Tuesday

Greetings everyone
Ive managed to update the site somewhat.
We spent three days driving across missouri and kentucky. We arrived in East Tennessee about dark last night. Just in time to get lost looking for the campground.
Even the GPS couldn't find it.
Its just a mile off the highway, but lots of small roads with many twists and turns.
Finally found it, and Ive found a place to update.
Ive not had time to check the cop notes.
Ill try to post more later about my trip
peace
jj

Cops seek help with burglary case

Just got this today from chief Wallace

A residence in the 1600 block of South G was burglarized on Thursday. There were several expensive electronics stolen, and a lot of damage done to the home. The perpetrators slashed the home owner’s furniture including a brown Vinyl couch, brown vinyl love seat, and brown vinyl recliner.
There was also damage to several dresser drawers as well as the dresser tops. These were scratched up with a sharp cutting instrument. With the damage and theft, total value of the lost will be approx. $2,300. There were marks in the front yard were the suspect’s vehicle was parked.
This case is still under investigation.
The owners of this home were away because they are in Texas at a Children’s specialty hospital where their 2 ½ year old child is fighting for his life.
If anyone has any information about this case, please contact the Arkansas City Police Department at 60-441-4444 or Crime Stoppers at 620-442-7777 or 620-221-7777. If your tip leads to an arrest, you could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.00.

On the road again

We are headed out on a trip again. This time we are going to East Tennessee, to see my family. There's a family reunion on the 4th. We will be headed back after that.
I will continue to update the blog and the site as much as possible.
I have some city stories cooking. They will be getting into budget soon. Thats always kinda boring but it also interesting.
We are leaving this morning - i hope. You know how we are:) We never leave or come back when we say we will. Its 8 a.m., i had to run the truck over to Rakies for a last minute fix, and we havent started packing yet. But we are determined to get out of here this morning.
We will be making some side trips to state parks and other sites. We are pulling a little popup camper. That should be an adventure. It is not a heavy one, so it won't be much of an extra burden on the truck. Its just the driving that can get tricky.
Try to avoid backing up as much as possible.
Send in those classified ads.

Classified ads

I have started a classified ad section on the Web Site.
Only thing is, I don't have any ads yet.
That's where you come in.
Through July 7 any ads sent to me will be posted free.
Im going to have them fairly cheap. One thing I will do, is let people change their ads at anytime. If you have a one-week ad, for example, you could change it halfway through the week.
For prices and the details, go to the web site.
:)
www.arkcityrevived.com

New forum on Ark City history

Here is something that I think is cool.
Heather Ferguson, over at the Landrush Museum, has started a forum on Arkansas City.
There are a lot of categories, events, and people listed.
You could comment on any of them, or discuss any of them, or even start your own topic.
This has potential if people will get involved in it.
http://cherokeestripmuseum.forumotion.com/forum.htm

S.C. Governor

Have you all been reading about the South Carolina Governor and his affair with the woman in Argentina?
He may resign today. It's been an interesting story about how he misled people about where it was just recently when he went there. Staffers told the media he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, and some published a story about it.
The newspaper there got its hands on emails between him and the woman and published them.
Here is a link to a story about how the paper covered it, and to the emails

http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839930.html
http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html

What do you all think about the paper publishing the emails?
I thought it was interesting that, in the comments section after the story, several people were more upset that the paper published the emails than about the emails themselves.

really hot

Here is a chart showing record highs for this week. We are pretty close. With temperatures supposed to be around 100 tomorrow, we might have a shot. Today's official high was 102, but the bank thermometers were saying 107.
Its June, Its Kansas, its supposed to be hot.
be careful out there.
24 107°F (1918) 50°F (1961)
25 110°F (1911) 51°F (1958)
26 104°F (1911) 49°F (1958)
27 105°F (1936) 49°F (1903)
28 108°F (1914) 52°F (1903)
29 106°F (1933) 44°F (1923)
30 107°F (1925) 48°F (1902)

Thursday morning update

Good morning.
I have updated the web site. Lots of new stuff. The police log is updated, and I have created a police page. It has the logs, press releases and other cop-type stuff.
Chief Sean Wallace sent a press release saying that the police are going to step up patrols and start writing tickets for people not wearing seat belts.
Wearing a seat belt is just common sense, but I know some people want to have the freedom to not do so. It raises the question of whether government should intervene when people won't do what they need to do.
There is a new fishing column. Im still looking for column writers. I can help with writing and or editing.
I have some city stories coming later today, so come back.

But did he inhale?

President Obama signed tougher laws on smoking, and the national media is making a story about his own smoking habit. Can't say they are giving him a free pass on this one, but still, they are not attacking him all that much.
Here is a link to a story about it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090623/hl_afp/lifestyleuspoliticsobamatobacco_20090623180458

I remember during the campaign, some republicans were circulating unflattering pics of Obama with a ciggy hanging out of his mouth.
I tend to think its good of him to be relatively straight-forward about it, even though he has hedged on just how much he smokes.
He said he is 95 percent clean. Yea ... What do they call a drunk who is 95 percent clean? Not buying it, still I do applaud him for admitting his habit.

What do you all think about smoking. The addiction? How hard it is to break the habit?

Mozittis closed

Newscow is reporting that Mozitti's is closed for now.
here is a link to the story
http://www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=3071

updates

I have posted the daily police report on the web site.
Also, there is a story on the site about a sewer line project going on in the city.

