The Verizon control box is removed from the top of the former St. Rose Health Center in preparation for demolition of the circular towers. The new St. Rose opened recently next door.
GREAT BEND -The circular towers that have been Great Bend landmarks since 1964 will start coming down Monday, June 1. During the month-long process, dust will be controlled and traffic will continue to flow. The structures were home to Central Kansas Medical Center (CKMC), which became St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center in 2011. The newer building on the campus re-opened several weeks ago as St. Rose Health Center.
Leanne Irsik, St. Rose administrator, wants local residents to know they can have complete confidence in the expertise of Nabholz Construction Services of Olathe and its subcontractor, Ark Wrecking of Tulsa.
“This is the same team that razed the Allied Services Building (ASB) several months ago,” Irsik noted. “They have proven they deserve our trust.”
ASB was the original home of the Dominican School of Nursing. The Sisters also started and operated CKMC for decades.
“It has been obvious that Nabholz stands behind its values, which coincide with St. Rose’s values and those of our co-owners, Hays Medical Center and Centura Health,” Irsik said. “These shared values include safety, integrity, service and teamwork. Nabholz employees demonstrate these values in their day-to-day work. And they are just nice people too.”
As the ASB was coming down, the construction company and its subcontractors impressed the community, Irsik commented.
“We heard many, many comments about their conscientious and caring approach to the delicate task,” Irsik commented. “Yes, they emphasized safety at every turn but they also handled the job with respect for the building and its Dominican Sisters heritage. They will do the same for the towers.”
Jeff Nelson, Nabholz project manager, mentioned that his employer and Ark Wrecking have completed 79 successful jobs together during the last nine years.
“Ark is a great company that specializes in demolition, along with many other services,” Nelson said. “They are as committed to safety on site and in the neighborhood as we are. Our crews have complete faith in one another.”
To illustrate the emphasis on safety, Nelson said Nabholz has one of the best rankings in the Experience Modification Rating (EMR) System. This entity tracks safety on job sites throughout the United States.
“We have a zero-incident philosophy for every job,” Nelson said. “It is always foremost in our minds. Our superintendent, Kenny Giese, has earned safety awards for zero incidents on his job sites for the last consecutive 31 years.
And Nabholz has won numerous other safety awards. The bottom line is our safety record is no accident.”
The demolition of the towers’ interior, including asbestos removal, has been in the works for a few months. But the next and final steps will be more obvious to the community.
Dust, noise, traffic
Nelson addressed concerns people may have about dust, noise and traffic in the neighborhood during the next few weeks.
“The dust will be continually controlled with water, which is the most effective tool,” he said, noting dirt/mud will be hauled off regularly. “We have a silt fence around the site and will keep the runoff into the streets to a minimum.
“However,” he continued, “we will keep the streets clean and there shouldn’t be any traffic shut-downs. Everyone will notice an increase in trucks and equipment but, overall, traffic will not be affected.”
Even though there is always noise at a construction site, “there won’t be any loud explosions, crashes or bricks falling from four stories high,” the project manager said. “We have safety nets in place and no falling debris will be hitting the pavement. Jackhammers and other equipment will be noisy but we have gotten to know the people here and we think they will bear with us.”
Nelson also noted that the towers’ demolition does not meet the many requirements for an implosion. The best thing the public can do is let the crews do their jobs; those who are thinking of becoming spectators are discouraged from doing so.
“This is an area with truck and equipment traffic; it is not an area for those who are not equipped with the right attire or the right training,” Nelson explained.
“This will be a slow, methodical process. There won’t be one particular big-day event.”
Nabholz has hired a number of local subcontractors such as electricians, other construction companies, concrete workers and waste haulers. Its employees also have participated in local charitable events.
“We use local firms as much as we can so more money stays in your community,” Nelson said. “We want to give back as much as possible to the communities we work in.”
St. Rose specializes in primary care, prevention and wellness. Services include St. Rose Family Medicine & Urgent Care, Great Bend Internists, imaging, infusion clinic, WellnessWorks, one-day surgical procedures, Golden Belt Home Health & Hospice and a comprehensive Specialty Clinic. St. Rose is co-owned by Hays Medical Center and Centura Health.
– See more at: http://www.greatbendpost.com/2015/05/28/demolition-of-circular-towers-begins-monday-safety-is-priority/#sthash.inI2ILiG.dpuf
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Shawnee County Jail claiming it failed to provide proper medical attention for a broken bone in his foot and subsequent head injury.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports 34-year-old Junction City resident Jason Dixon filed the lawsuit in a handwritten petition May 13.
Dixon is being held on a federal hold order and pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Dixon says he broke the bone while playing basketball in plastic flip-flops after being stepped on by another inmate, then later hit his head when he fell trying to get to his cell’s emergency button.
Shawnee County counselor Rich Eckert says his office hasn’t been served with the lawsuit.
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A 66-year-old Emporia man is dead after firefighters found his body inside his smoke-filled home.
The Emporia Gazette reports firefighters were called to the Emporia home just before 4:30 a.m. Thursday on a report of smoke coming from the building’s attic.
A neighbor told emergency responders he thought the man was still inside the home but would not come out.
The victim is identified as Roger Fowler. An Emporia Fire Department spokesman says foul play was not suspected.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) â The mayor of Wichita says despite recent heavy rain in the area, residents need to keep working to conserve water.
