HILLSBORO Star-Journal

HEADLINES

Debt misstated by $2.6 million
Marion’s three most recent official quarterly reports have misstated the city’s debt by almost $2.6 million, according to a Up until the second quarter of last year, the city had listed debt for its recent water line replacement project at $2,868,826.
Not knowing rules cost county disaster windfall
Inexperience among department heads who didn’t know what could be counted as storm damage cost Marion County hundreds of thousands of dollars in disaster relief. Three bordering counties were selected for Federal Emergency Management Administration money to mitigate the cost of storm damage from heavy snows Jan. 8 to 16.
Splash pad discussions leak out
Is Marion, whose officials repeatedly have promised increased openness, quietly making moves to add a splash pad to one of its parks? The idea was discussed and apparently dropped years ago. It hasn’t been discussed publicly since new council members took office in January. They may, however, accidentally have let the cat out of the bag Monday.
Federal land grab or farmers' right to choose conservation?
A woman who travels from county to county encouraging commissioners to pass a resolution opposing a federal initiative called the “30x30 Program” explained to commissioners Monday why she thought they should pass such a resolution. Angel Cushing was invited to speak at commissioner Kent Becker’s request, made two weeks ago. He’d heard her speak at a Patriots for Liberty meeting. Her speech was in opposition to the federal government’s plan to “grab” 30% of the nation’s land.

OTHER NEWS

Hillsboro ponders trail, streets, zoning
Hillsboro may get a second hiking and biking trail to run from 3rd St. to Orchard Dr., and then to Sonic if the city is receives a grant from Kansas Department of Transportation. Hillsboro Cit Council members voted Tuesday to apply for a grant to build the trail in a northern portion of town that lacks sidewalks.
Marion gives employees 5% raises
Marion City Council members, hurrying Monday to complete a meeting before a storm was predicted to hit, appointed new city officials, approved 5% raises for all employees and declined to set a spending limit for department heads until the council’s May 20 meeting. Members also heard an audit report from Christina Henson of the Loyd Group accounting firm.
Florence Grand Prix gears up for Memorial weekend
Work creating a race track for Florence Grand Prix began Saturday. “We’re going to work every Saturday before the race,” organizer Bruce Skiles said. “Then people will be down there the final week before the race doing final preps.”
Cody nominated for dubious award
Former Marion police chief Gideon Cody has been nominated to receive a Golden Padlock Award, given annually to the nation’s most secretive agencies and individuals. The dubious award, sponsored by the group Investigative Reporters and Editors, “honors” raids Cody led Aug. 11 on the
4th grader buys a 'home'
Lincolnville fourth-grader Kollin Klenda will have to shrink before he moves into a medieval castle he purchased Friday. Kollin is one of several fourth graders who built the castle as an art project while studying medieval history at Centre school. The castle was auctioned during the school’s annual Artful Eye show.
Weak earthquake hits near Marion
A weak earthquake measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale rattled nerves and a few windows at 8:02 p.m. Thursday. The epicenter was a little less than five miles below the surface between 170th, 180th, Remington, and Sunflower Rds., just southwest of Marion.

DEATHS

IN MEMORIAM:
Hank Berg
IN MEMORIAM:
Harold Lefert

FOR THE RECORD

GRADUATION

A conversation with county's top grads
I had the pleasure Saturday to sit down for pizza and conversation with four of the brightest young minds in this year’s graduating classes in Marion County. School districts here may have anywhere from zero to seven valedictorians, but each has only one Governor’s Scholar .
Community service offers time for reflection
Peabody-Burns seniors participating in a community service project Friday at City Park took time out from their work to reflect on the diverse lives they expect to lead after graduation. Esperanza Solis, who moved from Wichita three years ago with her parents, Tina and Jeffery Tracy, said coming to Peabody had been a culture shock.

OPINION

Commencement is a beginning not an end
Bigger-than-life pictures of them don’t decorate fences at ballparks. Yard signs don’t proclaim their names. Yet they are our community’s biggest stars, the people we should be proudest of — our top-performing high school graduates. Some of them may run fast, jump high, toss or catch balls, or otherwise demonstrate their brawn. But what we celebrate most are their brains.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
Nature's own civil war
CORRECTIONS:
Corrections and clarifications

PEOPLE

A tearful trip for a proud veteran
John Siebert of Marion, a Navy Seals team leader in Vietnam for six months in 1970, recently returned from an honor flight to Washington, D.C., with 90 other former Navy Seals. Six of them he trained with, and three were from his platoon.
Real or fake, AI is here to stay, seniors are told
Tabor College President David Janzen provided information about AI last week to senior citizens at Shari Flaming Center for the Arts. “For you farmers in the group, I want to assure you that I will not be talking about artificial insemination,” he said. “Let’s be sure we have the right topic.”
Health care to be discussed
Administrators from Marion County’s two hospitals will discuss health care and expansion of Medicaid at 10 a.m. Saturday in Marion Community Center’s basement meeting room. The public presentation by Alex Haines of St. Luke Hospital and Mark Rooker of Hillsboro Community Hospitalis being sponsored by Marion County Democrats.
Senior center menus
MEMORIES:
15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 115, 145 years ago

