Marion County RECORD

Several file to run for mayor, city council

Marion will have a full ballot for the city election April 1 with three candidates for mayor and five candidates for two council seats. Incumbent Mayor Mary Olson will seek her third term. She unseated Martin Tice in 2007, then defeated challenger Steve Smith in 2010 while Smith was on the council.

Driver charged in fatal crash

Sheriff’s deputies arrested 45-year-old Shane Mascareno of 108 N. 9th St., Herington, on Jan. 10 on a charge of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, dating back to a crash on April 28 that took the life of Zachariah Antoszyk of Marion. The accident happened on U.S. 56/77 near the Lost Springs turnoff at 340th Road. According to the accident report, 22-year-old Antoszyk was driving south in a pickup when Mascareno, traveling north in a semi-truck, crossed the centerline into the west ditch.

Florence levee could flood homeowners with insurance costs

If Florence doesn’t hire an engineer to inspect and certify its levee, home buyers may have to buy costly flood insurance to get mortgages. “They’re really weighing the possibility that they’re not going to hire an engineer,” Planning and Zoning Director Tonya Richards, said.

Crews begin work on Williams, Fourth Sts.

Now that the old jail building has been removed, Fourth and Williams Sts. are getting a facelift. Crews were already demolishing the street and cutting out curbs along Williams St. Tuesday. County crews could begin laying the base for the street by the end of the week, Darin Neufeld of EBH and Associates said.

Crane used for downtown roofing project

Marion residents who traveled downtown Tuesday were in for a tall surprise. Wray Roofing of Newton used a 100-foot construction crane to haul heavy squares of roofing off the Edward Jones Building at 314 E. Main St.

Pride Committee again pursuing grant for downtown

Recent changes in the Kansas Department of Transportation grant application process revealed potential delays in construction if Marion were awarded funding for the downtown beautification. “We need to be prepared to sit on our thumbs and wait,” EBH engineer Darin Neufeld said at the Pride meeting Thursday at the library. “KDOT has new people this year. It’s a multimodal department now.”

City adds no-parking zones on Elm, Locust Sts.

Emergency responders ran into one their worst nightmares Sunday after receiving a fire call they nearly could not reach on Elm St. Because of parking for Sunday services at Marion Christian Church and Marion Presbyterian Church, the street was extremely congested with people parking on both sides of the street. Police Chief Tyler Mermis witnessed the situation as he left church.

Brett Billings to act in Shakespeare production

Marion High School graduate Brett Billings will have his first two paid, professional acting roles this year with Theatre Unmasked in Dover, N.H. He will play Lysander in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a comedy by William Shakespeare. He also has a role in “The Last Five Years,” a two-person musical production.

Library addition nears completion

The addition to Marion City Library is swiftly approaching completion. “We have a name picked for the new room that we chose from a suggestion given by one of our patrons,” library director Janet Marler said.

Stamp prices to increase next week

The price of postage is about to go up. The Postal Regularity Commission approved a price hike of 3 cents for first-class stamps, raising stamp prices to 49 cents effective Sunday. Forever stamps can still be purchased for the current price until Sunday and continue to be used after the hike takes effect.

Kiwanians plan to visit other clubs

Marion Kiwanis Club met Tuesday with 18 members present. Al Ash told members about upcoming opportunities to have inter-club meetings. Hillsboro Kiwanis will have a biscuit and gravy breakfast Feb. 8. Lindsborg and Emporia clubs will have pancake feeds on Feb. 15 and March 8, respectively.

Diploma offers insight into family history

County native Bill Young said he spent several hours working with Photoshop to restore an important family document, his grandpa’s diploma from 1894. “This is to certify that George Holmes of Marion County in the state of Kansas has completed the course of study in the common branches required by law to be taught in the public schools of the state in orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, physiology and hygiene, and United States history,” the document reads.

