KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Perry Ellis scored 14 points, including the go-ahead basket in the closing minutes, and No. 10 Kansas held on after blowing a 21-point second-half lead to beat No. 13 Utah 63-60 on Saturday.
Jamari Traylor added 13 points and Frank Mason III had 10 for the Jayhawks (8-1), who led 42-21 early in the second half before the Utes (7-2) stormed back to take the lead.
Jakob Poeltl’s basket with 4:38 left gave Utah a 55-53 lead, but Mason scored on a driving layup moments later to knot the game. Ellis then swooped through the lane and converted a floater for his only field-goal of the second half to give the Jayhawks the lead back.
Kansas made six straight free throws down the stretch, including two by Brannen Greene with 13.7 seconds left. Utah never got a good look at tying it, settling for an off-balance 3 from 7-foot Poeltl from the corner that was partially blocked.
Delon Wright finished with 23 points for the Utes, who nearly dealt the Jayhawks’ the worst blown lead in a loss in school history. Kansas blew a 20-point lead in losing to Arizona in 2003.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old man is dead after being shot by police who repeatedly ordered him to drop a pistol he was pointing at others.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the shooting happened about 11:35 a.m. Saturday in Topeka after several crime reports earlier in the day.
City spokeswoman Suzie Gilbert says police responded at 9 a.m. to a domestic disturbance where a man reportedly strangled a woman. A witness saw the man flee the home with a knife and gun.
Officers responded to an attempted carjacking at 11:15 a.m. and found a woman who had been cut on her face with a knife.
Gilbert says police found the armed man at 11:30 a.m. as he was pointing the weapon at bystanders and police.
DETROIT (AP) — Darius Carter had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 11 Wichita State rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to beat Detroit 77-68 on Saturday.
Ron Baker added 19 points for the Shockers (7-1), who went on a decisive 15-3 run in the final minutes. The Titans (6-4) fell short in their upset bid despite a 27-point performance by Juwan Howard Jr.
Carter had five of Wichita State’s 18 offensive rebounds. The Shockers eventually wore Detroit down with their rebounding and defensive pressure.
Wichita State has won three in a row since a Dec. 3 loss at Utah that snapped its 35-game regular-season winning streak.
Baker missed nine 3-pointers in a row at one point Saturday, but he ended that dry spell with a shot from beyond the arc that put the Shockers ahead 68-62.
Fred VanVleet had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Wichita State.
At 10:12 a.m. Saturday, the Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Hays Police Department and Ellis County EMS, responded to the Enersys Plant, 1 Enersys Road, for a building fire.
On arrival, firefighters found a fire burning in an outside steel hopper that is a part of the plant dust collection and filtering system. The combustible filters that collect the dust were on fire but the fire was confined inside the steel hopper.
Working cooperatively with Enersys staff, it was determined that the fire was not threatening the plant itself. Because conventional firefighting methods may have caused a dust or smoke explosion or the release of hazardous waste, it was determined to allow the fire to burn itself out.
The most probable cause of the fire is sparks from plant maintenance work that entered the dust collection system igniting the combustible filters.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says privatization of the state’s child support collection system has been a good move because it made collecting the money more cost-effective.
But while the governor says Kansas collected $5.89 for every $1 spent collecting it in fiscal year 2014, other data indicate the state collected the lowest percentage of child support in the past 14 years.
The Topeka Capital Journal reports the state collected 54 percent of current support that was due, the lowest percentage since the state had a 48 percent collection rate in 2000.
The state also collected less in total dollars for parents in 2014 than in the previous year, while the percentage of payments in arrears that was collected hit a 13-year low.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — City workers, residents and volunteers in Kansas City, Kansas, all agree the city must find a way to deal with several packs of stray dogs.
The Kansas City Star reports that Animal Control Director Michelle Angell acknowledged the city has a “huge” problem with dog packs. She says residents fear jogging downtown and children going to school are sometimes frightened by the animals.
Part of the problem is that animal control has six officers and a supervisor. A national animal control group says a city the size of Kansas City, Kansas, should have 20 officers.
