Tourism is a big deal for Barton County, an excited Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night. She had received the most recent Tourism Economic Impact Report from Kansas Tourism, and it contained promising information and helped solidify the importance of promoting the community to lure more visitors. “We paid for this as Barton county because Great Bend accounts for 95% of the tourism in Barton County,” she said. The report was costly enough, so by doing this, it saved the CVB about $3-4,000. Hayes said they don’t buy this report every year because it does cost so much. “But it’s interesting to see.” Kansas Tourism (which falls under the Kansas Department of Commerce) taps data from four sources for the report – the Kansas Department of Revenue; the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; and Smith Travel Research, a national measure of hotel demand and performance, and a tourism industry standard. Barton County sales and transient guest tax receipts are also included.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

To bolster election security in Barton County, the County Commission Tuesday morning accepted a $94,096.91 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Security Grant. County Clerk Bev Schmeidler said the funding, which requires a 10% local match, will help with election equipment storage, a new trailer to haul supplies to polling locations, rolling bags to haul gear and other needs. “We had the opportunity to go out for a grant offered through the Secretary of State’s office for federal HAVA funds,” Schmeidler said. Since the money can be used for anything to improve election security, “there is quite a list of things that we asked for.” Although the commission accepted the entire $94,096.91 Tuesday, they only authorized spending just over $74,000 of that this week. First, it Ok-ed a bid from Brentwood Builders of Great Bend for $59,700 to remodel the County Clerk’s Office in the Courthouse. This includes making the early voting room more secure, adding an area for secure storage, tamperproof doors and a cabinet to charge and store electronic voting pads. Second was the larger trailer at $12,200. “Ours is at capacity,” she said of the one they use now. Lastly were the rolling security bags at $2,820.15. These are used to transfer supplies to voting sites. As for the balance of the grant, Schmeidler said she will come back before the commission to seek approval for the purchase of secure locks, a server and other electronic items needed for the effort.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

The City of Claflin is hosting a rabies clinic from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 20. The clinic will be held at the city shop, 710 Front St. in Claflin. Services will be provided by Hoisington Vet Clinic staff. As a reminder, all dogs in the city limits must have current proof of rabies vaccination and must be licensed by March 1. A $5 penalty will be assessed to dog owners after the March 1 deadline. Cost of dog tags is $5 for spayed or neutered dogs and $7.50 for dogs not fixed.
Source: Great Bend Tribune