Something new

I have added galleries where you may purchase pictures.
You may still look at pictures for free, and i wont complain if you "steal" a low-res picture off the site.
But, if you want a high quality picture, or if you want high quality prints, here is a way for you to get them.
To start, I have some pictures from the walnut valley, some Bulldog football and Cowley Soccer.
I also have pictures from the events surrounding the funeral for Sgt. Juden.
Here is the link.
http://arkcityrevived.printroom.comhttp://arkcityrevived.printroom.com/G

I will be adding more photos soon, and from upcoming events as well.
If you want something shot, get in touch with me, and we will try to work something out.

Jerry Bellune's Blog: 9 steps to effective achievement

This is a blog written by a friend of mine. He is the publisher of the paper where I worked before I came here.
He has some good tips I think.
Jerry Bellune's Blog: 9 steps to effective achievement

Old book, same politics

I get tired of politics, and people say they get tired of politics. But, i can post about any subject I can think of, and the only thing that gets comments from readers is politics.
I just started reading a book by Bob Woodward about the Clinton presidency. Its an insiders look at the campaign and what it was like in the inner circle during his presidency. I doubt there will be lot of details about Monica, but ive not read that far yet, so who knows eh.
Im just reading about the campaign for 1992 now. It doesnt seem that different than Obama really.
I remember how outraged the pubs were when he won. The weeping and wailing about Obama sounds a lot like the weeping and wailing then. Of course, we had the other side weeping and wailing just as much when Bush won twice.
I like the issues of politics, and the debates on issues. What I get tired of is the weeping and wailing of the side not in power.
I remember saying about Clinton, and about Bush and now Ill say it about Obama. if he helped a little old lady and her cat across the street, someone would be saying he was just trying to steal her wallet.
In Obama's case he would be trying to steal her insurance card i guess.
We all know that republicans are upset that they lost. We all know that dems were upset when bush won. and we know that pubs were upset when clinton won. so .... maybe we dont need to keep on with the weeping and wailing about how bad the other side is.
Does either side have any actual ideas?

Updated site

Lots of updates on the site today, finally.
Ive had some computer problems. Vista is not what it was cracked up to be. It is not apparently compatible with the windows updates that are sent to the computer from Microsoft. I try to hold off the updates, but once in awhile once slips in, and it messes up my computer..
Has anyone else had this problem with vista?
Anyways, we have a new food page and a new cowley college page.
in sports a former cowley pitcher was called up to the big leagues.
I am starting the soldier - hometown heroes - page tomorrow. I have a couple already. I would like to invite people to send me information about soldiers serving overseas, particularly those in Iraq or Afghanistan, but anywhere is fine.
I also have a story or two laying around that readers have submitted. I hope to get those posted tomorrow.

On the road update

We are in Elwood, Kansas. Almost Nebraska.
We were trying to find this scenic route from Leavenworth to White Cloud (northeastern most point in Kansas) but the GPS had other ideas. We ended up on this tiny dirt road for about 10 miles. Wasnt room enough to turn around, so ... what else can you do. We did stop and take pictures, which ill post tomorrow.
Dogs thought it was great.
We stopped in this little town after finding a small cheap motel in Elwood. Had we not taken the gps-induced detour, we would have gotten to White Cloud and back to atchison at least, to stay for the night.
Owner of the motel didnt really speak english, but the place is clean and much nicer than where we stayed Saturday at a much higher price in Leavenworth. In Leavenworth hotels cost more, and they wanted deposits for the dogs. I could understand if the deposits were like $5 and refundable. A deposit of $25 for each animal, and not refunded, was not understandable. The dogs were righteously indignant as well.
We spent the day exploring Leavenworth. Went by the big prison but you cant go in. Youre not even supposed to take pictures from across the street.
Leavenworth was the first city founded in Kansas.
Saturday we headed north. stopped off at a dog park in Emporia. That was pretty cool. The dogs had a blast. I wasnt so sure how they would react to other dogs, but they were fine. I guess all dogs are outside their terrority and dont have to defend anything.
Today we toured a carosel museum. The Parker carosels were all made here,. Was interesting;.
Ill have pictures posted tomorrow afternoon.
Gretchen is wanting to write a column again. I might leter tomorrow or the next day.

new photo galleries

Here is something new for the website.
I have found a way to display my photos in a more professional looking manner, and a way for people to buy prints if they wish to do so.
Here is one I have set up from the Ark City football game Friday
http://arkcityrevived.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?userid=arkcityrevived&gallery_id=1773076

On the road

We are going on the road again, just for a couple of days.
Perfect driving weather right now. We often travel with the dogs, and it gets a little tricky in the summer with the heat.
Its a bit early for fall foilage, and I doubt we will see any, but I did come across the following article which claims to identify the top 10 fall foilage drives in the u.s.

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/09/best-drives-for-fall-foliage.html

Any list opens debate, but one is in Kansas, which is a little hard to believe. It does mention one in Arkansas, which sounds somewhat reasonable. But the road from Siloam Springs, Ark., up to Fayettevile Ark., and beyond into Missouri, is one of the best I have seen and its not on there. The one they describe sounds like it is near there.
I suppose it is possible we might hit the one in Kansas today or tomorrow just to see if the drive itself is worthwhile. We are heading sort of in that direction. We have not explored much in the northeast part of the state, so we are starting to go that way some.
I know the car show is today. I like the car show, but we need to be on the road now.
We will be back tomorrow evening.

Bulldogs win

The Arkansas City Bulldogs beat Campus 21-13 Friday night. They were behind 7-0 at the half. Both teams had fumbling problems in the first half.
Winfield won big.
There is a photo gallery and more area scores on the site. Which is here

praise obama

A video is making its way around the Internet showing children singing what are essentially praise songs about Obama. They take the song, Jesus loves the little children, and inserts Obama.
Of course the republicans are having a field day with it.
Dems are playing it down.
The teacher who did it last February, retired at the end of the school year. It was of course never meant to be taped and released. But school officials say it was just part of Black History Month festivities and only happened once.

