HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Ghost hunters study home in Hillsboro

It started the day they moved to Hillsboro, into a home with a history of frequent turnover.

Father makes famous fudge

Ed Hammond of rural Goessel does not like to cook. He usually leaves that job to his capable wife of 17 years, Lisa Hammond, and he and their sons, Darren, 15, Kenny, 12, and Vincent, 10, agree she is very good at the task. One Christmas, after making 18 pies and many other holiday treats, she did not have time to make fudge when he asked for it, and instead told him to do it himself. Though it took him several years to perfect a recipe for the chocolaty treat, family and friends agree his fudge is the best. “The boys request it every year for their birthday treats,” he said. “The kids at school go crazy for it; even the teachers always ask if they are going to bring my fudge.”

Regier named CEO of Hillsboro hospital

Marion Regier is a familiar face in a familiar space, but in a new role as of Monday as the new CEO of Hillsboro Community Hospital. “It feels great to be back home,” Regier said. “I’m excited to work with staff who put high priority on quality patient care.”

County considers options for 30th Road

Gordon Entz of rural Peabody drives along 30th Road south of Peabody two times a day, to and from his office in Newton. The three miles of blacktop before the road crosses into Harvey County have concerned him for several years. The two miles between Old Mill and Mustang roads are a little bit bumpy, but the road’s safety improved about three years ago when flashing lights and crossbars were installed at a railroad crossing.

Leland Chizek

Leland E. “Red” Chizek, 86, of Lincolnville died Feb. 7, 2012, at Lakewood Senior Living-Seville, in Wichita. He was born Nov. 27, 1925, in Agenda to Edward V. and Martha V. (Hajek) Chizek. He was a farmer, semi-truck driver, and oil well driller. He lived in the Ramona and Lincolnville area since he was 5. He graduated from Ramona High School in 1943 and served in World War II.

Martha Fast

Martha Fast, 85, of Hillsboro died Feb. 10, 2012, at Parkside Homes in Hillsboro. She was born May 5, 1926, in Dolton, S.D., to M.A. and Helen (Epp) Kroeker. She was a teacher. She married David E. Fast on Dec. 26, 1963, in Hillsboro. She was a member of Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church.

Joyce Hanneman

Joyce Hanneman, 80, of Hillsboro died Feb. 11, 2012, in Hillsboro. She was born May 19, 1931, in Tampa to Thomas and Maude (Carter) Costello. She was a farm wife. She married Ervin Hein on Feb. 13, 1945, in Newton. He preceded her in death. She later married Clifford Hanneman on Sept. 4, 1979, in Hillsboro. He also preceded her in death.

Jay C. Hutchison

Jay C. Hutchison, 80, of Russell died Jan. 30 at Russell Regional Hospital in Russell. He was born Feb. 27, 1931, in Howard to Ray and Grace (McCarty) Hutchison. He graduated from Russell High School in 1949.

Elaine Leppke

Elaine Leppke, 85, of Hillsboro died Feb. 13, 2012, at Parkside Homes in Hillsboro. She was born Aug. 28, 1926, in Harvey, N.D., to Gus and Josephine (Winter) Liebelt. She was a housekeeper at Salem Nursing Home. She is survived by one son, Craig Leppke of rural Hillsboro; one daughter, Carlotta Pankratz of San Bernardino, Calif.; one brother, Merle Liebelt of Modesto, Calif.; three grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Lindsey Rae Miller

Lindsey Rae Miller, 27, died Feb. 9, the same day she gave birth to her beautiful son, Thomas James Woodruff. Lindsey was born in Ulysses, to Jerry and Cheri Miller on March 2, 1984. She was in a loving home with her brothers Dallas Miller and Clayton Miller, with her grandparents Howard and Martha Miller, and George and Marie Meier nearby.

Linda Scarberry

Linda Faye Scarberry, 59, of Emporia died Feb. 8, 2012, at her home. She was born Dec. 8, 1952, in Salina to Wayne and Faye Parks Annis. She married Daniel C. Scarberry on Sept. 22, 1973, in Emporia. He survives at home.

Peggy Beryl A. Razor Thies

Peggy Beryl A. Razor Thies, 91, Overland Park, died Feb. 7, 2012. She was born May 21, 1920, in Marion. She was a loving and devoted wife and mother, affectionate grandmother and great-grandmother, a loyal and loving companion, and true to many friends, and passed away peacefully into the loving hands of God and his angels.

Lucille M. Weyer

Lucille M. Weyer, 82, of Kansas City, Mo., died Feb. 4, 2012, at a Kansas City, Mo. hospital. She was born Oct. 16, 1929, in Marion to Walter and Minnie (Remers) Ruby. She graduated from Marion High School. Her first husband, Earl Hoffman, died in 1976. She then married Heinze (Bill) Weyer. He died in 1986. In later years, she had a companion, Bob Freeman.

