12

Christmas icon makes appearance in Ottawa parade.

See Page 11.

SANTA VISITFarmer puts family canning techniques to ‘Berry Good’ use.

See Page 13.

PRESERVING

TuesdayDecember 11, 2012

Ottawa, Kansas

75 cents Volume 143, No. 226

20 PagesHeraldOttawaThe

TUESDAY EDITIoN

Photo by Bobby Burch/The Ottawa Herald

Marjorie Kitts, 89, reminisces Monday at her Ottawa home while looking at a photograph of a B-25 Mitchell bomber — the type of aircraft she helped as-semble during the mid-1940s in Kansas City, Kan., as part of the nation’s World War II effort. Seventy years ago, Kitts worked alongside thousands of other women in factories to construct aircraft, munitions and other war supplies dur-ing the war. J. Howard Miller’s famous “We Can Do It,” poster, which features a woman with her sleeves rolled up and wearing a bandana, eventually gained Kitts, and other women like her, the title, “Rosie the Riveter.”

Bobby Combs, ATC Composites president and CEO, gives a tour of the Ottawa production facility Monday to U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., and other local dignitar-ies at ATC Composites, 801 E. North St., Ottawa.

Photos by Matt Bristow/The Ottawa Herald

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., talks Monday with busi-ness owners, residents and local dignitaries about what the “fiscal cliff” means to them at ATC Composites, 801 E. North St., Ottawa. The visit by Jenkins was part of a tour of small businesses in the 2nd Congressional Dis-trict to gather potential solutions regarding the conse-quences of the nation’s impending fiscal cliff. Jenkins said a deal probably would not be made until Dec. 31. “This is not a place we want to go,” Jenkins said.

HeraldThe Ottawa

Community News. Community Connections.

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Off the cuff on the cliff

MARjoRIE KITTS

Local ‘Rosie’ recounts riveting wartime workBy BOBBY BURCHHerald Staff Writer

It has been 70 years since Mar-jorie Kitts held an air-pressured rivet gun to the hollow fuselage of a B-25 Mitchell bomber. But give the near-90-year-old an opportunity, and she’d be back on the factory line, driving rivets to supply her country with the best equipment for victory. “I can feel the rhythm and pressure of that rivet gun right now,” Kitts said, recalling her time at the North American Bomber factory in Kansas City, Kan. “I could do it right now — I could.”

From a quiet, unassuming farm life in Pomona during the early 1940s, Kitts eventually found herself in the heart of the U.S. war effort. In 1941, Kitts, then a recent Pomona High School graduate, briefly had a job at Ottawa’s Dutch Maid, a local ice cream parlor, before learning of her next great adventure. Kitts eventually attended a war bonds sale at Ottawa University, where she learned women were being recruited to work in factories as part of the “national effort” for World War II, she said.

See ROSIE, Page 6

FRANKLIN COUNTY EATS TWELVE IN 12/12

GET ThE dISh ON ThESE 12 OTTAWA-AREA OFFERINGS, SEE pAGE 612

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

Photo by Bobby Burch/ The Ottawa Herald

Speakers for today’s Franklin County Children’s Literature Festival enjoy a hot meal Tuesday evening with their sponsors at Sacred Heart Parish center, 426 S. Cedar St., Ottawa. The literature festival, now in its 11th year, brings a variety of children’s authors to Ottawa to speak to Franklin County students. The Tuesday night meal provided an opportunity for sponsors of the event to recognize and mingle with the authors and other presenters.

By CRYSTAL HERBER Herald Staff Writer

Ottawans shouldn’thavetotravelsofartogetgroceries, Tom Bunnelsaid. Tucked between twobusinesses in downtownOttawa,Bunnel’snewven-tureisabouttoemerge. Set to open Tuesday,Tom’sMainStreetMarketaims to draw shoppers to2301/

2S.MainSt.,Ottawa.

