Marion County RECORD

Teen charged in sister's death

A 19-year-old rural Goessel teen was charged Sunday in the shooting death of his 15-year-old sister. Ethan Campbell was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting Thursday morning of Jodi Campbell in the family home near Goessel.

City clerk changes -- again

For nearly eight months, Marion City Council has been seeking, hiring, or firing a city clerk. At Monday’s meeting, the council hired former city clerk Angela Lange following the termination of city clerk Marty Grill.

Council approves new car for police

A car purchase was planned in 2011 for Marion Police Department. At Monday’s city council meeting, Police Chief Josh Whitwell presented a proposal that the council approved, although not unanimously. In the past, the department had purchased used police cruisers for around $16,000. Those vehicles would serve the department for about five years before repairs were required to keep them operational. Whitwell asked the council to consider purchasing a new cruiser for $5,000 or $6,000 more, which should last 10 years.

County commission vetoes Peabody TIF

Marion County Commission rejected the City of Peabody’s proposed tax increment financing district Monday. Commissioners expressed concerns about the complexity of the issue, the length of commitment required, and whether TIF districts would get out of hand. The city approved creating the district Dec. 13, and the county and USD 398 Board of Education were given 30 days to protest. The tax district would have aligned with the historic downtown district. TIF districts allow a city to collect increased property tax revenues created by development within the district — including other government entities’ share of the increased taxes — and use them to defray expenses of development.

Chad Carr's statements will be allowed at trial

In a Harvey County courtroom Thursday, law enforcement officers were found to have questioned, interviewed, and read Chad Carr his Miranda rights in a proper manner according to District Court Judge Richard Walker. Carr is accused of first-degree murder in the death of 19-month old Vincent Hill March 27. Carr was the live-in boyfriend of the child’s mother, Katheryn Nycole Dale, and he was alone with Vincent the day the boy died of suffocation and blunt force trauma.

Toys help EMS workers treat children

A stuffed animal can go a long way in establishing trust with a child, Marion County ambulance workers and deputy sheriffs have found. Ambulances in the county have carried stuffed animals since at least 1994, Emergency Medical Services Director Steve Smith said Thursday.

Parents seek adult-care facility

Heather Vinduska wished she had a group like Parents as Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities 11 years ago when she was a young parent who had just moved to Marion from Lincoln, Neb. Her oldest son, Vincent, was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with Fragile X syndrome.

Elsie Bezdek

Elsie Christina Bezdek, 89, died Dec. 27 in Marion. She was born Sept. 1, 1921, near Pilsen, to Frank and Mary (Hajek) Bezdek. She was raised in the Pilsen community and lived on the family farm.

Jodi Campbell

Jodi Kay Campbell, 15, of rural Newton, died Jan. 6 at Newton Medical Center. She was born Feb. 6, 1995, at Moundridge, to Roger and Marla (Schmidt) Campbell.

Mary Haefner

Mary Alice Harkness was born May 24, 1920, near Delevan, the daughter of Archibald and Ella (Burns) Harkness. Mary attended and graduated from Grandview Grade School and Delevan High School. She was baptized into the Christian faith on Aug. 10, 1930, at Herington. After completing high school, Mary attended Emporia State Teachers College for a year, earning a 60-hour teaching certificate. She began her approximately 40-year teaching career in a one-room school house, riding her horse to and from school.

Lorene Hawkinson

Lorene E. Hawkinson, 94, Burdick, died Jan. 5 at Medicalodges of Herington. She was born Nov. 4, 1916, to Emil and Martha J. (Martin) Naslund.

Lois Jost

Lois E. Jost, 94, died Jan. 9 at St. Luke Hospital, Marion. She was born June 13, 1916, in Marion, to Joseph E. and Fay Ellen (Selvy) Scharenberg.

Vincent Nikkel

Vincent J. Nikkel, 49, of Hillsboro, died Jan. 9 at Hillsboro Community Hospital. He was born April 14, 1961, in Newton, to Leon D. and Karen (Rodgers) Nikkel.

