Special to the Leader & Times

WICHITA — Tad Cullum, one of five people charged in the killing of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, filed a motion to have his charges dismissed on Friday.

Cullum is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body, two counts of desecration of a human corpse, and one count of conspiracy.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The water park renovation project took a small step forward at the most recent Liberal City Commission Tuesday evening.

“As you all know, we solicited proposals for architectural and engineering services related to the outdoor water recreation facility project. The project has an anticipated construction value of approximately $6,500,000. Two proposals were received from qualified firms, both of which partnered with Waters Edge Aquatic Design for pool and aquatic facility design services,” Recreation Director Matt Quint began. “After reviewing the submitted proposals, we found both teams possess the qualifications necessary to successfully complete this project. With Hutton Construction/Waters Edge, the proposed architectural and engineering fee is $552,500, and that’s based on the anticipated construction value of $6,500,000. That includes architectural, engineering, and aquatic design services through project completion and 7.75 percent after cost of work. With LK Architecture/Waters Edge, the proposed architectural and engineering fee of $487,500 based on an anticipated construction value of $5,000,000. That includes architectural, engineering, and aquatic design services through project completion and 9.75 percent after cost of work. Both companies are working with Waters Edge, who we’ve worked with in the past, and they’re phenomenal to work with. Both companies are good and have done great projects in the past, which we looked at as part of our research.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The field of candidates for Kansas’ next governor is quite full, and among the candidates is Curt Skoog, who is currently serving as mayor of Overland Park.

Like the other candidates, Skoog’s Kansas roots run deep.

“I grew up in Topeka, and met my wife in high school there, and work brought me to Overland Park about 31 years ago,” Skoog said. “For the most part, my career has been in management and business development, and I started my public service working for the Shawnee Mission school district. They had advisory boards that were elected positions at that time, and then in 2005 I was elected to the Overland Park City Council, representing Ward Two, where I served for 16 years until Mayor Carl Gerlach decided not to run for re-election. Then, five years ago I ran for mayor of Overland Park for the first time, and then just won reelection this past November.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

With gyms in Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal, Fusion Athletics has sent cheer teams from two of its locations to the Prep and Rec Grand Nationals competition in Central Florida.

In April, the third gym was added to that list with Liberal sending a group to Orlando, Fla., and not only did the team compete, they took home some hardware, achieving much success.

Fusion’s Team Surge recently were awarded level champions at the national competition, and parents, coaches and team members all helped in the success of the team.