News

From animals to demolition derby, Five State Fair reflects on 2024 offerings

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The 2024 Five State Fair has officially come and gone, and as Five State Fair Board President Mary Rose tells it, there was a lot to be proud of for this year’s festivities.

“We as a board thought this year's fair was successful. On the 4-H/agriculture side, we saw several animals entered for judging, which was amazing to see. There was the Southwest Kansas weather to deal with, we had both 100-plus degree temperatures and sun and rain and cooler weather in the fair's five-day span, but we made it through all of that,” Rose said. “With the livestock, we had several Open Class entries and several 4-H entries. We had the Family Night that Wednesday and served nachos and ice cream to everyone, and that seemed to get a good response – we were expecting to see about 200 to 300 people that evening and ended up seeing more than that. We also brought back the Demolition Derby for that Friday and Saturday, and we had more than 300 people each night, which was amazing, and our antique tractor pull also drew in more than 20 entrants and about 150 spectators in the Grandstands, so that also saw a big crowd. All in all, we feel like this year's fair was a success, we brought it back to basics by showing off the agriculture of Seward County and our five-state area. The number of entries for the indoor classes and the livestock shows was amazing, and we as a board felt like those visual demonstrations helped draw a lot of people in.”

Failed Elkhart bank president sentenced to prison for embezzlement

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

An Elkhart man was sentenced Monday to 293 months in prison for using his former position as CEO of a bank to embezzle tens of millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency scheme which led the bank to fail at a complete loss of equity for investors.

Shan Hanes, 53, of Elkhart pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Health Fair tests at no charge thanks to donors, SWMC

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

Late summer has arrived, and autumn will soon be here as well.

Fall normally means the arrival of cold and flu season too, and soon, health departments and doctors’ offices will be filled with patients waiting to get immunized.

For the past 15 years in Southwest Kansas, fall has also marked time for the annual Community Health Fair in Liberal, and Oct. 5, the Seward County Activity Center will once again be filled with people waiting to get screenings, testings, checkups and exams.

SCCC Library to host Holocaust exhibit

Seward County Community College

The Seward County Community College Library is one of 50 U.S. libraries newly selected to host “Americans and the Holocaust,” a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

Following a highly successful tour to 50 libraries from 2021 to 2023, the touring library exhibition – based on the special exhibition of the same name at the Museum in Washington, D.C. – will travel to an additional 50 U.S. libraries from 2024 to 2026, covering wide distances from Hawaii and Alaska to Texas and New Hampshire.

District compares KAP performance with other area districts

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The USD 480 school board had a busy agenda for its first meeting of the 2024-25 school year Monday evening.

Up first in the meeting was the administrators’ reports, starting with Superintendent Stephen Linkous, who recapped the first day of classes.

“It was a lot of fun talking to everyone, and it was really cool at Liberal High School seeing the senior sunrise and then seeing all the other students coming into school,” Linkous said. “It was great, and we had a lot of positive reports from the people we talked to. We really wanted to talk to a wide variety of people from students to faculty/staff, and we were glad to hear everyone seemed to have a great start to the 2024-25 school year, and I want to also give a shoutout to the janitorial and maintenance staffs for all the work they did to make the buildings ready for everyone.”