January 2016 – Page 42 – Hays Post Archive

Should lottery winners’ names be secret? States debate issue

Posted on January 16, 2016

DAVID PITT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Even a jackpot isn’t enough to buy anonymity for many lottery winners, whose names are often made public by state law.

But now it’s becoming increasingly possible for big winners including those in Kansas, to hide their identity.

Lottery executives are trying to strike a balance between ensuring privacy and safety while still proving to the public that real people can win.

Andrew Stoltmann is an Illinois attorney who has represented winners. He says forcing people to reveal their names is like “throwing meat into a shark-infested ocean.”

On the other hand, gambling experts and others say, allowing winners to collect jackpots in secret invites public suspicion and makes it easier for cheating to go undetected.

Kan. Black Infant Mortality Problem Pushes Experts To Rethink Approach

Posted on January 16, 2016

Tanesha Horton, 21, of Kansas City, Kansas, says she worries about the health of her son, D'won, who was born in November. — Tanesha Horton, 21, of Kansas City, Kansas, says she worries about the health of her son, D’won, who was born in November.

By ALEX SMITH

For expectant parents like Melissa and Michael Funaro, the prospect of a new baby evokes a host of emotions.

“You have this thing inside of you growing, and him and I created it,” Melissa says. “So it’s like, what’s he gonna look like?”

For future mother Karina Rivera, pregnancy is exhilarating.

“Everything’s exciting,” she says. “Just buying baby clothes, buying diapers. Looking at the diapers, and they’re so tiny.”

Jamie and Laura McCamish say the wait for their baby is almost too much to bear.

“I think right now we’re just to the point where we want to hold her and smell her,” Laura says.

Thanks to advances in prenatal and neonatal care, the overwhelming majority of infants are born healthy and thrive.

But sometimes things don’t go as planned.

In Johnson County, for every 1,000 infants born in recent years, fewer than five don’t make it to their first birthday. In Wyandotte County, the number is closer to eight.

For African Americans in both counties, the numbers are even higher. In fact, for the last few years Kansas’s black infant mortality rate has been the highest in the country.

Knocking on doors

To improve these dismal figures, some community health groups are going beyond splashy health campaigns. They’re knocking on doors. Like those of 21 -year-old Tanesha Horton, who found out she was pregnant last March.

First-time expectant parents Melissa and Michael Funaro find the lessons of parenthood somewhat daunting at an infant care class at Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Merriam, Kansas. CREDIT ALEX SMITH / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR — First-time expectant parents Melissa and Michael Funaro find the lessons of parenthood somewhat daunting at an infant care class at Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Merriam, Kansas.
CREDIT ALEX SMITH / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR

“It was an experience,” she says. “I was scared. I was happy. But I was kind of scared.”

Horton, who’s African-American, lives in a Kansas City, Kansas, ZIP code that has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the state.

She enrolled in Healthy Families Wyandotte, a program that offers in-home support for first-time parents in Wyandotte County. With the agency’s help, she got prenatal care, including vitamins, regular doctor’s visits and her first sonogram, which she gleefully recalls.

“Yeah, that was the most exciting part: hearing his heartbeat,” Horton says. “It’s like, ‘Oh, there’s really a baby in there!’”

But the sonograms also showed something unusual in her developing son’s kidneys. Her doctors said they wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what it was until he was born.

Horton was haunted by worry.

“Is he going to have two kidneys that’s connected?” she says. “Is he going to have three? What are they going to see?”

A puzzle

The high infant mortality rate among African-Americans troubles and puzzles health experts. In Kansas, the rate is about two and half times that of non-Hispanic whites and about twice that of Latinos.

And it’s not just in lower-income places like Wyandotte County. The infant mortality gap is just as wide in Johnson County.

The causes are many and varied: the mother’s health, genetic conditions, sudden infant death syndrome, domestic abuse, smoking, drug and alcohol use.

And while some infant mortality differences can be attributed to behaviors or education levels, a lot of them can’t. The puzzle forces experts take a much wider look for causes.

“The outcome of a pregnancy is not just determined the nine months that a woman is pregnant. We really have to be mindful of the fact that a woman brings into her pregnancy the sum total of her life experiences,” says Tyan Parker Dominguez, a clinical associate professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work whose work focuses on disparities in infant mortality.

Some experts think African-American women might be genetically predisposed to high infant mortality, but Dominguez and other researchers aren’t so sure.

