Boys and girls from across the region are invited to the Tre Walker Family Football Academy.
The event is scheduled for May 21 at Hays High School. Players will be divided by age group, with elementary school from 9 to 11 a.m., middle school from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and high school from 2 to 4 p.m.
Registration is $50, and applications are still being accepted. Players from Hays, Russell, Hoxie, Ellis, WaKeeney and Victoria are already registered to attend.
Tre Walker is a former Kansas State University football team captain.
For more information or to register, click HERE or email [email protected]. Campers also can register at the camp.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three-time NCAA champion Kansas will join Georgia, 2016 NIT Champion George Washington and UAB for the championship rounds of the 2016 CBE Hall of Fame Classic Nov. 21 and 22 at Sprint Center, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced the field Tuesday.
The CBE Hall of Fame Classic will be the culminating event of college basketball’s Hall of Fame Weekend, which also includes the 11th annual induction ceremony for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 18.
The semifinal rounds will be held on Monday, Nov. 21. The finals will take place the following day, Tuesday, Nov. 22, beginning with the consolation game, followed by the championship game. All four games will be broadcast on the ESPN networks.
Kansas is competing in the CBE Classic for the third time since the inception of the event in 2001. KU has a combined 7-1 record in the Classic, which includes regional contests. The Jayhawks won the 2012 CBE Classic title and finished second in 2008.
The complete bracket, including matchups and television broadcast times for the 2016 CBE Hall of Fame Classic, will be announced at a later date.
CBE Hall of Fame Classic Championship Round Teams
Kansas: The Jayhawks ended the 2015-16 season in typical fashion; they won their 12th consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship and made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, advancing all the way to the Elite Eight…Finished with an overall record of 33-5 and 15-3 in the Big 12…Led by their explosive and experienced backcourt of junior Frank Mason, III (12.9ppg) and sophomore Devonte’ Graham (11.3ppg)..Jayhawks head coach Bill Self, who owns a 385-83 record at Kansas and is 592-188 all-time, said: “The CBE Hall of Fame Classic always has a solid field and this event is a great way to showcase the College Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies in Kansas City. UAB, Georgia and George Washington are all great programs. Sprint Center is a second home for us and we hope to have that continued support in November.”
George Washington: The Colonials finished up a very successful 2015-16 season with a 28-10 record, including 11-7 in the competitive Atlantic 10 Conference…. They are the 2016 National Invitation Tournament Champions, as they defeated San Diego State and Valparaiso at Madison Square Garden to claim the title…….Led by redshirt junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh, who averaged a team-high 16.8ppg …. Mike Lonergan, Head Coach of the Colonials, stated: “We are very excited to participate in such a prestigious event. We look forward to the challenge of competing against such quality opponents and it will be a thrill to get to meet the new inductees into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.”
Georgia: Reached the 20-win mark during the 2015-16 campaign, finishing with a 20-14 overall mark and 10-8 in the Southeastern Conference, good for 6th place….. Advanced to the second round of the 2016 NIT…….Led by junior guard J.J. Frazier (16.9ppg) and sophomore forward Yante Maten (16.5ppg)…. Bulldogs Head Coach Mark Fox had this to say about playing in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic: “We’re very excited to be a part of such a great tournament. This trip is extremely special for Georgia Basketball because it also coincides with the inductions of Coach Durham and Dominique into the College Hall of Fame. We appreciate the opportunity to participate and compete with the other successful programs in the field.”
UAB: Regular Season Champions of Conference USA, the Blazers finished their 2015-16 season with an impressive 26-7 mark, and 16-2 in C-USA……..Advanced to the 2016 National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to BYU………led by sophomore forwards Chris Cokley (13.1ppg) and William Lee (10.6ppg)…….First-year Head Coach Robert Ehsan had this to say about participating in this year’s tournament: “We are extremely excited about the opportunity to play in the 2016 CBE Hall of Fame Classic and face some of the best competition in the country. This is one of the best and most prestigious tournaments in the nation each year, and we look forward to our players and fans being part of that environment.”
About the CBE Hall of Fame Classic The event is named after the College Basketball Experience, the award-winning and highly interactive college basketball fan facility adjacent to Sprint Center, which also features the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Opened in October 2007, the College Basketball Experience is the nation’s only facility that celebrates, in its entirety, the sport of men’s collegiate basketball. The tournament, in partnership with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), was initially established in 2001 as the Guardians Classic.
