The first quarter of the year was the foreshadowing of things to come, including the election of the nation’s first African American as president and the closing of the long-awaited ethanol plant. Other plans being discussed have not yet come to fruition.
January
Avery Dawn Fuhr made her debut as the first baby of the new year born at Pratt Regional Medical Center. The daughter of Tamara Fuhr, she was born at 2:19 p.m. Jan. 1.
A nonprofit foundation was created to raise funds for a new Vernon W. Filley Art Museum to house the collection of the late Dr. Filley and his wife Mimi. Plans were made to construct a 10,000 square foot facility adjacent to the Pratt Public Library on South Jackson.
Limb cleanup from the December ice storm continued. Public Works Director Russ Rambat asked for the public’s patience during an expected 100-day project. A burn pile for public use was maintained at Sixth Street Park through the early spring months.
U.S. News and World Report, along with School Evaluation Service ranked Skyline High School among the top 10 percent of schools in 40 states. Eighteen schools in Kansas shared the distinction.
Jean Clarkson-Frisbie closed a 38-year career with Kansas State University Research and Extension, 36 years as a Pratt County family and consumer science and 4-H agent, retiring at the end of January. Within weeks, office professional Jodi Drake was named as her successor.
Pratt County Commissioners began studying reports of two architectural firms pointing up problems with the infrastructure of the 30-year-old Law Enforcement Center and inadequate space for storage and handling prisoners.
February
The first-ever Democratic caucus was held in Pratt in early February. By a two-thirds margin, area Democrats supported Barak Obama.
The Pratt USD 382 Board of Education gave its approval for seventh graders to participate in interscholastic sports.
In mid-February the Pratt County United Way campaign reached its goal of $65,000 to help the 11 agencies it serves.
Pratt Community College announced a plan to expand Chandler Hall to house a nursing program that is “popping its stitches.” Additional space will allow the program to expand its offerings, including the first Kansas-based online registered nurse refresher course.
Gateway Ethanol suspended production in late February, a measure that was expected to be a temporary halt for restructuring operating capital. Damage to the plant by the December ice storm and increasing corn prices were cited as contributing factors.
Right-of-way purchases for a project to build a four-lane U.S. 54 between Kingman and Pratt were being wrapped up in February.
March
Pratt Regional Medical Center welcomed Dr. Allan D. Holiday Jr. to the South Central Kansas Bone and Joint Center. The orthopedic surgeon plans to leave Pratt by the end of the year.
Comfort Suites, Legends sports bar and grill and Taco Bell opened for business in March. Brian Hoffman, Pratt Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development director, confirmed that Cox-Montgomery, a start-up electrical power line contractor, would also be locating in Pratt in the near future.
An outbreak of influenza forced Pratt Regional Medical Center to declare a temporary freeze on admissions. A hospital census that was twice the normal patient load, coupled with illness among the staff, forced the action. Hospital administrators promised that sick people would get the attention they needed, at PRMC if possible, or at another facility. The “diversion” was off-and-on during a period of 10 days.
Arrowhead West applied for a $200,000 State of Kansas Community Tax grant for a second four-plex to house eight clients in Pratt.
South Wind Hospice announced plans in March to reduce staff and modify its mission, in the face of a financial shortfall. Fifteen registered and licensed practical nurses and some members of the kitchen staff received layoff notices. After a change in leadership, the hospice was “back on track” by fall, according to Development Director Sharon Will.
Skyline School announced that starting in the summer of 2009, drivers’ education would be offered as a summertime class only. Pratt High set a $25 fee for the course, to be offered during the school year, but expected that most students would enroll during summer sessions.
Starting in March, students at Pratt High who are suspended from class for disciplinary reasons would be required to serve the time after school, instead of during the school day, as a more effective method of preventing future misbehavior.
Lester and Delores Goyen were selected as Kansas Master Farmer-Master Homemaker by Kansas State University Research and Extension. Selection criteria included farming practices, community leadership and civic involvement.
After several months of preliminary investigation, the Pratt/Kiowa County Habitat for Humanity Chapter signed partnership and covenant agreements with Wichita Habitat for Humanity to build low-cost homes for participating residents in Greensburg.
Pratt County native Travis Lenkner was awarded a clerkship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
In March the Internal Revenue Service began mailing reminders to taxpayers to file a 2007 tax return to qualify for up to $1,200 in economic stimulus payments to be mailed beginning in May.
Four fires flared up in a single day on March 20, with the town of Coats being hardest hit. Houses were damaged or destroyed, but no lives were lost and there were no injuries.
Ground for a new Pratt Area Humane Society facility was broken March 26 in the Prairie Parkway Business Park.
