Marion County RECORD

HEADLINES

Jail door revolving faster; Drug suspect's freedom between arrests gets shorter
Freedom was short-lived for Marion resident Dustin J. Luchi 42, who was out of jail only five days before he was arrested again Thursday. Thursday’s arrest was on suspicion of distribution of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, interference with law enforcement, no drug tax stamp for marijuana, and a warrant to revoke probation.
Foster child found stability when she found God
Angela Vann was an angry child. Born into a dysfunctional family in Joplin, Missouri, she was taken from her home and placed in foster care at age 5. Her father was an alcoholic who often beat his wife and children. Her mother took drugs. They didn’t have a proper house and often were without food.
Political beef turns pugilistic
A Burns man and a city employee who was mowing got into a fight Tuesday, but that is where two sides of the story part ways. According to Sheriff Jeff Soyez, Billy Castleberry had a beef against the city of Burns, and when he spotted a city employee mowing, he stopped, grabbed the employee, and pulled him off a riding mower.
Family to carry on 50-year tradition
Ryan Makovec and Dani Hatfield Makovec are old hands at working at Al’s Café in Lost Springs. Ryan worked side by side with his grandmother, Delora Alvarez, until her death in January 2020. Dani worked there during and after high school for a while.
Barbecue may fire up in different location
Although work on a downtown Marion building planned to house a barbecue restaurant is paused, its owners still plan to open the doors. It just might be in a different location. Megan and Daryl Jones, who live in Olathe, own the building at 301 E. Main St. and have been working to renovate it for several months.

OTHER NEWS

$5 million in bonds authorized for roads
Marion County commissioners voted Monday to authorize $5 million in bonds to be issued for work on Indigo, Kanza, 190th, and 290th Rds. If all goes as planned, the bonds will be issued June 6 and be payable for nine years.
Repeat suspect freed here, jailed by other county
A Marion man arrested March 31 and April 23 on suspicion of domestic battery, then again May 2 for allegedly violating terms of his bond, was picked up last week by Cowley County deputies to face charges of probation violation there. Tyler A. Craft, 27, was convicted Jan. 5 in Cowley County of domestic battery. The original charge in that case was aggravated domestic battery because it allegedly involved choking the victim. In a plea deal, the charge was reduced to misdemeanor domestic battery, and he was sentenced to six months’ probation.
Wave goodbye to chill, hello to heat
The weather service defines a heat wave as a period of abnormally hot weather that generally lasts more than two days. By that definition, Marion County definitely is in a heat wave.
Arrest eluded, but charges now filed
A Lincolnville man whom officers could not find the night young children said their mother was being choked was charged last week with domestic battery. The charge against Darrin W. Tannehill stems from an April 8 incident after which Tannehill was not arrested.
Motorcycle race deadline nears
Motorcyclists who want to participate in the Flint Hills Bent Rims inaugural race have until May 18 to register online for the May 29 event. The race is a reincarnation of the Florence Grand Prix, first held in 1972, in honor of the city’s 100th anniversary. It is being reinstated this year in honor of Florence’s 150th anniversary.
More fingerpointing than theft in candy caper
Hillsboro police are investigating a burglary Saturday evening at the high school ballpark concession stand. Assistant chief Randy Brazil said officers had recovered 90% of the candy purloined by juvenile burglars.
Reason for delay questioned
A lawyer who used to represent Dustin J. Luchi in three of his five active criminal cases told a judge last fall that Luchi’s preliminary hearing one of those cases should be delayed because Luchi’s foster son’s lawyer needed surgery. No one in the court system questioned whether Luchi might be a foster parent, so a delay was granted.

DEATHS

Donnivon Bartel
Services for Donnivon Earl Bartel, 71, who died April 27 at his residence in rural Burrton, will be 11 a.m. May 18 at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. A private graveside service is planned for French Creek Cemetery, rural Hillsboro.
Elfreda Fast
Services for Elfreda Fast, 104, Hillsboro, who died May 2 at Parkside Homes in Hillsboro, will be 4 p.m. June 4 at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. Pastors Jeremy Matlock and Pastor Steve Fast will officiate. Born July 2, 1917, in Meade, to Abe and Katie (Gaede) Penner, she married Chester Fast on June 1, 1941, in Ingalls.
Chandra Morris
Services for Chandra Ann Morris, 59, who died Saturday at her residence in Marion, will be scheduled later in Colorado. Born Aug. 22, 1962 in Bainbridge, Georgia, to Bobby and Virginia (Cronic) Morris, she is survived by son Jerid Rosenberger; brothers Wade Morris, Derek Morris, Jeff Morris, and Chris Hammond; and sister Brenda Robertson.
Joey Parrack
Services for Marion native Joey Ellsworth Parrack, 61, of Richardson, Texas, who died Feb. 22, were April 24. He was born Feb. 21, 1961, in Marion.
Beverly Seger
A private graveside service for Beverly M. Ball Seger, 81, who died Sunday at Parkside Homes in Hillsboro, is planned for Sunday at Durham Park Cemetery. Pastor Lyle Seger will officiate. Born Feb. 5, 1941, in Oleans, New York, to Carl and Helen (Osterberg) Johnson, she married Richard Ball on Dec. 26, 1964, in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He died in 1985, and she married Terry Seger on Oct. 22, 1988, in Hillsboro.
IN MEMORIAM:
Vickie Smolik

DOCKET

GRADUATION

Centre grad eyes corporate job
Emil Godinez Vinduska is at the top of his class, with a 3.98 grade-point average over four years at Centre High School. “I took a Spanish class one semester and got a B+,” he explained.
Valedictorian headed off to see world
Starting in July, valedictorian Alex Caldwell, 18, will begin four years in the Navy. Caldwell, a lifelong Peabody resident who began attending Peabody-Burns schools during preschool, wants to see the world while he is unencumbered enough to do so.

