THE BELLEVILLE TELESCOPE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018

County6A

A calendar of events is provided by The Telescope as a public service for meetings and events offered to the public at no charge. Notices of fundrais-ers or events that have a fee may also be included if they are also accompa-nied by paid advertising.

Upcoming Events

The Republic County Courthouse, Health Dept., and Highway Dept. will be closed Monday and Tuesday, Decem-ber 24 and 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday and Tuesday, January 1 for New Year’s Day. The Commission-ers will not meet the week of Christmas. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, December 31. The Landfill will be closed December 22 and

25, and January 1. --

Thursday, December 27American Red Cross

Blood Drive at the Republic County 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds, from 12:00 p.m. till 6:00 p.m.. Walk-ins are welcome, however if you prefer to schedule an appointment please call, 1-800-RED-CROSS.

JEWELERSSeifert Jewelry

The Jewelry People Since 1902Scott & Dawn Seifert

316 Washington St, Clyde, KS785-446-3731

seifertjewelry@twinvalley.net

Shop Locally in

Clyde!

List your Clyde Business Here! 785-527-2244 or

bellevilletelescope@gmail.com

Deeds Filed

Trustee’s Warranty Deed: Hobson Loving Trust to Monty D. Dahl and Heather J. Dahl. SW ¼ 30-1-5.

Warranty Deed: Raymond J. Splichal and Kathleen A. Splichal to Colin Scott Tipton. E ½ SE ¼ 18-2-1.

Republic County District Court

CRIMINALLarry Petry, Cuba, found

guilty of criminal damage to property to Betty’s Cafe, Cuba and theft from Town and Coun-ty Service. Defendant placed on six months unsupervised probation, ordered to pay fees and fines in the amount of $303.

Elijah L. Raigoza, Hutchin-son, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, placed on six months unsupervised probation, ordered to pay $348 fines and cost.

John Lambert, Haddam, charged with two counts felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, two counts possession of drug parapher-nalia, one count use of a cell phone in commission of a felo-ny. Hearing set January 16.

Ian Scott Burton, Haddam, charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Hearing set January 16.

LIMITED CIVILVelocity Investments LLC,

Belleville, versus Kylie Shelly, default judgment in the amount of $11,423.49 plus costs and interest.

Swedish-American State Bank versus Justin K. White, Belleville, case filed.

Leiszler Oil Company, Inc. versus Micole Anderson, Bel-leville, case filed.

Great Plains of Republic County versus Cody D. Van-campen and Starr Iris Van-campen, Clyde, case filed.

Great Plains of Republic County versus James D. Lynn and Annette Lynn, Concordia, case filed.

Great Plains of Republic County versus Deanna Dutton, Glasco, case filed.

Pioneer Group, Inc., Buffa-lo Apartments versus Ashley Nolan, case filed.

Midland Funding versus Delisa Osborn, Belleville, case filed.

Nex-Tech, Inc. versus Josh-ua Garst, Courtland, case filed.

Portfolio Recovery Associ-ates, Inc. versus Jalene J. Bee-son, Belleville, case filed.

Republic County Ambulance Service versus Janel Voor-hees, case filed.

Portfolio Recovery As-sociates, Inc. versus Roger Mattson, Courtland, case filed.

Portfolio Recovery Associ-ates, Inc. versus Kathy Zach, Belleville, case filed.

Midland Funding LLC versus Julie Gieber, Agenda, judgment to the plaintiff of $1,004.45.

TRAFFICAaron Sanne, Norfolk, Nebr.,

overweight $183.Navpreet Minhas, Saska-

toon, Canada, overweight $218.

Kathleen Hanafan, Omaha, Nebr., 80/70 $153.

Douglas Domingos, Colora-do Springs, Colo., 87/70 $195.

Ruben Hernandez, Gains-ville, Tex., 60/50 $153.

Craig McCollum, Osceola, Nebr., 80/70 $153.

