A press release from Mitchell County Attorney Mark Noah’s office yesterday said the arrest of a white male and a white female in the Wednesday night stop, concludes a 6-month operation to identify and arrest drug-dealers in North Central Kansas.

Operation High North was led by Beloit Police Chief Brenon Odle and Mitchell County Sheriff Doug Daugherty. In one of the cases, assistance was provided by the Osborne County Sheriff’s Department.

Noah said the multi-county under-cover operation was conducted in Mitchell, Cloud, Osborne and Saline Counties.

From start to finish, there were 18 undercover purchases of illegal controlled substances, 7 of which were made within 1,000 feet of a school.

The list of illegal substances collected by authorities is a veritable shopping cart of dangerous drugs ranging from methamphetamine all the way up to the drug, ecstasy.

Noah’s press release also says, 14-people in all, were arrested in these drug purchases and law enforcement confiscated four vehicles, two firearms and a quantity of money during the arrests.

We’re hoping to get the names of the two individuals arrested Wednesday evening as soon as they are formally charged and make a first court appearance in Mitchell County District Court.

Margaret Gabelmann, a District Representative for the Senator, will meet with area residents in the County Commission Room on the Main Floor of the Mitchell County Courthouse – Thursday, May 24th. Gablemann will be at the courthouse from 8:30-to-9:30.

Individuals who are experiencing difficulties with Social Security matter, Medicare, Veterans Affairs, or have other concerns regarding federal issues are encouraged to attend.

Principal Marshall spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning on the roof of the school. The students collected nearly 9,000 box tops which raises just under $900 for the school.

Box Tops for Education has helped America’s schools earn over $400 million since 1996. You can earn cash for your child’s school by clipping Box Tops coupons from hundreds of participating products. Box Tops also offers easy ways to earn even more cash for your school online.

You can learn more about Box Tops 4 Education online at http://www.boxtops4education.com.

Smith, who needed to complete a semester’s worth of credits to earn the diploma, said she just wants to be a learner now.
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It was at the end of last night’s board meeting that the school board took several in-house, “chair-switching” steps to fill the void created by Robert Green’s departure from the district.

For 13-years Green has worked for USD 272, most of that time as the Middle School Principal at Cawker City and Elementary Principal at Glen Elder.

When the board came out of a very long closed session, they accepted Green’s resignation and then OKed a dramatic change in job descriptions to fill Green’s vacated position.

Superintendent Jeff Travis outlined the new administrative assignments and the rationale behind them.
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In addition to Green’s resignation, the board last night accepted resignations from Kelli Hennes as Assistant High School Volleyball Coach and Junior Class Sponsor, Mandy Burda as Junior Class Sponsor, and Mary Winkle as Head Cook in Cawker City.

In addition to the new jobs for Jim Giesbreck, Kyle Biesner and Jeff Travis; the board OKed the hiring of Lisa LaRocque as Junior High Girls Assistant Basketball Coach, Kerry Schoen as ½ time High School Cheerleading Coach, and Frank Gronewaller as High School Math and Science teacher.

In other action last night – the board signed off on a program called Student Athlete Concussion Program or IMPACT to better determine the extent of head injuries from sports activities.

The program ties the school in with doctors in Beloit and is funded through grant money.

And finally, the board accepted the bid from American Boiler to replace the boiler on the Downs campus. The price tag – $73,792. The work will be done this summer.

The council on a 7-1 vote agreed to allow Todd and Roxanne Kimminau’s request to host a 4th of July Block Party in their part of town complete with fireworks.

The hitch, the Kimminau’s needed the council to OK an exception to City Ordinance 1710 which controls the sale and use of fireworks in the City of Beloit. The Kimminau’s request was to have the block party on Saturday, June 30th, but the ordinance restricts the discharge of fireworks to July 1st through the 5th.

The lone no vote at the end of the discussion came from new Council Member Bob Petterson. The longtime Beloit Fire Chief argued the request opened a door that might be tough to close. He also said the fire department has to make sure it can adequately staff itself during the legal days fireworks can be used; the Kimminau request would extend that timeline by a day.

The Block Party request was made for June 30th because no Saturday was available during the period of time allowed to shoot fireworks.

The council’s vote to allow the block party is a one-time exception to the city ordinance.

Also approved in formal session at last night’s Beloit City Council meeting, the approval of an amended contract with Mueller Systems – the company contracted to provide a new water and electric meter system for the city.

The amended contract means Mueller will install the meters instead of city crews. The cost – $63,625.

City Administrator Glenn Rodden told the council that the installation cost would fit within the $515,000 loan from the Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund.

The original contract to purchase the meters from Mueller Systems was OKed by the council at their May 1st meeting.

And finally, in the work session Schwab-Eaton Engineer Stewart Porter was in to discuss amending a water rights permit with the Division of Water Resources.

The amended contract would allow the City of Beloit to pull an additional
400-acre feet of water from Waconda Lake if OKed by the Division of Water Resources. The amended contract would add another water intake point for the city, which currently has 3-intake points.

Porter is hoping the Division of Water Resources will sign off on a city request to locate the 4th intake point at a place already set up to accommodate water collection from the Solomon River, not a more expensive start from scratch site up or down stream.

By consensus, the council agreed to proceed with the process to amend the application.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol Accident Report, 24-year old Hali Renee Klusener from Great Bend was traveling on 20th-Road in northwest Jewell County when she lost control of her 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis. The westbound vehicle entered the south ditch and rolled.

Klusener and her passenger, 3-year old Bailey R. Whetham, were taken by ambulance to the Broadstone Memorial Hospital in Superior, Nebraska with un-specified injuries.

Another area accident – this one early yesterday morning about 5-miles west of Miltonvale on U.S. Highway 24. The KHP Accident Report says 81-year old Gerald E. Martin from Simpson was westbound on U.S. 24 in a 1997 GMC Sonoma. The vehicle entered the north ditch, struck 2-posts and then came to rest in a pasture on the north side of the highway.

Martin was transported to the Cloud County Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Back in March, both the House and Senate approved a resolution authorizing extra days for this session. The resolution set June 1st as the final possible day to meet.

With the state budget, redistricting and tax issues still unresolved, it’s almost certain the session will stretch into next week and not out of the realm of possibility that the June 1st deadline could be breached.

We will announce the winners each week. Remember, you can nominate an athlete from any school sport.

NCKTC Carpentry and Cabinet making Instructor Mike Cheney says the quality of the work that has gone into the house is second to none but, it’s the extra features that set this house apart.
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Cheney says the house also features leaded glass windows, bigger than normal walk-in showers, and unique bathroom cabinets that provide more privacy and storage.

He also says, if the house were already set-up – it could go for as much as a quarter-million-dollars.
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The house auction takes place this Friday, May 18th starting at 5:00-PM and will be held at the north end of the NCKTC campus in Beloit.

To see the house, you can call Mike Cheney at 738-9030 for an appointment, after hours you can contact Mike Cheney by calling 658-5728 or Brandi Zimmer at 545-6031.