WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A medical marijuana advocate has lost custody of her 11-year-old son at least temporarily and could face possible charges following comments the boy made during a drug education program at his Kansas school.
Garden City Police said the case of 37-year-old Shona Banda was forwarded Monday to prosecutors for a decision about any charges. Police said in a statement that possible charges include possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment. No arrests have been made.
Police were called to the boy’s school on March 24. A search of the house found marijuana and other drug-related items.
The divorced Garden City mother says she did not regain custody of her son after a hearing Monday. She says she is not giving up.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Huelskamp (KS-01) spoke out on the House floor to draw attention to political targeting by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency that is supposed to be non-political. During the 2010 campaign season, IRS agents gave extra scrutiny to 298 conservative groups based on their political persuasions, subverting these Americans’ First Amendment rights.
Congressman Huelskamp’s speech can be viewed here.
Huelskamp has taken legislative action fight the kind of political targeting Lois Lerner and her assistants conducted, cosponsoring H.R. 709, the Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act, which would rein in Internal Revenue Service abuses.
Huelskamp: “[…] A government of the people cannot always be trusted to do right by the people, and thus must hold itself in check for the sake of the people. The targeted discrimination and unfair treatment of conservative organizations with the words “Tea Party” in their names that took place at the Internal Revenue Service under the direction of Lois Learner shows what happens when government no longer feels accountable to the people and when the Constitution becomes a list of suggestions. Agencies can then become a political weapon for one party to use against the other. This bill will add targeting taxpayers for political purposes to the list of ten things that can get you fired as an employee of the IRS.”
The USD 489 Hays Board of Education and administration is waiting for the Kansas Insurance Commission to approve a proposed Kansas Education Risk Management Insurance Pool in hopes of saving money on district’s property/casualty insurance.
The plan was brought to the table by the district’s insurance broker, Salina-based Assurance Partners, at a special meeting Friday when the board voted 7-0 to pursue the pool along with 14 other school districts.
According to Superintendent Dean Katt, there are benefits to the insurance pool, including a more than $30,000 savings in premiums compared to the district’s current insurance provider, EMC Insurance Cos.
Katt said the pool offers other benefits, as well.
“It looks to me we would have some areas with more coverage than what we had previously the deductibles are lower in some areas,” Katt said.
Katt said the Kansas Insurance Commission has 30 days to approve the pool. He said the pool is not approved the district’s broker will look at other avenues.
HUTCHINSON — The Liberty Bell-7 returned to Hutchinson on Monday morning after an 8-month stay in Europe.
The spacecraft had been in Germany where it was part of a temporary exhibit, “Outer Space: The Space Between Art and Science,” developed in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center.
The Liberty Bell 7, piloted by Virgil “Gus” Grissom, ended with the craft lost at the bottom of the ocean for 38 years until a joint recovery effort by the Kansas Cosmosphere’s SpaceWorks team and The Discovery Channel in June 1999.
The “Bell” will stay at the Cosmosphere until the end of the year when it goes on display at the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis
John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.
“Everyone, my family and friends, tell me to switch out of teaching but I’m going to stay in.” This admission from one of my students can bring tears to an advisor’s eyes. We talk some more. Despite the overwhelming advice from parents and classmates, she understands that the next generation of kids will need good teachers.
After my current student teachers graduate this year, I will have just three left in the 4-year pipeline. I ask a colleague at another Kansas university how many student teachers they have in preparation in chemistry? None. Physics? Zero. Biology? Two. This downturn is underway at colleges and universities across Kansas.
In the 1990s, K.S.D.E. data on secondary teaching licenses in the sciences showed that all programs across the state together produced nearly 240 new biology teachers, over 125 new chemistry teachers, 115 new physics teachers and 62 new earth science teachers annually. By 2013, production of new science teachers in Kansas dropped to less than one-tenth those levels. What happened?
Science teachers are particularly repulsed by mandated curricula and teaching-to-the-test. The nosedive in science teacher production began with QPA and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that forced science teachers to drill students for the state assessments. In many cases, field trips and laboratory exercises were reduced or eliminated.
The NCLB focus on testing continues today, and remains in the current proposed renewal of NCLB in Washington, DC. I went from having 50-60 biology teacher advisees in the 4-year pipeline and 4-6 student teachers per semester, to having just 15 students with 1-2 student teachers per semester last year.
