While we’re talking about page 3A, one thing we’re missing there is a weekly weather report. Here’s our call for someone who keeps an eye on the weather and who would like to write about it. The news doesn’t have to be anything terribly scientific just a paragraph or two about the past week’s weather, rain gauge levels, temperature highs and lows if possible, and how the weather may be affecting agriculture, construction, schools or traffic. If you’re interested in helping, please let us know.

While driving through Basehor Monday afternoon, I noticed a brand new office building with a for-rent sign in the window. It occurred to me then that there are two types of people those who are risk-takers and those who are not.

Oh sure, we all take all kinds of risks every day. But in the category of financial risk-takers I think it takes an especially daring person to invest in a building that is being built on speculation.

Some of us would lie awake at night worrying about projects like that. But the funny thing is, if built in the right area, an investment in real estate is almost sure to pay off.

With a total of 57 new building permits issued in Tonganoxie in 1999, and with about half of those buildings being built on speculation, there are a lot of people out there banking on Tonganoxie’s growth.

Considering that we have the new four-lane coming out here from Kansas City, and that new businesses are springing up in the area, the risk-takers in this instance those who are buying land and building infrastructure to build new housing developments, and the builders themselves, when it comes to planning for a profit, seem to be in the right place at the right time.

An observer to this progress, I wish the risk-takers well. Yes, perhaps even they suffer sleepness nights counting dollar signs instead of sheep, but chances are, their work will pay off in the long run, and they will see, someday, that they were in on the ground floor at a time when the price was right. Not only that, but they will also have provided needed housing for people who want to live here.

At the same time I can’t help but hope that the growth that seems to be unstoppable will be growth that is as good as it can be for our community.

Sometimes growth has surprising stories that go along with it. For instance, take the new justice center in Leavenworth. A new jail in that facility will increase inmate capacity from the present maximum of 64 to 156.

The jail is scheduled to open on March 7, but not one of the required 15 new detention officers has been hired.

Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Lt. Jim Murray, desperately seeking applicants for these positions since November, said the county jail will remain at the present location until the new jail is fully staffed. Here we are in this instance with growth looking us in the face, with good-paying jobs and benefits for the taking … and hardly anyone is interested.

New businesses and businesses we hadn’t heard of until this past week continue to surface in our area. This, too, is a sure sign of growth, and one that we need to continue covering for our readers. If you know of businesses that we might not know about, please remember that you are always welcome to give us a call, or to stop in and visit.