Braums

The Arkansas City Planning Commission gave its seal of approval to a deal that could bring a new Braum's to town, at its meeting Tuesday. They voted unanimously to send a recommendation to approve to the city commission.
The commission held a public hearing and sent the proposed zoning change to the city commission. The city commission may now vote on whether to approve the zoning change.
The area, in front of the hospital facing Summit, is now zoned business 1 and Residential-4, and the change would be to business 2. The B-2 zoning allows for larger stores.
Braum's already has an ice cream store and restaurant on Summit. The new one would allow for a larger grocery store, a larger restaurant and a drive-through window for customers.
City Commissioner Patrick McDonald was pleased with the result and believes it will be good for Arkansas City.
“It will give us one more thing in the downtown area for people to do. It is exciting,” he said.
At the meeting there was some concern that it could cause taxes to go up in the area, but most people were in favor of the move.
The grocery store will be 3,000 square feet, and the restaurant will be 2,000 square feet.
The restaurant company officials said the sale of the property where the new Braum's will be is contingent on city approval, and will not be done until that happens.
It could be a year before the new store is ready.
Braum's has been trying to expand in Arkansas City for a few years. Pizza Hut and Sonic have expanded operations in Arkansas City over the last couple of years.

computer angst

Im so angry I could throw my computer through something. Way things are going, I would probably miss and it would bounce back and smack me upside the head.
Usually takes about 10 minutes to get a story up on the web site. Tonight its been at least two hours. About the fourth try it gets crazy, so it may not be all that great, but I think it is readable.
I got one of those real nasty viruses on my computer. It is the one that wants you to download another program to clean it up. They want $40. Id rather buy a new computer.
I'm not going to be extorted.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this virus? It is not actually a virus. It is really a nefarious program that attaches itself to something else and gets in your system that way.
I have found it, but it won't let me delete it, or it goes away and comes back.
Norton anti-virus didn't even see it. I called Norton, and they wanted $49 to get it off my system by hooking up to it through the internet. It was their blasted anti-virus program that let it slip through and they want extra money to fix the problem? They want even more than the crooks who created the problem in the first place.
As I said. Thousands for battle, not one penny for extortion.
Remember, that it was NORTON ANTIVIRUS, that choked in the crunch. So don't buy that nasty stuff.
Ok, that's my rant for this evening.
I feel a little better.

The site

Some good suggestions yesterday for the web site. There's so much that could be done, and so little time.
I have assembled some links to various national stores. A lot of shoe stores for instance, because everyone says we need a shoe store. There is also some links to unusual items, and many other things that you might buy anyways. Ive tried to put things on there that are not readily available here.
If you make purchases there online, it will support this web site.
http://arkcityrevived.com/AD_PAGES/shoes.html

I would like to start a classified ad section. Will probably offer free ads very soon, for a limited time.
Also you may have noticed we now have a fishing column. I would like to have more local writers. If there is an area you are fairly knowledgeable about, and would like to write about, let me know.
I will have more items to post today, so keep checking in:)

Police make burglary arrest

Police log is updated on the web site
Burglary, Theft, Criminal Damage to Property

On 06-22-2009 officers of the Arkansas City Police Department responded to A to Z recycling for a reported burglary. When officers arrived they learned that an unknown suspect or suspects had entered the front door of the business using a skid loader that was parked out front. Once inside the building over 300 pounds of copper was taken, along with a dolly. Officers followed shoe prints in the dirt to Veterans Lake where the suspects loaded the copper into a vehicle and ditched the dolly and barrel in the lake. With the help of employees from Winfield Iron and Metal 2 suspects were identified. The suspects were stopped in the vehicle they had used during the crime. Following interviews both suspects confessed and were taken to the county jail on $5000.00 bond each. Numerous evidence items were found in the suspects possession at the time of arrest.

John Wooten and Tommy Hayden both of Ark City were arrested for Burglary, Theft, and Criminal Damage to Property.

Monday morning

Good Monday Morning everyone.
The police log for the weekend has been posted on the web site.
www.arkcityrevived.com
The site is still "evolving" just as the blog is.
At present I am planning on putting data - such as cop notes - and other longer stories on the site. The blog focuses more on shorter stories and commentary.
How does that sound to readers?
I do want your opinions on things. It is interesting to hear the different opinions. Sometimes people say just the opposite of what the last person said.



Check the online shoe store here

Sunday morning

Im getting a late start this morning, so I wont have time to post pictures from last night's show. Ill try to get a gallery up this afternoon.
The River of Life show was good last night. Small crowd, but we all had a good time.
Some of the groups I had not heard before.
We have one more monthly show, (July 18 in Winfield) and then there is the big festival in October.
But last night was real good.
At the end "someone" came up with the bright idea of getting all the musicians on stage at once to jam a little. That is a logistic nightmare normally, but most of us decided that if it didn't work, it wouldn't matter.
It did come together well as far a the sound goes.
Then the music was amazing. It was a very special time of music. Very different styles of music and they played classic songs that basically everyone knows. Or at least most musicians know. You would have thought they had played together forever.
There are special times in music when "things just happen," and that was one of those times. It was a real blessing for those that were there.
It was a very spiritual moment.

Someone posted on another string last night, that it seems to always rain when we have one of our shows. I had not thought of it, but it is true, for the monthly shows anyway.
It did rain briefly the morning of the last music festival, but that came and went quickly.
The monthly shows have been different. In fact, the first one was called off because we had an ice storm. Rained hard all through the next one at Calvary Chapel. Rained hard at the end at Wilson Park, and then late last night there was a good bit of rain.
Not sure what that means.
Does seem odd though.

