The impact of Emporia’s newly-arrived Somalian population and the failure of two county questions have been chosen by The Gazette as the top local stories of 2006.
Overall, 2006 proved to be an eventful year for Emporia. A number of long-established leaders stepped down or moved on while another local leader, Republican Sen. Jim Barnett, tried and failed to unseat Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The city government stormed ahead on sales tax even as it struggled with its own budget and underwent a KBI investigation.
Immigration marches, business expansions and the beginning of work on Emporia’s entrance to the Kansas Turnpike also left their mark on the year — and probably the years to come as well.
This year’s top 10 local stories were:
1. Somalian Refugees Arrive
In February, the closing of a Tyson plant in Norfolk, Neb., signaled the arrival of a new Somalian population in Emporia. By March, 80 Somalian refugees had been transferred to the Emporia plant, a number that grew to 200 by June and to more than 400 by the end of the year. Many of the Somalians had spent years in Kenyan refugee camps before being granted asylum in the United States.
Both newcomers and natives found they had some adjusting to do. Rumors flew about the new arrivals, including a claim that tuberculosis was rampant among the refugees. The Lyon County Health Department deflated that rumor saying the workers actually had latent TB, a non-contagious germ that could potentially cause the disease but does not carry the disease. If healthy, a person could carry the germ for a lifetime without noticing it.
Late in the year, a group of Emporians founded the Emporia Refugee Resettlement Alliance to help everyone acclimate to the new situation.
2. County Questions Fail
In November, Lyon County voters shot down proposals to add two county commissioners and a county administrator.
The questions had been put on the ballot by the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce. Debate heated up rapidly, with supporters saying that expanding the commission and hiring an administrator would help the county run more efficiently, while opponents called it an unnecessary expense for little benefit.
The vote, when it came, showed a city-county divide. The 20 precincts inside Emporia were evenly split on the issues, but only one of the rural precincts supported the questions.
3. City Struggles
In February, City Manager Steve Commons announced a $700,000 shortfall in the city’s general fund, dwarfing earlier estimates. Budget projections had frequently been inaccurate, Commons said, pegging revenues too high or expenses too low. That problem was compounded in 2005 by an accounting mistake and issues with ambulance billing.
Efforts by the city commission to fix the problem often led into hot water. When Commons floated proposals to end the city’s taxi coupon program for the elderly and disabled, citizens turned out in force to object. A month later, the angry crowds returned when the city discussed cutting the animal shelter’s manager from the budget.
Meanwhile, the city’s use of utility money to help the general fund led an unnamed employee to ask County Attorney Marc Goodman to investigate the city’s accounts. Goodman called in the KBI, which after a four-and-a-half month investigation found no criminal violations and only one irregularity, a transfer of $19,000 from the drug forfeiture fund without Police Chief Mike Heffron’s approval.
4. Barnett for Governor
Emporia state senator and physician Jim Barnett captured the Republican nomination for governor in August, defeating former House Speaker Robin Jennison and author Ken Canfield, founder of the National Center for Fathering.
However, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proved a tougher opponent, being better funded and better recognized than Barnett. Barnett charged her with lacking leadership at a time when the state’s economy was struggling. But even a new health insurance proposal and a tough stance on immigration issues weren’t enough to take the election, which Sebelius won with 58 percent of the vote.
5. We’ve Got The Power
In November, Westar Energy got the go-ahead to build a $333 million peaking power plant in Lyon County, one of several high-profile business projects in the county this year.
The plant will use natural gas to generate power on days when the electric load is especially heavy. It’s expected to boost the county’s valuation by more than $50 million.
Other big business projects this year included a $2.2 million expansion announced by Norfolk Iron & Metal in September, a new gasoline engine line at Detroit Diesel that added 20 jobs and debuted Aug. 1, and an ongoing boom at Fanestil Meats which added 20 new jobs and a new $225,0000 smokehouse.
6. Changes at the Top
It was out with the old and in with the new for a number of Emporia’s leadership positions this year, including its city manager and university president.
ESU President Kay Schallenkamp left after the spring semester to take a similar position in South Dakota. After an extensive search, the Kansas Board of Regents settled on her replacement in September, Michael Lane of Arkansas. Lane became ESU’s 15th president in November.
Meanwhile, City Manager Steve Commons stepped down in September after 20 years at the helm, announcing he was taking an assistant city manager’s job in Edmond, Okla. The city hopes to have a replacement hired by the end of January.
Other departing leaders include Police Chief Mike Heffron who announced his retirement in December, Emporia Main Street head Mary Helmer, who will move up to a state position in February, and Judge John Sanderson who is also retiring and will be succeeded by attorney Jeff Larson.
