County considers legal challenge on jail

Written by Jerry Engler Tuesday, 17 August 2010 18:40

Two Marion County commissioners, Chairman Randy Dallke and Dan Holub, said Monday they are ready to challenge the State Fire Marshal’s office requirements for the county jail in court if they can’t be successfully negotiated.

The third commissioner at the weekly meeting, Bob Hein, said he is inclined the same way, but wants to talk more with Sheriff Rob Craft and County Attorney Susan Robson before a decision is made.

Dallke said Marion County is being treated unfairly by SFMO. Its fire inspection results call for an around-the-clock fire watch that could require the sheriff to hire as many as four or five more people.

“Otherwise, it will take deputies off the road and off patrol to do fire watch,” Dallke said.

Dallke said...

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Local intern sees good, bad of political battle

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 17 August 2010 18:39

Megan McCarty (left) poses with Audrey and Tracey Mann on election night. “It was definitely a positive experience,” McCarty says about her summer with the Mann campaign. Two weeks after the Aug. 3 primary election, Megan McCarty still feels the disappointment of Tracey Mann’s third-place finish in the hotly contested Republican race for the U.S. House seat from the First District.

At the same time, she has no regrets about her summer spent as a part-time intern for the Mann campaign.

“It was definitely a positive experience,” said McCarty, a Hillsboro native preparing for her senior year at Tabor College.

And, truth be known, she feels the Mann campaign was the ultimate winner, choosing to remain positive when his two closest competitors went negative against him after a television news poll late inthe campaign showed Mann, Tim Huelskamp and Jim Barnett tied with 24 percent of the vote.

In...

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Hillsboro’s Ash St. reopens for traffic

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 17 August 2010 18:36

Joe Alvarez of the city street department carries off the last “Road Closed” barricade on North Ash. With the cutting of a ceremonial ribbon by Mayor Delores Dalke, the newly reconstructed section of North Ash Street in Hillsboro was opened to traffic Friday morning.

The brief ceremony was held near the intersection of Ash and Second streets with about 35 people on hand.

The three-block project, funded primarily with an award of $412,500 in stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, began May 11.



The original plan was to replace the worst sections of the old concrete with new concrete, then apply an asphalt overlay over the remaining sections of the street.

Late into the project, a federal inspector required that all of the old concrete be replaced either with full-depth asphalt or full-depth...

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A hot time for old-time engines

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 10 August 2010 15:33

Diehards battle high temps during Threshing Days

Temperatures in the three-digit range may have decreased the turnout for last weekend’s Country Threshing Days in Goessel, but enthusiasts still came out to admire the engines and farm machinery of the past.

In the top photo, David Oborny (right), of Marion, and son Tom stop to inspect some free-standing antique engines Sunday. At right, a line of classic tractors passes through the downtown parade on Saturday. Click here for a photo gallery on Country Threshing Days.