HEADLINES

  • Auxiliary Shoppe to move to Duckwall building

    St. Luke Hospital Auxiliary has been given the go-ahead to move the Shoppe to 321 E. Main St. — the former location of the Duckwall Variety Store. “We have the green light now,” Hospital Foundation President Judy Reno told the volunteers gathered at the annual auxiliary meeting Thursday night. “We can start planning. It’s going to happen. We just have to make sure everything is legal first.”

  • Youths play ball in Marion

    Hundreds of area youths filled the Marion courts Saturday with one aim: they wanted to play basketball. “It’s a great opportunity to play some ball,” said Edward Wilson of Chase County. “We always have a lot of fun.”

  • Most election races uncontested

    Most of the April 2 city and school district elections will be uneventful matters, with only a handful of contested races, while no City of Marion positions are up for election. The filing deadline for candidates was noon Tuesday. The only contested board of education race is in Peabody-Burns USD 398, where five candidates have filed for three at-large positions. The candidates are Shayla Clark, Travis T. Foth, Barry Peter, Jarrod Gaines, and Julia Ensminger.

  • Marion supports family through trouble

    Laura Hasenbank waited impatiently for her boyfriend to return home one night in December. She was starting to get worried, when her son came barreling through the front door with the news: Ike Boone had been in a rollover. “It was really hard on all of us,” Hasenbank said. “Ike had become a big part of our lives. I found out after the accident that he was going to propose to me on Christmas.”

DEATHS

  • Frank J. Heath Jr.

    Frank J. Heath Jr., 98, died Thursday at his home in Burns. He was born Jan. 19, 1914, in rural Burns to Frank J. Sr. and Lizzie (Whitlock) Heath.

  • Milford Klaassen

    Milford Klaassen, 61, of Hillsboro died Monday at St. Luke Hospital in Marion. He was born Oct. 18, 1951, in Hillsboro to Ted and Rubena (Leppke) Klaassen. He was the owner of JAMM Mowing. He married Janell Schmidt on June 21, 1986, in rural Goessel.

  • Billy Wayne Lucas

    Billy Wayne Lucas, 84, of Marion died Monday at Peabody Care Center. He was born March 30, 1928, in Marion to Art and Zula (Buford) Lucas. He was a retired employee of the City of Marion and a member of Marion Christian Church.

  • Ann Truax Judson Moench

    Ann Truax Judson Moench, 72, of Hurley, Mo., died Jan. 8. She was born Sept. 2, 1940, in Lyons to John and Eloise Cockley Truax. The family moved to Manhattan and then Emporia where Ann graduated from high school.

DOCKET

GOVERNMENT

  • City electric rates to go up

    Marion residents will see their electricity bills go up
    Feb. 1. The increase is to 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 10.4 cents an increase of 4 percent, approved Monday by Marion City Council. City Administrator Doug Kjellin said the increase would amount to about a $2 increase on every city bill. Kjellin said the reason for the increase is that Kansas Power Pool is increasing their transmission and energy costs.

  • Commission approves aerial photography

    Marion County Apraiser Cindy Magill asked for opinions from Marion County Commission on three separate neighborhood revitalization cases. Neighborhood revitalization provides tax breaks for builders. Under the 10-year program, a builder would receive 90 percent of taxes back on the specific piece of property and then that amount would decrease 10 percent every year. Under the current five-year plan, neighborhood revitalization stops after 50 percent is returned.

  • Trash dumping a big problem

    “We’ve got a problem,” Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt said. “It’s not a small problem.” It was multiple problems actually, lumped together at the Marion County Commission meeting under the heading of nuisance.

  • Cities to decide recycling fate

    The city of Goessel fills up four different recycling bins each week. Bins in Florence and Centre schools have been equally utilized. Still, it costs the county more per month to pay the $138 fee to Waste Connections for the recycling bins than it does does for those materials to be transported to the Butler County Landfill as trash, Transfer Station Director Rollin Schmidt said Tuesday. The cost for all of the bins in the county, including bins in Burns, Durham, Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Pilsen, and Tampa, is $16,620 per year.

