Jennifer Brummel has taken over her new responsibilities as Elk County Economic Development Director and Youth Development Coordinator.

Working from her office in the Elk County Courthouse, Brummel will continue the work started by Laura Fry before she resigned to prepare for work with her husband in a mission field.

Brummel is a native of Garnett where she graduated from high school before heading off to Independence Community College, then to Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla., where she earned a B.S. degree in agriculture economics and agronomy. She also earned her masters degree from West Texas A&M.

At ICC and Oklahoma Panhandle, she was actively involved in the Upward Bound program with students, and at West Texas A&M she ran a residence hall for students.

She previously was employed in the Kansas City area.

“I am so excited about living and working in Elk County,” Brummel said. “I came from a small town so I have a good feel for it.” Read more

The Prairie Star has released a PDF available online containing the special soil conservation pages from the Feb. 17, 2010 edition.

Click on the graphic below to download a PDF that contains all eight pages, including photos, stories, and advertisements!

A Niotaze single mom is beaming today as she looks forward to moving into a home that her friends have made possible for her.

Chasity Meise watched last week with tear-filled eyes as a huge bulldozer razed her home at the east edge of Niotaze — a necessary move because it was filled with unhealthy mold. The home had been flooded numerous times when a nearby creek overflowed its banks.

“I just got my house paid for in May of this year,” said Meise who has five children plus a grandchild she is helping to raise. “My grandbaby kept getting sick and we finally figured out it was the mold that started growing after the flood two years ago. We pushed back the couch and the mold was growing up the back of it.”

Friends from up the street, Brian and Carey Shouse, heard about Chasity’s problem and launched an effort to find her a suitable house where she would have more space and get away from the mold plague.
Read more

Joe Tindle pushes open the door to his wood shop and immediately apologizes for the mess.
“I need to spend more time cleaning up,” he says, pointing to a stack of boards which he soon will fashion into a baby cradle or rocking horse.

His project for this week is making his 51st cradle which will go to the unsuspecting parents of a newborn baby.

He tries to make a cradle for everyone in his community who is having a baby — and even some outside the town of Longton where he lives.

“It’s not always a surprise,” he admits, “but there’s just something special about it when nobody is expecting anything. I know it sure makes me feel good.”

Tindle also has made dozens of rocking horses for the children of area friends. Read more

Even though voters in USD 282-West Elk voted down a bond issue earlier this fall, apparently thinking it might save their elementary schools in Severy and Moline, it now appears the schools will close anyway.

At Monday night’s board of education meeting, it was proposed that the Severy and Moline schools close, although a vote was not taken on the actual closure.

The board did vote to hold a public hearing on Monday, Jan. 4, in the West Elk Auditorium at Howard, to gather input on the proposal.

Supt. Cory Reese told Prairie Star that details will be hammered out by the board and committees but it appears that modular units will be purchased to accommodate the creation of eight new classrooms on the Howard campus.

See this week’s Prairie Star for more information on this breaking story.

Community leaders in Sedan will host several officials from the Kansas Farm Bureau and Connected Nation next Tuesday, Dec. 8, as they tour the Bradford Hotel and interview local citizens about a proposed Broadband Communications Center.

An application is pending for a grant which would transform the hotel in Sedan into a high tech center intended to advance broadband service (fast internet speed) to rural areas. Selection of such a site is still under review by state and federal officials, however the Kansas Department of Commerce announced on Monday that a $2 million grant has been approved for “mapping” or determining exactly how the federal stimulus funds for broadband centers will be distributed. There are dozens of such applications across the United States. Read more

Chautauqua County voters shouted a loud “yes” in Tuesday balloting to a one-cent sales tax to finance a new jail and law enforcement center at Sedan.

