The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 3

The Sallna Journal Sunday, August 22,1993 BRIEFLY Holyrood man dtos in one-car accident A 38-year-old Holyrood fnan was killed early Saturday morning In a one-vehicle accident when the car he was driving traveled oft K-140 at Hedville Road in Saline County. Ricky L. Killion was headed west' bound on K-140 when his 1900 Pontiac Phoenix traveled oft the road and overturned in the south ditch, according to a Saline County Sheriff's department report. Killion was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. Investigation of fire continues Fire investigators have not determined the cause of an early-Friday blaze that gutted the Diamond Transfer and Distribution Company, 1012 W.

North. Fire Marshal Jerry Scott said Saturday that he was still trying to sift through the debris and determine exactly where and how the fire started. "It's a difficult investigation," Scott said. "The resulting damage has left us with the need to do some interviews and talk to some people." With the building gutted and the such as plastic- coated twine, water-softening salt, magazines and cattle burned, Scott said it will be difficult to find the cause of the fire. However, a cause should be determined within the next two or three days, Scott said.

Noted pathologist takes job In Florida pathologist William Eckert, who consulted on Robert F. Kennedy's assassination and the Charles Manson murders, is taking a job in Florida. Eckert, who recently retired as Sedgwick County deputy coroner, will become chief medical examiner for six Florida counties next month. His new post will be in Panama City, on the Gulf of Mexico. "It's a great Eckert said Friday.

"It's like going to Mecca or the Taj Mahal." Eckert, 67, also helped with the investigations of serial killer John Wayne Gacy and the Pan American 103 bombing in Scotland in 1988. Eckert was associate director of laboratories at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Wichita from 1967 to 1983. Elementary schools schedule activities Most Salina elementary schools have planned activities before Thursday's opening day of classes. The schools also have information about the safest route for children to walk to school.

The schedule for those schools that have planned activities in conjunction with the start of the new school year includes: safe walk event and open house, 6 p.m. Wednesday. to school night, 6 p.m. Wednesday. walk event, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday. to school night, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Meadowlark family orientation, 7 p.m. Thursday.

to school night, 7 p.m. Wednesday. walk to school event, 7 p.m. Tuesday. Parents help get school ready for kids a show of community spirit and a willingness to give their children a better place to attend school, about 20 parents and several other town residents joined Saturday to clean up the playground at Washington Grade School.

The group will be out again about 9:30 a.m. today. In addition to restoring a sandbox that had been damaged by rain this summer, residents prepared playground equipment to be repainted and cleaned classroom chairs. "It was a thrilling experience to see the community pull together," said Debby Bartz, president of the Home and School Association. Distribution of food set for Wednesday U.S.

government commodities, including apple juice, canned peaches, canned peas and raisins, will be distributed Wednesday in Salina, Assaria, Brookville and Gypsum. In Salina, the food will be distributed from 2 to 4 p.m. in the 4-H Building in Kenwood Park. The distribution schedule at the other towns is: 10 a.m. in the city building at Brookville; 4 to 6:30 p.m.

at the Assaria city building; and 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Gypsum city building. Recipients must have identification and proof of income. From Staff and Wire Reports Voters generally back school budget hikes By Tht TOPEKA When the 1992 Legislature turned Kansas' system for funding public education upside down, it included a new wrinkle allowing local school districts to exceed the base budget per pupil set by the state.

It is called the local option budget, and it permits the 304 school districts to spend more money than the basic amount of $3,600 per student, if they consider it necessary to maintain the quality of local elementary and secondary education programs. The law allowed all local school boards to raise their budgets for the 1992-93 school year as much as 25 percent above the $3,600 base, or up to $4,500. All they had to do was adopt a resolution and the local option was legal for the first year of the law. However, for 1993-94, the local option resolutions were made subject to protest petitions. That meant patrons of a school district could, by collecting the signatures of 5 percent of the voters in the district, force an election to require public approval of the increased spending.

Boards could seek authority to increase their budgets by up to 25 percent for a four-year 'There is a better understanding now of the problems of schools. Boards of education are working more with their communities." Dale Dennis, state education ofiicial period, or try for anything less than those maximums. A compilation of elections held this year by Jim Hays, research director of the Kansas Association of School Boards, shows that patrons have blocked spending increases in only nine districts, including Salina while approving them or letting them take effect without a protest in 147 districts. In all, 157 districts adopted local option resolutions, while 147 did not. Only 23 districts were forced to have elections, and just the nine were denied implementation of the increase by the voters, which is less than 1 percent of the state's school districts.

