The Downtown Hays Market opens for the season Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. in the 10th Street parking lot between Main and Fort Streets.
This is the third year for the market which features fresh produce and local crafts.
Downtown Hays Development Corporation Director Sara Bloom told Hays City Commissioners Thursday night there will also be new attractions this year.
“There’s going to be something for everyone to do on every Saturday,” she said.
“This Saturday specifically will be Children’s Day. We’re going to have face painting and a special presentation by the Hays Master Gardeners…we’re really trying to make it a family event this year.”
Bloom talked about the market during the DHDC presentation requesting $53,655 in funding from the city in 2016.
This is also the first year local food trucks have been invited to participate in the market.
The Downtown Hays Market is open 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday mornings and starting June 10, Wednesday evenings from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. through October.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack at a Wichita airport has told the court that he intends to change his plea.
A docket notation Friday shows the change-of-plea hearing for Terry L. Loewen is set for Monday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot in federal court in Wichita.
Loewen was arrested in December 2013 when the former avionics technician allegedly tried to bring a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac at what was then Mid-Continent Airport.
He is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to use an explosive device to damage property and attempting to give material support to al-Qaida.
His defense attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, and the U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House leaders are urging the Senate to pass a budget to avoid state worker furloughs.
Administration officials have said that nonessential state workers would be furloughed if a budget is not signed by Sunday. The House approved a budget Wednesday requiring tax increases to balance. The Senate has not debated a comprehensive budget proposal since March.
House Speaker Ray Merrick said Friday that state workers should not be furloughed because the Senate stalled its budget talks. Fifty-four of the House’s 97 Republicans signed the statement.
Republicans have been sharply divided over measures to fill a shortfall initially projected at $800 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Senate leaders have said they could consider a proposal to balance the budget through a 5.9 percent across-the-board cut.
UPDATE: Because of Friday night’s house fire in Hays, this training has been postponed.
Hays Fire Department
Beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, the Northwest Kansas Regional Rescue Team will conduct a search-and-rescue training exercise at Hess Services, 230th Avenue and Feedlot Road. The exercise will simulate the coordinated search of a wide area and the rescue of trapped persons after a tornado strike.
The Northwest Kansas Regional Rescue Team is operated by the Hays Fire Department and is cooperatively staffed by specially trained firefighters from the Ellis County Rural, Ellis, Victoria and Hays fire departments. The team serves the 18 counties in the northwest region of the state providing building collapse, confined space, trench cave-in and high-elevation rescue services.
The Ellis County Rural Fire Department, Ellis County EMS and Ellis County Emergency Management will be participating in this exercise to simulate a full emergency response.
The exercise was planned and coordinated by Chief Darin Myers of the Ellis County Rural Fire Department and Captain Kirk Klein and Firefighter Tim Detrixhe of the Hays Fire Department.
The members of the Regional Rescue Team would like to thank Hess Services for their cooperation and assistance in conducting this exercise,” HFD Chief Gary Brown said in a news release.
Law enforcement officials near the scene of the December explosion
ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — Federal labor officials are recommending a northeast Kansas railcar company be fined $46,900 for violations found after an explosion injured nine employees, two seriously.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it found 11 serious safety violations while investigating a December explosion at the GBW Railcar Services plant near Atchison. Federal investigators say the blast was caused by an electrical heater igniting flammable gas vapors as a railcar was being prepared for cleaning.
Two workers who suffered second-degree burns underwent weeks of skin graft surgery and physical therapy to recover from second-degree burns. The seven others were treated for less-serious injuries.
The company has 15 days to determine if it will challenge the findings.
GBW, based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, manufactures freight cars and barges.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a solid 280,000 jobs in May, showing that the economy is back on track after starting 2015 in a slump.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.5 percent from 5.4 percent in April. The strong job growth suggests that employers remained confident enough to keep hiring even after the economy shrank during the first three months of the year.
Workers found jobs at an average pace of 207,000 over the past three months, a decent gain though down from last year’s average of 263,667.
Construction firms and the health care industry drove job growth, while cheaper oil prices led the energy sector to shed workers for the fifth straight month.
Average hourly wages in May rose only 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
TOPEKA — Tax conference committees will go back to the negotiating table Friday after the House resoundingly rejected a plan that suspended Gov. Sam Brownback’s “glide path to zero” income tax but did not substantially roll back a business tax exemption that was part of a 2012 tax bill Brownback signed.
The bill that made it to the House floor on Day 105 of the traditionally 90-day session relied largely on sales tax increases for the $406 million in new tax revenue needed to finish closing an almost $800 million structural deficit in the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Furloughs loom if the Legislature does not approve a budget by Saturday night, but that was not enough motivation to sway House members who voted 108-3 against the plan.
Thursday’s proposal froze individual income tax rates at present levels through 2018 before allowing them to drop slightly in 2019 and 2020. Further tax cuts that Brownback signed in June 2013 called for the bottom income tax rate to drop from the currently 2.7 percent to 2.4 percent in 2016 and 2.3 percent in 2017. It lowered the top rate from the current 4.6 percent to 3.9 percent in 2018.
