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HMS seventh-grader wins Marion County spelling bee

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Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 16 February 2010 19:29

Spelling-bee moderator Rod Garman displays the first-place plaque as finalists await the presentation: (from left) runner-up Tylor Baker, champion Claire Heyen and third-place winner Bradli Nowak. Hillsboro Middle School seventh-grader Claire Heyen spelled her way to becoming the 2010 Marion County Spelling Bee champion Wednesday, Feb. 10, in the Marion High School auditorium.

P-s-y-c-h-o-a-n-a-l-y-s-i-s was the word that clinched first-place honors in the ninth round.

In rounds one through eight, Heyen correctly spelled brighten, sculpture, fertilize, guidance, scruple, hysterical, larynx and infatuation.

Tylor Baker of Peabody-Burns Junior High School was this year’s runnerup...

Luckey Day

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Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 09 February 2010 19:40

Bud Luckey relates an anecdote from his days at Pixar. He said the best work he created may have been “Boundin’,” an animated short feature that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. Considering he’s a world-class animator with a hall-of-fame resumé of accomplishments, Bud Luckey may have been the least animated person in the room.

Low-key and soft-spoken, the retired concept artist who started drawing for Pixar in 1992 answered every question tossed to him last Tuesday when he visited Brian Stucky’s class of 19 Goessel High School art students.

But Luckey made it known at the start that his presentation was going to require some effort on their part.

“I do a few of these show-and-tells, and I don’t talk much,” he said quietly and with the hint of a smile.

By the end of class time, much of the truth had come out.

Luckey may be best known for his work at Pixar as a character designer for “Toy...

Truck accident turns sticky

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Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 09 February 2010 19:32

This truck’s broken molasses tank resulted in a sticky U.S. Highway 56 a mile east of Hillsboro and caused a temporary halt of traffic while Hillsboro Fire Department volunteers cleaned up the mess. A two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 56 and Sante Fe Street near Hillsboro early Thursday afternoon ended up being a sticky mess for some Marion County emergency responders and their vehicles, not to mention a temporary halt in highwy traffic for cleanup.

The incident involved a 1995 International truck hauling about 1,000 gallons of molasses and a 2007 Kenworth tractor-trailer.

Marion County Deputy Mike Ottensmeier said both vehicles were heading west on U.S. 56 when the semi, driven by Martin Robinson of Ottawa, began slowing to make a left turn onto Santa Fe Street and Countryside Feed LLC. As that vehicle attempted the turn, the truck, driven by Wesley McGuire of Sioux Falls, S.D., apparently had brake failure, causing it to...

Moran visits Bluejay Nation

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Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 09 February 2010 19:30

Rep. Jerry Moran visits with Shirley Suderman of Hillsboro during his visit to Tabor College on Saturday. Moran, who is running for the U.S. Senate, was hosted by administrators Lawrence Ressler and Rusty Allen, and attended the basketball games between Tabor and Kansas Wesleyan.

Passengers escape injury in car-train accident

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Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 09 February 2010 19:26

Christian Petersen and Aurora Salamone embrace as they inspect the damage to his Dodge Stratus. Three young adults and one child escaped injury after the vehicle they were in slid into an oncoming train just before noon Friday off 190th on Remington Road.

Christian Petersen, 26, of Hillsboro, driving a 2006 Dodge Stratus, was about one mile south on Remington Road when, he said, the car hit a mud puddle close to the railroad crossing.

“When I turned the windshield wipers on, the mud started smearing,” he said.

In addition to not being able to see clearly, Petersen said he didn’t hear a train coming. He looked down the tracks to the east and seconds after turning on the windshield wipers, he saw the train. Petersen said he tried to stop the car, but the recent snow and rain turned the dirt and gravel surface into mud...