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News & Notes
Katy Days train rides Katy Days organizers will sell a limited amount of tickets for Union Pacific Railroad passenger train rides. The tickets will be sold at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the northeast corner of Forest Park. The rides will begin at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday. Boarding will be next to the display locomotives at 20th and Crawford. Medallion hunt Katy Days organizers reported Tuesday morning that the Spike It Rich medallion has ...
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Planners OK rezoning of skating rink
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com The Parsons Planning Commission gave the green light for the family that owns the former Silver Wheels Skating Rink to reopen the business. The planners voted 8-0, with one planner absent, to recommend to the Parsons City Commission that the skating rink property at 225 N. 10th be rezoned from single-family residential (R-1) to service commercial (C-3) during a Tuesday evening meeting. The planners also ...
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USD 503 board turns down soccer
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com The USD 503 Board of Education decided against implementing a soccer team this coming year, but left the door open to the possibility in the future. Parsons High School assistant principal Trevor Addis told the board that soccer is offered at high schools in Fort Scott, Pittsburg, Independence and Coffeyville. Only boys soccer is offered in the fall, so girls would have to participate with them if ...
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KDOC transfers prisoners
OSWEGO — About 28 minimum security inmates have been moved into the medium security building at El Dorado Correctional Facility, Southeast Unit, at Oswego. The transfer happened last week, according to Jeremy Barclay, communications director for the Kansas Department of Corrections. Barclay said the move will allow the DOC to avoid spending additional budget on employee salaries before it needs to. The prisoners at Oswego were housed in separa...
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Man gets probation in Medicaid fraud case
An Independence man received probation and an underlying prison term for defrauding the Kansas Medicaid program. Richard Dennany, 43, Independence, pleaded no contest in Labette County District Court to conspiracy to make a false claim to the Medicaid program, making a false claim to the Medicaid program and two counts of unlawful acts relating to the Medicaid program. The charges against Dennany and two others stemmed from an investigation in...
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Sheriff investigates fire
The Labette County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a fire late Friday night and early Saturday morning that destroyed golf carts at J.P.’s Golf east of Parsons. Jerry Purcell, the business owner, said he had eight used gas-powered carts parked along 24000 Road on his property for a couple days. The business is at 1755 24000 Road, which is Main Street in Parsons. Purcell said he’d checked on the carts Thursday and Friday morning and had w...
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City of Erie appoints superintendent
ERIE — The Erie City Council promoted a longtime city worker to city superintendent during a special meeting Monday evening. The council voted 3-2 during its May 13 meeting to not reappoint City Superintendent Bruce Vogts to his position. The council must appoint a person to the superintendent position, along with several other positions, each year. Vogts was the only city employee not reappointed to his position. On Monday, the council voted ...
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City decides not to reschedule Monday meeting
The Parsons City Commission meeting scheduled for Monday was canceled because of the threat of severe weather. Kari West, public information officer for the city, said on Tuesday morning the meeting will not be rescheduled. The commission will meet again during the regularly scheduled work session at 4:30 p.m. May 30. The commission had planned to vote on whether the city should proceed with a proposed anti-tethering ordinance that would restr...
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Scavenger hunt returns to Katy Days
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com This year’s Katy Days History Zone is bringing to the public two new treats and a favorite activity from last year, brought back by popular demand. This year the annual display created by the Parsons Historical Museum will be “Mapping Memories: Where It Was in Parsons.” It will feature maps of Parsons — including a large map of downtown created especially for this year’s Katy Days, which will run F...
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Unemployment drops in Labette
The unemployment rate in Kansas fell slightly last month, while the rate in Labette County fell by more than half of a percent. The Kansas Department of Labor reported recently the unemployment rate for April declined from 5.8 percent in March to 5.3 percent in April, while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate saw a slight decline from 5.6 to 5.5 percent. The unemployment rate in April 2012 was 5.4 percent. In Labette, the jobless rate fe...
