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The regular weekly meeting of the Rooks County Commission began with a discussion session that included the three commissioners, John Ruder, Greg Balthazor and Tim Berland, as well as sheriff Gary Knight, treasurer Kim Northup, emergency management director Butch Post and clerk Ruthmary Muir...

Recently, I was reminded that some people who are now following this series might have missed the first column that introduced the series. “Names on the Wall” refers to the names of Rooks County Veterans engraved on the Memorial Wall on the east side of the Rooks County Courthouse in Stockton.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) wants to alert Kansans to potential air quality impacts from Western wildfire smoke. Ongoing wildfires across the Western U.S. continues to produce dense smoke that is being transported into Kansas by the atmospheric winds.

Governor Laura Kelly announced Kansas’ July tax receipts. In total, Kansas’ State General Fund saw its total tax receipts for July perform $60.0 million, or 11.0%, better than the estimate with $602.6 million collected.

The Rooks County Free Fair is just around the corner with the big event to start this Sunday, August 8th, with the FREE Ranch Rodeo to start at 4:00 p.m. at the Frank Smith Arena.

On Tuesday, July 27th, the City of Stockton received the delivery of the new C175-16 Caterpiller Generator Set. The generator is a 4376-brake horsepower V-16 diesel engine which is rated at 3100 kwh per hour. This will cover Stockton’s electric load 95% of the time by itself.

The Stockton PRIDE winners for the months of June and July were Steve and Pat Cook (Residence of the Month for June) and The Daily Grind (Business of the Month for June), and Don and Martha Blair (Residence of the Month for July). Congratulations to everyone!.

At the start of the Rooks County Commission meeting held on Tuesday, July 20th, the commissioners went over the proposed 2022 sheriff department budget with Sheriff Gary Knight.

Shaelyn Griffin of Stockton and Jared Casey of Plainville are among the more than 6,500 undergraduate students at the University of Kansas earning honor roll distinction for the spring 2021 semester.

Sue McFarland, coordinator of the Rooks County Historical Museum in Stockton, recently received a Certificate of Appreciation for her and the museum board members in recognition of their outstanding support to the Fort Hays Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.