HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Hospital exits bankruptcy

Hillsboro Community Hospital’s parent company, HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc., exited from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after 15 months of reorganization on Jan. 17. All 12 of the company’s hospitals — located in rural communities — remain in operation following the reorganization. The company filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 11, 2011.

Community prosperity is a marathon

For communities to prosper — which should be the goal of economic development — they have to make a serious long-term commitment to growth, said Don Macke of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. “This is a long game,” he said Monday. “This is a marathon.”

Awning to add protection, nostalgia

As construction progresses on a new awning at Vogt’s Hometown Market in Hillsboro, customers might notice the added protection from elements. However, it will not be until all is finished that nostalgic reasons for the new addition will become apparent. “The old one was just temporary, and it’s been down for a year already,” owner Todd Vogt said on Tuesday. “It was just an old green canvas canopy, and I had to take it down before the snow last winter so it wouldn’t collapse on anyone.”

USD 411 shares building plans

The plans are out and Goessel City Council members saw in detail on Jan. 21 how USD 411 hopes to revitalize agriculture, science, and family studies facilities at the high school. Darcy Nickel and Tina Schrag, co-chairs of the KIDS (Keep Improving District Schools) committee, along with financial adviser Steve Shogren, and Goessel superintendent John Fast, presented packets of information to council members and answered questions about the new developments.

Remodel restores love of cars

Rodney Williams has never entered his 1927 Buick into a car show and driven back to his Florence home without a prize. It’s easy to see why it’s won at shows in Marion, Florence, and Burns. It’s a boxy, black and blue beauty. Its honeycombed grill, circular cursive drawn Buick logo, varnished wooden wheel spokes, and wooden steering wheel beckon the viewer back to a time when there were way more dirt roads than paved roads in Kansas — and a trip to Kansas City took six hours.

Dream 1931 Chevy Coup emerges

“Bub” Lovelady wanted nothing more than to purchase his dream car — a 1931 Chevy Coupe. There was just one problem: they sell like hot cakes. “I couldn’t get to them fast enough,” he said. “I would go to look at one and someone would have already bought it. It seemed like an unending battle.”

Marion Auto Supply deals U-Haul

Doug Regnier became a U-Haul dealer last November with one goal in mind: to bring rentable moving equipment available to Marion residents once again. “The town needs to have a dealership,” the co-owner of Marion Auto Supply said. “When the local hardware store closed, it took away the U-Haul rental place as well. People had to go all the way to McPherson to rent one.”

Tire expert values relationships

Misalignment can cause uneven wear. Tread depths are measured in 32nds. In addition, if steel belts are showing, it is time to get new tires! Rod Koons’ life seems to revolve around tires. In a typical 5-minute whirl of shop activity on Monday, he measured tread depth, explained brand differences, itemized a billing, and recommended safety changes. However, Koons of Rod’s Tire and Service in Hillsboro said building relationships was the most important part of his job.

Dean Carl Hiebert

Dean Carl Hiebert, 86, retired Texaco Refinery Unit Operator, of Newton and formerly of Towanda, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. He was born in Tampa, Kan., to Abraham Peter Hiebert and Minnie Wilelmina (Kohlman) Hiebert. Dean attended and graduated from Peabody High School with the class of 1945.

Raymond Schlichting

Raymond C. Schlichting, 93, died Thursday at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. He was born April 20, 1919 to J.D. and Justina (Friessen) Schlichting in Weatherford, Okla.

Accidents reported

Civil cases

County jail

Criminal cases

Deeds

Emergency dispatches

Hillsboro police

Marriage licenses

Offenses

Peabody police

Traffic cases

State requests county takeover

Kansas Department of Transportation wants Marion County to take over three “spur routes” (short state highways into towns) in return for a one-time payment; Joe Palic of KDOT floated a figure of $200,000 per mile on Monday. The three routes in question are K-215, about one-quarter mile from K-15 into Goessel; K-168, about one-half mile from U.S. 56 into Lehigh; and K-256, about five miles from U.S. 77, through Marion, and to U.S. 56.

An unwelcome burden

When Kansas Department of Transportation floated the idea Monday of Marion County taking over state highways into Marion, Goessel, and Lehigh, the county commissioners were rightly skeptical. The county has its hands full maintaining the blacktop roads it already has. Why would it want to add almost six miles more? KDOT’s initial suggestion was paying $200,000 per mile of road to the county in return for taking charge of these highways. For the simple roadways without any bridges, that would take care of maintenance for a little while, but chip sealing roads is expensive, and overlays are prohibitively expensive on the county’s budget.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:

Hidden taxes are everywhere

Am I hearing some double talk from Gov. Sam Brownback? One side of his face is saying, “I will cut your taxes by eliminating the personal income tax.” The other side says that in the mean time, “I will increase your taxes by eliminating some deductions.” If the income tax is eliminated, dropping these deductions will provide only short term relief and at a time when the common people don’t need any more taxes.

Goessel clerk considers application

Goessel City Clerk, Anita Goertzen, attended the 21st annual Retreat for Rural Leaders at the Barn-and-Breakfast Inn near Valley Falls. The retreat was attended by 24 civic leaders statewide and was organized by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. After the retreat, Goertzen has contemplated how to apply those experiences to Goessel.

Goessel foundation to give grants

The Goessel Community Foundation will award four grants on Feb. 1 between Goessel High School varsity games against Centre. The total amount to be given away is $1,100.

Free tax prep available

Mid-Kansas Community Action Program Inc. will be offering free basic tax preparation services to Marion County residents from Monday through March 29. To qualify, individuals must be residents of Marion County and must have made less than $51,000 in 2012. They will need to bring a Social Security card and tax form such as W-2s. If married, both spouses must sign before submission.

