Kansas voters will go to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 4, to cast ballots in the general election.

At the top of the list will the race for President of the United States and the two major candidates are John McCain and his running mate for vice-president, Sarah Palin, both Republicans, vs. Democrats Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice-president.
Less known candidates for president will be:
Libertarian Party - Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root.
Independent - Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.
Reform - Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle.

In other races, incumbent U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a Republican, will be challenged by Jim Slattery, a Democrat, along with Joseph Martin, Reform Party, and Randall Hodgkinson, Libertarian Party.

Also, U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Republican, will be challenged on the ballot by Democrat Donald Betts Jr., and by Steven Rosile, Libertarian Party, and Susan G. Ducey, Reform Party.

For state senator, two-term incumbent Derek Schmidt of Independence, a Republican, is running unopposed for re-election.

For state representative in the 12th Dist. which includes both Elk and most of Chautauqua counties, Republican incumbent Jeff King of Independence is being challenged by Democrat Sandra K. Frisco, Independence.

Also representing parts of Chautauqua County is Sasha Kelley of Arkansas City, a Republican, who is being challenged by Democrat Gene Burr of Arkansas City.

For magistrate judge in Dist. 14 (Montgomery and Chautauqua counties), Gary House of Sedan is the Republican nominee and will be opposed by Robert W. Lattin of Independence, a Democrat.

David A. Casement, Sedan, is running unopposed for district magistrate judge in Chautauqua County as a Republican.

In Chautauqua County, Danny D. Williams is running unopposed for county commissioner in Dist. 2 as a Republican, and Jack L. Carpenter is also running unopposed for county commissioner in Dist. 3 as a Republican.

Running unopposed for other Chautauqua County offices are Cammie Farner, Republican for county clerk; Lisa A. Hudson, Republican for county treasurer; Laura C. Beeson, Republican for county register of deeds and Larry Markle, Republican for county attorney.

Listed on the ballot as a Republican for Chautauqua County Sheriff will be Perry A. Russell of Peru, and independent candidate Cash Kimple of Sedan who has thrown his support to Russell.
Asking for a write-in vote is incumbent sheriff Frank Green who lost to Russell in the August primary election.

In Elk County, all elected county officers are running unopposed in the general election. They include: Elizabeth M. Hendricks of Howard, Democrat, county commissioner, Dist. 2; K.R. “Ken” Liebau, Grenola, Republican, county commissioner, Dist. 3; Donna K. Kaminska, Longton, Republican, Elk County Clerk; Deanna L. Jones, Longton, Republican, Elk County Treasurer; Neva L. Walter, Howard, Republican, Elk County Register of Deeds; Marla Foster Ware, Moline, Elk County Clerk; Doug Hanks, Howard, Elk County Sheriff.

Also running in Elk County: David A. Ricke, Rose Hill, Republican for district judge on the Republican ticket, Dist. 13, Div. 3; Charles M. “Chuck” Hart, Andover, Republican for district judge, Dist. 14, Div. 2; and Kristin Hutchison, Howard, Republican, district magistrate judge, Dist. 1, Pos. 1.

Numerous township positions also will be on the ballot.

Kansas Supreme Court justices Eric S. Rosen and Lee A. Johnson will be listed as “shall they be retained?” questions, and the same is true with Steve Lieben, Joseph Pierron, Christel E. Marquardt and Richard D. Greene for positions on the Kansas Court of Appeals.

Details on voting places and other election information can be found elsewhere in today’s Prairie Star.

Two events with lots of public interest will be featured on taylornews.org next Tuesday night, Nov. 4: Election results and the results of the Class 2A state football playoffs. See this week’s Prairie Star for details on the players.

The start of the class 2A state playoffs will begin next Tuesday night, Nov. 4, with the bi-district football game. The Nov. 5 edition of the Prairie Star will go to press prior to the start of that bi-district football game. Therefore, results will be unavailable for publication. However, the Prairie Star’s website — www.taylornews.org — will carry a score of the bi-district playoff game late Tuesday night.

Struggles have persisted throughout the 2008 football season for the West Elk Patriots and Sedan Blue Devils. However, both teams have hopes of salvaging their season campaign on Thursday night with a shot at the class 2A state playoffs.

