BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Burning in the county has been banned due to dry and hazardous conditions.
Acting on a recommendation from fire chiefs, county commissioners approved the ban at today’s meeting.
Christopher Young, 45, Peabody-Burns High School social studies teacher charged with eight felony charges alleging sex offenses with two students, surrendered at the courthouse Monday afternoon.
Young was greeted in the hallway by 40 supporters when he arrived for his hearing, scheduled by Wichita defense lawyer John Rapp. His supporters ranged from high school students to retirees. Most walked over to hug him, patted him on the back, and assured him it will get better. Young hugged people and thanked them for being there, and occasionally dabbed his cheek with a tissue.
A military transport flatbed carrying a large road scraper turned over Sunday at the US-56/77/K-150 roundabout east of Marion, the fourth accident involving a truck this year.
“We’re baffled right now, we really are,” said Joe Palic with the Marion office of the Department of Transportation. “It’s been good for two years; maybe it’s just an anomaly.”
During nine years as a sheriff’s deputy, Mike Ottensmeier has dealt with plenty of wayward, cantankerous cattle that were never as cooperative as most people with whom he has had professional encounters.
“I do have a little experience pushing cows,” Ottensmeier said. “I’ve come to find out cattle are probably among the stupidest animals that ever lived.”
Lincolnville, Marion, Tampa, and Lost Springs firefighters responded to a structure fire called in early Friday morning by Mike Benda of Lincolnville.
Lincolnville fire chief Lester Kaiser said the call came in at 1:20 a.m., and four area fire departments automatically responded.
What’s in a name?
When “Hannaford Abstract and Title” came off the building at 222 E. Main St. in Marion and the logo and name of the business’s new owners, Security 1st Title, went on, it was still the family business for Roger Hannaford III.
Another commission meeting, another transfer station proposal.
Commissioners on Monday heard from Rocky Hett of Marion, who owns a former rock quarry a mile and a quarter north of US-56 on Timber Rd. Hett proposed the county build its own landfill for county use.
Despite county officials’ original plans to hold a special election later this month to extend a 2011 half-cent sales tax, the tax will end July 1.
Commissioners had planned to hold an election in the hope of extending a 2011 half-cent sales tax that funded construction of the jail.
Winds gusting over 50 miles per hour kept Marion firefighters on the move Tuesday morning with three separate calls.
The first was to the burn dump south of town, where a fire that ignited in yard waste posed a significant threat from windborne embers. In addition to several fire units, a city loader was sent to turn the waste so firefighters could be certain everything was soaked.
New county park and lake director Isaac Hett has several items on his “to do before summer” list.
A Marion native, Hett is the son of Jerry and Loreen Hett.
The final bow was tied on the Diamond Vista wind farm project Wednesday when commissioners approved the project to go forward. Construction will begin immediately.
The first stage will be roadwork to prepare county roads for hauling of turbine parts.
Sunflower Rd. will be a smoother drive in a few weeks.
County commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting approved a $32,665 bid from Circle C Paving to seal cracks in pavement along the 10 miles of Sunflower Rd. from Marion to US-50.
A couple who moved to Marion last summer and were granted permission via a revised city ordinance to keep ducks for eggs have decided to move to Wichita, where the husband, Jason Ivy, has a job at the Hilton Inn.
His friend, Chris Ramey of Marion, has taken the five ducks and added them to his collection of exotic animals at 310 S. Grant St. “They are getting rid of everything,” Ramey said.
Services for Gordon Jaeger, 90, who died Feb. 26 at Salem Home in Hillsboro, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Salem Home Chapel, with interment at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Cemetery.
He was born Jan. 25, 1928, to Leon and Lela (Wolfe) Jaeger in Hillsboro.
IN MEMORIAM:
Brandon Gillett
IN MEMORIAM:
Dorothy Lawrence
IN MEMORIAM:
John Weems
Borrowing money has become extremely easy with the use of credit cards, which is what shoppers are doing every time they use them.
Debit card transactions, on the other hand, result in money taken out of the cardholder’s bank account almost immediately. Credit card transactions are billed in a monthly statement.
Regular users of county libraries may not stop to think how much they’re saving by not paying for materials and services they use for free, but the value they receive is substantial.
