Area first responders were at the scene of a Friday night fire off 41st Street and Country Lane just before 9 p.m.

According to Hays Fire Department Chief Gary Brown, fire crews were called out at 8:53 p.m. to a report of a treeline on fire.

Firefighters on the scene said fireworks were most likely the cause of the fire.

Approximately 40 feet of treeline burned before the fire was extinguished.

Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.

 UPDATE:

According to a press release from Hays Fire Department Chief Gary Brown, at 8:49 PM on July 4, 2014, the City of Hays Fire Department, supported by the Hays Police Department, was dispatched to a report of a tree on fire in the 300 block of West 40^th Street.

Two fire trucks with five firefighters responded.

First arriving police officers reported a large fire threatening to spread to a building.

On this report, the HFD officer-in-charge called for a third fire truck with two additional firefighters and an Ellis County EMS ambulance to respond from the fireworks safety detail at Fort Hays State University.

On arrival, firefighters found about 40 feet of a tree row on fire behind 4004 Country Lane.

Two hose streams were quickly placed at work to control the fire. Firefighters shut of the supply to a gas meter that was damaged by the fire.

The most probable cause of the fire was fireworks.

The last fire crews left the scene at 9:59 PM.

 

FHSU University Relations

The Department of Teacher Education at Fort Hays State University has been awarded an $18,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation’s Recognition Grants program to fund a service-learning project with lessons that promote empathy, respect and appreciation of differences through reading children’s literature.

The grant will help integrate social-emotional learning into an already successful after school literacy program, Read4Respect developed by the Anti-Defamation League, at Washington Elementary school.

“Currently, undergraduate students from the Department of Teacher Education provide research-based reading interventions to at-risk, struggling readers during an after school literacy tutoring program,” said Dr. Valerie Zelenka, project director and assistant professor of teacher education at FHSU. “This literacy intervention program has been in existence for a few years and continues to grow in success and popularity.”

The National Association of School Psychologists, said Zelenka, reports that bullying is “the most common form of violence in society.” Research indicates that bullying affects 70 to 80 percent of all school children in the United States, and prevalence rates are rising.

“The Read4Respect program will provide us with the framework to promote social-emotional development together with literacy development. We are very excited about this opportunity to better serve the children in our community,” said Zelenka.

Elementary students are allowed to keep their books and are encouraged to create a home library and share their reading experiences with those around them. At the end of the semester, undergraduate students from the Institute of Applied Technology will assist the children in building bookshelves to use at home, she said.

“Each year we are amazed at the incredible projects being done by organizations across Kansas,” said Steve Coen, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation. “This grant program allows us to support these innovative and impactful community initiatives and recognize the groups and individuals making them a reality.”

Recognition Grants expand the Kansas Health Foundation’s support to a broad range of health related organizations throughout the state. The program is targeted for organizations and agencies proposing meaningful and charitable projects or initiatives that fit within the foundation’s mission of improving the health of all Kansans. In addition to supporting projects, the foundation also seeks to support initiatives that focus on promoting policy, systems and environmental transformations that support health.

For more information about this project or to make a donation and volunteer, contact Dr. Zelenka at 785-628-4688 or [email protected].

HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

 

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two years after a cardiac technician was accused of infecting patients with hepatitis C, a handful of patients are still suing Exeter Hospital, which is pursuing its own lawsuit seeking help covering its settlement costs.

A federal court judge recently set a July 2016 trial date for the hospital’s lawsuit against two staffing companies that employed David Kwiatkowski and an organization that registers medical technologists.

The hospital has reached confidential settlements with all but three of the 29 people who sued after Kwiatkowski’s arrest in July 2012 but argues that Maxim Healthcare Services, Triage Staffing and the American Registry of Radiological Technologists also should be held accountable.

Kwiatkowski is serving 39 years in prison for stealing painkillers and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood.

He was a radiologic technician who worked at the Hays Medical Center catheterization lab  between May and September, 2010.

 

Congratulations to Kayla Walker of Hays for finding the SECOND Golden Egg in the 2nd edition of the Eagle Golden Egg Hunt.

The egg was hidden in a hollowed-out tree root in the middle of Airport Park at the corner of Commerce Parkway and Old Highway 40 (just west of the Hays Regional Airport).

Kayla will receive her $200 at Saturday night’s Wild West Festival concert.

See more at:  https://eaglecom.net/goldenegg/index.html

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

Today, the old-fashioned wallpaper and yellow-gold paint that used to line the walls of the American Legion’s wedding reception and banquet room is gone, replaced with pristine white walls, gray trim and flat-screen TVs.

“We wanted to support the community by providing a cost-effective place where people can come and have community meetings, with catered meals,” Lisa VanHorn said, who operates the Legion with her husband, Kevin VanHorn.

The renovation is all part of American Legions Post 173’s Revitalization Campaign, designed to re-invent the entire building and the veterans who call it home — and to preserve it for years to come.

“We are asking for support with the American Legion Post 173 Revitalization Campaign, which we are asking the community to donate so that we can bring the legion back on the map again and get it nice and what the veteran’s deserve. They deserve a place to call home. They deserve a place to get information and just be around other veterans,” said VanHorn, noting the American Legion is a nonprofit organization that has served the Hays area for more that 50 years.

Vietnam Veteran Joseph Chretien pointed out the American Legion is not just about “fun and games.”

“All the money we raise with our weddings and other facilities goes right back into the Legion to help aid veterans. We give money every year to the Soldiers Home in Dodge City, help veterans with their educational and medical benefits” Chretien said, noting many of their newest members are students at Fort Hays State University.

VanHorn said she hopes the new wedding reception, banquet and meeting room will be complete by August.

Van Horn said donations can be anything from money, volunteer time or donated materials. Donations can mailed to the American Legion at 1305 Canterbury, Hays, KS 67601 or contact Lisa or Kevin VanHorn at (785) 625-3813.

Two Hays teenagers likely will face charges for using a lost credit card repeatedly at Hays businesses.

Lt. Brandon Wright of the Hays Police Department said Deyton Davis, 18, and a 16-year-old were identified following the investigation. Davis was arrested, and the juvenile’s case was forwarded to the county attorney.

The lost credit card was used 12 times beginning June 25, with a total loss of less than $500.