Here is the video
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20090925_ap_videoshowsnjkidssingingobamapraises.html

updates, and honoring our troops

Cop notes are posted.
I have an idea for a new page to honor our men and women serving in the military.
We could post information about them, who they are, where they are, what they are doing and that sort of thing.
Maybe even some of them could send information.
If people will send me the information, I will post it on a page on the site.
Someone had talked to me about this awhile back, but I cannot remember who it was.
Anyways, let me know what you think.
Several pages have been updated. Sports and cowley college being two of them.
I am going to update the hunting and fishing page next. Should be done by noon.

interesting article

Here is a good column on anonymous posters, and censorship, and freedom of speech on the Internet.
Maybe the writer goes a little too far in calling for censorship, but i think he still raises some good points.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092403932.html

Another tribute

This is a cartoon submitted by Mell Kuhn. Just thought you all might like seeing it.

Juden memorial page

The Tyler Juden Memorial page has been getting a tremendous number of vistitors.
The link is here
ByteDaily has some really cool videos, which i have posted links to on the site. I have also posted pictures from Cheryl Bolack, as well as my own pictures.
We can make this into a real memorial page. I would like to invite everyone to send pictures, videos and written material for the site.
Ill try to post as much as I can.

updates to the site

I think I have recovered from the Walnut Valley Festival.
I have updated the site a good bit. Of course there are a lot of pictures from the Juden funeral.
Also updated the food page and classified page.
The Cop report has also been updated.
Been a busy morning.
Also added winfield police notes. not sure that will be at all consistent, but ill get that for you when i can.
Sports, hunting and fishing are next on the agenda.

twittering and the white house

Ive started tweeting. Im on Twitter.com now. Not sure what it all means yet.
But,  i hooked up to the white house's tweet and they just sent out some stats on health insurance.
They have not given up on reform.
Here is a link

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Health_Insurance_Premium_Report.pdf

Here is a link to my new twitter page
http://twitter.com/arkcityrevived

kudos to arkansas city

Arkansas City should be proud of itself today. It gathered and showed great support for the family of a fallen soldier.
The turnout was great yesterday, and was great today at the funeral. The auditorium was packed.
Ran across State Rep. Ed Trimmer, D-Winfield, as I was leaving. He was impressed with the turnout.
The turnout by the Patriot Guard was also impressive. The organizers of a lunch for them were also pleased that people in Ark City donated plenty of food and money to pay for  that.
I did not see it, but I heard there was a bit of manure on one of the street corners. Everyone ignored it and it evaporated.
Good job Ark City.

Juden funeral

I have a picture gallery posted on the web site.
There was a huge turnout for the Juden funeral. The auditorium was packed at Cowley College. There were a few hundred motorcycles out front as well, to escort the motorcade.
I am trying to get a story together and hope to have that posted soon.

Story teller, musician tonight at Cowley

Cowley College is excited to announce the upcoming show of COSY SHERIDAN Tuesday, September 22, at 7:00 pm in the Brown Center. The event is free and open to the public.Cowley students also have the opportunity to win $100 for attending.
National award-winning songwriter Cosy Sheridan has been performing her one-woman show, The Pomegranate, across the country, delighting audiences with her distinctive take on the media's message about women's bodies, and her modern-day retelling of the greek myth of Persephone's journey to the underworld.

The Pomegranate Seed (An Exploration of Appetite, Body-Image and Myth in Modern Culture) is a two-act narrative of songs and monologue chronicling one woman's journey into the symbolic underworld and her emergence as a more vibrant and empowered woman.

In framing one woman's life mythically as she moves into enlightenment, The Pomegranate Seed is a story of finding meaning in life's experiences. The first act weaves together humor and music in an exploration of messages from the media, from cultural icons and family. From Barbie dolls to fad diets, from Eve and her apple to the tragi-comedy of bathingsuit shopping, Cosy as Everywoman comes to grips with her body, her self-image and all that it implies, finding a way to joyfully inhabit her own body.

The second act parallels the Greek myth of Persephone, who was abducted to the underworld and forced to eat the food of the dead, the pomegranate seed. This modern Persephone, who falls in love with a biker named Hades, learns how to turn the food of the dead into the seed of her own rebirth.

Arrival

The motorcade carrying Tyler Juden went through downtown about 12:40. There were a lot of people out on the street holding flags and showing their respects.
Tyler's father, Bob Juden, waved to the crowd appreciatively as the vehicle he was in went past.
For a complete gallery, visit the web site, www.arkcityrevived.com

latest on Juden

Plane is coming to Ponca City instead of Strother. Supposed to land at Ponca at 12:15
Im guessing be in ark city by 1
if anyone has more info, please post it here.

Walnut Valley

Another Walnut Valley Festival is done. The festival made a huge rebound after struggling with the weather last year. There were around 200 more campers this year than two years ago. I dont know where they would put any more campers, the grounds were very full. But Im sure they will find the space if needed.
I dont have numbers yet, but it seemed as full of people as I have ever experienced.
Camping was a whole different experience though, than just driving up every day.
It was great having my campsite not far away at all, so I could just "go home" for a minute any time i needed to.
The Pecan grove gets all the attention and is legendary, but I was in the "other" campground, called the walnut grove or the west campground. It is actually closer to the stages, and from my experience, I liked it better than the Pecan grove.
I did wander around the Pecan Grove some. It is very cool and fun, but it is kind of a different world than the festival itself. So it is just a matter of taste or personal preference. I am already thinking next year about how to get the same spot I had this year in the "other" campground.
Every morning it looked like it was going to rain. In fact it did rain for just a minute on Sunday morning. But by mid day the skies were clear every day, and more often than not, the weather turned hot.
Maybe that was just a little reminder of last year, and what could happen. The music gods were smiling on us.
Another great festival.

Mondays schedule for Juden

This was emailed to me.

if anyone has more details, please fill them in

  Airport Escort:
1000 hr (10AM) Monday 21 Sept 2009
Volunteers meet at Cenex Service Station north end of Arkansas City on Hwy 77, west side.
Escort Ride Captain: ALR 18 Dan Buspamante "Troll"
1030 hr (10:30AM) Departure to Strother Air Field south of Arkansas City
1100 hr (11AM) Flight with Sgt Tyler Juden arrives

Just got this in my email, concerning events with Juden.
 

