EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first story recapping the debriefing of the recent fires in the area Monday afternoon with the Seward County Commission. This story discusses Interim Fire Chief Braden Steckel’s timeline of the events of the fires on and after Pancake Day. Future stories will talk about the efforts of other county departments to get the blazes under control.
This year’s Pancake Day celebration will be remembered not only for the festivities in Liberal, but also for what occurred as those events were concluding that Tuesday afternoon.
Areas surrounding Liberal were caught up in fires which damaged much land, homes and other property. Monday, Seward County officials debriefed the commission and the public about those fires.
Injuries were reported in one accident last week, while injuries were avoided in another accident in Liberal.
The injury accident took place shortly before 5 p.m. last Thursday when officers and emergency personnel responded to the intersection of Trail Street and Grant Avenue.
A release from the Liberal Police Department said through investigation, officers determined a white 2012 Ford Focus was stopped at the intersection of South Grant Avenue and Trail Street.
Many restaurants throughout the world offer wine to go with meals, and for some, getting the right wine with the right food is an absolute necessity.
Vanessa Keating said it is more than a necessity, and there is a lot to pairing wine with food, so much so that there is actually a science to it.
“It all depends on the senses and the body from the nose in the olfactory role to the taste and even the visual of it,” she said. “When your eyes see the color blue, they automatically see calm. It’s the same thing with wine before you actually taste it.”
Now living in Southwest Kansas, Keating, a graduate of Washington State University’s viticulture and enology program, hosted a wine pairing workshop last Friday at Liberal’s Baker Arts Center.
Those looking to support local young musicians will have just that chance later this month.
The 'That' Liberal Band Fish Fry will be Friday, March 27 at the Seward County Activity Center, with dinner being served from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and takeout and dine-in options will be available for people. Tickets are $15 apiece and can be purchased from any band student, or people can reach out to band directors Andrew Johnson and Ben Hogan. Andfor those unable to purchase their tickets ahead of time, they will be available at the door that evening. The menu will include fried fish, fried chicken, hush puppies, veggies and a wide variety of other sides, and there will be multiple desserts for sale.
The Liberal Redskins football team will have a new face at the helm this coming fall with Joel Baker, and as he tells it, he is no stranger to the game.
“I'm originally from San Antonio, and I played for Smithson Valley, which is on the north side of San Antonio. After I graduated from high school, I went to Sul Ross State University, where I played college football,” Baker said. “After that, I've spent the past 33 coaching, 30 of which have seen me in Texas, and I've coached every level from Class A to 6A throughout that time. I actually retired in Texas, then made my way to New Mexico, and I've been in Hobbs, N.M. for the past three years, and they're a 6A school with 2,800 students, so it's pretty big.”
Hannah McCarter leads the pack down Lincoln Avenue toward the finish line of the International Pancake Race earlier today. McCarter won Liberal’s leg in her first attempt. L&T photo/Earl Watt
By EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
With wind gusts reaching as high as 65 miles per hour hitting right in the face of the women running the Liberal leg of the International Pancake Race, Hannah McCarter was able to maintain a pace ahead of the pack and earn the Liberal title.
While this was the 77th running of the International Pancake Race, a friendly competition between the women of Olney, England and Liberal, the real number of the day was three.
The Liberal City Commission has new yet familiar leadership after the commission selected a new mayor and vice mayor Tuesday evening.
Jeff Parsons and Janeth Vazquez were ultimately unanimously voted as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, and both said they are excited to get to work.
“I feel really good. The responsibilities of the mayor really aren’t too much different from a commissioner,” Parsons said. “I’m excited about being able to continue being part of this commission and working with everyone.”
“I absolutely agree with Jeff – yes, we have the official titles, but at the end of the day, I feel like each of us commissioners contributes in our own unique way,” Vazquez added. “I feel like we’re a really strong team all together, and we were able to accomplish a lot in 2025, so I’m looking forward to continuing the great work we have on the agenda for 2026. Our commission is definitely headed in the right direction.”
This summer, our nation will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Over the next four months we plan to sift back through the layers of what occurred before July 4, 1776.
Influenced by economic, religious, and geopolitical motivations, the idea of starting colonies in the New World, and earlier in Ireland, was to plant English culture. The term plantation originally referred to the idea that the colonists - many of whom were of limited means back home - were “planting” England in new soil (not be confused with the later development of slave plantations).
Well, friends, I am delighted to report that the Seward County Commission acted in a financially responsible way yet again!! In the short couple of months that three of them have been in office, they already had: 1. quit wasting money trying to justify a tax increase none of them had been in favor of to begin with; and, 2. rewritten the budget to put spending in line with tax revenues.
Right now money is tight and employees in general aren’t getting raises. However, one group of Seward County employees, those who work for the Juvenile Correction and Prevention Services (JCAPS), wrote raises for themselves into their KDOC grant plan for the coming fiscal year. The pay at JCAPS was already significantly above that of Seward County employees in general, as I showed in a previous article.
Wow, talk about a change of PACE. After voting on fully 50 bills leading up to “Turnaround,” we pulled back to just two during Week 7 of the Legislature — plus an amendment rejection that gave us a total of three. Not that they weren’t important or time-consuming, because taxes are always at the top for debate, but it demonstrates how time and circumstance can change dramatically during a Session depending on pressure and priorities. It also shows how quickly we sometimes have to shift our focus from the Floor to committee action and vice versa.
That is the logical result of “starting over” with the second half of our 90-day calendar when we take up the measures sent to us from the House side. This is selective, of course, because there is simply not enough time to get to them all, but that’s where the decisions of Leadership become so important.
GUEST COLUMN, Shannon Francis, 125th District Representative
Carol and I enjoyed attending the Rosa Parks Black History Banquet last week at Seward County Community College. Congratulations to the scholarship winners and thanks to all the people that contributed and work so hard to put it on every year.
While there have been plenty of distractions in our community recently as the county continues to operate in chaos from one manufactured crisis to another, there are plenty of good things happening in our community that can get lost in the dysfunction.
Scholarships were awarded at the Rosa Parks banquet.
The City of Liberal is moving forward with the preliminary stages of a second overpass. Rail traffic has changed significantly since the first overpass was built with trains coming more often and at greater lengths. This has caused major delays in traffic movement crossing the tracks.
Eventually many attempt to go around by heading to the overpass, and it is usually packed because all other motorists have made the same choice.
A second overpass is critical to easing the flow of traffic, especially when some train stoppages have lasted more than half an hour.
