Archive By Author - Susan Thacker
It's the End
If you're reading this, the world isn't over. But, anyone who believes the world will end today – because of "predictions" in the ancient Mayan calendar – must not be expecting to receive the next Great Bend Tribune on Sunday. Either an asteroid, or aliens, or maybe a supernova, are scheduled to bring on our destruction by midnight, or by 2018 if you factor in all of the leap years that the ancient calendar missed. ...
Madrigals put wraps on 2012
Great Bend High School's Madrigal Pops group gave its final public performance of 2012 on Wednesday, singing at the noon Kiwanis meeting. The final song, as always, was "Reach Out and Touch." "This is what we wish for your Christmas," vocal music instructor Susan Stambaugh told the audience. The signed and sung version of "Reach Out and Touch" was chosen as the group's signature song by Jenny Allford. Stambaugh became the vocal music director after ...
Santa wears a badge
Several area children were treated to a holiday shopping spree at Walmart on Wednesday, courtesy of Great Bend police officers. Members of the Fraternal Order of Police handed out $40 gift cards and helped children make their selections. Detective Scott Bieberle said the money for the annual "Cops and Kids" event came from donations to the FOP during the fall telephone solicitation. "They can buy for themselves or for their family," he said. Several of ...
Stafford motorist dies, others injured
A Stafford woman died Monday when the car she was driving was hit from behind and pushed into the path of an oncoming semitrailer in Pratt County.
More suspects named in drug busts
The Barton County jail "media log" for Friday, Dec. 14, was released Monday and contained more names of men arrested last week on drug charges, including at least two who are suspects in a Kansas Bureau of Investigation case. Brandon M. Williams, Hoisington, was booked on charges of sale of methamphetamine, obstruction, and possession of a weapon in furtherance of a drug crime. Keith Harder of Great Bend was booked for three counts of sale ...
Debt Armageddon
On Jan. 1, our taxes will go up, the budget will be cut and the U.S. economy, we are told, will go over a financial cliff. On Dec. 21, we are told, the world's longest calendar will come to an end ... and so, some believe, will mankind. It's too bad that our lawmakers have turned balancing the budget into a Beltway version of Armageddon rhetoric. Worst-case scenario, Congress will do nothing and our trillion-dollar ...
Parish celebrates December miracle
Prince of Peace Parish in Great Bend celebrated the 481st anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe with prayers, dancing and music this week. Latino Catholics met at St. Rose Church for two days, breaking from the complicated line dances Wednesday evening to share a meal. Elementary school girls danced the "Danza la Morenita del Tepeyac," recalling how the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac, Mexico, on Dec. ...
BCC hires coaches, names practice court
Phil Shoemaker may be "retiring" from coaching NCAA volleyball, but his work is only beginning at Barton Community College. The board of trustees approved his appointment as the college's new head volleyball coach at Tuesday's meeting. After his Alaska Nanooks team played its last home games last month in Fairbanks, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported, "Shoemaker is retiring at the end of the season, his 13th with the Nanooks of the NCAA Division II Great ...
GBRC board extends Henderson’s contract
The Great Bend Recreation Commission board on Monday extended GBRC Director Diann Henderson's contract by three years, to June 30, 2019. The action followed 20 minutes of discussion in an executive session which Henderson attended. The board also approved a 5 percent cost of living raise wage increase for Henderson, effective July 1, 2013. Monday was the last meeting for board member Bruce Hofeling, who received a plaque in appreciation for his eight years of ...
Pearl Harbor
Seventy-one years ago today, a surprise military attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, rocked our world. Twenty-four hundred people lost their lives. Americans who had resisted entering World War II were now taking the global strife personally.
Arctic fox arrives at zoo
With her white winter coat, the newest arrival at Great Bend's Brit Spaugh Zoo looks ready for Christmas. But it will be several weeks before Vixey, an arctic fox, will move to an enclosure that is open to public viewing, said Marge Bowen, zoo curator. Bowen traveled to Wichita Wednesday to pick up the fox, which comes to Great Bend from the Winnipeg Zoo in Canada. To make paperwork for the international move less complicated, ...
