New web site/blog

I have loaded all of the past posts and comments from this blog onto my new Washington County News web site/Backroads Newsroom blog.
The new site can be found at www.backroadsnewsroom.com.
I will no longer be posting on this site. I will leave it up for a while so people know where to go for the current blog. Please join me in this new effort by checking out the new site and leaving your comments.
--Dan

Airport area activity

To help pad the numbers for usage of the airport, I took this picture of an airplane within a mile of the airport.
Of course, it is just a styrofoam toy airplane, but with some of the usage figures that have been put out there, the government folks must be using sightings like this in their statistics.

Friday Night Lights (quarter by quarter style)

I won't be able to do the touchdown by touchdown coverage of last week, but I'll try to get scores posted by the quarter.

Theater demand - Reader forum

"WCHS108" asks:
Why would 9 people vote to NEVER go to a movie in the event a theatre was built in Washington?

Beasley trouble - Reader forum

"WCHS108" comments:
Beasley just as guilty, finally, the truth comes out. Why wasn't he kicked out of the rookie symposium the same time as Chalmers and Arthur...and Beasley fined $50K while the other 2 fined $25K, must have been his pot!

Future of schools - Reader forum

"WCHS108" asks:
Not a new subject...but since all schools are 1 month into the year, the future of all the schools in the county; any possible merger ideas, and if so, which school should consider and with whom?

Another record

The Backroads Newsroom blog set another readership record! There were 323 pages loads yesterday which surpassed the previous record (from two Thursdays ago) by three loads.
Yesterday also tied the record for unique readers at 120.
So things are going well and I believe that when I get the new blog/web site going, things will pick up even more.
The Washington County News is one of the few weeklies in Kansas with an active blog. I've been talking to a journalism professor at Wichita State University about the Backroads Newsroom blog and what it has added to my news dispersal efforts. I strongly believe we'll see a transformation in news distribution over the next decade. How long will a hardcopy printed newspaper continue? I don't know, but the digital edition will take over eventually.
I won't be the first to discontinue a printed product, but I won't be the last either. It will be interesting when it happens and if advertising can continue in some form, it will be nice to save the thousands of dollars I spend on printing each month!

Reader forum

This is your chance to choose your topic of discussion. Please leave a comment about a topic you'd like to discuss and I will post it so other readers can comment on your topic. Items of local interest are preferred.

Reader forum idea

Okay. So Backroads Newsroom readers would like to choose some of their own topics of discussion on this blog. Great!
There really isn't a way this program allows readers to start a new thread, but instead, here is what you can do.
Each Wednesday or Thursday, I will write a post with the headline "Reader forum" and I will give the following instructions:
This is your chance to choose your topic of discussion. Please leave a comment about a topic you'd like to discuss and I will post it so other readers can comment on your topic. Items of local interest are preferred.
All reader-generated posts will include the words "Reader forum" in the headline along with the subject of their post.
You can post any topic of discussion, but I would urge you to stick to topics of interest to Washington Countians.
So after finishing this post, I will then start the Reader forum post.

No touchdown by touchdown coverage

I will not be doing the Friday Night Lights updates tomorrow night for the area's high school football games like I did last week. It is my son Noah's first birthday so I will be spending time with him rather than with the phone. I enjoyed doing it last week... kinda. It was quite hectic at times. At one point I had three calls coming in at the same time. I might do it at some other point during the season, but probably no time soon.

Experimenting with different blog format

I am in the process of constructing a different Backroads Newsroom blog with a different blogging company. Check it out at:

http://backroadsnewsroom.wordpress.com/

This prospective new blog will also allow me to post content from the print edition of the Washington County News in a more user friendly manner. On the left side of the new blog will be WC News content and on the right will be the blog element of the site.
I'm still trying to figure this out, so until I do, I will keep this Backroads Newsroom site going.

You can just click on this entry's headline to go to the new experimental site.

Palin-Clinton speech

If you didn't catch the "Palin-Clinton" speech on Saturday Night Life, check it out on nbc.com. It was pulled off of youtube. It's hilarious. The rest of the show with Michael Phelps was kind of boring, but the Palin-Clinton bit was awesome. We spent five minutes here at the News office checking it out as a staff.

Morrowville investigation

The Washington County News received a statement today that the Washington County Sheriff's Department and the State Attorney General office that they are involved in an ongoing investigation involving the City of Morrowville. Read this week's Washington County News for the full story by Tom Parker.
The News requested the last seven months of city council minutes for the City of Morrowville and found several items pointing to financial problems in the city. No charges have been filed.
• The May and June minutes are missing.
• In July the city's bank account was closed at First National Bank of Washington and a new account was opened. Lori Huber was appointed as the new Morrowville City Clerk affective July 17.
• During three meetings in August, A financial advisor was invited to a special council meeting and explained that capital improvement financing could be obtained to pay for improvements made during hte last few years. Later, a new budget was printed recommending a ~25 mill increase.
• On Sept. 8, several community members attended the meeting to discuss the budget, financial options, GO bonds and restitution. Sheriff Bill Overbeck was also present and gave an update. A letter of resignation was received from council member Craig Fencl and the Mayor presented information on getting a bond for the future city clerks.

New hospital fundraiser assistant

Haely (Rettig) Ordoyne recently took the job as the new Washington County Hospital fundraising assistant. Haely and her husband Raleigh, both originally from Linn, recently moved back to the county from McPherson. I'm sure I'll have something in the print edition soon.

Cafe to re-open in Greenleaf

Updated:
The cafe in Greenleaf will open again on Oct. 1 as R&J's Cafe. Janis Bryant and Ruth Nye are opening the establishment for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it will also have a bar.

Treasure Hunt space

Space is still available at the stone barn at the fairgrounds if anyone wants to set up for the US Highway 36 Treasure Hunt next weekend. I have three spaces together and one by itself. These spaces are 8x10 feet each and they are free, first come first serve. Contact me if you're interested.

Friday Night Lights

Click on the Friday Night Lights headline to see the score updates under the comments thread, as they happened, in tonight's games:

Final scores
Linn 38, Lakeside 0
B&B 20, Hanover 12
Solomon 44, Washington County 32
Clifton-Clyde 34, Axtell 24

Friday night updates

I am going to be stuck at home tonight getting ready for next week's garage sale, but I am going to try to find contacts for each of the games so I can post score updates on this blog. I will start with a main post and then post the updates as comments under the main entry. To see the comments, all you have to do is click on the title of the main message. Feel free to post comments, predictions or smack, as the game is going on too.

Friday night football

The Topeka Capitol-Journal has the line on local games and a couple local teams show up in the rankings too.
First the CJ's predictions:
Linn over Lakeside - 53.2 point spread
Clifton-Clyde over Axtell - 48.7
B&B over Hanover - 23.5 (The human said the computer would be wrong and he picked Hanover.
Washington County over Solomon - 10.1

My predictions? A Friday night sweep for Washington County's local teams.

Rankings:
8-man I
1. Jetmore
2. Madison
3. St. John
4. Goessel
5. Clifton-Clyde

8-man II
1. Hanover
2. Sharon Springs
3. Pawnee Heights
4. Quivira Heights
5. South Haven

Color template change

I changed the template for my blog to make it easier to read the polls in the sidebar. I'm currently working with a different program where I might be able to do a blog/web site so that I can better post stories and features of the WC News print edition. So there may be another change coming.

Businesses closing

Howdy's will be closing in Washington later this month.
I also recently heard the Sale Barn Cafe will close at the end of the month.

Sarah Palin doesn’t need a gun to hunt. She has been known to throw a bullet through an adult bull elk.

For a good laugh, check out www.palinfacts.com. She's awesome.

Correction

In the USD223 school board story in this week's paper, it was stated that two Hanover students may be requesting that the district pay for airplane flights back from the national FFA competition in Indianapolis. Actually, they were possibly going to request permission to fly back from the FFA event on their own expense - not with any district funds. At this time, however, no request has been made.

Downtown renovations

Dr. Dennis and Angie Portenier are putting new windows in the front of their Portenier Chiropractic building. It looks really nice and saves energy, while still keeping the downtown commercial look.
Jerry Ouellette is doing the carpentry work and Mike and Blanche Graham did the windows. Jerry seems to be almost solely responsible for all the downtown renovations that have occurred over the last couple years. And he does very good work. Let's hope people continue to be inspired to upgrade their buildings and Jerry stays busy for a long time.
I think we have a very nice downtown and we should try to keep it looking attractive and inviting. I would love to put my building's facade back to brick, but that would also include new windows, so I'm trying to build up some reserves to do that.

The rest of the story?

I received a call this morning from a convenience store employee who thought the comment in the Lizzy's Lines column might have been from an experience this person had. Evidently, a couple kids came in and wanted to cash in their pennies but instead of outright denying them, the employee worked with them for a while stacking them in piles of 10 and cashed in the pennies for dollars, but then the kids took the dollars to go see what they could buy at Duckwall's. They didn't spend any money at the convenience store.
The story in the column was a bit different, so maybe it was a different situation.

