News

Daniels offers encouragement to Dive Into Girl Scouts

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

In late March and early April, Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland gave young ladies across Southwest Kansas, including some in Liberal, a chance to receive five extra months of membership fun.

GSKH Troop Engagement Specialist Michelle Daniels hosted several Dive Into Girl Scouts spring recruitment events throughout the area, including one last Friday in Liberal, and she said all girls going into kindergarten in fall 2025 were eligible to join.

“We do early renewal, and we also do what’s called extended year membership,” she said. “You pay the membership price, and it covers you from now until September 2026.”

Gov. Kelly signs bills to help with state infrastructure

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Gov. Laura Kelly has been keeping busy lately signing multiple bills to help Kansans.

One of those concerns continues to be broadband and Monday, Gov. Kelly signed House Bill 2061, which amends the definition of a critical infrastructure facility to include telecommunications and broadband infrastructure. This will extend legal protections to these facilities to help ensure their security and limit service outages for Kansans.

Bridge replacement project to begin on K-156 in Finney County

Kansas Department of Transportation

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, traffic changes will begin Monday, April 14, for a bridge replacement project approximately three miles west of the west K-23/K-156 junction in Finney County.

Resurfacing to begin on U.S. 50 in Gray County

Kansas Department of Transportation

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, a highway resurfacing project is expected to start the week of April 21 along U.S. Highway 50 from the Finney/Gray county line east to the west city limits of Cimarron.

Prairie View earns Challenge Award

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The staff and students at Prairie View Elementary School have been hard at work this year and recently, the school was recognized for that work.

Last week, Prairie View Elementary School was named one of 100 schools in the state of Kansas named as a Challenge Award recipient. The Challenge Awards recognize schools for outstanding achievement and uncommon accomplishments of students based on the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) results in math and reading, especially those students of an ethnic minority group and who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, according to a release from the State of Kansas. The graduation rates when calculating high school results and chronic absenteeism rates for middle and high schools are also included in the award criteria.