The 10th annual Marble Crazy spectacular is here and under way in Bonner Springs, Kan.

Moon Marble Company, located on K-32 just west of K-7, is hosting the event.

Marble-makers and glass artists from around the nation, spanning from Ohio to California, are in Bonner Springs today.

Live marble demonstrations and artwork can be purchased today and Saturday.

Marble Crazy started at noon today and will end tonight at 9 p.m. The second day will last from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Here are some photos from the opening hour of the event.

The 5A Kansas State Wrestling Tournament was held last weekend and a number of individual wrestlers from Turner High School and Bonner Springs High School placed.

Here they are listed by school and weight –

BONNER SPRINGS:  Caleb Seaton 4th place (119 LB), Jonathan Blackwell 2nd place (130 LB) and Aaron Puckett 4th place (140 LB).

TURNER: James Lohman 5th place (125 LB) and Armando Alcantara 6th place (189 LB).

A list of all state qualifiers from all schools will be posted later.

Moon Marble Company of Bonner Springs, Kan., will present the tenth annual "Marble Crazy" event on Friday March 5, from noon to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The event, which attracts many of the country's best marble makers, will celebrate a full decade this year. Those who attend the event can watch the makers demonstrate their marble-making skills, or even purchase some of the work they have available.

Moon Marble Company is located in Bonner Springs on K-32,  just west of K-7.

Last year, Moon Marble was one of eight businesses in the state selected by Kansas Sampler's Eight Wonders of Kansas.

Here's a video I shot that features the business and it's founder, Bruce Breslow.

(Photo courtesy of Craig Shove, Turner School District)

Edwardsville Elementary School student Mirabella Gibson won the 2010 Wyandotte County Spelling Bee this week.

Gibson spelled first spelled "adieu" correctly, then spelled "paramecium" to claim the title.

Gibson was one of 19 competitors from across the Turner, Piper, Bonner Springs and Kansas City, Kan., school districts, along with Wyandotte County's private schools.

Gibson will move on to the state spelling bee. Turner Middle School student Cammy Phomsouvanh was the runner-up, while Pamela Gurrola of Resurrection Catholic School claimed third place.

Competitors:

Piper School District

Isaiah Eaton – Piper Elementary
Jared Winzer  –  Piper Middle School 
 
Bonner Springs School District

Esmeralda Hernandez  – Bonner Springs Elementary 
Anna Dutton – Delaware Ridge Elementary 
Mirabella Gibson –  Edwardsville Elementary 
Brianna Shively – Clark Middle School 
 
KCK Public Schools

Emma Campbell – White Church Elementary 
Jeannay Fradieu – Central Middle School 
Jamaal Sayles – Rosedale Middle School 
Quinten Hildebrant – Sumner Academy 
 
Private Schools

Lily Davis – Christ the King 
Ulyssa Davila – Holy Name School 
Pamela Gurrola – Resurrection Catholic School 
Jeremiah Isabell – St. Patrick’s School 
 
Turner School District

Kaya Zwick –  Junction Elementary 
Haleigh Riggs – Midland Trail Elementary 
Jacob Miller – Oak Grove Elementary 
Robert Erwin – Turner Elementary 
Cammy Phomsouvanh – Turner Middle School 

(From the Bonner Springs Rotary Club)

The first annual Bonner Springs Rotary Roast is honoring local  community celebrity Roger Miller Saturday, February 27. The Roast will be just the beginning of celebrating well known Bonner Springs community members who are “roast-worthy.”

The goal is to raise more than $3,000 for polio. 
 
“It’s quite an honor to be the first roastee,” said Roger Miller, Rotary Club member for 46 years. “I’m not sure if I should be afraid of the stories they dig up on me. However, the roasters need to realize that I will have the last word.”
 
In 1985, there were 350,000 polio cases in 125 countries. Today, there are only four countries left to save: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. The Bonner Springs Rotary wants to help by throwing a roast fundraiser. All money raised will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children. 

In addition to the Roast fundraiser and several community projects, the Bonner Springs Rotary participates in four other annual fundraisers including the Tiblow Trot and Walk, the Tiblow Days Ice Cream Social at the Bonner Springs Band Concert, the Greater Kansas City Day paper sale providing funding to the Rotary Camp facility for disabled youth and local youth camps, and the Vaughn Trent Auction. 

“We are excited to bring the community together to celebrate a dear friend and support a good cause – helping to End Polio,” said Judy Miksch, Bonner Springs Rotary Club president. “We’re looking forward to a wonderful dinner, band and of course, the entertainment of roasting Roger!”
 
