In November of 2016, yours truly wrote this, for another publication, about a former Marysville, Kansas public school teacher who moved to the Wichita area and got arrested in Butler County, Kansas for sexual abuse of a child.
"A brilliant special education teacher and basketball coach by the name of Mike Melcher has been arrested in Butler County, Kansas for the electronic solicitation of a child under the age of fourteen, and for inappropriate physical contact with a child under the age of fourteen. Mr. Melcher was a special education teacher and basketball coach in Marysville, Kansas, from 2008 to 2014. His first appearance in court was November 28.
This is not the first time Kansas has run into problems through the lack of background checks for teachers. Since 2002, Kansas has required criminal background checks for teachers, but any teacher who was hired before 2002 is not required to undergo a background check. This effectively "grandfathers" any and all teachers with criminal records who were hired before 2002. According to KSN, a teacher named Mike Burgan in St. Johns, Kansas, who taught for USD 350, was found to have a criminal record for indecent solicitation of a child, dating back to 1988. It was determined that Mr. Burgan had lied, numerous times, to the school board and the Kansas Department of Education. Can anyone see how easy it is to teach in public schools in Kansas with a criminal record?
The other problem which afflicts Kansas is cronyism and cover-up. How many child predators have enjoyed lengthy criminal careers because others have failed to report crime? The fallout from Mr. Melcher's arrest and subsequent court dates will hopefully yield more information concerning background check procedures for the El Dorado School District and the Marysville School District."
There is now an update. Mike Melcher entered a guilty plea. He will be sentenced in May. While he has been on leave from his teaching position, he was still listed, on Monday, March 6, as an employee of the El Dorado school system. Hopefully, there will be no efforts among school boards in the state of Kansas to rehire him, because he has lived in Kansas all his life and has a lot of friends in Kansas.
Okay, Laura McNish; you got your own way. My work is no longer displayed in the place where you saw it and got angry. It really doesn't make a difference to me, as I only did it to contribute to this community. What do you contribute? Have you amended seven years of falsely filed property taxes yet?
You know.......I heard, from an extremely reliable source, that you are on a mission to rid Marshall County Kansas of any and all bi-racial marriages, so much so that you interfere in the marriages of couples in which more that one race is involved during any proceeding, such as child custody or adoption, that involves the court. Is that so? Besides deviating from the first amendment, what will such harassment achieve? I guess that question is rhetorical, so I will provide the general public with an answer: you are a racist, and your goal is to drive anyone who is African, African American, Latin, Native American, Jewish or Middle Eastern, LGBT, or disabled out of Marshall County, Kansas. You have even been observed threatening to harass the administrators of local public schools for equal and just treatment of minorities.
In the Spring of 2016, I started sharing information on this site about the property taxes of the Marshall County attorney, Laura McNish. At present, all of the information about Marshall County, Kansas, and the taxes of property owners indicates that Ms. McNish is cheating when she files her property taxes. I have heard questions and opinions, both in person and in writing, to the effect that Ms. McNish cannot possibly do such a thing, but the facts and figures do not lie. Below is a screenshot of the county attorney's property tax information for the year 2015. Note that her residential property, in a completely residential neighborhood, in a place where farming is forbidden by the covenants, is listed as a farm, rather than a residence.
Now that you have had a chance to see Laura McNish's property taxes, you should be aware that all of her neighbors in the Keystone Addition are paying property taxes on residences, not farms. Also, for your viewing pleasure, I have included an excerpt from the covenants of the Keystone Addition, stating that agriculture and business are prohibited. So anyone can see that there is no legal way that Laura McNish, Esquire, can run a farm on her acre or so of lawn space around her house on Lot 114 in the Keystone Addition. Hopefully, this will answer everyone's questions about the posts on this site concerning possible tax fraud on the part of the Marshall County Attorney. Of course, this is only what we know about, so far. There may be more.
No one is above the law, and anyone who enforces the law should keep the law. This includes county attorneys in Kansas.
