Sabetha

Plans stall to build airport in Brown County

A proposed regional airport in Brown County will remain in limbo for the near future, area officials say.

The cities of Hiawatha and Sabetha are pushing for a new airport for rural Brown County. But county commissioners have consistently opposed the proposal, saying it would destroy farm land and create too heavy a tax burden for the county.

In 1996, the project received a $63,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. Earlier this month, the FAA notified members of the project’s board of directors that it wanted final plans by Aug. 11.

The FAA said without those plans, it would close its books on the grant — leaving little hope of future funds.

Hiawatha City Administrator Carl Slaugh said Monday that the most likely result was the project would “be set on the shelf.”

Towanda

Hopalong Cassidy museum to open Friday

Hopalong Cassidy fans soon will have a new tourist shrine to visit — in rural Kansas.

The Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum plans to open Friday at the Prairie Rose in eastern Butler County. The Prairie Rose began serving chuckwagon suppers in 1999, and the site now has a recreational vehicle camp, an opera house and a children’s theater.

The new museum will have 10,000 square feet of exhibit space devoted to Hopalong Cassidy, played by actor William Lawrence Boyd and featured in 66 movies and 52 television shows from 1935 to 1951.

The Prairie Rose drew about 50,000 last year, according to owners Thomas and Cheryl Etheredge. They believe it will draw 60,000 visitors this year and hope the new museum will draw even more in the future.

The Hopalong Cassidy museum will be open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Wichita

Monopoly on $3 wine causes controversy

One merchant’s short-lived monopoly on supplies of a $3 wine has caused some controversy in the state’s largest city — and caught the attention of state officials.

The flap began last week, when the Brook Hollow brand hit the shelves of three Jacob Liquor Exchange stores in Wichita.

Such secondary labels make their wine from surplus grape juice at large wineries. A similar type of wine, sold on the West Coast under the Charles F. Shaw label, is known as “Two-Buck-Chuck” after its price.

The Wichita Eagle reported last week that the Jacob stores were the only place the wine was available.

Kansas law says wholesale distributors of alcoholic beverages must make anything they stock available to any store that wants to sell it. Other Wichita retailers complained.

As of Monday, 20 Wichita retailers were stocking the $3 wine, according to Ross Schimmels, executive director of distributor Standard Beverage Corp.

The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division is investigating.