House and Senate tax negotiators on the conference committee agreed Thursday afternoon to reduce the bottom rate to 2.3 percent but not until 2019. Their plan also would have lowered the top rate to 4.3 percent in 2019, stopping short of the 3.9 percent called for in the 2013 law.
“The (tax reduction) formula is repealed in our offer,” said Rep. Marvin Kleeb, an Overland Park Republican and leader of the House negotiating team.
Repealing the tax reduction formula is necessary, Kleeb said, to ensure the state has sufficient revenue to fund education, Medicaid and the public employees’ retirement system in future years. Allowing the income tax reductions to continue as scheduled, Kleeb said, would force lawmakers to approve large sales tax increases to keep state government operating.
“It’s a trade-off,” he said. “Do we want to raise sales tax rates to 7 percent to keep driving down income tax rates?”
For most House members, Kleeb said, the answer is “no.”
Even so, Kleeb and other Republican leaders say some level of sales tax increase will be necessary to close a remaining gap of approximately $400 million in the state’s 2016 operating budget.
The plan that emerged from the conference committee Thursday would raise the state sales tax from 6.15 percent to 6.65 percent, starting July 1. On Jan. 1, 2016, the sales tax on groceries only would drop to 5.9 percent.
Lowering the food sales tax has been a focus for a coalition of grocers, charitable organizations and health groups. They note that Kansas is one of only 14 states that currently levy a sales tax on groceries and say lowering the tax would provide more incentive to consume fresh produce.
The plan that went to the House floor Thursday also included a 50-cent per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, which was negotiated down from the House’s initial proposal of 65 cents. Both figures were less than half what public health advocates had pushed for.
Sen. Les Donovan, the Senate’s top tax negotiator, also gave in on his proposal to tax electronic cigarettes. Donovan said that after talking with industry stakeholders and the Kansas Department of Revenue, he decided there was not enough consensus on how to effectively tax the relatively new, largely unregulated products.
But he said he’s only giving up on the idea temporarily.
“Eventually we’re going to tax e-cigarettes,” Donovan said. “It’s going to be a much bigger part of the smoking arena.”
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.—
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
While heavier rain fell in surrounding counties in farther east in Kansas, Thursday night’s storm front resulted in measurable precipitation in Ellis County.
Early reports show amounts ranging from 0.04 inches south of Hays to .022 inches near Ellis.
Trego and Gove counties reported more than 0.3 inches of accumulation, while there was a report from Russell County of nearly 0.6 inches.
Washington County in north-central Kansas had rainfall reports from 3.12 to 4.26 inches.
Forecasters are calling for addition thunderstorms Friday night and into Saturday morning, with Hays currently listed under a threat of severe storms.
Her favorite 4-H project was raising and showing swine. And she loves to dance.
While those two activities aren’t usually found in the same sentence, they both have been a big part of Dakota Derstein’s life. They also will play a major role for her in this week’s Miss Kansas Pageant competition in Pratt.
Dakota Derstein
Derstein, who just completed her freshman year at Fort Hays State University, is one of 35 young women who qualified to compete for Miss Kansas honors. The four-day competition that began Wednesday will culminate Saturday night with the crowning of Miss Kansas 2015.
This will be just the fourth pageant ever for Derstein, but she finished as runner-up at her first pageant, the Miss Dodge City/Cowboy Capital Pageant, last year. A lot of people would have been ecstatic with that finish, especially in their initial try. Not Derstein.
“I was kind of upset,” she admitted. “The first thing I thought was ‘What could I have done better that would have made the difference?’ ”
Derstein’s platform for the pageant is “positive youth development through 4-H,” something in which she is well versed. Derstein said her experience with the Lucky Clovers 4-H Club in Ford County was invaluable. She chose projects ranging from clothing construction and foods to home improvement, leadership and entomology — and of course, swine.
“I love animals,” she said, “anything to do with animals.”
She also served as the emcee for beef shows and the Ford County public style revue and was asked to emcee the state style revue.
Derstein has two younger sisters, 13-year-old Kiowa and 8-year-old Canyon, who will be on hand to watch their older sister Saturday, along with their mother and father, Jeremy Derstein, and a lot of other family and friends.
It was a friend who talked to Derstein — who has participated in dance since she was in early elementary school — about competing in pageants, something Derstein had never even thought of before.
“Some people raise their kids to go through these things,” said her mother, Donita Derstein. “But it’s just not something we’d ever done. So we’re pretty new to all this.”
Derstein decided to give it a try when she learned one could earn scholarships for winning the various competitions.
At her first pageant in 2014, Derstein earned scholarships for selling the most tickets and also for the most sponsor donations. Then, at the Miss Southwest Kansas/Miss Santa Fe Trail Pageant later that month, she won the lifestyle and fitness competition for more scholarship money.
