Monday, November 29, 2010

Cars broken into

There's been some thefts from autos recently, two ACPD press releases are below. Just a reminder to lock your vehicle.
On 11-28-2010 Officers responded to citizens’ calls that a male and female were getting into vehicles in the area.  Both suspects fled the area.  The female, Sadie Bishop 28 of Ark City was apprehended quickly.  After a short foot pursuit the male suspect, Toy James Martin, AKA “TJ” 28 of Ark City, was also apprehended.  It was found that three vehicles had been entered and items taken.  Both were transported and remain at the Cowley County Jail on charges of Burglary-Auto x2, Theft x2, and Criminal Trespass. There bond was set at $8,750.00 each.

On 11-21-2010 officers of the Arkansas CIty Police Deparment took 2 seperate reports from female victims that had purses stolen from their vehicles.  In investigation officers obtained video from different locations throughout town and 2 possible suspects were identified.  On 11-23-2010 an alert employee of SCKMC observed 2 male subjects looking in vehicles near the hospital.  Officers located these 2 subjects in Wilson Park and in talking with them learned they were responsible for the recent car burglaries.  Bot suspects, from Alabama had just recently moved to Arkansas City.  Both had stolen property on their person at the time of arrest.
After the two suspects were transported to the police deparment, they were interviewed, however was not willing to give up any additional information.  Officers did learn that the subjects had been staying at a residence in the 1000 block S. B Street.  Officers went to that residence and during a consent search of the residence located more stolen property and drug paraphernalia.  Most of the stolen property was returned to the one of the victims.
Cody Crane and Nicholas Hulsey were arrested for Burglary MV X2, Theft X2, Criminal Use of a Finacial Card, and Possession Drug Paraphenalia.  Both are currently in the custody of the Cowley County Jail on $10,000.00 bond each.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

What is news

Here is a good story about the demise of news, or real news reporting. We have so many more sources now, and most people tend to get their news from sources they agree with, so ... they get a biased message and they do not get their own beliefs challenged by hearing the other side.
This story is by retired newsman Ted Kopell.
Here is the link to the story

Volleyball

Here are the results from the National Volleyball tournament.
Cowley won third place. the second game listed is for the national championship match

 #26 Cowley def. Glendale  (3rd Place)  (25-10)  (25-15)  (15-25)  (25-21)
 #27 Pasco-Hernando def. Johnson County (1st Place)  (26-24)  (13-25)  (25-21)  (23-25)  (15-12)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees is going on this weekend. Several groups, businesses and individuals have put together Christmas trees, wreaths, and other types of decorations. They are on display at the Wright Room at Cowley College. They will be auctioned sunday as a fund raiser for Habitat for Humanity.
There is also entertainment :

SAT 1:30 PM TWILITERS
2:00 PRARIE VOICES
2:30 JEFF ADAMS
4:00 TONYA LOFTIS

SUN 2:30 SYLVIA RIGGS

Santa Clause will be there too.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Cowley Volleyball loses in Semis, will play for third Saturday

For the second time this season, the Cowley College volleyball team suffered a five-game defeat at the hands of rival Johnson County. This time, the Lady Tigers led two games to one before the Lady Cavaliers rallied for the win by scores of 22-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 16-14 Friday in the semifinals of the NJCAA Division II National Championships played in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
The loss was only the second in the past 35 matches for the Lady Tigers, with both defeats coming at the hands of Johnson County. The second-seeded Lady Cavaliers advance to Saturday's national title match versus ninth-seed Pasco-Hernando Community College, while the third-seeded Lady Tigers will play in the third/fourth place game vs. No. 12-seed Glendale Community College.
 

More details on Cowley Volleyball

By Rama Peroo
Trailing sixth-seeded Kishwaukee (IL) Community College two games to one, Cowley College head volleyball coach Jenifer Bahner made a move that would jumpstart her team to a come from behind win in the second-round of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament played Thursday in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
With her team only one game away from having its national championship dreams dashed, Bahner changed up her lineup before the fourth game and moved sophomore libero, Elena Berroteran, to the front row. The move paid off as Berroteran would spark the team and finish with nine kills in the last two games. It was only fitting that Berroteran would spike home the final point in the decisive 18-16 win of game five.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Cowley Volleyball advances

The Cowley College volleyball team advanced, as did Johnson County, setting up a semi-final showdown between the two Friday at 6:30 p.m. where they are at the national tournament in Wisconsin Dells, Wisc.
Cowley had a battle on its hands, beating Kishwaukee in five games - 21-25, 25-14, 27-29, 25-20, 18-16.
Johnson County beat Illinois Central in four games to advance.

