CLEVELAND (AP) — Jose Ramirez got three hits and drove in a career-high five runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the reeling Kansas City Royals 7-1 Friday night for their fourth straight win.
The World Series champion Royals have lost eight of 10.
Ramirez delivered a bases-loaded double in the third and a two-run double in the fifth. He singled in the second, walked in the eighth and raised his batting average to .324.
Danny Salazar (3-2) held the Royals to four hits and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings.
Yordano Ventura (2-2) allowed five runs and threw 97 pitches in four innings. The right-hander walked five, increasing his AL-leading total to 25.
HAYS, Kan. – Senior pitcher D.J. Carr threw seven strong innings, Giles Fox and Austin Unrein added a pair of scoreless frames to lead Fort Hays State to a 4-3 win over Northwest Missouri State Friday in the middle game of their three-game MIAA series. to nail down the win. The Tigers are now 22-26 overall and 16-21 in the MIAA, while the Bearcats dropped to 24-25 overall and 19-19 in the conference.
Fort Hays State (22-26, 16-21 MIAA) struck early taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning on a Joe Mapes sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. After the Bearcats (24-25, 19-19 MIAA) tied the game with a run in the second, the Tigers regained the lead with two in the bottom of the inning on a Connor Ross two-run single.
FHSU extended the lead to 4-1 i the fifth on a Caleb Cherryholmes RBI double.
Fox, who earned his sixth save of the season on Thursday night, pitched a scoreless eighth and was helped out by Austin Unrein who cut down the potential tying run at the plate on a grounder to first base.
Unrein retired the first two batters in the ninth, then after back-to-back singles, earned his first save of the season after a foul pop up ended the game.
The Tigers and Bearcats wrap up the series on Saturday at 1 pm. It will be the final game of the season for Fort Hays State and serves as Senior Day for the Tigers.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new state law aims to help the Kansas Turnpike collect unpaid tolls by allowing the state to block the vehicle registrations of offending motorists, starting in 2018.
Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure into law Friday.
The bill arose from a proposal from the Kansas Turnpike Authority, which oversees the state’s only toll road and told lawmakers it is considering putting up gateless toll systems at three high-traffic exits. But if it does, it would need a way to ensure that tolls are collected.
The bill says that the Turnpike Authority will be allowed in 2018 to ask the state to block the vehicle registrations of motorists who have more than $100 in unpaid turnpike tolls.
Kansas motorists must register their vehicles annually to drive them legally.
HARVEY COUNTY- One person was injured in an accident just before 7p.m. on Friday in Harvey County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Chevy Silverado pulling a 1999 Airstream travel trailer and driven by Foster Lewis, 73, St. Louis, MO., was traveling on U.S. 50 a mile and a half north of Halstead.
The Chevy passed a semi and trailer and began to experience trailer swing.
The driver was unable to correct, slid sideways and over turned into the south ditch.
A passenger in the vehicle Elisabeth Voss, 62, Webster Groves, MO., was transported to Newton Medical Center.
Lewis was not injured.
Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
DECHANT, MICHAEL PATRICK – Photo courtesy Kansas Department of Corrections
MANHATTAN -Michael Dehant, 22, Ogden, appeared in Riley County Court on Friday for a motions hearing in front of Judge Stutzman. Dechant’s motion was to withdraw his plea of ‘no contest’ of to second-degree murder.
In December 2013, Dechant was sentenced to over 26 years for the death of Dominick Lubrano, his girlfriend’s six-month-old son.
According to testimony, in March of 2013, Dechant was watching the child in an Ogden apartment and violently shook the child.
Three days later the boy died at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City of non-accidental head trauma, otherwise known as shaken baby syndrome.
According to the original plea agreement, Dechant pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.
Riley County District Court Judge, David Stutzman, accepted the agreement.
Lead prosecutor in the case, Kendra Lewison, told the Little Apple Post that a whole morning’s worth of evidence was presented Friday by Dechant’s defense council on his motion to withdraw his plea.
Judge Stutzman took the matter under advisement, and a decision should be made in the next few weeks.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A recently released report says that Haskell Indian Nations University needs between $111 million and $123 million to get its aging facilities up to par.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Haskell’s National Board of Regents reviewed a report Thursday from the university’s first comprehensive facilities study in nearly 20 years. The board passed resolutions to support pursuing ways to implement an improvement plan.
