Community News
Erie woman killed in crash
Tribune staff A 35-year-old Erie woman died after a two-vehicle crash at 5:55 a.m. Saturday in Anderson County, .5 miles south of K-58 Highway at Colony. Trina K. DeMeritt, driving a 2004 Chevy Impala, was struck by a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Jesse J. Cooper, 24, Overland Park. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Cooper, a former Iola resident, was southbound on U.S. 169. He crossed the center line and the vehicles collided head-on.  ...
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Trina DeMeritt 1975-2011
Trina DeMeritt, 35, Erie, died Saturday, March 12, 2011 at the Miami County Medical Center at Paola from injuries sustained in an auto accident that occurred near Colony. She was born Sept. 14, 1975 at Chanute, a daughter of Bruce D. and Luanna Sarnicola Wolken. She was raised at Erie and attended school there. She attended Nurse’s School at Labette Community College and was currently employed at the Anderson County Hospital in Garnett as a...
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Marylee Constance Clounch 1929-2011
Marylee Constance Clounch, 82, Humboldt, died Friday, March 11, 2011 at Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. She was born on Jan. 22, 1929 to Clarence and Stella Cheney in Humboldt. Mary received her formal education in the public schools in Humboldt and was a member of Poplar Grove Baptist Church. On June 24, 1948, she was united in holy matrimony to William Clounch. He preceded her in death. Survivors include five children, ...
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Gerald W. “Jerry” Elliott 1926-2011
Gerald W. “Jerry” Elliott, 84, Parsons, died Saturday, March 12, 2011 at his home. He had been in failing health. He was born Sept. 23, 1926, at Winfield, to Theodore H. and Faith Dicken Elliott. He grew up in Winfield and graduated from Winfield High School in 1944. During World War II he served in the Pacific Theatre with the United States Navy from August 1944 to September 1947. After his discharge from the Navy he worked for D & D Farm Equ...
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Becky Stanley 1962-2011
Becky Stanley, 48, Iola, died Friday, March 11, 2011 at her home. Becky was born Nov. 9, 1962 in Kansas City, Mo., the daughter of Robert and Vesta Hoseney Stanley. She graduated from Chanute High School and received her Bachelor’s degree in social work from Pittsburg State University in 1995. Becky worked as a caregiver for COFTS (Coffey, Osage, Franklin Training Services) out of Ottawa, before contracting the H1N1 virus in October of 2009. S...
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Walter Scott Meeker 1918-2011
Walter Scott Meeker, 92, Erie, died Friday, March 11, 2011 at the Baldwin Rehabilitation Center in Baldwin City. He was born November 7, 1918 in Chanute, the oldest son of Walter R. and Hazel Scott Meeker. His childhood years were spent both in Fort Scott and on the family farm south of Erie along the Neosho River. He graduated from Erie High School and was drafted into the armed forces in August of 1941. He served 49 months in the United Sta...
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John Franklin King 1915-2011
John Franklin King, 95, died on Friday, March 11 at the Kansas Christian Home in Newton. He was born on Sept. 28, 1915 at Chanute, to John Henry and Maggie Meyers King. He married Margaret Jane Fugate of Newton on June 2, 1940. She preceded him in death on Jan. 18, 2005. In 1943 he entered a partnership in the Newton Appliance Company at 624 Main (formerly the Rich Mercantile Co.), and was associated with that business until 1983. He continued...
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NCCC hikes tuition and fee rates for fall
The inevitable happened at Thursday’s meeting of the Neosho County Community College Board of Trustees — tuition and fee rates were raised for 2011-2012. “This is never an easy recommendation to make when we have to increase rates to our students,” said NCCC President Brian Inbody.  “However, with our rapid growth, lower county valuation, and shrinking dollars from the State coupled with our commitment to provide a premier, quality education ...
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Local severe weather presentation Tuesday
Byron Shultz, K.C.E.M., Neosho County sheriff’s office, is heralding the severe weather season. Area residents are invited to attend a presentation at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 15 at Chanute Memorial Auditorium. “You can learn what it takes to produce a severe storm as well as what to watch for,” Shultz said. The presentation is sponsored by the Neosho County Sheriff’s office and will be put on by the National Weather Service, Wichita. “The pre...
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CHS chess team takes high hopes to State
Kathleen Carney Tribune Reporter Twelve members of the Chanute High School chess club compete at the State tournament in Wichita today. Eight of the 12 members are seniors who anticipate having a strong showing and compete for the title. For most of the seniors, it is their fourth trip to the State tournament. CHS math teacher Bob Larson has been the chess club coach for 31 years and has gone to State almost every year. His teams were gran...
