The holidays are a time when I spend probably the most time with my family. My aunt usually drives home from St. Louis, my sister drives north from Texas, and generally, there is a packed house in Buhler to greet me. I have never once thought about that not being the case for me until recently. My best friend lost his mother […]

Consider your neighbors and friends here locally that own businesses for your holiday shopping before going to another county to shop. Any money that stays in Marion County is good for the overall economy and while it’s always fun to take a trip to Wichita for a day, consider buying what you can here at home. – Joey Young, Publisher

There will be five members on the county commission even if no one quite knows how to get there yet. I am not sure this was a good idea or not, but one thing we know to be for certain is that the drawing of the districts will need to be done with absolute care. Personally, I would have rather […]

Twenty years of the Hillsboro Free Press is a pretty neat milestone to celebrate. There aren’t many newspapers in this world celebrating 20-years in 2018. That makes this newspaper unique. It also makes it’s founders unique. Joel Klaassen and Don Ratzlaff walked out onto a limb when they started this paper in a rural Kansas county and trusted that the […]

There have been many things written about me, some disparaging and some complimentary, but at least most of those folks have the decency to tell me who is throwing the compliment or barb. This week we received many complaints about a certain columnist in The Free Press. Bob Woelk has written a column for as long as I have been publisher […]

Marion County’s two largest cities don’t have the luxury of not collaborating to thrive. Hillsboro and Marion must treat each other not just as neighbors but almost as one entity to survive and thrive. Reading Lou Thurston’s report below makes me happy. Both cities have collaborated in the past on many issues. Both mayors talk the talk, too. It was […]

It has come to my attention that there are people who have taken notice to some of the coverage changes in the Free Press over the last few weeks. The changes have made some happy and some sad, and we understand that. While I haven’t received one complaint in person or through e-mail, some staff members have. I just thought […]

This past weekend, as always, was an excellent showcase for Marion County. Both Hillsboro and Marion have art events which bring many people. These events represent real economic opportunity to Marion County. They bring in outside dollars, showcase each community, and give people a reason to look forward to a trip to the area the following year. It would be […]

There has been talk of a five-man Marion County Commission as of late. While we understand some of what those speaking of such things are trying to get at, we also would like to point out the fact that everyone in this county has a vote. If voters in this county don’t like what is happening on the commission then […]

There aren’t many things more important than good and reliable Internet access for a town trying to be viable this century. If people can’t stream Netflix, Hulu, play online video games, and watch YouTube at their leisure, they aren’t going to be compelled to move somewhere. So Internet access is a big reason Marion County hasn’t had the economic success […]