Systems, according to the owners. There will be no funds available for a community charitable fund, but SCL Health Systems will con-tinue operating the Duchesne Clinic here for the needy. Hospital officials said that 45 contacts with potential buyers were made, and three were interested enough to submit bids. Of those, only one agreed to maintain acute care and emergency room opera-tions at both hospitals. Randy Nyp, president and CEO of Providence-St. John hospitals, said he had observed that some

Wyandotte County residents were going elsewhere for their hospital care. The hospital lost more than 20 percent of its patients to other facilities. Doctors and medical per-sonnel were being recruited to work at other hospitals, and often, their patients followed them. However, Nyp said there was still a base of loyal employees, volunteers and patients that could be built on. About 25 percent of the patients who come to the emergency room do not have insurance, Nyp said. The emergency rooms are averag-ing about 130 patients a day. “The hospitals haven’t done well for quite a while,” Roy L. Robinson, Providence Medical Center chair-

man of the board, told the attorney general. The choice was either to shut down the hospitals or find a buyer, he said. “The sale provides us with a new beginning,” Robinson said. “The loss of the hospital would have been devastating. “The sale is a win-win-win,” Robinson said. It was the best solu-tion for SCL Health System, Prime Healthcare and the citizens of the community, he said. Maureen Mahoney, an attorney who is on the SCL Health Services board, said it was important to keep the hospital open. It matters to ev-eryone in Wyandotte County where they can go for medical treatment,

she said. With more than a thou-sand new apartments being built in western Wyandotte County, there will be an increased need here for health care, she said. As a mem-ber of the committee that made the decision to sell the hospital, she said nothing was taken lightly, and the committee deliberated very care-fully. “This was the best option for us,” Mahoney said, asking for approval of the sale. Providence Medical Center, 8929 Parallel Parkway, is the only acute care hospital on the west side of Wyandotte County. It has 400 beds. St. John Hospital, which has 80 beds, is in Leavenworth.

12 • April 4, 2013 www.WyandotteDailyNews.com

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as sacking groceries, basic carpen-try, sorting mail and folding laun-dry. It gives the students an oppor-tunity to show off the job skills they have been working on during the school year. Medals will be award-ed to first through third place win-ners in each category. For more information on the event or to sign up to be a volunteer, contact Cheryl McDonald 913-627-7831, Robert Young 913-422-7970, or Cindy McNeely 913-627-7536.- Story from Kansas City, Kan., Pub-lic Schools

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“I think that this negative stuff com-ing from outside of Wyandotte County is always a concern, which is what we’ve moved past since con-solidation,” he said.A lot of third-party groups want to get involved, but he said he wishes they would just let the candidates state their piece. I learned a long time ago in log-ic class that personal attacks are logical fallacies, not valid arguments in a debate. But somehow, some voters let personal attacks influence how they vote. And in recent years, some people have argued that the character of the candidates should be a factor in voting. In an ideal world, people would look at the is-sues the candidates support and evaluate how that matches with their own views. They wouldn’t choose based on popularity or last-minute attacks. In this mayoral election, which is being decided after I write this, I think we could say that both can-didates would have made a good mayor, and that both have a good character. Any last-minute attacks should have been discounted by the voters. No one that I know likes negative campaigning. But as former state Sen. Kelly Kultala remarked, people wouldn’t use it if it didn’t work. In order to stop it, voters have to ignore it when they vote. To contact Mary Rupert, editor, email maryr@wyandottepublishing.com.

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wouldn't change anything. "I thought the experience was great," she said. She enjoyed meeting people, and she said she would concentrate her efforts on working in the 3rd District and on the com-mission, where she has served six years. She said she did not have much name recognition outside of her district before the campaign began. About 20 percent of the regis-tered voters cast ballots. The results are unofficial. Holland received 9,323 votes to Murguia's 7,187. Turnout exceeded predictions of 12 to 15 percent. In the Unified Government districts with contests this year, turnout was highest in District 5, which includes north-west Kansas City, Kan., and the Piper area, with 32 percent of reg-istered voters casting a ballot. Turn-out was the lowest in District 1, the northeast area, with 16 percent.

Turnout in the Turner School Board election was 17.4 percent. For Unified Government Com-missioner, at large, District 2, Hal Walker won, 8,254 to Thomas (TJ) Reardon's 6,727. For Unified Government Com-missioner, District 1, Gayle E. Townsend won, 958 to 768, over Winfred Manning. In the UG Commission, 5th District, incumbent Commission-er Mike Kane won over Jarvis Col-lier, 2,677 to 1,462. For UG Commission, 7th Dis-trict, incumbent Commissioner Thomas Cooley was upset by Jim Walters, 1,471 to 1,017. Only 40 votes decided one of the commission races. In the UG Commission, 8th District, incum-bent Commissioner Butch Ellison was upset by Jane W. Philbrook, 1,116 to 1,076. The turnover on the UG Com-mission will be half of the board. There will be five new faces on the UG Commission, as a commis-sioner is expected to be appointed

to replace Holland in the District 1, at large, position. For the open seat on the Board of Public Utilities, District 2, Thomas W. Groneman won 3,549 over John Fotovich, who had 1,812 votes. In the BPU, at large, District 2 race, incumbent David Gibbs Alvey won 7,919 to Ernie Perry's 4,079.For the Kansas City Kansas Com-munity College Board of Trustees, the winners were the incumbents, Cathy Breidenthal, 8,336; Wendell Maddox, 6,205;and John "J.D." Rios, 6,041. LaVert Murray re-ceived 5,418 votes; Catherine Dur-ham, 5,249; and Steven M. Samu-els, 2,894. For the unexpired term on the Turner School Board, Douglas Lockwood won with 603 votes to Richard Hernandez Jr.'s 496 and Matthew D. Marine's 323. Three Turner School Board can-didates ran unopposed and were re-elected, Joy Beery, Dennis Peters Jr. and Steve Russell. In the Piper School District, Al-

lison C. DeWitt, 854; James Morris Letcher, 860; and Darrell Yoder, 1,116; won election to the board. John Droppelmann had 584 votes; Shawnette Mansfield, 706; and Da-vid R. Wilson, 741. There were no incumbents in this race. For the Bonner Springs-Ed-wardsville School District, winning election were Ray L. Cox, 908; Jeff Tinberg, 1,045; and David Toland, 930. Jeff Barger received 766; and Chris McDonnell, 658. For the Kansas City, Kan., Pub-lic Schools board, Vicki Meyer received 5,608 votes; Evelyn Hud-son, 4,448; and Richard Kaminski, 4,113. Janey Humphries received 3,276; Tyrone Garner, 2,527; and Orechia Towers, 1,218. Bonner Springs has a new may-or tonight. Jeff Harrington received 760 votes; Jack Knight received 419. For Bonner Springs Council, Ward 1, George Cooper won elec-tion by just seven votes, 137 to Don Beets' 130. For Bonner Springs Council,

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see Election page 13