GREAT BEND -The Barton County Sheriff’s office reported detectives with assistance from Great Bend Police and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation obtained three search warrants for methamphetamine and other illegal drugs.
Authorities say the search warrants were executed at the 457 Kiowa Road Lot 1, and 113 Chisholm Trail, both in rural Barton County and 227 5th Street in the city of Great Bend.
Robin PierceRaymond Chapman
Drug paraphernalia and controlled substances were found at all three locations and several subjects were arrested.
At the Chisholm Trail address authorities arrested Brandon Dannebohm, 31, of Great Bend, on a no bond warrant for probation violation and possession of methamphetamine, Robin Pierce, 29, Great Bend for possession of marijuana, and Raymond Chapman, 39, Pawnee Rock.
Chapman is being held in lieu of $2500 bond for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Chris Morris
Pierce’s bond was also set at $2,500.
Kyla Robertson
At the Kiowa Road address authorities arrested Kyla Robertson, 19, Great Bend, and Chris Morris, 22. Both are being held in lieu of $2500 bond for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
The Sheriff’s office reported additional arrests are expected in the next 48 hours.
A little more than a month since a special sales tax was implemented at The Mall in Hays, improvements at the aging facility have begun in earnest.
Most noticeable is the demolition work taking place outside to clear the way for lots for new stores — the former Montana Mike’s, a defunct bank drive-through and theater sign were in the process of being demolished Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hays-based Flatlander Dirtworks was contracted for the demolition work, and debris cleanup will continue this week.
Katie Dorzweiler, mall property manager
On the interior, the last shipment of tile for new flooring in the common area of the mall is expected to arrive this week, according to Katie Dorzweiler, mall property manager.
“It’s really beautiful,” said Dorzweiler, who is about 60 days into her tenure at the mall, which is owned by Omaha-based DP Management.
The tile contractor will be working from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. to minimize disturbances, and all stores are expected to remain open while the flooring is installed.
“Some of the things our customers are used to seeing in the hallways might be moved … (but ) he’s going to make a path to every single store,” Dorzweiler said.
This summer, she added, the parking lot upgrades will begin, and interior lighting also will be replaced.
And, this fall, a new mall sign and name will be unveiled to the community.
“We spent eight hours in Kearney with the marketing and branding teams to link (the new name) back to the community and our mission statement,” Dorzweiler said. “We’re really excited to announce it.”
New tenants also could be on the horizon, as DP representatives promised during negotiations with the city on the commercial improvement district — the sales tax funding mechanism paying for the improvements.
DP officials are currently at a major retail convention in Las Vegas, pitching the improved mall property and the Hays community to potential tenants.
“They are working out those deals right now,” Dorzweiler said, noting the mall also is working with a local architect in case retailers need remodeling to accommodate their stores.
Current tenants are excited about the changes, she added.
“I’ve had a really great response from all of them, and they’ve been very supportive,” she said, adding monthly tenant meetings have had bigger turnouts recently.
Dorzweiler, who sees the mall as an integral part of the Hays “neighborhood,” also has placed sign-up sheets at each store for the public to sign up to receive updates on progress.
Physical improvements aside, Dorzweiler said she also is hoping for an attitude change at the facility.
“We have to change the way we do our customer service,” she said. “We’ll hold the door open for you.”
Part of the change will be the addition to administrative offices at the mall to include a reception area that offers coffee to customers — something she said has been popular among “my walkers.”
Courtney C. Priest, graduating Topeka senior, received Fort Hays State University’s Cecile LaSalle Beougher Potential for Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Education and Technology. Priest was named the recipient of the award at the student teacher meeting on May 8.
The award, first presented in 1994, is named for Cecile Beougher, a teacher with a distinguished career in the Hays school system. Beougher was born and raised in Decatur County, graduated from FHSU, and taught in Monument and Winona before moving to the USD 489 school system in 1971. Beougher taught kindergarten at Washington Elementary for 23 years. In 1990, Beougher received the Presidential Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.