They point to U.S. immigrants from Africa with similar genetic profiles but infant mortality rates similar to those of white American women.

Dominguez and others say another factor may be at work: racism.

“As events have shown us over history and certainly in more recent history, we see that there are still deep racial divisions in this country, and they can be a great source of stress,” Dominguez says.

Acute stress by itself doesn’t necessarily affect pregnancy, but over a lifetime it can contribute to conditions like heart disease and obesity, which can affect infant mortality.

“It’s sort of the biological manifestation of race relations in this country, seeing this systematic, over time, oppression of communities of color, particularly – in the United States – the African American community,” Dominguez says.

Signs of hope

Whether the problem of infant mortality is biological or societal, it’s probably beyond the reach of community health groups like Healthy Families Wyandotte, which instead are taking on the issue one infant at a time.

While data show a slow but steady decline in infant mortality across racial and ethnic groups in Kansas, the gap between blacks and whites remains the same as it was a generation ago.

In November, Tanesha’s son D’won was born with two kidneys that were somewhat lower than where kidneys are usually found.

Though D’won appears to be healthy, doctors are still monitoring his kidneys. His mother admits she still worries and sits up for hours watching him sleep.

“It be in the back of my mind,” Horton says. “But it’s like, I tell myself, like, he’s gonna be OK. He’s gonna be OK.”

This article was produced as a project for the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and the National Health Journalism Fellowship, programs of USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism.

Alex Smith is reporter with the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @AlexSmithKCUR

1 dead, 2 hospitalized after Trego Co. rollover accident

Posted on January 16, 2016January 16, 2016

TREGO COUNTY- A man from WaKeeney died and two others were injured in an accident just before 11:30p.m. on Friday in Trego County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Chevy Blazer driven by Donald Edmond Mizer Jr., 36, WaKeeney, was southbound on U.S. 283 one mile north of Hixon Road.

The vehicle crossed the centerline into the east ditch and began sliding sideways.

It went over a concrete drain, began to roll and overturned multiple times.

Mizer Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Schmitt Mortuary.

Passengers in the vehicle Jeremy M. Kaye, 19, and Cynthia M. Farr, 32, both of WaKeeney, were transported to the Trego County Lemke Memorial Hospital.

Mizer Jr. and Farr were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

Mom screams after judge sends her to prison for locking daughter in a closet

Posted on January 16, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City woman whose daughter was 10 years old and weighed just 32 pounds when she was rescued from a closet has been sentenced to 34 years in prison.

The Kansas City Star reports that the mother screamed after she was sentenced Friday for endangering, abusing and assaulting the girl. Police officers found the girl barricaded in an apartment closet in June 2012 while responding to a child abuse hotline call.

The Associated Press isn’t naming the mother to protect the child’s identity.

Prosecutors said the girl didn’t attend school or receive adequate medical care. They argued the abuse left her so weak that she had a heart transplant in 2013. Defense witnesses said her heart disease could have had “a vast number of causes.”

Deadline extended for Agriculture Workforce Needs Assessment Survey

Posted on January 16, 2016January 16, 2016

KDA

MANHATTAN–The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) has extended the deadline for Kansas agribusinesses, manufacturers and producers of agricultural products to complete the Kansas Agriculture Workforce Needs Assessment Survey through January 31, 2016. The survey will help KDA identify the number and types of jobs, and specific skills required for those jobs, in agriculture, in an effort to help support growth in agriculture.

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey said finding employees who are trained and prepared for jobs is a key challenge in agriculture today.

“We need to fully understand the gap between what the employers need and what potential employees have, whether that is technical skills, workplace skills or additional certifications,” said Secretary McClaskey. “This survey will give us the necessary information to understand the gap and to further strategize with industry partners on how to address these challenges.”

McClaskey said this survey will be used as a catalyst to begin the work of creating or redirecting training programs in an effort to keep the workforce involved in agriculture locally and statewide. The survey is currently being offered online at www.tinyurl.com/kdaworkforce with the access code of GrowAg, but also can be mailed to those who request a paper version. KDA is keeping the survey open through January 31, 2016.

KDA is focused on serving Kansas farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses and the consumers/customers they serve. A current priority is growing agriculture in the state, eliminating barriers to growth, developing workforce and building marketing activities in-state, out-of-state and globally.

