HEADLINES

  • Fire chief accused of arson

    Ramona fire chief Alan Bentz was arrested July 14 on suspicion of arson and interfering with a law enforcement officer in connection with a March 22 hay bale and pasture fire west of Lost Springs. Deputy Derek Calvert discovered the fire about 3:30 a.m. at 340th and Remington Rds. Lost Springs firefighters extinguished it. Hay bales owned by Martin Kroupa and pasture owned by Scully Partners and Judyth Remmers Kill were burned.

  • 70-mile high-speed chase ends just in time

    An alleged truck thief led officers on a dusty, dangerous 70-mile, hour-long chase down county roads Tuesday through Peabody and Burns, but ran out of road in Butler County just before a pursuing officer ran out of gas. A call apparently made to dispatchers by a disgruntled driver reported that an EMB Construction truck was driving fast and erratically on US-50 east of Walton. The driver used a phone number on the side of the truck to call the owner, who said the truck had been stolen.

  • UPDATED: New peril emerges from lakes' algae warnings

    A family of five splashed and paddled in the Marion County Lake swimming area Saturday, while a jet skier raced along a shoreline to the east. The family from McPherson County hadn’t seen signs placed on a hill between a parking lot and the beach, warning them to stay out of the water because of a toxic blue-green algae bloom.

  • Lake 'extremely ignored,' new super says

    A former campus and McPherson County public works employee who thinks the county lake has been “extremely ignored” will become its new superintendent Aug. 7 — provided he approves of the lake house that comes with the job. County commissioners announced Monday that Bryan Metz had accepted their previously secret offer to take the job for $40,000 a year and live in the house, with county-paid utilities. The county estimates the value of the free housing as an additional $7,200 a year.

  • $11,500 in fishing gear snagged

    Four Lowrance fish finders, a MinnKota trolling motor, and rods and reels with a total value of $11,540 were stolen from Tampa and Lincolnville homes between July 8 and 14. Each theft happened during overlapping five-day periods, but Sheriff Robert Craft said there wasn’t evidence linking the crimes.

OTHER HEADLINES

  • County leaves Bowron, rents Panzers' office

    Hillsboro chiropractor Kodi Panzer’s Marion office will become home to the county planning and zoning department Monday. Panzer and Russell Groves of Marion County Community Economic Development Corporation spoke to county commissioners for the second time in a week this past Monday about the county renting the building instead of keeping the department in the Bowron Building at the corner of 3rd and Main Sts.

  • Historic house being restored

    An 1887 house at Santa Fe and 3rd Sts. is being stripped to its studs and refinished. Stained glass windows still hang, original banisters and columns grace the inside, and other touches of the time it was built can still be seen.

  • Native discovers antique Record in Texas

    A lunch date and shopping July 15 led to a surprise for Marion native Denise Westerhaus Hutcherson of Fort Worth when she discovered a piece of home in a Cleburne, Texas, antique store. Hutcherson and her daughter, Alex of Waco, picked Cleburne as a place to rendezvous for lunch.

  • Is model airplane rule unneeded?

    A model aircraft landing strip recently completed at Marion County Lake technically violates a Federal Aviation Administration rule regarding model airplanes within five miles of an airport. Under FAA rules, operators of drones and model airplanes flying within five miles of an airport must notify the airport operator before flying.

  • 330th landowners to discuss widening

    A public meeting for 23 landowners with property along an eight-mile stretch of 330th Rd. is planned for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at Durham Community Center. At issue is whether residents care whether the long-troublesome road between K-15 and McPherson County needs ditches and shoulders at the same time the surface is redone.

  • Truck tracked down after theft

    Two Baldwin City men were arrested July 23 after a Jost Fabricating employee scared off strangers who hitched a company trailer to their truck at 3:43 a.m. Officer John Heubert followed tire tracks from the truck, which had cut across grass as it left Jost’s lot at 800 Western Heights Rd., onto US-56 then Indigo Rd. and eventually K-15, where a vehicle matching the truck’s description was found.

  • Jail may need revolving door for this inmate

    The third time may be less a charm than it is a curse for 29-year-old Jonathan Mangold, who for the third time in two months has found himself hauled off to Marion County Jail. It all began May 21, when Marion police sergeant Michael Stone pulled Mangold over near Central Park because his vehicle allegedly had no light on its license plate.

