The public is invited to attend an open house being held on Sunday, December 8th.  The free event is at Sterling House of Hays located at 1801 East 27th Street.  The schedule of events is as follows:

• 2:00 p.m. The Schmidtberger Brothers men’s trio will be singing.
• 3:00 p.m. Carl Meis will be playing accordion.
• 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Santa will be passing out candy canes and posing for pictures with our guests.
• 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Diamond S. Winery from Russell, Kansas, will be on site with some Holiday cheer

The event is designed to give locals a chance to celebrate the holidays with the Sterling House community and see some of the updates that have been made there.  The public is encouraged to bring cameras for photo opportunities as well.

There is no need to RSVP in advance; people are welcome to come and go as they please.  Those with questions can call 628-1111 and ask for Katie.

Ellis High School, in conjunction with the USD 388 Education Foundation, is holding a fundraiser. The school district is constructing a new 8,000+ square foot building which will house a weight lifting and practice room.  The goal of the fundraising effort, appropriately called “Raise the Bar”, is to raise $80,000 to lay flooring and buy new weightlifting equipment for the building to provide a safer environment for students.

Principal Corey Burton told Hays Post that there are currently two locations used for weight lifting: a weight room at the old high school (which has mold and leak issues) and a couple rack systems located in the gym.  The equipment in the gym has to be pulled off to the side when the gym is used to host an event, but students still risk running into it out of bounds.

Burton said that the new practice room is going to be used for wrestling initially because the former wrestling facility was also having mold and leak issues.  The floor joists were also cracking and it was determined the facility was unsafe for students to practice there.

Currently, wrestling practice is being held in the gym.  Burton said that because so many teams and groups now have to share gym space, practice times are being staggered in odd ways.  For this reason, the goal is to get the wrestlers into the new facility right after Christmas to help normalize practice times.  Burton added that the new facility won’t just be for wrestlers.

“Our kids will be able to access it during the school day for our weights class and P.E. classes, and it’s also open to the community after school hours….We have a group through the rec that does some gymnastics, I’m sure they’re going to end up using that facility.  I wouldn’t be surprised if our cheerleaders don’t use it some in some of the stunting they do for practice.”

Raise the Bar will run from December 1st through March 1st, which will allow for equipment to be ordered and delivered in time for the summer weight program.  For more information or to make a donation, visit the Raise the Bar website or call 785-726-4281.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a residential burglary that happened some time between November 17th and November 27th.  According to Sheriff Ed Harbin, the incident happened in the 1000 block of 250th Ave.

On November 27th, the daughter of the property owner was alerted by a friend that a door to the residence was open.  She entered the house, found that numerous items had been taken and notified dispatchers.  Harbin said the items taken include:

• A Smith and Wesson 357 Revolver
• A number of antique pistols
• Financial documents
• The title to an RV
• Family photos
• Hand tools
• Other paperwork
• Possibly some clothes

Harbin said the house had been entered through an unlocked door.  He added that this time of year, it’s important to be extra cautious, and not just by ensuring doors are locked.

“This is the holiday season and there’s going to be a lot of people going out of town.  I certainly wouldn’t post my adventures on Facebook until you get back.  Don’t post anything that would give anybody any ideas on burglarizing, stealing or any other thing based that they could come up with by something that’s placed on Facebook.”

The Sheriff’s department has numerous suspects in the case, which is still under investigation.

The public is invited to attend a meeting hosted by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) and the KanCare Ombudsman James Bart. The town hall meetings are part of a statewide Friends and Family Tour.  The goal is to give consumers a chance to have their KanCare questions, concerns and complaints addressed by experts.

All are welcome to attend the open forum meeting, including friends and family members of covered individuals.  For those not able to attend, some of the meetings also have conference call capabilities (see the attached flier).

KDADS Public Information Officer Cara Sloan told Hays Post that these meetings are a great way for anyone with KanCare questions to get an immediate answer.  Sloan added that every question will be answered, and all questions asked at these meetings will be posted on the KDADS website as well.

The Hays meeting will be in the DSNWK administrative conference room located at 2703 Hall St. Suite 10 from 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm on Wednesday December 4th.