The Democratic-controlled Senate has rejected a Republican bid to speed approval of an oil pipeline that would pass through Kansas.
The 56-42 vote Thursday was the latest in a series of Washington skirmishes over the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil derived from tar sands in western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. Sixty votes were needed for approval.
President Obama rejected the proposed $7 billion pipeline in January, citing uncertainty over a yet-to-be-settled route that avoids the environmentally sensitive Sandhills region in Nebraska. Obama said there was not enough time for a fair review before a deadline forced on him by Republicans.
Pipeline supporters call it an important job creator. Opponents say it would transport “dirty oil” that requires huge amounts of energy and water to produce.
Today will be mild and dry with fairly light winds.
An upper level low pressure system over the desert southwest will move out over the central and southern Plains this weekend. This will bring a chance for showers to southwest Kansas from Saturday afternoon through Sunday. The best chances for precipitation will be closer to south central Kansas.
Warmer weather will return by early next week.
Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. West wind 6 to 16 mph becoming south.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. South southwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. South wind between 7 and 15 mph.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. South wind between 9 and 15 mph.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. South wind between 9 and 14 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Viaero Wireless is joining with local businesses to bring you the Viaero Pot of Gold scavenger hunt.
Throughout the month of March, participating businesses will be announced on 101.9 the Country Bull and the Viaero Show & Tell page on hayspost.com. Collect 12 pieces of gold from the participating businesses to qualify for a chance to win great prizes including a Nintendo Wii & Gold Accessory Bundle, Chamber Bucks, and gift certificates to local businesses.
Print your pot of gold worksheet or pick one up at Viaero Wireless, 2703 Vine Street.
A year after falling in the first round of the 2A state tournament in Manhattan, the Ness City Eagles made the trip back to state looking to better last season’s performance. The Eagles, at 20-3 matched up with the Madison/Hamilton Bulldogs who were also 20-3, in the four vs. five game.
After opening with a pair of Collin Foos free throws, the Eagles led 2-0. Madison answered back with a 6-0 run to lead 6-2. Dalton Gantz gave the Eagles a 9-8 lead with a three-pointer, Gantz poured in seven of his 10 points in the first quarter. The Bulldogs finished the first quarter on a 6-2 run and led 17-13 after one.
Madison opened the second quarter with a 19-13 lead; six would be the largest lead of the game. Madison led 21-15 before the Eagles came streaking back, putting together a 6-0 run to take a 22-21 lead behind four points from Wyatt Beckman. The two teams traded the lead to end the second quarter before Madison’s Tyler Williams scored his ninth point of the game giving Madison a 25-24 halftime lead.
The Eagles opened the second half on a 9-2 run and took their largest lead of the game at 33-28. Beckman and Collin Foos combined for eight points giving the Eagles a 34-33 lead after three quarters. After outscoring the Bulldogs in the second and third quarters the Eagles jumped out to a 38-35 lead to begin the fourth quarter, but that would be the last time the Eagles would lead in the game.
Madison’s leading scorer Tyler Williams pulled down three offensive rebounds in the final period and poured in 14 of his game-high 25 points helping the Bulldogs outscore the Eagles 14-9 in the fourth quarter as Madison picked up the 47-43 win.
Wyatt Beckman was six-of-eight from the free throw line and had a team high 12 points for the Ness City Eagles. Collin Foos chipped in 10 points and six rebounds and Drew Clarke pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Ness City’s season comes to an end at 20-4.
A northeastern Kansas woman says a tornado that struck a town 40 miles away hit home for her when some of the debris turned up by her house.
The small Wabaunsee County town of Harveyville was hit the night of Feb. 28 by an EF2 tornado packing winds of 120 to 130 mph. The twister led to one death and damaged or destroyed numerous buildings, including the United Methodist Church.
Georgie Stebbins lives in Perry, about 40 miles northeast of Harveyville. Stebbins tells KAKE-TV she was out checking her mail six days after the tornado when she spotted what looked like a piece of trash. But it wasn’t litter – it was a program from the Harveyville church.
