Lincoln Elementary fourth grader Riley Kershner shakes hands with each board member as she receives December’s “Best of the Best” award.
By KARI BLURTON Hays Post
Lincoln Elementary fourth grader Riley Kershner and O’Loughlin Elementary special education teacher Nancy Lundy received December’s Best of the Best Award at Monday’s Hays USD 489 Board of Education meeting.
Lincoln Elementary Principal Elaine Rohleder nominated Kershner for her ability to “brighten” everyone’s day and to “always be ready to help other students.”
O’Loughlin Elementary fourth grade teacher Karen Smith nominated her colleague Lundy for “celebrating (each student) for who they are,” and for Lundy’s compassion, stating “she has a heart of gold” and has often bought coats for students in need.
Lundy was unable to receive the award in person as she was home sick with the flu, Smith said.
Kershner and Lundy will both receive a trophy and a $50 dining gift certificate.
The monthly award is aimed at recognizing one student and and one staff member who displays excellence in the classroom and community.
To nominate a staff member or student go to the USD 489 website HERE.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police have increased their presence at a Kansas high school after rumors circulated that people who were angry about the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old last weekend might seek retaliation.
The Kansas City Star reports Turner School District assistant superintendent Jason Dandoy sent a letter home with parents saying that the school was keeping watch over students, but there wasn’t a credible threat at this time.
The school district says about one-third of the students at the school in Kansas City, Kansas, were absent on Tuesday.
Dandoy says some families chose to pick up their children, though most were going about their school day as normal.
Police say Kahlif L’ron Hampton of Kansas City, Kansas, was shot Friday night and died Sunday.
TOPEKA- Two Kansas men were killed in an accident just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Shawnee County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1993 Chevy pickup driven by Steven G. Galarneau, 62, Scranton, was westbound on NW 62nd Road at U.S. 75 four miles north of Topeka.
The driver failed to yield at the stop sign and struck a 2011 Ford F350 driven by Leon J. Weber, 56, Yates Center, that was travelling northbound on U.S.75
Galarneau and a passenger David N. Hilleland, 64, Topeka, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to First Call.
Weber and a passenger in the Ford were not injured.
The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A homeless amputee has lost nearly everything he owned — including his prosthetic legs — after a candle he was using to stay warm started a fire in a Topeka storage facility.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the blaze, reported at 12:42 a.m. Tuesday, caused $135,000 in damage at AAA Self Storage. A local advocate for the homeless says the man had been living in the storage units for two months.
Advocate Justyn Hosman says the man lost “everything but himself and his wheelchair.” Hosman says he saw a melted prosthetic leg at the fire scene.
He says the unidentified man lost his legs several years ago when he was struck by a train near the Topeka Rescue Mission.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new set of classic films including “Saving Private Ryan” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” are among films selected by the National Film Registry for long-term preservation.
The Library of Congress is announcing 25 movies selected for preservation this year. The films span the years 1913 to 2004. The selections include such familiar and popular titles as “The Big Lebowski” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory;” others were milestones in film history.
The oldest selection dates to 1913 and is believed to be the earliest surviving feature film starring black actors. Vaudevillian Bert Williams gathered with black performers in New York City to make the film “Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day.” The film was discovered 100 years later in the film vault at the Museum of Modern Art.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — New Kansas House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs has filled three staff positions.
Abbie Hodgson will be the Kansas City Democrat’s chief of staff. She is a Democratic activist from Lawrence who worked in the administrations of Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson.
Hodgson ran this year for the House seat of outgoing Minority Leader Paul Davis, who lost the governor’s race to Republican incumbent Sam Brownback. Hodgson lost the Democratic primary to Rep.-elect Boog Highberger.
Burroughs tapped Davis’ campaign staff for two aides.
Shelbie Konkel of Haysville will be communications coordinator for Burroughs after serving as Davis’ deputy finance director.
Jake Miller of Kansas City will be Burroughs’ policy and constituent liaison after working as a regional field director for the Davis campaign.
LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating after a student found a handgun magazine containing bullets on an elementary school playground in a Kansas City suburb.
A Blue Valley School District spokeswoman says the child found the .45-caliber magazine with eight bullets during recess on Tuesday. The student brought the magazine to a teacher, who alerted authorities.
Officers from Leawood and the Blue Valley School District searched outside and inside the elementary school and nearby Leawood Middle School. No guns or ammunition were found during the search.
TMP used a 19-0 second quarter run to pull away from Victoria on Tuesday night in Victoria. The Lady Monarchs trailed 16-15 early in the second quarter when the run started. TMP would build their lead to 20 points at halftime and were on cruise control the rest of the way.
Megan Koenigsman led three Lady Monarchs in double figures with 16 points. Melissa Pfeifer scored a season high 14 points and Madyson Koerner added 10. Kiley Schmidtberger had eight points to lead Victoria. TMP is now four and one with the win. Victoria dropped to one and three with the loss.
TMP will host Oakley on Friday at Al Billinger Fieldhouse while Victoria is off until after Christmas break.
ROSE MCFARLAND INTERVIEW
GIRL’S HIGHLIGHTS
Boys: Victoria 58, TMP 56
TMP’s Jared Vitztum and Victoria’s Bryan Dome provided late game drama in Tuesday night’s 58-56 Knight victory. Vitztum hit a late three pointer for the Monarchs to tie the game up at 56. Then it was Dome’s turn as he hit a driving layup with one second remaining and time ran out as the Knight’s picked up their third win of the season, sending TMP to their fourth loss.
Kameron Schmidt led the Monarchs with 29 points and Noah Dreiling led the way with 15 for Victoria. TMP will host Oakley on Friday night. Victoria is off until after Christmas break.
