Marion County RECORD

Bond reduction denied in abuse case

Kathryn Nycole Dale appeared in Harvey County District Court Friday with her attorney Gregory Barker. Dale is being held in Harvey County Detention Center on $50,000 bond on charges stemming from the March 27 death of her 19-month-old son Vincent Hill. Dale is charged with two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child, one count of aggravated battery, and one charge of child abuse.

Toilet races, texting among new events

Chingawassa Day supporters come back every year for the festival because they look forward to the longtime favorite events such as the Marion National Bank Barbecue, the St. Luke Hospital Dinky Duck Races, and the anvil shoot. But they also come back each year to see new acts and activities. This year will not disappoint with an assortment of new events.

Hospital construction set for July

St. Luke Hospital board members and CEO Jeremy Armstrong broke ground Monday afternoon on the hospital’s $6 million renovation project. Armstrong said construction is set to begin in July with additions to the physical and occupational therapy departments, new specifications for the operating room, and new mechanical systems.

Street work begins this week

Street projects began Tuesday in Marion that will cause some headaches for motorists. Completion of the work is anticipated by Friday. Street Superintendent Marty Fredrickson told Marion City Council Monday that construction workers will begin on East Main Street, replacing asphalt overlay from Coble to Locust streets.

Resident complains about county shop, business near her residence

Marion resident Marsha Findeiss asked Marion City Council Monday to do something about the noise and air pollution near her home on North Coble Street. She said she has lived at her residence for three years, which is near the Marion County shop and Hett Construction Company. Findeiss asked for clarification of zoning regulations in that area. It was determined that property 150 feet from Main Street was zoned general commercial. Findeiss’ property was zoned low density residential.

Local judge sits on state Supreme Court

Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial District Michael F. Powers sat with the state Supreme Court Monday and heard appeals in five matters on the court’s docket. The Supreme Court appointed Powers to join them in place of Chief Justice Robert E. Davis who was on medical leave.

Centre Elementary School celebrates Going Green

Friday was a big day at Centre Elementary School as students and staff celebrated the school’s recognition as Green School of the Year in Kansas. The celebration may have been the last major event at CES because the kindergarten through fourth-grade students will be transferred to the Centre High School site this fall.

Max Dix

Max V. Dix, 81, North Canton, Ohio, died April 27 at St. Thomas Hospital, North Canton. Born July 24, 1928, in Marion, to Phillip and Nina (Revo) Dix, he lived in Herington until 1979 when he moved to Uniontown, Ohio, to be near his sister after his mother died.

Esther Dwyer

Esther May Dwyer, 99, of Marion, passed away May 2, 2010, at the St. Luke Living Center. The daughter of Nees Louis and Cora (Penland) Olsen, Esther was born on the family farm in rural Marion on Nov. 24, 1910. She attended Morning Star School and the Kansas School of Cosmetology in Wichita.

Florence Ehrlich

Florence Ruth Hefley was born July 22, 1927, on a farm near Durham, to Fred and Anna (Zimmerman) Hefley. She was raised by her mother with help of her seven older siblings. Her father died in a farm accident in July 1937. Her siblings were Alma Schlautcher, Theodore, Reuben, Earlene Hilsenbeck, Alvie, Harvey, and Maynard Hefley.

Carole Post

Carole Post, 74, of Hillsboro, died April 27 in Hillsboro. Born Sept. 25, 1935, in Peabody, to Arthur and Alice (Hanneman) Schlehuber, she was a Marion High School graduate.

Accidents

Civil division

County jail

Criminal division

Deeds records

Domestic division

Marriage licenses

Sheriff incident reports

Traffic division

Road contractor offers free work to county

Following road work that didn’t turn out the way Marion County Commissioners expected, the original contractor has offered to repair the work and perform the county’s summer maintenance for free. Blevins Asphalt Construction Co., Inc., of Mount Vernon, Mo., completed chip seal and double chip seal work in 2009 on Marion County roads. The roads, especially stretches of Limestone and Timber roads which were double chip sealed, quickly began deteriorating.

Lori Lalouette appointed Lincolnville city attorney

At its Monday meeting, Lincolnville City Council approved the appointment of Lori Lalouette as city attorney. Lalouette practices at Hillsboro. The council also approved re-appointment of Sabrina Carson as city clerk and Clay Simons as treasurer.

