BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
For the first time in four weeks, Marion Reservoir is not under a warning for toxic blue-green algae. Kansas Department of Health and Environment downgraded its warning to an advisory Thursday. The advisory was based on tests performed Monday.
When Roy Wessel glanced at one of the enormous stacks of hay bales Saturday, 10 were engulfed in orange flames. Quickly he tried to put out the growing blaze by dumping distiller onto the bales using a bulldozer. By the time he had gotten in the bulldozer, scooped a pile of manure, and was driving back to the hay, it was too late.
Tristan Armstrong of Marion handed the cell phone he was carrying to his father, Jeremy, and bent over to stick his head between some low branches and a large rock at Marion County Lake. “It’s not here,” Tristan exclaimed. He kept searching around the rock.
Marion County Commission approved a burn ban Monday that will stay in effect until this coming Tuesday. Marion County Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini said Marion County Fire Chiefs had reached an agreement about the dry and hot conditions requiring a ban on burning in the County.
The sale of the Emporia branch of Marion National Bank to Citizens State Bank of Gridley was completed July 10 in a transaction that works to the benefit of both banks. “Our bank is in great shape,” MNB President Jim Hefley said. “We’re focusing on the Marion market. We have strong capital, we’re growing, and we pride ourselves in our customer service. We hope they continue to take care of our customers just like we did.”
Marion County Commission went over options Monday in case that the Marion City Council decided to overturn the city administrator’s decision about a radio tower. Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini presented two alternatives to the commission.
More than $400 was stolen when TC’s What Not Shop in Marion was burglarized between 6 p.m. July 18 and 9:45 a.m. Thursday, police said. The thief or thieves broke into the antique shop using a crowbar, damaging the shop’s door around the lock.
Retired crop insurance office manager Audrey Berg, 100, of Hillsboro died Monday at Parkside Home in Hillsboro. She was born Dec. 15, 1911, in Clyde to Aruther and Edith (Maxon) Heal and married Peter Berg on Jan. 1, 1933, in Canton. He preceded her in death in 1990. She also was preceded in death by three brothers, Charles, Viv, and Louis Heal.
Rosalie Heath, 90, died Thursday at her home near Burns. She was born Dec. 9, 1921, at Burns, to Olen and Maggie (Freeman) McIntosh. She married Frank Heath on Feb. 28, 1940, at Cottonwood Falls, and they made their home in the Burns community.
Retired farmer Allen Nuss, 87, of rural Newton died Sunday at Schowalter Villa, Hesston. Born Dec. 14, 1924, in Hillsboro to Carl and Anna (Matz) Nuss, he married Virginia Mae Jost on June 12, 1949, in Hillsboro.
Joseph O. Moffett, 86, died on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, in Stillwater, Okla. His funeral service was Saturday, July 21, 2012, at Strode Funeral Home Chapel in Stillwater. Interment followed at Harrell Cemetery near Cushing, Okla. Strode Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. He was born Jan. 9, 1926, to Joseph Orr Moffett Jr. and Myrtle Ester (Mathoit) Moffett in Peabody. He married Lucy Arlene Hodges on Nov. 13, 1944, in Reidsville, N.C. They had seven children and were married for 64 years until her death in 2007.
Erin Carr wanted to be a social worker, but finding the time to attend college classes for the degree she needed was challenging. “Being a single mom, I knew I would need to work full-time,” Carr said. “My only option to go to school with more than one class a semester was online.”
For students interested in nursing in both Hillsboro and Marion, Butler has made getting the certified nursing aide course more convenient. This fall the Marion campus of Butler County Community College is offering a zero-hour CNA class to be taught concurrently in Marion and Hillsboro at 7:30 a.m. every day. Classroom learning will originate from in the Interactive Digital Learning room at Marion High School. Clinical classes will be in Hillsboro. The course entails 104 hours of classroom learning and more than 30 hours of clinical training.
Each college considers applications differently, but years of evaluating thousands of applications at a selective university yield advice that applies to other schools as well: Test scores and grade-point averages are not magic numbers.
