Daily Life / 2 Opinion / 4 County Wide / 6
Bearded lizard on the job at Central National Bank
Tabor College record-setting runner makes his mark. S P O RT S / P a g e 8
Sports / 8 Classified / 10 Schools / 12 Health & Fitness / 13
CRITTER CARE / Page 14
Critter Care / 14
Free Press HILLSBORO
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JUNE 10, 2015
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VOL. 17
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PAID Hillsboro, KS Permit No. 1 POSTAL CUSTOMER
Dedicated to serving Hillsboro and Greater Marion County, Kansas
M A R I O N C O U N T Y ’ S L A R G E S T D I S T R I B U T I O N N E W S PA P E R W E D N E S D AY
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage
NO. 23
© copyright 2015 Kansas Publishing Ventures
CHINGAWASSA MUSIC & FUN
DON RATZLAFF / FREE PRESS
The Marion County Learning Center, located at 107 S. Main in Hillsboro, will no longer be offering services to students seeking a nontraditional learning situation.
PATTY DECKER / FREE PRESS
Lead singer Casey Donahew and his band drew an estimated 2,000-plus people to their featured concert Saturday night in Central Park. Another popular draw was Hells Bells, an AC/DC tribute band that performed Friday night.
‘Everyone had a great weekend’ BY
PATTY DECKER
The Free Press
Organizers were pleased with the overall attendance and events at this year’s 19th annual Chingawassa Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Marion. Although an unofficial tally, one committee member said he thought there were nearly 2,000 spectators at Saturday night’s Casey Donahew Band concert. Terry Jones, in charge of food
vendors, said those preparing hot dogs and other tempting dishes did well. “The barbecue vendor was new this year and a complete home run,” he said. “He ran out of meat and had to go to Carlson’s Grocery to purchase several hundred dollars more.” Even with the extra meat, Jones said the owner still ran out earlier than he wanted to. “Everyone had a great weekend,”
Jones added. Jones also talked about the Casey Donahew Band and its lead singer, Casey. “Shortly after the band’s arrival, they asked if they could put a team together for the 3-on-3 basketball tournament,” he said. Because the tournament had already started and there weren’t any slots left, the band decided to play n See Planners, Page 12
PATTY DECKER / FREE PRESS
JANAE REMPEL / FREE PRESS
Brad Putter celebrates when wife Patty reveals a correct answer during the Newlywed Game Friday.
Elaine Ewert (left) won first place in the Rock, Paper, Scissors competition in Central Park.
Learning center closed due to block-grant rule n With the state freezing FTE for two more years, ESSDACK forced to close four centers. BY
DON RATZLAFF
The Free Press
Requirements of the state’s block-grant funding plan for schools have led to the closure of the Marion County Learning Center in Hillsboro and similar centers in three other Kansas communities. The last day for local students was June 1, although the center does not have to vacate its location at 107 S. Main St. until June 30, according to Mike Cook, executive director of ESSDACK, the Hutchinsonbased agency that operates the centers in partnership with local school districts. “I sure hate it,” Cook said of the decision. “I love Hillsboro. It was a business deal. It had nothing to do with anything but dollars and cents.” Cook said its learning centers are funded by the state based on full-timeequivalency enrollment. ESSDACK recruits the students, per-pupil state funding is sent to the local
school district, which then pays ESSDACK to do the education. “What happened this year was that we operated that center at a loss,” Cook said. “So we actually had to take money out of other projects, or other sites, because we operate 17 of these learning centers across the state.” Centers that make money often subsidize those who don’t make a profit. “We take money and move it around and make sure they all stay afloat,” he added. “We’ve done that for years.” Frozen enrollment Normally, a center that loses money one year can make it up the next year by enrolling more students. However, under the state’s block-grant plan, FTE funding will be frozen at 2014-15 levels for the next two years. “If the money is frozen, you just guaranteed a loss for the next two years,” Cook said. “When we lost n See Center, Page 6
Going the distance / Sechrist a runner like no other If not for her parents, Sechrist said she likely wouldn’t have given disLet’s state the obvious: tance running a shot. Emily Sechrist is the best “I didn’t really like runfemale distance runner ning when I was younger,” Hillsboro High School has she said. “When we had to ever produced. run a mile in P.E., I hated it. Consider her legacy: But my parents always n In cross country, she made us do fun runs in was the Class 3A champion town. I didn’t like that, but as a freshman and the 2A they made us do it.” champion as a junior; the Then she started beating other two years she was the her older brother and her 3A runner-up. father in those local runs. n In track, she won the “I figured, hey, this is getstate 3,200 meters as a freshting better,” Sechrist said. man, and placed among the “In middle school (our partop three all four years; she FREE PRESS FILE PHOTO ents) made us do a sport placed among the top four Emily Sechrist lowers her each season, just to try it. I every year in the 1,600, and school record in the 3,200 did track and I did pretty medaled in the 800 in 2014. meters at the state track n As for school records, meet May 29 at Cessna Sta- well in it.” When she began winning her fastest 4-kilometer time dium. races in high school, her in cross country was 14 minfamily’s stability kept her utes, 36.75 seconds her senthan the 1,600 record set by ior season, which shattered JuliAnne Chisholm in 2004. both encouraged and levelheaded. the pre-Sechrist standard of Well-grounded “My parents and family 18:03 set by Heidi Schroeder Considering the enorhelped me keep it in perin 2008. mity of her accomplishn In track, Sechrist ments, Sechrist is strikingly spective—like, ‘You’re a shaved nearly 30 seconds off well-grounded. She cites her state champion but you can the 3,200 school record set family as a major contribu- still do the dishes,’” she said with a smile. by Tammy Penner in 1983, tor to both her success and and ran 15 seconds faster her humility. n See Sechrist, Page 7
BY
DON RATZLAFF
The Free Press
DON RATZLAFF / FREE PRESS
Emily Sechrist, holding her most recent state medals, is the most decorated female distance runner in Hillsboro High School history. Sechrist said she hasn’t stopped to count the medals, but when they moved them once they weighed around 13 pounds.