WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A lack of funding has prompted Sedgwick County to start the process of closing a home for troubled boys it operates for the state.
The Wichita Eagle reports County Manager William Buchanan sent an email to county leaders on Monday saying he has instructed the local department of corrections director to stop accepting boys into the program.
The Judge Riddel Boys Ranch has been teetering on the edge of closing for the past couple of years after Buchanan presented a budget in 2012 that recommended shuttering the facility at Lake Afton.
The Kansas Legislature approved a one-time grant of $750,000 in its current fiscal year, which ends June 30, after the county asked for $1.5 million. No additional money was budgeted for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Stacy Campbell visit’s with Ellis County Environmental Planning and Zoning Environmental Manager, Karen Purvis, on the importance of testing your well water.
Holy cow! If the last couple of weeks haven’t been busy enough for you, let’s try this one on for size! Tons to do, tons to see and many places to go, so let’s get rolling …
Dena Patee
Today, EHS Golfers traveled to Hays to match up with TMP on the Golf Course. You won’t find an FFA member around, as they are at State FFA in Manhattan. Good Luck to all.
The Ellis Express Youth Track Club will have practice tonight at 6:30 p.m. They just finished a full weekend of meets, traveling to Goodland on Saturday and Russell on Sunday. These kids are very impressive in their events. Lots of talent coming up in the Ellis Schools. A big thanks goes out to all the coaches and parents who help with the Track Club.
Tuesday will find the Ellis Jr. High students at Plainville for a track meet, the JV Golfers will be in Norton, and the Baseball and Softball players will be on their way to Hoisington for games. The Community Foundation of Ellis will be meeting at the Alliance office at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday allows people to take a short breather. All I have on my schedule is an Alliance meeting at 3:30 p.m. at the Alliance office. The Ellis Good Samaritan Residents will enjoy a Cheese Tasting in the evening.
Thursday revs up with the EHS Golfers at Trego and EHS Track at Victoria. EJH Track members will have track pictures after school at the Track & Football field. At 6:30 p.m., you can be thoroughly entertained by the WGS students during their Spring Programs. The K-3 students will begin the evening’s festivities at 6:30 p.m. and the 4-6 grades will begin at 7:30 p.m. I have heard great things about the program contents from my fifth-grade student, and I’m very excited to see it all put together.
Friday doesn’t slow down at all. The EHS Golfers will be in Hill City, Jr. High Track will be here in Ellis, along with Softball as they take on Goodland, and the Baseball team travels to Minneola. The Ellis Good Samaritan Residents will be baking in the afternoon, which sounds like a great afternoon to me. The Ellis Good Samaritan Center is also gearing up for National Nursing Home Week next week with tons of activities for the residents and community alike. Take some time and visit the Center next week and participate in all the great events. (Like the barbecue on Wednesday)
Saturday will see the Ellis Express Track Club in Minneapolis, Kan., for the next meet. The Junior High and High School Music and Band program will be held Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. With the extreme musical talent of our instructors and students, this event will not disappoint.
Don’t forget Mom on Sunday, as we all pause to thank our moms for putting up with us and all our crazy days as kids and adults. Thanks, Mom!
Last week, I was so excited to share with you the coming of Big Creek Floral and Gifts. Well, I kinda-sorta put the cart before the horse. Their target opening date is June 1, but as in everyone’s daily life, sometimes those targets run the other direction. I will definitely let you know as time gets closer when the official opening date has been declared.
Next week is National Nursing Home Week at the Ellis Good Samaritan Center and there are events and special days planned all week. Theme Baskets are being given away on Friday, May 16, you do not need to be present to win. For more information, you can call the Center at (785) 726-3101. One of the big events of the week is the Community BBQ on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and are asked to bring 2 side dishes. More details will be posted next week.
All right, everybody, let’s get this week kicked off with a bang. If you know something that needs to be shared, please let me know!
Make it a great day!
Dena Patee is executive director of Ellis Alliance.
MAIZE, Kan. (AP) — Police in a Wichita suburb say a body found in a car at an apartment complex appears to have been there at least two months.
KSNW-TV reports a resident called Maize police around 10:30 a.m. Monday after noticing a bad smell around the vehicle.
Maize Police Chief Matthew Jensby says officers found the body in an advanced state of decomposition. Jensby says the deceased person was 30 to 50 years old.
Investigators were waiting for the coroner to remove the body so they could try to make an identification. Jensby says police don’t know if the death resulted from a crime, an accident or natural causes.
