The Hays Police Department conducted 18 traffic stops and received 3 animal calls Wednesday September 25th according to the Police Activity Log.

Criminal Damage

• 12:26 AM – Criminal Damage to Property reported in the 100 block of Main St

Drug offenses

• 1:56 AM – Drug Offenses reported in the 2700 block of Vine St

Suspicious Activity

• 12:38 PM – Suspicious Activity reported in the 3700 block of Vine St
• 5:58 AM – Suspicious Activity reported in the 2500 block of Marjorie Dr

Worthless Check

• 08/12/2013 > 08/12/2013 – Worthless Check reported in the 300 block of W 8th St
• 08/13/2013 > 08/13/2013 – Worthless Check reported in the 300 block of W 8th St
• 08/12/2013 > 08/12/2013 – Worthless Check reported in the 500 block of Vine St

Unwanted Person

• 8:34 AM – Unwanted Person reported in the 2800 block of Augusta Ln

Driving while suspended

• 10:35 AM – Driving While Suspended/Revoked reported in the 2400 block of Henry Dr

Intoxicated subject

• 12:49 PM – Intoxicated Subject reported in the 2500 block of Vine St
• 10:44 PM – Intoxicated Subject, Disorderly Conduct reported in the 4600 block of Roth Ave

MV Accident

• 1:33 PM – MV Accident-Private Property reported in the 700 block of Allen St
• 02:45 PM > 03:45 PM – MV Accident-Private Property reported in the 500 block of W 27th St

Burglary

• 09/24/2013 11:00 AM > 09/24/2013 02:30 PM – Burglary/vehicle reported in the 700 block of Vine St

Unattended death

• 6:15 PM – Unattended Death reported in the 200 block of E 16th St

Assist – Other

• 9:25 PM – Assist – Other (not MV) reported in Haysn no address block listed

The Hays City Commission received a request for an additional city-wide parade.  At Thursday’s meeting, the commission was presented with a request for a permit to hold a Halloween parade.  The request was for a parade to be held Friday, November 1st at 7:00 pm.

The request was made by Myrietta Leach and Tammey Walker, both employed by Re/Max Pro who would be sponsoring the event.

The parade would give children an opportunity to wear their costumes more than one night a year.  Leach and Walker pointed out that a costume/Halloween parade is an event that many smaller towns have.  They added that while there are some organizations that offer in-house events, it would be an opportunity for parents not affiliated or familiar with all the groups in Hays to celebrate the holiday with their children.

Commissioners heard from Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler, who said that he was in favor of the event but had concerns about the short time frame to get a parade together for this year.  The Commission echoed those concerns, citing the work that goes into organizing the existing community parades.

While they voiced unanimous support for the idea (though there were concerns about some of the details such as the parade start time and day of the week), the Commission asked that the proposal be brought back to them next year a few months in advance to allow for adequate planning and collaboration.

Mayor Kent Steward added that this would be the first city parade to be sponsored by an individual company rather than the community, and this would be part of the discussion if the proposal is brought before the Commission next year.

-(AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents is reporting a system-wide drop in fall enrollment.

The Board of Regents says preliminary fall enrollments are down overall from last year about 1.3 percent, which is about 2,504 students across the state’s 32 public universities, community colleges and technical colleges.

Fort Hays State saw an increase of 1.0 percent from last year. That is an increase of 131 students from last fall and the largest enrollment in the history of the university.

The regents say enrollment is also up at the state’s technical colleges, where about 472 more students are enrolled this fall compared to the preliminary count in 2012. Enrollment was nearly flat at the seven public universities, and was down about 3,000 students in the state’s 19 community colleges.

The University of Kansas reports fall enrollment down about .55 percent, while fall enrollment is up about .83 percent at Kansas State. Emporia State reports a 2.83 percent enrollment increase.

 

At last night’s City Commission meeting, Director of Finance Kim Rupp presented the City’s financial report for August.  One of the items presented in the financial report was city revenue.  According to the report, revenue in August decreased $569,182 as compared to August 2012.  Expenditures also decreased a total of $128,956 from this time last year.

The report stated that while revenue from sewer service charges increased $15,736 from 2012, water sales and conservation revenue was down $39,673 for the month.  Year-to-date business and residential water consumption is down 12.5% translating into a 10.2% decrease in total water and conservation revenue.

Rupp also reported that month-to-date general fund sales tax collections down down just $19,063 or -2.84% as compared to last year.  Year-to-date general fund sales tax collections are off $6,651 or -.14%.  The six month running average on sales tax collections is slightly down at -.30%.

The Kansas Congressional Delegation sent a letter to the U.S. Department Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressing concerns with

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) recommendations proposed in the recent HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG)Report.

The report suggests eliminating the CAH designation for any hospital participating in the CAH program in accordance with state “necessary provider” designations, and fails to recognize the unique circumstances of delivering health care in rural America. Seventy-two of Kansas’ 83 CAHs could be impacted if Congress passes legislation implementing the report’s recommendations.