Just a few of the homegrown and homemade things one can find at the Farmers Market in Marysville, Kansas. Saturday mornings from 8AM to 11AM, beside the Wagon Wheel.
To follow up with some earlier posts on this site about Miranda Cain, the Marysville, Kansas teenage madam, it seems apropos to state that on Tuesday, Citizen Cain appeared in court, after pleading no contest to the charge lodged against her, and was sentenced to about ten years in prison. This is a bit sad, as the arrest took place within weeks of Citizen Cain's graduation from high school. But then, Cain trafficked an eighth grader, whom she met at school, for sex; this is the sentence one might expect.
This leaves some unanswered and very unsettling questions about the city of Marysville and Marshall County, Kansas. Marshall County has only about 10,000 people; Marysville has about 3,200. This makes Marshall County a very small community. Most of the small towns within Marshall County are not home to even as many people as were in attendance at both of the high schools attended by your ever-lovin' blogger; 1,500 students in one school, and 2,500 in the other. The school that had 1,500 students was considered a "small" school. There were students in both of these schools who drank, used recreational drugs, fought with each other, got pregnant, and skipped classes. No one was perfect. At the same time, however; yours truly was able to find friends at both schools who did not do any of the above mentioned things, but just went to class, did their homework, and otherwise led normal lives. The "problem children" were actually in the minority, not the majority. Most of them also had enough sense to straighten up and fly right by the time they graduated. At no time did yours truly ever encounter a teenage madam, pimping underclassmen! In fact, such a thing was unheard of! Keep in mind, these are schools in the suburbs of a major city on the East Coast, yet.......no teenage madams. It would not have been well received or accepted, and prosecution would have taken place without any expectation of favoritism. In the tiny city of Marysville, Kansas, there were some folks, arguing both in favor holding Cain accountable and against holding Cain accountable, who thought that Cain would not actually go to prison, because of "small town politics". Why would anyone think a thing like that, when human trafficking, prostitution, and trafficking a child for sex, are all against the law? It's almost as if..........some people have lived lives that are so isolated and removed from the real world that they think state and federal laws do not apply to them! That's a notion from which Marshall County should really try to recover. Kansas is in the very center of our great nation, and is not in a very good position to secede, in order to legalize teenage prostitution and all the other unlawful things a lot of Marshall County parents allow.
Back to those unlawful things Marshall County parents allow; a second question is brought up, here. It really seems extremely unlikely that a high school senior would wake up one morning and think to herself, "Hmm. I need money. I also enjoy taking risks and having fun. I wonder how many of the junior high kiddies would like to sell sexual favors to railroaders and others who travel and use local hotels?" Your blogger is of the opinion that an adult hand maneuvered in this whole situation, somewhere and somehow, giving Cain the idea and helping her "advertise" her services. While the sentence of ten years for Citizen Cain's role in this operation is appropriate, the fact that no one is asking about others involved, or even if others knew about it, is disturbing. She could not possibly have managed such a "business" alone. How could a high school student involved in very serious crime escape the notice of all of the adults with whom she came in contact? And who were the adults who knew about this? There must have been at least a few. Didn't this raise any eyebrows before the police put a stop to it?
Citizen Cain is not the only high school student in Marshall County, Kansas who has either committed or been involved in a serious crime. Frankfort High School, also in Marshall County, had three arrests during the 2014-2015 school year, and three of its students and one of its alumni caused a serious accident by drinking while driving during the summer of 2014. In fact, the graduating class of Frankfort in 2015 had only one child, out of twelve or thirteen children, who did not drink alcohol or use recreational drugs. A child in that class would be literally unable to surround himself with children who are not involved in crime at one level or another. A community that is demographically as small as Marshall County, which has schools that have fewer then 150 students, in some cases, should not have any problems keeping control of the schools or the students. So, where are these students learning these behaviors, and why do they think that crime is "normal"? Has Marysville or Marshall County taken a look at itself? Miranda Cain grew up in Marshall County, for the most part. She is a product of the community. How did the community produce this situation? If Marshall County refuses to seek an answer to that question, the factors that created the elements of the question will only repeat themselves.
