75¢ COLBY Monday November 10, 2014 Volume 125, Number 176 Serving Thomas County since 1888 8 pages FFREEREE PPRESSRESS Fast action stops fire in cornfield By Sam Dieter The fire was reported at 12:42 Colby Free Press p.m., said Hankin, and fire fight- [email protected] ers returned to the station at 2:17. Crews stayed maybe an hour after Over 15 acres of corn just south the flames died down to make sure of Colby went up in smoke when it was out, he said. hot embers apparently escaped Winds were approaching 40 from a burn box at a truck stop mph that afternoon, according to Friday afternoon. the National Weather Service, and Employees at the Oasis-Petro blew the embers into the field and Travel Center had been putting then fanned the flames. Around cardboard into a burn bin behind 15 to 20 acres of the corn field the Petro truck stop, Assistant Fire burned, Hankin said. Along with Chief Sean Hankin said. Some hot firefighters in a smaller truck, two embers that had been smoldering discs pulled by employees from in the bin for several days appar- Colby Fertilizer and American SAM DIETER/Colby Free Press ently blew out and started a fire in Implement drove to the field to Flames rose from a corn field just south of town Friday afternoon field and started a blaze. The smoke could be seen across town. a cornfield owned by Bert Stramel help control the spread of the fire. after embers left in a burn box for several days back blew into the just south of the truck stop. Son of past college president to oversee Guantanamo trials By Sam Dieter war court at Guantanamo Bay, “He didn’t talk very much about so he should be prepared for what- Colby Free Press where suspected terrorists and it,” Mikel Ary said of his son’s last ever comes with the new job. [email protected] enemies of the U.S. captured dur- job as judge advocate. “I know a Although his father was the The son of a past president of ing the War on Terror are held. little bit about it because he came longest-running president at the Colby Community College, has As convening authority, he may on the news.” college, Vaughn Ary never actu- been appointed to oversee the convene trials, bring charges, Dr. Ary described this position ally lived in Colby. Mikel Ary trials of detainees at the Guanta- negotiate pretrial agreements, re- as the highest-ranking lawyer in was president from 1988 until namo Bay prison at the U.S. naval view records and hear appeals for the Marine Corps. Among other 2005, almost 18 years. Vaughn base in Cuba. clemency, the commission web- things, his son appeared next to Ary was born in Hays, when his U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary is the site says. then-commandant, Gen. James father was teaching at Plainville Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary, son of Colby Community College’s son of Mikel Ary, the college’s In July, Gen. Ary’s 27-year Amos, during Senate hearings. High School, and grew up in Ada, longest-serving president, was a common sight on television as longest-serving president, On military career came to an end “Of course, we were concerned Okla., where his father taught staff judge advocate to the commandant of the Marine Corps. Sept. 30, he was appointed as the when he retired from the posi- about the controversy,” Mikel Ary at East Central State College. In He now has the responsibility of overseeing trials of suspected convening authority for the Guan- tion of staff judge advocate to the said about the new job, “I guess 1984, the future Marine Corps terrorists at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. tanamo military commissions and commandant of the Marine Corps. with any parent, you’re concerned judge advocate earned a bache- the companion post of director of The Marine website says the ad- about that.” lor’s degree at Northwestern State the University of Oklahoma Col- his father said from his current the Office of Military Commis- vocate gives legal counsel to the But he added that his son was University in Alva, Okla., where lege of Law. home in Owasso, Okla., a suburb sions. commander, his subordinates and at the center of lots of controversy his father served as vice president, “He visited a number of times of Tulsa. His job will be to manage the staff. when he served as judge advocate, and a juris doctorate in 1987 from when we lived there (in Colby),” Dancing at the Sacred Heart hop Cold weather cancels parade Veterans will be honored at an organizing the event each year, indoor ceremony Tuesday, but and Monte Lewis, the Legion they will not be marching through