The city said 271 dogs were captured in July, August and September, although the animal control division can house only 39 at a time.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Vatican plans soon to release a long-awaited report on its review of women’s religious orders throughout the United States.
The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, told the Detroit Free Press that a Rome news conference is planned for Dec. 16 to issue the findings.
The study began in 2008 and ended about three years later. The Vatican said the review would assess the quality of life for U.S. nuns. The number of religious sisters has dropped dramatically in recent years.
The study is separate from the contentious Vatican-ordered overhaul of the largest umbrella organization for U.S. nuns, called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
Rosica did not reveal any findings Wednesday, but said the report’s release will be a “hopeful and encouraging” moment for religious sisters.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
On December 10, 1948, the nations of the world gathered at the United Nations to adopt the Universal Declaration of Rights, an American-inspired proclamation that launched the modern human rights movement.
Voting in the shadow of the Holocaust, religious freedom was prominent among the inalienable rights that the world agreed must be guarded for all people.
According to Article 18 of the Declaration, “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Sixty-six years later, however, 5.8 billion people — 76% of the world’s population — live in countries with a high or very high level of restrictions on religious freedom, an estimate based on the Pew Research Center’s most recent study of religious hostilities and oppression across the world.
The abject failure of governments to uphold the Universal Declaration has had dire consequences in the 21st century. It is no exaggeration to say that denial of religious freedom is today a leading cause of repression, division and conflict across the world.
Consider that in recent weeks alone:
The Chinese government banned any practice of religion in state institutions, public schools, and businesses in the Xinjiang region in an attempt to further repress the Uyghur Muslim population.
A Christian couple in Pakistan’s Punjab province was lynched and another man hacked to death by a policeman for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam. Blasphemy is a capital crime in Pakistan — and villagers often take matters into their own hands.
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar fled by the thousands in the wake of new requirements by the government designed to force the Rohingya out of the country. Many Rohingya are already confined to concentration camps and are, in the words of one aid worker, “treated like animals.”
The French Interior Minister announced that anti-Semitic threats and incidents in France have more than doubled this year. Feeling frightened and unsafe, thousands of Jews are leaving the country.
From the burning of churches and mosques in East Africa countries to the destruction of ancient Christian communities in Iraq and Syria to the imprisonment of Baha’i leaders in Iran, much of the world’s population suffers from religious persecution, extremism and hatred.
That’s why the United States must move religious freedom from the margins of foreign policy to the center of our relationships with other nations, including strategic allies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — two of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world.
American advocacy of religious freedom is not only a moral obligation; it is in our national security interest. Where religious freedom is denied, religious division, extremism and conflict flourish.
Without religious freedom, there will be no lasting peace.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Washington-based Newseum Institute. [email protected]
Humane Society of the High Plains, 2050 E. US Highway 40
By KARI BLURTON Hays Post
Just like the retail business, the Human Society of the High Plains manager Betty Hanson says the shelter sees many “returns” after Christmas.
Hanson said the biggest mistake people can make is buying a pet as a gift — something she said happens often at Christmastime.
“We have a lot of people come in who adopt pets for other people … and then we have a lot of returns after Christmas,” she said, “because (the pet) was not exactly what they were looking for.”
Hanson recommends buying a gift certificate to cover the adoption fees, which includes the pet’s first shots and the spay and neutering of the animal as well.
More pet holiday safety tips can found on the HPHS website HERE.
Contact the shelter at 2050 E. Old U.S. 40, (785) 625-5252, for more details.
ELLIS — Ellis City Council members will hear an update of new water supplies exploration during their Monday evening meeting. They’ll also take a look at the 2015 Public Water Supply Emergency Operating Plan.
The complete Dec. 15 agenda follows.
