Hillsboro High School pep band director Bruce Major receives some assistance from a pint-sized guest conductor during Saturday night’s basketball finale at the annual Trojan Classic. The diminutive director is Lily Major, who happens to be Major’s daughter. The pep

Road signs like this one have been vandalized or stolen across Marion County. Road and bridge director Randy Crawford is asking residents to report incidents when they see them.

The routine theft and destruction of county road signs is “getting ridiculous,” Randy Crawford, director of the Marion County Road and Bridge department, told commissioners at their Jan. 17 meeting.

“(Vandals) are shooting or tearing these signs up left and right,” he said.

Crawford asked if there was something more the commission could do to help his department reduce the vandalism.

Commissioner Dan Holub said damage to county road signs is covered by state statute; any fines rest with judges.

“This is not something we can do under home rule,” Holub said.

Crawford said something more needs to be done about the problem, though.

“Every sign up north is shot up, unless it’s on a major highway,” Crawford said. “It is bad.”

Holub asked if he was primarily referring to directional signs.

“It’s all the signs,” Crawford said. “Just this morning, a curve sign was so damaged that you couldn’t even tell what it was.”

Criminal damage to the signs negates efforts by Crawford and his department to replace stolen or demolished signage on county roads.

“Everyone wants street signs and road signs, but the problem is as soon as we put one up, they are shot at,” he said.

Ron Bartel (right), owner of the tractor, and two emergency responders inspect the damage following Thursday’s accident. The force and angle of the collision along U.S. 56 Thursday detached the bale trailer from the tractor and spun it so hard that it penetrated the truck’s livestock carrier.

A Marion man driving a tractor/flatbed rig was injured Thursday when a semi-trailer truck attempting to pass on the right side hit the flatbed, sending it through the side of the semi-trailer and the tractor into a ditch, according to officials.

David Krause, 64, driver of the tractor, was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, where he was treated and released within three hours after the crash, said Ron Bartel, Krause’s employer.

According to Marion County Sheriff Rob Craft, the semi driver, James B. Johnson, 31, of Sedalia, Mo., was not injured.

The crash happened about 11 a.m., Craft said, with both vehicles traveling east on U.S. High­way 56 near the Orchard Drive exit.

“The driver (of the semi) realized he was coming up on the tractor too fast and swerved to the right to go around him,” Craft said.

“The tractor (and flatbed) was partially on the shoulder when the trailer of the semi impacted the flatbed behind the tractor, resulting in the flatbed going through the semi-trailer.”

During the collision, the flatbed separated from the tractor and the tractor carrying Krause overturned, coming to rest in the south ditch.

The semi came to a stop on the south shoulder, Craft said, with the flatbed protruding from the side of the livestock trailer.

In addition to sheriff officers, other agencies at the scene included the Hillsboro police and fire departments, rescue personnel, Hillsboro Emergency Medical Services and Marion County EMS.

Steve Hudson outlines his strategy for a record-breaking marshmallow roast at Marion County Lake on March 24. Some 1,000 volunteers will be needed, he told Marion Chamber members.

Marshmallow roasts are normally all about fun and games. But on March 24, it will be about setting a world record.

“We want to try making this a record attempt for the most people roasting marshmallows simultaneously at a single venue,” Steve Hudson, superintendent of Marion County Park and Lake, told 30 Marion Cham­ber of Commerce members at their regular Friday luncheon.

The idea, Hudson said, came up following the windstorm last June, which resulted in a lot of downed tree branches and debris.

“After the storm, we just stacked everything up into a burn pile,” he said. “I had people asking me when we were going to burn (the pile).”

That’s when he first considered having a large hot dog or marshmallow roast.

“I talked to Brian (Thiessen), my assistant at the lake, and asked him to see what we could do about getting into the Guin­ness Book (of World Records),” he said.

Thiessen went online to research Hudson’s request and discovered the new marshmallow roasting category.

Setting a world record in a new category, though, is going to require a lot of help and organization, Hudson said.

Lucas King (far left with back turned), MHS construction teacher, serves chili dogs from behind the counter to (from left) Caroline Kelly, one of the 30 adults at the open house, and Marion High School students Griffin Case, Zach Robson and Mikael Antoszyk.

Marion City Administrator Doug Kjellin and other adults watched Thursday as more than 35 young people enjoyed pool, air hockey, Xbox Kinect and other games during the open-house celebration of the community’s new youth center.

“This is an opportunity for (those who made it possible) to say, ‘Here it is—a gift for the community,’ but I can’t do it by myself,” Kjellin said.

For the time being, the youth center will be open from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“If this is something that has value, we need parents to step up to the plate and volunteer to work,” Kjellin said.

He said he was pleased with the number of young people attending the open house, but was concerned that none of the adults attending offered to volunteer for any upcoming weekends.

Despite all the technology available at the center, Kjellin said he cannot say enough about how much parents and adults saw the need to have this facility.

“Is the youth center something viable even with all the technology?” he said, “I think it still is, but we are going to need a commitment by the community.”

Many attending the open house said they envisioned the center being a place for young people to go before or after a sporting event.

“It could even be a fun place to have tailgate parties, victory celebrations or other events,” Kjellin said.