BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Marion Reservoir was placed on a warning for blue-green algae Thursday based on water testing by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Water with high concentrations of blue-green algae can cause illness or even death in humans and animals if they drink enough, and skin contact can cause irritation. Under a blue-green algae warning, swim beaches are closed, but other facilities may remain open. It is safe to eat fish caught during a harmful blue-green algae outbreak, as long as they are rinsed clean and only the fillet is eaten. People should wash their hands with clean water after handling fish caught during an algae outbreak.
Mueller was not sure Cassandra Clemmer was the right person to run a salon in Tampa. She definitely had connections to the community. She grew up six miles outside of town. Her grandfather was Jim Clemmer, who was mayor for over 20 years, and is still a revered figure in town after his death. However, Thursday was the first chance Mueller had to formalize a deal with her in person. He talked to her about the prospect of a salon last year, but the timing was not right for either party. There was also the hairstylist’s appearance.
Ron Jirak of rural Tampa has been way ahead of the “eat local” trend. He and three brothers started Jirak Brothers Produce in the late 1970s. The seeds of the business were planted even earlier.
Just after midnight on Sunday Cain Smith, 17, of rural Lehigh, was driving home when he noticed a truck stopped ahead of him on Chisholm Trail Road. “There are hardly ever other vehicles out here, so he sped up to see what was going on,” his mother, Sarah Simington said.
The Hospital District No. 1 of Marion County Board of Directors voted to approve Joe Pickett to apply for a tax credit. The tax credit would apply to donations for a new mammography machine. The hospital currently uses an analog machine and will be required to upgrade to a digital system sometime in 2013.
Music is labor of love for Makovec and sons with Justus By JENNIFER STULTZ Staff writer He grew up polka, married a jazz artist, and raised his boys on classic rock and country with a few dance tunes thrown in, but for Allen Makovec and the band Justus of rural Goessel, the focus is all on family.
Jackie Volbrecht thought money would be the wall to halt the progress of Circles of Hope, a program to battle poverty she is helping establish in Marion County. It turns out fundraising has not been the harrowing struggle she expected.
A serendipitous meeting this spring — right person, right time, and right job —provided Linda Ogden a successor she has confidence in as director of Families and Communities Together. Ashlee Gann moved to Hillsboro to be closer to her husband’s family May 1. Later that week she saw an advertisement for the opening at FACT. It seemed like a good fit.
Frances M. Hanschu, 89, died Thursday. She was born April 23, 1923, to Emanuel and Anna (Schlothauer) Batt. She married Clinton Hanschu on Aug. 1, 1943, at Florence Methodist Church. She farmed with her husband for many years in the Ramona area. She later owned and operated the Hanschu Market in Ramona until her retirement.
Ronald J. Mille Sr., 63, of Lincolnville died Saturday at Salina Regional Hospital. He was born Sept. 18, 1948, at McKeesport, Pa., to Louis G.G. and Mary (Gereben) Mille. He retired from the U.S. Army as a sergeant first class in 1988 at Fort Riley. He worked for Centre schools for 21 years and retired in 2011.
Philothea “Rita” Snell, 99, of McIntosh, Fla., passed away on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, at her home. Rita was born in Marion County, Kan., and moved to Florida in 1971. Rita was a retired teletype operator for the U.S. government, a member of Christ the King Catholic Church in Citra, Fla., National Council of Catholic Women, Red Hat Society, Classy Lassies, Emmaus Group, and a Life member of the Ladies Auxiliary Post No. 8978.
Peabody celebration carries on hand-made tradition By SUSAN MARSHALL Staff writer Computers have added a great deal to the lives and businesses of people who use them. There is hardly any facet of our lives not touched by the precision and efficiency of a computer.
City parks in Marion County offer many chances for exploration and fun for children of all ages. At the Memorial Park in Hillsboro, new playground equipment installed last year joins cannons and veterans’ memorial statues that children and adults find interesting.
Jan Davis grew up west of Hillsboro and now lives in Marion. A 27-year art teacher, she has always been in touch with those in artistic circles. In the past two years however, as the owner of Gallery 101, an art studio in downtown Marion, she realized anew how many talented people make up the fabric of everyday life in Marion County.
Splashing around in cool water sounds like heaven in the hot summer. Children love to splash, no matter what the thermometer says, but it is important to remember the sun can be dangerous; and fun and laughter can turn into tears without the proper protection from sunburn. “When it’s really hot, 90 degrees or more, we have 10-minute breaks every hour,” Hillsboro Family Aquatic Center co-manager Chelsea Bebermeyer said. “It gives everyone a chance to get out of the sun and water, dry off, and put on more sunscreen.”
Cottonwood Point campground at Marion Reservoir reopened to reservations recently after the completion of improvements in the existing campground. That is just the start of the project, however. A new gatehouse has been constructed, and roads have been improved at the campground. Now the project turns to expansion, with 47 new campsites and 12 day-use picnic sites planned. That will dramatically increase the size of Cottonwood Point, which has 71 campsites now.
Brook Bradford, 12, of Hillsboro loves to fish. He and his dad, Bill, go every weekend possible. If it were up to Brook, he would go fishing every day, all day. “I like it because it’s fun,” he said. “I love the outdoors. I like to feel the wind and look at the water.
Local Santa Fe Trail buffs will benefit from a private book collection loaned long-term to Marion City Library by the Cottonwood Crossing chapter of the Santa Fe Trails Association. General history, personal journals, and individual topics such as wagons and forts are part of the collection, Head Librarian Janet Marler said.
With no algae advisories and temperatures approaching 100 degrees, many groups took the opportunity to hit the water this weekend. One such group was Dennis and Janis Maggard, their family, and friends.
