Dentists in northwest Kansas are hoping to break last year’s record of giving away more than $82,000 of free emergent dental care to low-income individuals and families in this year’s third annual DDS Give program scheduled this month.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Lowe of Lifetime Dental Care in Hays, dental professionals in Hays will treat patients from “Salina to the Nebraska border to Colorad0, I-70 and back to Hays … to provide free extractions, fillings, cleanings and X-rays.”
Lowe said the program was started by dental professionals who saw the need for charitable dental services in northwest Kansas.
Lowe said there is a nonprofit mobile dental station based out of Topeka traveling the state providing free dental care, but area dental professionals noticed, “they never come to northwest Kansas.”
Therefore, Lowe said, area dentists decided to come together to fill the need.
“It is a great feeling, we created something to give back … to some people who would otherwise have no other way to help themselves get the dental care they need urgently,” Lowe said.
He said appointments are on a first come, first served basis and urged residents to make an appointment quickly by visiting www.ddsgive.com or calling the phone numbers of participating dentists below:
Click image for participating providers (Sept. 12 Day of Service unless noted).
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — State officials are investigating the death of a 4-month-old girl at a foster home in a Wichita suburb.
Sedgwick County officials say the girl died last Thursday at the home in Bel Aire. Sheriff Jeff Easter says the girl’s 18-year-old mother was sleeping with her on a couch and apparently rolled on top of the child. He says the investigation is continuing but the girl’s death appears to be an accident.
Easter says a preliminary autopsy found no traumatic injuries on the girl.
The Wichita Eagle reports the child was not in foster care. However, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is investigating because the death occurred at a foster home. Placements at the home are on hold while officials review the death.
GREAT BEND — A fire early Monday morning resulted in more than $1 million in damage to a Barton County business. The fire took place at Little Giant Fittings Co., located halfway between Great Bend and Ellinwood on U.S. 56.
According to the Great Bend Fire Department, a call came in to 911 at 7:16 a.m. Monday morning by a motorist on U.S. 56 who saw black smoke coming from one of the buildings on the property.
When firefighters arrived, a metal building where fittings are produced had heavy smoke coming from it. The smoke along with the heat from the fire resulted in damage to the structure and equipment inside.
An investigator from the Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office could not determine the cause but said the fire was not considered suspicious.
Fort Hays State head football coach Chris Brown held his first weekly news conference prior to Tuesday evening’s practice at Lewis Field. The Tigers open the college football season Thursday night at home against Central Oklahoma at 7pm.
Chris Brown Part 1
Chris Brown Part 2
You can hear the game on Tiger Radio Mix 103 (KJLS 103.3-FM) beginning with the Auto World Pregame Show at 6pm.
BIRD CITY — A dedication ceremony for two highway signs on Kansas 161 will be this weekend. The signs indicate the section of highway between Bird City and Benkelman is part of the Ancient Indian Traders Trail.
The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at American Legion Hall, Bird City.
Keynote speakers for the event include Kansas Secretary of Transportation Mike King.
The recognition of this section of roadway is the result of a bill that was passed by the Kansas Legislature last session.
At Thursday’s work session, Hays city commissioners will discuss revising the current fireworks ordinance.
The current ordinance states the commission can decide whether to allow or suspend the sale and use of fireworks at the final regular meeting in the month of May before the Fourth of July holiday in order to provide vendors with the proper amount of time for preparation.
When the city does allow the use of fireworks, consumer use of fireworks are allowed between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. on July 2, 3 and 4. This summer, the commission initially put a ban on the sales and use of fireworks due to the regional drought, but after a significant amount of June rain, the commission allowed the use of fireworks at a special meeting the week before the July 4 holiday.
During the various discussion throughout the month of June, commissioners asked to discuss the ordinance at a later work session. Commissioner Shaun Musil asked that the ordinance be clarified.
The city has supplied commissioners with statistics regarding fireworks-related calls from the police and fire departments this year. From July 2 to 5, four fire calls were called in and the police department responded to 49 fireworks-related calls.
Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said “due to the difficulty in being able to identify the person(s) igniting the fireworks, and in obtaining the evidence to aid in prosecution of these cases, no citations were written.” City staff will recommend the commission place a permanent ban.
Click HERE for a complete agenda for Thursday’s work session. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
From left, Brian Thompson (Equipment Technologies Regional Director), Jason Pavlu (ACE Apache Sales), Matt Hays (Equipment Technologies CEO), Dusty Lowery (Salesman), Jed Simpson (President, Simpson Farm Enterprises) and Greg Simpson (Dealer Principle, Simpson Farm Enterprises).
MOORESVILLE, Ind. – Simpson Farm Enterprises Inc., an agricultural sprayer dealer and products business with four locations in Kansas, was recognized for its outstanding sales performance in 2013 as an Apache Sprayer Dealer by Equipment Technologies, the manufacturer of Apache-brand sprayers.
Simpson received the Dealer of the Year award, Top 5 Sales Growth 1st place and Top 5 Market Share 4th place during the Equipment Technologies annual Dealer Sales Meeting in July at the company’s Indiana headquarters. The Dealer of the Year award represents Simpson’s accomplishments in sales and growth.
Several Simpson employees also were honored. Jason Pavlu received Apache Salesperson of the Year and became the first member of the new Executive’s Club for exceptional career Apache sales. In addition to his awards, Pavlu and his family earned an expenses-paid trip to Italy.