"I am surprised there were that few protest petitions," said Sen. Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "If you look at the statistics, I would have to say the law is working. "In those communities where there have been elections, it's stimulated discussion, and that was something we desperately needed to get the public involved. That has been a good result." Dale Dennis, deputy state education commissioner for school finance, said the ease with which districts took the local option didn't surprise him.

"There has been substantial property tax reduction (under the law) and more community involvement than ever before," he said. "There is a better understanding now of the Museum closes to remake itself New exhibit to take its place By SHARON MONTAGUE Salina Journal The sound of hammers striking wood prevailed at the Smoky Hill Museum Saturday, where workers were tearing down and reconstructing spaces as part of the museum's ongoing renovation. While workers have maneuvered around visitors for the past several months, the museum's gallery now will close while work is completed on the new exhibit, "Settlers of the Smokyfflll." The gallery will be closed from Tuesday until Sept. 11, when the exhibit opens. Visitors are welcome at One Keepers' Place in the museum, at the Museum Store and in offices, which can be entered from Eighth Street.

The work is part of a four-phase, four-year project that ultimately will cost about $587,000 and be paid for primarily through contributions to the Friends of the Smoky Hill Museum. The result will be a permanent 15-part story explaining the history and settlement of the area, with smaller temporary exhibits expanding on certain aspects of the main exhibit. Tom Pfannenstiel, museum director, said the renovation is the result of a new philosophy. "It's a new direction for us," Pfannenstiel said. "We've always changed exhibits a lot, and now we'll be concentrating the majority of our efforts on the history of this area.

"I think it's going to be good for the public who are interested in the history of the area." It's also the biggest project undertaken at the museum since it opened in the former post office in The renovation encompasses everything from a redesign of the entrance and museum store to the changing philosophy toward exhibits. Work began several months ago, and Pfannenstiel said changes in the reception area are almost completed. Pfannenstiel said the previous reception area a glassed vestibule entrance leading into an enormous marble-floored lobby was too sterile, not inviting. The glassed vestibule has been removed, and in place of that old metal desk, workers built a wooden counter. Carpeting covers a small part of the marble floor, and to complete the look, wooden beams Smoky Hill Museum curators Mary Douglass and Dan Tomberlln move a cabinet Into the new Ben Journal general store exhibit Saturday at the museum, which will close on Tuesday.

overhead enclose the space. The new museum store on the west side of the lobby also is more inviting. Previously separated from the lobby only by counters, the store now has a glass-and-wood storefront, and a loft reminiscent of old country stores was created upstairs. "We've had a real good response," Pfannenstiel said. To complete Phase all workers have to do is set up the Settlers of the Smoky Hill exhibit, which will include the old General Store previously set up upstairs.

That exhibit, detailing Salina's history from the 1850s through the late 1870s, will be up for a couple of years, Pfannenstiel said, before workers move to the next phase the 15-part story of Salina from its beginnings to today. "The settlers exhibit builds the foundation for the next couple of phases," Pfannenstiel said. The next phase will be construction of a replica of a river dugout. The dugout will be on the east side of the lobby, opposite the museum store. The dugout will be part of the museum's permanent exhibit and should be opened within a year to 18 months, Pfannenstiel said.

Phase III kicks in in 1995, Pfannenstiel said, and includes developing a special exhibits gallery to complement the permanent gallery. A multipurpose area for educational programs also will be constructed. Phase IV, completion of the permanent exhibit, is set to be completed in 1996. Opening of the exhibit won't mean the museum will become static, though, Pfannenstiel said. "We'll continue to add information, photographs, artifacts and educational components," Pfannenstiel said.

"And we'll always have some temporary exhibits." problems of schools. Boards of education working more with their communities than in the past, and they're listening better." Somewhat surprisingly, 42 districts took trig full 25 percent for the maximum four years; and drew no protest petitions. Those districts included some of the biggest: Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley-Stanley, Kansas City, Kansas City Turner, Kansas City Goodland, Chanute, Hays and Lawrence. Olathe won an election to gain the full 25 percent for four years. Wichita took 16.7 percent for four Manhattan 3 percent for four years, McPherson 7.5 percent for four years, Shawnee Heights' 8 percent for four years, Garden City 4 percent for four years, Winfield 21.6 percent for four, years, Arkansas City 10 percent for four yeaftf and Parsons 10 percent for four years air without elections.

