News

Saints athletes volunteer, clubs active on campus, Ron Oliver reception

Seward County Community College

Seward County Community College Saints athletes can be seen all over town as the various teams put in volunteer hours for multiple causes.

Men’s basketball team members met students at Prairie View Elementary School for “High 5 Friday” Sept. 19, a mood-booster and high point for local children.

The following night, both men and women’s basketball players helped staff the 31st annual SCCC Foundation Party Auction. Women’s team members provided free, on-site child care for auction attendees, while the men’s team members offered muscle power for auction winners who needed a hand getting their purchases removed from the Seward County Activity Center and loaded into vehicles.

KDOT’s VRUSA Tool named national safety finalist: Public encouraged to vote

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment (VRUSA) Tool has been selected as one of 12 national finalists in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards (ATA).

The tool is vying for one of two top prizes: the People’s Choice Award and the Grand Prize.

The People’s Choice Award is determined by public votes. KDOT encourages all Kansans and supporters of road safety to cast their vote daily and visit americastransportationawards.org/. Voting is open until 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 17.

Welcoming the TCEC Collegiate Delegates: Honoring leadership, service and community commitment

Tri-County Electric Cooperative

Three students from Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU) have stepped forward as Tri-County Electric Cooperative Collegiate Delegates, each bringing unique perspectives and ambitions to their roles.

Freshman Jacob Burchard hails from Guymon, Okla., and is pursuing a pre-pharmacy major. Jacob’s motivation for becoming a Collegiate Delegate stems from a recognition of the vital, yet often overlooked, role of energy in rural communities. He values leadership and is eager to learn what effective leadership looks like in essential rural services. After graduating from OPSU, Jacob plans to attend Texas Tech’s School of Pharmacy in Amarillo, aiming for a career in hospital pharmacy and, eventually, public health. During his term, Jacob is most excited to learn how TCEC makes decisions based on the seven cooperative principles.

Moran and colleagues reintroduce legislation to bolster U.S. entrepreneurship

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Entrepreneurs go through a lot of work even before officially opening their business’s doors and recently, some legislation was reintroduced to help make some parts of the process easier.

Thursday, U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) reintroduced the bipartisan Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act, which would increase the permitted size of angel funds to allow for a higher number of investors in start-up companies.

“By allowing more individual investors per angel fund and raising the fund’s cap, more investors will be able to invest at a lower rate,” a release from Moran’s office noted. “This will allow new investors who have less access to capital to invest in start-ups, expanding the funding base for early-stage startups.”

Complaint claims tax hike violated RNR limits

L&T staff report

A complaint has been filed against the Seward County Commission for violating Revenue Neutral rate with the Seward County Clerk.

According to the complaint filed by Leader & Times Publisher Earl Watt, when the RNR letters sent to taxpayers included an explanation of the requested 25.868 mill increase, the letter set a cap of 21 mills for the pending tax case and 4.868 mills for the rest of the county budget. But according to the new budget increase of 13.4 mills, only 2 mills are being applied to the court case and 11.4 mills are attributed to the rest of the budget.