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Thursday
March 28th, 2024

Article Index

ELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

The Liberal Area Coalition for Families (LACF) is always looking for ways to help the Liberal community, and a current activity will help with that goal. 

The LACF currently has a survey live online for people to take so the coalition can gain ideas of how to better serve the community’s needs. 

“This survey is through our Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways grant and this is the third year we've done this survey, and it's to get a measure of some health things in Liberal and gaining some ideas of what our priorities in Liberal should be as far as helping people's health,” LACF Director Sarah Foreman said. “We use this survey as a guide as far as what we should be focusing on with those things as we plan out the work we want to do throughout the community. We actually launched this year's survey in February and it'll be live until April 17. We like this survey because it really is a great guide for us as far as how we can help the community's health needs.”

The survey is available in English at the Web site https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6RMLH3V, and is also available in Spanish at the Web site https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6TRG3H3

“One of the major things we want to know is the overall health of the community and see what level we're at with that,” Foreman said. “Then from there we look for certain things we can focus on to improve those numbers, whether it's something to help people quit smoking or something to get people outside and moving more. And especially now is a great time for a survey like this because since there are so many agencies closing their doors temporarily, we want to know how we can help fill those gaps and help the community. We use the data from the surveys to figure out how we can do that, and it's a great resource for us.”

Liberal Local News

Governor Kelly signs bill honoring wartime chaplain Father Emil Kapaun

kapaun funeral church pageThe remains of Father Emil Kapaun are brought out from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in September 2021. Last Friday, Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill directing the creation of a memorial honoring Kapaun and his service. FILE PHOTO/TRAVIS HEYING/THE WICHITA EAGLEELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Father Emil Kapaun has been a prominent figure for Kansas Catholics for many years, having served as a chaplain in the Burma Theater of World War II, then served again as a chaplain with the U.S. Army in Korea, where he was captured and ultimately died in a prisoner of war camp. 

His remains were unaccounted for until 2021, when they were finally returned to Kansas and interred in Wichita.

Last Friday, Gov. Laura Kelly signed Senate Bill 431, which directs the Capitol Preservation Committee to create a memorial honoring Chaplain (Captain) Kapaun, according to a release from the State of Kansas.

“Father Emil Kapaun was known for his selfless, dedicated service and providing care to all, regardless of their religion or beliefs,” Gov. Kelly noted in the State of Kansas release. “I am proud to honor his legacy and sacrifices for our country by signing this bipartisan bill. Father Kapaun is the most highly decorated chaplain in United States Army history. After serving as a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Wichita, he tok his ministry to World War II and the Korean War. He was captured in the Battle of Unsan while refusing to leave the wounded and ultimately died as a prisoner of war in North Korea.”

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ELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Those looking to either do some spring cleaning or add to their [ ... ]

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Special to the Leader & Times

 

Southwestern Heights High School Principal Ryan Kisner has [ ... ]

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Seward County EMS Director John Ralston talks about some of the activity his department sees on a daily [ ... ]

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Elsa Manriquez with Al Shank Insurance looks over some notes while talking to the Liberal City Commission [ ... ]

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Liberal Area Sports

EARL WATT • Leader & Times

 

Two first round upsets busted brackets early in the Bracketbuster [ ... ]

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Taylor Harding (4) gets a high five from Lexi Miller after scoring a run against Bucklin Friday. Harding [ ... ]

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Special to the Leader & Times

 

The swimming season kicked off at the Northwest Invitational [ ... ]

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Other Interests

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Opinion

Key bills still have a chance to pass

RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator

 

This last, Week 11, for most committees to meet in the Legislature was kind of different from past years, in that there didn’t seem to be any big “crunch” to get everything done. 

We did work a fair number of bills — particularly in Ag and Fed and State, but used our full hour of meeting time only once — and that without even approving the bill which consumed most of it (SB 446, seeking to limit foreign property ownership) because it had simply become too cumbersome. 

The big news, I suppose, was that both houses held hearings on Medicaid expansion for the first time in four years, yet without moving it out of committee. The House provided some hope that tax relief might have another shot; however, with a two-tier instead of single rate like that adopted by the Senate, there is still a lot of “negotiating” to do to get a finished product that is “veto proof.” We’ll know more after their formal Floor consideration next week, but right now I’m optimistic we can come up with something taxpayers have been waiting on far too long.

Three totally unrelated measures that have generated a lot of constituent interest and do have a good chance of making it through are S Sub HB 2124, dealing with operational enhancement for “little guy” microbreweries; HB 2783, prohibiting government agencies from restricting the sale of motor vehicles based on energy source; and SB 527/HB 2813, making it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion. 

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