We have received information that the Patriot Guard will be arriving with the fallen soldier Adam Juden at the Strotherfield airport on Monday.   The tentative time for the arrival is noon at this time.  We will be tying yellow ribbons in his honor along the streets and at our entrance.  It would also be appropriate for people to line the streets with American Flags, etc during this time.  We hope that many will choose to participate in his honor. Thanks

Tuesday will be the service at Cowley.

I have heard that a certain band of obscenely stupid people might show up. as they are in the habit of doing at military funerals.

I want to suggest that they be completely, absolutely ignored. They seek publicity. If you react to them, or respond, you are giving them what they want. You know who i am talking about i am sure. I just do not want to feed into their game, so i wont even mention them by name.

Lets just ignore them.

They do have a right to freedom of speech. (Actually that question may end up at the supreme court).  And we have the right to not listen and to not respond. The patriot guard also has a right to crank their bikes up. Gotta keep those exhaust pipes cleared out you know. :)

Saturday

Getting another late start on the day. There are people who just do the campground scene. I understand why now.

I listened to campground music until around 4. When I got back to my campsite, a neighbor was playing his mandolin. So I listened for awhile.

Ive yet to run into anyone playing anything that didnt sound great.

Other neighbors had been waking me up around 8 with the usual campground noise. They slept in today.

I am at college hill coffee in Winfield. This is a really nice place. Great coffee and free internet. Their wifi actually works.

The Wilders played stage five at midnight last night. That was great. There were thousands of people around there. I tried to get up close but could not see over people, so went back up on the hill.

Cloudy today.

At least it wont be so hot. Hope it doesnt rain, but you never know.

I will have a lot of pictures posted very soon on the site.

Monday I will get back to normal news coverage.

Thank you for your indulgence.

friday night in winfield

Listening to the Wiyos from my campsite. just stopped in for some mountain dew.
Ive got great pictures. Be great if i could get them posted. Ill try to find a way in the morning.
KPM has quiet the racket going on here, selling wifi that doesnt work. grrrrr.
be ok if it was cheap.
anyhoo. couple of balls of orange fire just went across the sky. looked pretty cool.
looked like balloons with a small fire attached.
the wilders and wiyos were playing at the same time, i thought maybe the stars were aligned just right.
great day here. there are other bands here besides those two, i just cant seem to get myself to see them :)
im really tired, but really feeling good (and ive not had any adult beverage either.)
going to hit the campgrounds again after the stage shows are over. the music will go all night in the campgrounds.
thats the best stuff.
another day in pickers paradise.

friday night in winfield

Listening to the Wiyos from my campsite. just stopped in for some mountain dew.
Ive got great pictures. Be great if i could get them posted. Ill try to find a way in the morning.
KPM has quiet the racket going on here, selling wifi that doesnt work. grrrrr.
be ok if it was cheap.
anyhoo. couple of balls of orange fire just went across the sky. looked pretty cool.
looked like balloons with a small fire attached.
the wilders and wiyos were playing at the same time, i thought maybe the stars were aligned just right.
great day here. there are other bands here besides those two, i just cant seem to get myself to see them :)
im really tired, but really feeling good (and ive not had any adult beverage either.)
going to hit the campgrounds again after the stage shows are over. the music will go all night in the campgrounds.
thats the best stuff.
another day in pickers paradise.

Service set for Juden

A funeral service for Army Sgt. Tyler Juden, an Arkansas City native recently killed in action in Afghanistan, will be held Tuesday at the W.S. Scott Auditorium on the campus of Cowley College, the school announced this morning.
The service is set for 2 p.m. Burial will be at Memorial Lawn Cemetery following the ceremony.

Friday morning

Good morning.
I finally found an internet connection that will work for a bit. I will have the site updated soon.
Cop notes, come cop stories and maybe some sports.
Should be there by noon.
Thursday police charged a man with stealing drugs from residents at Presbyterian Manor. Also, Thursday, a man was charged with holding a woman against her will and sexual battery.
I will have more on the festival soon as well.
It is going very well. The weather is about perfect. It was just a bit chilly last night, but that made it even better in some ways.
More coming soon.

Unusual instruments

 

At left ( i hope) is a digery-do. Its a long hollow wood instrument that aborigines play in australia. The other picture is a chapman stick, which is like two guitars combined. It has no body. The sound comes from synthesizers built in. These were two of the instruments demonstrated this morning.

Thursday morning

With the slow internet connection here, its not too easy to upload pictures and such on the web site. Looks like I can blog though.
Stayed up really late again last night. The Carp Camp is just an amazing place. There were 35 people playing last night.
A lot of these people dont know each other and have never played together before. What is amazing to me is now they are able to play together so well. The songs are well known to the players anyway, so that helps.
There were several small shows happening last night. One place had a show called "songs you cant play for your mama." It was a bit off color, but really funny.
There was a competition. The winner got some beer. Of course, we all know beer isnt allowed on the fairgronds. Oh well.
I never actually saw it.
There were some official performances last night as well. The kickoff concert featured winners from last year's competitions. Again there was some amazing music. The guitar players were playing two tunes at once on the same guitar. I had never heard anything like that before.
This morning there was a workshop on unusual instruments. There was a digery-do from Australia, as well as other instruments.
I can hear the music from stage three at my campsite.
The weather is perfect.
I may have to go out somewhere and find a good internet connection. I have some good pictures that id like to share.

Embezzlement charged

On Tuesday, 09-15-2009,  at 5:06 p.m. an officer was dispatched to O'Reilly Auto Parts at 1611 N. Summit in Arkansas City. Officers made contact with a representatives of the Loss Prevention Department from O'Reilly Auto Parts. The store reported that the inventory of the store has not been correct for about 6 months. The employees had talked with the manager and the manager confessed to embezzling money by making fake returns.  

