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The Good Life
 Courtesy: TIM UNRUH, Salina Journal
1/8/2012
COURTLAND -- Diapers and pacifiers are back in vogue at Courtland, where tykes are again frolicking in the parks and roaming safely about.
They're connected to stroller-pushing parents who have moved home over the past five or more years. The trend has stabilized this Republic County's population at 300, or just a skosh more, left only one vacant storefront downtown and clogged housing.
"The good thing is we've got traffic on Main Street," said Bob Mainquist, who co-owns the weekly Courtland Journal newspaper with his wife, Colleen.
"It's a wonderful thing to see these young people back here in town. It's a lifeblood," said Mike Johnson, owner and president of Swedish American State Bank.
The influx has squelched previous notions that Pike Valley School District was in jeopardy, said Chris Vignery, high school principal and superintendent of schools.
The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school is in Courtland and the high school is in Scandia.
The school, which averages 18 in each class, projects next year's kindergarten to have 13 pupils, falling to 11 in 2013, he said. But by 2014, the expectation is a kindergarten with 16 students, thanks in part to growing families.
"Five years ago, some people thought we needed to look toward consolidation because of declining enrollment," Vignery said. "I don't think that's a consideration anymore."
Some returnees admit to an intense desire to leave for big cities and explore the world when they left high school, which is a common attitude for youngsters.
But some minds have changed, especially as the young adults age when their broods grow and opportunities surface closer to home.
More plan to come home
More than 20 people who have completed college degrees within five years of the class of 2005 have moved back, said Luke Mahin, 24, and more are planning to relocate home.
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Nex-Tech and Rural Telephone donate new telecommunications lines to FHSU
HAYS, Kan. -- The high-tech, high-touch learning environment at Fort Hays State University will soon become even more technologically advanced thanks to a major contribution from Nex-Tech, a Hays telecommunications provider.
"Nex-Tech, and its parent company, Rural Telephone of Lenora, have been long-time supporters of our university," Dr. Edward H. Hammond, FHSU president, said during a Friday morning news conference. "We are here to accept another major gift from Nex-Tech that will greatly enhance our communication capabilities."
President Hammond and Larry Sevier, chief executive officer of Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech, announced that Nex-Tech would install fiber optic cables in two locations: a two-gigabyte Ethernet circuit between the FHSU campus in southwest Hays and the university's Sternberg Museum of Natural History adjacent to Interstate 70 in northeast Hays; and a 20-megabyte symmetrical Internet connection south to the University Farm.
The value of the gift will be $240,000 for the Sternberg connection and $6,000 for the farm connection, for a total of $246,000, which includes free service for the first five years.
"Nex-Tech understands that Fort Hays State University, and its inter-campus network infrastructure, is critically important to Hays, Ellis County and western Kansas," Sevier said.
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Hoxie Couple Featured in Online Publication
New RUS Report Summarizes Broadband Stimulus Program Achievements
1/19/11 at 2:51 PM by Joan Engebretson
Awards made by the Rural Utilities Service in the broadband stimulus program last year will bring broadband service to 2.8 million households, 364,000 businesses and 32,000 anchor institutions across more than 300K square miles, according to a summary report titled “Advancing Broadband” issued yesterday.
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Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech “Turning People On” To Broadband
LENORA, KAN 1-13-11 - As Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech CEO/General Manager Larry Sevier turns his calendar to 2011, he understands the company is in a race against time. Since being awarded approximately $101 million in Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure grant and loan funds less than 12 months ago, the Lenora-based telecommunications cooperative has hit the ground running. Rules outlined in the federal program require participants to complete their projects within a three-year period.
“Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech has a rich history of working with the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in constructing improved telecommunication networks through its loan program dating back to 1952,” Sevier said. “Understanding the RUS and their processes enabled us to begin preliminary engineering and construction activities prior to receiving any initial funding from the stimulus program.”
That “jump start” in engineering and construction and the overall sense of urgency has resulted in a number of “firsts” for the organization as it relates to the Recovery Act Program according to Sevier. On July 13, 2010, less than six months after being selected for the Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure funding, Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech technicians were connecting customers to its Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) network in Long Island, Kansas; utilizing the stimulus funding.
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The difference in speed between dial-up and high-speed Internet via a fiber-to-the-premise connection.
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Rural Telephone Recognized in Whitehouse Report
Lenora, KS, 9-21-10 - Rural Telephone is recognized in a report published by the Whitehouse titled, "100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America." To read the report click here.
