thekansan.com

Midland 'E-cycle' benefits United Way partner organizations

Fri, 17 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000

A recent computer upgrade by Midland National Bank resulted in an unexpected bonus for four Harvey County United Way Partner Organizations.

�It makes no sense to leave computers in a storage room, when there are organizations out there in need," siaid Ron Lang, President of Midland National Bank. "We are pleased to help.�

David Anderson, Midland National Bank Vice President of Data Operations, has served on the Harvey County United Way Community Investment Committee for [...]

Church owned thrift store donates to charities

Special to the Kansan — Sat, 11 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000

Jan Jones, director of the Harvey County Safe House, has seen lots of families in crisis?and the numbers are growing. That�s why a recent $5,000 grant from Newton Et Cetera Shop, a local thrift store, couldn�t have come at a better time.

�During this last year, our shelter services for families have increased 37 percent,� says Jones. �We�re using air mattresses in the Safe House�s living room to provide a safe place for families. From January to March of this year, the Safe House [...]

Silvio Calabi: Enclave is the good news, bad news Buick

By Silvio Calabi, More Content Now — Mon, 6 May 2013 16:17:00

Just when we thought it was safe to go back to Detroit, after the hard lessons carmakers learned in the Great Contraction, along comes the Buick Enclave. I don�t mean to suggest that it�s a new car � the Enclave debuted as a 2008 model, which explains a lot � but that it already needs a pavement-up makeover.
The good news, early in �08, just before Capitalism collapsed, was that the Enclave was a modern unit-body, three-row, front-wheel/all-wheel-drive crossover vehicle that managed its [...]

Greg Zyla: 1958 Lincoln was massive

By Greg Zyla, More Content Now — Mon, 6 May 2013 16:15:31

Q: Greg, I�d like to know about what happened to the Lincolns from back in the 1950s. Up until 1958, I thought the styling was quite nice for a luxury car. Then in 1958, Lincoln came out with a massive piece of monstrosity that to this day I think was the biggest Lincoln to date. What happened in 1958? Chuck L., Evanston, Ill.
A: Chuck, the year 1958 was one of those years that the stylists went crazy with �big.� Regardless of model, from Buick to Chrysler to Ford, manufacturers flooded [...]

What's going on here?

�Lumber and building supplies stored beside the old hospital on Broadway. — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:04:00 +0000

What is it??These are supplies to be used by Cargill to make repairs to its facility across the street.

Why is it being done??Repairs are being made to roof supports. Cargill company officials say the cracks were noticed recently, and while there is no danger now, they want to be safe and make sure the repairs are made.

What measures were taken??Company officials say they conducted load tests on the roof and [...]

Silvio Calabi: Azera, the gentleman’s express

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Mon, 8 Apr 2013 12:43:17

To gaze upon Hyundai�s shapely Azera is to realize how few cars today are truly pretty. In a market that values fuel economy, luxury, green-ness, low lease payments or whatever, �pretty� evidently doesn�t cut it any longer. Even Ferraris look a bit grotesque these days. The Azera, though � that�s pretty. No gaping grille, no swollen goiters, no painful angles; it is thoroughly harmonious.
But, as mother used to warn us, pretty is as pretty does. As it happens, though, the Azera does quite [...]

Greg Zyla: Flathead V-8 cylinder heads and Danica Patrick

By Greg Zyla, GHNS — Mon, 8 Apr 2013 12:41:32

Flathead V-8
Q: Greg, what changes have to be made to put overhead valves on a flathead engine? Thanks, Dennis �Mike� Scott, Manson, N.C.
A: Dennis, the Flathead Fords have really caught on again with hot rodders as the nostalgia market continues to boom. As for those heads, the person behind much of the Chevy Corvette�s success, namely Zora Arkus-Duntov along with his brother Yura, built and sold a hemi style overhead valve Ardun Head for the Flathead V-8. They were purchased mostly by [...]

EDC pursues ties with German industry

By Ashley Bergner?Newton Kansan — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Mickey Fornaro-Dean, executive director of the Harvey County Economic Development Council, isn't just thinking regionally in terms of developing the Kansas Logistics Park, or even just nationally.

At Monday's Harvey County Commission meeting, she and Stan Brodhagen of Brodhagen Consulting Service asked commissioners to approve a preliminary plan for sending representatives to German trade shows and building a list of contacts in German industry. [...]

Greg Zyla: Reader disagrees with recommendation

By Greg Zyla, GHNS — Mon, 1 Apr 2013 14:11:54

Q: Greg, I just read your column about the 1968 Mercury six cylinder and if it was worth restoring. However, I totally disagree with your recommendation, and here�s why.
You are right the car will never be worth what a Cyclone with a 428 Cobra Jet engine. But that is not to say his Mercury is worthless. Although they will never bring an equal price as the muscle car, family sedan prices go up. It seems everyone restored muscle cars and scraped out the family sedans so fewer and fewer [...]

Silvio Calabi: Ford SHOws how it’s done

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Mon, 1 Apr 2013 14:09:04

Everything old is new again. Fortunately, with a few exceptions, �new� invariably beats �old,� at least in automobiles. Ford�s revival of the SHO variant of its Taurus sedan is a case in point. When the original SHOwed up, way, way back in MCMLXXXIX, it had front-wheel drive, a 5-speed manual gearbox and a V-6 rated for 220 horsepower�enough to motivate a 3,300-pound car relatively well. Over the next 10 years the SHO was updated twice, but it never got beyond 235 horsepower.
SHO stands for [...]