Other eco devo projects deserving of time

Instead of our county business coordinator and county commission spending time and money on the airport, I think we should develop a list of other specific needs for our county that need to be addressed. So here are some of my ideas (mostly retail), some of which are already in the works:
A theater in Washington
Farm & ranch supply store for the county
Cafe for Linn (reminiscent of the Bulldog Inn/Summit)
Car wash for Washington
More bed and breakfasts in the county
Quilt shop
Mexican restaurant
Something to fill Mayberry's
Mayor of Oz museum and gift shop (such a waste that this isn't happening)

And a little more complicated:
A public lake south of Highway 36 (State lake is nice, but too inconvenient)
Nine more holes for the golf course and residential development
Greenlinton with awesome pool (as described by smart-alec Brian Shaw)

Theater poll

The problem with the poll vote feature included in this blog is that there is no opportunity to comment on the responses. So I'm wondering what people think of the concept of a theater in Washington.
At first, poll results showed most people were for the idea and would either attend shows occasionally or all the time. Lately, there's been quite a few "I'd go to a different theater" votes. I'm just curious why. Are these folks from Hanover and just don't want to have anything to do with Washington? Are they folks recruited by a different town's theater to try to discourage enthusiasm for a Washington theater. Or are they folks from Clifton area who could go to Concordia just as easily? I'm curious what people think and why they respond the way they do.

Half color

The color part of the press at Marysville was down again this week (different problem from last week) so we got B section in full color before it broke down (I'm glad I ran the festival pictures in B instead of A) but the front section was in black and white. I apologize for not being in color. The press problems are out of my hands and I know the press guy at Marysville is working as hard as he can to get things running smoothly.
I had a really nice blue background for the Zachary Leiszler story, but had to go to a shade of gray after losing color.
Hopefully things will be back to normal by next week.

Vice presidential debate predicton

GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin wowed voters with her initial speech in Ohio when she was named McCain's running mate and was widely praised for her speech at the Republican National Convention, but since then, we've been hearing a lot of the same quotes as part of her stump speech.
The worry wart in me wondered if she could continue to bring in new material to bolster the GOP bump she provided.
After watching her speech at an Alaskan welcome back rally tonight, I'm confident she will be able to hold her own. I don't know if she uses speech notes or a teleprompter, but she looks like her speeches are all off the top of her head. She's very good.
She was also very good in a gubenatorial debate in in 2006 in a video I found on the web.
I'm starting to think she will go all Sarah Barracuda on Biden's butt!
The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Hotshot" airport

I was open to the idea of the county commissioners helping an airplane mechanic establish a business out at the airport. Doing lease-purchase agreements on a new building or some version of business assistance is not uncommon for governmental entities. I figured this was a better idea than just spending a lot of money on an airport plan with no promise of any benefit from the improvements.
So needless to say, I was a little shocked today to hear that the commission is still listening to suggestions for airport development projects beyond just assisting a business. The plan that was proposed to the commission today would cost $3.6 million over 20 years and the county's share would be $1.8 million.
Say what?
This plan would include a terminal building, more hangars, a runway extension, the rerouting of the county road to the north, easement and land acquisitions (the plan shows a building restriction line connected to the back side of Ralph and Pat Holsch's house so I don't know that they would be able to continue to live there).
People have called me a dreamer in the past and that probably is a fair description of me, but even I can't fathom why this county would ever want to spend that kind of money on the airport. This is a facility that has almost no activity outside of a couple crop spraying operations. There are occasional touch and go activities, a few leisure landings and takeoffs and I suppose a few people show up to conduct some business. But seriously, I can't see any reason to go after the "hot shot" completed facility (as the consultant referred to it) that is being proposed.
This isn't a project like a swimming pool where almost anyone could use it. The general use of an airport would be by a very small, select group of people. (And don't let them tell you this would be used for medical emergencies - Lifestar lands at the hospitals.)
The commissioners have not committed to anything yet. As citizens of this county, you all need to get ahold of them and tell them to stop this ridiculousness now. Don't just talk about it over coffee at the local convenience store, call the commissioners or show up at a meeting and tell them they need to commit their resources to other efforts. Otherwise they will say nobody has talked to them about the subject.
By having county business development director Christy L'Ecuyer work on it, we are already spending money on the project. It's a waste. It is time to cease and desist.

Homecoming football games

Just an FYI on area homecoming football games:
Sept. 19 - WCHS homecoming vs. Immaculata
Oct. 3 – Linn homecoming vs. Hope
Oct. 3 – Hanover homecoming vs. Blue Valley
Oct. 3 – Clifton-Clyde homecoming vs. Southern Cloud

Game vs. meeting

Pretend you are a huge and fanatic K-State football fan... and they play Nebraska on Saturday. You can't make it to the game, but it is the featured game on ESPN and the Gameday crew is in town. K-State is predicted to win, but it should be a good game and you absolutely despise Nebraska. This is the game you look forward to every year and you wouldn't miss it for the world! But you find out when you look at your calendar that you have a meeting to go to that night. Do you skip the meeting or do you feel guilty and go?
Well, I feel really guilty, but I will not be covering the USD 108 school board meeting tonight. I am a huge Minnesota Vikings fan and they are playing tonight on Monday Night Football in their first game of the season against the hated Green Bay Packers. This is the game I look forward to every year and it is only better when it is the season opener and it is against Green Bay. I just feel bad that it landed on a night with a school board meeting. Sorry. I'm a bad newspaper guy, but I hope fanatic sports fans understand my dilemma.

Friday night football scores

8-man
Linn 48, Pike Valley 12
Hanover 62, Thunder Ridge 32
Clifton-Clyde 38, Blue Valley 20
B&B 66, Axtell 20
Bern 40, SE Consolidated 22
Frankfort 66, Southern Cloud 20

11-man
Valley Heights 30, Onaga 6
Silver Lake 35, Centralia 12
St. Mary's 37, Washington County 6

WCHS homecoming

Washington County High School's homecoming game is Sept. 19 vs. Immaculata (which is a Catholic high school in Leavenworth). Their mascot is the Raiders and their colors are green and white, so I hope downtown businesses can dress up their windows in support of the Tigers. I'm sure the cheerleaders will have their contest again so we need some clever decorations.

Oprah doesn't like Palin?

Evidently Oprah doesn't want to have Governor Sarah Palin on her show. Never mind she is the first female GOP vice presidential candidate. If you thought Oprah would give her some credit, you'd be mistaken. Evidently, if a person is in politics but isn't a liberal and isn't African American, she has no place on Oprah's show.
I was just shocked when Oprah came out in support of Obama... NOT! How much do you want to bet Oprah will have Michelle Obama on soon????

New record set again

The Backroads Newsroom blog set another record yesterday with 130 unique readers checking us out. Of those, 71 were brand new first time readers. The blog was also three page loads shy of breaking that record.
I'm short on commentary today, though, so I don't think we'll be hitting the record again.
Thanks for checking us out!

More downtown Washington bits

Leon is serving lunch now over at The Horn. I've heard lots of complimentary comments of their renovation efforts since they took over. The place looks nice and clean and ready to attract more customers. They had Swedish meatballs over noodles today which was a nice change of pace for me. I can only eat so many burgers or pizza slices... though I do still enjoy that too.
I also talked to Bob Dusin yesterday as he was overseeing some work in the two buildings he recently purchased on the square - the former Schooky's Deli buildings. He is renovating the buildings and they are up for rent now. He said he has had interest in the space. He also has the former laundromat up for sale.
It will be nice to see some of these places full again. A couple years ago we had almost no empty spaces and now we have a few.

Basic instructions on how to post comments

You are encouraged to post your feelings on anything in this blog. To post, all you have to do is:
1. Click on the headline of the story on which you want to comment
2. Below the story and any other comments, click on “post a comment.”
3. If you have a Google account, make sure you’re signed in and then type your comment in the upper right box.
4. If you do not have a Google account, there is a “Choose an identity” section at the lower right side - click on “sign up here.” Then follow the directions to create an account (it’s super easy and takes less than a minute.)
Once signed in, you can post comments.

Pool vote may be on spring ballot

A downsized version of a new swimming pool for Washington may be offered to voters through a 1 percent sales tax. The Washington City Council discussed the recent failed sales tax vote and the future of the pool project at their Sept. 2 meeting.
The Aug. 5 vote on a 1.2 percent sales tax to fund a new pool failed by 12 votes and council members said the most common concern they heard about the proposed pool was that it was too fancy.
City administrator Kurt Hassler said the pool committee met to discuss what they heard about the project and the consensus was the majority of the public wanted a pool, but that the $1.3 million proposal was too much. The committee decided to scale back the plan to go with a $1 million pool by taking out the water slide and the wet deck and a few other minor things to save costs. They may also downsize the dimensions of the pool slightly. Hassler said the changes would bring the price down.
Financial advisor Rick Enz had told him the retail sales tax intake was higher than expected for the last 12 months, so if a vote was approved with the changes, the city would be capable of making the payments, plus the extra could be used for any other infrastructure improvements or to pay down the debt faster.
The council debated whether to put a question on the November ballot or on the spring election ballot. Hassler said if the vote passed on the November ballot, no money would be collected until May or June and construction would begin in September, 2009. However, that timeline might cause trouble trying to make the first payment and to cover origination fees. There would also not be enough time for a bid process.
The second option, going with a spring vote, would allow for a bid process and construction would start in September, 2010. Hassler said constructions costs would go up, but they’d also have more cash to pay for it. Nobody could guess if the existing pool would last two more seasons.
The council agreed that having a price and design before the vote was put on the ballot would be in their best interest, so the action on a new sales tax question was tabled and Hassler and staff were directed to continue working on the project with the intent of putting it on the spring ballot.
Hassler said he could start the selection process for a contractor and a concept drawing could be ready to go by the December or January meeting.

