HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Freshmen help others in orientation

Each year Tabor College freshmen begin the first weekend at their new school in the community. Saturday, students helped with various service projects in Marion and Hillsboro.

Smaller school districts find state funding inadequate

A decrease in state funding for education has smaller districts like Peabody-Burns and Marion-Florence struggling to create a balanced budget. The state has cut back on equalization funding; funding that took excess property tax money from wealthier districts and redistributed it among poorer districts.

City, townships agree on fire contract

Hillsboro city council voted Tuesday to approve a new contract for fire services, signed by representatives from Lehigh, Liberty, Risley townships, and nine sections of Menno Township. The City of Lehigh will have a vote Sept. 12.

Governor issues disaster declaration

Governor Sam Brownback has issued a disaster declaration for 62 counties, including Marion, affected by recent severe storms, flooding, and flash floods starting July 22. Butler, Chase, Dickinson, Harvey, McPherson, and Morris counties are also included.

Bridge construction preparation to begin

Time is of the essence for the county to fix a damaged bridge near Florence. Commissioners voted Monday to begin a process to get the 126-foot bridge, at Alfalfa Road crossing the Cottonwood River, prepared for construction.

New homes planned at county lake

What was a 21-acre horse ranch on the northeast corner of the county lake could become new suburban residential and lake lots if everything goes right. Developer Gary Dunnegan has applied for a conditional use permit, which is required for land that is zoned agriculture.

Marvin Bernhardt

Marvin D. “Shorty” Bernhardt, 71, of rural Marion died Monday at Newton Medical Center. He was a retired truck driver. He is survived by his wife, Helen.

Judith Hiebert

Judith A. Hiebert, 70, died Monday at her home near Hillsboro. She was born Aug. 8, 1943, in Marion to Shirley and Hattie (Schmidt) Richards. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Marion Christian Church with pastor Carl Helm presiding. A private family inurnment will be in the Marion Cemetery.

Jane Vajnar

Jane Vajnar, 73, of Tampa died Monday at Salem Home in Hillsboro. She was born Aug. 30, 1939, in Carneiro to Ben and Maggie Lee (Jones) Cook. She was a school teacher and wrote for the Hillsboro Star-Journal and Marion County Record in her later years as a columnist, community correspondent, and covering Tampa and Durham city councils.

IN MEMORIAM:

Accidents reported

Civil division cases

County Jail arrests and bookings

Criminal division cases

Deeds recorded

Emergency dispatches

Marriage licenses issued

Offenses reported

Police incident report

Traffic division cases

MARION-FLORENCE:

CENTRE:

PEABODY-BURNS:

GOESSEL:

HILLSBORO:

Saying goodbye

The newspaper lost a friend Monday when Jane Vajnar passed away. Jane was a longtime correspondent to the Marion County Record and Hillsboro Star-Journal, covering Tampa and Durham city councils and Tampa community news, as well as offering opinions in her One Woman’s View columns. She hadn’t been able to write in recent months because of failing health. Before contributing to the newspapers, she was a teacher. I remember the first time I met Jane. I was at the Hillsboro city building — I think it was during a closed session of the city council — when a woman dressed all in green and wearing a plastic green hat introduced herself to me. It was the week before St. Patrick’s Day, and Jane was showing her seasonal spirit on a trip to the library.

Friendly rivalry

This weekend marked the 21st annual combined scramble tournament at the Marion and Hillsboro golf courses. The tournament attracted 144 golfers — so many that the field had to be split into two sessions because there wasn’t enough room on both courses for that many golfers. It wasn’t in support of any grand cause, because it didn’t need one. Working together, the courses put on a tournament that was solely for enjoyment and competition. Next month is the Bruce-Crofoot Challenge Cup, the annual head-to-head competition between the two courses’ best golfers for bragging rights. And if Marion High School can reach an agreement with Peabody-Burns, the Marion County Invitational golf tournament will go on like usual in the spring, a unique test of golfers’ endurance, covering 36 holes over two courses in a single day.

My stay-cation

Some of you may not have noticed, but I have been out of the office for much of the summer. I had to show my brother, Dennis, that having knee surgery wasn’t all that bad. Boy was I wrong, but let’s not tell Dennis that. I’m back to work now, but before I returned my husband heard nothing but my daily aches, pains and complaints. I finally told him, before I went back to work I needed out of the house for a few days. He was more than willing to get me out of my slump and asked what I wanted to do.

Grieving dad walks to prevent suicide

After walking more than 32,000 miles, Steve Fugate of Florida passed through Marion on Monday on his Love Life Walk. In 1999, Fugate went hiking on the Appalachian Trail, leaving his son, Stevie, in charge of the business at home. While Fugate was on the trail, his son committed suicide. As part of the grieving process, Fugate finished his hike on the Appalachian Trail, and while doing so, he realized that too many parents were going through the same grieving process he was.

BarnFest will be in October

The Kansas Barn Alliance will present BarnFest 2013 Oct. 4 and 5 in Marion County. The weekend will include a learning session related to barn preservation Friday and barn tours Saturday.

Jill Brunner and Lance Day to wed in October

Jill Brunner and Lance Day announce their engagement. Parents of the bride are Kent and Jean Brunner of Lost Springs. Grandparents are Charles and Arlene Carlson and the late Lauren and Orvelle Brunner. Brunner is a graduate of Centre High School and works as the elementary counselor at Centre elementary.

NORTHWEST OF DURHAM:

ROUND THE TOWN:

BIRTHS:

Tourney draws 144 golfers

A crowd of 144 golfers took over Hillsboro Municipal Golf Course on Saturday and Marion Country Club on Sunday for the 21st annual Hillsboro-Marion 3-person Open Scramble. The tournament filled its capacity of 48 three-person teams about 10 days in advance, Don Noller of Marion said. It has filled up in advance for a decade or more.

Softball raises $510 for cancer research

A charity softball tournament Saturday raised $510 after expenses for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. Mike Calhoun, Travis Schafers, Kelley Schafers, and Clayton Garnica organized the tournament. Earlier this year, Calhoun collected donations door-to-door, raising about $1,400 for cancer research. The softball tournament put him within $100 of his $2,000 goal.

Tabor soccer players picked to preseason all-conference teams

The Tabor men’s soccer team was well represented in the preseason Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference team, tying with McPherson for the most with three. Forward Philip Wahl, midfielder Marian Saar, and defender Adam Morley made the team, each making either first or second team All-KCAC last year.

Kaufman selected KCAC player of the year

Katie Kaufman a senior at Tabor, was selected as the 2012 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason player of the year and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American honorable mention for volleyball. Kaufman was the KCAC leader in points with 397, an average of four points per game. She is from Moundridge.

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