"FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS" at the Great Plains Cinema
Wed, Sep 7th -13th
Check Website for showtimes
401 Cottage Avenue
(785) 263-4574 for more information.
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BONEBRAKE CONCERT SERIES
Brandon Jenkins, red dirt country music
Great Plains Theatre
Sat, Sep 17th @ 7:00 pm
401 Cottage Avenue
(785) 263-4574
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CHAMBER BUSINESS AFTER HOURS - GREAT PLAINS THEATRE
Tue, Sep 13th @ 5 pm to 7 pm
401 Cottage Avenue
(785) 263-4574
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Sat, Sept 24th @ 10 am to 4 pm
Enterprise City Park
(785) 263-8243
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CANDIDATE FORUM - hosted by the Abilene Abilene Area Chamber of Commerce
Thu, Sept 22nd @ 6 pm
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Visitor's Center Auditorium
200 SE. 4th Street
(785) 263-1770
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Chamber Board of Directors
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Kyle Becker, Chairman
Marc Beswick, Past Chairman
Todd Moore, Vice Chairman
Raelyn Swisher, Secretary
Diane Miller, Treasurer
Matt Engle
Denise Guy
Jeff Hoover
Becky Schwab
Jennifer Waite
David Walters
Glenda Purkis
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KCP&L AND WESTAR ENERGY -
COMBINATION SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WIN FOR REGION
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Combined company will help region attract jobs and continued economic growth
 Kansas City, Mo. (September 7, 2016) -
Great Plains Energy, the parent company of KCP&L, announced on May 31, 2016, that it had reached an agreement to acquire neighboring Westar Energy in a $12.2 billion deal that will ensure continued long-term economic growth and opportunity for the Kansas City region.
"Strong, locallyowned utilities are a cornerstone of healthy regional economies," said Tim Cowden, KCADC President and CEO. "The combination of KCP&L and Westar Energy will ensure good jobs stay in the region and will allow us to maintain our competitive electric rates, one of our region's distinct advantages and one of the most important considerations for site selection consultants and companies looking to relocate to our area."
Once the transaction is complete, the new utility will have more than 1.5 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, nearly 13,000 megawatts of generation capacity, almost 10,000 miles of transmission lines and more than51,000 miles of distribution lines. In addition, more than 45 percent of the combined utility's retail customer demand can be met with emission-free energy.
"Bringing together the senior leadership of KCP&L and Westar Energy ensures that they will remain engaged in Kansas and Missouri," said Cowden. "Local leadership living, working and contributing in our community ensures our economic development efforts will continue to be a top priority. I know if I need something from the new company's executive leadership, they are stilljust a phone call away. Their involvement and support of our economic development efforts is critical to the future economic health of our region."
KCP&L and Westar have each been serving customers in Kansas and Missouri for more than 100 years and currently jointly own and operate the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station, as well as the
LaCygne and Jeffrey power plants. With the addition of Westar's generation fleet, Great Plains Energy will have a more diverse and sustainable generation portfolio. In addition, among investor-owned utilities in the United States, the combined company will have one of the largest portfolios of wind generation in the country. A robust portfolio of renewable energy is increasingly important to companies when they are looking to locate facilities.
Great Plains Energy has an established track record of successful integration with adjacent electric utilities. In 2008, Great Plains Energy completed its acquisition of Aquila, an electric utility serving customers in adjacent areas of Missouri. That successful acquisition has delivered - and continues to deliver - significant savings for customers, which have exceeded initial expectations.
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 The
United Way of Dickinson County will be having their annual Kick-Off event on October 6th at 6:30 pm in the Abilene Civic Center. The Kick-Off is sponsored by Chamber of Commerce members:
Holm Automotive,
State Farm - Bob Burns,
First Bank Kansas,
Reynolds Real Estate, and
Pinnacle Bank. The Kick-Off will feature an auction of various items of value. Proceeds from the auction and charitable given by businesses and individuals are allocated to various organizations to fund several social service activities. If you or your company would like to donate auction items or start an employee giving campaign, contact Veronica Murray at (785) 200-6260.
The former Mr. K's Express restaurant at 1211 NW. 3rd Street has been purchased by a local businessman and will be a mexican restaurant.
The Cow Town Corral, 301 N. Broadway, had a soft opening last week and is open for lunch and dinner everyday of the week, except Wednesday.
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Diane Landers |
A statement from Diane Landers, former Realtor for Etherington & Company:
"As many of you know, I have retired from the real estate industry and am looking forward to the next Chapter of my life. I want to thank the community and my customers over the past 10 years, for the wonderful career I had as a real estate agent. I also want to thank Stew Etherington for our year's together and congratulate him on his new venture with Haug Realty.