Why

Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say.
A couple people on here - and a couple in the material world - have asked me why I am staying in Arkansas City. There is nothing to hold me here now. Well there is a house that we are paying for, so I guess a mortgage could, but ... that wouldn't be enough by itself.
I have lived other places, and I have traveled a lot around the country. Maybe some of those people who don't like Arkansas City have not.
I know I felt that way about the town I grew up in, until I was away from it for about 10 years. I don't really want to move back there, but at least I don't think negatively towards it anymore.
I could show you a lot worse places, even in Kansas or Oklahoma. There are better places too.
I guess the place has just grown on me. We could go anywhere we want to go, but we are staying here.
I have made some friends, I have gotten involved here and there. I like a lot of people here.
I see an opportunity also to make a difference. We need to move the city forward, and I want to be part of that. We just need to get out of the negative way of thinking, and to get out of the backbiting and criticism.
There are things that are wrong here. There are people at fault. But it is not any different - or any worse - than anywhere else. It is real easy to point fingers and criticize.
I want to try to get the town away from that.
We need to decide where we want to go, what we want to be, and make that happen.
I know, there are lots of reasons that cant happen, but ... rehearsing reasons gets us nowhere.
There are lots of reasons good things can happen too.
Anyone with me?

A cool U-Tube video

Hunting and fishing

Today on the web site, I have a new fishing column. I hope to have this every week. I intend to post it on Friday morning as it might provide useful information for people planning on fishing.
It will also get into hunting eventually.
This is our first column.
I would like to have more columns on the site, and some are in the process of getting started.
If you are knowledgeable about a particular subject or area, and would like to give it a try, get in touch with me. I know a lot of you are not writers, but have a lot of knowledge that reader would be interested in.
I can help with some editing.
Also, I would like to know what you would like to see on here, specifically, what kinds of columns.
www.arkcityrevived.com

Traveler trouble

The Traveler reported yesterday on it's web site that the man who had been shot in Arkansas City yesterday had died.
Today they have a correction on their site.
They say they were misinformed.
I just wonder if anyone will get in trouble for that.
Here is the story.

http://www.arkcity.net/stories/061809/com_0001.shtml

Man airlifted after gunshot wound

Allen Herman was taken to a Wichita Hospital earlier today after suffering a gunshot wound, according to several sources.
He is said to have suffered the wound in Arkansas City around noon.
I have not been able to get official confirmation, or any information as to the source of the gunshot.
A nearby business owner said the wound was to the head, and that Hermann is in critical condition.

fire call

The Arkansas City Fire Department was called out late this morning to Carls Barbeque in Arkansas City. Pictured are firemen checking out the barbeque pit beside the store. It apparently got out of control. The fire was under control quickly.

Next River of Life show

The next River of Life Music Festival monthly concert will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday at Crossroads Church near Winfield.
Each group or musician will play about 20 minutes.
There will be another concert in July at the Evangelical Free Church in Winfield. Musicians are still needed for that show. The monthly concerts showcase local musicians.
The large festival is scheduled for October in Arkansas City, which will have national bands, as well as some local musicians.
For further information, call Monica Hinson at 442-0997, or James Jordan at 442-8734

6:00-6:20 - Displaced, Bill Cropek
6:35-6:55 - Tim Durham
7:10-7:30 - Jeff Adams
7:45-8:05 - Kelly Ferrari
8:20-8:40 - Michael Kelley
8:55-9:15 - Steve Manley

Thursday

Good morning.
The latest police report has been posted on the site. Not much happening police wise this week. Too hot even for criminals I guess.
I did ask chief Sean Wallace about the case where the gas meter had been tampered with, and workers got the family out of the house that was filled with gas.
Wallace said it is being treated as a criminal case, but "there have been no developments." The investigation continues.

City Commission meeting,

People have been camping for years at Walnut Park, and Newman Park in Arkansas City. Soon they will have to pay a small fee for staying there, after the city commission passed a new ordinance assessing fees on campers, at its meeting Tuesday.

The ordinance also provides a structure for allowing camping a Parks Park and Carver Park on special occasions with a permit from the city.

Russell Graves, who runs a campground just south of the city, objected to the ordinance, feeling that the city was going to be competing with him.

City Manager Steve Archer said the ordinance is designed to allow the city to recover some of its costs as people are able to use water and electricity there now without paying.

The fee will be $15 for 72 hours at Newman or Walnut parks. The other two parks will have the same fee, and will require approval from the city during special events.

Archer explained that the ordinance is being set up with vendors at festivals in mind, particularly the Renaissance Festival planned for Arkansas City in August. The Last Run Car show, and Arkalalah could also have campers.

Commissioners said they did not believe the move would cause Graves a problem. Commissioner Dotty Smith said if the festival goes as planned, it should create additional business for his operation.

She also told him to come back if he finds that the move creates competition with his operation.

See the rest of the story on the web site

Today's cop notes have also been posted

CLICK HERE

city meeting

Daily cop report

The daily cop report has been posted on the web site
www.arkcityrevived.com

Also on the site is the latest Cowley College board of directors meeting report. The meeting was last night.

Swine Flu case in Cowley County

Several local news outlets, including Newscow and KWCH, are reporting the first case of Swine Flu in Cowley County.
Health officials have confirmed the case, but are giving out little information on the person who is sick. A child has the illness in the county, and has traveled recently. That is about all the information available on the individual.
Here is a list of confirmed cases in Kansas.

