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Serving Lamar, Golden City, Lockwood, Jasper, Sheldon, Mindenmines and Liberal for 145 years. Incorporating The Daily Democrat, Golden City Herald & Lockwood Luminary.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
T.A.T.S. fundraiser to be held February 9
A bean and cornbread feed will be held as a T.A.T.S. fundraiser on Monday, Feb. 9, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at Thiebaud Auditorium in Lamar. All wishing to help T.A.T.S. maintain their operations are encouraged to take advantage of this home cooked meal. A delivery service will be set up, or those wishing to dine in are more than welcome. The meal will be all you can eat for a $6 donation to the service. What that $6 gets is a cup of beans or vegetable soup, cornbread, dessert and drink. T.A.T.S. hopes you come out to support the local transportation service.
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O'Neal continues “family tradition” at
By MELODY METZGER Lamar Democrat When asked by his uncle, Robert “Bob” Wirts, what he wanted to do when he grew up, a young Pat O'Neal informed him, “I want your job”! Wirts was president of Lamar Bank & Trust Company at the time and now a young child's wish has come true. Pat O'Neal was recently named president and CEO of Lamar Bank & Trust Company. Under the bank's succession plan O'Neal will take over for Tom Main, who will continue with the bank as vice chairman.
Lamar Bank & Trust Company is Lamar's only locally owned bank and has been leading the community since 1925. Pat's grandfather, Don O'Neal, was one of the original investors when the bank was originally founded, starting as a cashier and being promoted to president for many years before being succeeded by Wirts. Following Wirts' reign as president was Ray Little, who was succeeded by Pat's father, Jim, who retired in 2005. Evidently banking runs in the family as the O'Neal family has cousins who are bankers in the St. Louis area as well.
Pat O'Neal was recently promoted to president and CEO of Lamar Bank & Trust Company. O'Neal follows in his family's footsteps as he continues his career, while enjoying the benefits of living in Lamar. Steve O'Neal is an executive with Commerce Bank and his brother, Gary, is chairman of Commercial Bank. Before coming to LBT Pat worked in Kansas City in loan review for Commerce Bankshares, from 1995-1998; as a commercial lender for Country Club Bank from 1998-2001 and in correspondent banking at Commerce Bank in 2001-2002. Pat
began his tenure at LBT on April 15, 2002, being hired as a loan officer. Pat remarked that although the family has a history of banking, he felt no pressure growing up to follow in his father's footsteps. He was always secure in the knowledge that no matter what he chose see O'NEAL, page 3A
wins, so each round participants will face an opponent closer to their skill level. At the end of six rounds individuals get awards for the most wins. Ties are broken based on the number of wins their opponent received. Team scores are the total number of wins of the highest four players from a team. Trenton Maberry won every round for a perfect 6-0 on the day. The Tiger Chess team The Lamar High School For those unfamiliar with did well during the early Chess team recently competed Chess tournaments, they are rounds and found themselves in a scholastic chess tourna- separated into six rounds. Each in a three way tie at the halfway ment in Arma, Kan. This was player is assigned an opponent point. “I felt pretty confident in the first time Lamar had com- for each round. As much as our chances at this point” competed in over three years and possible a player’s opponent mented Coach Eckstein, “We Tiger Chess did not disappoint. will have the same number of were tied, but we had more
depth”. The top four from the teams were tied, but the fifth, sixth and seventh best scores from Lamar would still help the team score if they won. Round four and five saw the top teams shift around a lot, with Lamar tied for first with Galena, Mo. and Arma just one point behind. “I called all of my players together before we went into the sixth round and told them how important the last round is. Because of the way pairings work, the last round is where one is most likely to face their equal in skill. I told them they had to be more focused and more determined than the guy they’ll face, no matter what their score is right now. Even if they’re not in the top four, winning the last round is important to me.” While not everybody won the last round most of the team did and the team gained four full points (the maximum possible in one round). With the
“Finding Home” to be LHS Chess team wins local tournament presented at Plaza
“There are millions of children trapped in slavery. They are all searching for home.” The 2014 Global Slavery index states that there are 35 million trafficking victims globally and the income generated is estimated at $150 billion! UNICEF reports that there are 161 countries in the world on the watch list for human trafficking. Rapha House, a public benefit 501c3 nonprofit, headquartered in Joplin, is committed to ending the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. Flying Treasure Studios, in association with Rapha see PLAZA, page 2A
Cool Collectibles show set for February 14 PARSONS, Kan.-The SKIL Resource Center, Inc., in cooperation with the Shaun Hill Youth Football Camp, is hosting the Fifth Annual Parsons Collectors Show dubbed Cool Collectibles on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Parsons Municipal Building, 112 S. 17th Street, Parsons. This family oriented, free event is a fundraiser bensee COLLECTIBLES, page 2A
INDEX SECTION A Correspondents......................... 2 Friends & Family....................... 3 Friends & Family/School.......... 4 School/Sports............................. 5 Sports.......................................... 6 SECTION B Records....................................... 2 Records....................................... 3 Legals........................................... 4 Legals/Classifieds....................... 5 Area News.................................. 6
see CHESS, page 3A
Officials across Barton County meet to discuss use of mapping system By RICHARD COOPER Democrat staff writer
LAMAR-The state tax commission has informed the Barton County Commission that it must acquire a mapping system to produce aerial maps for the entire county. Virtually every public entity in the county will have some need for use of the system, which is known as a Geographical Information System (GIS). Representatives from those entities met in the Associate Circuit Courtroom, January 26, for an initial session on how the system will operate. Presiding Commissioner Mike Davis led the discussion, and said the equipment will be purchased on a single bid by the county. He added that competition among vendors over the last few years has forced prices down, but the cost is still likely to be between $50,000 and $55,000. There will also be an annual maintenance fee. The state will not assist with the purchase, which brought a comment from some of the assembled officials, “another un-
founded mandate.” The maps that the system produces will not be by aerial photography; they will come from satellite imagery. Davis said the county will own the equipment and the maps produced. Nothing will be leased. The only extra equipment needed to make use of the GIS will be a desktop computer and a printer.
The greatest usage of the GIS will likely be by the county assessor, but the cities of Lamar, Liberal, and Golden City will also find it a valuable tool. Davis said the county was obviously looking to all agencies that make use of GIS to share in its cost. It was agreed that more information about GIS is needed before any bids are sought.
During the session, a telephone call was made to Jim Kyle of the state tax commission for further assistance. He agreed to meet with the group on February 3 at 10 a.m. in the same Associate Circuit Courtroom to field any and all questions. Davis told the meeting that he anticipated advertising for bids for the equipment in about a month.
Truck conversion operation still a viable possibility for Lamar By RICHARD COOPER Democrat staff writer LAMAR-It’s called “E-truck,” and represents a new and unique method of moving freight along the nation’s highways. Instead of diesel powered tractors pulling cargo-ladened trailers, the tractors would look the same but would have a totally different source of power, electricity. The engine and drive train would be removed
and replaced with a generator and electric motor. The conversion kit is patented by Russ Knudsen, who has been looking for a warehouse in which to install the electrical components. One location that has been looked at is Lamar. Knudsen has been in contact with CDC economic development director John Adams on several occasions. Adams says Knudsen is now within $250,000 of raising the funds
necessary to start the project. The first step would be building a working prototype. The needed space for a warehouse to house manufacturing and assembly is believed to be close to 25,000 square feet. If that can be secured, Knudsen has implied that a prototype could be completed in about four to five months. However, Adams notes that location of the facility could depend on where the final $250,000 comes from.