  • Department looks for grants

    Road and Bridge Superintendent Randy Crawford brought two options for summer work to Marion County Commission on Tuesday. Option one is for chip seals for seven miles of Quail Creek Road, from 290th to 360th, one half mile of Nighthawk Road west of Peabody, and for 30th Road between Old Mill Road and the Harvey County line. All of that totals $306,504 in estimated cost. Crawford also included cold mix cost for blade patching, including 340th Road for an additional $525,000. The total for option one is $831,504.

  • Marion gets atrazine check

    Marion has received $162,747 as a part of a $105 million settlement against Sygenta, an atrazine manufacturer from Switzerland. Marion’s part of the lawsuit dates back to 2007 when atrazine was noticed in Marion Reservoir. The water was measured to contain 0.6 parts per billion of atrazine, Marion City Administrator Doug Kjellin said. Environmental Protection Agency regulations state that three parts per billion is an acceptable level of atrazine.

OPINION

  • Dialogue resolves miscommunication

    It turns out it was an unfortunate miscommunication rather than an attempt to hide government business from the public that led to County Commissioner Dan Holub’s proposal last week not to publish the full text of public notices. Unaware that the county had ceased publishing notices in the Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin long before a below-cost discount had expired because it wasn’t being used, Holub apparently was less concerned about saving money at the expense of informing the public than he was about figuring out how to keep information flowing at a reasonable price.

  • ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

    Bootstraps vs. help
  • BALANCING ACT:

    Miracles can happen
  • ONE WOMANS VIEW:

    Parachute opens

OTHER NEWS

  • Wild west on tap for Kansas Day

    Marla Matkin of Hill City will portray “The Contessa” in a program about the Wild West for Kansas Day at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eastmoor United Methodist Church. This is the 13th annual Kansas Day Celebration in Marion. The evening will include a catered dinner. The cost is $15, and reservations are required. For more information, contact Janet Bryant at (620) 382-3418.

  • Winter heating help available

    The Kansas Department for Children and Families will be accepting applications for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program Today through March 29. The program provides an annual benefit to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. Individuals with disabilities, elderly persons, and families with children are the primary groups assisted. An average benefit of $520 was provided to 53,683 homes in 2012.

  • CDDO to meet on Monday

    Harvey-Marion County Community Developmental Disability Organization will have a board of directors meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at the organization’s office, 500 N. Main, Suite 204, Newton. The board regularly meets on the third day of the month, but the meeting was moved because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

  • Poetry group meets Thursday

    The Poem in Your Pocket group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Marion City Library. In honor of Kansas Day, Jan. 29, participants are asked to bring poems about Kansas or written by a Kansan.

  • Marion library offers puzzles

    Marion City Library is now offering its services as a free puzzle exchange. Bring in a puzzle and take a different one home. The puzzle may be kept as long as needed and may then be exchanged for another one. No checkout is required.

  • Anti-bullying training offered

    KVC Behavioral Healthcare is sponsoring free training from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Emanuel Baptist church, 229 Walnut, Marion. Rose Alderson will provide hands-on training in dealing with bullies and preventing bullying. For more information or to register to attend, contact Pam Loewen at (620) 947-3960.

  • Centre Perk gets rave reviews

    Centre High School senior Beka Basore gave a report to the board of education Jan. 14 about Centre Perk, the coffee shop and concession stand business begun last fall by business students. She and Anna Weber operate it with help from other students. Basore said the business has been more successful than they had hoped. It is open daily in the morning before school and for a few hours in the afternoon. Teachers and students are loyal customers, as are some community members. Centre Perk also is open during special events and extracurricular activities.

PEOPLE

SCHOOL

  • County 20 make K-State honor roll

  • Lice an itchy subject at USD 408

    Every year, USD 408 school nurse Jane King sends at least one or two letters out to parents, explaining that “a few children” in the school have been diagnosed with head lice. Most of the time, King receives few questions from concerned parents. But, in the past couple years, she said people have become more worried about the threat of nits in the school system. And, she said, it gets worse when young parents receive the school district’s letter.

  • Parent council sponsors coin collection

    Marion Elementary School and Parents Advisory Council are sponsoring a coin collection Feb. 4 through 8. The collection raises money for a book fair and buys items for the school library.

