Marion County RECORD

Reports of wild pigs in county cause alarm

Apparent sightings of wild pigs Sunday in Marion County were alarming for resident Saje Bayes. “They’re an invasive species, I definitely see that,” she said. “I wouldn’t want them to start populating here because they cause a lot of problems.”

Burns mayor proposes partnership with Florence

A partnership between Florence and Burns would provide an opportunity to offer water and maintenance employees better pay, Burns mayor Ryan Johnson said at Monday’s Florence city council meeting. “I’m not up here to steal from you guys and I’m not up here to bum off you guys,” he said. “I want to make it a partnership to make it beneficial for both of us.”

City leaders put surprising spin on contest video for HGTV

Marion’s leaders demonstrated their desire to beautify the city last year with a $1 million project to remodel Main St. Now parks and recreation director Margo Yates has enlisted help from residents Gene Winkler and Doug Kjellin to create a video submission in hopes of beating out thousands of small towns vying to win a renovation from HGTV’s “Home Town Makeover” contest.

Genealogists tell of ongoing effort to guard county's history

Martha Berner, Carole Skienar and Rosalie Schmidtberger have a passion for researching their families’ histories they love to share with others. The three gathered at Marion City Library Monday evening at a talk sponsored by Marion County Historical Society to let an audience of researchers know more about the resources they have available — and about an ongoing project to keep many other precious family histories from being forever lost.

Wind farm lawsuit now down to 6 plaintiffs

A lawsuit against county commissioners and Expedition Wind now has only six — of 72 original — plaintiffs left. The lawsuit was originally filed in August against county commissioners over their approval of conditional use permits for Expedition to build a wind farm in the southern portion of the county.

Grant now in hand to pay for water lines

Marion was given a $600,000 grant for replacing water lines Thursday when city officials were given a Community Development Block Grant at a ceremony in Topeka. The grant, along with a $3.3 million loan from Kansas Department of Health and Environment, will pay for the installation of new water lines in a portion of the city.

State bans former Westview Manor operator

A Georgia nursing home company that formerly operated Westview Manor in Peabody was banned from doing business in Kansas for 10 years and fined $100,000 last week in a court case stemming from events related to a Humboldt nursing home operated by the same company. AltaCare Corp., of Alpharetta, Georgia, operated Pinecrest Nursing Home in Humboldt until it closed in 2011. When it was closed, the building was left unsecured with records containing patient and employee information in plain sight.

Recycling woes spur promotion

Transfer station employee Josh Housman was promoted Monday to director of household hazardous waste, noxious weed, and the transfer station. Housman has been working closely in recent weeks with the county’s recycling program to resolve the issue of where to take recyclable items after Fort Riley’s recycling center declined to accept the materials because it was short-staffed.

Neo Century club set to meet March 2

Neo Century Club members were treated Feb. 3 to Valentine songs by Anita Hancock, who played a harpsicle. Edith Helmer will deliver three Valentines from each member to area nursing homes.

LaVerne Buchholz

Services for LaVerne Buchholz, 91, who died Feb. 12 at Bethesda Home in Goessel, were Monday at Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro. He was born Sept. 19, 1928, in WaKeeney, to Fred and Julia Buchholz.

Jane Hanes

Jane Hanes, 63, of Florence, died Monday at Newton Medical Center. Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Monday at Petersen Funeral Home Chapel, Newton.

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Walking track a resource for area's senior citizens

Not even single-digit temperatures last week could stop Richard Schaffer from making the trip to Marion Aquatic Center to use its indoor walking track. “This unique situation we have in Marion allows for activity 365 days a year,” he said. “Minus a few days where there’s a basketball game, but it doesn’t happen too often where you can’t walk.”

Artists find creative passion working with ceramics

Pamela and Tom Voth didn’t realize they found a lifelong passion when they started working with ceramics a decade ago. “It’s cool to be able to have a hobby we do together,” Pamela said.

Yoga tones muscles, builds strength and balance

Weekly yoga classes, available Sundays in Marion and Wednesdays in Hillsboro, can help seniors develop muscle tone, flexibility, and balance, as well as stay active. The classes also help both sides of the brain work together better and increase lung capacity, the instructor said. Yoga instructor Leslie Beery has taught yoga classes 3½ years through Marion and Hillsboro recreation departments. Good for people of all ages, Beery’s classes draw participants from 7 to 75 years old.

What trumps populism?

Halfway between Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday, we this week celebrated President’s Day. The happenstance of a Monday holiday falling exactly at the midpoint between their birthdays drew little interest, of course, at a time when all talk seems to focus on our president and the race to challenge him.

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Mayor talks cemetery, streets with seniors

Marion will be hiring a full-time cemetery employee, mayor David Mayfield said last week during a lunch at Marion Senior Center. “People from out of town come and they want to see where a grave is,” he said. “They don’t know where to go or what to do. If you have a part-time person, they’re not going to know either.”

Disability board meeting slated

Harvey-Marion County Developmental Disability Organization’s monthly board of directors meeting will be 4 p.m. Monday at the organization’s office in Newton, with a public forum to begin the meeting.

Couple's faith provides base for radio, ministry

Thirty years ago Dan and Linda Catlin were bikers living in Wichita who wanted to change their lives. The couple moved to Florence and began pursuing ministry. Their 1-year-old son and baby daughter were a driving force behind their decision to change their lives and help others, Dan said.

Team makes Vex Robotics championship round

Hillsboro High School students Austin Rempel, 17, and Jacob Denholm, 18, were happy with making it to the championship round of the Vex Robotics competition Saturday — even if they came up short against Maize. Their goal was to win, but the two, who have competed before, said they are glad they relied on their own ingenuity, rather than online resources to help them design and code their robot.

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Marion salvages split with Ell-Saline

Valentine’s Day was bittersweet for Marion High School basketball teams Friday night, visiting Brookville for a pair of games with the Ell-Saline Cardinals. It turned sour for the girls when their cold free-throw shooting cost them in a 53-48 overtime win, dropping them to 3-14 on the season and 1-5 in league play.

Elyria Christian spoils Centre homecoming

A large crowd was on hand Friday to watch Centre teams battle Elyria Christian. Although both teams had good starts, they both ended up losing — the boys, 49-40, and the girls, 40-36.

Marion FFA plans events for FFA Week

Marion/Florence FFA will recognize National FFA Week with special activities Feb. 16 to 22. The chapter’s annual work auction will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Marion High School’s agricultural education shop where Members will each serve an eight hour work day, with proceeds benefitting chapter activities. A pulled pork meal will be served will precede the auction.

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