Graphic design students at Fort Hays State University have stayed busy this spring, participating in three regional competitions.
33 students also submitted their work to the 22nd Annual Leo Burnett Portfolio Review. Ten students received awards:
Ashton Butler, Wamego junior, received a Second Place Portfolio award.
Camille Caron-Bedard, Hays senior, received a Leo Burnett Award and was offered a summer internship.
Leonardo Cleto, Hays junior, received a First Place Portfolio award and was offered a summer internship.
Emily Hendricks, Burlington, Colo., senior, received a Third Place Portfolio award.
Steven Johnson, Wichita senior, received a Leo Burnett Award.
Lindsay Naegele, Hays senior, received a Leo Burnett Award.
Clay Peppiatt, Salina junior, received a Leo Burnett Award.
Amy Smarsh Johnson, Colwich senior, received a First Place Portfolio award.
Ryan Stuckey, Abbyville junior, received a Third Place Portfolio award.
A 10th FHSU student, who wished not to be named, received a Second Place Portfolio award.
The graphic design students ended their season in Wichita, where 17 students received portfolio reviews from area professionals and competed for awards. Four students won awards:
Marshall Diveley, Severance senior, received the award of Best Ad Campaign
Steven Johnson, Wichita senior, was offered a summer internship.
Clay Peppiatt, Salina junior, was offered a summer internship.
Amy Smarsh Johnson, Colwich senior, received the award of Best Illustration.
Twenty-nine students also showed their work at the Minneapolis Portfolio 1-on-1 Review.
WICHITA- A Kansas man who lived in base housing at McConnell Air Force Base was charged Friday with sexually abusing two teenage girls according to acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Random Shane Smith, 36, Wichita, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of producing child pornography.
According to court records, Smith used force to make the victims submit to sexual acts with him. Smith sexually assaulted the victims over a period of time while they were 12 to 17 years old. The most recent assaults occurred on the McConnell AFB. Smith used a cell phone camera to take photos of some of the assaults.
HAYS, Kan. – Both the Hays High and TMP-Marian softball regionals scheduled for Tuesday have been pushed back a day due to wet fields. The Indians 4A Division I regional at the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex will now be played on Wednesday at the same time. McPherson will play Ulysses in the first game at 3 pm with Hays High and Buhler playing at 4:30 pm with the finals scheduled for 6 pm.
The TMP-Marian 3A regional will begin at 1 pm with the conclusion of Monday’s final game between Plainville/Stockton and Larned at 1 pm. The winner will play top-seed Southwestern Heights at 3 pm. TMP-M will take on Scott City at 4:30 pm with the finals scheduled for 6 pm.
Tuesday’s TMP-Marian baseball game vs. Scott City in Larned is still on but will be played at 7 pm.
Hays High’s regional opener vs. Buhler in McPherson will be played Wednesday at 4 pm.
Photo by Megan Hart/KHI News Service Gov. Sam Brownback signs Senate Bill 402, which includes new restrictions on public assistance, Monday at the Statehouse. Seated at left is Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
by MEGAN HART
The legislative battle may be over, but the war of words continues about a bill that imposes new restrictions on Kansas welfare recipients.
Gov. Sam Brownback signed Senate Bill 402 on Monday at the Statehouse flanked by legislative supporters of the measure.
The new law lowers the lifetime limit for those receiving cash assistance under the Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program from three years to two years, with the possibility of a one-year hardship extension. It also tightens work requirements and penalties for not cooperating with fraud investigations.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families projects about 420 of the approximately 4,900 families on TANF will hit the 24-month limit in January.
Brownback said the measure, which supporters refer to as the HOPE Act 2.0, and restrictions imposed in a similarly titled bill passed last year will help motivate Kansans to get off welfare and find a job. He said people needed “hard deadlines” to accomplish goals such as finding a job or completing a term paper.
“It’s helped people get out of poverty, it’s helped people have more income and it’s helped people get back their dignity,” he said.
But critics say the restrictions are forcing people who need assistance deeper into poverty.