The total vote was: Yes 598 No 185

It was a 76/24 percent edge in favor of the new jail and sales tax.
By precinct the vote across Chautauqua County was:
Harrison-Hewins: Yes 12, No 6.
Jefferson-Cedar Vale: Yes 101, No 28.
Caneyville-Cloverdale: 13 yes, No 8.
Center-Belknap: Yes 23, No 2.
Summit-Wauneta: Yes 15, No 15.
Hendricks-Elgin: Yes 17, No 17.
Lafayette-Grafton: Yes 9, No 3.
North Sedan-Sedan: Yes 161, No 29.
South Sedan - Sedan: Yes 103, Nov 20.
Bellville-Chautauqua: Yes 48, No 9.
Belleville-Peru: Yes 51, No 30.
Little Caney-Niotaze: Yes 18, No 11.
Washington-Lone Cherry: Yes 15, No 5.
Salt Creek-Hale: Yes 12, No 2.

A local team of working cowboys will be heading to the national championship rodeo sponsored by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, Nov. 12-15 in Amarillo, Texas.

From the Howard area is Bruce Beeman who lives at rural Howard and works for the Still Ranch located between Longton and Howard.

From the Latham area are team members Zack Blair, Gene Calvin and Keven Schouten, representing the Lazy B Ranch near Atlanta.

Another cowboy, Cliff Hall, resides near Bronson, Kan.

Together, they comprise the Broken H Ranch and Lazy B Bar C Ranch team.
The Broken H Ranch is located near Bronson and the Lazy B is located near Latham and Atlanta.

“We will be entering all events,” said Beeson. “We hit lots of ranch rodeos each year, probably 20 or 25 of them — and we all work as cowboys every day on area ranches.”

Three teams from Kansas qualified for the WRCA national event. Other teams will come from Strong City and the Hamilton-Emporia areas.

Another team from this region Read more

It’s a striking sight — the all metal hunting lodge that’s perched on a hillside two miles south of Sedan on the west side of Highway 99.

“Kansas Finest Outfitters” is now open to hunters who need a good place to stay, hunt and enjoy some good, home-cooked food.

Sam Moore has been in the outfitting business for the past 13 years, mostly in the state of Illinois, but he and his wife, Tammy, have turned their attention entirely to Kansas.

Chautauqua County, Kansas, specifically.

“You’ve got some of the best deer hunting in the country right here in Chautauqua and Elk counties,” he said while pointing to an array of stuffed deer heads and racks along a wall. “They may not be the biggest deer Read more

For a number of years, the Sedan Ranch Rodeo has honored someone as a pioneer of ranching and the western way of life. These “old timers” as they are affectionately known, have all played a key role in the cattle business and have left their mark on our western and ranching heritage.

That tradition was continued at this year’s rodeo by honoring someone who is not quite an old timer but who truly exemplifies the qualities of the pioneer spirit.

Our 2009 Pioneer Award recipient is Tyler Bowman of Pawhuska.

Born on June 29, 1990, to Ace and Teresa Bowman, Tyler is the youngest member to be given this honor. He began handling ropes as a toddler and learned his skill from his dad, Ace; Uncle George; and Grandpa J.B.

Other grandparents are Mike and Libby Long of rural Peru (parents of Teresa Bowman) and Jean Bowman of Copan, in addition to J.B. and Mary Bowman who live west of Caney.

At a very young age, Tyler really began making a name for himself Read more

By Waldo E. Gray

Anyone driving in either direction through eastern Elk County along US 160 cannot miss seeing the small green highway signs announcing the tiny unincorporated area of Oak Valley.    Located just three miles west of the Montgomery County line and six miles east of Longton, few people realize the area was once a flourishing place.

In 1871, John Johnson moved to the recently opened Howard County and settled in the Elk Valley near the confluence of Hickory Creek and Elk River. Coming from northern Kansas Read more

There was a big crowd on hand for last Saturday’s mud run sponsored by the Howard Elk County Fair Association. Mud splattered in all directions as the afternoon went along. Vehicles ranged from local farm trucks that are driven on the highways every day to the totally-professional models which came a wide region.     (Photo by Rudy Taylor)

Prom season will make its debut this week on Saturday, April 18, in Chautauqua and Elk counties with lots of glitz and glamor for high school juniors and seniors. Read more

The Sedan Area Chamber of Commerce will again be sponsoring the annual Easter Egg Hunt on the courthouse lawn, Saturday, April 11, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The children will be divided into four age groups. Read more

CHAUTAUQUA AND ELK COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS Read more