The Swing Into Summer Festival and Car Show was held in Stockton on Friday, June 16th and Saturday, June 17th. The vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles were lined up under the canopy of shade trees at the Stockton City Park on Saturday for the public to enjoy. The announcement of winners was held at 3:00 p.m. Here is the winning lineup!

Midwest Energy was recently awarded $580,800 for upgraded natural gas leak detection devices through a federal grant under 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Midwest Energy was the only entity in Kansas to receive funding under a nationally competitive process administered by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Before Rooks County Commissioners Kayla Hilbrink, Tim Berland, and John Ruder worked on the 2024 County budgets at the June 27th meeting, they conducted the business portion of their morning session. The commissioners first met with economic development director Roger Hrabe, who presented them with a Kansas Department of Commerce grant opportunity.

The U.S. Postal Service has announced another postage increase for July 9 that again sends Periodicals postage into the double-digit zone for annual increases. This midyear hike will be 8.8% for Within County newspapers and 8.1% for Outside County newspapers.

Heartland Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals and communities in the Ellis, Rooks, and Trego counties, is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to its esteemed Advisory Board. The addition of these highly accomplished individuals will further strengthen the foundation’s mission of fostering positive change and supporting local initiatives.

At the Rooks County Courthouse’s Centennial Celebration this past April, patriotic Flutter flags graced the courthouse lawn during the afternoon program, which added a majestic touch to honor the day. Since then, the Rooks County Commissioners have received several positive comments about the flags, with people asking if different event flags could be flown to enhance the presence of the historic building. This suggestion of flags was recently made possible with a generous $500.00 donation from the Stockton Lions Club.

Boys and girls, young and old, are enjoying the “History Through Story Time” sessions at the Rooks County Historical Museum in Stockton. These summer sessions are about exploring Kansas symbols and are being held on some scheduled weekends, so parents who work during the week can also participate.

Taylor Keller is a new member of the Keller Motors team. Taylor began his duties on July 18th, 2022.

The Rooks County Commission met with Rooks County EMS Director Megan Niblock, City of Stockton attorney Joe Gasper, county attorney Danielle Muir, and EMS director Adam Comeau (via phone) at the June 20th meeting to discuss acquiring property for new ambulance bays. Those present explained and discussed the steps of organizing a land bank to acquire property to construct larger ambulance bays in Stockton and Plainville in anticipation of the new ambulances on order.