Ever wondered about who uses the Fort Hays State University food pantry and why?
In the latest episode of Community Connection, Eagle’s Mike Cooper talks with Shala Mills, Jamie Sproul and Sarah Bailey of FHSU to get the answers — just as the annual Hunger Campaign Drive kicks off.
Click HERE for the entire interview.
It isn’t often KISS goes without makeup for a live show these days, but the band made an exception, playing an acoustic gig to raise money for a military museum in Oregon.
The group previously has supported the Historical Outreach Foundation in its goal of raising $15 million to renovate the Oregon Military Museum, but the foundation’s event this past Sunday in Lake Oswego, Oregon, marked the first time the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers performed at one of the foundation’s events.
In all, KISS helped raise $1 million toward the endeavor. Tickets to the evening cost $2,500. The evening also auctioned off one of Paul Stanley’s guitars, which he has played since 1989, for $20,000, reports The Oregonian.
KISS guitarist and native Oregonian Tommy Thayer is the link to the project. The museum will be named after Thayer’s father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer, a 93-year-old World War II veteran who freed Holocaust survivors from the Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
KISS bassist Gene Simmons told The Oregonian that museums are important to support for several reasons.
“A museum is a living history book, because young people today and the future generations can’t just read books or watch it on video because it’s unemotional,” Simmons said.
He continued that honoring the military with a museum shining a light on men and women in uniform is relevant to understanding current events.
“There is evil in the world,” he said. “People are being beheaded today, not in some medieval time.”
Check out the set list from the show below:
“Comin’ Home”
“Hard Luck Woman”
“Calling Dr. Love”
“Do You Love Me?”
“Plaster Caster”
“Shout It Out Loud”
“Got to Choose”
“Christine Sixteen”
“Lick It Up”
“Goin’ Blind”
“Love Her All I Can”
“Hide Your Heart”
“Beth”
“Rock and Roll All Nite”
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio
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SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Wesleyan University says an anonymous donor has agreed to match any commitments made the rest of this month toward the school’s $7.5 million sports complex, up to $400,000.
President and CEO Matt Thompson says the donation means the university needs less than $600,000 to reach its goal for the project.
The Salina Journal reports the Mabee Foundation has pledged $750,000 if the university raises $6.75 million by Oct. 8. The school says in a news release that is has received more than $750,000 in the past 12 weeks.
Phase I of the project includes two lighted turf fields, an eight-lane competitive track and resurfaced tennis courts.
The second phase will include a grandstand, press box, concession stands and restrooms.
MINNEAPOLIS, Kan. — It is a day of clean up and contacting insurance agents and adjusters in Minneapolis.
Between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning, a severe thunderstorm brought large hail to the Ottawa County community for several minutes. Marie Ballou the Ottawa County Emergency Management Coordinator, said the hail ranged in size from quarter size up to tennis and baseball size.
Ballou said damage to trees, homes, windows and vehicles occurred across much of the community. About an inch of rain also fell, which caused brief high water in the streets.
The thunderstorm also brought heavy rain, small hail and flooded streets to Salina early Thursday morning.
FHSU University Relations
Melissa Dixon is Fort Hays State University’s new social media coordinator, joining the university’s communications team as its first member dedicated to presenting the university’s message across an array of social media networks.
She will work out of the Office of University Relations.
“My goals are increased awareness and engagement with potential students, current students, alumni and friends of the university — and, eventually, increased enrollment,” said Dixon. “We need to make sure that FHSU’s story is easily accessible for all groups, no matter how they are accessing their information.”
With Dixon on board, University Relations will begin using specific social media strategies to market FHSU across multiple social media platforms. Dixon moved to Hays from Starkville, Miss., where she spent the last nine years as owner and creative director of Blufish Design Studio, a full-service graphic design and marketing agency that originated in Tempe, Ariz. Her experience in social media includes account management and training for a wide range of clients, from real estate companies to event venues.
“Email is no longer a dependable way to communicate with students,” she said. “But the vast majority of them are actively engaged — continuously engaged, all day long — with Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and others.”
These media, she said, are how students get news and information and engage with the wider world around them.
