News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

National Beef has a storied multi-decade history, and former Liberal citizen William Madden is a part of that.

As Madden tells it, his interest in the field was sparked by his family’s history.

“My family has some history in the agriculture field, so it was something I was always around and something I was interested in along with manufacturing and stuff like that. That's what always interested me when I was growing up and ultimately, I decided that was going to be my career,” Madden said. I was born and raised in Liberal, and then I moved to the Kansas City area around my junior year of high school, and then graduated from Blue Valley West High School in 2003. I got my associate's degree in Kansas City and moved back to Liberal in 2005 and began working at National Beef, and I've been at National Beef since then.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Traffic on U.S. Hwy 54 saw some delays Tuesday afternoon due to a vehicle vs. motorcycle accident.

Emergency personnel were called to the scene at 608 E. Pancake Blvd. shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Liberal Police Department.

“At approximately 2:57 p.m. Tuesday, officers and emergency personnel responded to a reported injury accident involving a motorcycle and a vehicle in the 500 block of East Pancake Boulevard,” the LPD release noted. “Upon arrival, officers found a male victim lying on the ground near the curb at Jewell Ave and Pancake Blvd. The individual was conscious but sustained injuries to his mouth and head. Through the investigation, officers determined that a maroon 2024 Dodge Charger entered Pancake Blvd from Yellow Brick Rd, failing to yield to the motorcycle.”

The injured male was transported to Southwest Medical Center and later transferred to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita for further treatment, the LPD release concluded.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

High winds have been hitting the area in the last week, with some exceeding 70 miles per hour, and this has increased the risk of fire in the region.

Monday, Texas County, Okla., commissioners took a step toward reducing that risk by issuing a burn ban in the county for the rest of March.

That ban came with the passage of a resolution stating extreme fire danger exists in Texas County, and the situation has been verified by a documented concurrence of the majority of the county’s municipal and rural fire chiefs or other designees.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Mosaic in Southwest Kansas has a new executive director, and its former executive director now has a position with the state Mosaic office.

Jacie Butler began working with Mosaic in Southwest Kansas in 2021 as a quality coordinator and was promoted to associate director in 2023, and she was recently promoted to executive director.

In her short time with Mosaic, Butler said she has been involved with the agency in a number of ways.