Curtis Proffitt, of South Haven, was arrested and sent to the Cowley County jail on a felony theft charge with a $2000.00 bond.

Late Tuesday / early Wednesday

This is why its fun to camp at the Walnut Valley Festival.
I was up until at least 2 a.m., listening to some great live music. I was just too sleepy and went to bed, but they were still going strong.
About 10 p.m., I wandered out and started seeing and hearing all the music.
Some were just a few people sitting around their campsite jamming, while others were elaborate performances.
One campsite had a stage and a perforance. It was fixed up like a beach party. I got there kinda late and only saw the end, but it was cool.
Then I wandered over to a fiddlers group and stayed there for at least an hour. People came and went. There was an innner circle of fiddles, guitars and banjos. Then there were people on the edges.
Someone would leave and another person would join the circle. People on the edges also played along at times.
At one point there were nine fiddles going at once. That was an amazing sound. Sometimes there were only five or so fiddles. It  varied as people came and went.
There were also mandolins, zithers, and other instruments. For a time there was a big bass guitar.
The thing that struck me most was the quality of the music. I would think you would need to be pretty confident in your ability to sit down in the circle and start playing.
Then I wandered over to the Carp Camp. This is a big camp and is pretty well known. There must have been 25 or 30 people playing. This was a more organized affair.
There were large hammer dulcimers, as well as a large complement of guitars, fiddles, mandolins and so forth.
The sound here was amazing too. All those instruments, and they were all sounding great together.
Again, it was a collection of fine musicians.
I walked by some smaller parties, but even there, the music was really good.
THere were also a lot of people walking around with various instruments. Some would go to the edge of one of the circles but would never actually play, while others would join in on the edges.
The music probably did go till sunrise.
I didn't even get to stage 6, or to the Pecan Grove.
Its mid morning now, I hear the sounds of people playing around the campsite.
Still, its pretty quiet otherwise.

obama off the record

Good morning .
Taken me awhile to get online this morning. I want to tell you all about last night, but first, here is something.
Obama calls an entertainer a jackass. Some wiseacre reporter tweets it all over the internet, and now there is a small controversy building. Of course, had Bush done that, it would have been a much bigger deal. :)
Here is the link to a story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_enhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_obama_tweet_tv/us_tv_obama_tweet

It does raise the question about what is off the record and when is it off the record. The remark was made before a taped interview started. Usually this is considered off the record.
But there are many reporters who want to make a name for themselves, or who have a personal agenda, and will spread a quote around if it is juicy at all.
That was what was happening here.
Its no big deal, but it does bring up the point about off the record. Even so, a president - or just about any public official - should know that when they are around reporters, whatever they say can be spread around, so they have to be careful.
This is what gives reporters a bad reputation though. You can play that game, but you will lose sources in a hurry by doing so. Failing to report such things is not covering up for someone. It is just common decency.

Tuesday in Winfield

I have been trying to upload my web page for a couple hours. The wifi here is really bad. I am not sure it will ever upload. Its is being provided by a Winfield computer company. If it doesnt get better pretty soon Im going to out them.
But it has been a good day otherwise. I was back in AC for awhile this morning. Its pretty quiet here during the day. Now, about 8:30 p.m., the place is starting to come to life.
People must stay up all night and sleep all day.
Hopefully there will be some pictures and such on the site soon.
I did update the sports pages some today. There is more Big-12 material, and some Cowley stories.
I may try a live blog tomorrow, but as slow as the internet is, i am not sure it will work at all.
Hopefully it will get better. Several campers have complained about the slow internet.
Ah how spoiled we are.
We dont even have to go out and shoot an animal for something to eat.
THE PICTURE is a couple from Colorado. I accidentally left the cowley college photo credit line on the picture. Its a picture I took.

Free speech ?

Here is a link to a political column about free speech, censorship, and how financial pressures cause some publishers to withhold information. Its a good column, but I thought the comments were even more interesting than the column itself. Below the link is one of the comments.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091402705.html?wpisrc=newsletter


Both political extremes are functioning well at this point in this country. They are both heard well in the press, but the great majority of people in this country are not being heard, have not been heard, and probably will never be heard. These problems will continue until moderate conservatives and progressives begin to work together to control the extremes. If they don't, we are in deep trouble.

Monday in Winfield

I finally spent some time looking around and walking around. I have a better location than i thought. I am not behind the craft barn as I reported earlier. I am behind stage 4 which is where the competitions are held.
It didn't take me long at all to find some music. I can hear a mandolin from my campsite. Im just a few lots down from Malfunction Junction. Many of the campsites have names such as that, and have the same people that have been camping together for years.
There is music everywhere you look even today. People sitting around campsites picking and grinning. It all sounds pretty good.

The picture is my campsite. Certainly its not nearly as nice and fancy as most of them, but it will do. The Tennessee Dog is out front, so look for that if you stop by. Its the second road behind where they have the contests. It is really kinda quiet. Campsites are set up and people are resting from that work. I plan on posting some pictures of campsites soon on the site.I want to go to that mini concert for awhile first.

I was trying to chase down something to eat, but doesnt look like anything is open yet.

Check the site a little later for more pictures.

Police have busy weekend

The Arkansas City police were busy this weekend with several disturbances, assaults and a forcible rape reported Sunday.
In one case, a Ponca City man was arrested after getting into a fight at RedZone, later stealing a car and entering an elderly woman's house without permission. He then led police on a chase before being arrested. Tyler Goodbear of Ponca City faces several charges, including criminal tresspass and stealing a car. Police say they do not know the mans motive for entering the woman's house.
According to police reports, the woman discovered him in her bed as she was going to bed. She screamed. He fled They added that he left behind his pants and identification.
The car in question belonged to David Schuetz, who is the son of city commissioner Mell Kuhn. Schuetz now lives in Monett, MO. His car was stolen from the driveway of Kuhn's residence on North Fifth Street.
There were several other cases involving disturbances and assaults. You may read them on the police page of the Website by clicking here.
Police are also seeking a local man, Francisco Xavier Galindo 41 of Ark City. Police are seeking him in connection with a disturbance. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said. Below is a picture of Galindo.