For more information on the survey, visit https://agriculture.ks.gov/workforce.

High School basketball scoreboard Jan. 15

Posted on January 15, 2016

Girls
Western Athletic Conference
Hays 45 Garden City 37
Dodge City 52 Liberal 36
*Buhler 48 Great Bend 65

Mid-Continent League
Smith Center 29 TMP 63
Hill City 49 Ellis 44
Stockton 55 Oakley 32
Norton 44 Phillipsburg 42

Central Prairie League
Victoria 22 Central Plains 54
La Crosse 54 Otis-Bison 46
Trego 46   Ness City 51
Macksville 35   Ellinwood 50
*Kiowa Co. 36  Kinsley 40

Northern Plains League Tournament
Natoma 47  Sylvan-Lucas 43
Thunder Ridge 64 Rock Hills 21
Chase 33  Lincoln 62
Lakeside 42   Osborne 24
Tescott 36  Wilson 52

Northwest Kansas League
Dighton 53 St. Francis 24

Greater West Activities Conference
Colby 32 Hugoton 70
Holcomb 42 Goodland 53
Scott City 47 Ulysses 17

Western Kansas Liberty League
Wheatland-Grinnell 56 Logan 34

Boys

Western Athletic Conference

Hays 48 Garden City 34

Dodge City 42 Liberal 47

*Buhler 72 Great Bend 61

Mid-Continent League
Smith Center 54 TMP 80
Hill City 50 Ellis 56
Norton 48 Phillipsburg 40

Central Prairie League
Victoria 28 Central Plains 74
La Crosse 38  Otis-Bison 47
Trego 46  Ness City 51
*Kiowa Co. 69  Kinsley 39

Northern Plains League Tournament
Chase 53 Thunder Ridge 55
Lakeside 30 Osborne 56
Sylvan-Lucas 29 Tescott 47
Natoma 46 Pike Valley 52

Northwest Kansas League
Wallace Co. 76 Quinter 46
Dighton 53 St. Francis 56

Greater West Activities Conference
Colby 42 Hugoton 61
Holcomb 57 Goodland 26
Scott City 53 Ulysses 40