Bible study to look at Genesis

Hillsboro Community Bible Study will begin a new study Feb. 7. A study of Genesis will examine God’s pursuit of a relationship with humanity and his plan to bless all people. The group meets at 9 a.m. Thursdays in the Hearth Room of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. The study will continue for 11 weeks.

Dalke named vice chair of foundation

Hillsboro Mayor Delores Dalke was named vice chair of the Central Kansas Community Foundation for 2013. Marion County Economic Development Director Teresa Huffman
also serves on the board.

Susie Schmidt requests cards for 100th birthday

Susie Schmidt of Goessel will turn 100 years old on Tuesday. She lives at Bethesda Home in Goessel, and birthday wishes may be sent to her at PO Box 37, Goessel, KS 67053.

Stucky carries forward conservation awareness

When Brian Stucky of Goessel receives the “Teacher of the Year” award from Marion County Conservation District on Feb. 16, he might be more introspective about the way conservation played an important role in his life, than about the actual 34 years of conservation poster entries he has overseen as an art teacher. “I think conservation has always been important,” Stucky said. “But it seems to get more important every year.”

CORRESPONDENTS:

Hillsboro students of the month named

The students of the month for Hillsboro High School for January are senior Lucas Sinclair, juniors Ty Carey, Scott Brazil, and Molly Wiebe, and sophomore Lisa Geis. Lucas is the son of Roger and Stephanie Sinclair. He plays football and baseball and is also involved with youth group and H-Club, a group associated with varsity sports.

Marion County students earn K-State degrees

Several Marion County students received degrees from Kansas State University at the conclusion of the fall semester. Burns native Emily Burch earned a bachelor’s degree in education.

TEEN to meet Thursday

The Technology
Excellence in Education Network will hold a special board meeting at
5 p.m. Thursday. It will be a phone conference originating at the Hillsboro District Office, 416 S. Date St., Hillsboro.

Goessel scholars to compete at regionals

Goessel will compete in the Regional 1A Scholars’ Bowl Tournament on Thursday in Leroy. The Bluebirds ended regular season on Saturday with a 7-2 record in a tournament, losing only to Emporia and El Dorado.

Miller wins Goessel spelling bee

Goessel Junior High spelling bee winners last week were
Edel Miller, champion,
Kaytlin Shipp, runner-up, and
Lanna Wagner, third place/alternate. The trio
will represent USD 411 at the Marion County Spelling Bee on Feb. 6 in Peabody.

Child screening is Feb. 12 in Peabody

A free screening for children birth through age five will be Feb. 12 at United Methodist church, 403 Sycamore St., Peabody. Appointments will be available from 12:30 to 3 p.m. At the screening, development will be checked in learning, motor, language, and social areas. Vision and hearing will also be screened. The process usually takes at least one hour for a child to complete. All children are welcome, but an appointment is necessary.

Hillsboro wrestling is a tale of two teams

The Hillsboro High School wrestling team is bookended with two promising team factions — the seniors looking to capitalize on a final season and freshman planning to make waves ahead of schedule. He has had several close matches this year — 6-2, 4-2, 3-1 in overtime. Senior Tanner Jones knows those are the type of matches he needs to win to claim a state medal.

Trojan boys lose heartbreaker

It was a game the Hillsboro boys’ basketball team needed to win. The Trojans were playing a team they had already beaten at home with more than a week of rest. They lost to Sterling, 71-68 in overtime.

Hillsboro girls overwhelm Sterling

The Hillsboro girls’ basketball team defeated Sterling, 67-42, Tuesday in Hillsboro. The contest was within seven points at halftime, 29-22, and the Trojans were only up nine after three quarter, 39-27. Then the Trojans exploded for a 28-point fourth quarter.

Goessel girls finish fourth in tourney

Alex Hiebert and Jessica Harvey, two seniors for the Goessel girls’ basketball team helped the Bluebirds into the winners’ bracket against Bluestem on Monday at the Berean Tournament, 42-34. Neither team scored for more than two minutes, then Harvey and Hiebert dropped in eight points to keep pace with Bluestem as the Bluebirds trailed at the end of one quarter, 10-8.

Bluebird boys lose to Moundridge

A scoreless fourth quarter made the Goessel boys’ basketball team’s chances of winning disappear Friday at Moundridge. The Bluebirds lost, 70-35. Moundridge poured in the points in the first quarter with a 21-9 lead at the break. The dominance continued in the second period as the Wildcats led at halftime, 39-18.

Harvey named to girls all-tournament team

Jessica Harvey of Goessel earned all-tournament team recognition last week at the 46th Eli J. Walter Girls Invitational Basketball Tournament at Berean Academy. The Goessel High School girls’ basketball team placed fourth in the tournament, defeating Bluestem 42-34, and then losing to Berean 21-40. They lost to Douglass 34-41 in the consolation match-up.

Finding a lasting love

After 66 years of marriage, Walter and Esther Kleinsasser of Hillsboro need not explain how commitment has kept them together, but the way their eyes sparkle and hands touch each other as they recall special times is evidence enough that they are happy, even after all those years. Now age 90 and 94, Walter and Esther still remember the day they met in Chicago, Ill., when he was 23 and she was 28.

Singing valentines available

Anyone wanting to woo a significant other may purchase Singing Valentines, also known as the Goessel Elbiata Singers, to perform a love song or two on Valentine’s Day. “For a $20 donation, we travel wherever needed, within a reasonable radius of Goessel,” said Renae Schmidt Peters. “We’ve done this for several years now and it is a fun way to share some love in the community.”

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