Belleville Telescope (Newspaper) - September 30, 1999, Belleville, Kansas ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 20, 1870 A Consolidation of 14 Area THE BELLEVILLE ISSN 0740-0965 T 0965 500 Serving a 10 County Area USPS No. 049-160 AREA NEWSPAPER OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA 130th 2 REPUBLIC SEPTEMBER 30,1999 12 Pages In One Section Plus Supplements Local Economy Meeting Tonight The Belleville Chamber of Commerce is hosting a general membership meeting tonight September 29) at 7 p.m. at the First National Bank meeting Presenter will be Kansas State University economist Dr. David Darling who will speak on the factors affecting the Belleville economy including retail pull factors and strength An exercise for breakout the will also be Mail Misplaced In Postal System Is Found Mail sent from the Belleville Post Office on September 21, that was missing from a regional Postal Center was located Tuesday night in Postal officials were looking into what may have caused the mail to be The Postal Inspectors Office was notified and checked all possible places it could have been said Belleville Postmaster Paul Post offices along the truck route that carries the mail from Belleville had also been Moon said he is unsure how large a bundle of mail was Republic County officials said 120 accounts payable checks were mailed that and calls to vendors indicate the payment have not Moon said the post office has been notified by a local bank and several other individuals that mail has not Mail is taken from the Belleville office to and then to Kansas City on tlie distribution The mail was dispatched back into the mail stream Tuesday night from the Wichita Hospital Board Plans Public Meeting Soon On Independent Living Project CANCER was presented to Belleville Middle School students Tuesday through a unique mobile classroom brought to Belleville by the American Cancer Local wives and other volunteers ushered students through the which provided education on ways to prevent cancer through lifestyle VFW Serves Veterans Who Served Their Country In Past Century The Republic County Hospital board is searching for citizens who want input on the design of an independent living The board said a public meeting will be tentatively set for to allow residents to have a voice in what features a complex should The board of trustees debated the presentations of five architectural firms at their regular meeting September 28. The firms discussed their services at meetings with ihc board last The final selection of an architect is expected to be made later this hospital officials The board said they would like to schedule a public meeting with the architect before the complex is Hospital board asked Administrator Blaine Miller and Chuck to conduct a detailed reference check on several of the top choices of architectural think we've delayed this project long said Ben chairman of the hospital like to see us make a decision on an architect this Hospital board members gleaned features from all of the presentations they would like to see included in the One of the most impressive they was a a reinforced room within each apartment that would serve as a storm Safe rooms have been used in Texas and Oklahoma for several years as protection during also liked tlie architect that said one of his important considerations was that every apartment have a said board ' Charlotte think that's an especially important selling especially for people who might be moving from the The hospital board is considering the construction of 10 units located on property northwest of the The independent living complex as envisioned by the hospital board would be a care The complex would mostly provide residents assistance with maintenance and but would not be designed for a person who needed monitored Yet to be decided is whether meals would be The hospital board has proposed that two bedroom apartments with attached garages be constructed as independent living If the independent living venture is the hospital board said they may consider construction of an assisted living complex in the future located south of the Long Term Care unit of the An assisted living complex allows residents to live but provides more assistance with medication and Board members said at earlier meetings that the independent living project will likely be pursued through the planning but construction may not start until a large percentage of occupancy is who retired September 1 as hospital is working at to develop the independent living Roger CEO of the Great Plains Health said that Westin will be talking to potential contributors about the Kansas Tax Credits that the hospital has received for the independent living Qualifying donations to the project earn contributors a substantial savings in income The hospital has been allowed in tax means about in contributions must be Holloway said the hospital board plans to research the Rural Development Loan program sponsored locally by the NCK Rural Electric Cooperative for funding for the The hospital is studying whether the project would qualify for hospital revenue bond Republic County Hospital is also expecting a large bequest from the estate of Gertrude which also may be used toward the hope is that we can nearly pay for the construction through those Holloway Income from the rental units is expected to retire the debt Second Accident Victim Dies A two vehicle accident north of Belleville September 19 that killed one man has claimed another 35, 1601 O died at Republic County Hospital early Saturday September 25, apparently from complications from her Coroner Dr. said an autopsy was conducted in Salina to determine die cause of Funeral services for Wurm were conducted Tuesday morning in A complete can be found in this edition of The Wurm was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Edward D. 32, also of 1601 L Rook was taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita immediately following die accident for treatment of a serious back John E. 32, was killed when he was ejected from a pickup driven by Robert L. 44, and another passenger in the Eric were not seriously was freed from Republic County Jail on bond on September 22. He has been charged in Republic County District Court with driving under the influence and involuntary manslaughter for Garvey's A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for September 29 at 10 a.m. Republic County Attorney Brian Grace said the accident is still under He had not determined early this week whether any additional charges would be filed in connection with the The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Belleville will mark the 100th anniversary of the VFW organization with free coffee and cake September 29, at tlie Kansas Travel Information and 12th The VFW was formed in 1899 in by 13 Spanish-American War The Post was organized 61 years on May 6, 1938. VFW members like Adjutant Norm worry that veterans may lose clout in the nation if younger vets don't step up and take an active voice in public Most of the current members of the post are World War II lost nine life members just in the last Bottger have to fight for veterans programs in Washington D.C. Only 5% of the current Congressmen are The current roster of the Post includes 141 life members and 57 continuous Membership in the VFW is open to anyone in the armed forces who has served foreign soil or hostile It differs from the American which is open to anyone who has