HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Bracing for Wal-Mart

Businesses in Hillsboro and Marion are concerned what impact Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market will have on them, and last week a handful of establishments met with an expert to sharpen up their customer service practices. Tim Smith, one of the main speakers at last week’s “Thinking Outside of the Big Box” forum, met with a variety of local business owners in both Hillsboro and Marion. Businesses signed up to meet with Smith, who owns his own management and workplace training organization in Allentown, Penn.

Officials bristle at idea of school consolidation

Board of education presidents in Marion and Hillsboro reacted strongly to the recent proposal to consolidate nearly 300 Kansas school districts into seven. Republican Rep. Steven Brunk of Wichita earlier this month floated the idea of drastically reducing the number of school districts in order to help shore up a $710 million budget shortfall.

Filing deadline is Jan. 27

A lot of people will be vying for city and county offices in the April 7 elections. Nine mayor positions, 37 city council positions, and 20 school board positions are open. County clerk Tina Spencer set noon Jan. 27 as the filing deadline. Positions available are listed below.

Burns — Mayor and two council positions.

Durham — Mayor and five council..

Florence — Mayor and 2 council.

Goessel — 3 council.

Hillsboro — Mayor and 2 council.

Lehigh — Mayor and 5 council.

Lincolnville — 3 council.

Lost Springs — Mayor and 5 council.

Peabody — Mayor and 3 council.

Ramona — Mayor and 5 council.

Tampa — Mayor and 2 council.

USD 397 —4 districts seats.

USD 398 — 4 at-ll at-large).

USD 408 — 4 districts seats..

USD 410 — 5 at-large seats).

USD 411 — 4 district seats,

Cottonwood Valley Drainage — 3 directors.

Voters to decide school issue

A resolution approved Monday by the board of education gives USD 410 voters the decision of whether the district will keep nearly $100,000 in its local option budget. In 2014, 80 percent of district voters approved an increase in the portion of the budget raised through local sources to 31 percent. The school board took a one-time, one-year option to increase it to 33 percent, which raised approximately $99,000.

Schools don't bite on invoice scam

When Centre School District board clerk Traci Alt received a $647.50 faxed invoice for textbooks last semester from Scholastic School Supply of Franklinville, New Jersey, she had her doubts. “It seemed a little fishy,” Alt said. “Most invoices are mailed.”

County slows roll on independent rockers

The county backpedaled Monday on reimbursing individuals who rock roads, only one week after a precedent was set. After handing over more than $2,000 to Gary Diepenbrock of Lincolnville as reimbursement for putting rock on his own road, the county rebuffed a similar proposal from county resident Ed Vinduska, even though Vinduska complied with the county’s guideline of seeking prior approval.

Permits for new homes increase

Fifteen new house permits were issued by the county in 2014, compared with 12 in 2013 and 8 in 2012. According to Marion County Planning and Zoning Director Tonya Richards, applicants have one year from the time the permit is granted to finish the project. An extension may be granted upon request.

Prairie View has new Hillsboro therapist

Prairie View of Newton has hired Kylie Moore, licensed marriage and family therapist, to provide services at its Marion County office in Hillsboro. Moore received her bachelor’s in psychology from McPherson College and her master’s in marriage and family therapy from Friends University. She has also completed the KC Play Therapy certification program.

Storytime to begin at Hillsboro library

With a goal to introduce children to the library and to foster a lifelong love of books, preschoolers ages three through kindergarten are invited to attend Storytime at Hillsboro Public Library. Librarian Delora Kaufman will engage the children each morning by reading books, playing games, and doing crafts.

Kenneth Klein

Former transportation worker Kenneth K. Klein, 72, of Tampa died Thursday at St. Luke Hospital in Marion. He was born Dec. 20, 1942, to Manuel and Frieda (Schmidt) Klein in Tampa. He worked for the Kansas Dept. of Transportation of Marion.

Dale Hasenbank

Former farmer and truck driver Dale Ray Hasenbank, 64, of Marion, died Saturday at his home. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Campanella-Evans Mortuary in Wamego. Burial with military honors will follow at St. George Cemetery.Visitation will be at 2 p.m. Friday. at the mortuary. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m.The Dale Hasenbank Memorial Fund has been established in care of the mortuary.

Virginia Shields

Virginia L. Shields, 93, of Lincolnville, died Thursday at Parkside Homes in Hillsboro. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Lincolnville. Burial will follow at Lewis Cemetery, Ramona.

LeRoy Schneider

Former mill operator LeRoy E. Schneider, 86, of Benton, died Monday at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado. A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Lamb Funeral Home, Whitewater. Cremation has taken place.

Accidents reported

Civil division

County jail

Criminal division

Deeds recorded

Emergency dispatches

Offenses reported

Police reports

Traffic division

Cold takes toll on cattle, ranchers

With the temperature hovering around 18 Thursday, Van Peters chopped ice on his pond so his cows could drink water. It’s a yearly ritual for ranchers: The weather gets cold, and the animals still need to drink. They also need more feed as they burn more calories staying warm.

