News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal Fire Department is on the scene at many emergency situations and recently, the department got some much-deserved recognition.

The Liberal Fire Department has been recognized as a Gold Helmet Department for having many of the firefighters enrolled in the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for cancer. The NFR is the largest effort undertaken to understand and reduce cancer among U.S. firefighters, and LFD Battalion Chief Aaron Luman said the designation is a great honor.

“The NFR started taking enrollment in April 2023 and then there were several members of the LFD who attended the state fire chiefs' conference in Manhattan back in October, and the NFR was a topic of conversation there,” Luman said. “To get the Gold Helmet status, a fire department must have 50 percent or more of its workforce signed up in the NFR, and there was a point where we had reached that criteria, so we notified the powers that be at the CDC and NIOSH and ultimately got the recognition.”

ROBERT PIERCE

    • Leader & Times

Christmas time is here, and soon, homes across America will be filled with people and presents galore.

Some families, however, are not as fortunate, and the holidays may not be as bright for them. Several programs, including Angel Trees and Christmas baskets, are in place to help make the season a little better.

For years, the Liberal Police Department has been making spirits bright for some local children through its LPD & Me Christmas event, formerly known as Shop With a Cop, and Saturday, Dec. 13, officers and children will take to Liberal’s Walmart as they purchase gifts for some local kids.

LPD Community Police Coordinator Dalanie Underwood said not much has changed in terms of planning from the past, but there is a great group of kids who will be going shopping.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Monday, Seward County commissioners heard from two constituents on the ongoing issue of a proposed 14-mill hike in the mill levy over the Revenue Neutral Rate for Fiscal Year 2026 and some concerns over roads.

The issues were addressed during the citizens comments portion of the meeting, and resident Cecil Milhon said Road and Bridge workers have been tearing up ditches along county roads.

“I don’t think you realize what damage you’re going to cause and what dirt’s going to be blowing, and you’re not going to stop it,” he said. “You’re uncovering grass that’s taken years to grow and cover the ditch. There’s nothing wrong with grading right beside the road, but pulling up the ditches like they did on Road 17, you’re opening a can of worms you can’t control. I’m asking you to look at that, reconsider it and stop it because it’s not good.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

There could be some new Kansas representation in the U.S. Senate after next year’s elections, and Kansan Anne Parelkar is one of the candidates seeking that office.

As Parelkar tells it, politics was not always in her plans.

“I'm an attorney licensed in Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, and I've worked in immigration law since 2021 as a solo practitioner. I began by working around my children's schedules and taking on what I could handle, and before that, I was a stay-at-home parent,” Parelkar said. “I got into politics more officially in July and earlier this year, I'd gone to the town hall in Oakley when Roger Marshall left early, and that was a factor in my decision to run for office. I'd had a friend who had talked to me about it before, but my children were still really young, so it wasn't a good time, and I also wasn't worried about the country back then as I am now with everything that's happened. She talked to me about it again more recently, and then I called around and did some research as far as whose seat would be up for election, and it turned out to be Roger Marshall's.”