News
New gun law to be studied
From Staff and Wire Reports Labette County commissioners don't know what to think yet of a gun law signed this month by Gov. Sam Brownback. The law allows citizens licensed to carry concealed weapons the ability to take them into public buildings in Kansas. The law takes effect July 1 but it allows state and local government agencies, and schools and universities, to exempt themselves from provisions of the law until 2017. Commission Chairman ...
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PSU leader says state is at crossroads
PITTSBURG — “Kansas is at a crossroads,” Pittsburg State University president Steve Scott told faculty and staff Tuesday. “The question is, ‘Are we going to see higher education as an investment in the future or a drain on the resources of the state of Kansas.” Scott, speaking to a campus forum on the legislative session, said decisions the Legislature makes in its waning days could be damaging to PSU and all of higher education. Scott and Sha...
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Arboretum volunteers awarded
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com Members of the Parsons Arboretum Foundation Board gathered Monday to discuss the vast amount of work in progress or coming up. Much of the work at the arboretum relies on volunteers, such as the three honored Monday. Board member Rick Tucker presented Patrick McReynolds with a plaque. "Patrick is an outstanding volunteer and has been for many years, and we are presenting him with the 2012 Volunteer...
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Vikings will go to nationals in robotics
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com The Parsons High School robotics team believed their season was over, but a call from For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics headquarters in New Hampshire has the team preparing for national competition in St. Louis, Mo. "The invitation came on short notice. We were actually packing things up when we got the call," said PHS CADD instructor/ robotics teacher Bruce Rea. "T...
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County needs full-timer on payroll
ERIE — The auditor for Neosho County recommended to commissioners that the county make a payroll clerk position full-time in an effort to correct problems with the payroll system. Auditor Rodney Burns of Schlotterbeck & Burns LLC, Chanute, reported on problems he found with the county’s payroll records to the commission during its regular Friday morning meeting. Burns said Paychex was using the 2011 rate for KPERS (Kansas Public Employee Retir...
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The Rock set to close
By Ray Nolting rnolting@parsonssun.com The Rock youth center, 2200 Broadway, will close on May 18, but its directors hope a local church will take up its mission. Leaona Ellis made the closing announcement this week. The Rock and a house to the south and empty lot to the north are for sale. This led to the decision to close the center, which has operated for 10 years and provides a safe, Christian environment for the community's youth to gath...
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Mistrial declared
By Ray Nolting rnolting@parsonssun.com A Labette County district judge ordered a mistrial Thursday for a Parsons man accused of selling cocaine to an informant nearly three years ago. James E. "Big Cat" Clark, born in 1981, 2700 Gabriel, is charged in Labette County District Court with distribution or possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a felony. His jury trial began Wednesday and concluded Thursday morning in a mistrial. A confiden...
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Mustang Sally headlines at Katy Days
A nearly all-female country band from Nashville, Tenn., with a lead singer that is “about as calm as a twister in a trailer park” will headline the Katy Days musical entertainment this year. Mustang Sally is scheduled to perform from 8:30 to 10:15 p.m. May 25 at the Seaton Family Pavilion in Forest Park during the popular beer garden that caps off Saturday’s events during the Memorial Day weekend festival. Matt Hoisington, events and media dir...
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