First graders visit jail, newspaper, and library

Marion Elementary first graders visited the county jail, city library, and Teachers Michelle Adkins and Staci Hansen said a jail, library, and newspaper popped up in the story and they wanted the kids to get an idea of how each establishment operates.

Peabody area has long power outage

Residents of Peabody and the surrounding area were left in the dark Thursday night after experiencing a power failure that affected more than 500 customers and two long-term care facilities. The failure that began around 4 p.m. was finally resolved around 7:30 p.m., county emergency manager Randy Frank said.

Flu activity heavy in Kansas

Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports influenza is widespread throughout the state. Three deaths have been attributed to the virus so far. On average five to 20 percent of the U.S. population will contract the flu.

Conservation program deadline extended

Farmers and ranchers interested in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Stewardship Program have until Feb. 7 to enroll for fiscal year 2014. The program is intended to help producers improve soil quality, water quality and quantity, air quality, plant resources, animal resources, energy use, and reduce erosion.

Helen Beckham

Helen June Beckham, who worked to place Marion County Park and Lake on the National Historic Register and raise funds for a life-size bronze statue of a Civilian Conservation Corps worker, died Jan. 17. She was born Aug. 18, 1932, to William Irvan and Julia Stuart Perkins Barney in Tonkawa, Okla. The family moved to El Dorado when she was 18 months old. Her father died of pneumonia when she was 6.

Adolphine Tajachman

Adolphine Tajchman died Monday at age 102. Her funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Chuch in Pilsen. A rosary will precede the mass at 10 a.m.

IN MEMORIAM:

Accidents reported

Civil division cases

County Jail arrests and bookings

Criminal division cases

Deeds recorded

Emergency dispatches

Marriage licenses issued

Offenses reported

Police incident reports

Traffic division cases

Veterinarians find a different way to heal

The look on Son the horse’s face said, “I’m not sure I like what you’re doing,” as veterinarian Rebecca Erwin, manually adjusted his spine using a technique called veterinary chiropractic. Erwin will finish her certification in veterinary chiropractic Feb. 9 after beginning schooling in October.

The farmer says how to feed cattle in the USA

Farming video sensation Derek Klingenberg of Peabody has put his camera to good use again, this time creating a parody of Miley Cyrus’ song “Party in the USA.” “Feeding Cattle in the USA” currently is up to 90,000 views since being uploaded Dec. 26.

Co-ops call off merger, plan another

Customers of Mid-Kansas Cooperative and Frontier Ag will not see the companies merge this year after all. Merger talks, which began in September, stalled this week after company leaders on both sides could not settle on the terms of the agreement.

The power of choice

Marion voters will be the only ones in the county with real choices during spring elections April 1, with three candidates for mayor and five for two council positions. Elsewhere, Hillsboro and Burns have exactly enough candidates to fill openings on their city councils unless someone mounts a write-in campaign. A majority of the council is up for grabs — and all but one seat if Todd Heitschmidt wins his mayoral bid and has to vacate his council seat. This election will set the stage for the next four years in city government.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

Kansas Day celebration to include Tallgrass Express

Kansas Day will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Eastmoor United Methodist Church with dinner served by the United Methodist Women and musical entertainment provided by Tallgrass Express String Band. The cost is $15. For reservations, call (620) 382-3418.

City employee is Internet savvy

Many in Marion are used to seeing Rick Burcky out and about as he collects trash around town, but few know that you may also see his work elsewhere, on the Internet. Burcky has been developing websites for the last 25 years since the “early” days of the Internet, he said.

Emler sworn in KCC

Jay Scott Emler was sworn in as a commissioner of the Kansas Corporation Commission Friday in Topeka. His duties will include a shared responsibility with two other commissioners who are tasked with ensuring that natural gas, electricity, telephone, and transportation vendors provide safe, adequate, and reliable services at reasonable rates.

