Stacy Campbell
K-State Research & Extension

Farmers and ranchers wanting to learn more about using current Excel spreadsheets and even how to develop their own; can attend an Excel Spreadsheet Workshop on Monday, January 11th in Hays.

This day-long workshop will provide hands-on Excel training, and will use provided laptop computers or you can bring your own to explore and create spreadsheets. It is recommended that you have a basic understanding of Excel in order to get the most out of this workshop.

Some of the topics covered will be Estimating Machinery Costs, Budgeting & Enterprise Analysis, Calculating Principal & Interest Payments, Analysis of Livestock Economics, Tips & Tricks for Using Excel and exploring Excel decision tools currently available for Ag producers.

This Excel workshop is Monday, January 11th from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Ellis County Extension back meeting room at 601 Main Street, Hays. RSVP & payment of $15 in advance are due Wednesday, January 6th to Ellis County Extension, 601 Main Street, Hays.

Questions email Theresa at [email protected] or call 785-628-9430.

Registrations are currently being accepted for the Smoky Hill Calling Contest is set from from Sunrise to Sunset Jan. 9 in WaKeeney.

The event is a 2-man team hunt, with entries accepted until 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8.

The event will feature prizes for largest youth coyote, a guaranteed payout of $500 and a raffle for a Thompson Center Venture .223 rifle.

An entry fee of $80 will include dinner, with all proceeds going to youth shooting sports.

For details on the event and to sign up, visit the contest’s facebook page.

HaysMed

Joyce Mattison, RN, MSN recently earned Nurse Executive, Advanced Board Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

The certification is for nurses who hold administrative leadership roles in their organizations. The test consists of questions about operational structure and processes, exemplary professional practice, transformational leadership and new knowledge and innovations in nursing.

Mattison is the Director of InPatient Services at HaysMed and has been with the hospital since 1982. She has worked on several clinical units and held different administrative positions at the hospital during her time at HaysMed.

After the first of the year. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran will continue his Listening Tour, visiting several towns through Northwest Kansas, after stops in Wichita and Hutchinson this week.

His first stop in the area will be at Red’s Family Restaurant, 222 N Pomeroy Ave., Hill City at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 4.

The following day Moran will be at the Grisell Memorial Hospital, 210 Vermont Ave, Ransom at 10 a.m.

The tour will continue at the Citizens Medical Center, 100 E College Dr., Colby at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15., followed by a same day stop at the Northwest Kansas Technical College, 1209 Harrison Ave, Goodland at 12:30 p.m. (mountain time).

To find out more about Moran’s Listening Tour, or to see previous stops, visit his website.

City of Hays

Due to the observance of the New Year’s holiday, Friday, January 1, 2016, refuse/recycling route collection schedules will be altered as follows:

• There is no anticipated change to Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday’s collection schedules.
• Thursday and Friday’s collection schedules will be on Thursday, December 31, 2015.

Although collections may not occur on your normal day, collections will be completed during the week.

City of Hays customers that may have any questions regarding this notice should contact the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department at 628-7357.

Please remember to always have refuse and recycling bags out by 7:00 a.m.

It is anticipated that heavy volumes of refuse/recyclable will be encountered around the holidays. Please make sure your bags are out by 7:00 a.m. and keep in mind that the trucks have no set time schedule.

FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Figuring out which online university is legit and affordable is confusing when multiple websites claim that their programs offer the best bang for the buck, but College Choice has it figured out.

When it comes to earning an online bachelor’s degree, College Choice, an online publication dedicated to helping students and their families find the right college, ranks Fort Hays State University as the No. 1 most affordable option of 2016.

FHSU is the only university in Kansas to make the list. Costs for an online bachelor’s degree starts at $194.14 per credit hour, while the other state schools cost anywhere from $238.75 to $407.80 per credit hour.

All the colleges in the ranking are regionally accredited and offer at least five online bachelor’s options; FHSU offers 26.

FHSU tops the other 49 schools on the list, which includes Kent State, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Oregon State University, Southern New Hampshire University, Western Governors University and Ohio University.

Several key factors went into determining the list, such as, academic quality, degree options, teaching and technical support, flexibility and total cost. Data for each university was collected using U.S. News and World Report and the National Center for Educational Statistics.

To view the ranking, navigate to www.collegechoice.net > Rankings > Online College Rankings > 2016 Rankings of Most Affordable Online Colleges for Bachelor’s Degrees.