As the president of the Kansas National Education Association attends the NEA Representative Assembly this week, he’s also looking toward the upcoming elections. Blake West admits that he’s concerned about what the elections could mean to the future of education.
Regarding the education funding lawsuit now before the court, West says it would be better if the legislature could solve the problem because it’ll take too long for the courts to come up with a resolution.
West says one of the issues for discussion during the assembly is making sure that teachers have a leading voice in education through initiatives such as the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas, which includes Ellis County and surrounding areas, has been given a challenge they gladly accept. An anonymous donor has stepped forward and offered a dollar for dollar match, up to $40,000, for donations to our area Catholic Charities through July 22, 2012.
Catholic Charities has dedicated more than 50 years to meeting critical community needs in north central and northwest Kansas. Annually, the charity has provided services to over 6,000 families and individuals. Faith based and donor supported, their goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of families and individuals of all faiths.
Services offered include: Adoption and pregnancy services, marriage and family counseling, mental health counseling, emergency assistance, legal immigration, Hispanic social services, youth programs, marriage and family education, and senior housing.
Catholic Charities is dedicated to serving all individuals and families who find themselves in need of assistance.
Water levels on some Kansas rivers are approaching record lows amid a drought and heat wave.
Water in the Arkansas River is reportedly stagnant now from limited flow.
U.S. Geological Survey officials say this will be the river’s lowest June flow in 53 years of record keeping. On Friday, the flow was down to about 27 cubic feet per second, far below the typical flow of 475 cubic feet per second.
And the Arkansas River isn’t alone. Several other rivers were recording lower-than-normal water levels, prompting state officials to curtail junior irrigation rights in some areas.
Reservoirs also are hurting. The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation says Cedar Bluff is only 43 percent full.
The Hays Larks completed a three game sweep of El Dorado Sunday night with a 7-6 come from behind win. The Larks committed seven errors on the night leading to most of the early runs by the Broncos. Hays trailed until the bottom of the fifth inning when Austin Darby singled, scoring Zair Koeiman…Joe Betcher hit a sacrifice fly to score Jon Ryan…and Austin Jarvis also hit a RBI single scoring MacKenzie Handel. Hays would trail again into the bottom of the seventh inning when Ryan Busboom crushed a two run home run giving the Larks the final edge 7-6. Austin Cox picked up the win in relief pitching a scoreless eighth. Colton Revis blew threw three hitters in the ninth for his third save of the summer.
Hays is 17-8 on the summer and 11-8 in Jayhawk League play. El Dorado falls to 15-12 and 10-12. The Larks took five of six on the season from El Dorado.
Hays is back on the road Monday night at Dodge City and Liberal on Tuesday, taking on the top two teams in the League. The Larks sit third with fifteen games to go.
Jacob Brull of Hays, KS has graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. Brull earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Brull was one of nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students who received their diplomas May 20, 2012 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university that draws its more than 11,500 students from all 50 states and more than 75 different countries. In addition to its nationally recognized academic programs, Marquette is known for its service learning programs and internships as students are challenged to use what they learn to make a difference in the world. Find out more about Marquette at marquette.edu.
The Hays Larks raced out to a 6-0 after two innings and hold off El Dorado 7-3 in a game called after seven innings because of rain.
The Larks score two in the first on a MacKenzie Handel sac fly then added the second run when Joe Betcher stole home. They went up 6-0 with a four-run second. Zair Koeiman hit a two-run homer and MacKenzie Handel added a two-run double.
A two-out error by shortstop Elvin Rodriguez followed by a walk then three-run homer helped the Broncos cut the lead in half in the fourth.
Hays added a run in the seventh on an Austin Darby leadoff home run. The game was then halted and eventually called because of rain and lightning.
Reliever Blake Johnston picks up the win, allowing no runs on one hit with three strikeouts over three innings.
The Larks improve to 16-8 and 10-8 in the Jayhawk League. They go for the series sweep Sunday night in the series finale at 7pm.
