Attorneys consulting on direction of lawsuit

Written by Don Ratzlaff Wednesday, 20 June 2007 02:10

For the time being, the word is “wait.”

Attorneys for plaintiff Raymond Brandt and for the defendant, Unified School District 410, were corresponding behind the scenes last week regarding the lawsuit filed on Brandt’s behalf that seeks to prevent USD from selling bonds to be used for a new athletic facility in joint ownership with Tabor College.

The lawsuit, filed June 4 in district court, claims a school district is not authorized under Kansas law to enter into joint ownership of property. It seeks to stop the sale of $2.116 million in bonds that were designated in a $6.625 million total bond package to develop a new football and track-and-field facility.

Tabor College would contribute an equal amount of money to the...

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Hillsboro man discovers it’s never too late to join the circus

Written by Andrew Ottoson Wednesday, 20 June 2007 01:56

Harder1.jpg Mike Harber waves from inside his personal sound stage—the rear of a bandwagon he drives for the Kelly Miller Circus of Hugo, Okla. The Hillsboro resident began a tour of the eastern United States in March and will continue it through October.


When most people think of the circus, they picture elephants and ringmasters and clowns and a maybe a few trapeze artists swinging through the air.

But if you stop to imagine the sounds of a circus, it’s only a matter of time until the steady, deep roll of drums starts to echo in your mind.

Enter Hillsboro resident Michael Harber, who, at age 54, temporarily left town to become music director for the Kelly Miller Circus.

“Sometimes my wife, Julie, says I’m going...

Read more: Hillsboro man discovers it’s never too late to join the circus

Bond passes, lawsuit follows Part II- Suit challenges joint ownership regarding Tabor partnership

Written by Don Ratzlaff Wednesday, 13 June 2007 07:47

Attorneys acting on behalf of a Unified School District 410 patron from rural Hillsboro have filed a lawsuit to prevent the sale of bonds that was approved by voters in the June 5 election.

The suit, filed on behalf of Raymond Brandt, contends that the district’s intention to become joint owners of property with Tabor College is not authorized by Kansas law.

The suit was filed Monday, June 4, in the Eighth Judicial District Court in an effort to get the district’s bond attorneys to call off the election, according to Brandt.

The suit, filed in district court by Susan R. Schrag of Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy of Wichita, was delivered to the USD 410 central office on Thursday morning.

As one phase of the district’s...

Read more: Bond passes, lawsuit follows Part II- Suit challenges joint ownership regarding Tabor partnership

Bond passes, lawsuit follows, Part I- USD 410 facility-improvement projects approved by slim margin

Written by Don Ratzlaff Wednesday, 13 June 2007 07:41

Electionresults.jpg Click image to enlarge.

Although the lawsuit filed by a patron last week to prevent the sale of bonds throws a wrinkle into the process, Unified School District 410 will be taking the next steps in the coming weeks to move its capital-improvement project closer to reality.

Voters approved the district’s request to sell $6.625 million in bonds to finance the four-phase project by a vote of 465-404 in a special election last Tuesday held at two polling locations in Hillsboro.

At the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center on the Tabor College campus, voters from Hillsboro’s East Ward and five rural townships east of town approved the project 240-155.

But at Hillsboro City Hall, voters from Hillsboro’s West Ward, the...

Read more: Bond passes, lawsuit follows, Part I- USD 410 facility-improvement projects approved by slim margin