Hey Laura, there is something you should at least try to recognize. I would never have known about your son and the vandalism he committed in Marshall County, Kansas, in the summer of 2013, had you not scrambled so desperately to blame someone else for the damage to your vehicle. Do you think that those whose assistance you sought in making false accusations were quiet about what you said? Think again! And.....as a freak of happenstance.....I just happened to be present when your son's victim confronted you. You did not even appear to remember the incident, or his connection to it; but he remembered! How on earth do you forget the destructive behaviors of your own progeny toward your constituents, anyway? Aren't you even the slightest bit embarrassed? If not, you should be. It is also quite clear that you neglected to pay off all of your son's classmates in exchange for silence. Most of them were too young, at the time, to be legally held to a contract; but do you seriously expect them not to talk when your son brags about his own unlawful behavior, as if it were an amusing pastime for him? Don't be so unrealistic.
You also need to be aware that our state and federal authorities are not the "Poetry Police", charged with a sweet and sparkly mission of making the internet and the world of printed words a pleasant and wonderful place for you! You appear to have no reservations about destroying reputations, lodging false accusations, fracturing families, or ruining lives. Are you really that surprised when others desire to see you and yours held accountable for your lies and wrongdoing? If you seriously think that dishonesty is a good approach for your job, you need to develop a thicker skin. As an elected official, you do not have the same protections from liable or slander that the rest of the world enjoys; and if you harm others, people are going to talk about it.
And Laura, where's this farm to which you refer every year, when you do your taxes?
I have compiled a bunch of comments that were sent to me about the Miranda Cain matter; this post, and this post, and the position I take, concerning the community of Marshall County, Kansas, and crime committed by high school students. I published many of the comments I received directly in the respective discussions because those comments reflected intelligent thought, and asked intelligent questions. A few comments did not. Those comments either got deleted, or saved, in order for further address in another post. Now, I will write this "other post", and share the sillier comments, which I did not find enhanced any intelligent conversation about Marshall County, crime, or Citizen Cain's individual case.
Here is our first dumbass comment, made anonymously by someone who thinks that serious and outlandish crime should go unnoticed by everyone and permitted to continue as long as the spoiled brat feels like destroying lives.
"First of all God will judge Cain, that's not your job... Second, I have a feeling if God is judging your comments you may soon be entered into a psych ward, get a life and quit getting off on someone else's problems and some towns issues... Marshall county and Marysville is a great place to call home and raise a family. There are rotten apples in every batch, focus on the good ones, I know plenty of them in Marysville."
My answer? First of all, "the People", of whom I am one, judged Cain already, via the judicial system. Before Cain was arrested, God didn't care what she did or who she hurt, as long as she was willing to vote Republican. It's a miracle that she was prosecuted in the climate of selective justice we have, here in Kansas, but I am grateful that the police in Marysville were willing to "judge" her long enough to put a stop to her "distinguished service". If "God" is judging my comments, he should be a lot less concerned about them and a lot more concerned about some of the things children in Marshall County have been taught to do, and led to believe are healthy and harmless. Yes, rotten apples are plentiful, but if we remove them, the ethylene gas and plant hormones that cause them to ripen prematurely will cease to "rot" the rest of the apples. Shouldn't we look at human trafficking the same way? As for being "entered into" a psych ward, what the hell is that? Is it anything like being "entered into a ledger" or "entered into" evidence? Evidence! Ask Citizen Cain about it!
Now for the second loony-toony dumbass comment:
If you don't like the school then shut the heck up and move somewhere else! You are the most judgemental person I have EVER come across. It's idiots like you that should NOT be able to have a blog.
As I have told everyone in the past, even if I move to Brazil, I will not stop writing about Kansas. Especially Marshall County. What's wrong with judgmental types? Do they get in the way of your crime, and other unflattering secrets? Why would you want to deny me my first amendment rights, and have Google tell me I cannot maintain any blog or website? Do the observations and opinions of others bother you so much that you would wish to see the Constitution null and void? That's extreme. Perhaps you should move to a country that does not have the same freedoms as America!
