BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
A Small Business Administration disaster loan outreach center will operate at the civic center in Hillsboro 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Aug. 15.
The federal agency has low-interest disaster loans available to Marion County residents who suffered flood losses between June 22 and July 6.
New data released last week by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation list Marion County among the top quarter of Kansas counties for violent crime.
The county’s 3.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents in 2018 contributed to a rate higher than that in all but two surrounding counties, Harvey and Saline.
Peabody Hardware and Lumber operated for more than 20 years, but an auction to dismantle it moved fast Saturday as volunteers ripped merchandise off the shelves and ran it to the sale table to help the Whitneys liquidate.
Mark and Ginger Whitney closed the store June 28 after announcing their retirement in March.
After 15 years as Florence city clerk, Janet Robinson announced her resignation in a letter that was read Thursday at a special council meeting.
Robinson was asked to resign July 24 by mayor Bob Gayle, but when he was approached for an explanation, Gayle said, “No reason was given.”
County commissioners spent nearly six hours Monday trying to prepare a 2020 budget but still didn’t make final decisions despite a looming deadline.
However, commissioners decided to put a sales tax question on the ballot as a way to fund a new transfer station.
Marion County residents are the third best budgeters in Kansas, according to a report released this month by financial website Smartasset.com
That distinction doesn’t mean the county’s economy is third-best in the state, it signifies that its residents are effective at being frugal, said Chris Hernandez, a financial adviser with Edward Jones in Marion.
Low-interest loans soon may be available for Marion County businesses, homeowners, and renters impacted by flooding June 22 through July 6, but Harry Rhodes is unsure if it will be worth applying.
He said he would be interested in applying if the decision-making process will be quick, but not if the process will take months.
Gates will open at noon Friday for the annual Country Threshing Days on the campus of Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum in Goessel.
Activities will continue through Sunday, culminating in a 2 p.m. guided tour of the historic Schroeder Barn.
Chief Judge Michael Powers of Marion has been reappointed to a one-year term on a panel overseeing implementation of a online system to manage all cases in Kansas district and appellate courts.
Powers, who presides over the 8th Judicial District, including Dickinson, Geary, Marion, and Morris counties, is one of 13 members of the eCourt Steering Committee, appointed by the state supreme court.
Bob McPhail has seen his share of Kansas county fairs over the years, and says Marion County Fair is one that keeps chugging along.
“For county fairs, it’s probably one of the better ones,” he said. “The only thing is trying to get some other rides, and some of the scheduling. The fair boards always change, so that makes it a little difficult.”
A memorial service for Roger Frans, 73, who died July 20 at his home in Marion, has been scheduled for 5 to 7 tonight at Historic Elgin Hotel, Marion.
A full “In Memoriam” notice appeared last week.
IN MEMORIAM:
Virginia HeereyIN MEMORIAM:
Gertrude MoennichIN MEMORIAM:
Tony SchafersIN MEMORIAM:
Judith Ann Wetzel
Sherri Hudson was surprised when Centre High School’s class of 2019 chose her as their commencement speaker, but class president Xavier Espinoza said their decision reflected the help the English teacher has been to her students.
“She always added to our conversations no matter what we talked about,” he said. “We sometimes got off track, but she joined in the conversation.”
While education is a priority, finding a good teacher can be difficult, said Danielle Medina, Marion High School’s first-year counselor.
“Education is hard to fill because there are so many expectations, guidelines, and rules to follow,” she said.
Tabor alumnae Sylvia Penner last week was named one of two appointees to Governor Laura Kelly’s Criminal Justice Reform Commission.
She will fill the position of the criminal defense attorney appointment.
Tabor College graduate Kelly Arnold was re-elected chairman last week of the trustees of Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.
Arnold, a McPherson native and Hillsboro State Bank director, is county clerk for Sedgwick County.
What’s it mean? What are the issues? Who’s right? Who’s wrong? What, if anything, should be done about it?
For concerned citizens, trying their level best to do their civic duty and participate in our democracy, these are just a few of the questions that arise whenever something unusual comes before an elected body.
Several farmers who were reluctant to be named were hesitant to express relief over impending payments to producers from the federal government for support during trade disputes.
