News

BY TOM PARKER.

 

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department will hold another DEA drug and medication disposal day on Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the law enforcement center at 301 B Street, Washington. The program, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency, is meant to collect unused or expired medications for safe deposal.

BY TOM PARKER/ Staff writer.

 

WASHINGTON – For about sixty electrifying minutes in the wee, wee hours of Sunday morning, Chicago-based performer Mark Tolland kept Washington County High School students and their prom dates laughing, gasping, puzzled, fl abbergasted and asking themselves how-didhe-do-that. In turn head-scratching magic trickery and thought-provoking mind-reading prestidigitation, Tolland, whose act is called “second to none” by Disney World, drove a nail into his nostril, swallowed thread and needles and coughed them out strung together like pearls on a silk strand, identifi ed small, medium and large objects while blindfolded, wizarded the names of first loves and manipulated mathematical calculations and predictions to keep the audience second-guessing.

WICHITA – Members of the Washington County FCCLA Chapter attended the 68th annual State Leadership Conference of the association of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, or FCCLA, on April 6-8 in Wichita. With the theme of “FCCLA: The Game of Leadership”, the Kansas State Executive Council lead the conference in all the general sessions which included skits, offi cial business, award recognition, a dynamic keynote given by Jeff Yalden, and attended several breakout sessions focused on community service, professionalism, and leadership.

On May 6, the Washington County Community Foundation is participating in Match Madness+, a national day of giving to celebrate the 100th anniversary of community foundations. For one day only, donors can make contributions to any of 11 local charitable endowed funds held at the Foundation and the donation will be matched by a local match pool of $5,000. Matching grants will be distributed on a proportional basis. If total donations amount to more than $5,000, the matching percentage will decrease proportionally to ensure every donation made on May 6 is matched. Matching grants will be distributed in the form of a cash grant back to the charity or charity’s endowed fund.

Roxanne Schottel, Washington, has accepted the position of CEO of the Washington County Hospital, effective by the end of June. Schottel is currently the clinic manager at Clay County Family Physicians, a position she has held for the last 10 years. “I’m excited about the change,” she said. The basic overall operations between a medical clinic and a hospital should be similar, she said, so transitioning into her new position should be relatively easy. But, she added, “ask me again in three months.”

BY TOM PARKER/ Staff writer.

 

If Washington Counties subscribe to the adage of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” then on Saturday evening there must have been a tremendous amount of fire somewhere. There was—in the northern Flint Hills, the Arkansas River Lowlands, the Glaciated Region, the Smoky Hills (made smokier), the Red Hills and the Osage Cuestas—pretty much all across the Sunfl ower State. But controlled prairie burns, while being a catalyst for what followed, were only part of the story.

BY CHRIS PANNBACKER/Special to the WC News.

 

Shifting money budgeted this year for more work on B Street to other projects was considered Monday night when the Washington City Council met at City Hall. Present were Mayor Ryan Kern and council members Gene Martin, Melanie Bryant, Don Imhoff, Jim Dodds and Roxanne Schottel. Imhoff asked City Administrator Carl Chalfant to come up with a list of priority projects for the May meeting.

BY DAN THALMANN/ Publisher.

 

WASHINGTON – A major renovation project at KSDS will add additional training space and other amenities in what was the organization’s original offi ce building in Washington on the south edge of Highway 36. Work has been ongoing over the last several weeks on the building which will include a large open training area, a gift shop, kitchen and new bathrooms. The facility is expected to be completed later this year.

If you put a bunch of Kansas boys in the midst of Rocky Mountain National Park, they’re going to be impressed with the view. How could they not be? The terrain is foreign to any fl atlander from Kansas. Deep pine-spruce forests dissected by cold clear creeks carrying snowmelt from the mountaintops. And the mountaintops, stretching above 14,000 feet, high enough trees don’t even grow.