Walking trail

Library displays gnomes

HOISINGTON - The Hoisington Public Library is displaying a series of gnomes at the library, owned by Bruce Custer.

EDH renews contract GPHA

Michelle Kaiser's three-year-old preschool class at Roosevelt Elementary School learned about healthy habits with the help of PBS Kids. In a video, Sid, the Science Kid, showed good hand washing skills so everyone doesn't catch a cold. They learned that germs are what causes colds, although to see germs, they have to be viewed with an electron microscope. The children learned germs are spread by coughing into your hand. Then the ...

Council hears update on library

HOISINGTON - The Hoisington City Council heard at its Wednesday night about the new expansion at the Hoisington Public Library from Library Director Pat Brown and board member Judy Ray.

DeWerff heads to Haiti

ELLINWOOD - Long-time Ellinwood resident Katie DeWerff moved to Haiti in June and works full-time as an administrator in the Project Pep La camp, which is a 20,000 person tent camps. They emphasize a hand-up not a hand-out, trying to teach spiritual values along the way.

Scenic byway committee continues to promote economic development

BARTON COUNTY - The Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway stretches through 77 miles of Barton and Stafford counties. And over the past year, the National Scenic Byway Committee has sought to help each of the seven corridor communities (including Great Bend, Hoisington, Claflin, Ellinwood, Hudson, St. John and Stafford) develop tourism with the help of Judy Walden, president of the Walden Mills Group.

Giddy 'up cowgirl

ELLINWOOD - Ten-year-old Breckyn Rowley, a fifth grader at Ellinwood Grade School, has a new friend named Barney. She recently began riding and taking care of her grandparent's 15-year-old quarter horse. She started showing the horse in June and has competed in showmanship, walk/trot and pleasure riding. She is a member of 4-H and also of the American Quarter horse Youth Association. "He's a woolley mammoth," said Breckyn. "It's hard to ...

USD 112 chooses school names

HOLYROOD - The Unified School District 112 Central Plains Board of Education voted at its Monday meeting to change the names of three of the four schools in the new consolidated district in an unanimous vote.

USD 431 meets

HOISINGTON - The USD 431 School Board heard a good audit report given by Ken Beran and Meagan Wellbrock from Adams, Brown, Beran and Ball at its Monday night meeting. The board voted to accept the audit as presented for the 2009-10 year.

Student presents William Allen White award

ELLINWOOD - Ellinwood Middle School student Michaela Hughes, one of the top readers in her school, presented the William Allen White Children's Book Award to 2010 grades 6-8 winner Cynthia Kadohata for her novel "Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam" earlier this month at Emporia State University.

Friendly Meals served

HOISINGTON - Providing more than food, the Friendship Meals program in Hoisington, which have been served in town since the 1980s, has moved to a new location at the Scout House, 419 E. Third St.

Ellinwood awarded for its green efforts

ELLINWOOD - The City of Ellinwood received Wednesday afternoon the first ever recycling and composting plaque from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for its total environmental stewardship, recognizing the efforts of Ellinwood to manage waste.

ATV rodeo

CHS to hold city spruce-up day

CLAFLIN - Claflin High School students will have Claflin city spruce-up day at 1 p.m. on Oct. 10, meeting at CHS parking lot.

LSH patient soliciting donations

LARNED – Local and area churches have recently received letters and phone calls from "Pastor" Bob Ruth, who is in the Larned State Hospital, from the "Church of the Redeemed," soliciting donations and the names of prayer partners for patients at LSH. The letter asks the churches to "join with their LSH ministry in praying for the prisoners."

Copper recycling

Copper recycling can be a good thing coming out of old air conditioning or plumbing during replacement. Copper is a non-renewable resource, and apparently recycled copper is worth nearly as much as new copper.

Hoisington City Council discusses animal control

HOISINGTON - The Hoisington City Council decided at its regular meeting last week to continue the animal control options the way they currently are. The city currently takes all stray animals to the Hoisington Veterinary Hospital. The council had looked at a proposal to take care of the animals by the city as a cost saving measure, but turned it down.

City of Ellinwood to purchase property

ELLINWOOD - The Ellinwood City Council, at its regular meeting on Tuesday, agreed to purchase 11-12 acres of property from Alfred Pohlman for $3,600. The property is located north of 7th St. It is west of Kennedy and north of the water tower.

Hoisington to host annual ‘Mud Run’

HOISINGTON - Engines will once again roar as drivers try to drive through the mud at the fourth annual Mud Run at 1 p.m. on June 1 in Hoisington, south of the railroad track on the east side of U.S. 281. It will be held in conjunction with the Kansas Mud Racing Organization.

USD 355 board taking steps for iPad initiative

ELLINWOOD - The USD 355 School Board, at its regular meeting Monday night, agreed to take another step in the iPad initiate. Currently, about twenty percent of the certified staff have iPads. The board agreed to buy approximately 30 more so that the remaining staff would have an iPad.

Foreign tourism developing in Barton County

Travel writer Matt Bates of Scotland and Lisa Weigt, International Program director for Kansas/ Oklahoma Travel and Tourism recently toured Barton County.

Living a "Glass half-Full' Life

In the early 2000s, like so many up and coming children of the prairie, Ellinwood native J. Basil Dannebohm, had the bright lights of the city shining in his eyes.

School board makes appointments

ELLINWOOD - At its regular monthly meeting, the USD 355 school board made two appointments to the new Ellinwood Recreation Commission Board of Directors. They were Mel Waite for four years, and Rob Fisher for one year. The ERC will soon begin planning a budget, hiring a director, and making plans for 2014.

Soaring with Eagles

America's Promise and DARE contest essay winners soared to the highest height on Saturday when members of the Experimental Aircraft Club in Great Bend took them on a 15-20 minutes airplane ride over Great Bend.

Just swinging

School bell rings the last time for two retiring teachers

HOISINGTON - Touching the lives and improving the minds of over a 1,000 children after three decades of service, USD 431 teachers Darla Clark and Becky Andereck will close the last book bags of their careers this month. Both began and ended their service in Hoisington.

Logical flood insurance rules finally passed

At long last, Congress, yes that gridlocked legislative body in D.C., has made changes to the National Flood Insurance Program. Astoundingly, the new rules actually make sense.