“The so-called HOPE Act hurts the poorest families in Kansas,” said Shannon Cotsoradis, outgoing president of Kansas Action for Children. “Cutting off critical lifelines to Kansas’ most economically fragile children merely perpetuates the cycle of poverty that the governor claims to be committed to reducing.”
Legislative critics say the restrictions are politically motivated, a charge buttressed by the release earlier this year of a memo written by Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a Hutchinson Republican, and distributed to some Kansas GOP lawmakers. Among other things, the memo advised Senate Republicans seeking re-election that there was “popular support” for tighter welfare rules.
Both sides in the welfare debate claim to have data to support their positions.
A study touted by Brownback by the right-leaning Foundation for Government Accountability found that incomes had increased an average of 127 percent for the roughly 14,000 Kansas adults who were dropped from the food stamp program by eligibility changes enacted in 2013.
But that claim was undermined by data included elsewhere in the report that showed their average income was still less than half of the federal poverty level, which in 2016 is $11,880 for an individual and $24,300 for a family of four.
About 79 percent of those the study followed were still in poverty a year after leaving the food stamp program. A significant percentage of those who found jobs also reported they still had incomes below the poverty line.
Critics of the welfare restrictions point to the fact that the number of Kansas families enrolled in TANF has dropped precipitously in the last 10 years.
In 2005, an average of 17,118 Kansas families with 30,321 children received TANF benefits each month. So far in 2016, the monthly average is far lower at 5,506 families and 9,630 children.
However, it isn’t clear how many left TANF because they obtained employment. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported about 41 percent of TANF cases that were closed in Kansas listed the reason as “employment.” In 2014, the most recent year with data available, only about 9 percent of closed TANF cases cited employment.
Federal data shows that Kansas families who left TANF in 2014 had an average income of $13,284, which would be below the poverty line for a family of two or more.
Kansas has enacted the following restrictions on public assistance in recent years:
2011: Lowered the lifetime limit for TANF from five years to four years.
2013: Required adults who don’t have a disability or a dependent child to work at least 20 hours per week or lose food assistance.
2015: Lowered the lifetime limit for TANF to three years.
2016: Lowered the lifetime limit for TANF to two years.
Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
John Thissen will interview for the position of superintendent with the Hays USD 489 Board of Education on Tuesday evening.
Thissen is the first of four candidates that USD 489 Hays board will interview. Candidates were selected for interviews based on their fit with desired characteristics that were developed with input from focus groups that were utilized throughout the search process.
Thissen is currently serving as USD 487 Herington superintendent. Thissen has served in his current position since July 2007. Thissen has also served in the role of principal at McPherson Middle School, Great Bend Middle School, and Harrison Junior High School, college instructor at Barton County Community College, and was the assistant principal of Junction City Middle School.
John Thissen Schedule
May 17, 2016
9:00 a.m.: Arrive at Rockwell Administration Center.
9:05 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.: Meet with Superintendent Katt for coffee.
Receive schedule for day and information prepared by clerk for all candidates.
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Roosevelt Elementary School – facility tour and meet and greet
10:15 am – 11:00 am: Drive to Lincoln, O’Loughlin, and Early Childhood Connections
11:00a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: Hays High School – facility tour and meet and greet
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: Lunch with building administrators
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Hays Middle School – facility tour and meet and greet
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.: Rockwell Administration Center – facility tour and meet and greet
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Community and Parent meet and greet – Toepfer Board Room
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Free time for the candidate (the district will provide transportation to and from the motel for the candidate and/or guest.
5:30 p.m.: Begin interview with the board (only)
6:15 p.m.: Dinner with candidate and their guest
7:15 p.m.: Interview continues
Dr. Jill ArensdorfFHSU University Relations and Marketing
Dr. Jill Arensdorf, chair of the Department of Leadership Studies at Fort Hays State University, recently received the 2016 Richard E. Mistler Outstanding Blue Key Alumni Award from Kansas State University.
Arensdorf was a member of the 1999-2000 Blue Key class at K-State. The award recognizes commitment to service, leadership and scholarship.
In addition to teaching leadership studies at FHSU, Arensdorf is the faculty coordinator for the L3: Live. Learn. Lead. living-learning community. She is also a fellow for the Center for Civic Leadership.