Thomas James Woodruff

Thomas James Woodruff died shortly after birth on Feb. 9, 2012. Holding him here for a short time on Earth was his father, Todd Woodruff and waiting to greet him in Heaven was his mother, Lindsey Miller. Thomas was already loved by his grandparents Jerry and Cheri Miller of Sublette; Martha Miller of Sublette; Stuart and Tracy Woodruff of Peabody; Frank and Janice Woodruff of Peabody; and Glenda Vorse of Wichita; his uncles Clayton Miller of St. Louis, Mo.; and Brandon Woodruff of Peabody; aunts Traylee Woodruff and Kathryn Woodruff of Peabody and Godparent and Uncle, Dallas Miller of Kansas City.

Accidents reported

Civil cases

County jail

Deeds

Emergency dispatches

Hillsboro police report

Offenses

Commission focuses on roads

Marion County Commission stressed the importance of repairing county roads and talk of roads dominated the later part of its meeting Monday. The commission approved a revised bid for the 330th Road project of $1,934,999, down $230 after John Riggins from Kirkham/Michael reevaluated the bid.

Meteorologist to speak at conservation banquet

Chance Hayes, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita, will be the guest speaker Saturday at the annual meeting of the Marion County Conservation District in Marion. Hayes has been with the Wichita office since 1995. He was the leading contributor to the national implementation of increasing the minimum hail size for a severe thunderstorm warning from three-fourths inch to one inch in diameter.

USD 410 plans calendar

The calendar for Hillsboro schools in the 2012-13 school year will probably be similar to the current school calendar. Superintendent Steve Noble presented a draft calendar for the next school year Monday at the USD 410 Board of Education meeting. The draft is essentially the same as the current calendar, with adjustments for dates falling on different days of the week.

Durham council discusses culvert

At the Durham City Council meeting Feb. 7, Mayor Mike Sorenson brought up the topic of a culvert that may need to be replaced. “It looks as though the same culvert runs across two driveways and the alley,” he said.

EMS calls down in January

Marion County Emergency Medical Service was called into action 100 times in January, a decrease of about 5.7 percent compared to January 2011. The largest portion of ambulance calls was medical emergencies with 29, followed by transfers, 22; no-transports, 15; standbys and falls, 9 each; cardiac emergencies and motor vehicle accidents, 7 each; and canceled calls, 2.

Marion County belongs in First District

Every 10 years, Kansas’ congressional districts are tweaked to account for changes in population as shown by the U.S. Census. In his “Legislative Update” column this week, District 70 Rep. J. Robert Brookens warns that this decade’s redistricting could move Marion County out of the “Big First” and into the Fourth Congressional District. Such a move would change Marion County’s congressional representative from Tim Huelskamp to Mike Pompeo. Both congressmen are Republicans, and both districts have a history of electing conservatives, so gerrymandering — drawing district boundaries for the political gain of one party — isn’t an issue in this case.

County could change districts

The House passed its redistricting map, and the 70th District will retain all its former territory and will gain Hope, Solomon, Elmo, and surrounding townships in western and southern Dickinson County. I look forward to meeting and talking to the good folks of Dickinson County, in addition to those in Butler, Chase, and Marion counties. I hope to have community meetings throughout the new district this winter and spring. In the column last week, I said I believed that none of the proposed congressional maps affected Butler, Chase, or Marion County. I can still say no map is expected to affect Dickinson, Chase, or Butler, but I have discovered there is a map floating around that proposes to move all of Marion County into the 4th Congressional District, which includes Wichita. I’m not so certain our voice would be as strong in the mostly-urban 4th District.

LETTERS:

Starship to headline Chingawassa

Rock band Starship will be the headline concert of Chingawassa Days 2012, the Chingawassa Days Committee announced Monday. Starship is a newer act than previous rock bands to headline Chingawassa Days.

Special Olympics organized at Tabor

Tabor College students and faculty and Hillsboro Kiwanis hosted a Special Olympics basketball tournament Saturday, with more than 175 athletes from four counties participating. Games were played in Tabor’s main gym and Student Activity Center.

Tampa news

Tom and Dee Duggan went to Topeka on Feb. 1 for Older Kansans Day. They met with Rep. Bob Brookens and joined in singing, “Happy Birthday” to him. They also attended a session of the Kansas House of Representatives, where the legislators were discussing redistricting. Delores Siggs of Goessel and Adeline Bernhardt ate breakfast at the café Feb. 6 and then went to Marion, where they visited Edna Mueller at St. Luke Living Center.

Northwest of Durham

Ken and Sandy Wiebe, Marcel and Wendy Unruh and family, Chelsea Koehn, and Charla Nightengale were invited dinner guests of Kendall and Susie Wiebe on Feb. 5. Clayton and Betty Wiebe, Merlin and Karletta Wiebe, Tim Davis, Ruston and Lydia Dirks and girls, and John Steiner were dinner guests of Doyle and Kara Wiebe on Feb. 5.

