Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Published in print on Wednesday, December 26, 2012Poll performed by Kansans for State and Reform PAC on December 6-7, 2012.Read full results and methodology of 22-question poll here: http://libertylinked.com/posts/10138/full-poll-results---gardner/View.aspx
Citation preview
The GardnerNEWSCovering Southwest Johnson County!
Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012www.gardnernews.com
INSIDEINSIDEINSIDEINSIDEINSIDEOpinion............................3Community.....................4-5Obituaries.........................6Classifieds.........................7
What’s inside?
Danedri [email protected]
A three-person mayoralrace likely favors Mayor DaveDrovetta, but in a two-manrace between Chris Morrowand Drovetta, it could be a veryclose race.
That’s the word from aDec.6 -7 poll of likely Gardnervoters. The poll was conductedby a political action committee,Kansans for State and LocalReform.
The survey revealed that 28percent of likely voters wouldcast ballots for Drovetta while25 percent would cast ballotsfor council member Chris Mor-row in a two-way race. Theresults are well within the mar-gin of error of 8.9 percent.More than 45 percent of thosepolled were undecided in therace.
In a three-way race be-
Danedri [email protected]
The body of an Edgertonman and his accomplice are outof the ground and headed to aKansas forensics lab.
Although they’ve been deadand buried for almost 50 years,Dick Hickock, formerly ofEdgerton, and Perry Smith aretoday the primary suspects ina 1959 murder case in Florida.
Kansas Bureau of Investi-gation agents executed asearch warrant to exhume theremains of Hickock and Smithon Dec. 18. The pair was ex-ecuted and laid to rest in a Lan-sing, Kan., cemetery in 1965.
The Sarasota County (Fla.)Sheriff ’s Office hopes theitems removed from coffins lastweek can be used to linkHickock and Smith to the mur-ders of a Florida family 53years ago. The duo hanged onApril 14, 1965 for the murdersof Herb and Bonnie Clutter andtheir two children, Nancy andKenyon. The Clutter murders,made notorious by TrumanCapote’s book, “In Cold Blood,”bare an eerie resemblance tothose of the Walker family ofOsprey, Fla.
Like the Clutter family, the
four members of the Walkerfamily were killed in their farmhome on Dec. 19, 1959. Chris-tine Walker, 24, was raped andshot. Her husband Cliff, 25,and their three-year-old sonJimmie was also shot. Theirdaughter Debbie, 23 months,was shot and drowned.
The Clutter family was killedin their farm home in Novem-ber of that same year, and onemonth later, Smith and Hickockwere on the run from authori-ties. Eyewitness accountsplace the pair in Florida at thetime of the Walker familyslayings.
Hickock once calledEdgerton home, and long-timeresidents there recalled him asa petty thief. The Hickock fam-ily moved to Edgerton in 1945.
Ray Braun, formerEdgerton resident now de-ceased recalled that Edgertontownspeople always knewHickock was a con-man.
Braun told the GardnerNews in 2010 that Hickock,“robbed everything in town.”
“He was the most polite boyto his mother. His mother neverdrove and he’d drive her intotown, to the grocery store, and
Danedri [email protected]
King Louie, the formerbowling alley and skating rinknow owned by JohnsonCounty, is getting a bit of a facelift.
During a Dec. 13 boardmeeting, Johnson County com-missioners approved a$915,000 contract for repairsto the building, located at 8788Metcalf Avenue.
Joe Waters, county directorof facilities, said the repairs willinclude asbestos abatement,demolition of some partitionsand finishes, activation of utili-ties and fire protection system,establishment of minimal light-ing and conditioning of thespace and securing the build-ing exterior.
Commissioners will beasked to approve a second con-tract for partial roof replace-
ment at a future meeting.The county recently pur-
chased the King Louie facilitywith plans to re-located thecounty museum there. Thepurchase was not without con-troversy.
County Chair Ed Eilert ex-plained some of the historybehind the $2.5 million pur-chase of the building during themeeting.
About 10 years ago, Eilert
Survey shows Gardner mayoral race this spring likely to be a tight onePoll conducted in early
December by Kansans forState and Local Reform
PAC
Remains of infamousEdgerton man unearthed
Dick Hickock, who spent part of his youth in Edgerton, showsoff his tattoos while in prison. He was hung in 1965 for killing aKansas family. Florida authorities suspect he may have killed afamily in Florida in 1959. File photo
County approves renovations for King Louie
CHRISTMASA lot like
The city of Gardner awardedwinners in a Christmas lightingcontest last week. The winnersrecieved a holiday sign for theiryard. Doris Kessler’s display onPark Street (left) was deemedthe “Most Creative Display.” Theinterior of her home is alsodecorated with holiday flair.Below, she watches lightstwinkle on her Christmas tree.Other award winners picturedinside on page 7. Videos of thewinning entries are online atwww.gardnernews.com.Photos courtesy of RickPoppitz/kcvideo.com
tween Drovetta, Morrow andcouncil member KristinaHarrison, Drovetta would win24 percent of the votes; Mor-row would receive 19 percentand Harrison would receive 14percent of the ballots accord-ing to the survey. Nearly 45percent of likely voters areundecided in a race betweenthe three.
