News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner, and while the day can mean fun and good memories with family and friends, it also means making sure everyone remains safe, especially in the kitchen.

With that in mind, Liberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk said there are some precautions that should be taken before cooking the big meal.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

More than a decade ago, the name of what was then known as First Assemblies of God Church in Liberal was changed to New Beginnings Church.

The name of the church is somewhat appropriate considering there have been plenty of “new beginnings” for the church since then. Recently, another start took place, as NBC acquired the Plains Methodist Church (PMC).

That church is now New Beginnings Church of Plains, and NBC Senior Pastor Phillip Dow said PMC’s advisory council had approached leaders with the Liberal church about becoming a campus of the church.

Bank of the Plains

PLAINS – The board of directors of Bank of the Plains is announcing long-time bank executive Gene Dikeman, will retire from Bank of the Plains effective Jan. 1, 2026.

After a nearly 50-year banking career, Dikeman will continue to serve on the bank’s board of directors, ensuring a seamless transition and ongoing institutional leadership.

The bank’s board has named Tina Call, formerly president of Bank of the Plains, to become president and CEO. Dikeman will step into an executive vice president role until his retirement in January 2026.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Dynatest Physical Therapy has helped many patients with their physical therapy needs since its inception and now, the staff has a new location to celebrate.

The Dynatest Physical Therapy staff celebrated its move to its new location at 23 W. 2nd Street last week, and as employee Dr. John Zirkle tells it, there are a lot of positives about the move.

“Dynatest has been around since the early 2010s, and we moved into the new location, 23 W. 2nd Street, in September. When we started moving stuff in, we had the front half ready to go, and I have to thank Chava & Sons Construction for all the work they did, they did a fantastic job,” Zirkle said. “They got a bunch of work done in the front so we could seamlessly transition in since the lease at our former location was ending, and I also have to thank all of our staff for helping move everything in and get everything situated how it was supposed to. That's also when we were taking care of the beautification of some areas, especially our office and the back area where no one really goes, and we also had the HVAC system worked on and all of that stuff. Moving to this new spot, we did increase our overall square footage – our old space was around 3,000 total square feet, whereas with the new location, we're at almost 3,800 square feet in just the front main area, which is great, and everything is officially ADA-compliant and all of that, which we're really happy about.”