TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State and federal officials are preparing to outline the details of a new program for helping food stamp recipients in Kansas find employment.
Gov. Sam Brownback was having a news conference Monday at the state Department for Children and Families service center, a few blocks from the Statehouse in Topeka.
Administrator Audrey Rowe of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service also was participating in the event. Other Kansas officials and business leaders also were attending.
Kansas is among 10 states sharing $200 million in federal grants to expand employment programs for food stamp recipients.
The programs are designed to help the poor move off of food assistance and into jobs. Kansas requires able-bodied adults seeking food assistance to be working or looking for employment.
Starbucks baristas will no longer write “Race Together” on customers’ cups.
Company spokesman Jim Olson says the coffee chain’s initiative to create discussion on diversity and racial inequality will continue without the handwritten messages, which are phasing out as originally planned.
A recently released memo from CEO Howard Schultz says the cups were always “just the catalyst” for a broader conversation and the company will still hold forum discussions, co-produce special sections in USA TODAY and put more stores in minority communities as part of the Race Together initiative.
The campaign has been criticized as opportunistic and inappropriate, coming in the wake of racially charged events such as protests over police killings of black males.
Olson says the change is not a reaction to that pushback.
OK, I’ve got to admit I’ve been looking forward to spring turkey season, but the feeling barely rated a tingle and was certainly nothing close to an itch yet.
The other night driving home from Hutchinson, I took a back road I knew in the past was home to a nice group of turkeys each spring and a big group each winter. Sure enough there they were, strung out over a couple hundred yards of wheat field.
There were easily a hundred birds, and a few toms were polishing up their moves and beginning to form their harems. I scratched all the way home, so now I’m officially itchin’ for spring turkey season to start. This morning I stood in the parking lot at my job noticing the sparse tint of frost on the roof tops, feeling the slight nip in the air, and hearing the robins twittering, all reminding me of early morning turkey hunts.
I’m not a real seasoned turkey hunter, but I have learned a thing or two, mostly by mistake, about the pursuit of Kansas gobblers. A tried-and-true way of putting yourself on turkeys at first light is to be set up to call them as they leave the roost in the morning. You need to be close, but not too close and you need to be able to get there without being seen or heard by the still-roosted birds.
More than once I’ve set up in the morning where I saw birds late the night before and assumed I knew where they roosted, only to be scared spitless the next morning when a big tom gobbled much too near to me in the dark. My error was in not knowing for certain where they roosted and assuming I could come close enough. So if calling birds as they leave the roost in the morning is your game, either stick around long enough the night before or come back after dark and do some coyote howls or owl hoots to know for sure where they are.
Another thing I’ve learned is not to give up too easily on birds you spook. Once spooked, you will probably not get a shot at those birds anymore that day where you happen to spook them, but quietly leave and get set up somewhere ahead of them and the game is still on. A few years ago I built a blind out of brush the landowner had cut at the end of a field a couple hundred yards from where I knew a small group of turkeys was roosting. What I hadn’t planned for was the couple lone jakes roosting by themselves just a short distance from my blind.
After they had called my bluff, and the group I knew about had shunned me too, I set up again along a creek just around the corner of the same wooded pasture and started calling. The two jakes that had busted me came running enthusiastically and probably would have run over me had I not shot the first one.
Despite what the pros might say, turkey calling does not have to be precise and flawless either. Yes it’s good to know enough that your calls are not screaming bad things about a gobbler’s mother, but in my opinion it’s much more important to be in the right spot and to be well camouflaged, quiet and still.
Spring turkey season in Kansas runs from April 15 through the end of May for shotgun and archery; from April 1-14 for youth/disabled hunters and from April 6-14 for archery only; that’s a long time. In my mind there is no excuse not to buy a spring turkey permit for $22.50 and hit the woods. If you’re new to turkey hunting, attend a seminar or find an experienced hunter to take you along and experience that sickness known as spring wild turkey hunting as you Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
OMAHA, Neb. — No wonder Kansas never wants anything to do with Wichita State.
Behind another steady performance from Fred VanVleet and the hot shooting of Evan Wessel, the No. 7 seed Shockers rolled past the second-seeded Jayhawks 78-65 on Sunday, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 at the expense of the school that has caused them so much chagrin.
Tekele Cotton led the way with 19 points for the Shockers (30-4). VanVleet finished with 17 and Wessel hit four 3-pointers to score 12, sending the Missouri Valley champions to Cleveland for the Midwest Regional semifinal against third-seeded Notre Dame.
Devonte’ Graham and Perry Ellis had 17 points each, and Frank Mason added 16 for the Jayhawks (27-9), who blew an early eight-point lead and never really threatened in the second half.
Fort Hays State fell in the series finale at Northwest Missouri State by a score of 4-3 on Sunday (Mar. 22). FHSU tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, but NWMSU won the game in walk-off fashion in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk. NWMSU took three of four games in the series.
Errors plagued the Tigers throughout the game as three of Northwest Missouri’s four runs were unearned. FHSU committed four errors in the game.
NWMSU scored in the first to take a 1-0 lead as the leadoff man, who reached by error, came in to score on a RBI bunt single. From that point, FHSU starter Justin Hersch settled in to hold the Bearcats at bay through the sixth inning.