Local soldier, Tyler Juden, killed in Afghanistan

Arkansas City native Tyler  Juden, son of Bob and Reatha Juden, was killed in Afghanistan. TheJuden's were notified late Saturday at their home.
Juden had been in Afghanistan about two months, but had served there 15 months previously. He had risen to the rank of Sergeant in four years in the military.
He was a trained sniper.
Here is a link to a story on Newcow.

The Walnut Valley Adventure begins

I got up before daylight this morning to get ready for the landrush. It wasn't the one into indian territory. It was the landrush at the Walnut Valley Festival, where you set up for camping.

I started yesterday. We have a pop up camper out on the river that we leave out there all the time.I took it down, checked out things like tires, and brought it to my house.

I left around 6 a.m., and was in line by 6:30 in Winfield, waiting for the landrush to begin at 7.
Even that early, I was still camper number 425. There are people who arrive over a month early and get lower numbers. Some people had already been there for weeks by the time of the county fair which was over a month ago.
I really had no idea what to expect, but it was not as hard as i thought it would be.
I plan on being up there most of next week and will be posting reports from the festival.
Going to do some live blogs from there as well.

 Last year they were washed out as far as camping goes. It was a bit wet this morning, but looks to be ok. The weather forecast is pretty good.
Click here for a longer account of today's activities.

dems want a piece of joe

Here is an article from the Washington Post.
Democrats are planning to vote next week on whether to formally sanction Joe Wilson for his outburst during Obama's speech last week. Joe said he was sorry, and Obama accepted his apology. But Dems seem to want a bit more. They want him to apologize before the entire House i guess.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09

Ark City 21, El Dorado 14, final score

 

Ark City quarterback Devin Avery had an 80-yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter. Here is is about to break loose on the play. 

Look for a gallery on the website in the morning. www.arkcityrevived.com

other scores from friday night

Andale 36, Winfield 17

Udall 30, Cedar Vale 26

Dexter 56, Elk Valley 12

South Haven 42, Oxford 8

Remembering 911

Today marks eight years since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, 2001. Shortly after that there was a renewed sense of patriotism, and more of a willingness to work together.
How far we have fallen from that ideal, and how quick we forget.
On that fateful day, I was driving to work. I heard on the radio about planes flying into the world trade center, but didn't understand what i was hearing.
When I got to work, everyone was around the television, and we saw the second plane crash into the world trade center.
The days unfolded from there.
I interviewed Arkansas City resident Dustin Schuetz, who was at the Pentagon the day it was attacked. He was honored for his efforts to save people. You may read his story at the site. www.arkcityrevived.com

Friday morning

The cop notes are posted now. They were posted incorrectly earlier, so, if you did not see the right ones, you may go back and see the right ones now.
Im a bit behind today.
I will have a 911 story, and the city commission story soon.
Im getting ready to head out to the landrush in Winfield. Getting ready for the Walnut Valley Festival.
I am going to camp this year, for the first time. Wet or not , im still going.
They were going to have the landrush yesterday, then they moved it to saturday, then they were letting people in this morning, so ... im not sure when it is.
But, I think Ill be ok if I go early in the morning.
I will be live blogging some from the festival. Should still be able to post news and other things of interest. Gotta love technology. Just hope it works the way it is supposed to.

Obama fallout in Winfield

Here is a story i saw on Newscow.
An evangelist - motivational speaker (who had promised not to make it religious by the way) who was scheduled to speak soon at Winfield High School, has been cancelled.
School officials are saying that some had questioned why they were allowing this guy, when some teachers did not allow Obama to be heard.
Here is the story
http://www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=3233

This is a sad commentary on our society, and on our political state of affairs, I think.
What do you all think?

Child reportedly dies from swine flu

KDHE announces second death of Kansan infected with the
2009 H1N1 influenza A virus
The second death in Kansas of a person infected with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus has been confirmed by state and local public health officials.
Newscow is reporting that the child is a resident of Cowley County.
The death occurred in a six-year old child from southeast Kansas. The cause of death was determined to be the H1N1 virus. The illness was confirmed as H1N1 flu at the state public health laboratory on August 25, and the child’s death was reported to KDHE on September 3.

Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, Kansas State Health Officer, expressed sympathy and offered his deepest condolences to the child’s family.

“We know that this virus infects children at a higher rate than adults and today’s sad news makes that point painfully clear,” Dr. Eberhart-Phillips said. “While the majority of people experience mild illness, this child’s tragic death reminds all of us the importance of working towards preventing further spread and receiving the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it becomes available.”

The pandemic H1N1 virus, which is thought to have infected more than 1 million Americans, has been confirmed in 53 counties in Kansas.

Tonights commission could get interesting

In just less than two hours the city commission's worksession will get started. The meeting could get interesting. Not because of what is on the agenda, but because of what might be discussed.
At the last meeting, chief of administration Lane Massey gave commissioners some numbers showing how much the city is losing on its water bills. He also showed numbers that backed up his earlier position, that the higher penalties tried earlier this year had cut back on people paying late.
The city adopted a higher fee for late payers, and adopted a zero-tolerance policy and shut people off after five days if their bill was not paid. The city relented when there was a public outcry, doing away with the shutoff and lowering the fee from %50 to $35.
His figures showed that when the higher fees were in place, there was a drastic drop in late payments, and when the city relented, the number of late payers rose up again.
Also in the mix is the people who do not pay at all, and have the water shut off and the city never hears from them again.
That is the amount the city is losing, and it is around five percent.
"My question to the commission was, is that acceptable," Massey said yesterday.

In the meantime, local citizen Kanyon Ginger came up with her own set of numbers. Her figures from the water department are different than Massey's numbers.
Yesterday, Massey re-did his numbers. He said a lot depends on when reports are taken from the computer, as who has paid when changes daily.
He is planning to give the commission a more simplified version at the meeting today.

