BREAKING NEWS
UPDATED AFTER PRINT DEADLINE
An autopsy has been ordered to identify a body found Sunday in a pickup truck registered to interim Peabody city clerk Jonathan Clayton, who vanished Aug. 3 while the target of several investigations.
Kansas Highway Patrol confirmed that the body was found in a crashed pickup truck near the US-50 / I-135 interchange northeast of Newton.
The mystery of the disappearance Aug. 3 of Peabody’s interim city clerk seems to grow deeper by the day, but recent revelations from his hometown of Mullinville may hold some of the answers.
Convicted financial felon Jonathan Clayton, promoted from dogcatcher to interim city clerk amid a spate of firings and resignations in Peabody, is being investigated by the Kiowa County Sheriff’s office in relation to alleged theft of $120,000 from Mullinville Community Foundation and $70,000 from a cemetery board.
Peabody’s interim city clerk, who disappeared Aug. 3 and has not been found, left suspicion of wrongdoing in his wake.
Jonathan Clayton disappeared soon after the Department of Commerce, where he formerly worked, began examining COVID-19 grants given to organizations in Mullinville and Peabody with which Clayton was affiliated.
Despite widespread concern — including from a majority of current council members — that Marion’s city budget was prepared too late and without sufficient council involvement last year, this year’s budget appears headed down the same path.
Mayor Mike Powers blames the situation on how “screwed up” the city is.
When Durham resident Larry Schafer of L&L Cleaning was cleaning the MB Foundation building Sunday evening, he wasn’t planning to spend an hour between the building’s two floors.
Luckily, Fire Chief Ben Steketee said, Schafer remained calm and patient as firefighters figured out how to get him out of a stuck elevator.
The City of Marion is asking a court to reject an open-records request designed to determine whether elected officials may have encouraged last summer’s raid of the Record newsroom and the homes of the Record’s owners and council member Ruth Herbel.
The Record’s initial request came last fall, after other documents revealed that Mayor David Mayfield had told restaurant owner Kari Newell that the only way he could oust Herbel from the council was if she were convicted of a crime.
Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, who led a raid Aug. 11, 2023, on the
A 17-page transcript of a hearing conducted before Cody was charged was released Tuesday by District Judge Benjamin Sexton over objection from Cody’s defense attorney, Brian White.
A day after police raided the Marion County Record, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett expressed concerns about whether a crime had been committed, the evidence seized by police, and whether the local prosecutor could be held personally liable for a violation of constitutional rights.
Bennett texted Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey and talked to him about his concerns.
County commissioners viewed a proposed anti-30x30 program resolution Monday and tentatively agreed to it but took no vote.
At next week’s meeting, they will decide whether to set times for public hearings on the proposal.
Marion County was hit Aug. 14 by an intense thunderstorm that left damage across the county.
National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Metzger said the storm cut a swath directly through the center of the county with wind gusts of up to 65 mph.
Marion Historical Museum’s sagging floor, caused by its foundation being shifted by water seepage over years, will be repaired at a cost of $28,879.43.
Marion City Council members voted Monday to accept a bid from Thrasher Foundation Repair.
Applications are being accepted until Friday for Marion County’s leadership program.
Six sessions will begin Sept. 5. The course is designed to teach leadership skills and explore community challenges and strengths.
She’s been gone for an entire year, but I still can hear my mother’s voice as clearly as I did when she was defending press freedom in videos of her final day at last summer’s police raid.
“This is a week when you need a cat editorial, Eric,” she would have told me, gently leaning against her walker instead of pounding it against the floor to protest illegal intrusion.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
A mouse in the houseLETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Justice for JoanCORRECTIONS:
COVID aid
The congregation of Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro spent three days last weekend celebrating its 150th anniversary.
Festivities began Friday evening with a gathering of members and friends of the church, during which former pastors shared memories of their time at Parkview.
A six-stop audio book tour of portions of Marion County is in the works for Flint Hills Counterpoint.
Counterpoint will sponsor the audio book tour Sept. 7. It will be led by Rex Buchanan, director emeritus of Kansas Geological Survey.
Peabody Achieves 4-H Club will sell baked goods, jar goods, and miscellaneous goods along with displaying their projects at Sunday’s Peabody cruise. The gathering of antique and other cars and motorcycles is scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon.
MEMORIES:
15,
30,
45,
60,
75,
110,
145 years ago
Anyone not satisfied with their Medicare, Medicare Advantage plan, or prescription drug plan has an opportunity to change Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.
Medicare is a health plan with two parts: Part A (hospital insurance) covers in-patient hospital and skilled nursing care, and Part B (medical insurance) covers physician services.
A joke among young children is that if you don’t get something you want, ask grandma instead.
How that plays out in a family relationship can sometimes be a point of contention, Kansas State University aging and adult development specialist Erin Martinez says.