• Butler County - One case involving an adult
• Dickinson County - Two cases involving adults
• Cowley County - One case involving a child
• Douglas County - Two cases involving adults
• Ford County - One case involving a child
• Geary County - 25 cases total involving nine adults and 16 children
• Gove County - One case involving an adult
• Johnson County - 11 cases total involving four adults and seven children
• Labette County - Two cases involving adults
• Leavenworth County - One case involving a child
• Morton County - Two cases involving adults
• Ottawa County - One case involving a child
• Pottawatomie County - One case involving a child
• Reno County - One case involving an adult
• Riley County - 23 cases total involving 15 adults and eight children
• Saline County - Eight cases total involving one adult and seven children
• Sedgwick County - Three cases involving children
• Wyandotte County - 15 cases total involving two adults and 13 children

Here are some links for further information.
State Health Dept, news release on case in Cowley County http://www.kdheks.gov/news/web_archives/2009/06152009.htm
National information: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Cowley County Health Department: http://www.cowleycounty.org/cchd/

Cowley students finalists for athlete of the year

Boomer Saia and Jacey Juden, who graduated from Arkansas City High School in 2007 and Cowley College in 2009, were recently named finalists for the college male and female athletes of the year. The winners will be announced at the 12th annual Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission Banquet held June 26 at Wichita’s Hyatt Regency.
Cincinnati Reds hall of fame catcher Johnny Bench will present the Coleman Company - Johnny Bench award. Other awards to be presented include the Lynette Woodard High School Female Athlete of the Year, the Barry Sanders High School Male Athlete of the Year, and the Professional Athlete of the Year.
Gregg Marshall, head men’s basketball coach at Wichita State University, will be the keynote speaker. The annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet recognizes excellence in sports in southcentral Kansas. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a reception and silent auction, while the banquet will follow at 7:15 p.m.
To purchase tickets for the event call 316-265-6236 or visit www.wichitasports.com

The rest of the story is on the web site : www.arkcityrevived.com

Police stories

A man was arrested for attacking his 19-year-old son with a baseball bat Sunday in the Ace Hardware parking lot. William Klick was arrested for aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat.
On Saturday, a 17-year-old juvenile was arrested for an oustanding warrant and was charged with burglary.
The full press releases are on the web site.

New, AC police report

I am going to start running the Arkansas City Police daily log today. It is on the web site.
I will try to have it every day.
The web site is at www.arkcityrevived.com

Helping those in need

Interesting sermon in church this morning. Pastor was talking about where Jesus says when we do for others, we are doing for him, and when we don't do for others, we are refusing to do for him.
To help those in need is a "Christian" thing to do, and many are involved in that activity.
What surprised me was that he - the pastor - said he as glad that our government - some of our tax dollars - is set aside to help people in need.
He said he thought that was a biblical idea.
I agree totally, and I think that kind of preaching needs to happen in more churches.
Too often Christians get too linked with conservativism, and sometimes conservative ideas are not biblical.
Some people think government should not be in the welfare business. They point to abuses and such, and there are some, but when people are in need, they do have a real need even if they caused the need themselves.
There are people who will abuse the system.
But I think a lot of that is just making excuses.
A government that cares for the poor is a good thing.
Its better than spending money on bombs.

My other site

I don't have a Sunday devotion ready.
But I did want to tell you all about my other web site, which is a bible study site.
I have had this site for years, but have not updated it in a long time.
I still have not updated it, but I hope to start doing that more.
It is a site I created before I moved to Kansas.
it is at : www.jesushunter.com

It is kind of a funny name. I wanted something that would be easy to remember.
I also believe in continued revelation of truth, and continued discovery.
"Finding" God was a great thing, but that is just the beginning of the journey.
The site is about the continual search for spiritual truth, and continued discovery about Jesus.
That is how I came up with the name.

Wildflower tour

We went to the Cowley County Wildflower Tour today on the Snyder Ranch east of Winfield, in Eastern Cowley County.
They had to take two buses there were so many people. It was a really good tour.
Driving down the highway you don't usually think that there are a lot of wildflowers beside the road, but out in the fields there were lots of them. There were people guiding the tour who actually knew the names of the flowers.
It was impressive to see so many wildflowers in one place.
This was part of the Tallgrass Prairie, and has never been plowed or developed. It has been grazed with cattle since the first settlers showed up.
Here are a few pictures.
There will be more on the web site .
www.arkcityrevived.com

Iranians

From the AP

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario – The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.
Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy.
"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

I was just thinking about this story. From what we know if Iran, it would not be that surprising for there to be "irregularities" in the voting.
I was just wondering what we would have done if, during the last election, if the Iranians had questioned whether our election was legitimate. Or the Japanese, or even Mexico?
Does our government have the right to make that determination for another country?

Miracles for Maycom

There is a good crowd out at the fund raiser for Macom Ball at Wilson Park. It will be going on until about 8 p.m.
There is going to be a dunk tank with some city commissioners involved.
I have to go somewhere else for awhile, but I will try to get back by there before they get that going.
There is also an account at CornerBank for Maycom where donations can be made.

The town of painted burros

This is one of several painted burros in Carrizozo, New Mexico.
We - well mostly Joyce - were fascinated by these painted animals and the small town. They were all over the place, and we found out it is part of what is called the Burro Serenade.
The burros are painted by local artists, and then auctioned for local charities and other civic causes. The winners of the auctions put the burros around town, maybe at their home or their business.
It makes the town look really cool.
I have a more in depth story and more photos on the web site. www.arkcityrevived.com
This gave us some ideas. Anyone else have any ideas?
This is a very remote town of about 1,000 people.

Dangerous thunderstorms

We are having strong thunderstorms until about 9:30 Here is a warning from the national weather service.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN COWLEY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

* UNTIL 915 AM CDT.

