Jan. 2— Sarah Meitner, Executive Director of the Heartland Community Foundation in Hays, was honored as one of the 14 Rural Innovators recognized by the White House for their outstanding contributions to rural communities across the United States. Two days before Christmas, a group of elves rolled through Plainville. It helped three families, selected from each of the school districts of Plainville, Palco/Damar, and Stockton, with approximately $360.00 worth of groceries, includ- ing pork and beef, both locally grown and donated within the county. Farm Bureau County Coordinator Jess Beesley explained that 'with help from Kansas Farm Bureau's campaign to End Hunger, Rooks County Farm Bureau provided a service to help students throughout the county have access to well-balanced meals over the Christmas Break.”

Jan. 2—The Daily Grind was recognized at the Rooks County Business Appreciation event.

Attention all registered voters in Plainville USD 270: Early In-Person Voting will start on Wednesday, February 18th, at the County Election Office (Rooks County Courthouse, located at 115 North Walnut in Stockton) for the Special School Bond Election.

The Stockton Public Library will be hosting its Storytime Program with stories, crafts and more for all ages on Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m. starting this Friday, January 9th. The program schedule has fun themes lined up almost every Friday from January through the end of April. Please note there will be no Storytime on the Fridays when school is not in session.

The winners of the 2025 Stockton Public Library Parade of Christmas Trees have been announced! In the Youth Category, the enchanting SHS Kindergarten 6/7 tree twinkled its way to first place, while the delightful SGS Preschool Elves tree captured the spirit of the season in second place. The Stockton Public Library's magical Dinosaurs Outreach/ Storytime/Summer Library tree rounded out the category with a festive third place win.

A series of accidents across Rooks County in December left several vehicles damaged but resulted in no injuries, according to local authorities. Incidents included a two-vehicle collision south of Stockton, a vehicle striking a calf in northwest Rooks County, a single-vehicle rollover north of Plainville due to icy roads, and a deer-vehicle crash west of Woodston.

Attention all registered voters in Plainville USD 270: Early In-Person Voting will start on Wednesday, February 18th, at the County Election Office (Rooks County Courthouse, located at 115 North Walnut in Stockton) for the Special School Bond Election.

Hey there and happy Sunday! So, after a week, the Farmer and I were sick. Thanks to coming home from our Mexico cruise and catching every bug in sight, we looked and felt like we’d been hit by a truck.

Before the Public Hearing for the 2025 amended budget, Matt McCune, Bill McCune, and Neal Brown met with the Rooks County Commissioners during their regular meeting held on Tuesday, December 23rd. Matt McCune first talked about the increase in property taxes and tag prices for commercial vehicles. He noted that the property taxes in Abilene were 30 to 40% lower than in Rooks County. The commissioners stated it is hard to compare taxes and valuations county to county and from other counties that have larger populations. McCune noted that it is getting to where people can't afford to live in Rooks County if taxes keep increasing. Bill McCune stated that the County is going to tax itself to the point that nobody can live in the county or would want to move to the area. The commissioners said they are open to suggestions, saying that taxes aren't going to go down if everything else keeps going up. The commissioners noted that the County is always looking to bring more businesses into the communities, which would help with tax relief. They also said tax increases are a problem every county faces. Bill McCune asked the commissioners to talk to the state representatives, stating that he has also sent his concerns to Topeka.

In the final verse of Acts 18, Apollos tells the Jews, “The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus.” This verse is important as we head into Acts 19, because those baptized as believers by John were baptized only as a sign of repentance from sin, not as a sign of new life in Christ. They had not received the Holy Spirit.