On Friday, West 27th will be reduced to one-lane traffic between Englewood and Thunderbird for pavement repairs.
The project will take approximately six hours to complete. Traffic control devices will be in place to direct the traveling public.
For more information, call (785) 628-7350.
HUTCHINSON – Detention hearings are scheduled for Friday for the five teens arrested on suspicion
of making threats against Hutchinson High School.
Authorities say the hearing will be before a judge in Reno County Juvenile Court and are scheduled throughout the day.
Police took Tyler Cabral, Jake Eells, Takoda Bowman and Dominic Collins, all 16 and Andre Harris, 17, into custody Wednesday afternoon.
All are in the youth detention center on suspicion of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
The five were arrested after threats appeared on Facebook Monday afternoon.
While there is a very wide-ranging opinion on the arrests of the five teens, District Attorney Keith Schroeder had a very direct view on the matter. “Make those types of comments, or threats, and you will be arrested period, whether you think you’re joking or not,” he said.
Schroeder could not go into any specifics in the case at this time and it is not known if the hearings will be closed to the public.
By ANDY MARSO
Top officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs say they are directly monitoring a staffing shortage that has left a Topeka facility unable to provide emergency care for more than a year.
Speaking at a health journalism conference last week in Santa Clara, Calif., VA Secretary Robert McDonald outlined the host of challenges he faces in reforming the embattled medical system.
Among them is restoring Topeka’s Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center’s physician staffing to a level that will allow the facility to reopen its emergency department, which currently functions as an urgent care unit.
“We’re working on it,” McDonald said. “There is an issue in getting physicians to locate in rural areas. It’s a national issue. It’s a VA issue. I’ve been to over a dozen medical schools trying to recruit people.”
Colmery-O’Neil began diverting emergency patients to other hospitals some nights in 2013 because of a physician shortage. By January 2014, the emergency department was shifted entirely to urgent care until more doctors could be hired.
That same year, revelations of secret patient appointment waiting lists at other VA facilities plunged the system into scandal and McDonald’s predecessor, Gen. Eric Shinseki, resigned under pressure in May.
A year later Colmery-O’Neil’s emergency department remains closed, despite a shake-up in its medical leadership and the hiring of a full-time physician recruiter .
Patience is running thin for some in Kansas’ Congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran.
In a recent interview, Moran said he understands that it isn’t easy to recruit specialists to VA facilities in rural areas. But he said he doesn’t believe VA officials are working hard enough to fill the vacancies.
“What seems different to me than five years ago is that the VA seemed as if they had the hope of solving the problem,” Moran said. “Today when you take a problem to the VA, it’s more of a shrug of the shoulders and no sense that they have any plan to fix the problem.”
Gavin West, a doctor who is the VA’s assistant deputy undersecretary for health and clinical operations, said he is well aware of the problem in Topeka and working on solutions.
West said he and Gary Tyndall, the VA’s national program director for emergency medicine, are meeting with Colmery-O’Neil’s leadership every two weeks to talk about how to sufficiently staff the emergency department.
“It’s a tough one,” West said while participating in a panel discussion at the Association for Health Care Journalists conference.
West said compensation plays a role in recruiting physicians, because Colmery-O’Neil is at the low end of the system’s “pay bands.”
More problematic, West said, is the VA’s reputation for rigidity. Doctors don’t want to feel constrained by edicts from above.
“Money isn’t everything for physicians,” West said. “Lifestyle is a big part of it — and really the freedom to take care of your patients the way you want to take care of your patients.”
West said he and others are working to change the bureaucracy. As an example, he pointed to a successful push for legislation allowing more flexible scheduling for VA doctors.
“Those are the ways we’ve tried to directly look at issues in Topeka,” West said. “Hopefully it’s getting a lot better there. They’ve done some good work there.”
McDonald said he has visited 125 VA sites, and employees nationwide have expressed similar frustrations about their lack of autonomy.
A former Procter & Gamble CEO as well as a U.S. Army veteran, McDonald said he intends to deploy corporate training techniques to change that mentality.