* AT 820 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS UP TO 60 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 12 MILES WEST OF ARKANSAS CITY TO 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ARKANSAS CITY TO 26 MILES SOUTH OF ARKANSAS CITY... AND MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

Be careful out there

Sanitation workers to the rescue

Two city sanitation workers recently saved a family from a potentially deadly situation. On May 28, Raymond Hansen and Frazier Brown were doing their normal trash collecting, but the morning quickly turned into anything but normal.
The heard a hissing sound and soon realized there was a gas leak in the 100 block of E. Jefferson.
A woman, Casey Maybury, and her children were inside a house that was being filled with gas. The two men got her and her kids out and notified authorities.
The gas meter had been tampered with during the night and was spewing out a lot of gas. The gas had also filled the house.
City officials, and Kansas Gas officials, confirmed that the gas meter had been tampered with.
City Commissioners plan to honor the two city employees at second meeting in June.

Live Blog, city commission

City commission worksession

The Arkansas City City Commission has its worksession meeting today at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. These meetings are open to the public.
The regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
Here is what is on the agenda.

• Receive report from City-Cowley County Health Department Director David Brazil. He will be asking for $27,270 for the coming year. The health dept. received $17,270 last year. Their total budget is $976,649.62
  
• Consider resolution authorizing lease assignment between City and Ark Hospitality, Inc. This is the Regency Court Best Western Hotel on the north side of town. It is being sold, and the owners want to tranfer IRB bonds to the new owners. The city holds those bonds, so would have to approve the transfer.
  
• Consider ordinance levying special assessments for the cost of nuisance abatement for properties in violation of city codes. There are six, totaling about $1,000.
  
• Consider ordinance levying special assessments for the cost of property maintenance violations for properties in violation of city codes. There are 18, totaling $1,800.
  
• Consider ordinance amending City Code revising camping regulations in City Parks. This would establish a fee of $15 for 72 hours. This will allow camping at other city parks in addition to Newman Park and Walnut Park for special events.
  
• Consider Mayor’s appointments to City Boards.

Maycom Ball fundraiser

There will be a fundraiser for Maycom Ball, the infant son of Cody and Amanda Ball, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Friday at Wilson Park.
Maycom was born last fall and has not been able to leave the hospital in Kansas City.
But he could be coming home to Arkansas City soon. He already has more than a million dollars in medical bills, and getting their house ready for Macom to come home will also be very expensive.
Mayor Jay Warren has been active in getting this event together. He said it will cost about $50,000 to get their house ready for the baby. He will have to have a special ventilator and there will have to be special heating and air systems installed.
Cody Ball is a fireman in Arkansas City.
Friday's event will include a dinner of pork burgers, baked beans, cole slaw, drinks and desert.
KACY radio will broadcast live.
There will be lost of games and activities for children.
Live music will be provided.
All proceeds will go to the Maycom Ball family.

about ads

Oh my goodness.
The Google ads are getting out of hand. These are the ads I am not supposed to "encourage" you to click on. I am paid per click on those. The other ads are on commission.
Anyways, I wanted to explain about those Google ads. I do not have any control over what shows up. It is a bit spooky to think about, but, the Google monster "crawls" my blog and picks out ads based on that.
This was fine when we were traveling in New Mexico.
Somehow the Google-meister decided that my site needed ads for condoms today. We were discussion abortion, so I guess some key words got the Google's attention.
As I said, Oh my goodness.
I was a bit embarrassed.
Then tonight, I see there are ads for "bible teachers."
I checked a couple of them out and in my opinion some of them offer destructive teachings.
I think i would rather be embarrassed by a condom ad than a false bible teacher, so I don't know which is worse.
As it is written, "beware the leaven of the Pharisees."

A joking matter ?

This sign appeared today in the Bryants Hardware Store window.
The hardware store closed recently and the building is now controlled by Union State Bank.
Bank President John Sturd said today the sign is a joke.
He said he was not aware of the sign when he first heard about it, and walked down to the store to see the sign.
He said as far as he knows, there is no plan at the moment for anyone to start a business in the building.
Sturd said the building is being cleaned up and prepared for rental or a lease. He said as far as he knows, there is no business planning on opening there in the near future.
A Google search turned up no businesses called Amherst Spirits, Amherst Cigars or Amherst Tobacco.

A little politics, Obama and Jesus.

A story on the website POLITICO has a story about how President Obama uses the name "Jesus" and refers to his Christian faith, more often in speeches and in public appearances than G.W. Bush did.
I just thought that was interesting.
Here is a quote from they story, which I liked a lot

David Kuo, a former official in Bush’s faith-based office who later became disillusioned with the president he served, worries that both men have exploited religious phraseology for political gain. “From a spiritual perspective, that’s a great and grave danger,” he said. “When God becomes identified with a political agenda, God gets screwed.”

here is a link to the story on politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23510.html

Just taking a pot shot

Brand-X has in its breaking news, on Monday afternoon, that Friday night a semi nicked a flower pot on Summit.
You won't see that sort of pretentiousness here.

web sites and such

Ive been tinkering with the blog and web site. The web site is still in the process of being born so please bear with me as I get it going.
If anyone would like to submit material, or if anyone has suggestions, please do so.
Someone told me the had trouble getting on the site. If anyone is having trouble getting on there, please let me know. It works fine on my computer, but, if there is a problem there, I would like to know about it.
the web site is at www.arkcityrevived.com
which is not to be confused with the blog, which is at arkcityrevived.blogspot.com.
The two will go together, and you will be able to go back and forth with ease.
My thinking is that the blog will continue to be a conversation with the community about local events - and some national and state events with local ramifications. The web site will be more the news center, with more regular news and more in depth coverage.

Also, you may notice some new ads on the blog and the site. There are three types. There are LOCAL ads. Please visit them and tell them you saw their ad.
There are also two kinds of national ads. There are the google ads, which I am not supposed to click on or tell anyone to click on. The other ones, which are more by themselves, are called "affiliate" ads. I may encourage people to go there as much as I want. The thing there is, you have to go there and buy something, in order for me to make a small commission.