ANNIVERSARIES:

Goessel board hires new clerk

Goessel USD 411 Board of Education members approved Superintendent John Fast’s recommendation to hire Joni Smith, rural Goessel, as the new school board clerk, effective March 5. Smith previously worked for Koch Industries as an accountant. She and her husband, Kirby Smith, have three young boys. Smith will replace longtime board clerk Esther P. Schmidt, who will retire this fall.

Goessel scholars place 4th at state

The 12 scholars’ bowl teams that advanced to the Class 1A-Division 1 state tournament Saturday were divided into two pools with the top three from each pool getting to play in a championship round. The Goessel High School Bluebirds team went 3-2 in pool play, which placed them in a nerve wracking four-way tie for first place. The tiebreaker rules came into play, and Goessel was determined to be first in their pool.

Centre student wins county spelling bee

Carissa Shields of Lincolnville won the Marion County Spelling Bee on Feb. 8 in Marion. She is an eighth grader at Centre Junior High School. Twenty participants from third to eighth grades competed. Juliana Schrag, fifth grader, and Lanna Wagner, seventh grader, both from Goessel, finished second and third, respectively. After three rounds, five contestants remained. Of the five, Shields was the only one to spell the word “phylum” correctly. She spelled “cellophane” in the final round to claim the championship.

Simple living, service fills couple with purpose

Growing vegetables in winter, teaching children survival skills, mentoring college-age young adults, and visiting prison inmates are just a few aspects of simple living and serving others that fill Jim and Carrie Truax, rural Peabody, with a sense of purpose. “It seems like God teaches us that each life has a purpose,” Jim said. “I find true joy in helping others find what their gifts are, what their purpose is.”

Faith flourishes in nursing home

When people move from living independently to a long-term care facility, their world changes as they leave one community and join another. Something they bring with them is their religious faith, and residents at St. Luke Living Center find activities and support that help to keep faith a vital part of their lives.

Results given for young wrestlers

On Feb. 4, the Hillsboro Wrestling Club had four wrestlers compete at the Maize “Battle for the Belt” Tournament and 14 others competed at the Newton/Hesston Invitational, a combined tournament hosted by the two clubs. Maize 6 and younger Daniel Gomez, 2. 3-1 8 and younger Tristan Rathbone, 4. 3-2 10 and younger Jordan Bachman, 0-2 Devin Gomez, 3-2 Newton/Hesston Open 6 and younger Cooper Hefley, 1-4 Evan Jones, 0-5 Layne Clark, 4. 2-3 Seth Mader, 1-4 Lane Mayfield, 0-3 Carson Batterton, 2. 3-1 Lane Rogers, 3. 1-2 Camden Padgett, 1. 3-0 Tyler Ayers, 3. 1-2 Connor Padgett, 1. 2-0 8 and younger Garrett Helmer, 3. 2-2 10 and younger Raymond Johnston, 2. 2-1 Trevor Jasper, 0-4 12 and younger Dawson Jost, 2. 0-3

Hillsboro girls smoke Vikings

The frontcourt battery of Krista Reimer and Addie Lackey led the way in a 57-32 Hillsboro victory over Smoky Valley on Friday in Hillsboro. It was a breakout game for Reimer, who scored 18 points using her superior athleticism against 6-foot-1 Smoky Valley senior Kimi Lindshield. Reimer’s most impressive baskets were multiple attempts where she faked a dribble to her left, then drove into Lindshield, and finished the points by going up strong through the bigger player’s outstretched arms.

Trojan boys lack energy

Head coach Darrel Knoll thought something was off with the Hillsboro High School boys’ basketball team in their 56-42 loss to Smoky Valley Friday in Hillsboro. “We didn’t come out with any energy. We let them control the pace. We didn’t rebound well and we didn’t pass the ball up court,” Knoll said. “I don’t know what the problem was.”

Mueller and Thiessen win

The Hillsboro High School wrestling team finished fifth in the Central Kansas League wrestling tournament in Lindsborg. Bret Mueller won the 138-lb. weight class. He defeated Cooper Crump of Pratt, 7-4, in the championship match, and bested Tyler Smith of Halstead, 14-0, in the second round. Mueller is 25-15 on the season.

Bluebird girls tangle in overtime

On Feb. 7, two teams with similar records tangled at the Goessel High School gym. White City jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but during the first quarter, Goessel gained a 1-point lead with scoring from Johanna Hoffman, Ali Buller, and Alex Hiebert. The Huskies finished the quarter ahead, 10-7. Jessica Harvey sparked a rally in the second quarter giving the Bluebirds a 17-16 lead, but they trailed by 1 at halftime when White City connected on two free-throws.

Goessel boys win close games

Against one of the most successful and tallest teams in the Wheat State League, Goessel High School boys’ basketball coach Curtis Guhr gave praise to the inside defense of Davis Cook, Peter Voth, Drake Sterk, Nic Buller, and Braden Unruh. “Our defense took them out of their game,” Guhr said after a Goessel win at home Feb. 7.

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