The WEEKEND Friday, May 25 2007 Goodland Star-News $1 Volume 75, Number 42 Twelve Pages Goodland, Kansas 67735

weather School’s out, summer fun begins... report Flags, taps 60° noon Thursday honor all Today • Sunset, 8:05 p.m. Saturday • Sunrise, 5:23 a.m. • Sunset, 8:05 p.m. who died Midday Conditions • Soil temperature 63 degrees The American Legion plans to post flags on the • Humidity 45 percent graves of veterans at the Goodland Cemetery start- • Sky mostly sunny ing at 5:30 a.m. Memorial Day. • Winds calm Post Commander Marshall Squires said the cem- • Barometer 30.21 inches etery will be open at 5 a.m. Monday, and volunteers and steady will start placing the flags about 30 minutes later. He estimated that will take about an hour. The flags • Record High today 104° (2003) will be retrieved starting at 4 p.m., adding that the • Record Low today 30° (1947) Last 24 Hours* Legionnaires will need some help. “The assistance of other community groups for High Wednesday 70 ° this commemorative activity is sought and would Low Thursday 45 ° be greatly appreciated,” said Squires. “Individual Precipitation .31 helpers are also welcome. About 700 flags will be This month .38 placed at graveside to honor our fallen veterans.” Year to date 6.03 The Goodland Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Below normal .07 of an inch Auxiliary, along with the American Legion, plan Memorial Day services at the cemetery starting at The Topside Forecast 10 a.m. The services will begin with posting of the Today: Isolated showers and colors by the VFW Color Guard, accompanied by thunderstorms. High near 75, low a rifle squad from the Kansas Army National Guard. around 53. The Rev. Hal Lycett of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Extended Forecast will speak. Saturday: A 20 percent chance A balloon release, sponsored by Koons Funeral of showers and thunderstorms, Home, will follow taps. high around 77, low around 48. Services at the Brewster Cemetery should begin Sunday: A 20 percent chance of at 8:30 (Mountain Time) with Mayor Mike Baughn, showers and thunderstorms, high also the Thomas County sheriff, speaking. Services around 77, low around 53. Mon- at the Kanorado Cemetery will start at 11:30 with day and Tuesday: A 20 percent retired Air Force chaplain Chet Ross as the speaker. chance of showers and thunder- In the event of foul weather, the services will storms, high around 82, low move indoors. In Goodland, that will be held at the around 56. VFW Hall, 824 Main Ave.; in Brewster at the (National Weather Service) Get 24-hour weather info. at 162.400 MHz. school, 127 Kansas Ave; and in Kanorado at the * Readings taken at 7 a.m. United Methodist Church, 307 Main St. At an American Legion meeting Monday, post officers for the 2007-2008 year were installed, with their terms starting July 1. Mary Lycett will be the new post commander after serving a term as vice commander. Mrs. Lycett, Jeremy Brown (above, from left), Hanna Sanderson, Alex Bennett and a Navy veteran, will replace Squires, who served Sophia Thompson waited in line to go on the water slides at Steever two terms as commander. Water Park on Tuesday. The kids from Central Elementary (top photo) local Art Nelson, a retired Navy chief petty officer, will spent Tuesday afternoon splashing around at the park as part of their be vice commander. In all the other positions the end-of-the-school-year activities. The park will open for the season at 1 markets incumbents will continue to serve: Ken Baum, ser- p.m. Saturday with Kendra Billinger, daughter of Mayor Rick Billinger, vice officer; Mel Pfau, finance officer; Greg Sto- as manager. Admission is $2 for children 6 to 12 and $3 for anyone over Lindsay Bauman rode one of the water Noon ver, adjutant; Mazie Sutton, historian; Vernice 13. Younger children are free and on Fridays, admission is just $1. slides at Steever Water Park on Tues- Wheat — $4.38 bushel Leslie, chaplain; Ron Vignery, judge advocate; and Photos by Pat Schiefen/The Goodland Star-News day. Posted county price — $4.24 Dale Ellison, sergeant at arms. Loan deficiency pmt. — 0¢ Corn — $3.63 bushel Posted county price — $3.46 Loan deficiency pmt. — 0¢ Milo — $3.33 bushel Goodland radio stations join Rocking M group Soybeans — $7.04 bushel Posted county price — $7 The announcers and music for- the opportunity the Miller family Kathy Melia since September 1995. information,” Melia said. business in 1988 when they built Loan deficiency pmt. — 0¢ mats at Goodland’s KLOE/KKCI/ has brought us to partner with their Kay Melia, Marty’s father, has Doris and Monte Miller have full-power station KMCI-TV, chan- Millet — $7 hundredweight KWGB Radio will stay the same, other Kansas radio stations,” Melia been involved in broadcasting in been involved in the newspaper and nel 38, in the Kansas City market. Sunflowers but a marketing agreement said, noting that his fam- northwest Kansas for more than 50 broadcasting business in Kansas for They sold the station in 2000 to NuSun crop — $16.50 cwt. will tie management and ily will retain an owner- years. He served as vice chairman of over 43 years. Monte’s grandfather Scripps-Howard Broadcasting of Pinto beans — $25 (new crop) ownership of the stations ship interest in the busi- the National Association of Broad- returned from the Colorado gold Cincinnati, which owned KSHB- (Markets by Mueller Grain, Sigco Sun, to Rocking M Radio of ness. “This will bring casters in 1976 and was inducted rush in 1900 to buy The Belleville TV 41, a National Broadcasting Frontier Equity Co-op and 21st Century Manhattan. many new and cutting- into the Kansas Broadcasting Hall Telescope, a weekly newspaper. Company affiliate in Kansas City. Bean. These may not be closing figures. ) Marty Melia, owner of edge technologies to our of