BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
A blue-green algae watch for Marion Reservoir was elevated to a warning Thursday. The reservoir is one of seven bodies of water in Kansas under an algae warning. Two others are under advisories. Marion County Lake is not affected.
Algae advisories or warnings issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have been in effect for the reservoir virtually every week during the summer vacation season for several years.
Marion County’s ambulance director is under investigation by the state and could lose his license as early as August.
A Record investigation has discovered that Curt Hasart, director since November, has a troubled past, including surrendering his license in South Dakota after he was arrested for assault and again for interference with law enforcement and resisting arrest. He also was being charged with battery and disorderly conduct in Wellington.
Hillsboro city officials are mum on the reason recreation director Doug Sisk abruptly left that position June 14.
Sisk had been director since Oct. 10, 2006, city administrator Matt Stiles said.
Farmers were just getting started with wheat harvest last weekend when a Saturday night rain put a stop to it.
But they aren’t complaining. The rain was great for corn and beans, which have been thriving in moderate spring temperatures.
A Towanda woman who broke through a glass door to enter Florence’s Flying Eagle truck stop Jan. 28, then damaged a toilet paper holder and fire extinguisher before deputies found her hiding in the bathroom, got an unusual stipulation when she was sentenced June 5.
Paige L. Williams, 36, was found to have caused damage estimated at $1,075 between 5:08 and 5:15 a.m., when sheriff’s deputies investigated a burglar alarm.
Originally charged with felony criminal damage to property, she pleaded no contest April 3 to a reduced charge of misdemeanor criminal damage to property.
Bare midriffs, form-fitting pants, and short shorts were among items discussed by county commissioners in a 1¼-hour discussion Tuesday of county personnel policies.
County clerk Tina Spencer suggested that the county’s rarely enforced dress and appearance code might need to be updated and possibly liberalized.
Marion’s Western Associates, a marketer of promotional merchandise with offices in Dallas, Topeka, and Marion, has purchased Wichita specialty wholesale advertising firm Tangible Advertising.
Tangible Advertising has been in business since 1989, president Gary Hilton said. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Despite sharp questioning, an application for a grant to pay for 90% of $638,633 in radios that could end public ability to monitor police broadcasts was approved Tuesday by county commissioners.
The proposal for 91 new radios was met with skepticism from commissioner Randy Dallke.
Even though they’re not certain where the building should be nor what it should contain, county commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to seek an architect to design a new health department building.
Phase 1 of the project will be to help answer those questions.
Flint Hills Counterpoint will present a Santa Fe Trail walk and storytelling adventure at 9:30 a.m. July 1 at the Schmidt Ranch north of Lehigh.
Steve Schmidt and Doug Sharp will lead participants in a one-mile loop on a portion of the Santa Fe Trail that runs through Schmidt’s property. The hosts will share stories of the trail and point out significant points of interest along the way.
A 24-year-old Marion man was arrested on multiple drug charges and charges related to juveniles after a traffic stop at 8:14 p.m. Friday in Marion.
A gray 2021 Chrysler 300 was stopped for having window tint too dark at Main St. and Eisenhower Dr. by sheriff’s deputy Josh Meliza.
A Morris County woman has been jailed in Marion County as a contract prisoner since May 2 on Morris County charges.
Morris County doesn’t have a functional jail. It has two cells that can hold eight prisoners.
Bane L. Spurlin, 19, Hillsboro, is scheduled to enter plea agreements Aug. 8 in three different court cases involving eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Spurlin, then a Goessel High School senior, golf team member, and FFA participant, was charged April 20, 2022, with four counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possessing images of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct between Aug. 24, 2020, and Nov. 2, 2021. The sentencing range for each charge is between 13 months community corrections to 11 years 4 months in prison.
Two months later, on June 20, 2022, he was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child for allegedly using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct Oct. 20, 2021. This charge is an off-grid felony, for which Spurlin could be sentenced to as much as life in prison.
Although Marion city officials turned out in good numbers for a presentation Monday evening on open records and open meetings laws, other city and county officials were absent.
Lawrence attorney Max Kautsch, who specializes in first amendment rights and open government, talked with a crowd of 20 people.
Laws. We curse them. We worship them. At times, they make no sense. Other times, they are the difference between livelihood and tragedy. Almost always, they are subject to interpretation, manipulation, even chicanery.
Take, for example, something as innocent and pleasant as this past weekend’s movie nights in Marion and Florence.
LEST we be labeled one of “those people,” we try to avoid “Star Trek” references wherever possible. By Mr. Spock’s logical treatise, cribbed from utilitarian philosophy, is one of the key arguments behind openness in government.
This week, we’re confronted with two major stories, the official reaction to both of which has been less-than-open statements from responsible officials that they can’t comment because it’s a personnel matter.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
Ornithology 101
The Farmall tractor is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
The centennial was marked this past week at the 34th annual Red Power Round Up in Nebraska. The event celebrated red tractors made by International Harvester, McCormick-Deering, and Farmall.
Two longtime crafters, Lori McLinden and Barbara Alleven, met at Art in the Park in Marion last fall and decided to join forces and open a shop in Marion.
When the operators of a former quilt shop at 329 E. Main St. indicated they were closing, the women leased the building. It opened June 2.
MEMORIES:
15,
30,
45,
60,
75,
110,
145 years ago
It used to be that senior centers in the county had free reign on what meals they prepared for seniors they served.
For several months now, that has not been the case.