Stebbins says it’s a reminder how easily important papers can be lost.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Elijah Johnson scored a career-high 26 points, and No. 3 Kansas began pursuit of its third straight Big 12 tournament title with an 83-66 win over Texas A&M in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Thomas Robinson, the conference player of the year, finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and All-Big 12 guard Tyshawn Taylor added 16 points for the Jayhawks (27-5).
They’ll play No. 12 Baylor on Friday. The Bears beat Kansas State 82-74 in the quarterfinals.
Khris Middleton led Texas A&M (14-18) with 24 points, though he didn’t get a whole lot of help. Leading scorer Elston Turner was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Aggies, who beat Oklahoma in the opening round, simply couldn’t contain Johnson, who knocked down five 3-pointers. The junior guard set his previous career high of 23 points early in the year against UCLA, before spending several months struggling with his shot.
He didn’t struggle very much Thursday afternoon.
Kansas didn’t struggle with much of anything.
The Jayhawks have won nine straight overall, including a thrilling overtime victory against Missouri. They improved to 15-1 in their opening game at the Big 12 tournament, and are 14-2 in quarterfinal match-ups, their last loss coming to Baylor in the 2009 quarterfinals.
The same team they’ll face Friday night.
Early on, it didn’t look like things would be nearly so easy for top-seeded Kansas against the No. 9 seed Aggies, who were coming off a victory about 16 hours earlier.
Texas A&M clamped down on Robinson in the post and flustered Taylor in the backcourt while inching out to an early advantage. Middleton provided the offense for the Aggies, scoring 14 of his points in the first half as Texas A&M established a 21-17 lead.
Middleton’s basket with 8:48 left wound up being the high point for the Aggies.
Robinson got on track with a basket inside to start the Jayhawks on a 13-0 run, ultimately giving them the lead for good. Johnson knocked down a pair of 3s during the spurt, and Taylor’s signature floater in the lane with 4:19 left gave Kansas a 30-21 advantage.
Middleton stemmed the tide with a three-point play, but it was only a speed bump for the Jayhawks, who pushed the lead to 38-24 on Taylor’s back-to-back 3-pointers.
They scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions of the second half to put the game away.
Johnson started the clinching run with a jumper in the opening seconds, and after Withey made one of two free throws, Robinson knocked down a 3 from the top of the key — the bruising forward improved his career mark to 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Robinson scored again on the Jayhawks’ next possession, and Johnson converted a three-point play before Robinson’s two foul shots made it 53-37 with 15:35 left.
The lead eventually swelled to more than 20 when Robinson made the first of two free throws, stole the ball after missing the second, and made one of two on his next trip to the line.
Robinson even knocked down another 3 with 5:04 remaining, the first time in his three-year career at Kansas that he’s made more than one in a game.
Kansas cruised the final 12 minutes to a comfortable win.
The Jayhawks, who met Texas A&M in the semifinals two of the past four years, improved to 20-1 against the Aggies in the final meeting as members of the same league.
The Aggies head off to the Southeastern Conference beginning next season.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Never fond of conference tournaments to begin with, this sure didn’t change Frank Martin’s mind.
Apparently hitting their peak just in time for the postseason, Martin’s Kansas State Wildcats cruised into the Big 12 tournament after winning four of their last five. They even had a one-point win at Baylor.
But with Perry Jones III scoring a career-high 31 points, the Bears roared to a nine-point halftime lead and cruised to a 82-74 victory in their first game.
Now Kansas State (21-10), can only wait Sunday to see if they get picked as an at-large entry in the NCAA tournament.
“Now we’ve got to cross our fingers. We’ve put our fate in someone else’s hands,” said Martin. “We’ve got to cross our fingers and hope that what we’ve done is enough and we’re given an opportunity. I told the team, ‘If we are given an opportunity — I think we’re very much deserving of an opportunity — we get one more chance to get it right. If we don’t get it right, then the season will be over.”
The defense was especially brutal against the 6-11 Jones. He went 8 for 8 in the first half and wound up with 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double.
“They set the tone. They came after us and knocked us down and we really never punched back,” said Martin. “That was unfortunate because we’d come a long way in that department this year. For us to revert to that is really frustrating.”
The coach was almost shocked to see his team slip back to bad habits he thought were taken care of in December.
