Pick a story and stick to it

There are so many blunders in life that are really only visible in the rear view mirror. Mostly that's because we refuse to listen until we can actually see wreckage.

Mom and dad run the treasury

President Barack Obama surprised everyone when he appointed two of the country's finest money-management experts to rein in runaway government spending: my mother and father.

NFL Picks

Picks for upcoming National Football League games: Baltimore (minus 8) at Carolina - When will the Ravens begin looking like a Super Bowl contender? How about in Charlotte on Sunday against the awful Panthers? ... BEST BET: RAVENS, 20-10 Tampa Bay (plus 4) at San Francisco - Buccaneers are an NFC contender. Niners still think they could be one at 3-6. Maybe not after they fall to 3-7. ... UPSET SPECIAL: BUCCANEERS, 21-16 Indianapolis ...

AP Top 25 Basketball

No. 3 Kansas State 76, Presbyterian 67 MANHATTAN (AP) - Jacob Pullen scored 15 points, leading No. 3 Kansas State to a tough win over Presbyterian on Thursday night. Up 14 at the half, Kansas State (3-0) couldn't shake Presbyterian. The Blue Hose (0-2) opened the half with 13-7 run and then kept chipping away. Jake Troyli and Khalid Mutakbbir hit 3-point shots to cut the Wildcats' lead to 63-60 with 9:35 to play. It ...

NBA Capsules

Orlando 105, Phoenix 89 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Jameer Nelson had 15 points and a season-high 12 assists, and the Orlando Magic easily handled a Phoenix Suns team playing without Steve Nash in a 105-89 win on Thursday night. Dwight Howard added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and every starter scored in double digits for the Magic, who built a 32-point lead and blew past the Suns from the opening tip. With Nash sidelined because ...

LCMHF announces Employees of the Quarter

The Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility has announced the following Employees of the Quarter for the fourth quarter of 2010: Uniformed, Brad Shields, COI; Non-Uniformed, Pamela Delp, Senior Administrative Assistant; Contract, Roy Spray, Mental Health Professional.

Larned High School's November Spotlight winners named

Winners of Spotlight honors for November were announced Thursday at Larned High School They were:

Jess Torrez

TOPEKA - Jess Torrez, 84, of Topeka, formerly of Great Bend, passed away on Nov. 13 after a battle with esophageal cancer and Alzheimer's at Manor Care Health Services in Topeka. Born on Aug. 2, 1926, in Hanston, he was the son of Silbrestre and Isabel (Ruiz) Torrez. Jess graduated from Larned High School and then attended police training at the University of Kansas. He married Josefina Lucia Hernandez on Sept. 28, ...

Rodney Dale Lee

Rodney Dale Lee, 46, died Nov. 16 at his home in Great Bend. Born Sept. 18, 1964, in Hale Center, Texas, He was the son of Robert Byron and Mary Elizabeth (Ashby) Lee. A Great Bend resident for a year, coming from Lyons, he was a trim carpenter. Survivors include his mother, Mary Elizabeth Wigham of Lyons; two sons, Christopher B. Lee and Matthew Lee, both of Austin, Texas; a daughter, ...

Marion Douglas Critser

HAYS – Marion Douglas Critser, 58, passed away Nov.14 at his home in Hays. Doug was born Jan. 1, 1952, the fourth child of Bob and Ruth (Nuss) Critser, in Great Bend. He was baptized in the Lutheran faith Feb.10, 1952, in Great Bend. He was confirmed in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church on May 29, 1966, in WaKeeney. Doug graduated from Trego Community High School on May 25, 1970. Following high ...

SOH to raise funds for Haiti

Star of Hope in Ellinwood is raising funds to purchase goats, chickens, treadle sewing machines and for student support.

Area briefs

Chamber to sponsor decorating contest The Hoisington Chamber of Commerce Promotion Committee will once again sponsor the Home Decorating Contest. This year there will be three Hoisington Gift Certificates given to the Best Decorated Residences for the 2010 Christmas Season. To be eligible for the contest, residents must register with the Chamber of Commerce by Dec. 13. First Place will be awarded a $75 Certificate, second place, $60 and $40 for ...

