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All 198 Alco locations across 23 states, including the Hillsboro store, are closing, the company announced Thursday.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas approved the order for the retail chain to conduct “Going Out of Business” sales, which begin Friday.
Alli Hett, 13, enjoys giving gifts to impoverished children in third-world countries around the world.
“People are starving,” Hett said. “When you have so much that you have leftovers, you can send a bunch of stuff over there for them to have.”
A homeowner confronted the Hillsboro City Council on Tuesday and accused city officials of harassing him by way of forcing him to hire a contractor to install a front door on his home.
Kevin Tidwell’s home at 206 West B St. is one of four properties the city council identified last month as needing repairs to be brought up to code. The council set a public hearing Jan. 6 to gather information before either ordering work completed or condemning the structures.
The demand for home rentals in Hillsboro remains strong, with would-be renters hunting for housing and sometimes renting a home sight-unseen in the area.
The rental market in many cities, including Wichita, has surged since the housing bubble burst in 2009, creating a large supply of vacant housing after many homeowners lost their homes. Moreover, the economy has not recovered for many Americans, including young adults with student loans to pay.
A research site specializing in ranking schools based on parent and student reviews, grades, and test scores gave high marks to three area high schools.
Niche.com, Inc., founded in 2002 by Carnegie Mellon University students as collegeprowler.com, ranked Marion High School as the 16th best high school in Kansas. It also ranked Hillsboro High School as the 48th best and Centre High School as the 98th best in the state.
An official recount Friday confirmed Lori Lalouette-Crawford will be county commissioner for District 1.
The results were made official at a Monday canvassing, with Lalouette-Crawford garnering 678 votes to independent candidate Craig Dodd’s 675.
Health Department Administrator Diedre Serene and St. Luke CEO Jeremy Ensey approached the commission at Monday’s meeting to ask about relocating offices of the Health Department to a former physician clinic at St. Luke Hospital, and the commission ultimately decided it would take time out of next week’s meeting to look at the space in the hospital.
The entire space would cost $2,000 a month to rent, but Serene and Ensey said the health department wouldn’t need all of the available 3,000 square feet. Despite the potential cost of relocating from the historic Bowron building, commissioners agreed something needed to be done.
Board presidents of Cooperative Grain and Supply, Agri Producers Inc., and North Central Kansas Coop recently sent letters to their member-owners informing them that the three co-ops are considering a merger.
Cooperative Grain and Agri Producers have headquarters in Marion County. North Central Kansas Coop is headquartered in Dickinson County.
Representatives of the Wichita Vet Center, a service of Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center, will be in Marion on Monday to assist local veterans and their families.
Vet Centers provide readjustment counseling for veterans who served in combat zones and received a military campaign ribbon. Individual and family counseling is available.
The sudden sharp drop in temperatures across Kansas during the week of Nov. 10 to 15 will cause the wheat crop to go into dormancy, according to Jim Shroyer, K-State Research and Extension crop production specialist at Manhattan.
Whether the intense cold spell has injured the wheat depends on several factors, Shroyer said.
Even after a 4.8 earthquake in southern Kansas sent tremors through Marion County and as far north as Omaha, Nebraska, last Wednesday, local insurance agents say people aren’t rushing to add earthquake insurance to their homeowners’ policies.
Although rated as moderate, the quake was the strongest in Kansas since a 5.1 earthquake struck the Manhattan area in 1867. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 90 smaller earthquakes have been registered in Kansas so far this year.
“Earth to Echo,” a movie about three boys who befriend a small alien stranded on Earth, will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Marion Community Center.
Admission is free, and pop and popcorn will be available for $1 each. Donations are requested to support the Central Park restrooms and stage project of movie sponsor Marion Advancement Campaign.
Samantha Wood plans to do something different this winter with her car. She’s going to put socks on her windshield wipers.
“I saw it on Facebook,” she said. “They said to put the wipers up and socks on ‘em.”
The police patrolled the neighborhood, hovering 30 feet above ground in their flying squad car with spotlights beaming down.
That’s how 2015 squad cars were depicted in the movie “Back to the Future Part II.” As Marion County law enforcement officers wait on the arrival of two 2015 vehicles, the emphasis is less on hover conversion technology and more on updated safety features.
Former financial manager Laurence Edwin Bartel, 83, died Saturday at home in Newton.
He was born July 19, 1931, to Edwin and Sarah Bartel in Drake, Saskatchewan.
Former seamstress Pauline M. Fenske, 93, died Tuesday at Parkside Homes, Hillsboro.
She was born in Marion County, the daughter of Charles and Mary (Riffel) Meyer. She was a seamstress at Paragon, and later worked as a bulk mail clerk for Oiltizer.
Bessie Penner-Vogt, 92, died Saturday at Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita.
She was born June 25, 1922, to David and Martha (Litke) Leppke of rural Hillsboro.
James Lloyd Schmidt, 88, of Hillsboro died Friday at Newton Medical Center.
He was born Feb. 7, 1926, to Louis and Lodi (Wadel) Schmidt in Greensburg.
Paul Klassen, a former pastor of the Memorial Road Mennonite Brethren Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, will be the Lifelong Learning speaker at 9:45 a.m. Friday in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center at Tabor College.
Klassen will share the many things he has done in his lifetime, “from restoring old beauty to creating new beauty, from serving within the church to outside the church, and from serving in a world where people carry Bibles to one where they carry guns.”
A workshop to help business owners understand basic accounting terminology and learn how to create and analyze financial statements will be available from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 16 at Butler of Marion, 701 E. Main St., Marion.
To register by Dec. 9 for this free class presented by Kansas Small Business Development Center, call (316) 218-6311.
The Hillsboro High School Student Council is sponsoring free raking as a community service project. The service will be provided from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Primary targets are elderly and disabled residents, but all yard requests will be accepted. All raking equipment and leaf pickup will be supplied.
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Submit your recipe along with your name, address, and phone number to us at 117 S. 3rd St., P.O. Box 278 Marion KS 66861.
The 8th Judicial District Nominating Commission is seeking candidates to replace District Court Judge David R. Platt, who is retiring Jan. 12, 2015.
The 8th judicial district includes Dickinson, Geary, Morris and Marion counties.
Everyone is welcome to a Thanksgiving Day service at 10 a.m. Nov. 27 at Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, near Goessel.
An organ prelude by Jason Peters will begin at 9:45 a.m. Katherine Krehbiel Goerzen will provide special music during the service. Pastor Linda Ewert will give a meditation, “Practicing Gratitude.”
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Fall Poem Fest held Nov. 4