This is the big week

So of course, the big news broke while I was gone on vacation.

Yes, the roundabout finally will open this week. Thursday, to be exact.

They're planning a big shindig at the site with KDOT representatives from Topeka.

But as has been par for the course, there's a severe weather threat for Thursday. I wonder how that will affect the event, which already has been postponed once due to weather delays.

For a project that was completed a month later than it was supposed to, due to excessive and persistent rainfall, it's an appropriately uncooperative ending, I suppose.

Round and roundabout we go

Well, I finally got in touch with KDOT.

Story runs today. Check it out at local news stands or on arkcity.net.

I'll give you a hint: Don't expect any ribbon-cutting ceremonies tomorrow...

Can it be hectic and slow at the same time?

The last few days have been pretty crazy around the newsroom, as we continue to balance coverage of Sgt. Tyler Juden's funeral and the city's response to his death against respect for the family's need for privacy in this trying time.

Monday especially was insane, as we juggled trading photographs between three newspapers, coordinating multiple people out on assignment, reacting to the change in destination for the Army flight carrying Juden's remains (originally scheduled to land in Strother Field, they later diverted to Ponca City), and so on.

So while everyone else works to cover that story appropriately, I've been busy taking care of other little things in the newsroom. Thus, no time to blog lately.

But at the same time, it's been kind of slow. The funeral is the only major story this week; not much else is going on.

A few tidbits for you to chew on until sometime more interesting happens:

• The latest entry from the Hall of Dead Stories: It seemed like plans to remodel the water billing office at City Hall were going to move forward after the recent incident with the man who was arrested there, but according to Director of Administration Lane Massey, that's not really the case. The plans are moving forward, however, just not at any kind of accelerated rate. There are other concerns driving them besides just security; handicapped accessibility is one.
• Apparently, a reader called yesterday and asked if I or another employee planned to live blog from the funeral. I hope no one is excessively disappointed that we did not do so. We have questioned ourselves constantly while covering this story: How much is too much? Me sitting in a memorial service clacking away on a keyboard (assuming I even could get Internet access in there, which is doubtful) seems like too much, doesn't it? Trials and public meetings are one thing, but there have to be some limits...
• No word yet on whether the bypass roundabout will open on schedule (Friday). I'll be calling KDOT later this afternoon to follow up on that.
  

No news is (not always) good news

There's a rumor floating around town that the Phelps clan out of Topeka has applied for a permit to protest at Tyler Juden's funeral.

Well, I called Steve Archer and Sean Wallace yesterday and here's what I found out:

1. They have not heard anything official from Westboro Baptist Church about protest plans. But that's because no permit actually is required for such a protest.
2. That said, it is fully expected that once the date and time for the funeral are announced, the Phelps group probably will announce their intentions to picket at that time.
3. It is likely they still will file a notice or request some sort of permit, even though it actually is not required. Several Phelps family members are graduates of Washburn Law School, and they know their legal rights forward and backward.

So, we have that to look forward to. Archer and Wallace did say they met with Patriot Guard members the other day to discuss arrangements. The Guard will escort Juden's remains home from Wichita, and Wallace said they will be treated as part of the funeral party (at the invitation of the family).

On a related note, Westboro sent a fax to us last night announcing their intentions to picket Daniel Cox's funeral in Parsons, so we probably can expect something from them soon re: the Juden funeral.

As usual, the fax is a despicable excoriation of America and the Patriot Guard. I won't reproduce anything from it here; suffice to say, these people are going to be a headache next week. I urge everyone in Ark City to just ignore them until they go away - they only want attention, and the best way to strike at them is not to give them the stage they crave so much.

City Commission Meeting (09/15/09)

A sad day

What a terrible loss for the Juden family and the Ark City community.

Bob Juden was my seventh-grade science teacher, and Tyler was in my sister's high school class, so my thoughts go out to them. All of us are connected in a town as small as this, and when one family suffers a loss, we all suffer as well.

I encourage everyone to fly their flags at half-mast, as the city is doing, to honor Sgt. Tyler Juden and his sacrifice.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming

Sorry I have been so remiss in blogging lately. I had a couple of days this week where I needed to work as quickly and on as little as possible, in order to avoid drawing any overtime pay.

And I will admit I haven't felt as compelled, of late, to post that much, because I wasn't sure if anyone actually was reading this yet. Now that I finally have received a few comments, though, I probably should pick it up a bit.

I really don't have any tidbits today, so I'll just promo my story tomorrow, which is a report on the Renaissance Festival held earlier this month. It largely was a success, although not necessarily in the financial sense.

Also, I'd like to offer my sympathies to the City Manager's executive secretary, Nancy Crain. Nancy apparently is stepping down from her position after being diagnosed with cancer. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

City Commission Work Session (09/10/09)

Much ado about nothing

Just a short blurb today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow.

There's a rumor floating around that the Kansas Avenue railroad overpass project has fallen through, or something to that effect.

I called City Manager Steve Archer today to ask him about it, but I was pretty sure I already knew what his answer would be.

In short, there's nothing to it. The project is proceeding as expected.

The start of construction was moved back to January, so perhaps that's where this rumor got started. This is pretty normal for KDOT lately, because they're swamped trying to get all of the stimulus projects done before the end of the year.

To make a long story short: The overpass will begin in January. Once the dirt ramps are built, they have to sit for six months with no settling before the bridge can be built.

Also, Archer told me the money that has been appropriated can't be spent on anything else anyway, so there's little to no chance KDOT would kill the project at this point.

Sacred cows

Well, as you might know from reading last night's live blog, local citizen Pearl Turner criticized the City Commission once more for their decision to allow an Arkalalah beer garden.

I didn't mention this in my story today for two reasons:

1. It occurred after the meeting was adjourned and thus technically was not part of the actual meeting.
2. Frankly, I think enough has been said on this topic already. There clearly is a segment of the town's population that won't be mollified by any justification for the event.
   

That said, something has been bothering me for a while about the whole beer garden debate, and I was reminded of it once again last night.

Obviously, there is at least a segment of the city that is unhappy about the idea - witness the complaints at the last few meetings and the letters to the editor.

But I wonder: Why they didn't voice the same disapproval for the beer garden that was held in the Agri-Business Building at last week's Renaissance Festival? It's not that one was inside and the other will be outside, because these same people objected to the serving of beer inside the Burford last year, as well.

The only explanation I can offer is that Arkalalah basically is a "sacred cow" in this town. The Ren Faire, being relatively new, doesn't stir the same emotions yet.

Anyhow, not everyone opposes the beer garden. Obviously, the commission is for it, and Mayor Jay Warren said last night that neither he nor the other commissioners have received any phone calls on the subject. Furthermore, a poll on arkcity.net last week showed 70-percent support for their decision (although our polls are unscientific, of course).

It will be interesting to see if any of the churches boycott like some did two years ago.

City Commission Meeting (09/01/09)