At the Rooks County Commission meeting held on Tuesday, March 15th, economic development director Roger Hrabe informed the commissioners that since the County had received a Heritage Trust Fund grant, they are also eligible for state and federal tax credits to help with the courthouse restoration projects. Hrabe will look into the paperwork in more detail and will fill out the application if the commissioners are interested in moving forward.

Osborne High School graduate Thomas Spurgin will be interning with College Works Painting this summer, spending his time in the area doing painting jobs. Spurgin was born in Pratt, Kan.

A regular meeting of the Stockton Unified School District No. 271 Board of Education was held Monday March 14th, 2022 at the District Conference Room at 5:30 p.m. with the following present: board members Stephanie Niblock, Aftan Tso, Chad Sterling, Mark Billinger, Jesse Stithem and BJ Hoeting, superintendent Bill Lowry, grade school principal Stacey Green and attorney Terry Cikanek. Board member LeAnn Dix was absent, as was high school principal Lindsay Cravens.

Dr. Trey A. Kellner is the recipient of the 2022 Midwest Section of the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) Outstanding Early Career Agribusiness Award, presented to him this week during the ASAS Midwest Section Meeting held March 14-16 in Omaha, Neb.

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan, Kansas has named 222 high school seniors from 59 Northwest Kansas schools as winners in its 47th annual scholarship competition, five of which include students from Rooks County.

Total state tax collections for February were $502.5 million. That is $18.7 million, or 3.9%, more than the February estimate. Those collections are also $46.6 million, or 10.2%, more than February 2021.

This story about the Cooper Barber Shop, that served the men and boys of Stockton for 48 years, was written by Jeral G. Cooper, a Stockton alumnus who lives in Tonganoxie.

STOCKTON HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERS are from left: Addie Struckhoff, Melissa Ard, Madison Moffet, Olivia Dix, Delanee Bedore, Tierra Yohon, Claire Plumer, Cappi Hoeting, Ruthie Voss, Rylan Basart, Max Moffet, Camden Iwanski, Garrett Billinger and Coryn Hahn. Requirements students must meet for induction are: Scholarship—cumulative GPA of 3.7; Character—average positive teacher, coach or sponsor response must be four out of five or better; Leadership—seven points from school activities; and Service—at least 25 hours of community service from two different sources. Sponsors for the group are Scott and Terri Bennett. The induction ceremony was held on February 21, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. in Tiger Gymnasium.