ELLIS COUNTY–An Oakley man is dead after a single-engine plane crash northeast of Ellis earlier this morning.

The pilot was identified by the Kansas Highway Patrol as Garrett Moore, 23, Oakley. The Air Tractor AT-401B spray plane was owned by Frontier AG in Oakley.

According to Ellis County Sheriff’s Deputy Wes Alstatd at the scene, the plane was found by a farmer in his pasture early Friday morning.  Alstatt said the plane had earlier been reported missing.

Currently the Kansas Highway Patrol is on scene and the Federal Aviation Administration is enroute from Wichita.

Emergency responders were called out shortly after 10 a.m. Friday.  There was no fire.

HAYS – The Ellis County coroner has been called to the scene where an aircraft was reported down in a field in northwest Ellis County.

Shortly after 10:00 a.m. Friday first responders were dispatched to a report of an aircraft down in a field north of Hays.

The incident is near 170^th Avenue and St. John- St. Andrew Road, about five miles north and five miles east of Ellis.

There is no fire at the scene. The Kansas Highway Patrol is on the scene and will assist with an investigation.

Stay tuned to Eagle Radio and check Hays Post for more details.

FHSU University Relations
HAYS, Kans. — Tricia Cline, director of admissions at Fort Hays State University, is piecing together recruitment materials that include student profiles written by spring 2014 advanced English composition students.

Dr. Cheryl Duffy, professor of English, said she approached Cline earlier this year with the idea of composition students compiling profiles on other students based on interviews. This would give the admissions office material for publicity and recruitment and provide valuable experience for Duffy’s students.

“It would provide a good opportunity for the students to do real-world writing, use interview skills and quotes and find a focus,” said Duffy.

Admissions staff selected students to be subjects based on geographic locations of hometowns, on-campus involvement and their experiences during previous recruitment processes.

The profiles are now complete, and pieces will soon be displayed in an array of FHSU recruitment materials.

“I did love the idea,” said Cline, emphasis on “love,” “because we believe that current students tell the FHSU story best.”

“All students should be well-versed in academic writing, but English majors especially should be well-versed not just in academic writing but in public writing,” said Duffy.

This is only one of many projects over the years that English students have been assigned.

Students have previously been published in newspapers and magazines such as The Hays Daily News and FHSU Magazine. Nonprofit organizations and FHSU departments have also benefited from the use of student articles. Among those are Big Brothers Big Sisters, Hays Public Library, University Police and the Geosciences and Education Departments at FHSU.

CITY OF HAYS 

Starting Monday, July 21st, 2014, the City of Hays will begin its routine distribution system burn out in an effort to control distribution biofilm.

It is essential that biofilm be eliminated from the system to ensure proper water infrastructure maintenance and quality. Biofilming is when a slight film can start to grow on the inside of the distribution pipe. Biofilming can cause water to have a bad taste and smell which can lead to nitrification which would cause corrosive water. This is the fifth time the city has utilized the burn out procedure. Specifically this took place in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

This common industry practice is used in cities throughout the country. Regionally, Post Rock Rural Water District, City of Stockton, and many others burn-out annually.

The burn out will be accomplished by changing from our usual combined chlorine process for 4 – 6 weeks. This will give the free chlorine process time to move through the entire distribution system.

Residents can expect a slight chlorine odor as the procedure moves through the system. The odor should not last more than a couple of days. The water is not harmful and is perfectly safe to use and consume.

Once the burn out is completed the city will return to its normal process of combined chlorine.

The City of Hays regrets any inconvenience this will cause but is necessary in order to maintain a healthy distribution system.

Burn-out commonly asked questions can be found on the Utilities page at haysusa.com or citizens can contact the Utilities Department at 628-7380.

By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

Hays city commissioners were presented with their first look at the 2015 budget during Thursday night’s work session. According to City Manager Toby Dougherty, the 2015 budget is very “routine” and “comparable” to the 2014 budget.

The city is budgeting a total amount of $36 million for the 2015 fiscal year. General fund expenditures have risen $52,000 and revenues are expected to be down by $31,600.

Total expenditures increased $77,600 from last year, but Dougherty says the increase is “misleading” due to transfers of funds and reserves, expenditures and current budgeting laws in Kansas.

“Key aspects of the budget include that it continues to be a balanced budget and we continue to put money into reserves as we do every year.” Dougherty said. “We not only provide a balanced budget but we’re financing reserves. The commission then uses that money to pay cash for capital projects.”

The budget continues to remain at 25 mills at the wish of the commission and there are no new employees. The largest expenditure  is the recent two percent pay bonus for city employees.

“Due to our sales tax projections, we’re a little bit wary of giving a pay increase that would compound so we recommended a bonus that would go away at the end of the year,” Dougherty explained. “We can reevaluate next year if we do have an uptick in revenues.”

So far this year, sales tax collections are on a downward trend with only one positive month to date.

New in 2015 would be the creation of a Commission Capital Reserve Fund.

According to Dougherty, every year the city brings in a little bit more money than needed to operate the city as monies from the sales tax are placed into the general fund levy. This extra money is used to pay down debt and to pay for capital projects and it simply carries over until the commission decides to spend it on capital project such as the 41^st Street and airport renovations.

“I’ve always  been a little bit leery of the process.” Dougherty said. “If the commission did not have a big project to spend the money on, the money is carried forward and it shows as an expenditure. That makes the budget look inflated, when extra money isn’t actually being spent.”

The creation of the new fund would allow the city to simply put the unused extra money into the fund. Every three months, an updated figure would be given to city commissioners. They would then decide what amount of money could be placed into a project or they could save the money for a bigger project.

“This way if the commission has a big project, they know how much they have to save in order to pay for that project,” added Dougherty.

The budget also features the same solid waste rate. A couple of years ago after changing to an automated system, the city projected that trash rates would need to be raised in 2012.  Since the city has kept expenses down over those years, no such increase is needed. Dougherty also mentioned that staff will reevaluate the increase next year.

“I can’t promise that there won’t be a (solid waste fee)  increase in the future, but I can say that there won’t be one for next year.” Dougherty said.

Hays city commissioners plan to work on the 2015 budget at their retreat this weekend in Salina and throughout the next month.  At the August 7 work session commissioners will discuss  funding of outside agencies.

A public hearing is set for August 14.

Hays Recreation Commission

The Hays Aquatic Park will not open at Noon.

They will re-evaluate the weather at 1:45pm to see if they can open at 2:00pm.

Wilson Pool will NOT be open today.