In the latest episode of Community Connection, Eagle Radio’s Mike Cooper visits with Dr. Paul Adams about the Plymouth School House, located on the Fort Hays State University campus.
SALINA — Police arrested two men over the weekend and reportedly recovered two more guns taken in the mid-April burglary of Cleve’s Marine and Sporting Goods.
McCarty and McConnell
On Friday night, a police officer recognized a Salina man wanted on outstanding warrants walking with a woman in the area of Elm and Columbia about 9:35 p.m. The officer told Jason McCarty, 36, to stop, but he kept walking and finally stopped in the 900 block of E. Elm, reached into the waistband of his pants, then swung his arm upward.
Officers later reported finding a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun in the backyard of 901 E. Elm. The gun was one of the guns stolen from Cleve’s.
In addition to the outstanding warrants, McCarty was jailed on suspicion of criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of stolen property, criminal use of a weapon and felony obstruction.
Then, just before 7 a.m. Saturday morning, Jacky McConnell, 35, was arrested just as the Salina S.R.T team was going to execute a search warrant at his home in the 200 block of S. 11th, looking for guns and drugs.
During the search officers, recovered a .38-caliber handgun taken from Cleve’s, a couple of other handguns not believed to be connected to the burglary of Cleve’s, and 43-grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
McConnell was booked into jail on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of stolen property.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Police say country music singer Scotty McCreery was the victim of an early morning home invasion near the campus of North Carolina State University, where he is a student.
Raleigh Police spokesman Jim Sughrue says officers were called shortly before 2 a.m. Monday to an apartment about a mile from campus. Three suspects armed with guns are reported to have taken wallets, cash and electronic items.
Police say the 20-year-old McCreery was among the victims. No one was injured.
A native of nearby Garner, McCreery won TV’s “American Idol” in 2011 and was named best new artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards the next year. In addition to being a recording star and a pitchman for Bojangles’ Chicken ‘n Biscuits, McCreery is wrapping up his sophomore year of college.
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SALINA — A 25-year-old Salina man has been jailed after he allegedly raped a woman at her home early Friday morning, and then grabbed cash out of the register of a convenience store early Saturday morning.
Salina Police Capt. Mike Sweeney said Shaundrick Staten is accused of raping and robbing a 38-year-old Salina woman after giving her a ride home from a convenience store just after midnight early Friday.
The woman, who reportedly knew Staten as a casual acquaintance, accepted the ride home. Sweeney said Staten asked if he could use the bathroom and, when the woman agreed, he displayed a sawed-off shotgun, told the woman to be quiet and then sexually assaulted her. Before leaving, Staten allegedly took the woman’s wallet, cellphone and some prescription medication.
At approximately 3:45 a.m. Saturday, Staten then allegedly went into the Casey’s convenience store at Ninth and Crawford, bought a pack of cigarettes, then used a prepaid cash card to buy fuel for a Dodge Durango he was driving. He went back inside the store, and while the clerk was counting cash at the register allegedly grabbed the money, ran out of the store and then drove away east on Crawford.
After reviewing security video, police went to an apartment at 500 E. Crawford and found Staten. They also reported finding cash, a sawed-off shotgun and the prescription medication taken from the woman who had been raped the night before.
Staten was booked into the Saline County jail in connection with the rape of the woman and robbery of the convenience store.
He was also charged with taking a cellphone and headset from a Salina man in February, and threatening that same man with a handgun and demanding money on April 26.
SALINA — A Salina man is in jail after punching a man in the face and kicking his dog on a sidewalk Friday afternoon.
Jeffrey Plott
Salina Police Capt. Mike Sweeney said Eric Snearly, 48, was walking his dog in the 200 block of Hartland around 1:40 p.m., when he met Jeffrey Plott, 49, walking in the other direction. Plott allegedly kicked the dog and punched Snearly in the right eye, knocking him out.
Snearly came to and went to Salina Regional Health Center for treatment of a cut over his right eye, which took several stitches to close.
He was able to give police a description of the man who hit him, and during a check in the area where the assault occurred, officers located Plott.
Plott was booked into the Saline County jail on allegations of aggravated battery. Snearly and Plott reportedly do not know each other. It is not known why Plott kicked the dog or punched Snearly. The dog was not hurt.
Before diving too far in my review of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” I want to talk a little bit about perception and experience. Whether we like it or not, we all look at the world through lenses — how we want the world to be, or what we’re afraid it might become.
James Gerstner works at Fort Hays State University Foundation.
