News
Candidate wants city to improve housing
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com A city commission candidate thinks Parsons needs to put more effort into improving the town’s housing stock. William Brown, a candidate in April’s election who has filed for the 2015 election, shared some of his ideas to encourage home owners to repair their houses with city commissioners during their Monday evening meeting. Brown said he went door to door recently surveying the public about homes and pr...
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News & Notes
Playful City USA Parsons was among the 217 cities that earned recognition from national nonprofit KaBOOM! as 2013 Playful City USA communities for their efforts to give children ample opportunities for play. Sponsored by the Humana Foundation, Playful City USA is a national program from KaBOOM! that celebrates and promotes local policies that increase play opportunities for children and is a key platform in combating the lack of play among chi...
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Judge rejects evidence in marijuana case
A Labette County judge ruled that evidence seized from a Parsons home — 58 pounds of marijuana — should be suppressed. District Judge Robert Fleming made this ruling in the case against Robert M. Tang, who is accused of distribution of marijuana, failing to affix a drug tax stamp to the marijuana and use of drug paraphernalia, all felonies. The charges followed a May 4, 2011, search of Tang’s home at 2507 Clark by the Labette County Sheriff’s ...
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EHS students help businesses with soical networking
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com ERIE — While many schools can’t embrace the use of social media in education, Erie’s Personalized Learning Program students are using it daily, not only as an educational tool, but also to promote businesses in their community, including their own. Like many businesses, D’Angelo’s Pizzeria was listed on Facebook. The generic page, with a generic restaurant logo of a white fork and knife against a ...
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EMS chief lobbies in Washington, Topeka
Chris Way, director of emergency medical services for Labette Health, has an active role in lobbying for ambulance services and their employees statewide and in the nation’s capital. Way is vice president of Kansas EMS Association and formerly served as president of the organization. As a member of KEMSA, Way has made five trips to Washington to lobby for issues important to the emergency medical service. A story about his March trip to D.C. w...
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City to decide on tethering issue soon
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com The Parsons City Commission plans to vote on May 20 on whether or not the city should proceed with preparation of an anti-tethering ordinance. A local group, Basic Animal Rights Committee, has been pushing for a local ordinance and state statute to outlaw continuous tethering of dogs. The commission met with the group and the Kansas director of The Humane Society of the United States during a work sessio...
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New tire business opens
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com A new Parsons business offers tires and after-market products. Breck Gofourth opened AD After Market and Tire at 1320 Corporate Drive in Industrial Park No. 1 on May 1. His father, Scott Gofourth is a co-owner, and Dustin Kite is a partner in the new business. AD After Market and Tire is a Goodyear tire dealer but also offers many other tire brands. The business just received its pickup truck bed liner i...
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City approves Timber Creek incentives
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com The city of Parsons will help a local meat processor expand his business as he focuses more on retail sales. The Parsons City Commission voted unanimously Monday evening to approve an economic development incentive package for Timber Creek Meats, which is now located in Flynn Industrial Park with a retail outlet at 925 Main. Owner Cory Steves plans to construct a 40-by-50-foot building on an empty lot ju...
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County commission hears about concealed-carry law
OSWEGO — The Labette County Commission on Monday received a primer on the concealed carry law from an instructor and Labette County Sheriff Robert Sims. Oswego Police Chief George Elliott is a concealed-carry instructor and Sheriff Sims said one of his officers would get certified soon to teach the classes. The new law, which goes into effect July 1, will allow citizens with concealed-carry permits to bring firearms into many public buildings,...
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Erie USD 101 hires new superintendent
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com CENTRAL PLAINS — Central Plains USD 112 superintendent Steven Woolf has been chosen by the Erie USD 101 Board of Education as the new superintendent of schools for the 2013-14 school year. Woolf will officially begin his duties July 1, replacing current superintendent John Wyrick, who has taken the position of superintendent at Altamont USD 506 beginning July 1. Woolf received bachelor’s and master...