On the site, I am going to have a lot of ads for shoe stores. We don't have a shoe store, but, through this site, you may have an electronic one. :)

Prairiefest

There was a little larger crowd today for PrairieFest. Part of that was due to the Butler Brothers, who are a very popular local band.
They were really good as usual. Page Butler has not been playing with Steve as much this year, so it was nice to hear and see him playing. They did more songs that he has written, which was also cool.
Teresa Swope Hatfield and the Wired Hands
were also good. She is an excellent singer. They did some nice tunes. The wired hands did Midnight Rider, which was kind of different. Hatfield sang a Creedence Clearwater Revival song.
So the music was really good. It was still very hot though.
There was not much food left and the artists were starting to pack up.
I heard some people complaining about it being downtown instead of its usual place, at Wilson Park.
Had the weather not been so it, I doubt there would have been as much complaining. It might be a good idea to take more space. Maybe they should take 2-3 blocks of Summit instead of just one.
I still like the idea of the downtown event though. I even thought about our own River of Life Festival. Not this year, but it is something to think about down the road.
Anyways, maybe things didn't turn out as well as hoped, but it still took a lot of work to get it done. It took guts to try something new. Maybe it didn't work out so well, but still a thumbs up for giving it a try.

Tiller story in Eagle

Put your comments on Tiller and how the Eagle covered it here.
Just providing space :)
Here is the link
http://www.kansas.com/tiller/

NARAL Pro-Choice America said that as of Saturday, 45 vigils had been scheduled in 24 states in honor of George Tiller.

Vigils were scheduled Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., and Santa Monica, Calif. Vigils are scheduled today in Madison, Wis., Milwaukee, Portland, Ore., and Allentown, Pa.

During the coming week, vigils will be held in Washington, D.C., Denver, Baltimore and Rochester, N.Y.

The group, which was founded as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws and later became the National Abortion Rights Action League, said that more than 12,500 people had put their names on an Internet memorial wall for Tiller. The wall is located at www.remembertiller.com.

Sunday's devotion,

Hebrews 4:2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

The word “gospel” is from a Greek word that means literally “good news.” Often we think of it as the salvation message. In this verse the writer refers to something else – the “rest of God” that he has been talking about for several verses.
For the Israelites coming out of Egypt, the “rest” was a promise of victory over their enemies, and a promised land. The plan was, God would take them out of slavery to the promised land – what is now Israel – and they would be his people and He would be their God. He would give them peace and victory, and what they had to do to get this was to have faith.
They had to fight no battles, they only had to march forward and take what God had provided for them. God had promised to do the fighting for them.
But we see the sad story, that the message didn’t help them because they didn’t combine it with faith. Through their unbelief, they failed to take advantage of God’s offer to them.
The situation is the same for us today. We have the gospel preached to us, the salvation message surely, but the rest as well. There are thousands of promises in the Bible, and as Christians they are all ours. We don’t have to earn them because they are already provided. There is one thing we have to do, and that is, to have faith in the God who makes promises.
We have to “mix” the promise with faith. Having faith is not some mystical feeling thing. Having faith is acting as if the promised thing was already done. (I am not saying God has promised us wealth and perfect health and every little thing we want, but He has made many promises.)
The word “combine” is often translated “mix” and that might be a better word. It is a mixing to the point that what is mixed becomes a new substance.
James 2:17 says faith without works is dead, which is a way of saying the same thing. Faith without works is useless, and works without faith are useless. The two go together.

Prairiefest

PrairieFest continues today, starting at 12:30. It goes until about 3.
I went for awhile yesterday. There were not many people there at all. It was probably the hottest day of the year so far, and the seats were all out in the sun.
The music was good though. I saw the Howlerz. I liked them a lot. At one point I was the only person sitting in the seats.
Turned out to not be much of a traffic problem at all.
Maybe people were just too used to the park and didnt want change.
I still like the idea of downtown events.
What do you all think?

Today's schedule is available on the web site.
www.arkcityrevived.com

Please help spread the word about the site and the blog. Also let me know the type stuff you want to see on here. I am not seeing many comments on Prairiefest or Relay for Life. Do you want that type stuff?

Newscow reports

Here is what newscow is reporting this morning. You may find their site, and read the rest of the story at www.newscow.net

Woman killed in IXL accident

A Newkirk woman died early Saturday morning when the vehicle she was in left the roadway and rolled in the IXL area of Arkansas City.

Swimmer missing in Winfield

He didn't know how to swim, or at least not very well. Friends and family of a swimmer who went missing in the Walnut River near the Winfield Fairground late Friday said the young man wasn't good in the water. Search crews continued to look for him well into Saturday morning. Using boats, two teams of emergency personnel dragged the river bottom trying to locate the missing man, who is believed to be in his early 20s. His name has yet to be released by authorities but family said his name was Graham Springer.

Relay for Life

The Relay for Life has started and is still going on. It will last until daybreak, so you can still go and watch.

Fern McManus was told she had a few weeks to live when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
That version of cancer is hard to treat and the prognosis is not normally good. But its been over a year since that day, and her battle with cancer continues.
She told her story as the Relay for Life got underway in Winfield Friday.
After she and another family spoke about their battle with cancer, more than 200 people began a 12-hour walk at Sonner Stadium Friday evening.
They will finish around daylight Saturday in their symbolic battle with cancer as part of the annual Relay for Life. The event usually raises a lot of money for the fight against cancer.
Several teams sponsored by organizations and businesses raised money and had tents set up for the evening.
There will be bands playing throughout the evening, as well as dunk tanks and other games. Sheriff Don Read took a turn in the dunk booth.
McManus had survived a bout with skin cancer in 2005, and got sick again in 2008. She was able to go to a cancer treatment center in Illinois, and had a lot of treatments. She was going every 21 days for three days of chemotherapy for awhile.
She has not completely won the battle yet, but the doctors have told her she does not have to come back for more treatments for three months.


