County road variance request denied

Douglas County commissioners didn’t approve a road variance Wednesday night for a couple wanting to build a house near East 1100 and North 1000 roads in Wakarusa Township.

George and Judy Paley asked the commissioners for the road variance because they had 182 feet of road running in front of their 40 acres of land. A county resolution requires there be 250 feet of road frontage.

Commissioners suggested the couple petition the township to add about 70 feet onto the 182 feet stretch of road in front of their property.

“We’ve told too many people ‘no’ when they have requested road variances,” said Commission Chairman Charles Jones.

Jones and the other commissioners said if there weren’t already 182 feet running by the property, they might not have suggested working to add 70 feet.

George Paley said he was willing to pay to extend the road.

Martin Luther King Jr. author visiting KU

Deric Gilliard, a writer who has interviewed dozens of people who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., will discuss his work at 6 p.m. today at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

Gilliard, a 1977 graduate of Kansas University’s journalism school, also will sign copies of his book, “Living in the Shadows of a Legend: Unsung Heroes and ‘Sheroes’ Who Marched with Martin Luther King,” a collection of oral histories from the 1950s and 1960s.

Gilliard is a senior communications adviser with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ regional office in Atlanta.

Area students win

Math Day honors

A Free State High student and a group from Baldwin High School won awards Tuesday at Washburn University’s Math Day competition.

Baldwin’s team of Zack Michael, Katelyn Miles and Kimberly Moore won first place among Class 4A schools.

Benjamin Greenberg of Free State won second place in the nonsenior individual awards category.

About 380 students from 22 Kansas high schools competed.

Pioneer Ridge to stage Veterans Day service

Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community invites veterans or currently enlisted service men and women in the area to attend a Veterans Day recognition at 3 p.m. today in the main dining room of the facility at 4851 Harvard Road.

If there is a family member presently serving, the family may attend in support of their family member.

For more information, contact Tami Klinedinst, activities director, at 344-1106.

KU alumni group to honor volunteer

A Kansas University alumnus will be honored later this month for his volunteer efforts on behalf of the university.

Fenton R. “Pete” Talbott, of Bedford, N.Y., will receive the Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award during a Nov. 30 reception in New York City for the Chancellors Club, KU’s major donor organization. Talbot was tapped for the award by the KU Alumni Association and the KU Endowment Association.

Talbott, a McPherson native and 1963 KU graduate, is a trustee of the Endowment Association, a major donor organization to the KU First fund drive to raise $600 million. Talbot played a major role in the northeast region during Campaign Kansas, KU’s second major fund drive.

Talbot also has helped fund-raising efforts for the School of Business, for which he has served on the Board of Advisers. He also is a member of the Chancellors Club.

School burglarized before fund-raiser

A burglary was reported Tuesday at the School of Equestrian Arts at Serenata Farms in western Douglas County, forcing changes to an upcoming fund-raiser.

A total of 23 saddles, 15 bridals and two pony harnesses were taken from the equestrian school, which helps rehabilitate disabled children and adults.

Without the saddles and bridals, the horses are virtually unrideable, said Bonnie Dingman, executive director of the school.

The fund-raiser, from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at Serenata Farms, was to earn money for equine-assisted therapy programs and ease some of the cost burden for those who participate in the rehabilitation programs.

“Now we’re going to have to use some of the funding to buy saddles, so all of that takes away from what we were trying to do,” Dingman said.

Serenata Farms is 10 miles west of Lawrence on U.S. Highway 40 in Big Springs.