Fame in 1982. A.Q. Miller passed the ownership of Christopher Miller, president of Melia Communications, listeners and advertisers in Andrew Melia, Marty and the paper to his son, the late Merle Gammon Media Brokers of Para- said Tuesday he has en- Goodland and all of north- Kathy’s son, the third generation of Miller, and today Monte’s brother dise Valley, Ariz., handled the deal tered into a “local market- west Kansas.” the family in the radio business, is Mark is the third-generation pub- between Rocking M and Melia . ing agreement” with “We are looking for- the sports director for the stations. lisher. Other Rocking M Radio stations Marty Melia Rocking M Radio, owned ward to partnering with Marty Melia said all the family Kansas State University named in Kansas include KGNO AM and by Doris and Monte Miller Marty and Kathy Melia to members and current staff will re- its journalism and mass communi- KZRD and KOLS FM in Dodge inside and their son Christopher, effective continue to support and promote the main. He said sales and marketing cations school after A.Q. Miller. City; KNNS AM and KGTR FM in in June. people and businesses of northwest will be combined with the sales Monte and Doris Miller returned Larned; KWLS AM Pratt; KYUU today Rocking M recently acquired 14 Kansas,” said Doris Miller. people out of Colby and from the from the west coast to Kansas in AM and KSLS FM Liberal; KSSH radio stations in Kansas, including The family is purchasing a part other stations in the group. 1974, publishing newspapers in and FM in Ingalls; KQNS FM in More local news and KXXX and KQLS in Colby. interest in Melia Communications, “We will continue to bring people around Lawrence. The Millers en- Lindsborg; KZLS FM in Great Bend views from “The Melia family is excited with owned and operated by Marty and the best in news, sports and weather tered the commercial television and KILS in Minneapolis. your Goodland Star-News Colorado releases water; School district may buy Bonny lake won’t be drained used computers from Hays in addition to what was in the budget. By Tom Betz Howard Paul, Bonny Park Manager, said By Pat Schiefen Angelos said she planned to go to [email protected] Thursday the two-foot drop will make it hard to [email protected] The Goodland School Board could Oakley on Thursday to help write the Water is draining out of Bonny Reservoir north use the boat ramp in about three weeks, but hand rules for the virtual school that the dis- of Burlington to repay Colorado water debts to launched boats will be allowed. He said shore buy 150 used laptop computers from trict will offer through the Northwest Kansas and Nebraska, but the release will not fishing will be open. the Hays School District to use in el- ementary schools for $190 each, more Kansas Educational Service Center. drain the lake as had been rumored. He said fishermen are catching catfish and wall- The virtual school should be a good re- “As far as draining Bonny, that is not what is eye, which have remained stable despite the lower than $900 below the $1,100 cost of new source for home-schooled students, happening,” said Steve Ronshaugen, acting area water levels, but the crappie, white bass and wiper computers. The Apple Computer laptops, com- she said. Parents would have to enroll manger for the Bureau of Reclamation area of- numbers have fallen off. students at their school district. The fice in Grand Island, Neb., on Tuesday. “They are still catching all of those species,” ing off a three-year lease, would be ser- service center would hire a teacher and Cowboys “We received an order on Monday from the he said. “There have been some very nice bass viced before they are sold, said Super- intendent Shelly Angelos at a school each district would do its own state Colorado state engineer to begin releasing up to caught this week.” assessments. 2,200 acre feet of water. This is being done in com- Ken Knox, chief deputy state water engineer board meeting Monday, May 14. finish 10th The Hays district used them for a pro- The district recognized three retiring Cowboys’ senior Mikey pliance with Colorado water law.” for Colorado, said Tuesday the office ordered the teachers for their years of service: art Ronshaugen said the release began on Tuesday discharge partly because of a 1998 lawsuit by gram where all students would have a Doll took his second shot teacher Mark Hagerman, English at a rate of 50-55 cubic foot per second, and he Kansas. laptop computer, Angelos said, adding teacher Linda Van Loenen and math Monday on hole No. 2 at the estimates it will take three weeks to bring the lake “We are taking the action to help meet our Re- that she had checked and the Goodland Wamego Country Club dur- district still will need to ask for bids on teacher Gaylene Shank. Hagerman has level down to about 9,800 acre feet. Before the publican River compact compliance with Ne- taught since 1977, Shank since 1990 ing the state Class 4A golf release, the lake was 19.25 feet below the normal braska and Kansas,” Knox said. “It will help … the computers. She said they would get tournament. Doll tied for bids from Apple as well. and Van Loenen since 1970, School level and after, officials said, it should be 21.25 to draw Bonny Reservoir down to the level it was Board President Jane Philbrick said. 46th, and the Cowboys fin- feet below normal, down about two feet. last year. The compact is a contract, and we in- The cost to buy the laptops would be ished 10th as a team. See He said Bonny Reservoir held about 12,000 tend to meet our obligations. $28,500 from the capital outlay fund, See COMPUTERS, Page 8 Angelos said, adding that it would be story, photo on Page 11. acre feet after the winter. It will be brought down to the level it was last year, about 9,800 acre feet. See BONNY, Page 8