For the complete story and more photos, see the Web site:
arkcityrevived.com

NewsCow reports drug arrest at Bricks

Newscow and I have agreed to allow each other to use stories.
This is the first one I am borrowing with permission.
Interesting story about men being busted at Bricks with Drugs.

By NewsCow staff

June 5, 2009 - 6:23:26 pm

Arkansas City police and EMS were at Brick's restaurant early Friday and found four men under the influence of prescription drugs and marijuana, Ark City police Capt. Tom Scott said.

Around 7:40 a.m., officers received reports that four unresponsive men were at the restaurant. After speaking with the men – one of whom was inside the restaurant, while the other three were in a vehicle parked outside – police determined they were under the influence of narcotics.

While trying to determine what drugs had been taken, police found a pill bottle of Alprazolam, a drug known best commercially as Xanax. Ark City authorities contacted Winfield police who said the pill bottle was taken in a burglary earlier in the morning.

Eventually, the men at Brick's acknowledged taking the pills and smoking marijuana. All four were checked by medical personnel but declined to be taken to a hospital.

Andrew Cushenberry was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Darren Miller was arrested for possession of stolen property.

The two men were taken to the Cowley County Jail.

The two other men were allowed to leave and were not named because they were not arrested.

Relay for Life

The annual relay for life is tomorrow night. This year it will be held in Winfield, at Sonner stadium, where Southwestern and Winfield High School play football.
The relay for life is a fund raiser for cancer research, and the event often raises several thousand dollars.
Thursday night they were filling luminary bags. These bags honor those that have died from cancer.
There will be a walk by those who have survived the disease.
People will walk around the track throughout the night to raise money.
There will also be other entertainment for people who might want to go. There will be music through most of the night, as well as games for adults and children.
There are many teams competing for top honors, and they will have mini-fundraisers throughout the night.
The event starts at 7 p.m.
Pictured are people getting luminaries ready.

PrairieFest gets started

PrairieFest kicked off Thursday night with a city band concert in front of City Hall on Central Ave. The band is one of the oldest in the state, having been started by Buckskin Joe in the 1870s.
For many years the city band concerts have been held at Wilson Park, but when the band was playing about 100 years ago, playing in front of city hall was common.
PrairieFest continues through Sunday.
More pictures on the web site
www.arkcityrevived.com

Prairiefest and traffic

The traffic situation should be interesting this weekend.
There must not have been communication between the PrairieFest people and the KDOT, because both the bypass and Summit Street will be closed this weekend.
There will be a lot more traffic on a couple residential streets as a result.
It is a good opportunity for local merchants to reach out to people passing by, as well as to people coming for the arts festival.
I wonder what people are thinking about this.
Will you be going to the festival?
What do you think about them shutting down Summit Street for the festival?
Last year at Arkalalah, Police Chief Sean Wallace wanted to shut down Summit while the festivities were going on.
If it goes well this weekend, the idea might catch on next fall.

New Web Site

I have started a new web site. It is still in the process of getting started.
The site is at www.arkcityrevived.com
The blog will keep its name, but it will be easy to go back and forth between the two. One thing the site will do is have more information than the blog posts. For example, i might put background information about a city commission meeting on the site.
The live blogs will also be stored there.
Let me know what kinds of things you would like to see there.
Also, if you would like to contribute writings or pictures, send them to news@arkcityrevived.com
I cant afford to pay anyone, but it is a chance to be part of something new.

Obama health care

President Obama has revealed a new universal health plan.
This is one area where I will depart from the conservatives. Our health system is great, if you have the money. If you don't, its not so great.
Here is a link to the story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_overhaul

Traffic rerouted for PrairieFest

PrairieFest is this weekend, and its moving downtown this year. It was held downtown many years ago when it started, so it is sort of a homecoming for the spring arts festival.
This means traffic will be blocked at Summit Street Thursday through Sunday evening.
Traffic is already blocked a the bypass and traffic is being re-routed, so there may be even more confusion this weekend.
For PrairieFest, Summit will be closed from Chestnut to Central. One block Central, from First to Summit, in front of city hall, will also be closed.
Traffic will be routed to first street, and to A street, to detour during the festival.
The detour for the closed bypass will also be in effect. That one mostly involves going down Kansas to F street, which is called the old truck route, and on down to Madison and to the end of the bypass.
Since the bypass has been closed, there has been more traffic going through downtown the last few days.
How is everyone doing with the traffic?
The only problem I have had, has been getting over to Greens Farm Road.

City commission meeting, 7 p.m. june 2

Clearing the air

Local Clean Air Coalition chief Jerry Campbell said some of the people who support a smoking ban were irritated by city commissioners, he doubts that any of them retaliated by reporting the possible violation of state open meeting laws.
At a meeting in early May, three commissioners attended a public forum on the potential smoking ban in Arkansas City.
Commissioner Mell Kuhn called the material presented "propaganda" and questioned whether second hand smoke was a real health hazard.
Commissioner Dotty Smith said she did not think the city commission should decide the issue, but she said she would prefer that the people of Arkansas City decide the issue at the ballot box.
"He (Kuhn) came in combative, and Dotty (Smith) didn't help matters," Campbell said today.
Later a citizen filed a complaint that the open meetings laws may have been violated because Smith appeared to speak for the commission. She later said she was not speaking for the commission.
Campbell said he and his group are trying to establish a working relationship with the city.
He said that while he and some members of the group were irritated, he does not think any of them reported the violation. he said he heard that there may have been a violation later.
"There was some grandstanding going on," he said.
The group may seek a referendum on a smoking ban in public places at some point in the future.

