News

BY LINDA MOWERY -DENNING
Ellsworth County I-R

The Ellsworth Correctional Facility’s SORT team helped to quell prison riots at Norton in 2017 and El Dorado, also in 2017, and again in 2018. Commander Jerry Castro has to reach back to 2005 to offer an example of when his team’s skills were needed at home. And even then, the episode was confined to small area of the ECF compound.

Prison spokesman Todd Britton remembers it this way:

It was about 1:30 p.m. — 30 minutes before the 2 p.m. shift change. The compound was full of employees preparing to end their work day and others about to begin. That’s when a fist fight broke out near the Spiritual Life Center between two rival gangs.

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By Jennifer McDaniel
For the Ellsworth I-R

When Edie Pennington hosted Ellsworth’s first Thanksgiving Feast as she called it in 2005, it was an opportunity to make sure that even if it was just for one day, no one felt left out, that there was a place at the table for everyone to enjoy a little fellowship, a home-cooked meal and a piece of pie.

But most importantly, no one was ever alone on one of the biggest holidays of the year. And this year, like so many before, there’s a spot at the table just waiting to be filled.

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By LINDA MOWERY -DENNING
Ellsworth County I-R

The Ellsworth City Council met Tuesday in its regular session to consider the 2017 audit, a tenant- based rental assistance program and other typical fare.

The council’s past two meetings have been anything but typical.

More than 50 residents showed up for a special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 7, most appearing in support of city administrator Scott Moore.

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By Alan Rusch
Ellsworth County I-R

CLAFLIN — If the 30 patrons who attended Monday’s meeting of the Central Plains USD 112 board of education wanted to know where the district goes from here — they will have to stay tuned.

No specific plans were laid in the wake of a $1.8 million bond question that was defeated Nov. 6 by a significant margin.

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By Danielle Gadberry
Little River High student

Chief Chad Johanning has been making an appearance at Little River High School this year with the new role as School Resource Officer. What is a School Resource Officer you may be asking? Well that’s what students were thinking too; our minds were set that he is just here so he could catch us “awful teenagers” more easily. Our suspicions were, of course, wrong.

Chief Chad is here to help our community, teachers, and students. He is a “community outreach for early signs of depression or unstable mental health”.

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By Jennifer McDaniel
For the Ellsworth I-R

For more than 50 years, A-1 Welding Shop has been a fixture at 501 E. Main St.

The salvage yard served as an automobile wasteland for customers willing to rummage through rusted skeletal frames for sought-after parts.

But over time, the property seemed to take on a life of its own. As the years passed by, owner Shorty Choitz, who purchased the property in 1966, had accumulated a staggering assortment of items — objects he regarded as valuable, but to others were just considered junk.

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By the I-R staff

Republican Kris Kobach won the battle for governor in Ellsworth County. But Democrat Sen. Laura Kelly won the war by defeating the secretary of state with 51 percent of the vote.

The contest, which also included independent Greg Orman, an unknown factor throughout the campaign, was declared for Kelly shortly after 9 p.m.

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Christian Hay of Ellsworth gives a thumbs up before his airplane ride during the Smoky Hill EAA Chapter 1127 Young Eagles Day.

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