Mayor orders public bathrooms closed

In this week’s Montgomery County Chronicle, there was an article about Caney’s water crisis. On Monday the Mayor ordered all public bathrooms closed in Caney. The uproar from convenience stores and restaurants caused the order to be amended to restrict access to paying customers only.

All of Montgomery County is under some mandatory water restriction. Caney has the most precarious water supply. Worst case estimates have Caney running out of water around New Year’s Day. Until Caney can get access to a more reliable water supply, preferably Coffeyville’s, they are going to have to be hard-core about conservation.

This now includes the local school district going to a four day school week and not having bathroom facilities available for students. Portapotties will be in use at all district schools for the duration.

Dollar General Is Everywhere

I went to Bartlesville on a well overdue shopping trip today. I was about to go back when I realized I needed to pick up some snacks and cleaning supplies at Dollar General.

I ended up at the one known locally as being in the middle of nowhere. It is just off of the highway but is surrounded with nothing at three sides of the intersection. There is one house within a mile of the store. There is a small town five miles away without a grocery store. However it is adjacent to a Walmart distribution center. When I was there in the early afternoon, there were about a half a dozen customers in the store and I had to wait to get checked out.

The real Little House on the Prairie

Those of you old enough to remember the 70s TV series “Little House on the Prairie” recall that it took place in fictional Walnut Grove, Minnesota. The book was based on the actual site which was in the middle of nowhere near Independence, Kansas just a few miles west of my house.

I wanted to get there before it closed for the season later this month, so I stopped by early this morning. I got there a little too early as the museum did not open until 10am. Fortunately, the ground is open to walk through. The only thing from the Little House that still exists is the hand dug well that went at least 15 feet deep before it was sealed up for insurance reasons. I will try to get back again before Halloween, when the museum closes up for the season.

The actual well hand dug by Charles Ingalls. When I first visited here in 2009, the well was open.

Neewollah parade on TV

The Neewollah parade a week from Saturday will be on rural lifestyle network RFD-TV. High school bands from all over the area will march, marking the end of marching band season in Kansas. They will be accompanied by the usual parade floats and other miscellaneous entries.

At least this is not an election year. If it was, all kinds of lowlifes would be in it, being one of the last chances to meet voters.

Solar Eclipse a bust

Southeast Kansas was in an ideal position to get a good partial eclipse today. Unfortunately it was mostly cloudy. Worst of all, there was no rain adding to the drought that has gone on for nearly two years. The entire county went on mandatory water restrictions this month and things don’t look much better the rest of October. We are beyond the point of needing rain. We need a big snow season this winter to break the drought.

Long sleeve day

I rode the bike to work last night. When I rode back this morning, it was pleasantly chilly. Tonight a frost warning has been issued for the area. Local temperatures should stay above freezing, but it is time to wear long sleeves at work.

It gets warm in the store I work at overnights. We actually work up a sweat stocking shelves from April through September. The boofheads in Bentonville control the temperature at all Wally World stores and warehouses. When the store closes there is a lot less climate control than when the store is open, which means we will be chilly by Thanksgiving and continuing through March.

Windmills are coming

For a sleepy rural county things are getting active lately. The soybean oil plant is going up on schedule and with it are upgrades in the rural water system to provide water to the plant. The local shortline railroad is upgrading its rail system to handle the increased traffic the plant will provide. There are rumors of other industries showing interest in the area as well.

One rumor that has been confirmed is at least one energy company wants to put windmill farms in the county. With the push toward renewable energy it is inevitable that windmills will be installed. The only question is under what conditions they will go in. Montgomery County currently has no zoning restrictions in rural areas. County Commissoners are studying the issue. People do not want large noisy windmill farms, but they don’t want heavy handed zoning rules either.