The United States Department of Agriculture has allocated $16 billion in aid to support the ag industry.
Peabody’s City Council meeting was canceled Monday due to lack of a quorum. The next scheduled meeting will be 7 p.m. Aug. 12.
Peabody Fall Festival has added a Scarecrow contest and a Wiffle Ball Tournament to the day’s events.
Registration forms for the scarecrow contest are at the city office and are due Sept. 16.
CALENDAR:
Calendar of eventsSENIOR CENTER:
Peabody Senior Center menuWONSEVU:
Janet Cress visits in Alaska
When Linda Frye worked at Coneburg Inn, she had a frequent four-legged visitor.
“Our cat, Sosea, would always come over and see me at work,” Frye said. “Sometimes I would go into the kitchen and see him out of the back door.”
Peabody Market may get a facelift along with safety improvements.
Owner Michael Crow told city council members Monday that he’d like to add light fixtures and decorated metal awnings over paintings with historic themes outside the building.
After county commissioner Dianne Novak called a special budget meeting to discuss trimming EMT overtime, commissioners voted to decrease their proposed 2018 budget increase of two mills to one and a half mills.
With this decrease, about $165,000 less will be added to the ambulance personnel budget, which includes roughly $247,650 in overtime pay for full-time EMTs and paramedics.
When one of the Record’s two new reporters, Jason Tidd, first delivered newspapers in the third grade, he had no idea journalism would eventually become his life passion.
“My route delivered newspapers to the townhouses in subsidized living,” Tidd said. “The residents would steal newspapers from under the doors of their neighbors, showing me just how much the community values local journalism — even if Thursday’s paper with the TV guide was the one stolen the most.”
Deputy Derek Fetrow will fill a detective vacancy in the sheriff’s department created by the departure of Wilma Mueller, Sheriff Robert Craft confirmed Monday.
The position was advertised July 19. Craft said Fetrow’s experience in the department would be beneficial in making the transition to a multifaceted role.
County treasurer Jeannine Bateman, recovering from a leg injury, will be in and out of the office for the next several weeks.
Bateman said her leg was punctured May 21 by a tree branch as she was mowing. The puncture went nearly to the bone.
Landowners blew through a gust of grievances on un-built wind farms Monday years after they signed leases — or, in one case, after construction started on property where a lease was never signed.
One landowner, Sandy Sellers, told Marion County commissioners he never signed a lease, yet Windborne Energy still performed work on his property against his will.
An exhibit by Flint Hills artists Joseph Loganbill of Newton, Peggy Lyon of rural Chase County, and Deb Schroer of Strong City will close with a reception at 3 p.m. Saturday at Pioneer Bluffs, a mile north of Matfield Green on K-177.
Pioneer Bluffs, which also features other Flint Hills artwork, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment.
Old-timers like to say things were different in their day. Goessel’s three-day Country Threshing Days this week will provide a view of how things actually were different in bygone years.
Demonstrations of farm life over the last century will include not only threshing but also corn cutting, binding, and shelling along with sawmills.
Marion County Relay for Life will be Saturday at Marion High’s Warrior Stadium. Organizers will use canned goods as weights for the luminaries this year. After the event, the canned goods will be distributed among the four local food banks.
Multiple drop-off buckets are available at Hillsboro and Marion businesses and the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce office.
Services for longtime Burns resident Esta Hall, 89, Burns, who died Monday at Newton Medical Center, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Burns United Methodist Church.
Visitation will be 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the church
No services are planned for Hillsboro native and former Marion resident Robert W. Hiebert, 80, who died July 18 in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Born Jan. 3, 1937, in Hillsboro to Alfred and Ruth Hiebert, he was raised in Marion and graduated from Marion High School in 1955.
Services for former Agco employee Calvin Jay Hiebert, 65, Goessel, who died July 29, will be at 2 p.m. today at First Mennonite Church, Hillsboro.
Burial will be at Lehigh Mennonite Cemetery, Lehigh.