Woman meets biological mother

It’s one of those successful adoption stories where the child and family are a perfect match and all goes well. But this story had a surprising twist when the adopted mother and adopted child met the biological mother.

Mother, son say 'lucky' to have each other

Mother and son both described the circumstances that led them to each other as “lucky.” Marion resident Dorothy Melcher, 95, and her late husband Wilbur were having difficulty having a child at the beginning of the 1950s. They knew they wanted to have a child and recognized they weren’t getting younger.

Nuisances are annoying

We were reminded Monday evening at Marion City Council meeting of the old adage, “Buyer beware.” Marsha Findeiss asked the city council to intervene on her behalf with the county and a business owner in the 100 block of North Coble Street where she recently purchased a home.

Another Day in the Country

Ah, the weather has been lovely and a catalog just arrived in the mail with swimsuits on the front cover. The headline is “Confidence Around the Next Curve.” I like that! The teenager on the cover has a white-bright smile and pencil thin hips. Barely into her second decade, she hasn’t a clue about the next curve or what it takes to love your body for 70 years. One thing we both know, when she’s my age she won’t be hawking swimsuits on the cover of a catalog.

Hope in the Heartland

She closes her eyes and holds out her hands because her sweet child has a gift for her. The youngster shouts, “Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy! I love you!” Mommy opens her eyes and smiles, then casts a “watch-and-learn” glance at her husband who had just given her two bags of potting soil — the convenience store had a pallet of them by the gas pumps when he went to refill his enormous travel mug.

Our Voice in Topeka

The veto session got under way April 28. The budget remains the 500-pound gorilla in the room, and we have yet to deal with it. On another matter, Governor Parkinson vetoed the bill we had passed regarding abortion reporting. On April 26, we voted to override the Governor’s veto, 86-35; 84 votes are required to override a veto. Now, the question is what will the Senate do? As I put the finishing touches on this column, we are preparing to discuss the issue of taxes as well as the House budget plan. On Friday, we received information that the April tax receipts were again below estimates, so we may have to put off debate on today’s bills until modifications can be made to the bills. You might recall I have mentioned we had a $511 million hole. Well, now it exceeds $550 million.

Random Thoughts

I appreciate it when someone recommends a book for me to read and Rex Siebert did just that. He told me about a book that describes herds of cattle being driven on the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene. What an exciting event that must have been for the cowboys in those days. Sometimes in crossing a river, cattle would get stuck in quick sand. The cowboys would have to tie ropes around the cow’s neck and the cowboys’ horses would pull them out. Many of the people we have heard about appear in the story. Liquor and guns were very evident. Oh, yes, the Indians were there, too. It seems to me that we didn’t treat Native Americans fairly.

St. Luke Hospital

In the previous article, we revealed that physicians who suspect a patient may have gallbladder disease could, at times, find themselves in a situation where the patient presents clinically with gallbladder disease but testing has been inconclusive. With a majority of radiologic tests, we are looking for signs of abnormalities in the anatomy to aid in the diagnosis of disease. For some patients who experience inconclusive test results, the answer may lie in a visit to the nuclear medicine department at St. Luke Hospital.

LETTERS:

Florence documentary will help celebrate Kansas' 150th birthday

Stephen Lerner, a psychologist and filmmaker from Lawrence, has obtained a $10,000 grant from the Kansas Humanities Council to create a documentary about Florence. He will be assisted by Frank Barthell, a media specialist at the University of Kansas. The 15-minute film will be part of the 2011 celebration of 150 years of Kansas statehood.

MOPS marathon event will return in August

Marion Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) will sponsor a 2-mile fun run, half marathon, and half marathon relay for a second consecutive year. “Run For Your Momma” will be Aug. 14 at Marion County Park and Lake. The half marathon and relay will begin at 6:30 a.m. Each runner of the two-member relay team will run one-half of the course. The fun run will begin at 8:30 a.m.

Flint knapper uses skill in ministry

Gary Schuler of rural Marion finds valuable life lessons in rocks. A self-described amateur archeologist, Schuler was interested in learning how American Indians made stone arrowheads and other tools. So, two and a half years ago he found a way to incorporate the skill known as flint knapping into ministry.

