PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin

Botched theft just got worse

A Walton man ended up in jail when he discovered getting out of Peabody was not as easy as he might have thought. According to police, Michael Aycock’s intention was to turn an allegedly stolen car he was driving from Vine St. onto 6th St.

Delinquent list has unexpected names

Some surprising names are on the list of those who haven’t paid 2015 county taxes on time. “They’ve been warned,” Treasurer Jeannine Bateman said. “We try to give them until the last minute to get everything paid. We told them we had to have it last Friday at noon in the office, not by mail.”

Fraud allegations investigated at Westview Manor

Editor’s note: This article has been updated from the Aug. 17 print edition to correct inaccuracies in the timeline of events and clarify additional information. An investigation continues into alleged fiduciary abuse of multiple dependant adults at Westview Manor.

Foundation hires administrative assistant

Peabody Community Foundation recently hired Becky Nickel to fill its part-time administrative assistant position. Nickel is a resident of rural Peabody. She co-founded Prairie Harvest Market and Deli in Newton in 2000 and was a co-owner until 2014. In addition to working with PCF, Nickel will continue to work part-time at Prairie Harvest.

County tries to fix gap in EMS

Looking to fix a leak in the dam before the new year begins, county commissioners at Monday’s meeting asked EMS director Ed Debesis if he would be able to find extra part-time help for Marion calls because Marion runs are often answered by Hillsboro ambulances. Commissioner Randy Dallke said he’d checked into what it would cost to add personnel for two additional 12-hour shifts for the next 19 weeks until the end of the calendar year, and found it could be done for about $10,000. The commission earlier agreed to hire additional full-time personnel after the first of the year.

Osteopathic doctor joins St. Luke medical staff

Scott Akers, DO, began practicing in Marion on July 6. He is the newest addition to the medical staff at St. Luke Medical Clinic. The 31-year-old physician grew up at Syracuse in western Kansas.

Model planes airstrip planned

An airport for model planes might be built at Marion County Park and Lake, but planning is still in the initial stages. “The landing strip will be 30 feet wide by 300 feet long,” Lake Superintendent Steve Hudson said.

Bob Baxter

Former production manager Bob Baxter, 87, died Sunday at Salem Home in Hillsboro. A graveside service will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Gnadenau Cemetery, two miles south of Hillsboro. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Jost Funeral Home in Hillsboro.

Jerald Stockdale

Former carpenter Jerald W. Stockdale, 89, Marion, died Thursday at home. He was born May 19, 1927, to William and Bertha (Cotton) Stockdale in Wichita. He served in the Navy in World War II.

Debbie Trimble

Debbie Ellen Trimble, 59, of Salina, died Saturday. Born June 23, 1957 in Concordia to Thomas and Gayle (Pilcher) Francis, she graduated in 1975 from Marion High School. She was a longtime employee of Salina Regional Health Center and was a member of the United Church of Bennington.

IN MEMORIAM:

IN MEMORIAM:

Civil division

County jail

Deeds recorded

Emergency dispatches

Marriage licenses issued

Offenses reported

Police reports

Traffic division

The patio headed to Oz

That little weather kerfuffle Thursday night presented some new perspectives on wind in Kansas, did it not? The Youngest Daughter has a social media video or two of the patio roof and support structures at the Coneburg Inn lifting off and disappearing into the great beyond. They are rather astounding. I think that is as close as I have come to a Kansas tornado in my 46 years here.

Trumping development

After nearly three months, colleagues at the newspaper office are getting used to a ringing cell phone, a brief pause, then a disgusted, “Shut up, Donald!” blurted at an annoying volume a couple of times every day. With home and office phones forwarded for the duration of a now-ending annual pilgrimage to Kansas, a Clone Wars sized regiment of robo-calls from Cardmember Services, supposed police charities (which have little to do with police), and The Donald often have been the only vestiges of Illinois — save for a cat pleading for morning milk each day — during a summer encampment.

Tampa woman enjoys working from home

Kris Srajer of rural Tampa has been working an online job for 20 years. She quit her job doing billing for a company in Omaha when she married Jim Srajer and joined him at Tampa, where he was farming.

Burns seniors meet

Nineteen senior citizens enjoyed lunch and a program August 9 at Burns Community Center. Barbara Smith of Marion gave the program. She showed a film and talked about elder abuse.

Webster attends space camp

Logan Webster of Peabody attended Camp: Space 101 this summer at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. The camp is a weeklong introductory astronaut training experience emphasizing teamwork, leadership and problem solving. Campers construct and launch rockets, train on spaceflight simulators, and tour the Hall of Space museum. The camp culminated with a team-based low-Earth orbit mission in the Cosmospher’s space shuttle simulator.

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WONSEVU:

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SENIOR CENTER:

USD 398 approves lower budget

With a chart that showed school district levies for the past eight years, Superintendent Ron Traxson shared news of a significant dip since levies in the 2012-2013 school year were at their highest point. “With the high school bond and interest payments off the budget this year and plans in place to take advantage of some significant operational savings, we are looking at a good sound budget,” he said. “The trick now will be to keep it at this level.”

Florence might get after school program

An after-school program for Florence youth is in the works, but won’t be ready by the first day of school. The program will be operated by Christian Church of Florence in a building owned by the city.

School menu

Klein is a lifer with Western Associates

When Barb Klein was a Hillsboro High School senior in 1972, she could have embarked on a career in journalism. “I worked at the Hillsboro Star-Journal when I was in high school,” she said. “I went over for an hour or two a day instead of going to class. I typed on their great big computer. I typed in and proofread parts of the paper.”

Woman remembers 50 years of teaching

Joyce Jackson, of Marion, now retired, spent more than 50 years helping children and adults learn. She taught in northern Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and taught English as a second language in China. Most of those years were spent teaching junior high school special education in Kansas City.

SLIDESHOW:

Calendar of events

New events highlight Florence Labor Day celebration

This year’s Florence Labor Day celebration will feature a magic show and water balloon volleyball. Glenda and Mike’s Mysteries and Wonders Show, a popular event at the Kansas State Fair, will highlight Saturday night’s events. The show, which features magic and ventriloquism, starts at 7 p.m. Sept. 3.

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