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TOP STORIES Education, commerce, crime, jobs, and more [The Salina Journal, Kan.]
[December 27, 2009]

TOP STORIES Education, commerce, crime, jobs, and more [The Salina Journal, Kan.]


(Salina Journal (KS) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 27--Some of the biggest Salina and Salina area stories in 2009 had a lot to do with jobs, crime, commerce and education.

Major employers -- Hawker Beechcraft for example -- cut their work forces, and retail businesses made Salina their home -- Kohl's department store and Logan's Roadhouse restaurant, to name two.

Salinans witnessed killings -- and arrests. Salina's educational institutions saw the departure -- and addition -- of new leaders.

And we prepared for the arrival this February of a controversial political figure -- you betcha! -- former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Tickets for her speech at the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce banquet sold out, the first time any speaker in the event's history has done so.



In short, 2009 had something for everyone, more events -- both high and low -- than can fit in a local year-in-review newspaper story. What follows is a subjective list -- in no particular order -- of Salina's top news stories of 2009. Some items may have been left out, and some you may have already forgotten. In any event, we welcome your feedback, in letters to the editor, on our 333 line and at salina.com.

Jobs and the economy Local companies took steps to hold down costs in response to the economic slowdown. In January, Schwan Food Co. announced plans to cut 10 positions at its employee cafeteria, known as Al's Diner, and Exide Technologies began a handful of weeklong furloughs of employees at its distribution center.


In April, airplane maker Hawker Beechcraft's promised layoffs struck Salina, as 41 workers were notified that they were losing their jobs. Hawker Beechcraft executives in February told employees that as many as 2,300 would likely lose their jobs before the end of the year.

In November, the company announced plans to close its Salina plant no later than February 2012, when its lease expires, throwing more than 200 remaining Salina workers out of their jobs.

Hawker Beechcraft joined Great Plains Manufacturing, Crestwood, ElDorado National and the Salina Journal in announcing layoffs during 2009. Saline County's unemployment rate hit 6.4 percent in June, the highest since at least 1990, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

Five murders recorded Violent crimes were on the rise in 2009, with a record five homicides in Salina and a sixth death in the county being investigated as a homicide. That follows four murders in 2008.

On Jan. 18, Nicolas Chavez-Castro, 39, a Mexican national, died after being struck in the head repeatedly with a board at his trailer house. Preston Reyna, 20, pleaded guilty June 8 to unintentional second-degree murder in connection with the death. He was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation at Larned State Hospital before being sentenced.

Sixteen-year-old Cesar Ramos was sentenced Jan. 23 to spend 10 years in prison for a shooting that prompted discussions about race relations and gangs in Salina. Ramos, who pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child, was convicted of shooting Salina teen Torrean Hughley multiple times at Woodland Park on March 10, 2008. Hughley was severely injured but recovered.

On Feb. 8, Lonnie Riedel, 18, and a 28-year-old Salina woman were struck when multiple bullets were shot in the area of The Grind, 301 W. Ash, after two men claiming gang affiliation were refused entry to a party being held at the business. Riedel was paralyzed from the chest down, and the woman sustained a leg injury. No arrests have been made.

Terrence J. Watson, 26, of Los Angeles, was arrested Feb. 11, accused of gunning down Taryn Dechant and Ernest Jones Jr., both 22, who were found dead in their Salina apartment Sept. 26, 2008.

At the close of a preliminary hearing June 25, prosecutors declared their intent to seek the death penalty for the double homicide, which was described as drug related. The trial is scheduled to begin June 14.

On June 13, Alfred "Al" Mack Jr., 24, was found shot to death in his Salina apartment. Thomas E. Jenkins, 29, and Willie Smith Parker, 28, were bound over for trial Dec. 17 on charges of intentional first-degree murder, felony murder and other charges related to Mack's death. Prosecutors believe Mack was killed during a burglary.

Smith Parker took Justin W. Letourneau, 22, to Salina Regional Health Center with a bullet wound in his head on June 19. Letourneau died the next day in a Wichita hospital. Smith Parker was also bound over for trial for intentional second-degree murder in connection with Letourneau's death.