Donald Stockton, Bonham, Tex., overweight $165.

Nicole Popelka, Cuba, Kans., 75/65 $153.

Adam Garner, Cuba, 75/65 $153.

Jesus Salas-Diaz, Vancou-ver, Wash., 60/50 $153.

Sarah Garro, Omaha, Nebr. 80/70 $153.

Mason Simmons, Narka, Kans. 65/55 $153.

Billy Haymon, Dyersburg, Tenn., overweight $165.

Syrina Young, Plano, Tex., 88/70 $201.

Eshwar Mandara, Elkhorn,

Nebr., 60/50 $153.Solin Pillier, Orlando, Fla.,

overweight $183.Dustin Crane, Belleville,

driving while revoked $553.Troy Petersen, Elwing, Nebr.

68/50 $201.Kimberly J. Peterson,

Courtland, reckless driving and driving left of center, diversion, ordered to pay $408. Diversion fee of $100 to Belleville Com-munity PRIDE.

Republic County Commissioners

Actions at the December 17 meeting of the Republic County Commission:

•Mark Budreau, Budreau Construction, requested per-mission to remove the entire pillar in front of the new health department building instead of cutting it in half and requested permission to install regular carpet instead of carpet tile to the rooms needing walls re-moved and doorways enlarged. The additional cost estimate is $100.

Permission was granted for Budreau Construction to pro-ceed with these changes to the original remodeling plans.

•Permission to travel was granted for Elizabeth Parde and Brynn Alexander to attend a Postpartum and Prenatal orientation as part of grant requirements in Concordia on December 17 and December 19.

•The board met in executive session with Clerk Kathleen Marsicek and Beth Ball. Fol-lowing the session the board approved a motion to contact two employees regarding banked vacation hours and advise that 1/3 of the hours will be paid out during 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2018 it will be a lump sum, however in 2019 and 2020 the employee can re-quest lump sum or a few hours each pay period.

•Cindy Coons and Laura Joy, County Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer, presented quotes for a computer sys-tem. The board accepted the bid from Nex-Tech $1,643.99 entire package

•Gary Cline, mayor of Scan-dia, attended the meeting.

•Barry Porter, County Ap-praiser, requested clarification regarding the Neighborhood Revitalization Program rules requiring notification from applicants to the completion of the project. The consensus of the board is if the application states when documentation should be filed and if the docu-ments are not filed, the applica-tion is to be rejected.

•Dusty Zenger, Road Ad-ministrator, presented a weekly update to include:

Zenger presented an up-dated plan to development a tier pay-scale for employees with minimum wages and job descriptions. Commissioners asked for clarification of promo-tion qualifications.

•Jeff Beikmann, assistant EMS Director, said that de-partment has about $10,000 left at the end of the year, and asked to purchase another first response vehicle.

Commissioners denied permission to pursue a second response vehicle.

Beikmann said he and director Dave Holloway use the vehicle to respond to emergen-cies along with an ambulance and crew.

•Sheriff Ron Blad request-ed permission to purchase a full Enterpol system for the sheriff office. The total cost is $49,705.00. Blad is awaiting a response to a grant appli-cation to assist with the cost. The balance of funds will come from county equipment reserve fund. The board approved the purchase.

Blad plans to purchase two new patrol vehicles in 2019.

•Commissioners met in ex-ecutive session for 10 minutes with County Attorney Justin Ferrell for attorney-client con-tract negotiations regarding the North Central Kansas Medical

Arts building.The board recon-vened taking to action.

Commissioners recessed at 11:55 a.m. to partake in the courthouse Christmas meal.

The board reconvened at 12:30 p.m. and met in execu-tive session for 50 ninutes to discuss employee wages.

Following the session the board voted to increase wages on non-elected personnel by 2%.

