A reported crowd of 30-40 onlookers gathered below the spillway at Marion Reservoir on Sunday to watch workers drain the spillway area. Tory Hett, with the Corps of Engineers at Marion Reservoir, said workers were cleaning out the spillway in order for an inspection to be done. Officials said it’s been around 20 years have passed since the spillway area […]

The Marion County Board of Commissioners heard from six of its departments, some providing updates on recent activities, while others needing approval to purchase items of necessity at the April 23 meeting. Marion County Park and Lake Superintendent Isaac Hett spoke with commissioners about work needing to be done to replace the overhead wiring to the stage. “We received a […]

The Hillsboro City Coun­cil accepted a bid to address structural “emergencies” at the Schaeffler House Museum during its April 17 meeting. At a previous meeting, Steve Fast, museums director, reported the city had been awarded a grant to restore the Schaeffler House foundation. At this meeting, Fast said ground movement has caused the foundations to be out of plumb, with […]

by Dan Margolies Kansas News Service A federal judge has held Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in contempt for failing to fully register and notify eligible voters he’d blocked. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson found Kobach failed to get standard postcards sent out to those would-be voters confirming their registrations and failed to update the County Election Manual used […]

Local high schools have had a hit-and-miss affair with the spring sports season as the Kansas weather changes from warm to cold in recent days. April 10 proved to be a good day to start the track and field season as Marion hosted a Central Kansas League Track meet. Pictured at the far left is Hillsboro freshman Carson Linnens show­ing […]

The Marion County Board of Commissioned approved its Monday meeting spending about $18,000 to have a pay plan study done by McGrath Consulting Group Inc. of Wonder Lake, Ill, In addition, director Keith Beatty, Kaw Valley Engineering, continued the discussion regarding a design proposal for the Marion County transfer station at its current location at a cost of $1.4 million […]

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen & Jim McClean The Free Press Lawmakers may not know for months whether a deal to pump half a billion dollars into schools goes far enough to end seven years of court battles over whether the state shortchanges Kansas children. If it falls short, the Kansas Supreme Court could call them back to Topeka this summer with […]

About 20 county employees sat in during Monday’s Marion Coun­­ty Commission meet­ing to hear how the commissioners would come up with a “fair and equitable” way to handle the single and family insurance plans. County Clerk Tina Spencer said there are 90 single employees using the insurance and 17 families using the family plan. “The difference between the options is […]

About a dozen residents came to the April 3 Hillsboro City Council meeting to discuss and sometimes challenge the new dog ordinance being considered. One concern that surfaced frequently was the list of 12 breeds of dogs in the ordinance that may be “capable of inflicting life-threatening injuries upon human beings or domestic animals.” During the discussion, more than one […]

The 50th annual Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale is gearing up for this weekend in Hutchinson. The sale offers 24 hours of bidding on quilts and vehicles and tractors, purchasing crafted items, activities for kids and enjoying a variety of foods. The event’s purpose is to raise funds for Mennonite Central Commit­tee—a world-relief organization offering relief, development and peace programs in […]