HILLSBORO Star-Journal

JAM basketball teaches fundamentals

Hillsboro High School head boys’ basketball coach Darrel Knoll understands the importance of teaching young basketball players good habits. He said good fundamentals, especially offensively, are harder to teach as players get older, which is why JAM was developed.

Water and sewer rates to go up

Hillsboro residents can expect to see increases in their water and sewer bills. City council approved ordinances raising water rates to $29 base and $4.92 per 1,000 gallons from $28 base and $4.82 per 1,000 gallons, and sewer rates to $31.68 base and $3.98 per 1,000 gallons from $25.45 base and $2.68 per 1,000 gallons.

Incumbents run uncontested

Hillsboro City Council members Shelby Dirks and Byron McCarty both will be running uncontested for their spots on city council. Dirks again filed for his spot representing Ward 1 while McCarty filed for Ward 2.

Music in classrooms may foster better learning

Songs like Styx’s “Mr. Roboto” or Usher’s “OMG” and music from the baroque and jazz genres may not be on every student’s iPod, but they all serve a purpose in Rick Reed’s classes at McPherson High School. “Music is everything,” Reed said. “I just can‘t believe that music is such a big part of everybody’s lives, and then we run kids in the classroom and it’s dead. Absolutely dead.”

Florence levee could flood homeowners with insurance costs

If Florence doesn’t hire an engineer to inspect and certify its levee, home buyers may have to buy costly flood insurance to get mortgages. “They’re really weighing the possibility that they’re not going to hire an engineer,” Planning and Zoning Director Tonya Richards, said.

Emler sworn in KCC

Jay Scott Emler was sworn in as a commissioner of the Kansas Corporation Commission Friday in Topeka. His duties will include a shared responsibility with two other commissioners who are tasked with ensuring that natural gas, electricity, telephone, and transportation vendors provide safe, adequate, and reliable services at reasonable rates.

Laptops don't entirely replace other classroom computers

When schools provide all students with laptop computers, they can reduce the number of other computers needed, but they can’t completely eliminate that need. That’s part of the message from students and teachers at Hillsboro and Centre high schools, which have issued students laptops for several years, while Marion school board considers instituting its own program.

Accidents reported

Civil division cases

County Jail arrests and bookings

Criminal division cases

Deeds recorded

Emergency dispatches

Marriage licenses issued

Offenses reported

Police incident reports

Traffic division cases

Veterinarians find a different way to heal

The look on Son the horse’s face said, “I’m not sure I like what you’re doing,” as veterinarian Rebecca Erwin, manually adjusted his spine using a technique called veterinary chiropractic. Erwin will finish her certification in veterinary chiropractic Feb. 9 after beginning schooling in October.

The farmer says how to feed cattle in the USA

Farming video sensation Derek Klingenberg of Peabody has put his camera to good use again, this time creating a parody of Miley Cyrus’ song “Party in the USA.” “Feeding Cattle in the USA” currently is up to 90,000 views since being uploaded Dec. 26.

Co-ops call off merger, plan another

Customers of Mid-Kansas Cooperative and Frontier Ag will not see the companies merge this year after all. Merger talks, which began in September, stalled this week after company leaders on both sides could not settle on the terms of the agreement.

Brenda Epperson

Brenda K. (Hein) Epperson, 42, of Olathe, Kan., passed away Dec. 31 at the Kansas City Hospice Center in Kansas City, Mo. She was born July 31, 1971, to Richard and Phyllis Hein in Florissant, Mo. She was a stay at home mom who was very involved with Girl Scouts. She also taught religion at Prince of Peace Catholic Church and volunteered in her children’s classrooms at Black Bob Elementary School in Olathe.

James Guthrie

James “Jim” Guthrie, age 76, beloved husband of the late Patricia Guthrie, passed away Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014. He was the brother of Ken, Gene, and Keith Guthrie, stepfather of Debbie Hippchen, Melinda Saunders, and Jennifer Arnoult. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Gerald Holub

LOST SPRINGS — Gerald L. Holub, 70, passed away Jan. 15, 2014, at Memorial Hospital in Abilene, Kan. He was born July 10, 1943, at Lost Springs, Kan., the son of Louis and Mary (Tajchman) Holub. He was a graduate of Tampa High School with the class of 1961. On Nov. 29, 1969, he was united in marriage to Paulette E. Bezdek. They would make their home in Hesston, where the family would grow to include one son, Gregory.

Heinrichs will marry in July

Max and Krista Heinrichs of Hillsboro announce the engagement and upcoming wedding of their daughter, Samantha Heinrichs, to Cord Cunningham, son of Alan and Phyllis Cunningham of Ottawa. The bride-to-be is a graduate of Tabor College and a staff accountant at Peterson, Peterson, and Goss LC, CPAs, of Wichita. The groom-elect is a senior studying graphic design at McPherson College and will graduate in May.

Diploma offers insight into family history

County native Bill Young said he spent several hours working with Photoshop to restore an important family document, his grandpa’s diploma from 1894. “This is to certify that George Holmes of Marion County in the state of Kansas has completed the course of study in the common branches required by law to be taught in the public schools of the state in orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, physiology and hygiene, and United States history,” the document reads.

Chamber will have silent auction

Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce will have its annual meeting and silent auction Jan. 27 at the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church as part of its banquet with Marion Chamber of Commerce. The silent auction will begin at 6:15 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m.

HILLSBORO SENIOR CENTER:

NORTHWEST OF DURHAM:

Bluebirds claim difficult victory

Goessel faced eight players from Argonia Jan. 14. Although the Raiders were short on numbers, they were quick on defense and were deadly on the jump shot in the lane. Goessel used guts to grind out a thrilling 54-51 victory. Goessel trailed 17-13 at the end of one quarter, then the team tied the game at 23 before Argonia took the lead again at halftime 33-28. The third quarter ended with Goessel trailing 41-38.

Goessel girls lose to Argonia, Elyria

The Goessel girls’ game Jan. 14 was at the Goessel gym with Argonia, but it was more than six minutes into the game before Goessel scored. With a 7-0 deficit, Goessel recorded a field goal and free throw. The Bluebirds trailed 10-6 at the end of the first quarter. They briefly took the lead twice in the second quarter, but Argonia led at halftime 25-17 and won 52-39.

Trojan Classic pulls teams from corners of state

The Trojan Classic basketball tournament started Monday in Hillsboro with teams from almost all across the state. Wamego made the 100-mile trip from northeast Kansas, Holcomb traveled about 220 miles from southwest Kansas, and on Tuesday Goodland traveled nearly 300 miles from northwest Kansas, crossing the boundary between Central and Mountain time zones in the process.

Wrestlers compete at Halstead

Both Hillsboro varsity and JV wrestling teams saw mat time this weekend with varsity competing in the Halstead Invitational and JV in Abilene. Varsity finished 13 out of 23 teams with 48 points. “Friday afternoon and Saturday provided great opportunities for our wrestlers to get a lot of necessary mat time,” coach Scott O’Hare said. “Our 12 healthy wrestlers competed in almost 45 matches over that time. It gave them some great competition experience, and it gave us coaches a great opportunity to evaluate the things that each wrestler needs to improve on.”

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