On Sept. 17, Steven J. Bettles, 38, of rural Solomon, was found shot to death in a trailer house on his property by family members checking on his welfare. Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said the death was being investigated as a homicide as the result of an autopsy. No arrests have been made in connection with the death.

Also Sept. 17, Cameron A. Nelson, 21, was found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder at the conclusion of his third trial. Two previous juries had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case. Nelson was accused of shooting Mark H. Simpson, 38, while he stood in the street in the 500 block of South 10th on April 16, 2008. Nelson's attorney is arguing for acquittal or a fourth trial, saying she has new information that Nelson was not the shooter and members of the third jury had a relationship with defense witnesses.

On Oct. 8, Rosa M. Gomez, 41, and Charles R. Losey, 48, were shot by Gomez's ex-husband shortly after they arrived for work at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 1616 W. Crawford. Both later died of their injuries.

The suspected gunman, Mario A. Chavez, 49, killed himself the night of the shootings while police had his sport utility vehicle surrounded on the northeast edge of Salina.

New retail stores Salina's South Ninth Street retail trade corridor got a facelift with construction of the $4.5 million Belmont Boulevard to Riffel Drive phase of street improvements.

Repairs didn't stop with the street, however. In January, the chief operating officer of NAI Farbman Group, a Detroit-based company appointed in U.S. District Court as receiver for Salina's Central Mall, pledged to make mall parking lot repairs and other maintenance projects a priority. Three-quarters of the parking lot was resurfaced in September and the rest was overlaid. The mall celebrated with an "Over the Moon about our Parking Lot" Sale-a-Bration. Later in the year the mall also installed a new sign with a digital message board.

New stores and restaurants continued to locate in Salina.

Kohl's department store opened the last week of February at 2580 S. Ninth amid one of the sharpest retail downturns in recent history. The company's same-store sales fell more than 9 percent in the quarter preceding the opening. Company officials said the store would create about 130 full- and part-time jobs in Salina.

Timberline Steakhouse and Freddy's Frozen Custard opened side-by-side at 2421 and 2420 S. Ninth. And Logan's Roadhouse opened its doors at 3050 Riffel. Wireless telecommunications provider Alltel Corporation was acquired by Verizon. A new Verizon store is under construction at the southeast corner of South Ninth and Magnolia streets.

School budgets cut Public school administrators in Salina and elsewhere across the state grappled with five rounds of statewide budget cuts. As a result, the Salina School Board endorsed a plan to ask the Kansas Supreme Court to reopen the "Montoy" school funding lawsuit.

The Kansas Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2006, saying the Kansas Legislature had met its constitutional obligation to fund public schools. Because of the cuts, however, school funding is close to 2006 levels, and the Salina district alone has had roughly $3 million cut from its budget so far in 2009.

This month, meeting in Salina, member districts of Schools for Fair Funding voted unanimously to ask the Kansas Supreme Court to reopen the Montoy case. Attorneys will file a motion to reopen the case once individual districts totaling 100,000 students have endorsed the resolution. If the court won't reopen the case, Schools for Fair Funding might launch a new lawsuit.

It was a year of change for the heads of some learning institutions in Salina.

After seven years at the helm of Kansas Wesleyan University, president Philip Kerstetter announced his acceptance of the job as president of Mount Olive College in North Carolina.

Accomplishments at Kansas Wesleyan during Kerstetter's tenure included a $1 million campus facelift and construction of a $10.5 million student activities center. In November, the Kansas Wesleyan University board of trustees selected Fletcher Lamkin as the college's 18th president.

Lamkin, a West Point military academy graduate, is scheduled to become president in early January. He is a former professor and department head at that school. He retired from the Army in 2000, as a brigadier general, and has worked in educational administration and university financial management since that time. From 2000 to 2007 he was president of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.

Salina Area Technical College celebrated its legal separation from the Salina School District in July, just days before the nation celebrated Independence Day. The institution's transition from a technical school to a degree-granting institution was a 21/2-year process that started in January 2007.

The trustees hired Greg Goode as Salina Tech's first president. Goode has 10 years of experience in technical education and 17 years of experience as a college administrator; he was most recently vice president of student services at the Community College of Aurora, in Colorado.

