The Hay Public Library Children’s Department is hosting their annual Christmas party this week. Children 5th grade and younger are invited to attend the free event on Thursday, December 19th from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm.
Some of the festivities include:
December 19th is also the last day for children to drop off their letters to Santa Claus in the mail box next to the elevator in the children’s department.
By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post
The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team continues to receive votes in the latest USA Today/WBCA poll released Tuesday.
Emporia State remains third and Central Missouri eighth. The Lady Tigers are the highest vote getter among non-ranked MIAA teams. Washburn is also receiving votes.
The USA Today/WBCA poll is below…
|
Rank
|
Institution – First Place Votes |
Previous Rank
|
Record
|
Points
|
|
1
|
Bentley University (Mass.) -26 |
1
|
10-0
|
673
|
|
2
|
Gannon University (Pa.) -1 |
2
|
9-0
|
645
|
|
3
|
Emporia State University (Kan.) |
3
|
9-0
|
623
|
|
4
|
Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) |
4
|
8-0
|
593
|
|
5
|
Colorado Mesa University |
5
|
8-0
|
550
|
|
6
|
Drury University (Mo.) |
6
|
7-0
|
508
|
|
7
|
Clayton State University (Ga.) |
7
|
5-1
|
493
|
|
8
|
University of Central Missouri |
8
|
7-1
|
459
|
|
9
|
Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) |
9
|
7-1
|
429
|
|
10
|
West Texas A&M University |
11
|
7-1
|
364
|
|
11
|
Delta State University (Miss.) |
T12
|
6-1
|
354
|
|
12
|
Harding University (Ark.) |
15
|
8-0
|
340
|
|
13
|
Augustana College (S.D.) |
10
|
7-2
|
281
|
|
14
|
Wayne State College (Neb.) |
17
|
11-1
|
264
|
|
15
|
Glenville State College (W.Va.) |
16
|
7-1
|
250
|
|
16
|
Rollins College (Fla.) |
18
|
9-2
|
190
|
|
17
|
NW Nazarene University (Idaho) |
21
|
7-1
|
145
|
|
18
|
Adelphi University (N.Y.) |
24
|
10-0
|
131
|
|
19
|
Tarleton State University (Texas) |
22
|
7-1
|
130
|
|
20
|
Concordia University (Minn.) |
25
|
9-3
|
122
|
|
21
|
California State University – Chico |
19
|
5-2
|
108
|
|
22
|
Stonehill College (Mass.) |
14
|
7-3
|
105
|
|
23
|
Minnesota State University – Mankato |
T12
|
6-3
|
104
|
|
24
|
Shaw University (N.C.) |
23
|
5-2
|
101
|
|
25
|
Quincy University (Ill.) |
NR
|
6-0
|
84
|
Dropped Out: University of District of Columbia.
Others Receiving Votes: University of District of Columbia 82; Saint Leo University (Fla.) 75; Virginia State University 70; University of Alaska – Anchorage 65; Simon Fraser University (BC) 58; California State Polytechnic University – Pomona 49; Limestone College (S.C.) 36; Fort Hays State University (Kan.) 35; University of Indianapolis (Ind.) 33; Northern Michigan University 30; Wingate University (N.C.) 30; Ashland University (Ohio) 28; Indiana University of Pennsylvania 28; North Georgia College & State University 15; University of California – San Diego 14; Washburn University (Kan.) 14; Saint Cloud State University (Minn.) 12; Lewis University (Ill.) 11; University of Southern Indiana (Ind.) 10; Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania 8; University of Alabama – Huntsville 6; Georgia College & State University 5; Saint Edwards University (Texas) 5; Benedict College (S.C.) 2; California State University – Los Angeles 2; Michigan Technological University 2; Arkansas Tech University 1; Carson-Newman College (Tenn.) 1; Colorado State University – Pueblo 1; San Francisco State University (Calif.) 1.
Helen R. Weilert, 91, Hays, died Sunday, December 15, 2013, at her daughter’s house in Omaha, Neb.
She was born April 28, 1922 in Leavenworth, Kansas the daughter of Peter and Frances Grace Christy. On January 17, 1945, she married Lawrence J. Weilert Sr. in Hays. He died May 16, 2002.
