Archive By Section - News
College ready to cut mil levy, raise wages
Barton Community College plans to spend 5 percent more on salaries and cut the local tax rate by half a mil, with a proposed budget approved Thursday. The board of trustees approved a budget for publication and will hold a public budget hearing at 4 p.m. on Aug. 4, in room F-30 of the Fine Arts Building. Based on an assessed valuation of $260,961,445, the estimated tax rate will ...
New preliminary hearing granted for Longoria
Prosecutors are ready to drop the charge that Adam Joseph Longoria had oral sex with Great Bend teenager Alicia DeBolt before she was murdered last August, in light of evidence that the male DNA found in her mouth was not the defendant's. Assistant Attorney General Victor Braden said the State is still seeking the death penalty, but wants to amend the reason for its capital murder charge from first-degree ...
SAVING THE PAST
HOLYROOD - These days it seems easier to tear down old buildings than to repair and save them. One Holyrood businessman decided that was not going to happen to a two-story lime stone building on Holyrood's Main Street. In 1880, H.C. Frevert constructed a three-story lime stone general store on the original Holyrood town site about 1/2 mile south of the current site. When the railroad was built north of the town ...
Hot, dry and dangerous
Just in case anyone didn't believe the drought and heat were serious, the government continues to react to this crisis that just seems to have no end in sight.
Carrier eligible for parole for 1970 murder
After 40 years in prison, a man convicted of first degree murder in Russell County may be eligible for parole on Oct. 1. Raymond Russell Carrier, 63, is among the Kansas Department of Corrections inmates who will go before the Prisoner Review Board in September. He was convicted for a murder that happened on Oct. 26, 1970. Carrier is in the maximum security level of custody ...
New mural tells story of Russell
RUSSELL – The history of Russell now sprawls across the huge building way facing Cecil Bricker Park at Main and Eighth streets. Victoria artist Rick Rupp has installed his latest masterpiece, consisting of 60 5x10-foot panels depicting scenes from Russell's historic past.
Fund will benefit local parks
Year 'round walkers and Christmas gawkers will both benefit this year from the benevolence of a late Great Bend woman. And hers is a gift that will keep on giving, at least for the next few years, the Great Bend City Council learned Monday night.
Arts Center changes hours due to heat, lack of AC
With its air conditioner out of service, the Barton County Arts Center has curtailed its hours for the rest of the week, Executive Director Karen Neuforth announced Tuesday. The Arts Center, normally open weekday afternoons, will be open from 12:30-2 p.m. this week. Starting Monday, it will be open from 9 a.m. to noon. Neuforth said the air conditioning stopped working some time ago at the center, located at Forest and ...
Hueslkamp leads charge for balanced budget amendment
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) expressed confidence Tuesday morning that the House would pass the "Cut, Cap, Balance" bill before the end of the day. The measure cuts $111 billion from next year's budget and provides for a debt ceiling increase only if a Balanced Budget Amendment passes Congress and is sent to the states for ratification. "There are no immediate cuts to the entitlement programs," Huelskamp said. ...
Old-time baseball reenactors coming to historical society
America's Pastime will be celebrated Monday with a free program at the Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village. Starting at 6 p.m., reenactors will depict area baseball teams from the late 1800s, and demonstrate how the game used to be played. Peanuts, popcorn, hotdogs and lemonade will be available at the museum, located just south of the Arkansas River Bridge on U.S. ...
Red Cross to close Great Bend office
WICHITA – Due in part to the on-going economic slow down, the American Red Cross announced Tuesday it will close its office in Great Bend as of Sept. 2 as part of an agency-wide streamlining effort.
Exceptional drought disaster declared
"Exceptional drought" is creeping closer to Barton County every day that it continues to be over 100 degrees and no rain.
New Peer Support Group helps senior citizens
A new program that will pair adult volunteers with older adults on the Medicaid Frail Elderly waiver will be explained during a program at 1 p.m. Friday at the Great Bend Senior Center, 2005 Kansas Ave. The senior Peer Support Group is a new program offered by the Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging. For Friday's presentation, agency spokesman Bib Lininger will explain how volunteers in the support group will work ...
