Month: October 2014
Senate candidates in Kan. seek to bolster support
THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press
JOHN D. HANNA, Associated Press
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Embattled three-term incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is taking the endorsement of a former governor and seeking votes in the rural west of Kansas, where he needs to win big to fend off independent challenger Greg Orman.
Orman is pushing themes centered on dissatisfaction with Washington government, where Roberts has been working for more than 40 years. Orman plans to campaign in Olathe, his home turf and the heart of the more politically diverse and bustling Kansas City suburbs.
In this unlikeliest of battleground states, the Senate candidates are entering the final weeks to Election Day by trying to shore up supporters before focusing on undecided voters. Polls show the race is a dead heat.
Charges dropped for 1 suspect in fatal fall of former Manhattan woman
PHOENIX (AP) — Charges have been dropped against one of three men accused of alcohol-related violations in connection with the fatal fall of an Arizona State University student.
Court documents say prosecutors failed to provide probable cause to continue the case against 21-year-old Alex Kraus.
Kraus’ attorney says his client was the victim of mistaken identity and should never have been linked to the case.
David Siegel and Matthew Farberov, both 20, are charged with minor possession of liquor and failing to require identification.
Naomi McClendon plunged 10 floors to her death March 30 from an apartment complex near ASU’s campus.
Tempe police say the 18-year-old woman from Manhattan, Kansas, initially attended an “all-you-can-drink” party thrown by ASU fraternity members.
Surveillance video showed her stumbling and intoxicated when she entered the residential building.
Junction City cites dozens for cellphone use
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Despite months of advance notice, dozens of drivers in Junction City were cited for improper use of cellphones during the initial week of enforcement of a new law.
KJCK Radio reports police issued 51 citations from Monday through Friday of last week for talking on hand-held cellphones while driving. One person was also cited for texting while driving.
Junction City adopted an ordinance in June banning motorists from talking or listening on a cellphone unless it’s a hand-held device.
Police delayed enforcement until the city put up signs notifying drivers of the law. The signs went up in September, and police issued warnings for four weeks before handing out citations.
Drivers may still hold cellphones to their ears in limited circumstances, such as talking to law enforcement in emergencies.
Phony World Series Tickets, Merchandise Seized
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Federal agents have seized phony World Series tickets worth tens of thousands of dollars, along with counterfeit Royals panties and other merchandise.
Before the first game of the series between the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, agents for Homeland Security nabbed 126 counterfeit game tickets. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release that the tickets had a $43,000 street value.
Three people from New York and one from Atlanta are charged in Johnson County, Kansas, with selling fake tickets. Authorities are urging fans who bought bogus tickets to contact police.
Other counterfeit items that have been seized include T-shirts, baseball caps, cellphone cases, sweatshirts, and even baby clothes. One person suspected of selling counterfeit T-shirts is facing prosecution in Missouri’s Platte County.
KHAZ Country Music News: Little Big Town Newest Opry Members
NASHVILLE (AP) – Members of Little Big Town barely remember their debut at the Grand Ole Opry 15 years ago. Jimi Westbrook says the Opry had a cancellation and Little Big Town was invited to perform at the last minute. He says they had been a band only for a couple of months and they had never played for anyone outside a living room. Westbrook says they told the Opry, “Well, yeah! We’ll come sing our three songs we know.” Little Big Town are now the newest Opry members. Vince Gill and Little Jimmy Dickens inducted them on Saturday. Little Big Town’s new album, “Pain Killer,” is out this week.
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Unwanted appliances part of Hays alley cleanup (VIDEO)
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
This year’s annual alley cleanup in Hays starts Monday, with curbside collections first. Then it’s on to the alleys.
City workers will be removing items not collected during normal trash pickup.
Unwanted items for pickup should be separated into four categories, according to Hays Solid Waste Supervisor Marvin Honas.
“The ‘metals’ pile includes appliances … all refrigerators, washers, dryers, etc.,” Honas explained. “The freon does not have to be drained from the refrigerators or any other appliance with a compressor. The employees at the Ellis County Landfill will do it for (the city). We do ask that you remove refrigerator doors before placing them in your collection area, so that children don’t get trapped inside.”
“Only one sweep will be made across the city, and unwanted items should be in place no later than early Monday morning,” Honas emphasized.
Fledgling convergent media program at FHSU cuts 30+ student staffers
By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
A student media organization at Fort Hays State University is experiencing some growing pains after cutting more than 30 student workers Monday. According to Executive Producer Todd Elsen, Tiger Media Network informed the students of their release due to “budgetary reasons.”
“It was basically because of over-staffing, and we were forced to reduce,” said Elsen, who was named the organization’s first executive producer before the 2014-15 academic year. “I had to make that decision to streamline the workings of (TMN) to make it through the year.”
According to Elsen, most of the student workers worked approximately 20 hours a week during the school year as writers, graphic designers, copy editors and in other roles associated with the convergent-media model. The students were given the opportunity to reapply for six positions that are remaining.
“This is part of the growing pains of TMN,” Elsen said. “It’s about finding what level we can function at. Unfortunately, the level we were functioning at was not beneficial financially to keep TMN going. As an educator, I hate making a decision like this.”
Tiger Media Network functions under a board of directors, chaired by FHSU Provost Chris Crawford, who said the staffing decision, along with plenty of others, is due to the fact that TMN is just beginning.
“(TMN) is still a work in progress, and that’s been especially true this year with the new building,” Crawford said. “I think there is always room for improvement under the model that we are working under.”