She was a homemaker and mother of 12 children. She was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church, Catherine, Kansas, and loved spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Survivors include sons, Lawrence J. Weilert, Jr. (Buster) and wife Elaine of Merritt Island, FL, Cary Weilert and wi
fe Linda of Overland Park, KS, Jan Weilert of Overland Park, KS, Michael Weilert and wife Pamela of Hays, Fred Weilert and wife Jeanne of Hays, Stephen Weilert and wife Helen of Hays, Bruce Weilert and wife Linda of Overland Park, KS, Stanley Weilert and wife Ursula of Wichita, KS, and Pat Weilert of Hays, daughters Helen Ruth Van Orsdel and husband David of Omaha, NE, Suzy Spatz and husband Steven of Wichita, KS, and Grace Peterson and husband Curtis of Wichita, KS, grandchildren Tina, Tammy, Monte, Trina, Tracy, James, Bradley, Andrea, Annette, Christopher, Ryan, Andrew, Curtis, Chad, Gene, Zachary, Pierce, Chase, Jesse, Tracee, Jeff, Jesse, Anne, Mary, Heather, Travis, Sarah, Clint, Leigh, Lindsay, Jay, Caroline, Joel, Dustin, Casey,
Cody, Jenna, Shawn, Danielle, and Maggie, and 48 great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband and a grandson Tim Weilert.
Funeral services will be at 10:00 am on Friday, December 20, 2013 at the St. Catherine Catholic Church, Catherine, KS. Burial will be in the St. Catherine Cemetery. Friends may call on Thursday from 5:00 until 8:00 pm and on Friday from 8:30 am until 9:30, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine. A parish vigil service will be at 6:30 pm on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the St. Catherine Catholic Church, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com
MANHATTAN – A two-way verbal exchange between Kansas’ cattle producers and extension specialists is the new approach to K-State’s 2014 Winter Ranch Management Seminar Series, set to kick-off in January and conclude mid-February.
The series has a history of being a successful stretch of meetings, which are hosted throughout the state of Kansas, said Bob Weaber, beef breeding, genetics and cow/calf specialist for K-State Research and Extension. Unlike previous years where the program has had a Web-based delivery for part of the content, originating on campus or at a particular ranch, this year the specialists will deliver the series in a face-to-face “town hall” meeting format.
Weaber, along with other state, district and local extension staff, will take part in the series to help answer producers’ questions about beef cattle issues surrounding animal health, nutrition, management, genetics and reproduction.
“Because of the wide range of topics and variety of climatic conditions over the past year in Kansas, there are many different issues facing producers,” Weaber said. “This is a great opportunity for us as state specialists to take our expertise out in the country and do a series of ‘town hall’ format meetings, where we don’t have a specific agenda. We want to be responsive to the questions and needs of our producer clientele.”
Weaber said producers should come to the meetings prepared with questions. Some of the hot topics he foresees discussing include drought management and recovery, winter feeding and cow management, preparation for calving season, and, as the bull buying season approaches in the spring, new trichomoniasis regulations (https://www.asi.k-state.edu/species/beef/research-and-extension/finaltrichrules.pdf), bull selection and genetics issues.
Although most of the questions will probably focus on winter issues, Weaber said extension staff is open to questions regarding producers’ plans next year for breeding, calving and weaning.
“January is always a great time for producers, when the weather is bad and after they get chores done, to sit back, think and plan for the coming year, the calves that will be born in the spring and how they might manage those,” he said. “Certainly think about business strategy opportunities moving forward in terms of expansion.”
Northwest Kansas locations include:
Downs: Jan. 23 (evening), Memorial Hall, 500 Morgan Ave. For more information, contact Neil Cates, Post Rock District, (785) 738-3597, or Rachael Boyle, Phillips-Rooks District, (785) 425-6851.
Colby: Jan. 28 (mid-day), 4-H Building, 1100 Cedar St. For more information, contact Kurt Sexton, Thomas County, (785) 460-4582.
Ness City: Jan. 28 (evening), Comm. Bank of Midwest, 210 S. Kansas. For more information, contact Jared Petersilie, Walnut Creek District, (785) 222-2710.
Evening events with start at approximately 5 p.m. with registration, dinner at 6 p.m. and program 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mid-day meetings will begin with registration at approximately 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon and program 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Participants are asked to RSVP for a selected location by the close of business the Friday before the event. Registration fees, which cover a meal, vary by location. Interested participants should reach out to their local host contact for registration and RSVP details.
More information about the K-State Winter Ranch Management Seminar Series is available at www.ksubeef.org.