“What employees have told me is that they feel like they’re prisoners of a system they can’t change,” McDonald said. “What I’m telling them is they can change it, and I’m going to train them on Lean Six Sigma and teach them how to do that.”
West said more should be done to cut through red tape, especially in the VA’s hiring process, which he called “way too slow.”
He said that as a primary care doctor in good standing, he probably could land a job within three days if he floated his resume out into the open market. That presents a problem for a VA system in which human resources requires months to vet potential candidates.
“If it takes you eight months to get somebody a contract, ain’t nobody going to be around because they’re all going to be sucked up by these other places — competitors,” West said. “That’s something we’ve got to do a much better job of: being agile in H.R.”
Though the closing of the ER is unusual, Colmery-O’Neil’s physician shortage is indicative of a national problem.
McDonald said recruitment of new doctors is a challenge across the country, inside and outside the VA system. Rural areas are especially strapped for staff.
“It’s hard to get primary care physicians in the northwest corner of Montana,” McDonald said.
The Cabinet secretary said he’s visiting medical schools to try to recruit young doctors in person.
McDonald said he requested a 7.5 percent budget increase to hire new staff and upgrade facilities to handle an influx of new patients from a combination of 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the aging of the Vietnam veterans.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut that request significantly, he said.
McDonald said the current demand on the VA system gives a glimpse of what the national medical system will face as the baby boomer generation ages and what the VA is likely to need in the future, when an estimated 2.5 million veterans of the most recent conflicts become frail.
“We’ve got to build the capability today for the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans for when they’re turning 60 years old,” McDonald said.
McDonald said he’s trying to partner VA services with veterans’ advocacy organizations outside the system and make the federal agency more accessible to the media. He and West took questions from reporters for more than a half hour.
“We’re trying to change a culture from kind of a Kremlin-esque, ‘there’s-a-moat around-the-building,’ to transparent, open,” McDonald said.
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
Marine Leiker, 92, Hays, died Thursday, April 30, 2015 at the Good Samaritan Society, Ellis.
She was born March 28, 1923 in Hays the daughter of Joseph and Kathren (Hertel) Eberle. She grew up and attended school in Yocemento, Kansas.
On November 26, 1951 she married Marcell Leiker in Hays. He died on April 19, 1970. She was a housekeeper for the Schwallers, Tom Boone, and Dale and Iris Davis for many years.
She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hays. She was well known for “Marine’s Rolls” which were her delicious cinnamon rolls. She enjoyed cooking and baking, and making holiday dinners for her nieces and nephews. She loved sitting outside and visiting with her neighbors, and spending time with her family.
Survivors include three sisters in law, Katie Eberle of WaKeeney, Kansas, Wilma Unrein of Hays, and Irene Leiker of Wichita, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, six brothers; Halarius, Anton, Ralph, Eddie, Alfred and Alvin Eberle, and three sisters; Anna Boucher, Marcella Weber, and Evelyn Hoff.
Funeral services will be at 10:00 am on Monday, May 4, 2015 at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, 215 W. 13th, Hays. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends on Sunday from 6:00 until 8:00 pm and on Monday from 9:00 until 9:45 am, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine. A parish vigil service will be at 6:30 pm on Sunday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to St. Joseph Catholic Church, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com.
Submitted
Newspaper students were recognized for their collective effort when it was recently announced that the 2014-15 Guidon has been awarded All-Kansas from the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.
All-Kansas is the top state award presented to student yearbooks, newspapers and websites. Yearbook awards are typically announced late fall, while newspaper and website awards are announced in late spring. Hays High’s newspaper was named in the Class 4A division. This marks the third consecutive year and the fifth time in the last seven years the Guidon has been named All-Kansas.
“All-Kansas is our ultimate goal for our publications, so it goes without saying that I’m extremely proud of the newspaper staff,” adviser Bill Gasper said. “The award is a result of many hours of hard work by the staff and a belief of what they are doing is very important. And, not only is their work important, they are also learning valuable future workplace skills such as effective communication, teamwork, problem solving and creative thinking.”