Auxiliary donates $25,000 to St. Luke

When people join the auxiliary, they do not realize how much they will contribute to St. Luke Hospital, CEO Jeremy Armstrong said while addressing members of the auxiliary Thursday night. At the annual auxiliary dinner, volunteers learned how much the shop made this year, ending with a $33,500 profit, nominated new officers, and reported volunteers worked a collective 19,955 hours this past year.

MARION SENIOR CENTER:

MEMORIES:

Music in classrooms may foster better learning

Songs like Styx’s “Mr. Roboto” or Usher’s “OMG” and music from the baroque and jazz genres may not be on every student’s iPod, but they all serve a purpose in Rick Reed’s classes at McPherson High School. “Music is everything,” Reed said. “I just can‘t believe that music is such a big part of everybody’s lives, and then we run kids in the classroom and it’s dead. Absolutely dead.”

Laptops don't entirely replace other classroom computers

When schools provide all students with laptop computers, they can reduce the number of other computers needed, but they can’t completely eliminate that need. That’s part of the message from students and teachers at Hillsboro and Centre high schools, which have issued students laptops for several years, while Marion school board considers instituting its own program.

Lip balm project teaches business principles

The last hour of the day is a busy one for nine members of Lisa Beye’s marketing class at Centre High School. After spending nine weeks developing a business plan, they now create lip balm for sale. Members are divided into two groups: Da Balm and Calm Balm. Da Balm members are Carissa Shields, Abigail Svoboda, Kristin Vinduska, Adam Makovec, and James Mercer. Calm Balm members are Ally Basore, Brenna Shields, Stephanie Lewis of Peabody-Burns High School, and Marie Miklus.

Community Service project helps seniors with technology

Centre’s Future Business Leaders of America president Makenzie Deines and vice president Bryanna Svoboda are offering a community service at the Hilltop Community Building in Herington. Named “Senior Savvy,” the project provides classes to teach senior citizens about the benefits of technology and help them become more familiar with the electronics they own.

Warriors top Solomon in Centre tournament

The Marion boys’ basketball team was the lower seed Tuesday night in the first round of the Centre Cougar Classic, but won in top-seed fashion. The Warriors started fast in a matchup with Solomon High School and never looked back, winning 60-40.

Lady Warriors win 1st game of Centre tournament

After a slow start Tuesday night against Wakefield High School, the Marion High School girls’ basketball team rebounded, coasting to a 47-32 victory. The game was Marion’s first of the Centre Cougar Classic tournament, which they entered as the No. 3 seed. Friday they will play the winner of the matchup between Rural Vista and Peabody-Burns.

Marion wrestlers seize 2nd in big tournament

Out of 23 schools, Marion wrestlers seized second place by scoring 159 team points at a two-day tournament that ended Saturday in Halstead. Although Marion was missing wrestlers Zac Lewman and Kyle Palic, who might have potentially scored more points for the team, coach Chad Adkins was pleased with tournament results.

Track assistants have 94 years combined experience

After receiving the biggest awards of their coaching careers, Jerry Smith and Rex Wilson both acknowledged the athletes that competed for them in the past. The Kansas Cross-Country and Track and Field Coaches Association named Smith and Wilson assistant coaches of the year Jan. 11, with a combined 94 years of experience shared between the two.

Centre girls lose on the road at Little River

The Centre Lady Cougars had their first loss of the regular season Jan. 14 at Little River. Led by excellent scoring by Cacey Simons in the second quarter, Centre had a 20-13 lead at halftime. However, Little River came roaring back, outscoring Centre 19-10 in the third quarter, to erase the lead and go ahead by two points. Little River continued to outscore Centre in the fourth quarter, handing the Lady Cougars a 6-point loss.

Centre Cougars bested by Little River

The Centre Cougars found themselves up against strong, aggressive players Jan. 14 at Little River. They were defeated 70-51. Conner Montgomery, Kyle Methvin, and Chad Mueller made baskets in the first quarter. Grant Srajer and Montgomery each had a free throw. Centre trailed, 12-8, at the end of the quarter.

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