New postmaster finds her way home

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 08 January 2013 15:22

Marion postal clerk Denise Bina (left) waits as Postmaster Lori Kelsey finishes her conversation with a postal customer. A 27-year veteran with the post office, Kelsey said she is glad to be back in her native county after working with the mail in El Dorado, Marquette and Geneseo. The U.S. Postal Service has made a lot of changes in recent years, and Lori Kelsey, Marion’s new postmaster, has been there for many of them.

Kelsey said she’s worked for the postal service 27 years and is happy to be back home.

“I have been a clerk, carrier, postmaster in a couple other offices and supervisor,” she said.

Kelsey has worked in El Dorado, Marquette and Geneseo, but her home was in Florence and she is a 1984 graduate of Marion High School.

“My family loves being here,” Kelsey said. “It is so relaxing, refreshing and nice to be in a small town and get to visit. It’s not fast-paced and we get to know people.”

One of the more significant changes in her nearly three decades with USPS, she said, is the...

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Putting the drive in park

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 08 January 2013 15:21

Members of the Lincolnville City Council pose by the play and climbing equipment the city acquired for the city park in 2011. Two new adjustable basketball goals were added last year as well as a landscaping project by the Girl Scouts to plant 12 new trees. This year the council hopes to add a quarter-mile concrete walking/running path with the help of grant funding and personal donations. Pictured from left are Sherri Pankratz, who is heading up the park-improvement projects, fellow council members Kristin Ebaben and Christina Peterson and Mayor Barb Kaiser. Small rural communities rarely have sufficient tax revenue to develop amenities for residents beyond passable streets and basic services.

But the Lincolnville City Council has been thinking and working outside the box in an effort to develop its city park into an attract resource for public enjoyment and better health.

Council member Sherri Pankratz has been spearheading efforts to solicit private donations and grant funding to fill the monetary gap.

“I’ve been on the council for two years this go around,” Pankratz said. “I’ve been on and off for many years, but when I got back on they gave me the duties of the city park and the ball field.”

Several improvements were made at the ballfield even before Pankratz rejoined...

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First horizontal rig setting up in Marion County

Written by Jerry Engler Tuesday, 08 January 2013 15:20

The horizontal-drilling operation launched by Zenergy Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., is setting up shop near the intersection of Goldenrod and 210th about two miles west of Hillsboro. The first horizontal, or “frack­ing,” oil drilling in Marion County began this month on land owned by Kevin Jost at 2013 Goldenrod about two miles west of Hillsboro.

The fracking process greatly expands the possibility of recoverable oil or natural gas over what has been done in the past by going deeper and then horizontally, thereby releasing previously unreached oil.

In most of the United States, it has been estimated that 80 percent or more of the total oil or gas is still in the ground, previously unrecoverable by older methods.

Industry reports have suggested the United States will be energy independent as a result sometime between 2017 and 2020, and even will become an exporter of oil and gas.

Jost said he knows from...

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Janzen retiring after four decades serving older adults

Written by Don Ratzlaff Monday, 31 December 2012 11:36

Lu Janzen is retiring after 40 years with Parkside Homes in Hillsboro, including 37 years as the organization’s lead administrator. “I knew this was where my calling was,” Janzen said. It’s hard to separate Parkside Homes from Lu Janzen.

That’s true in the sense of longevity.

Janzen came on board as an accountant in 1970, a mere eight years after Parkside opened. Except for two years away during the mid-1980s, she’s been on board ever since, including 37 years as its lead administrator.

It’s true in terms of Park­side’s path to becoming a state leader in senior care.

“What a privilege to be able to work with older people and help make a difference in the quality of living for them,” Janzen said. “I’ve only had the vision as to how older persons should have a chance to live. God worked through me and I was fortunate to have board members who caught the vision and helped make it come...

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