Some city commissioners are concerned that they are getting bad information - or inaccurate information - from city staff.
Commissioners Dotty Smith and Mell Kuhn are concerned and plan on discussing the matter at the worksession.
Kuhn said it is not the first time the commission has been given information that was later proven to be incorrect.

Commissioner Patrick McDonald said he thinks its a misunderstanding.
He said Massey answered the questions that were asked, and sometimes people dont know the right questions to ask.

City Manager Steve Archer said he believes the numbers are accurate, and he believes information he and his staff have given the commission has been correct.
Later tonight I will put the numbers up and you all can see whether they are different enough to matter, or not.

Update from the Walnut Valley festival

Here is the latest from the folks at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield.

High Water Update from Walnut Valley Festival
Winfield, Kansas …The National Weather Service has released a revised report updating the information pertaining to the possible flooding of the Walnut River. The report now states that with no more rain falling upstream, the Walnut River at Winfield should crest around one o’clock Thursday afternoon at approximately 18.9 feet. This is several feet lower than the originally estimated 25.6 feet. 19.2 feet is just slightly over the 18 foot flood stage. The revised water height will mean that most of the festival campgrounds will be above the water level and should remain reasonably dry.

The high water has forced festival staff to move the opening of the campgrounds, known as land rush from 7:00 am. Thursday, September 10th until 7:00 am. Saturday, September 12. Vehicles that are already in line for the landrush will not be evacuated or moved prior to the Saturday opening. Due to limited parking space, festival staff are asking that if at all possible campers not arrive at the fairgrounds prior to the Saturday morning opening of the campgrounds.

Analysis from the Washington Post

Here is an article from the Washington Post about Obama's speech. It is more of an analysis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090903587.html

I like the Post. It is usually the most fair of the national news organizations - in my opinion. It's too conservative for liberals, and too liberal for conservatives. When you get that balance going, you are getting close to reality.

COP NOTES are posted. FOOD PAGE is updated on the site. I sent our food columnist my spaghetti sauce recipe, and she wrote about it. I will update the OUTDOORS page soon.

Give em hell joe

I didn't catch Obama's speech, but I did read some stories after it was over.
I was really surprised to see the story below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090902298.html

I knew Joe Wilson when I was in South Carolina. He was a state representative at the time. He is a very mild mannered, very proper, type person. I was amazed to see him get animated.
It just seems to me that politics has gone too far. This is why I am so cynical about politics. The prez speaks to kids, publicans object. Then we remember that Elderbush spoke to kids, and the dems had an investigation.
Now, the prez cant even make his case without Joe Wilson getting animated.
No one knows what is in Obama's health care plan. All we can hear is spin from both sides, attacks and counter attacks.
I doubt if the system will ever get fixed.

Live blog, 7 p.m. today, Sean Wallace

Walnut Valley Landrush rescheduled

Walnut Valley Festival officials have rescheduled the landrush for Saturday, Sept. 12. It was originally set for Sept. 10 and has been put off because the river is rising.
There will be a rise in the Walnut River over a small part of the West Campground and the Pecan Grove. We are told by Cowley County Emergency Operations Center that the bottom of the concrete slab in front of Stage 3 is where the river will top out. The river will come up fast and go down just as fast!
There are about 550 units already in the Fairgrounds. They will not have to move out. Officials say they are unable to handle a large influx at the moment.

Missing juvenile found

a 10-year-old who had been reported missing, was found after a two-hour search, hiding at a friend's house Tuesday night. At approximately 9:00 pm, Officers of the Arkansas City Police Department were dispatched to 1130 N. 10th Street for the report of a missing child. Officer made contact with the mother of the child. The mother stated that she last saw her son who is age 10 at approximately 8:00 p.m.

Numerous people in the area began assisting in the efforts to locate the juvenile. The juvenile was later located as it was learned he had been hiding at a friend’s house who let him sneak in the window and hide in his room. The juvenile was returned home safely.

See the full story on the web site

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings | Washington Examiner

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings | Washington Examiner

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Live blog Wednesday

Don't forget the live blog with police chief Sean Wallace. 7 p.m. Wednesday.
There will be some reader participation, but I will not be able to post every single comment and question.
The point of a live blog interview is to hear what the person being interviewed has to say, it is not to let readers randomly attack the interviewee.
Some pointed questions might be good however.

Good Tuesday Morning

Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Labor Day.
We usually go out of town Labor Day weekend, some exploration expedition, but my sweet wife decided not to go this year.
With all the good games scheduled for TV Saturday, I didn't object.
It was good to have a lazy weekend. Things will be heating up soon, and we will all be busy. The Walnut Valley Festival is not far away. The Last Run Car Show, then leading up to Arkalalah.
Site updates
The cop notes are posted.
I have also posted a calendar on the site. Doing a calendar is probably the most time consuming thing I do, and it often does not get done. But I like what I have compiled for September. I took all the calendars that are out there - that I could get my paws on - and combined them into one. It includes Cowley sports, but not Bulldog sports. I may get that done today.
The sports page is still relatively new.
I am still looking for columnists. If you have any interest at all, get ahold of me.
Also, please help spread the word about the site.
:) more later as the day develops.

Big-12 sports

I have posted a lot of Big-12 sports news on the site.
More on OU quarterback Sam Bradford who was injured Saturday. Looks like a separated shoulder. Here is a story on ESPN.com

There is a good bit of information on all our area teams from Kansas and Oklahoma.
We will be getting back to news tomorrow.

There will be a city commission worksession Thursday. It could get real interesting.

Remember 9-11

9-11 is Friday. What were you doing when that happened?
How has the terrorist attack on that fateful day affected you?
Has it changed the way you do anything? The way you think?
I would like to do something special that day.
I will create a special page on the site.
If you will email me your memories and thoughts, I will post it there on that day.
Answer the two basic questions.
Where were you and what were you doing when the attack happened?
How has that changed you.

I will answer those questions as well that day. I may put some of that on here, but I think the site would be the best place for a special page.
Email me your responses: arkcityrevived@yahoo.com

Cop notes will be posted shortly.