Services for longtime Vulcan Chemical operator Mark A. “Booster” Brown, 69, Marion, who died Monday, will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Marion Christian Church. Visitation and a private graveside service will follow
Born Oct. 16, 1947, in El Dorado to Catherine and Raymond Brown, he was a member of the last graduating class from Burns High School in 1967 and that year married his first wife, Beverly. He married his second wife, Suzie, in 1991. She and his parents preceded him in death.
Services for retired Navy veteran Lewis Pettross, 77, who died Monday at Parkside Homes, will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Hillsboro United Methodist Church.
A committal service at Springfield Cemetery, rural Hillsboro, will follow.
Services for Lincolnville native Eleanore Rucker, 96, who died July 23 at her home in Herington, were Saturday at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Herington. Burial was at Sunset Hill Cemetery, Herington.
Born Aug. 5, 1920, to Axel F. and Fannie (Kandt) Holmgren, she is survived by children Larry Rucker and Lyn Rucker-Powell, both of Herington, and Eric Rucker of Topeka; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services for Peabody native Betty Mildred (Newton) Seibel, 94, who died July 24, were Saturday. Burial was in Prairie Lawn Cemetery.
Born Sept. 10, 1922, she graduated from Peabody High School in 1942 and on April 5, 1943, married Wallace C. Seibel.
IN MEMORIAM:
Blanche Blackwelder,
Dolores Lee
Up to 2,000 tomato plants planted this spring in hoop houses on the Jirak Brothers Produce farm in rural Tampa are nearing peak production this week.
Jirak’s niece, Heidi Jirak, works every weekday from sunup to mid-morning, harvesting the deep red fruits, some weighing as much as 1½ pounds.
Executives from both KWCH-TV (Channel 12) and KPTS-TV (Channel 8) were quick to object to last week’s editorial “Live from Marion County, it’s fake news.” And they were right — sort of.
Even though one of his news anchors seemed to say otherwise, KWCH news director Brian Gregory said his station would never knowingly allow news to be staged just so live video could be broadcast.
We’ve heard from a dozen readers who offered praise — and from one county employee who most certainly did not — about recent editorials questioning what county commissioners are doing.
A county secretary who moonlights as manager of a small business dropped by our office around 4 p.m. Friday to say her business would never again advertise in our papers because of what we have been writing about commissioners.
“One of my favorite unexpected perks in keeping chickens is the daily lessons they offer.”
So says the author of yet another chicken book I’m reading, “Keeping Chickens,” by Ashley English. This particular book, full of lovely color photographs, is one of the most helpful books I’ve found.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
How county money is spent,
Public servants have become masters,
Piece of sh***',
News not for sale
For newly hired county appraiser Lisa Reeder, life in Marion is a new adventure.
She worked for almost 23 years in an appraiser’s office in Trego County, where she was born and raised on a farm south of Ogallala.
Helen Fulton of Salina, who served Florence and Aulne United Methodist churches when her husband was pastor there, will celebrate her 95th birthday at a reception from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Aug. 12 at Eaglecrest Retirement Community, 1501 E. Magnolia Rd., Salina.
Hosts will be her children Dennis Fulton and wife, Janette, of Nampa, Idaho, and Jeanna Short and husband, Dale, of El Dorado.
A celebration of Elmer “Bob” Delk’s 95th birthday will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church fellowship hall.
Hosts will include his wife, Dorothy; his children and their spouses, Donna and Dan Dalke, Barbara and Dick Koontz, Shirley Delk, and Rob Delk; his grandchildren; and his great-grandchildren.
Farm and Art Market at Marion has expanded from Wednesday evening to Saturday morning as well.
Hours now are 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, both at Central Park.
Marion County Historical Society will meet at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 15 at Burns City Hall.
The agenda will include setting membership fees, which will help pay to promote and preserve county historical sites.
A new event, a Frisbee golf tournament Sept. 2, will be included in the 80th annual Florence Labor Day celebration.
The two-man event will start at 8 a.m. at the Frisbee golf course on 8th St.
A class on planning meals for people with diabetes and pre-diabetes will begin at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 in the community room at Hilltop Manor, 1501 Lawrence St., Marion.
The class, sponsored by the county Department on Aging, will meet for two hours on each of four consecutive Thursdays.