Rural Telephone's broadband expansion project is listed at number 38.
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First Broadband Stimulus Funded Customers Now in Service at Rural Telephone of Kansas
9-9-10 at 12:05 PM by Bernie Arnason - We’ve been documenting the long and involved broadband stimulus program for over 18 months now. We all knew that any government program of this size would not move quickly. But the fruit of the broadband stimulus program’s labor is beginning to bloom. Rural Telephone Service of Hays, Kansas is beginning to put customers in service as a direct result of the program, representing what is most likely the first example of actual new broadband customers to be served as a direct result of the broadband stimulus program (although there are no official records of ‘firsts’ being recorded, at least none that we could find).
“It’s hard to put an actual number on the exact number of customers in service as a result of the program, but we estimate it to be about 200 new customers in service so far,” Rhonda Goddard, COO of Rural Telephone Service (RTS), tells me. “We’re adding more and more everyday,” Larry Sevier, CEO of RTS chimes in. These new customers are a combination of new, previously unserved broadband customers, as well as existing RTS dial-up Internet subscribers, or underserved customers, who thanks to the $101 million broadband stimulus project, now have access to FTTH services.
Rural Telephone’s ambitious project was one of the first approved by the broadband stimulus program, receiving official approval back in January 2010 from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) BIP portion of the program. “We were so comfortable with RUS and their process, that we actually began engineering and construction of the project prior to receiving actual funds. That gave us a jump start on the project,” Sevier tells me. New customers were put in service as far back as July 2010 and new exchanges continue to be turned up today. Sevier says they’re on a three year construction timeline to complete the project.
Details of the RTS broadband stimulus project include:
• $101 Million in funding – $49+ million in grants and a $51+ million loan
• Coverage for 23,000 households/businesses and 335 anchor institutions across 11 counties and 21 towns, covering 4,600 square miles of western Kansas
• Combination of FTTP and WiMax
• Up to 17 new employees for Rural Telephone / Nex-Tech The project was so big, RTS hired seven engineering and construction firms, some of whom hired new workers for the project, contributing to the broadband stimulus program’s goal of creating jobs. The initial focus of the project is FTTH, but RTS also intends to use WiMAX in future builds. “We’ve encountered some unexpected environmental clearance issues for WiMAX towers which is delaying that portion of the project,” says Sevier.
Sevier and Goddard tell me that this project will improve RTS’ broadband availability coverage from about 80% (pre stimulus project) to 95% (post stimulus project), while an impressive improvement, also illustrating the ongoing challenge of universal broadband for rural territories.
For Sevier and RTS, it’s business as usual. “Seems like we’re just moving from one major broadband project to another,” Sevier tells me, in reference to a recently completed non-stimulus funded $70 million broadband project where RTS deployed FTTP in several former Sprint exchanges. “Our employees live in these communities and are anxious to bring broadband there and provide the best customer service possible,” says Sevier.
Courtesy of telecompetitor.com
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Quality, High-Speed Broadband for All Americans
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Broadband Construction Projects Begin
Hays, KS, 3-9-2010 A number of engineering projects have begun, or will begin soon as part of the Broadband Infrastructure projects planned for the Nex-Tech service area. For more detail about what is happening in your community, please click here and follow the link to the town or rural area you live in. Please check back often for updates in your area.
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Nex-Tech to Build Fiber Technology in Hays Will bring money-saving bundles including digital television services
Hays, KS 2-11-2010 Hays, Kansas, will soon have a communications infrastructure that will be the envy of people in the largest metro areas. Nex-Tech has announced plans to build fiber technology to the entire city of Hays, resulting in Hays having one of the world’s few 100% Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) communication systems. Hays will be among the privileged 4% of the nation to enjoy the amazing benefits of FTTP technology—state-of-the-art digital television service, high-speed Internet and phone service over a fiber network with virtually limitless capacity.
Nex-Tech will begin construction in the summer of 2010 and will complete construction by the end of 2012. Construction will happen in phases across the community, with customers being transitioned to the FTTP system once construction in their neighborhood is complete.
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Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech Awarded $101 Million
Washington, 1-26-10 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday announced that Rural Telephone and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nex-Tech, was one of 14 recipients selected for Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Lenora-based telecommunications cooperative and its Hays-based subsidiary will receive a grant of $49,588,807 and loan funds of $51,612,842 that will enable the development of broadband underserved areas of central and western Kansas. In all, the USDA yesterday announced broadband projects totaling $309,923,352 in 11 states.
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