Simpson’s Jed Simpson and Devin Treaster attained the Triple Diamond Level in the Apache Top Performer Club for Sales Excellence, while Philip Butler and Dusty Lowery advanced to Diamond Level and Chad Flax qualified for the Top Performer Club.
“Simpson represents the best in what it means to be an Apache Dealer,” said Matt Hays, Chief Executive Officer of Equipment Technologies. “They provide excellent sales and service on new and used Apache Sprayers and Apache parts. They are very deserving of these awards.”
The four Simpson locations are in Ransom, Hays, Great Bend and Beloit. For more information, visit www.simpsonfarm.com.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals had the go-ahead run on second base with nobody out in the eighth inning. Jarrod Dyson got the sign to bunt and failed miserably on two strikes, then chopped a grounder to first base that got his teammate thrown out.
“I was real frustrated,” Dyson said later, shaking his head.
So he did something about it.
The speedster swiped second base and then third, getting into position for Salvador Perez to drive him in with a scorching liner off the glove of third baseman Adrian Beltre for a single. The run proved to be the decider in a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night that kept Kansas City atop the AL Central by a half-game over Detroit.
“When I got to first, I knew I had to make up for it. I had to steal a couple of bags,” Dyson said. “Then Salvy did a great job. Good piece of hitting to get me in.”
Jason Frasor (4-1) left runners on the corners in the eighth against his former team, and Aaron Crow worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his third save of the season.
All-Star closer Greg Holland was unavailable after pitching three consecutive days.
Courtesy Kansas City Royals
“Phenomenal job,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Crow, who had just been recalled from Double-A Northwest Arkansas. “I knew if we got to the ninth with the lead, it’d be Aaron.”
The Rangers’ Derek Holland and counterpart Jeremy Guthrie pitched to a stalemate through seven innings before the Royals broke through against Michael Kirkman (0-1) in the eighth.
The Royals’ Nori Aoki and the Rangers’ Daniel Robertson drove in the game’s other runs.
Holland looked unhindered by the knee surgery that had kept him out all season, working around a double in the first and breezing through the middle innings.
“It’s my first game back. It’s in the big leagues, a big time-atmosphere, especially with a playoff team over here,” Holland said. “I wanted to make sure I stayed calm.”
His only trouble was hardly of his own doing. Alcides Escobar doubled leading off the third, a fly ball that left fielder Ryan Rua should have caught near the wall. Two batters later, Aoki hit a fly ball to shallow left field that Rua whiffed on with an awkward slide for an RBI double.
“People make mistakes,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said.
Meanwhile, Guthrie kept dodging trouble until the fifth, when Roughned Odor tripled to start the inning. Robertson drove him in with a groundout to tie the game.
Guthrie proceeded to battle through two more innings on a night when the Royals were short on bullpen help. Top relievers Kelvin Herrera had also pitched three straight nights.
Francisley Bueno recorded one out for Kansas City. Frasor and Crow handled the rest.
RANGERS RECORDS
The Rangers have used 61 players after Holland and Kirkman made their season debuts, setting a new major league record. The club has also used a record 38 pitchers.
LACK OF RISP-ECT
The Royals were just 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, and are batting .140 in such situations the last five games. Texas was worse, going 0 for 7 with runners on second or third.
MAKING MOVES
The Royals also recalled INF Christian Colon, OF Terrance Gore and RHP Liam Hendriks from Northwest Arkansas before the game. … The Rangers recalled RHPs Nick Tepesch and Lisalverto Bonilla and INF Luis Sardinas while promoting Kirkman from Triple-A Round Rock. Kirkman took the loss while Sardinas made the final out as a pinch-hitter.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: RHP Miles Mikolas, who is not making his scheduled start Thursday, will likely miss at least one more start with shoulder fatigue, manager Ron Washington said.
Royals: DH Josh Willingham (sore back) took batting practice and was available to pinch hit.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Tepesch (4-8), who grew up in nearby Blue Springs, Missouri, will make his first start at Kauffman Stadium. He is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA in two starts against the Royals.
Royals: LHP Jason Vargas has been feast or famine during his first season with the Royals. He has a 1.24 ERA in his 10 wins, a 6.25 ERA in his seven losses.
The Hays High girls’ golf team wins their own tournament Tuesday, edging Garden City by one stroke at Smoky Hill Country Club. Elissa Jensen led the Indians with a 45 and finished second, one shot behind Garden City’s Danielle Gaspar. Taylor DeBoer finished fourth for Hays with a 47 and Rhian Patterson was sixth with a 50.
TMP-Marian finished fourth with a 213, 19 shots behind the Indians. Karee Dinkel shot a 50 and finished eighth.
A cold front will bring cooler temperatures and thunderstorms Thursday night through early Saturday.
Today Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 98. Windy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 21 to 26 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 72. Breezy, with a south wind 17 to 23 mph. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 98. South southwest wind 11 to 16 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Thursday Night A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northeast wind 10 to 13 mph. Friday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 70. North northeast wind around 11 mph. Friday Night A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas zoo will lose its accreditation to have elephants if its officials can’t find a way to upgrade the animals’ enclosure.
The Sedgwick County Zoological Society on Tuesday asked county commissioners to pay $5.3 million of a proposed $10.5 million elephant barn. Zoo officials say the commissioners have three weeks to consider the funding before they move to relocate the animals.
The zoo has housed two African elephants, named Stephanie and Cinda, since 1972.
The change is necessitated by guidelines passed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2011. The association requires zoos with two females to have space for at least one more elephant by September 2016. It aims to protect the social animals from living alone.
The commissioners are scheduled to vote later this month.
By KARI BLURTON