Proud of our country

I count eight American flags on the sidewalk in downtown Washington right now. Five on the 200 block of C Street and three on the 300 block. It looks very nice along with the red, white and blue Welcome to Washington banners. People must be inspired about Palin's speech last night. Or maybe it is just a beautiful day.

High school football kickoff predictions

The high school football season kicks off tomorrow night for the local teams. I imagine Hanover and Clifton-Clyde will both be strong again tomorrow and should win their games.
Shane Ohlde will have his debut tomorrow night as coach of the Linn Bulldogs in a home matchup vs. Pike Valley. This game should show a lot about what sort of season the Bulldogs will have. They should have won this game last year, but didn’t. The team lost a lot of senior starters, but I believe Ohlde will have the program ready for this test. I’m giving Linn the edge on the shoulders of Ohlde as coach. No pressure ;-)
Phil Wilson will re-debut as coach of the Washington County Tigers with a game at St. Mary’s. The Tigers are short on numbers this year, but I believe the program was undergoing major improvements when he was their coach the last time around and I’m sure he will re-start that trend.
However, St. Mary’s has been a perennial power and I think the Tigers may come up short against them tomorrow.
What do you think?

Nyes are new Swirly Top managers

Rick and Cindy Nye are the new managers of Swirly Top restaurant in Washington. The Nyes are the former managers of Mayberry’s. Swirly Top is now open for breakfast, but Rick said no other major changes are planned at this time.
I ate their lasagna special for an early lunch today and it was delicious.

Washington Monument proposed to council

The Washington City Council will look into the physical impact of a proposed “Washington Monument” that could be erected in the middle of the intersection of 3rd and C Streets in downtown Washington. Derek Bruna, representing the Washington Rotary Club, said the club originally proposed a similar idea as their 2005 Rotary Centennial project, but the project was delayed.
Now, he said funds have grown for the project as has membership in the club, and along with it the size of the project has grown from a center island with a sign board to a monument with a sign board.
The monument itself would be an approximately 20-foot tall obelisk – basically a downsized version of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
According to the National Park Service web site, the Washington Monument is the most prominent, as well as one of the older, attractions in Washington, D.C. It was built in honor of George Washington, who led the country to independence, and then became its first President. The Monument is shaped like an Egyptian obelisk, 555’ 5/8” high, and averages 30 to 40 miles visibility in clear weather. It was finished on December 6, 1884.
The local monument would follow the design specifications of a proper obelisk, which is 10 feet of height for every foot of width and topped with a small pyramid.
Bruna said the club was figuring on a $20,000 price tag for the project, which would include the electronic sign, the monument structure and labor. But they already have around $6,000 in advertising (which would appear on the base) and they have been seeking corporate support too.
“(The club) doesn’t feel like money will be a problem,” said Bruna.
Bruna said Bradford Built was contacted about making the actual obelisk structure, which would be hollow and covered with stucco. They’ve also talked to Charlie Walters about the base and Clinton Stamm about the bricks or pavers.
The base would be about five feet tall, with a 20-foot obelisk on top of that. The base would be covered by bricks or pavers, but that has not yet been finalized. The electronic sign would be about 3-feet by 4-feet and would be black with red lettering viewable from both the north and the south.
Bruna said the city could generate some revenue by posting appropriate messages on the sign, like birthday or anniversary announcements like some businesses in other communities do with sign boards. Calendar items would likely be a free service on the sign.
The council decided it would need to get a visual idea of what sort of impact the structure would have on the intersection before they decide whether or not to approved the project. The plan is to set a date to draw out a circle and put up some palettes or another temporary structure to see if a five foot tall base would be a problem and if traffic flow would be affected.
Bruna said the club would be willing to work with the design to accommodate any issues that might arise. Originally an 8-foot base with vegetation was proposed in the middle of a roundabout, but the plan has been changed.
City administrator Kurt Hassler said this intersection would technically be considered a “traffic circle,” rather than a roundabout, since the stop signs would stay. He said he wasn’t concerned about cars and pickups getting around the intersection, but a semi might have a problem… but he still thought there would be enough room.
Vehicles would decide for themselves whether they go around the structure when turning or pass in front of it.
Hassler said the city would also have to put together policies on what is put on the sign or what fees to charge for messages and a separate fund could be set up dedicated to the sign. A memo of understanding was also suggested for who would take care of what on the initial construction of the project, since it would be turned over to the city when complete.
Bruna concluded that the project was originally an idea to replace the sign that used to be wheeled out into the intersection to announce special events. That sign was ruined a couple years ago, and now people use saw horses or barrels in the intersection on occasion.

"Other business" of Washington City Council

Since I couldn't fit the Washington City Council story into this week's paper, I promised I would post it here first and fit it into the paper next week. Here is the first of three parts. The other two parts are the story about the council's next move on the swimming pool project and a story on the proposed Washington Monument project by the Rotary Club. I'll work on those tonight yet and hopefully post them tomorrow. --Dan

In other business:
• The council discussed the Washington Chamber of Commerce’s request for assistance in purchasing new Christmas decorations for the power poles along the highway. The Chamber has purchased eight decorations already, but was hoping more could be purchased to fill in the gaps.
Four-foot diameter wreath decorations cost $193 while a six-foot wreath costs $215. Because of the time and materials expense the city would incur by putting up the wiring for the new decorations, the council decided to decline the request for thi syear, but may consider purchasing new decorations next year.
The council approved spending $1,050 to purchase the necessary materials to put up the Chamber decorations.
• First National Bank of Washington received approval to block off the stretch of C Street form old city hall to new city hall and 2nd Street from C Street to Ballard for the Fall Fest from morning until 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20.
City staff will also provide assistance in delivering benches for the event.
• The council approved having Cohorst surveying service plat the industrial park for $2,400.
• The city recently received a proposed agreement for power purchase, but since no other cities have acted on it yet, Hassler and power plant superintendent Mary Leck recommended not acting on the agreement yet until some contract wording was worked out.
• The council approved purchasing autocad electronic mapping software for $1,145 and an annual fee of $185 to show the city’s sewer, water and other utility items in detail.
• A free lot program property located southwest of the Washington County Hospital across the street that was given to John Hanson has been abandoned. The property owner had 18 months to construct a house on it, but attempts to contact Hanson have been fruitless, even though early on he did a minimal amount of foundation work at the lot.
The council authorized the city attorney to file papers in court to obtain clear title to the property.
• The city administrator and city clerk were given permission to travel to the League of Kansas Municipalities annual meeting on Oct. 11-14 in Wichita, including one night stay for Denise Powell and two nights for Hassler.
• 100 tons of 1.5-inch rock was approved for the bid price of $1,200 from Orval Jueneman. Hassler said the city is out of rock and it is used for road work, back fill for water/sewer repairs and for other uses.
• Hassler reported he had met with Clinton Stamm about old city hall. Hassler said Stamm felt the building could be salvaged and was good structurally, but a lot of plaster would need to be replaced.
“The biggest concern is access, maintaining ADA access,” said Hassler. “There will be a massive amount of work.”
A ramp could be built but is not always popular. Stamm suggested looking at the community hall in Cuba as an idea for accessibility.
Hassler recommended holding a couple public meetings about the building to see what the community’s interest is. There is also the possibility that the individual interested in bringing a movie theater to Washington could renovate the building for that use.
• The council held an executive session for non-elected personnel. After coming out of session, they went back in with assistant city attorney Libby Hiltgen. No action was taken.
• Hassler said he received a general quote from Cohorst on platting the fairgrounds. He thought the project would cost around $3-4,000 but could be up to $7,000. A plat map would show the locations of all the buildings, property lines and the city and fair board could swap property back and forth to line things up better.
Hassler requested permission to sit down with the fair board and talk about their long term project plans and look at the property issues. He said the fair board said they might be able to participate with some funds too. Hassler was approved to talk to the board to see if it was worth going forward with plat mapping.
• Hassler said he and Powell have spent a lot of time going over the 2008 and 2009 budgets and they were better off than he thought they might be. On streets, however, the city is spending more than they are taking in. He said the biggest revenue source for streets is gas tax money, which is getting to be less and less.
The tax has a formula based on population and the city gets a percentage per gallon. However, with prices up, people are buying less, which means less taxes coming in. Plus, the cost of road oil is up.
“The street fund is one we’ll have to look at and get a long term goal,” said Hassler. In the meantime, he said the city has some cash reserves to fund the work.
• An ambulance rate increase was approved to $11 per loaded mile effective on Sept. 1. The rate has to be higher than Medicare, which recently went up.
• Late payment penalties could be added to water and sewer bills in Washington, administrative charges on delinquent accounts and changes to the deposit fee structure for owners of multiple buildings will be worked into new policies for the next meeting.
• Court fees will be raised to match the increase on the District Court level which occurred on July 1.
• The fire department requested the use of the emergency services building for a chili cookoff on Saturday, Oct. 4, along with an open house. The request was approved.

Backroads Newsroom blog records broken

I just checked my Accumeter counter and the Backroads Newsroom blog broke records today in both page loads and unique viewers (55 of them were first time viewers too!)
I will try very hard to keep feeding this monster, but I definitely think it is more fun when you all throw your comments into the mix too.
Plus, I'm not a grump every day so I'm not going to be able to give TD and HFH fodder to go after.
Keep it up!

