February 27, 2008

Primary Election Results are in. Bob Dixson and John Janssen are in a runoff
for the primary.  10 of the 15 city council positions will move on to the
primary. Carmen Renfro and Erica Goodman are in the runoff for City Council.

March 2, 2008

Studio 804 Warehouse in Lawrence, Kansas is paid a visit by the 5.4.7 Arts
Center Board to see the progress they were making on the new building. The
building is being built to LEED certification. It will have a lot of active
systems such as 3 wind turbines, solar panels as well as geo-thermal heating/
cooling.

After going through all of the building, the 5.4.7 Arts Center Board and Studio
804 have a meeting. To start the meeting off, Studio 804: “In general, we are
all concerned about money and whether or not the project will be funded to the
fullest extent!”  (Go Figure). They need $10K prior to moving the building and
then the remainder by the 15th of May. Studio 804 also advised that the LEED
systems will be left out until they are assured they will have the money. (I
wonder if the board got to look at the receipts so far). So the Arts Board
left Lawrence with a goal of getting $10k quickly.

The basketball team, Greensburg Rangers is going to play the Moscow Wildcats
for the sub-state championship game and if they win they will be going to the
state tournament. They get to ride the 52 miles to the game in Larned, Kansas
in the new suburbans given to the school by Chevrolet. Coach White gives a
pre-game talk. They have not won a state championship since 1978.

With 3 seconds left, down by 1…. Andrew Seiler launched the game winning
bucket that sent the Greensburg Rangers to State, for the first time in 30
years.  Good for them!

The 5.4.7 fundraising trip in Augusta, Kansas. Chris Ballard, Stacy Barnes,
and two other members of the arts board, went to the Lake Point retirement
home where Forest Lee Lewis is now residing. She is a lifelong resident of
Greensburg and has let it be known that she would like to see Greensburg
come back and succeed. They left with a check for $10k. Forest Lee Lewis
is a very generous person.

Levi Smith is campaigning for John Janssen along with Taylor and Connor due
to his commitment to Greensburg going green. Levi thinks the other big factors
in John’s favor are his suspenders and humor.  

Shank Motors is getting the new foundation laid. Should the builder need
anything, it is an hour away to get supplies. The wind which has been
blowing around 35 mph, causes delays in building.

At the BTI John Deere Site, they are trying to figure out where to put the
wind turbines and finalizing plans to build to LEEDs standards. It is more
expensive to build to LEED certification but the owners of the John Deere
dealership knows that there will be a payback further on down the road.

March 11, 2008

Chris and Stacy meet with Dan Rockhill (Studio 804), at the Arts Center site.
The foundation is done. Dan provides some pictures of what the building will
look like. The crew is backfilling around the foundation so that they have a
ledge to work with when the building is brought to the site. Dan recommits
that they are bringing the building and that he has to have faith in Stacy
and crew to come up with the funding.

Taylor and his mom, Sharon Schmidt are getting a new house. They are so
excited.  A group from the town’s sister city of Greensburg, Pennsylvania
have been putting in the foundation to the basement. They have french drains
installed in the basement and the house will be built using the ICF blocks.
Taylor asks his mom if they had signed up for the free energy efficient
toilets. Mom is not so sure about reduced flow toilets, (probably envisioning
chamber pots). He trys to convince her that they are ‘cool’ and she will be
pleased.

The Arts board held a meeting where Stacy showed the pictures that Dan had
left behind along with the letter of commitment for the money. They are now
working on getting the funding started.  One member stated that her potential
contributors were not going to donate unless they saw a business plan along
with a budget projection, for fear of paying for a building that would not
be maintained or used. She had shown the potential donors the brochures
Studio 804 had given the board but, it was still not enough data to ease
their concerns.

Studio 804 has started laying the roof membrane made of rubber called EPM.
It is white and will reflect the sun.  All of the students, 22 of them, have
been working on the building non-stop along with all having illnesses but
they will complete the project. It will take 9 hours to transport the building
from Kansas University to Greensburg.

Fed Ex delivers parts for the 105 foot Endurance wind turbine. There are two
different wind turbines being installed at the John Deere site. The 5 kilowatt
Endurance is one of them and it will surely be put to the test with the winds
in the area. Wind charts show that Greensburg is in an area that measures the
second highest wind speeds in the nation. It went up with no problem and will
now provide power for the building contractors on site.

The Greensburg Rangers are at the state tournament and the whole town went to
cheer them on against the Crest Lancers.  They lose 56 to 30.  But, they had
an undefeated season and a great year is not tainted by this loss.  They are
crushed but they have nothing to hang their heads about.