(AP) — Three of four people arrested in a September drug bust in Ellis County that netted 2.5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine have accepted plea deals.
Thirty-nine-year-old Rick Grecian of Hays on Wednesday agreed to enter an Alford plea to three counts of felony distribution of methamphetamine and one count of possession of methamphetamine. The deal calls for Grecian to be sentenced to a total of nearly six years in prison without parole.
Two other people also have reached plea deals. Thirty-nine-year-old Ricky L. McBee has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison and 25-year-old Nathaniel Ward is awaiting sentencing for drug-related charges.
The case against 46-year-old Karen R. Knoll of Ellis is pending.
Members of the Fort Hays State University student National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will be discussing a classic holiday story from a scientific (and entertaining) point of view. Students will present “The Science of Stealing Christmas” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Seibel Lobby of FHSU’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History.
Visitors will see how the Grinch stole Christmas with presentations discussing items such as survival in the mountains above Who-Ville, the implications of growing a heart three sizes in one day, and what kind of sled one dog would be able to pull.
The activities are geared to participants of all ages. The event is free for everyone to attend, and is sponsored by the FHSU Science and Mathematics Education Institute.
As cold temperatures are forecast for the Frost Fest Parade on Saturday, December 7th, the public will have an opportunity to stop by Fox Pavilion Theatre on Main Street to warm up while supporting a good cause.
Beginning at 4:30 pm the Hays Community Theatre will be hosting a free will donation chili feed and will continue serving until supplies run out.
The chili was donated by the Rooks County Country Club. Donations will be split between the Hays Community Theatre and the Relay for Life.
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert will exchange a state-related gift pending the outcome of Saturday’s Major League Soccer Championship game. Sporting Kansas City will be taking on Real Salt Lake in Kansas City on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Gov. Herbert offered locally produced 100 percent pure honey and salt water taffy if Real Salt Lake loses, and Gov. Brownback offered Kansas City barbecue sauce if Sporting KC loses.
“I can’t wait to taste the sweet victory of Kansas City BBQ sauce,” said Governor Herbert. “I am very proud of Real Salt Lake. They are incredibly talented and I wish them all the best as they play our friends to the east.”
Governor Herbert has offered 12 bottles of locally produced Miller Pure Honey and Taffy Town Salt Water Taffy. Nephi Miller started his honey business by trading five bags of oats for seven colonies of bees in 1894. Located in the Beehive State, Miller Honey is still family owned and producing 100% pure, natural honey. Taffy Town has been locally and family owned for over 97 years, and offers a variety of gourmet salt water taffy flavors to enjoy.
“I am excited to see Sporting Kansas City doing so well and I can’t wait to watch them win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday,” said Governor Brownback. “Kansas City is renowned for its barbecue sauce and is quickly being recognized for our soccer fans.”
Governor Brownback has offered two cases (12 bottles) of Eat barbecue sauces made by Rod Gray of Leawood, Kansas. Rod, and his wife Sheri, are national BBQ champions with their team, Pellet Envy, and are the 2013 grand champions of television competition series BBQ Pitmasters on Destination America.
A third former bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling from a bank in Grant County, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Linda Wise, 60, Ulysses, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of theft from a bank. In her plea, she admitted that from late 2010 to March 2013 while she worked at Western State Bank in Ulysses, she embezzled money from the bank.
Subsequent to July 24, 2010, she conspired with fellow employees and co-defendants Ashley Cravens and Amber Gutierrez to steal money from the bank. From late 2010 to March 2013, the three stole a total of $24,450 from the bank.
Co-defendants are: Amber Gutierrez, 32, Ulysses, who is set for sentencing Feb. 4; Ashley Cravens, 29, Ulysses, set for sentencing Feb. 7; and Hattie Wiginton, 33, Ulysses, who is set for jury trial Jan. 21.
Grissom commended the FBI, the KBI, the Grant County Sheriff”s Office, the Ulysses Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
(AP) — After nearly a year of discussion, the Faculty Senate at the University of Kansas has approved a post-tenure review policy.
The faculty senate approved a policy Thursday that removes most of the punitive language included in an earlier version. Some faculty members had expressed concerns in earlier meetings about possible discipline against faculty that did not meet department expectations.
