LOCAL volunteers Levi Zieger (left) and Pastor Wayne Mastin help unpack a pallet of food delivered to the local food bank recently. The food bank is housed in the Presbyterian Church.

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County commission discusses
new Law Enforcement Center

 

By Nancy D. Borst
The parade of firms hoping to help Kingman County design and construct a new Law Enforcement Center has begun. County commissioners have heard from three firms in the past 10 days.
Treanor Architects, which has offices in Lawrence and Topeka, met with commissioners Jan. 23. Rich Associates, Olathe, and HMN Architects, Overland Park, met with the commission Jan. 30.
Treanor performed a needs assessment for a proposed Reno County Jail, which will go to a vote in November. Rich Associates has worked on 400 projects in 37 states, including the Harvey County Jail. HMN Architects designed the new Ford County Jail.
The county, at this point, is looking for a needs assessment. The county doesn't know how many cells it needs in a new jail, for example, and hopes an assessment will help answer such questions. A community committee recommended last fall that the county build a new LEC.
"If you ask five of us, I think we've got five different ideas," said Commission Chair Carol Voran.
City Manager Frank Soukup, who has listened to some of the presentations, said, "We need the project defined."
Numerous ideas have been floated, including adding office space for cooperating agencies such as the Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in a new LEC.
"It's a good idea to incorporate everything we can," Sheriff Randy Hill told commissioners.
County officials say they are weighing two possible sites for a new facility. The county owns the east half of the block that is catty-corner northwest of the Kingman County Courthouse. A site elsewhere in the city limits also is under consideration.
Peter Rich of Rich Associates outlined a four-month process to get the needs assessment completed. He estimated the total timeline of the project would be two years, including a 12-month construction time period.
HMN Architects said it would have to co-opt someone to do the needs assessment. The company can offer pre-architectural design and representatives said they would apply to be the project architect.
No decisions have been made and it is likely the county will be approached by additional planning or architectural firms. The county has not set a formal timeline other than it would like to proceed as soon as possible.

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Norwich boy injured
in hunting accident

A 14-year-old Norwich boy remained hospitalized Tuesday after a hunting accident on Sunday.
According to the Kingman County Sheriff's office, two Norwich students were hunting geese in a wheat field Sunday morning, Jan. 29, when the 14 year old accidentally shot himself in the right foot with a 12 gauge shotgun.
His 15-year-old companion tried calling Norwich Emergency Services, but he had no service for his cellphone and was unable to make the call. So he took the 14 year old to a family home and a call for Norwich EMS was made from there. The injured boy, who authorities declined to identify, was transported to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, in serious condition.
The accident was reported at 11:30 a.m. It occurred one mile east of Norwich and one-half mile north on 160 Ave., which is near the sewer plant.
A prayer service for the boy's recovery was to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Norwich Methodist Church.

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The Leader-Courier staff

Connie Schoenhofer, Editor, Irene Arensdorf, Circulation; Bob McQuin Publisher , Nancy Borst Sports, writer, Ashlee Arensdorf, Advertising sales & Accounts Receivable.

 

 

Former resident to join Dr. Bush

DR. LACEY Garrison will be joining Dr. Larry Bush at Kingman Veterinary Clinic in mid-February.

By Connie Schoenhofer
Practicing veterinary medicine in two large facilities – one in a Phoenix suburb, and the other in Wichita – provided Dr. Lacey (Tiesmeyer) Garrison the experience that she believes was very beneficial. The larger clinics gave her the opportunity to provide high quality medicine where she especially enjoyed focusing on internal medicine, dermatology issues and animal dentistry. She will join Dr. Larry Bush at his veterinary practice in Kingman in February and is excited to have the opportunity to be able to work in her hometown.
"I'm so glad I got the experience of working in a larger city, but I am glad to be back home," she told the Leader-Courier last week.
Garrision, a member of the 1997 class at Kingman High School, graduated from Kansas State University with a doctor of veterinary medicine in 2004. She left Kansas for Arizona and worked in Gilbert, Ariz. for two years.
Missing family and knowing that if she wanted to marry her long-time Kansas boyfriend she would have to move back, she took a job in Wichita in February 2006 at the Indian Hills Animal Clinic. In 2007 she and Todd Garrison were married and on Christmas Eve 2009, their daughter, Hadley, was born.
The untimely death in 2008 of Lacey's dad, Fred Tiesmeyer, put the ball in motion for Todd to help with the Tiesmeyer farm and it seemed a natural transition for the Garrisons to move to the Tiesmeyer homeplace when Lacey's mom, Lana, remarried and moved to Andover. As a matter of fact, Lacey and Todd just moved from Wichita to the Kingman County home a few weeks ago.

Working for Dr. Bush will be a good fit for Lacey since she worked there during high school. Dr. Garrison doesn't know for certain yet which days she will be available at Kingman Veterinary Clinic but in a few weeks after daycare arrangments for Hadley are finalized, she will be able to announce her schedule in the office that is located at 633 N. Marquette.
Small animal care has changed drastically over the past decade and pets have gone from living outdoors surviving on table scraps and just a rabies shot to living in their owner's home (and sometimes their beds!) with a diet of healthy dog food and preventative medicine such as heartworm medications and flea and tick preventatives. Lacey said that pet care is now more focused on preventative healthcare instead of waiting until the dog or cat is extremely ill. Not only is it better for the pet, it can be less expensive.
"Preventing heartworm disease is $15 a pill versus $1,500 for heartworm treatment - a treatment that isn't always successful," Dr. Garrison said. "Keeping the dog or cat's teeth clean wards off a multitude of health issues as well."
But Tiesmeyer is also aware that the needs of the client need to be addressed and explained that there are always options.
"If plan A won't work (financially) for the client, then there is always plan B, C or D," she explained. "We can always make it work."

Kingman bloodmobile gathers 65 life-saving units of blood

ALAN GREINER was one of the many people who came to St. Patrick School on Jan. 23 to donate blood for an American Red Cross Bloodmobile. This was Greiner's 47th time to donate blood. Red Cross technician is Mary Ware. The next bloodmobile in Kingman will be April 2 at Kingman High School from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m

The American Red Cross and Sharon James, Kingman Blood Services Chairman, want to thank everyone who helped make Kingman's bloodmobile on Jan. 23 a success.
"We want to give a special thank you to everyone who donated," James added. "We had 74 come to donate, which included nine deferrals. Of these, two were first-time donors. The end result was 65 life-saving units of blood. Each unit of blood donated benefits three people."
The blood drive was held in the St. Pat's gym with St. Patrick School students assisting with setting up and taking down the Red Cross equipment. James added that it was a wonderful facility.

"As always we had great volunteer help during the blood drive." James said. "It takes a lot of hard work to have a successful drive. Thanks to those who assisted with advertising, registration, the meal preparation, and provided escorts for the donors."
Doreen Molitor and her kitchen help served a wonderful meal. Darla Harbert is the St. Pat's coordinator and did a great job helping organize the day and getting volunteers.
Work is being done to update Kingman's records so charts can be posted showing how many gallons individuals have donated. Plans are to have those ready for the next bloodmobile.
"We want to be sure those individuals are appropriately recognized and given their numbered pins," said James.
A list will be published in the newspaper when it is compiled. James added that they have quite a few local people who have made a total of more than 100 donations in past years.