Officials in Dublin, Ireland are scrambling for a solution in the wake of a statement from Garth Brooks saying he’ll play five shows or none at all. The ultimatum comes after the city issued a license for only three of the five shows booked in the city’s Croke Park. “I can’t thank the people of Ireland enough for how welcome they have made me feel,” says Brooks in the statement released over the weekend. “I have faith that [the] Dublin City Council will make the best decision for the people of Ireland. For us, it is five shows or none at all. To choose which shows to do and which shows not to do, would be like asking to choose one child over another.” City chiefs held an emergency meeting and even attempted to rebook the two canceled shows at another location – a move promoters say is logistically impossible since staging and lights were designed for the dimensions at Croke Park.
“What I was told this morning – by Aiken Promotions and the GAA [Gaelic Athletic Association] – is that the ship leaves tonight with material for the stage and if there are not five concerts on board, there will be none,” Dublin Lord Mayor Christy Burke told the city council. More here. That would be fine with one resident near the park, who has initiated a lawsuit to stop all five shows. More here.
Meanwhile, the talk of the long weekend was Brooks’ big announcement after a promise on his website reading, “The wait is over … 7/7.” The big announcement seems to have been postponed, however. A new message invites fans to “Watch a live stream of Garth’s press conference at garthbrooks.com!” Thursday (7/10) at noon EDT.
GREAT BEND-It didn’t last long but the entire city of Great Bend went black Monday night after a power outage took down the grid just after 10:00 p.m.
Chris Huber, District 6 Superintendent with Wheatland Electric in Great Bend, says it’s unknown what caused the power outage. Officials suspect the outage was caused by a downburst of wind that took down poles along Sunflower Electric’s 115-transmission line that feeds electricity to the City of Great Bend.
“I stepped outside, didn’t think it was much of a storm and the lights went out. I don’t know what caused it,” said Huber.
“I keep hearing we had a downburst of wind. Sunflower’s main transmission line lost four poles, so we had to get our guys out so we could isolate and get the load around so we could pick the town back up. With the help of 911 letting us know that there were poles down, we were able to find the problem and get it repaired”
The outage lasted approximately thirty minutes. All power was restored to the city by 11:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 24, arrived like most mornings in Finney County. The only difference – humidity levels were high and the dew point skied off the chart.
John Schlageck writes for the Kansas Farm Bureau.
Two inches of rain the last couple days after nearly four years of drought concerned veteran farmer Dwane Roth. He believed conditions were ripe for a serious storm.
Shortly after noon, a cloud bank began forming on the northern horizon. Throughout the afternoon it gradually moved closer and closer to his fields north of Highway 50. At 3:45, the rain began falling slow and easy.
But not for long. In little more than a minute marble-sized hail stones dropped straight down. A couple minutes later, hail the size of golf balls started blowing horizontally.
Within five minutes, the sky turned white and the wind blew so hard visibility dropped to less than 100 feet. Reports of hail a foot deep were not uncommon.
The white combine (hail) left a swath of destruction seven miles long and five miles wide approximately eight miles northwest of Holcomb. The aftermath was devastating.
Wheat ready for harvest was hammered by the storm. The next day, the heads, stripped clean by the hail, drooped in the bright morning sun. Plump, golden berries covered the ground between rows and the promise of a 70 bushel-per-acre irrigated crops evaporated as the white combine reaped its wrath.
A beautiful, chest-high corn crop also met a similar fate. Stalks lay twisted and broken while the leaves were left torn and tattered. Some of the crop lay pummeled into the soil and the corn left standing stood less than knee high.
Bruised and battered corn stalks are prone to disease, especially when they’re growing as fast like they are at this time, Roth said. Stock rot and lodging could result in major losses.
“My dad always told me after a bad storm you should take off and go fishing for a week, but he never did.”
One veteran farmer pulled up in his pickup, stepped out and looked to the west at one of his fields of corn.
“It looked pretty crappy,” he said. “My dad always told me after a bad storm you should take off and go fishing for a week, but he never did.”
When asked how he slept the night after the storm and before he could survey the damage the next morning, he replied while interjecting some patented western Kansas humor.
“I slept just fine,” he smiled. “I’m a good Catholic with a clean conscience and we always sleep well – even after farming for nearly 50 years.”
Then he added as he cocked his head to the right and looked me squarely in the eyes, “I’d much rather be looking at this crop than looking at you, if you were my doctor, telling me I had six weeks to live.”