CORRESPONDENTS:

MEMORIES:

No rocking chair for this octogenarian

Aldina Martens of Lehigh has worked hard all of her life and sees no reason to slow down at 80. “I’ve got to keep busy all of the time,” the petite grandmother said.

New name, same services available to seniors

Formerly known as Marion County Department for Elderly, Marion County Department on Aging provides helpful services to thousands of senior citizens daily. One of the most important things the department provides to older residents is meals. Approximately 225 meals are served daily at four nutrition centers — Marion, Hillsboro, Peabody, and Goessel — five days a week. Volunteers also deliver meals to those unable to travel to the senior center.

Light exercise is good way to help manage pain for older adults

Bill Laramore, of Peabody, started walking regularly in 1976, after a surgeon told him it would help him recover from surgery on his lower back. Laramore had several bones in his lower back fused to treat degenerative arthritis in his spine. He is always in pain, but walking helps relieve the pain enough that he only has to take one pill daily for it.

Emotions run high at elementary school teacher's last performance

Anita Hancock dedicated “Lovin’ Kindness,” her last time as a director at a Marion school Thursday to her sister Carol Post. Hancock learned of Post’s death April 27 only minutes before she was set to have a rehearsal with the third and fourth grades for their performance, which was two days away. Hancock’s assistants pleaded with her to cancel rehearsal that day.

FFA announces award winners

Members of Marion/Florence FFA Chapter were recognized Thursday at the organization’s annual Parent/Member/Employer Banquet. Ryan Jones received the Chapter Star in Agribusiness. Jacob Cope was recognized as Star Chapter Greenhand.

Special ed meets behind closed doors

The board of directors of Marion County Special Education Cooperative met April 27 in special session to discuss personnel. The first 90-minute closed session included employee Bob Diepenbrock for most of the session.

Kemble attends Apple Leadership Summit

Jerri Kemble, superintendent of USD 397, was one of 400 educational leaders in North America who were selected to attend the Apple Leadership Summit April 20 through 23 in Dallas, Texas. The summit is a participatory gathering of education executives dedicated to bringing innovation in learning to their institutions.

CES students win awards in contest

Four students from Centre Elementary School, Lost Springs, are winners in the 2010 Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Arts and Education contest sponsored by the Kansas Park Trust and Farmers and Drovers Bank. Haley Meyer and Maria Stuchlik won first and second place, respectively, for their artwork in the first-through-third-grade category. Meghan David and Austin Peterson won first and second place, respectively, for their artwork in the fourth-through-fifth-grade category.

MHS baseball team sweeps Lyons

The Marion High School baseball team won both games Tuesday against Lyons. The Warriors scored 10 runs in both games; winning the first game in six innings, 12-2, and won the second game, 10-2.

New coach brings positive, winning attitude to Warrior softball

The Marion softball team built a 10-0 lead on Hoisington Friday at Hoisington in the second game of the doubleheader. The Warriors used eight consecutive singles — from J.D. Schafers all the way through Raelene Allen in the lineup — and RBIs from Alex Cain, Shelby Percell, Sarah Guetersloh, Ashley Ratzlaff, Allen, and Emily Rogers to take the lead.

Youth movement steering MHS baseball team this season

The Marion High School baseball team has seen a transformation in its lineup in recent weeks. At Hoisington Friday, freshmen Austin Pederson and Jacob Harper played shortstop and second base, respectively, for the majority of the two-game series.

Golfers finish 4th, 5th at Sacred Heart

The Marion High School golf two-man team of Landon Leiker and Lindsay Hett finished fourth with a combined score of 176 Friday at the Sacred Heart Invitational in Salina. The Marion four-man team — Leiker, Hett, Scott Jones, and Adam Molleker — finished fifth.

Zeiner leads Warriors in medal haul at Beloit Relays

The Marion High School track team won five first-place medals Friday at the Beloit Relays. Julia Zeiner won the long jump with a meet record 18 feet, .5 inches, and the triple jump, 38-1 as part of a four-medal performance on the day. She also took second place in the 300-meter hurdles, 46.89 seconds, and fifth place in the 100 hurdles, 15.85.

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