  • MES has perfect attendance

  • Centre increases security

    Technician Jerry Butler advised the Centre Board of Education on Jan. 14 that he is establishing an Internet-based security system for the perimeter of the school complex. Cameras will be placed to give visibility to the many exterior entrances and the parking lot. The videos could be monitored from anywhere, including the school office and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. Butler said a dedicated server has been purchased and is being formatted. He has installed 3,000 feet of wiring and expects to have the first cameras in place in two or three weeks.

  • Technology levels playing field

    If schools substituted iPads or mini-iPads for textbooks, all students would have access to the same amount of information regardless of economic status. That was the message keynote speaker Corrine Hoisington conveyed to 340 educators who gathered at Hillsboro High School Monday for the 2013 Technology Excellence in Education Network conference.

  • Centre trip plans finalized

    Angela Basore told the Centre school board Jan. 14 that 24 students, two parents, and sponsors Jennifer Montgomery and herself will be taking a three-day trip March 19 to Washington, D.C. Candace Tajchman reported that her third grade class has made huge gains in reading due to a strong support system and the addition of MyOn, a reading app they use with their iPads.

SENIOR LIVING

  • Air Force life was a dream

    Sharolyn Tibbetts of Hillsboro is one of the few that can say she lived a dream come true, and she’s not even retirement age yet. At age 63, Tibbetts enjoys swimming every day at the USD 408 Sports and Aquatic Center, she enjoys getting to know people at the Hillsboro Senior Center where she serves on the board of directors, and she enjoys involvement at Hillsboro United Methodist Church along with her husband, Gary. The dream she lived however, was seven years of service in the United States Air Force where she learned to ask questions, multitask assignments, and prioritize her responsibilities.

  • Johnson volunteers despite pain

    Betty Johnson bent to pick up a pile of books Saturday, when a sharp pain ripped through her body. “I just can’t lift things like I used to,” the 73-year-old said as she sat down on a nearby bench.

SPORTS

  • Centre boys finish fifth

    A first-round 59-51 loss Jan. 15 to Peabody-Burns in the Cougar Classic tournament last week put the Centre boys in the losers’ bracket. They defeated Wakefield Friday, 53-35, and Hope Saturday, 45-31, to finish in fifth place. The outcome of Saturday’s game never was in doubt although Hope got within five points several times.

  • Cougar girls lose in overtime

    It seemed like an endless game Saturday as the Centre Lady Cougars battled Hope through regulation play and four overtimes in the championship game of the Cougar Classic tournament. The game ended with a disappointing two-point deficit, 47-45, for the Lady Cougars. They got to the championship by defeating Wakefield, 58-15, Jan. 15 in the first round, and Elyria Christian Friday, 42-30, in the semifinals.

  • Hett and Harper lead tournament win

    The Marion Warriors boys’ basketball team won their second tournament of the year with a championship performance in the Cougar Classic on Saturday at Centre High School. They previously won the Marion Classic at home. The Warriors never trailed the White City Huskies in the finals, but the game certainly was not anticlimactic. Marion jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter, but the Huskies 1-3-1 zone defense forced the Warriors out of their usual offensive flow.

  • Marion girls get 3rd win

    The Marion girls’ basketball team made a comeback stick Saturday in the seventh-place game of the Cougar Classic at Centre High School. It helped that the team only had to come back from six points down against the Wakefield Bombers, unlike double-digit deficits in earlier back-to-back games. Marion fell behind 8-2 in the early minutes, but never developed a feeling of, “Here it goes again,” coach Kelly Robson said.

  • Wrestlers place 5th

    The Marion Warriors wrestling team was bitten by the injury bug Saturday at the Eureka Invitational. Three of the team’s 10 varsity wrestlers at the meet were sidelined by injuries. Brayden Putter, wrestling at 138 pounds, won his first match but hurt his arm in his second match. Coach Chad Adkins said Putter may not wrestle at the Hoisington Invitational on Friday, but shouldn’t miss much more time than that.

MORE…

Email: | Also visit: Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin | © 2024 Hoch Publishing

 

 

 

BACK TO TOP