That was when she was a senior at Dodge City High School, when she was trying to make another big life decision — where she wanted to go to college.
Derstein knew she wanted to major in wildlife biology and was checking out the fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology majors at Kansas State University. But when she tried to connect with someone personally, she was advised to check out the KSU website.
Not long afterward, an admission counselor from FHSU visited Dodge City High School. After getting to speak to the Fort Hays State representative in person, Derstein set up a visit to Hays. Once on campus, she was sold.
After committing to Fort Hays State, where she is majoring in wildlife biology and zoology, Derstein successfully tried out for the Tiger Debs, the FHSU dance team that performs at Tiger football and basketball teams.
FHSU has been a good all-around fit for her, Derstein said. Besides a much shorter drive home to see her family, Derstein has found her niche in several other areas on the FHSU campus.
“It’s more hands-on at Fort Hays State, smaller class size, and I love it,” she said. “Fort Hays State feels like home. It’s my home away from home.”
Halfway through her first year in college, Derstein was crowned Miss Dodge City 2015 in January and again won scholarship money for gathering the most in sponsorship donations.
She then began preparing for the Miss Kansas Pageant — in addition to dancing with the Tiger Debs, finishing her first year at FHSU and doing community service as Miss Dodge City.
“It’s definitely been a busy year,” Derstein said, “but it’s exciting.”
Because of her experience in dance, Derstein chose a dance number for her talent competition in the Miss Kansas Pageant, which she performed Wednesday. Derstein’s preliminaries for the evening gown and swimwear competition were scheduled for today, with the interview portion of the competition Friday.
Following the preliminaries, 10 contestants will advance to Saturday’s finals, along with the Kansas’ Choice award winner chosen from online voting.
“She’s in the underdog kind of thing,” her mother said. “We would have never expected this, but she keeps surprising us.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A preliminary hearing has been delayed for a suspect in the death of a 100-year-old Wichita woman three weeks after she was allegedly raped.
The hearing was delayed Thursday after an attorney for 36-year-old Kasey Nesbitt asked to withdraw from the case.
The Wichita Eagle reports Sedgwick County District Judge David Dahl appointed a new attorney for Nesbitt and tentatively scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 15.
Nesbitt is charged with first-degree murder in the October 2014 death of Martha Schell. She died 21 days after she allegedly was assaulted.
He was originally charged with rape and aggravated burglary but after an autopsy report was released last month, prosecutors added the first-degree murder charge.
Nesbitt has pleaded not guilty to the rape and aggravated burglary charges.
Starting in early June, the Kansas Department of Transportation will begin a project to resurface portions of Interstate 70 in Sherman County.
Work will be occurring in both the east and westbound lanes, starting at exit 17 near Goodland and spanning 10 miles east to exit 27 near Edson. Project activities include concrete panel replacements, concrete patching and milling and overlay of the road surface. Traffic will be reduced to one lane at the construction sites and directed through the work zones via signage. The work zone speed limit has been posted at 60 mph and a 16-foot lane restriction is in effect throughout the duration of the project. Minor travel delays should be expected. KDOT encourages all motorists to be alert, obey the warning signs and “Give ‘em a Brake!” when approaching and driving through work zones. The resurfacing work is expected to be completed by the end of July, weather permitting.
The pavement repairs are part of a project KDOT is completing on I-70 between Goodland and Edson. Additional project work included bridge approach pavement replacement and upon completion of the resurfacing portion, new pavement markings, rumble strips and a rock edge wedge will be installed. Venture Corporation is the primary contractor for the project with a total contract cost of $5.54 million.
PRATT–Free Fishing Weekend, hosted by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, is the perfect opportunity to introduce someone to the joys of angling. Typically held the first full weekend in June each year, free fishing weekends are two-day periods when fishing licenses are not required to fish Kansas lakes and reservoirs. Free Fishing Weekend for 2015 is June 6 and 7. Although license requirements are waived for the weekend, anglers must still abide by all other regulations such as length and creel limits, equipment requirements, etc.
If you’re looking for a place to drop a line during Free Fishing Weekend, visit ksoutdoors.com/fishing and click “Where To Fish” for a list of fishing locations near you.
After you’ve found an ideal spot or two, consult the 2015 Kansas Fishing Regulations Summary prior to hitting the water. The summary contains vital information specific to all public waters and even has some handy tips and tricks on tying knots and identifying fish. View an electronic version at ksoutdoors.com/fishing, or pick up a hard-copy at your nearest license vendor.
With the right location, a variety of baits to choose from, and some cooperative weather, Kansas fishing can be a blast. Give it a try; we can bet you’ll be hooked.
Already a believer? Head over to your nearest license vendor, or ksoutdoors.com/fishing, to purchase your 2015 fishing license today and enjoy reeling in these flippery friends all year long. Resident annual fishing licenses can be purchased for $20.50.
By BECKY KISER