Zoo News: Eagles treated at Raptor Center
One section of Brit Spaugh Zoo that is seldom seen by the public is currently housing several birds of prey. The zoo is headquarters for the Great Bend Raptor Center, where injured birds are rehabilitated. This week the center is treating a Golden Eagle and a Bald Eagle, both suffering from gunshot wounds. Zookeeper Stacie Hayes said one of the eagles was shot in central Kansas, and one came from western Kansas. Shooting these birds ...
Adventist Christmas program has multicultural flair
Note: Content has been changed to correct the time of the program. English is not the first language of the majority of the seven students who attend Great Bend's Seventh-day Adventist School, so the school Christmas program combines the customs and songs of Mexico and the United States, Principal Betty Hay said. The program will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Seventh-day Adventist school, located with the church one mile west ...
Historical Society celebrates Ghosts of Christmas Past
The prototype for the Charlie Brown Christmas tree could have come from the Great Plains. Sometimes the "tree" was little more than a decorated branch, but it wouldn't do to let the holiday go by unobserved. Like the forlorn tree in the animated classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," some of the trees used by settlers in the nineteenth century were a bit sparse, but the intention was there, says Beverly Komarek, executive director of the ...
Holy Family School to present Christmas musical Tuesday
They're baa-ck. The sheep get some of the best lines in "The Tale of the Drowsy Shepherd," this year's musical production by the fifth and sixth graders of Holy Family School.
Articles By Author - Susan Thacker
Poppies to honor veterans available
The American Legion Auxiliary will be out this Memorial weekend asking for donations to help with its Poppy Program. Members will be in front of Great Bend businesses with poppies this evening and all day Saturday. They will also be out on Sunday if they still have some of the 3,000 poppies, said Marianne Krallman, cochair of this year's Poppy Program. Look for volunteers in front of Walmart, both Dillon's stores, Orscheln's and True Value ...
Ironic freedom
On Thursday, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill that establishes "Celebrate Freedom Week" during the week of Sept. 17 and requires schools to teach students about the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence in grades K-8 each year during that week. (Sept. 17, 1787, is the date the U.S. Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia.)
Two Barton coaching contracts 'pending'
Nine head coaching contracts were renewed Wednesday when the Barton Community College Board of Trustees met, but the contracts of two head coaches are "pending final review." The board discussed personnel matters behind closed doors for nearly an hour before voting on head coach contracts, administrative contracts and contracts for managerial staff. Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman said there were no changes in head coaches, but the board did not approve a contract for a ...
Two flee; child left in truck
A minor child was left in a truck with a loaded gun Monday night as two suspects fled from Barton County deputies.
Our zoo is famous and other local news
Tying up a few loose ends on stories that didn't make the front page:
Higher gas prices not likely to drop by weekend
Gasoline prices have risen dramatically in the past two weeks throughout much of the Midwest. While the price increases may ease off by June, but don't expect relief at the pump this Memorial Weekend, industry experts say. The American Automobile Association's online daily fuel gauge report and GasBuddy.com both showed the average price for a gallon of regular gas Monday in Kansas was $3.92. Just one week ago, the average price was $3.64, and it ...
Cool/Not Cool
The Imagination Playground is coming to Great Bend and will make its public debut during June Jaunt. The portable playground is a set of oversized blocks, lightweight but sturdy enough to build with. They were designed by award-winning architect David Rockwell, who was inspired by watching his own children play.
These masterpieces have wheels
Barton County Historic Society is celebrating the 60th anniversary of organized drag racing in the Golden Belt with a new exhibit and a car show during its open house this Saturday.
GBRC shares Blue Ribbon Award to promote health
Several people working to make Barton County a healthier place received some recognition and financial assistance Monday during the Great Bend Recreation Commission Board meeting. Doug Vance, executive director of the Kansas Recreation & Park Association, visited the meeting along with representatives from BlueCross BlueShield of Kansas, to present a $2,500 facsimile check and a banner in honor of Great Bend winning the Blue Chip award.
Trash talk
The senior class president of Heights High School in Wichita was suspended for the rest of the school year after posting a bit of trash talk about the school football team on Twitter.
BCC may opt out of conceal carry law
Barton Community College trustees may request an exemption to a new gun law taking effect July 1.
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