Pinewood derby racing is making a big comeback in Butler as the Cub Scout Pack 4237 held their first annual "Outlaw" derby as seen here- making cars light with the least amount of rolling resistance is the name of the game! Here are some highlights:
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Monday, August 11, 2025
Carter Bell receives Mike Rowe Work Ethic Scholarship
Congratulations, Carter Bell
Rich Hill Class of 2025 graduate Carter Bell has been awarded the Mike Rowe Work Ethic Scholarship for $8,500 for the 2025–26 school year.
This prestigious nationwide scholarship program awarded a total of $2.5 million in scholarships this year to hardworking students across the country. We’re proud of you, Carter!
The Museum Minute: Amoret to get new school
Herrman’s Historical Happenings week of August 13
1880 An itinerant tight rope walker performs on the East side of the Butler square, in front of the Bates Co Record newspaper.
1890 The P.A. Coob store, in Hume, advertises boys knee pants 25 cents, men's shirts and drawers 21 cents each, ladies fast black hose, 10 cents a pair.
1892 The Amoret school board signs a contract to build a 30 by 40 foot two story school house at a cost of $1,000.00.
1895 The Rich Hill city council advises the street commissioner to get bid for a ditch 75 feet long, 4 feet wide & 5 deep for burying dead animals found around town.
1909 Mr. Schoeber, of Hume, is the area champion wheat grower. He has 18 acres averaging 21 1/2 bushels per acre.
1940 The 7th annual Butler Chamber of Commerce Horse Show begins in West Butler.
1944 Showing at Fisk Theater, in Butler, Red Skelton and Harry James and his orchestra in "Bathing Beauties."
1976 A three day Bi-Centennial pageant begins at the Butler Fairgrounds.
1999 The Merwin Christian Church's new parsonage is completed and the pastor, Alan Black and family are moving in.
Bates County real estate transfers and marriage licenses
Spencer, James V to Deems Tire & Service Lt 1 Bl 9 Littles Addn+
Abel, David A to Shaw, Kyle Str 20-42-33 //Nw
Glynn, Roy W to Palmer, Larry Dixon Lt 1 Bl 54 Rich Hill, Original Town Of+
Glynn, Roy W to Glynn, Heather Lt 1 Bl 11 William's Addn+
Pennymac Loan Services, LLC to Secretary Of Veterans Affairs Lt 1 Bl 4 William's Addn
Smith's Properties, LLC to C & Ds Properties Lt 4 Bl 1 Hunn's, Polly A. Addn
Moore, Bryan S. to RPM68 LLC Str 3-42-31
Fletcher, Jordan to Nelson, Trent Lt 6 Bl 51 Rich Hill, Original Town Of
Reed, Randy to Waldram, William Lt 8 Weeks Addn Ext #1
L & W Property Management, LLC to Mawyer, Anthony K Str 20-40-31 //Ne
Nichols, Susan to Sargent Enterprises Bl 17 Butler, Original Town Of
Smith, Curtis W to MIH Property Group Str 33-42-31 //Ne
Mulch, Travis to Wright, Kenneth L Lt 3 Bl C Park West Re-Plat #1 P4/61
Martiny, Victor to Martiny, Victor F Str 10-38-29 //Sw
Martiny, Victor to Martiny, Victor F Str 27-38-29 //Nw+
Southlaw to Fifth Third Bank Str 24-40-31
Marriage License
Curtin, Bobby Michael and Thomas, Megan Renae
Switzer, Jordan Tyler and Lovell, Megan Nicole
What’s Up by LeRoy Cook
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It is the “dog days” of August, when it’s too hot for canines to stir off the porch and difficult to muster fun flying ambition. Still, we’ve had a good run of stable weather for aviating, albeit hazy from wildfire smoke aloft. The weekend’s thunderstorms weren’t entirely unwelcome; crops needed a drink and we need cooling off.
Those flyers taking advantage of late-summer opportunities included some early morning training flights coming through, a Mooney M20 that stopped in for a visit and a Cessna 182 of indeterminate origin. Locally, Sky4’s Cessna 150s were busy providing flight instruction, BCS’s AirTractor sprayplane kept up aerial application and the Cessna Caravan jump plane lifted some parachutists on the weekend. Jeremie Platt flew the family out west in their Grumman Tiger and Roy Conley made a run down to Springfield in his Grumman Tr2.
In national news, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth has requested the FAA report on recent high-profile airliner emergency evacuation incidents, to see if the required 90-minute time limit is being met and passengers are capable of following the procedures. On July 26, an American Airlines 737 Max 8 at Denver had to shed its passengers via the inflatable slides after a brake caught on fire, with a great many of the deplanees ignoring cabin crew orders to leave their carry-on items and jump out with empty arms. Duckworth herself is a disabled Army aviator veteran and wants to make sure accommodations are adequate for such persons. Getting 200 average citizens to climb into bounce-house slides in a minute-and-a-half may not be realistic, she fears.
The extent to which the fragile commercial aviation network relies on technology to function was pointed out last Wednesday, when United Airlines’ loading calculations computer software failed, grounding hundreds of flights. There was evidently no back-up system to dispatch flights, so connections were snarled and planes stopped. Having passengers step on scales would be so embarrassing.
And, like I’ve always said, we need to maintain an alternative navigation and position-finding system to the Global Positioning System now used by everyone for every purpose. In aviation, we have good old VORTAC stations like the one out west of Butler, or even (gasp!) paper maps. I saw a clip the other day of a scheme to mount GPS-style transmitter boxes on tall television towers, of which there are 1500 sticking up around the U.S. Those would take over if our enemies shoot down GPS satellites. Sounds like a good idea.
