Ellis County News

At Monday's Ellis County Commission meeting, commissioners heard from High Plains Mental Health Center, which is trying to compensate for considerable cuts in state funding levels.

As calendar pages turn their way to July, the popping and whizzing of fireworks becomes a more frequent sound when the sun sets.

The numbers are in, and Ellis County's total valuation is down nearly $30 million from last year, largely due to a decrease in oil and gas prices.

Kids will be kids. The common lament usually is invoked to rationalize less-than-preferred behavior of some kind.

A former Hays man suspected of killing a Kansas college student and fleeing to Mexico with his then-pregnant 16-year-old girlfriend who was also from Hays made his first appearance in a Kansas court today.

This is day five of the Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas City Board of Trade, DeBruce Grain, the Kansas Grain & Feed Association and Kansas Wheat.

As farmers waited for the start of the 2009 wheat harvest, Bill Legleiter's 1974 Massey Ferguson simply chomped away at a field just north of Liebenthal.

Timothy Paul Gatschet, the 59-year-old Victoria man arrested in April 2008 after a pipe bomb and other explosives materials were found in his home, was sentenced Monday in Ellis County court.

Listening to the last of several budget presentations from outside agencies, Hays city commissioners were addressed Thursday by Access Transportation.

Lower revenue from birth certificate sales in Kansas has resulted in about a 40-percent decrease in the local Citizen Review Board budget for 2010.

Plans are ready for a fixed-route bus service in Hays, now it's up to local government entities to decide to fund it.

A ribbon cutting at Hadley Center earlier this month was a tangible sign of a dream come true for one local organization.

As members of the Hays Fire Department conduct hands-on training exercises this month, there's always the hope they'll never be required to implement that knowledge in a real-life situation.

In other Ellis County business: In other Ellis County business: * Ellis County commissioners unanimously decided to return a JCB backhoe to Sellers Equipment, Wichita.

Reduced state and federal funding is putting a strain on Ellis County's 2010 budget with some outside agencies coming in with proposed budgets higher than 2009 levels.

Each year, the Ellis County 4-H Scholarship and Development Fund helps local and area students who plan to continue their education after high school by awarding scholarships to graduating seniors.

The Kansas economy appears to be stronger, according to State Treasurer Dennis McKinney, but that doesn't mean state budget cuts are a thing of the past.

The Ellis County space needs committee began the process of exploring county space needs outside the Ellis County Courthouse on Wednesday.

An Alzheimer's patient is missing and police would like to your help in finding her.

A 30-year-old rural Ellis County resident died this morning from injuries received after an accident at the intersection of 240th and Mount Pleasant roads.