AGENDA December 15, 2014
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS
City Hall – Council Meeting Room
BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)
CONSENT AGENDA
Minutes from Regular Meeting on December 1, 2014
Bills Ordinance #1963
October manual journal entries
November manual journal entries
(Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda. By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes. If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson. ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment. Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)
PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
SPECIAL ORDER
Consider Ratification of Fire Department Invoice – Chief Denis Vine
Consider Approval of Kansas Department of Health and Environment Loan Application and Resolution – Steve Hansen, Northwest KS Planning & Development
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Update on Water Exploration
Discussion on Parking Lot Improvements
Consider Approval of Purchasing and Bidding Policy and Procedures
Update on Continuing Disclosure Requirements
NEW BUSINESS
Consider Request for Advanced Funding – Ellis Public Library
Consider Approval of Library Board Appointment
Consideration of 2015 Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses
Consider Purchase of Pressure Sealer and Folding Machine
Consider Approval to Pay Vendor Invoices at Year End
Consideration of the 2015 Public Water Supply Emergency Operating Plan
Consider Approval of Modified Standard Traffic Ordinance
Consider Year-End Transfers to Special Machinery Fund
REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
Administrative
Public Works
Update on Used HVAC Units
Comparative Water Report
Annual Inspection of Water Treatment Plant
Change in Monitoring Status for Water System
Update on Applicant Search
Department Update
Police
Department Update
City Clerk
October Financial Statements
November Financial Statements
Department Update
Attorney
Mayor/Council
January Filing Deadline
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS
ADJOURNMENT
With Ellis County prisoners housed out-of-county during the year-long remodeling of the Law Enforcement Center, Sheriff Ed Harbin is finding the need to hire more part-time jailers. The situation will be discussed during Monday evening’s Ellis County Commission meeting.
Commissioners will also begin discussion of a replacement for Ellis County Rural Fire Director Dick Klaus, scheduled to retire in June.
The Dec. 15 agenda follows.
ELLIS COUNTY COMMISSION Monday, Dec. 15, 2014 5:00 p.m. Ellis County Courthouse
Order of Business
I. Opening
A. Call to Order
B. Pledge of Allegiance
C. Clerk Records the Roll
D. Order of Business
Consideration of Amendments
II. Approval of Prior Minutes
III. Consent Agenda
A. Approval of Employee Status Changes as presented
B. Approval of Refunding Warrants as presented
C. Approval of Tax Roll Adjustments as presented
D. Approval of Escape Tax Orders as presented
E. Approval of Adds and Abates as presented
F. Approval of Accounts Payable and Payroll as presented
IV. Issues from Persons Not on the Order of Business
V. Public Requests/Presentations/Reports Agenda
VI. Action Items Agenda
A. Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses – Annual Renewals
Enclosure
Consideration of approving annual renewals for Joe F. Dolezal dba El Charro
Convenience Store, Richard Guffey dba Fort Hays Golf Shop, Pamela L.
Burgardt dba Rose Garden Steak House
B. Budget Reallocation Enclosure
Consideration of Budget authority from contingency to operating budgets that were negatively affected by loss of reimbursements
C. County Administrative Offices Closure
Consideration Closing County Administrative Offices January 2 – 5, 2015
D. Aerial Photography
Consideration of advertising this project to bid
E. Special Holiday – December 26
Consideration of a Special Holiday on December 26
VII. Issue Introduction/Report Agenda
A. Jail
1. Need for Jailers
Discussion/Report
B. Public Health/EMS
1. Power Lifters for Ambulance Cots Enclosure
Consideration of approving the purchase of Power Lifters for Ambulance Cots from Stryker
2. Infectious Disease Response Report/Discussion
C. Fire District #1
1. Fire Director
Discussion of Hiring Process for next Fire Director
2. Year-end Transfer to Reserves
Consideration of Year-end Transfer of $75,000
D. County Administrator
1. Eggs and Issues
Use of Large Meeting Room in Administrative Center – Starts January 31
E. County Commission
1. Commissioner Reports
F. Executive Session
To discuss Non-Elected Employee Matters (Union Negotiations)
VIII. Adjournment
TOPEKA–County-level estimates for 2014 small grains are now available, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The estimates,based primarily on surveys conducted with farmers and ranchers last fall, can be accessed using the QuickStats online database, found here: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/
The commodity estimates released Thursday include winter wheat and oats. County-level estimates
for late season crops and hay will be published in February and April 2015, respectively.
Find agricultural statistics for your county, state and the nation at www.nass.usda.gov.