Palin speech

Wow. I'm just getting done watching the post Palin speech commentary.
Palin rocks! I haven't been so excited about politics since Huckabee was on the rise. She threw zinger after zinger, but they were based on substantive issues. And she makes a strong case for the McCain candidacy.
I'm hoping our local political commentator Josh Zenger will write a column about the impact of this historic speech. Okay Josh?

Morrowville udpate

The State Attorney General's office is now investigating the situation in Morrowville. No charges have been filed, however, so I won't be publishing anything else until any new information arises.

City council story

I'll try to get the city council story posted tonight some time. There was quite a bit of activity at the meeting, but I can't say there was anything that would send earthquakes through the village. It was adjourned by 9:17 p.m., making two months in a row of meetings that were less than 2.5 hours. Awesome job Kurt, Denise and council!
I should also try to post something nice and controversial tonight so I can try to break this blog's page load record. Right now today, this is the third most active this blog has ever been (as determined by page loads and unique visitors). I guess getting a couple nuts and a bitter/tired editor posting back and forth can garner some interest.
Later.

Greenlinton takes root

Evidently someone put a sign up by the county airport sign that said "Greenlinton" in response to Brian Shaw's smart-alec letter to the editor last week. I drive by their twice a day every day but I didn't see one. Bunch of smart-alecs out there.
Another sign of interest would be the billboard at the east edge of Washington proclaiming a Super 8 Hotel 18 miles west of Washington. I guess that would put it somewhere between Haddam and Cuba? Oops. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does typos.

Washington pool

FACT – The Washington City Council (who met tonight) will consider another attempt at passing a sales tax increase to fund a new pool, but this time they are likely considering a 1% tax instead of a 1.2% tax and for a million dollar basic pool instead of a pool with a waterslide and amenities. A vote will likely happen next spring and construction (if approved) would happen in September, 2010.
The pool committee suggested removing the splash grounds/wet deck and the water slide and possibly downsizing the pool a bit. They said the main thing they heard form citizens who were against the original design of the new pool was that it was too fancy.
BITTER OPINION – I guess we're not good enough to have nice things here in good ol' Washington County. I mean, who do we think we are, a progressive city? We should be happy with a basic pool instead of a swimmin' hole in Mill Creek, gosh darnit!
I've always wondered why people do fancy things like wash their cars or mow their lawn. Who do they think they are? City slickers!?
What the hell good is a new pool if all we are doing is adding a zero degree entry and an umbrella splash feature (which hardly anyone uses at the new swimming pools I've been to.)
THEORY – I bet we could cut the price much further if we just dug out the current pool, redid the plumbing and replaced the pool as it is.
MY NEW OPINION – As a retail establishment in Washington, I can't justify making my customers pay 1% more for a zero degree entry. What's the difference between 1% and 1.2%? How about everything that was fun about the original proposal. For $1.20 more per $100, we could have had something really cool in Washington. Now for $1 per $100, we'll have what we have now with a zero degree entry. Big deal. Screw the new pool. Vote no on the 1% sales tax unless they put the slide back in.
And while we're at it, you should all quit mowing your lawns. Too damn fancy. Get over yourselves.
Geez, I should really get a good night's sleep before I post these things! :-(

The first woman vice president of the U.S.!

I'm finally excited about the McCain ticket. GOP presidential candidate John McCain named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his vice presidential running mate. She seems really down to earth (which means she is not a lawyer by trade.) Her husband is a world champion snowmobile racer, she has five kids (I can relate to that) and she evidently can get things done in government.
After the all to recent John Edwards mistress scandal, however, I just wish the Fox News announcer wouldn't have said "McCain tags woman to be running mate." Young folks might have found that choice of wording questionable.

Put up your hummingbird feeders

Hummingbirds are traveling through right now. They are on their way south for fall migration. If you put up a hummingbird feeder on your porch or deck, there is a good chance you could attract a ruby-throated hummingbird, or something more rare. I put my feeder up last week and I have at least three (two males and a female). Fall is the best time to try to attract hummers, so give it a try - they're fun to watch!

Greenleaf Legion to open

George’s Grill & Pub will open inside the Greenleaf American Legion on Sept. 3. Justin Hiltgen will manage the new establishment. There is also rumor the Elite Cafe may reopen.

The jail and the mill levy

We will likely have a story next week on the operation cost of the jail and the mill levy increase proposed by the county commission. Tom Parker is looking into it, but was unable to get ahold of anyone for this week's paper. I admittedly stink at budget/finance stories, but Tom can get the job done.

Morrowville

Just so you don't think we're clueless, we do have feelers out on the situation in Morrowville City government. If anything actually happens, we will report on it. But nothing official has happened yet. We're on the case.

New county treasurer

The Washington County Republican Central Committee appointed Ann Hawk as the Washington County Treasurer tonight as a result of the passing of Roine Tegethoff. This position will last until next October, at which point, whoever is elected in the November general election will fill the position. Hawk won the primary election earlier this month, but may face a write-in campaign from Larry Stigge.

Biden is the Veep

Sen. Joe Biden was evidently chosen as Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate tonight. That means we're stuck with Governor Sebelius for a while longer. Dang.

First day enrollments

Every year I hope I'll call schools after the first day of classes and I'll find each school added several to their enrollment totals from the previous year. But unfortunately, it is usually the opposite. This county lost 41 students this year. I'm writing a story for next week's issue, but here are the school enrollment changes:
Linn Lutheran +6
St. John's Catholic No change
Clifton-Clyde -10
Washington County -11
Hanover -13
Linn -13
The official count is taken on Sept. 20, and usually there is a bit of change by then.

Headlines I'd like to write

Here are some of the stories I'd like to have the opportunity to cover (and I'm trying to be realistic rather than hoping for headlines like "Gas prices fall to $1.30 per gallon."

City to build theater building on lease-purchase plan
- Evidently, this project is still in the works, so I'm not giving up hope

Rotary begins construction of new Washington monument
- I think this would be one of the greatest new developments in Washington for some time. Something to put on a post card. They are still working on this and I hope to hear more about it soon.

Pool vote passes on second try
– I believe a little legwork by some supportive volunteers will get this necessity passed, even without drastic reductions in the plans.

Deli opens on courthouse square
- I know restaurant owners don't like to hear us talk about a need for more dining options, but I think this is a food segment that is missing in town.

Enrollments show stability across county
– Maybe this is a dream headline, but I really look forward to the day when all of the schools either see increases or no decreases.

New fair barn to be built in 2009
- I would love to see the fair board have success with their new livestock barn effort. Our fair is one of the county's greatest events, so progress with their facilities would be great. They should also hang curtains on the stool stalls at the restroom south of the rock barn.

Pat Bruna to continue local fireworks efforts
- Pat didn't know whether or not he'd be able to continue organizing the fireworks displays at Hanover Fourth of July and other area events now that he is working in KC. His skills are remarkable and it would be a shame to lose his talent.

All for now.

The story list

We have a lot of feature stories on our "to-do list" here, but I'm curious if there are stories you'd like us to consider. We try to do a mix of breaking news and human interest, besides the regular community coverage, but some weeks are easier than others. I'll personally never complete my story list, but some of the stories are large projects and I often need smaller filler stories to fill the gaps. Tom and Cynthia can usually fit suggestions in too, from time to time.
So if anyone wants to leave suggestions for stories on this blog, we will certainly consider them. We can never promise when we'll get them done, but we always like to build the list. --DT

Political scandal!

Scandals of two different varities in the headlines.
I tried to buy a National Enquirer in Washington, but couldn't find any for sale. I was wanting to see the story they broke on John Edwards having an affair and a possible love child! Must have been embarrassing for the big news companies to be scooped by the National Enquirer. Something tells me there is still more to this story too.
And the most recent is that Colin Powell might endorse Barak Obama at the Democratic National Convention. Powell is denying this right now, but if I've learned anything from politicians, denials don't always mean much. We'll see what happens.
What were Republicans thinking when we made McCain our man???!?!?!?!?!?! And the latest on McCain is that he might even consider a pro-choice vice presidential running mate. Come on people!! What's the matter with the GOP!

Busy week

I thought things would be back to normal after getting last week's fair issue out. But for some reason, this week didn't go so well and I didn't get the USD 108 school board story done, or the continuation of last week's Washington City Council meeting or some other content I wanted to include.
I usually type until about 2-3 a.m. on Tuesday nights at home, but last night around midnight, I was literally nodding off while I typed. So I said forget it, and I went to bed. I was full today anyway, so I will try to get caught up next week.

New fair barn

I heard a rumor yesterday that the fair board was wanting to build a proposed horse/beef barn on the race track site. Nope. I talked to Dr. Johnson and we have also done stories in the past on this project and the fair board has always intended on building this new barn south of the gold barn (where the current horse stalls sit.) In fact, this site was written up on an explanation letter that was set out near the fair office by drawings of the fair barn.
So no, they're not going to try to take the race track.
We'll have a story on it again next week and we'll try to include the pictures of the building design.

County fair reaction

I'm curious what people liked or disliked about this year's fair since there were several changes, including the parade route, several livestock show changes, etc. I'd like to hear the good and the bad.

