BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
A second new COVID-19 case was confirmed Monday after county commissioners rejected a governor’s order that people wear masks in public.
Late Monday afternoon health administrator Diedre Serene disclosed that a woman age 45 to 54 had been placed in isolation after a laboratory confirmed she had the virus.
People throughout Kansas have a few days until Governor Laura Kelley’s order that masks be worn when they leave their homes, but Marion County may challenge the state by refusing to abide by the order.
Delores Stika doesn’t see COVID-19 as a major issue on a local scale. A bigger problem for the Marion resident is people who have respiratory trouble.
Even as Marion County confirmed yet another case of COVID-19 Sunday — the fourth new case in the past 15 days — health officials still decline to provide specific information about patients.
County health nurse Diedre Serene said Monday that she had received many complaints about information being withheld.
At least 100 people attended a vigil Tuesday night in Hillsboro to honor the life of a 13-year-old boy who was killed when he drove his bike into a semi.
The service was near the site of the Thursday accident that took his life. Mourners had placed remembrances on a fence near the intersection.
Marion residents will have trash picked up once instead of twice a week starting July 20.
Mayor David Mayfield recommended to city council members Monday that trash pickups be changed to save on labor, fuel, and street repair.
A standoff with a fugitive from Ohio holed up in his mother’s house Sunday evening was lucky not to have escalated further than it did, Marion police chief Clinton Jeffrey said.
“There were a million different scenarios that could have happened,” he said. “We could have gotten into a gun-fight with them. They could have taken their own lives, or fled and gotten to another residence.”
Test weights for this year’s wheat crop were not was hoped, but not as bad as they could have been.
This year that counts as good news, said Andy Kelsey, an agronomist with Cooperative Grain and Supply.
St. Luke Hospital began seeking offers to buy its satellite massage therapy building last week, but the move to sell the building has been in the works for far longer, hospital administrator Jeremy Ensey said Tuesday.
“It was something that had probably been discussed a year ago,” he said. “We talked about it and just didn’t move forward at the time. It’s been a discussion item for a while.”
Thirty-five people wished retiring Hillsboro city administrator Larry Paine a warm farewell at a reception Monday at Hillsboro city hall.
Others online joined the celebration.
An electric vehicle charging station will be installed this fall in the west parking lot of Historic Elgin Hotel.
Kansas Power Pool will work with the city of Marion to install the charger.
Golfer C.J. Conover won the $200 prize in a shoot-out over a 30-foot put against Gavan Peterson in the 15th Pine Edge Putting Tournament at the rural Goessel golf course.
A downtown street dance planned for July 11 will be postponed until fall because of COVID-19 concerns.
Organizer Johsie Reed spoke to Marion city council members Monday but withdrew her request for a scaled-down version of the event after listening to council members’ concerns.
Salesman Harry Robert (Bob) Kline, who died June 24, was buried in Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, Boise, Idaho.
Born Sept. 18, 1933, in Marion County, to Harry R. and Georgia E. (Williams) Kline, he grew up on a farm northwest of Marion and graduated from Marion High School in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, spending most of that time in Korea. He later received a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University.
IN MEMORIAM:
Sarah Stuchlik
IN MEMORIAM:
Bula Good
IN MEMORIAM:
Nancy Good
“The cottonwood trees they are just coming up everywhere,” Hett said looking over a stand in the hard-packed dirt.
His daughter, Wendy Hett, shakes her head from the back seat.
The annual display may be a blast, but the annual gathering of her clan makes the holiday sparkle, Goza said.
“It’s about family time and our right to have that family time,” Goza said.
“Anything that would enhance people’s ability to get out and walk I would be all for,” he said.
The proposed path would lead from McPherson through Hillsboro as part of Kansas’ Rails-to-Trails program.
But finding one is like hitting a moving target, extension agent Rickey Roberts said this past week.
“It’s been crazy this year trying to plan this,” he said. “It’s a wild deal.”
Old Settlers Day, slated for Sept. 26, is still planned despite many other events having been canceled because of COVID-19.
Marion Kiwanis, which organizes the annual event, is working to make decisions related to this year’s theme, an annual parade, a meal in Central Park, and other festival features.
“I have to try harder,” Fancy Reynolds said. “I’m pushing myself more during practices.”
The changes cost athletes their chance to compete at leagues. That was a difficult loss for Fancy, who competes in the 11 to 12 age bracket.
Peabody Cruise started its fifth consecutive year Sunday, and save for occasional people wearing face masks, there were few indicators that it was anything other than normal.
El Dorado car enthusiast Rex Heideman is a regular at the monthly cruise, and having as normal a setting as possible is important to him.
County commissioner Dianne Novak unexpectedly arrived late and missed a portion of Tuesday’s county commission meeting when the four other commissioners signed a new code of conduct.
County clerk Tina Spencer said the new code, similar to one already in force, was needed to receive a previously announced Community Development Block Grant to help businesses and food banks.
Peabody is finding ways to capitalize on a shifting environment of recreation activities, in part by purchasing unused pool cleaner from Hillsboro.
Since Hillsboro isn’t opening its pool this year and won’t need its two pallets of pool cleaner, Peabody city council decided Monday to purchase a pallet of 24 containers of cleaner from Hillsboro. They will cost $151 a container.
When Denise Klein received a package that she hadn’t ordered, she immediately felt something was amiss.
One red flag was that the label said it cost $20 but she saw no corresponding charge to her bank account.
Taxes too high? Responsibility for home repairs got you down? You’re not alone, as county commissioners learned Tuesday when they heard from a Florence business owner and a Marion bait shop owner who dropped by to vent their unhappiness.
Robert Schmidt of Florence, who spoke animatedly and loudly, said he bought a house at public auction 10 years ago, paying $16,000.
Reaction to a new program that could provide grants of up to $5,000 or $10,000 to county businesses is mixed. The program’s paperwork has some concerned.
Dennis Maggard, co-owner of Barely Makin’ It antique store in Marion, said he and his partner hadn’t given the grant program much thought but that he’s not sure the amount of the grant would be worth the time it would take to apply.
Jensen Riffel knows his graduation won’t be like other years, but he’s looking forward to what he anticipates will be a unique experience.
“It’s kind of weird having it really late,” he said. “Ours is on the Fourth of July. It’s at a weird time, but I find it cool to have ours on a holiday.”
We can all thank whatever powers we thank that we haven’t caught COVID-19 yet. Still, we have to mourn for the sizeable portion of our community that seems almost terminally infected by another disease — one that appears to lower intelligence significantly.
Whether Governor Laura Kelly does or doesn’t have the right to order people to wear face masks is irrelevant. It isn’t a matter of personal choice whether you protect yourself with a mask. Masks don’t protect the wearer. They protect other people.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
Finding small pleasures
CORRECTIONS:
Fathers Day parade
Adams Brown Wealth Consultants, LLL, has become a registered financial adviser and has chosen Charles Schwab Co. as its custodian. The firm is the wealth management division of Adams, Brown, Berean & Ball.
SERMON OF THE WEEK:
The Spirit gathers us together
SENIOR CENTER:
Senior center honors volunteers,
Hillsboro,
Marion,
Peabody menus
MEMORIES:
10,
25,
40,
55,
70,
100,
140 years ago