Excerpted stories in Crawford County newspaper archives
100 years ago
May 16, 1926
Building contract for the construction of the new Hotel Besse on the northwest corner of Fourth and Locust is to be let not later than June 10, and it is planned to have the building completed and ready for occupancy by March 1. 1927, T. J. McNally, president of the hotel company, said this morning. Mr. McNally, Alex Besse, vice president; F. C. Werner, treasurer; O. L. Stamm, secretary; William T. Schmitt, architect for the hotel, and George R. Malcolm, attorney, returned Sunday from Chicago, where they conducted negotiations with officials of the Wenzel Hotel Company of that city relative to letting an operating lease on the Hotel Besse to it.
Conference of much importance is to be held by the commission in charge of general arrangements for Pittsburg's golden jubilee on Thursday of this week, at the City Hall tonight at 7:30 o'clock. John P. Curran, general chairman of the celebration, made special request today that all members of the various committees be present tonight, and especially urged the presence of chairmen and members of the transportation, motor car, program, parade and basket dinner committees.
On application of the state, trial of a first-degree murder charge against W. E. Tindel, patrolman, in connection with the death of Sam Lyle, jr., last December, was continued today by Judge George F. Beezley in division No. 2 of the district court to June 1. The continuance was asked by the state because of the absence of Dr. Arthur Moberg, one of its witnesses, who was called to Chicago late Saturday by the death of a brother. Al Moberg. Tiburzio Micheletti, next on call for trial on a child desertion charge, failed to appear.
Physical growth of the Teachers College, with a corresponding increase in the student body, which has been almost tripled during the past ten years, was emphasized as an asset to the future prosperity of Pittsburg by Dr. C. B. Pyle of the College faculty Saturday night in his address to the United Commercial Travelers. The address of Dr. Pyle, who is head of the high school department and professor of psychology at the College, was the sixth of nine of the "Sell Pittsburg" series of addresses sponsored by the traveling men's organization.
50 years ago
May 16, 1976
An official of Ramada Inn, headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., said Friday that although the company has no pending applications to locate a motel in Pittsburg, the town would be a good place for a "community" Ramada Inn. Jim Carpenter, Ramada Inn account executive for the midwest and central states, said that he has received no application for a Ramada Inn franchise in Pittsburg recently. Carpenter said that he had talked to a man who wanted to renew a downtown Pittsburg hotel for placement of a Ramada franchise, but that request was denied.
The growing national phenomenon of college students defaulting on educational loans has remained relatively insignificant at Kansas state colleges and universities, according to Cliff Beougher, Kansas State College of Pittsburg business manager. The latest available figures (1974) set the national default rate on federal student loans at 14.7 per cent, while the rate at Kansas institutions was 5.6 per cent, Beougher said. KSCP had a default rate of 5 per cent in 1974.
Camp '76, the building at 2nd and Broadway currently housing the Pittsburg Centennial-Bicentennial Committee, was sold Friday to Pete Murry, 211 Crestwood, for $1,640.37. Murry, a Crawford County commissioner, offered the high bid on the building, Edward McNally, committee chairman, said Friday evening. Two other bids for $1,500 and $1,000 were also opened in procedures at the First State Bank and Trust at 2 p.m. Murry intends to move the house to a site near his grocery store at Joplin and Fourth where he will rent it out as an office, McNally said.
GIRARD - Salaries for Crawford County elected officials will be raised $100 per month, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1976. The pay raises for the eight elected officials of the county were approved by the Crawford County Commissioners at their meeting Friday. The commission discussed the possibilities of a percentage increase in salaries, but Commissioners Pete Murry and Johnnie Brown were firmly against that plan. For the past three years, the elected officials have received a five per cent pay increase.
25 years ago
May 16, 2001
Pittsburg Noon Rotarians learned Tuesday just how easy it is to make methamphetamine. During the Rotary's regular meeting at dePaul Hall at Mt. Carmel Medical Center, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist spoke to the group about meth, including providing them with the warning signs of potential meth operations in their neighborhoods. Jennifer Miller, who works out of the KBI office in Pittsburg, brought several of the components of a meth lab with her for the presentation.
Groundbreaking ceremonies will be held today at 4 p.m. at the site of the new elementary school at 20th Street and Home Avenue in Pittsburg. The ceremony will include elementary school children from the district's three existing schools. They'll wield brightly painted shovels and turn the first spadefuls of earth to mark the beginning of a new era in Pittsburg Community Schools. All community members, staff, parents and students are invited to attend the ceremony.
GIRARD - County will be making a bid to purchase a Pittsburg church and surrounding property in the 600 block of North Elm as a way to increase space for the new judicial center project. County commissioners Tuesday instructed County Counselor Jim Emerson to begin paperwork to purchase the Covenant Harvest Church building and property, which sits at 609 N. Elm. Anthony Commissioner Pichler said the price could not be disclosed because it was still under negotiation.
TOPEKA - The rate more than half of Kansas households pay for electricity will be decided during a hearing set to begin today before state utility regulators. Western Resources Inc., the state's largest electric utility. has asked the Kansas Corporation Commission for a $151 million rate increase. Customers of its KPL subsidiary in northeast and central Kansas would pay an average of $9.25 more a month; customers of its KGE subsidiary in Wichita and southeast Kansas would pay about $6.50 more a month. company spokeswoman Kim Gronniger said.