The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion scored in every inning and blanks Leavenworth 14-0 Saturday in Leavenworth. The second game was called due to lightning.
The Eagles score two in the first, one in the second, four in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth of the run-rule contest.
Riley Kaus led the Eagles nine-hit attack going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Hayden Hutchison and Zack Legleiter also drove in two runs each.
Hayden Hutchison (6-0) went five innings and picks up the win, allowing just three hits while striking out two.
MINNEAPOLIS — Heading into his team’s day-night doubleheader against Kansas City, one of Ron Gardenhire’s top priorities was protecting Minnesota’s taxed bullpen.
Scott Diamond and Cole De Vries eased their manager’s concerns.
Diamond began the day tossing eight solid innings in a 7-2 victory, and De Vries closed it with six strong innings as the Twins completed the day-night sweep by beating the Royals 5-1 on Saturday night.
“A long day of baseball, and two nice wins,” Gardenhire said.
The pair of victories helped the Twins finish June with a 14-13 record — their first winning month in almost a year.
“Geez, that’s the first I’ve heard of it,” said Joe Mauer, who hit his fourth homer in the second game. “But, you know, we’ve been playing pretty good baseball and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Josh Willingham and Chris Parmelee also homered for the Twins in the second game. But the story was De Vries, who was called up as the 26th player on the roster as allowed for doubleheaders — and promptly sent back down the minors after the victory.
“He wouldn’t be able to pitch for probably four or five days right now,” Gardenhire said. “We’ve got eight until the All-Star break, it doesn’t make much sense to keep him here.”
De Vries took the move in stride.
“Coming here, I knew I was the 26th guy, and usually the guy who comes up to be the 26th guy goes back down, and so I kind of figured that was going to happen,” he said.
Pitching in front of his hometown fans, De Vries (2-1) struck out a career-high six and held the Royals to five hits. Kansas City’s lone run against him came on Billy Butler’s homer leading off the second.
Luke Hochevar (5-8) allowed five runs and eight hits, including Minnesota’s three homers.
A night after throwing five relief innings, the Twins’ bullpen was needed for only four combined in the doubleheader thanks to Diamond and De Vries. Twins relievers entered the day with the third-most innings pitched in the majors.
De Vries struck out four in the first two innings, fanning Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar to work out of a second-inning jam with runners at second and third.
Alex Burnett, Tyler Robertson and Jared Burton each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
Hochevar entered the game having thrown 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings after stopping Houston and Tampa Bay.
After Mauer’s two-out single in the first, Willingham homered. In the second, Parmelee hit his first homer of the season on a shot to deep right. Mauer’s solo homer to left-center, the former AL MVP’s first since June 2 and fourth overall, barely cleared the wall to make it 4-1 in the third.
Before Saturday, Hochevar had given up only two home runs in his previous 42 2/3 innings.
“Two of those home runs came with two strikes when I’m trying to put a guy away, and I just felt like my curveball didn’t have that finish, that bite,” Hochevar said.
Trevor Plouffe, who homered in the first game, scored on Darin Mastroianni’s RBI single in the sixth.
Easily the Twins’ most effective starter since being called up in May, Diamond (7-3) allowed two runs and six hits to give Minnesota a big lift.
“I was feeling confident earlier, this is just icing on the cake I guess,” Diamond said. “I’m pretty happy to be able to just keep going out. With a doubleheader today, I’m just trying to eat up as many innings as possible.”
Jonathan Sanchez (1-4) didn’t fare nearly as well. While Diamond cruised through Kansas City’s lineup, Sanchez issued six walks and was done after 4 1-3 innings. Both starters finished with 101 pitches.
Minnesota strung together five consecutive hits to open a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning, including a strange RBI single from Brian Dozier.
With one out and runners on first and second, Dozier’s bouncer hit the ground behind him and rolled fair. While Sanchez and catcher Brayan Pena scrambled after the ball, Dozier sprinted safely to first and Ryan Doumit scored all the way from second.
