10 YEARS AGO

MARCH 23, 2016

Work crews stripped 14 tons of peeling stucco from a downtown building at 331 W. Main St. that once was Marion’s post office in an effort to restore its east-facing exterior to its historic glory. The building was constructed a decade or more before the county courthouse.

“In one spot,” worker DIllis Owen said, “we found a door with the knob still in it. Someone had stuccoed right over it.”

Owner Tim Wiens said the building could have fallen out into the street if weight of the peeling stucco had not been removed.

Directors of St. Luke Hospital district are exploring purchasing the dental building being left by Marion dentist Gerald Vinduska, who is moving to Hutchinson to become dental director of a health ministries clinic there.

Five candidates in the April 5 election for Marion City Council staked out their positions in candidate profiles published this week. Chris Costello, Jerry Dieter, Melissa Mermis, Michel Soyez, and John Wheeler all stressed improving infrastructure, fixing dilapidated housing, and encouraging economic development.

Six-year-old Brylee Haws took third place at the USA Wrestling Kansas Girls State Championship in McPherson.

“She started wrestling because she wanted to be like her 11-year-old brother, Clinton,” father and coach Brett Haws said.

Marion Elementary School and its Parent Advisory Council are seeking to raise $50,000 to $75,000 to update playground equipment that has seen nearly a quarter of a century of use at the school.