Former Minnesota and Emporia State football coach Jerry Kill has been named an associate AD at Kansas State.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Cheney native Jerry Kill, whose 32-year football coaching career spanned 156 wins as a head coach and included remarkable turnarounds and results, is returning home to the state of Kansas as K-State Athletics Director John Currie announced today that the former Minnesota head coach has been named Associate Athletics Director for Administration.
In his new role, Kill will be a member of Currie’s senior departmental staff and serve as chief administrator for the K-State football program. Kill retired from Minnesota and the coaching profession in 2015 due to health reasons and is excited to enter a new administrative phase of his career.
“We are thrilled that Jerry and Rebecca are coming home to join the K-State family,” Currie said. “He is ready to move into a new chapter of his life and professional career, and his experience as a former head coach will be a terrific addition to our staff. We look forward to the perspective and mentoring he will provide our coaches and student-athletes as we continue toward our vision of a Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program.”
“Rebecca and I couldn’t be happier to return home to the state of Kansas and join the K-State Athletics family and Manhattan community,” Kill said. “I want to make it known that my coaching days are over, and I am excited to start this next phase as an administrator for one of the finest athletics departments in the country. Mentoring has always been very important to me, and I am thrilled to work in support of Hall of Fame Coach Bill Snyder and the football program and learn more about the administrative side of college athletics under John and the rest of the first-class staff at K-State.”
A three-time national coach of the year honoree, Kill recorded winning seasons in 15 of his 22 years as a college head coach. He most recently coached at Minnesota, from 2011-2015, where he took the Gophers to heights not seen in recent years. In year four, Kill led Minnesota to a January 1 bowl game for the first time since 1962 and coached the Gophers to wins against Michigan and Iowa, which had previously not happened in the same season since 1967. Under Kill’s direction, Minnesota also won eight games in both 2013 and 2014, which marked only the fifth time since 1906 that Minnesota won eight games in consecutive seasons.
In his previous four stops as a head coach, he never left a school with a sub-.500 record, and in three of his previous four head coaching positions, he took over a team with a losing record and turned in a winning season in three years or less.
“Sean and I have spent a great deal of time with Jerry and Rebecca and feel as though they will be a solid addition to our Kansas State and community family,” said Snyder. “Both are down to earth, caring people who fit well in this culture. Jerry’s health issues have precluded him from coaching again, but his passion for athletics and young people make this a positive step for his future career.”
Prior to his stint at Minnesota, Kill led Northern Illinois to 23 wins and three consecutive bowl games during his tenure and also coached NIU to a berth the Mid-American Conference Championship game in 2010.
Prior to serving as the head coach at NIU, Kill was in charge of the football program at Southern Illinois, an FCS program in Carbondale, Ill. He spent seven years on the Saluki sideline and compiled a 55-32 record. Kill’s record over his final five seasons with Southern Illinois was 50-14 and included five consecutive NCAA FCS Playoff appearances.
Kill was the head coach at Emporia (Kan.) State for two seasons in 1999-2000. He went 11-11 with the Hornets, who play at the NCAA Division II level. Prior to Emporia State, Kill was the head coach at NCAA Division II member Saginaw Valley State from 1994-1998. He compiled a 38-14 record with the Cardinals.
Kill served as defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator in two different stops at Pittsburg (Kan.) State University. He helped lead the Gorillas to three NAIA playoff appearances as the defensive coordinator from 1985-87. Kill returned to Pitt State as the offensive coordinator from 1990-93. In that four-year span, the Gorillas advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs four times, reaching the championship game twice and winning the 1991 national title.
Sandwiched between his stints at Pittsburg State, Kill was the head coach at Webb City (Mo.) High School. He was 25-1 in two seasons at Webb City and won a state championship in 1989.
Kill, a 1983 graduate of Southwestern (Kan.) College, and his wife Rebecca have two daughters, Krystal and Tasha.
Change is constant in education. Teachers come and go, students move on and technology proliferates the classroom as it becomes more accessible. But this year, the administration at Hays USD 489 is undergoing major changes as the Board of Education and current administration worked to replace key administrators through the district in recent weeks.
The largest of those changes is the replacement of Superintendent Dean Katt, who will end his tenure with the district at the end of June.
