Coffee and economic development
I had coffee with Jim Hefley, new president of Marion National Bank on Thursday. On Friday, he had coffee with the whole community, that is, those who came to the welcoming reception for him at the bank.
He's a good guy with a lot of hope for the financial/economic future of Marion and Marion County. If you have ideas about vigorous, sustained economic development, you should share them with him, and of course with Susan Cooper, the city of Marion's director of economic development.
Hefley also wants to know about financial resources/services needs of Marionites and Marion Countians, so don't hesitate to air your thoughts on those subjects with him, too.
Marion County Sheriff's officers drive an average of 25,000 miles per month, Sheriff Lee Becker has told us. There are 1,610 miles of county-maintained roads in the county, along with 125 miles of highway (the latter figure constituting 250 miles of laned road, Becker points out).
This year's Marion County Fair, Aug. 6-9 in Hillsboro, will feature two of the traditional 4-H shows being held in the evening, rather than during daytime hours.
The bucket calf show and the sheep show will both be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, right after the fair parade ends, Rickey Roberts, county agent-Agriculture and Natural Resources, said.
Also, the 4-H Development Fund will have a couple of fund-raisers during the fair: A hog giveaway and a cow-patty bingo contest.
Marion County Treasurer Jeannine Bateman attended the National Association of Counties' national convention in Milwaukee, July 10-16. "Eighty-two (degrees) was the hottest it got there," she said. It was a very busy time, she said, but "very rewarding, too."
"We're trying to get back to a regular, normal life now, after harvest," said Deana Olsen, who with her husband, Larry, operates Cottonwood Miniature Horses in rural Marion.
She is nursing a baby kitten that people told her had zero chance to survive, but it's "perking up like crazy," she said. "I'm its surrogate mother."
"We're baling hay. And we're knee-deep in vacations here" (at the ambulance-Emergency Medical Service office, which she manages, near the courthouse in Marion).
Olsen said Epi-Pen use has been approved by the State of Kansas for emergency medical technicians "and above," i.e. those with that much specialized training or more.
Epi-Pen, if you don't know (I didn't) involves administration of epinephrine through a device that looks like a large ballpoint pen. People must be trained to administer it in emergency, allergic-reaction situations.
Nearly all the Marion County EMS people have had their Epi-Pen training, Olsen said. "We have one more crew to train. It's on all of our transport units now," she added. The county's five first-response units do not transport patients, she said.
"We're excited about it," Olsen said. There are age limits, upper and lower, bracketing who can and cannot receive the epinephrine. There are also weight criteria for administering the hormone.
"And we're getting our own fax machine, for this office, too," Olsen said.
— JERRY BUXTON