Primary results

Just a quick list of results:

Washington pool vote (1.2% sales tax) lost by 10 votes - 245-255. Wow. That was close.

Of the other county races:
Republican county commission - Roger Otott, 489; Kathryn Stigge, 168
Democrat county commission - Brad Owen, 50; Mike Uhlrich, 42
County sheriff - Bill Overbeck, 852; Jim Mueller, 664
County treasurer - Ann Hawk, 636; Larry Stigge, 571; Christina Metz, 319
Taddiken won easily in his Senate race
Bill Pannbacker won the county easily over Kathy Martin (1120 to 395), but lost overall 15329 to 14149.

Mayberry's to close

I just found out today that downtown Washington will take another economic hit. Mayberry's restaurant is slated to close this weekend. The business has been listed for sale, but owner Brad Portenier said he would be closing the doors Saturday.
It's been a tough year for downtown, with several businesses closing. This is quite unusual compared to the last couple years where more businesses have opened then closed.
But I suppose this is the cycle of life in a small time. I just hope a buyer of the restaurant steps up because these are three big buildings that brought a lot of economic activity to downtown.

Hail hits southern Lincoln Township

A hail storm followed by "green snap" (which means the wind blew so hard it snapped the plants) hit crops in southern Lincoln Township last Thursday. Many fields were devastated by the weather occurrence, which is too bad considering much of the crop in the rest of the county looks amazing.

Blogvoid

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. We took a vacation to Minnesota and then a couple days of AAU track meets and now I'm struggling to get caught back up.
I am trying to track down a rumor of a guy wanting to put a new movie theater in Washington. That would be extremely exciting in my opinion. It would be nice to get a young crowd downtown on Friday and Saturday nights.

Weather

There's kind of a gully-washer occurring here in Washington right now, but my wife says the ground was barely wet at our house six miles due south of town during the first 20 minutes of rain here. She said it was pouring there now too.

One more commissioner candidate

Mike Uhlrich, Democrat from Washington, has filed for the Washington County Commission District 2 position. He is the fourth candidate to file for the seat. This also makes a rare primary race for both the Democrat and Republican parties for this position. Brad Owen and Mike Uhlrich will run for the Democratic nomination and Roger Otott and Kathryn Stigge will run for the Republican nomination.
I will publish all of the filings in next week's issue of the News. We ran out of space this week.

Too many downtown vacancies

There are a lot of buildings for sale in downtown Washington right now and I don't know what to think about it.
To the north, the former Kuhlmann building that is currently being used by Bradford Built is being offered for sale now that their expansion at the industrial park can handle the work they were doing downtown. Along C Street, the former Monty Law Office is empty. I don't know if it is for rent or sale.
On the west side of the square, the Schooky's Deli buildings are for sale.
On the south side, the building that held an American Family Insurance office for a while is for rent and the lot of the former Major Theatre is still empty. Along C Street, on the east side, the former laundromat is for sale, signs were recently put on the former Liquid Glass building that it is for sale, and the Longhorn building is for sale. On the west side, Mayberry's Restaurant is for sale, and the former Earhart Abstract and Parry dental office are both being used as residences.
I remember about a year and a half ago commenting that there was practically no commercial space available in downtown Washington. I don't know what happened since then, but there are too many vacancies surrounding us now and we ought to try to do something about it.

Restaurant auction

Just an update on the restaurant auction that took place in Washington on Saturday. The Longhorn building did not sell. There was one bid, but it did not meet the reserve so it didn't sell. The Schooky's Deli building was not part of the auction. Only the equipment was auctioned and it evidently went well.

For this week...

Just a sampling of some of the stories we're working on for this week's issue:
• Wonderland, the revamped What Not City in Clifton, has sold to a buyer from England.
• Mayberry's, the three building restaurant in downtown Washington, is for sale.
• There was a large group of minors arrested over the weekend at a large kegger. Last I heard was 24 kids arrested. I also heard that about 50 kids got away by scattering into the hills. (Editor's note: The official sheriff's report said 14 kids received citations.)
• We're doing a little research for a story on the large numbers of valedictorians this county puts out each year.

Monday's softball-sized hail near Manhattan

I couldn’t resist posting photos of hail damage to vehicles in the Manhattan airport-Ogden area from Monday morning.
The photos show the rear window of Kerri Winter’s car (she is a Linn High grad) and the sunroof of the vehicle next to her. Notice the hail even blasted holes in the interior of Kerri’s car!
Here’s the story:
Kerri arrived at work on Monday morning and it was a sunny day. She works at a large business located near the Manhattan airport. Soon, however, black clouds moved in and she said it was almost like nighttime.
In came the wind and severe weather and the worst of it hit around 9 a.m. when SOFTBALL-sized hail, driven by high winds, fell for approximately 15-20 minutes. Kerri said it sounded like the roof was being beaten with baseball bats and you couldn’t hear anything.
Many employees were at the business windows watching the damage occur outside, including extreme damage to the vehicles in the parking lot.
Once it was over and they went out to assess the damage, she said there was glass everywhere and since then, of the approximately 200 vehicles in the parking lot, 90 percent of the vehicles have been totaled by insurance adjusters.
She said the lineup of wreckers to tow the vehicles on Monday afternoon was something to see.
Her building also took heavy damage to the roof. She said there were so many holes in the roof, it was like it was raining, but inside. The roofers were able to come out by Monday afternoon to start caulking thousands of holes. They had to work well into Tuesday to finish the job and it sounds like they’ll have to get an entirely new roof.
She said there are a lot of life-long Kansans working there and this was the worst hail anyone had ever seen.
Seeing the damage to the parked cars, I can’t imagine what the storm must have been like for someone driving on the highway there!

Two more candidates

I'm not sure if Assistant County Attorney Libby Hiltgen has filed yet or not, but she has announced and gotten all of her signatures for her petition filing, but she will be on the ballot for Washington County Attorney. Libby (Baskerville) is originally from Washington. She lives in Marysville with her husband Chad Hiltgen, originally from Palmer, and their baby boy.
Roger Otott, of rural Washington, filed today for Washington County Commission, district 2. He joins Brad Owen and Kathryn Stigge on the commissioner ballot.

Washington needs a garden club

After hearing the news that Mary Alice Pacey will no longer be able to maintain the rose garden at the Washington City Park, I recommend the formation of a Washington Garden Club to take over the maintenance of this project. Not only could this club help maintain this unique Washington garden, it could also be proactive in promoting gardening and beautification around town. I can forsee a garden tour, a plant swap and other activities typical of this sort of club. The garden club could work alongside the WCHS FFA chapter on the rose garden project too (they've offered to help), thereby creating a valuable partnership and helping grow the next generation of gardeners.
If anyone is interested in such a concept, call me at the News office at 325-2219.

Gas station reopening?

There is a rumor, matched with some activity, that the gas station/convenience store owned by Walthers Oil at the southwest corner of the Highway 15-36 junction in Washington will be reopening soon. People have been seen cleaning windows and the interior of the store and evidently the gas tanks have been filled.
If this is true, hopefully they'll have a grand re-opening featuring $2 gas!

Stigge files for commission post

After press time today, Kathryn Stigge, Republican, of rural Washington, has filed for Washington County Commissioner-Second district. This district is basically an L-shaped district that includes the City of Washington north to the Nebraska border and then west to Mahaska.
She joins Brad Owen on the ticket. There is also another Washington individual currently carrying a petition to go on the ticket.
The deadline for filing is noon next Tuesday.

Uncontacted tribes

This has absolutely nothing to do with Washington County, but I am totally fascinated with the news stories that broke today about some photos of an uncontacted tribe near the Peru-Brazil border. I guess I figured there were tribes with very little contact with the Western world, but the story said there were still around 100 tribes in the world that have yet to have contact and 50 of them are in the Brazil and Peru.
The photo I've attached is from the organization Survival International, an organization which seeks to protect these tribes. Google this organization to see a few more fascinating pictures. It's like something out of an adventure movie.

Gambino's is open

Gambino's opened today in Washington. The new pizza, pasta and sub restaurant has experienced a few delays in getting open, but it had a really good lunch crowd today, despite its unannounced opening. I brought my family there for the pizza buffet and we all enjoyed it. I enjoy all of the restaurants in town, but as a consumer, it is always nice to have increased choices.

Downtown fiesta?

If you happen to be able to hear the music in downtown Washington right now and wonder why we are listening to Spanish-language jazz, it is because I couldn't handle listening to the other CD music anymore so I submitted one of my CDs, not realizing it was all in Spanish. The CD is Buena Vista Social Club featuring Ibrahim Firrar (I probably spelled that wrong.)
It probably isn't the ideal music for downtown atmosphere, but I just couldn't handle listening to the other CDs any more. I've heard them about a million times since they started playing and our door is open because of the nice weather so we hear it in our office very clearly.
I'm sure people walking downtown wonder who the heck is choosing this music. I apologize for my near insanity with this situation.
Anyway, the music is kind of a Chamber of Commerce project, and we are looking for new appropriate music to put on the system. If you have any ideas, let a chamber officer know. The sound system is controlled out of Duckwall's.
Until later, adios!

Reader questions multitude of vals, sals

The following post came from a blog reader who posted it under the corvette blog since there was no other place to post it. I moved it to its own post so that anyone else could comment on it if they'd like. I will leave a comment about it too. --Dan

HFH said...
I am interested in your lack of comment concerning the front page stories in the May 22nd paper about the local graduations.

