Pratt

Air Race Classic features female pilots

Female pilots from around the country are converging on Pratt this week for the Air Race Classic, an all-female air race.

The race is scheduled to start early Saturday, said Air Race Classic Vice President Esther Lowry. She said 36 teams would be participating in the race this year.

The Classic, which began in 1977, covers 2,184 statute miles. It starts in Pratt and will follow a route with stops at Grand Island, Neb.; Albert Lea, Minn.; Menominee, Mich.; Peru, Ill.; Dayton, Ohio; Altoona, Pa.; Danville, Va., and Manteo, N.C.

Race rules dictate that the female crew of two has to fly by visual flight rules, and reach the terminus within four days.

White Cloud

Lookout perch gets new ramp

Visitors looking for a view of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri will now find an easier way to the top of a lookout perch in northeast Kansas.

Workers have completed a ramp to the top of the Four State Lookout in White Cloud, which offers a view of the Missouri River and the four states. The concrete-and-pinewood ramp also makes the lookout wheelchair-accessible.

The project cost about $2,500. The White Cloud Tourism Development Committee also plans to widen and pave the road that leads to the lookout.