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

Afton Beasley was one of dozens who celebrated the return of sunshine at the Shade Tree Car Wash in Sedan on Monday. All cars were dirty after the snow and ice left its residue on streets and roads, and after the early-morning fog deposited moisture on local paved streets and highways. Weather forecasters are calling for more sunshine in the coming days, leaving behind a month of extremely cold and wet weather.

The Howard United Methodist Church would like to ask for your assistance in Project H.O.P.E which stands for Help Our People Everywhere. We would like to help the earthquake victims of Haiti by collecting health kits and money.

There is a supply list of needed items below. The items are very specific and must be exactly as listed to pass the customs requirements so that the needed items get there as fast as possible.  If you write a check, make it out to Howard United Methodist Church.

The ball has begun rolling as we already have a dentist who has donated 50 toothbrushes.  The schools of USD 282 are going to be involved with Project HOPE, too.  Hopefully, we can raise some money and send some much needed help and hope to the people of Haiti.

If you would like to help with project H.O.P.E., please contact either Ben or Luke Bellar at 620-374-2197 or David Whetstone at 620-374-2296. If you want to send a check, make it out to the Howard United Methodist Church and put Haiti in the memo line. Mail it to:  Howard United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 265, Howard, KS 67349.

We need all items and donations by Jan. 31.

After all items are collected, the Howard Methodist Youth Group will assemble the health kits and they will be taken to a drop off location.

Anything and everything you can donate will be much appreciated by us and even more so to the Haiti earthquake victims and families.

Supply list:
· Hand towels (15” x 25” up to 17” x 25”. No kitchen towels.
· Washcloths
· Combs (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
· Nail files or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
· Bath-sized bars of soap ( 3oz. and up)
· Toothbrushes (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)
· Adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

How will the opening of a new Dollar General store in Sedan affect existing businesses that have long served the community?

That’s the question that Sedan merchants are asking themselves as a new Dollar General store opens its doors.

Charlie Meadows, owner of Ackarman Hardware and Lumber, said he first had concerns that the new store would pull some of his hardware business away. But he recently took the time to visit a Dollar General store and it alleviated many of his fears.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Meadows said. “I really don’t think the merchandise sold at Dollar General will affect our store that much.”

The Ackarman store has served Sedan for more than 100 years and has survived mostly because of its personal service, delivery service and knowledge of the products sold there.

Anita Vignapiano, manager of Duckwalls, commented, “I think everybody will give Dollar General a try, and we hope there is still enough room for both stores in Sedan.”

She added, “We’re just going to hang in here, and we hope our longtime customers still shop with us.”
Vignapiano said she has never understood the negative comments made about the new Dollar General store. “It looks like a really nice store,” she said.

Roger Floyd, longtime owner of Floyd’s Supermarket, said he isn’t yet sure about the impact of the Dollar General on his store. “It’s probably getting some of our business,” he said, “but it’s hard to tell at this point.”

Floyd said it is hard to compete with discount stores when it comes to products like pop. “We don’t make a lot of money on some of these items anyway,” he said, “But we’re going to continue selling groceries at a good price and hope our customers stay with us.”

Floyd, who also owns a store in Caney where Dollar General has a major presence, said he is fully aware of its potential impact on a local grocery store. “All we can do is hope that some of the cars that come to the new store will also come to ours,” he said. “I won’t spend much time worrying about Dollar General.”

Sedan’s Dollar General opened for business last Friday at noon. Company officials in Goodlettsville, Tenn., said the new store features a layout that makes shopping simpler. Dollar General says customers can expect to find a majority of products priced at $10 or less with approximately 25 percent of the merchandise priced at $1 or less.

The store, comprising 9,014 sq. ft. and employing six to ten people, is located at 600 W. Main.

Raising their hands was never a more difficult action, but board of education members for West Elk USD 282 felt they had no more options as they voted to close Moline Elementary School and Severy Elementary at the end of this school year.

The action came at the board’s regular meeting Monday night in Howard where the consolidation of all three schools in the district will take place.

In recent years, all pre-kindergarten through sixth grade students in USD 282 have attended classes Read more

Arctic air continues to plunge into Kansas with temperatures on Thursday night predicted to hover around zero degrees.

This follows two weeks of bitter cold following the Christmas Eve blizzard that crippled local communities and caused enormous changes to be made in traveling plans by anyone planning to hit the highways on their way to grandma’s house.

While Elk and Chautauqua counties escaped the higher accumulations of snow, the forecast continues to worry those whose daily activities, jobs and school travel requires traveling.

The deep freeze will last for at least the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service which said the mercury could fall below zero in south-central Kansas this week for the first time since 1999.

Similar stories were being reported across the nation as a third of the nation fell into below 32 temperatures. Read more

Central High School in Burden will hold their 2010 winter homecoming this Friday night, Jan. 8, at the basketball games between the Central Raiders and Elk Valley Lions.

The theme for this year’s homecoming is “Do You Believe In Magic,” and the coronation ceremony will be held between the two varsity games at the Central High School Gymnasium.

The queen candidates for this year are Kelsi Martin, daughter of Lisa Dean of Wichita and Don Martin of Burden; Raegan Fanning daughter of Roni and Bob Scott of Burden; Jandi Handlin, daughter of Lance and Sheila Handlin of Burden; Autumn Hopper, daughter of Rick and Karen Hopper of Rock.

King candidates are Cale Ellis, son of Charlie and Linda Ellis of Grenola; Justin Martin, son of Brett Martin of Haysville; Jacob Lawson, son of David Lawson of Burden and Sherry Buske of Ark City; Kenny Mills, son of Kenneth and Nancy Mills of Burden.

Homecoming activities have been held throughout the week at the high school.  The homecoming date on the school calendar was rescheduled to this Friday due to conflicts.  Area residents are encouraged to attend homecoming on Friday evening and support the Central Raiders.

About a third of the auditorium was filled with school patrons Monday night as the USD 282 West Elk Board of Education listened to views on the proposed merging of three campuses into one.

Board president Marty Taliaferro told the audience that state laws require a hearing anytime a school is proposed to be closed, noting that proposal is to close elementary schools in Severy and Moline, moving all students to the Howard campus.

Supt. Corey Reese gave a brief update on information from the Kansas State Board Education.

“According to what I have received since the last board meeting, it appears that the state board has been granted the authority to make even more cuts than it has made already,” Reese said. “I don’t see this situation as getting any better, and the West Elk district stands to lose in the range of $400,000 more in state aid.” Read more