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.