Scott Crawford, KCAC Commissioner (second from left), presents Rusty Allen, Tabor College vice president of athletics, with a plaque recognizing Tabor as the winner of the inaugural KCAC Commissioner’s Cup. Tabor President Jules Glanzer and Associate Athletic Director Amy Ratzlaff look on. The award, presented during Tabor’s annual sports banquet, will be given annually to the conference school with the greatest cumulative performance over the three athletic seasons.

Tabor College has earned the inaugural KCAC Commis­sioner’s Cup for its athletic achievements during the 2012-13 school year.

“It’s exciting, it’s fun,” said Rusty Allen, Tabor vice president of athletics. “One of the things we had set as our goal was to finish in the top three of this every year, and so in the inaugural year to win it, we feel like we’ve accomplished a lot.”

The award—designed to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes and the KCAC schools they represent—will be given annually to the school with the greatest overall performance throughout the three athletic seasons, based on points.

“Many of our peer conferences have a similar award,” said KCAC Commissioner Scott Crawford. “To align ourselves with those conferences, but also to highlight excellence at the athletic-department level, we moved forward with this award last spring knowing our first recipient would be recognized in spring 2013.”

Ron and Danaye Dies of Lehigh enjoy the outdoors with their 3-year-old son, Wyatt. The Dies family became connected with Parents as Teachers soon after Wyatt’s birth. “It can only benefit you and your child and help them learn before they get to school. I think it’s a tool that every parent should use if they can,” Danaye says.

Ron and Danaye Dies had barely brought infant son Wyatt from the hospital to their Lehigh home when a representative from Parents as Teachers was standing at their front door.

“They come out when you have a baby and give you a care package and talk with you about the PAT program,” Danaye said.

It didn’t take long to convince the new parents that PAT, the family support organization that is supported financially by the six school districts in Marion County, had something good to offer them—and at the perfect price.

“We decided, since it was a free program, as new parents it would be a really good idea to have somebody come in and help us out with teaching Wyatt and giving us some direction,” she said.

Some three years later, Danaye Dies has become an advocate of sorts for the program.

This was the view along U.S. Highway 56 looking west toward Hillsboro around 6 p.m. Sunday. At about that time the community of Lehigh was under a severe thunderstorm warning. Fortunately, outdoor commencement ceremonies for Tabor College and Hillsboro had

After two years of drought, this year’s frequent rains are causing gravel to be absorbed into the earth faster than the Road and Bridge Department can apply it, director Randy Crawford told the Marion County commissioners Monday.

Adding to the problem, Don Stenzel, whose farm is located on Old Mill Road in the northern part of the county, said increased traffic by oil drilling industry vehicles and equipment is rutting and deteriorating roads so quickly that he has to slow spring planting frequently to deal with machinery damaged on the roads.

Stenzel said in some areas, road surfaces and shoulders are nearly gone, leaving a surface of ditches.

Torey Hett of Marion shares a light moment with Ryan Chalmers during the Challenge Games in Derby. Chambers is traveling across the country in his racing wheelchair. In the upper left photo, Chalmers shows his traveling form as he rolls along the highway.

When Ryan Chalmers, 24, arrived in Newton on Saturday, it marked the 35th day of his 71-day journey across America in his racing wheelchair.

Although Chalmers planned to continue through Marion County on Saturday, Torey Hett of Marion asked if he might consider staying until Sunday morning and take part in the Challenge Games at Derby.

Like Hett, Chalmers also was born with spina bifida, which is an incomplete closure of the spinal column, and means they do not have complete use of their legs.

With Chalmers averaging 60 to 70 miles a day since starting his journey April 6, one of the first questions Hett asked Chalmers was if he became sore traveling those distances.

“He told me the first week he was, but that now he is getting used to it,” Hett said.