  • A merry-go-round of defense

    When a defendant can’t afford an attorney, Judge Michael Powers has to find one. With changes in laws, fewer attorneys taking court appointments, conflicts with other cases, and hourly rates half or less of those charged for private practice, it’s not always easy.

  • Pool slides reopen

    Parents of frustrated young swimmers in Hillsboro and Marion got good news last week when both municipal pools lifted restrictions on their slides. In Hillsboro’s case, it was a matter of persistence, city administrator Larry Paine said.

DEATHS

  • Cindy Jo Bird

    Services for 1978 Centre High School graduate Cindy Jo Bird, 56, who died July 18 in Florence, Kentucky, were Monday at Zeiner Funeral Home, Herington. Private inurnment is planned later. Born Sept. 19, 1960, to Robert A. Potocnik Sr. and Janie Gonzales Heitfield, she was baptized at St. John Nepomucene Church in Pilsen, worked at Russell Stover in Abilene for 20 years and for Frito Lay in Kentucky.

  • Faye Kimball

    Services for retired Hillsboro caregiver Faye Ann Kimball, 66, who died July 19 at her home, will be 1p.m. Thursday at Zion Lutheran Church. Born March 15, 1951, in Shawano, Wisconsin, to George and Lois (Diestler) Kimball, she graduated from Salina High School and Bethany College.

  • Vernon Hein

    Inurnment for former car salesman Vernon W. Hein, 77, who died July 2 in Roseburg, Oregon, will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Marion Cemetery. Born June 20, 1940, in rural Marion County to Williams and Catherine (Ruby) Hein, he went to school in Florence.

DOCKET

EDUCATION

  • Custodians use summer to do a deep cleaning

    A crew of nine people has been busy all summer giving Marion-Florence school facilities a deep cleaning. They finished the high school and middle school several weeks ago and now are working at the elementary school.

  • Groundskeeper provides safe enviroment

    Danny Maddox describes his position with the Marion-Florence school district as “low on the totem pole,” but he does many things that are essential to its operation. Maddox, 59, is a groundskeeper, custodian, and bus driver.

  • Custodian enjoys flexibility

    Money isn’t everything. Marty Hoffner of Durham found that out 10 years ago when she gave up factory work for a job as custodian in the Hillsboro school district.

  • Donors help with school supplies

    Cash registers will ring along with school bells as summer draws to a close. Buying school supplies can be a hardship for parents struggling to get by, but donations can help ensure that Marion County kids have what they need for school.

OPINION

  • Count on the county to do the wrong thing

    For 128 years, the graceful cut-stone walls of downtown Marion’s historic Bowron Building have survived floods, tornadoes, booms, and busts. Now they face their stiffest challenge: surviving county government. After 24 years of neglectful ownership, county commissioners washed their hands of the building Monday after nearly a decade of bad-mouthing it. The last remaining county office will move out next week.

  • Live from Marion County, it's fake news

    Fake news isn’t something that happens just in Washington. We in Marion County seem pretty adept at fostering fake news without any help from Beltway pundits. Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce sent an email Monday afternoon asking whether anyone in the area had a bouncy house.

  • ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

    Learning life lessons on the cheep
  • CLARIFICATIONS:

    Corrections

PEOPLE

  • Detective, county's only female deputy, is leaving

    Marion County’s only female law enforcement officer, sheriff’s investigator Wilma Mueller, is moving after 6 ½ years to be closer to family members in Colorado. Her last day on duty will be Aug. 2.

  • Horsing around at the fair

    Few things say county fair like horse shows and rodeos, and Marion County’s 87th annual fair has both. The 4-H horse show Sunday gave kids opportunities to put their horses through a series of trials that demonstrated handling and showmanship.

  • Retiring at 55 - not age but years of service

    Being a secretary and office manager in the Kansas State University/Marion County Extension Service office has been the work of a lifetime for Doris Winkler, who will retire at the end of the month after 55 years. She began at age 18, soon after graduating from Centre High School and marrying her husband, Gene, in 1961.