Restoration work needed to reopen the closed, nearly 120-year-old Hiawatha Hall would put the price tag on the higher end.
Haskell President Venida Chenault says that a team led by Albuquerque-based Dyron Murphy Architects spent time on campus last fall to conduct evaluations.
Chenault says the university hopes to receive investments from some tribes in order to make the restoration possible over the next 10 years.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor says he won’t seek re-election this year because he believes in term limits and it’s time for someone else to take on the job.
The two-term Democrat spoke at a news conference Friday. He was first elected district attorney in 2008 and re-elected without opposition in 2012.
Taylor gained national attention in 2014 over his aborted campaign for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Pat Roberts. Some fellow Democrats pushed Taylor to withdraw in September 2014 to give independent candidate Greg Orman a better chance of defeating Roberts.
Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach argued that Taylor didn’t comply with a law limiting when candidates can drop out and tried to block the move, but state courts sided with Taylor. Roberts eventually won re-election.
By RANDY GONZALES Fort Hays State University Relations and Marketing
If your record is going to be broken, it might as well be by a teammate.
Fort Hays State University is the home for two of the top javelin throwers in the nation in NCAA Division II who also rank in the top 20 among all female throwers, no matter what division.
Estefania Lopez and Madison Wolf have taken turns breaking the school record in the event. Lopez first broke the record at the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a throw of 170 feet, 8 inches. On April 15, at the KT Woodman Classic in Wichita, Wolf broke Lopez’s mark, uncorking a winning throw of 170-10. That mark lasted all of one week. On April 21, Lopez regained her school record with a throw of 173-8, finishing second at the KU Relays in Lawrence.
“She broke the school record a few weeks ago, then I do the same,” said Lopez, a junior sports management major from Valencia, Spain. “It’s kind of fun.”
Wolf, a junior from Bennington majoring in business-marketing, likes the fact the two throwers make each other better.
“We’ve got a good, competitive spirit going,” Wolf said. “We’re always light-hearted about it, but we always like to be competitive with each other. That’s always good, to have a teammate push you to be the best you can be.”
Going into this weekend’s Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association conference meet in Maryville, Mo., Lopez and Wolf rank second and third, respectively, among NCAA II javelin throwers. They trail only Allison Updike of California’s Azusa Pacific University on the national charts. Updike has a throw of 175-11 this year.
The women’s javelin is scheduled for Sunday at the MIAA meet. Is it possible the school record could fall again?
“I think we can throw farther than we have thrown,” Lopez said.
While Lopez threw the javelin for a year at the University of Valencia before coming to Fort Hays State, Wolf had no thoughts of trying the event until she contracted pneumonia during basketball season her senior year in high school, then opted not to participate in her normal running events during track season.
Instead, she decided to give javelin a try and ended up winning the Class 2A state championship in the event. She was planning on attending FHSU anyway, but now it would be on a track scholarship.
“A lot of schools called me wanting to do javelin,” Wolf said. “My heart was still set on Fort Hays State.”
What Wolf thought was a bad break turned into a positive end result.
“At the time it was the worst thing that could happen to me,” Wolf said. “If it hadn’t happened, I would not be where I am. I would never have thought to pick up a javelin, and I wouldn’t have all this success. Just good things from me being sick.”
Part of the reason Wolf likes FHSU is her coach in her specialty, Andreas Maheras, who has developed both throwers into elite talents.
“I wanted to go to Fort Hays State because Coach Maheras is the best,” Wolf said. “He has helped immensely. He has his stuff down pat.”
Lopez also sang Maheras’ praises. He was the one who worked through a Spanish agency to bring Lopez to Fort Hays State. Once she was here, he worked on Lopez’s form.
“We tried a new technique,” Lopez said. “My technique was so bad.”
Maheras said he applied simple “bread and butter” techniques to get the best out of talented throwers.
“Based on the limited time available for practice, I employ methods that have direct and transferable results on their performance,” Maheras said.
The NCAA Division II national meet starts May 26 in Bradenton, Fla., and both Tiger javelin throwers already have qualified for the season finale. The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American status. Wolf placed sixth as a freshman and fourth last year, when Lopez was national runner-up at the season finale.
“At nationals, we just want to go out there with a competitive edge,” Wolf said. “We know we’re going to have to perform well if we want to be on the All-American list.”
But nationals will have to wait. There’s an MIAA championship — and meet record — to chase.