Kansas Provost Jeffrey Vitter and Chancellor Bernadette Gray- Little still must approve the policy.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports (https://bit.ly/IvWBEJ ) the proposal sets up post-tenure review committees to evaluate faculty members every seven years.
The Kansas Board of Regents in 2012 ordered state universities to devise a post-tenure review policy that would help faculty members “reach their full potential for contribution to the university.”
Emergency personnel responded to a house fire in Hays Thursday evening. According to the Hays Fire Department at 5:49 pm on December 5th the Fire Department, assisted by City of Hays Police and Ellis County EMS, were dispatched to a building fire in the 2700 block of Thunderbird Circle.
When firefighters arrived on scene they determined the fire was isolated to the chimney and was able to be extinguished with one fire extinguisher. Crews confirmed that the fire had not spread into the structure by using a thermal camera to inspect the chimney.
The Fire Department said in a statement that it’s very important to have chimneys cleaned and inspected regularly by professionals in order to prevent chimney fires.
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
July 3, 2008. It was one of those terrible, horrific moments when one’s worst fears become reality. The police detective walked into the room and said to the parents: “Brace yourself. We found Jana. She is deceased.” It is every parent’s worst nightmare. In that moment, Curt and Christie Brungardt knew that their twenty-five-year-old daughter was gone.
After the shock came the realization that something must be done. As Curt and Christie said, “We have two choices. We can grieve, or we can grieve and act. We chose the latter.” This is the story of Jana Mackey, a victim of domestic violence, and the remarkable campaign based on her life.
Drs. Curt and Christie Brungardt are faculty members at Fort Hays State University. Curt, a Garden City native, studied at Fort Hays State and ultimately helped found the leadership studies program there. He later earned a doctorate at K-State.
Christie grew up in Harper County, 15 miles from Anthony, Kan., population 2,361 people. Now, that’s rural.
After graduation from Northwest Oklahoma State, Christie started a commodities brokerage business in Anthony and later opened an office in Hays. She returned to school and earned a master’s in leadership studies at Fort Hays State, where she met and married Curt. At the urging of an administrator, while a graduate student, Christie agreed to teach a class at the university. She found she loved it and ultimately joined the faculty, earning a Ph.D. from K-State as well. In 2002, the Brungardts founded the Center for Civic Leadership at Fort Hays State to expand regional civic engagement throughout the region.
Daughter Jana grew up at Hays and went to KU. She changed her major from music to women’s studies, as she became passionate about women’s rights and became an advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She lobbied on these issues at the statehouse and entered the KU law school.
Then on July 3, 2008, the absolutely unthinkable happened. Jana was murdered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend in his home in Lawrence. As one friend said, due to Jana’s expertise, the last person who she would expect to be a victim of domestic violence was Jana.
“It can happen to anyone or anyone’s family,” Christie Brungardt said.
The tragedy appeared senseless. More than 1,000 attended Jana’s funeral. Curt Brungardt challenged those in attendance to carry on the legacy of Jana’s work and advocacy.
That led to the creation of something called Jana’s Campaign, Inc. Jana’s Campaign has the mission of reducing gender and relationship violence. The program seeks to help break the cycle of domestic and dating violence and be a catalyst for social change. Jana’s Campaign has five program areas: Public awareness and community action; education, prevention and intervention; public policy advocacy; campus action; and engaging men and boys to reduce gender violence.
For example, in the public policy arena, Curt and Christie actively worked on proposed legislation to assist the criminal justice system in documenting crimes involving domestic violence. In 2010, the governor signed the most comprehensive legislation dealing with domestic violence in the state’s history.
“We’re seeing lots of growth in the program areas of campus action and engaging men and boys,” Christie said. With the Brungardts’ help, the football coach at Thomas More Prep-Marian (TMP-Marian), a co-educational parochial school in Hays is doing a program on Coaching Boys into Men which helps teach young men issues of respect and awareness of gender-based violence.
“If there was a mastermind to Jana’s Campaign, it was Curt,” Christie said. “His single focus outside of work is to advance this cause.”
For more information, go to www.janascampaign.org and www.1100torches.org.