The $750 award was established to recognize the potential for teaching excellence among elementary education majors. The funds are intended to purchase teaching materials, continued education or professional development, and can be used at the discretion of the recipient.
Priest graduated May 16 with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood unified.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — After several years of planning, construction is set to begin on the Reno County Veterans Memorial.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Thursday at the site of memorial in South Hutchinson.
Committee member Kelly Danyluck says site preparations are expected to be finished in about six weeks. Concrete work is planned for next spring. Installation of the seven memorial walls inscribed with veterans names will depend on fundraising.
Committee Chairman Matt Stiles says if fundraising is successful, the walls may be installed next year.
The Hutchinson News reports Stiles estimated planning for the memorial began in 2010.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have accused a Mexican man living illegally in the United States of assaulting an immigration enforcement agent who arrested him for deportation.
A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Kansas accuses Emmanuel Rodriguez-Torres of assaulting a federal officer involving physical contact.
Prosecutors allege he tried to kick the agent in the head and face. He is also accused of twice spitting on the officer’s face and clothing.
No defense attorney is listed for Rodriguez-Torres in court records.
The case stems from a May 6 incident during which agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement went to Great Bend to arrest him. A court filing says Rodriguez-Torres had been previously convicted of violent offenses such as assault and battery and was therefore eligible for immigration removal.
ROMNEY, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia teacher has been suspended without pay for showing part of the erotic movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” to students as a reward for good work.
The Hampshire Review reports that the county school board unanimously voted this week to suspend Hampshire High School health occupations instructor Kristie Long for the rest of the school year.
The newspaper says students asked Long to show the movie and one brought the DVD to school last week. An assistant principal shut down the movie after 10 minutes after being alerted about it by another adult.
Long told school officials she didn’t know what the movie was about.
The first movie opened this year on Valentine’s Day weekend and became one of the biggest R-rated openings ever.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Four of five teenagers accused of conspiring to carry out a shooting at Hutchison High School have pleaded not guilty in juvenile court.
The Hutchinson News reports three of the suspects denied the charges in court Tuesday, while a fourth suspect previously denied the charges in writing. The fifth suspect is scheduled for a court hearing Wednesday.
All five are charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and criminal threat. They were arrested in April after Hutchinson High School officials were alerted to postings on Facebook that threatened a mass murder at the school. They have all been held in juvenile detention since their arrests.
Reno County prosecutors said the state was not ready to schedule the cases for trial because they are waiting for more information from Facebook.
Summer is the season for outdoor gatherings with food, fun, and fellowship. Unfortunately, summer is also the time when cases of foodborne illness increase. But, you can avoid those uninvited guests by safely preparing those special summer foods.
K-State Research and Extension will present Barbecue 101, a one-day workshop for barbecue and grill enthusiasts, on Saturday May 30, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, at the KSU Ag Research Center Auditorium, 1232 240th Avenue, located just south of Hays. KSU Extension specialists will cover the basics of grilling, smoking, and food safety, plus a unique perspective on the science of barbecuing.
Sessions will focus on selecting the right smoker; BBQ regionality; meat cuts that stretch the dollar; tasting the difference wood makes; and meat preparation and selection. The day wraps up with a competition BBQ expert roundtable.
The fee to register is $50 per person or $80 per couple due by May 23 and includes lunch, an apron, and a Barbecue 101 course book. Register online with a credit card at www.asi.k-state.edu/barbecue101workshop or pick up a mail-in registration form at the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main Street in Hays.
Marinating
Always marinate raw meats or poultry in the refrigerator, never on the counter. Set aside a portion of the marinade before adding raw meat or poultry to use later as a dip or basting sauce. Do not reuse the marinade the raw meat was soaked in unless it is boiled for five minutes to be sure to kill any bacteria from the raw meat.