Students at learning institutions in and near Salina had notable moments in 2009 as well.

A flag designed by Southeast of Saline fifth-grader Brooke Albright was selected to represent Kansas in Washington, D.C., as part of Youth Art Month in March. Albright said her design was a combination of a cousin's drawing on her wall, pieces she did in an art class last year and sunflowers. The Kansas design was flown with those from other states in Washington on March 4, and was honored at a reception and ceremony at the Russell Senate Office Building.

A group of Salina high school students organized their own dance, called TRIF3CTA, in October. They did so to protest rules against sexually suggestive dancing at school dances, as well as raise money for school clubs which had seen their revenues dry up as students chose not to attend the school dances due to the "no-grinding" rule.

Two Salina seniors received prestigious scholarships. Arien Cox, a senior at Salina Central High School, was selected in May to receive a Gates Millennium Scholarship, from the foundation created by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda. The scholarship covers tuition, books and other expenses to almost any university to study any subject. Sarah Thompson, a senior at Salina South High School, learned in December she was awarded a $48,000 Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship from Wichita State University. Awarded to two students each year, the scholarships are the largest undergraduate scholarships awarded in Kansas.

Governmental actions After listening to an hour and a half of comment, primarily from opponents, Salina city commissioners in January voted 3-2 to ban smoking in basically all indoor places, except for private homes.

The three top vote-getters in the April Salina City Commission election were Samantha Angell, Norman Jennings and Tom Arpke. Jennings trailed the winner, Angell, by 114 votes. The third-place finisher was Arpke, with 2,386 votes. Arpke will serve a two-year term, while Angell and Jennings will serve for four years.

Saline County commissioners in May unanimously approved resolutions lifting a decades-old fireworks ban.

City commissioners in August approved a budget of $69.48 million for 2010, up just shy of $58,000 from 2008, but funded without a property tax increase. The county commission passed a $31.26 million budget that included a 2-mill hike in the property tax levy, although the budget decreased general fund expenditures by 1 percent.

County Administrator Rita Deister said factors in the decision to raise the mill levy included a $1.55 million decrease in countywide assessed valuation.

Saline County Appraiser Rod Broberg received the continued support of county commissioners in March, winning another four-year appointment.

December saw city commissioners approve a resolution authorizing up to $400,000 for planning and engineering services to complete Phase II of a master plan to develop the old Smoky Hill River channel that passes through downtown Salina as a river walk. Commissioner Norman Jennings voted against the resolution, saying he believed it was too expensive to tackle such a project during a recession.

Wild weather strikes On March 23, wind blowing steadily at 40 miles an hour and gusting as high as 62 mph snapped 18 utility poles along Schilling Road between Ohio and South Ninth streets. The poles went down like dominoes, said Tom Sydow, regional director for Westar Energy. Homes and businesses in the area were without power after the poles landed on wooden fences in yards on the north side of the street. The fences were repaired by mid-afternoon.

On Aug. 10, a violent storm hit the city with hurricane-force winds gusting as high as 79 miles an hour. A disaster was declared for Saline County, and damage was still being assessed a day later. The sound of chain saws could be heard in many neighborhoods.

Conibear trap protest Salina Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield pursued stricter regulations on the use of conibear traps on public hunting land after his registered beagle, Bella, was killed in a conibear trap Feb. 14 while they were hunting rabbits near Kanopolis Lake.

The seven-member Department of Wildlife and Parks Commission discussed a prohibition on the use of bucket sets for conibear traps, but did not take action at its June meeting. Mansfield's dog was killed when she stuck her head in a bucket where the trap was set and it clamped down on her head.

Hospital expansion completed May saw the completion of the bulk of construction on a three-year, $70 million expansion of Salina Regional Health Center that included a six-story patient tower, a 240,000-square-foot expansion that contains large, private patient rooms as well as expanded labs, conference rooms, nursing offices and storage areas.

-- Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at [email protected].

-- Reporters Mike Strand and Erin Mathews also contributed to this story.

To see more of The Salina Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.salina.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Salina Journal, Kan.

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