Bunnel said he wants toofferpeopleinthecentralandnorthernareasofthecity basic items so theydon’thave to travel southfortheirshopping. “The kind of stuff, youneedafewitems,butyou

don’twanttogoallthewaydown to Walmart just topickitup,”Bunnelsaid. He said he has heardlocalpeopletalkingaboutalackofgroceryitemsonthe north end of the city,and he wanted to helpboostthearea’sofferings. Themarketwilloffera

varietyofitems,includingcigarettes, bottled pop,candy, snacks and suchgrocery items as milk,bread and eggs, Bunnelsaid. The store is expectedtobeopen9a.m.to6p.m.Monday through Satur-day. Depending on how

businessgoes,hesaid,thestore might also be openSundays. Bunnel, who said hehasmorethan10yearsofexperiencemanagingcon-venienceandretailstores,said he wanted to be hisownboss. “Ibecameanemployee,thenIwasthinkingIwantto work for myself, thenI was thinking I want toopen a store downtown,”hesaid. Bunnel and a part-time employee will runthestorefornow,hesaid,but he hopes businessdoeswellenoughforhimto hire at least two moreworkers.

Main Street market set to open, owner says

By BOBBY BURCHHerald Staff Writer

Withlocomotiveforce,theKansasHouseofRepresen-tatives effortlesslypassed a bill Tues-daythatallowsrail-waycarsinthestatetoserveliquor. Themeasure,alsoknown as the Din-ner Railcar LiquorLicensebill,passedthestatehousewith“overwhelming support, 107-16,” ac-

cordingtoStateRep.TerriLoisGreg-ory,R-BaldwinCity,whorepresentsaportionofFranklinCounty. “IamverypleasedtoseeSubHB2689passtheHouse,”Gregorysaidinapressrelease.“Thislegislationwill help bring new business andjobs immediately to Kansas whileboosting visitors at tourist desti-nations in Douglas and Franklincounties.ItwillbegreattousethehistoricrailroadanddepotinBald-winCity—animportantpartofourstate’shistory—whileshowingoffsomeofthestate’slandmarks.”

The bill would eliminate biastowardrailwaydiningcarsthates-sentially operate the same as sta-tionary restaurants, Gregory, whointroducedthemeasuretostateleg-islatorsinFebruary,said. Ifmadelaw,thebillwouldplace“railwaycar”inthecurrentdefini-tionofadrinkingestablishment. All four state legislators withrepresentation in Franklin County— Rep. Bill Feuerborn, D-Garnett,Rep.BillOtto,R-LeRoy,Rep.WilliePrescott,R-OsageCity,andGregory—votedinfavorofthebill.

Rep. Gregory’s railcar liquor bill chugs ahead

DOWNTOWN BUSINESS

STATE LEGISLATION

CRIME

By The Herald Staff

Ottawa police are investigat-ing theattemptedrobberyofanOttawa business early Tuesdayby what appeared to be a preg-nantwoman. A short, white woman, pos-sibly pregnant, entered the Ot-tawa Mini Mart, 2120 S. Princ-eton St., Ottawa, at about 4:50a.m.Tuesdayanddemandedallthecash,Lt.AdamWeingartner,with the Ottawa Police Depart-

ment,said. Afterthestore’semployeedidnot comply, the woman fled onfoot from the business, headingwest,Weingartnersaid. The police report said thewomanwaswearinggraysweat-pants, a pink or red hoodedsweatshirt worn over a plaidhooded sweatshirt, and whitetennisshoeswithablacktongueand red shoelaces. It was notclear if the woman was armed

withaweapon. Police detectives are continu-ing the investigation. Police re-leased a photograph of the sus-pect, which was taken by one ofthestore’ssecuritycameras. Weingartnersaidanyonewhorecognizesthesuspectorhasin-formationaboutthecrimeshouldcall the Ottawa Police Depart-ment at (785) 242-1700 or Frank-lin County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-311-TIPS(8477).

Report: Possibly pregnant woman attempts robbery

Central Heights off and running as season begins. See Page 8.

ON TRACK

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Local&RegionThe Ottawa Herald

I-35 & K-68 • Ottawa • www.jimtawneyauto.com

785-242-5050

Most trusted namein vehicle sales!