Check the Temperature
Thoroughly cook all meat and poultry. To ensure meat is cooked thoroughly, use a meat thermometer. To properly use a meat thermometer, insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat being sure the end of the thermometer does not rest on the cooking surface. Aim for these internal temperatures to ensure doneness:
• Beef, pork, veal and lamb steaks, roasts, chops- 145 degrees F.
• Ground meats- 160 degrees F.
• All poultry products- 165 degrees F.
Serving Grilled Food
Serve hot, grilled foods immediately. Put cooked foods on clean plates, not ones used to hold raw meat or poultry. Perishable foods should be eaten within 2 hours, or 1 hour if outside temperature is above 90 degrees F. Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot to avoid the “danger zone” of 40 to 140 degrees F.
Handling Leftovers
If you want to take any leftovers home, be sure that all perishable foods were kept on ice or refrigerated at all times, except when cooked or served. Keep the foods iced as you travel home and refrigerate as soon as you get home. If food is no longer refrigerator-cold to the touch, harmful bacteria could be present. If in doubt, throw it out.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, on Tuesday introduced a bill to create a Special Inspector General (IG) to oversee Obamacare entitled the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act (SIGMA Act).
“Obamacare should be repealed in favor of a health care system that reduces costs for patients. While we await the Supreme Court’s latest review of parts of this law to determine if its implementation has been Constitutional, Congress cannot let up on our responsibility to provide oversight,” Roberts said. “As long as this law is on the books, we need a watchdog, namely a Special Inspector General, to investigate its implementation and ensure our taxpayer dollars are being spent within the letter of the law.”
The bill, S.1368, creates a new Special Inspector General, an Obamacare watchdog, with all the appropriate authority to investigate and audit any programs or activities related to Obamacare across the numerous federal departments, state exchanges, and private contractors in its scope.
Roberts said a special IG would coordinate watchdog efforts across the federal government.
“And while all of the federal agencies charged with implementing Obamacare have their own Offices of the Inspector General, they are all investigating this law in their own silos,” Roberts said. “The Health and Human Services Inspector General isn’t talking to the Treasury IG, or the Department of Labor IG, or the Homeland Security IG.”
Identical legislation was also introduced in the House by Congressman Peter J. Roskam (R-Ill.).
The SIGMA would have broad authority to review all aspects of the law. Things like:
Changes in the health insurance marketplace – the amount of patients who have seen their premiums and out-of-pocket costs increased and shrinking physician and other provider networks;
The employer mandate – its effect on worker hours and employers’ hiring;
The Healthcare.gov website – its security, functionality, and total costs associated with its development;
Duties of the Internal Revenue Service – plans for calculating subsidy overpayments, how they will notify these individuals and what their plans are for recapturing these overpayments; and
Medicare cuts via the IPAB – they will provide an analysis of the impact on medical outcomes for our seniors as a result of these cuts.
Senator Roberts is an outspoken opponent of Obamacare. Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance and is the ranking member of its Subcommittee on Health Care. He is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and is co-chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus.
Every year in preparation for Memorial Day, Wilma Jean Erbe visits the three cemeteries where her relatives are buried. She goes to spruce up the grounds and place flowers on the graves.
What’s different about Mrs. Erbe’s annual pilgrimage is she makes the rounds to Harrison, Cherryvale and Altoona the first or second weekend in May. Mrs. Erbe makes certain the grass surrounding each tombstone is clipped and groomed. Even the foundation is brushed clean and any weeds that may have sprung up since last year are pulled by hand.
I met the 94-year-old Montgomery County lady May 2. Her daughter, Aprile, the German spelling, was chauffeuring her mother 61 miles round trip to manicure the three cemeteries. The back seat and floorboardof Aprile’s car was filled with buckets of flowers, clippers and other tools for their task.
As we walked to the tombstone bearing her husband’s name, Alfred Ernst Erbe, also clearly etched in the granite was Mrs. Erbe’s name and birthdate on the left side of the grave marker. Wilma Jean (Estes) was born April 30, 1921. God willing, she’ll live to be 100 years old.