 After Friday evening;s match, , Cowley will play two more matches on Saturday. The Lady Tigers will either be playing for the national title at 6:30 p.m. or for third place at 4:30 p.m. Cowley and Johnson split games during the regular season, both winning on their home court.

Cowley Volleyball wins opener

The Cowley College volleyball team defeated Morain Valley (25-22) (25-8) (25-14) Thursday morning.
The team is set to play Kishwaukee at 5:30 p.m. today.
A win there would put them in the semi-finals on Friday at 6:30, and they could face Johnson County at that time.
A loss this afternoon would mean they would play again Friday at 2:30 in the losers bracket.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

City Commission Live

Cowley Volleyball team headed for nationals


Ranked No. 1 in the final regular season NJCAA Division II national volleyball poll, members of the Cowley College volleyball team gathered for a photo prior to leaving for the NJCAA Division II National Championships, which will be held Thursday through Saturday in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
Despite being ranked No. 1, the Lady Tigers (31-3) were given the third seed in the tournament by the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Committee. Iowa Lakes (37-7), a team Cowley has already defeated twice this season, was awarded the No. 1-seed. While, Johnson County (27-5) is the second seed.
Cowley will play No. 14-seed Moraine Valley Community College (34-6) Thursday morning at 9. The winner of the match will play later that evening versus the winner of the match between No. 6 seed Kishwaukee (Ill)College (40-10) and No. 11-seed North Platte (Neb.) Community College (31-9).

Obama kids book gets fox news treatment

Monday, November 15, 2010

Cowley women win national cross country title


                Lady Tigers cap remarkable season with national title

Leaving no doubt as to who the best junior college women’s cross country team is, the Cowley College women’s cross country team captured the program’s first-ever national championship Saturday at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national championships held in Spartanburg, S.C.
Cowley (75 team points) finished eight points better than national runner-up South Plains Community College (83 points) and 11 points in front of third place Lansing Community College (86 points). There were 38 teams competing in the women’s race.


City Commission worksession preview

The city commission of Arkansas City will have its worksession at 5:30 p.m. today. It was moved from last Thursday because of Veterans Day. Regular meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday.
I hope to have the live blog going both times.
Here is what is on the agenda
Receiving the annual audit report of the city's finances
Renewing contract with the chamber to operate a convention and visitors bureau
Consider awarding a contract to Dondlinger & Sons for improvements to the water treatment plant.
Set hearing dates on dangerous structures
Setting a public building commission meeting for Nov. 18 , 6:15 at city hall.
Setting a special worksession for Nov. 18, 7 p.m. at the hospital for a master plan report.

See you all there.

Roof repair refunds available

Here is something from the city's website about that guy who didn't finish people's roofs. 

NOTICE TO 4-STATES EXTERIORS CUSTOMERS

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS THAT HAD DEPOSITS FOR ROOF WORK NOT HONORED BY CHRIS HAAS DBA 4-STATES EXTERIORS.
The City has received the funds from Mr. Haas Compliance Bond in the amount of $4,000.00. These funds will be distributed to property owners that can verify their losses. All funds will be evenly dispersed.
If you were a customer of 4-States who had their monies taken without work being done and you have not received a refund or had the work completed than you will need to come by City Hall 2nd floor and fill out a request. You will need to bring proof of loss, canceled check, contract or receipt.
The deadline for claims will be November 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm.
MATT ROWLAND, DIRECTOR
CITY OF ARKANSAS CITY
BUILDING, PLANNING AND CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE
CITY HALL, ARKANSAS CITY
620-441-4420
OFFICE HOURS ARE M-F 8-12 & 1-5

Thursday, November 11, 2010

AC City Commission

City Hall is closed today for Veterans Day. That means there will be no city commission worksession meeting today. The worksession has been moved to Monday at 5:30 p.m. The regular meeting will be Tuesday as per the normal schedule.
I will try to have the live blog going.