Newspapers are judged in five areas – coverage, reporting, design, visuals and leadership. In each area, newspapers are awarded either an All-Kansas, an Award of Commendation, or an Award of Merit. To earn the overall All-Kansas rating, a newspaper must have the top rating in at least three areas. The Guidon earned the top distinction in all five areas.
Editors of the newspaper are juniors Sylina Zhang and Briana Mathias. Other staff members are seniors Max Befort, Rachael Arthur and Sarah Rooney, juniors Elizabeth Arthur, Kaylee Brin, Hannah Baxter, Nikki Vuong and Jacey Schaffer, and sophomores Anniston Weber, Madison Crees, Raina Basso and Kara Brooks.
“It’s a great group, a very talented group, which certainly makes my job easier,” Gasper said. “They certainly deserve the recognition.”
Zhang and Mathias have been members of the newspaper staff for two years and are currently serving their first stint as editors-in-chief.
“We are a very dynamic group and each member of the staff brings a unique talent,” Zhang said. “Although we have varying perspectives, we are a great team. I am very proud of what we have accomplished.”
Mathias echoed those sentiments, saying she was pleased upon hearing the All-Kansas news.
“When I got the email from Mr. Gasper, I opened it immediately and was very excited about what we have done,” Mathias said. “We worked really hard this year to accomplish this and I look forward to continuing the success next year as a senior.”
Bruckner Truck Sales, based in Amarillo, Texas, has completed moving to a newly constructed, full-service facility off Interstate 70 in Hays.
The new location at 2101 Commerce Parkway provides customers who are driving the I-70 corridor more convenient service than the old location, which was located south of Hays at 1595 Chetolah Gold Road.
“This is a great move for us. Other than being a totally new facility, our location is so visible from I-70 and offers easy, in-and-out highway access. I anticipate many new customers stopping in for parts, service and to look at our trucks and trailers,” said Tim Lang, general manager of Bruckner Truck Sales in Hays. “The new, larger facility will offer more service bays and more parts warehouse allowing us to stock more parts.”
Chris Bruckner, executive vice president said, “Being on major interstates is very important to serving our customers. There is significant truck traffic on I-70 and now we can offer them a much more convenient location than before. Locating our facilities in the best locations, improving parts warehouse space; and investing in the most up-to-date technology allows Bruckner’s to continue to offer a high-level of customer service.”
Bruckner’s service center is a Mack & Volvo trucks dealership and has a full-line of heavy-duty trailers. The I-70 location hours of operation are 7:30 am – 5 pm, Mon – Fri. A 24-hour call-out service is available. The new location will retain their phone numbers – (785) 625-7343 and toll-free (888) 629-6225.
About Bruckner Truck Sales B.M. “Bennie” Bruckner Sr. founded Bruckner’s Garage in Amarillo, Texas, in 1932. In 1948, Bruckner began selling and servicing Mack trucks. During those early years, Bennie Bruckner believed in the value of hiring “good people” committed to service. His philosophy continues to guide the company today. Under the leadership of Bennie’s son, Ben Bruckner Jr. until his passing in November 2012, and now Ben Jr’s sons – Chris and Brian Bruckner, dedicated employees ensure that service remains the hallmark of all Bruckner’s locations. In 2000, Volvo Trucks purchased Mack Trucks, allowing Bruckner’s to expand its brands and services and – over the years – has become recognized as a leading dealership serving the Southwestern United States. For more information visit: www.brucknertruck.com.
To find out more about the new “VALUE” Program at FHSU, Mike Cooper visits with Fort Hays State University Leadership Studies Chair, Dr. Jill Arensdorf.
RUSSELL – A woman was injured in an accident just after 11:30 a.m. on Thursday in Russell County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria driven by Nancy Jo Welling, 78, Paradise, was westbound on Interstate 70 five miles west of Russell in the right hand lane.
The vehicle moved left into the passing lane and rubbed up against the tires on the trailer of a semi.
The driver lost control of the Ford. It went into the north ditch, hit the KDOT fence and came to rest on the shoulder of the westbound lane.
Welling was transported to Russell Regional Medical Center.
The semi driver Charles M. Gatz, 53, Marquette, was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Several hundred advocates and disabled Kansas residents have rallied at the Statehouse for preserving spending on social services as legislators deal with the state’s budget problems.