Tickets to the state playoffs will be punched on Thursday night, Oct. 30, when the two rival squads lock horns in the regular season finale as well as the last game of the class 2A district 8 playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., in Howard.

Sedan is now 2-6 overall but got its foot in the district playoff door last Friday night when the Blue Devils defeated district playoff team Oswego, 31-14.

West Elk is 1-7 overall and experienced defeat from the powerful claws of the Humboldt Cubs, 56-38, in a non-league bout last Friday night. The Patriots lost to the Oswego Indians, 20-14, on Oct. 14 to take an 0-1 standing in the district playoffs.

So, here are the scenarios for both teams should they wish to enter the state playoffs.

• If Sedan defeats West Elk, then Sedan is the district playoff champion and will host the first round of the state playoffs next Tuesday night, Nov. 4 against either Pleasanton or Uniontown. A Sedan victory over the Patriots would also give the district playoff runner-up title to Oswego. The Indians would then travel to Pittsburg-Colgan next Tuesday, Nov. 4.

• A West Elk victory over Sedan is a bit more tricky. That’s because all three district playoff teams (Oswego, West Elk and Sedan) would be 1-1 in the district playoffs. That’s where a confusing scoring formula — one that would make a Harvard mathematician envious — comes into play.

In a nutshell, West Elk has to have a winning scoring margin of 10 or more points to be classified as the district champion and host a first-round state ploayoff game next Tuesday, Nov. 4. Sedan would then be the district runner-up and travel to Pittsburg-Colgan that same night.

If West Elk wins by nine or fewer points over Sedan, then Sedan is the district champion with the Patriots being the district runner-up.

Regardless of the scoring margin, a West Elk victory over Sedan would knock Oswego out of the state playoff contention.

On Oct. 4, National Weather Service Observer Ruth Beason was presented the Edward H. Stoll Award for 50 years of service for the Hale area. This award was created in 1975 in honor of a Cooperative Observer Edward Stoll, and is given to all observers who complete 50 years of service.

Stoll was the observer at Elwood, Neb., for over 76 years, and was the first to receive this prestigious Stoll award. It should be said that an observer who takes observations for that period has to be an excellent observer.

Leon Wasinger, Cooperative Program Manager (pictured left) and Richard Elder, Meteorologist in Charge (pictured right) from the National Weather Service Forecast Office (NWS) in Wichita presented this award to Mrs. Beason. Also in attendance was Michael (Joe) Rosner, Data Acquisition Program Manager.

During the past 50 years, Beason has provided precipitation readings. This data is published by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on a monthly basis and made available to the general public.

Kansas State University’s Weather Data Library stores the data which is made available by request. The data is used by several industries including Manufacturing, Medical, Transportation, Communication, Financial, Agriculture, Litigation, Insurance, Public Utilities, Water Resources, and Architectural Design.

The National Weather Service extends their sincere appreciation to Ruth Beason for her 50 years of prestigious service.

By JL Tunison
The fifteenth Annual Ol’ Time Chautauqua Hills Cowboy Poet Gathering will be held on Saturday night, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., at the Gregg Theater in Sedan.

Entertainers this year are Shandee Allen, Debra Hill, Tray Allen, and Robert Beene. You are going to experience a unique art form of the American West….cowboy poetry and western music. What you will see and hear is still one of a kind. You will hear the authentic works of a cowboy…poetry, music, laughter — all compounded to recreate the feelings that was and is the American West.

The presentation will be laid back, down to earth, and hopefully will bring a smile to your face and perhaps a tear to your eye. Cowboys are simple folk, but have deep, rich feelings. We sincerely hope that you will find in this offering a touch of romance, of history, of laughter, and of heartfelt enjoyment.

Most of all, remember that all the proceeds go to the Chautauqua County 4-H Scholarship Fund. You will be helping to educate your community youth! Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door.

By Jerry Wagner
PRAIRIE STAR

The West Elk School Board met in a muted planning session Monday evening designed to contemplate long-range possibilities of building a new facility on the centrally located campus in Howard.

