The National Weather Service in Wichita will present its annual severe weather seminar — “Storm Fury On the Plains” — at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the Chautauqua County Courthouse in Sedan.
The public is invited to attend.

A similar program will be held at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the Cinema 8 in Winfield; 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Eureka High School; and at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 2, at the Cox Building in Howard. Read more

Elk County Sheriff Doug Hanks has instituted a new security feature to secure the safety of employees, and others with legitimate business in the Elk County Courthouse.

Visitors to the Elk County Courthouse in Howard  will be required to  identify themselves before a video camera at the entrances and wait to be buzzed in, a dramatic new security feature that will be installed immediately.

The enhanced security measures have been ordered by Sheriff Hanks largely as a response to recent criminal threats made to court personnel located at the courthouse.   The nature of the threats illustrated the vulnerability of persons working at the courthouse, as well as posing a potential interruption of the routine business conducted in all other offices located in the building.

The video cameras will be monitored at the dispatch office located in the jail building.  Currently access to the courthouse is unrestricted and unmonitored.  The new security measures are not designed to restrict  access to the building.  Rather the system will provide a record of who had access and potentially discourage anyone with anti-social or criminal intent. Read more

Sedan’s Little Scholar Preschool will have a bingo fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Sedan Fair Building.

Mini’s begin at 6:30 p.m. and regulars will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased from any of the following preschool board members: Jamie Littlepage, Mary Warren, Carol Williams, Lynnette Kill, Crystal Carter, Kristen Miller, Lillian Roosevelt, Leslie Littlepage, Mary Kaiser.

Concessions will be available. If you have any questions please contact Jaime Littlepage at 620-249-7349.

Because of the recent snow storm that hit the region last Friday, two area high school homecoming coronations and basketball games have been rescheduled.

Homecoming for Elk Valley High School has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 4 when the Elk Valley Lions will take on the Oxford Wildcats. Junior varsity  games will begin at 4:30 p.m. Varsity games will begin at approximately 6 p.m. Homecoming coronation will take place at halftime of the boys varsity game and a dance will follow the game.

The basketball games for West Elk High School have been rescheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 6, while the homecoming coronation will hold off until Friday, Feb. 12.  The Patriots will take on the Argonia Raiders this Saturday with the junior varisty girls starting at 2:30, followed by the junior varsity boys, varsity girls, and finally the varsity boys.

The WEHS homecoming coronation will be held at the basketball games on Friday, Feb. 12 against South Haven.  Coronation will be held during halftime of the varsity boys game.  Cheer camp attendees will also perform at the games that evening.

The WESO chili/soup and pie supper will also be held that evening from 5:30-7 p.m. in the WEHS cafeteria.   All proceeds will benefit the 2011 WESO Scholarship Fund.
The cost for the dinner is $5 and includes a drink, pie, and a bowl of chili or soup with a refill.  Patrons may also purchase just the chili or soup with a drink for $3.50.  A contribution of $2.50 will purchase a piece of pie and a drink.

The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Elk County Conservation District will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the Cox Building in Howard.  Registration will begin at 6 p.m.  A dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. A short business meeting will follow the dinner with award presentation to end the evening.

Tom and Janice Bills will be receiving the 2009 Bankers Award, Dale and Barbara Clubine will be receiving the 2009 Grassland Award and Ron Dellinger will be receiving the 2009 Wildlife Habitat Award.

Reservations are required.  Please call the District Office at 620-374-2511 by Feb. 5 to make reservations.

The Chautauqua County Conservation District Annual Meeting will be held on Feb. 20.  More details and information will follow in the next editions of the Prairie Star.  A special Soil Conservation Edition will also be published in the coming weeks.

Desiree Haughn (background) and Drako Berryman took a short cut across a mountain of snow in downtown Sedan on Monday as they walked home from school. Between five and six inches of snow fell on Chautauqua and Elk counties last Friday, cancelling school and all activities. Cold temperatures over the weekend and into Monday kept the snow on the ground but melting was well underway Tuesday and Wednesday.   Desiree and Drako are pictured on the front page of this week’s Prairie Star.

Bits and Pieces is a feature of the Prairie Star website that is a reflection of our printed “Notes from the Prairie” published each week.  Upcoming meetings and notices are published here each week.  These are updated on the website each week, just after publication. Read more

Death notices are published on the Prairie Star website as a service to area readers who may not receive timely funeral information before services.  Complete obituaries are printed each week in the Prairie Star. Read more

Due to inclement weather, the Kansas Day celebration scheduled to be held in Sedan today, has been cancelled.  Sedan schools have also been cancelled. The event will not be rescheduled this year, but organizers will begin plans for the 150th birthday of Kansas that will be held next year.

The candidates for the Elk Valley High School 2010 winter homecoming are (back row) senior Justin Wallace, junior Jason Ledford, senior Joey Englebrecht, (front row) junior Leah Kimzey, junior Heather Beougher, and junior Monique Wade. Homecoming ceremonies are slated for Friday night during half-time of the boys’ basketball game.

This year’s West Elk winter homecoming candidates are (back row) Zach Carlson, Kevin Love, Bradley Linder, Miguel Zaragoza, (front row) Desiree Carter, Kayla Jacobs, Morgan Boles, and Sarah Taliaferro. The homecoming ceremonies will be held during the half-time of the boys’ basketball game at WEHS on Friday, Jan. 29… provided it is not cancelled because of snow.

The local team of citizens who have been working on an application for a broadband internet center in Sedan received disappointing news on Tuesday: Their application was not selected by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

According to Anthony G. Wilhelm, director of the Broadband Technology Opportunities program in Washington, D.C., no further consideration will be given the application.

At the center of the proposal was the Bradford Hotel in downtown Sedan which would have been the focal point of an internet center if the grant had been approved. Harry Watts of the Kansas Farm Bureau Foundation, led the effort and wrote the grant. Others involved were Quad County Enterprises, the Sedan Area Foundation (owner of the hotel), Southern Kansas Telephone Co., the Southeast Kansas Education Center at Greenbush, USD 286-Sedan, local chambers of commerce in Chautauqua County, the Hometown Prosperity organization and numerous individuals and businesses.

Jack Newcomb, director of Quad County Enterprises, expressed his own disappointment in the decision at the federal level, adding that it might be possible to make another application for the next round of funding.

But he wants to get together with the local people who have been involved in the process to seek their input.

“The letter we received did not give us any hints as to why we weren’t successful,” Newcomb said.

Another Kansas Day celebration will be hosted by the Sedan Elementalry School on Friday, Jan. 29, in the Chautauqua County Fair Building from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

Elementary teacher Cheryl Kopfman said there will be 35 exhibitors ranging from music, spinning wheels, embroidery, crocheting, quilting, blackpowder rifles, butter churning, biscuit making-arrowheads, fossils, rope making, wheat and corn grinding, apple peelers and potato mashers collection, tredle sewing machine, woodcarving, Indian history and artifacts, old fashioned lawnmowers, old washing machines and washboards,  and a newspaper exhibit.

“This just is a sample of the many exhibits that we will have,” Kopfman said.  Read more

Forty-two patrons of the West Elk school district say they will continue to oppose USD 282 plans to close the elementary schools in Moline and Severy.

The group, formed at a Saturday meeting in Severy, will be called “Concerned Citizens of USD 282,” and they have acquired the services of attorney Mary Ann Shirley of Eureka.

The meeting was called by Lesa Schroeder, a former member of the board of education, and Eric Krug, both of whom reside at Severy. Read more