,,,, r- w ce bO¢
located at 111 E. Main, Mankato, Kansas 66956
Established 1890, Volume 113, Issue NO. 37
USPS, NO. 274-940 Thursday, September 11, 2003
104 up
0 students
student count in USD 104,
increased by 10 from last
Bill Walker made
report to board mem-
Monday night's meeting m
Walker said total student
142 compared to 132 last year.
22 is the official enrollment re-
:date and two more students are
to arrive after this date.
board members were present;
~Yelken, Lesa Peroutek, Wanda
Ray Mizner, Bill Wilson, Jim
n Garman. Others present
Therese Frost, clerk, Walker,
Garman-Schlaefli, Malanie
and Meggie Michels.
and Michels, representing
uested a senior trip
approved the trip. The
is to present a schedule to the
the next board meeting. The
~is presently considering a trip to
City and they requested an
d trip of two nights and three
policy is for one night
days senior trips. The board
the request.
business conducted
textbook waivers al-
.and
)hne Manning approved as
e school cheerleader sponsor.
Iker reported on current stu-
allowed to the Superior
District and number of stu-
school at the special
facilities, Beloit.
that with present
:rs and the dollars in
aid, the district is "financially in
• Five !:igh school and one middle
school students from Russia and a SlXm-
sor will arrive Sept. 15 to attend school.
• Walker reported water softeners
recently installed are clearing pipes
and some leaks are showing up. The
leaks will be fixed. Roofs are being
inspected by Washington Roofing for
routine maintenance.
• Property has been inspected by
insurance company and the value has
gone up at both facilities, increasing
insurance needs. More coverage will
be added to allow replacement of fa-
cilities if needed.
KASBB Fall Regional Meeting is
in Smith Center, Oct. 8. Several board
members expressed an interest in at-
tending.
Jim Reed and Ray Mizner expressed
interest in attending the KASB Con-
vention in Topeka in December 5-7.
The board will select a delegate at the
next meeting. Walker will attend the
KASB Seminar in Topeka, Sept. 17.
The annual Community Connec-
tion Night is Nov. 6. A soup supper
will be served at 6:30 p.m. A music
program and a question and answer
session will be held until 8:00 p.m.
Yelken reported tlkere has been in-
terest expressed by a Mankato school
board member to get meetings started
with board members from Jewell,
White Rock and Mankato. It was de-
cided to participate in these meetings
that will begin following fall harvest.
Walker read an invitation to the
Jewell High School Parents Night and
tailgate supper Sept. 19 before the JWR
football game at Jewell.
After a five minute executive ses-
sion to discuss matters affecting stu-
dents, the meeting adjourned.
278 enrollment
28 students
for Unified School Dis-
at the end of Mon-
16, down 28 from last year's
Elementary enrollment
lation was provided the
H. Dean Schultz, superinten-
the regular meeting Monday.
were received and
from Vickie Zadina, cook,
Zadina, high school assis- .
football coach.
Work agreement for Sheila'
as cook at the Mankato High ..
a rate of $6.20 per hour was
At the end of a favorable
the hourly
increase by 25 cents.
True, elementary principal
..n house was well
The crowd wasn't as large as
An estimated $850 was col-
paid.
Dodd was approved as tech-
with an annual corn-
not to exceed $1.000.
about accepting
the donation of the area across east of
the district administration building. It
was the consensus of the board not to
accept the donation.
The board consented to ask Dave
Warne to work the farm ground owned
by USD 278 west of the high school.
It was moved to sign certification
for the Kansas State Board of Educa-
tion regarding the policy of participa-
tion in constitutionally protected prayer
in the schools. Motion passed 6-0-1
with Steve Little abstaining.
Little moved to approve German
Fernandez as a new member to the site
council as recommended by John M.
Boley. The motion died on the floor
for lack of a second.
The board passed 4-2-1, with Neil
Becker abstaining, to approve the ne-
gotiated Master Collective Bargaining
Agreement 2003-04.
It was approved not to have school
for grades K- 12 on Nov. 5 as the Man-
kato FCCLA Chapter will host the
District C Fall Leadership Academy.
