Talk of Tonganoxie: Grass fires, signs and school
Welcome to a new feature on our site called Talk of Tonganoxie.
Basically, it’s a blog giving you some tidbits about what’s going on in Tonganoxie and the surrounding areas — and possibly headlines beyond that.
So, shall we get started?
Grass fires
The dry summer continues to keep local firefighters busy with grass fires. Local departments were battling more fires yesterday, including two in the Tonganoxie area. For more on the story, click here.
Stranger Township Fire Chief Mark Billquist said it hasn’t taken much for fires to ignite during this extremely dry summer. It’s the worst he’s witnessed in his time as a firefighter.
“In my 25 years in fire service, I’ve never seen a summer like this that it’s this dry,” Billquist said.
Signs, signs, nowhere are there signs
There has been plenty of political news these days, from Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate to Kevin Yoder taking a questionable plunge. And, of course, a neighbor to the east in Missouri, Todd Akin, making national news with the controversy surrounding some of his recent comments.
Meanwhile, here in Tonganoxie, residents are being asked to give politics a rest for a few weeks. A city ordinance states that political signs for candidates can be displayed beginning six weeks ahead of an election and can stay up until two weeks after an election. That final date for this election was Tuesday. Signs can go back up in late September. For more on the story, click here.
School’s in
Classes for the 2012-13 school year started last week for McLouth USD 342. They start this week for Genesis Christian Academy and Tonganoxie USD 464. GCA begins with a half-day today and USD 464 a full day tomorrow. Be mindful of the increased traffic that we’ll be seeing in the mornings and afternoons with school starting. Click here for the story.