BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Marion Reservoir beaches, closed since June 12, will remain closed until July 31 because of toxic blue-green algae, state health officials announced Thursday.
Fishing and boating are still safe. It also is safe to eat fish caught from the reservoir. However, extra precaution should be taken to make sure fish are rinsed of any reservoir water.
A water main break in front of the former Country Lakes restaurant on Main St. spewed the equivalent of two-thirds of a water tower of water downtown and caused extensive soil erosion underneath newly-resurfaced pavement.
“It happened Friday at 3 p.m., right before quitting time,” streets superintendent Marty Fredrickson said. “A four-inch hole in an eight-inch line at 60 pounds per square inch is going to blow a lot of water.”
With property value rising by the equivalent of 2.882 mills, Marion County hopes to raise taxes without increasing tax rates next year.
In the process, commissioners are trying to assemble a contingency fund, set to approach $1 million by next year, that could be used to move out of a historic Marion building, relocate some operations out of Marion, and perhaps eventually replace the courthouse.
The local economy will get a boost in August from Union Pacific Railroad, which will use Marion as its base of operations for track maintenance from Herington to Whitewater.
“It’s huge,” Union Pacific safety captain Lindal Peace said. “A lot of cities just don’t realize what income we bring in. We’ve got like 90 to 120 guys, and they’ve been having to travel. Most of them are staying in Junction City right now.”
Danny Maddox of Marion has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and he’s not alone.
On average, one out of every 28 adults in Marion County can legally carry a concealed weapon, according to data released Monday by the Kansas attorney general’s office.
Peggi Wilson did not know how adventurous her life would become when she rescued a mutt named Romy a little over a year ago.
Last week Wilson let Romy outside at her Marion County Lake home.
A divinely inspired dream has sent Michael and Julie Pearson on a five-month pilgrimage across America to raise money for a ranch where homeless people can live, work, and worship.
“It made me nervous,” Michael recalls, “But I asked Him, ‘When do we leave?’”
The largest marijuana bust Robert Craft has encountered as sheriff continued to be under investigation Tuesday as Craft declined to reveal details of an ongoing investigation into who may have been cultivating 2,429 marijuana plants found July 15 in southern Marion County.
Craft would not say exactly where the plants were found, whether the landowner was aware of them, or whether a suspect has been identified.
Two women were hospitalized after their car was run over by a tractor Monday at 110th and Jade Rds.
The accident happened around 2 p.m. when a 1994 Mercury Sable driven by Dianna Howell of Hillsboro collided with a John Deere tractor pulling a hay rake. The tractor was operated by Sheldon Weims of rural Hillsboro.
Abstract art pieces make people think, which is exactly what David Woody wants customers to do when they enter his new store in downtown Florence.
Woody moved from Oklahoma City to Florence five years ago, looking for a quieter life.
Mary Steadman always wanted a piece of her father’s military history but never thought she would get it. So, when her aunt, Patty Finley, found a footlocker that once belonged to him at an antique store in Park City, she jumped at the chance to bring it home.
“She took a picture and texted it to us,” Steadman said. “It was along the lines of, ‘look what I found.”’
Campers soon will be able to pitch tents in portions of the Cottonwood Point expansion at Marion Reservoir.
Camping loops E and F will open around Aug. 1. The areas include 23 campsites with bathrooms and showers.
Fair organizers aren’t the only ones busy with fair preparations this week. The first real event of the fair, a 4-H dog show, took place Saturday, even though the first official day of the fair is today.
Happy Hustler member Tristan Williams had a busy day Monday preparing for the fair’s horse show Monday evening and her other fair projects.
County fair time is chicken flipping time for Jessica Laurin, Marion veterinarian.
Each chicken entered in the county fair has to have a blood test for salmonella, and Laurin flipped 83 chickens last week to perform the tests.
Department heads appear to have kept their promise not to have busted their budgets by shoehorning in pay raises averaging 8.7 percent for 56 county employees.
However, accommodating the raises, awarded in response to a study of wages paid for similar positions in other counties, appears to be posing some difficulties.
Federal requirement for new, more reflective road signs could cost Marion County hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We have 600 stops signs alone,” road and bridges supervisor Jesse Hamm told county commissioners Monday. “It would cost $97,000 just to replace them in one year.”
Nearly 28 percent of all county ambulance calls last month resulted in no patient being transported to a hospital, according to data released Monday by interim ambulance director JoAnn Knak.
A total of 24 patients for whom ambulances were summoned declined transport, thereby saving themselves ambulance fees.