Following discussion of wage increases for department heads and elected officials, the board voted to increase full-time department heads by $600 per year and part-time department head by $300. The elected officials will receive $600 per year except for Coun-ty Attorney and Treasurer. The County Attorney will receive $1,500 and the treasurer $1,600.

The meeting adjourned at 2 p.m.

--The Republic County

Commission met in special session on Tuesday, December 18 to clarify and finalize wage increases for non-elected per-sonnel for 2019.

Dave Holloway, EMS di-rector, requested clarification on the 2 percent increase to non-elected personnel, and whether it includes both full-time and part-time? He said there are several persons in the EMS department that work part-time and Holloway stated it was not fair to increase at the same rate.

The board met in executive session to discuss non-elected personnel wage increase for 15 minutes. Attending the session were the commissioners and Clerk Marsicek.

After the board recon-vened they voted to allot a 2% increase in wages for each department and how it is distributed to the employees is at the discretion of the depart-ment head.

The board voted to make the director of EMS a salaried posi-tion with a wage of $37,000 and benefits.

The board voted to include the head custodian and weeds department directors as depart-ment heads receiving $600 per year instead of the 2% increase.

Republic County/USD 109

Actions at the December 10 meeting of the Republic Coun-ty/USD 109 board of education:

•Change order to construc-tion project regarding access

controls and cameras was discussed. Superintendent Mike Couch recommended the proposal from CBS Manhattan since that company is already doing the update to existing doors in the buildings.. The amount of the change order is $163,945.23 which was more than the amount budgeted for this item by approximately $44,000. The master budget was discussed and Whit-ney Henle, McCownGordon engineer, explained some of the variances to date on the budget vs. actual expense. The district is still well within the original $17.2 million master budget. The board approved the change.

Henle also provided a construction update at each site and pictures of the class-room walls going up at East. Brian McCartney discussed the electrical plans for the Junior Senior High School with a new transformer to be put in place on December 26.

•Couch shared a short video presentation on the importance of preschool for children. He indicated funding would come from the general fund and 4 year old At Risk funds and other possible grants would be researched. Principal Katie Struebing and Mr. Couch pre-sented the board with an action plan or timeline for completing the preschool study and provid-ing information to the public. A decision on whether to move forward with the preschool will be made at the February meeting

•The board approved an engagement letter with auditor Derek Bruna for the 2018-2019 audit. It was noted that the fee proposed for the 2018-19 audit had increased by $750 to $5750.

•The board approved dis-posal of an old bus by sealed bid.

•Following an executive session the board approved work agreements for Connie Woodward for Night Custodian; Karla Chizek for Music Aide/Accompanist; William Bowen for Lunchroom Monitor/Para; Becky Lamphier for a long term sub/para position through the end of the semester.

The board approved the donation of up to 60 sick leave days from USD 109 staff for a classified staff member.

•The board accepted, with regrets, the retirement letter of David Kadavy at the end of the 2018-19 school year. Mr. Ka-davy will complete 43 years of teaching with 39 years in USD 427 and USD 109.

Public Minds Policy: Writers must include their names for publication. Letters may be edited for space limitations. The opinions expressed here are thoe of the writer, and not of this publication.

Public Minds

Toy Bank assists 43 families

Dear Editor, It is time to again say

“thank you” to everyone who so generously supported the Republic County Toy Bank in 2018. Whether you made a donation, adopted a family, or wrapped presents, your efforts enabled many in our community to experience a happier holiday.

Because of the strong sup-port that Republic County has once again demonstrated, 43 families received assis-tance from the Toy Bank. Caring organizations and in-dividuals adopted 36 of these families. The Toy Bank was also able to provide a free Christmas movie this holiday season.

How encouraging it was to see the number of com-munity groups that assisted the Toy Bank this year. We will try to mention as many of the groups as possible that helped and if we missed anyone please accept our apology. We thank the follow-ing; 4-H clubs, Junior High Student Council, Girl Scouts, PEOs, multiple youth Church groups, Head Start, Republic County Health Department, county schools and church-es, local businesses, private donors and people who just like to wrap. It takes many individuals to make the Toy Bank happen and it was truly a community effort.