commander, noted that this is the downtown because, for the sec- Veterans year. ond year in a row, cold weather Everyone is welcome to attend has forced sponsors to cancel the the ceremony at the Legion Hall, Veterans Day Parade. where he will give a speech, Vap Jim Vap, adjutant of the Colby said American Legion Post and com- Legion and Veterans of Foreign mander of the Colby Veterans of Wars, along with the Sons of the Foreign Wars, said early this after- American Legion honor guard and noon he decided the weather again the Colby High School marching will be too cold for a parade. In- band, would have been in the pa- stead, Vap said, the ceremony that rade, Vap said. would have been at the end of the The Veterans of Foreign Wars parade will he held at the Veter- will have a supper after the cere- ans of Foreign Wars shortly after mony. Sandwiches will be served, 4 p.m. but Vap said he hopes to see peo- The parade had been set to ple bring a side dish. start at 4 p.m. at Fike Park, then He added that he is considering move down Franklin Ave. to Third having the parade on the Saturday Street, turning east to go to the before or after Veterans Day next Thomas County Courthouse. year, perhaps closer to 2 p.m. The veterans’ groups take turns Soybeans yields up DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – ers are now expected to harvest The U.S. Department of Agricul- 3.96 billion bushels, up 31 mil- ture is boosting the size of this lion bushels from the October es- year’s record soybean crop as timate. farmers in several states report Fifteen states are expected to SAM DIETER/Colby Free Press per-acre yields surpassing earlier report records for the amount of Nancy Taylor (right), a first-grade teacher at Sacred Heart expectations. soybeans grown per acre with the School, signed an autograph book belonging to third grader The corn crop is reduced slight- average yield at 47.5 bushels per Hayden Bellamy in the school’s gym. Later, two students ly but will still be a record. acre. (above) danced at the school’s first ‘50s Day, held to mark In Monday’s update of this the 50th day of school last Monday. year’s crop, the Department of Agriculture says soybean farm- Page 2 Colby Free Press Monday, November 10, 2014 Area/State Weather College kicks off winter Briefly The deadline for Briefly is noon the day before. Items submitted in the morning will be set up for the following day, space available. The deadline with ski documentary for Monday’s paper is noon Friday. Massage therapy students hold clinics Colby Community College instructor Ryan “We’ll watch skiers and snowboarders dodge Massage therapy students at Colby Community College plan to hold a Hale plans a Kick-Off to Winter Party featuring avalanches and tackle terrain on glaciers in Cor- clinic from 5 to 8:30 p.m. each Monday in Thomas Hall, open to everyone. a ski and travel documentary at 7 p.m. Tuesday, dova, Alaska,” said Hale. “There’s heli-skiing Cost is $25 for a one-hour massage. For an appointment, call Amber Nov. 18, in the Cultural Arts Center on campus with an all-girls’ extreme skiing crew in Deer Val- Nuttycomb at 460-5427 or go to www.colbycc.edu/academics/certificate- “There will be a ton of door prizes and free food ley, Utah, and in Alaska; water skiing in Mexico programs/massage-therapy/index. and drinks as well,” said Hale. “We’ll have hood- and video of the Steamboat Springs Winter Carni- ies, electronic prizes and coupons to several res- val as skiers race down Main Street being pulled taurants to give away.” by riders on horseback.” Diabetes classes meet at hospital The film includes travel to Chamonix, France, Everyone is invited. For information, contact Citizens Medical Center is offering classes on diabetes, “Journey to Aspen/Snowmass, Alaska, Canada, Bulgaria, Hale at 460-5544 or [email protected]. Control,” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday in November in the hospital Switzerland and California’s Sierra Nevada. conference room. Sessions will address diabetes and healthy eating, monitoring blood sugar and the natural course of diabetes. The classes are free but registration is required. Call the Jeanene Brown at 460-4850. U.S. 83 stretch to be rebuilt Farm Service, Extension plan meeting on bill The Thomas County office of the U.S. Farm Service Agency and the U.S. 83 from Oberlin to Lib- sas City and U.S. 81-Interstate damage is mostly in the south- Thomas County Extension Office plan an informational meeting on the eral stands out as one of three 135/35 from Nebraska to Okla- bound lanes, Stewart said.