LIBERAL FIRST
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Spring has officially sprung, and part of the season will include lawn and property maintenance.
With that in mind, the City of Liberal has officially begun enforcement of its noxious weed ordinance, according to Code Enforcement Officer James Kulow.
Members will see this new improvement starting with the 2024 annual meeting Sept. 26.
Historically, TCEC has hosted its annual meeting with a traditional meal, enabling face-to-face interaction between members and cooperative staff.
However, with the growing number of members attending each year, the capacity of the Texas County Activity Center has been exceeded, thus requiring a change.
“We always put our members’ safety first,” a press release from TCEC said. “The reality of reaching full capacity has required changes in how we conduct our annual meeting. Moving forward, the meeting will not include a meal.”
The business meeting will be at the TCEC facility in Hooker, Okla., where members can attend in person. Members may also attend remotely from a satellite location or at home via our website or social media platforms.
“We hope all members participate in the business meeting. However participation is not necessary to be eligible for the grand prize drawing,” the TCEC release said.
Beginning in 2024, in lieu of a meal, registered members will receive a $50 credit (an increase from the $35 bill credit in 2023). One credit will be issued per membership. Registered members will also be eligible for two grand prize drawings. Winners will be notified following the meeting.
“Satellite registration locations will allow us to better accommodate all members throughout our service area while simultaneously assuring safety,” the release said.
Satellite locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day of the meeting. Members can visit with TCEC staff and register to receive their bill credit and a chance to win a grand prize. Please note there are no proposed bylaw changes for the 2024 annual meeting.
“We hope this new format will enhance member engagement and continue to increase member participation,” the release said.
Contact TCEC with any questions at
As the weather turns warmer, a favorite pastime of many is running. For some, though, running is a little more than a hobby, and this finds them running great distances of up to 26.2 miles.
Chayli Duerson has run in a few marathons now, as well as half marathons, and later this month, she plans to run for the second time in the Oklahoma City Half Marathon.
The half marathon will take place Sunday, April 28, a date that now has a special connection for Duerson.
“It’s actually exactly five years from when John proposed to me at the Oklahoma City half, so it’s neat to go back and do it again,” she said.
Duerson likewise is using her running talents to help raise funds for a non-profit, as she has done with some marathons in the past. This time she is running for the Kilimanjaro School of Missions in Kenya.
“They train missionaries to serve in their country and that region,” she said.
KSOM also equips Kenyan Assmblies of God ministers to have the tools ncessary to fulfill a missionary calling.
“Because of economics, many of these men and women will be sacrificing a great deal of resources just by being away from family and work for the duration of the program,” Duerson said. “Their passion is to see every student who goes through the program fully funded so they may graduate without further debt.”
The cost of the 12-month residential training program is $3,500 per student. This cost includes lodging, food, course materials such as tablets, books and instructor fees and internship costs for mission trips and church evangelism.
Duerson said she chose KSOM to help train ministers to bring the gospel to the world.
“There’s so many people who need to know Jesus loves them, and they’re playing their part in helping many unreached people hear about Jesus,” she said.
Duerson’s goal is to raise $4,500 to cover the cost for one pastor and extra funds for the organization. Checks can be sent to Brad Smith Ministries, P.O. Box 796, Woodward, OK 73802, and donations can also be made on the KSOM Web site at www.kilisom.com.
“If they donate on the Web site or send in a check, people should put ‘Running Fundraiser’ in the memo or on the note,” she said.
One of Duerson’s goals as a runner is to run a marathon in all 50 states, and she said the upcoming OKC Half Marathon will help her get closer to that goal this fall.
“This is part of my training plan to be able to do two marathons this year,” she said. “It will help me in the end getting two more states. I’ve run Nebraska and Oklahoma. I have plans this year to do Missouri and Kansas.”
Duerson said there is little difference between the courses run on Oklahoma City’s half and full marathons.
“There are fewer hills,” she said. “They run the same. We just turn sooner than the full marathon. A half marathon’s 13.1, and a full marathon’s 26.2. We turn a little sooner, but we run on the same course.”
Though she has no plans to win the upcoming half marathon, Duerson said she would like to finish it in less than two and a half hours, and this will help her ready for a more well-known running event.
“That’s my goal for this one,” she said. “That’ll put me on track for completing a marathon in less than four hours for my first marathon. With my second marathon, my goal is to be less than 3:30 so I can qualify for Boston.”