Always able to look at the bigger picture, many of the Finney County farmers surveying the damage believed their corn crop would come back. Some even hoped they’d harvest at least half a crop if no more hail hit their farms.
With years of farming under their belts, most of these farmers understand that by the end of June there’s little they can do but wait and see how the rest of the growing season pans out.
“This is usually the way it goes out here,” Roth said rolling the battered corn stalk in his hands. “When you come out of a drought you’re going to get some significant weather. So many times the results aren’t what you hope for.”
And what about the drought that has lasted for years, especially in southwestern Kansas?
“You know they say farmers are the eternal optimists and I’m hoping it’s over, Roth says. “I’m not certain it is. But hey – I’m breathing, we’re going to be okay.”
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
ELLIS — The Ellis Public Works Department will be performing repairs on a water main from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Tuesday.
The area affected will be 12th Street, from Monroe to Dorrance streets, and Washington Street from 12th to 13th streets. The area will be without water until the repair is completed.
The Skills USA competitions are focused on student talents and achievements, but the organization also recognizes the significant contributions of career technical education faculty.
This year, during the 50th annual Skills USA National Leadership and Skills Conference, held last month in Kansas City, Mo., 46 technical programs in Kansas earned a section membership award for supporting the goals and purposes of Career Technical Education through SkillsUSA.
Eight faculty members from NCK Tech earned 100% Section awards, indicating they had enrolled 15 or more student members of their programs in SkillsUSA. The instructors and programs were:
• Robert Gibbens, Auto Service Technology (Beloit campus)
• Mark Rathbun, Auto Service Technology (Hays campus)
• Mike Cheney, Carpentry (Beloit campus)
• Kris Jones, Diesel Equipment Technology (Beloit campus)
• Brent Hubert, Collision Repair Technology (Beloit campus)
• Allan Hill, Residential Wiring (Hays campus)
• Bob Meistrell, Welding (Hays campus)
The instructors will be awarded 100% Section Certificates and Pins during a Skills USA update presented at the Kansas Association of Career Technical Education conference July 27 to 30 in Manhattan.
Dear Dave,
My wife and I just became debt-free, and we’re saving for our first house. We have about $75,000 in savings, and we’d like to buy a home with cash in the next few years. Where do you think we should place our money so it’s working for us while we save? Andrew
Dave Ramsey
Dear Andrew,
I don’t advise playing the market on the short term. If I were in your shoes, and looking at possibly a two- to four-year window, I’d just pile the cash in a money market account or possibly a balanced fund.
I’m a big fan of growth stock mutual funds when it comes to long-term investing. The problem with that in this scenario would be the volatility of the market. By the time you’ve saved up more money and spent time deciding on a house, the market may be down. All you’re looking for in this scenario is a wise, safe place to park it and pile it up while you prepare.
Congratulations, Andrew. Debt-free is the way to be when you’re looking to buy a nice, new home! —Dave
Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.
HUTCHINSON – Jury selection is expected to begin Tuesday for a 52-year-old Hutchinson man accused of stealing from the Salvation Army.
Kenneth Weis is alleged to have taken items donated from drop-off boxes.
The state alleges the thefts occurred on three different occasions in 2012 and 2013. Although the items taken have a value of less than $1,000, the state filed the charges as felonies because the defendant has two or more prior convictions for theft.
Weis is also charged with three counts of criminal trespass for being on Salvation Army property.
The trial begins Tuesday in front of Judge Trish Rose.
MCPHERSON — A McPherson County man was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for an accident that left a McPherson school teacher critically injured.
Jeffery Paul Davis recently pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated battery while driving under the influence for the two-vehicle accident on Dec. 20 that injured Mia Stockman.
Stockman was on her way to work when she was hit head-on by Davis, leaving her with severe brain trauma. Because Davis has been incarcerated for the past six months, he’ll likely serve approximately two more years before his release.
The EMS/Rural Fire building project continues to move forward after the Ellis County Commission voted to award the bid for construction to Commercial Builders of Hays.
At Monday evening’s meeting, commissioners voted to accept the base bid for $3.48 million with an alternate for extra insulation for $32,800, bringing the total project cost to $3.52 million.
Last month, the commission received five bids, with Commercial Builders submitting the lowest bid.
Commissioners previously rejected the first round of bids late last year because they all came in over the $3.5 million estimated cost.
