An Expedition Wind Farm opponent was arrested Thursday after surveyors staking property in preparation for wind farm construction were reportedly greeted with gunshots. Amy D. Stutzman, 46, Peabody, was jailed at 3:23 p.m. Thursday afternoon on suspicion of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was released from jail on $50,000 surety bond shortly before 10 p.m. Undersheriff Dave Huntley said Stutzman was yelling at surveyors for Westwood Professional Services and approaching the surveyors while shooting at the ground in their direction. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Dave Schrag has retired from Marion Die and Fixture after 34 years, but Goessel’s mayor still has plenty on his plate. Schrag is heading up a $2.5 million project to fix and renovate the city’s sewer lines. Schrag said the sewer pipes had numerous cracks, which allowed rainwater to run into them, causing a buildup of water in the lagoons. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Marion city council members gave the official nod to a dog park to be developed by Marion Girl Scouts during Tuesday’s meeting. The park, which the scouts have been planning to build for months, needed a vote to approve its changed location to Ann’s Park. Since January, the troop has planned and raised money for the project. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

A draft of the proposed agreement between Marion County and developers of a proposed wind farm shows the company is offering twice the per-megawatt rate the county is paid by Diamond Vista wind farm in the northern portion of the county. The proposed rate is $1,800 per megawatt over the first 10 years the wind farm operates. The estimated total annual payment is $360,000 for the first year and $330,600 for the following nine years. The payment in lieu of taxes agreement proposed by Expedition Wind Farm developers will be discussed with county commissioners at 1:30 p.m. Friday. (Read more: Marion [...]

Every city has rules for keeping the community clean, but those often come with loopholes that can be taken advantage of by opportune residents. In Marion, inoperable vehicles are to be screened within a property, but even that has room for people to take advantage, police chief Clinton Jeffrey said. “The ordinance just says ‘screened off,’ so if you strung up a bunch of tarps it would probably look worse,” he said. “Then there are places that have gone to tin or giant concrete blocks to screen it off.” (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Sexual battery and many other intimidation crimes are not listed in Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s annual crime index — an omission that law enforcement in Marion County say makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of crime in their towns. “There are certain things I wish were in there that aren’t,” said Hillsboro police chief Dan Kinning. “I wish things like simple battery and that showed up, especially if they’re domestic violence.” KBI issues a separate report for sexual battery and other crimes not listed in its annual index — but the report only includes statistics for the entire state, [...]

No progress is being made toward ending a dispute over repairing the county’s roads between county officials and Enel Green Power, the company developing Diamond Vista wind farm in the northern section of the county. County engineer Brice Goebel told commissioners Monday that Enel continues to deny it’s their job to repair road damage caused by flooding. “They kind of left it up to the local guy,” Goebel said. “One road has a steel plate over it and they don’t plan to do anything more. I really see no uptick on this.” (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

An electronic sign at the intersection of Main and Elm Sts. was turned on Thursday after months of planning and fundraising. City electricians completed wiring from the sign base to the sign itself Aug. 28, but when the switch was thrown, the sign did not light. Workers came back Thursday to recheck all its connections and reconnect wiring. Shortly before noon Thursday, the switch was thrown again and the sign came to life. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

All Marion County road signs will be replaced because many are missing or in poor condition. County engineer Brice Goebel said emergency medical services director Travis Parmley has asked for replacement signs because missing and rotated signs confuse many drivers. Goebel said signs along Mustang Rd. are a problem because people take down the signs for themselves. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

A district judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit seeking to block development of a wind farm in Marion County. The lawsuit, originally filed May 16, was against wind farm developer Expedition Wind, the board of county commissioners, and the county clerk. A dismissal with prejudice means the plaintiffs cannot bring another lawsuit based on the same claims. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)