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
SPECIAL: Mound City resident killed in Allen County crash

On Sept. 9, just after 5:30 p.m., emergency personnel were called to the scene of a two-car collision on U.S. Highway 169 just south of Humboldt, Kan., in Allen County. According to reports filed by the Kansas Highway Patrol, Morgan Wakefield of Mound City, was driving... [More]
Property taxes and how they work

In Kansas, there is a definitive process for determining what the property taxes are on any given piece of property. Did you know that according to SmartAsset.com Linn County has the second lowest property tax average in the entire state? According to information available... [More]
Pleasanton Fire Department personnel hiring questioned

What started out as a department update from Pleasanton Fire Chief Jeff Wisdom, turned into a showdown between councilmembers and the mayor in who was hired as volunteer firefighters in Pleasanton. Wisdom informed the council he was beginning training for new firefighters September... [More]
More News
- Commission ‘bares’ down to pass public nudity ban
- Paris Township voting location to move to Mound City
- USD 362 passes 2025-26 school budget
- Parker appoints police chief
- SPECIAL: Drainpipe replacement on K-31 in Linn County
- Linn County News website gets new update
- Commissioners vote 1-1 on motion to not exceed revenue neutral
- Linn Valley looks at option for fire truck purchase, new vehicles
SPORTS
Opening drive, opportunities spur 'Jays to 1st win
Start with an opening 12-play, 72-yard sustained scoring drive elapsing the game's first 6:27. Mix in heroics--first on special teams and then defensively--by sophomore Owen Miller. Top it off with touchdown passes from four-year signal-caller Kamden Staton to fellow seniors... [More]
Alvarez leads Pleasanton cross country

The Pleasanton cross country team traveled to Garnett for their first meet of the year on Sept. 4 at the Annual Jerry Howarter Invitational. The Jays had runners in both the junior high and high school races. Dominic Alvarez led the Hawks as he earned a medal and placed... [More]
Jayhawk football starts season with shutout over Central Heights

The Jayhawk Linn football team traveled to Fort Scott on Sept. 5 to host the Central Heights Vikings for their first game of the season. This was supposed to be a home game for the Hawks but had to be played at Fort Scott because the field was not ready. The game began with... [More]
More Sports
- Spradling era kicks off with oohhs and 'Oz'
- Frog gigging a new ‘old sport’
- Fishing Derby kicks off at Linn County Fair
- Linn County Farm Bureau hosts annual pedal pull
- From the Bleachers – 717
- Annual demo derby kicks off this year’s Linn County Fair and Rodeo
- From the Bleachers - 719
- Pleasanton trapshooting team shows grit at National Championship
COMMUNITY
Parker Days set for Sept. 20

This year’s annual Parker Days event is set for Saturday, Sept. 20 and the theme for the event is “Sunshine and Smiles.” The event kicks off on Friday evening with the Mason’s Fish Fry, a free-will donation dinner, at 5 p.m. at the Mason’s Building. ... [More]
Pleasanton Chamber Business Expo Thursday, Sept. 4

Free hotdogs to attendees The Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce is hosting a business expo Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Pleasanton Community Center. The public is welcome to come see the diverse businesses available to them from 4 – 7 p.m. The Chamber is providing free hotdogs... [More]
MCHP seeks quilts for Fall Festival and Quilt Show

The Mound City Historical Society, caretakers of the Mound City Historical Park, will hold their second annual Fall Festival and Quilt Show on Oct. 11-12. Entries for the Quilt Show are now being taken. Quilt Show organizer Maribeth Kehl says they are once again looking for... [More]
More Community
- Local family offers drawing lessons for kids in online broadcast
- First aid safety with Joe Stellwagon
- Vonnie May’s Ice Cream Shoppe open in Mound City
- USD 346 welcomes new staff members
- USD 344 welcomes new staff
- USD 362 welcomes 8 new licensed teachers
- John and Helen Barnes Community Grant now open
- USD 344 offering virtual school option for 2025-2026 academic year