— Submitted by Kansas State University
(AP) — Authorities in east-central Kansas say a woman has died after being thrown from a mule during a weekend ride.
The accident happened Sunday night in the Osage County town of Vassar. The rider’s name had not been released as of Tuesday, but the sheriff’s office says she was not from the county.
Investigators said two people were riding the mule when it was spooked by a loud noise from a passing vehicle. The mule bucked, throwing the female rider.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The other rider was unhurt.
TOPEKA – Kansas has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a new EPA regulation affecting stationary-source businesses and industries that generate greenhouse gases, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.
Litigation challenging the EPA greenhouse gas regulation has been ongoing since 2009. Kansas was unable to join as a plaintiff along with Texas and the 11 other states that have brought the legal challenge because the deadline for doing so passed before Schmidt took office. Four other states also independently challenged the EPA’s regulation.
However, with the Texas-led litigation now having reached the Supreme Court, Schmidt yesterday filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of Kansas and five other states in support of Texas and the other states challenging EPA. The new Kansas filing brings to 21 the number of states challenging the validity of the EPA regulation.
“The Kansas economy relies heavily on both the production and use of fossil fuels,” Schmidt said. “The effect of these new regulations is disproportionately harmful to Kansans’ pocketbooks. We’re insisting the EPA follow the rules and stay within the limits of its authority granted by Congress.”
On June 26, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the EPA’s greenhouse gas stationary source
regulatory scheme, and later denied a petition for rehearing en banc. On October 15, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted six separate petitions for certiorari limited to the question of whether EPA permissibly determined that its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles also triggered permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources that emit greenhouse gases.
The most recent filing by Kansas is in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, and consolidated cases, which is scheduled for oral argument at the Supreme Court on February 24, 2014. Kansas is a party to two other lawsuits challenging new EPA air regulations. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the challenge to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Kansas also is a plaintiff in a challenge to the new electric utility steam generating units rule for mercury and air toxics that is presently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“The cost of this cascade of new regulations will fall on every Kansas family who pays a utility bill,” Schmidt said. “If left unchecked, the federal administration’s so-called war on coal will leave casualties throughout the Kansas economy.”
By JOHN SIMMONDS
Hays Post
In Ellis County District Court Tuesday, a Hays woman who initially was charged with felony child abuse has been sentenced to probation.
Jody Brooks had been charged with felony child abuse but, per a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor child endangerment. She was sentenced to 12 months probation, with an underlying sentence of 18 months.
In the original criminal complaint, Brooks was alleged to have “struck and/or stomped on the child, resulting in a mid shaft tibia fracture to (the child’s) left leg.” She also was alleged to have caused severe bruising to the child’s groin, ears and head.
During the proceedings, Ellis County District Attorney Tom Drees explained the plea agreement agreed upon by both parties takes into account new medical evidence. Drees explained why the state was willing to agree to a plea agreement for this case after initially pursuing a felony charge.
“The state, after reviewing the evidence at the time, believed they were the appropriate charges. Now we’re just in the situation where if the jury believes the state’s version it’s a level 5 abuse,” Drees said. “If they believe the defendant’s version, it’s probably an acquittal. So we’re meeting in between those two, your honor, with the plea to the three person misdemeanors to give her a felony equivalency.”
Judge Glenn R. Braun, who presided over the hearing and had signed the probable cause affidavit, said while he wasn’t present for all of the proceedings, he had enough information for sentencing. He added the court takes all offenses regarding a child seriously, and it’s the job of the court system to be the voice of the victims in these cases.
“The court is alarmed to some extent at the plea in this case. I understand the rationale announced by the county attorney but I’ve also read the probable cause affidavit and noted that at least according to the officer who swore this under oath that the defendant stated that at the time the mother of this child left for work this child had no injuries and then the child was discovered with broken leg and severe bruising, which the court finds difficult to occur with a fall on a couch.”
The defense spoke up and offered the following medical evidence, which was the basis for the compromising plea agreement between the state and the defendant.
Judge Braun stated there is also a Child in Need of Care case that is ongoing separately from the criminal proceedings. There had been a no-contact order between the defendant and the child’s mother, who is also the defendant’s life partner. The defense offered that as part of the CINC case the child already has been removed from the home, and asked for the order to be lifted. Judge Braun terminated the no-contact order citing lack of jurisdiction as the criminal case has been resolved.