In that paper we see listed 2, 3.....5 (should there be more?) valedictorians at the county schools. Perhaps it should have been dozens or, what the heck, why not just list all graduates as valedictorians.

What kind of "PC crap" is this? Would you have us believe that there was no difference in these students grades and abilities. Are they now using "pass/fail" to determine the valedictorian and salutatorian?

If the schools insist on this policy then they must logically apply the same criteria to the sports programs.

Every student in school must be allowed the same playing time as any other regardless of skill level! Every person on the football team must be allowed to play quarterback exactly the same amount of time as any other.

No competition in academics equals very low expectations in academic performance just as no competition in athletics would equal the same low expectations in athletic performance.

Wouldn't you agree DT?

A crowd of corvettes

I just had to take a picture of these Corvettes lined up in front of the Koester House Museum in Marysville earlier this week. Pretty cool. They all had Nebraska plates, so I assume it was some sort of Corvette club from Nebraska. I think there were about 17 of them.

Stormy sunset

One of the nice things about living in Kansas is that you never know what kind of weather you're going to get. And the storms often bring a kind of twisted beauty with them. I think I've seen sunsets in every color of the rainbow. I can't take very good nature photos, but this dark yellow-orange sunset caught my wife's attention on Memorial Day and I tried to capture the color.

Bikers in town

Just talked to a group of five bicyclers who stopped in front of Mayberry's. Turns out there just some bikers who are taking a trip from Boulder, Colo., to St. Louis, Mo. Nice folks.
Evidently they're using Highway 36 until they get to Atchison and then they'll head south for a bit before turning east to St. Louis.
I thought maybe they were practicing for Bike Across Kansas which will be coming through in a couple weeks, but they pointed out that BAK has trucks carry the gear and they are carrying their own.
I thought I saw another biker or two a week ago who looked like they were doing one of the cross country rides. I should do that... maybe it will help me get back on track for the Biggest Loser contest!

New Hanover principal needed

According to the minutes from the May 12 USD 223 school board meeting, Hanover Principal Aaron Birkhofer submitted his resignation. Evidently he took a principal position closer to his wife's hometown in southern or southeast Kansas.

Pannbacker to run for state school board

Bill Pannbacker recently announced he will be running for the GOP nomination to the State School Board. He will be facing off against incumbent Kathy Martin, Clay Center. The district stretches from Atchison to Salina, so this will be no small effort by Pannbacker. More in tomorrow's News.

Airplane update

The low-flying airplane report for Washington County evidently wasn't out of concern of terrorist potential - evidently there was the possibility of an airplane being used to transport illegal immigrants. This was not an easy story on which to get any details and I'm not saying we learned much at all. We did decide to take a bit of a smart-alec angle on the story in tomorrow's edition of the Washington County News. We sure hope we don't offend anyone... except maybe the strange folks that evidently head up the Department of Homeland Security on the federal level. The local administration was kept guessing just like the rest of us, so nobody should hold any of them accountable for the bumbling antics of the feds.

Staff changes at USD 108

Another couple staff changes will take place at USD 108 - Washington County Schools. Pam Gallion took a teaching job at Belleville, which opened up a middle grades teaching position at Washington. Steve Cozad evidently resigned as high school English and yearbook instructor to take a job back where he is from in Nebraska or Iowa or something. Cozad was also the head high school football coach, so that position is now open too.

Low-flying airplane?

This just in (and we don't have much and what we do have is spotty).
The Washington County Sheriff's Department has been alerted by Homeland Security to be on the look out for a low-flying airplane that entered Washington County recently. However, the Sheriff's Department dispatcher said Homeland Security didn't give any further information on the type or color of plane or any other details. Evidently, they were just told to be on the look out.
Our scanner picked up at least one county department alerting their crew to be on the lookout, but no other information is available at this time. I will post updates if I hear any, but I'm doubting I'll hear much.
I know there is a very active yellow cropduster airplane operating out of the Washington County Veterans Memorial Airport and he has been working at locations throughout the county over the past couple weeks.
If you see or hear anything related to this, please call the News office or post a comment to this message.

Kurt Hassler hired as Washington City Administrator

The Washington City Council approved hiring Kurt Hassler, McPherson, as the new Washington City Administrator during a noon meeting today. Hassler is a 1990 graduate of Washington High School and is currently the Director of Public Works for the City of McPherson. He is married with children and the Washington City Council said Hassler will likely start in the Washington position in about 30 days. A full profile is being planned for next week's Washington County News.

Another special mtg tomorrow at noon

There will be another Washington City Council special meeting Thursday at noon. I'll be there to see what they discuss.

Owen files for county commission

Brad Owen filed for Washington County Commission, District 2, on Monday. A write-up can be found in this week's Washington County News. I'm pretty excited about him filing and not just because the position formerly had no filers. It sounds like he has some good ideas, especially for an effort to put a hold on increasing the budget and taxes. At the Washington Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday, the group got into a pretty intense discussion about valuations and the local tax situation. It is no fun, in my opinion, to find out Kansas has a heavier tax burden in certain areas than compared to California. We'll have to put a focus on this and see if we can change things.

Washington City Council in exec session

The Washington City Council is in the midst of a special meeting and they are in executive session to discuss non-elected personnel. They said they didn't think there would be any announcements as a result of the meeting. I am wondering if they are getting closer to announcing a new city administrator. If they do, I will post it here and then give a fuller story in the next edition of the Washington County News.
Sorry I've been quiet with posts lately. I've taken an at-home vacation and just been generally busy here. There are a lot of great new things in the works for the Washington County News and once I start to unveil them, I'm betting my readers will be as excited as I am!

Bethlehem, Immanuel receive placements

The area Lutheran population will be interested to learn that both Bethlehem Lutheran Church, rural Greenleaf, and Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Linn, received placements during "Call Day" this week.
Bethlehem's placement, Christopher LaBoube, is a candidate from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., and he is supposed to start in late August after finishing a vicarage in Ontario, Canada.
Immanuel will receive a vicar, Richard Rikli, for one year from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. He will start some time this summer.
More in this coming week's issue of the WC News.

Beloit area damage

A insurance agent in Mitchell County said a modular home was completely destroyed and a brick house across Highway 14 from it received a lot of damage. Another house east from there was shifted off its foundation. No one was hurt that they know of.

Trees down by Jamestown, but that's it

The Cloud County Sheriff's Department said the storm downed some trees by Jamestown, but there were no other reports of damage in Cloud County.
To the west, the Mitchell County Sheriff's Department was still out surveying damage and was not releasing a damage report until the survey was complete. The jailer did say there was likely a tornado on the ground in Mitchell County.

No Republic County damage

Local authorities reported no damage reports in Republic County last night.
Now I'm waiting on the Cloud County Sheriff's Department to get back from lunch or something. They told me to call back at 1 p.m. because the sheriff's department wasn't in. Strange.

No local storm damage

The Washington County Sheriff's Department received no reports of damage in Washington County from the wind/thunderstorms that came through last night. The main storm seemed to fizzle out right as it hit the western border of the county. I'll check on reports to the west of us.

Politics - what do you think?

At the end of his weekly column this week, columnist Josh Zenger asks you to consider the following questions:
Will a brokered Democratic Convention result in a weakened nominee? Based on the popular vote and delegates rather than policies, who do you think should be the Democratic Nominee? Which candidate can best compete against Senator McCain November? Which candidate would be easiest for the Republican Nominee to defeat?
If you have input, leave a comment here.

A bus boost

The downtown Washington economy has gotten a boost from bus tours in the last few weeks. A bus full of tourists from the Salina-Tescott area spent time at the museum and ate at Mayberry's about three weeks ago and today, another bus showed up to eat at Mayberry's. It's nice to see these tours stop downtown once in a while and having a restaurant that can handle lots of people is probably one of the main reasons they make the stop. They usually hit other places in the county during these trips too.

Jewell to join Pike Valley football program

Jewell High School has signed a cooperative sports agreement with Pike Valley High School to play football at Pike Valley. The combination will make the program the largest in the 8-man division I classification according to the most recent figures. They would be at 100 students compared to Clifton-Clyde at 96, the former top of the classification. I thought having 100 students would require a move to 11-man, but evidently not. Jewell was really hurting for numbers last season.
I've also heard that the school will adopt a four-day week this fall and they've let a few teachers go and a few more have resigned.
Declining enrollment is hurting many small schools in rural Kansas and the Jewell situation is just another example.
According to a story in the Belleville Telescope, a motion was made at the recent Pike Valley school board meeting to stop consolidation talks with Republican County USD 109. The motion died for lack of a second.
I think everyone is being affected by population decline and nobody seems to like it - rightfully so.

News from west of us

I heard yesterday that long-time Linn High School volleyball coach and math teacher Pat Holsch will be the new head volleyball coach at Republic County High School this fall. I believe she has taught math there and in Cuba since leaving Linn.

Also of note, long-time North Central volleyball coach and music teacher and current Clifton-Clyde volleyball coach and music teacher Kirk Gallion has evidently taken a job as music and vocal teacher for Republic County and Pike Valley. He will teach either vocals or band at one school and then head to the other for the other subject. At this time, he will not be coaching anywhere.

