News

A Leavenworth man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter and theft charges.

It appears the Leavenworth City Commission will vote down a special use permit for a solid waste transfer station at the site of the former Abeles Field stadium.

Leavenworth County mobile food pantry has transitioned to a new distribution network this month as Harvesters Community Food Network replaces Second Harvest Community Food Bank out of St. Joseph. Harvesters Community Food Network is a certified member of the Feeding America program which, according to its website, “is a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries and local meal programs.”Harvesters was Feeding America’s food bank of the year in 2011. Harvesters began its partnership with Leavenworth County to bring mobile food giveaways, partnering with other qualified food pantry partners.Partner Relations Coordinator Margaret Moore said about 150 cars usually line up for the food giveaway. Iris Arnold, executive director of Leavenworth Mission Food Pantry and Store, was on hand for Monday’s mobile pantry distribution at Sportsfield Recreation Complex, 2100 Ottawa. Calvary Baptist Church, 4451 10th Ave., hosts a once-monthly mobile pantry at 10 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month. The giveaway lasts about one hour or until the food runs out. It is free to all.“For the mobile pantry, there are no income guidelines,” Arnold said. “People just pull up and our volunteers put food in a box. No restrictions. Anyone can come and get it. It’s different than our regular food pantry that is income-based. So, for people who are maybe $1 or $100 over that threshold (for the income-restricted food pantry) they don’t have to worry about that with the mobile pantry. They’ll get a wide range of foods.”Arnold said that she would love to have a northside distribution location but Sportsfield serves the purpose at this time. The former location for the mobile food pantry was at Bob Dougherty Park. However, a sinkhole formed there due to a stormwater drain collapse and that area of the park has been closed and fenced. The site is on the city’s stormwater repair schedule.“We can’t utilize that location,” Arnold said. “We would love to (utilize the northside location) because, you know, the need is great in that area but a lot of the same clients are making their way here (Sportsfield) as well. There’s still some clients that (were walkups) in that northern neighborhood that can’t make it this far.”On Monday, about a dozen volunteers from the mission store and other community organizations helped load Harvesters’ selections of frozen meats, fresh fruits and vegetables. The distribution helps not only the recipients but also the volunteers.“They love it. It’s their passion to help the community,” Arnold said of the volunteers. “It’s beautiful having community members and different church groups that come and some of the social organizations. Students help out as well. Let’s not forget them. What can we say about Leavenworth? We’re all about unity.”People struggling with food needs are greeted with welcome friendliness by volunteers.“We hear that often that they appreciate the services that we offer,” Arnold said. “It’s the approach of how they are treated. They don’t feel embarrassed to come to the line.”Arnold said volunteers are recruited through social media and word of mouth. The event qualifies as community service hours.Kaitlynn Hardison, juvenile programs administrator with Leavenworth County Community Corrections, said the young people in her charge love the mobile pantry service opportunity.The mission store’s distribution is now twice monthly on the first Monday at 10 a.m. and the last Friday at 1 p.m. of each month. Any schedule changes are posted on the mission’s Facebook page.For more information about more mobile pantry locations or any schedule changes, check with Harvestors.org

