Mark H. Ralstin of rural Mullinville was formally charged with first degree murder in Kiowa County Court shortly after noon Monday. Ralstin is accused of having murdered his wife, Bobbie Jo, last Friday evening.
Representatives of all three communities of Kiowa County met Tuesday under the auspices fo the Public Square entity begun shortly after the Greensburg tornado to consider how the entire county can move forward as the county seat continues to rebuild.
Should the manner in which property is valued for tax purposes be changed? That depends on whom you ask to comment on the so-called Proposition K just starting to make its way through the legislative process in Topeka.
Deciding Thursday night that sharing the new Masonic Temple is not a workable plan for them, the Board of the Kiowa County Council on Aging determined to look for a new site on which to build their facility. Board spokesman Bethel Thronesbery said he expects the board to have settled on a property before Christmas.
Greensburg’s Dennis McKinney informed The Kiowa County Signal Tuesday morning that he’s agreed to accept an appointment by Governor Kathleen Sebelius to fill the remaining two years of Lynn Jenkins’ term as State Treasurer.
Steve Hewitt understands the frustration of Greensburg folk who recently received letters from FEMA informing them the federal government will begin charging rent next month to continue living in the agency-provided mobile homes in “FEMAville.”
He understands, because the Greensburg City Administrator is one of those folks.
Good fences make for good neighbors, as the old saying goes. But what about an illegal fence?
With Don Richards absent Monday, Kiowa County Commissioners Gene West and Earl Liggett agreed with Jeanette Siemens’ request for $20,000 of County funds to serve as seed money for a first year operating budget for a county economic development office, including salary for the yet-to-be-selected director of the department.
Greensburg officials made clear at their October 6 council meeting their intent to move forward with plans to prosecute chronic violators of the City’s nuisance property code.
Having started work at the Kiowa County Road and Bridge Department in 1988, Doyle Conrad succeeded Don Sylvester as the department’s superintendent in January 1997. He sat down with Signal editor Mark Anderson last Thursday to discuss a variety of topics concerning his future and the condition of the county’s highway department since the May 4, 2007 tornado. That interview follows in full.
Needing to trim costs to match funding resources, Kiowa County Commissioners agreed on a 2-1 vote in special meeting Thursday morning to award Snodgrass and Sons Construction of Wichita a contract, based on a revised bid, to build the new Road and Bridge facilities on South Grove in Greensburg.
With deficits continuing to grow for the City of Greensburg in terms of delivering utility services, City Council approved modest increases in several areas at Monday night’s meeting.
Saying it’s time to “start cracking down” on those who’ve allowed their lots to remain overgrown since the tornado despite repeated written warnings from the City, Greensburg City Administrator Steve Hewitt turned Tuesday night’s City Council meeting over to City Attorney Gordon Stull for an explanation of how the City can go about taking such offenders to court.
Though Greensburg’s City Council eventually voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow the placement of a single section manufactured home in a residential area, the discussion leading to that decision rekindled an ongoing debate over the implications of allowing such structures within city limits.
One of the 18 Greensburg High graduates handed his diploma last May 4 by President Bush, Justin Brokar counted the experience a special privilege considering his intense interest in partisan politics. Though headed for a career in the ordained ministry until his initial exposure to the political arena 30 months ago, Brokar’s strong faith led him to cast his lot with the more conservative of the two major parties, the GOP.
The diesel tank that's been missing from the Mullinville City Shop since at least mid-July was returned last Thursday afternoon. What remains to be seen is whether the City Council will take any further action on the tank's unauthorized disappearance.
The S.D. Robinett Building, better known as the Centera Bank just before the May 4, 2007 tornado, will likely soon be known as more than the lone structure of Greenburg’s business district to have survived the deadly storm.
