Melanie and Dale Franz and son Darren pull weeds Sunday along sidewalks in Marion’s downtown business district as their contribution to HMBC’s service day. Sometimes it’s hard to show love toward your neighbors without getting your hands a little dirty. Rather than inhabit their clean and comfortable worship center this past Sunday, more than 200 people from the Hillsboro Menno­nite […]

Six weeks short of 20 years ago, with Joel Klaas­sen as publisher, and this writer as editor, the Hills­boro Free Press made its unconventional debut: a newspaper with no subscription fee and delivered every week to each home in Marion County, funded largely by ads and insert revenue. When our premiere issue debuted Aug. 12, 1998, we announced our editorial […]

by Don Ratzlaff The Free Press The Hillsboro City Coun­cil met in a special session June 22 to approve several routine items. The meeting was moved from June 19 to June 22 to accommodate the schedules of the participants. The agenda item generating the most conversation was a use agreement required by the Central Kansas Conservancy that allow the city […]

LEFT: Hudson Rogers dives in for his leg of the 8 & Under boys’ freestyle relay. RIGHT: Hillsboro’s Violet Klein finds her stroke during the freestyle relay for 11-12 year-old girls at the Council Grove swim meet on Saturday. Photos by Karrie Rathbone The Hillsboro swim team claimed first place at the three-team meet at Council Grove Saturday with Marion […]

“When I heard the store was for sale, the wheels started turning—well, that might be an opportunity,” said Catherine Gilley, the new owner of the Peabody Market. Thanks to a local entrepreneur looking for a career change, plus a unique arrangement for financial support, residents of Peabody will be able to keep buying their groceries in their hometown store. Catherine […]

This farmer south of Hillsboro was cutting a small field of wheat adjacent to a pasture along Indigo on Monday. The 2018 harvest has had mixed results, depending on moisture during the growing season. Busheling has ranged from 20 to 60 per acre as the fields diminish. Don Ratzlaff With dire expectations heading into this year’s wheat harvest due to […]

A recent study by the Internet site WalletHub ranks the Sun­flower State slightly below the middle of the country in terms of “safest states to live in” at No. 36. Categories of evaluation included personal and residential, financial, roads, workplace and emergency preparedness. Vermont ranked No. 1 overall. Each state is safe from some dangers, but falls prey to others. […]

First-year Tabor College golf coach Mike Jamieson works the phones and the computer on the recruiting trail for the return season of Bluejay golf. Play­ing golf at Tabor was probably, by far, the best time in my life. The education was excellent, and everything about it. “In the back of my mind, wherever I coach, I want to create that […]

Mallory Hein competing in the 50-yard backstroke in the age 13-14 division. Karrie Rathbone The Hillsboro swim team finished second in a four-team meet at Hesston on Saturday. The hometown Hesston Wahoos claimed first place with a combined team score of 614. Hillsboro scored 565 for second place, the Linds­borg WaveMakers placed third with 326 and Solomon finished four with […]

When you get down to it, most public laws and ordinances grow out a lack of thoughtfulness and common courtesy between citizens. When one citizen disregards the reasonable wishes of a neighbor, the legal authority eventually steps in to require courtesy under the threat of fine or punishment. As a result, we have laws to guard the most reasonable human […]