Peabody Township Library users get a clue every time they check out.
Start with a plan.
Set goals and decide how much can realistically be put aside on a regular basis.
Among the many clever quotes he gave us, a 20th century spin on a Socrates saying by Albert Einstein is among my favorites of his:
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”
I saw my first armadillo of the new year Tuesday, and a fine, big specimen it was (emphasis on was).
I was headed south out of town on Third St. when I spotted it just on the edge of the road. Whatever vehicle was responsible for its demise, it couldn’t have hit the creature more perfectly. It was as if someone had flattened it in a huge book, a four-legged armored flower of sorts to be preserved for future generations.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
Thoughts on losing the AND
Just two segments of the original Marion to McPherson Santa Fe rail line remain in use today. They are between Ellenwood and Lyons and from three miles west of Conway to three miles east of McPherson.
Christopher Blackman, 47, of Marion, oversees usage of those lines along with several other segments that are part of the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad.
A reception in honor of Jackie Hett’s 90th birthday will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Elgin Hotel.
All friends and family are invited to come and wish her a happy birthday.
Kansas State University Community Vitality members Jaime Menon and Jan Steen visited Marion Monday to document how Marion Pride has partnered with Centre Masonic Lodge #147 for community projects.
Some of the major projects were painting planters on Main St., laying down millings on the walking trail in the park, and helping in the community garden.
SENIOR CENTER:
Marion Senior Center Center is back to normal,
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MEMORIES:
10,
25,
40,
55,
70,
110,
140 years ago
For the third year in a row, Marion City Library has received a four-star rating from the magazine Library Journal.
Nationwide, only 259 of 7,409 public libraries received three-, four-, or five-star ratings. Twelve were in Kansas.
A skit on recycling, presented by a cast of enthusiastic recyclers Margaret Wilson, Eileen Sieger, and Lydia Gates was a highlight of the World Day of Prayer observance Friday at Eastmoor United Methodist Church.
The service featured, “All God’s Creation is Very Good!,” a program written by women of Suriname, a country along the northeast coast of South America.
Six members of the Marion High School forensics team qualified for state competition at the regional meet Thursday at Centre High School.
Those first-place medalists were Jarred Rahe, solo humorous; Saragrace Felvus, solo serious; Devin Hamm, poetry; Kyle Pierce, informative; Colin Williams and Grant Leffler, improvised duet acting.
Welding eight hours a day paid off for students at North Central Kansas Technical College, Beloit, last week.
Jeremy Hett, son of Donnie and Dawn Hett of Marion, was among several classmates who placed in a MIG welding competition at the school, earning third place.
If there’s a calabash pipe, it must mean a mystery is afoot, and indeed, there will be Friday and Saturday when Marion High School presents “Register Here,” a melodramatic whodunit by David Meyer.
“It takes place in a dilapidated inn called Moss Manor,” director Janet Killough said. “The inn is full of people seeking refuge from a storm. The storm is raging, and at the height of the storm a murder takes place.”
Marion’s girls overcame a big early deficit Thursday against Inman in a substate semifinal game, but couldn’t hold on to a 29-27 lead, falling 47-41 at Hillsboro.
Courtney Herzet got Marion off to a fast start with a 3-pointer, but Inman’s Baylie Jo Ediger responded in kind.
The third time might have been a charm for Rural Vista boys Saturday in the substate championship game at Peabody-Burns, but it was a disaster for the Centre Cougars.
After defeating Rural Vista twice during the regular season and defeating Chase County 64-31 in the substate semifinals, the top-seeded Cougars fell to the Heat, 56-49, depriving them of a trip to the state tournament.
SCHOOL MENUS:
Centre and Marion
Presentations on Kansas water use and the 1951 flood are planned for this month at Marion City Library.
Rex Buchanan, interim director of Kansas Geological Survey, will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday about how water issues today will define much about the state in the future.
Marion County Democrats will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday in the basement of Marion Community Center. An elevator is available.
Food donations to Marion County Resource Center’s food bank will be accepted.
Senior Citizens of Marion County will meet at 9:30 a.m. March 16 at Peabody Senior Center.
Reservations can be made by March 14 by calling (620) 983-2226 or (62) 382-3580. Anyone needing transportation should call by March 15.