10 YEARS AGO

JUNE 15, 2016

A Facebook post in which Hillsboro police tried to quell false rumors of child abduction backfired Monday, devolving into a bitter exchange that included threats of violence.

A report of an African American man in a white Ford Mustang approaching two 9-year-old girls about wanting to get a soft drink at McDonald’s was found by police to be an innocent request for directions but interpreted by some residents as an attempt at abduction.

The man, a temporary worker from out of town, was threatened and followed and eventually urged by his employer to leave town.

For six weeks, Marion VFW Post has been unable to serve alcohol. The state voided its license amid a mix-up that resulted in non-payment of its license renewal fees.

In a corner of a workshop at the Outdoors Inn at Marion County Park and Lake, Linda Sardou and four other women are creating plush pouches, hammocks, tunnels, cage covers, and other items for sugar gliders, tiny marsupials from Australia and Indonesia that fit into the palm of their owners’ hands and have become popular exotic pets.

Test weights of 62 pounds per bushel and yields of more than 75 bushels per acre have been reported in a wheat harvest that local elevator operators suspect could be well above average.

Brett Hajek of Lost Springs and Mike Beneke of Lincolnville will challenge incumbent Dan Holub, and Stephen Rose of Peabody and Amy Soyez of Aulne will challenge incumbent Randy Dallke in the August primary for seats as Marion County commissioners.

Centre High School graduate Theo Kassebaum graduated with honors last week with a bachelor’s degree in archeology from the University of Chicago and will participate this summer in a dig in Israel.