“By increasing our presence on social media, we will be able to broadcast our news to a much larger audience much faster, as well as compete with other schools who are already using social media for communication and recruiting,” said Kent Steward, director of University Relations.
MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — A preliminary study done mostly in mice suggests that artificial sweeteners may set the stage for diabetes in some people.
The study authors said they can’t make dietary recommendations but that their results should inspire more research into the topic.
Basically, the study suggests that artificial sweeteners alter the makeup of normal, beneficial bacteria in the gut. That appears to hamper how the body handles sugar in the diet, a situation that can lead to developing diabetes.
The results, from researchers in Israel, were released Wednesday by the journal Nature.
ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it plans to hire 60,000 temporary holiday workers for the crucial holiday season, an increase of 10 percent from last year.
The world’s largest retailer also says current workers who want more hours during the holidays will get priority for them. The retailer, based in Bentonville, Ark., has been criticized by labor groups for low pay and intentionally keeping employees’ hours low.
The news follows similar announcements from UPS, FedEx and Kohl’s, which are also making more temporary hires this year.
A retailer’s hiring plans can indicate its expectations for the holiday shopping season, which accounts for 20 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales, according to the National Retail Federation.
WASHINGTON DC- Conversations with Conservatives is a group of free market and liberty-minded members of Congress that meets monthly with traditional press and bloggers to discuss the most important issues of the day. Chaired by Representatives Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), Raúl Labrador (ID-01), and Jim Jordan (OH-04), each meeting features different conservative members of Congress who share their ideas and field questions from the media. Questions are not limited to particular topics and Members will discuss the issues of the day.
Participating Members at the September 2014 session of Conversations with Conservatives include: Rep. Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), Rep. Raúl Labrador (ID-01), Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04), Rep. Joe Barton (TX-06), Rep. Rob Bishop (UT-01), Rep. Mick Mulvaney (SC-05), Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04) and Rep. Rob Woodall, (GA-07).
Viewers may also participate in the conversation on Twitter (tweet to @conversations using #CWC113).
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Fairgrounds once again will be filled with dancing, music and food at this weekend’s fourth annual Harold Dorzweiler Cancer Memorial Fundraiser.
The fundraising event was established in 2010 in memory of Harold Dorzweiler, who died of cancer.
Harold’s father, Leo Dorzweiler, said the fund was set up to help families of cancer patients with expenses, noting the idea came to Harold while he was traveling to his own cancer treatments and seeing younger people struggling to pay for hotels and fuel to get to the doctor.
The event begins Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The music lineup features a number of local bands including Karl Meis, The Country Dutchmen Band, The Hot Shots, John Stehle and The Wes Windholz Band. The Alpine Polka Dots from Denver also will perform.
All of the money donated goes to the assistance fund, which Leo Dorzweiler said has helped about 70 people so far. He added they are always looking for more people.
There is an application for financial assistant that people can fill out to help those in need. Call (785) 625-5256 for more information.
Tickets for this weekend’s event are $15 for both days, or $10 for Saturday and $7 Sunday for a single-day ticket.
The free Polka Mass is Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., featuring Father Earl Befort and Catharine and Victoria choirs.
More information can be found HERE.
Who woulda thunk it? In deep-red Kansas, we’ve got three red-hot statewide races, featuring three nationally prominent Republicans — Sam Brownback, Pat Roberts and Kris Kobach.
This oddity has sent reporters scurrying here from New York, D.C., L.A. and even London. No question, it’s bigger than the world’s largest ball of twine.
Overall, the national reporting hasn’t been that bad, but there is a kind of sameness: How did such competition break out in Kansas, of all places, home to GOP dominance over 50 years of presidential elections and 80 years of U.S. Senate contests?
Not all, but many of these reporters want to craft a national story about Kansas in 2014, with implications for the entire country. Maybe there are some, but, 45 days from the election, these races are mostly about holding office-holders accountable.
Arguably, these three Kansas incumbents have over-reached, and elections are society’s most powerful way of rendering verdicts on public officials. But their performances are not all of a piece; indeed, Kansas voters must contend with three distinct red-state records.