Elmer Otte

Elmer J. Otte, 90, longtime resident of the Lincolnville area, died Jan. 6 at Salina Regional Health Center. Born Oct. 27, 1920, on a farm near Lincolnville, to Ernest H. and Bertha A. (Krause) Otte, he was a farmer, worked at the Standard station in Lincolnville, and drove a rural delivery truck.

Guy Parsons Jr.

Guy R. Parsons Jr., 92, of Wichita, died Jan. 2. Born Nov. 8, 1918, on a farm near Degraff, to Guy Sr. and Mary (Abplanalp) Parsons, he attended schools in Potwin and Burns, graduating in 1937 from Burns High School.

Donald Penney

Donald L. Penney, 79, passed away Jan. 7, 2011, at Midland Hospice in Topeka. Don was born in Paragould, Ark., in 1931, the son of William A. and Dora E. (Walker) Penney.

Wesley Regier

Wesley Regier, 90, died Jan. 3 at Salem Home, Hillsboro. He was born Sept. 7, 1920, in rural Marion, to Henry and Tina (Rempel) Regier.

Paul Robinson

Paul William Robinson, 56, died Jan. 5 in Wichita. He was a carpenter.

Kenneth Schwendiman

Kenneth H. Schwendiman, 87, died Jan. 6 at Salem Home, Hillsboro. He was a retired farmer and oil production worker and a World War II veteran.

Donald Wright

Donald R. “Don” Wright, 83, of Hutchinson, died Dec. 30 at the University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, N.M. Born June 30, 1927, in Walton, to Harvey J. and Elsie (Worthington) Wright, he grew up in Walton and Marion.

Accidents

Civil division

County jail

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Deeds recorded

Domestic division

Hillsboro police

Marion police

Marriage licenses

Sheriff incidents

Small claims

Traffic division

Off the record

When I went to Duckwall’s Friday, there was a lonely echo in the building. Even though the store was crowded with shoppers, it was eerie because most of the visitors were quiet. Empty shelves and chained areas reminded us that the Duckwall’s era in Marion was coming to an end.

Seeds of something fine

Brokenness is hard. Throughout my life I’ve heard its virtues praised in many forums and I always have the sense that maybe we’ve all agreed to go along with this because we want it to be true more than we feel it to be true. We’ve had some extremely rough patches in our home this past year — physically, financially, emotionally, holistically. There’s been a lot of brokenness this past year and I can’t say I’m sad to see 2010 go. I have been telling myself it can only get better from here, but that’s not exactly a chorus of optimism that makes a heart sing with joy.

Legislative update

Well, it’s off to Topeka for the beginning of the 2011 legislative session. As I write this column Saturday, I find myself in Topeka thinking of the upcoming events: tonight’s banquet and dance celebrating the beginning of Sam Brownback’s first term as governor. On Monday morning, we had the opportunity to witness the inauguration of Governor-elect Brownback as he is sworn in as Kansas’ new governor, and at 2p.m., I was sworn in along with other representatives to serve in the House of Representatives for the 2011-12 term. We are all called on to swear or affirm to uphold the constitutions of the United States and of the State of Kansas. This is something we should all take very seriously. The oath is not a matter of convenience, nor is it a pledge to uphold the constitution as we wish it would be. We are all called to uphold it, and with all my ability, I will.

Another Day in the Country

For those of us in the north, with a cold wind blowing, our challenge is to dream warm thoughts, thaw out our hopes and open ourselves to possibility. It’s as simple as planting tulip bulbs, only on a spiritual level. With every bulb I planted in November, there was hope. With every clump of peonies divided, there was the desire for something lovely to bless our lives. So it is with our good intentions. We plant them deep and wait expectantly for fulfillment (blooms). During these cold winter days, I’ve set myself the task of digitizing family photos. Talk about reviewing your life! I don’t really understand how a machine can copy a photo and put it on a tiny disc, to be resurrected any time you want to see it. I don’t understand it, but I believe it and I use it. Remember the beginnings of computer technology? “A computer is only as good as the information you put in it,” was the mantra. “Garbage in. Garbage out.” Like the mind. Like the neighborhood. Like the town. Like the country. Like the world.

