The Hays Police Department responded to 10 animal calls and 13 traffic stops Wednesday, June 17, 2015, according to the HPD Activity Log.

Animal At Large–500 block W 20th St, Hays; 9:16 AM
Suspicious Activity–4300 block Vine St, Hays; 9:15 AM
Miscellaneous Investigation–2200 block E 22nd St, Hays; 9:57 AM
Animal At Large–400 block W 21st St, Hays; 10:17 AM
MV Accident-Private Property–3300 block Vine St, Hays; 10:48 AM
Water Use Violation–500 block Milner, Hays; 11:19 AM
Criminal Damage to Property–1100 block Vine St, Hays; 11:25 AM
MV Accident-City Street/Alley–11th and Vine, Hays; 12 AM
Assist – Other (not MV)–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 1:52 PM
MV Accident-Private Property-Hit and Run–1900 block Longfellow Rd, Hays; 6/16 4:30 PM
Animal Call–1700 block Elm St, Hays; 2:46 PM
Disturbance – General–300 block E 6th St, Hays; 4:58 PM
Civil Dispute–1300 block Allen St, Hays; 5:32 PM
Unwanted Person–1300 block Vine St, Hays; 6:12 PM
Welfare Check–3600 block Hall St, Hays; 6:26 PM
Lost Animals ONLY–1000 block Country Club Dr, Hays; 7:03 PM
Found/Lost Property–3000 block Cherry Hill Dr, Hays; 8:51 PM
Drug Offenses–3600 block Hall St, Hays; 9:21 PM
Welfare Check–600 block E 5th St, Hays; 10:48 PM

RUSSELL — The Russell City Council will host the Hays City Commission at a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, at Russell City Hall, 133 W. Eighth.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the R9 Ranch development.

It has been more than a year since the Russell City Council agreed to sign a letter of support for the project, designed to offer a long-term solution to the water shortage in the region.

FHSU University Relations

Shokhrukh Sadikov thinks big. He is the new director of orchestras at Fort Hays State University, and he plans to help Hays reach its full potential to make it an even more exciting environment for students.

Sadikov’s ultimate goal for the orchestra program is to develop it further and make it as enjoyable as possible so that students have the same experience they would have at a larger school. He said that the string instruction at FHSU is already very high quality at a low cost, so the reason students choose other universities is because they believe they will have better opportunities there.

Sadikov grew up in Uzbekistan surrounded by music. His mother was a music educator and his father conducted the National Academic Orchestra of Uzbekistan, collaborating with famous musicians. In spite of his profession, Sadikov’s father would not let him conduct, saying that he must become a musician first.

“You have to be somebody before you can become a leader,” said Sadikov.

He studied viola at the Uspensky State School of Music, a school for gifted children in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Then, he attended the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan before receiving a scholarship to study at Park University in Kansas City for free tuition, room and board. He decided to go to America in spite of speaking only two phrases in English: “I love you” and “sank you.”

“Not ‘thank you.’ ‘Sank you,'” he said.

After years of living in the United States, studying at Park and then at the University of Kansas, Sadikov can now express himself eloquently in English.

In addition to learning English, he studied in Germany for a year, and was able to passably speak German. He speaks Russian fluently, and has participated in master classes and taken lessons in Moscow.

He does not limit his endeavors to music. While studying at KU, he took several computer programming classes, and the logic he learned from music enabled him to excel in the classes. He is currently collaborating on a mobile app to aid efficient practicing.

Sadikov said he likes to continually seek challenges. He has participated in several distinguished music festivals, and with each one he reaches a little higher. He enters each one as the last chair violist and by listening, watching and learning from the others he becomes the best by the end of the festival. He wants to surround himself with better players so that he can learn from them.

He has won numerous prestigious competitions; conducted professional orchestras internationally; and founded the award-winning Wakarusa Trio.

“I can confidently say that I have the same amount of experience both professionally and in life as a middle-aged person,” he said. “Maturity is shown by the decisions made. I will show it through my decisions and my work.”