Despite preparations for a large crowd, only one citizen turned out Monday to discuss Marion’s proposed new 300-page city code, imposing new regulations in a huge array of areas.
Doug Lind, who previously spoke on the code, again questioned rules regarding raising chickens for consumption. A final draft of the code will be presented for adoption at the next regular city council meeting Aug. 4.
After receiving several inquiries about people parking vehicles on lawns, city administrator Roger Holter was curious to see how many residents were in violation of current vehicle ordinances.
He asked Marion police to look for violations while patrolling Thursday. Officers found 21 throughout town.
Standing in the living room of Randy and Rachel Collett’s remodeled downtown Marion apartment, it is hard to tell that the space in the C.B. Wheeler building ever housed a hospital, office building, or anything else.
The Colletts bought the space from Bruce and Belinda Skiles about two years ago and started remodeling in the spring.
In August, plant lover Lenore Dieter of Marion is looking forward to making margaritas with a home grown twist, using fruit from her own lime trees.
“I have two trees; one is indoors in a pot and one is outside in my perennial bed,” Dieter said. “They’re not huge but the one inside has three limes on it.”
A homeowner with a piece of siding to be painted or an expectant mother wanting to match the nursery walls to a color in a quilt don’t have to grab handfuls of paint chips and trust their eyes to find the right color anymore.
Marion County paint dealers have computerized color matching scanning systems that take guessing out of the equation.
Posting Marion’s proposed city code online resulted in extremely limited exposure to the general public.
According to Internet traffic monitoring firm Alexa.com, not only did Marion’s proposed city code receive very few viewers, but also those who did check it read an average of only two of the code’s more than 300 pages.
LETTERS TO EDITOR:
Mom recalls camera
Hoping to help 2-to-6-year-old girls in developing nations, volunteer seamstresses produced about 80 simple pillowcase dresses last week at Eastmoor United Methodist Church.
The “Sew Much Love” volunteers will include the dresses in shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, and notes of encouragement.
A new blog will spread information about the proposed canonization of Father Emil Kapaun and preserve the Korean War hero’s homilies.
Father John Hotze, Episcopal delegate on the beautification of Kapaun, has been working for several years to create the blog, where he will write about Kapaun’s life and share Kapaun’s homilies.
Florentine Seniors selected three area teachers to be recognized by Senior Citizens of Marion County in October at their monthly meeting July 11.
Connie Omstead, Linda Allison, and Kathleen Ludwig were chosen, and the Florentines plan to recognize other teachers.
Iralee Barnard of Hope will sign copies of her new book, “Field Guide to the Common Grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska,” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 9 at Tampa Trail Stop in Tampa. The book contains color photos, identification tips, distribution maps, and an illustrated glossary.
WEDDINGS:
Grosse-Richmond,
Hett-MakovecANNIVERSARIES:
SommerfeldsREUNIONS:
Olsen cousins,
SummervillsBIRTHDAYS:
BezdekMEMORIES:
10,
25,
35,
50,
60,
100,
125 years ago
Most high school students wouldn’t call studying the U.S. Constitution for six days their idea of summer fun, but Ally Basore of Burdick would after attending a constitutional academy July 7 to 12 in Washington, D.C.
Ally was one of 50 students from across the country accepted into the program, sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute. She received a scholarship from Koch Foundation.
Adam Matz of Lincolnville was one of 49 student-athletes from Kansas Wesleyan College on the academic all-conference list for Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference for winter and spring. Matz played baseball and is majoring in computer science.
Elizabeth Goentzel of Marion is one of 195 dependents of Koch Industries employees who will receive a scholarship this fall.
Goentzel, daughter of Marlene and John Goentzel will be a freshman at Fort Hays State University.
After taking third at the state tournament in Hillsboro the girls 16 and under Babe Ruth All-star team traveled to Lamar, Colorado for regional play Thursday through Saturday.
The all-stars’ first three games were run-rule shortened losses. They scored eight runs in their last game against Conway Springs, a 15-8 loss.
After winning the district tournament in Buhler, the Cottonwood Valley League 10 and Under All-stars traveled to Fort Scott where they won the state tournament last weekend.
With players from Marion, Hillsboro, Council Grove, and Canton-Galva, the All-stars have played only 18 games together this year, Hanschu said, five of which were played at state.
Tyler Palic and Jack Schneider of Marion each won an event July 11 through 13 at the Sunflower State Games in Topeka.
Palic won in discus and placed third in shot put in the 13-and-14-year old age division.
