At its regular meeting Thursday, the Hays City Commission will consider awarding a bid to a local company for renovations at the Hays Regional Airport terminal.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. Click HERE for a complete agenda.
Hays Regional Airport
Paul-Wertenberger Construction, Hays, submitted the only bid for the project, which is estimated at just less than $1.2 million. The Federal Aviation Administration would fund approximately $918,000 of the project, with the city’s matching funds estimated at approximately $466,000.
City staff said maintenance on items such as the roof and ventilation systems are required. In addition, the larger planes scheduled to begin flying from the airport in August will require additional security screening and holding areas.
The airport currently is without commercial air service after the previous provider, Great Lakes Airlines, departed earlier this spring. The new provider, SkyWest, is scheduled to begin turbojet flights to Denver in August.
RUSSELL — The Russell County Area Community Foundation announced in a news release its 2014 scholarship recipients, awarding a total of $33,425 in scholarships to Russell County area high school seniors and college students.
“Although these scholarships come from the community foundation, it is the generosity of families and other donors who make these gifts possible. We hope these scholarships help area students explore their talents and achieve their career goals,” said Angie Muller, foundation executive director.
Sean Paul Banks Memorial Scholarship
Gage Nichols, Russell High School, $350
Joseph Oste, Russell High School, $350
Adolph Boehler Student Aid Scholarship
Katie Reed, Russell High School, $725
Alexander Baldwin, Russell High School, $500
Alexandra Ptacek, Russell High School, $500
Doran & Bina Dole Scholarship
Eric Rourke, Russell High School, $2500 (renewable)
Haley Michel, Russell High School, $2500
Kenneth V. Dumler Memorial Scholarship
Lena Wedel, Russell High School, $425
David Ochs Memorial Scholarship
Brandan Bachar, Russell High School, $300
Christopher Hilger, Russell High School, $300
Shelby Thacker, Russell High School, $300
Ervin & Denzell Zimmerman Scholarship
Haley Michel, Russell High School, $250
Paxton Pospichal, Russell High School, $250
Joshua Scholarship – Russell High School Students
Shiv Gupta, $1000
Tanner Krug, $1000
Gage Nichols, $1000
Joseph Oste, $1000
Eric Rourke, $1000
By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
“Oh, darn, I forgot. There’s one more thing I need.” Have you ever had that experience – where you started on a project and found you had forgotten one essential item? It happens all too often when cooking in the kitchen or doing a project around the house. Today we’ll meet a young woman who had that experience and turned it into a business opportunity for her family and her community.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Sherrie Conklin is the owner of Forgotten Item Market in Burden, Kansas. Sherrie grew up at Burden, lived at Winfield and studied at Cowley College. When she met her husband Scotty, they decided they wanted to raise their child in a small town environment like the one they had grown up in, so they moved back to Burden – a community of 536 people Now, that’s rural.
Scotty worked for Morton Buildings.Inspired by watching barbecue on television, he wanted to open a barbecue restaurant in Burden. He and Sherrie bought an old building on Main Street which he remodeled for their barbecue place.
As customers came into the restaurant, they would ask, “Who did your remodeling work?” When they learned that Scotty had done it, they asked if he would do remodeling work for them. When the demand for his carpentry work exceeded the demand for barbecue, they closed the store and Scotty formed his own business called Conklin Carpentry.
Meanwhile, Sherrie was working full time herself. Due to Medicare cuts, she lost her job. It happened at the worst possible time, just before Christmas. One day she was doing her Christmas baking when she found that she needed some powdered sugar. She had all the other ingredients, but she was out of that one item. Unfortunately, her home is 25 miles from stores in Winfield and 55 miles from Wichita.
“We need to do something about this,” Sherrie said to her husband. “We need a store so we can get the supplies we need locally.” Scotty was reluctant, but she made her case.
“We asked some friends to commit to prayer about this,” Sherrie said. “We also sent out a poll to the community and got a good response.” On March 26, 2013, they opened a new store in Burden. Sherrie asked friends for suggestions to name the store, and someone suggested Forgotten Item. The name stuck.
Today, Forgotten Item Market operates in 500 square feet in the former barbecue restaurant on Main Street in Burden. “We started in a smaller building across the street but then we moved into the front third of our old barbecue place. Now we’ve already outgrown that,” she said.
Forgotten Item Market offers produce and other grocery supplies plus household goods, pet food and gift and craft items. In other words, a customer can get milk and bread – and powdered sugar – plus other staples, but the store also offers custom-made items from local artisans. “We have things that were made by a local woodworker, a quilter, and a jewelry maker,” Sherrie said.
She also offers a custom shopping service for her customers.
“We have some elderly people in town so I go grocery shopping for them,” Sherrie said. “They will give me a list on Friday or Saturday and I will shop for them on Saturday afternoon or Monday when I purchase supplies for the store.” On Tuesday, their goods are picked up by the elderly families or delivered to them.
“I’m a couponer,” Sherrie said. “I’ll scour the ads, clip coupons and find the very best prices on supplies.” She then drives to Wichita and restocks her store, while buying what the elderly families want.
“We’ve been blessed that my husband has always been able to find work locally so he’s available to help,” Sherrie said. “It’s a God thing.”
Forgotten items. They happen when we start a project or recipe and find that something is missing. Sherrie and Scotty Conklin are making a difference by using this experience to help create a business that would serve their community in this way. Such entrepreneurial ideas can serve other communities as well – don’t forget.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Education officials plan to discuss this week if results from troubled school tests will be considered valid.
The annual math and reading tests at Kansas schools were disrupted this year by problems with the state’s new test delivery system. When those problems eased, the tests were hit by cyber attacks. The state’s students finished the tests last week.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the problems have raised questions about whether Kansas would have enough testing data to release accurate results, and whether individual test questions were valid.