“Was I surprised? Yes. We finished the year off playing well. Our practices were enthusiastic. Guys were excited about having a chance to come here and make a run in the Big 12. That’s why it’s disappointing today.”
Jones was at a loss to explain his big game.
“I guess I was just in the zone today,” he said. “Just being aggressive and more assertive.”
Martin was careful not to diminish the Bears’ good play.
“We were so bad defensively today,” he said. “Baylor was good. They’re a heck of a basketball team. I don’t want to take away from them, their moment, because they won the game. But defensively, we were so selfish today. We didn’t help each other.”
Brady Heslip had 15 points and Pierre Jackson added 13 points and eight assists for Baylor, which shot a sizzling 57 percent while debuting bright, fluorescent yellow uniforms.
Jordan Henriquez, often left unattended in the middle of Baylor’s zone defense, scored a career-high 22 points for Kansas State, which had split with Baylor in the regular season. The 6-11 Henriquez gives the Wildcats something to look forward to in the NCAA tournament and next year as well.
“I’m not into individual performances,” said Martin. “But his growth as a player, his consistency as of late was awesome.”
McGruder had 14 points for Kansas State and Angel Rodriguez had 12.
Kansas agricultural exports reached a record-high in 2011, according to new data from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
More than $3.68 billion in agricultural exports were recorded last year. This is the second time that exports exceeded $3 billion, passing the previous record of $3.06 billion set in 2008.
“Agriculture is key to the Kansas economy, and a record-setting 2011 is great news,” said Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman. “These numbers show just how important agriculture is to our state.”
Exports of red meat were the largest segment of the state’s agricultural exports. Valued at more than $1.01 billion, red meat exports saw a 36.16 percent increase from 2010 levels, which represents 8.73 percent of total Kansas exports. The second largest agricultural export, wheat, accounted for more than $938 million in value and was a 166.98 percent increase from 2010 levels.
Mexico was the largest export market for Kansas agricultural products again in 2011. Kansas agricultural products were exported to 105 different countries.
For the first time, Kansans must provide photographic identification when they vote this year. Several types of photo IDs are acceptable, with driver licenses the most commonly used.
Election official in several states are concerned the closing of mail-processing centers and post offices will disrupt vote-by-mail balloting this year.
The U-S Postal Service is moving ahead with plans to close another 223 processing centers, including Hays, and thousands more post offices as part of a cost-cutting strategy.
Russell County Clerk Mary Nuss doesn’t anticipate much difficulty. She says it’s mostly a matter of timing and anticipating deadlines, both by voters requesting an advance ballot and by her office.
Nuss and her staff wore special T-shirts Tuesday during a Russell Chamber of Commerce morning coffee to remind residents about the changes .
Oregon is the only state where residents are required to vote by mail.
Find out more tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.
A 21-year-old Salina man is in a Wichita hospital with serious head injuries, after he crashed his car off of the south side of the Ohio Street overpass about 5pm Wednesday evening.
According to witnesses, Andrew Hrabe was weaving in and out of traffic northbound on Ohio at a high rate of speed, when the 2001 Pontiac Grand-Am he was driving left the street, went airborne, struck the guy wires of a power pole that snapped the pole and rolled several times before coming to rest on Hoi Court.
Hrabe crawled out of the car. He was taken to Salina Regional Health Center before being airlifted to a Wichita hospital.
Medical emergencies can happen at any moment, and most often, they happen at home.
Hays Med wants community members to know what to do if someone is in cardiac arrest. The hospital recently offered free C-P-R training classes. This was the 12th consecutive year for the project.
Nearly 200 participants, age 8 and older, learned the basics from 30 certified volunteer instructors in the Center for Health Improvement.
This year, according to Hays Med program coordinator Deb McClaren, the event drew a lot of grandparents and Girl Scouts. The grandparents, she says, spend a lot of time with their grandchildren and the Girls Scouts are preparing for their first babysitting jobs.
Funding from DeBakey Heart Institute and the Hays Med Foundation provides the students with CPR kits that include an instructional DVD and practice dummy.
Participants also learned the Heimlich maneuver for choking victims.
You can see more tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has rejected a Republican bid to speed approval of an oil pipeline that would pass through Kansas.