Good Labor Day

Labor Day today. Nothing much happening looks like.
It was a day we looked forward to when I lived on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. That was the weekend all the D*** Yankee tourists went back up north.
We would go from a population of around 100,000 to about 15,000 over the weekend.
An amazing transition occurred.
Same thing happened in reverse, though not as dramatically, on Memorial Day weekend.
Really was like living in two different towns, the summer season and the off season.
I think its more a year round tourist place now. People started figuring out how nice it was in Sept. and Oct. there, and that the winters were not bad at all. Rarely got below freezing.
So Labor Day makes me think of that place. I miss the ocean and the beach. Of course we did have hurricanes. I sat through Hugo there.
But its the end of summer.
What does Labor Day mean to you?

Sunday thought

Philippians 2:3-11
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Sunday morning, Sports

I have updated the Web site this morning. I am finding that there are people who know about either the site or the blog, but not both, so here is a link to the site.

I am starting to cover more sports, and that means there will be more sports on the weekends on here. But not to worry, you folks who are not into sports, there will still be plenty of other things on here.
I have posted stats and game notes from four "area" Big-12 schools. KU, KSU, OU and OSU. Oklahoma's quarterback was injured last night and the Sooners were upset by upstart BYU. OSU beat Georgia. I think the Cowboys proved they are for real.
I am thinking about starting a sports column. It will be on the sports page.
As a last minute thing, i tried a live blog during the OSU game while I watched it on TV. Not enough notice. Only three people showed up. But, we might try that again before long.

saturday, football

Live blogs

I will have police chief Sean Wallace on the live blog Wednesday at 7 p.m.
I am planning more live blogs.
I should have thought of this earlier, but, I thought I would try one today.
The OSU game will be on tv today starting about 2:30. I will turn on the live blog about 2:45. We can talk football. If no one shows up after awhile I will shut it down. Might try it again later on with more advance notice.

Tiahrt on health care

I got an email this morning from the Todd Tiahrt for Senate campaign, outlining his position on health care. You all know I am a bit to the left on this issue, but I think it is important to consider all angles and viewpoints.
Republicans are saying they see a need for reform, but they dont want the government involved. They want the medical industry and the insurance industry to police themselves I guess. This is like putting foxes in charge of henhouse security.

He has a video outlining his position which can be viewed here.

He has also created a place on his site where you can comment and ask questions. You may get there by clicking here.

Below is part of his email.

Many on the left have accused conservatives of being the "party-of-no." This is unfair and untrue. I will always stand against any plan that will implement a government controlled barrier between you and your doctor. I will always stand against any plan that will burden our children and grandchildren with, by some estimates, more than a trillion dollars in foreign controlled debt.

I believe we need to reform our healthcare system. There are far too many hardworking Americans who are uninsured; far too many Americans are one bad accident away from financial ruin. There are things we could do right now to increase competition and make health care more affordable for more people: make it tax deductible for individuals to purchase policies and get rid of artificial barriers like prohibiting people from buying policies from companies in neighboring states.

Friday night games

I just noticed that the local newspaper does not have high school football scores from last night posted on its site.
My goodness. Thats un-American.
Here are the local stores.

Salina South 58, Arkansas City 16
Salina Central 48, Winfield 21
Caldwell 72, Udall 42
Central-Burden 26, Cedar Vale 20
Oxford 64, Dexter 18
Sunrise Christian 68, South Haven 36

Tonkawa 24, Newkirk 14

No big surprise at the Ark City score, but at least the Bulldogs got on the scoreboard. They were playing a great team.

PrairieFest meeting

PrairieFest struggled last year in the blazing sun downtown. Organizers are already getting started on next year.
There were seven or eight people at the meeting last night, and some ideas were kicked around.
They are going to continue changing the festival. It won't be downtown again, but I encouraged them to not abandon downtown totally. Maybe its not good to have it all downtown, but maybe they could have some of it there.
The idea of having it at Paris Park was discussed.
That might be a good idea. More room, more facilities, even if there is not a rotunda.
The festival itself was perhaps becoming a bit stale, and last year was a big stumbling block. But to credit those behind the festival, they are seeing their struggles as an opportunity. The opportunity is to re-invent the festival.
The next one will be the first week of June, somewhere around June 5-6. It will be bigger and different.
They can always use help and ideas. Get in touch with Teressa Swope-Hatfield at the arts center.

Man arrested again

Just got this from the Police Dept. This man is having a bad week.

A to Z Recycling called to report that the stolen dryer that the police department had been looking for had just been dropped off at their place of business.
Upon officer’s arrival, A to Z identified the suspect as Claude Mangel, the same individual who was arrested Thursday morning for burglarizing Wood’s Lumber.
A to Z employees described the suspect vehicle as being a rusty red or brown full-size pickup with a California license plate, the same truck Mangel was arrested out of Thursday morning.

New era for volleyball

The Cowley College volleyball team beat Cloud County 3-1 last night in the team's first home game of the season. It's a new era for Cowley, with a new coach and many new players on the team. Reputation goes a long way though, as the Lady Tigers are ranked No. 4 nationally. There is a photo gallery on the site.

Burglary at Woods Lumber

Police say they caught two burglars in the act last night, attempting to steal from Woods Lumber Co.
Officers on patrol saw a truck parked by the company with a man outside the truck. They believed a second male had left the area.
Officers made contact with Claude Mangel Jr. age 60 of Arkansas City by the truck outside the business.
Items inside the storage area of Woods Lumber were located by the gate in which Claude Mangel's truck was parked. Officer learned that a second suspect who was at the scene with Claude had entered the business by climbing over the fence.
Officers contacted the key holder and officers from the Arkansas City Police Department and Kansas Highway Patrol searched the building finding a male subject identified as Bradley Nichols age 34 of Arkansas City inside the building.
Both Claude Mangel Jr. and Bradley Nichols were arrested for Attempted Burglary and transported to the Cowley County Jail were they are currently being held.

(This story is posted on the site. Police notes have been posted.)

