ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer.

In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer, and in 1988, the first Thursday in May was designated as the National Day of Prayer.

Through seven decades, the efforts of the National Day of Prayer Task Force have mobilized to observe this day of prayer in all 50 states and in U.S. territories and intercede for the nation.

The president is required by law to sign a proclamation each year encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Discussion of plans for the revitalization of Downtown Liberal took a couple steps forward thanks to the Liberal City Commission at its most recent meeting Tuesday evening.

Up first was discussion of the approval of a Master Services Agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC).

“As the commission is aware, there are a lot of projects going on and a lot of future growth on the horizon, so the City of Liberal is in need of a variety of civil engineering and related consulting services,” Liberal City Manager Scarlette Diseker said. “This Master Services Agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) establishes the general legal and financial terms under which the City of Liberal may utilize professional engineering services. A retainer fee of $7,600 per month for the first six months will be paid by the city, followed by $5,000 per month thereafter. Overall, city staff feel that securing an agreement and having a permanent engineering partner will allow for better planning and continuity as we manage existing properties and develop future projects.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

November could see a shakeup in the U.S. Senate, and Noah Taylor is one of the candidates looking to possibly make that happen.

As Taylor tells it, Kansas has always been his home, with hard work being a natural part of his life.

“I grew up El Dorado, and my dad worked as a pipefitter and my mom's a nurse. I joined the military after a year at college because frankly, I had no idea what I was doing,” Taylor said. “I became an infantryman, and I was deployed to Afghanistan, attached to Special Forces. We had a job called village stability operations where we'd go into Taliban-controlled areas, push them back, and then the big army would do their job. After that, I became a counterintelligence analyst for the military. Since I moved back, I've had a slew of jobs and right now, I'm helping run a bunch of small businesses that help other local companies grow and create jobs and perform at scale.”

EARL WATT

    • Leader & Times

Seward County is a “house on fire” with a “toxic” environment according to Seward County Administrator April Warden.

Those were comments she made in an email sent to Seward County commissioners Tuesday evening and obtained by the Leader & Times through an Open Records request.

While Warden did not state what has created the environment, she suggested that the county pause hiring additional personnel under the current circumstances.