The rally Thursday came with the Republican-controlled Legislature in early discussions about proposals to raise taxes to close a shortfall in the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Legislative researchers say the deficit is $422 million.
The event was sponsored by InterHab. It represents providers of services to the developmentally disabled.
Executive Director Tom Laing said the group has specific concerns such as funding for in-home services.
But Laing said the larger concern is that lawmakers won’t raise enough new revenues to prevent social services cuts.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr. said legislators are committed to preserving programs.
E. Jean Herrman (November 2, 1929 – April 27, 2015), 85, peacefully passed away in her sleep on April 27, 2015 at St. Thomas More Hospital while recovering from a fall from the previous day.
She was born in Omaha, Nebraska on November 2, 1929 to Anthony and Cecelia Fleissner and received her elementary and secondary education there. As a child, Jean suffered from polio but, with the attentive care of her mother, was able to avoid many of the more serious consequences of the disease. As an adult, however, she developed post-polio syndrome which increasingly weakened her legs and impaired her balance.
In the meantime, Jean earned a Bachelor degree in Nursing at the Denver School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado and later a Master degree in Psychiatric Nursing at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. After teaching for several years at The Menninger (Psychiatric) Clinic in Topeka, Kansas she met the widower Dr. Ralph Herrman, D.D.S., of Seneca, Kansas. Ralph and Jean were married in November of 1969, and Jean immediately became the mother of Ralph’s eight children which included two sets of twins. Jean loved family, friends, the Church, and cooking. In 1973, the family returned to Omaha where Jean assumed a part-time teaching position at the College of St. Mary, School of Nursing and Ralph became a full-time faculty member at Creighton University School of Dentistry. After almost three decades in the Omaha area, Ralph and Jean retired from teaching (but not parenting) and moved to Canon City, Colorado.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Anthony and Cecelia, and her step-son Nicolas Herrman. She is survived by her husband, Ralph, their seven children: David (Vicki) in Omaha, NE, Terry (Elin) in Ames, IA, Tim (Kathy) in Mesa, AZ, Eileen (Mark) Molzen in Mesa, AZ, Mark (& Ingrid) in Spokane, WA, Monica (Jim) Tolas in Sumner, WA, and Amy in Riverside, PA along with twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild. She is also survived by a brother, Robert (Janet) Fleissner, and a sister, Kathleen (Fleissner) Wolford both in Omaha, NE, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Liebenthal, KS on Monday, May 4, at 10:30am. The burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery in Liebenthal, Kansas. Following services a luncheon will be held with the location to be announced.
Visitation will be 10 AM – 10:30 AM at the church on Monday.
Arrangements in care of Brock’s-Keithley Funeral Chapel, 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601.
Condolences may be left by guest book at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or emailed to [email protected].
LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the White House is rejecting a proposal to largely replace the military’s TRICARE health care system but has agreed to further study a proposal that would let service members participate in retirement savings plans like a 401(k).
The administration is prepared to support 10 recommendations made by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, mainly for less sweeping changes and improvements affecting child care, education, travel and other benefits. The decisions reflect recommendations made by the Pentagon.
The panel released a report in late January laying out 15 recommendations they estimated would generate more than $20 billion in savings over four years. U.S. officials described the administration plans on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
FHSU University Relations
Few have filled as many and varied roles at Fort Hays State University as Dr. Paul Adams, and his educational footprint just grew considerably larger.
Dr. Graham Glynn, FHSU’s new provost, announced today that Adams had been selected as dean of the College of Education and Technology. Adams had been serving as interim dean since Dr. Robert F. Scott Jr. left in May last year to become a vice president at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. Adams will assume his new duties on June 7.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce Paul’s appointment as the next dean of the College of Education and Technology at Fort Hays State,” Glynn said. “Dr. Adams was selected for this position after an extensive national search. He brings great strengths to the leadership of the College, including a collaborative leadership style, an interest in mentoring faculty, and an extensive record of procuring multidisciplinary national grants that have benefited many of our colleges and faculty.”