It’s time to leave Curt and Christie Brungardt. They are leading Jana’s Campaign in memory of their daughter but also because her story is a lesson and an inspiration for all those who care about domestic violence.
In many ways, their work mirrors the socially engaged leadership which the Brungardts teach in their classes. “We decided to live our discipline of civic leadership and model behaviors,” Curt said. “Let’s change the world. Let’s make a difference.”
(AP) — The Kansas Department of Agriculture is helping investigate three separate thefts of cattle in Stafford County.
The department’s division of animal health says three groups of cattle were stolen between Dec. 3 and Dec. 4.
The first group included 11 heifers, all solid black with black and white faces. The cattle had tags in one ear stamped with “PLLC,” and brands on their right hip.
The second group was 10 mixed steers/heifers that were not branded. Those cattle were black, with black and white face, and eight of them had yellow and white tags. The third group included two Charolais with no brand, one steer and one heifer with yellow/white tags.
A 24-foot white Titan gooseneck trailer also was stolen.
Law enforcement authorities in Western Kansas are asking for help in identifying multiple Hispanic men who have allegedly passed counterfeit payroll checks in Garden City.
The checks are from Southwest Plains Dairy LLC, check numbers 1600 and above.
According to the Garden City Police Facebook page, “The business is legitimate, however the payroll checks being passed are counterfeit. We have three vehicle descriptions: a white Pontiac SUV with Texas tag CDM3112, a gray Dodge Journey SUV with Kansas tag 526DNY and a red Jeep unknown model or tag. If you have any information to help us locate these men, please contact us at 276-1300, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 275-7807, or text “GCTIP” and your tip information to 847411 (Tip411)”
(AP) — Kansas education officials are seeking dismissal of a federal lawsuit over new, multistate science standards filed by a group that claims the guidelines promote atheism and violate students’ religious freedoms.
Attorneys for the State Board of Education, its 10 members, the Department of Education and Commissioner Diane DeBacker filed the request Thursday.
They argued that Citizens for Objective Public Education and the 15 parents who joined it in challenging the standards can’t show they were harmed by the state board’s adoption of them in June. Among other things, the suing parties object to how evolution is handled.
State lawyers said the state board provides only general supervision of local schools, and decisions about what’s taught are made locally.
An attorney for the suing parties didn’t immediately return a telephone message.
.DRY ARCTIC AIR WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO FALL BETWEEN ZERO AND
FIVE BELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT. AS WINDS INCREASE TO 10 TO 15 MPH
SATURDAY MORNING, DANGEROUS WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES BETWEEN 15
BELOW ZERO AND 19 BELOW ZERO ARE LIKELY FOR A FEW HOURS LASTING
THROUGH LATE SATURDAY MORNING. WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES THIS COLD
CAN CAUSE FROSTBITE TO EXPOSED SKIN WITHIN 30 MINUTES.
TREGO-ELLIS-NESS-RUSH-HODGEMAN-PAWNEE-STANTON-GRANT-HASKELL-GRAY-
MORTON-STEVENS-SEWARD-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…WAKEENEY…CEDAR BLUFF RESERVOIR…
HAYS…ELLIS…NESS CITY…LA CROSSE…RUSH CENTER…JETMORE…
HANSTON…LARNED…BURDETT…JOHNSON CITY…ULYSSES…SUBLETTE…
SATANTA…CIMARRON…MONTEZUMA…ELKHART…RICHFIELD…HUGOTON…
MOSCOW…LIBERAL…KISMET
322 AM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
…WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 11 AM CST
SATURDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A WIND
CHILL ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 11 AM CST
SATURDAY.
* WIND CHILL VALUES…15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO TO 19 DEGREES BELOW
ZERO LASTING AS LATE AS NOON SATURDAY.
* OTHER IMPACTS…THOSE WHO MUST BE OUTSIDE SHOULD DRESS IN
ADEQUATE CLOTHING AND MINIMIZE EXPOSURE. WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES
THIS COLD CAN CAUSE FROSTBITE TO EXPOSED SKIN WITHIN 30
MINUTES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND SUSTAINED
WINDS OF 5 MPH OR HIGHER WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND
CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF
PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS…MAKE
SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES AND COVER EXPOSED SKIN