Then, the Kansas Legislature ended due process for Kansas teachers. Over last summer, many parents had talks with their college student. In some cases, families where the grandparents and parents had all been teachers counseled their offspring to find another field. And eight more students dropped out of my teacher-track last fall. During this spring political season, every few weeks there has been another action that has reduced the dignity and respect for teaching, from raiding KPERS to petty quarrels over the Teacher of the Year award system. With each legislative action, several more student teachers bailed.
Across Kansas, public school teachers are increasingly reluctant to recommend to their students a career in teaching. More are reading the newspaper headlines and turning away from careers in education. It is not a marketing problem about salary. It is an attitude problem emanating from many state capitols, although Kansas is probably a leader.
According to Education Week, California “…lost some 22,000 teacher-prep enrollments, or 53 percent, between 2008-09 and 2012-13.” This “…decline in teacher-preparation enrollments has accelerated in recent years, particularly since 2010.” While initial blame fell on the weak economy after 2008, this recent rapid decline can only be attributed to the growing perception that teaching is becoming a poorly-paid, teach-to-the-test, assembly line job where teachers are blamed for all student failure.
Usually there is a surplus of elementary, social studies and physical education teachers. But at recent career fairs, administrators are walking away empty-handed. Last week, our State School Board learned how administrators from other states were signing contracts with the few student teachers who were attending a southeast Kansas career fair.
They also heard that if the Legislature fails to renew the provision where teachers can return and teach after retirement, it will cost Kansas 2000-2500 teachers, exacerbating the teacher shortage (particularly in special education).
Even more devastating to our supply of future student teachers is the proposal by the Coalition of Innovative Districts to bypass teacher training and allow out-of-field and even non-degreed teachers into Kansas classrooms as full teachers. Why enter a job that is no longer a profession?
USD 489/Hays Area Children’s Center, Hays, Kansas is seeking applicants for the position of 0.9 FTE speech-language pathologist beginning in August 2015. Duties will include working with children, birth to 3 years, with delays and/or disabilities and their families. Applicants must have or be able to obtain a Kansas license with an endorsement in speech-language pathology. Qualified applicants should have a strong work ethic, pay attention to details, enjoy young children and be a team player.
SALARY AND BENEFITS: The district’s salary schedule has 12 categories, with salaries ranging from $35,870 to $57,520. Staff members employed by the school system for the first time can be granted credit for as much as 11 years of experience. A fringe benefit package includes single medical insurance coverage and term life insurance.
For more information regarding this position, please contact Mark Hauptman, Asst. Superintendent for Special Services, [email protected] or (785) 623-2400.
USD 489, Ellis County, Kansas, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or handicap in admission or access to or employment in its programs and activities. If you have questions regarding the above, please contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504 Coordinator in the office of the Superintendent of Schools, 323 W. 12th Street, Hays, KS 67601, (785) 623-2400.
OLATHE (AP) — Four men charged with killing a suburban Kansas City gun store owner will face additional charges.
Bieker
The suspects were already charged with first-degree felony murder in the January shooting death of Jon Bieker in Shawnee. He was killed while defending his wife during a robbery at the She’s A Pistol gun store. His wife, Becky Bieker, suffered only minor injuries.
Jon Bieker spent most of his early years living in WaKeeney.
A preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday was postponed until July 27 at the request of defense attorneys.
The Kansas City Star reports the suspects — Londro E. Patterson III, Deanthony A. Wiley, Nicquan K. Midgyett, and Hakeem W. Malik, — are now also charged with attempted aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and aggravated battery.
All four suspects are being held in the Johnson County Jail.
OTTAWA- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 8 a.m. on Monday in Franklin County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 20012 Nissan Altima driven by Betsy J. Mastel, 33, Ottawa, was waiting to make a turn from Interstate 35 northbound onto Kansas 68 eastbound near Ottawa.
A 2007 Kenworth semi driven by Enrique Garcia, 50, Amarillo, TX, failed to yield and rear ended the Nissan.
Mastel was transported to Ransom Memorial Hospital.
Garcia was not injured.
The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
“Unfriended” is a tale of two movies. One is experimental, one is derivative. One is fresh, one is tired. One is an interesting new twist, and the other is a one-note joke.
First things first, the entire film takes place on a single computer screen. For example, the menu bar at the top of a Mac computer is present for the entire film. The different characters and the horror that assails them are joined together by a Skype video call and various other software programs. The result is a unique landscape over which the same old teen slasher film takes place.
I rather enjoyed this closely related cousin to the “found footage” paradigm. That said, I definitely do not want this to become a trend. This idea should be a one-off and be thankful it wasn’t relegated to a short film made by a film student where it truly should have belonged.