These events could not have happened without the assistance of our local media to keep everyone informed. Thank you to KR-92 radio, The Belleville Telescope and Cunningham Telephone and Cable.

The Citizens National Bank

For The Republic County Toy Bank

Modern politics has alienated both parties

Fred and Deb:More thoughts:•How many people are at a

bus stop not knowing if they are coming or going?

•Modern politics has alien-ated people of both parties, and what are Dems? The me-dia seems to follow them.

•Nothing is wrong with America that can’t be fixed by the right with America--un-known author.

•In a conversation at the coffee shop, a friend stated: “With the economy moving near 4 percent, unemploy-ment down, new trade agree-

ments with Canada and Mexico, and soon with China, stronger military, etc., if his name was John Doe, would the news be more excited?”

•Art Linkletter observed: things turn out for the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.

•Henry Ford said: Wheth-er you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.

•I appreciate all good things local and in Kansas that are moving now. If we get more people on board in the right direction. Hoping everyone can tell of positive things this year, locally or in Kansas.

Happy Holidays to all. Be so positive that negative peo-ple don’t want to be near you.

Doane SellsBelleville

PS: Fred, Consumer Re-ports stated that the Chevy Impala was in the Top 5 rec-ommended cars, and GM is quitting them. Really?

Stores should pull alcohol like Romaine lettuce

Dear editor:Most recently we have had

the Romaine lettuce scare. There were 43 cases of E-Coli reported with 16 hospitaliza-tions in the United States. Although there have been no reported deaths, stores cleared their shelves of all Romaine lettuce.

Contrast that with 10,874 alcohol-related traffic deaths in the United States during 2017.

Did any stores clear their shelves of this killer? No, in-deed. In fact, the advertise-ment of this product contin-ues to increase in the effort to get more people to consume even more.

Communities celebrate the opening of these death trap businesses. During summer community events, streets are often temporarily closed so even more consumption can be had.

The 10,000-plus figure is only part of the picture. It does not take into consid-eration domestic violence and other crimes committed because of alcohol. It also creates health issues. What is wrong with this picture? When will our society ever realize what alcohol does?

Josephine StrnadMunden, Kans.

Past Kansas WCTU PresidentBy Tyler Husa, RVED agent

Crop Production

After some intense debat-ing, the 2018 Farm Bill is on its way to becoming a law. While the 2014 Farm Bill had some major changes, the 2018 Farm Bill has remained rela-tively “status quo” when com-pared to the 2014 Farm Bill.

The changes include im-provements to Title I pro-grams benefiting farmers during the economically chal-lenging times we are current-ly facing in agriculture.

The Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) will both be offered again in the 2018 Farm Bill. ARC will retain both the county and individ-ual option. The reason for mentioning this is, because at one time the ARC-individual option was under discussion for possibly being eliminated altogether. Moreover, some notable changes to mention for the 2018 Farm Bill in-clude:

“Producers will elect a pro-gram per commodity for 2019

and 2020, but then have AN-NUAL elections beginning in 2021. This will alleviate much of the pressure in having to make a 5-year decision, as it was for the previous farm bill. Producers can change their program preferences based on more current mar-ket conditions. Base acres that have been planted to grass or pasture and planted none of their base acres to program crops for all years of 2009-2017 will effectively be “suspended” from receiving payments, but still maintain their historical base. These base acres will be eligible for the CSP grasslands program however. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be required to publish the source of data used to calculate the county yield along with the number and outcome of occurrences in which that yield was re-viewed, changed, or deter-mined not to change.”

Source: http://agmanager.info/ag-policy/2018-farm-bill/first-look-agricultural-improvement-act-2018-farm-bill-2018.

New Farm Bill is mostly 'status quo'