February 2014 – Page 51 – Hays Post Archive

Kan. restaurant owner admits harboring immigrant

Posted on February 12, 2014

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man has admitted harboring a Chinese teenage girl who was working illegally at his restaurant.

Court records show 33-year-old Yong “Tony” Lin pleaded guilty Wednesday to harboring an immigrant who was unlawfully in the United States. His 29-year-old wife, Zhuo Mei “Mandy” Weng, pleaded guilty to hiding the crime.

The U.S. attorney’s office says the couple will forfeit $8,000 that will go to workers owed back wages.

The case stems from a tip that a minor teenager being housed with other employees at an apartment was working at Lin’s World Buffet Grill.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says in a news release that more such cases are coming to light, and employers who unlawfully hire such immigrants should expect criminal prosecution.

Sentencing is for May 7.

High Plain Mental Health expands satellite operations

Posted on February 12, 2014February 13, 2014

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

High Plains Mental Health Center has served northwest Kansas for 50 years and their services continue to expand, as Hill City and WaKeeney have now been added to their list of office locations.

“We have always tried to have the philosophy that people do not need to travel more than and an hour to receive services,” said Ken Loos, HPMH manager of community prevention, education and outreach.

Loos said these two newest facilities are satellite offices that will offer services once a week.

He said the additional offices were the result of a “real cooperative effort” with the county commissions of these counties.

He added partnerships with counties is of “value to all our communities.”

“People who don’t have transportation or reliable transportation or people who have their jobs or family communities and can’t make it to Hays, they can make to one of our satellite facilities,” Loos said. “So it’s very important.”

Loos said the addition of the offices in WaKeeney and Hill City will bring the total number of HPMH satellite offices to eight. The other offices are located in Russell, Smith Center, Quinter, Hoxie, Atwood and Oberlin.

HPMH’s main office is located in Hays, and there are five branch offices in Goodland, Phillipsburg, Osborne, Colby and Norton.

Call HPMH at (785) 628-2871 or visit their website for more details.

Esther Marie Norden

Posted on February 12, 2014

Kensington resident Esther Marie Norden passed away Monday, Feb. 10, 2014 at the Smith County Hospital in Smith Center, KS at the age of 97.

She was born July 7, 1916 in Smith County, Kansas to Henry & Anna (Gemaehlich) Grauerholz. Her husband, Wilber Norden, preceded her in death in 2001.

She is survived by her daughters, Shirley Grauerholz of Denver, CO and Elaine Bretton of Kensington; 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday, Feb. 14, at 10:30 a.m. in the St. John Lutheran Church, Kensington, with Pastor Lorna Paulus officiating. Burial will follow in the St. John Lutheran Cemetery, Kensington.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 – 9 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg.

Memorial contributions may be given to the St. John Lutheran Church. Online condolences may be sent to: www.olliffboeve.com.

Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, is in charge of arrangements.

Hays KanCare health home meeting set for next month

Posted on February 12, 2014February 12, 2014

KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Kansas Medicaid officials have scheduled a series of meetings across the state seeking to connect with KanCare enrollees who have various chronic medical conditions.

The meetings are in anticipation of the planned July 1 launch of a new “health homes” program. The Hays meeting is scheduled for March 6.

Officials say their goal is to provide better coordinated care for those with mental illness, diabetes or asthma with the expectation that will reduce costs while improving the enrollees’ conditions.

Two meetings will be held on the same day at each location listed below, one in the afternoon the other in the evening. Afternoon meetings are from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Evening meetings are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Interested members are asked to attend only one meeting because of space restrictions.

Monday, March 3:

Dodge City Public Library, 1001 North 2nd Avenue, Dodge City
Wichita Public Library, Central Location, 223 South Main, Wichita
Winfield Community Center, 700 Gary, Winfield

Tuesday, March 4:

Finney County Historical Museum, 403 South 4th St., Garden City
Barton County Community College, Library Room 116, 245 Northeast 30th Rd., Great Bend
Holiday Inn Express, 4011 Parkview Dr., Pittsburg

Wednesday, March 5

Colby Community College, Student Union, Rm 109, 1255 South Range, Colby
Cloud County Community College, Cook Theatre, 2221 Campus Dr., Concordia
City Building, Alliance Room, 101 South Lincoln, Chanute

Thursday, March 6

Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Dr., Hays
Pathfinder Recovery Center, 1809 South Ohio, Salina
Emporia State University, Student Union, 2nd Floor Room #MU216, 1200 Commercial St., Emporia

Tuesday, March 11

Blue Valley Library, Blue Valley Library Meeting Room, 9000 West 151st St., Overland Park
South Branch Public Library, 3104 Strong Ave., Kansas City, Kan.

