Dumping unwanted furniture, bagged grass clippings and other trash in the county is illegal, but happens frequently.
Ellis County Public Works Administrator Mike Graf says unless there is a witness to the trash dumping or something in the refuse can be traced back to the offender, it is difficult to prosecute.
Often the refuse is found near the landfill and is likely dumped by people who simply don’t want to pay the disposal fee. Those who are caught can face jail time and/or a fine up to $500.
HaysMed announced Wednesday they have signed agreements with all three managed care organizations (MCOs) associated with KanCare.
Those MCOs include Amerigroup of Kansas, Inc., Sunflower State Health Plan and United Healthcare Community Plan of Kansas. Under the partnership, all healthcare entities under HaysMed will accept individuals using these services.
KanCare, which includes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), eligible pregnant women, Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD) and long-term care beneficiaries; and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), replaced Medicaid and HealthWave in Kansas on January 1, 2013.
“These agreements will ensure that its members enrolled in Medicaid will continue to have access to our tertiary healthcare services, ” said William Overbey, Chief Financial Officer at HaysMed.
A new Pope has been elected.
The leader of the world’s 1.2 Billion Catholics is Cardinal Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He will be called Francis.
He is 76 years old and had been a Cardinal for over 12 years.
His father was an Italian immigrant and he has four brothers and sisters.
Throughout history 80% of all Popes have been from Italy.
No Conclave has lasted over 5 days since 1831 when the decision took 54 days.
Lee Brice and his fiancé Sara now live in Nashville, but she originally hails from Ohio. Lee is a native of Sumter, SC, so why are they tying the knot in Branson, MO next month? It turns out that city holds some history for the couple.
“Her aunt lives there,” Lee tells ABC News Radio. “We actually spent some time there together and had some of our beginnings there together.”
He adds, “It was kind of the beginning of us kind of rekindling things and starting back up again.”
Lee and Sara actually got back together a few years ago after going through a breakup. They have a young son named Takoda.
Having the wedding in Branson also means the couple will know everyone at the wedding instead of having to deal with extended family in their hometowns or music industry types in Nashville.
Lee says with a laugh, “We were like, you know what? Let’s just go there, and that way if people can’t come, they can’t come.”
Guests who do make it to the wedding are in for a fun time at the reception thanks to Lee’s chosen wedding entertainment, the Chris Weaver Band. Lee describes the group’s front man saying, “He kinda has a Joe Cocker thing about him, and he’s just killer.”
Sara has a few things in mind for the actual ceremony, and Lee expects that part of the wedding to be really simple.
“She’ll be beautiful,” he says. “That’s all that will matter.”
Lee adds that he expects to cry during the wedding too.
“If I don’t, there’s something wrong, ’cause I cry at every wedding it seems like I go to.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Kansas Senate Republicans held a private meeting last night on tax issues ahead of debate on Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to move the state toward phasing out individual income taxes.
Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Hutchinson told reporters before closing Tuesday evening’s meeting that GOP senators planned to discuss political strategy. He said they didn’t want Democrats to learn of their possible tactics.
Bruce also described the meeting as a “gripe session.”
The Associated Press lodged a protest.
Today the Senate will debate a bill containing most of the Republican governor’s plan.
The measure follows up on massive income tax cuts enacted last year by further reducing rates over the next four years. To stabilize the budget, it cancels a sales tax decrease scheduled for July.
Prairie View resident, Anna Van Loenen, passed away Sunday, March 10, at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, KS at the age of 86. She was born March 4, 1927 in Phillips County, KS to Henry & Alie (Tien) Pakkebier.
Her husband, Buford, daughter, Amy, and son, Buford, Jr. preceded her in death.
Survivors include her son, Rodger, of Prairie View; daughters, Beverly Schemper of Prairie View and Linda Levene of Tucson, AZ; brothers, Tenis Pakkebier of Prairie View and Marvin Pakkebier of LaCrosse, KS; one sister, Sylvia Kats of Norton, KS; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. in the Prairie View Reformed Church, Prairie View, with Pastor Ian Van Leeuwen officiating. Burial will follow in the Prairie View Cemetery.