Alexi Casilla added a two-run double and Denard Span had an RBI single before Royals manager Ned Yost brought in Vin Mazzaro.
Yuniesky Betancourt drove in Kansas City’s first run with a groundout in the sixth. He also singled in a run in the eighth.
Diamond struck out four and walked two while pitching eight innings for the second consecutive start. Glen Perkins finished the seven-hitter.
“The first game, we were dead,” Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur said. “It carried over to the second game. We’re a much better hitting team than to do what we did today. It’s disappointing.”
NOTES: Sanchez pitched five effective innings to win at the Los Angeles Angels in his first start of the season on April 8, but has struggled since that victory. He is 0-4 with a 7.19 ERA in his last nine starts. … The doubleheader was a makeup of an April 28 rainout.
MINNEAPOLIS — Even foul balls are turning into disasters for Jonathan Sanchez.
Sanchez failed to make it out of the fifth inning as the Kansas City Royals lost 7-2 to the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
Scott Diamond pitched eight solid innings, Trevor Plouffe homered and Alexi Casilla had three hits for the Twins, who snapped a three-game slide.
Minnesota strung together five consecutive hits to open a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning, including a strange RBI single from Brian Dozier.
With one out and runners on first and second, Dozier’s grounder bounced off the ground behind him and rolled fair. While Sanchez and catcher Brayan Pena scrambled after the ball, Dozier sprinted safely to first and Ryan Doumit scored all the way from second.
“I’ve never seen a ball do that. I’ve never seen a ball that was three feet foul, curve back fair,” Roylas manager Ned Yost said. “That was one of those circumstances where you don’t expect that to happen so you kind of drop your guard because you think it’s a foul ball. Then the ball skirts back and you’re running over to make a play.”
It was just one part of another rough day for Sanchez (1-4), who is 0-2 with a 6.21 ERA since coming off the disabled list on June 13 following a left biceps injury. While Diamond (7-3) cruised through Kansas City’s lineup, Sanchez issued six walks and was done after 4 1-3 innings. Both starters made 101 pitches.
“It’s a slump, you know?” Sanchez said. “It’s not working. I’m not doing anything that’s working right now.”
Sanchez, who had a promising 2010 season that included 13 wins and a 3.07 ERA, was acquired in a trade with San Francisco in November, with the Royals parting with Melky Cabrera in the deal. While Cabrera is one of the NL’s leading hitters this season, Sanchez has allowed six runs in his past two starts and four or more in four of his last five.
Sanchez also appeared to lose focus Saturday, which allowed Minnesota to steal a season-high five bases.
“At times when you’re fighting your command, your whole focus and concentration is trying to get the ball over the plate,” Yost said. “There were times when his whole focus was this way that he forgot about what was happening behind him.”
Sanchez pitched five effective innings to win at the Los Angeles Angels in his first start of the season, but has struggled since that April 8 outing. He is 0-4 with a 7.19 ERA in his last nine starts.
Yost said that he has no plans to remove Sanchez from the rotation.
Yuniesky Betancourt drove in Kansas City’s first run with a groundout in the sixth. He also singled in a run in the eighth.
Diamond struck out four and walked two while pitching eight innings for the second consecutive start.
Diamond’s biggest pitch came when he fanned Billy Butler on a 3-2 offering with two outs and runners on second and third in the eighth.
“It’s one of those games where things didn’t go our way,” said Pena, who finished 0 for 4. “Hopefully in the second game we change our luck.”
NOTES: The doubleheader is to make up an April 28 rainout. … Casilla had his fifth three-hit game of the season. … Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader will feature Minnesota’s Cole De Vries against Luke Hochevar.
As the president of the Kansas National Education Association attends the NEA Representative Assembly this week, he’s also looking toward the upcoming elections. Blake West admits that he’s concerned about what the elections could mean to the future of education.
