Trans Sec. Meets About Willard Bridge

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)- The top transportation officials in the U.S. was in Kansas Wednesday talking to aviation leaders, and also about the failing Willard Bridge.

Senator Jerry Moran hosted U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx in Park City, that is near Wichita.

Foxx spoke and met the the president of Wichita State University and officials from the National Institute for Aviation Research. He also met privately with Shawnee County officials. They are seeking federal funding to replace the Willard Bridge south of Rossville.

"The commissioner made a very compelling case," said Foxx. "But we have to work through our process and it's obviously very important, we're talking about a bridge project, very important in a part of the state west of Topeka and I look forward to working through the process."

Moran has shown his support for getting federal funds to replace the bridge, and says that it highlights a need on the national level.

"It highlights the need for Congress to get a long term transportation bill in place and to have other sources of support. State, local and federal projects are of significance, such as the Willard Bridge."

Foxx says that TIGER grant recipients will most likely be announced sometime in October. 

Connor Bush Wins Condiment Race

 (KCTV)-- It started out innocent enough but at just over four seconds into the race.

Down went Ketchup! And he took Mustard with him during the Sunday Kansas City Royals game!

Jack Grimes of Lawrence was "Mustard" and said the "...bad thing about the costumes is you can't look down so if someone falls, which happened to me, I tripped over the guy and I couldn't see where he was."

The "guy" or "Ketchup" who took him out was Conner Bush of Rossville.

Conner Bush told the media that, "I fell down and I was landing and then he tripped and then he fell down and when I tried to get up, my costume was falling off and then I just slipped out of it and just ran.

When 'The Ketchup Kid' came out of his suit he continued running at the end, Conner took a flying Superman leap across the finish line, for the win!

Unfortunately for Brock, getting beat by his kid brother is "not anything new".

No matter who won or lost, the experience for the three Royals fans, was one they'll always remember for better or worse.

You can see video of the event at:
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Rossville-kids-make-it-big-during-KC-Royals-game-322168411.html

U. S. Trans. Sec. Discusses Bridge

From cjonline.com

      U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx will meet with Shawnee County officials Wednesday morning to discuss the decaying Willard Bridge, according to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office.
      The senator’s office said Monday that Moran arranged the meeting to take advantage of the transportation secretary’s rare visit to Kansas. Foxx and Moran are scheduled to take part in a roundtable forum with aviation industry stakeholders Wednesday afternoon in the Wichita suburb of Park City.
      Few details of the secretary’s visit to Topeka have been released. The U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed Foxx will be in Kansas on Wednesday but offered no specifics.
"I am aware and appreciative of the invitation to meet with Secretary Foxx," Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler, a Rossville resident and staunch proponent of urgently replacing the bridge, said in email Monday night. "At this time all information and details including time and location which are yet to be confirmed, are being handled through Senator Moran's Office."
Foxx’s visit to Shawnee County comes at an auspicious time as the county competes with other municipalities across the country for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant to replace the Willard Bridge.
      The county has been forced to repeatedly lower the weight limit on the bridge in northwest Shawnee County. The bridge’s sufficiency rating, which measures a bridge’s fitness on a 0-100 scale, was above 61 until 2012. In 2013 it dropped to 50.7. In January, it was measured at 23.7.
Replacing the bridge is expected to cost about $24.4 million. If the county obtains a $16.7 TIGER grant, the county will use an expected $6 million surplus from a half-cent sales tax and about $1 million from Wabaunsee County to cover the difference.
      With public angst building in Rossville and Silver Lake, communities connected to the rest of the county by the bridge, the county commission in February sent letters to Moran, U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts requesting their help in obtaining federal assistance. Five days later, during a March 3 hearing in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Moran pressed Foxx for details on how Shawnee County could find funding to replace the bridge.
“At this point, the bridge over the Kansas River is no longer structurally sound enough for school buses to ride over that bridge,” Moran, a Republican, said in the hearing. “It’s a significant disruption of commerce and agriculture — not to mention public safety.”
      “Senator, unfortunately, I’m not proud to say that this is a problem that I’ve seen in many, many parts of the country,” Foxx responded.
      Foxx told the senator that TIGER grant funding “may be a potential source for this work.” On that same day, Moran invited Foxx to Kansas, according to the senator’s office.
      The TIGER grant program, established in 2009, isn’t popular among some Republicans who favor giving more money to states and oppose allowing the federal government to choose which projects are funded. In June, the U.S. House passed an appropriations bill that would slash TIGER grant funding from its current level of $500 million annually to $100 million.
Jenkins, a Republican representing Shawnee County, has said she supports the county’s efforts to seek federal funding for the bridge but voted in favor of the House legislation cutting TIGER grants. The proposed cut to the TIGER grant program wouldn’t affect Shawnee County’s current grant application.
      Foxx, a Democrat and the former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., took over the position of transportation secretary last July with unanimous approval in the Senate. During the Senate hearing, Foxx told Moran that most federal transportation funding is given directly to states and state governments should look inward when questioning why they don’t have enough money.
      “I think one question is, what other choices is the state DOT making?” Foxx said.
The question is especially relevant in Kansas, where lawmakers have frequently diverted funds from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s T-Works highway construction fund to fill revenue shortfalls. On July 30, KDOT announced it would hand over $8 million to help cover Gov. Sam Brownback’s $62.6 million in budget adjustments.
      The transportation industry coalition Economic Lifelines estimates $2.1 billion has been diverted from T-Works since it was established in 2010, earning T-Works the nickname Bank of KDOT among the governor’s critics. 

Kent Gockel Passes Away

       Kent Joseph Gockel, 57, passed away Saturday, August 15, 2015 at a Topeka Hospital.     
      He was born November 16, 1957 at Axtell, the son of Francis and Wilma Droge Gockel.   He was raised in St. Marys and graduated from St. Marys High School in 1976.     
      Kent owned and operated Gockel Thriftway in St. Marys.  He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.     
      He was preceded in death by his parents.    Survivors include Dee Gockel, St. Marys; two sons, Christopher and Brady Gockel, Topeka: two sisters, Jane Gockel and Joyce Davis.   
       Funeral Mass and inurnment will be private.  Memorial contributions may be sent to Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple, St. Marys, Kansas 66536 to help offset funeral expenses.

Class of 1980 35th Reunion

    To see over a dozen photos of the Class of 1980 35th reunion during the Tall Corn Festival,  go to:
http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/class-of-1980-35th-reunion.html

Class Reunions

If your class has had a reunion this summer,  send pictures and names of attendees and I will post the pictures on the RHS Photos web site.

Kansas Information Web Site

    This web site has just about any info you will ever need about Kansas.
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/states/kansas/

Willard Bridge Video

    Here is a video from KSNT discussing latest developments concerning the Willard Bridge.  Primarily they are discussing the longer bus routes to get the students to Rossville
http://ksnt.com/2015/08/13/willard-bridge-weight-restrictions-weigh-on-rossville-schools/

TCF 5K Race

Results of the TCF 5K race can be read at:  www.letsgorun.com

Class of 65 Reunion

Rear, L to R: Melvin Sage, Dan Dayton, Randy Scott, Art Campbell, Virginia Meyer, Gary Dick

Center:  Amy Jones

Front, L to R: Oren Kovar, Diane Murray, Marilyn Trudy, Rebecca Barkley,
Helen Lytle, Omer VanVleck, Daryl Mitchell.

    For more photos of the Class of 65 reunion,  go to:
http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/class-of-65-50th-reunion.html

     I would like to add a few more showing class members involved in other activities other than the parade.  If you have some,  e-mail them to:  frank.ruff@juno.com.

TCF Parade Photos

    Photos of the 2015 Tall Corn Festival Parade can be seen at:
http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/tall-corn-festival-parage-2015.html

DAWG Apparel

Click on image below to enlarge

Annette Peel Passes Away

Annette Peel, 57, of Silver Lake, passed away Tuesday, August 4, 2015. She was born August 30, 1957, in Marquette, Michigan, the daughter of Ralph and Phidelia (Patterson) Alvord. Annette was raised in Ethelsville, Alabama and attended school there before her family moved to Tampa Bay, Florida where she attended Tampa Bay High School.

Annette was employed by the Rossville Grade School as a Paraprofessional working with children with disabilities. She was also a member of the Baptist Church.

Annette married Donald “Don” Peel on August 25, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He survives. She is also survived by her son, Eric Alvord (Brooke); mother, Phidelia Alvord; brother, Steve Patterson; sister, Trisha Harsin; three grandsons and 1 great-grandson. Additional survivors include several uncles and cousins of the Patterson family in Mississippi and Alabama and nephews in the Gobin family in California.

She was preceded in death by her father and sister, Mary Blanko.

Annette loved children, enjoyed helping others, going to garage sales and cooking. She was a friend to so many and will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

A Celebration of Annette’s Life is pending. Private interment of the cremated remains will be at a later date in Florida. 

Contributions for the Annette Peel Memorial may be made at any local US Bank location in care of Donald Peel, or by mail to US Bank, P.O. Box 611, Rossville, KS 66533. 

To leave condolences,  go to:
http://m.dovecremation.com/viewobitmessages/106675/Annette-Peel/Topeka-Kansas

TCF Video

    Here is a nice video showing many of the TCF activities on Friday.
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/321107041.html