Washington City Council coverage

Our coverage of the Washington City Council meeting tonight will be noticeably inferior because I am leaving early (if I even go at all) because of the conflict with KU's involvement in the National Championship basketball game. If I am letting down my readers, I apologize, but this is the biggest game of my life and I refuse to miss it. Attempts to change the meeting date were shot down by a couple council members... evidently they take their job very seriously.
I'll do my best to get a summary of the events of the night's meeting for this or next week's issue, because there are a few important issues on the agenda this month.
But hey. I gotta have a life too!
Go Hawks!

Juvenile was apprehended at his residence

According to Undersheriff Traci Hattesohl, the sheriff’s department received a call about a criminal threat at 3:44 p.m. at Washington County High School. Officers responded to WCHS to investigate a criminal threat.
They apprehended the alleged 16-year old male at his residence in Washington without incident.
He is being held at a juvenile detention center.

Lockdown updates

I am waiting on a press release from the sheriff's department before I give another update. In the meantime, I would appreciate hearing from any students who had to go to the gym during the lockdown, what were your initial thoughts about what happened, etc. You can either post your comments here or e-mail them to me at newseditor@sbcglobal.net.

School followed crisis management plan

USD 108 Washington County superintendent Michael Stegman said the school followed the procedures of its crisis management plan after being informed of the criminal threat.
He said most of the students were gone from the school when the incident happened, but there were still athletes and teachers at the school. He said the student who made the threat left right away and there were never any weapons at the school, but staff did handle the threat appropriately with a lockdown as a precautionary measure.
Stegman said the staff did an excellent job and the plan worked well. After going through this process, he said they will go back and review the crisis management plan to fill in any gaps and also try to put something in place to dispel rumors that spread very quickly.
A Schoolreach phone message went out to parents last night to make parents aware of the incident.

WCHS put on lockdown after criminal threat

Washington County High School went on lockdown Thursday after school. At around 4 p.m., members of the track squad who were at practice were told by their coach to go into the gym. Students were later allowed to leave with parents who came and got them and then all were released around 5:20 p.m.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Department arrested a 16-year-old WCHS freshman who is being held in detention at a juvenile facility in Junction City.
This juvenile evidently made a criminal threat to another student, which caused the lockdown.
The sheriff’s department is working on a press release. I will continue to post information as it comes available.

Forwarding capability added

I just realized I can add a page element to this blog that would allow readers to forward any of my posts via e-mail to someone else. To do so, just click on the envelope near the bottom right corner of the post.

Latest poll results

The results are in for the two latest poll questions.
In response to the question asking "What is the county's biggest school rivalry in sports," the in-district Linn-Hanover rivalry was considered the biggest taking 45 of the 72 total votes (or 62%). In a distant second was the Washington County-Hanover rivalry with 12 votes and the Washington County-Linn rivalry at 8 votes. I assume the Linn-Hanover rivalry is now the biggest because they both play 8-man football and then obviously meet up in basketball. Of course they also share a district which is always a way to start a rivalry.

In response to the question "What should the future hold for the USD 223 district," there was a more even split of opinion. The majority, 32%, voted to split the district and let the schools do as they wish. This took in 21 of the 64 votes cast. In a close second were 18 votes for leaving the district as it is and in third were 16 votes to consolidate now and merge high schools later as needed. Since anyone can vote in these polls, this probably is not the best gauge of the topic since folks who have no connection to the two schools could place a vote.

Another poll will be posted soon.

No "Day of Silence" at WCHS

I've received a few e-mail forwards questioning whether students at Washington High School will be participating in a "Day of Silence" on Friday, April 25, organized by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network in Kansas, because Washington High School was among a list of schools in Kansas that are supposed to be part of the effort.
The answer is no.
The Washington High School in question is likely the Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas, more commonly known as "KC-Washington." All of the other schools that are listed in the effort are KC Metro and Topeka schools.
Plus, our school is actually Washington "County" High School, but leaving the "County" out is still a common mistake.
WCHS Principal Phil Wilson said he heard of the e-mail rumor being connected to his school, but also agreed that he thought they meant KC-Washington.

Still no commissioner candidates

Why is it that nobody is filing for the open county commissioner seat formerly held by Marcia Funke? Marcia has already announced she will not be running for re-election, yet nobody has signed up. This area covers all of Washington and then the townships north to the state border and then west to Mahaska.
While we have nobody running for this spot (and Gene Helms is the only one to file for his current spot in his Linn/Clifton area district) our neighbors to the east have 11 people running for an open Marshall County Commissioner position and that position only lasts until November's election.
Won't anyone in Washington step up and try to help the county progress into the future?

Cougar evidence in Kansas

An Associated Press story hit the news today about a mountain lion that was shot in Barber County, Kansas. It appears the landowner didn't know it was illegal to shoot a cougar and has been cooperating with law enforcement.
Here is a Wichita Eagle story:
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/352601.html

I'm just very pleased that this question of whether or not cougars live in Kansas can be put to rest. For years, Kansans have reported seeing the big cats (I've heard of several sightings in Washington County over the years), but the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks plays coy on the topic by saying there has been no firm confirmation and the animals may be escaped pets (if that were the case, every town would have to have a family with pet cougars.)
Of course, many sightings seem to be bogus. I've had strange stories circulate through this office many times and often it is "a hunter who is a friend of a friend has video of one that he saw from his deer stand." Of course it is always hard... impossible... to get a copy of that video. But that doesn't stop me from believing they are here. And I'll pay $100 cash to anyone who can get me a picture of a cougar that can be confirmed to have been photographed in Washington County.
While we're on the topic, feel free to leave a comment on any of your cougar sighting stories.

Clifton-Clyde Tribune for sale

The Clifton-Clyde Tribune, a reinvigorated small town newspaper, is for sale to someone who would like to help give a voice to the news and events in the communities of Clifton, Vining and Clyde. The newspaper has doubled in size over the last year and has drawn plenty of attention for its original news and school sports coverage, including winning several awards.
This would offer a great opportunity to an individual or group who would like to keep information flowing in the Clifton-Clyde area. The newspaper could be generated out of a home and the time commitment would work perfectly for a stay-at-hom mom or a retiree looking for something to do.
The newspaper has been profitable since its purchase on May 1 of last year, but the publisher’s time is stretched too thin to continue to be able to offer a proper local newspaper.
Financials are available for serious inquiries only.
Call publisher Dan Thalmann at 325-2219 days and 348-5768 evenings for more information.

Who's your Final Four?

I would have accomplished a lot more at work yesterday if I weren't watching KU on the Internet. My brackets are filled out. I have Kansas, Tennessee, Texas and Duke in my Final Four and KU beating Duke for the national title. Of course I'd rather look like a bad prognosticator than have North Carolina go all the way. So who do you have making it to the Final Four?

We need a new Washington County Hospital

County Commissioners urged the Washington County Hospital board on Monday to put the concept of a new hospital up for vote. The board hoped to go through the public building commission process, which was the same process used for the construction of the new jail.
While I fully support the construction of a new hospital, I probably agree with the commission that a vote should occur. Frankly, I believe a vote would be successful, but having it on the books would quiet some of the folks who enjoy complaining about such efforts. It would show them that they are in the minority with their opinion.
There are certain basic things I believe our county government should provide, including law enforcement, good roads and a proper medical facility among other necessities. While I appreciate the staff of the existing hospital, the physical structure of the hospital itself is dated and lacking in efficiency. Renovating the facility would only be a short-term answer to the problems. A new facility would also help the cause of recruiting doctors and nursing staff in the future. I’ve noticed hospitals to the west of Washington County can only seem to recruit foreign doctors for a short period of time. A new hospital facility might bring in someone who wants to spend their career here, much like Dr. Hodgson has (and we should thank him for that.)
Many of our county residents use hospitals in surrounding counties. That’s fine, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on ours. Having just had the experience a week and a half ago of having my daughter break her arm, I was so pleased that the trip to the emergency room was only a six minute trip since we switched our services to the Washington County Hospital last year, rather than a 25 minute trip like before. When a three-year-old daughter is in pain, every minute saved is worth a lot to a dad.
I hope Washington Countians support the construction of a new hospital. What do you think? What is the alternative? Leave a comment below.

Why waste more money on the airport?

As far as editorials go, I’ve never gotten such a positive response as I did when I wrote an editorial a few months ago questioning the wisdom of putting more county money into the further development of the county airport.
I think it was proper to upgrade the runway as they did a few years ago, but I do not think it would be proper now to go back and potentially lengthen the runway for jets. I live about 3/4 of a mile from the airport so I have a pretty good idea of the sort of use the facility gets… very little.
There are occasional airplanes that use the airport for landing training or for recreational stops, and I know there are a handful of business stops too, but I think the actual usage is limited to just a handful of pilots.
So I question why we need to pour more money into the airport when only a few people will actually receive benefit from it. The commissioners or economic development director cannot seem to come up with a huge outcry of demand for further development. In fact, I’m betting they’ve had an outcry of opposition to spending more money on the facility.
I also don’t buy the arguments that we need to do improvements in the name of homeland security… sounds like propaganda to me.
The county commission was recently awarded a $10,000 grant to do a development plan and now they’re deciding how much they want to add to that total. Evidently they didn’t take your advice earlier if you were opposed to spending more money on the airport, so it might be prudent to contact them again and repeat yourself.
This is not a project that is worthy of an “if you build it they will come” mentality. There are better ways to spend our county’s time and money than on upgrades to a rarely-used airport.

