BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

CHERRYVALE — A massive thunderstorm that brought 80 to 100 mile per hour gales and several inches of rain to Cherryvale on Monday night left a mess for area residents to clean up.

Even though numerous trees fell victim to the fierce winds, the total amount of damage is not believed enough to warrant a disaster declaration by the state or national government, said Jim Miller, Montgomery County’s emergency preparedness director.

“It looks to be primarily tree damage,” said Miller, “and the amount of damage isn’t enough to meet the state or federal criteria to attain government assistance.”

The storm rolled into Cherryvale between 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., and brought wind speeds of more than 75 miles per hour.
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle

The sacrifice of a Montgomery County military officer who served in the U.S. Army during World War II was recently remembered in a unique way.

The children of George S. Wiggins, a Cherryvale High School football coach during the mid-1930s and later an Independence business owner, have endowed a football scholarship at Kansas State University in Wiggins’ honor. Joan (Wiggins) Goodknight of Independence and her brother Larry Wiggins of Wichita presented the scholarship money to Kansas State University officials in a ceremony on May 10 — which was the observance of Wiggins’ 100th birthday.

The scholarship will be awarded to any undergraduate student who plays football for the KSU Wildcats. Preference will be given to students who are Kansas residents and play the position of fullback or runningback — a pair of offensive backfield positions for which Wiggins played when he donned the leather pads for then-Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in the early 1930s.

The scholarship ceremony on May 10 was held in the KSU Alumni Center that overlooks the old football stadium where the elder Wiggins carried the pigskin.

“Dad is finally home,” said Larry Wiggins in a telephone interview from his Wichita home. “Over the years, my sister and I always felt it was important to do something to remember our dad. And, our mother, Maxine, who died in 2007, always had a goal of doing something to remember dad’s name by linking it to Kansas State University.”

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(Editor’s note: This is an update to a story that was posted on Tuesday, May 4, 2010)

BY ANDY TAYLOR

chronicle@taylornews.org

CHERRYVALE — City taxpayers have become owners of one of downtown Cherryvale’s more structurally unsound buildings in a turn of events that Mayor John Wright admitted “was a mistake.”

At Monday’s semi-monthly meeting, councilors revealed for the first time that in October 2007, then-city administrator Trey Cocking purchased the former Eagles Lodge building at 115 N. Neosho at a tax sale for $100. City funds were used to buy the property, and Cocking was within his $5,000 expenditure limit to buy the property without prior council knowledge or approval.

Councilors on Monday said Cocking bought the property on behalf of another party with the intention of the other second party reimbursing the City of Cherryvale for that purchase.

However, and for an unexplained reason, the second party never came through with the reimbursement, thereby leaving the City of Cherryvale as the owner of the building.

“It was a mistake,” said Mayor John Wright.
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Reuse and redevelopment of “brownfields” — defined as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant” — is both a challenge and an opportunity to communities that have suffered the effects of environmental contamination.
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

CHERRYVALE — Cherryvale city councilors voted Monday to grant a 14-day extension to a Coffeyville-based contractor to complete a water system improvement project in the city.

However, the council’s decision also included the flared temper from one city councilor who left the meeting.
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

CHERRYVALE — Plans for the relocation of the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad switching yard to an area north of Cherryvale are moving ahead, a company representative said Monday.

Dan Smith, director of real estate acquisition for the SKO Railroad’s parent company, Watco, Inc., told city councilors that the company is progressing on its plans to relocate the switching yard from the downtown business district to an area along county road 5800 and east of U.S. 169 highway north of Cherryvale.

Ground will be broken on the new switch yard in May with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1.
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CHERRYVALE — The ceremonial closure of the Kansas Army National Guard Armory in Cherryvale will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 6.

The Kansas Adjutant General in December announced the closure of the Cherryvale armory along with 17 other National Guard armories across Kansas. The City of Cherryvale has agreed to assume ownership of the armory with plans of converting the facility into a community recreation facility.
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

Cherryvale Chamber of Commerce members learned of a variety of projects now underway by the City of Cherryvale during the chamber’s annual membership banquet on Monday.

Held in the Kansas Army National Guard Armory, the membership banquet was attended by about 40 persons, some of whom enjoyed rounds of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker at the conclusion of the banquet. The banquet was geared around a poker theme.

City administrator Greg McDanel updated the chamber on several city projects, including:
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BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

A Kansas Legislature audit report concerning consolidation of Kansas school districts as a cost-savings measure is generating ample comments in school board offices and in the state capitol this week.

The report, issued late Monday by the Legislative Post Audit Committee, was requested to determine the cost savings that could be derived if more Kansas public school districts were to consolidate or merge.  Lawmakers emphasize that the report is not a proposed plan, nor even a specific legislative bill; the audit report is merely a guide to examine for future discussions.
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