Feasts for the mind and body

Mostly sunny

SATURDAY

76/55

PartlyCloudy

Cloudy

Showers

Thunder-storms

Rain

Flurries

Snow

Ice

OKLA.

NEB. MO.

© 2012 Wunderground.com

Today's ForecastWednesday, March 14

City/RegionHigh | Low tempsForecast for

Colby78° | 37° Kansas City

83° | 62°Topeka83° | 59°

Ottawa82° | 60°

Pittsburg80° | 61°

Wichita82° | 58°

Liberal84° | 45°

Salina82° | 54°

KANSAS CONDITIONS HOTLINE

(800) 585-7623 or 511Available online at: http://511.ksdot.org

Provided by the Kansas Highway Patrol

Partly cloudy

Winds: SSW at 16 mphGusts: 29 mph

TODAY

82

Partly sunny

THURSDAY

78/59

Local Weather

Thunderstorms

Winds: S at 11 mphGusts: 20 mph

TONIGHT

60

Partly sunny

FRIDAY

79/57

StatisticsTemperaturesMonday’s high . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Monday’s low . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242Monday’s record high . . .85, 1916Monday’s record low . . . . -9, 1948

PrecipitationPrecipitation 7 a.m. Tuesday....NoneMonday’s record . . . . . .1.35, 1947Month to date. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.54Monthly average .. . . . . . . . . . 2.95Year to date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.70

Sunrise/SunsetSunset Tonight . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:28Sunrise Thursday . . . . . . . . . . 7:31Sunset Thursday . . . . . . . . . . 7:29

Reservoir levels Full Level (cu.ft./sec)Reservoir Pool Now OutflowClinton 876 874.43 7Hillsdale 917 915.48 3Melvern 1,036 1,033.94 20Pomona 974 974.15 15

National Weather By The Associated Press

National temperature extremes in the lower 48 states ranged from 13 at Mullan Pass, Idaho, to 87 at Dryden, Texas.

Courtesy photo

A short, white woman, possibly pregnant, is shown in surveillance footage early Tuesday during a reported attempt-ed robbery at Ottawa Mini Mart, 2120 S. Princeton St., Ottawa.

Fire damages elderly couple’s home AnelderlyruralLanecoupleispickingupthepiecesafter a four-alarm fire severely damaged their homeSaturdayafternoon. FirefightersfromPottawatomie,CutlerandLincoln-Ottawa-Harrison townships and Wellsville battled theblaze, which caused more than $200,000 in damage tothehome,accordingtoaFranklinCountySheriff’sOf-ficereportreleasedTuesday. Noinjurieswerereported. Thefirebrokeoutabout2:45p.m.inthegarageofKen-nethandSylviaCummins’home.TheCummins,ages81and78,sufferedextensivedamagetotheirpossessionsaswell. The cause of the fire was still under investigationTuesday.

News brief

Tom’s Main Street Market, 230 1/2 S. Main Street, Ottawa, is expected to offer a variety of items, including cigarettes, bottled pop, candy, snacks and such grocery items as milk, bread and eggs, owner Tom Bunnel said.

Gregory

By CRYSTAL HERBERHerald Staff Writer

Angeline and Robert WoottensaidtheymakeaboutfivetripsfromnortheastofOttawatothecityeachweek.ButtogettoOttawa,theruralresidents cross a bridge over TauyCreek — and bounce through itsmanypotholes. The bridge, which is on SandCreek Road, has fallen into suchdisrepair that rebar is exposed.Although the potholes have beenpatchedseveraltimes,WoottensaidWednesday from her home, the fixhasnotlasted. Though theWoottenscould takeagravelroadtoOttawa,theychooseto drive Sand Creek Road becauseof its asphalt roadway. The condi-tion of the bridge, however, Ange-lineWoottensaid,makesherworryitcouldcauseawreck. “Somebody that doesn’t knowthe road is going to go over it atthespeedlimitandhaveawreck,”Woottensaid.“Theycouldlosecon-trolreallyeasily.” WoottensaidshehasspokentoJimHaag,FranklinCountypublicworksdirector,multipletimesabouttheis-sue,mostrecentlywithinthepasttwoweeks.ShelatercontactedFranklinCountyCommissionerDavidHood. Hood, the commissioner for thethird district where the bridge islocated, addressed Wootten’s con-cerns at Wednesday’s FranklinCounty Board of Commissioners’meeting.Hetoldfellowcommission-ers others in his district also hadcontactedhimaboutthebridge. “We need to have some kind ofpatchingonit,andweneedtostartlooking in to some way of fixing itpermanently,”hesaid. Thecountycouldbeliable,Hoodsaid, if theproblemisn’tcorrectedquicklyenoughandsomeonehasawreck. Fixing the bridge was on theagendatwoyearsago,LisaJohnson,FranklinCountyadministratorand

