Twenty-three teams from Rooks County schools competed this year on Thursday, February 29, at the annual Rooks County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge at Plainville High School’s Cardinal Gym. The 23 teams were made up of 46 students.

Although Adam Bryant was officially hired as the Rooks County Emergency Management Director on January 8th of this year, he will step into the position on his own when outgoing director Butch Post retires on April 1st.

The Rooks County Commission meeting was held on Tuesday, February 20th, and they first met with the register of deeds, April Brown, who asked about a credit card to use for her office to pay bills, etc. The County has a credit card with multiple accounts for use, but having her own would help keep each department’s accounts separate. Also, with the one card the County does have, only the administrator can call in to ask questions.

District Magistrate Judge Richard Flax of Trego County received the Lee Nusser Award for Outstanding Magistrate Judge of 2023 at the association’s annual meeting. Flax serves in the 23rd Judicial District, which consists of Ellis, Gove, Rooks, and Trego counties.

At the Stockton City Commission meeting held on Tuesday, February 20th, the commissioners reviewed the city code, Ordinance 588, and the state regulations for propane tanks within the city limits. Since there are some slight differences between the two, mainly dealing with the size of the tanks, the commissioners will get legal opinions. City manager Kayla Hilbrink will also attain more information from the League so the commissioners can revise the codes as needed.

The Stockton Sentinel finally has its 2024 New Year’s Baby! Pretty miss Rebekah Kay made her entrance into the world on Tuesday, January 30th to happy parents Holly and Luke VanSkike, and proud big sisters Katie (7) and McKenzie (4). Rebekah was born at the Hays Medical Center.

Kansas Severe Weather Awareness Week is March 4th through March 8th. So take this coming week to refresh yourself on what to do about hazards like tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, and flash flooding, all of which inevitably impact Kansas yearly.

Deer, deer, and more deer, wintry weather road conditions, a hit-and-run, a vehicle losing control, and a twovehicle and three-vehicle accident in Stockton make up this week's accident reports. Fortunately for all those involved, no injuries were reported, and the drivers were properly restrained during the accidents.

The first order of business for the Rooks County Commissioners on Tuesday, February 13th, was a meeting with noxious weed supervisor Mike Klein. The commissioners signed the 2024 Management Plan and the annual Noxious Weed Eradication Progress Report, as presented by Klein.

Hays attorney Curtis Brown has filed for the office of 23rd Judicial District Judge. He is seeking the Republican nomination in the August primary.