Visitation will be Tuesday from 5 – 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with the family receiving friends Wed. evening from
7 – 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be given to the Prairie View Senior Center or Phillips County Home Health. Online condolences to: www.olliffboeve.com.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, is in charge of arrangements.
A power outage Wednesday morning affected parts of western and downtown Hays.
Midwest Energy spokesman Mike Morley says the outage was reported just before 9 a.m. and was caused by a switch that failed on a pole along the Highway 183 Bypass. About 500 customers were affected.
The failed part was replaced and power was restored to all customers by 10:30.
The outage affected Eagle Communications, which caused a disruption in television and internet service.
Travis Kohlrus, Eagle Broadband General Manager told Hays Post, “Our team was at our network operations center when the power outage occurred. Backup power held the load for approximately 15 minutes, however a relay switch in Eagle’s back up generator did not function properly to take over the complete load. After 5 minutes of downtime, we were able to provide backup power from the generator until commercial power was restored.
Customers with wireless Internet devices in their homes may need to reboot them. If they are still having problems, they are encouraged to contact Eagle Customer Service toll free 1-877.613.2453.”
Hays Police are looking a for truck that was reportedly stolen late Tuesday morning. Lt. Brandon Wright told Hays Post, “The dark blue 2001 Chevy Pickup was taken in the 100 block of west 6th street in Hays. The truck’s Kansas license plate is 637DNV.” 
The vehicle also has a ‘Proud to be Kansan’ bumper sticker on the driver side rear bumper and a ‘Felten Middle School Honor Roll’ sticker on the passenger side rear window. Please contact Hays Police if you see the truck or have any information that may help locate the vehicle.
Kansans’ privacy rights will be protected under the terms of a settlement reached with Google, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Tuesday.
The settlement stemmed from privacy violations by Google’s Street View cars, which were equipped with antennae and software used to collect information from unsecured wireless networks. Google acknowledged that the information collected may have included URLS of requested Web pages, partial or complete email communications, and any confidential or private information being transmitted to or from the network user while the Street View cars were nearby.
“Kansans expect that their privacy rights are not being violated by cars driving by their homes and gathering their personal information from home computer networks,” Schmidt said. “This agreement ensures that Google will cease these practices and will securely destroy all data that was collected through this system.”
Area residents can learn the best practices for conserving water while maintaining their property as the drought continues through a series of programs at the KSU Ag Research Center.
Hays Parks Director Jeff Boyle says the Water $mart Landscape Series will provide a variety of information including details on the City of Hays turf conversion program. Through the turf conversion program, the city will provide grass seed for residents willing to change from cool season to warm season grass.
Other topics will include soil preparation, which plants to choose and how to water properly.
To RSVP or receive more information about the Water $mart series, which begins March 26, contact the Ellis County Extension Office.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas Senate has advanced a bill changing the way judges are chosen for the state Court of Appeals.
The measure would give the governor the authority to appoint judges to the court, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
It would abolish a special commission that now screens applicants for the Court of Appeals and submits the names of three finalists to the governor, who makes the appointment without Senate confirmation.
Senators gave the measure first-round approval Tuesday. The bill has already cleared the House, and Senate passage on a final vote expected Wednesday would send it to Gov. Sam Brownback.
The Senate previously approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would give the governor new authority to name judges to the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
At 7 p.m tonight, The National Weather Service in Dodge City will provide storm identification/spotter training at the Sternberg Museum, 3000 Sternberg Drive, in Hays.
These training
sessions are done in cooperation with county Emergency Management agencies across the area. All training is free, is open for anyone to attend, and is not designed for just storm spotters. Anyone with a desire to learn how to identify severe weather and to learn about the dangers from these storms is encouraged to attend. The programs last about 1 1/2 hours.
Sound off: Today, t
he Kansas House is considering a bill to allow school districts to designate employees who could carry a gun even if the weapons were banned for others? Good idea or not?
Tell us your thoughts in our comments section below.