Wednesday, March 12

Highland Community College, Dining Room, 1501 Riley St., Atchison
Kansas Historical Society, 6425 Southwest 6th Ave., Topeka

People needing special assistance for a meeting should contact Cindy by calling (785) 296-4753 or emailing [email protected]. Transportation to the meetings is not available.

Tiger wrestling falls in polls

Posted on February 12, 2014

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State dropped six spots to No. 12 in the latest version of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Poll, released Wednesday (Feb. 12). The poll is the final dual season publication of the rankings before FHSU begins postseason action this weekend.

The Tigers went 2-1 last week, picking up wins over Central Missouri and Truman State, which sandwiched a loss at Lindenwood.

Joining FHSU from the MIAA is No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 5 Central Oklahoma and No. 7 Lindenwood.

Individually, C.J. Napier and Tanner Kriss remained ranked, while Adam Ludwin (125) and Trey Page (285) dropped out.

Napier moved up one spot to fourth in the 141 pound rankings after going 3-0 last week with two major decisions. Kriss (197) has been idle since Jan. 12, but holds an 8-3 record on the season and is seventh at his weight.

The MIAA Tournament is held at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kan., on Sunday (Feb. 16), with action scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

A complete version of the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association poll is below…

Rank	Team	Points	Last
1	Notre Dame (Ohio)	159	1st
2	Nebraska-Kearney	151	2nd
3	St. Cloud State (Minn.)	141	4th
4	Newberry (S.C.)	135	3rd
5	Central Oklahoma	129	5th
6	Upper Iowa	110	7th
7	Lindenwood (Mo.)	102	NR
8	Mercyhurst (Pa.)	91	9th
9	Kutztown (Pa.)	75	10th
10	Western State (Colo.)	73	8th
11	California Baptist	70	NR
12	Fort Hays State (Kan.)	65	6th
T13.	Indianapolis (Ind.)	64	11th
T13.	McKendree (Ill.)	64	T13th
15	Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)	58	12th
16	Maryville (Mo.)	39	19th
17	Colorado Mesa	35	T13th
18	Lake Erie (Ohio)	29	NR
19	Adams State (Colo.)	24	15th
20	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	22	20th

Others receiving votes: Ashland (Ohio), Augustana (S.D.), Minnesota State-Mankato, North Carolina-Pembroke, San Francisco State (Calif.)

Kan. Senate takes up death penalty appeal changes

Posted on February 12, 2014

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A key state senator says a bill shortening the time for the Kansas Supreme Court to rule on death penalty appeals is necessary to expedite justice.

Such appeals are automatic under Kansas law. The Senate opened debate Wednesday on legislation creating a 3½-year time limit for the appeals to be heard and decided by the court. The measure would not affect any subsequent appeals, including those made to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Senate Vice President Jeff King said the average death penalty appeal has taken nearly 10 years to be heard by the state Supreme Court, statistic he calls unacceptable.

Kansas enacted capital punishment in 1994 but has yet to carry out an execution. Nine men are under death sentences in state prisons.

KHAZ Country Music News: Craig Morgan and Kidde

Posted on February 12, 2014September 16, 2014

Craig Morgan has partnered with Kidde Fire Safety, The Tennessee State Division of Fire Prevention and the National Fallen Firefighters Association to donate 5,000 Kidde smoke alarms to to fire departments along the route of Morgan’s The Journey Tour. The fire departments will choose homes throughout their communities in which to install the alarms. Morgan made the first donation in his hometown of Dickson, TN. More here.