FHSU tied up the game in the third on a Kevin Czarnecki RBI double, also benefitting from an error that led to the run.
Hersch would pitch a total of 6.1 innings, surrendering one more run in the seventh. Kyle Vogt relieved him right before a sacrifice fly, which was charged to Hersch’s run total. But once again the run was unearned due to a run earlier in the inning. NWMSU went up 2-1 after seven innings.
The Bearcats added one more in the eighth courtesy of another error to lead off the inning. A double brought the runner in and the unearned run was charged to Giles Fox, who allowed a hit with a strikeout in 0.2 innings of work. Austin Unrein entered to pick up the final out of the inning with a strikeout.
FHSU put its first two batters aboard in the ninth before Cooper Langley knocked them in with a two-RBI triple. Langley attempted to score on a ground ball off the bat of Casey Sedbrook, but he was cut down at the plate by the second baseman.
Unrein ran into trouble on the mound in the ninth as he hit the leadoff batter and then allowed a bunt single. He got the next batter to pop out on a bunt and then induced a flyout to centerfield for the second out, while the runners remained at first and second. However, he allowed back-to-back walks to end the game, forcing in the winning run (the only earned run of the game for NWMSU).
Carson Smith picked up the win in relief for NWMSU, going 2.1 innings. He allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts. NWMSU starter Nikko Pablo went 6.2 innings and allowed six hits and a walk, while striking out eight.
FHSU left 14 runners on base in the game, leaving two or more on base in five of the nine innings.
The Tigers moved to 4-17 overall and 4-12 in the MIAA. Northwest Missouri State moved to 12-12 overall and 9-7 in the MIAA.
Procession of the Palms will be held Sunday, March 29, at 3pm. Procession of the Palms is a multi-denominational celebration that celebrates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
BASEHOR – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Sunday in Leavenworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1985 Honda Rebel 250 driven by Judith C. Henney, 49, Leavenworth, was northbound on 158th Street in Basehor navigating a curve.
The motorcycle struck sand, left the road and the rider was ejected.
Henney was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A collection of materials highlighting some of the nation’s radical political beliefs is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the University of Kansas.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Political Movements at the Spencer Research Library has more than 100,000 items. They include bumper stickers and posters emblazoned with messages that include “Support gun control, disarm the FBI.” The collection also features books about extremist movements.
Seventy-two-year-old Laird Wilcox, of Olathe, began collecting the materials as a youth. Wilcox sold his collection to KU in 1965, and continues to donate items to it. The library also has a fund with which to purchase new materials to keep it growing.
To mark the anniversary, some pieces are on display at the Spencer Library.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A private Hutchinson school is dropping out of the federal school lunch program over concerns about portion size and federal regulations.
The Hutchinson New reports that the governing board for Central Christian School voted unanimously Friday morning to mostly cease participation in the national school lunch program, starting in August. A preschool program will continue in a government-regulated lunch program.
Federal school lunch changes approved in 2010 sparked criticism about portion sizes, food choice, and the food labeling and record-keeping requirements imposed on participating schools.
Central Christian receives government money for the approximately 20 percent of its students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches. It still intends to help those students and has a financial strategy for carrying out an in-house lunch service.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas medical interests say they are suffering because the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid.
The Topeka Capital-Journal (reports that the issue came up last week in the Legislature. A bill discussed Wednesday and Thursday in the Kansas House Health and Human Services committee would authorize the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS has reached agreements with six states to add extra requirements to Medicaid eligibility or to give the private sector a role.
Officials with both Stormont-Vail Healthcare and St. Francis Health in Topeka said their finances aren’t as severely impaired as some hospitals in rural areas. But both hospitals said they would benefit if fewer patients were uninsured.
Crews from Midwest Energy are in Hill City Sunday making final repairs to the cause of a massive power outage leaving thousands of Hays area residents without power Saturday night.
The outage affected nearly 4,500 customers beginning at 11 p.m. Saturday to 20 minutes after midnight.
According to MWE Corporate Communications Manager Mike Morley, the cause of the outage was due to burned insulators on a switch.
“It is not often we see an outage of that size and significance,” he said, crediting MWE’s outstanding crews and system control with restoring power in a timely manner.
He said power was rerouted to those affected Saturday and crews from Hays and Hill City are replacing two insulators at the Hays plant substation Sunday.
Morley thanked the community for their patience and apologized for any inconvenience.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating the shooting death of a man in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe.
Officers were called Saturday night to a residence where a man was found dead. Police said in a news release that the man appeared to have a single gunshot wound to his upper body. The release said officers are investigating the death as a homicide.
Anyone with information is urged to call police. The name of the victim wasn’t immediately released.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Shawnee County prosecutors have charged a Topeka city councilman with failing to disclose that he is an officer of a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that court records show that Chad Manspeaker was charged with the misdemeanor criminal charge Tuesday. Manspeaker said in a written statement that he would “rather not comment at this time,” noting that the case is pending.
Manspeaker didn’t run for re-election and leaves his city council seat on April 14. His last full meeting on the city council was last week.
It wasn’t immediately clear what tax-exempt entity Manspeaker is accused of failing to disclose in his role as a public officer.
