MANHATTAN -Cooler than normal temperatures and a well behaved crowd were just a couple of the comments following the final concert of the 20th Annual Kicker Country Stampede.
Kurt Moldrup, Festival Security Manager explained that the crowd was well behaved and even jovial,” I’ve got to tell you, we’ve probably had
one of the best years, as far as, the crowd and their behavior.”
He did say alcohol violations continued to be the number one call throughout the festival, but he doesn’t believe this year was as bad as years past.
“I know that Pottawatomie County and ABC have written several, but I think that even that has gone down some. I feel pretty good about it,” said Moldrup.
Larry Couchman, Director of Riley County EMS and Emergency explained that on both Friday and Saturday they responded to between 40 and 42 calls each night, but as of 7 p.m. Sunday they hadn’t treated anyone.
“No major headline events, I mean we had probably better weather that kind of enhances the alcohol issues and we saw that on Friday and Saturday. Maybe a little more alcohol involved incidents, but overall a very good festival,” said Couchman.
The Tuttle Creek area saw temperatures in the mid 80’s with lows in the 60’s overnight, throughout the four day event which Couchman said is likely responsible to the fewer calls this year.
Official numbers are expected to be released sometime this week. Stampede Officials estimated between 35,000 and 40,000 people attended each night according to ticket pre-sales.
RJ Williams drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning then Keegan Curtis worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the bottom of the inning to lift the Hays Larks to a 6-5 win over the Derby Twins Sunday night at Panther Field in Derby. The Larks take two of three from the Twins to move to 14-12 overall and 11-10 in the Jayhawk League.
Reggie Wilson hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Larks a 4-0 lead. They were up 5-1 until the Twins Taylor Sanagorski tied the game with a grand slam off of Brandon Bell following two Larks errors in the bottom of the eighth.
Williams gave the Larks the lead back for good when he grounded to shortstop with two on and one out.
Curtis entered with runners at first and second and no outs in the bottom of the ninth and after a sacrifice bunt which moved the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position, recorded back to back strikeouts to end the game.
Bell allowed five unearned runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings but did not figure in the decision. Derrick Mount pitched 2/3 scoreless innings for the win with Curtis gets the save.
The Larks return home to face the Newton (KS) Rebels in a non-league game Tuesday.
Sunday’s Jayhawk League results…
Liberal 8, Bethany 7
Haysville 8, El Dorado 4
Dodge City 8, Wellington 7 (12 innings)
The Hays Eagles Junior American Legion defeated Widefield, Colorado 9-1 Sunday to win the Jim Clanton 16-Under tournament in Garden City. The Eagles go 5-0 in the tournament and improve to 12-9 on the season.
Tate Garcia drove in Cole Murphy on a grounder to third with two outs in the second inning to break a 1-1 tie and give the Eagles the lead for good. They added two in the third, another in the fourth then five in the fifth for the run-rule victory.
Grant Coffman allowed one unearned run on five hits for the complete game victory.
Hunter Brown went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Alex Fisher was 2-for-2 and also drove in three runs.
The Hays Monarchs 18-under American Legion raced out to a 5-0 lead then held on to defeat Ulysses 5-3 Sunday and go 4-2 at the Jim Clanton tournament in Garden City. Earlier in the day they lsot 4-3 to the Garden City Elite.
The Monarchs scored three in the third inning and two in the fourth. Ulysses scored three in the seventh.
Jack Rack allowed all three runs on nine hits, striking out four and walking none in the complete game victory.
Liam Stults and Jared Vitztum both had two hits with Vitztum driving in two.
In the first game, the Garden City Elite broke a 3-3 tie by scoring on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh. A hit batter and error, all with two outs, set of the late inning heroics.
The game was tied 1-1 when both teams scored two in the fifth.
Braiden Werth takes the loss after allowing all four runs on four hits, striking out three and walking three.
Liam Stults and Ryan Schippers both had two hits.
The Monarchs, who went 4-2 in the tournament in Garden City, are back at home Wednesday for a doubleheader with Larned before beginning play at the Wild West Fest tournament on Friday.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Guthrie struck out a season-high seven batters in six innings and Salvador Perez homered to help the Kansas City Royals complete a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 5-3 victory on Sunday.
Omar Infante hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run sixth inning for the Royals, who have won five of six to open a nine-game road trip.
After winning two of three in Seattle, Kansas City swept the A’s for the first time since 2008.
Guthrie (6-5) allowed two runs and topped 1,000 career strikeouts. The Royals bullpen did the rest with Wade Davis pitching the ninth for his ninth save in as many chances.
Jesse Chavez (4-7) was hurt by an error by third baseman Max Muncy in Kansas City’s three-run sixth inning as Oakland lost its third straight following a season-long five-game winning streak.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man knew the two gunmen who shot at him outside a suburban Kansas City mall.
The man wasn’t hit, and Overland Park police stressed in a news release Sunday that the gunfire wasn’t random. The shots were fired Saturday night at Oak Park Mall as the man walked toward his vehicle, which was parked near a Macy’s store. The man, who is in his 20s, fled in his car and later contacted police.
Police say they are in the process of obtaining video surveillance and plan to release suspect photos Monday. Anyone with information is urged to call authorities.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Budget cuts are leading to significant cuts to a Kansas program designed to enhance career and technical education.
The Wichita Eagle reports that school districts this year will get less than half the monetary incentives they expected. The incentives are part of a 2012 initiative that called for the state to help pay tuition for high school students enrolled in career and technical education at a community or technical college. It also helped provide those students with transportation to take those classes.