counselor, told Hood. At the time,she said, commissioners did notagreetotakeaction. Theconditionofthebridgeisex-pected tobeon theagenda for theboard’snextstudysession,8:30a.m.April 16 in the commission cham-bers,1428S.MainSt.,Ottawa.Thosewhowouldliketospeakontheissue

mustregisterwiththecountyclerkbeforethemeeting. Inthemeantime,Woottensaid,shemustcontinuetodriveherFordEx-plorerveryslowlyacrossthebridge. “It’snotgoodonyourcars,it’snotgoodonyourtires,”shesaid.“Ihatetocomplain,butyouknowthatisahazard.”

Photo by Matt Bristow/The Ottawa Herald

Metal rebar is exposed Wednesday on the Sand Creek Road bridge that crosses Tauy Creek northeast of Ottawa. Several areas of the bridge show signs of dete-rioration.

Rural residents bemoan condition of decaying bridge

FRANKLIN COUNTY

Eagles hit the road to take on Baldwin Bulldogs today. See Page 8.

BASEBALL

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Local&RegionThe Ottawa Herald

I-35 & K-68 • Ottawa • www.jimtawneyauto.com

785-242-5050

Most trusted namein vehicle sales!

Photo by Matt Bristow/The Ottawa Herald

Damien Dixon, with Dixon Construction of Kansas City, Mo., installs steel braces to the north side of the three-story build-ing at 124 S. Main St., Ottawa. The braces are to help prevent sections from collapsing onto neighboring buildings when demolition of the crumbling historic building begins.

Commissioners to discuss structure, possible action

Driver’s license offices down again, could be back online today Driver’s license offices across the state remaineddownWednesday,preventingKansansfromgettingnewlicensesorrenewalsforatleastanotherday. Becauseofaproblemwithan8-year-oldserver,thesystem allowing the processing of licenses had beendownsinceat leastTuesday,aKansasDepartmentofRevenuereleasestated.Acomponentneededtorepairthesystemwassaidtohavebeenordered.Repairsini-tiallyhadbeenexpectedtobecompletewiththesys-tembackonlineWednesday. The department said Wednesday afternoon its sys-temwouldberunningagainbytoday. “Resuming issuing driver’s licenses and identifi-cation cards is our top priority,” Donna Shelite, thedepartment’sdirectorofvehicles,said in therelease.“ThisisagreatinconvenienceformanyKansans,andweandourvendorarefocusedonensuringtherearenotproblemsinthefuture.” FranklinCountyresidentswereturnedawayfromthedriver’slicenseofficeTuesdayandWednesdaybecausestaff members were unable to process their requests.ResidentswithlicensesexpiringbetweenMarch31andFridaynowarebeinggiven15-dayextensionstorenewit. The server is said to have malfunctioned over theweekend,thereleasestated.Vehicletitlesandregistra-tionservicesremainunaffected.