Wolf thinks the conference record could fall this weekend to one of the two Tigers. The record is 161 feet, 4.25 inches, and Lopez came close last year with her winning throw of 161-1.
“For the MIAA conference (meet), Estefania and I want to push each other to break the meet record,” Wolf said. “Both of us post marks consistently better than that. That’s our goal for conference.”
SHERMAN COUNTY – A semi driver was injured in an accident just before 1p.m. on Friday in Sherman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Freightliner semi driven by Prabhpal S. Nijar, 36, O’Fallon, MO., was westbound on Interstate 70 just east of Kanorado.
The semi left the roadway, struck a guardrail, continued westbound in the ditch, traveled off the bridge embankment and caught fire.
Nijjar was transported to the hospital in Goodland. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped by five this week to 415, another all-time low amid depressed energy prices.
A year ago, 894 rigs were active.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 338 rigs sought oil and 86 explored for natural gas. One was listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma declined by three rigs, Louisiana was down two and Alaska, Colorado, North Dakota and Ohio each fell by one.
Texas gained three rigs and Utah one.
Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were all unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. The previous low of 488 set in 1999 was eclipsed March 11, and has continued to slide.
NCK Tech and Northwest Kansas Housing Inc. (NWK Housing) in Norton have established a multi-year relationship to provide housing in rural Kansas communities.
NWK Housing Inc. will be purchasing houses from both the Hays and Beloit campuses of NCK Tech over the next five years.
Each home boasts over 1,900 square feet, is well-insulated with highly energy efficient lighting, is accessible and set up for geothermal energy. NCK Tech houses are designed, built and finished by NCK Tech students in the Carpentry, Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning, and Electrical Technology programs while under the supervision of licensed faculty.
These houses are still for sale and available for the general public but will not be at live auction.
Interested parties may contact the NWK Housing office at (785) 421-2151 for more information. Special Financing and other programs may be available upon qualification.
NCK Tech President Eric Burks said, “We are proud and excited to partner with Northwest Kansas Housing, Inc. We are both dedicated to strengthening economic systems for the region and feel providing new quality housing will help attract and retain people in our area. The board and I were adamant that NCK Tech continue to serve as a source for housing for our region.
“We really feel as though it ended up as a win-win-win. The college wins because we stabilized what we generate from the housing projects, which is especially important in light of the state’s finances. NWK Housing wins because we can consistently provide them with houses to continue their initiative. The purchaser also wins because anyone can still purchase the house at a fair price and they may even qualify for additional financing options available through NWK Housing,” said Burks.
Randall Hrabe, executive director of the Northwest Kansas Planning and Development Commission and NWK Housing, said, “I am extremely happy with the new partnership we have with NCK Tech College to construct the houses for us over the next five years. It is vital for us in the rural areas to work together regionally to meet our needs or what I refer to as our ‘rural resilience.’
“It is not only the new housing being created for northwest Kansas, but we also encourage the students to become entrepreneurial and possibly start their own construction business after they are out of school. Through our Certified Development Company, we can also provide that funding and expertise,” Hrabe added.
The house auctions for both Hays and Beloit are cancelled. Contact Hrabe at NWK Housing at (785) 421-2151 for purchase information.
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — More than 80 Pittsburg-area community members have gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking of a new casino that was delayed for months because of legal challenges.
The Joplin Globe reports that work for the Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel started in July after the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission chose it for a contract. But construction was halted in September after Cherokee County and a firm, which proposed another casino in that county, filed lawsuits questioning how the state contract was awarded.
Cherokee County and the competing business, Castle Rock Casino Resort, sought an injunction to block construction of Kansas Crossing. Lead investor Bruce Christenson and others decided to delay construction until a judge ruled in March that enough evidence supported the review board’s decision to recommend Kansas Crossing.
SALINA –Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect in connection with a hit and run incident that involved a mobile donut vendor.
Hong Kim, 53, Salina, was arrested after he came to the police station early Thursday afternoon.
Kim is the alleged driver of an Isuzu SUV that police say drove into a parking lot at Elmore Center in the 600 block of East Crawford in Salina on Thursday morning and used the vehicle to bump into a table being used by Hurts Donuts of Wichita to sell boxed donuts, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
The vehicle then backed away from the table and left the scene. There were no injuries in the incident.
Kim, a local donut shop owner, was booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges that included aggravated assault and reckless driving.
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