The question from last week’s column wanted to know why Edwards AFB in California was given its name. Reader Cary Bolton came up with the answer: Captain Glenn Edwards lost his life testing the Northrop Flying Wing jet bomber at the research field in 1948 (forerunner of the B-2) and was honored for his sacrifice. In a related question, where did the base’s previous name of Muroc Army Air Field come from? You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
Ten Year Celebration of Butler Community Cafe
Ten years ago, in June of 2015, the Butler Community Cafe opened their doors to serving a free meal to the community every Tuesday at five different locations throughout Butler. Food, fun, and fellowship was their motto and was strongly and unanimously supported by the numerous Butler business sponsors. On June 17th, Mayor Jim Henry and City Administrator Corey Snead presented the Cafe Board members a City Proclamation for their outstanding contribution and support to the community. At the same time, Board member, Susi Serna, announced her retirement after completing ten years of “the best years of my life”. Board member Holly Rabourn, a long time Butler resident, was voted to take over the reins and continue to make the Community Cafe a wonderful place to come together and enjoy the “food, fun, and fellowship” with the residents of our community. The Cafe Board also welcomes two new board members, Phyllis McBrayer of First Christian Church, and Ashley Melhuish of Good Shepherd Hospice.
Wishing the Butler Community Cafe continued success and looking forward to celebrating another ten years!
Editor's note: Thank you for your energy, enthusiasm and dedication, Susi Serna. Now go enjoy some well deserved time for yourself!
Rice Road resurfaces in council discussion
"You tore it all up" said Butler city council guest Mary Gifford referring to the current condition of Rice Road in southwest Butler "It's bumpy and dusty and people still go 90 to nothing" as she went on to drill for answers as to why the road condition is so bad.
However, it may simply be a case of miscommunication, or maybe a lack thereof. The matter was heavily debated with a plan laid out to fix the issues prior to February of 2024 when a Facebook post advertised a "2 bedroom, 1 bath pothole for rent" on Rice Road. Not alongside the road mind you, but in the road as the tire eating craters continued to grow.
At the time, Mary's son Bryon, noted that living along the 'fault line' was getting unbearable which revealed a possible cause as to why repairs had not been completed- and that is, both the township and the city have to share expenses to maintain it. That's right, Butler literally owns from the center to one side and Mount Pleasant Township owns the other half from a stretch that goes from 52 highway to about the railroad crossing at the curve south of Jones Brothers Lumber.
Discussions then began on how to proceed and work began on the road in August, 2024 which included several variables- one, the township would pay for half and the city pay the other half. Also, the severely deteriorated condition of the road meant that a solid roadbed would need to be 'rebuilt' which would take some time; at least a year in fact, as the road was excavated/leveled, graveled and let drivers pack it for about a year before following with a chip and seal making the project complete. It was noted that without allowing the road to be packed for about a year, the new pavement would fall apart shortly after it was put in place.
Gifford asked Police Chief Jarrett Wheatley if something could be done about those who speed on Rice Road and that answer was a bit complicated, as the city can only enforce speed on half the road (center to one side) as well. Wheatley did say he would do what he can to step up enforcement.
Money to complete the project came into the discussion as well and it was again noted that the city and township will each need to kick in their part as previously discussed. As the discussion wound down, Mayor Henry asked City Administrator Corey Snead to re-enter a discussion with the township to insure that everyone is "on the same page". It is assumed Snead will provide a report in the upcoming August 19 session.
In other council news, the Butler Historical Preservation Commission received a $15,000 donation from Dr. Curtis Long which hill be used for historical murals to be placed around the city.
Utilities, primarily electricity costs, are going up in the near future. According to Administrator Snead there hasn't been a significant increase for a very long time and unfortunately, as with everything else, an adjustment will have to be made. This too will certainly be a part of upcoming council discussions with more details to follow.
Thanks were paid to Blake Talley, owner of American Dream Spray Foam for their contribution to sidewalk rehab being done on the southeast corner of the square next to the Green space park. Work is expected to be complete in the next few weeks.
Snead also reported that the hunt for new business, primarily a grocery store, is ongoing but prospects are dwindling. He spoke to owners of the Aldi chain but was informed that Butler didn't meet their demographic. So, the search continues.
A grant application has been submitted that would greatly help with street improvements in Butler. Now, we wait for an answer.
As of late the disposition of the old Butler high school has been a hot topic of debate as the old building is in dire need of costly repairs. It was announced that the EPA will be doing an assessment of asbestos and other hazards then will provide a full report so anyone thinking about purchasing the old alma mater will know exactly what they getting into.
Reminder, the Butler city wide cleanup will happen during the week of September 8-12 following city wide garage sales as usual. Details on what can be placed at the curb will be made available soon.
Fort Scott street near the Boy Scout park has some subterranean issues related to crumbling infrastructure below the street and repairs need to be done soon before there is an all out collapse of the street. A timeline for the repairs will be available soon and commuters likely will need to find an alternate route when work begins in coming months.
Remember, the Butler city council meets on the first and third Tuesdays, 7 pm, upstairs at city hall. The public is always highly encouraged to attend.
Hume Prince & Princess honors
2025 Princess - Finley Lemcke daughter of Kevin and Janine Castillo Lemcke sold $ 2,500.00 worth of tickets.
2025 Prince - Garrett Deems son of Justin and Samantha Deems sold $1,177.00 worth of tickets.
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