Skilled welders are in high demand, and a new program is offering a new career path.

A partnership of NCK Tech and the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, Welding Employment Training, or WET, is designed to offer participants the very skills in high demand locally.

WET is an introductory course — free for qualified applicants — that requires no experience, and the first round of classes is set to begin Nov. 1.

Deadline to sign up for the first class is Oct. 25. Participants can call KansasWorks at (785) 625-5654 or stop by the office at 332 E. Eighth to register.

In addition to the Coalition, NCK Tech and KansasWorks, support from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation and Kansas Department of Commerce helped make the program possible.

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

With the campaign down to “crunch time,” Kansas gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis spent Saturday in Hays. The Democrat said his reception in Hays and across the state has been warm.

“We’ve been traveling extensively around the state and getting very positive reaction from people all across the political spectrum — Democrats,  unaffiliated voters and Republicans,” Davis said. “I think generally people are just really dissatisfied with the direction that Sam Brownback has been leading the state.

“They have seen the cuts to the schools. They’ve seen the stagnant economy, and they are wanting to go in a different direction,” he added, “and that’s why you are seeing us ahead in the polls and with a great opportunity to win the election.”

Davis, a longtime Kansas House representative from Lawrence and Kansas House Minority Leader from 2009 to 2014 is running on the Democratic ticket with Jill Docking to unseat Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

Davis said is top priority if elected is restoring funds to public education.

“I think it’s so critically important that we have somebody in the governor’s office who is going to be a strong advocate for public schools,” Davis said. “I have a 12-year record in the Legislature of doing that, and I have said over and over that my very top priority as governor is to restore the cuts that have been made to public schools because strong public schools are really the foundation for a stronger economy.”

He said Kansas will not grow as a state if the best opportunities are not provided to the next generation of Kansans.

Davis said he is against consolidating rural schools and plans to look toward providing technology and virtual teaching tools like schools in Greensburg have already started as way to help rural schools thrive.

Davis said another critical issue is seeing the Kansas economy back on track, adding Kansas is performing below the national average and below the surrounding state’s of Kansas in every growth indicator available.

“The governor’s one-size-fits-all ‘experiment,’ as he calls, it just isn’t working and it’s not going to work. It’s plunging the state deep into debt,” Davis said. “We really need to go back to those proven ways of growing our economy and understand what works here in Hays is way different than what works in Garden City or what works in Topeka or Wichita and the state has to be a very good partner in helping communities grow and understand the needs and each individual community.”

Davis said Brownback’s economic plan has also resulted in property taxes skyrocketing in many Kansas communities — especially in rural Kansas.

“When we look into the future at reducing taxes, the place that I want to go is the property tax because we have too many Kansans that have seen their property tax burden just go up and up every year and especially for those senior citizens who are living on fixed incomes and worried whether they are going to be able to stay in their house if their property taxes keep going up,” Davis said.

Davis said he plans on another trip back to the western part of the state before November’s election.

A soup supper to help raise funds for Parents, Teacher and Friends projects has been scheduled at Thomas More Prep-Marian this weekend.

The TMP/PTF Soup Supper is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the TMP cafeteria.

The menu includes chili soup, green bean dumpling soup, turkey sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and desserts. Free door prizes will be given away every 20 minutes, and a freewill offering will be collected to help support PTF projects throughout the year.

Submitted

GREAT BEND — The Hays Middle School Falcon eighth-grade volleyball team closed its 2014 campaign by earning championship honors at the Great Bend Middle School volleyball tournament held in Great Bend on Oct. 11.

The Falcons were 2-0 in pool play with wins over McPherson and Salina South. After a first round bye in bracket play, they again defeated Salina South to set up the championship match versus Salina Lakewood.

The Falcons’ 4-0 record on the day secured their second consecutive tournament championship, after having won the Dodge City (Kansas) Middle School tournament the previous weekend, and advanced their season record to 27-3.

 

 

FHSU University Relations

The Department of Geosciences at Fort Hays State University is sponsoring the annual Earth Science Week. This year’s theme is “Earth’s Connected Systems.”

All FHSU instructors are challenged to hold classes outside, if the weather permits, on Tuesday, Oct. 14. All participating faculty will be entered in a drawing to win a prize from the Geosciences department.

“Participate by documenting your outdoor adventures with a picture and send it to [email protected], share it on the Geosciences Facebook page: Geosciences at FHSU, or tweet it to @GeoRocksFHSU,” said Patrick Wilson, El Dorado, geosciences graduate assistant.

Earth Science Week, created by the American Geosciences Institute in October 1998, is both a national and international event that is held for the public. The American Geosciences Institute began the annual event to help the public gain better understanding of the Earth.

For more information on events visit www.fhsu.ed/geo/Events/ESW2014/.