OPINION

A penny for your thoughts
It doubtlessly won’t be featured in brochures trying — often, in vain — to recruit people to small towns. But we’d still like to offer our two cents’ worth on yet another reason to move to rural communities. Our highly unscientific research reveals that one of the most ubiquitous scourges of modern society simply isn’t as present here.
Mowing down Astroturf
Enough, already. This will be the last week in which we accept letters to the editor, especially from out-of-county residents, doing little more than endorsing political candidates. It’s bad enough that our county has been ground up like so much hamburger, random chunks of it vacuum-packed into two different legislative districts dominated by ultra-conservatives from other counties.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
A good kind of tired
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Opposing abortion, Endorsing Barker

PEOPLE

Blazing a trail from war to peace
James Juhnke, a 1956 graduate of Lehigh Rural High School, presented a history of the late P.C. Hiebert at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies annual dinner in Hillsboro. Hiebert helped to establish Tabor College and Mennonite Central Committee.
Free government commodities available
Free food items will be available for low-income residents age 60 and older starting May 18. Recipients must have monthly household incomes of no more than $1,396 plus $492 for each additional household member beyond the first.
Senior centers menus
IN BRIEF:
Raffle to repair roofs, Seniors to meet, Reunion deadline nears, 4th Fest seeks designs, Sheriff to speak, Reception planned
MEMORIES:
15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 105, 135 years ago

SCHOOL AND SPORTS

Tabor breaks ground for new dorm
More than 200 students, faculty and staff members, and Hillsboro residents, and business owners gathered Friday for groundbreaking for a future dormitory at Tabor College. The two-story dormitory at B and Adams Sts. will house 86 students with 28 double, 12 single, and six triple rooms in its 25,000 square-feet of space.
College degrees and honors
Sport scoreboard
Goessel musicians to tour Europe
Seven Goessel students will be part of a 58-member Bethel College choir to tour Europe May 17 to June 12. The choir, including Elizabeth Alderfer, Eddie Gaeddert, Kendall Hiebert, Stephany Meyer, Edel Miller, Julianna Schrag, and Christopher Strecker will visit Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.
Grants to help preschoolers, senior citizens in Goessel
A total of $3,100 in grants will help pay for meals for senior citizen, an educational enrichment night for preschoolers, education for people in poverty, and free books for young children. Goessel Community Foundation recently announced gifts of:

MORE…

HOVER OVER IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT

Students twirl and sing as pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classes perform "Do-Re-Mi," by Rodgers and Hammerstein, during an all-school music program last week at Centre schools.

Dani and Ryan Makovec are preparing to reopen Al's Cafe in Lost Springs later this month. The cafe was closed after the owner, Delora Alvarez, died in January 2020. She was Ryan's grandmother, and he wanted to keep e family tradition going.

Freshman art students at Marion High School enjoy first hour Tuesday creating watercolor images of flowers and trees across Main St. on the north side of the school. From left, they are Taryn Kraus, Claire Bradfield (seated), Georgia Madgwick, and Addison Cooper (front), and Miriam Mason and Ashton Oursler (back).

Marion kindergarten through second grade students sang Monday to a packed house at the Performing Arts Center. The students performed 14 songs for a delighted audience.

Marion County RECORD

Ryan Makovec and Dani Hatfield Makovec are old hands at working at Al’s Café in Lost Springs. Ryan worked side by side with his grandmother, Delora Alvarez, until her death in January 2020. Dani worked there during and after high school for a while.

Marion County commissioners voted Monday to authorize $5 million in bonds to be issued for work on Indigo, Kanza, 190th, and 290th Rds. If all goes as planned, the bonds will be issued June 6 and be payable for nine years.

The weather service defines a heat wave as a period of abnormally hot weather that generally lasts more than two days. By that definition, Marion County definitely is in a heat wave.

A Lincolnville man whom officers could not find the night young children said their mother was being choked was charged last week with domestic battery. The charge against Darrin W. Tannehill stems from an April 8 incident after which Tannehill was not arrested.

Hillsboro police are investigating a burglary Saturday evening at the high school ballpark concession stand. Assistant chief Randy Brazil said officers had recovered 90% of the candy purloined by juvenile burglars.

Services for Donnivon Earl Bartel, 71, who died April 27 at his residence in rural Burrton, will be 11 a.m. May 18 at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. A private graveside service is planned for French Creek Cemetery, rural Hillsboro.

Services for Marion native Joey Ellsworth Parrack, 61, of Richardson, Texas, who died Feb. 22, were April 24. He was born Feb. 21, 1961, in Marion.

IN MEMORIAM:

Emil Godinez Vinduska is at the top of his class, with a 3.98 grade-point average over four years at Centre High School. “I took a Spanish class one semester and got a B+,” he explained.

Starting in July, valedictorian Alex Caldwell, 18, will begin four years in the Navy. Caldwell, a lifelong Peabody resident who began attending Peabody-Burns schools during preschool, wants to see the world while he is unencumbered enough to do so.

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

James Juhnke, a 1956 graduate of Lehigh Rural High School, presented a history of the late P.C. Hiebert at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies annual dinner in Hillsboro. Hiebert helped to establish Tabor College and Mennonite Central Committee.

Free food items will be available for low-income residents age 60 and older starting May 18. Recipients must have monthly household incomes of no more than $1,396 plus $492 for each additional household member beyond the first.

IN BRIEF:

MEMORIES:

A total of $3,100 in grants will help pay for meals for senior citizen, an educational enrichment night for preschoolers, education for people in poverty, and free books for young children. Goessel Community Foundation recently announced gifts of: