(First of two part series)by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Another year of getting a little wiser and smarter… Here is our traditional look back of the year it was in Sumner County with the “100 things that happened in 2019.” We are dividing the session into two parts due to the length and the fact the author hasn’t gotten it all together yet. This one is dealing with events that occurred for the first six months of the year from January through June. We will delve into events from July to December thereafter.

January

1. The Verbio-North America Corp. proposal to build a plant to convert wheat straw into compressed natural gas at 1080 N. Meridian Road, west of Belle Plaine, was withdrawn after the Sumner Planning Commission rejects the proposed zoning change. Greg Northrup, President of VNA Corp, left the door open that the facility could still be built in Sumner County, just someplace else.

2. Sumner County judge rules that there is enough evidence for 26-year-old Shelby Johnson to stand trial for the murder of her 7-month-old daughter on April 1, 2018, after a January preliminary hearing.

3. Cory Brawley of Arkansas City is charged with attempted murder, attempted aggravated kidnapping after an incident stemming from a pellet gun shooting in Geuda Springs.

4. VNA makes a quick turnaround and announces it wishes to build the proposed wheat straw plan at Seneca and U.S. 160 which is under the jurisdiction of the City of Wellington instead of Sumner County.

5. Judge rules there is enough evidence for Ora Munger, 40, of Iola, to stand trial for the robbery of the Mitch Bartelson home near Mayfield the summer before.

6. Earthquake, with its epicenter 13 miles east of Caldwell, registered at 4.0, making it one of the shakiest quakes yet felt in Sumner County.

7. Mike Wilmoth wins the Distinguished Service Award at the annual Wellington Chamber banquet.

February

8. Dakota Lynnes is crowned the 2019 Duke of Wellington.

9. An electrical generator blamed for destroying a house at 1308 North B Street in Wellington.

10. Rod Lungren, a Caldwell farmer, father, former football player at Caldwell and Wichita State and funny guy, dies at the age of 66.

11. Critics of the Redesign and Summit curriculum, a computer-based and individually paced at Wellington High School and Kennedy Elementary, continue to grow in number. Mayor Shelley Hansel writes a letter to the school board fearing people are moving away from the community because of it.

12. Tom Ostrander, sr., a Wellington realtor, bank director, President of Farmers Co-op in Wellington, Babe Ruth Baseball director, community philanthropist dies at the ripe age of 96.

13. Longtime Douglass, Conway Springs coach Fred Cottrell is inducted into KSHSAA Hall of Fame.

14. Sophomore Kenny Fehrman, a 220-pound Wellington wrestler, placed third at state in Class 4A, the highest finish for a WHS wrestler in years.

15. Conway Springs’ Ebersole Mortuary turns 100 years old.

16. Wellington Choir ends a year of fundraising to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York.

March

17. Caldwell Bluejays boys basketball team pull off a huge upset over Berean Academy in the first round and goes on to finish fourth at the Class 1A State Tournament in Dodge City.

18. A delegation of Wellington City staff, councilman Kip Etter and VNA representatives take a fact-finding trip to Germany to learn about the various aspects of the parent company and what it will take to build a plant here.

19. Brooke McCorkle is named the Class 4A powerlifting state championship in Basehor-Linwood, and breaks the girls’ bench lifting record of 215 pounds.

20. After Wellington Superintendent Mark Whitener announces his resignation, three candidates are interviewed for his replacement in early March. Adam Hatfield, the assistant Wellington Superintendent, was eventually chosen.

21. Thad Meyer, 45, of Wellington dies of possible carbon monoxide poisoning at his home at 1529 North C Street.

22. Wellington Planning Commission approves zoning change of 145-acre tract at U.S. 160 and Seneca. The proposal is sent to the city council which also approves it unanimously.

23. Former Wellington High School and Middle School band instructor Ben Olson is charged with five felony counts for sexual misconduct with a student.

24. City of Wellington announces the phasing out of plastic bags, aluminum cans from its recycle center after changes in the national recycling distribution system.

25. Margaret Horton, who had been hiding the Wheat Festival Medallion for nearly 30 years, dies at the age of 73.

April

26. Gabe Hyer, a WHS senior, qualifies for the national forensics tournament in Omaha, Neb.

27. Entrepreneur Richard LeJuerrne, founder of Halibrand and the CEO of Lamar Electro-Air and Triumph Aerospace, dies at 68.

28. A Crusaders of the Stage cast of 27 performs Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” in Wellington.

29. Wellington grad Coley Buellesfeld sees first hand the burning Notre Dame’s Cathedral in the heart of Paris.

30. Wellington is featured on the front page of the New York Times for its Redesign project. The Today Show would follow suit a week later.

31. Wellington’s Jumpstart gets plenty of attention when it promotes “420” for National Marijuana Day on its billboard.

32. Tyler Chambers and Taylor Meyer are crowned Lord and Lady at the Wellington Prom.

May

33. Tornado nearly lands north of Wellington but spares the community of any destruction. But bad weather was just right around the corner.

34. Sumner Community Hospital holds a grand opening and ribbon cutting as it officially becomes a private business.

35. Wellington gets 8.22 inches of rain during a flash flood that hit the area during the morning of May 7 creating havoc over the next couple of days.

36. The Kansas Turnpike is closed for over 24 hours due to flooding and a bridge breaking south of the Wellington turnpike exchange. Traffic is rerouted through Wellington on U.S. 81 creating bumper-to-bumper traffic that would make the City of L.A. proud. Traffic from downtown Wellington to the turnpike gate was taking at least an hour.

37. Two years after rejecting a highly controversial consumption area to drink alcohol downtown at the Wheat Festival, the council quietly unanimously approves a similar proposal in 2019.

38. Jarrod Andra of Milan pleads guilty to pretending to be a U.S. FBI agent.

39. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signs disaster declaration for Sumner and 15 other counties.

40. Due to a waterline break on May 9 because of the flooding, Wellington was placed under a boil water advisory for about three days.

41. Joel Leftwich, Robert Miller and Loren Hibbs are named into the Crusader Wall of Recognition.

42. Wellington City Manager Shane Shields issues 1,800-word report to the council chronologically listing the flash flood events on May 7-8. “In the end, we certainly hope that this event is a rare and never again occurrence,” he states at end of the report. Overall, costs from the flood were not revealed at the time.

43. Wellington’s boys’ golf team finishes second at Class 4A State Tournament in Dodge City.

44. Wellington breaks a monthly record for precipitation with 21.7 inches of rain in May.

45. Senior Eric Kop wins the Class 4A state championship for Wellington in the 110-meter hurdles.

June

45. Former Wellington band instructor Olson pleads guilty of sexual exploitation of a child and is sentenced to 16 months in prison.

46. 94-year-old Paul Ybarra of Wellington reflects back on the “Battle of Normandy” which was 75 years ago on June 6.

47. Former owner of KLEY-KWME radio Gordon Johson dies at the age of 81.

48. Shields estimates that flood damage to city-own property is at $140,108 according to June estimates.

49. Hanna Hawks wins the Kansas Junior Amateur Championship in Wellington.

50. Wellington RCB Bank opens in Wellington between Walmart and McDonalds.

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