PITTSBURG — Coffeyville Community College head men’s basketball coach Jay Herkelman is one of five finalists for the head basketball coaching job at at Pittsburg State University.

Herkelman will be interviewed for the men’s head coaching position at PSU on Tuesday, March 30.

Other finalists for the job include former Pitt State assistant coach Jeff Hafer, University of Kansas video coordinator and former Oklahoma State University assistant coach Kyle Keller, Cloud County Community College head coach Kevin Muff and former Northwest Missouri State University head coach Steve Tappmeyer.

Pittsburg State is in the process of filling the position vacated by the retirement of 15-year head coach Gene Iba.

BY ANDY TAYLOR

COFFEYVILLE — A leadership-in-training program at Field Kindley High School is allowing FKHS students to perform a pair of spirit-oriented projects.

Students in the FKHS Leadership Academy, which is taught by USD 445 superintendent Robert Morton, are working on two projects that are intended to put a new face on several main hallways at the school.
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COFFEYVILLE — Fan support of the Field Kindley High School men’s basketball team at the recent class 4A state tournament has caught the attention of the Kansas State High School Athletic Association.

So impressed with Field Kindley’s student section, fans, cheerleaders and general positive morale that KSHSAA awarded Field Kindley with the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award for the class 4A men’s tournament.
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INDEPENDENCE — Cessna Aircraft announced today (Thursday) the layoff of 95 workers at its Independence plant.

The Independence plant manufactures Cessna’s single-engine airplane models as well as the Cessna Citation Mustang business jet.

“This adjustment is part of the plan developed last year to align production rates with market demand,” said Doug Oliver, Cessna spokesperson. “This change does not impact our already-announced 2010 delivery schedule.”

Grocery consumers in Montgomery County are alerted to a food safety recall of Tornados Ranchero Beef and Cheese products sold in local stores.

Ruiz Foods, Inc., a Denison, Texas establishment, is recalling approximately 115,700 pounds of the ready-to-eat beef product that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The packages of beef product contain as an ingredient the specific Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), which was previously recalled, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Due to potential Salmonella contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of the HVP product on March 4, 2010. A recall of the beef product was warranted because the HVP ingredient was added after Salmonella prevention steps were applied.

Among the area stores where the food product was sold include G&W Foods in Cherryvale, Neodesha and Fredonia; Country Mart in Parsons and Coffeyville; Floyds’ Town and Country Supermarket in Caney; Floyds’ Market in Sedan; and Marvin’s Food Saver in Independence.

The Caney Police Department will be issuing tickets during a seat belt awarness campaign on March 22-28.

Police chief Rick Pell said motorists and passengers should be advised of the seat belt laws in Kansas.

“We’re not going to issue warnings; we’ll be writing tickets in accordance with state law,” said Pell.
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

When the Congressional Gold Medal was bestowed to surviving World War II female pilots last week, a Coffeyville native who earned her wings in Montgomery County almost 60 years ago was not present.
However, female pilot Mildred Darlene “Micky” Axton was there in spirit.
Axton, who was born, raised and educated in Coffeyville, died in February — one month shy of the national first formal recognition of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) by the U.S. Congress.

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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

INDEPENDENCE — Plans for asphalt being applied to 26 miles of county roads and chip-and-seal mixture applied to 22 miles of county road were revealed at Monday’s Montgomery County Commission meeting.

Robert Bever, public works director, presented his plans for asphalt and chip-and-seal mixture application during the summer months. He described the plan as being “aggressive” because of the amount of asphalt road to be covered with a new layer of asphalt.

“Typically, we try to apply asphalt to about 15 to 20 miles of county roads each summer,” he said. “This year, we’re pushing that number to more than 26 miles.”
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

A professional screenwriter and one of Hollywood’s most recognized web designers are collaborating on a project that retells the story of the murderous Bender family of Labette County.

Mark Patton, a Chanute native now living in Sedona, Ariz., and New York City-based web designer Daniel Karcher are combining their talents in hopes that a major studio will buy Patton’s script concerning the Bender family’s murderous deeds at their rural Cherryvale inn in the early 1870s.
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