Sadikov has very practical goals for his new position at FHSU. He wants to ensure his students are healthily challenged and ready for life after graduation. This requires learning when to lead and when to follow.

“Playing an instrument is not enough. You have to be able to work with a community,” he said.

He sees his students as more than just faces in his orchestra. They are individuals, and he wants to help them discover their passion and find their places in the world, which might be far different than he or the students expected.

“Open yourself up to something bigger and take the opportunities that come,” he said. “Think forward. Think bigger. Think different.”

“I’m not afraid of taking that bigger step,” he said. “I’m ready for it.”

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission will meet Thursday at the Robbins Center on the Fort Hays State University campus at 1 p.m.

Along with committee reports the commission is set to discuss wildlife fees, 2016 turkey regulations, tourism along with Cedar Bluff and Webster State Parks. The committee will also have workshop sessions during the meeting addressing park regulations, fishing regulations, duck zone boundaries, late migratory bird seasons and aquatic nuisance species in Kansas.

Dr. Roger Marshall currently serves on the commission and is running for the Kansas First Congressional District, including most of western Kansas.

A full agenda for the meeting can be found here.

The meeting is scheduled to be streamed online live. Click HERE to watch online.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

On Friday, downtown Hays once again will be bustling with activity as the Hays Arts Council presents the Summer Gallery Walk beginning at 6:30 p.m. throughout the city.

The event will showcase a variety of media and styles as artists from the area and beyond present work throughout the city, with all but one exhibit being accessible for free to the general public.

Interactive map of the Summer Gallery Walk events

“For anyone who may still not have participated in an Art Walk, it is basically like a wonderful little art buffet the night we have any art walk,” said Brenda Meder, director of the Hays Arts Council.

One of the draws of the event is the lack of structure, which allows people to move freely through the exhibitions.

“There are no fees anywhere, there’s no rules, it’s not like a tour where you start here and traverse across a set path,” Meder said. “You go wherever you want, stay for however long you want, visiting in whatever order you want.”

The summer Art Walk is the newest of the three annual walks, but has been growing through the last few years, she added.

“We realized that other entities that said we’re going to be (having events) on that night too,” Meder said. And so the HAC worked to create the Summer walk, replacing the regular gallery opening at the HAC.

“The Summer Art Walks really have just blossomed in the more recent years. The summer walks are now much larger than the spring walks for instance, spring and fall were, 20 years ago.”

Brenda Meder

“I’ve likened it before, to folks, almost like an old fashioned ice cream social, whether you are going out for the ice cream or the social, you’ll get both — only we’ve got art instead of ice cream,” Meder said.

In addition to the regular exhibitions, this walk has partnered up with a local organization to bring something extra this year.

“I’m very proud to be including the event at Singers on our Art Walk list, even though there is a cover fee to get into Singers that night, which we normally don’t do on an art walk night. It is a benefit for CASA — Court Appointed Special Advocates — so its for the benefit of our children,” Meder said. “This is their big charity event fundraiser.”

Read more about the CASA fundraiser here.

The regular walk will run from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m., but with the CASA benefit and other later musical events, participants can plan a full evening with the walk.

“Your day can start at Sternberg catching the lobby display, and you can move all the way through the community, finishing up by supporting that benefit into the late hours on Friday night,” Meder said.

For more information visit the Hays Arts Council Website, or their Facebook page.

NCK Tech

North Central Kansas Technical College conferred certificates and degrees to 315 students during the May 2015 commencement ceremonies.

Graduation exercises were held on the Beloit campus on Friday, May 15, and on the Hays campus on Saturday, May 16. One hundred seventeen students were awarded Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degrees and 198 students earned Certificates of Completion.

Click HERE for a complete list.

There will be a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Bruckner Truck Sales, 2101 Commerce.

Lunch, catered by Rose Garden Steakhaus & Catering, will be served following the ceremony.

Bruckner made the move to its new facility in April. Click HERE for more.