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Local group plans Boys & Girls Club
A steering committee is making plans to establish a Boys & Girls Club in Parsons. The committee was organized in February to assess the need and the possibility of establishing the club. The committee is made up of individuals who have a genuine concern about the issues that face the community’s youth and includes staff from USD 503, Parsons Housing Authority, Downtown Parsons Inc., Labette Community College, Public Health of Labette County, Y...
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Library plans lots of activities for summer
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com Boredom is considered by some an unwarranted state of existence if one knows how to read because even when a person doesn’t have the means or opportunity to physically travel someplace, books allow the imagination to travel anywhere. The Parsons Public Library’s summer reading program offers area residents not only the opportunity to read great books to feed their imaginations, but also to particip...
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Republicans choose clerk’s replacement
OSWEGO — The Labette County Republican Central Committee on Friday nominated Deputy Clerk Peggy Minor to take over as county clerk when Linda Schreppel retires at the end of June. Schreppel announced that she would retire recently and was re-elected to her eighth term in November. She has been county clerk since December 1981. Minor has been with the clerk’s office since August 1986. She has performed many of the different functions of the off...
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News & Notes
Union Avenue closure The city of Parsons plans to keep Union Avenue from North 16th (U.S. 59) to North 21st (Ottawa Road) closed to through traffic until 5 p.m. June 21 for a street reconstruction project. A temporary access road will be provided to Aaron’s, 2826 N. 16th. All traffic to and from Flynn Industrial Park should use the north drive off of 16th. 90th birthdays The public is invited to a 90th birthday celebration for Ruby Redmond fr...
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Floor of judicial center needs work
OSWEGO — Labette County commissioners on Monday received an update on a recent visit to the Labette County Judicial Center in Parsons by an engineer. Kenny Blair of Cook, Flatt and Strobel Engineers, Topeka, toured the judicial center last week and told Commission Chairman Lonie Addis and County Counselor Fred Johnson of some of his concerns about the building. Staff have reported problems with the floor settling on the north side of the build...
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Church organ catches on fire
An early morning fire Saturday damaged the electric organ at First Christian Church, 1500 S. 29th, and Sunday services were moved to another church. Parsons firefighters were called at 2:42 a.m. Saturday to the church. An automatic alarm made the notification to authorities. Firefighters found the organ in the sanctuary on fire when they arrived. Firefighters extinguished the flames and used fans to remove the smoke, Fire Chief Larry Steeby sa...
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Valedictorian tells PHS grads to seek, pursue purpose in life
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com In his speech to the Class of 2013, Parsons High School valedictorian Gabriel Nehrbass acknowledged all those who helped the graduates achieve their goal. He also acknowledged that despite all the encouragement received, the 94 seniors of the graduating class had also felt the weight of doubt throughout high school that they would ever be successful and achieve those goals. “Many can easily point o...
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Business
CST Storage, 2101 S. 21st, recognized employees with a ceremony to honor the company’s achievement of five years without a lost-time accident.  “Reaching five years without a lost-time accident is a highly elusive accomplishment for any company, but for companies in heavy manufacturing, our safety record is nothing short of incredible. It boils down to the dedication of our employees who work every day with a focus on safety, quality and effic...
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News & Notes
Library activities The Parsons Public Library will not have Story Hour next week. It will resume on June 3.  Sign-up for the library’s summer reading program will begin on Friday. The program themes are Dig Into Reading for children, Beneath the Surface for young adults and Ground Breaking Reads for adults. The calendar of events will be available at sign-up. Home school used book sale The Parsons Homeschool Group will have a used book/curri...
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Shelter helps woman get back on her feet
Editor’s note: The is the second part in a series on Safe Haven Outreach Mission. The resident in this story asked that only her middle name, Deborah, be published as she has set her life on a new, positive course and has broken ties with her past. By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com For the last 18 months, Safe Haven Outreach Mission Inc. has been “home” for Deborah. “I didn’t want to come here... My pride and all,” she said. “And ...
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