For example, I saw “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” at the 13th Street Warren Theatre in Wichita this past weekend. For those who have never been to the Warren: the balcony features to-your-seat meal and drink service, heated seats and, most importantly, a very old-timey focus on the “movie-going experience.” As a film reviewer who sees a lot of movies, they experience is very often lost on me, it’s routine. Shaking up that perception can mean everything. I am deeply in love with the first half hour of “Amazing Spider-Man 2” for two reasons; it features very high quality Spider-Man excitement, and I was completely jazzed about the experience of being “at the movies.”
Therein lies the key, in this reviewer’s opinion, to the sustained survival of the film industry. In the not-too-distant future, new release films will likely be available to download and watch from the comfort of our homes. The question then becomes, why, oh why, would we ever submit ourselves to going to a crowded theater full of inconsiderate young people when we can sit on our couches? The only viable answer to that question is the theater experience and how that changes our perception and enjoyment of a movie. If that experience exists, and is worth the cost, many people will continue to choose it. If not, services like Netflix might be looking at the cinema industry in the rearview mirror.
••••••••••••••••
Despite what the previews and reviews might suggest, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is a very strong, if not the strongest, entry in the “Spider-Man” franchise.
Andrew Garfield returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man to wonderful effect. Garfield absolutely nails the “make fun of villains while dispatching them” bit that is one of the core pieces of the Spider-Man character. Coupled with stunning CGI effects, Garfield’s Spider-Man is stunning.
Nearly without exception, the cast of the “Amazing Spider-Man” series far surpasses the cast of the first “Spider-Man” set of films. Emma Stone is more likable than Kirsten Dunst, relative newcomer Dane DeHann is already a far better actor than James Franco will ever be; and, to this reviewer’s delight, Toby Maguire is nowhere to be found.
“Amazing Spider-Man 2” is not without its flaws. While it handles it infinitely better, “Amazing Spider-Man 2” is as over-saturated with villains as “Spider-Man 3” was. In some ways, however, the density of material is a good thing. Garfield thrives on interactive scenes — whether it’s villains, bystanders, love interests or family members, Garfield’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a completely different, and decidedly stronger, character in the presence of others that when he’s alone.
There are a few dull scenes, and there is some cheese, and while “Amazing Spider-Man 2” may not have amazing oozing out of the walls, it certainly has more than its fair share. I think this is a wonderful kick-off movie to the summer movie season – definitely a better start than last year’s moderately disappointing “Iron Man 3.”
Here are my recommendations: Go see “Amazing Spider-Man 2,” enter the theater looking for fun, not depth, and take a trip sometime to see a movie at the Warren Theatres in Wichita.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller is warning state policymakers that a reduction in Kansas’ bond rating should serve as a “wake-up call” that a potential downgrade could happen in Oklahoma, despite the state’s growing economy.
Miller released figures Monday that show gross receipts to the state treasury continued to improve in April. But he says the state’s pension debt, the use of non-recurring revenue for operational costs, and the reduction of taxes without offsetting cuts in state spending could ultimately lead to a reduction in Oklahoma’s bond rating.
Moody’s Investor Services last week reduced Kansas’ bond rating, citing income tax cuts, pension obligations, and the use of one-time revenue to cover operating expenses.
Miller says Oklahoma faces similar problems, although he says income tax cuts here have been more responsible.
Brantley Gilbert is partnering with Harley-Davidson and Folds Of Honor for a motorcycle ride from Athens, GA to Arlington, VA May 21-26. Gilbert will perform at several locations, concluding with a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. A bus accompanying him will be wrapped with graphics featuring names fans submitted of those who gave their lives in military service. Gilbert’s new album Just As I Am is out May 19. More here.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola says it will drop a controversial ingredient from a variety of its drinks, not just Powerade.
The Atlanta-based company says brominated vegetable oil is still being used in some flavors of Fanta and Fresca, as well as several citrus-flavored fountain drinks.
The ingredient — which Coca-Cola says prevents certain ingredients from separating — had been the target of a petition by a Mississippi teenager. The ingredient will be replaced with others that fill the same function.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that Coca-Cola is dropping BVO from Powerade, following a similar move by PepsiCo’s Gatorade last year.
Although companies stand by the safety of BVO, they say such changes are in response to customer feedback. Several companies have changed recipes as people look for foods they feel are natural.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A lack of funding has prompted Sedgwick County to start the process of closing a home for troubled boys it operates for the state.