• • •
.er investigation
.s nothing new
has been almost a month since the
g, 51, was found,
16in her Beloit home. Since
e, the death has been ruled a
and an extensive investiga-
has been determined, the death
by a single gunshot to the
Beloit police chief said
Tuesday, there have been no new de-
velopments in the case and the investi-
gation is on-going. "We are waiting on
results from the lab examination of the
evidence in the case. No arrests have
been made. Interviews are being con-
ducted."
Fleming was the former Carol
Schmidt. Raised in the Ionia area, she
graduated from Jewell High School.
~:::;!?!ii :
Gene Waddell, Natoma, drills for water at Jewell City Park. Waddell said he has had more than the usual number
of requests for well drilling in Jewell County as the water table continues to drop.
Water well drilling increases
Three years of drought raises
The past three years of drought and
the need of more water has increased
the demand in Jewell County for ser-
vices of Yellow Jacket Well Drilling,
Natoma.
Last week workers were drilling for
water in the Jewell City Park. In a
matter of a few hours they had hit what
they believed to be a"large, good vein."
Owner Eric Waddell said, "They are
lucky. Some of the wells we have drilled
are not as good."
Waddell' s usual territory takes him
from Hays to Salina, on to Concordia,
then Phillipsburg. During these dry
times, it has extended his boundaries to
include more of Jewell County.
This spring and summer he has
drilled new wells in the areas of Jewell,
Randall, Mankato, Ionia, Esbon and
Burr Oak. "Everyone is having to Ic~ok
for more sources of water. It's an
alarming thing. We have to realize that
the water table is getting lower." He
said older wells that "never were com-
Tyler charged with
six felony counts,
meth lab suspected
A Jewell County man is in jail fol-
lowing the discovery of a suspected
meth lab
A search warrant executed at noon
Thursday resulted in the arrest of Joe
Tyler. While searching his limestone
rock farm house and related property,
a suspected meth lab was located. The
farm house is on south side of Lovewefl
Lake, west of Highway 14.
Two certified agents trained in
cladestine methamphetamine labs
searched the buildings on the Tyler
property. Once the two officers were
finished collecting evidence, the Kan-
sas clandestine methamphetamine
laboratory cleanup team arrived and
cleaned up the remainder of the sus-
pected lab.
According to a report completed by
officers of the Jewell County Sheriff's
Department, William Joseph Tyler, 51,
was taken into custody and charged
with six felony counts. The charges
include: Count I, manufacture of a
controlled substance; Count II, attempt
to manufacture controlled substance;
Count III, possession of anhydrous
ammonia in container not approved;
Count 4, possession of ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine; Count 5, possession
of a stimulant drug; Count 6, posses-
sion of an hallucinogenic drug.
These charges combined can result
in up to 2,647 months in prison, and a
fine of up to $500,000.
Tyler is currently being held in the
Jewell County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
His next court appearance is Sept. 15.
Officers with the Mitchell County
Sheriff's Department and the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation assisted Jeweil
County officers.
Commissioners
vote to close roads
• The resolution pertaining to the
policy of the use ofinternet services by
county offices was reviewed.
Commissioner Alcorn discussed the
bridge grant administration.
Sept. 2 meeting
At last week' s commissioners meet-
ing, Jim Vaughan, solid waste direc-
tor, reported 1,870 total visitors to the
facilities. Trash was hauled to Smith
County; truck needed repairs. The
burn pit is to be inspected by the state.
Vaughan noted that only trees and brush
can be burned in the pit; all other items
have to go to the C&D pit.
Clerk Carla Waugh stated notices
for delinquent solid waste user fees
will be mailed out to both tenant and
the landowner. Vaughan suggested
that an administration fee of $6 be
assessed in 2004 for those accounts
paid after Sept. 30.
Shannola Meier, ambulance direc-
tor, repO'rted billing computer has been
down so no report for August was
available. He stated a pharmacy in-
spection was performed and no defi-
ciency was found. Meier is consider-
ing adding a charge of one dollar per
mile to runs for out of county residents,
effective Oct. 1.
The 2004 county budget hearing
was held and commissioners voted to
adopt the 2004 county budget, with an
increased 9.082 mills. It was also voted
that there would not be any employee
raises in 2004 or not to vote on any
raises in 2004.