“Hays has been very good to me. It’s been the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, but also the hardest,” Katt said earlier, announcing his move to Independence, Mo., to work in the district’s human resources department.
In early April, the board announced the search to find his replacement was underway, but as personnel transactions do not fall under open meetings requirements, much of the work went on behind closed doors.
On April 11, the board met with Gary Sechrist, Kansas Association of School Boards leadership specialist. Sechrist has worked with the district since that time to develop a list of candidates.
On Monday, the board heard candidate recommendations from Sechrist selecting four candidates to be brought to Hays for interviews. Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday this week and Monday and Tuesday next week.
Those interviews will include meetings with faculty and a tour of district facilities through the day with a formal interview with the board for each candidate set for 5:30 p.m. on interview days.
Community meet and greets are scheduled on those same days at 3:30 p.m. in the Toepfer Board Room, 323 W. 12th St.
After the completion of interviews, a superintendent a candidate is likely to be offered the position by the board on May 24, according to Lance Bickle, board president.
While the superintendent search is the most visible of positions being re-staffed, the replacement for a number of other administrators has also been announced in recent weeks.
Longtime district staff member Shanna Dinkel was selected to replace outgoing Mark Hauptman as Assistant Superintendent, and Raj Sharma will serve as the new Director of Special Education for Hays-West Central Kansas Coop.
Open principal positions for two schools have also been selected with Anita Scheve, Learning Center director, moving into a principal position at Wilson Elementary School, vacated by the retirement of Tom Meagher. Vicki Gile was selected to replace Shannon Demel as the principal at O’Loughlin Elementary School.
Gile currently serves as the principal of Plymell Elementary School in Garden City.
Mary Catherine Stevenson, age 94, passed away on Friday, May 13, 2016 at Greeley County Hospital Long Term Care in Tribune, Kansas. Mary was born August 7, 1921 on the Woods family homestead in rural Greeley County, Kansas, the daughter of Curtis Palmer & Laura Juanita (Morgan) Woods. A lifetime resident of Greeley County, she was a Farm Wife and homemaker.
Mary was a faithful attendee of the Assembly Of God Church in Tribune, Kansas.
On May 21, 1940 she married Friend Stevenson at Goodland, Kansas. Friend passed away on November 22, 2001 in Tribune, Kansas.
Mary’s surviving family includes-
A Daughter-
Venita & Larry Schlotfeldt- Bastrop, Texas
A Son-
Lavern Stevenson- Tribune, Kansas
Three Siblings-
Hazel Reynolds- Tribune, Kansas
Jennie Johnson- Tribune, Kansas
Dale Woods- Brighton, Colorado
Five grandchildren, Thirteen Great Grandchildren
Her parents, husband, three siblings including Robert Woods, Henry Woods and Laura Lou Page and a Daughter, Mary Ann Allison, precede her in death.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:30am (MDT) Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at the Assembly Of God Church in Tribune, Kansas with Reverend Justin Scherer officiating.
Burial will be in Greeley County Cemetery in Tribune, Kansas.
Friends may call from 11:00 am (MDT) until 8:00 pm Monday at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Tribune, Kansas.
Memorials may be given to the Assembly Of God Church or Greeley County Hospital Long Term Care in care of the funeral home.
Condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home website at priceandsons.com
May skies continue to drop much-needed moisture on northwest Kansas, with a daylong drizzle resulting in more than a half-inch of rain in Hays as of Tuesday morning.
There was a report of 0.76 inches north of Ellis, while most of Ellis County received about 0.60 inches.
Western Russell County had a report of 0.83 inches of rain in the gauge, while a report north of WaKeeney was an even inch of precipitation.
Osborne County had another decent shower, with 1.17 inches of rain, and western Rooks County had a report of 1.47 inches.
While the clouds will linger, the chance of rain dissipates throughout Tuesday morning, although the potential for showers and thunderstorms returns to the region on Thursday.
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Mary Catherine Stevenson, age 94, passed away on Friday, May 13, 2016 at Greeley County Hospital Long Term Care in Tribune, Kansas. Mary was born August 7, 1921 on the Woods family homestead in rural Greeley County, Kansas, the daughter of Curtis Palmer & Laura Juanita (Morgan) Woods. A lifetime resident of Greeley County, she was a Farm Wife and homemaker.