Opinion
Get facts about Radon: A silent danger
We do a lot to protect ourselves and our families; install smoke detectors, wear our seatbelts, lock our doors, keep hazardous cleaners away from our kids….but there may be something else, something invisible, right in your home that is dangerous to your health. Radon is a natural, tasteless, odorless, colorless, radioactive gas. It comes from the radioactive decay of uranium in soil, rock, and ground water. Radon gas enters a home from...
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Investigate before donating to causes
The New Year’s parties are filed away in our memory as we enter the second decade of the 21st. Century. What this decade will bring, only time will tell. With unemployment at a new high and our economy ‘hurting” in so many ways, one of the groups that have felt the pain of the recession are those groups that depend on donations from the open hearts of so many. That was evident by the numerous requests received at our home, during the past y...
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Snow and safety
Cold, ice and snow can make getting through winter a challenge. We can’t do anything about the weather, but there are some things we can do to make winter safer. For one, motorists can make driving a little bit safer by clearing ice and snow from vehicles’ windshields and lights. Traveling around Sunday after the snow, I counted at least six vehicles within 10 or 15 minutes with snow covering their headlights and rear brake lights. I was d...
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Mission accomplished
With the Christmas Season behind us and a new year upon us, it is time to re-examine our mission and purpose to ensure that we are carrying out the vision that the board of directors and the citizens of the four counties we serve asked us to do. Our mission, in its simplest terms, is to provide persons with developmental disabilities the best life possible, a life that contains community integration, skill development, self-esteem, education...
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Senate bill could hurt insurers at least initially
Tom Murphy AP Business Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Health insurers get some big presents in the Senate’s health overhaul bill — about 20 million new customers and no competition from a new government plan. Taking advantage of those boons might take some time, though. The bill imposes hefty new taxes and coverage rules that will pinch insurers by forcing them to cover more sick people without gaining enough healthy, lower-cost customers, i...
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No more road tax notices
“The city will make no further effort to collect road tax,” said City Attorney R. B. Smith today, November 9, 1909. “The decision of the supreme court in the case taken to it from Iola clearly holds that cities of the second and third class are without authority to collect $3 from men 21 to 50 years old for road purposes.” City Cashier George Amyz has taken down his “Pay Poll Tax Here” sign. Assistant Street Commissioner J. H. Holloway wi...
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Last minute Christmas gifts available at museum
For last minute shoppers our Osa’s Ark Museum Shop is open until 3pm on Christmas Eve. We offer Johnson books including Osa’s best-selling autobiography “I Married Adventure.” There are also DVD copies of their popular films and a box set of six DVDs is now reduced to $44.95. Shop manager Shirley Rogers-Naff has done a fantastic job of bringing in unique ethnic items ranging from wire baskets and wood carvings to cloth purses and stone ornam...
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Happy Holidays from NCCC
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year from Neosho County Community College! This is my favorite time of year. Christmas carols have been playing on every radio station and in every retail store. Sparkling lights adorn homes. Presents are being wrapped and hidden from curious eyes and the kids are struggling over which toy to place on their final list for Santa. Travel plans to visit one set of grandparents at Christmas to the other ...
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Above and beyond
Jim Cornish of Cornish Wireline Services has gone above and beyond the norm in making a difference in Chanute. Christmas Lane on Main started to evolve in the early summer. As a Main Street organization, we have tried to come up with events and projects that would make a difference to downtown Chanute. I discovered that the metal decorations from the old Christmas Card Lane that we all enjoyed, were stored at the ranch of Larry and Wilma Jean...
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God bless service men and women
I want to wish Kansans a happy holiday and may God bless our men and women in uniform and their families, especially those serving away from home this year, protecting our freedom. I think many would agree that it is good to have 2009 behind us. Our nation faces great challenges with a struggling economy and, as I write this, a critical health care reform debate. Despite these challenges, there were a few good things to come out of 2009. Firs...