“Unfriended” isn’t for everyone, perhaps it isn’t for most people. It’s an interesting idea that was put through the ringer and the result is average, at best. The far more intriguing bits are the ghosts of the filmmaking process. For example, the decision was made to always have the main character use the mouse shortcut to copy and paste something instead of the faster, more efficient, albeit far less visible keyboard shortcut. From a general audience perspective, it’s much easier to follow along with what the character is doing by showing the mouse shortcut which opens readable menus. From the character perspective, if these are supposed to be tech-savy high school students, I find it hard to believe that the keyboard shortcut wouldn’t be more in line with their implied computer proficiency.
The difference between those two choices made the film far more engaging to me — wondering about the conversations that were had about how to use the digital medium to tell the story. That said, those types of interactions are interesting to a cinephile, like myself. To the general public, “Unfriended” may be a pop-up ad that is frustrating and easy to just close.
SALINA -A Kansas man was arrested Saturday evening on several charges, after he is accused of hitting, strangling, and sexually assaulting a woman during about a three-hour period.
Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney said David William Ross Summers, 28, Salina, went to the central Salina home of the woman just before 5 p.m.
Summers reportedly accused the woman of having an affair, hit her and strangled her in the presence of her four children under the age of 10.
Police say Summers then forced the woman into the basement, where he allegedly continued to hit, strangle her and also sexually assaulted her.
The victim escaped to a neighbor’s home and asked for help.
Summers answered the door and reportedly used his head to hit the neighbor who came to the door offering help.
The neighbor suffered a cut above an eye, and the woman was taken to the hospital for treatment of bruises and abrasions. She was treated and released.
Summers was booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of attempted 2nd degree murder, rape, aggravated child endangerment, aggravated battery, and criminal damage to property.
The USD 489 Hays Board of Education is expected to vote on a technology financing plan at Monday evening’s BOE meeting.
The USD 489 technology committee recommendation includes the purchase of 2,100 Apple devices, which would provide iPads Minis for K-2 and iPads for grades 3-8 — a total of $703,009. Twenty-one iMacs would be purchased for the Hays High School graphic design lab at a cost of $27,298
The four-year technology plan also includes providing Windows-based laptop/tablets for grades 9-12.
Also on the agenda is a review of a the administration’s recommendation for early release days for the 2015-16 school year and school start and stop times.
Current USD 489 2015-16 calender
Draft of recommended USD 489 school start and stop times.
The board is also expected to vote on the non-renewal of a staff member and approve “a reduction in force” at Hays Area Children’s Center due to budget constraints.
The BOE meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Rockwell Administration Center.
A full agenda can be found on the USD 489 website HERE.
Gov. Sam Brownback chats with pre-school children during the Pinwheels for Prevention event in front of the state capitol building.
TOPEKA–Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Phyllis Gilmore were joined by dozens of children in Topeka, to highlight Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The event at the State Capitol Building involved the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign to call attention to child abuse prevention.
“Child abuse is preventable, but it takes everyone to do their part,” Governor Brownback said. “We have an obligation to Kansas children to keep them safe.”
Governor Brownback signed a proclamation on March 27, designating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Kansas.
The Pinwheels for Prevention campaign is an effort to change the way our nation thinks about prevention and how we can deliver on our commitment to Kansas children. The pinwheel serves as an uplifting reminder of childhood and the bright futures all children deserve.
“When a child is abused, it can have long-term consequences. We see generational transfer of the values or absence thereof that allow abuse to occur,” Attorney General Schmidt said.
During the last decade, Kansas has seen a 48 percent increase in the number of reports alleging child abuse or neglect.
“While that demonstrates that child abuse is still a serious issue in our communities, it also demonstrates that we as a state are doing a better job raising awareness and protecting children from further abuse,” Secretary Gilmore said.
Suspected child abuse and neglect can be reported by calling the Kansas Protection Center at 1-800-922-5330.
UNDATED (AP) – Ozzy Osbourne’s response to Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward: “Stop playing the victim and be honest with yourself and our fans.”
Osbourne wrote a response on his website to Ward’s demand that Osbourne apologize for comments he made about Ward.
Osbourne says he cannot apologize because Black Sabbath knew Ward was not capable of making an album and doing a tour, so the band moved on without him.
Osbourne offers Ward’s hospitalizations in 2013 as proof, including one for shoulder surgery that would have derailed a tour.
Ward has already responded to Osbourne’s response, saying the shoulder surgery was elective, his health is fine and “sorry I can’t love you back, Oz.”
