10 YEARS AGO

MARCH 9, 2016

Arson was blamed for a 1,200-acre grass fire at 11:25 p.m. Sunday southwest of Florence along 90th Rd. west of Xavier Rd.

“It was the biggest fire we’ve been on in quite a while,” Florence fire chief Mark Slater said. “With wind gusts of 45 mph, it was a very fast, very hot fire.”

Eighteen fire trucks 36 firefighters from Florence, Burns, Cedar Point, Marion, and Peabody along with farmers and Doyle Creek Cattle Co. battled the blaze.

Gene Winkler apparently asked one too many questions of county economic development director Teresa Huffman and ended up walking out of a county commisser meeting after commissioner Randy Dallke asked him, “Are we here to just pick on people?”

Kelly Robinson, coach of the Marion High School girls’ basketball team, shaved off his mustache for the first time in about 30 years to pay up on a promise that his team would win at least 12 games.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won Marion County Republican and Democratic caucus straw polls for president this week.

County ambulance director Ed Debesis had “interim” removed from his job title Monday. County commissioners also reviewed a report from ambulance service consultant Terry David that, among other things, concluded that too many emergency medical technicians were paid an hourly wage to be on call.

An aspiring brigade of master pizza chefs invaded the Marion Pizza Hut on Thursday and teacher Lesli Beery’s Head Start students learned where their pizza comes from and how it’s made.

Most students wanted their pizzas to be cheese only.

“Meat is like vegetable to a little kid,” Pizza Hut manager Danyal Hamm said. “They just don’t like it.”