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When Ron and Pat Svaty returned to their hometown of Ellsworth in 1968, the local Democratic Party was a visible part of the community.

Pat Svaty remembers the fundraisers every St. Patrick’s Day. And the watch parties. And later the annual get-togethers at the Adolph and Lila Vopat farm the Saturday morning of Wilson’s After Harvest Czech Festival. There was also a Democratic women’s organization.

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As results of his research flashed across the makeshift screen on the wall, Caleb Svaty voiced several requests of representatives from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Among them — dig another test hole to determine the potential impact of a proposed feedlot expansion on the region’s groundwater.

Svaty, a Kanopolis farmer, said it is his belief the water table that supplies 4S Feeders is part of the system that provides the City of Kanopolis with its drinking water.

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Eyes on the Ground

Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita, is predicting an above average tornado season this year in Kansas.

“My gut feeling leads me in the direction that it might be a little bit busier season for us,” he said Wednesday, March 27, at Ellsworth Junior-Senior High School’s Performing Arts Center during ‘Storm Fury on the Plains,’ the annual storm spotter training program.

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A helicopter from the Wichita-based Life Save Transport visited Ellsworth County Medical Center Wednesday, March 20, in recognition of it’s partnership with the University of Kansas Health System’s Kansas Clinical Improvement Collaborative.

ECMC is also a partner in the collaborative.

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The Ellsworth County department heads took over an hour to voice their views on a variety of topics during Monday’s meeting of the Ellsworth County commissioners.

Wages

County appraiser Carl Miller asked about the disparity in pay between county employees and those of the City of Ellsworth. “I could get a job as city clerk and get a raise,” he said. “I had a long talk with a couple of the city council members,” Commissioner Kermit Rush said. Commissioner Dennis Rolfs said he thought those getting paid $17 to $19 per hour were being overpaid. “The private sector doesn’t pay that,” Rolfs said. “It’s clear out of our reach,” Rush said. “I don’t know what the answer is.” Rush said if the commissioners raise wages to compete with the city, the county would go above the state mandated cap.

Four intersections in Ellsworth will each see the installation of street lights, thanks to action taken Monday by the Ellsworth City Council.

Approval was given to install street lights at the intersections of Ninth and Broadway, Eighth and Broadway, Eighth and Gay and East South Main and Court. Presently, there is no lighting at those intersections.

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To Spring and Good Health

Opal and Stanley didn’t attend Saturday’s Ellsworth Kiwanis Home and Garden Show. But their spirit — in the form of a photograph — was on display at a table staffed by members of the Ellsworth County Medical Center Auxiliary.

Opal and Stanley, the auxiliary’s Lu Adams explained, are mannequins and the most recent donation from the auxiliary to the medical center. The pair are used in the center’s certified nursing assistant class.

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