Brad Paisley will perform a special USO show on Wednesday, July 4 on the South Lawn of the White House. More than 1,200 troops and military families will be there along with President and Mrs. Obama.
“The Fourth of July has always been about family, freedom and celebration,” Brad says. “I am so honored to be spending my holiday performing a USO concert for our troops and their families, and to be celebrating those freedoms with the men and women who put everything on the line to defend them.”
The White House Salute to the Military USO concert will be streamed live Wednesday night on WhiteHouse.gov.
A young woman says she was sexually assaulted along an eastern Kansas highway by a man claiming to be a law enforcement officer.
The Kansas City Star reports the 18-year-old woman told police a man driving a white Crown Victoria with lights on the front dash pulled her over before 10 p.m. Monday on U.S. 69 in Miami County.
She says the man was in his early to mid-20s, 5-feet-9 inches tall or shorter, and wearing a Polo-type shirt with a law enforcement badge sewn onto the chest. She also described him as having a mustache and goatee, with a gun and badge on his belt.
Osawatomie police are asking for anyone who might have witnessed the alleged assault to contact them at 913-755-2101.
Former Phillipsburg resident, Dorothy Glover, died Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at the Aberdeen Health & Rehab Center in Aberdeen, SD at the age of 63. She was born in Phillipsburg, KS on March 1, 1949 to Ralph & Lois (Turner) Herrick. Dorothy worked as a Dietary Aide.
Survivors include her son Burton of Groton SD; and two daughters, Angela VanRoekel of Worthing SD, and Sandra Glover of Aberdeen SD; 4 grandchildren; 3 brothers Russ Herrick of Denver CO, Leland Herrick and Ed Herrick both of Phillipsburg KS, and 1 sister Maxine (Jeff) Arasmith of Cheyenne WY.
Dorothy is preceded in death by her husband Jeff Glover, her parents Ralph and Lois Herrick, and her sister Becky Herrick.
Funeral services will be held Friday, July 6, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with Joel Hiesterman officiating. Burial will follow in the Fairview Cemetery, Phillipsburg.
Visitation will be Thursday from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be given to the Dorothy Glover Memorial Fund
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences to: www.olliffboeve.com.
The Hays Larks score two in the eighth to tie then one in the ninth to take the lead as they rally to knock off the Liberal Bee Jays 9-8 Tuesday night at Brent Gould Field in Liberal. Hays jumped out to an early 6-0 lead then had to rally from a two-run deficit to move to 18-9 overall and 12-9 in the Jayhawk League. The Bee Jays fall to 18-8 and 12-8. The Larks are off until Friday when they open a three-game series in Haysville.
Ryan Busboom drove in Austin Darby with the go-ahead run with two out single up the middle in the top of the ninth. Jon Ryan and Jay Sanders both had two-out RBI singles in the eighth to tie the game at eight.
Colton Reavis pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the win. Reavis (1-0) allowed just one hit while striking out five and walking just one. He struck out the side in the ninth.
Hays scored two in the second on a Brett Lang RBI single and Jon Ryan RBI double, then made it 6-0 with four in the third. Zair Koeiman and Austin Darby both doubled. Ryan Busboom added an RBI single and Jon Ryan a two-run double.
The Bee Jays score four in the fourth and two in the fifth and sixth to take an 8-6 lead.
NOTES: The Larks are 1-1 on their current 5-game road trip… Hays wins despite stranding 14 base runners… Starting pitcher Alex Ellison went 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits striking out two and walking two… Jon Ryan and Austin Darby both had three hits, Ryan drove in four runs.
The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion scored seven runs with two outs in the first inning and defeats the Hays Monarchs 10-2 Tuesday night at Larks Park. Jarrett Sanders hit a three-run homer and Jake Sedbrook added a two-run single in the big inning.
Taylor Renz pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief for the win (1-1), allowing two runs on six hits, striking out five and walking two.
Pierce Schippers pitched 2/3 of an inning and takes the loss for the Monarchs, allowing seven runs in eight hits.
Zack Legleiter had four hits and Hayden Hutchison three for the Eagles. Nathan Zimmerman had three hits for the Monarchs.
