USD 410 BOE adopts budget, master contract for 2013-14

Written by Aleen Ratzlaff Tuesday, 18 June 2013 13:59

Board of Education for Unified School District 410 approved the 2013-14 budget and master contract at its regular meeting June 10.

The master contract includes the following:

• 1.65 percent wage increases for current employees hired on or before Oct. 1, 2012;

• 1.45 percent salary increases for administrators, plus elimination of personal leave beginning fiscal year 2014;

• 1.65 percent salary increases for FACT director and PAT coordinator contracts, plus elimination of personal leave beginning fiscal year 2014;

• a health insurance contribution equivalent to a $1,000 deductible single coverage premium for eligible employees.

The board met in executive session twice—once to discuss negotiations and then to discuss...

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Genetically altered wheat could lower prices

Written by Jerry Engler Tuesday, 18 June 2013 13:58

It’s true that disaster is pronounced for the Kansas wheat crop every few months, and the crop seems to resurrect anyway.

But with Marion County wheat farmers poised to harvest a good to excellent wheat crop the end of this month, they really didn’t need to hear any hints that wheat prices could be down, thanks to the discovery of genetically altered wheat developed by Monsanto in an Oregon spring wheat field.

It’s been far better to be able to count this as an especially blessed area with rainfall adequate for the crop when the wheat crop is shrunken by lack of moisture in areas further west.

Monsanto originally genetically altered the wheat to resist the contact herbicide Roundup in tests. The company never released the new...

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Students awarded scholarships and honors at state FFA

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 11 June 2013 12:41

Several area students were awarded honors and scholarships during the 85th Kansas FFA Convention May 29-31 in Manhattan.

State FFA Degrees

Thirteen area FFA members were among the 36 from the South Central District to be awarded their State FFA Degree May 31.

The State Degree is the highest honor the Kansas FFA Asso­ciation can bestow upon its members.

Three area schools were represented. Receiving the degree from the Centre chapter were Justin Deines, Kyle Methvin, Chad Mueller, Tom Oborny, Tanner Peterson, Karl Riffel and Ty Simmons;

Members from the Hillsboro chapter were Lauren Geis, Bryce Roberts and Nathan Unruh.

Recipients from the Marion-Florence chapter were Jacob Cope, Aaron Molleker and Montana Percell.

In order to...

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Cut cable cuts Eagle service for 19 hrs.

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 11 June 2013 12:40

Workers dig for the severed fiber-optic cable about an eighth of a mile south of U.S. Highway 56 on Remington road. The cable was cut by an underground contractor attempting to lay new cable. Hillsboro customers who depend on Eagle Communica­tions for cable television, Internet and phone service were cut off for about 19 hours last week because of a severed underground fiber-optics cable about a mile outside of Marion.

Travis Kohlrus, general manager of the Hays-based company, said a contractor he did not identify was laying cable east of Marion when it cut the cable Eagle leases from the Technol­ogy Excellence in Education Network.

TEEN provides interactive distance learning opportunities for the Centre, Herington, Hills­boro, Marion and Peabody-Burns school districts.

“The TEEN group is responsible for locating that fiber, which they did,” Kohlrus said. “This other underground contractor apparently either...

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