And now here's the third totally dumbass reflection on this mess, along with my response.
"First off maybe instead of bashing people you should know the whole
story first. The 8th grader asked Miranda to do it. Her mom is a
worthless parent and doesnt care about her kids. She was doing it before
Miranda decided to join in. So instead of a one sided stupid post. Know
the whole story."
This comment assumes that a child whose parents are not good at parenting somehow deserves to be victimized by the likes of an abusive Marysville High School student, and that Citizen Cain's abuses of children are okey-dokey, because the child was not important to anyone in Marysville. This is the kind of person your faithful blogger truly hates. No kidding. There is no evidence that has been shared with the public about the eighth grader's attitude, and it really doesn't matter, anyway. Citizen Cain is an adult, and child abuse should have been out of the question. Why didn't Miranda Cain report the child's activities, if the child was already involved in crime? I really don't have to know the whole story in order to respond to this guff with the right questions. In fact, silly-assed commenter, I await your answer to that! Why, in bloody hell, didn't Miranda Cain simply report the juvenile's crime to the proper authorities? Or was the juvenile truly involved in crime before the Marshall County High School senior got involved? My post was not one sided, and neither are my questions.
Tomorrow, the results of Citizen Cain's trial will be published in the Marysville Advocate.
Mrs. Crist, I am asking you to keep your son away from all of my daughters. The things you said to my child after she rejected his sexual advances were mean spirited and cruel, and you are one of the reasons I hate Christians so darned much. Keep your filth in church, okay?
Marysville Area Community Theater will present Oklahoma at Marysville High School, in Marysville, Kansas. The show opens Thusday, July 23, at 7:00 PM and runs through Sunday, with a matinee at 2:00 PM. Lots of great singing....come see it!
This is a welded flower made by Albert, in Marysville. On Saturday, May 10, he will be selling these at the annual Mothers' Day Flea Market in the Marysville City Park in Kansas. Some of the best art is local.
"EQUAL PROSECUTION. CM spoke about an example of a juvenile crossing private property cutting donuts with a vehicle. She talked about prosecution and restitution and asked why some people are singled out for the exact crime and some are not. CA McNish said Municipal Court has no jurisdiction over juveniles. CM asked CA McNish to comment on fair and equal prosecution in town. CA McNish said he has been more than fair. No decisions were made."
Above is a quote from a recent city council meeting in Marysville, Kansas. City Attorney (CA) McNish was asked a direct question about underage drivers, often unlicensed, driving through fields, lawns, and gardens, and occasionally running over mailboxes. Marshall County Kansas will often throw the book at a teen for this, but then, sometimes not. City Attorney McNish spoke truthfully enough when he stated that the city of Marysville has no jurisdiction over juveniles, but what he did not discuss is the fact that his spouse, Laura McNish, is the county attorney, and it is the office of the county sheriff who would handle the arrest of a juvenile tearing up a lawn or field with a vehicle, or the arrest of a juvenile drinking alcohol. Often enough, children who do these things are duly prosecuted, but what happens if an underage witness, in a case against someone else being tried by the county attorney, is caught drinking beer? As it happened in May of 2013, the underage witness was not arrested, even though she was obviously drunk. Her changing testimony at the trial, which, by the way, the county attorney lost, was deemed too important to risk losing her cooperation by arresting her, as indicated by the law. What happens if the driver of a vehicle being driven over private property, and destroying the same, belongs to the son or daughter of someone in a position of authority in Marshall County or Marysville, Kansas? Do those young people live by the same rules? Apparently, a portion of the citizenry in Marysville think not; otherwise the question would not have been brought up at a city council meeting. County Attorney is an elected position, here in Kansas, and selective application of laws is not a way for elected officials to remain in office.
The Kansas Judicial Branch site has this to say about personal and public matters involving lawyers:
[5] A lawyer's conduct should conform to the requirements of the law, both in professional service to clients and in the lawyer's business and personal affairs. A lawyer should use the law's procedures only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others. A lawyer should demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials. While it is a lawyer's duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of official action, it is also a lawyer's duty to uphold legal process.
