Five landowners to receive
soil conservation awardsBURLINGTON — Five Coffey County landowners will receive conservation awards Wednesday night at the Coffey County Conservation District’s 71st annual meeting and banquet.
A meal, sponsored by the Coffey County Bankers Association, will be served at 6 p.m. in the Burlington High School commons area followed by the Coffey County Conservation District’s 71st annual meeting in the BHS theater. More than 150 Coffey County residents and landowners at- tend the meeting each year.
Local, state officials investigate
odd smell in LeboTOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), along with Coffey County Fire District No. 1 and Coffey County Emergency Management, has noted and is investigating a strong gasoline odor in Lebo. Experts stress that the odor has shown no health concerns.
The smell was first reported on Thursday, Jan. 26, by Lebo’s city superintendent. Since then, KDHE and local partners have been working to discover the cause. It is believed that the pathway for the odors to reach the buildings is an old sewer line. Officials are still investigating the location of the source of the odors.
“KDHE and their local partners plan to cap off the line this week,” explained Randy Carlson, storage tanks section chief for KDHE’s Bureau of Environmental Remediation. “We’re hoping to have this corrected soon, but want to emphasis that citizens’ health is not at risk.”
Wolf Creak remains
offline for repairsBURLINGTON — Plant personnel at Wolf Creek Generating Station are continuing to investigate the cause for a failed circuit breaker that caused an automatic shut down and loss of off-site power on Friday, Jan. 13. The plant remains offline.
“We take our responsibility to maintain nuclear safety seriously. That is why it is so important that we clearly understand what caused the event and determine the actions that are needed to address the cause. We are making progress,” said Steve Hedges, site vice president.
NRC sending inspection
team to Wolf CreakBURLINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced it send an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) to the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station to review the circumstances surrounding an automatic reactor trip and loss of offsite power that occurred there on Jan. 13.
Just after 2 p.m. on Jan. 13, officials at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Co., declared a Notice of Unusual Event after the failure of a main generator electrical breaker, followed by an unexplained loss of power to an electrical transformer. This caused the switchyard to become de-energized, which removed the plant’s connection to the electrical power grid. The emergency diesel generators automatically started and powered safety-related equipment.
An Unusual Event is the lowest of four NRC emergency categories.
County rejects bids
for shop additionCommissioners on Monday rejected all bids received for the county shop office addition because all bids exceeded the engineer’s estimate.
Once the addition is built, the county engineer’s office will be moved from the courthouse basement to the new addition.
Couple to move, transform
church into home
BURLINGTON — Leon Sink and his wife, Tiffany, are unveiling their plans for a local historic church they’ve purchased.
Noting that folks in and around Burlington have heard about the purchase and have been curious, the Sinks talked it over and decided perhaps the time had come for them to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.
The Burlington couple purchased the 15,000-square-foot church, which is located just across the street from the Coffey County Courthouse, more than a year ago. The church, which was once a Christian church, has sat empty for more than three years.
GOP Caucus slated for March 10
BURLINGTON — A Republican caucus will be held in Kansas on Saturday, March 10. In Coffey County, a caucus will be held starting at 10 a.m. at Burlington High School. Registration will begin at 9 a.m.
Coffey County residents, registered as a Republican by Feb. 17, will be able to vote at any one caucus in the Second District, until 1 p.m. Caucus locations are printed on the Kansas Republican Party website at www.ksgop.org, click on “Caucus: March 10” found on the top banner bar.
Fair continues search for
carnival, input sought
BURLINGTON — In its 132nd year, the Coffey County Fair continues to be the oldest consecutively held county fair in Kansas. Despite the long history, the Coffey County Fair has struggled in recent years to secure an amusement carnival, with patrons asking “why?”
“People want to know, why is it so hard to get a carnival at the fair?” said Vickie Wolford, Fair Board Secretary.
“There are obstacles we are up against in getting a long term car- nival agreement, including budget, travel routes, long term agreements, liability issues, fair size and date scheduling,” she said.