Beginning Wednesday morning, Union Pacific Railroad will be working on the crossing at Oak Street.
Oak Street will be closed from Ninth to 10th streets until about noon Thursday. When Oak Street is reopened, Allen Street will be closed for railroad crossing work. Both intersections should be open by the weekend.
Nov. 11 this nation will once again celebrate Veteran’s Day. While I’m a veteran myself, the first person I think about when it comes to veterans is my Grandpa Bert Becker. Not only was he an early hero of mine, he was one handsome, smiling young farm boy from Phillips County when he marched away to war during the summer of 1917. He returned to the family farm shortly after the war ended. The next year, he married my grandmother, Rose Zink. They raised a family of four children including my mother, Florence, or Mother to me. Here’s a small tribute to my grandparents on Veteran’s Day as I fondly recall Grandpa Bert and thank him again this year for his service.
My Grandma and Grandpa Becker were more people of action than words. Not that they didn’t have much to say. They just chose their words well and needed only a few to convey much.
As their oldest grandson, I visited them during the summer when I was growing up in the late 1950s. I always talked Grandma into letting me sleep in the screened in porch on the east side of their home.
Shaded by tall elm trees on the east side of their home, this was the coolest place to sleep on those warm summer nights before air conditioning. The porch was located right next to my grandparent’s room where I felt safe and slept like a log each and every night.
Their morning activities would always wake me and their longest conversations of the day took place over black coffee with bacon and eggs long before I crawled out of my comfortable bed each morning. A large, black Zenith AM radio provided the news and weather of the upcoming day.
I’d just lie there comfortably in my bed soaking up the sounds. I knew Grandma would make me my own special breakfast at a more kid-visiting-his-grandparents hour.
My Grandpa Bert was a tall slender man with kind eyes and a rich baritone voice that invited attention and respect. During those early-morning conversations with Grandma Rose, he spoke with a gentleness that was unlike any other setting.
While I didn’t really think of it back then, I just remember I loved listening to them visit and appreciated how my Grandpa talked to my Grandma like no one else.
Today I understand that what I was listening to were conversations between a woman and a man who had truly become one.
Grandpa always respected and took care of Grandma’s every need. She cheerfully and willingly gave back all that she received.
My Grandpa Bert was a veteran of World War I, saw action in France. He died nearly 25 years before Grandma Rose. His later years were difficult and he suffered from Parkinson’s disease. I also believe ghosts from those brothers in arms who didn’t return home with him weighed heavy on his soul.
Still, I never heard him complain. Grandma and my mother loved and cared for him when he couldn’t do so for himself.
I have always considered myself a lucky man to have inherited some of the wonderful attributes of the Becker family – cheerfulness, perseverance, a willingness to think and work smart and the ability to enjoy and appreciate others.
Having Becker blood also means you have family and some good friends willing to stand by your side during the best and worst of times. And while your living may be hard-earned – your life will be nothing less than rich.
Happy Veteran’s Day, Grandpa Bert.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
Former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney spoke Monday at Fort Hays State University’s Sebelius Lecture Series in Hays the night before a crucial midterm election. He predicted what several media outlets have said along the campaign trail: Republicans will gain control of the Senate and pick up seats in the House. But according to Carney, that result is to be expected.
“The headlines you’ll see in the newspaper will read ‘Change in America’ or ‘GOP on the Rise,’ ” Carney said. “Here’s the thing you need to understand though: With three exceptions, the president’s party has lost seats in every midterm election for a century.”
Carney also said those presidents’ parties lost an average of six seats, the same number Republicans need to gain to take control of the Senate.
Before serving as Obama’s top media counsel from 2011 until June, Carney worked for Time magazine, where he got a first-hand view of some of the most notable world events — including the demise of the Soviet Union and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. On 9/11, Carney was one of the few journalists aboard Air Force One with President George W. Bush.
On that fateful Tuesday in 2001, Carney was one of a few journalists who were rotated in and out of Air Force One. On 9/11, it was Carney’s turn to fly to Florida with Bush, who was scheduled to read and speak at an elementary school in Florida.
According to Carney, when the presidential motorcade pulled up to the school, some of the members of the motorcade heard that it was a “small plane, possibly a Cessna that slammed into the (World Trade Center).”
“Once Bush and other members of the motorcade entered the room, everybody’s phones started going off to let them know that the second tower had been hit,” Carney said. “That’s when we knew it wasn’t an accident.”
Once the events afterwards transpired, the group “rushed to the motorcade” and took off quickly on Air Force One “like a rocket.”
Carney also spoke of his time in the White House and his interactions with President Barack Obama.
“Working in the West Wing is like trying to stand up in a vortex,” Carney said. “The sheer volume of issues, the constant demand for reaction, the requirement that the president be proactive with his agenda … the heartbreak of meeting the families of the fallen along with some of the triumphs, that’s what it’s like working in the White House.”
Carney called Obama a father figure and spoke about the president’s short career in government before being elected in 2008.