County Administrator Greg Sund said the contract still has to be finalized but, once that is done and signed by commissioners, Commercial Builders will have a year to complete the project at 22nd Street and General Hays Road.
The commission also tabled a decision on temporary office space for courthouse and Law Enforcement Center staff until next week’s meeting in an effort to get more information.
• The commission also approved a change order on the Old U.S. 40 reconstruction project, reducing the project cost by $92,659.
• Approved a radio maintenance agreement with Motorola for $26,955.
A Monday night front that moved through the area mostly missed Hays and Ellis County, but deposited a half-inch of rain in areas of Gove, Trego and Ness counties. The most significant report of rainfall in Ellis County was just more than a tenth of an inch.
The storm that drive across Ellis County brought a wave of cool air, with the temperature dropping 20 degrees from 102 to 82 between drive-time and 8 p.m. The mercury dropped a dramatic 11 degrees from 7:35 p.m. to 7:55 p.m., according to National Weather Service statistics.
After the front passed, the temperature then jumped 9 degrees from 82 to 91 in the next 15 minutes.
Tuesday is expected to be sunny, breezy and mild, with a high of 86 projected.
The NWS is predicting the next chance of precipitation is Wednesday night, although those potential storms aren’t expected until after 11 p.m.
LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — After a plea from a 9-year-old boy, a Kansas City suburb will temporarily allow residents to have small, free lending libraries in their yards.
The Leawood City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a temporary moratorium that allows “Little Free Library” structures in residents’ yards. The moratorium, effective Tuesday, will last until Oct. 20.
The action came after the city received national attention when it required 9-year-old Spencer Collins to remove his library. The small box on stilts was full of books, which residents could read and replace for free.
The Kansas City Star reports
the city must wait 60 to 90 days and hold public hearings before it can permanently change its ordinances. It plans to survey Leawood homeowners associations to gauge public opinions on the libraries.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — It’s been a quiet year for tornadoes in Kansas and weather experts are expecting that trend to continue.
The National Weather Service says the state recorded 33 tornadoes by the end of June, the lowest number since 30 were recorded in 1994.
Meteorologist Chance Hayes in Wichita says most of the Great Plains has seen fewer tornadoes this year, generally because jet stream patterns have stopped moist air from the Gulf of Mexico from colliding with cold air from the north.
The Wichita Eagle reports tornado numbers are down nationwide. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says preliminary numbers through July 6 showed 783 tornadoes around the country, a more than 20 percent drop from the average total of 1,046 during the past 10 years.
Going back to school this year at USD 489 might not cost as much as expected, as Hays USD 489 school board members on Monday discussed rethinking the fee increases enacted earlier this year.
The board also agreed to the non-renewal of 16 teaching contracts and had said they hoped the fees and the passage of local option budget increase would be enough to bring back at least three teachers in “critical areas” to reduce classroom size in elementary classrooms.
The LOB increase, however, was soundly rejected by voters on June 27, failing by a 2-to-1 margin.
At Monday’s meeting, school board members discussed how the fees would be earmarked and distributed and how teachers could be brought back with just the one-year increase in fees.
According to Director of Finance Tracy Kaiser, the textbook/materials fee can only be used to buy new textbooks, leaving little left over to replace teachers.
However, funds from kindergarten fee could be used to rehire teachers, she said, as those funds are earmarked for the general fund.
“We were hoping the (LOB increase) would go through and that funding and the fees … were really going to help with hiring some teachers back,” board vice president Marty Patterson said after the meeting. “After we really look at it, (the fees) may not help that much on getting teachers back.
“If it doesn’t help get teachers back, there is no sense in charging (the fees) unless the administration can come up with a good reason why,” he added.
The board agreed to discuss the fee increases at Monday’s USD 489 board work session.
Officials in Dublin, Ireland are scrambling for a solution in the wake of a statement from Garth Brooks saying he’ll play five shows or none at all. The ultimatum comes after the city issued a license for only three of the five shows booked in the city’s Croke Park. “I can’t thank the people of Ireland enough for how welcome they have made me feel,” says Brooks in the statement released over the weekend. “I have faith that [the] Dublin City Council will make the best decision for the people of Ireland. For us, it is five shows or none at all. To choose which shows to do and which shows not to do, would be like asking to choose one child over another.” City chiefs held an emergency meeting and even attempted to rebook the two canceled shows at another location – a move promoters say is logistically impossible since staging and lights were designed for the dimensions at Croke Park.
