WING MONDAY

2 0 W I N G S - M I X N M AT C H

2050 N. Kansas Ayr Lanes @ Billys 620-626-4400

2 D O ME S TI C D R AW S

FIRE HITS TEXAS COUNTY, OKLA.

SHOP WITH A COP

Photo Courtesy Texas County Emerency Management Facebook page

Forms new friendships between

students and officers
PAGE 7A

By EARL WATT
Leader &Times

Emergency Management
sets up command center
in Adams, Okla.

PAGE 7A

LEADER
&TIMES
SUNDAY

Francis: Transportation
vice chair appointment
good for SW Kansas

Flames roll
in as high as
40 to 50 feet

DEC. 18, 2016

Your daily news & views for 131 years

Perhaps the highest state priority for Liberal and Southwest

Kansas for decades has been Highway 54.
In just his second term as representative for the 125th District,
Shannon Francis has been
appointed as vice chair to the
Transportation
Committee,
putting him in a leadership
position that forms the legislative
priorities that will include
highways.
I think the most important
thing about this selection is the
avenues it opens to the future,
Francis said. Currently we have
FRANCIS
an excellent chairman in Rich
Proehl from Parsons. When you
are selected to serve as vice chair, you can have more input for

RUNAWAYS

Redskins, Lady
Redskins
dominate
Perryton,
move to 5-0

HIDDEN BEAUTY
2 friends set up shop downtown

Spirit of Christmas
PAGE 1C

N See FRANCIS/Page 3A

Fresh Okla. pecans available

from South Church of God
Missions group
Special to the Leader & Times
The Missions group of South Church of God is
accepting orders for fresh Oklahoma shelled
pecans for the holidays.
Fresh Oklahoma pecans have been prepared for
sale by the women of the Church of God as their
annual fundraiser.
They can be ordered by calling 624-2292, 6242266 or 7652.

US rig count up 13
this week to 637;
Texas adds 14
HOUSTON (AP) The number of rigs
exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S.
increased by 13 this week to 637.
A year ago, 709 rigs were active. Depressed
energy prices have curtailed exploration, although
the rig count has been rising in recent weeks.
Houston oilfield services company Baker
Hughes Inc. said Friday that 510 rigs sought oil
and 126 explored for natural gas this week. One
was listed as miscellaneous.
Texas gained 14 rigs, New Mexico gained two
and Colorado added one.
Oklahoma and Wyoming each declined by two,
and North Dakota lost one.
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia were
unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It
bottomed out in May at 404.

Visit them at 9 1/2 S. Kansas

Local churches announce

special Christmas services
By ELLY GRIMM
Leader & Times

Christmas
Day
is
quickly
approaching. For many families, part of
the Christmas Day tradition is
attending a worship service. Liberal is
no different.
People will have many church services
to choose from, including Felloswhip
Baptist Church, which will be hosting
its Christmas Day services at 10:30
a.m., which will be the churchs main
Christmas service.
And then instead of putting on a
musical or dramatic performance like
we typically do, this whole year weve
been doing our Liberal Love campaign,
which has been us at the church
showing Gods love in tangible ways,
Tyler Prater, Youth Pastor and Music
Director with Fellowship Baptist
Church, said. Thats really our
approach this year, our Liberal Love
campaign, and we thought it would be
more of an act of love to do something
like this campaign than just singing.
Prater also talked about the campaign
overall, and encouraged the community
to come out to the churchs Christmas
Day service, adding he expects to see a
lot of the community there.
All through the year, weve done all
types of projects throughout the
community like free oil changes for
single moms, and other big events weve
done, Prater said. We just felt like,
when we compared a musical to a
tangible act of service, we decided it was
more consistent with our mission
statement to do something more
tangible. With the services, its a way for
the family to be reminded of what
Christmas is all about, and not be so
distracted with the gifts and traditions
that we forget its about Christ and his
birth. This is just the perfect day to start

Vol. 131 Iss. 210 20 Pa ges

Christmas Day off right, and since its

uniquely on a Sunday this year, what
better way to start the day than bringing
the family to come and worship?
Church for All Nations will be hosting
its main service at 3 p.m. Christmas
Eve.
I would say it would be a great day
for people to meet some of their friends
and neighbors from around the
community, be somewhere where its
warm, and where everyone can
celebrate the reason for the season,
Church for All Nations Pastor Darren
Metcalf said. One of my favorite parts
about doing the Christmas services is
when we get to do the candlelighting
when its dark and we share the candle.
We also share the actual meaning of
Christmas with the birth of Jesus during
the message, and it really just gives
people an opportunity as theyre sitting
there to think about what all is going on
around them and what it all means.
First Southern Baptist Church will be
hosting a candlelight service at 6 p.m.

Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day,

there will only be a 10:45 a.m. worship
service.
Especially with our Christmas Eve
service, its open to the community,
which I think the community really
responds to, First Southern Baptist
Church Lead Pastor Jack Jacob said.
So its an excellent opportunity to come
and gather together to kind quiet your
heart and soul before dealing with some
of the possible noise of the next day.
And the churchs Christmas Eve
service especially should be nice for the
community, Jacob said.
We start out completely in the dark,
work our way into lighting candles, and
that becomes our light, Jacob said.
The musics also going to be very
simple, the people dont have to worry
about songs they dont know, the
message is also very simple, the service
is not long. Its going to be a little
different than what we usually do.
Something else I like is since were not

N See SERVICES/Page 6A

PAGE 3A

Murder suspect
who shot
himself dies in
Kansas hospital
WICHITA (AP) Authorities
say a suspect in a Florida killing who
exchanged gunfire with U.S.
Marshals earlier this week has died.
KWCH-TV reports police on
Friday identified the suspect as 26year-old Gabriel L. Davis. He died
Thursday at a Wichita hospital.
Police say Davis had a warrant for
a September 2015 murder out of
Florida. Federal agents were
monitoring a home Wednesday,
when the suspect and a female got
into a vehicle in the driveway.
Davis shot at them as they came
near to take him into custody, and
they returned fire. The vehicle fled
the scene and crashed into a house,
and both the suspect and the
woman took off running.
Police say they found Davis
during a search, and he fired a shot
into his head as officers
approached.

Resident chases
Christmas
thieves with
metal pipe
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) Two
Florida men are spending the
holidays in jail, thanks to observant
neighbors who spotted them taking
Christmas gifts from a nearby home
and another homeowner who
chased them with a metal pipe.
Lakeland police and sheriffs
deputies tracked them down. They
bailed from the car and ran into a
home, but the homeowner chased
them out with a metal pipe.
Authorities arrested 18-year-old
James Davis and 21-year-old
Antonio Thomas. Both face
multiple charges and remained in
the Polk County Jail Friday.
Records dont list attorneys for
them.

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Liberal, Ka nsas