Silvio Calabi: H-Drive is a mixed blessing in Infiniti’s M35

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:03:50

After decades of scoffing at it, I have become not just a fan but a connoisseur of cruise control. This stems from an encounter last July between two Maine state troopers, one in a Ford Interceptor and the other overhead in a Cessna 182, and me in a 470-horsepower Chrysler 300 SRT8. It was friendly and even semi-humorous, but now my driver�s license has a blot on it.
Which means no more, �Sir, I see you have no violations so I�ll let you off with a warning.� Which in turn means tiptoeing [...]

Greg Zyla: Eastern one-mile ‘dragstrip’ is ECTA home

By Greg Zyla, GHNS — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:00:52

Q: Hi, Greg. I know you race a drag car, so is it true that there is a one-mile dragstrip in the east somewhere that officially sanctions races? I�d love to see it in person. David D., email from Pennsylvania.
A: David, yes and no. The track you are talking about is a 9,000-foot-long private airport used mostly by DHL business delivery airplanes. The landing strip is 150 feet wide and offers two 33-foot lanes. The GPS address is 2870 Old State Road 73 if you have navigation in your vehicle. [...]

County need met by partnership with business

By Ashley Bergner?Newton Kansan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Officials see it as a "win-win" situation for both Harvey County and a local business: a partnership that will meet a need and provide important research data.

At Monday's county commission meeting, John Waltner, county administrator, announced local company AGCO would be giving a brand-new tractor to the county. The county will be helping the agricultural equipment manufacturer (which has a site in Hesston) test the product, and the [...]

Silvio Calabi: Jeep Wranglers bristle with character

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:10:33

A group of auto writers was standing around in the garage recently, eyeing this four-door Wrangler. Awful, isn�t it?, someone said. General agreement. But I sure like it, he continued. General agreement again � enthusiasm, even! This is the Wrangler Conundrum: As an automobile, it�s dreadful; but as an authentic �character vehicle� it�s almost embarrassingly successful.
Jeep can�t build Wranglers fast enough and many dealers have waiting lists. Wranglers are cash cows, too � the sticker on [...]

Greg Zyla: Readers remember Diana automobile

By Greg Zyla, GHNS — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:08:12

Q: Hello, Greg, I am 88 years old and my sister is 90, and we really enjoy your articles on the old cars. I am wondering if you have any information on a car called the Diana. My dad had one and it was a real big car. This was back in 1933, and I believe the model was a 1928. I remember it had a half moon with a bell and a crescent on the badges.
We always had fun in the back seat of this car as it was so big. I think it had an eight cylinder engine, too.
Any help you can give is much [...]

Newton Taco Tico not among those closing

Wed, 6 Mar 2013 16:36:33

TOPEKA (AP) � The state has closed 10 Taco Tico fast-food restaurants and seized their assets for failure to pay $400,000 in taxes.

The Taco Tico in Newton is not affected and is not planning on closing, a manager at the restaurant told The Kansan�Wednesday.

?The Newton facility is owned locally and not part of the larger operation in Wichita.

The Kansas Department of Revenue [...]

Silvio Calabi: Subaru Forester gets a jump on 2014

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Tue, 5 Mar 2013 13:11:54

You probably don�t remember when October was new-car month in America: Next year�s models were delivered in the dark of night and dealers covered up their showroom windows until the big reveal. Come in for coffee and doughnuts and see the new �63s! And we did. It was a big moment.
That was then. This is now�late February 2013, and a 2014-model-year Subaru sits in my drive. Do they care about making me feel prematurely older? Of course not; Subaru wants to impress us with its new technology. [...]

Greg Zyla: Readers write on Tri-Powers, Nash-Kelvinator

By Greg Zyla, GHNS — Tue, 5 Mar 2013 13:09:53

We�ve been receiving lots of mail recently, so let�s go to the mailbag.
Loved your Tri-Power article
Greg, I really enjoyed your �tri-power� article, which I found in yesterday�s Canton (Ohio) Repository. As one of your �older readers,� the first tri-power that came to my mind (before reading the article) was the �57 Olds J-2.
I agree, the early �60s Pontiac Catalina/Ventura bubbletops were great (348 hp). Back in �61, my neighbor had a beautiful black �60 Impala bubbletop with a three- [...]

NexCentra Health Network: Providing cost containment solutions

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

WICHITA � NexCentra Health Network, a new provider resource organization headquartered in Wichita, offers solutions for revenue enhancement and cost savings to myriad health-care providers through an extensive network that includes a group purchasing program; reduced group benefits costs; and access to practice resources and support.

NexCentra provides financial relief to private practices in a time of unprecedented change in the health-care [...]

Silvio Calabi: BMW X1 35i is a snow machine

By Silvio Calabi, GHNS — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:33:14

Are you young, hip and �active�? How about forward-thinking and green? Reasonably well-heeled? Do you shower before you go to work? If so, the Bavarians are targeting you for their new �sporty, sophisticated and eco-savvy� X1 sports-activity vehicle. And what is an X1? Think of an X5 or an X3 that was left in the dryer a bit too long. The X1 is a couple of inches smaller than a Toyota RAV4 or a Ford Escape.
The blizzard of demographic desirability that BMW has brewed up for the X1�s American [...]