11:55 a.m. (AP) — An attorney for a Wichita man sentenced to die for a quadruple homicide in December 2000 tells the Kansas Supreme Court that Reginald Carr didn’t receive a fair trial because he was denied the right to testify and was tried with his brother.
Debra Wilson, attorney for Reginald Carr, told the justices Tuesday that her client was effectively fighting the state and his brother Jonathan in proving his innocence.
The brothers were convicted in the shooting deaths of three men and a woman on Dec. 15, 2000, as the victims knelt on a field.
Prosecutors say the four friends and a woman who survived had been abducted from a home by the Carrs, who forced them to engage in sex with each other and withdraw money from ATMs.
(AP) — Two Wichita brothers who were sentenced to die for a quadruple homicide in December 2000 are taking their appeals to the Kansas Supreme Court.
The court scheduled separate, two-hour hearings scheduled Tuesday for Jonathan and Reginald Carr.
The brothers were convicted of shooting three men and a woman on Dec. 15, 2000, as the victims knelt on a snow-covered field. The four friends and a woman who survived a head wound had been abducted from a home by armed intruders who forced them to engage in sex with each other and withdraw money from ATMs.
Issues raised by the Carrs’ lawyers on appeal include a judge’s refusal to move the trial outside Sedgwick County, the fact that the brothers were tried together and the constitutionality of the death penalty.
A Topeka man has been sentenced for possessing a pipe bomb, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Big Brothers Big Sister of Ellis County once again has partnered with service groups and members of the Hays community to provide bicycles for kids in need.
Each year Ellis County Big Brothers Big Sisters identifies Littles in need of bikes, and this year they recognized 24 children who needed a bike.
Nancy Jeter, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ellis County, said Walmart donated 10 bikes this year, which were assembled at the Christmas 4 Kids Telethon by Rotary, Sunrise Rotary, Lions, Optimist Club and Kiwanis. Jeter said each group took two children and helped them put together the bikes.
Jeter also said the organization received 11 bikes from Norton Correctional Facility, where inmates refurbish bikes as part of the Bikes for Youngsters program. Participants take donated bikes and restore them for families in need in northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska.
The final bikes were donated by individuals in the community.
Jeter said this is the ninth year of the bike building contest, and she said the need continues to increase.
On Friday, Eagle Community Television’s Mike Koerner traveled to Norton to pick up the bikes from the corrections facility, and they then they were distributed to children.
One of the area’s longtime favorite bands, “Jimmy Dee and the Fabulous Destinations,” has been inducted into the 2014 Kansas Music Hall of Fame.
The ceremony and concert will be held March 1, 2014, at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, according to KMHF president Bill Lee.
The new inductees announced Sunday by the Kansas Music Hall of Fame are: Beast, Bon Ton Soul Accordion Band, Clif Major, Glow, Jimmy Dee and the Fabulous Destinations, Junior Brown, Sanctuary, and Wichita Linemen.
The Kansas Music Hall of Fame, Lawrence, was established in 2004 to recognize and honor performers and others who have made significant contributions to the musical history of the state of Kansas and the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
Each October a vote is held to select performers who are inducted at a public ceremony early in the following year. Induction is determined by a vote of the members in good standing and the Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., released the following statement today regarding the Ryan-Murray budget plan:
“I appreciate the efforts of Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray to work together in an attempt to get our spending un
der control. Unfortunately, the final agreement falls far short of making the meaningful spending reforms we need to address our out-of-control debt and deficit.
“The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 replaces sequester spending cuts with a spending increase of $63 billion over two years, split between defense and non-defense programs. This increased spending is paid for through increased aviation fees, changes in retirement pay for the Armed Forces, and the promise of future mandatory spending reductions – much of which will take place a decade from now”
“What remains missing from this agreement is a genuine effort to address the real cause of our debt problems: mandatory spending. As long as the solvency and unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare remain ignored in favor of minor tweaks to discretionary spending, our budget crisis will never go away.”
“While I didn’t vote for sequestration, the reality is it forced Washington to acknowledge the hard truth of our spending and set budget caps. It is disappointing to see Congress change the law to increase spending now while delaying further spending cuts until many years in the future. With the national debt soaring above $17 trillion, we should not allow ourselves to – yet again – postpone responsible fiscal policy.”
Mike Cooper visits with Jerre Nolte and Scott Wolford about the meaning of Christmas.
