Tri-County Electric Cooperative

Tri-County Electric Cooperative is proud to recognize three students from Yarbrough, Okla., Jaydee Barrios, Nevaeh Martinez, and Micah Hartsell, as the winners of the Eighth Grade Energy Camp contest.

To earn their spot as winners, the students created a video demonstrating practical ways their school could save energy. Their project highlighted simple, realistic ideas that show how conservation can make a difference.

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation has scheduled to start a resurfacing project the week of April 13 along Kansas Highway 144, from the U.S. Highway 56/K-144 intersection to the U.S. Highway 83/K-144 junction in Haskell/Gray counties.

K-144 traffic will be reduced to one lane in sections as crews work to resurface this approximately 16-mile project area. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes as flaggers and a pilot car direct one-lane traffic through the work zone.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The new business at the most recent Liberal City Commission meeting began rather surprisingly, with the commission accepting the resignation of Matt Landry.

Liberal Mayor Jeff Parsons read Landry’s resignation letter to the commission and gathered crowd at the meeting.

“Dear members of the commission, please accept this e-mail as my formal resignation from my position as a commissioner of the City of Liberal effective April 14, 2026. Serving on the commission has been an honor, and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the growth and well-being of this community,” Parsons read. “I appreciate the collaboration with fellow commissioners, City of Liberal staff and residents, and I am proud of the work we have accomplished together. After careful consideration, I have decided to step down from my role at this time. This decision was not made lightly, but I believe it was the right step given my current circumstances. I will remain committed to the continued success of the city, and I am confident the commission will carry forward the important work ahead. Please let me know if I can assist in ensuring a smooth transition. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal Police Department is always working hard to keep the Liberal community safe, and one of the ways the department does that is through the The Special Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP).

“In February, we had decided we were going to start doing some more STEP enforcement after we saw an increase in our grant funding from the state. What we are wanting to do is increase compliance and educate people at the same time. The officers are in compliance with my expectation and directive to educate people when we can and enforce when it’s necessary,” Liberal Police Chief Chester Pinkston said. “During that same time frame, the School Resource Officers reminded me Prom season would be quickly approaching, and one of the issues seen during that time is underage drinking and other similar activities, so a goal is to make sure people know we are going to be around and working to help keep the community safe. We knew at that time we would be doing an education effort, but that doesn’t do us any good to put that information out publicly because if we do, there’s a chance people who routinely violate the law will just make plans to avoid being out at those times, and it’s just not a big deterrent. STEP encourages local law enforcement agencies to conduct high-visibility enforcement during certain periods to address primary driver behaviors contributing to injury and fatality crashes in Kansas. Based on historical data that’s on file, the city has participated in the STEP Grant initiative through the Kansas Department of Transportation since 2012. The Liberal Police Department has stored the past five years’ worth of STEP documentation in house, and the accounting system pulled 10 years’ worth of data that reflects a total of $36,455.19 in funds paid out since 2017. This funding is paid on a reimbursement basis and deposited into a separate fund, Fund 730, and then at the end of the year, that money is reclassified to help offset general fund expenses and overtime for the LPD. To clarify for the public, local resources are used in the beginning, and then the reimbursement is paid after the fact after everything is submitted to the state.”