  • Quilt takes 40 years

    A quilt that Joyce Kyle started 40 years ago and was finished this spring with the help of friends has sold for $7,000 at a benefit auction in Ft. Worth, Texas. The auction, named in honor of her “American Sniper” grandson, Chris Kyle, benefits other veterans.

  • 80-pound flathead may be reservoir record

    Expect a bigger than usual fish fry this September if you’re among the friends of 47-year-old Charlie Henning of Sedgwick, who pulled an 80¼-pound flathead out of Marion Reservoir earlier this month. Charlie and his wife, Nancy, talked to a taxidermist about mounting the 50-inch-long fish, unofficially the largest ever taken at the reservoir.

  • One small step for artkind?

    At first glance, Florence artist David Woody and Aulne artist Julie Starks seem an unlikely pairing. White-bearded “Woody,” as he’s called, is in his mid-60s and creates sculptures and functional pieces using Osage orange pieces scrounged from hours of walking hedge rows. He works in a downtown shop with the straightforward name Woody’s Creations.

  • Care home patients visit Cedar Point farm

  • Cards sought for 90th birthday

    Wilma Jean Everett’s family has requested a card shower for her 90th birthday Aug. 4. After growing up in the Whitewater area, she lived near Homestead and Matfield Green until moving to St. Luke Living Center, Marion.

  • Card shower requested

    Marge Gray’s family and friend Liz Clark are requesting a card shower for her 90th birthday Tuesday. Cards may be sent to her in care of Peabody Health and Rehab, 415 N. Locust St, Peabody KS 66866.

  • P.E.O. meets for brunch

    Hostesses Debbi Darrow, Diane Sams, Belinda Skiles, and Lois Smith served a summer brunch to 14 members of the local P.E.O. chapter at 10:30 a.m. July 18 at Marion Presbyterian Church. Members heard committee and convention reports. \The next meeting will be 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Aug. 28 at Marion City Library.

  • BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

    Emmalyn Fine
  • SENIOR CENTER:

    Menu
  • MEMORIES:

    10, 25, 35, 50, 60, 100, 125 years ago

SCHOOLS

  • Teacher helps teach other teachers about high-tech ag

    Marion High School’s Mark Meyer has returned from eight days of helping teach other teachers how to replicate his lessons about agricultural power and technology. Meyer spent 80 hours working with 12 other teachers from seven states at a Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education program at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.

  • Centre staff gets 3 percent raise

    Centre’s school board has approved 3 percent raises for teachers, Administrator Susan Beeson, and classified personnel. Base pay for teachers will be $35,396, with a step up in salary for every year of experience and additional pay for more college credits. The highest salary will be $49,258 for a teacher with 24 years of experience and a master’s degree plus 32 hours or a specialist degree.

UPCOMING

  • Program set

    Emilie Rains of Bluestem Pace, a McPherson-based service that supplies in-home care for the elderly, will present a program after lunch Aug. 2 at Marion Senior Center.

  • Threshing Days to include 5K

    A five-kilometer walk and run will be part of this year’s Country Threshing Days. A $25 entry fee will include an aluminum water bottle, participant medal, refreshments, and an admission button to Threshing Days festivities. Competitive runners will compete in 15 division, from ages 6 to 9 all the way up to age 75 and older. The walk and run will kick off at 7 a.m. Aug. 5, with check-in 30 minutes earlier at the southeast corner of Goessel High School.

  • Free hot dogs to be served

    A free hot dog lunch will be served starting at noon Thursday at Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce, 120 N. Main St.Eagle Communications and Et Cetera Shop are sponsoring the meal, which will be cooked by Hillsboro firefighters. Serving will continue until 1 p.m. or whenever the supply of hot dogs is exhausted.

  • Child screenings offered

    Free developmental screenings for children 5 and younger will be offered from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 8 in Hillsboro. Sessions test vision, hearing, cognition, language, motor skills, and social and emotional development. Each evaluation generally takes at least an hour. Appointments are required and are being accepted by Marion County Early Intervention Services at (620) 382-2858.

  • Calendar of events

MORE…

Email: | Also visit: Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin | © 2024 Hoch Publishing

 

 

 

BACK TO TOP