Live blog tonight 8:15 with Jerry Campbell

Thanksgiving dinner with Dotty

I completely forgot to mention what happened at the end of the city commission meeting Tuesday night.
Commissioner Dotty Smith invited everyone in Arkansas City to come to the senior center on Thanskgiving Day, for dinner, starting at 3 p.m.
She said she came up with idea while trying to plan for her extended family, which is too large for her house.
She ended up reserving the senior center, and decided to make it a community event.
She said people are already getting involved. Turkeys have been donated, as well as some other items.
If you would like to get involved with helping, contact her through City Hall.

Poll, live blogs

Please vote in my poll at left. Just want to see what you all are doing with the site and blog. Unlike some sites, you do have the option to say you don't like it. (Sorry, couldnt resist.)
Also, I am getting the live blogs cranked up. I have Jerry Campbell of the cowley clean air group tonight. We should be on around 8, maybe earlier. Check back to be sure.
Also tomorrow night, I will have Mark Austin on. He is a local native who lives in Europe, working as a missionary. I thought that might be fun.
I am looking for people who were born here and moved on and had success. I hope to live blog with them eventually.

Wednesday update

Lots of new stuff on the site.
New city commission story.
They put off changing the elections to make it more likely that there will be a primary. The argument is that it gets people more involved. Maybe, but it still seems like a lot of effort and usually you are just eliminating one person from the running. Ok, you can call me a naysayer this time.
Food page is updated. Our columnist writes about growing up gardening, and about making your own ketchup. Also a recipe for Okra. Some people are still trying to convince the world that okra is an edible plant.
Sports page is also updated. I am getting press releases from K-State and KU now. For the hardcore fan, there will be some useful nuggets in those.
Remember the Cowley volleyball team opens its home season tonight. It's a new era with a new coach and an almost new team.
Also, I posted an email from the arts council. They are looking for input for PrairieFest, and will have a meeting Thursday night. For those of you that criticized the festival last year, now is your chance to be heard. They do want to be responsive to the public, so stop by.
Another update for Walnut Valley Festival has also been posted. Its getting closer. I am going to camp this year, and will be live blogging from time to time.

City tables election change

City commissioners put on hold a measure Tuesday night that would have potentially changed the way elections are run for city commissioners.
After some discussion at the regular meeting, Mayor Jay Warren suggested tabling the matter so more information could be gathered.
Previously cities were to have two candidates per seat available, and if they had more than that, the list was pared back to two per seat with a primary. The magic number was seven for Arkansas City to have a primary.
The law was then changed to a 3-1 ration, meaning that there would have to be 10 candidates in Arkansas City to have a primary. The law was changed because some smaller cities objected to the cost involved.
Electronic voting has lowered the cost significantly, so the state now allows cities to revert back to the old system, which is what the measure Tuesday night would have done.
City Manager Steve Archer said the cost would be around $1,000. Previously, without electronic voting, cost could go as high as $8,000 or more.
Commissioner Dotty Smith said even $1,000 was too high, and she said the city should save money and not have a primary if it does not have to. She noted that often it is just one person being eliminated in a primary.
She said there were eight candidates last time, for three seats, and there were no problems.
Archer said a primary gets more people involved in the election process. He said more people tend to vote when there is a primary before the regular election.
City Attorney Tamara Niles said it could split up the vote if there were too many people, and those most people liked best might not win.
The matter was tabled. Primaries are normally held in February, and elections for the city are held the first week in April.

For the rest of the story, visit the website's CITY page,

Developing news

This is not exactly breaking news, but maybe its developing news.
The round-a-bout, or traffic circle, on the bypass has fallen behind and will be a couple of weeks before it opens.
It was originally scheduled for Sept. 4. Now they are saying Sept. 20. They are blaming rain late in the summer.
City Manager Steve Archer is hoping to get the state secretary of transportation to come down for an opening ceremony. There will likely be some sort of ceremony and grand opening regardless of whether the state official shows up or not.

The skateboard park is coming right along. Cement is being poured this week. They are saying it will open on the 18th with a grand opening.

Third thing concerns tonight's meeting of the city commission. They are going to change election rules so that there will be a primary before the general election. Used to be you had to have nine candidates to have a primary to cut it down to six. There are three candidates each election.
Archer said this is being done to encourage more people to participate in the process. They believe as a result, more people will run, and there will be more interest in the elections.
It will take a super majority, meaning four of five have to vote for it.
Only four items on the agenda tonight, so may be a very short meeting.

prariefest seeks input

The folks who are putting on PrarieFest are looking for public input. Here is your chance to be heard.
Thursday, Sept 3, at 7 p.m., there will be a public meeting on PrairieFest.
The meeting is for all citizens who would like to come and give their input on PrairieFest 2010. The meeting will be at the Arts Council offices at 110 S.
Summit. Although this festival is organized by the Arts Council, it is
still a community fest, in which our citizens should have ownership.
Carla Brake and Teresa Swope-Hatfield are directing the event this year and want all the
input we can gather from the people of Ark City.

city commission tonight

City commission, 7 p.m., today, city hall
1. There will be hearings for six possible dangerous structures in the city. These properties could eventually be torn down. The properties are at : 505 N. 7th.; 219 S. 8th St.; 508 S. 7th St.; 319 North D Street; 1320 South K Street; 507 E. Van Buren.
2. Select delegates to the league of municipalities annual meeting.
3. Consider charter ordinance relating to primary elections and general elections for city commissions. This would make it more likely that there would be a primary election.
4. Consider instituting a 2-hour parking zone around 100 block of East Central. This is around the Osage. Residents park on the street instead of the parking lot, and some local businesses have objected.

Those are the only agenda items.

Tuesday morning update

Good morning.
Cop notes are posted. That will end the August file.
Ive added a couple small gadgets to the web site. You may now send emails telling people about the site from the homepage. You may also now comment on the site, on the homepage.
I want that to be more for comments about the site. Let's have general discussions on the blog.
I am still looking for people to write and send in pictures.
I went to the soccer game last night. Was a really good crowd there.
City commission is tonight. Might not be as much fun as the soccer game. :)
More later as the day develops.