McGee signs with Iowa State



McGee taking his game to the Big 12, signs with Iowa State

Coming off a stellar first season at Cowley College in which he was named the Jayhawk East Freshman of the Year and a First-Team All-Region VI selection, Tyrus McGee was joined on Wednesday by his Tiger teammates and coaches as he signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Iowa State University next season.
McGee’s 532 points last season were the 20th most ever scored in a single season at Cowley. The 6-2 sophomore from Stringtown, OK, averaged 16.6 points and 5.3 rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Veterans Day Thursday

Veterans Day Parade, 11 a.m., Thursday, Washington and Summit

The Arkansas City Rotary Club invites you to join with us, your friends, and neighbors in displaying the American Flag on the five major holidays of the year: Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. The first 30 flags were placed today...Veteran's Day. 
The "City of Flags" is a service project for the Arkansas City Rotary Club, a group of dedicated business people who provide humanitarian service throughout the world. This project allows Arkansas City residents an opportunity to show their pride and love for our country. It gives our community a great patriotic spirit, and at the same time the proceeds will help so many people locally. Funds raised will be used to support a variety of local service projects including: youth projects, shelter boxes for victims of disaster, Arkansas City Police and Fire Department projects, scholarships, library projects, etc.
For more information contact the Ark City Rotary Club at arkcityrotary@gmail.comv

Man dies after being crushed by car

Here is something from the Ark City Police
 
On 11-06-2010 around 3PM, officers were dispatched to a report of a car that had fallen on a person on north 4th street in Arkansas City.  Upon arrival, officers saw a man's legs coming from under a car.  Te front wheels had apparently been removed to work on the car.  Officers learned the identity of the man by speaking with a neighbor.  Officers tried to speak to the man but received no response.  Officers assisted a neighbor in lifiting the car off of the mane with a scissor jack provided by the man. 
 
Two officers were then able to pull the man out from under the vehicle as EMS arrived.  The man's face was flushed, he was not breathing and he was cold to the touch.  Reports from those present indicated that the man had only been down for a couple minutes.  Officers immediately began CPR assited by EMS.  Officers continued on with rescue breaths for several minutes as EMS continued to treat the man medically.  CPR was continued as the man was transitioned to a cot, secured and placed in the back of the awaiting ambulance.  As the man was placed in the back of the ambulance he began to breath on his own.  He was later sent to Wesley by way of EagleMed and later that evening was stable an still breathing on his own.  I understand, howeer, that the man died of his injuries the following day.
 
Due to the officers' and neighbor's quick thinking to get the man from under the car and to begin CPR as quickly as they did, the man lived for several more hours. These officers and the neighbor should be commended for their actions.  The Arkansas City Police Deprtment urges persons working on their autos to take every precaution to secure them before getting under the auto to service them.  Accidents such as this are almost always preventable.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the man's family. 

--

Open topic

I dont have a topic today. The election is over, nothing has changed, and nothing probably will change.
That's about as good of naysaying as I can do.
What do you all want to talk about?

Monday, November 8, 2010

First Miss Walnut Valley crowned


Sparks crowned Miss Walnut Valley
A little more than a week after finishing as the runner-up in the voting for Queen Alalah, Cowley College sophomore Jade Sparks was crowned the winner of the first annual Miss Walnut Valley Pageant held Sunday inside the Robert Brown Theatre.
Miss Walnut Valley is a preliminary pageant for the Miss Kansas and Miss America organization.  The event was emceed by Miss Kansas 2010, Lauren Werhan. 
Phases of competition included private interview, talent, swim wear and evening wear. Winners received scholarship money and prizes. Sparks also earned a spot in the Miss Kansas pageant in Pratt, KS.
Along with being crowned Miss Walnut Valley, Sparks received a $1,000 scholarship. She received an additional $200 in scholarship money for winning four phases of the competition.
Ashley Crane was named first runner-up and was awarded a $500 scholarship, while Erica Mahan received a $200 scholarship for being named second runner-up. Cowley College sophomore Shaelynn French was the third runner-up and received a $100 scholarship.

