The Rooks County Commissioners started their weekly session on Tuesday, April 16th, by meeting with health nurse Lori Eichman. They reviewed the bids for the IT services for her department that were presented the week before. The commissioners voted to accept the bid from CK Technology Services for the health office’s IT system at $539.50 per month. The commissioners stated they would also work on an IT bundle for all courthouse departments with it noted that the health department would be able to transfer to the combined service.

They had Woodys and Ariels a plenty, and Elsas and Brunos galore at the Disney Favorites Kindergarten through fifth-grade spring music concert at the Stockton High School gym on Tuesday, April 16th. The evening’s performances began with the fifth-grade band performing the songs “Little Brown Jug” and “Rock ‘n Roll Blues” in front of the Disney castle backdrop before the Disney extravaganza of vocal music began.

At the Stockton City Commission meeting on Tuesday, April 16th, the commissioners received an update on the Red Fest event to be held in June in Stockton. Colton Williams and Julie Hartner attended the meeting to answer questions about the event. Williams stated that the goal is to bring people to Stockton, and he volunteered to oversee the event at the Chamber of Commerce meeting.

We begin this week's accident reports with the first two resulting from the wintry weather our area received on March 8. Four of this week's ten accident reports were because of icy/snowy roads.

The City of Stockton has been notified they are one of 51 organizations chosen as a recipient of a waste tire product grant totaling $34,951.00. These annual waste tire grants are awarded to local municipalities and public and private schools K-12 across the state.

The Rooks County Commissioners met with health nurse Lori Eichman at their April 9th Tuesday morning meeting to discuss IT services and a new firewall for her office’s computer system. After reviewing the quotes for the IT services, the commissioners said they would decide at their next meeting, as they wanted to see if the service can change over if clerk Laura Montgomery can combine an IT service for all county offices. As for the firewall, Eichman said they have had it in place for six years, and it is becoming outdated. The commissioners will decide on a new firewall system later since the quote for a new one is good until July.

After Stockton USD #271 Board of Education members approved the Consent Agenda for the evening meeting on Monday, April 8th, they turned their attention to superintendent Sarah Armstrong, who gave an update on the math camps being held. An average of 19 to 26 students attend the classes. There will be one more math camp before school ends.

Stockton High School’s social sciences teacher, Michelle Towery, has been selected as the school’s 2025 Kansas Secondary Teacher of the Year. She was celebrated, along with the rest of the nominees, in Salina on Saturday, April 6th, at the Region 1 Banquet.

Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins, guest speaker A large crowd attended the Conservative Alliance of Rooks County’s Medicaid Expansion meeting held on Thursday, April 11th, at the Township Hall Senior Center in Plainville, Kansas. Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins gave an overview of Medicaid Expansion, including who it is designed for, its statistics, and how it is performing in other states.