A fire southeast of Baxter Springs

A fire southeast of Baxter Springs, along the Kansas Oklahoma border near the Downstream Casino has burned for seven days, consuming seven square miles and 4,000 acres of wooded area. The picture above shows the fire around a shed on the John Archer property near the 5-Mile Ranch.

Four fire departments

Four fire departments were fighting the fire through the week-end days and nights and much of this week. Some of the 5-Mile Ranch facilities were damaged by fire (such as the zipline) as it burned the area.

Casino has worst revenue month since COVID closing

Sub-zero weather apparently put a damper on the casino gaming revenue at Kansas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg as they reported the worst month in a year since the state closed all casinos in March 2020.

Funding to improve welcome sign at goal

Donations to improve the Welcome to Columbus sign at the corner of High School Street and Highway 160 have reached the $7,000 goal and plans are underway to make the sign wider and taller.

Southeast falls short of required hours

Six snow days in February combined with two days of dismissals in November prior to the Thanksgiving break caused the Southeast School District to fall short of the required number of classroom hours required by the state.

Students at Central

Students at Central celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss recently. They heard stories written by the author, played games and created crafts themed around his books. Jace Gaither had just been decorating cookies with various Seuss designs.

League of Municipalities to hold essay contest

The League of Kansas Municipalities invites any seventh grade student in Kansas to participate in the “My City, My Home” essay contest. Each student can enter one typed essay with up to 500 words, the deadline to enter is April 30. For full contest details visit www.lkm.org/page/essaycontest.

Recently students from area schools

Recently students from area schools participated in the annual Entrepreneurship Fair held at Columbus Unified High School. Representatives from Riverton High School included Ryder Phillips with Philly’s Euro’s winning $50 for Excellence in Executive Summary.