UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE

  • Stay-at-home order issued

    A statewide stay-at-home order was issued Saturday by Gov. Laura Kelly. The order will be effective from 12:01 a.m. Monday through April 19. Residents still are allowed out to get food, medicine, or other household essentials, to receive medical care, to care for loved ones at other locations, or to exercise.

HEADLINES

  • COVID-19 fears gouge county hospital revenues

    Cancelations of hospital and clinic appointments because of COVID-19 fears are hitting rural hospitals hard. Last week, St. Luke Hospital in Marion saw decreases in several departments. Visits to the therapy department were down 28%, laboratory tests were down 40%, and clinic visits and radiology tests were each down 30%, CEO Jeremy Ensey said.

  • County health officials declare state of emergency

    The county health department issued an emergency public health order Monday that upends business as usual in Marion County. Emergency manager Randy Frank and county health nurse Diedre Serene broke the news to county commissioners Monday that the emergency operations center has declared a state of emergency for the county.

  • Eateries hit hard during viral outbreak

    Restaurants were among the first businesses hit hard by fears caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. One local restaurant might close.

  • Outbreak shuts campgrounds at Marion Reservoir, county lake

    Forces of nature have dealt tourism in Marion County another blow as the outbreak of COVID-19 forces camping at area lakes to close. The pandemic ushers in yet another season of uncertainty at Marion Reservoir after repair efforts this past winter reopened sites at Marion and Hillsboro Coves and French Creek that were damaged by record flooding.

  • Old-time gas stations beloved landmarks of Marion County's past

    From Tampa to Florence, old gas stations throughout Marion County stand as a reminder of American days gone by. David Mueller owns a renovated gas station in Tampa that has been around since the 1950s.

  • Adjusting to lost school year proves difficult

    Marion senior Chloe Burkholder said life after schools have been shut will be a huge change. “It’s definitely weird to think that we won’t be going back to school normally,” she said. “I don’t think any senior expected their senior year to end the way it did. Not being able to participate in spring sports one last time, and not being able to have graduation.”

PANDEMIC

  • City halls close to walk-in traffic in effort to stem COVID-19

    Both Hillsboro and Marion city offices are closed to walk-in traffic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hillsboro announced the closure of city hall last week, and Marion announced it Monday.

  • Marion County courthouse locked down

    As of Monday, the county courthouse is locked down except during county commission meetings. The move is in response to COVID-19 concerns, which commissioners discussed in a special meeting Friday morning.

  • County sheriff's department delivers food, medicine to residents

    Marion County’s Sheriff’s Office is extending a standing offer of help to people who are unable to shop for food and medicine during an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Officers will pick up and deliver orders from grocers and pharmacies to resident’s homes at no charge.

  • Hillsboro doctor offers patients telemedicine visits

    Marion clinic preparing for telemedicine By PHYLLIS ZORN Staff writer Hillsboro physician Michael Reeh is now offering visits by telephone for established patients only.

  • Community foundations seek COVID-19 donations

    Four local community foundations are identifying needs and accepting donations as part of the Central Kansas Community Foundation’s COVID-19 response efforts, Peabody Community Foundation director Becky Nickel said. Foundations in Florence, Goessel, Hillsboro and Peabody connect charities with funds.

OTHER NEWS

  • No, we didn't send you the wrong paper this week

    To ensure that everyone has complete, accurate, up-to-date information during the COVID-19 pandemic, we this week are producing an expanded joint edition, combining all the news from the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin in a single, much larger newspaper. Space limitations last week prevented us from publishing all pandemic-related stories in some of our papers. Our expanded joint edition will ensure that everyone gets all the news.

  • Deputies arrest man after attack with knife

    A Goessel man was arrested early Saturday morning after slashing another man with a knife during an argument. Officers arrested Ray Daniel Smith, 39, Goessel, after an 11:50 p.m. Friday 911 call alerted law enforcement to a disturbance in the 600 block of E. Marion St. in Goessel.

  • County, Diamond Vista at impasse

    County commissioners reconsidered a decision to have talks with Enel Green Power North America in private Friday. Cost overruns by engineering consultant Kirkham Michaels, hired in November 2017 to provide haul route evaluation for roads used by Diamond Vista wind farm construction, have county commissioners and Diamond Vista wind farm owners Enel Green Power North America at loggerheads.

  • Radiology manager ready for retirement

    With retirement looming next week, St. Luke Hospital radiology manager Ewing is looking forward to getting projects done at home and spending more time with family. “I didn’t know what I was going to be like when I turned 65,” he said. “I’ve seen some situations where you retire and aren’t able to do anything. In the back of my mind I kind of planned for that.”

DEATHS

  • Sharon Grosse

    Graveside services for Sharon Kay Shepherd Grosse, 79, who died March 22, will be 11 a.m. Friday at Prairie Lawn Cemetery in Peabody. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Baker Funeral Home, Peabody.

DOCKET

OPINION

  • Catching the disease of the moment

    If you think COVID-19 is deadly, you’ve seen nothing yet. The economic depression that’s likely to follow all our hand-wringing and hand-washing may make the disease look like a mild case of the sniffles — which, for something like four out of five sufferers, is exactly what COVID-19 is. To be sure, we’re playing it safe not so much for ourselves but for the less than one in five for whom the disease could be more serious. It’s good we do so. But at times setting the rules is becoming perilously close to a contest in determining who can be holier than thou in dictating what is and isn’t allowed. And many times the true intent of a precaution isn’t followed.

  • ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

    Let there be light

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

    A need for manners

PEOPLE

SCHOOL AND SPORTS

UNDEFEATED

MORE…

Email: | Also visit: Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin | © 2020 Hoch Publishing

 

 

 

 

BACK TO TOP