The Roast is Saturday, February 27 at the Lake of the Forest Club House in Bonner Springs. 6 p.m. Cocktails/Live Jazz Music; 7 p.m. Dinner; 8 p.m. The Roast Event.

Please plan for formal dress. Roasters include Dan Miller, Bryan Albers, John Tiny McTaggart, Walter Greer, and Del Coleman. The event will be hosted by well know entertainer and magician David Sandy and Rotarian President Judy Miksch.
 
Tickets are $55 Regular, which includes dinner, music, entertainment and one drink ticket; and $85 VIP, which includes VIP seating, dinner, music, entertainment, two drink tickets, bottles of wine on tables and personal noise makers. Only 30 seats available.

Purchase tickets by contacting Marva at 913.441.2584 or online at www.bonnerspringsrotary.org. 
 
If you have a Roger Miller story to share that is “Roast Worthy”, please send stories to Joel Kivett at jolkivo@gmail.com with the subject line of “Roger Miller Roast.” The story may be used at the event.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore has nominated 27 candidates within his Congressional district who are seeking to attend military service academies, two of which are from Wyandotte County.

Bonner Springs HIgh School student Jacob Barren and Piper High School student Kevin Palmer were nominated today by Moore.

“Kansas has routinely nominated outstanding candidates to become military leaders,” Moore said. “I’m confident that with such exemplary academic and leadership skills, these young people will carry on that tradition and go on to excel at their respective service academies.”

Barren is looking to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, while Palmer is looking to attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and/or the U.S. Naval Academy.

They are two of 52 original applications, which Moore said was a record to his office.

The Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District and Turner School District have called off school for tomorrow, joining the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District.

For those wondering why KCKCC and Piper are not on the list – they were scheduled to be closed tomorrow regardless of the weather.

For more listings, visit KMBC Channel 9's comprehensive closings list.

If you still have a live Christmas tree around the house or yard somewhere, there are four places in Wyandotte County where you can recycle them.

• Alvey Park, located at Metropolitan Avenue and S. 49th City Park.

• Park Drive and South 26th Street. Collections will be made on the south side of Park Drive.

• Wyandotte County Park, located at 126th and State Avenue.

• The Bonner Springs Parks and Recreation Department is accepting live trees at 1200 S. 134th Street in Bonner Springs. The Parks and Rec. Department is accepting them in an effort to establish a fish habitat at Bonner Springs North Park Lake.

The Christmas trees are required to have live and have absolutely nothing on them when taken to each spot.

View Christmas Tree Recycling Areas in Wyandotte County in a larger map

Two Wyandotte County students joined other University of Kansas journalism students in developing comprehensive marketing campaigns aimed at changing the recycling, energy use and transportation habits of fellow students, faculty and staff.

Bonner Springs alum Lisa D. Zarate and Sumner Academy alum Camille L. Clark joined other students at KU in developing the plans.

The KU Energy Council and Center for Sustainability asked students in Journalism 676 Strategic Campaigns to develop marketing plans that engaged the campus community in creating a culture of conservation. The students’ recommendations for marketing, advertising and public relations will provide a foundation to “green” KU.

“I’m astonished,” said Jeremy Viscomi, project coordinator for the KU Energy Council. “This is the level of work that I’d expect to see from professional agencies.”

Every semester, students in the Strategic Campaigns class develop research-based recommendations to solve communications problems for actual clients. Bob Basow, associate professor of journalism, said the course is nearly 50 years old and that he himself took it in 1966.

For the capstone course in the school’s strategic communication track, Basow and other journalism faculty members have coached students to create campaigns for area corporations, public service organizations, research institutions and government agencies.

Throughout the fall 2009 semester, senior-level students in Basow’s class conducted dozens of interviews and focus groups with students, faculty and staff across the university. Sponsored by contributions from local utility companies Westar Energy and Kansas City Power and Light, students also led fact-finding field trips to universities with similar environmental aspirations, including the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Kansas State University.

The class divided into six teams and used research to develop creative, real-world marketing campaigns. After more than 7,000 hours of work outside the classroom, the KU Energy Council and Center for Sustainability will use the results to benefit the entire Lawrence campus.

“The project allowed us to take advantage of the tremendous talents and creativity of students to advance work that will benefit future students at KU,” said Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability.

The Center for Sustainability promotes and facilitates research and other learning opportunities that address environmental improvement, economic prosperity and social responsibility.

The center helps develop interdisciplinary research teams, supports student research projects, sponsors service learning courses, coordinates a campuswide network of sustainability ambassadors and promotes sustainable practices at KU.