“People can’t believe I’m as old as I am,” Mrs. Erbe says. “I’m the eldest member of my church in Neodesha and I’m still going strong.”
On May 30, 1868, soldiers who died in the Civil War were honored for the first time on Decoration Day. Mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers.
By the late 19th Century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all America’s wars.
In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.
As a farm girl, Mrs. Erbe grew up milking cows. Every year on “Decoration Day,” her dad would load the family in the wagon and travel to the Harrison chapel and cemetery located in the country approximately 15 miles northeast of Neodesha.
When they arrived at the cemetery, the children were lined up next to one of their relative’s tombstones and Mrs. Erbe’s father would tell them a story about the grandmother, uncle or cousin buried below.
“It’s how we learned about our family,” Mrs. Erbe says. “It was a way of connecting with our heritage. After my dad finished his story, we felt like we knew our kin buried there.”
Yes, Mrs. Erbe plans to bring flowers to honor her family members and those buried in the cemeteries as long as she’s able. She understands when visiting these places, it is possible to be overcome with a sense of yearning. It is also possible to feel something larger, a sense of finality and rest – a sense of peace.
The family members – soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan and other conflicts – are at rest in these cemeteries. They live on in the memory of their families and friends and in a larger sense in the memory and gratitude of the nation they died for.
On May 25, whether you refer to it as Decoration Day or Memorial Day, remember those who paid the ultimate price so we could live in peace. Say a prayer for these fallen heroes.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
Fort Hays State University’s online bachelor’s, graduate education and M.B.A. programs have being recognized on U.S. News and World Report’s website as among 2015’s Best Online Programs for Veterans.
The listing includes rankings for the online bachelor’s programs and online master’s degree programs in business, education, engineering, nursing and computer information technology. New this year, U.S. News ranked online MBA programs for veterans.
FHSU ranked No. 15 for online bachelor’s degrees, No. 27 for online graduate education and No. 66 for online MBA programs that are high-quality and flexible options for veterans. The list can be found HERE.
To qualify, FHSU had to be among the top 75 percent of schools in the overall 2015 Best Online Programs rankings released January 2015 by U.S. News.
Along with being in the top 75 percent, FHSU qualified because it is a GI Bill-certified institution, participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, and charges the same online tuition for in-state and out-of-state veterans.
The Hays Arts Council will have a special exhibition in the honor of John C. Thorns Jr.
Thorns, a longtime teacher, arts advocate and founder of the Hays Arts Council, died at age 88 on July 15, 2014.
Thorns
An opening reception for the exhibition will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at Moss-Thorns Gallery at Rarick Hall on the campus of Fort Hays State University.
The exhibition will run through June 5.
Artwork will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting the FHSU Department of Art and Design.
Rainy May continued Tuesday, with nearly another inch of rain falling on Ellis County.
The slow-moving front dropped precipitation ranging from 0.56 inches north of Ellis to 1.03 inches south of Hays. A report near Victoria showed 0.87 inches.
Most of Hays received about three-quarters inch of accumulation, similar to gauge readings across Russell and Trego counties.
More than an inch fell in La Crosse, with an early report of 1.33 inches, while most of Ness County also received more than an inch.
Logan County received the most accumulation in northwest Kansas, with a report of 1.97 inches.
While clouds will persist Wednesday, the chance of additional rain is minimal, according to forecasts. Chances for rain and storms return late Thursday, and persist into the weekend.
Rainfall totals:
.76 – Eagle Media Center
1.20 – 2 1/2 miles west of Schoenchen
.63 – Catherine
.45 – Sweetwater Ranch
1.50 – Ranson
.74 – Ellis
.50 – Slimmer Farm – NE Ellis Co
1.29 – 4 miles north of La Crosse
.75 – 2 miles north of Yocemento