A Grinnell man and Oakley teenager were injured in a Gove County accident Monday afternoon.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Sydney Parsons, 15, of Oakley was northbound on K216 about a half-mile south of Grinnell when she lost control of the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix she was driving. Parsons went off the side of the roadway, then over-corrected into oncoming southbound traffic, where she collided with 1967 Ford Bronco driven by Loren Percival, 58, of Grinnell. In an attempt to avoid Parson, Percival entered ditch of K216 and rolled, with the vehicle coming to rest on its wheels, facing southwest.
Percival was transported to Logan County Hospital with disabling injuries.
Parsons was also transported to Logan County Hospital with possible injuries, her passenger, Gail Park, 60, was uninjured.
A 34-year-old veteran from Kansas has claimed a $1 million Powerball prize after spending a restless weekend with the winning ticket taped to his chest in a plastic bag.
Matthew Packebush of Hutchinson won Powerball’s $1 million prize by matching the first five numbers in the lottery’s drawing Saturday.
The lottery says on its website that Packebush, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, discovered he had a winning ticket Saturday, but knew he had to wait until Monday to claim his prize. To avoid losing the ticket, Packebush put his winning ticket in a Ziploc bag and taped it to his chest.
Packebush says he plans to buy a new truck, start college funds for his three children, and invest the rest in real estate.
“To do or not to do – that is the question.” I’m not sure the origins of that phrase, but it nicely describes the dilemma faced by Kansas leaders this past week, “To do fireworks – or not to do fireworks.”
Serving as a chief officer for three fire departments has placed me at the forefront of this highly emotional issue. For years I stood on the “no public shooting of fireworks” opinion side of the fence. My thoughts on the matter were shaped from first hand dealings with bad outcomes.
As a medic and a firefighter you get to deal with injuries and damaged property. The right to celebrate the country’s independence by blowing off your finger or burning your neighbor’s house down seems illogical.
This unusually hot, dry summer has heightened this already dangerous celebratory act. So much so that many Kansas communities that allowed the practice for decades decided the risk this year was too high. Not to do was the answer to the question.
When somebody sees another do something they automatically question whether they should follow suit. And that was indeed what other Kansas communities did – others fell in line like a row of falling dominoes.
As I sit on my front porch looking at the big beautiful orange moon in the sky, I hear a steady crackle and an occasional boom – and it’s only July 3rd. My community chose, “To do fireworks.” Funny thing is that was my recommendation too.
One has to understand their community and how the citizens look at things. If you’re going to institute a change, you’ve got to think it through. And the decision needs to be made in a timely fashion with plenty of time to communicate the change. It might not be accepted, or it might be too late to make the change.
It’s not an easy question to answer, so please support those who made the decision. And regardless of whether you get to shoot fireworks, you can still celebrate America’s Independence. Roast some hot dogs, drink a Coke, and watch an Andy Griffith show.
Happy Independence Day!
*Rest in peace Andy Griffith – thanks for all the memories! Steve Moody is the Emergency Management Director of Stafford County. He is the former Leavenworth Fire Chief and served as Deputy Fire Chief during his 28 years at the Salina Fire Department. Stafford County Emergency Management
To cheers and standing ovations, scientists at the world’s biggest atom smasher claimed the discovery of a new subatomic particle Wednesday, calling it “consistent” with the long-sought Higgs boson – popularly known as the “God particle” – that helps explain what gives all matter in the universe size and shape.
“We have now found the missing cornerstone of particle physics,” Rolf Heuer, director of the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), told scientists.
He said the newly discovered subatomic particle is a boson, but he stopped just shy of claiming outright that it is the Higgs boson itself – an extremely fine distinction.
“As a layman, I think we did it,” he told the elated crowd. “We have a discovery. We have observed a new particle that is consistent with a Higgs boson.”
The Higgs boson, which until now has been a theoretical particle, is seen as the key to understanding why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give an object weight. The idea is much like gravity and Isaac Newton’s discovery of it: Gravity was there all the time before Newton explained it. But now scientists have seen something very much like the Higgs boson and can put that knowledge to further use.
CERN’s atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-French border, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang.
