Archive By Author - Susan Thacker
Sunflower Spelling Bee moving to Hays
The state spelling bee hosted by the Great Bend Tribune for the past five years will move to Hays in 2013.
​Man in hospital following altercation at residence
A 34-year-old man was hospitalized Wednesday after being battered at a Great Bend residence. Keeven Hendricks was listed in fair condition Thursday at Via Christi Health's St. Francis Hospital in Wichita.
Dry times
Another hot and dry year has us thinking about water – yours, mine and ours. We need it for crops and livestock; we need it to stay alive. We want it for recreation, and for pretty green lawns.
Zoo News:
Brit Spaugh Zoo Director Scott Gregory will head to Arizona today, where he and other Great Bend officials will meet with the board of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. On Saturday afternoon, they'll learn if the zoo has gained the AZA accreditation it has been working toward.
Planting Seeds
They may not all be future farmers, but today's fourth graders are already consumers of products grown by Kansas farmers and ranchers. On Wednesday, Barton County's fourth graders were invited to spend a day on the Roger Brining farm west of Great Bend to learn more about agriculture.
Double homicide remains unsolved
It's been nearly 10 years since two Great Bend women were found murdered in the Dolly Madison bakery outlet store at 1004 Harrison St. Store employee Mandi Alexander, 24, and customer Mary Drake, 79, were killed on Sept. 4, 2002, and the crime remains unsolved.
Not so marvelous
This month members of the American Federation of Musicians picketed the Screen Gem studios in Wilmington, N.C., where Marvel (a Walt Disney Co. subsidiary) is shooting "Iron Man 3."
Not so marvelous
This month members of the American Federation of Musicians picketed the Screen Gem studios in Wilmington, N.C., where Marvel (a Walt Disney Co. subsidiary) is shooting "Iron Man 3."
Autism Walk first step for local group
Efforts to start a non-profit group for autism awareness in the Barton County area will include an Autism Walk next month at Great Bend's Brit Spaugh Zoo.
VALOR AWARDS
Friday's tournament at StoneRidge was about more than golf.
Gun control
Police in Port St. Lucie, Fla., are looking for a "burglar" who stole a gun and knife from Mike Maisonneuve's unlocked car in his driveway. But the act sounds more like an intervention than a crime. Even the victim is treating it as a wake-up call, according to the story as reported by WPBF-TV.
BCC wraps up grant on high note
A $2 million grant to Barton Community College ends this month, but the work it started – job training for prison inmates – will continue, the Barton Community College trustees learned Thursday.
Polka Days are here again
Music lovers came from nine states this weekend for Polka Days. The music and dancing that started Friday evening with the Wes Windholz band continues through Sunday at the Great Bend Convention Center.
Byways tell the stories of Kansas
Ten years ago, Houston-based consultant Ted Eubanks helped create the nature-tourism strategy for Great Bend that culminated in the Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway designation and building the Kansas Wetlands Education Center on K-156. Now Eubanks, through his company Fermata Inc., has been hired to develop "interpretive plans" for each of the 11 Kansas scenic byways.
EduKan director reports advances in online education
Technology that monitors mouse clicks and other information is being used to combat identity fraud on the Internet, the director of EduKan said. The e-college consortium formed by six community colleges, including Barton Community College, is using Biometric Signature Identification to stop students enrolled in online college courses from having someone else take their tests.
Articles By Author - Susan Thacker
Julie Zeck joins Hearts Aflame lineup
Julie Zeck is one of the featured speakers scheduled to minister at the 2015 Hearts Aflame Women's Conference in Great Bend.
Playing Chicken: Moran pushes for common sense
Sen. Jerry Moran often talks about his "common sense" solutions, but they aren't always an easy sell in Congress. On Wednesday, the Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Moran that would have removed the lesser prairie chicken from the federal government's threatened species list.
Barton administration supports Fort Riley
The future of Fort Riley will be the subject of a town hall meeting Feb. 9 in Junction City. Barton Community College representatives plan to attend and be heard as officials from the Department of the Army listen to community members' input on how possible personnel reductions on the base could affect them.
Temporary library outpost opens Monday
With renovation at the Great Bend Public Library underway, staff are busy moving books and other essentials to the temporary outpost at 3407 10th St.
HOMETOWN TEAMS
ELLINWOOD - Twenty-one crates from the Smithsonian Institution arrived at the Ellinwood School/Community Library on Monday. Inside those crates was an American story: the story of athletes, coaches and the fans who cheer them on. The traveling exhibit, "Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America," will open officially at 10 a.m. Saturday at the library, located at 210 N. Schiller Ave., but those who attend the Chamber of Commerce Coffee at 10 a.m. on Friday can get a sneak peek at the artifacts and over 200 photographs from the Smithsonian's collection highlighting Americans and their love for sports.
Barton showcases campus on Senior Day
In colloquial terms, "senioritis" is defined as an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as they move closer to graduation. The opposite might be dubbed "senior excite-is," a condition in evidence Saturday at Senior Day on the Barton Community College campus.
Emotional recharge
Who doesn't like to see Kansas ranking near the top of a positive poll? This week we learned that Kansas is ranked the No. 4 Most Emotionally Recharged state for 2015, according to the Lantern Emotional Balance Index.
BCC sets new teacher credential standards
Barton Community College will change its polices on faculty credentials to comply with changes in Kansas Board of Regents regulations, BCC Vice President Dr. Penny Quinn told the college's board of trustees on Thursday. Now, off-campus instructors will need to have the same minimum credentials as full-time faculty.
The Amazing Spidey
Most spider monkeys live to be about 25 years old, so the 50th birthday of Great Bend's Spidey is amazing. In fact, the staff at Brit Spaugh Zoo believe he's the second oldest spider monkey in the world.
Spidey's birthday photos
Photos taken Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in celebration of Spidey's 50th birthday. Spidey, at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo, is believed to be the second-oldest living spider monkey in the world.
Christian Unity Service moves beyond denominations
The Barton County Association of Churches is moving to an ecumenical chapel this year for its annual Christian Unity Service. People of all denominations - as well as those without a church home - are invited to attend the service at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Central Kansas Dream Center Chapel, 2100 Broadway Ave. They should use the west entrance.
A vote for status quo
Sen. Mitch Holmes, R-St. John, recently told constituents that the Legislature hasn't given up on the idea of doing away with April elections. The idea is to add city and school board races to November ballots and perhaps boost election turnout. There has also been talk of making them partisan races.
Page 1 of 1