Mayor Jeff Longwell said Thursday that heavy rain in south-central Kansas this month has helped the city’s water supply, but conserving water is still important in order to meet future long-term demand. The city says in a release that Cheney Lake, one of Wichita’s two primary water sources, gained more than 5.5 billion gallons since the beginning of the month.
Longwell says he’s encouraging residents to continue to refrain from watering lawns and to use water-efficient appliances.
He also says two conservation studies will begin later this year to determine how best to encourage outdoor water conservation and water recycling in industrial processes.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are having one of their longest annual sessions ever this year because they haven’t resolved difficult budget and tax issues.
Lawmakers were convening Friday for the 99th day of their session. That’s nine more days than their leaders traditionally schedule.
Each extra day in session costs the state a total of more than $40,000.
Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature are divided over proposals for raising taxes to close a projected $406 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Resolution of budget and tax issues isn’t expected until at least Saturday. That would be the session’s 100th day.
Only five sessions have lasted 100 days or more, according to legislative researchers. The longest session ever was in 2002 at 107 days.
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — They couldn’t be rattled. They couldn’t be denied. Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashanka of Olathe, Kansas, had worked too hard and come close too many times not to win the National Spelling Bee.
So they shared the title, making history in two different ways.
The bee hadn’t ended in a tie for 52 years — until last year. Now it’s happened for an unprecedented two years running.
And Vanya is the first sibling of a past champion to win. Her sister, Kavya, won in 2009.
Vanya’s final word was “scherenschnitte.” After being informed he’d be the co-champion if he got the next word right, Gokul didn’t even bother to ask the definition before spelling “nunatak.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has approved a measure that would allow alcohol at state events at the Capitol and adjusts a number of liquor permit processes.
Republican Rep. Vicki Schmidt of Topeka said she opposed the bill, which was approved Thursday on a 30-6 vote, because it vaguely defined when alcohol would be permitted in the Capitol.
The bill also would allow patrons of art galleries to bring their own bottles of wine to painting sessions. Alcoholic beverages could also be consumed at farmer’s markets, state fairs and catered events on public property, under the bill.
It also would allow alcohol distributors to provide samples and let vineyards sell wine on their property.
Contract negotiation teams for USD 489 and the Hays NEA
By Becky Kiser Hays Post
By the end of a two-hour meeting Tuesday night, USD 489 Superintendent Dean Katt had a list of items the school board negotiating team and the Hays NEA union team had discussed and will continue refining.
“We’ve talked about maintenance of standards, fair dismissal, grievance, leave and a little bit about concurrent credit,” Katt said.
He told both groups he will find “language for a progressive discipline plan for teachers” for further discussion at the next negotiations meeting.
In a proposal from the school board about corrective actions for board policy violations, the words “inadvertently” and “repeatedly” regarding violations have been removed.
Hays NEA co-chairpersons Kathy Wagoner and Kim Schneweis
“This means a teacher could be fired immediately for making one mistake,” countered H-NEA co-chairperson Kim Schneweis.
“What is the purpose of that?” she asked. “So you can fire people more easily?”
“No, it’s just to simplify the contract language,” answered school board member Greg Schwartz. “USD 489 is a multi-faceted corporation; we should be professional.”
The leave policy continues to be debated. The board supports switching to Paid Time Off while teachers’ representatives want separate funeral and serious illness leave.
“If you only have one block of leave, it’s easier accounting,” Schwartz said.
Toward the end of the meeting, Schwartz suggested something new.
“What about a board policy review committee?”
“Any time we have a board policy, it’s got to go to the ‘teachers board policy review committee’ and they get to have a report that’s provided to the board members who read it…we did that with a lot of the agenda items–what are the staff implications and what happens?”
“They used to have the ‘Superintendent’s Council,” interjected H-NEA co-chairperson Kathy Wagoner.
“Teachers would meet with the superintendent in a morning meeting. I think a lot of those issues were discussed in that.”
USD 489 board attorney Bill Jeter said “it might be a good idea but should be a non-binding agreement.”
The negotiating teams are scheduled to meet again Tuesday, June 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Rockwell Administration Center Toepfer Board Room, 323 W. 11th.
The meeting will be aired live by Hays High School on Eagle Cable TV Channel 13.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a top complaint of consumers — those annoying automated telemarketing calls on their landline and wireless phones — and the government is taking note.
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is circulating a new proposal designed to close loopholes and strengthen current rules against unwanted telemarketing calls and spam text messages.
The commission has scheduled a vote on Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal at its June 18 meeting, according to a senior FCC official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. He was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The proposal also would allow wireless and landline carriers to offer so-called robo-blocking technology that could help people stop the unwanted calls. Dozens of state attorneys general asked the FCC to weigh in on the technology.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Officials say a fire that killed several animals at a popular Lawrence pet store was accidental.
Fire Department Division Chief Eve Tolefree said Thursday the Memorial Day fire at Pet World was caused by an electrical problem in the main breaker panel.
The fire caused about $500,000 in damages.
The Lawrence Journal-World reported co-owner Sherry Emerson said Tuesday all of the store’s mammals and birds, and some reptiles and fish died in the fire. She would not give an exact number.
However, firefighters were able to rescue several animals and some small animals stored in a separate structure were alive.
Emerson and her husband, Tim, have said they will rebuild the store, which has operated in Lawrence for nearly 30 years.
Today A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