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Tips for safe shopping
I have noticed that many of our TV news programs and some newspaper flyers, are giving lots of tips for the shopper this Christmas season. There are many things we need to be aware of in making purchases. When trying to decide what to give someone, a gift certificate often seems to be the perfect gift. However, we do need to “read the fine print” on the back of those gift cards (gift certificates). Make sure you know the businesses’ policy....
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Library offers holiday activities
The Christmas season is one of our favorite times of the year, despite the fact that we fall behind in our reading. This year, the library has focused our holiday programming on children, so plan to join us for some fun. It is our hope that you and your family will relax and enjoy your holiday time here at the library and make some memories that will last a lifetime. For toddlers and their parents, we are offering craft programs each Wednes...
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Court knocks out railroad pension plan
Declaring the government’s 1935 railroad retirement plan unconstitutional, Justice Jennings Bailey of the District of Columbia Supreme Court today granted injunctions against its enforcement. In a long-awaited decision affecting virtually all the nation’s railroads and their 1,000,000 employees, he forbade the railroad retirement board to pay out money under the Rail Pension Act and the Internal Revenue commissioner to collect taxes under t...
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Vision Chanute recognized
Members of Vision Chanute attended the annual Public Square Communities Conference in Hutchinson on Nov. 19-20. Brenda Krumm, Ken Lickteig, J.D. Lester, and Kathryn Taylor represented Vision Chanute at the conference. The highlight of the conference came Thursday evening when signage was unveiled for communities which have achieved Public Square Accreditation. Vision Chanute achieved accredited status in 2008 and will receive four Public Squ...
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The Salina Journal on Hawker
The Salina Journal on Hawker. William Brown didn’t exactly make a bunch of friends during his stop in Salina on Friday morning. The executive vice president of global operations for Hawker Beechcraft was in town to meet with employees of Salina’s Hawker plant. As reported last week, the company announced the plant will close and 238 employees will lose their jobs ... Some of his comments at the meeting did not sit well with employees or t...
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State’s woes make tax debate inevitable
John Hanna AP News Analysis TOPEKA (AP) — A debate over raising taxes appears inevitable next year for Kansas legislators because of the state’s ongoing budget problems. It’s most likely to focus first on eliminating exemptions to the state’s 5.3 percent sales tax, then on rolling back tax breaks legislators granted in previous years. It’s possible the debate could broaden further. The Republican-controlled Legislature will reconvene in ...
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Choosing the best firewood
The unseasonably warm weather we have been having is coming to an end, which for many folks calls for wood in a fireplace or outdoor wood burning heater. There are definitely differences in heating quality between tree species; therefore, not all logs are good firewood. Wood is considered ‘green’ if it has aged less than one year. This wood will produce less heat than seasoned wood, and will have a higher tendency to spark and pop. Seasoned h...
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M.K.&T. Depots
The first depot used by the Katy railroad was an old passenger car. It was placed on a side track sometime during the latter years of 1870, and served as an all purpose depot for both passengers and freight shipments, but before the year was out, the Katy staff was able to move into a more permanent building. It is not known what happened to the passenger car. No picture is available of the car. The second depot location was described as be...
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Overflow Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., impressive
A visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is the highlight for many who visit our nation’s capital. When asked what impressed a person most, among the Smithsonian Museums, usually the Air and Space Museum is among the most popular. What many may not be aware of is that there is a second Air and Space Museum. It is not located on the famous “National Mall.” Instead, it is located in Chantilly, Va., in the shadow of the famous Dulles Air...
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New automation system helps library
Almost exactly one year ago, the library migrated to our new automation system. While the next several months proved to be stressful for staff and patrons, one year later we are pleased with our choice. Sek-n-Find is a consortium of southeast Kansas libraries. It began last year with Chanute, Iola, Independence and Coffeyville and has now grown to include 14 public libraries. Six more will be joining in the coming months. This move has given ...
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