JC Post

MANHATTAN – Thousands of country music fans are expected to fill Tuttle Creek State Park later this afternoon for the 20th Annual Kicker Country Stampede.

This years opening line up for night one of the four day country music festival includes Sarah McVeigh taking the stage at 4 p.m. followed by Country Road 5 at 5 p.m., Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m. Dallas Smith at 8 p.m. and tonight’s headliner Thomas Rhett at 9:30 p.m..

Following Rhett’s performance the Country Stampede will celebrate it’s 20th Anniversary according to Wayne Rouse, President of the country music festival.

“We have fireworks for our 20th anniversary, we have a 20th anniversary theme going on out here,” said Rouse.

Rouse is hoping for between 35,000 and 40,000 festival goes each night.

Gates will open at 1 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Other headliners include Florida Georgia Line Friday, Blake Shelton Saturday and Travis Tritt Sunday.

——————-

MANHATTAN -Crews were hard at work Wednesday afternoon to finish setting up for the 20th Annual Kicker Country Stampede that opens Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Tuttle Creek State Park.

Setup has been underway all week and thanks in part to good weather everything is on schedule according to Wayne Rouse, Country Stampede President.

“Actually we’re ahead of schedule, everything is going really well. We’ll be ready to open tomorrow afternoon at 4 o’clock,” said Rouse.

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Country Stampede they will be setting off Fireworks Thursday night following the headliner Thomas Rhett’s final song.

Rouse is expecting record crowds this year,”I’d be real happy if we did 35,000 to 40,000 a day.”

He added that ticket sales were up this year indicating that they could see record crowds.

“It should be a really good year, everything is pointing to that our ticket sales are good and we’ve got Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Travis Tritt, Sara Evans, Craig Morgan, we’ve got a lot of great talent this year.”

Rain earlier this month has made things a little interesting for the camping grounds with the river pond out of its banks.

Kurt Moldrup, Festival Security Manager explained they will have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to anyone playing in the water.

“We can’t allow anybody in that water for safety reasons, it’s probably not the cleanest right now. Do NOT go into ANY water, even if it’s just the very edge of that pond creeping up,” said Moldrup.

Other than the high water problems Moldrup said that security will handle things in the same fashion as years past, noting the zero tolerance policy on underage drinking as well.

“We will be out in force, both law enforcement as well as our own private security, looking for underaged drinkers. As a festival we will do what we can to locate them ourselves, get them to stop if they’re underage drinkers were going to eject them.”

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from other Law Enforcement Agencies including Alcohol Beverage Control will also be patrolling and looking for underage drinking.

Gates open Thursday at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Rouse had one final message for those who will be attending this years festival,”Have a great time you’ll make memories that will last a lifetime, I guarantee it.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The hot winds blowing across Kansas are drying out fields enough for many farmers to begin their harvest.

The industry group Kansas wheat said in its update Wednesday that harvest has continued to spread throughout the state.

In Abilene, the elevator is reporting that 30 percent of the crop has now been cut, with yields ranging from 40 to 65 bushels an acre. Some of the lower yields are showing up in areas where fields were drowned out by standing water. Test weights have been averaging 60 pounds per bushel there.

Disease has also taken a toll and with farmers who didn’t spray seeing a difference.

The Garden City Co-op reports test weights at its 20 locations averaging slightly above the industry standard of 60 pounds per bushel.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Some Wichita City Council members say they hope the council will discuss a Confederate flag that flies alongside other historic flags at the John S. Stevens Pavilion at Veterans Memorial Plaza near downtown.

The Wichita Eagle reports some council members have received correspondence from people on both sides of the issue of whether the Confederate flag should continue to fly at the plaza. A national discussion about the flag has emerged after the killings of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina.

City Council member Bryan Frye said that he hopes council members can share the feedback they have received from constituents with one another. Council member James Clendenin said that the flag is a sensitive issue and that a decision will have to be made that makes sense for everybody.

SALINE COUNTY- A Kansas teen died in an accident just before 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Ford Truck driven by Tate Joseph Riedy, 18, Woodbine, was northbound on Interstate 135 just south of Salina in the right lane

The truck traveled across the left lane into the median, went around guard rails and hit the bridge pillar.

Riedy was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Carlson-Geisendorf Funeral Home.