To date, only Morrow hasannounced his intention to runfor the mayoral seat inGardner.
Harrison said in an email tothe Gardner News that shehas no plans to run for Mayor.
Both Morrow and Drovettacan find positive things to takeaway from the poll, BenjaminHodge, chairman of Kansansfor State and Local Reform,said.
More than 94 percent ofthose polled recognize thename “Dave Drovetta” and 42percent view him favorably,with 34 percent viewing himunfavorably.
“”
I think this is a good alternativeand it’s saving money in thelong run. It’s a win-win-win.
See COUNTY, page 8 See REMAINS, page 8
See SURVEY, page 8Drovetta Harrison Morrow
Season’s
Greetings!
Olathe OB/GYN P.A.Douglas B. MacFarlane M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Olathe OB/GYN P.A.Douglas B. MacFarlane M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
20375 W. 151st St. • Suite 200 in Doctor’s Bldg 1 Next to Olathe Medical Celnter20375 W. 151st St. • Suite 200 in Doctor’s Bldg 1 Next to Olathe Medical Celnter
Board Certified inWomen’s Health Care.Board Certified inWomen’s Health Care.
Evening & Early Morning Appointments
www.OlatheOBGYN.comEvening & Early Morning Appointments
www.OlatheOBGYN.com 913-782-3073
Pregnancy • 3-D SonographySurgical & Medical Treatment of Menstrual Disorders
Alternatives to Hysterectomy - Infertility
Pregnancy • 3-D SonographySurgical & Medical Treatment of Menstrual Disorders
Alternatives to Hysterectomy - InfertilitySeason’s
Greetings!Season’s
Greetings!
8 COMMUNITY The Gardner News, Dec. 26, 2012
Snow briefly blankets area, closes schools
Survey shows Gardnermayoral race this...County approves renovations for King Louie
An undated picture shows King Louie in Overland Park in its hey-day. The former skating rink and bowling alley was purchased bythe county. Commissioners approved funding to shore-up the structure. It will eventually house a county museum. Photo courtesyof Johnson County
(he) always opened the cardoor for her. He was happy andfriendly, but you knew he wasa con man.”
Authorities at the exhuma-tion did not say what they re-moved from the pairs’ coffins.Investigators told the SarasotaHerald-Tribune they have an
Remains of infamousEdgerton man unearthed
From REMAINS, page 1 unidentified palm print from thehome of the Florida murdervictims and semen they hopewill be a DNA match toHickock’s or Smith’s remains.
It will be weeks before theyare able to determine a match.
Corbin H. Crable contrib-uted to this story.
said a county study determinedthere was a need for a newmuseum building. Later, whenthe museum flooded in 2007,county officials decided not tospend additional money on thatstructure in Shawnee. In 2009,museum officials requested$30 million to build a new mu-seum. Commissioners said noand suggested museum offi-cials begin looking for existingproperty that could be pur-chased instead.
King Louie was singled outas a possibility, but the price –at $3.5 million – was deemedtoo high. However, when theprice dropped to $2.5 million,county officials offered $2 mil-lion to secure the building.
“Following due diligence, an
additional $50,000 price reduc-tion was identified and agreedupon,” Eilert said.
The contract commissionersapproved on Dec. 13 does notready the building for occu-pancy. Waters estimated itwould cost more than $4 mil-lion to make the building “whitebox” ready. He estimated itwould require an additional $4million to move the existingmuseum into the space.
“We purchased propertywith the idea that there wasmore space there than themuseum needs,” Eilert said.Other county services mayalso one day use the space atKing Louie.
Commissioner MichaelAshcraft voted against the con-tract to upgrade the building.
“What I’m struggling with alittle bit is the assessment of ourneed to acquire new property,”Ashcraft said. “…Is this thebest use of that our existingresources?”
He said the master facilitystudy a decade ago that sug-gested the county purchaseadditional property was basedon assumptions of what futuregrowth would be.
“We are down over 500employees or will be by 2014,”Ashcraft said.
Commissioner CalvinHayden, who representsGardner and Edgerton on theboard, said the King Louie pur-chase for the museum cost thecounty less than one-third ofwhat the museum requested.If there is room to spare in the
King Louie building, he said itcould eventually pay for itself.Additionally, he said the countyis planning to sell some of itsold properties.