Two independent teams at CERN said Wednesday they have both “observed” a new subatomic particle – a boson. Heuer called it “most probably a Higgs boson, but we have to find out what kind of Higgs boson it is. ”
Asked whether the find is a discovery, Heuer answered, “As a layman, I think we have it. But as a scientist, I have to say, `”What do we have?’ ”
The leaders of the two CERN teams – Joe Incandela, head of CMS with 2,100 scientists, and Fabiola Gianotti, head of ATLAS with 3,000 scientists – each presented in complicated scientific terms what was essentially extremely strong evidence of a new particle.
Incandela said it was too soon to say definitively whether it is the “standard model” Higgs that Scottish physicist Peter Higgs and others predicted in the 1960s – part of a standard model theory of physics involving an energy field where particles interact with a key particle, the Higgs boson.
“The” Higgs or “a” Higgs – that was the question Wednesday.
“It is consistent with a Higgs boson as is needed for the standard model,” Heuer said. “We can only call it a Higgs boson – not the Higgs boson.”
Higgs, who was invited to be in the audience, said he also could not yet say if it was part of the standard model. But he told the audience the discovery appears to be very close to what he predicted.
“It is an incredible thing that it has happened in my lifetime,” he said, calling it a huge achievement for the proton-smashing collider built in a 27-kilometer (17-mile) underground tunnel.
The stunning work elicited standing ovations and frequent applause at a packed auditorium in CERN as Gianotti and Incandela each took their turn.
Incandela called it “a Higgs-like particle” and said “we know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found.”
“Thanks, nature!” Gianotti said to laughs, giving thanks for the discovery.
Later, she told reporters that “the standard model (of physics) is not complete” but that “the dream is to find an ultimate theory that explains everything – we are far from that.”
The phrase “God particle” was coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman but is used by laymen, not physicists, as an easier way of explaining how the subatomic universe works and got started.
Incandela said the last undiscovered piece of the standard model could be a variant of the Higgs that was predicted or something else that entirely changes the way scientists think about how matter is formed.
“This boson is a very profound thing we have found,” he said. “We’re reaching into the fabric of the universe in a way we never have done before. We’ve kind of completed one particle’s story … now, we’re way out on the edge of exploration.”
TORONTO — Adam Lind hit a three-run homer, Brett Cecil won for the first time in three starts and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Lind’s sixth homer was the big blow in Toronto’s six-run fourth inning. The win put the Blue Jays over .500 at 41-40 at the midpoint of the season.
The Royals lost for the fourth time in five games since matching their season high with a four-game winning streak.
Cecil (2-1) allowed three runs and five hits in six-plus innings to win for the first time since June 17 against Philadelphia, his first start after being promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.
Jason Frasor and Darren Oliver each worked one inning before Casey Janssen finished in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Cecil set down the first six batters in order but ran into trouble in the third, when Jeff Francoeur and Salvador Perez led off with singles and scored on Jason Bourgeois’ triple. Alex Gordon followed with a sacrifice fly as the Royals opened a 3-0 lead.
The Blue Jays managed just two hits, both singles, through the first three innings but erupted for six runs and eight hits in the fourth off Vin Mazzaro (3-3).
Brett Lawrie started the inning with a single, Colby Rasmus bunted for a hit, Jose Bautista flied out and Edwin Encarnacion drove in Lawrie with an infield single. Kelly Johnson struck out and Yunel Escobar beat out an infield hit to load the bases for Rajai Davis, who lined a two-run single through the right side. Lind followed with a homer off the facing of the second deck in right.
Starting for the first time since June 22, Mazzaro allowed six runs and a season-high 13 hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Cecil left after Mike Moustakas doubled to begin the seventh. Frasor came on and got Francoeur to ground out, with Moustakas advancing to third. Perez followed with a fly ball to right, but Bautista threw out Moustakas at the plate for his major league-leading 11th outfield assist.
NOTES: Toronto signed RHP Marcus Stroman, the 22nd overall pick in the June draft. … Royals LHP Everett Teaford, who beat the Blue Jays on Monday for his first victory of the season, is expected to start again Sunday at Detroit, Kansas City’s final game before the All-Star break. … Lawrie had two of Toronto’s eight hits in the fourth. … All nine Blue Jays batters had at least one hit.
Brad Paisley will perform a special USO show on Wednesday, July 4 on the South Lawn of the White House. More than 1,200 troops and military families will be there along with President and Mrs. Obama.