Crime Stoppers seeks tips on burglaries

Sometime between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Nov. 9, a shed at 457 SE 20 Ave. was burglarized. Great Bend Police Chief Dean Akings, speaking for Crime Stoppers of Barton County and Great Bend, said items stolen included a Lincoln-brand welder, Hitachi chop saw, Dewald grinder, kerosene heater, cutting torch and other shop equipment. Loss was $2,100. Police are also seeking information about a burglary that ...

Nov. 19, 2010

Barton County Sheriff A motorist backed into another vehicle driven by an Ellinwood city official in the 10 block of North Main, Ellinwood, at 4:36 p.m. Wednesday. The sheriff's office responded to this non-injury accident. A vehicle hit a deer on U.S. 281, about a mile south of Hoisington, at 6:33 p.m. Wednesday. Kansas Highway Patrol responded. Great Bend Police Theft of a check from 2334 ...

Ecumenical Thanksgiving services announced at St. Mark, Trinity Lutheran

Pastors at two Great Bend churches encourage Christians to attend a Thanksgiving service of their choice next week. Both St. Mark Lutheran, 2101 Jackson, and Trinity Lutheran, 2701 24th St., announced special services. During these services they also will accept offerings of money and/or canned goods that will be given to the food banks of Hoisington, Rush County (in La Crosse) and Great Bend. St. Mark Lutheran will hold a Thanksgiving ...

Kansas CRP meetings for landowners prior to signup hosted by PF

Pheasants Forever is hosting fifty-one informational meetings across Kansas for landowners and agricultural producers in advance of the USDA Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up that runs May 20 through June 14. Led by Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists, landowners can learn how to increase their farm or ranch income while creating wildlife habitat in the process.

Senior Menu

The following well-balanced and nutritious Friendship Meals will be served for lunch at the Great Bend Senior Center, 2005 Kansas Ave. Meals are served with milk; donations for coffee and tea are accepted.

USD 428, Holy Family, Central Kansas Christian Academy and HeadStart Schools

The following meals will be served May 13 through May 17. The secondary schools also have available daily: Main dish second choices, chef's salad, combo lunches and choice of vegetables and dessert. The breakfast menu is offered only to students in USD 428. Menus are subject to change without notice. Milk served with all meals. All meals as offered meet USDA nutritional guidelines.

Club Calendar

Sunday

Even Animal Lovers Prefer No Rabbits in the Garden

This week, I found a column from K-State's Mary Lou Peter about the rabbits that are out and about. They may be cute hopping around in a field, but when they get into your garden, their cuteness wears a little thin.

Learn from History

History is one of our greatest teachers.

Panther Bands Spring Concert recognize seniors, parents, accomplishments

Panther Band members will present their Spring Concert at 7 p.m. on May 13 in the GBHS Gym. The band seniors and their parents will be recognized, as well as all of the band student's achievements during the year.

Do We Still Need the Department of Education?

When executives of corporations are caught aiding and abetting criminal behavior of their employees, the executives are prosecuted and the businesses are destroyed.

Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science prepares to honor 3rd graduating class

The 27 members of the 2013 class of the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science will walk across the stage at Commencement beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, in the Fort Hays Ballroom on the second floor of the Memorial Union.

Pecked

Lots to Celebrate in May

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there! The month of May has arrived and that means a frenzy of activity for families who are celebrating Mother's day today and graduations now or in the weeks ahead. I am truly blessed to have my mother-in-law, daughter, and granddaughters close by. It is a joy to spend time together at a moment's notice. Hopefully your weekend plans include some good family time with plenty of hugs.

Prides of Kansas Lions To Wichita Convention

The annual Kansas Lions State Convention in Wichita, May 30 - June 1, 2013, will take on an international significance as the Kansas Lions host Lions Clubs International President Wayne Madden and wife Linda at the Airport Hilton Convention Center.

MILC, SURE, and NAP will restart on May 8

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced today that farm payments, which had been temporarily suspended due to sequestration, are scheduled to resume today, May 8th. This includes payments for the 2011 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program (NAP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC).

Why Does It Matter?

This is finals week at Barton and many of the other colleges around the state. For instructors it's time to evaluate what students learned over the last semester. For students it's time for that one last push to maintain or raise their grades. While faculty see testing as a method to evaluate learning and adjust accordingly, students often see testing as a way to be tortured. Students focus on the grade while faculty focus on ...

Play safe on the farm

The dream of many young farm boys and girls is to ride on a tractor. For a youngster, the mammoth tractor epitomizes raw power, responsibility and coming of age.