Girls: Hays 54, Junction City 43 The Hays High Lady Indians used strong first and fourth quarters to even their record at 3-3 on the year, beating Junction City(0-4) 54-43 on Tuesday night. Hays used an 11-1 run in the first quarter to take a 11-3 advantage and led 19-8 after the first quarter.
Game Highlights
Junction City’s full court pressured forced the Indians into turnovers over the second and third quarters. That allowed the Lady Blue Jays to use a 9-2 run in the second and 8-0 run in the third to eventually grab the lead at 33-32 with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Hays then reverted back to their first quarter form using a 17-4 run to put the game away.
Kirk Maska Postgame Interview
Hays was led in scoring by Audra Schmeidler who tied her career high with 19 points. Haley George also matched her career high scoring ten points for a second consecutive game. The Indians shot a season high 45% from the field. Hays also out-rebounded Junction City 44-28. Schmeidler grabbed nine, George and Summer Smith each snagged eight boards.
Boys: Hays 69, Junction City 53 Hays and Junction City both started the game shooting lights out. In the end, Junction City just couldn’t keep the pace up. Hays jumped out to an early 5-0 lead then fell behind by five at 15-10 in the first quarter. Hays used an 8-2 run to lead at the end of the first quarter 22-21.
Game Highlights
Early in the second quarter, the Blue Jays again jumped up by five at 29-24 with 5:35 left in the first half. At that point Junction City had made 11 of 20 shots and 6 of 11 three pointers. The Hays defense would hold Junction City with out any more points in the quarter, allowing the Indians to use a 12-0 run, to take a half time lead at 36-29.
Hays would not trail in the second half, though the Blue Jays trimmed the lead to three at 41-38. Hays responded with a 24-5 run to put the game out of reach.
The Indians improved to 5-1 on the season behind 45% shooting, including 7 of 12 behind the arc. After starting 11 of 20, Junction City made just 5 of their next 36 attempts.
Rick Keltner Postgame Interview
The #6 Indians got 20 points and 22 rebounds from Brady Werth. The rebounds marking a new career high. Cash Hobson tied his career high of 18 points and Keith Dryden scored 14. The Indians held a Junction City team that averaged 70 points per game coming in to just 53 points on 29% shooting (15 of 56).
Werth moved into a fifth place tie with Roger Casey (1980) for career scoring at 900 points. Tuesday night, he passed Sean Finn (2000) and Wes Simoneau (1997).
The Hays High Indians are off until January 9th when they travel to play Liberal in the first of four consecutive Western Athletic Conference games.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Darius Carter had a game-high 16 points and the go-ahead slam with 11.9 seconds remaining to lead No. 11 Wichita State to a 53-52 victory over Alabama Tuesday.
The Shockers (8-1) trailed by 11 with five minutes to play but rallied behind Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, who finished with 14 and nine points.
Levi Randolph and Shannon Hale each scored 13 points for Alabama (6-3). The Tide managed just one point in the game’s final 5:50.
Alabama took a one-point halftime lead and built on it. Consecutive baskets from Hale were followed by a Randolph 3-pointer with 13:41 remaining, giving the Crimson Tide a 36-28 lead.
Wichita State tried to rally. Alabama would not rattle. Randolph answered a VanVleet 3-pointer with a patient take to the basket for a three-point play and 39-31 lead.
Jared Tadlock and Achoki Moikobu both came off the bench to score 17 points leading the Fort Hays State Tigers to a 95-52 win over Bethany College Tuesday at Gross Coliseum. Jake Stoppel adds 14 points and 12 rebounds and Dom Samac scores 10 as the Tigers win their third straight and improves to 7-3.
After a sluggish start, the Tigers used a 12-0 run to build a 14-point first half lead. They went on a 10-0 run late in the first half to push the lead to 27 and would lead by as many as 47 in the second half.
Mark Johnson Postgame Interview
FHSU shoots 51-percent from the floor including 10-of-21 from beyond the arc. Moikobi connected on 5-of-6 from long range and Tadlock was 3-for-4.
Game Highlights
The Tigers close out first semester play at Maryville, Missouri with a key MIAA game against defending conference co-champ Northwest Missouri State.
Robert R. Conness Jr., age 59, of WaKeeney, passed away Sunday, December 14, 2014 at his home. He was born May 17, 1955 in WaKeeney, to Robert Russell and Anna Ruth (Gorsky) Conness.
Robert graduated high school in 1973 from Trego Community High School. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree from Fort Hays State University in Education, and further yet to earn his Master’s Degree from Emporia State in Rehabilitation Counseling. On September 22, 1979, he was united in marriage to Elaine Ann Harms. They enjoyed 35 years of marriage together. Robert worked for High Plains Mental Health and then for Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services in Vocational Rehabilitation. Even though Robert kept busy with his career, he spent much of his extra time farming and ranching on the family farm. He loved time spent with his twin sons. He coached their baseball team and always looked forward to the next fishing trip with them. Robert was known for his skills on the barbeque; he believed that the only way to barbeque was with charcoal. He also loved his dogs and a good game of softball. He will be dearly missed.
Survivors include his wife, of the family home; two sons, Ian and Sean of the family home; brother, Dave (Lucy) Conness of WaKeeney; brother-in-law, Ken (Mary) Harms of Shawnee; nephews, Brian Conness, Bret Conness, and Chris Harms; and niece, Jennifer Ramage. He was preceded in death by his parents; and father-in-law Harry Harms.
Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, December 22, 2014 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney. Inurnment will be in the WaKeeney City Cemetery. Cremation was chosen.
There will be a wake service and visitation at the church on Sunday evening from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Memorial contributions are suggested to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Hope Lodge, or Hospice Services, Inc. Checks made to the organization may be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 North 12th, WaKeeney, KS 67672.
Condolences may be sent online at www.schmittfuneral.com.