Planning and zoning board members accused Administrator Doug Kjellin of procedural violations Monday in allowing construction of an emergency communications tower at the new jail, while a zoning consultant vigorously defended Kjellin’s action. Ruth Herbel, a member of Marion’s Planning Commission, alleged Kjellin violated zoning regulations and state law when he modified a conditional use permit to approve the tower.
With sustained drought, water at Marion Reservoir is almost low enough to begin implementing water conservation, Marion City Administrator Doug Kjellin told Marion Chamber of Commerce on Friday. When the reservoir level drops below 85 percent of conservation pool, the city enters a “water watch.” On Monday the water level was 86.6 percent. It drops about 1 percent each week of drought, Kjellin said.
The law caught up with Marion trash trucks Monday as the City Council passed an ordinance authorizing twice-weekly pickups that have been taking place since the first week in July. Administrator Doug Kjellin re-instituted the twice-weekly pickups when the existing ordinance dictated the once-weekly schedule in effect for the past 14 months.
It’s the time of year that government bodies publish their proposed budgets for the coming year for public review before final approval, but for someone who isn’t familiar with the system, reading the notices can be confusing. Marion County Clerk Carol Maggard said there are three numbers that matter the most in published budgets: ad valorem tax, assessed valuation, and estimated tax rate. The ad valorem tax is the number the governing body actually sets in its budget, and they find that number by subtracting estimated revenue from proposed expenditures — if a body plans to spend $100,000 and expects $25,000 from other revenue sources, it needs to collect $75,000 of property taxes.
At the risk of stealing Jeff Foxworthy’s shtick, you know you’re in Marion County when everyone in a restaurant crowded with Sunday diners suddenly stands, meanders toward the kitchen, and breaks into a chorus of “Happy Birthday” — not for some patron but for one of the restaurant owners. You know you’re in Marion County when you practically cause a traffic jam by pausing on a street corner to stare at a gorgeous stone building. Everyone approaching stops and waits for you to cross even though you‘re just standing there.
Quite a few people — from prominent citizens to notorious complainers — have complimented us in recent weeks for “really getting” one official or another, typically prefacing the official’s name with “that,” followed by some profanity. Our goal has never been to contribute to the long-standing animus that name-callers seem to feel for nearly everyone in positions of authority, most of whom are good and dedicated public servants.
Among her works are several watercolors of homes and landmarks in Marion, all of them instantly recognizable. It hasn’t been two years yet since Jan Davis opened Gallery 101 on Main Street, and the amount of art in town is already too much to fit in one gallery. I don’t think it is a matter of there suddenly being so many more artists in the community. Instead, more of the artists who were here all along are finding venues to show their work. Art and Music Strolls and other fine arts events — driven as much by devoted individuals as by civic groups — have been unqualified successes. With such efforts, success breeds more success. It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill (which sounds really refreshing right now), getting bigger as it goes.
LETTERS:
No building permit for jail,
Brookens supports LindahlONE WOMAN'S VIEW:
Be a smart voter
Without a little cleaning and a little prayer, Good News Christian Fellowship in Marion might have completely overlooked the 50th anniversary of the church building they will celebrate Sunday. The first step came when Good News Pastor Val Newton took over from Larry King in January.
Marion Elementary School’s 2011-12 box-top collection resulted in the school receiving $2,800 for classroom supplies, teaching materials, and books, organizer Marj Sandberg said Thursday. It was the biggest year for the program since it was implemented several years ago at MES, she said. With reimbursement of 10 cents per box top, that meant students brought 28,000 box tops to school.
Members are being asked to wear a cowboy hat for National Day of the Cowboy and bring liquid dish detergent for Marion County Food Bank when Marion County Democratic Women meet at noon Friday at Marion Senior Center.
Without a little cleaning and a little prayer, Good News Christian Fellowship in Marion might have completely overlooked the 50th anniversary of the church building they will celebrate Sunday. The first step came when Good News Pastor Val Newton took over from Larry King in January.
When visitors arrived at Mary Jean Rogers’ home art gallery Saturday afternoon in Marion, they were treated to many familiar sights. “I really jumped back into painting when I moved to Marion,” Rogers said.