Western Kansas Liberty League
Wheatland-Grinnell 49 Logan 39

*Non-league
By The Associated Press
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Abilene 73, Clay Center 52
Andale 54, Augusta 42
Atchison 75, KC Schlagle 64
Attica 73, Burrton 30
Beloit 63, Minneapolis 51
Bennington 74, Remington 59
Berean Academy 56, Canton-Galva 30
Bishop Miege 45, St. Thomas Aquinas 39
Blue Valley Stillwell 64, Blue Valley Southwest 49
Bonner Springs 61, Lansing 38
Buhler 72, Great Bend 61
Burlingame 76, Waverly 42
BV North 68, BV West 64
BV Northwest 60, Gardner-Edgerton 29
Caldwell 57, Cedar Vale/Dexter 39
Central Burden 55, Argonia 51
Central Plains 74, Victoria 28
Chanute 50, Independence 41
Cheney 65, Bluestem 41
Circle 65, Sedgwick 33
Coffeyville 54, Wichita Defenders 43
Concordia 77, Chapman 44
Conway Springs 60, Wichita Independent 55
Council Grove 59, Lyndon 58
Douglass 65, Belle Plaine 46
Ellinwood 59, Macksville 53
Ellis 56, Hill City 50
Emporia 50, Topeka West 46
Eudora 70, Ottawa 48
Flint Hills Job Corps 82, St. John’s Military 62
Flinthills 78, South Haven 56
Galena 75, Southeast 64
Garden Plain 60, Medicine Lodge 32
Girard 47, Fort Scott 44
Golden Plains 45, Palco 36
Haven 48, Smoky Valley 47
Hays 48, Garden City 34
Hays-TMP-Marian 80, Smith Center 54
Hesston 59, Larned 31
Hiawatha 56, Jefferson West 47
Hillsboro 53, Halstead 45
Holcomb 57, Goodland 26
Hugoton 61, Colby 42
Humboldt 68, Cherryvale 60
Jackson Heights 53, Horton 52
Jefferson North 68, Oskaloosa 43
Junction City 46, Washburn Rural 37
KC Piper 61, KC Bishop Ward 26
KC Sumner 67, KC Harmon 56
Kiowa County 69, Kinsley 39
Lawrence 69, Olathe East 61
Lawrence Free State 69, Olathe Northwest 68
Liberal 47, Dodge City 42
Louisburg 53, DeSoto 48
Manhattan 60, Highland Park 55
Marion 70, Inman 62
McPherson 68, Rose Hill 35
Meade 68, Lakin 61
Metro Academy 71, Cornerstone Family 47
Mill Valley 63, Tonganoxie 40
Moundridge 46, Hutchinson Trinity 33
Nemaha Central 65, Atchison County 35
Ness City 51, Trego 46
Nickerson 76, Hoisington 67
Olathe South 64, Olathe North 54
Olpe 45, Lebo 30
Otis-Bison 47, LaCrosse 38
Parsons 76, Columbus 21
Peabody-Burns 61, Elyria Christian 40
Pittsburg 45, Labette County 35
Pittsburg Colgan 41, Lamar, Mo. 39
Pleasant Ridge 67, Immaculata 44
Pleasanton 50, Marmaton Valley 36
Pratt 52, Kingman 22
Pratt Skyline 70, Fairfield 44
Rawlins County 71, Greeley County 45
Riverton 61, Northeast-Arma 50
Rock Creek 67, Wabaunsee 56
Royal Valley 43, Holton 32
Rural Vista 59, Centre 40
Sabetha 55, Perry-Lecompton 30
Salina Central 55, Derby 52
Salina Sacred Heart 64, Ellsworth 34
Salina South 57, Hutchinson 34
Santa Fe Trail 35, Atchison County 33
Satanta 69, Pawnee Heights 25
Scott City 53, Ulysses 40
Silver Lake 62, Riley County 46
SM North 69, Leavenworth 39
SM Northwest 47, SM South 44
SM West 66, SM East 64
Solomon 55, Little River 29
South Barber 84, Cunningham 47
South Central 67, Ingalls 40
South Gray 65, Ashland 48
Southeast Saline 60, Republic County 31
Southwestern Hts. 53, Sublette 40
Spearville 79, Bucklin 7
Spring Hill 68, Baldwin 41
St. Francis 56, Dighton 53, OT
Sterling 74, Lyons 50
Syracuse 44, Cimarron 43
Topeka Hayden 64, Topeka 57
Topeka Seaman 46, Shawnee Heights 44
Troy 55, Maur Hill – Mount Academy 46
Valley Falls 56, McLouth 20
Wakefield 46, Goessel 40
Wallace County 76, Quinter 46
Wamego 81, Marysville 48
Wellington 50, El Dorado 44
Wellsville 67, Iola 40
Weskan 69, Western Plains 35
West Elk 69, Udall 41
West Franklin 38, Herington 36
Wheatland-Grinnell 49, Logan 39
Wichita Campus 45, Clearwater 38
Wichita Trinity 54, Chaparral 42
Winfield 67, Mulvane 65
ARK Valley Chisholm Trail League/Greater Wichita Athletic League Tournament
Andover Central 58, Wichita Bishop Carroll 50
Wichita Northwest 59, Andover 54
Wichita Southeast 70, Maize South 56
Northern Plains League Tournament
Play-In
Osborne 56, Lakeside 30
Pike Valley 46, Natoma 29
Rock Hills 50, Glasco/Miltonvale-Southern Cloud 37
Tescott 28, Sylvan-Lucas 7
Thunder Ridge 55, Chase 53, OT
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Abilene 49, Clay Center 48