Longoria seeks preliminary hearing on new charge
Attorneys for Adam Joseph Longoria have requested a new preliminary hearing if the state amends charges in his capital murder case. A number of pre-trial issues will be resolved Thursday during a hearing set for 9 a.m. at the Barton County Courthouse. Longoria was charged last year with capital murder and criminal sodomy in connection with the death of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt on or about Aug. 21, 2010. He was ...
County considers collection complaint
A rural Barton County couple are seeking county involvement in a mess that needs cleaned up.
Articles by Section - News
Citizens express ideas on pit bull ban
Twenty or so Great Bend residents piled into the City Council chambers Wednesday evening to voice their opinions on banning pit bulls within the city limits and other vicious dog-related problems.
Grandparents raising grandchildren
Michael gently lifts his one-year-old granddaughter, speaks softly to her, and lets her know she's special.
City officials meet with housing developer
Two weeks after news that an apartment project fell through and a discussion on a local housing shortage, the Great Bend City Council Monday night learned there may be some relief to the problem.
31st-annual Camp Hope happening this Week
Children with cancer want to do all the fun things that healthy children do – exploring the outdoors, swimming, hiking, fishing, playing games, singing around the campfire, creating arts and crafts, playing ball, and more.
Wheat harvest gearing up throughout area
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, Barton County farmers were wrapping up the 2012 wheat harvest, and everyone, farmers and non-farmers alike, were praying for rain.
Be Well Barton County receives grant from KHI’s Healthy Communities Initiative
Be Well Barton County, a advisory group dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles countywide, has been awarded an implementation grant through the Kansas Health Foundation's Healthy Communities Initiative worth up to $75,000 over the next three years. Be Well, one of 12 grantees in the state to receive this funding, will use the funds in support Complete streets and Safe Routes to school, nationally recognized programs that encourage local governments to consider bicycle and pedestrian traffic ...
June Jaunt ‘huge success’
Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes could hardly contain herself when she addressed the Great Bend City Council Monday night about the recent June Jaunt.
Vernon gives drop-out report
At the regular school board meeting in June, Superintendent Tom Vernon presented his annual report on drop-outs, something he's been doing since 2007. Back in 2008, 30 students dropped out, but the numbers went down in 2008 through 2010. In 2011, the numbers began to rise again, with 38 and 39 students dropping out in the 2011 and 2012 school years.
Oil well proposed inside Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands
An oil well could be drilled 870 feet inside the Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands if a permit requested by H&C Oil Operating Inc., of Plainville is granted.
County seeks gun ban extension
A lot of questions swirl around the recently passed revised state statute that would allow concealed weapons in public buildings. Those questions lead the Barton County Commission Monday morning to approve submitting a letter to Attorney General's Office requesting a six-month exemption from the law.
Grant to revamp scenic overlook
Barton County was selected for a Kansas Department of Transportation grant to enhance the Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway scenic overlook on K-4 east of Hoisington, the County Commission learned Monday morning.
Commission honors county youth
The Barton County Commission Monday morning approved a proclamation honoring Ellinwood and Great Bend high school students in the Future Business Leaders of America Career and Technical Education Student Organization.
$80,000 loss, hay bales burn
At around 2:30 p.m., the Great Bend Fire Department was called away from the Pawnee Rock fire to a hay bale fire at 251 NW 10th Ave. adjacent to Mid America Feeders. Five hundred large-sized hay bales with an estimated value of $80,000 were on fire, according to Great Bend Fire Chief Mike Napolitano. They were continuing to burn Saturday morning. "It's nearly impossible to put the fire out because the bales burn so deep within," he said.
Overrun with Color
If the turnout at the Great Bend Regional Hospital race pavilion Saturday morning is any indicator, color makes running more fun. Excitement over being doused with paint brought out more than 500 participants for the first ever Color Run. The event happened in conjunction with the third annual Human eMotion Charitable Run, Walk and Ride event sponsored by GBRH, with all proceeds going to support the Family Crisis Center in Great Bend.
Dannebohm apprehended Friday in Great Bend
At approximately 11 a.m. Friday morning, Great Bend Police apprehended Brandon Dannebohm. The fugitive was found sleeping in a vehicle within the city limits of Great Bend, according to Barton County Undersheriff Bruce Green He was arrested and is being held on a no-bond warrant from Stafford County. Barton County charges are pending for aggravated endangerment of a child, abandonment of a child, possession of narcotics, and other charges.
