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Galena News

Suspect In Custody Following Tuesday Night Shooting Death of Riverton Man

Just before 9:00pm on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, emergency personnel were dispatched to a shooting in the 800 block of Columbus Street in Galena.


Cherokee County Emergency Medical Personnel attempted to revive the victim but were unsuccessful.


Levi Porter, age 27, of Riverton, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Cherokee County Deputy Coroner.


Billy Barker, 49, of Galena, was arrested at the scene and transported to the Cherokee County Jail on allegations of 2nd Degree Murder.

Formal charges have not yet been filed.


The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and Galena Police Department.

Billy Barker

A little Easter Fun!

Houses at RANDOM have been chosen for an egging! Eggs have been hidden in your yard and finding them shouldn’t be to hard. Check out the local parks and businesses for some added treats to find.

Please do not go into someone else’s yard. If your house was not randomly chosen take a trip to a public area (park, local business, school, etc.) and get your hunt on. Over 2000 eggs have been distributed across the entire city.

Thank you to our sponsors: City of Galena, Galena Parks N Rec, Rose Construction, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Beautiful Chaos, and JBirds!

EPA PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 is seeking public input to update the EPA cleanup level for lead contamination in soils at residential properties across the Cherokee County National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund Site. EPA is proposing to lower the residential cleanup level at affected residential properties to align sitewide cleanup levels with a more stringent threshold of 400 parts per million (ppm) for lead in soil. This is down from the prior 800 ppm action level (and 500 ppm cleanup level) used during past EPA residential yard cleanups in Cherokee County. For more information, please see the attached EPA Public Notice and Fact Sheet (with links to the online versions, below).

  • Public comments on the Proposed Explanation of Significant Differences will be accepted for 30 days from Jan. 28 through Feb. 28, 2023. On Jan. 28, the ESD and supporting documents will be published online for public review at the weblink included below. Site information is available to the public at web repositories; please visit EPA’s Site Profile page (click on Site Documents & Data, then on Administrative Records): www.epa.gov/superfund/cherokeecounty (Click Here to view the ESD and the Administrative Record File.)
  • Send written comments to: Elizabeth Kramer, Community Involvement Coordinator, Office of Public Affairs (ORA/OPA), EPA Region 7, 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, KS 66219; or by email at r7-tsmd@epa.gov. EPA also established a voicemail box for accepting oral comments at 913-551-8755. Direct questions about the Proposed ESD and requests for site information to: Elizabeth Kramer, phone: 913-551-7186; or Todd Campbell, Remedial Project Manager, phone: 913-551-7115; they can also be reached toll-free at 1-800-223-0425 or by email at r7-tsmd@epa.gov.

LINKS: For More Information, see EPA’s Fact Sheet and Public Notice online, at:

  1. Public Notice: https://www.epa.gov/ks/cherokee-county-national-priorities-list-npl-superfund-site-cherokee-county-kansas
  2. Fact Sheet: https://www.epa.gov/ks/cherokee-county-national-priorities-list-npl-superfund-site-cherokee-county-kansas-fact-sheet-1
2023-01-EPA-Fact-Sheet-Cherokee-County-Proposed-ESD-Final-1-PageDownload
2023-01-28-EPA-ESD-Cherokee-County-SUPR-Public-Comment-Period-Public-Notice-FINAL-1-page-PDFDownload

Trash Service Delay

There will be a trash service delay until further notice. We are currently experiencing equipment complications due to the extreme cold temperatures. Trash service is currently running but at a slower pace.

Dumpsters will be emptied as soon as we have the equipment fully restored.

Inclement Weather

Due to the current weather conditions the City Offices will close today at 11:00 am. For utility emergencies please call 620-783-5065.

City offices will reopen Tuesday, December 27th, 2022.

Boil Water Advisory Rescinded for the City of Galena

https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/civicalerts.aspx?AID=502

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rescinded a boil water advisory for the City of Galena public water supply system located in Cherokee County. The advisory was issued because of a waterline break resulting in a loss of pressure in the distribution system.  Failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.   

Public water suppliers in Kansas take all measures necessary to notify customers quickly after a system failure or shutdown. Regardless of whether it’s the supplier or KDHE that announces a boil water advisory, KDHE will issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory. 

Laboratory testing samples collected from the City of Galena indicate no evidence of bacteriological contamination and all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed by KDHE officials to be resolved.   

For consumer questions, please contact the water system at 620-783-5265 or you may call KDHE at 785-296-5514. For consumer information please visit KDHE’s PWS Consumer Information webpage:  kdhe.ks.gov/waterdisruption.  

To keep up to date on all notices and alerts sign up for FrontDesk here https://galenaks.frontdeskgworks.com/