Year in Review 2004: Ups and Downs years ago
With 2004 officially behind us it is time to bring out the 20-20 hindsight goggles and see what was great and what was not-so-great about the year. Our communities had some good things happen and there were happenings that left a bad taste for many of us.
"Ups" for 2004 are:
— New businesses opened. Brendan Kraus opened Spur Ridge Veterinary Hospital in Florence; Peabody is home to two new antique shops, Cameo Rose Antiques and Ambleside Antiques; and Will Carpenter bought Florence Market. Florence also saw Junction Saloon and C.W. Liquor open for business.
— Successful community promotions and special events included Peabody summer concert series which ended with a show by 1960s pop singer Frankie Valens; Mile Marker Tour on U.S.-77 to Burns; Peabody Historical Society house tour; Music on Main Street tour; annual July Fourth and Labor Day celebrations; Peabody Main Street Woman's Fairs; Tour de Florence bicycle race through the Flint Hills; Burns rooster tours and Friday night music downtown; and Florence Spring Fling. 2004 also marked the 50th year of the Kansas University Thanksgiving Homestay Program at Burns.
— Peabody-Burns High School football team won its third district championship. Peabody-Burns junior high boys' basketball team was undefeated all season and took the league title. The track team also was named league champion.
— A one percent sales tax passed in Florence to give the city a much needed financial boost. The city council chose a broad definition for the purpose of funds generated by the tax rather than limiting them to a single category. Members did not want to tie themselves or future councils to restrictions on the funds.
— Burns won 2004 Kansas PRIDE Community of Excellence award and PRIDE star award in October; Westview Manor in Peabody earned perfect state assessment for the second time; and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin and Peabody Main Street won a Governor's Award for the quarterly newsletter.
— New concession stand/press box was built at the football field at city park. A stone facade was added to help the facility blend with the stone work, a 1930s WPA project. Florence Historical Society finished a long-term remodeling project on the Harvey House. Peabody Community Fund presented a grant to Peabody Historical Society and Peabody Township Library to pay for the installation of vintage cast iron light fixtures from the former Peabody High School building.
— KDOT has moved ahead with plans for a roundabout at Florence; improvements on U.S.-77 from Burns to Marion have begun; and the Cottonwood River at Florence is running freely for the first time in many years since a log jam was broken up in November.
And "Downs" for 2004 are:
— U.S.-50 was the scene of three fatal accidents involving semis traveling too fast in highway work zones. Nine people were killed in May and June. Victims in each accident were stopped in a line of cars awaiting oncoming traffic through a construction zone. Each was hit from behind by semis traveling too fast to stop. The accidents prompted more stringent cautionary warnings and stepped up patrolling by law enforcement officers for the remainder of the repair work.
— Florence police chief Merlin Stout was arrested on sexual battery charges in February.
SEE UPS, Page 6
Stout eventually agreed to resign his position and leave Florence in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.
— The state denied Peabody's application for Heritage Trust fund for city shop. An estimate of $90,000 for repairs was more than the city council was willing to spend and the city sought financial relief from historic preservation funds. A second attempt to acquire funds will be made in 2005.
— On May 19 lightning struck the new water plant at Florence adding to problems with the plant that continued through the end of the year. City council has withheld final payment on the project pending a properly functioning water treatment facility.
— Algae appeared once again in Marion Reservoir. Cities were prepared this year to treat water consumed by households served by the reservoir. Officials with the state and Corps of Engineers also were quicker to post signs discouraging or restricting recreational use of the water.
— Charges were filed against the mayor, city council, and city employees in Florence for alleged omissions, mistakes, and misconduct. In all, 29 infractions were filed with Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline's office. Three of the allegations were addressed by the attorney general and city officials rectified those problems. No official assessment of the remaining 26 charges has ever been made.
