On Valentine’s Day, Sauda and Amana, two young female Lions at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo turned one year old. The two sister cubs who arrived together in September from a small zoo in Florida continue to do well and according to Zoo Curator Assistant Ashley Burdick, they are currently 150 to 160 pounds and in good health. Burdick says it has been fun to see the lions physical and social development and says despite being sister’s, they have very different personalities.

Ashley Burdick Audio

The two Lions were brought to Great Bend to become companions for the male lion Luke who became despondent after the death of the zoo’s only other lion Mumbasa who died in July of last year. Burdick says the plan remains to try and make the trio a big happy family.

Ashley Burdick Audio

The Zoo continues to add new animals and most recently added a Lar gibbon at the end of October. ReRun turned 28-years old on January 27th. The female was brought to Great Bend from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon to provide companionship for Zito, a 23-year old male Lar gibbon.

On Tuesday, February 27 at about 8:30 p.m. the Barton County Sheriff’s Office and the Ellinwood Police Department conducted a joint operation in the city of Ellinwood. Sheriff’s deputies and Ellinwood police officers executed a search warrant in the 500 block of S. Humbolt St. in the city of Ellinwood.

Upon entry into the single residence officers located a substantial quantity of methamphetamine, firearms and drug paraphernalia.

Arrested at the scene was Scottie Schmidt, age 40 of Ellinwood. Schmidt was booked on charges of distribution of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, felon in possession of a firearm and no drug tax stamp.

Schmidt is a registered drug offender. Schmidt is being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

Sheriff’s deputies were on the scene several hours last night processing evidence. The investigation is ongoing, further arrests are possible.

Nearly three dozen invited guests gathered last Thursday night at Great Bend High School to form a community engagement committee that will examine the needs of USD 428 schools. Those attending represented a cross section of constituents with various ties to education. Most were GBHS graduates or parents and grandparents of students, but represented various positions in the community.

Superintendent Khris Thexton and Terry Wiggers of SJCF Architecture addressed the steering committee and tasked them with identifying problems, establishing goals, gathering community input, educating the community, finding solutions and making recommendations to the USD 428 Board of Education.

“This is the first step in figuring out what the community sees as our strengths and weaknesses,” Thexton said. “Throughout this process, we will learn what our needs for the future are and how to meet those needs.”

“This process is about listening,” Wiggers said, noting the committee will meet 10 to 12 times during the next year before coming to any consensus or conclusion.

“We don’t want to rush the process,” Wiggers said. “If we need more time, we’ll take more time. This is your project; we are just here to facilitate the community engagement and discussion.”

Committee members chose which of six subcommittees they wished to join. The Finance group will gather information on school finance related to facilities and maintenance. Demographics will gather reliable information to make predictions of the demographic influences affecting local public schools. Technology will review the impact of current and future technology on all facilities.

Pupil Transportation will review the district’s overall student transportation plan and the impact it has on building and the locations of buildings. Infrastructure will examine the existing facilities and develop recommendations for meeting critical needs of them.

The Community Groups subcommittee will look at how the community utilizes facilities and determine the potential for increased community use of USD 428 facilities. In addition to the community engagement steering committee, there will also be four planning teams, one for each type of facility – elementary schools, middle school, high school and support facilities.

Those team members will be chosen from site councils, community members, parents, faculty, school administration, central office administrations and school board members. It will be their jobs to establish facility goals and objectives, determine criteria required for a typical facility, consider requirements for future programs and make recommendations to the steering committee. Additionally, staff surveys are being completed to give the district the widest amount of input possible.

“I personally want to thank all of the members of the steering committee,” Thexton said. “Your commitment to our schools is exciting and is what makes our community great.”

BOOKED: Roman Garza of Great Bend on BTDC warrant for failure to appear, bond set in lieu of $500 cash only.

BOOKED: Alexis Marie Thomas on Barton County District Court warrant for failure to appear, with a bond of $1,000 cash only.

BOOKED: Ramone Hester of Bartisville, OK on Barton County District Court warrant for probation violation, bond set at $2,500 C/S. BCDC warrant for probation violation, bond set at $10,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Jacqueline Rodriguez on Great Bend Municipal Court case for battery DV with a bond of $1,000 surety.

BOOKED: Daniel Rodriguez on Great Bend Municipal Court case for battery DV with a $1,000 surety bond.

BOOKED: Scottie Schmidt of Ellinwood on BTDC case for distribution of methamphetamine, possession of paraphernalia, criminal use of weapons, possession of marijuana, no drug tax stamp,  bond is set at $100,000 C/S.

RELEASED: Roman Garza of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for failure to appear after posting a $500 cash bond.

RELEASED: Jacqueline Rodriguez on Great Bend Municipal Court case with a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.

RELEASED: Daniel Rodriguez-Jimenez on Great Bend Municipal Court case with a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.