The Kansas State Department of Education said in a memo last week that the per-pupil payment for students who obtained certificates in certain high-demand fields will be “approximately $450” for the just-completed school year. That’s down from a $1,000 per-student incentive promised in the initial legislation.
STERLING- A man was injured in an accident just before 12:30 p.m. on Sunday in the extreme north end of Reno county.
Reno County Sheriff’s Office reported Dustin Venn, 28, Coal Township, PA., was riding a bike westbound on 101st Street just east of Peace Road three miles south of Sterling.
A Chevy Camaro driven by Linda Hall, 74, was also westbound and failed to give room for the bicyclist.
The driver’s side of the Camaro clipped the bicycle.
Venn was transported by Reno County EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Hall was not injured. She was cited for passing unsafely.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — New numbers from a farm management company show the cost of high-quality land is falling in Kansas.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that an acre of high-quality, irrigated land sold for an average of $5,000 in June 2015 in Kansas, down from $6,000 in in June 2014. Data about the 17-percent drop comes from Farmers National Company, which manages and sells farms in 24 states. While many farms are sold by other companies, the data gives an idea of the market’s direction.
The average selling price also fell in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and South Dakota. The price was statistically unchanged in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, and went up slightly in Missouri, Tennessee and Washington state.
KANSAS CITY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 2 p.m. on Sunday in Wyandotte County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1992 Harley Davidson driven by James B. Pantle, 52, Easton, was traveling on the ramp from Southbound U.S. 73 to go westbound on U.S.24 in Kansas City.
The driver lost control of the motorcycle. It entered the grass gore and rolled.
Pantle was not wearing a helmet. He was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge’s decision to block Kansas from banning a common second-trimester abortion method could reshape the state’s legal climate on the issue.
Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks last week said the law prohibiting a procedure described by critics as dismembering a fetus likely creates too big an obstacle for women seeking abortions. His order will remain in effect until he reviews a lawsuit filed by an abortion rights group.
Hendricks also declared the Kansas Constitution creates a right to an abortion that’s at least as strong as what the U.S. Constitution provides.
Attorneys said if the ruling is upheld, Kansas courts eventually could join a handful of other states that protect abortion rights more than the U.S. Supreme Court. That could jeopardize restrictions upheld here in the past.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Solar energy advocates have raised concerns about Westar Energy’s request for new financial setups for Kansas households with solar panels.
Mark Horst, a partner in Hutchinson-based King Solar, says the new plans could eliminate the cost savings of installing solar panels.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that as part of a $152 million rate case Westar filed in March, the utility requested two new ways of calculating bills.
Westar spokeswoman Gina Penzig says the goal isn’t to harm solar panel users, but to ensure they pay something toward the costs of operating the grid, since solar energy doesn’t cover most homes’ total energy needs.
Horst says under either new plan, it would take longer for solar users to see savings from solar energy, lessening the incentive for using solar.
My Mother used to say time flew by more quickly as she got older. As a child, I didn’t understand what she meant. I admit I find myself thinking the same thing nowadays. But during the last three weeks, time seemed to lurch ahead and it has left me feeling much older.
It started with my 40th class reunion. I found myself surrounded by people who looked more like my classmates’ parents than members of the Southeast of Saline graduating class of 1975. Conversations included health issues, retirement plans and grandchildren.
Three days later, my husband celebrated his 65th birthday with a trip to the Social Security Office to complete his Medicare enrollment. He is now an “official” senior citizen.
My husband attended both of these events on crutches after a fall from a ladder at the beginning of the month that left him with a broken leg. Taking over his mowing, spraying, watering and trash duties has left me feeling much older and even more pressed for time. (He now agrees that since both of us are getting older, any future roof work will be a 2-person job with one on the ladder and the other steadying it on the ground.)
According to the K-State Research and Extension publication “AgeSense,” there are many ways to think about getting older. Aging can be considered chronologically, based on how many birthdays (or class reunions) an individual has celebrated. Getting older can be thought of in terms of functioning, with the focus on what a person can do rather than on how many birthdays he or she has experienced. Age can also be subjective, based on how old someone feels as opposed to how many birthdays they’ve had.
American society uses a generally-accepted definition of 65 years of age or older to determine when someone is considered “old.” Societal beliefs lean toward mostly negative attitudes and stereotypes about aging, fueled by the media and a youth-worshipping culture. But numerous beliefs Americans hold about aging are actually false. For example, older adults generally report a better sense of well-being than younger adults in research studies.
By examining personal attitudes and learning more about the facts of the aging process, people may decide that although aging is inevitable, a negative attitude about the process is not. Individuals with a positive attitude may reap many benefits. Research shows positive people actually do more for their own health as they age. They also are more functional, more likely to recover from disability and more likely to live longer.
The “AgeSense” publication suggests the SOC model as a way to adapt to the changes of aging. Selection refers to choosing activities and goals, Optimization is how people achieve their goals, and Compensation is used when new methods and behaviors for accomplishing goals are used. SOC is all about balancing opportunities and losses. It gives people a way to respond to everyday demands in an adaptive manner with the goals selected, the methods used to reach them and the strategies used to compensate when needed. In my husband’s case, by trimming tree limbs less often in the future (selection), he will make fewer trips up a ladder (optimization), and he will ask for assistance when he does (compensation.)
To learn more about positive aging, request the “AgeSense” publication MF3079 from the Ellis County Extension Office at 601 Main in Hays, 785-628-9430, or find it on the K-State Research and Extension website at www.ksre.ksu.edu/bookstore.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