Hope in the Heartland

We had problems with our DVD player one day and so I mentioned to my 9-year-old daughter, Jayne, that “I didn’t have a DVD player when I was your age.” Then I went on to tell her that we didn’t even have VCRs or personal computers. I stopped short of telling her that we only had a black and white television with three, sometimes four, channels, and I also resisted mentioning that we had no video games. Furthermore, I didn’t break out the famous line about having to walk 10 miles to school through knee-deep snow … uphill both ways. And never once have I told my children that the only time we had electricity when I was growing up was if lightening struck the outhouse.

LETTERS:

None hurt in fire near Florence

A fire swept through John and Marianne Siebert’s workshop Thursday at their rural Florence home, 1424 Yarrow Road, but nobody was injured. John Siebert thinks the fire started with an electrical problem. He was working in the shop that morning when a circuit breaker tripped and he couldn’t reset it.

Kapaun guild organizing documents to send to Vatican

Fr. John Hotze, the lead researcher for the Father Kapaun Guild, is preparing the final documents in the case for the canonization of Emil Kapaun. Kapaun was an Army Chaplain during the Korean War. It has been reported that Kapaun saved hundreds of soldiers, first by dragging wounded men underneath gunfire in the midst of battle and then by stealing food and treating wounded while in captivity in a North Korean prisoner-of-war camp. Hundreds of miracles have been attributed to Kapaun, including the recovery of Bob McGreevey in the POW camp shortly after Kapaun’s death and the full recovery of Chase Kear in 2008, who was facing certain death after a pole vaulting accident nearly 50 years later.

Filing deadline extended to April 18

The Internal Revenue Service opened the 2011 tax filing season by announcing that taxpayers have until April 18 to file their tax returns. Taxpayers will have until April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on April 15. By law, District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do; therefore, all taxpayers will have three extra days to file this year.

Arlene Bowers crowned TOPS queen

Losing weight can make a woman feel like a queen. For Arlene Bowers, it became more than a feeling Thursday. She was crowned the 2010 queen of the TOPS KS 1075 chapter in Marion.

Found his style by accident

Guitarist Shane Marler’s debut solo album, “Tzigane,” is the culmination of a series of events that began with a chance encounter. Marler, of Hillsboro, played in a rock ‘n’ roll band for years, but one year at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, he heard a song in a style he was unfamiliar with, and he loved it.

Farmwoman's photo published in magazine

Myrna Jost of Hillsboro was surprised to learn in December that a photo she submitted to Reiman Publications, Greendale, Wis., was published in the December 2010/January 2011 issue of Country magazine. She sent the photo at least two years ago and had forgotten about it. It shows six farm cats making their way through a layer of fresh snow, moving from one boot print to another.

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MEMORIES:

Board approves transition-to-work requests for students

The USD 408 board of education approved two transition-to-work requests Monday. Senior E.J. Obermeyer was released from his fifth- and sixth-hour classes to work either at Flint Hills Clay Works or for his parents at their farm. Animal sciences and advanced chemistry are the classes Obermeyer is dropping, but he is still taking agriculture fabrication, composition 2 through Butler Community College, calculas, and concert choir.

No science in snow days

USD 408 and 410 schools were in session Tuesday while USD 397, 398, and 411 schools were closed because of inclement weather conditions. USD 408 Superintendent Lee Leiker said he surveyed roads and bus routes, especially those from Florence, before making the decision to have school.

Marion boys lose to talented Moundridge team

Despite scoring their second-highest point total this season, the Marion High School boys basketball team lost 65-42 to Moundridge Friday at Moundridge. “We have to hold teams under 40 points,” coach Jeff McMillin said. “Holding teams under 40 points is pretty tough.”

Warriors blown out at Moundridge

The Marion High School girls basketball team lost 53-24 to Moundridge Friday at Moundridge. Scoring hardships continued for the Warriors, who scored 4 points in each of the first two quarters and never reached 10 points in any quarter throughout the game. Moundridge led 18-4 at the end of the first quarter and eventually built a lead as large as 32 points in the third quarter. Marion scored 2 points at the free-throw line in three opportunities; coach Randy Savage wants to see his team get to the foul line more frequently.

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