March Madness

So who did you pick for your Final Four and your Champion?

There are some pretty attractive potential routes to the championship for the area teams.

Just think if K-State could go all the way. What if they would take out KU in the Final Four and then beat Huggy and West Virginia in the championship!?!?

Of course, KU is ranked as the number one overall team. They could take out either K-State in the Final Four or even Syracuse, which would be a revenge game in a way from when Carmelo Anthony helped upset KU a few years back. Then it would be nice to take out Kentucky and show Wall and Cousins they picked the wrong school!

USD 108 should move ahead with building projects

My editorial from this week’s Washington County News:
The time is now for USD 108 to invest in its future
When is the best time to invest in the future? That is the question being asked by the Washington County school board about the proposed new ag and woods building and expanded fitness facility at the school.
The [...]

The 2010 Census

Most residents of Washington County should have received their Census forms by now. I received mine on Tuesday and filled it out and put it in the mail on Wednesday.
I know some people feel the Census is a bit of an invasion of privacy, but I enjoy stats enough that I love the Census. I [...]

Legislative coffee topics

Education funding was the main topic discussed at Saturday’s legislative coffee event in Washington. That part of the discussion was printed on the front page of this week’s Washington County News. Because my story was much longer than the space allowed, and because I was going to be out of the office on Wednesday, I [...]

Martin is Big 12 coach of the year, and has a good backstory

I am not a K-State basketball fan, but I agree that K-State head mens basketball coach Frank Martin should have been named the Big 12 coach of the year. He got that honor today and also received a contract extension and raise from K-State, pretty much doubling his salary.
Turns out he has a pretty good [...]

Chickens in Washington

I noticed on last month’s Washington City Council minutes that there is some interest in being able to have chickens inside the city limits. Evidently this is currently not allowed? I need to do a little research.
Anyway, would this be of some interest to people or is it something that citizens don’t want to see [...]

Municipal power

I was in Marysville last Thursday to get supplies for our new goats. While there, the power went out in Marysville (and in Frankfort, Blue Rapids and Waterville) and the initial estimate to get it back on was 1.5-2 hours. Talk about bringing commerce to a standstill! Luckily, Orscheln’s could write up my ticket by [...]

Statewide public smoking ban passed

A statewide public smoking bill that restricts smoking in public places and workplaces including restaurants and bars is headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. The Governor has 10 days to sign the bill and has said he would. The law would go into affect on July 1.
Locally, there would no longer [...]

Where was the billiards hall?

I posted this picture in the newspaper this week and wondered if anyone knew where it was located in Washington? It is obviously very old, possibly 100 years ago, so I don’t imagine anyone has personally been there but maybe heard about it?

Dollar General coming to Washington

Dollar General has confirmed they will be opening a store in Washington. A new store will be built on land near the east edge of Washington, along the south side of Highway 36.
No construction timeline was known yet, but things seem to be moving forward quickly.