Like the course, Duerson said there are small differences in training for a half marathon, one of them being less time commitment.
“You don’t have to run as many miles, and your long runs aren’t as far,” she said. “My goal is to build up to the marathon, to condition and to build that strength to be able to tackle hills. We don’t have a lot of those.”
Though the April 28 date is significant for Duerson said there are no plans to re-enact the proposal.
“I’ve always told him no race I ever have can top that first half marathon,” she said. “You can’t do anything bigger than propose. We’re already married.”
Duerson said the half marathon proposal may have had something to do with her favorite pastime.
“His friends laugh and say it’s because he didn’t want me to run away,” she said.
The USD 480 school board will be reviewing some upgrades and updates at its next meeting Monday evening starting at 6:30 after a board workshop at 5 p.m. Monday’s meeting will be in Room C107 of the Liberal High School East Campus.
The meeting will begin with administrator reports, including one from Director of Operations Chad Mease.
“With the LHS East Campus field conversion, that dirt work is well under way,” the agenda information noted. “With the Bright Start Early Learning Center front entry project, demolition is complete and the footings are poured. With the elementary schools’ ductwork reconfiguration project, the crews have moved to Meadowlark Elementary School. Finally, we are seeking bids to replace the HVAC that serves the district’s IT Bunker. The existing equipment is approaching 20 years old, and we have been seeing an uptick in repairs and downtime.”
Up first in the agenda’s new business will be discussion of access control equipment.
“USD 480 solicited pricing to purchase spare inventory of our access control hardware to be utilized throughout the district,” the agenda information noted. “Pricing is provided under Kansas State Contract #51040 for Facility Security Systems, and staff is recommending the board approve the quote from Convergint Technologies in the amount of $33,670.27.”
Up next will be discussion of LHS corridor fire door repairs, for which staff is recommending the board approve a quote from DH Pace in the amount of $14,155.
Up next for the board will be discussion of LHS East Campus soffit and roof repair.
“USD 480 solicited bids to repair the soffit and flat roof sections of the old gym area at LHS East Campus,” the agenda information noted. “One bid was received from DV Douglass in the amount of $82,428, and staff is recommending the board approve that bid.”
The board will also be asked to approve the 2024-2025 Elementary and RISE Academy Handbooks before moving on to discussion of an agriculture program at LHS. The potential of such a program had been discussed at the board’s Aug. 21, 2023 meeting, where the board heard from some local citizens about the potential benefits of such a program.
“I would like for the board to consider forming a committee to add an agriculture education program, along with a National FFA Organization chapter, to USD 480,” local citizen Evan Winchester said at the meeting. “The first question that comes up is ‘Why would we add an agriculture education program?’ Well, first and foremost, one of the main emphases we have in education, in my opinion, is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education, and there’s no better way to enhance that learning that to give students hands-on opportunities, which can be done with an agriculture education program. As you also know, in the Liberal community, agriculture and energy are the two primary economic drivers, and what better way for area students to understand what’s going on in their community and how their community operates? There is funding through the Kansas State Department of Education, and there’s an additional 0.5 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent), so this doesn’t just happen, it does require some additional funding. I do want to filter through just a small sample of the 36 approved courses through this, because I don’t if people really stop to think sometimes about what all can be taught through agriculture education. A big one is Environmental Resources and Wildlife Science, that could cover a very broad number of students who could come into an agriculture education program. With Food Science, if you want your student to take a class so you can retire and let them pay for everything, send them to college for food sciences. There is also Small Animal Care, Agriculture Biotechnology, Agriculture Leadership & Communications, and Agriculture Entrepreneurship.”
“I’m originally from Gold Canyon, Ariz., which is a suburb of Phoenix. I’m a first-generation agriculturist in my family – my mother is a nurse and my father is an attorney,” SCCC student Ashlyn Cook-Huggins said at that meeting. “I enrolled in an agriculture class my freshman year of high school hoping it would help me become a dermatologist, and obviously, I strayed from that path, but in the best way possible. Agriculture classes have provided me with a plethora of opportunities I never would have received otherwise, and they have shaped me into who I am today. All of the classes I’ve taken have allowed me to find my true passion in life as well as give others in my class a head start in their careers. I’m here to be an example of how an agriculture education program and a National FFA Organization chapter would be beneficial to all students throughout the district. All these require is support from this board and district, and some passionate teachers willing to give their time to build this amazing program.”
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