibilities.
Johnson volunteers despite pain
Betty Johnson bent to pick up a pile of books Saturday, when a sharp pain ripped through her body. “I just can’t lift things like I used to,” the 73-year-old said as she sat down on a nearby bench.

SPORTS

PBHS boys defeat Centre
The Peabody-Burns boys’ basketball team opened the Centre Classic with a win over the host team, 59-51, on Tuesday but lost in the next two rounds. On Friday, the Warriors were defeated by White City, 51-41. On Saturday, they were defeated by Solomon, 61-58. Up next, the junior varsity has a scheduled tournament at Goessel. Centre
PBHS girls place 6th in tourney
Peabody-Burns High School girls’ basketball team placed sixth in the Centre Classic this past week. On Tuesday, the team lost a close contest to Elyria Christian Academy, 23-20. The squad bounced back to earn a victory over Wakefield, 42-16. On Saturday, they were defeated in overtime by Solomon, 52-45. PBHS will have the week off and then resume action on Jan. 29 at Elyria. Elyria

PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin

Frank J. Heath Jr., 98, died Thursday at his home in Burns. He was born Jan. 19, 1914, in rural Burns to Frank J. Sr. and Lizzie (Whitlock) Heath.

Milford Klaassen, 61, of Hillsboro died Monday at St. Luke Hospital in Marion. He was born Oct. 18, 1951, in Hillsboro to Ted and Rubena (Leppke) Klaassen. He was the owner of JAMM Mowing. He married Janell Schmidt on June 21, 1986, in rural Goessel.

Billy Wayne Lucas, 84, of Marion died Monday at Peabody Care Center. He was born March 30, 1928, in Marion to Art and Zula (Buford) Lucas. He was a retired employee of the City of Marion and a member of Marion Christian Church.

Ann Truax Judson Moench, 72, of Hurley, Mo., died Jan. 8. She was born Sept. 2, 1940, in Lyons to John and Eloise Cockley Truax. The family moved to Manhattan and then Emporia where Ann graduated from high school.

“We’ve got a problem,” Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt said. “It’s not a small problem.” It was multiple problems actually, lumped together at the Marion County Commission meeting under the heading of nuisance.

BALANCING ACT:

HOPE IN THE HEARTLAND:

CORRESPONDENTS:

DAYS OF YORE:

Betty Johnson bent to pick up a pile of books Saturday, when a sharp pain ripped through her body. “I just can’t lift things like I used to,” the 73-year-old said as she sat down on a nearby bench.