RUSSELL — The Russell County Sheriff’s Department is still looking for help locating a teenager who ran away from a foster home in Russell County in October.

Cierra Swodek, 17, has been missing since Oct. 16, said Undersheriff Max Barrett.

Swodek — described as 5 foot, 6 inches tall and 110 pounds with black hair and brown eyes — is “still on the run,” Barrett said.

There are indications she is currently in the Topeka area, but also is believed to have spent time in the Lawrence and Kansas City areas.

Anyone with information about Swodek’s whereabouts is asked to call the Russell County Sheriff’s Department at (785) 483-2151.

Submitted by Smoky Hill Foundation Regional Prevention Center

Parents and guardians, do you ever wonder if you are the only one struggling with your teen or adolescent? Do you ever feel like your sanity is slipping away with all the demands on you?

Well, here is your opportunity to gain information and tools to lend a hand in making the teen years more manageable for you and your entire family. Parents, guardians and professionals working with teens are invited to attend a free presentation titled “Balancing Act: Parenting Teens and Keeping Your Sanity,” presented by Jenni Reling.

Reling, who has a master’s degree in family life education, will give encouragement to parents in the midst of parenting teens and will help prepare those who are raising younger children to ready themselves for those years. Reling will share stories that are both challenging and humorous from her own experience raising two strong-willed sons.

Parents today live in a culture that has changed rapidly since they were growing up, and the presenter will address the cultural influences teens are experiencing, as well as, give parents of teens hope for the challenging but important job they are doing to lead their children into the world of responsible adulthood.

The event will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 10 at the Hays High School lecture hall. For more information, call (785) 625-5521. The event is sponsored by Everyday Prevention Impacting Community Coalition and funding from KDADS Safe and Supportive Schools mini-grant funding.

The 22nd annual Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association mid-year meeting will be April 16 to 18 in Hays.

Planning for the event, which will be at the Schmidt-Bickle Indoor Training Facility on the campus of Fort Hays State University, is still underway.

For more information, visit www.kioga.org.

FHSU University Relations

Jim Johnson, Medicine Lodge, was the winner of the drawing for an engraved set of two Browning Medallion Series A-Bolt rifles conducted recently by the Fort Hays State University Shooting Club and team of scholastic clay target shooters.

The drawing raised a total of $13,100 for the club. Club Sponsor Dr. Duane Shepherd, associate professor of health and human performance, said club members sold 262 of the 300 tickets at $50 each. Half of the proceeds, $6,550, goes directly to the club and half goes to the club’s trust account with the MidwayUSA Foundation, which provided the rifle free to the club specifically for the drawing. The foundation also matched the $6,550 and put a total of $13,100 in the club’s trust.

The Midway Foundation was created by Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of Midway USA, a catalog and Internet retailer, to encourage shooting teams at universities and colleges.

“Our half will pay entry fees for the national tournament,” said Shepherd. Fourteen shooters from the FHSU club will compete in the national tournament later this spring.

The rifles were a full-sized version and a junior model, both in .257 Roberts caliber.

The drawing was held at Joe Bob Outfitters, 2011 Vine. The winning ticket was drawn by Joseph Boeckner, owner, a former student at FHSU.

The Shooting Club now has more than $300,000 in trust at the MidwayUSA Foundation. Funds raised by the club and place in the trust are matched at a 3-to-1 ratio by the foundation. The club can draw up to 5 percent of the funds each year.