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

Ex-Chamber of Commerce chief sentenced for theft

Posted on February 12, 2014February 12, 2014

AUGUSTA, Kan. (AP) — The former director of a southeast Kansas Chamber of Commerce has been sentenced to a year’s probation for stealing more than $13,000 from the organization.

The Butler County Times-Gazette reports that Kent Overaker must also pay full restitution and write a letter of apology under the sentence he received this week.

Overaker was hired as director of the Augusta Chamber of Commerce in March 2012. He was arrested last August after chamber officials noticed discrepancies in the organization’s finances.

He pleaded guilty in December to felony theft, admitting that he stole $13,400 in a four-month period by using the chamber’s credit cards and checks for personal expenses.

Kansas man sentenced to life under Jessica’s Law

Posted on February 12, 2014

MEDICINE LODGE — A Barber County man was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 25 years under Jessica’s Law, after pleading guilty to child sex crimes, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today in a news release.

Robert Pruitt, 22, Kiowa, was sentenced by Judge Francis Meisenheimer in Barber County District Court. Meisenheimer also ordered Pruitt to lifetime electronic monitoring and lifetime registration as a sex offender. Pruitt pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a child younger than 14 in October 2013.

The crime was committed November 2012. The charge stemmed from an investigation by the Kiowa Police Department and Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant Attorneys General Amy Hanley and Kristiane Bryant of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.

Kansas Historical Society to provide access to newspapers

Posted on February 12, 2014February 12, 2014

Kansas Historical Society

TOPEKA — The Kansas Historical Society announced that its Kansas Digital Newspapers program has partnered with Newspapers.com to provide online access to several million pages of Kansas newspapers from the Historical Society’s collection. The initial partnership will focus on Kansas newspapers published 1854 to 1922 and includes almost five million pages.

Access is free to Kansans with a valid driver’s license or government-issued identification card. For access information, visit kshs.org/ancestry/drivers/dlverify.

Founded by the Kansas Editors’ and Publishers’ Association in 1875, the Kansas Historical Society holds one of the most comprehensive state-wide newspaper collections in the United States, including nearly every newspaper published in Kansas from 1854 to the present.

The Kansas Digital Newspapers program seeks to digitize and make available on the Internet digital editions of Kansas newspapers. The Kansas Historical Society manages KDN with support from public and private partners and draws on its comprehensive Kansas newspaper collection. With more than one million Kansas newspaper pages already available online, KDN provides online access to these primary sources and an opportunity to rediscover Kansas history through the local press.

KDN is also partnering with the Forsyth Library at Fort Hays State University in order to digitize additional Kansas newspapers from all across the state. Although this site is available to the public, it is still under development. For more information see Kansas Digital Newspapers at Forsyth Library Digital Collections.

For more information, visit kshs.org/16126.

Dr. Lane Weaver – FHSU Director of Athletic Bands

Posted on February 12, 2014

Host Mike Cooper visits with the Director of Athletic Bands at FHSU, Dr. Lane Weaver.

It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad world: Comedic genius Caesar dies at 91

Posted on February 12, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Innovative, influential comedy genius Sid Caesar, whose sketches lit up 1950s television with zany humor, has died at age 91.

Family spokesman Eddy Friedfeld says Caesar died early Wednesday.

Caesar’s two most important programs were “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour.” He used them to display his incredible skill in pantomime, satire, mimicry, dialect and sketch comedy.

He paired with Imogene Coca in sketches that became comedy classics.

He attracted a stable of young writers who went on to highly successful careers of their own including Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

Caesar also appeared on Broadway and on the big screen in the 1963 comedy epic “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.”

Kan. House gives first-round OK to prisons budget

Posted on February 12, 2014

TOPEKA (AP) — The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a budget bill that would spend more than $390 million for prisons in the next fiscal year.

The bill includes more than $360 million from general revenue and restores funding that was vetoed last year by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Lawmakers amended the bill Wednesday to place restrictions on where the Department of Corrections could locate parole offices.

The restrictions were prompted by the agency’s plan to open a parole office next door to a daycare center in Kansas City, Kan. Parents and city officials have protested, saying they don’t want convicted sex offenders visiting an office so close to children.

The state Senate is working on its own version of a prisons budget.