“That’s got to knock a mil-lion off the tab at least,”Hayden said. “I think this is agood alternative and it’s sav-ing the taxpayers money in thelong run. It’s a win-win-win.”
In other business, commis-sioners:
• approved the renewal of avariety of liability insurancepolicies for $1.2 million.
• approved a $4.7 millioncontract with Grimm Construc-tion Company to construct sol-ids dewatering improvementproject at the Douglas L. SmithMiddle Basin WastewaterTreatment Plant.
From COUNTY, page 1From SURVEY, page 1
Morrow is also well known,but less polarizing thanDrovetta, according to thepoll. More than 42 percentof those polled view Morrowfavorably while only 8 per-cent view him unfavorably.
The poll also asked vot-ers their thoughts on localtaxes.
Of likely Gardner voterspolled, 70 percent believeproperty taxes are too high.
Danedri [email protected]
Three-inches of snowblanketed the area on Dec.20, shuttering classes inGardner Edgerton andSpring Hill School Districtsand keeping law enforce-ment officers and snowplows busy.
The first winter storm ofthe season dumped betweentwo-to-three inches of snowjust in time for Christmasbreak. The storm also cre-ated challenges for commut-ers.
Ilena Spalding, public in-formation officer for theGardner Police Department,said calls for motorist assistsstarted around 4 a.m. lastThursday. Officers loggedmore than a dozen assistsbetween 4 a.m. and 9 a.m.
“Luckily, we only had oneinjury accident,” Spaldingsaid.
Season’s
greetings!
Season’s
greetings!
K&D Spirits, LLC
913-856-3818Dennis R. Elliot
828 E. Main StreetGardner, KS 66030
K&D Spirits, LLC
913-856-3818
CONESTOGA ESTATESHave A Happy &
Prosperous New Year!
Have A Happy &
Prosperous New Year!
Office Hours: M-F 9-12, 1-5 p.m. 1199 E. Santa Fe • 856-7055Office Hours: M-F 9-12, 1-5 p.m. 1199 E. Santa Fe • 856-7055
Come out and see us, we think you’ll agree thatCONESTOGA is the nicest park in the area!
AUTO CREDIT(913) 256-3000 • 425 E. Main St. • Osawatomie
www.hometownautocredit.com
HOMETOWN
A WINNING EXPERIENCE
Seasons Greetings!Seasons Greetings! APAC Kansas CityLocation: 23775 W. 159th St. • Olathe, KS
( ½ mile east of 56 Hwy/Clare Rd. on 159th St., Olathe, KS)
For more information contact 913-814-6705
APAC Kansas CityLocation: 23775 W. 159th St. • Olathe, KS
( ½ mile east of 56 Hwy/Clare Rd. on 159th St., Olathe, KS)
For more information contact 913-814-6705
• Quarry• Land Fill• Asphalt Plant
• Quarry• Land Fill• Asphalt Plant
Season’s Greetings!
Season’s GreetingsSeason’s Greetings
427 W. Main Street, Gardner KS 66030 • 913.856.8747427 W. Main Street, Gardner KS 66030 • 913.856.8747
Season’s
Greetings!
The accident at U.S. 56Highway and Cedar NilesRoad resulted in minor inju-ries and slowed traffic brieflyduring the morning commute.
Spalding said the numberof calls and slide-offs onGardner roads were abouttypical for an early seasonsnow storm.
Once drivers get used todriving on snow-packedroads later in the season, thenumber of slide-offs andcalls for officer assists typi-cally slows, she said.
The threat of winterweather kept road and icecrews busy as well.
Gardner Public Works,Edgerton Public Works, Kan-sas Department of Transpor-tation and Johnson CountyPublic Works crews are re-sponsible for clearing manyof the roads in and aroundGardner and Edgerton.
In Gardner, city workers
put an emphasis on clearingmain thoroughfares, bridgesand on-traffic routes toschools first. Those streets,along with collector and in-dustrial commercial streetsare continuously plowed dur-ing snowfall.
One exception, however,is 56 Highway or MainStreet. KDOT plows thatstreet as well as highwaysand ramps to Interstate 35.
City officials estimate thatit takes between eight and 12hours to salt city streets andanother 24-36 hours to plow
the city for one snow cycle.Snow fall tapered off in
the southwestern part ofJohnson County between 8a.m. and 9 a.m. By noon,most roads appeared pass-able.
Noon on Jan. 22 is thedeadline to file to run for theoffice. If there are more thanfour candidates, the primaryelection will be Feb. 26. Thegeneral election is April 2.
Kansans for State andLocal Reform was formed in2009 and focuses mainly onussies like taxes, propertyrights, school choice andopen government. Itswebsite is
www.KansasReform.com.
Subscribe Today!(913) 856-7615
Subscribe Today!(913) 856-7615
Happy Holidays!Happy Holidays!