Topeka got 14 percent for four years arid Hutchinson 7.5 percent for four years by win? ning elections. When the law was passed, many people mostly local board members worried that the protest petition provision might prove to be a major obstacle. Nursing home up for zoning; Controversial issue I faces final step By The Journal Staff The final step in a controversial proposal to build a nursing home in east Salina could be taken Monday when the Salina City Commission considers giving final approval to a rezoning request. The request, filed by Holiday Re-! sorts of Emporia, would change zon-! ing on the property at the southwest corner of Holmes and Country roads from agricultural to a planned- development district. Such zoning, if approved, would allow for development of a 120-bed nursing home, a 35-unit assisted liv-, ing complex and 23 homes.

During numerous public hearings' before the planning commission and; city commission, neighbors to west of the proposed development; vehemently opposed the nursing' home. Neighbors were concerned not about the size of the but questioned the fire protection! plan and the quality of the develop-; ment. Nonetheless, city commis-; sioners gave preliminary approval to- the project on June 14. The Monday meeting also will in-; elude consideration of a final which commissioners must approve 5 before the zoning is changed. Dike trail on tap, too Also Monday, commissioners will; consider whether to apply for tional federal money to build the.

remainder of a planned pedestrian and bicycle trail along the flood control levee. The city has received $123,000 5 through a federal grant to build two-mile portion of the trail between' 1 Magnolia Road and Bill Burke in southeast Salina. Work on that'; portion should be finished next year. Commissioners Monday will sider whether to seek more grant: money to extend the dike trail into, north and west Salina, ending Cloud Street. The total cost is timated at $363,837, and the city would have to provide 20 percent of that, or $72,627.

The commission meeting will begin at 4 p.m. in room 200 of the City- County Building, 300 W. Ash. A citizen's forum will start at 3:30 p.m. in room 202.

Catalog colors can give customers the lapis Over the course of a year, my mailbox becomes stuffed with outdoor equipment catalogs. In their glossy pages they entice the potential buyer with flashy layouts showing handsome and sexy models enjoying their various products. A few are not-so-glossy or flashy and have no models and must display the merchandise with the use of sketches. Some of these catalogs don't use any colors, so all you see is pen-and-ink renditions of shorts, shirts, pants, boots, backpacks and other items floating around in two-dimensional zero gravity. (Local merchants with weak constitutions might want to leave the room.

We will soon be talking about M-A-I-LrO-R-D-E-R businesses.) Companies such as Campnlor that can't show armchair shoppers the colors of their wares are forced to describe them using the unintelligible gibberish selected by the various manufacturers. Shades such as white, black, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, purple and understandable combinations thereof don't exist in the garment and fabric industry any more. Fiedler Jr. JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Now we have blush, concord, cypress, sunflower, surf, twilight, fir, tropic, brass, sand and stone. It's gotten so out of hand that manufacturers are including color translations in the catalogs.

These translations tell us that blush is bright pink, cypress is grayish olive and twilight is light, navy blue. Brass is dark tan, sand is light tan and stone is just plain tan. Manufacturers do this so they can mark up the price about 300 percent and not have their mailrooms inundated with letters from angry customers. People will only pay $19.95 for a pair of just plain tan slacks, but will happily unload $60 for trousers the shade of stone. At times these firms trip themselves.

A recent Early Winters catalog displayed a "natural" shirt for women. On the next page they offered "desert tan" shorts for men. Same color. The company's versions of "plum," "wine" and "eggplant" also appeared suspiciously alike. These mail-order places take a risk by naming colors after produce, especially if the bulk of their customers are gardeners who live in temperate zones, which is why the manufacturers shrewdly avoid color choices such as "zucchini" and "cucumber." But forcing consumers to unscramble the secret color codes is a bigger gamble.

Catalog customers might start shopping at home where they can eyeball the fabric and not have to guess if the stone pants will go with the plum- wine-eggplant shirt. Local clothing merchants (you may all come back in now) can take advantage of this by inventing colors that have community significance. Salina area retailers would have a tough time keeping garments in stock with colors such as "River Festival," a shade closely matching cooked lobster, only brighter, or "Livid Taxpayer," a medium magenta. For a less intense pink than Livid Taxpayer, try "Chagrined School Board." Customers would pay for these garments with money, which is printed in a two-tone green shade called "County Commissioner." National chains feeling the pressure from mail-order houses can get in the act with color names that are more widely acceptable. In distinguishing the various shades of khaki, for instance, a dark tan fabric could become "George Hamilton." Shoppers desiring a little lighter shade might prefer something in a color-fast "Bob Dole," or for an ordinary beige look, how about a nice "AlGore." A teen-ager shopping for one of those thermal shirts whose color keeps changing when the fabric gets hot would ask for a "Bill Clinton." Which makes me wonder: When the big guy hauls out his sax, what color blues does he play? Pacific, navy, indigo, steel, marina, berry, lapis, teal, chambray, royal,.