BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
Beaches at Marion Reservoir were closed Thursday because of toxic blue-green algae. Blue-green algae, not to be confused with normal and harmless green algae, release a powerful neurotoxin when they die. “We have a large bloom going on right now,” Park Ranger Traci Robb said.
One business closed for part of the day Monday and Tuesday and Hillsboro City Council had to postpone a meeting Tuesday as more than 500 potential jurors were summoned to USD 408 Performing Arts Center in Marion as jury selection began Monday for the trial of Terry Bowen, Kenneth J. Frederick II, and Lora J. Gay. Selection was moved to the center because the jury pool was too large for the county’s courtroom, District Court Clerk Jan Helmer said. Jury-duty summons were sent to 519 people.
Although jail rosters published weekly in this newspaper’s Docket page have listed more than 20 inmates twice in the past four weeks, Sheriff Rob Craft says the county is adhering to the jail’s maximum capacity set by the state fire marshal. The latest ruling by the state agency does not allow more than 20 people — inmates, dispatchers, and jailers combined — in the jail area at any given time.
Jonathon and Betsey Goering dress in period clothing, perform on historically accurate stringed instruments, and entertain all over the state with music of the Civil War. They will launch the Sleepy Creek Concert series at 7 p.m. Sunday in Santa Fe Park.
Paramedic Larry Larsen of Peabody has seen a lot in the 24 years he has worked on ambulances. He’s been on more than 13,000 ambulance runs and treated patients from birth to 108 years old. “I’ve delivered seven babies,” he said Tuesday.
The Doyle Valley Farmers Market is up and running for a 13th season, making it the longest running farm market in the area. This year the number of vendors has increased, and a wider variety of goods is available. Patrons can expect to see jewelry, soap, scarves, plants, baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, Mexican specialties, greens, herbs, beets, radishes, onions, free-range eggs, Swiss chard, cabbage, and potatoes. As produce ripens, more varieties will be added each week.
The Florence City Council is considering giving all city employees a pay increase of 3 percent. Council members tabled a decision Monday until they determine their budget for 2012 at a meeting July 31.
When a semi trailer full of food to be given away arrived at 7 a.m. at Eastmoor United Methodist Church in Marion, some people already were waiting though distribution wasn’t scheduled to begin until 8 a.m. Volunteers began distributing food ahead of schedule, at 7:45 a.m., and by 8:15 a.m., they had given food to 65 households, said Debi Kreutzman, community relations manager for Kansas Food Bank, based in Wichita. The mobile food bank remained open until 10 a.m.
Joan M. Donahue, 78, of Lincolnville, died June 20 at St. Luke Living Center in Marion. She was born in Marion County, the daughter of Irvin and Margaret (Unruh) Dirks. She grew to adulthood and graduated from high schoolat Durham.
Helen Stucky Hansen, age 98, died June 12, 2011, in Gretna, Neb. She was born Helen Kathleen Zuhars on Dec. 6, 1912, in Peabody. Helen and her brother, Harold, and their parents, Alfred and Ruby Zuhars, lived in rural Marion County. After graduating from Peabody High School in 1932, Helen earned a teaching certificate from Kansas State Teachers College in 1935 and then began a 31-year teaching career. She taught elementary grades in Aulne, Lincolnville, Grandview, Moundridge, Newton, and Peabody.
Marie Morse, 98, of Marion, died June 19 at St. Luke Living Center, Marion. Born June 7, 1915, in Plainfield, N.J., to Stephen Augustus and Mable (Leech) Stover, she spent her childhood in McPherson. She graduated from McPherson High School in 1933. From there she went to McPherson College and then to Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, graduating with a degree in library science.
Betty Lee Thompson, 92, of Cedar Point, died June 20 at Peabody Care Center. Born Aug. 4, 1918, in Cedar Point, to Benton Scott and Hattie May (Vinson) Thompson, she was a farmer and a stockwoman.
I hope all of you read the front page stories in the past edition of the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin about the two children who came close to losing their lives when they got into trouble while swimming. One was in the beach area of Marion County Lake, the other at the aquatic center in Hillsboro. Fast action on the part of people who just happened to be there saved them. I thought of those kids and their grateful families this past weekend. I was driving downtown, and grain trucks from area farms were trying to get their wheat to the elevator and then back to the fields as quickly as possible. It seemed that kids on bikes were everywhere! None of the bike riders I saw ever looked behind them or even acted as if they knew there was a possibility that several tons of steel and wheat might be bearing down on them.
An important opportunity for all elected officials is at hand. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office and Kansas Sunshine Coalition will present seminars on the Kansas Open Meetings Act and Kansas Open Records Act at five locations in the state. The closest location to Marion County will be Emporia Civic Auditorium, 111 E. Sixth Avenue, Emporia. The session will be 9 a.m. to noon July 18.
Vacations are wonderful. We anticipate them for months — or in my case, for years. I just returned from a great week with my daughter and grandson in the sunny state of California. Christina and I had planned this trip with Dylan since he was about 2 years old. Our focus was Legoland in Carlsbad, Calif. Of course, we knew we had to take in other tourist traps, including Disneyland, L.A., and the beaches. I have a couple of friends who live in Long Beach. They always said if I was ever out their way, to let them know. So I did. They were great hosts, taking us to see all of the tourist sites and some sites off the beaten path.
Jack Kirkpatrick was a writer for about 30 years, but not many people have read his work. Kirkpatrick, a 1957 graduate of Peabody High School, spent those years writing for the U.S. government. He retired in 1991 and moved back to Peabody last month with his wife, Carrie. Wheat harvest began last week. Terry Eberhard of rural Peabody began cutting on the Craig ground.
David clutched the smooth fabric as he retreated to the farthest corner of the cave. He had spared the king’s life, so why was guilt nibbling at the edges of his conscience? This was just between King Saul and him, wasn’t it? Or was someone else involved in this? Crouching in the deepest recesses of the cave, David strained to see the piece of fabric he had severed from the king’s robe while the king slept near the entrance to the cave.
LETTERS:
What's the worst that could happen?
Nancy Pihl of the Marion County Extension office will talk about nutrition and health Monday at Peabody Senior Center. The center also has planned a hamburger cookout for July 15 as a fundraiser.
Searching through cupboards in the kitchen of daughter Jody Loomis of Marion, Joyce Montague, 59, of Wichita, found ingredients and put them together to make a dish she calls “Marion County Casserole.” The recipe is included in a cookbook Montague recently uploaded to Kindle: “Cooking with Philosophy Part One.”
Gorman and Faie Frederickson, career teachers in the Peabody-Burns and Whitewater school districts, are retiring this month. After spending the past 10 years in international schools in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and traveling to exotic destinations all over the world, the Fredericksons are returning to their Winterhaven homestead in rural Peabody.