Safety awareness day planned TheepicenterofsafetycouldbefoundonPrincetonCircleDrivelaterthismonth. Franklin County Emergency Management officialswillplayhosttothefirstFranklinCountySafetyAware-nessDayfrom9a.m.tonoonApril21onthesouthsideoftheCountryMartparkinglot,2138S.PrincetonCir-cleDrive,Ottawa. Personnelfromlawenforcement,cityandruralfiredepartments,emergencymedicalservices,emergencymanagementandtheAmericanRedCrossplantodis-playequipment,fieldquestionsandprovidesafetytipstothepublic,accordingtoanewsrelease. “Wewillhaveatleast13departmentsand17piecesof equipment there,” Vickie Eckard, Franklin County

EmergencyManagementcoordinator,said. Withtheoften-stormyspringseasoncirclingin,res-idents are urged to bring their National Oceanic andAtmosphericAdministrationall-hazardweatherradiosforemergencymanagementofficials toprogram,Eck-ardsaid. “Weencourageeveryonetostopbythatmorningandmeetsomeof themenandwomenwhohelpkeepourcommunitiessafe,andtogetaclose-uplookofawidevarietyofequipmentondisplay,”shesaid.

Hospital announces scholarships Ninelocalmedicalstudentsjustgotahelpinghandwiththeireducationexpenses. Ransom Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Ottawa, onWednesdayannounceditsscholarshipwinnersforthe2012-2013schoolyear. Therecipients,theirschoolsandfieldsare: • Christina Adkinson, Neosho County CommunityCollege,withcampusesinOttawaandChanute,surgi-caltechnician • Kaylee Carter, Colby Community College, Colby,Kan.,physicaltherapyassistant •BrianaFinch,WashburnUniversity,Topeka,nursing •SeverenaKimball,schooltobedetermined,audiol-ogy • Nicole Ninemire, Mid-America Nazerene Univer-sity,Olathe,nursing • Stephanie Nitcher, University of Kansas MedicalCenter, Kansas City, Kan., master’s of occupationaltherapy •ChelseaOschel,LabetteCommunityCollege,Par-sons,nursing •BrookeSmith,NeoshoCountyCommunityCollege,nursing •JessicaWallis,NeoshoCountyCommunityCollege,surgicaltechnician Theninescholarshipstotaled$6,250,accordingtoahospitalauxiliarynewsrelease.Theorganizationhasawarded254scholarshipstotaling$151,900since1973. Toqualify forascholarship,recipientshadtobearesidentofFranklinCountyoremployeeofRansomMe-morialHospital,1301S.MainSt.,Ottawa,beenrolledoracceptedinahealth-relatedprogramofferedbyanac-creditedinstitutionandhavea3.0GPAorhigher, thereleasesaid.

News briefs

Bracing for the end

SUNDAY

68/47

Temperature extremes in the lower 48 states ranged from 7 at West Yel-lowstone, Mont. to 95 at Harlingen, Texas.

National Weather By The Associated Press

PartlyCloudy

Cloudy

Showers

Thunder-storms

Rain

Flurries

Snow

Ice

OKLA.

NEB. MO.

© 2012 Wunderground.com

Today's ForecastThursday, April 5

City/RegionHigh | Low tempsForecast for

Colby63° | 40° Kansas City

58° | 50°Topeka60° | 48°

Ottawa59° | 44°

Pittsburg63° | 51°

Wichita62° | 49°

Liberal70° | 39°

Salina62° | 48°

KANSAS CONDITIONS HOTLINE

(800) 585-7623 or 511Available online at: http://511.ksdot.org

Provided by the Kansas Highway Patrol

Showers

Winds: NE at 9 mphGusts: 15 mph

TODAY

59

Mostly sunny

FRIDAY

65/46

Local Weather

Mostly clear

Winds: E at 5 mphGusts: 11 mph

TONIGHT

44

Partly cloudy

SATURDAY

66/49

TemperaturesTuesday’s high. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Tuesday’s low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Tuesday’s record high . . . . . 82, 1910Tuesday’s record low. . . . . . 12, 1936PrecipitationPrecipitation 7 a.m. Wed . . . ...0.01Tuesday’s record. . . . . . 1.95, 1903Month to date.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.01Monthly average... . . . . . . . . . 3.55Year to date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.06

StatisticsSunrise/SunsetSunset Tonight . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:49Sunrise Friday. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:57Sunset Friday . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:50

Reservoir levels Full Level (cu.ft./sec)Reservoir Pool Now OutflowClinton 876 876.55 50Hillsdale 917 917.75 100Melvern 1,036 1,036.55 20Pomona 974 976.87 300

Partly sunny