Mankato, owner and operator of a new Mankato business, "The Second Hand Rose," shows
available in the store, located at 122 West Jefferson.
pleted right have caved in or they just
have not been deep enough and there i~
no more water in them. There is an
urgent need to replace them."
Most of the wells Waddell has dug
are new. There are areas where it has
been more difficult to find good quan-
tities of water. "On the south side of
Buffalo Creek, the shale is really tough
and the north side has been better."
The divide between the White Rock
Creek and the Republican River is dry-
ing up Waddell said. "People tell me
their old wells have always been good
and even provided water during the
dirty 1930s, but now the water is gone."
demand
the successful water witchers is Gene
Waddell, Eric's father, 80, who claims
it is a natural ability. Eric said that
according to old timers, water can usu-
ally be found under an ant hill. "Those
ants need water, too," he said.
Waddell was a former oil field ge-
ologist. One of his employees is Greg
Lovelady, Palco.
Jewell County Commissioners
voted to close a county road when they
met in regular session Monday.
The road being closed is south one-
half mile of road No. 64, between sec-
tions 25 and 26 in Highland Township.
The decision came after a road closing
hearing for road No. 70, Center Town-
ship, between section 29 T3S, RSW
and section 32, T3S, R8W, and also for
road No. 64. Dwight, David and Carroll
Thronson were present for the hearing.
Shawn Newell telephoned to request
that commissioners leave the west half
of the road open in Center Township.
This gives Newell access to the south
part of his field in Section 29 of Center
Township. Newell also discussed his
concern about a ditch to the south of
the road. The commissioners agreed to
table any action on the Center Town-
ship road closing for two weeks. Com-
missioners approved closing the road
in Highland Township.
Linda Woerner, county health de-
partment, discussed the senior care act
revenues. She also reviewed the
monthly health department report for
August.
Gary Tordrup, county extension ag
agent, advised that each county needed
to develop a bio-security plan for live-
stock. He stated he would be willing to
help develop the plan.
Payroll dated Sept. 4 and bills dated
through Sept. 8 were paid: General
39,957.63; Noxious Weed 6,398.47;
Appraiser 3,683.22; AmbulanceEquip-
ment 758.79; Solid Waste 8,702.00;
911 453.91; Special Bridge 1,063.69;
Road and Bridge 68,609.15; Public
Health 10,855.24; Ambulance
14,182.12; Special Highway 4,148.76;
Tower 46.94; Payroll Clearing
66,209. I 7. Total 225,069.09.
Randall Hofmeier, CPA of Bartlett,
Settle and Edgerle, had an audit agree-
ment for year 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Commissioners approved agreement:
$13,600, 2003; $13,750, 2004 and
$13,900, 2005.
Jim Foster, general superintendent,
discussed the value of vehicles, equip-
ment and buildings on the insurance
renewal schedule. Foster and Doug
McKinney, .NCRPC, discussed the
grant application for the next bridge
replacement project of 13 bridges.
McKinney discussed the LMI survey
tabulation for Buffalo and Jackson
townships. A public hearing is set for
Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. to consider the
application for funding for the bridge
replacement project.
Tom Thronson reported he went
across a low water crossing ~nd lost a
motor out of the back of hi~spickup
because of a wash out.
An executive session was held for
10 minutes to discuss nonelected per-
Jewell chamber
sets clean-up day
He also explains that when the quan-
tity decreases, so does the quality.
He has found some good quantity
wells in Jewell County. "West of
Mankato we drilled a well that pro-
duced 20 gallons a minute."
An average well is usually 50 feet
deep and the drilling crew can usually
drill two wells a day. "Of course, that
depends on whether there is a break
down."
Before a new well is dug, it has to be
"water witched" first to determine the
best place to dig. Workers in the Yel-
low Jacket can do the witching. One of
Oct. 20 was set for Jewel l Fall City-
wide clean up day when the Jewell
Chamber met recently. Rain date for
the clean-up is Oct, 27.
Bill Loomis presided at the meet-
ing, attended by Darrell Bohnert, Max
Burks, Frank Shelton, John Stoeber,
Amy Arasmith and Carl Knarr.