Tiger Media Network was created in 2013 in an attempt to converge the various student media entities — broadcasting, video production, print — on campus into one network.
KSHSAA releases sub-state volleyball brackets
The Kansas State High School Activities Association released sub-state brackets for this Saturday’s volleyball tournament on Wednesday.
After finishing the regular season 26-9 the Hays High Indians are the No. 3 seed at the 4A-division 1 McPherson sub-state.
The Indians will take on No. 2 McPherson in the second match of the day. The winner plays the winner of Buhler and Ulysses.
TMP-Marian is the No. 1 seed at the 4A-division 2 Larned sub-state and will open the tournament with the host at 2 p.m.
Smokey Valley and Concordia play in the other first round game.
At the 2A Plainville sub-state Smith Center is the No. 1 and they will take on Rawlins Co.
Plainville is the No. 4 seed and will play Decatur Community. Ness City, the No. 2 seed takes on Hill City and the No.3 seed Ellis opens with Trego community.
RIP Ben Bradlee: Staunch, stylish First Amendment champion
Did the First Amendment ever have a more stylish defender — and one who made more effective use of it — than Ben Bradlee?
The legendary managing editor of The Washington Post who died Tuesday at 93, Bradlee’s 23 years at the helm were marked by landmark collisions between a free press and government, from the Pentagon Papers to reporting on Watergate. He also weathered criticism that he was too close to one-time Georgetown neighbor John F. Kennedy to be an objective journalist, and too removed from a story by a young reporter, Janet Cooke, that resulted in a returned Pulitzer Prize.
With style and wit, and without apology, Bradlee championed a free press as a watchdog on government.
“Obviously the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our business and of democracy,” he said in a 2006 interview at the Newseum. “It isn’t something that I commit to memory and say like my prayers, but it has a place in my day-to-day life. It is the freedom that allows us to do good work. It allows us to be important in society.”
Americans generally take their First Amendment rights for granted, Bradlee continued. I know they do … and that’s great. That means we’re doing something right.”
Even so, Bradlee said, there was strength in his belief that “freedom of the press is ingrained in American society. A president comes and tries to do something, and in the process, tramples on the First Amendment. He gets brought up short and doesn’t make a fuss about it. They all cave. And that’s good. The Pentagon Papers was a once-in-a-lifetime fight over the First Amendment. But it was worth the fight. You got to draw the line, and you can’t let them cross it.”
Bradlee’s courage in holding government accountable is the stuff of myth — and fact. After reviewing a particularly significant bit of reporting by Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that implicated Attorney General John Mitchell and President Richard M. Nixon in Watergate wrongdoing, Bradlee recounted the high stakes involved, and then reportedly said, “You had better be right.” As it turned out, they were.
His gruff manner, aristocratic bearing and journalistic independence grated on some, to be sure. But his career embodied what the founders must have had in mind in building into the basic laws of this nation such a strong protection for a free press: An unflagging, unabashed passion for finding the truth, and an enthusiasm and commitment to telling it to one’s fellow citizen.
And for all of that, thank you, Mr. Bradlee.
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]
Ex-DA slams Brownback ad using Kansas murders
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The district attorney who prosecuted two brothers in a quadruple Wichita homicide is criticizing Gov. Sam Brownback’s use of the case in a new campaign commercial.
Brownback’s ad references Reginald and Jonathan Carr, whose death sentences for the December 2000 killings were vacated in July by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Former Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston issued a statement Wednesday saying the ad exploits the case for political gain.
Foulston says the ad is a “political last ditch effort” to undercut the qualifications and integrity of the Kansas Supreme Court and Brownback’s Democratic challenger, Paul Davis. She also says it’s disgraceful that the campaign would make the families of the murder victims relive the crime whenever they turn on their televisions.
Brownback’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Cattle truck crashes on I-70 near Abilene
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) — A driver was unhurt but multiple head of cattle were killed or injured when a tractor-trailer transporting the animals crashed on Interstate 70 in east-central Kansas.
KSAL-AM reports the accident happened around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday near Abilene in Dickinson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says the semi was westbound when it rolled onto its side and landed in a ditch.
The truck was transporting 61 head of cattle. Four died and several others were injured. A veterinarian was among those who responded to the accident.
Portions of I-70 were closed while officials worked the scene and rounded up cattle on the road.
Western KS state Board of Education rep worried about future of schools
By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post
The vice chairwoman of the Kansas State Board of Education is touring central and western Kansas this week and said she is worried about the future of education in the Fifth District she represents.
Cauble was in Hays on Monday to meet with principals and school board members. She said Hays’ lack of diversity in enrollment negatively affects state funding, as is the case for many schools in western Kansas.
“If we do not get a turnaround in dollars for the state, we might have to take another cut in January, and this board is going to be in some pretty painful decision-making situations, like my 1A, 2A, 3A schools. I have some schools I am really concerned if they can open their doors if we have another cut.”
Cauble, Dodge City, said state efficiency reports indicate the 258 school districts are being efficient with the funds received, but there is nothing left to cut.
“There is no money,” she said.
Cauble, a Republican, is supporting Democrat Paul Davis for governor in his race against incumbent GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.
“We need to pay attention to the Nov. 4 voting. We need to make sure what we hear is the truth,” she said.
She added that, in the eight years she has been on the state BOE, there have been no mandates “handed down,” but not because they aren’t needed.
“We are really low on the credits we expect for high school students, but no one is going to mandate anything when there is no money to follow it,” Cauble said. “We are in severe need for money for education.”