Susan Thacker

Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting will include a call for a public hearing on the adoption of a STAR Bond project and more. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, at City Hall. The meeting will be live-streamed on the Facebook page

From Independence Day to Party in the Park, the Great Bend City Council is preparing for summer celebrations. Here’s a quick look at the consent agenda, approved at the May 18 Great Bend City Council meeting:

People in Great Bend will have one more day to set off fireworks this Independence Day. The Great Bend City Council voted Monday to designate July 3-4 as days to legally discharge fireworks in town between the hours of 10 a.m. and midnight.

There were hugs and expressions of joy earlier this month when Chara Fitzpatrick became the first occupant of the Haven for Her, a new project of Live Like Jesus Today Ministries that welcomes young women who are pregnant or have small children.

Great Bend City Administrator Logan Burns described this year’s $2 million investment in street repairs as the biggest project of its kind during his time with the city.

Rain on Saturday delayed the opening of the Wetlands Waterpark in Great Bend, but sunny skies brought a crowd on Sunday.

The Memorial Day program at the Odin Cemetery kicked off multiple programs throughout Barton County on Monday. The speaker was Kenton Renz, vice commander of the Sons of the American Legion No. 286.

Today’s Great Bend Tribune was printed on Memorial Day so it could arrive in your mailbox on Tuesday, with the online version showing up somewhat earlier (we hope). Over the weekend, we listened to some political candidates, visited a few community events and celebrated the “unofficial start of summer” by enjoying some barbecue and spending time with family.

This Saturday, May 30, Barton County will celebrate the annual Big Bend Bash in downtown Great Bend.

Joining the Navy may have been the best decision Mike Harbaugh ever made — and in the same breath, the timing may have been the worst. He enlisted during the Vietnam War, a conflict that would leave wounds that still, more than half a century later, occasionally force their way back into the light.