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Walter S. Meeker
Walter S. Meeker, 92, rural Erie, died at Friday, March 11, 2011 at the Baldwin Rehabilitation Center in Baldwin City. His wife, Mariellen Meeker, survives. Funeral will be 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 16 at the First Baptist Church. Burial, with military honors, will be in the Odense Cemetery north of Erie. Memorials are suggested to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. They may be left at or sent to the Carson-Wall Funeral Home, Box...
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Ila Mae Morse 1932-2011
Ila Mae Morse, 78, Erie, died Wednesday, March 10, 2011 at the Freeman Health Systems in Joplin, Mo. Ila was born in Delia, Kan., on Sept. 1, 1932, the daughter of Loren and Gladis Irene Simmons Dibbern. She was united in marriage to Arthur Charles Morse on July 16, 1966 in Miami, Okla. He preceded her in death. Ila was a homemaker. She loved gardening and her flowers, and spending time with her grandchildren. She also enjoyed camping, cooking...
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Evidence in drug case suppressed by court ruling against wire tap
Kathleen Carney Tribune Reporter On Wednesday Judge Tim Brazil determined the wire tapping used to find evidence in the drug case against Charles Bruce, Jr., was inadmissible. As a result all the evidence found through the wire tap must be suppressed. Bruce, 26, Iola, was charged in February of last year with one count of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance (methamphetamine) and one count possession of ephedrine, pseudoephedrin...
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County, city show slight drop in population
Stu Butcher Tribune editor For years the city of Chanute’s population was painted on North Lincoln on a wall in front of what is now the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum and Chanute Public Library. It read 10,500. Any guesses what it is now? According to preliminary figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, Chanute has a population of 9,119, down from 9,411 in 2000, a 3.1 percent drop. Chanute’s lower numbers pale when comparing other sout...
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Firearm disturbance results in arrest of former resident
PITTSBURG — A Pittsburg man was arrested on Monday after police officers were called to a domestic disturbance involving a handgun being fired. Donald Dexter, 32 of Pittsburg, was arrested Monday night as a result of the incident. Dexter, formerly from Chanute, was arrested and transported to the Crawford County Jail on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, criminal threat, two counts of child endangerment, criminal restraint, p...
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Robert G. Milliron 1936-2011
Robert G. Milliron, 74, Erie, died Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at the Chanute Health Care Center. He was born Dec. 27, 1936 at Perry, Okla., a son of Arthur and Wilna Cowell Milliron. He was raised in Perry and attended school there. He later moved to Enid, Okla., where he attended college. After college, he lived in various communities in New Mexico, working as an x-ray tech in hospitals. He returned to Oklahoma in 1989 to care for his mother....
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Maurice O. “Smoky” Hale 1935-2011
Maurice O’Dean “Smoky” Hale, 75, Chanute, died Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at the Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute. Maurice was born in Chanute on April 22, 1935, the son of Stafford Stevenson and Florence Lillian Walker Hale. He graduated from Chanute High School in the Class of 1953. He worked as a professional dry cleaner from age 14 until age 26. He worked as a heavy equipment operator for Ash Grove Cement Company for more t...
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Steps taken for annual Relay for Life event
Marilynn Rutledge Tribune Reporter Neosho County’s Relay for Life teams gathered Tuesday night in the New Chicago Room with the theme of Mardi Gras for the annual kick-off dinner. The dinner was sponsored by C&S Traveling Kitchen who provided the teams with the dinner and Benchwarmers Bar and Grill who supplied the group with the New Chicago Room. The dinner was open to anyone wanting to learn more about Relay or planning to form a team for ...
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Erie gets $105,065 grant for park improvements
Parsons Sun ERIE — Erie is one of only five Kansas communities awarded a share of $440,000 in Small Communities Improvement Program grants administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce. Lori Zeigenbein, owner of TLZ Construction and a member of the Erie City Park Group, said the city received a $105,065 SCIP grant for phased improvements to the city park, including new playground equipment, replacement of the multi-sport courts (tennis a...
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Royster students get lesson in Legislature
Kathleen Carney Tribune Reporter In late February four Royster Middle School eighth graders were selected to be pages for Representative Jerry Williams, D-Chanute, at the Capitol in Topeka. Wendy Wawrzewski, a Social Studies teacher at Royster, took Storme Jones, Pauline Donaldson, Cutter Boone and Ramsey Davis to Topeka where they learned about how delegates vote on bills, toured the Capitol, and ran errands for Rep. Williams. They even ...
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