Welder makes art out of horseshoes

Kevin Bartel of Hillsboro is a welder by trade but an artist by chance. One weekend, while home from his job as a millwright, he was looking for something to do. He spotted a few horseshoes lying around his garage and got the idea of using them to make letters and words.

Daily grind

There is a website named Rotogrinders where members play fantasy sports. But the real roto-grinders are the ones farmers use to grind big round bales of roughage into fine feed for their cattle. Some cattle feeders own their own tub grinders, but many rely on custom operators who come to their farms and grind the hay as needed.

Farmers need to become part fortune-tellers

Marion County farmers may want to moonlight as weather forecasters or economists if they can figure out the right choice for insuring their crops through the federal farm bill programs. It’s an exercise in predicting the unpredictable. Farmers have to look five years ahead to guess what their crop yields will be, which depends in part on the weather, and what prices they’ll get.

Card shower to mark Carlsons' 40th anniversary

The family of Duane and Karen (Heinbuch) Carlson of Lincolnville is celebrating the couple’s 40th wedding anniversary with a card shower. The Carlsons were married Jan. 4, 1975, in Accokeek, Maryland. Duane is a farmer/rancher and Karen is a homemaker.

Loved ones' ashes become jewelry to soothe grief

Florence relief postmaster Suzan “Lynn” Stroup understands just how devastating the loss of a loved one can be, but she found something as small as pinch of ashes contained within a special necklace helped ease her sorrow and soothe her grief. Stroup lost her mother, Hildegard Price, to breast cancer in 2002. A decade later, she lost her dad, Lenard. Before that, in 1986, her first husband was killed in a car wreck leaving her a widow with children at 23.

'ROUND THE TOWN:

NORTHWEST OF DURHAM:

USD 411 prepares move to new addition

If all goes according plan, Goessel students will attend classes in the USD 411’s new addition as soon as Tuesday. At Monday’s board of education meeting, members learned the building needs to pass a fire inspection before staff and students can move in.

Hillsboro High School honor roll

HHS students win state Verizon app contest

Two future backpackers are hiking along the edge of a steep rocky slope when one trips and tumbles down the jagged, rocky slope. As the other hiker reaches his injured friend, he reaches for his smart phone to bring up DEB, an app developed by Hillsboro High School students with lifesaving first aid information.

Hillsboro Classic starts Tuesday

The Hillsboro Trojans Classic basketball tournament tips off Tuesday with eight games, four each at Hillsboro High School and Tabor College. Hillsboro girls will play at Republic County at 6:30 p.m. at the high school. Hillsboro boys will play Riley County at 8:15 p.m., also at the high school.

Hillsboro girls win one, lose one

The Hillsboro Trojans girls’ basketball team already knew too well that making turnovers can lose games. They learned Friday that forcing turnovers can win them, smothering Larned with aggressive defense that led to a 34-26 win in Hillsboro. The Trojans applied heavy pressure from the outset, extending the defense on the perimeter with double and triple teams. Alex Ratzlaff scored Hillsboro’s first seven points off steals and forced errors.

Trojans fall to Larned, win at Smoky Valley

Leading by two after three quarters, the game slipped away from Hillsboro on Friday when its offense disappeared in the fourth, scoring just 6 points in the final period of a 43-39 loss to Larned in Hillsboro. A 16-point second quarter gave the Trojans a 26-22 lead at the half, and they held a 33-31 edge going into the fourth quarter. But they shot only 14 percent in the final period, misfiring on 12 of 14 shots.

Hillsboro wrestlers take 6th at Herington

Hillsboro wrestler Franklin Jost reached the 220-pound championship match Saturday at Herington, leading the Trojans to a sixth-place finish among 14 teams in the invitational tournament. Jost defeated Nate Backhus of Herington by fall and won by decision against Dustin Lister of Chapman to reach the final. He settled for second place after losing by fall to Blaise Lehman of Abilene.

Goessel rolls over Centre

Both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams picked up wins Tuesday against Centre. The boys took control of the game from the outset, building a 15-6 lead in the opening quarter. The teams played even in the second period, with Goessel holding a 31-22 lead at the half. A 28-point explosion in the third quarter gave the Bluebirds what they needed to coast to a 74-52 win.

Goessel rolls over Pretty Prairie

The Goessel Bluebirds traveled to Pretty Prairie on Friday and came home winners, 50-26. Goessel got off to a slow start for a second consecutive game, as the Bulldogs scored the first four points. Then the Bluebirds got rolling, going on an 11-2 run to take the lead 11-6. Goessel’s pressure defense created easy baskets en route to the lead.

Goessel boys lose close one

The Goessel boys’ basketball team let a halftime lead on the road against Pretty Prairie slip away Friday, losing 41-37. Lucas Hiebert hit two free-throws and Lawton Makovec banked one off the glass as the Bluebirds opened with a 4-0 lead. They fell behind briefly, but baskets by Kellen Froese and Hiebert and a quarter-ending Makovec 3-pointer put Goessel back on top 14-7.

Return to current issue