News

Meade County Community Foundation provides funding to local organizations

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

The Meade County Community Foundation recently distributed $16,500 in grants to 17 applicants for its summer grant cycle, and along with its winter grant cycle, the foundation has donated nearly $30,000 to local charities this year.

MCCF Director Cheyenne Federau said 31 applicants were awarded money in February, and she said the foundation, which started in 2019, has now rewarded more than $76,000 to non-profits in its history.

City discusses economic package for Dairy Queen

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Discussions to bring a Dairy Queen restaurant to Liberal have been going on for multiple months, and a major part of those discussions has centered on incentives for the developer.

At the Liberal City Commission’s first regular meeting this month, the commission directed Liberal City Manager Scarlette Diseker to start negotiations with the developers, which have been ongoing since then. Diseker provided some updates to the commission at a special meetinG Tuesday afternoon.

Friday Night Lights contest could mean cash for Mustangs

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

T-Mobile is giving schools a chance for some money to help their schools, and Southwestern Heights High School is among those that could be getting some.

Southwestern Heights High School is among the schools entered in the T-Mobile 5G Friday Night Lights contest and as SWH Principal Ryan Kisner tells it, the contest is very exciting.

Moran visits SWMC to discuss the importance of rural health care

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was in Liberal last week to visit with leaders at Southwest Medical Center and Seward County Community College and to hear local concerns about health care and higher education.

Moran said his visit to SWMC, as well as other hospitals in Western Kansas, had to do with the challenge of keeping the doors open to those facilities, keeping pharmacists on the state’s Main Streets and maintaining overall access to health care in the Sunflower State.

Patriot Day 2025 coming to Cottonwood

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

Nearly two and a half decades have past since two planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, and for many, the images of the day are still fresh in their minds.

Since 2003, Liberal’s Cottonwood Elementary School has honored those who died that fateful day, as well as first responders and military with its annual Patriot Day program, and music teacher Aspen Jaramillo-Martinez’s students have spent the early part of this school year learning patriotic songs for this year’s event scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11 in the school’s north parking lot.

At the time 9/11 happened, Jaramillo-Martinez was 2 years old, and she said planning for Patriot Day means more with each passing year.