Abilene Baptist 49, Clay Center 48
Anderson County 45, Santa Fe Trail 33
Andover 47, Wichita West 43
Argonia 30, Central Burden 19
Attica 55, Burrton 26
Augusta 41, Andale 36
Baldwin 67, Spring Hill 27
Beloit 56, Minneapolis 50
Berean Academy 62, Canton-Galva 21
Bishop Seabury Academy 39, KC Christian 31
Blue Valley Southwest 63, Blue Valley Stillwell 56
BV West 47, Andover, Minn. 43
Caldwell 56, Cedar Vale/Dexter 28
Central Plains 54, Victoria 22
Chanute 56, Independence 41
Chapman 47, Concordia 32
Cheney 61, Bluestem 21
Cimarron 45, Syracuse 34
Circle 47, Sedgwick 42
Coffeyville 54, Wichita Defenders 43
Columbus 53, Parsons 36
Conway Springs 49, Wichita Independent 28
Council Grove 63, Lyndon 24
Crest 57, Altoona-Midway 19
Derby 60, Salina Central 46
DeSoto 50, Louisburg 29
Dighton 53, St. Francis 24
Dodge City 52, Liberal 36
Douglass 51, Belle Plaine 24
Ellinwood 50, Macksville 35
Ellsworth 38, Salina Sacred Heart 25
Elyria Christian 50, Peabody-Burns 29
Emporia 48, Topeka West 15
Eureka 42, Erie 41
Flinthills 71, South Haven 28
Fredonia 57, Caney Valley 51
Galena 47, Southeast 32
Garden Plain 56, Medicine Lodge 31
Gardner-Edgerton 50, BV Northwest 41
Girard 43, Fort Scott 36
Goessel 62, Wakefield 33
Golden Plains 49, Palco 19
Goodland 53, Holcomb 42
Great Bend 65, Buhler 48
Haven 37, Smoky Valley 34
Hays 45, Garden City 37
Hays-TMP-Marian 63, Smith Center 29
Hesston 53, Larned 18
Hiawatha 48, Jefferson West 38
Hill City 49, Ellis 44
Hillsboro 40, Halstead 39
Hoisington 47, Nickerson 28
Holton 50, Royal Valley 38
Horton 36, Jackson Heights 32
Hoxie 76, Oberlin-Decatur 11
Hugoton 70, Colby 32
Humboldt 55, Cherryvale 50
Hutchinson Central Christian 59, Stafford 18
Iola 29, Wellsville 24
KC Piper 95, KC Bishop Ward 18
KC Schlagle 60, Atchison 57
KC Sumner 86, KC Harmon 8
Kingman 42, Pratt 23
Kinsley 40, Kiowa County 36
LaCrosse 54, Otis-Bison 46
Lansing 49, Bonner Springs 42, 2OT
Lawrence Free State 65, Olathe Northwest 44
Leavenworth 62, SM North 42
Madison/Hamilton 44, Marais des Cygnes Valley 35
Manhattan 77, Highland Park 34
Marion 45, Inman 27
Marysville 63, Wamego 57
Maur Hill – Mount Academy 35, Troy 25
McPherson 70, Rose Hill 39
Meade 52, Lakin 44
Mill Valley 62, Tonganoxie 33
Moscow 35, Johnson-Stanton County 34
Moundridge 56, Hutchinson Trinity 27
Nemaha Central 56, Atchison County 26
Neodesha 49, Baxter Springs 30
Ness City 51, Trego 46
Northeast-Arma 56, Riverton 44
Northern Valley 60, Healy 12
Norton 47, Phillipsburg 42
Norwich 60, Pretty Prairie 20
Olathe East 44, Lawrence 43
Olathe South 60, Olathe North 28
Olpe 66, Lebo 22
Ottawa 45, Eudora 25
Pittsburg 62, Labette County 51
Pittsburg Colgan 49, Lamar, Mo. 43
Pleasant Ridge 55, Immaculata 28
Pleasanton 54, Marmaton Valley 51
Pratt Skyline 40, Fairfield 30
Rawlins County 59, Greeley County 33
Remington 66, Bennington 44
Rossville 68, St. Mary’s 40
Rural Vista 43, Centre 41
Sabetha 54, Perry-Lecompton 23
Salina South 32, Hutchinson 30
Satanta 60, Pawnee Heights 25
Scott City 47, Ulysses 17
Sedan 68, Oswego 40
Shawnee Heights 48, Topeka Seaman 40
Silver Lake 47, Riley County 34
SM Northwest 73, SM South 39
SM West 45, SM East 43
Solomon 60, Little River 53
South Gray 47, Ashland 31
Southeast Saline 51, Republic County 26
St. Paul 54, Frontenac 47
Sterling 71, Lyons 29
Stockton 55, Oakley 32
Sublette 70, Southwestern Hts. 53
Topeka Hayden 59, Topeka 46
Triplains-Brewster 63, Cheylin 51
Udall 51, West Elk 22
Valley Falls 58, McLouth 14
Wabaunsee 37, Rock Creek 35
Washburn Rural 65, Junction City 53
Wellington 65, El Dorado 27
Weskan 44, Western Plains 23
Wheatland-Grinnell 54, Logan 34
Wichita Campus 49, Clearwater 33
Wichita Trinity 51, Chaparral 33
Winfield 38, Mulvane 26
ARK Valley Chisholm Trail League/Greater Wichita Athletic League Tournament
Andover 47, Wichita West 43
Maize 49, Wichita Bishop Carroll 34
Maize South 53, Kapaun Mount Carmel 45
Northern Plains League Tournament
Play-In
Lakeside 42, Osborne 24
Lincoln 62, Chase 33
Natoma 47, Sylvan-Lucas 43
Thunder Ridge 64, Rock Hills 21
Wilson 52, Tescott 36