“He wasn’t viewed as a potential president … before he entered the race,” Carney said. “He represented a break in tradition. … Shortly before his speech (at the Democratic National Convention) in Boston in 2004, he was still paying off his student loans and working two jobs … and that made him very easy to talk to.”
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s top bioethics official calls “reprehensible” the suicide of an American woman suffering terminal brain cancer who stated she wanted to die with dignity.
Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told the ANSA news agency on Tuesday that “dignity is something other than putting an end to one’s own life.”
Brittany Maynard’s suicide in Oregon on Saturday, following a public declaration of her motives aimed at sparking political action on the issue, has stirred debate over assisted suicide for the terminally ill.
Carrasco de Paula said “Brittany Maynard’s act is in itself reprehensible, but what happened in the consciousness we do not know.”
He cautioned that he was not judging individuals “but the gesture in and of itself should be condemned.”
Hays Public Library
The Hays Public Library will welcome back musician Craig Plotner. A local favorite, Plotner will perform an afternoon concert at the HPL at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Plotner is from Lucas and travels around the state for performances. One of his regular venues is the HPL. Plotner generates a large audience for the HPL and always delivers a great performance.
“Craig is a lively singer who truly enjoys performing,” said Marleah Augustine, HPL adult librarian. “I think that is obvious to his audience.”
Plotner has a wide array of music styles, including original music. His performance songs range from folk, soft rock, love songs, ballads and more.
“He plays a variety of songs, and there is something enjoyable for everyone,” Augustine said. Plotner also plays his original music.
For more information and to listen to some of Plotner’s music, visit his Youtube channel.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A southeast Kansas man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for receiving millions of dollars in false tax refunds.
Federal prosecutors say 49-year-old Jerold D. Fisher, of Arma, was sentenced Monday to 41 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $4 million.
Fisher pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false federal tax return. He admitted that while he worked for Fisher Alfalfa Farms from 2006 to 2009, he prepared false federal tax returns for himself and his mother to receive tax refunds they were not owed.
By 2009, he fraudulently claimed withholding of more than $3.8 million on income of more than $8 million.
DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer
DALLAS (AP) — The federal government is suing Southwest Airlines Co. after failing to reach a settlement with the carrier over charges that repairs to dozens of planes didn’t meet safety standards.
The Justice Department sued Southwest on Monday in federal district court in Washington state. The lawsuit seeks to enforce $12 million in civil penalties that the Federal Aviation Administration announced in July.
The government says that starting in 2006 Southwest hired a contractor to make extensive repairs on 44 planes to prevent the aluminum skin from cracking. The FAA says the contractor failed to follow proper procedures.
Southwest says it disputes the FAA’s charges.
By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post
After Monday’s count, the Ellis County Clerk’s office reported approximately 1,800 registered voters had already cast their ballots in the mid-term elections in person or by mail.
The chance to vote early ended noon Monday.
An Ellis County Clerk staff member said the number of early voters seemed a bit higher than in past elections but did not have the data available to say for certain.
Polls are open Tuesday until 7 p.m.
Call the Ellis County Clerk’s office Tuesday if unsure of your voting status or polling locations at (785) 628-9410.
Polling places are open until 7 p.m. for the Nov. 4 general election. Don’t forget to bring your photo ID.
Check Hays Post and KAYS-1400 AM for the latest results as they become available.
FHSU University Relations
Every hour on the hour between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Election Day on Tuesday, a van will leave Fort Hays State University’s Memorial Union and head for the polls. Students, faculty and staff can hitch a free ride provided by the Student Government Association.
After the voting, the American Democracy Project and the Center for Civic Leadership will host a watch party with free pizza from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday in Cody Commons.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court will not review a lower court ruling that suppressed statements from a suspect about the death of a Hutchinson woman in what prosecutors say was a case of mistaken identity.
The Hutchinson News reports the court’s ruling on Friday denying a petition of review by Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder likely means the first-degree murder trial of Billy Joe Craig will go to trial early next year.
Prosecutors say Craig and two other men shot 27-year-old Jennifer Heckel to death at her Hutchinson home while her son was in another room. They allege the men intended to rob a drug dealer but went to the wrong house.
The high court’s ruling means some statements Craig made to police will not be heard at trial.
Raleigh, N.C. – Public Policy Polling’s final polls, conducted over the weekend, for the Senate and Governor in Kansas found both of the races couldn’t be much closer.
Paul Davis leads Sam Brownback 46/45 and Greg Orman leads Pat Roberts 47/46. What’s interesting is that even though the top of the ticket is incredibly competitive, everything else in Kansas pretty much looks like a normal election- Secretary of State Kris Kobach has a 5 point advantage and beyond that the Republican candidates for down ballot offices lead by 11 points for Insurance Commissioner, 27 points for Attorney General, and 28 points for Treasurer, pretty normal sorts of numbers for elections in Kansas.
It continues to be Brownback and Roberts’ unique unpopularity that’s making their races so competitive. Brownback has a 37/54 approval spread, and Roberts’ is 34/54. Usually politicians with those kinds of approval ratings are doomed for reelection but Kansas’ deep red hue is still giving them a shot.