7. On Top of “Spaghetti”
Efforts to untangle the “spaghetti bowl” at Emporia’s entrance to the Kansas turnpike began in earnest this year. Workers laid out detours and then began construction on a project that will eventually simplify the access roads that now crisscross the area.
The construction will include two new roundabout intersections. That had a side effect of stirring commercial interest in the area with major retail projects announced near both roundabouts. The first, a 71-acre site at 18th Avenue and Graphic Arts Road, is owned by DeBauge Family Investments and CSJD. The second is a 35-acre site further south at Graphic Arts Road and West U.S. Highway 50, owned by Thomas Transfer.
8. The Hunt for Retail (sales tax/commercial quest)
City sales tax revenues were on pace to break $4 million this year, capping off a year in which commercial development was on the front burner for local officials.
A study in October underlined what different people had been telling the city all year — retail shopping draws the tourists. Early in 2006, a commercial development task force looked at ways to recruit more commercial businesses to Emporia. It finally settled on using a volunteer group in cooperation with the Regional Development Association, Emporia’s chief industrial recruiter.
In May, the former Modine radiator plant was rezoned for commercial use in a narrow vote by city commissioners. But in December, Jeff Dozier of the real estate company Kessinger/Hunter said there had been almost no commercial interest in the site, though he did have some industrial prospects. Meanwhile, commercial prospects took the spotlight to the north and south, thanks in part to work on the Kansas Turnpike (see No. 7).
9. Immigration Marches
Emporians marched and protested on both sides of the immigration issue this year as a national issue hit home.
In April, nearly 1,000 people marched down Commercial Street as part of a “Day Without Immigrants,” protesting a Congressional bill to make illegal immigration a felony. Hundreds of Emporians also rallied against harsher immigration rules in May at the fairgrounds, while nearby, 70 people protested the protesters, demonstrating in favor of tighter border controls.
One incident from the rallies became a minor Internet legend. Ralph Tebbets of the Emporia National Guard drove into the pro-immigrant rally with a Marine flag and American flag flying. In a message that later circulated by e-mail, Tebetts said he was told to roll up his flags, shut his mouth and go home. Police said they had asked him to leave, since the pro-immigrant rally had rented the fairgrounds and law enforcement had cordoned the area off to prevent trouble. Law officers said the flags weren’t an issue except as a possible safety hazard and that several passing drivers were asked — not ordered — to remove flags of one kind or another.
10. Hendrickson Pleads
In September, Eric Hendrickson pleaded guilty in the death of Emporia State University controller John Blaufuss, who was struck and killed by a car while jogging in December 2005.
Hendrickson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol and was later sentenced to 32 months in prison. Both Blaufuss’s family and Hendrickson’s had known each other for years and the Blaufuss family said it forgave Hendrickson “from day one.”
“I’m not going to get any satisfaction seeing him sent to (jail),” Blaufuss’ wife Dorothy Blaufuss said. “I have a lot of sympathy for Eric. I think he’s a good kid who made some poor decisions. But if there aren’t consequences for actions, there would be chaos.”
Other notable stories this year included, but were not limited to:
• An ongoing debate over the fate of Kenyon Hall as preservationists went to court to prevent its demolition.
• A May 30 thunderstorm that turned downtown streets into small rivers, overwhelming the storm sewer system.
• The closing of the Greg Longbine accident case, with County Attorney Marc Goodman saying no charges would be filed in the crash that killed Longbine.
• The sentencing of Kelly Cox to 38 months in prison for an accident that killed 25-year-old Jenna Lou Walker and injured her 8-year-old son Dylan in Dec. 2005.
• The sentencing of Donald Wayne Holmberg to 41 months in prison for an incident that killed 47-year-old Delbert Peak and injured 43-year-old Denise Peak.
• The passage in December of a new vicious animal law, allowing an animal to be put down for killing a pet or domestic animal.
• Work on the city’s 15 to 20-year comprehensive plan, which calls for a conservative pattern of growth and a use of “mixed-use” zones that allow a mix of commercial and industrial uses.
• The passage of “Tanner’s Law,” proposed by 12-year-old Tanner Burenheide of Olpe, which makes Veterans Day a paid holiday for veterans.
• The lifting of the Japanese ban on American beef after extensive inspection tours, including two visits to Emporia’s Tyson plant.
• The burning of the largest horse barn at the Eureka Downs racetrack, killing 40 horses and leaving one survivor.
• The city’s sale of Lake Kahola to the Kahola Cabin Owners Association.
• The delivery of the 40,000th baby to be born at Newman hospital.