First, and most obviously, Gov. Sam Brownback has established clear baselines for judging his performance on economic growth, job creation, educational achievements, and levels of poverty, among other issues. By and large, the judgments here have been harsh, even as he and his allies argue that his self-proclaimed Kansas economic “experiment” is succeeding. Plunging tax revenues and a series of bond downgrades do not inspire confidence, nor do most objective analyses of the Kansas economy.
It may not be fair to hold a governor responsible for the state’s economy, given the great impact of national conditions, but more than any chief executive in memory, Sam Brownback has asked to be judged on his economic record.
Lesson: Be careful what you wish for.
Judging Senator Pat Roberts’ accountability is far different. Senators do compile long voting histories, of course, but these records are far less concrete than those of governors. A senator can end up on many sides of the same policy, as Senator Roberts has on two critical issues for Kansans: funding for the recent farm bill and for the National Bio-and Agro-Defense Facilit. Moreover, senators can vote for policies they know will never pass or introduce legislation that will be dead on arrival, claiming credit for their actions all the while.
So, in the end, the senator’s record does not define his accountability. Rather, it’s Roberts himself, who – fairly or not – is increasingly seen as detached and out of touch. The genuinely funny Pat Roberts of the 1980s and 1990s, with his biting, contextual humor, has been replaced by a grumpy old man. The former Roberts could have dispatched a Greg Orman with a few strokes of his stiletto wit. The current version grumbles and keeps yelling “Harry Reid.”
With recent polling demonstrating real strength for Orman, Pat Roberts must successfully woo the Tea Party right that he so vigorously disparaged a few weeks ago. This is no mean feat.
Finally, there’s the fascinating case of Kris Kobach, who must be kicking himself for not opposing the unexpectedly weak Roberts in the GOP senate primary.
With his crusade against non-existent voter fraud inside the state and his anti-immigrant crusade outside it, Kobach has come to resemble the anti-abortion zealot Phill Kline, ousted in 2006 after a single term as attorney general. Kobach’s intense politicization of an essentially non-political office prompted more than a third of GOP primary voters to reject his bid for re-nomination. And virtually none of those will support him in November.
There is no single “Kansas” story this fall. Rather, voters in this certifiably red state will decide whether these three Republican incumbents have over-reached to the point that they should be defeated.
Maybe, after all, there is a trend. It’s called democracy.
Burdett Loomis is a political science professor at the University of Kansas.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The new president of Haskell Indians Nations University says she’s focusing on the future.
Venida Chenault was inaugurated Wednesday as the seventh president of the university in Lawrence. She is the first former Haskell student to become president of the school for American Indians.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the inauguration was the beginning of the school’s celebration of its 130th anniversary.
Chenault, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes, has held various faculty and administrative positions at Haskell since 1991, most recently as vice president of academic affairs. She was named president in January.
In her speech, Chenault said she was a single mother on government assistance while she earned college degrees. She says she is an example of how higher education can help American Indians.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Air Force officials say they’re changing their policy on enlistment oaths and will allow airmen to omit the words “so help me God” if they choose.
The decision comes after an airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada struck out the words on his Department of Defense reenlistment paperwork and ran up against a policy that prohibits omissions.
The case went up to the Department of Defense General Counsel, which issued an opinion Wednesday saying the language could be left out if the airman preferred.
Attorney Monica Miller of the American Humanist Association is representing the airman, who she says has requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Miller says the airman was told by his commanders Aug. 25 that he must swear to God or leave the Air Force.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Traffic flow within the 41st Street project in north Hays has changed.
According to Hays Public Works Director I.D. Creech, the traffic pattern from houses in the area now flows west. Through traffic is prohibited.
“We’ve been talking about this street widening project for some time,” Creech said. “It’s a KDOT project, so we don’t have much control over it, but it’s still on track to be completed in spring 2015.”
The intersection of 41st and Hall Street will be the next section of work.
“That intersection will have to be closed, so we’ll be alerting the public about how drivers should avoid that area,” Creech said.
41st Street is being widened between Hall Street and the U.S. 183 Bypass. A bike and pedestrian lane also will be added.