Ashley Weems, 17, of Peabody, loves her 4-H project dog, Rex. The blue heeler, border collie, Australian shepherd mix is solely devoted to her, and he didn’t get that way by accident. “When I first got him as a puppy two years ago, I did no- contact training for the first 30 days,” Weems said. “Now he is really loyal to me, he is very attentive and always makes sure I am OK.”
Fifteen guests attended a bridal shower Sunday at Historic Elgin Hotel for Erica Mueller, bride-elect of Jeffrey Richmond. One of the gifts was a recipe book containing favorite recipes from everyone in the Wiens family.
Descendents of the Nees Louis and Cora Penland Olsen family met July 15 at Marion Senior Center for their biennial reunion. There were 62 in attendance. Special guests for the afternoon representing the Larson side of the family were Phyllis Larsen Ericson of Lincoln, Neb., and her father, Clyde Larson of Garnett.
The 26th Ed and Bertha (Hill) Hamm family reunion was July 8 at the Scout House in Hillsboro. The Ted Hamm family served as hosts this year and the Art Hamm family will host the event in 2013.
Members of the Gooding family gathered for a reunion July 15 at the Marion County Lake hall. After a potluck dinner, a special cake was served to celebrate Al and Lila Gooding’s 60th anniversary. The Goodings are from Topeka. Pictures of their wedding and other family pictures were displayed.
Alma Meyer will be celebrating her 100th birthday on Sunday with an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Tampa Senior Center. Friends and neighbors are invited to the open house to help her celebrate.
Butler Community College of Marion is sponsoring a back to school supplies drive. Site director Amy Kjellin said donation boxes are at schools and Marion Chamber of Commerce. The drive targets general items — crayons, pencils, notebooks, and back packs — but specialty items for specific grades are acceptable.
Vance Frick of Durham won first place in the professional category of the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s first-ever photo contest. Frick’s picture of Marion County rancher Gordon Christianson at work herding cattle from horseback topped nearly 900 other entries from 126 youth, adult, employee, and professional photographers as a category winner.
BIRTH:
Owen Charles HeereyCORRESPONDENTS:
Marion Senior Center,
TampaENGAGEMENT:
Centre grads engagedMEMORIES:
10,
25,
35,
50,
60,
100,
125 years ago
Butler Community College of Marion is sponsoring a back to school supplies drive. Site director Amy Kjellin said donation boxes are at schools and Marion Chamber of Commerce. The drive targets general items — crayons, pencils, notebooks, and back packs — but specialty items for specific grades are acceptable.
USD 408 Board of Education hired a business teacher Friday for Marion High School, the only action taken in a special meeting called for that purpose. Megan Thomas will fill a part-time position teaching business and vocational business courses, such as computer graphics design, Superintendent Lee Leiker said. Thomas is a graduate of Emporia State University, and taught for five years at Northern Heights High School in Allen. She also will be the Future Business Leaders of America club sponsor.
Tabor College in Hillsboro is in early stages of a campaign to build a new fine arts center. “It will be the signature performing arts venue in Marion County and maybe beyond,” said Frank E. Johnson, vice president of academic affairs.
Butler Community College is launching a series of non-credit classes for adults called Take 1 4 Fun early in September. Marion site director Amy Kjellin said the school was inspired by the success of free class days the past two years. “This is a chance to go a little deeper,” Kjellin said.
Kendra Flaming of Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church near Goessel received a $500 scholarship from Everence, a financial ministry of Mennonite Church USA. Flaming, a 2011 graduate of Goessel High School, was one of 42 Everence college scholarship recipients, chosen from nearly 200 applications. Awards were based on academics, extracurricular activities, leadership, community involvement and responses to an essay question. Students were asked to write about someone who models the concept of stewardship.
Marion High School junior Megan Richmond and her 16-and-under fast-pitch softball team, the Emporia Energy will compete in a national championship tournament in Columbus, Wis. The Energy placed second recently in a state tournament in Emporia A total of 64 teams will compete nationally. The team is trying to raise $4,000 for the trip. Anyone wishing to contribute can call Richmond at (620) 382-2763.