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TEG FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016 V V V PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895 V V V Good Evening VVV Emporia hearts disc golf! WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM SHARING CULTURE AND LANGUAGE COURTESY PHOTO GAZETTE NAMED SPONSOR OF GBO YOUTH TOURNAMENT By Jessie Wagoner [email protected] There are a growing number of Emporia children learning to speak Chinese thanks to the Emporia State University Chinese Student Scholar Association. The group offers one-on-one Chinese lessons each Saturday. “We had quite a few kids last semester,” Joyce Zhou, faculty advisor to Chinese Student Scholar Association said. “We do the one-on-one instruction because it is more effective that way.” The children may be learning a foreign language but the teaching techniques follow “American standards” Zhou says. During lessons children can be found participating in arts and crafts activities and earning stickers for their hard work. Other students are busy practicing their Chinese writing on dry erase boards while others learn the art of Chinese calligraphy. The teachers are all currently enrolled at ESU and volunteer to teach the children. They enjoy Please see Chinese, Page 16 JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE Kyler Zhou draws and learns Chinese during his lesson on Saturday. Children can start taking Chinese lessons at age three and begin with arts and crafts activities. Above, Emma Zhou practices her colors in Chinese, making a rainbow and labeling it with both the English and Chinese words.  Player spots still available The Emporia Gazette Dynamic Discs has named The Emporia Gazette as the presenting sponsor for the Dynamic Discs G l a s s B l ow n Open Junior’s Rusco Challenge. The youth tournament is a nationally-sanctioned Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) C-tier event and is a new addition to the Glass Blown Open tournament this year. City approves fireworks ordinance [email protected] The Lyon County Commission approved Sheriff Jeff Cope’s vehicle replacement plan presented on Thursday. Several vehicles will be replaced this year, including five patrol cars and the detention transport van.  COUNTY APPROVES VEHICLE PURCHASE PLAN By Jessie Wagoner [email protected] The Lyon County Commission approved Sheriff Jeff Cope’s request for 2016 vehicle purchase plans at their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday. “I’m in front of you today to approve our vehicle purchase plan,” Cope said. “We submit these numbers with our budgets and then historically we usually come back in to get it approved on the minutes.” VOL. 124, NO. 216 The first vehicle to be replaced will be the one used by the volunteer patrol. “We are replacing the Dodge Nitro which the volunteer patrol uses,” Cope said. “It is going to have 100,000 miles on it by the time we get it done.” Several patrol cars will also be replaced. “We are also replacing five patrol vehicles that are all at 100,000 miles; one is at 150,000 miles, which is the one that the probation enforcement officer uses,” Cope said. The detention vehicle van also is in need of replacement. Please see County, Page 3 JEREMY RUSCO Owner of Dynamic Discs The 2016 Glass Blown Open is setting up to be the largest disc golf event in the United States. The professional and amateur fields have close to 1,200 total players registered. The Junior’s EMPORIA 2016 FIREWORK ORDINANCE By Cathryne Scharton JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE “It is our hope that children will sign up for the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open Junior’s Challenge presented by The Emporia Gazette even if they have never played before. We also hope those families and the Emporia community will come out to watch the Championship round at the Emporia Country Club later that day.” At the city commission meeting commissioners approved the 2016 firework ordinance. By law the sale and discharge are banned in the city of Emporia by the Fire Code unless specifically authorized by an overruling ordinance. The City Commission determined that with proper storage and handling, Class C fireworks may be sold and discharged in the city over the Fourth of July holiday period. “The State Fire Marshal, by statute, regulates the dates of sales for fireworks. Those dates are specific to days surrounding the Fourth of July,” said Mark McAnarney, city manager. “The state does not regulate the discharge of fireworks; that is done by local ordinance. Those are typically designated to be similar to those regulating the sale of fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July.” Class C fireworks are authorized by the Kansas State Fire Marshal to be legally sold to consumers in the state of Kansas but do not include “bottle rockets” (rockets mounted on a wire or a stick), sparklers with wire rods and unmanned luminaries. In addition to Class C fireworks, toy smoke devices, poppers, sparklers, burning “snakes” and toy caps or balls will be permitted to be sold, possessed, stored and discharged in accordance with this ordinance. The sale and discharge of Class C fireworks will be allowed in the city limits between June 27 and July 5 from the hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. except on the third and the fourth of July the sale and discharge hours will be from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fireworks may not be discharged on real property without the permission of the owner or person or entity in control of the property. The discharge of fireworks is prohibited on street rights-of-way, in city parks, the city golf course, city parking lots, recreation fields, David Traylor Zoo, Lee Bernan Recreation Center, Jones Aquatic Center, all federal, state, county or city owned or leased real property within the city limits of Emporia. Fireworks may not be discharged within 200 feet of the property line o b