BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Wading, skiing, and swimming at Marion Reservoir were banned Thursday under a public health advisory issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
High levels of toxic blue-green algae mean water in the reservoir is considered unsafe, and direct contact with it is prohibited.
There is no sleeping in for many Hillsboro area youths this summer. School classes might be over, but 5:30 a.m. weight lifting followed by volleyball camp, softball hitting, and other activities are keeping families with young athletes busy.
“Basically we try to give our kids a quality background in a lot of different things,” Hillsboro Recreation Director Doug Sisk said. “At this age they don’t know exactly what they might be good at, so we try to offer a variety of experiences and opportunities.”
Monthly breakfasts help Hillsboro business people get to know each other. Tuesday they reached well beyond the city limits as Chamber of Commerce members shared conversation with Yasu Hiro Takahashi from Japan.
“We do this to focus on a different business each time,” Deb Ewert of Emprise Bank said. “You never know who might show up though.”
Peter Smith, 6, looked at the cars at the Route 56 Classic Car Show knowing that one day he would own one of the hotrods.
“My dad said he’d get me one when I got bigger,” the 6-year-old said. “I don’t know what I want yet, but I want it to be blue. Blue’s my favorite color.”
Marion County Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini resigned in a letter county commissioners read Monday. His resignation will be effective June 20.
Commission Chairman Randy Dallke said the resignation was because D’Albini was moving out of the county.
Sharlene Lynette Brooks, 45, died Saturday at her home in Peabody. She battled cancer for nearly four years.
She was born Aug. 8, 1967 to LeRoy Fredrick Brunner and Eleanor Louise (Gaines) Brunner in Newton.
Gerald Kessler, 76, of rural Lehigh died June 4 at his home. He was born March 2, 1937, to Rudolf and Katherine (Kasper) Kessler in Hillsboro.
He married Joyce Thiessen on June 9, 1958, in Hillsboro.
Dairy farmer Kent Sterk did not invent the phrase “bad things come in threes,” but he lived it recently at his rural Hillsboro farm.
First, a three-year-old dairy bull nearly killed him three weeks ago when he was trying to load it in a trailer bound for a Salina sale. Then two weeks ago, he wrecked the family SUV while checking fences, and finally, last week, he injected himself with pink eye medication while treating heifers.
People driving past PrairieLand Partners in Marion have seen construction in progress for several weeks.
The John Deere dealership is adding a 6,750-square-foot shop to its facility so it can move setup of large equipment indoors. Store manager Chad Gormley said that work has had to be done outdoors. The construction wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Klee Watchous and his employees at Wildcat Creek Ranch are fans of Coneburg Inn restaurant in Peabody.
Coneburg owner Lindsey Marshall has witnessed one instance a few times with her Wildcat Creek regulars. When they get a call about a sick calf on the ranch or a cow on another landowner’s pasture, the ranchers leave their meals steaming and bolt out the door like doctors on call.
CHS, a large mid-western cooperative, and Mid-Kansas Cooperative have approved an agreement to form a limited liability company to build and operate a high-speed shuttle-train-loading facility at Canton this year.
The facility will be located on the Union Pacific rail line, two-and-a-half miles west of Canton, and will load 110-car trains bound for export terminals in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast, and Mexico. On-site storage will be more than 3 million bushels.
New Spur Ridge Veterinary Hospital veterinarian Cade Moses describes himself as a steward of animals.
What he means is sometimes caring more about animals than about his own well-being.
Many Durham residents attended the city council meeting June 4 to protest a decision the council made in May.
Council member Verlin Sommerfeld presented Mayor Mike Sorensen and the council with a petition signed by 84 people.
Mayor Tim Svoboda said one new resident’s yard was getting out of hand and he has no mower. He suggested that if the resident cleared his yard of debris, the city would offer one mowing as a welcome to Tampa. Wilbert Backhus and Paul Backhus both offered to mow his yard.
City Clerk Donna Backhus looked for key ordinances and found some to copy and send to new residents in town.
Middle school Principal Missy Stubenhofer told the school board of a new phenomenon she has fought against: 19- and 20-year-old males going to middle school lunch to hit on seventh-grade girls. These visitors come under the guise of having lunch with a relative but end up be halfway across the lunchroom, chatting up 12- and 13-year-old girls.
At the board meeting, she asked what a 19- or 20-year-old sees in a seventh-grade girl. It was a rhetorical question. They see easy pickings.
HOPE IN THE HEARTLAND:
Henry and Edward
Public comment will be welcome when Harvey-Marion County Community Developmental Disability Organization meets at 4 p.m. Monday in the CDDO office, 500 N. Main, Suite 204, Newton.
A $500 donation from Friends of Marion County Lake will increase the prize pool for this week’s open stage contest at Bluegrass at the Lake.
Instead of $100, the best performance will earn $300. Second place will net $200; third, $100. The group hopes increased prizes will attract more musicians to the open stage from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Marion County Special Education Cooperative will screen children from birth through age 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 25 at Marion Presbyterian Church.
Vision, hearing and development in learning, motor, language, and social areas will be checked.
The annual July Fourth parade adds excitement to the celebration for which Peabody has been known for decades. This year’s event is looking like it will take its place with more than 90 other parades from past holidays.
“Even though the Fourth is on a Thursday this year, we expect a good crowd for the whole day,” said Fourth Celebration Society co-chairman Preston Hodges. “When the holiday falls in the middle of the week, there really isn’t time for people to go any distance. Lots of people come back to Peabody for the fireworks show and the events of the day. We look for the same type of crowd again this year.”
Phil Cihiwsky is walking across the nation with a purpose: to call attention to seniors’ meal program and alleviating senior hunger.
“It’s something we should all care about,” he said. “Eventually, we all need someone to lean on.”
The Hillsboro Community Blood drive will be 1 to 6 p.m. June 17 at Trinity Mennonite Church.
Visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767 to schedule an appointment.
ANNIVERSARY:
Litkes to celebrate 65th anniversaryCORRESPONDENTS:
Hillsboro Senior Center,
Northwest of Durham,
Round the town,
Tampa
USD 410 classified personnel will no longer be paid the same for working on snow days.
The school board approved changes to the classified employee manual, allowing the district to adjust employees pay, depending on their work.
Hillsboro swim team coach Stephanie Moss stepped back in to lead the Hillsboro swim team this year, after serving several years as an assistant. She was the head coach in 2011.
“I just love coaching,” Moss said. “There is so much you can teach kids from the platform of sports, so many things that can translate to life lessons later on.”