Anyone wishing to file a complaint with the Kansas Bar Association can print this complaint form and mail the hard copy to Disciplinary Administrator, 701 Jackson Street, First Floor, Topeka, Kansas, 66603-3729. All complaints must be written and snail mailed.
The young lady who played Cinderella in M-ACT's production of Into The Woods in Marysville, Kansas, this past summer, has been the unfortunate victim of a disgusting game of petty politics played by her former school principal, Dean Dalinghaus, the superintendent of a neighboring school system, Randy Freeman, and the county prosecutor, Laura McNish, who also represents the school board which employs Randy Freeman. Cinderella's former school offers no drama or forensics, but lots and lots of competitive contact sports. Randy Freeman has a school in his district with a wonderful drama department. Kansas has open enrollment, which means that any student can enroll in any district, theoretically, as long as the student can find his or her own transportation when transferring out of the student's own district. So Cinderella tried to transfer from the dull and lackluster Frankfort, with it's guns, drugs, and beer on school property, to Marysville. She is a wonderful student, and that is the only catch when requesting a transfer; the student must be in good standing.
Dean Dalinghaus and Laura McNish told Randy Freeman that Cinderella could not attend Marysville High. The drama department is only for very special Marshall County children with politically "just right" parents, not for Cinderella. Since Laura McNish not only prosecutes, but represents the school board, she has the power to scare board members into petty discrimination games...and it's a known fact in Marshall County that Laura McNish does not like Cinderella's mom, for personal reasons. Or Cinderella's dad. So while football players from other high schools, from within and from without Marshall County, transfer to Marysville High quite frequently, Cinderella has been told she cannot go to the ball. Marysville's drama department was too nice for someone whose parents typically vote Democrat and refuse to ignore our nations Constitution. Dean Dalinghaus also wanted to trap Cinderella in Frankfort, in order to keep those dollars rolling in for having as many students enrolled as possible, while providing as little classroom instruction as possible. As long as Laura McNish gets to sit on a courthouse computer all day, surfing social media websites and shopping online, she really does not care about the children in Frankfort, also in Marshall County, who are stuck with a substandard education. After all, if they play a good game of football, they can actually take advantage of open enrollment, which is supposed to be open to all Kansas students.
Laura McNish would make Marshall County Kansas a better place for everyone if she would just resign. Parents should not have to play politics with an elected official in order to get their children enrolled in school. Teachers and school administrators should not have to worry about playing stooge for the school's lawyer instead of teaching children. The glass slipper, in this case, drama and forensics, is a perfect fit for a very deserving Cinderella. She should be allowed to take advantage of a curriculum that can help her further her education, rather than forced to sit in a dingy building with substandard teachers and bullies who bring guns to school during hunting season. After all, football players can go to the "ball". Why can't Cinderella go to the ball?
Cinderella's parents went ahead and enrolled all of their children elsewhere, completely bypassing the public schools in Kansas. This appears to be a bigger trend than they thought it would be; yet they are not surprised. They have also made a personal commitment to wait, if they ever use USD 380 again in the future, until after the date upon which the district will get it's coveted dollars per enrolled student to enroll their children in school. That way, Dean Dalinghaus would have a chance to prove that the money is not important.
Congratulations to Marysville Area Community Theatre for their superb performance of Into The Woods (music by Steven Soundheim and book by James Lapine) this past weekend at Marysville High School, in Marysville, Kansas! The music and singing were wonderful, and the actors terrific; a wonderful bunch, both on and off stage. The hard work and long hours were certainly worth every minute, and the talent is impressive. Thankyou, especially, to Carla Wolfe, for casting my daughter, Rhiannon, as Cinderella. The role has given her tons of confidence, and her summer was the best ever, because of you! I had no idea Rhiannon could sing so well on stage, and she made me very proud. More pictures and some video are forthcoming!