Glynn also noted that Adams has an extensive understanding of the Kansas education system and the needs of the state. “I greatly look forward to working with Paul in the years to come and ask you to join me in congratulating him on this achievement,” he said.
Adams is a professor of physics. In May 2003, he was named to a new endowed chair when Philip Frederick Anschutz, Sue Anschutz-Rodgers and the Anschutz Family Foundation created the Marian Pfister Anschutz Endowed Professorship in Education in memory of their mother, an FHSU alumna.
Adams heads the Science and Mathematics Education Institute at Fort Hays State, and in that role he played a key part in developing the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science, which was established by the Kansas Legislature in 2006 as the state’s premier academic program for the best and brightest high school students. He also was instrumental in developing MakerSpace, an area in Forsyth Library for FHSU students and members of the Hays community to build, tinker and explore projects and ideas within the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In addition to his duties at Fort Hays State, Adams is involved in the local community and most recently was elected to the Hays USD 489 Board of Education as the top vote getter.
Dr. Mirta M. Martin, FHSU president, joined Glynn in welcoming Adams to his new position. “After a rigorous search process, Dr. Adams emerged as the obvious choice as dean because of his passion for education, his qualifications and his expertise,” she said. “He is the perfect leader for the College of Education and Technology. I have all the confidence that together with the gifted faculty and talented staff, he will inspire students to make Fort Hays State their destination of choice.”
The dean provides leadership to more than 32 full-time faculty and nearly 2,000 students who represent 11 countries, 41 states and most counties in Kansas. The College has three departments — Teacher Education, Advanced Education Programs and the Institute of Applied Technology — and supports the Science and Mathematics Education Institute and the Kansas Center for Innovative Education. The College offers both undergraduate and graduate courses of study yielding more than 32,000 credit hours of instruction after years of double-digit growth.
The student pass rate on the state licensure examination for teachers is 92 percent. Of particular note is that 32 percent of school superintendents and 16 percent of principals throughout Kansas have studied in the College, far surpassing the five other Kansas Regent institutions and private colleges or universities in the state.
“I’m honored by the opportunity to have been selected dean for the College of Education and Technology,” Adams said. “The faculty of COET are dedicated individuals who do their best to serve Fort Hays State, Kansas and the world. I welcome the opportunity to be a leader of this College as we move forward, providing highly qualified teachers, administrators, counselors and technologists for the state of Kansas and beyond.”
Adams received a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, in 1983; a master’s degree in physics, with certification as a physics and math teacher, from Washington State University, Pullman, in 1986; and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in science education (physics and earth systems) from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., in 1996. He came to Fort Hays State in 1986 as an instructor of physics, left in 1989 and then returned to the FHSU Department of Physics in 1996.
Dr. Jeff Briggs, dean of the College of Life and Health Sciences, served as chair of the search committee.
“As a search committee, we are pleased to have such a qualified candidate emerge from an excellent pool of applicants,” Briggs said. “Dr. Adams possesses a deep understanding of accreditation issues, is steeped in the various delivery modalities that define Fort Hays State, and has a teaching, scholarship and service profile that is exceptional. His expertise in science and mathematics education is a significant plus as the state faces teacher shortages and an increasing need for high-functioning students in those areas.”
In addition to Briggs, members included Dr. Jim Barrett, associate professor of advanced education programs; Kim Stewart, executive director of the Institute of Applied Technology; Cindy Elliott, assistant provost for strategic partnerships and dean of distance learning; Dr. Lorie Cook-Benjamin, assistant professor of teacher education; Dr. Regi Wieland, associate professor of advanced education programs; and Dr. Roger Schieferecke, director of the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are seeking to block a Texas magistrate judge’s order allowing the release of a couple accused of laundering drug cartel money at a small southwest Kansas bank.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas asked the court late Wednesday to revoke the order freeing on bond George and Agatha Enns of Meade. The government is also seeking to have them returned to Kansas for a detention hearing.
The couple allegedly conspired with the former bank president of Plains State Bank to launder millions of dollars of drug proceeds. Two other former bank employees are charged with failing to report the suspicious financial transactions.
The former bank employees remain free on bond without government opposition after making initial court appearances Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Wichita.
