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SALUTEHOLTON, KANSASHometown ofHelen CookHolton Recorder subscriberfor more than 20 years.THE HOLTONRECORDERServing the Jackson County Community for 150 yearsVolume 150, Issue 14HOLTON, KANSAS Monday, February 20, 2017INSIDETen localwrestlersqualify forstate!12 Pages 1.00Ewing casesto remainseparateBy Brian SandersA motion to combine all sixLaw enforcement officers are shown in the photo above investigating the Friday afternoon traffic accident on U.S. Highway 75 north of Holton thatresulted in the death of Jackson Heights High School sophomore Afton Burdick. The car-semi accident caused the Volvo semitrailer to overturn inthe ditch, injuring its driver, and resulted in the closing of a four-mile section of U.S. 75 for 10 hours.Photo by Brian SandersAccident claims life of Jackson Heights studentBy Brian Sanderstwo-vehicle accident onFriday afternoon at the JacksonHeights school entrance on U.S.Highway 75 claimed the life ofa Jackson Heights High Schoolstudent from Circleville.The Kansas Highway Patrolsaid Afton A. Burdick, 16, waspro nounced dead at the scene ofthe accident, which occurred atabout 3:30 p.m. on Friday andshut down traffic on U.S. 75near the school entrance wellinto the evening, it was reported.“We are all deeply saddenedby this tragedy and the loss ofsuch a young life,” JacksonHeights Superintendent andElementary Principal AdrianneAWalsh said. “Afton was a sweetyoung lady who will be missedby the students and the staff ofUSD 335. Our thoughts andprayers are with the Burdickfamily.”Burdick was driving a 2006Kia Optima west on 266th Roadfrom JHHS at the time of theaccident and attempted to turnonto U.S. 75 when the Optimawas struck by a northbound2014 Volvo semitrailer drivenby Michael J. Brey, 52, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Theimpact sent the semitrailer intothe west ditch, it was reported.Burdick reportedly was wearing a safety restraint at the timeof the accident, Jackson CountySheriff Tim Morse said.Brey was listed in the KHPreport as injured and was takento an area hospital with injuriesnot consid ered to be life-threatening, although it was unknownwhether he was wearing a safety restraint.Traffic on U.S. 75 between254th and 286th roads was de toured to old U.S. Highway 75(Q4 Road) for investigation andclean-up of the accident scene.The highway was reopened totraffic at about 1:30 a.m Saturday, according to KansasDepartment of Trans portationspokesperson Kimberly Qualls.In addition to KHP, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office,Jackson County EMS and firedepartments from Holton andHoyt responded to the accidentscene, Morse said.Burdick, a sophomore atJHHS, was listed as a memberof the school’s yearbook staffand had re cently been accepted to the culinary program atWashburn Institute of Technology, it was reported. She hadalso recently been employed asa kennel tech at Banner CreekAnimal Hospital.Walsh said a sophomore classmeeting would be held todaywith counseling support available to Burdick’s classmatesand staff members, althoughclasses were not being held today due to teacher inservice.Counselors from other schooldistricts in the area — includingPurple Heart ProfilesHolton, Royal Valley, Onaga,Prairie Hills and the Greenbushschool cooperative — and arepresentative from the sheriff’soffice will also be available asneeded on Tuesday, Walsh said.“I appreciate the generosityof local districts that have offered their support for USD 335students and staff during thisdifficult time for our community,” she said.Walsh also noted that a moment of silence for Burdick willbe observed at the beginning ofthe school day Tuesday. Funeralservices for Burdick are scheduled for Thursday; an obitu aryfor Burdick may be found onpage 5 of today’s Holton Recorder.his Purple Heart Medal.According to news reportsfrom the time period, Vaughtwas first wounded in battle onJuly 17, 1944, not long afterhis actions also earned him aBronze Star for hero ism on thefront lines. Then, on Nov. 8 ofthat same year, he was againlightly wounded in battle.As one of Vaught’s friends,Carl Nelson, wrote shortly afterVaught’s death in 1995, Vaughtwasn’t necessarily a “professional soldier,” but he kept upthe fight in spite of the woundshe received in war.“He survived three enemybullet wounds and one froma ‘friendly’ bayonet and yet,County making recyclingeasier for local businessesBy Ali HolcombJackson County recyclingemployees are helping downtown Holton business ownerscut down on waste by pickingup recyclable materials fromtheir offices on a weekly basis.“We want to bring recycling tothe forefront of people’s mindsand the fact that we’re here tohelp them reduce trash,” saidMixie Schafer, noxious weedand environmental services director. “Hopefully, people startto think about it a little more andgo home and consider recyclingtoo.”During a recent Jackson County Commission meeting, Schafer received approval from thecommissioners to take a pick-uptruck around to businesses onthe Holton Square each Tuesdayto collect recyclables.Schafer said she met withmany business owners aroundthe Square to notify them of thenew service.“It was an overwhelming response that yes, they would liketo have items picked up,” shesaid.Items that recycling center employees are collecting includepaper, aluminum, tin, pop andwater bottles, milk jugs, laundrydetergent bottles and glass.They will also take corrugatedcardboard but not regular boxcardboard due to space limitations at the Holton facility.