Open meetings violation possible, Commissoners say its politics, updated 12:30

City commissioners may have violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act recently. County attorney Chris Smith is investigating after a citizen filed a complaint.
The incident happened at a Cowley County Clean Air Coalition meeting on May 6 when three commissioners were in attendance.
Commissioners Mell Kuhn and Dotty Smith believe the complaint is driven by politics more than substance.
The three commissioners could legally be there together as long as they did not discuss city business or speak for the commission.
One of the commissioners said that the commission would not pass a smoking ban in Arkansas City.
Commissioner Patrick McDonald explained that this constitutes speaking for the commission and that was a violation.
"As soon as I heard that, I knew our goose was cooked," he said.
Commissioners Mell Kuhn and Dotty Smith were also at the meeting.
It was Smith that allegedly said the commission would not pass a smoking ban.
Today Smith said she never intended to speak for the commission.
"I told them that I believe this should go before a vote of the people and not be handled by the city commission," she said. She added that she did not remember saying the commission would not pass such a measure, but she said that even if she did, she was not intending to speak for the commission.
Kuhn said he did not recall the statement being made that the commission would or would not do anything, and he is angered that he and other commissioners are being accused of wrongdoing.
"This is absolutely ridiculous. This shows a lack of concern for the city as a whole by some people. It is just sensationalism," he said this morning. "It just shows the pettiness of some people."
Kuhn said the intent of KOMA regulations are to make sure government is transparent.
"They will be hard pressed to show we did that," he said.
Kuhn argued with the smoking ban supporters at the meeting. He and Smith were not supportive of the ban.
Kuhn said he believes the complaint may be retaliation by some people in the group because he opposed them.
"It could be them propagating this for their own gain," he said.
Smith agreed, saying that she thought there were people who were upset that commissioners were not agreeing with them.
Dotty Smith said she called County Attorney Chris Smith (not related) when she heard that there might have been a violation. She was told a citizen had filed a complaint.
Kuhn said he is not opposed to outlawing smoking in places like a courthouse, but he is opposed to telling private business owners what they may or may not do.
He said the complaint was driven by someone with an axe to grind.
"At the meeting no one else had the idea we were doing anything wrong," he said.
McDonald said it was "another commissioner" who said the commission would not pass a smoking ban.
McDonald said a citizen filed a complaint, so the county attorney has to investigate.
He said the incident should not have happened.
He said if all three spoke as individuals, there would not have been a violation, but once one of them spoke for the commission, it becomes a meeting.
County Attorney Chris Smith could not be reached this morning.
He was quoted in Newscow saying that often in this type situation, commissoners get a letter telling them to not do this again.

THIS story may be updated later today.

Here is a link to informaiton about Kansas Opem Meetings Act on the state attorney general's site.

http://www.ksag.org/content/page/id/140
here is a link to the clean air kansas group

http://www.cleanairkansas.org/

Pro-life response

This morning I talked with Tim Durham, director of Family Life Services. Here is a story based on that interview.

Tim Durham, of Family Life Services in Arkansas City, was shocked when he heard that George Tiller had been killed in Wichita Sunday.
"I was in a church when I heard about it. That was not something we wanted to hear," he said Monday.
As a pro-life group, he was opposed to the late-term abortions performed by Tiller. Even so, he was hoping there would be a different outcome.
Durham noted that some abortion providers have changed sides and stopped doing abortions. He said he hoped Tiller would see the light in that area, but he never wished that Tiller would be killed.
"We are in the business of preserving live," Durham said. He added that his organization is too busy helping people to get involved in any kind of violent protest.
Family Life Services is a pro-life organization, but Durham sees it more as a service organization than an activist group.
"We are a 5013-c organization. We are not allowed to be involved in politics," he said.
Family Life Services spends most of its time helping pregnant women with things like health care and prenatal care.
"We all want health babies," Durham said.
He said both he and his organization condemns any sort of violent protest.
He said he did not know what the thought process was of the man who shot Tiller, but he said his actions were clearly misguided.
Durham hopes the shooting will not result in a backlash against service organizations such as Family Life Services.
Durham said he hopes people will start talking more about abortion as a result of Sunday's shooting.
"Abortion is one of those issues people just do not want to talk about. It is uncomfortable, so they don't," he said.
His group does focus on helping women, but it is also opposed to abortion.
He said abortion is a complex issue, and he said he would rather er on the side of life, instead of having abortions.
His organization tries to find alternatives for pregnant women who may be considering an abortion.
Tiller was one of the few who provided late-term abortions. These are abortions where the baby could survive outside the womb.
Durham noted that in some states people can be charged with two counts of murder if they kill a pregnant woman. But that same woman could have the fetus killed and it would be called choice.
"We have that incongruency in our culture, and that is what no one wants to talk about," he said.
Durham said some people see abortion as a necessary evil, but "in my world view, I say, if it is evil, why is it necessary."

Tiller shooting

A suspect is in custody, Scott Roeder, 51, of Merriman, Kansas, in the shooting death of George Tiller.
Already there are political ramifications. Here is a link to a good story on Time.com about that.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090601/us_time/08599190207700

The shooting was a terrible thing. No sane person would support that.
Pro-life groups are denouncing the shooting.
Christian groups are as well.

Here is a story in the Eagle about the suspect.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/834448.html

The suspect is being linked to anti-government and extreme right wing groups. He has not been linked to any religious pro-life movements or protests.