served in the regardless of where they were Receive Benefits The VFW has been instrumental on the national level in securing low cost health care and medicine for of the main goals of VFW is to fight for continuation of benefits for Bottger veterans don't use the benefits that have been approved by we'll lose One of the newest services available to veterans is a wide range of free or low health screening services and Most of the services are available to all regardless of their Bottger Anyone who wants more information on veterans medical benefits can contact Bottger at 785-527-2055. Local Supporters Members of the Post recently remodeled the basement of their meeting hall on North M Street into a youth center for kids ages 5th grade through 12th is used by 30 to 40 kids each and 104 youth attended a recent The VFW and auxiliary provides a color guard for parades and veteran participates in the Veteran Day provides scholarships for local sponsors the Voice of Democracy contest for and assists the American Legion in maintaining the Avenue of Flags at the Belleville On Memorial the veterans organizations perform services at 11 area Members also sell which help disabled veterans in the Veterans Administration Current officers are Bob Jim Duffey vice Lloyd Noble vice William Anniversary September 29 Gail Joe Gerald Miles and Gerald and Auxiliary officers are Jean Peggy senior vice Margaret junior vice Mildred Formed in 1938 Twenty-two members organized the first post in 1938, prior to World War The post is named after Charles who served in France in World War and Peter who served in the during the Spanish-American Both men died prior to the formation of the Baker is a father of Marcia Sally lived in Belleville until her death in the 1980s. The first officers of the post were C. H. Louis Newton Turner and The mission remains changed in the past to provide pensions for widows or orphans of to help disabled to promote employment of veterans and civil and to protect and promote Poll Results Indicate Al Gore Will Not Likely Be the Next President Nearly 400 readers from 25 states responded to the current Public Opinion Poll that this newspaper has been running jointly with the of die One thing that is as was the case in previous polls run in February of this It is not likely Al Gore will be elected president in 2000. We base this statement upon the fact that of first hundred answering the question you like Al Gore to become 271 said and only 17 said Complete results of the poll will be published in the next issue of the The current poll is a September poll and readers were told that all ballots would be tabulated that were received during he month of At that time the exact balloting and replies to all questions will be Here are some of the comments received along with replies to the poll this past A Bon couple wrote want Al Gore for sure and don't know anything about This couple liked George W. Bush but indicated still were They were uncertain about privatizing any Social Security funds saying people would invest but the chances are some would spend it and end up having nothing to live They also felt Clinton was spending too much on foreign aid saying Our own people need They thought giving away the Panama Canal was Frank and Margaret Monahan of thought that all money aimed in for Social Security should be kept for just Roland and Loretta would like to see Senator James be the Democrat choice for president and either George Bush be the Republican chosen at the national they like Pat Mrs. Judy Edelman of Central didn't like any of the Democrat and indicated they liked George W. Bush for They also indicated they didn't approve of the job Attorney General Janet Reno was doing saying They felt the national news media tries to politically influence the American people saying lie and are too liberal Continued On Page 6A Sales Tax Collections Up In Republic County DATE H SKIES Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 24 Sept. 25 Sept. 26 Sept. 27 Sept. 28 Sept. 29 79 87 90 82 74 63 62 44 51 50 61 60 50 47 43 Clear clear Clear Clear Cloudy Clear Clear Clear Sales tax collections in Republic County are up four percent between June 1998 and May 1999, a Kansas State University economist David Darling reported the figures in a recent article on the affect of farm income on retail is obvious that the agricultural sector's troubles are taking a toll on retail business in many Darling it's not yet as dramatic as you might The increase in the past year more than makes up for a 2.4 percent decline in sales tax recorded the previous Kansas net income dropped more than 70 percent last year said Fred administrator of the Kansas Farm Darling said that the impact on retailers not look as dire as that caused by the 1980s slump in farm Statewide sales tax collections increased by 3.6 50 western counties are more affected than the 55 eastern In 1997 reported net income in Kansas at well above the 10-year average of In 1984 net farm income in Kansas was the By 1998, family farms in Kansas numbered less than 70,000 for the first time this Agriculture provides more than 26 percent of all sales in Agriculture is also responsible for 15.4 percent of all labor income and 18.8 percent of all employment in the state according to the report Economic Impact of Kansas released in August by KSU agricultural economist John Darling will discuss his findings in Belleville Wednesday night at a meeting of the Belleville Chamber of related Lions First Civic Celebrating It's 25th By Merle M. Miller The Belleville Lions one of the oldest civic clubs in was organized 75 years and the first meetings were held in The Elliott Hotel dining My brother Carl was then editor of The Telescope and he was one of the charter About ten years I arrived in fresh out of Kansas State in 1936, and my brother-in-law who was Republic county attorney at Ihe talked me into becoming a There are many stories about the early Lions club meetings at that Charles Blosser was one of the early members and whenever the club every two he would come to the club and recite his newest I recall one time the club members decided not to laugh after Charlie told his weekly and I can still remember how taken he was when he got through and no one He kept parts of the story thinking he must have left out the punch Initiations were much more severe in the early days of the One time when 1 was we had new members pushing peanuts with their nose in a race on the Judge W. D. Vance used to crack down on the club at times when they got what he considered was of Other civic clubs followed including the Kiwanis Club and efforts were made to establish a Rotary Club but the Lions was already established as the largest and serving the In the years that followed the club helped the community at Christmas time with baskets for the the members built shelters in the city park and contributed to the took tickets for high school ball games and were generally helpful when called Junior Miss contestants that have come to Belleville for more than 35 years have been entertained by the Lions each It has become quite a feature of the The Lions have always thrown rolls upon occasions as a gesture of praise or The pageant girls have learned of this and so they always do their own bit of roll throwing each The Belleville Lions help establish many other clubs in adjoining For years it was a practice to send members to these clubs Congratulations are due the Belleville Lions club on their years of