I worked for Stew 12 years, 2 as his office manager and then 10 as office manager and real estate agent. Stew must have had enough faith in me, so I became an agent for him and I truly enjoyed working for him.
Thanks again. Diane Landers."
Connie Brunner (3rd and Vine Design) has opened a home furnishing, antique, refurbished business at 319 N. Cedar Street. The business is named Cedar Street Market.
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Kristy Engle |
UMB Bank has consolidated their commercial lending services to the Salina location and are no longer offering them in Abilene. They continue to offer home and consumer loans at the Abilene branch. The move reduced the local employment by one position. Kristy Engle has been promoted to the Branch Manager. Kristy has been with the local UMB bank for 31 years.
independent insurance agencies around the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) "Best Practices" survey. "Smart Insurance is both honored and excited to be named "Best Practices Agency" for 2016, says Doug Smart, president and CEO of Smart Insurance. More than 1,800 independent agencies throughout the U.S. were nominated to take part in the annual study, but only 254 agencies qualified for the honor. Congratulations to Smart Insurance.
Renewing Member
Michael Hernandez, Owner
1801 N. Mulberry Street
Abilene, Kansas 67410
Offers website design, hosting, and app development.
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TCT/NEX-TECH WIRELESS
Regional Sales Rep
TCT/Nex-Tech Wireless (next to Sonic) is hiring a FT Regional Sales Rep. Competitivebase pay with commission, paid benefits, retirement and company car provided. This isn't a job - it's a career! Previous sales experience required. Valid KS DL.EOE. For more info and to apply go to
www.tctelco.net.
RUSSELL STOVER CANDIES
We are currently accepting applications for:
Assistant Store Manager
- Minimum 2 years previous retail management experience.
- Must be flexible to work a variety of day, evening & weekend shifts.
- Frequent lifting of 1-5 pounds; occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds required.
- High school diploma or GED preferred.
Part Time Sales Clerk
- Must be flexible to work a variety of day, evening & weekend shifts.
- Requires availability to work up to 30 hours per week as business dictates
- Frequent lifting of 1-5 pounds; occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds required.
Russell Stover Candies
1993 Caramel Blvd
Abilene, KS
(785) 263-0463
Must be 18 years old to apply. Russell Stover is a Drug Free employer.
Individuals expressing interest in this position must meet the minimum position qualifications, as defined by the Company, in order to be considered for employment. EOE
ABILENE MACHINE
UPS Technician - Shipping
(9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.)
This is a Warehouse position. Performs routine shipping tasks primarily related to shipping product via UPS and Truck Freight. Requires the ability to lift 50-100 lbs occasionally. Must be detail-oriented, accurate and timely in data entry.
Receiving Team-Parts Stocker
(2nd Shift; 3:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.)
Warehouse position. This position receives inventory, labels merchandise and stocks shelves, for new and rebuilt tractor and combine parts. Requires the ability to lift 50-100 lbs occasional.
Call Janice Braden at (785) 655-9455 ext. 205 for more information.
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James' Random Thoughts ....................
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Community Comes Together To Celebrate
I spent Labor Day recuperating from the "Trails, Rails, and Tales - 150th Anniversary of the Chisholm Trail" celebration. Several people assumed a significant role in the planning and delivering of the festival. Most notably: Michael Hook, Tim Sanders, Deb Sanders, John McDonald, Mary McDonald, Greg Wilson, Samantha Kenner, Michael Hernandez, Connie Cooper, Shawna Landers, Theresa Weishaar, Mary Jane Oard, Glenda Purkis, Jeana Lawrence, and yours truly. The aforementioned and scores of volunteers came together to give Abilene's cow town history renewed life over the weekend. The diversity and uniqueness of the festival activities, entertainment, and vendors was excellent for a first time event and the attendance demonstrated that. GREAT JOB !!!! I have no doubt that next year will be bigger and better.
While I spent most of the time getting sunburned and running sound equipment, I managed to take in a couple of highlights that brought me a sense of enjoyment and pride in Abilene. I was in awe of the longhorn being loaded onto the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad and being hauled away by the steam engine. Also, I had the pleasure of hanging on every line of the "Rose of Texas Street" melodrama during all three public performances. Theresa Weishaar wrote the melodrama specifically for this event and Margaret Clair from the Great Plains Theatre produced it. The performance of the cast was delightful and often times hilarious.
Many of the key roles being performed by local civic and business leader. If you keep up on civic matters, you may know that leaders do not always see eye to eye. As Patrick Henry said in his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, "... different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, ...". While this is true, it made me proud to see those with differing opinions come together for a common cause... putting on a play to celebrate the events and people that led to the founding of our great city. Although I don't have 4 generations in the Abilene cemetery, I am proud to be an Abilenian and look forward to doing my part to bring the community together next year.
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