He was properly restrained at the time of the accident according to the KHP.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today introduced legislation to encourage investments and economic growth by making permanent a fifty percent depreciation bonus on new equipment and property purchases. This would allow businesses to deduct half the cost of new purchases immediately, freeing up money for reinvestment to help them grow.

“This legislation will provide much needed certainty in the tax code so businesses can better plan investments that create more jobs and growth in our communities.” said Roberts. “Bonus depreciation has been extended and expired many times, and it is time we make this permanent to give businesses more predictability in an already overly complex tax code.”

The legislation amends the U.S. tax code to permanently allow businesses to deduct 50 percent of qualified purchased property immediately. Bonus depreciation was first enacted in 2002 and has been extended and allowed to expire multiple times. A permanent increase in depreciation allowances is critical to encouraging more economic growth. More generous depreciation deductions reduce the after-tax cost of investing, encouraging higher levels of investment spending by businesses.

The legislation also contains several improvements that encourage business investment. First, it expands the definition of qualifying property under bonus depreciation to include retail and restaurant improvements. Second, the legislation will allow businesses to claim unused Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax credits and use these credits for capital investment.

The Tax Foundation has reported that a permanent extension of bonus depreciation would boost GDP by over one percent in the long run, lift investment by over three percent, and create over 200,000 jobs.

Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are original cosponsors of this legislation.

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A religious liberty group says members of a Native American sweat lodge at a VA medical center in Wichita have been subjected to discrimination aimed at shutting down their religious services.

The Liberty Institute sent a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs concerning the Robert J. Dole Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Among the group’s concerns is the recent suspension of the sweat lodge’s spiritual leader, who is a substance-abuse counselor at the center. The group alleges his suspension came in retaliation for his advocacy work for the sweat lodge, and that his absence has effectively shut down the religious services.

The medical center released a statement that didn’t address the specific allegations, but says the center prioritizes supporting the religious practices of its staff, volunteers and veterans.

RILEY COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Larry W. Nice, 65, Herrington, was south bound on U.S. 77 at Madison Road.

The motorcycle drove off the right of roadway and struck an embankment.

Nice was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Anderes-Pfeifley Funeral Home.

He was wearing a soft helmet and eye protection according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Sedgwick County jail deputy has been suspended from duty after facing charges stemming from a domestic disturbance.

Sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning says the jail deputy was suspended without pay Monday. The Wichita Eagle reports that Dehning says he can’t release the deputy’s name because it’s a domestic-violence case and the identity of the alleged victim needs to be protected.

He says police arrested the deputy June 13 while he was off-duty after a disturbance at the residence. The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office has charged the deputy with aggravated assault and domestic battery.

He says the professional standards unit of the sheriff’s office is also investigating the case separately from the criminal investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Osawatomie State Hospital has stopped accepting new admissions while the facility undergoes renovations.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports officials with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services told the Kansas Mental Health Coalition Wednesday the moratorium on new admissions began over the weekend.

The renovations come after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found the hospital not in compliance with federal standards.

Under the moratorium, the hospital’s patient population is capped at 146, below its previous capacity of 206.

The moratorium has raised concerns for people in need of the care that the hospital provides.

But KDADS says there’s a diversion process in place to provide care for patients who can’t be admitted to the hospital immediately, and no one was on a wait list at noon Wednesday.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The latest on Kansas’ first-in-the nation ban on a procedure that anti-abortion activists call “dismemberment abortion”

The state of Kansas is defending its ban on a procedure that opponents refer to as “dismemberment abortion.”

An abortion rights group on Thursday will ask a Kansas judge to block the ban. The Center for Reproductive Rights says the procedure is the most common method for terminating second-trimester pregnancies. It contends the new law would force some women to either accept higher medical risks or forgo abortions.

But the state says abortion providers have safe alternatives to the procedure.

Thursday’s hearing before District Judge Larry Hendricks comes just six days before the ban takes effect.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is asking him to block it at least until its lawsuit is heard.

———————

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An abortion rights group is asking a Kansas judge to block the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on what it says is the most common method for terminating second-trimester pregnancies.

Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks has scheduled a hearing Thursday in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The law takes effect next week. The center contends it will force women to accept higher medical risks or forgo abortions.

Lawyers for the state argue that abortion providers have safe alternatives to what anti-abortion activists describe as dismembering a fetus.

The National Right to Life Committee drafted the ban as model legislation for states. Kansas was the first to enact it.

The center represents father-daughter abortion providers and Drs. Herbert Hodes and Traci Nauser of Overland Park.