After Rooks County Commission Chairman John Ruder opened the January 11th meeting on Monday morning in the Rooks County Courtroom, treasurer Kim Northup held the official swearing in of the elected officers. Taking the oath of office were register of deeds April Brown, sheriff Gary Knight, commissioners John Ruder and Tim Berland, county clerk Ruthmary Muir, county attorney Danielle Muir (Zoom) and district magistrate judge Doug Bigge.

Rooks County continues to see new COVID-19 cases throughout the county. The absenteeism rate is decreasing and is at 1.1% above the baseline from 2019-2020. The positive testing rate has decreased to 27.2% this week. We continue to monitor numbers closely.

STOCKTON HIGH SCHOOL music students Emil Benavides (vocal) and Isaac Reed (band) were honored at the KMEA Virtual Northwest District Mini-Convention II on Saturday, December 12th as being four-year participants. Students have to audition each year to be accepted into the convention, so this is quite an honor and accomplishment for these two music students.

Emily Roy of Palco was among one of the 357 students who qualified for one of the honors of President’s, Dean’s List and Honor Roll for the fall 2020 semester at MidAmerica Nazarene University. Roy was named to the Dean’s List, which ranges from 3.5 to 3.99 GPA.

Stockton High School music students Emil Benavides, Isaac Reed, and Michel Smith participated in the 2020 KMEA Virtual Northwest District Mini-Convention II Saturday, December 12th, 2020. Isaac Reed auditioned and was accepted to the High School Honor Band.

The Kansas Department of Transportation started field surveys on two bridges along I-70 in Thomas County Monday, January 18th. The survey work is being conducted on the North Fork Saline River bridge, located one-half mile southeast of the U.S.

OUT OF THE 105 COUNTIES IN KANSAS, Maleigha Horn, Stockton, (left) and Kaeleigh Klein, Plainville, (right) received Honorable Mention at the 2020 Kansas Association of Conservation Districts (KACD) Annual Meeting held this past November. The 2020 KACD theme was, “What Would We BEE Without Pollinators?” According to the website for the National Association of Conservation Districts, the theme was to bring awareness that “Pollinators form the foundations of a healthy and sustainable future for food and the environment, but in recent years, they have shown concerning signs of decline. It’s important that we work to help them prosper by enhancing native pollinator habitats and protecting against pollinator declines.” Maleigha and Kaeleigh’s posters were sent to the State level after the local Rooks County Conservation District Annual Meeting held in February 2020. Their posters, along with several others from the county, were submitted to KACD for competition. Their posters were selected as one of the top 5 winners throughout the entire state of Kansas. They both received a medal from KACD and a certificate from the Rooks County Conservation District. Congratulations, Maleigha and Kaeleigh!! (Photos Courtesy of Rooks County Conservation District)

During the next few weeks, the City of Stockton will be assigning each residence a new gray polycart that will be numbered and will remain at the property to be used for weekly trash pickup. Since the new changes are to go into effect on Monday, February 1st, please review the new guidelines in this article, or cut out the ad in this issue for future reference.

The Kansas Department of Health & Environment has been releasing COVID-19 numbers daily for the state and each of the 105 Kansas counties soon after the pandemic began early last year. The latest numbers in Kansas as of Friday, January 15, 2021 are as follows: • There were 256,134 cases from the 105 Kansas counties with 3,502 deaths reported as of 9 a.m.

TIGER FRESHMAN ZACH YOUNG (152#) looks to get a takedown during action at the wrestling tournament held in Russell on December 19. (Photo courtesty of Stockton USD 271).