Wednesday update

Good morning.
I have posted the cop notes on the site.
Late last night I posted a list of post offices that could close. The USPS is considering closing a few hundred as it faces hard times.
There is a long list posted on the site. Two in Wichita, but none in Cowley County. This will affect larger cities more than rural areas or small towns. Still, I thought it was interesting.
I also posted some pictures from the national night out festivities last night.
There are some new things on the site. There is a story about the swine flu on the new health page. Planning on the live blog this evening.
Still looking for revolutionary minded people to join the revolution. :) Get in touch with me if you want to help out.

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Post offices in peril

This might actually qualify as breaking news.
I just got my hands on the list of post offices that postal officials are considering closing.
None are in our immediate area, but two are in Wichita.
Several hundred offices across the nation cold close. Apparently the mail service is in trouble, like everything else. Remember all those spam emails that went around awhile back saying Congress was going to start charging for emails?
The emails may crank up again, but I still dont think that will happen.
Here is the PDF file.

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National Night Out

I went to a few of the National Night Out parties around town. There was a pretty good turnout, and people were having a good time. It was hot. Felt more like August in Kansas out there.
I have added a few more pictures on the site.
Also added a health page to the site. It is still growing.

Clarification on Rice

Here is a note from Ark City Police Chief Sean Wallace. There was a William Rice arrested for DUI Friday in Ark City. We used to have a police chief named Bill Rice. People wondered. It's not the same person. Here is the note Wallace sent.


The William Rice arrested recently for DUI is not the William “Bill” Rice that was formerly the Chief of Police at Arkansas City. In addition, the William Rice arrested is not related to retired Chief of Police Bill Rice.

New Hospital

Good morning.
The cop notes are posted.
The city passed the measure approving the sale of bonds for a new hospital at its meeting last night. It was a huge step. They also gave final approval to the budget for 2010.
A new hospital for Arkansas City is all but a reality since it passed through three meetings last night at city hall.
The city commission approved the sale of the bonds - $24 million worth - at its meeting Monday. Earlier in the day the measure was approved by the public building commission and the hospital board.
The sale of bonds must be given final approval August 18, and the bonds can be sold at that time.
The new hospital has been in the works for 13 years, but this is as close as they have been. They had a deal, and actually broke ground, in 2006 with a company called CoVista, but that deal eventually fell through.
The current strategy calls for the current hospital to build a new medical center north of Arkansas City.
The bonds will initially be sold at 6.9 percent. City Manager Steve Archer said local people may buy the bonds. If anyone is interested they should contact Archer.
The payments will range from $1.4 million to $1.8 million per year. Hospital officials said they are confident they can make the payments.
They said they should be able to make the payments even without the sales tax approved by voters last year, but that money will help them in case there is a need.
See the whole story here

Next live blog

I have Tim Durham, director of Family Life Services, scheduled for a live blog interview at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 5.
His organization is pro-life. They are opposed to abortion, but also put a lot of effort into helping people.
They are having some funding issues, so I thought it might be interesting to hear from him.

Monday morning, august begins - progress

Cop notes from the weekend are posted on the site.
Amazing weather we are having for this time of year. It's actually nice out during the day.
The city has its meetings today, and the papers will likely be signed to sell the bonds for the new hospital. This will make it a done deal. Its sort of like signing the mortgage papers when you buy a house.
Its kind of convoluted, but basically, the hospital agrees to pay the bonds for the building commission, and the building commission promises to pay the bonds for the city, and the city agrees to the deal. Its just the legalities of how things go.
The city itself cannot build anything, so it has to create a public building commission to do the building.
There was question at the worksession Thursday about whether the hospital could afford to make the payments of $1.7 million per year. A local newspaper said two commissioners raised questions, but at the meeting I went to, it was only one commissioner who raised questions.
The citizens voted for a half-cent sales tax to help pay for the hospital. The hospital can currently afford $1.5 million, and the sales tax will more than make up for the deficit in order to pay the $1.7 million.
Now it is true that President Obama is pushing a new health world, and we do not know what that will mean, but as other commissioners pointed out, there will always be reasons to not do something.
A wise old proverb says "if you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done."
Ultimately, in a worse-case scenario, the city would be liable for the payments. If the hospital cant pay and goes bankrupt, the citizens would have to pay the payments.
But the hospital has been doing very well financially. The figures that show what the hospital can pay are based on current data. Most of the time, new facilities have a nice increase in profit, and that is not even taken into consideration.
It looks like progress to me.

The Burford Theater is also coming along nicely. They held their first live performance there since restoration began a few years ago.
It will take some more years, but eventually, it will be restored to its original grandeur.
We have several other businesses building new facilities - Braums and others.
It just seems like we are on the verge of being a boom town.
The weather is really nice too.
How will the naysayers shoot this down? :)

What's cooking

I now have a backlog of stories. Never thought that would happen, but I have a couple things cooking that should be done soon.
I went to the fair again Saturday, and listened to our state representatives talk. I will have a story on that. They talked about the usual stuff. Kasha Kelley talked about finance, Steve Abrams talked about education and Ed Trimmer talked about social issues.
But what was remarkable, was that former State Sen. Grete Goodwin was there. She took the floor and everyone waited with anticipation to see what she would say. She and Kasha have been political enemies since Kasha got involved in politics.
Goodwin surprised everyone by praising Kasha for her work in saving jobs at the Winfield Prison Facility. Goodwin said she has been on a commission that is looking at ways to save the state money, and in the course of that, Kasha has been praised for her efforts.
Kelley was shocked and surprised at the kind words, and thanked Goodwin later.

The second story I am working on involves the Burford Theater. I spent some time with Gene Snell and toured the Burford on Saturday. It is much larger than I thought. Fascinating place. More on that later.



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Sunday, a new day

Isa 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isa 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

I was trying to think of what to say about these verses. They show a hope for the future. This is what we need, this is what the revolution is all about.
The Arkansas City Revolution.
A new day has dawned.

The fair

Good morning everyone.
I went to the fair for awhile yesterday. There was a good number of people out, but it seemed smaller to me somehow. Seemed like there were not as many exhibits.
But people were having a good time.
The sponge toss was kinda cool. Local celebrities were getting sponges full of water thrown at them. Ark City chamber of commerce CEO Janet Siebert was one of the victims. She brought a water pistol though, and fought back.
Bank official John Sturd was going to be up, but I didn't stick around for that.
Today our local state reps are going to speak. At 6 p.m., Kasha Kelley, Steve Abrams and Ed Trimmer are all set to hold a forum.
The rain is not supposed to stick around. Should be another nice day.