ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

After finishing as the overall winners at the Southwest Kansas Regional First LEGO League Robotics Competition in March in Liberal, a group of students from Hugoton Middle School is now headed to Houston for the 2026 FIRST Championship.

The championship will take place April 29 through May 2, and team member Kyson Morelos said he and his teammates have put in the work to help them get there.

“We have practices every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.,” he said. “We started in August. We’ve got 12 team members.”

Teammate Aiden McDaniels said this year’s performance is consistent with Hugoton’s recent past in robotics.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Those looking for somewhere to shop for good deals now have another option on the south side of Liberal thanks to Black Friday Sales at 920 S. Kansas Ave.

As co-owner Javier Sanchez tells it, the store has been in the works for a while.

“There are three of us owners, and we invest money in different businesses, including another one similar to Black Friday Sales. We were checking around in this area, and there's nothing like this store around here, so we decided to get the money together and make it happen,” Sanchez said. “We're always looking at different communities and looking at what their needs might be, and we decided this was one of them. We also have another project we'll be getting started on in the near future. With this building, one of the investors actually owns the mall, and he told us this space was empty. We came and looked at it and it was perfect for what we needed after we figured out exactly what type of business we wanted to have in here. We all decided this building would be perfect in terms of space and everything else, so we went for it.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal Area Coalition for Families, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Healthy Blue, the Southwest Guidance Center, Miss Ad Astra and the Communities Organization to Promote Equity is inviting everyone to join them for a healthier community by taking steps to raise awareness and step away from the stigma surrounding mental health.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and these organizations are hosting the Mental Health Awareness 5K or 1-Mile Run Walk starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 25, at 1195 N. Kansas Ave.

Organizer Clarissa Carrillo said the event is a reminder for the community and a way for community members to connect with each other.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Work and discussions continue about what to do with the B-24 hangar at the Liberal air field and recently, those discussions took another step forward.

“Last year, we engaged with the Mid-America Air Museum Foundation to enlist LK Architecture and MKEC Engineering to help us with an overall assessment of the Skyhawk hangar,” MAAM Foundation member John Smith said. “They were here before Christmas, and they did a great job taking photos and visiting with us for several hours and putting together an extensive overview of that facility. This report was jointly funded by the City of Liberal and the MAAM Foundation with the intention of providing guidance on how to move forward with the structure. One aspect of the report that should really see some consideration talks about temporary measures of securing the building, and that includes suggestions like repair the exterior walls to eliminate further deterioration, temporarily cover the roof to prevent further weathering and deterioration, have the building checked for hazardous materials, asbestos, lead paints, etc., remediate with a licensed hazardous materials contractor, check out electrical services and repair as necessary to eliminate any fire or short circuit fire hazards, remove all interior walls in the hanger area that are not part of the original building, rebuild the north end of the building to eliminate exposure to wind and rain events, and have a general contractor prepare an estimate of cost prior to authorizing the items covered in this report. Some of the work could be done in-house, but that’s something that would need to be discussed and later approved.”