Marion City Council voted unanimously Monday to prohibit truck and heavy equipment parking on any street and on most residential lots within the City of Marion. Heavy trucks may not be parked within any area zoned residential without a permit. Permits are issued by Utility Supervisor Marty Frederickson if the applicant meets certain requirements.
After a long discussion, Marion City Council agreed on a proposal to present to Marion County Commission about construction on Fourth and Williams streets on Monday. The council suggested the city would pay about $88,000. That amount would cover 40 percent of the cost of concrete paving for the section of Fourth Street from Williams Street to Library Street and all of Williams Street. Fourth Street from Williams to Library has already been torn up by the county because of jail construction. The city would pay all of the cost of the section of Fourth Street from Main to Williams, about $40,000, City Administrator Doug Kjellin said.
Marion County Commission approved Monday that anyone could hunt upland game on the land that was formerly the Marion County Landfill Monday. The land will still be restricted to one person with two guests but it can be hunted by anyone during the appropriate upland game seasons with county approval.
Marion County will apply for a variance with the City of Marion to place a 92-foot radio tower in the property surrounding the new jail. The commission agreed at an earlier meeting to not place the tower on top the jail. The county will ask the city to schedule a special meeting with the planning and zoning board. If a meeting is scheduled for next week, the tower could be installed by the end of July, Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini said.
Anybody up for a car wash to pay for fixing Fourth Street across from the new jail? We seem to have tried everything else. And I don’t know about you, but I’d pay plenty to see scantily clad versions of Dan Holub and Mary Olson tossing sudsy sponges back and forth across the hoods of dusty cars fresh off the back roads of Marion County. The current standoff between the city and the county over who will pay what portion of how big a street project would be comic if it weren’t so tragic.
Lest Mayor Olson be tempted to slap this writer with a sudsy sponge, it’s probably a good idea to congratulate her and her often unappreciated colleagues on the City Council for the new truck parking ordinance they approved Monday. If enforced aggressively, as all laws governing city betterment should be, it will eliminate many of the problems mentioned on this page a few weeks ago.
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Pink plastic flamingos have been popping up on lawns around Marion for a couple of weeks, most recently at Tammy Snelling’s home on Walnut Street. “We had just pulled in the yard after getting back from vacation, and there was a flock of pink flamingos in our yard,” Snelling said. “A couple of friends did it for my birthday. I think they are fun. It makes your birthday special.”
University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little is scheduled to visit with university alumni from 7:30 to 9 a.m. July 13 at Zimmerman’s in Marion. Gray-Little became KU’s 17th chancellor in 2009. The reception, planned by the KU Alumni Association, will give alumni an opportunity to learn the latest from KU and about upcoming alumni events in the area. There will also be Jayhawk giveaways, doughnuts, and coffee.
Tampa property owner David Mueller has plans for buildings he owns on Main Street. On the west side of the post office building there is an old gas station. He planned on putting a roof on the building this weekend. He has discussed having a collector of gas station memorabilia in Lost Springs move his collection, including antique pumps from the 1950s, to the store as a small museum.
More than 3¼ square miles of Marion County farmland will be added Oct. 1 to the Conservation Reserve Program, keeping that land out of farm production for 10 to 15 years. All in all, about 15,000 acres or roughly 5 percent of the cropland in the county will be out of production. In western Kansas, up to 25 percent — the maximum under law without waivers — is enrolled in the program.
Marion County Democratic Women met for lunch Friday at Marion Senior Center. The group will take part in Kansas Service League’s purple cap project. Caps knitted or crocheted in any shade of purple may be dropped off at the senior center. They will be given to newborns in November and December.
Carol Duerksen of rural Hillsboro has released a new book of dog stories. Short Tales features three authors and their dogs, telling short stories about being a Corgi, their thoughts on life, and other animal friends they encounter. The authors are Duerksen, Linda Kusse-Wolfe of Wichita, and Sena Friesen Meilleur of Essex Junction, Vt. Their dogs are Walter, Hugo, and Bandit. Short Tales is available from the website http://www.allamish.org or from Duerksen at http://willowspringdowns@juno.com. Interested persons may follow the dogs’ blog at htto://shorttales.org.
In her first time surfing, 9-year-old Annie Baliel of Marion surfed well enough to get her picture on the front page of the Annie was on vacation with her family last week on South Padre Island. Her father, Dave Baliel, took surfing lessons, but Annie had to sit out because of worries about the weather.
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Issac Baldwin of Marion knew what he wanted when he went to American Legion Boys State, and he achieved his goal when he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court during the simulation of Kansas government held June 5-11 at Kansas State University in Manhattan. “My plan the entire time was to make it to that point,” Baldwin said.
Taylor Nikkel of Hillsboro, Madison Chamberland of Marion, and Derek Brown of Goessel are on the spring 2012 honor roll for Cloud County Community College in Concordia. To be named to the honor roll, a student must be enrolled in at least 12 hours of coursework and earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher.
Emily Henning was one of 10 valedictorians this spring at Wichita High School Northwest. Cindy Heerey Henning of Wichita is her mother. Charles and Virginia Heerey of Marion are her grandparents. They had a pre-graduation party in her honor.
The Marion swim team won its meet Saturday in Marion. The team scored 533.5 points finishing ahead of Abilene who scored 452.5.
Jorge Hanschu of Hillsboro won the 11- and 12-year-old division in the softball throw at the Hershey’s Track and Field state meet this weekend in Hutchinson. His best throw was 170 feet, 1 inch, about 10 percent farther than the second-place throw of 153-8. His other throws were 161-5 and 157-8.