Inside a cozy house beside a flourishing garden in Leavenworth, Susan Nelson is living the quiet life of a full-time artist. That’s everything she ever wanted.Nelson is a retired University of Saint Mary art professor whose dream of being a full-time artist meant adopting a simple lifestyle. She grew up in Topeka with practical but supportive parents who encouraged her art pursuits. By the time she was a young adult, she knew her goal of creating art full-time would mean making some sacrifices.“Part of taking that route was that I taught myself to live on very little, to let go of all those desires,” Nelson said. “(I had to) stop looking at magazines so I wouldn’t want to buy stuff. That was my solution for knowing that I was not going to make very much money with art.” Nelson’s initial art path was painting. But during her junior year at the University of Kansas, that changed.“I went to study abroad in England,” Nelson said. “I was only a junior and here I am thrown in with students from another country. I got thrown into a sculpture group. The only thing in there was clay. The instructor came in there one day and was in a rage. He told us not to come back until we had some other material to work with.”Nelson was in a quandary. “I’m in a foreign country – with no money,” Nelson exclaimed. “I don’t know a thing about sculpture.” Nelson went for walks looking for a solution to get back into the art professor’s classroom.“I am walking around, and I started picking up stuff off the sidewalk,” Nelson said. “I started stacking things up and making these structures. They weren’t even permanent. I took photos because I had to prove that I had done something when I got back to KU so they could give me some kind of credit for what I was doing.”Nelson said she nervously presented her found-objects work to the professor, who, surprisingly, encouraged her pursuit. “You need to take another sculpture class,” he told her. “I kept bringing in more and more stuff to the sculpture studio that I’d find in the dumpsters on the way to school. It’s what we call ‘found-object assemblage’ sculpture. They became very elaborate in size,” Nelson said.Back at KU, Nelson recalled how she discovered a connection with Asian art after viewing a Chinese calligraphy exhibit at the Spencer Museum.“It’s totally abstract. Just black ink marks,” Nelson said. “But something about that just struck me. And I could just stare at it. Just stare at it.”Nelson explained why she thinks Asian art affected her path.“For me, the Asians capture something about the most important inner essence of things – not just like a photo-realistic outward appearance,” Nelson said. “I think it was that depth that I was bonded to, in terms of what they were able to portray in that minimalistic way.”Nelson’s path as an artist still wasn’t a direct one. She entered the workforce after getting her undergraduate degree.“It was very depressing because here I was with this degree from KU and I had to go back to being a maid at a motel,” Nelson said. “You can’t teach unless you have a master’s degree. Even with a master’s degree, the jobs are so few.”As a maid, Nelson leaned into the organizational mindset she inherited from her mother. “I was very organized so that I could get in there and do my little routine, work fast,” Nelson said. “I thought about my art all the time while I was working. Cleaning is very good for thinking. My purpose was to get myself to a point where I could get accepted to graduate school.”After graduate school, Nelson fortuitously encountered Becky Johnson and Mary Ellen Maxwell, who were starting the Carnegie Arts Center in Leavenworth. The space was operated as an arts center from 1987-2012. “I went to grad school with Mary Ellen Maxwell,” Nelson said. “I was there (at the Carnegie) for two years.” Nelson went back to cleaning at the end of that contract. However, her art efforts had not gone unnoticed. It caught the attention of the University of Saint Mary. Sister Mary Rebecca Connor called to offer Nelson a position as an art professor. Although Nelson said she didn’t feel prepared to teach, Connor insisted.“I wasn’t trying to be a teacher. I was trying to be an artist,” Nelson said, remembering the encouraging phone call from Connor. “She would stop me and say, ‘Susan, I have seen your artwork. I know you can do this.’” Nelson took the professorship. She taught art at Saint Mary for 28 years until her retirement in 2020.“I mean, how fortunate. I feel so lucky,” Nelson said.The minimalistic lifestyle she had cultivated over the years allowed her to devote herself to full-time pottery making. Her pottery’s artistic stylings incorporate Nelson’s love of Asian art’s simplicity. Her clay hand builds are often finished with impressions found in nature. The process takes time as she pairs functionality with design. One cup, for instance, takes at least one hour to form, another hour to refine it, monitor drying time, and finish with the glazing process.“If you add up all that time, I probably make five cents an hour,” Nelson said. Susan Nelson Pottery is available at www.susannelsonpottery.com Nelson also has a vendor booth at the Leavenworth Farmer’s Market on most Saturdays at Haymarket Square.

Jake Kowalewski is the new Ward 2 Lansing City Council member, based on recent action by the council.He was one of three applicants the council interviewed in a special meeting prior to the regular July 18 meeting. Council member Gene Kirby moved to choose Kowalewski to fill Marcus Majure’s unexpired term that ends in January 2028, seconded by Dan Clemons. The vote was 6-0. Council member Pete Robinson was absent.Kowalewski, a lifelong Leavenworth County resident, has served on the city’ planning commission since 2019 and has been chairman since 2021. He also was elected to the Lan-Del Water Board in January 2019 and is now serving his second term as sitting chairman. After he was chosen, he noted that both seats will now be open.In his application, Kowalewski noted that he’d sought these positions after graduating from the 2018-19 Lansing Citizens Academy, since during that time the council emphasized the need for volunteers. He also completed the 2021-2022 Leadership of Southern Leavenworth County program. What he has done, he said, shows his dedication “to civic engagement, personal development and commitment to service.”Council members each asked the candidates a question, and he mentioned those activities in response to one Kirby asked about the reason he believed he was qualified. “I saw this as the next step in progressing in public service,” Kowalewski responded.He is a utility and project manager for water, wastewater and storm water, which he said gave him a perspective on infrastructure and the role it should play in a municipality. In addition, Kowalewski said, since he works at home, he has the flexibility to attend meetings and perform other council tasks. He mentioned that in response to councilman Jesse Garvey’s question about attendance. He told the council his profession has given him the knowledge, skills and abilities that should translate well to council members’ duties.Councilman Kevin Gardner asked the applicants why they hadn’t filed for election previously, since all three have qualifications that would make them good members. “I thought Marcus was running and I thought he was doing a fantastic job (representing Ward 2)", Kowalewski said. But when he saw Majure’s house was up for sale, he started asking questions and decided to apply. Majure and his family had purchased land in the county years ago where they planned to build a house. Because of the pandemic and supply side issues, the builders had estimated it could take up to 36 months. But the problems were resolved and the house was done in nine months, so they moved into the new home. Majure’s last council meeting was July 11. When asked what he wanted to accomplish on the council, he said he would like to help economic growth commercially and residentially. The city needs affordable housing, Kowalewski contends, and he thinks actions the council have recently taken, such as allowing smaller lot sizes and help for developers, will help. He also applauded the council’s move on infrastructure, citing the McIntyre interceptor extension and the pursuit of grant funding for 4-H Road.Overall, he said, “I want to try to make Lansing the best it can be.”Council members lauded all three applicants, noting they all were highly qualified and could be council members themselves. The other two candidates were Jeff Martin and Timothy Moran. In other action at the meeting, the council went into executive session for 15 minutes citing attorney/client privilege. Members also approved an ordinance and resolution relating to issuing general obligation bonds.