I am Aaron Portmann, my wife is Meagan and we have two wonderful kids; Emma, who is in the 4th grade and Evan, who is in 1st grade. I am an air traffic controller at Kansas City Center in Olathe, Kan. I moved to Pleasanton my junior year in high school and we have lived all over this wonderful country but Pleasanton has always been called my home. 

1) Why are you running for school board?

I want to continue to serve this great community and continue to make it better. 

2) What do you hope to accomplish if elected to this position?

I would like to focus on replacing our roads. I know it cannot happen overnight but if we can get a few here and there it’s a step in the right direction. 

3) What skills and/or experience do you have that will aid you in this position?

I have served on the council for the last 4 years. I have always put the interests of the citizens first when it comes to my votes and they will continue to be that way. 

 

My name is Rochelle Schreckhise and my husband, Jackie, and I have two daughters, Madison and Jaclyn. 

My field of work has been in the mental health field, formerly working at Lakemary Center for over nine years. I am still employed in the mental health field. Those with special needs and disabilities are very important to me. I was born and raised here and it is my family’s home. It is important to me that our citizens have a good quality of life and that someone cares when they have concerns.

1) Why are you running for school board?

I have been a lifelong resident of Pleasanton and care about our town and our citizens. I want to work as a team with others who are like minded and help improve our infrastructure and needed upgrades in many areas of our city. I will use a common sense approach to spending because it’s important to me that our taxpayers’ dollar are spent wisely.

2) What do you hope to accomplish if elected to this position?

I would like to see several areas of improvement, such as upgrades on our streets and repairing our city pool as it’s very important to our children and our community. I would like to see water and sewer upgrades made as we can afford the improvements and to help seek job opportunities for our community. I am very supportive of the new vocational opportunities that our school will be providing for our community and feel that it will be very educational for our youth. I am willing to listen to ideas because I think these things are very important to others, as well.

3) What skills and/or experience do you have that will aid you in this position?

I have common sense and care about our citizens and will try to do my very best to serve our citizens with each decision that I make. I am not afraid to ask questions and to research any new issues that come before me. I am honest, dependable, and responsible and will try to serve the people fairly and in the best manner that I can.

 

Kenny Stark is running as a write in candidate for city council.

I grew up in La Cygne and am a graduate of Prairie View High School class of 1982.

After high school I joined the Coast Guard and had various duty stations around the United States. After seven and half years in I was medically discharged in 1990.

Upon being discharged I moved to Texas where he worked in the oilfield industry working his way up to being the driller's helper in a short time frame. After leaving Texas I returned to Kansas and started working for Johnson County Basements, where my construction career started. In 1995, I moved to Utah where he learned the trade of carpentry while working for a family business for several years. I met his wife of 20 years in Provo, Utah, and we have two great boy's, one a Pleasanton High School graduate and the other a senior this year. During our time in Utah we started our own construction company building residential homes and commercial buildings, we even tried our hand at building log homes.

We moved to Anaconda, Mont., in 2008 to support a family member and lived there until 2015 and then moved to Pleasanton.

1) Why are you running for school board?

I'm running for the open council position because I believe the citizens of our town need a voice on the council, which in my opinion many of the members of the council have forgotten that we, the citizens, elected them to be our voice.

2) What do you hope to accomplish if elected to this position?

 If elected I hope to bring back the trust the people are deserved as well as their voice on the council.

3) What skills and/or experience do you have that will aid you in this position?

I hope to bring what I have learned in all my years as a business owner, as well as a parent, to the table to help get positive input from the people who elected us into office.

 

These are the responses received to our questions for this election.

 

NEWS

We want your photos…

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Would you like to see one of your photos in the paper? We’re starting a new weekly photo submission opportunity! Out on the gravel will feature a local photo each week in our paper taken somewhere in Linn County; a photo of something that interested someone enough to... [More]

SPECIAL: Youthfront application not a Public Hearing

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NOTICE: Case #: US-KS107-LU-2025-7, Youthfront Camp DBA Kansas City Youth for Christ is not being heard under a Public Hearing. That has already occurred; the commissioners are discussing the application in their meeting Monday, April 20.

1st Annual Richard Henderson Memorial Car Show Saturday

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In memory of long time Blue Mound resident and one of the founders of the Blue Mound Blessing and Car Show, organizers will be holding the 1st Annual Richard Henderson Memorial Car Show this coming Saturday in Blue Mound. The event is set to begin at 10 a.m. and will run until... [More]

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SPORTS

Prairie View softball goes 3-1 against Iola and Jayhawk

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The Prairie View softball team was on the road this past week but it was an overall successful week. The Lady Buffs traveled to Iola on April 7 to play a double-header against Iola. The Buffalos went 1-1, losing the first game, 11-21, and winning the second, 18-7. The team... [More]

Jayhawk softball sweeps St. Paul and falls to Prairie View

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The Jayhawk softball team played St. Paul and Prairie View this past week. They traveled to St. Paul on April 6 and had no issues with the Lady Indians as they won both games, 20-4 and 28-11.  They then hosted Prairie View on April 9 and lost to the Lady Buffalos in both... [More]

Pleasanton track wins at Oswego

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Pleasanton track certainly won at the Oswego Invitational on April 7. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams placed first to become champions of the meet. The boys scored 80 points while the girls scored 78 ½ points. There were a total of 14 schools at the meet. Boys’... [More]

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COMMUNITY

Senior’s three‑year project becomes massive Blu-Jay centerpiece

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When students walk into the school now, the first thing they see is a towering Blu‑Jay sculpture; bold, bright and impossible to ignore. What most don’t realize is that it began as a simple sophomore‑year art assignment back in 2023. For senior Gage McGinnis, it became... [More]

Community fundraiser to support Honor Flight trip for local veteran

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MOUND CITY — April 25, 2026 4-6pm The community is invited to come together on Saturday, April 25 for a special evening of music, fellowship and giving in support of a local veteran’s upcoming Honor Flight trip. Clay Nichols has been selected to participate... [More]

A blink into the past: April 15 edition

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There’s history all around us that we forget about until it’s too late. This may be a small county but there’s history in it all. Here’s your blink into the past. 1986- Baker’s food: ● 99 cents for chips ● 99 cents for four rolls of toilet... [More]

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