SPORTS

3rd graders learn about ag
Nearly 100 third graders from Marion, Hillsboro, and Centre learned about agriculture Friday at the county fairgrounds in Hillsboro. FFA students presented 10-minute sessions about farm equipment, safety, and animals. AG AWARENESS DAY PRESENTERS
Hospital awards scholarships
Seniors from Centre High School and Marion High School have received $1,500 scholarships from St. Luke Hospital and St. Luke Auxiliary. Centre senior Jenaya Plett and Marion senior Natalie Sigel were selected to receive aid in furthering their academic pursuits in health-related fields.
School tech group to meet
Directors of Technology Excellence in Education Network, which provides online services to area schools, will meet at 6 p.m. May 15 at the Marion district office, 101 N. Thorp St. More information is available from Lena Kleiner at(620) 877-0237.
College degrees and honors

SPORTS

Track season nears finish line; regionals next
This is the last week for track and field. Regionals will begin May 16 and 17. Hillsboro
Hillsboro golfer has career best at Marion
Hillsboro junior Lincoln Wichert placed second in a 36-hole challenge Friday that included play on both Marion’s and Hillsboro’s golf courses. Wichert won on the Marion course and placed fourth on the Hillsboro course.
Baseball, softball regionals to be in Marion
The stage has been set for boys baseball with KSHSAA regional assignments being released over the weekend. Marion (18-4) will play at home at 5 tonight against Rosalia-Flinthills (7-16) in the first round of the Class 2-1A.
Swimmers 4th in Andover
The co-op Marion County girls swim team placed fourth out of 12 teams over the weekend in Andover. Lauryn Vogt led the team, finishing first in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle. Talia Jost placed second in the 100 backstroke.The 400 freestyle relay team of Vogt, Jost, Violet Klein, and Rylie Hein placed fourth.

MORE…

HOVER OVER IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT

Third graders choreograph their own moves for a three-song performance at a Grades 1 through 3 concert Thursday night at Marion's Performing Arts Center. The fifth-grade band opened the concert with "Shoo Fly," "Darkwood Grove," and "Just a Hop, Skip, and Jump." Later, using a card board box to create a moving vehicle, fifth graders sing "Take me to Funkytown." Everyone squeezes on stage for a finalle, "YMCA."

As farmers begin treating their fields, a cropdusting plane flies low this weekend over a field along 190th Rd. between Hillsboro and Marion to crop dust the fields.

Esperanza Solis cleans built-up grunge off a window at the Peabody-Burns baseball concession stand as part of a service day Friday.

John Siebert of Marion rides a wheelchair as he returns from a Navy Seals honor flight from San Diego to Washington, D.C. Siebert can walk but rides a wheelchair for longer distances. A photo of Siebert wiping a tear appeared in an article in a San Diego newspaper about the huge welcome veterans received after returning from Washington, D.C.

HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Marion’s three most recent official quarterly reports have misstated the city’s debt by almost $2.6 million, according to a Up until the second quarter of last year, the city had listed debt for its recent water line replacement project at $2,868,826.

Work creating a race track for Florence Grand Prix began Saturday. “We’re going to work every Saturday before the race,” organizer Bruce Skiles said. “Then people will be down there the final week before the race doing final preps.”

Former Marion police chief Gideon Cody has been nominated to receive a Golden Padlock Award, given annually to the nation’s most secretive agencies and individuals. The dubious award, sponsored by the group Investigative Reporters and Editors, “honors” raids Cody led Aug. 11 on the

A weak earthquake measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale rattled nerves and a few windows at 8:02 p.m. Thursday. The epicenter was a little less than five miles below the surface between 170th, 180th, Remington, and Sunflower Rds., just southwest of Marion.

IN MEMORIAM:

IN MEMORIAM:

I had the pleasure Saturday to sit down for pizza and conversation with four of the brightest young minds in this year’s graduating classes in Marion County. School districts here may have anywhere from zero to seven valedictorians, but each has only one Governor’s Scholar .

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

CORRECTIONS:

John Siebert of Marion, a Navy Seals team leader in Vietnam for six months in 1970, recently returned from an honor flight to Washington, D.C., with 90 other former Navy Seals. Six of them he trained with, and three were from his platoon.

MEMORIES:

Nearly 100 third graders from Marion, Hillsboro, and Centre learned about agriculture Friday at the county fairgrounds in Hillsboro. FFA students presented 10-minute sessions about farm equipment, safety, and animals. AG AWARENESS DAY PRESENTERS

Seniors from Centre High School and Marion High School have received $1,500 scholarships from St. Luke Hospital and St. Luke Auxiliary. Centre senior Jenaya Plett and Marion senior Natalie Sigel were selected to receive aid in furthering their academic pursuits in health-related fields.

Directors of Technology Excellence in Education Network, which provides online services to area schools, will meet at 6 p.m. May 15 at the Marion district office, 101 N. Thorp St. More information is available from Lena Kleiner at(620) 877-0237.

This is the last week for track and field. Regionals will begin May 16 and 17. Hillsboro

Hillsboro junior Lincoln Wichert placed second in a 36-hole challenge Friday that included play on both Marion’s and Hillsboro’s golf courses. Wichert won on the Marion course and placed fourth on the Hillsboro course.

The stage has been set for boys baseball with KSHSAA regional assignments being released over the weekend. Marion (18-4) will play at home at 5 tonight against Rosalia-Flinthills (7-16) in the first round of the Class 2-1A.