There was much outdoor activity last week — sidewalks in the process of being replaced as part of the Safe Routes to School project, groundbreaking for the Newell home, and pipes being delivered for the TransCanada/Keystone Pipeline construction project.
It’s as if we’re forcing it to be spring.
Hey, whatever it takes, right?
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Feet were being held to the fire Saturday when Marion County residents asked Sen. Jim Barnett why he voted for the pipeline tax exemption. Basically, Sen. Barnett said some of the information presented to legislators was different from what the pipeline company is planning now.
Most found it interesting that not all of the 10 counties were included in the Senate bill that would exempt property taxes for 10 years. Why were Marion, Butler, Clay, Cowley, Dickinson, and Washington counties singled out while Brown, Doniphan, Marshall, and Nemaha were not? It doesn’t make much sense to me.
Regardless, we continue to hope that the right decisions are made in the best interest of this state and this county.
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A faithful reader from Florence sent a note to me saying she received a telephone call Friday from someone posing to be her grandson. Luckily, she had read the article in last week’s newspaper about the scam that victimized a Marion resident.
The scam alert reported that people are calling local residents, posing as relatives — usually a grandson — and asking for money. The request is for money to be sent by Western Union, usually to another country. The scam plays on the heartstrings of residents who would want to help their family any way they can.
In Friday’s case, a young man told the Florence woman that he and two other men were on their way to Canada when they were in a car crash that involved alcohol. As a result, they were arrested. When the woman called her grandson by name, the caller hung up. Upset and concerned, the woman called her grandson and discovered it was an attempt to con her.
The caller must have become scared when the woman doubted the story and hung up.
She said the moral of her story was for people to ask questions and not commit to anything unless they know it’s legitimate.
Good advice we all should follow.
— susan berg