Hays High sweeps Garden City

Posted on January 15, 2016

The Hays High Indians earned a pair of conference win Friday night with a sweep of the Garden City Buffaloes.

Hays 46, Garden City 37
The Hays High Lady Indians found themselves in an early hole, trailing Garden City 9-1 to open the game Friday night but made just enough free throws to hold on down the stretch and pick up a 46-37 win.

Trailing by eight early in the first half Hays finished the quarter and started the second quarter on a 12-2 to take a a 13-11 lead. Then with the game tied at 13 Audra Scheidler and Mattie Hutchison knocked in back-to-back threes putting the Indians up 19-13 and they would never trail again.

Garden City made it close down the stretch outscoring Hays 11-8 in the final quarter but Hays picks up the win.

Talyn Kleweno led the Indians with 12 points. Hays improved to 4-5 on the season and 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Hays plays at Dodge City on Tuesday.

Hays Highlights

Hays 48, Garden City 34
Hays High and Garden City traded baskets for much of the first quarter until Isaiah Nunnery scored four straight giving Hays High a 12-9 lead after the first quarter.

The Indians opened the second quarter on 9-2 run thanks to an Isaiah Nunnery three, a three-point play by Drew Young and a Laken Jacobs three and led 25-14 late in the first half.

Neither team shot the ball well all night and Hays outscoted Garden City 7-4 in the third quarter. They opened the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run and went on to pick up the 48-34 win.

Rick Keltner Post-game Interview

Shane Berens led all scorers with a season-high 16. Isaiah Nunnery finiished with 14.

The Indians have now won seven straight and are 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the WAC.

Highlights

Hays takes on WIchita East in the first round of the Dodge City Tournament of Champions Thursday night.

TMP takes two from Smith Center

Posted on January 15, 2016

By JEREMY McGUIRE

Girls: TMP 63, Smith Center 29

TMP wasted little time on Friday night showing Smith Center who was boss in their 63-29 win over the Lady Red at Al Billinger Fieldhouse in Hays. The Lady Monarchs jumped out to a quick seven point lead, 11-4. Smith Center would cut the lead to four and would never get any closer. TMP led 19-10 after the first quarter and 41-18 at halftime. TMP forced 14 first half turnovers while only commitining one of their own.

The second half was pretty much the same song, different verse. The Lady Monarchs extended their lead to 31 points by the end of the third quarter and had a running clock the entire fourth quarter. Melissa Pfeifer led TMP with 18 points. Sierra Kuhn had 12 to lead the Lady Red.

Smith Center drops to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the Mid Continent League. They will play at Stockton in the opening round of the MCL Tournament on Monday. TMP improves to 7-2 and 4-1 in league. They will host either Plainville or Ellis on Monday to open up the MCL Tournament.

ROSE MCFARLAND INTERVIEW

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Boys: TMP 80, Smith Center 54

Joe Hertel’s TMP Monarchs broke open a close game at the half and cruised to a 80-54 win over Smith Center in Hays on Friday night. The Monarchs saw Smith Center close what was a double digit gap for most of the first half to only six points at halftime. Sophomore Jess Staples nailed a three-pointer and was fouled with just under four seconds remaining in the first half. He was able to convert the free throw to cut the TMP lead to 33-27 at the break.

Smith Center scored the first basket of the second half and that is when TMP took control of the game. The Monarchs were able to extend the lead to 58-43 after three quarters en-route to the 26 point victory. The win was the seventh consecutive for the Monarchs.

TMP was without the services of point guard Peyton Hoffman for most of the game as he sat with foul trouble, eventually fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. Jared Vitztum scored 25 to lead TMP. Chase Romme wasn’t far behind with 16 points of his own. Brett Meyer paced Smith Center with 11.