Marianne Perie, director of the University of Kansas’ Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation, said she believes the state-level aggregate results will be valid, but it’s unclear whether the results will be valid for individual districts, schools and students.
After a significant storm front was predicted to sweep through the region Wednesday night, hopes were high for a bit of much-needed moisture.
It was easy to be disappointed by what was in the rain gauge Thursday morning, however.
Official reports from the far northwest segment of Hays showed a scant tenth of an inch was the highest official report, with most of the town getting approximately .02 to 0.3 inches.
The official measurement at the K-State Ag Research Center was .06 inches — with total precipitation for the calendar year now at 2.65 inches.
A report of .29 inches was the most significant rainfall reported in Ellis County, that from the far northwest portion of the county.
The most significant rainfalls reported in the region were just more than 1 inch in Gove and Logan counties. A report in Ness County showed .72 inches of rain overnight.
WILSON — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced Wednesday he will host a town hall meeting in Wilson as part of his Kansas Listening Tour.
The town hall will be from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Wilson Senior Center, 511 25th.
Area residents are encouraged to attend and share feedback with Moran on the critical issues facing Kansas and the nation. The issues Moran focuses on and the work he does in Washington are largely based on the conversations he has with Kansans during town hall meetings.
Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 939 recently announced the winners of this year’s scholarships. The five students will each receive $500.
The winners are:
• Christie Johnson, Hill City, who plans on attending Fort Hays State University.
• Blane Burns, Cheylin, who will attend Northwest Kansas Technical College.
• Jordan Compton, Wallace County, will choose between Hutchinson and Colby junior colleges.
• Taylor Dreiling, Ness City, will attend Wichita State University.
• Maua Calvillo, Garden City, attend Kansas State University.
VVA 939 offers the scholarships to students who live in a county where there resides a member of Chapter 939. This is the sixth year that VVA 939 has awarded scholarships to graduating seniors.
The Hays High softball team is headed to the 5A state tournament after a 3-0 victory over Great Bend in the regional championship on Wednesday evening in Great Bend.
Albany Schaffer knocked in Nicole Dinkel on a two-out single in the sixth break a scoreless tie and give the Indians the lead. Dinkel scored again in the seventh on a Haley Wells single to grab a 2-0 lead. Wells scored the Indian’s third run of the game later in the inning on a Tessa Stickel single.
Hannah Hearld picked up the victory, striking out nine.
Earlier in the day, the Indians beat Goddard-Eisenhower 9-4 to reach the regional championship game. Hays scored four in the bottom of the sixth to break open a one-run game. Hearld struck out only one in the complete game victory but homered and drove in three. Madison Prough also had three RBI’s. Albany Schaffer and Haley Wells both had three hits.
The Indians are now 18-4 on the season and will play next Thursday in Manhattan in the 5A state tournament.
The Ellis baseball team is headed to state. The Railers beat Herington 12-6 then knocked off Lincoln 15-0 in three innings to win the Lincoln 2-1A Regional.
Ellis scored three in the first, nine in the second and three in the third in the title game. Clayton Feik went 2-for-3 and drove in four. Dalton Hensley had three RBIs. Brandon Bollig struck out six of the 12 batters he faced.
Ellis took control of the first game early as well, scoring three runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings against Herington. Easton Smith struck out eight in the complete game win. Brevin LaBarge went 2-for-4 and drove in four.
The Railers improve to 11-8 and will play on Thursday at the 2-1A state tournament in Great Bend.
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was sentenced to more than nine years in prison for killing her brother and leaving his body in the backyard of her home.
Fifty-five-year-old Susan L. May was sentenced Wednesday to nine years and one month in prison for killing her 55-year-old brother, Richard Hrejsa. His decomposing body was found last October in the backyard of May’s rural Butler County home. Authorities believe he was killed about a month earlier.
The Wichita Eagle reports May was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in January to reckless second-degree murder. Two counts of interference with law enforcement and one count of criminal desecration of a body were dropped as part of the plea deal.
TOPEKA — Officials at the Kansas Department for Children and Families announced today that Andrew Wiens has been named the agency’s director of legislative policy.
Wiens, 26, is a former policy analyst with Gov. Sam Brownback’s office. He started at DCF on Monday.
Wiens graduated from Tabor College in Hillsboro in 2011 with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy, history, management and religious studies.
While in the Governor’s Office, his areas included taxes, energy, education and social services.
“I am eager to learn more about the issues of importance to children and families. I look forward to working alongside DCF staff, legislators, community organizations and service providers to help Kansans in need,” Wiens said in a prepared statement.
He and his wife, Kelsey, live in Topeka.
Wiens replaces Michelle Schroeder, who left the agency in January for a job with the Division of Budget.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A national Muslim organization is asking the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to cancel a training program by a former FBI agent because it is afraid his message will lead to bias against Islam.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington considers John Guandolo an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist. Guandolo is to give a two-day training program next week.
The training program in Wichita is expected to draw law enforcement officers from across Kansas. One of Guandolo’s main focus areas is the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. David Mattingly says the department has no intention of canceling the course, which is not mandatory.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Camping and outdoor enthusiasts are gearing up for a Kansas outing that is part of a national effort to get more people camping.
The Capital Camp-Out is scheduled for May 30 at MacLennan Park in northwest Topeka near Cedar Crest, the governor’s official residence. The event is one of four being held across the United States as part of National Great Outdoors Month.
Gov. Sam Brownback is to mark the month by signing a proclamation to being the event.
Campers will be offered a variety of activities, such as fishing and camping instruction. Equipment and camping gear provided for the event will be donated to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism for use in its first-time campers program.