Attending this evening were the majority of the board members, two architects from PBA & Associates, as well as a smattering of parents.

Board president Marty Talliaferro stated the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the declining enrollment, now at 346 students, and that given continual financial pressures they were considering building a new facility.

The focus, according to Talliaferro, was to discuss a centrally located facility that would be capable of providing a quality education and meeting the varying demands of our district for 20 to 25 years.

There were two options initially discussed: building a new facility on the West Elk campus or utilizing the old grade school. Talliaferro expressed discomfort with the effectiveness and efficiency of utilizing the old grade school building. Ed Klock of PBA explained that in Newton they had utilized an early 20th century school building and it had cost roughly 75 percent of a new build, which tends to run roughly $160 per sq ft.

PBA outlined that the first steps in a construction design process would be to evaluate the existing West Elk High School structure and contemplate any necessary improvements and where to locate any new facility.

As stated by Talliaferro: “My goal is to put the district on a stable financial footing. and any plan would need to provide adequate growth room, should such growth occur. “

Klock discussed that there were four primary budgetary concerns: building costs, site improvements, equipment/furniture costs, and a contingency fund. There was a discussion regarding the considerations of building either an attached or detached structure or the code implications that would result from an attached structure.

The potential details of a new facility as well as modifications to West Elk were then discussed in some detail focusing on correctly aligning the building to match the curriculum for the twenty-first century. Discussions of whether foreign language, interactive distance learning, athletic improvements, and what potential technology integration should be included were discussed, with the general consensus among the board being that the structure should encompass some improvements to address current deficits in technology and athletics.

Mr. Reese presented an example of the Rose Hill school district that had utilized a cloverleaf layout to the elementary school that integrated the grades and focused more on the individual needs of the student as well as having multiple uses for each learning space.

Based on current board policy of no more than 24 students per classroom, the new facility would require, at a minimum, one classroom per grade level as well as a further 3 flex classrooms that would adapt to whichever grade levels had exceeded board policy.

In addition, there would potentially either be a new elementary library or a unified library facility that would permit, perhaps, utilizing the current West Elk library as additional classroom space. The subject of a practice gymnasium or multi-purpose room absorbed a significant period of discussion, especially considering the current lack of scheduling flexibility available for the West Elk gymnasium.

The general board consensus was to entertain a practice gym that would have seating for 100-150 people that would be roughly 8500 square feet in size. Bert Moore explained that in 2006, he and his administration had discussed an estimate on a facility of 12 classrooms, a library, a multi-purpose room, a gymnasium, restroom facilities, and secretarial/administrative rooms at a built cost of $2.5 million.

Much discussion centered on the potential twenty-first century advancements that could be included both in building technology and classroom technology. The general agreement was that any new structure should incorporate some element of available efficiencies.

Several classroom technological advancements were discussed including Smart Boards, in-classroom projectors, and mobile wireless computer carts. The statement was made by Bert Moore “What would the school of the future look like?” He encouraged the board to plan to encompass the future.

Talliaferro furthered that by stating that he had several graduates comment on their lack of preparedness for the technology that they had encountered upon graduating.

The discussion focused more on the mechanics and time lines of any construction and bond issue. Once a preliminary design concept and its costs were relayed to the board, should it adopt a resolution for a bond, the state would require 75-90 days to review the proposal before a bond election could be held.

If a bond issue were passed, the design period would require an additional 6-9 months with construction then requiring 12-15 months.

Talliaferro was quick to explain that the board would be required to utilize maximum Local Option Budget authority on this next budget and that the district was losing all fiscal flexibility.

It is important to note that state aid towards construction costs can range from 26 to 34 percent depending on economic conditions in the district, so the bond amount would be dependent on said aid.

It was generally agreed by the board to have the architects review with the school administrators the current facility at the West Elk campus and begin to discuss with staff the elements of a new facility.

This session would be scheduled at some point in the next few weeks with a Board follow up possible in the next few months.

The architects made it clear that the most beneficial sessions for these initial plans were ones that were collaborative and inclusive in nature.

Talliaferro said, “Tthe community expects that we should go forward even if we don’t do anything in the end.”