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Mattox plans to renovate building for use by retailer
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com A Parsons businessman has invested further in the downtown area, buying a vacant building with plans to renovate it. Dave Mattox, owner of Bleacher Gear, 1730 Main, bought the building at 1719 Main that most recently housed a used book store. The building also was the home of a couple of pool halls, including Jim’s Plaza Pool in the 1980s and ’90s. Mattox, a member of Downtown Parsons Inc., participated ...
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Firefighters fight excess weight
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com A comprehensive study released by the U.S. Fire Administration finds the No. 1 cause of death for on-duty firefighters is heart attack — a fact not lost on some Parsons firefighters. As firefighters pass the age of 30, their chance of a heart attack while on duty steadily increases, and 44 percent of firefighter deaths are directly related to heart attacks - not trauma. Nearing 50, the statistics w...
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Train engine catches fire in Chetopa
CHETOPA — A Union Pacific Railroad locomotive’s engine area caught fire briefly Thursday night in Chetopa near 12th and Hardin. According to U.P. spokesman Mark Davis, the fire happened about 9:30 p.m. on the 134-car train traveling from Wyoming to Louisiana. Chetopa emergency crews and firefighters responded to the scene, but the fire was out upon their arrival. The train crew had turned off the locomotive and the fire went out. There were no...
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Timber Creek plans to expand
The owner of Timber Creek Meats plans to erect a new building on North 16th Street near U.S. 400. Cory Steves bought the property and plans to construct a 40-foot by 50-foot building on an empty piece of land south of Stockyard Travel Plaza. Parsons city commissioners will consider an economic development incentive package during their regular Monday evening meeting that would include a $15,000 retail recruitment grant, a $50,000 loan with 4.2...
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News & Notes
Cherry Blossom canceled CHERRYVALE — Today’s Cherry Blossom Festival in Cherryvale has been canceled because of the weather. Most activities will be rescheduled for Sept. 7. The mini track meet will take place May 18. Call Jim Blaes, (620) 891-0072, for questions on the track meet. 80th birthday CHETOPA — There will be an open house honoring Mary Ann Prose’s 80th birthday from 2 to 4 p.m. May 11 at the Mae Lessley Community Center in Chetopa...
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Neosho to sell cars, other items in auction
ERIE — Neosho County plans to have a surplus auction soon. During their regular Friday morning meeting, county commissioners approved a bid from Buntin Auction Service, Erie, to conduct the auction. Buntin will receive a fee of 10 percent of the auction gross. No other bids were received. The sale, which is tentatively set for June 1, will include eight vehicles from the sheriff’s department as well as computers and desks from the courthouse, ...
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Commissioners indicate their opposition to BARC proposal
By Jamie Willey jwilley@parsonssun.com A group pushing to make the city more animal friendly stressed that tethering dogs is at least psychologically abusive, if not physically abusive, on Thursday, but city commissioners seem to be opposed to a proposed anti-tethering ordinance. After a discussion between the commission, the Basic Animal Rights Committee and the state director for The Humane Society of the United States, Midge Grinstead, the...
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State Humane Society official sees animal cruelty in town
By Colleen Surridge csurridge@parsonssun.com Midge Grinstead, Kansas state director of The Humane Society of the United States, saw firsthand Thursday animals in the community whose owners were in violation of the city of Parsons and state cruelty laws. As a part of their efforts to have an anti-tethering law implemented in Parsons, members of the Basic Animal Rights Committee took Grinstead on a short tour around the city before taking her t...
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Official hopes to restart women’s program
By Ray Nolting rnolting@parsonssun.com Public Health of Labette County, formerly the Labette County Health Department, may restart its women’s health program. Department Administrator Debbi Baugher discussed the possibility with Labette County commissioners in a Thursday work session about her budget. Betty Benedict, the nurse practitioner who ran the department’s women’s health program, retired in December 2008; Baugher never replaced her o...
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LCC names four 2013 Distinguished Alumni
Labette Community College recently announced the names of four recipients of the 2013 fifth annual Distinguished Alumni Award sponsored by the Labette Community College Foundation and Alumni. Distinguished Alumni honored this year will be Keith Shaffer of Altamont, Alice Beachner, Sharon Brown and Kanak Patel, all of Parsons. The Distinguished Alumni Award was developed by the Foundation and Alumni Association Board of Labette Community Colle...
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