Camp Naish in Bonner Springs may be on the receiving end of a grant from FEMA.

The grant would pay for 11 storm shelters for campers at Camp Naish. The grant application was made possible as the City of Bonner Springs already has a FEMA-approval mitigation plan.

The application has been approved by the Kansas Department of Emergency Management and will be reviewed by FEMA soon. The expected decision should come sometime next month.

A Bonner Springs resident has won $10,000 after playing Snowflake Bingo, one of the newest games of the Kansas Lottery.

Originally purchasing the $2 ticket at Discount Smokes on Kansas Avenue in Bonner Springs, 54-year-old Charlene Knernshield won the prize over the weekend.

“Kristi and my other daughter Keri stopped at a store on Christmas Day, and Kristi bought me a dozen $2 Snowflake Bingo tickets as a present,” Knernschield said. “She knows I love those bingo tickets.”

The $10,000 prize came at a good time, as the family's father was laid off from his job earlier this year.

If you're using a live Christmas tree this holiday season, the Bonner Springs Parks and Recreation Department will have a use for it.

The city is working with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks on developing a fish habitat in the Bonner Springs North Park Lake. Christmas trees will serve as "fish beds" and will be placed on the bottom of the lake.

The trees also help the fish grow in size and increase the population of the fish in the lake.

All decorations must be removed before they are recycled. Also, trees with "paint" or "fake snow" will not be recycled.

Residents can drop off their trees at 1200 S. 134th Street in Bonner Springs. Once you enter the park, signs should lead the way to appropriate location.

It's not often that someone receives $10,000 for their birthday; but that's exactly what happened to Bonner Springs, Kan., resident Teran Holter

She was given $50 worth of instant scratch tickets by her parents for her 19th birthday. One of those tickets – a Sudoku instant scratch ticket - made her $10,000 richer.

“When I asked for lottery tickets for my birthday, I never expected to win such a big amount,” said Holter.  “As soon as I scratched off one of my Sudoku tickets, I knew right away that I’d won big.  My mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table, so I slid the ticket over to her.  She about died when she realized it was a $10,000 winner.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Wood's Mini Mart 6, which is located on 413 E. Front Street in Bonner Springs.

Holter is a KCKCC student and she plans to use the money to help pay assorted bills.

"Once it was verified, I called all my friends and family," she said. "Only half of them believed me.  I guess good news travels fast because before I knew it, everyone in town knew I’d won.”

After getting punched first during the initial half, the Turner Golden Bears responded in the second half.

Turner defeated Bonner Springs 39-14 at Turner High School Friday night, improving to 5-1 on the season. The Bears did it this time on the legs of Rashon Thames and the efficient passing (and running) behind Nick Bloomer (both pictured at the top).

Thames carried the ball 25 times for 174 yards with two scores. Bloomer ran for one and pass for another, completing eight of 12 passes for 142 yards.

Bonner Springs jumped out to a 7-0 nothing lead behind a 22-yard Steve Williams touchdown reception from Brandon Eastland (pictured right). Bloomer responded, carrying the ball 33 yards for the game-tying score.

Bloomer connected with Brevon Guess from 60 yards out to give Turner its first lead of the ball game in the second quarter

Bonner tied the game by the half as Williams received another long pass from Eastland.

The first half was dominated by early mistakes from Turner, including key turnovers and a failed fourth down conversion.

"Bonner Springs is a tough physical team that'll hit you hard," said Alan Terrell, head coach at Turner. "It was  bad week for us with grades and illness and it caught up to us in the first half. We had a rough week."

Turner would storm into the second half, scoring 25 unanswered points.

David Bernal's 37-yard touchdown run game the Golden Bears a 20-14 lead, which would serve as the game winning touchdown. Thames added two touchdown runs from 15 and 14 yards out.

Turner's running game turned it up a notch in the second half, possibly as a result of Turner's line wearing Bonner down.

"We have a big and good offensive line and it helped," Terrell said.

Turner improves to 5-1 on the season; Bonner falls to 2-4.

Timothy Wyrick of Bonner Springs was charged with five counts of communicating threats to a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper.

Wyrick is alleged to commit the crimes on May 26, 2009, June 22, 2009, Aug. 7, 2009, Aug. 10, 2009, and Sept. 4, 2009, in northeast Kansas.

A criminal complain was filed in U.S. District Court in September. He had allegedly made the threats while working as a motorist assistance technician with the Kansas Highway Patrol. Wyrick allegedly told the troop he had picked out a place of burial.

He could face a maximum of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.