TMP is now 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the Mid Continent League. Smith Center fall to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the MCL. The Redmen will play Oakley on Saturday in the play in game of the MCL Tournament. If the win that they get the pleasure of returning to Hays to face TMP on Tuesday night.

JOE HERTEL INTERVIEW

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Kansas lawmakers eye change to citizen-petitioned grand jury

Posted on January 15, 2016January 15, 2016

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers will consider next week legislation that would allow changes in the petition process that allows citizens to convene grand juries in cases where they believe prosecutors are not pursuing wrongdoing.

The proposed bill now would allow the person who seeks to call a grand jury to observe when the presiding judge instructs the grand jurors.

The final committee vote is scheduled for Tuesday, when approval would send the measure to the Senate.

Kansas is one of six states that allows citizens to petition for grand juries.

The 1887 law was rarely used until abortion opponents discovered it about a decade ago it to force grand jury investigations of abortion clinics. It has also been used by activists to also go after stores they contend sell pornography.

Fiery, fatal Kansas accident under investigation

Posted on January 15, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man and a woman have died in a fiery crash in Kansas City, Kansas.

Police said in a news release that the crash happened early Friday. The release says that the preliminary investigation indicates that the victims were in a speeding vehicle that left the roadway, hit a tree stump and caught on fire.

The man was in his mid-60s and the woman in her late 40s. Their names weren’t immediately released, pending positive identification and notification of family members.

The crash is under investigation.

USDA: Another bird flu virus reported, not same as 2015 strain

Posted on January 15, 2016

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officials say a bird flu virus that is different from the one that ravaged turkey and chicken farms last summer has been found in Indiana.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday the H7N8 flu strain had been confirmed at a commercial turkey farm in the southwestern Indiana county of Dubois. The strain is highly contagious for birds, not humans.

Last year’s H5N2 virus outbreak began spreading widely in the spring, not winter, and led to the deaths of 48 million birds.

Indiana Board of Animal Health spokeswoman Denise Derrer says the farm has about 60,000 turkeys and the flock is being euthanized to prevent the disease from spreading.

She said a quarantine is in place for commercial poultry farms and backyard flocks within a nearly 6-mile radius.

Kansas City Bishop who didn’t report abuse has new post

Posted on January 15, 2016

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Roman Catholic bishop who was convicted in Missouri of not reporting suspected child abuse has become chaplain at a convent in Nebraska.

Bishop Emeritus Robert Finn is spiritual adviser to the nuns at the School Sisters of Christ the King convent in Lincoln.

Finn was found guilty in 2012 of one misdemeanor count of failure to report suspected abuse and was given two years’ probation, making him the highest-ranking church official in the U.S. to be convicted of taking no action over abuse allegations.

Lincoln Diocese spokesman J.D. Flynn said Friday the 62-year-old Finn resigned as bishop for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese in Missouri but retains the religious title of bishop emeritus.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Finn succeeds Monsignor Myron Pleskac, who died Jan. 2.

Kan. man hospitalized after run over in 4-vehicle accident

Posted on January 15, 2016January 15, 2016

FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a 4-vehicle injury accident.

Just before 10p.m. on Thursday, officers of the Garden City Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a 2002 Dodge Ram that was being driven damaged and on a flat tire by Juan Calderon-Dominguez, 47, Garden City, according to a media release.

Calderon- Dominguez advised he was driving to the hospital because he was just involved in an accident in the 1600 block of Bancroft.

Officers responded to the area and located the accident scene.

The investigation revealed Caldron-Dominguez attempted to park his Ram truck in the 1600 block of Bancroft.

He exited the vehicle while leaving it in gear and the vehicle began to roll forward striking a white 2006 Chevy Cobalt that was parked unoccupied.

The truck continues to roll forward while Calderon-Dominguez ran after it.

He attempted to re-enter the vehicle but was unsuccessful and the rear tire of the truck ran over him.

Caldron-Dominguez sustained injuries to his leg.

The truck jumped the curb and struck a Grey 1995 Chevy S10 truck that was parked unoccupied.

When the S10 was struck it collided with a Blue 1994 Mercury Topaz that was parked unoccupied.

The Red Dodge Ram then struck a fence where it came to rest after being lodged in the fence.

Finney County EMS responded to the scene. Juan Calderon-Dominguez was transported to St Catherine Hospital by a third party.