“We also won’t be picking uphazardous waste items duringthis time,” she said.Items are picked up in the alley entrances at the businesses,she said.Recycling employees are alsocollecting materials from HoltonCommunity Hospital, and Schafer said that she can accommodate other businesses who mayhave recyclable materials thatneed to be picked up.Continued to Page 12MONDAY’S FORECASTMOSTLY SUNNY, HIGH OF 74Look for the complete forecast on page 2.didn’t return home, but returnedto his unit for more fighting,”Nelson wrote.Born May 13, 1922, to JohnDavid and Martha Sibils Vaughtat Mayetta, Clarence EdmondVaught was mustered into theArmy as a private on Dec. 23,1940, at Holton. At that time,he was a member of CompanyE, 137th Infantry Regi ment ofthe Kansas National Guard.He was sent to Camp JosephT. Robinson near Little Rock,Ark., for a year’s training,The Holton Recorder reportedin late 1940. Eventually, hewould serve as a staff sergeantand a squad leader in northernFrance.On July 7, 1944, Vaught andthree other members of his unitin France volunteered to leadand as sist medical aides in goinginto an open area where severalother sol diers lay wounded, TheRecorder reported in Novemberof that year. His actions that dayearned him the Bronze Star.“He had succeeded in assisting with the evacuation of themen, when the enemy lit thearea with flares and covered theground with machine gun fire,”The Recorder reported. “Vaughtand his com rades continuedtheir mission, and evacuated allthe wounded men and markedthe location of the dead.”Ten days later, it was re-Continued to Page 12RV studentsto honor vetswith quiltsported, Vaught was woundedin the heat of battle. He recovered and returned to his unit,and on Nov. 8, 1944, he waswounded a second time inFrance, although military records stated that those woundswere “light.”The Recorder reported in Mayof 1945 that Vaught and another Na tional Guardsman fromJackson County, Floyd Cloweof Holton — who also earned aPurple Heart Medal — “earnedthe honor of re turning home fora 45-day leave of absence.” Hewas discharged May 12, 1945,at Fort Leavenworth.By Brian Sandersstudents atRoyal Valley Middle Schoolin Mayetta are getting involved with the Quilts of Valor program in their own way,according to Brenda Hainey,edu cational technology specialist at RVMS.Hainey said students havestarted an ongoing project forthe current semester in whichthey design quilt blocks forthree Quilts of Valor, then getinvolved in other aspects ofcreating three quilts that willbe given to three war veteransat a Veterans Day assemblylater this year at the school.However, Hainey noted thatsome of the work that goesinto the quilts must be doneby parents and other volunteers.“We are asking for skilledseam stresses to volunteertheir machines and expertiseto help the students sew theirblocks,” she said.Continued to Page 12Continued to Page 12Vaught earned Purple Heart during World War IIEditor’s note: This is the 45thin a series of stories about pastand present Jackson Countyresidents who earned the PurpleHeart Medal, which is awardedto mili tary personnel woundedor killed in the line of duty.The names of those profiledin these stories will be amongthose placed on a special monument for Purple Heart Medalrecipients cur rently under construction in Holton’s LinscottPark.———Clarence Vaught of Mayetta, a staff sergeant in the U.S.Army, was wounded in battletwice in a six-month periodduring World War II, earningcases against a Holton man accused of several sex-relatedcrimes into a single trial was rejected on Friday by a JacksonCounty District Court judge, whoalso reset dates for the six upcoming trials to give the de fense attorney time to review in formationrelated to the cases.Special prosecutor JacqieSpra dling, representing the Stateof Kansas in the criminal trialagainst 22-year-old Jacob Ewing, had filed a motion in recentdays to consoli date all six casesagainst Ewing into one trial thatshe anticipated would last abouta month.“This case should have beenone,” Spradling said. “This casescreams ‘consolidate.’”District Court Judge NorbertMarek disagreed, saying it wasbest to try the cases against Ewing separately after Topeka-basedde fense attorney Kathleen Ambrosio filed a motion on Fridaymorning to object to consolidation of the cases.Ambrosio said she rejectedSpradling’s claims that the sixcases should be combined on thegrounds of the “similar nature” ofS ixth-gradeDollar General opens new store in HoytBy Ali HolcombGeneral, located justoff of U.S. Highway 75 in Hoyt,is open.The new store at 13746 S.Kansas Highway 214 openedlast week, and Crystal Ghassemi,spokeswoman for Dollar General, said the store offers a varietyof products.“Dollar General stores offerconvenience and value to customers by providing a focusedselection of national name brandsand private brands of food,housewares, seasonal items,cleaning supplies, basic appareland health/beauty products,”Ghassemi said. “The store’sfresh layout is designed to makeshopping simple for customers.Seasonal products are displayedin the center of the store, departments are easily recognizablewith visible signage and coolersare conveniently located at thefront of the store.”The store is open from 8 a.m.to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday.Construction of the new storebegan last fall. New “built-tosuit” Dollar General stores rangeDollarContinued to Page 12A new Dollar General store, located just off U.S. Highway 75 in Hoyt, is open to thepublic. The store offers a variety of products and is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondaythrough Sunday.Photo by Ali Holcomb