A letter of resignation was accepted
from Jerry Richecky. Jewell Gem-
stones 4-H Club made a donation to the"
city to be used for the sign fund.
Building permits were approved for
a fence at 203 N. Columbus; a garage
at 117 N. Lincoln; and moving in and
Second Hand Rose
opens in Mankato
Second Hand Rose, featuring
"unique second hand furniture and
other treasures" is now open in Man-
kato.
Tatje Fronterhouse, who moved to
Mankato from Lincoln, Neb., a year
ago is owner. She has been helping her
grandmother, Faye Marting, with the
operation of Critters and decided to
open her own business.
The business, located in the former
auto parts store at 122 West Jefferson,
opened last Wednesday. Fronterhouse
reported it was so successful that new
stock is being sent in this week.
Her mother, June (Oullette)
Weedman, Lincoln, owns and oper-
ates a "sister" store, House of Two
Sisters. The mother-daughter busi-
ness duo also owed and operated a
!iqu'~r store in Lincoln tbr five years.
Fronterhouse has a studio in the back
of her store where she creates her ab-
stract paintings. Her mother has a
stained glass studio i0 the back of her
second hand store.
"Morn and I started going to auc-
tions and came home with lots of stuff,
so we came up with the idea of opening
second hand businesses. 1 always
wanted my own business,"
Fronterhouse said.
Fronterhouse graduated from a tech-
nical school in Boston, in retail man-
agement.
A grand opening at Second Hand
• Rose is being planned in two weeks:
Store hours are Tuesday through Sat-
urday, !1 a.m. to 6 p.m. She will
continue working at Critters in the eve-
nings.
setting up a house trailer at 308 Buf-
falo.
A diaper changing station will be
purchased for the Community Center
women's restroom.
Bohnert reported on the Day Care
Center, They will serve a noon meal
on Sept. 20 for the Federation' Club
district meeting. Aceremony for dedi-
cation of the Maag Memorial Park will
be at the Corn Show Oct. 11,
Board of Directors for Jewell Apart-
ments met after the council meeting. A
letter of resignation was read and ac-
cepted from Jerry Richecky.
Approval was given to purchase a
new fax machine for the apartment
office. The manager will get a cost
estimate from Phil Collie on painting
the halls and other public rooms as
needed.
An open house is being planned for
Sept. 21 from 2 to 4 p.m. Approval was
given for the purchase of an automatic
hydraulic door opetier for the west
door of the apartment building.
KDOT takes bids
Kansas Department of transporta-
tion will take bids Sept. 10 in Wichita
for state highway construction and
maintenance projects in Kansas.
Local projects in Jewell Colmty are
bridge and culvert work at eight loca-
tions on U.S. Highway36 and Kansas
Highway 14, flood damage repair. In
Republic County, bridge and culvert
work at eight locations on U.S, High-
way 36, U. S. Highway 81 and Kansas
Highway 148, flood damage repair,
and U.S.36 Republican River bridge
3.6 miles east of Kansas Highway 266,
flood damage repair.
sonnd. No action was taken.
John Cashatt, Schwab-Eaton, dis-
cussed the requirement of county sur-
veys being reviewed by the county
surveyor. He would like the require-
ment dropped.
Attending both meetings were com-
missioners Doyle Alcorn, Frank Langer
and Stanley Colson.
Play equipment,
supplies ordered
with register receipts
Cash register receipts from Kier's
Thriftway and donated to Mankato
Elementary School, will enable stu-
dents to have access to various class-
room supplies and playground equip-
ment.
The receipts, collected from Sept. 1
to March 30, totaling $303,292.39.
With the sponsorship of Kier's
Thriftway, Mankato Elementary was
able to order these items:
Three Boreal inclined stereo-mi-
croscopes; two globes; one political
wall map; dies for die cut machine; 48
piece playground equipment includ-
ing various types of balls, jump ropes
and Frisbees.
"All this equipment could not be
made possible if not for the fine people
at Kier's Thriftway," said Dale True,
elementary principal. "They help spon-
sor this program, which students and
staff greatly appreciate. In the present
time of tight budgets for schools, this
program offers our school a way to
obtain needed classroom supplies that
we probably couldn't order.