Update from state

The Hanover boys fell just shy of a state 1A basketball title by losing to South Gray, 42-49.
The South Gray girls team also won the girls 1A state title... this is the team that ousted the Linn girls in the first round.
So I guess that makes South Gray a pretty athletic school... blaa, blaa, blaa... I don't even know where Gray County is! Shows how significant they are! Okay, I'm bitter.

The Frankfort boys took third in class 2A by beating Wakeeny-Trego, 66-60.

Congrats to all the TVL teams that made it to State this year!

Update from State

South Gray 52, Linn 41

Centralia boys and girls and Valley Heights girls also lost, leaving only the Hanover and Frankfort boys in the state tourney from the TVL.

Visit from the Top Hawk

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway visited Washington last night to help honor area scholars, including the pictured scholars from Washington County High School. He said he had visited Greenleaf and Washington in the past, but couldn't remember exactly when. It was pretty neat to have the Top Hawk in Washington County for more than just a brief stop, especially since we are in K-State's backyard. When is the last time Jon Wefald has been here? Or has he ever been here?

Update from State

Hanover 52, Wallace County-Sharon Springs 47
Way to go Wildcats!

Tribune mess-ups this week

I had two big mess-ups in the Clifton-Clyde Tribune this week. The story on Albert T. Reid was supposed to jump from the bottom of the front page to page four where I was going to have a sample picture of his, but I failed to jump it. So the story is cut off in the middle and I will run it in its entirety next week.
On Brenda Odgers plunge story, I did remember to jump the story to page 3, but I put it under the jump headline of "Tribune" and I misspelled page as "paeg." I often use pre-created text boxes for the page creation process on the computer and I am supposed to change them, but unfortunately, I occasionally forget.
I was wondering why I got the Washington County News B section and Clifton-Clyde Tribune done so early today. I guess it was because I did them so sloppily.
Sorry for the confusion. Please tell your friends.

Washington pool effort

The Washington City Council approved the retainment of a financial advisor to work with them and a committee on the new pool project. The advisor is to look at the funding effort from every angle and give the committee and council advise on the best way to proceed. It seemed like the right thing to do. In fact, city attorney Jason Brinegar said if the council didn't hire a financial advisor, they just as well drop the effort.
I understand not everyone likes the idea of a new pool with amenities in Washington. I suppose the city could just replace the existing pool with a newer rectangle hole in the ground. Whether we like it or not, however, we must progress. We can't put in a new drive-in movie theater when everyone else is putting in indoor movie complexes.
It often seems like the up or down vote hangs with the generation of voters who no longer have children or even grandchildren in the area. Their kids or grandkids are living in the city enjoying indoor water parks and other recreational opportunities. We are a small town, but I'd like that generation to understand that each generation of Washingtonians should be allowed certain amenities during their upbringing. The committee isn't asking for a major waterpark – it is a pool with amenities and it will allow for years of family entertainment in our little town.

KU game

Of course, when KU really puts a thumping on a team, I'm stuck in an important (but long) city council meeting and I haven't yet seen one second of the game. I was a little worried that Texas Tech might be hot coming off their win over Texas, plus, I was worried KU might experience a let down after getting revenge on K-State.
Not so.
I wish I could have seen the performance that I was only able to read about. If they play the sort of game they played against K-State and Texas Tech, they could go deep into the tournament and I don't think any other team's A game could match KU's A game.

Story ideas

We really have no trouble finding story ideas for each week's issue of the Washington County News or Clifton-Clyde Tribune... our story list is mostly unmanageable the way it is. But that doesn't mean we won't add more ideas to our list and maybe even prioritize some we may not have known about. If you have a story idea for either newspaper, or even a general comment about a type of story of which you'd like to see more, please leave a comment below or e-mail me at newseditor@sbcglobal.net. I'll try to post a "Story ideas" request each week so you can send something in whenever you think of something.

Hog commentary

The comments on the topic of hogs was kind of buried under a "For this week" post from Feb. 4, and I know people have had trouble finding it since the printed version was in the newspaper. So I posted the two existing comments below so folks can read them and post new comments here rather than under the Feb. 4 post. - Dan

• • • • • •
aneighbor said...
I just discovered this blog spot. I am assuming anyone can post their comments here. So here goes.
We live out south of Haddam and are being gradually surrounded with hog confinement facilities. The few of us in this area are concerned about what our summer is going to be like with the horrendous odor from these operations. It may be impossible to sit on our front porch in the evening and enjoy ourselves. It may be impossible to hang our laundry outside to dry in the breeze. I guess there surely will be a breeze, but I am sure it will not be very pleasant and our clothes will not smell nice.
We are at retirement age and the thought of spending our senior years in constant stench is very upsetting.
We believe the owners/operators of these facilities are not concerned about the odors as they do not live near their operations and will not be effected when the south summer wind blows.
February 24, 2008 2:10 PM

• • • •
HFH said...
Welcome to the club "aneighbor". We here a few miles northeast of Morrowville have put up with what you note for at least 20 years.
A couple of our so called neighbors have polluted our "clean air" for that length of time and perhaps even longer. And, of course, as in your case they both live far away from the stench that they create.
I do not make my living at the expense of my neighbor’s quality of life as these people do. One lives southeast of Washington and collects thousands and thousands of dollars worth of antique motorcycles far from the stench of his hogs. The other lives near the golf course in a new home that surely cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars. They both in fact do make their living at the expense of their neighbor’s quality of life!
My advice to you is that you should leave D.T. to his perfect world here in Washington County Kansas and get the heck out of here. That is my intention.
February 28, 2008 9:55 PM

Dairy fire

The Linn, Palmer and Greenleaf Fire Departments were called to Linn Willow Creek Dairy today (Feb. 28) around 11 a.m. for a fire in their shop. The shop is the structure on the far south edge of the dairy complex. The fire seemed to be under control quickly as there was no smoke by the time I got out there soon after the call went out. I’ll try to update the story if details come available.

Update
A skid loader caught fire in the shop and they were able to pull it out. There was no damage to the building.

New Washington City Administrator search is on

The Washington City Council will advertise to fill the position of Washington City Administrator, which will be vacated in late April by Tim Schook, who will resign to take a job in Arma.
The council had a special meeting to discuss the impending vacancy at noon today, Feb. 28. There had been some rumor of suggestions that the City ought to try to do without the position and have department heads take up extra responsibilities. I figure, once you give each department head some extra pay to fulfill those duties, you won’t be saving much money and some responsibilities will start falling through the cracks.
It is imperative that the council hire a qualified, experienced individual to fill the position. Every applicant should be judged with the utmost in scrutiny to make sure we will not miss a step in continuing forward progress in the community. There’s too much good going on right now to trip up with a bad hire.

Signs of change?

I heard some interesting news today while talking to an area resident about our wish that more of our local high school graduates would move back to the area after going off to college or vo-tech.
She said there was a good chance that her son and daughter-in-law might be moving back to the county soon. They’re both from the area.
This news isn’t that unusual, but the fact that her daughter-in-law wants to move back, in my opinion, makes the situation unique. You see, her daughter-in-law is probably one of the smartest students to graduate from one of our local high schools in the last decade at least. She received all sorts of acclaim both while in high school and also on the university level for original research in a scientific field (stuff I couldn’t even begin to understand.)
Honestly, when I received their engagement notice for the Washington County News a while ago, I remember thinking, “they’ll never be back.” I guess I became accustomed to our best and brightest students, especially those who went to college in the field of science, to leave after high school and never return. This was a typical case of “brain drain” from rural Kansas. With this particular couple, both looked like they had very bright futures ahead of them in some amazing career… somewhere else.
But now, the fact that they’re even considering returning is just blowing me away. Could I be wrong that the current trend of depopulation will likely continue?
Whether this couple actually returns to the area or not is not as important to this trend as the fact that these sorts of people are even thinking about it and wanting to return. And the kicker is that she would like to have a family and be a stay-at-home mom. Again, not a stereotypical (and I know I’m stereotyping) life choice by someone with her academic prowess.
As I continue to sit here in disbelief about this news, a part of me still holds out hope that there will be a time in my lifetime, and possibly soon, when young folks do start moving back to Washington County after college or vo-tech. And not just someone here and there – I’m talking a significant portion of our local graduates starting a new trend of returning to their small town roots. And as they start new businesses, or help existing businesses grow, other folks who have no connection to the area will move here for the jobs that were created as a result of the graduates returning.
Honestly, we do have a pretty good situation here (as compared to many rural counties in Western Kansas.) Washington County is within an hour and a half drive from the cities of Manhattan, Salina and Lincoln, Neb., and all of the leisure, recreation and entertainment options those cities provide (things that appeal to young folks).
When you add that to the safety of small town life, the fantastic educational opportunities in both public and parochial setting, the fact that you know everyone and everyone can help watch over your kids, the lack of traffic jams, the calm pace of life, the stars at night and wide open vistas… and there is something to be said for having some history in an area (my kids are eighth generation Washington Countian through my wife’s family line) and a sense of place… you just can’t beat life here.
What do you think? Are we going to see a trend of local grads return to Washington County? Is there something we’re still missing that we have to achieve before we can see a trend of population increase? Or are the stories of returning grads just a blip in a declining trend that will continue? I want to hear what you think.