Volleyball team headed to nationals



Volleyball headed back to national tournament

Capping a second straight undefeated season at home, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team qualified to compete at the national tournament for a sixth straight season as they won the District N Tournament played Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium.
In the first match of the day, Cowley defeated Allen County 26-24, 25-14, 25-19 to advance to the championship match versus Coffeyville, who defeated Butler 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 in the day’s second match.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Cowley Volleyball wins district
















Cowley College volleyball team beat Coffeyville 3-1 to win its district tournament Saturday. The Lady Tigers now advance to the nationals to be held next weekend in Wisconsin.
Coffeyville played inspired the first game and won that one. From there Cowley
took over and rolled to the win.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Dirty Politics: Mudslinging in the U.S.A.

Dirty Politics: Mudslinging in the U.S.A.

All district volleyball

Acosta repeats as Jayhawk East Most Valuable Player; Barto named Freshman of the Year

Putting together one of the best regular seasons in school history, the No. 1-ranked Cowley College volleyball team was well represented on the All-Conference and All-District teams.
Highlighting the selections were sophomore Roslandy Acosta and freshman Emily Barto. Acosta was named the Jayhawk East Most Valuable Player for the second straight year, while Barto was tabbed the Jayhawk East Freshman of the Year. This marks the second straight year a Cowley player has won the awards.

Hope for the future

There is reason to be positive in Arkansas City, though I'm sure they resident naysayers will find problems, but, after Tuesday's city meeting, I was encouraged.
A contract for the hike and bike trail was approved. They were almost at this point a few years ago, but the commission failed to push it through. Hopefully this time it will make it, and it looks like it will. It is not going to cost the city anything, or not much anyway, with the state picking up the tab. Someone on the blog raised the issue that state money is still tax money, so it is still costing us something. Granted, it is still tax money, but it is money already paid. The only question is where it will be spent. It would be just plain stupid to turn it down and let some other town have the money, when we have paid the taxes already.
So it looks like it will make it this time. Still, its a year away from being completed.
This adds to the quality of life, one more thing that makes the town appealing. Any industry or business looking to locate here- not to mention any families that might be considering moving - look at amenities a town has. A hike and bike trail on the levee is a positive that can only help.
It has the potential to attract other businesses as well, and could eventually raise property values, which will raise money for local government. That means more services without more taxes.

The second thing that was encouraging was the report from the group involved with the recreation commission to develop ponds in the area. McFarland Pond and Kneebler are the main ones. Some nice things have been done at Veterans pond .. er lake. More needs to be done, and adding the others to the mix is good too.
This is another thing that can improve quality of life and could improve property values.
They will be looking for state and federal grants. We need to be taking advantage of those because we have already paid the taxes. Currently our tax money goes for projects in other towns and other states, so we should be able to reap some benefit through a deal like this.
Id like to see the rivers get included more in this development, but all things take time.
It was good to see the group making their presentation. These are people with some vision. That is what we need in Arkansas City, more vision, more ideas, and more people willing to actually make them happen.
(there was a rather lengthy executive session after Tuesday's meeting, involving lawyers. There are some negative things going on as well, and no one is talking. It will break before long though.)

Volleyball update

The Cowley College volleyball team will host its district tournament Saturday, and will advance to the nationals if they win the tournament.

Cowley will now turn its attention to hosting the District N Tournament on Saturday. The Lady Tigers will face Allen County (16-19) at 10 a.m., while Butler (26-10) and Coffeyville (23-17) will square off at noon. The winner of the day’s first two matches will play in the championship match at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the national tournament in Wisconsin Dells, WI.

Cowley lost at Johnson County a week or so ago, but Johnson is a huge rival and also a top-five team. The two could meet again at the nationals. The first time Cowley went to the nationals they played Johnson County in the finals in Arizona. Cowley has returned to the nationals every year since then. I believe this is the sixth year if they make it.
Cowley should win, but you never know. Cowley has beaten all three teams during the regular season.
Come on out and support the team on Saturday.
 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The votes are in

Here are Cowley County vote results from Tuesday's election.
Looks like a pretty high turnout, around 10,000 ...

http://cowleycounty.org/clerk/election/allprecincts_unofficial2.pdf

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

City Meeting

Monday, November 1, 2010

City Commission Live Blog