FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a pedestrian accident involving a teenager.
Just before 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Officers of the Garden City Police Department responded to a report of a Pedestrian Accident at the intersection of Campus Drive and Kansas Avenue, according to a media release.
First responders located Tomas Lacost-Nevarez,14, Garden City in the street with multiple injuries.
Finney County EMS transported him to St. Catherine’s Hospital and he was then flown to Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita with life threatening injuries.
The investigation revealed that Lacost-Nevarez and a friend were riding their bicycles westbound on the sidewalk of Kansas Ave, as they approached the intersection of Campus Drive and Kansas Avenue, the friend stopped on the sidewalk and Lacost-Nevarez continued into the street on Campus Drive.
He crossed the northbound lane of traffic, crossed the median and was struck by a red 2015 Chevrolet truck driven by William Roebke, 47, Garden City in the southbound lane of Campus Drive
Lacost-Nevarez failed to use a posted crosswalk and attempted to cross the street when both north and south lanes of traffic on Campus Drive had green lights, according to police.
FHSU’s inaugural Hispanic College Institute was the first of its kind in Kansas.
By RANDY GONZALES FHSU University Relations and Marketing
There were hugs and tearful goodbyes. There was also a time to laugh and for final pictures to be taken for the participants, and a video was shown to remember their four days on Fort Hays State University’s campus.
FHSU’s inaugural Hispanic College Institute — the first of its kind in the state of Kansas — came to a close with a Saturday morning brunch that reunited students with their families. The almost 90 high school students in attendance last week grew close to one another, became “familia.”
There was also a sense of something else Saturday morning, that this was not an ending — but instead a beginning. There was a sense of hope. More than one student said the plan was to go to college at FHSU, including Carla Moran, from Kansas City. Mo., who will be a junior this fall at Alta Vista Charter High School. Moran is a DREAMer (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), an undocumented student.
“We can go to college,” Moran told her fellow students. “I don’t have papers and I’m standing here — and I’m going to college. I know that each one of you feel that, the drive to leap through the barriers.
“You guys keep educating yourselves, keep standing up for yourselves,” she added. “I think each one of you has a voice.”
The students were divided into 10 “familias” with FHSU students provided for each group to lend a helping hand during the week. Several students thanked their FHSU “leads.”
“She has made me believe in so many things I never thought I could,” Cheyanne Woltkamp said of one of her FHSU student leaders. Woltkamp, from Kansas City, Kan., will be a junior at Wyandotte High School this fall. “I want to go to Europe to play soccer, and she made me believe that I can. No matter what obstacles may come my way, just jump over and grab them.”
One of the male groups called themselves the “cereal killers” because they bonded over breakfast each morning.
“Let the world know your name,” said Andres Mata, a “cereal killer” who will be a senior this fall at Salina South High School. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
The importance of getting a college education was the message stressed during the week. FHSU President Mirta M. Martin — the first Hispanic president in the Kansas Board of Regents system — told the students in her speech Saturday they need a college education. By 2020, she said, 60 percent of adults in the United States will need a college education to maintain the country’s standing in the world. She added that Hispanic students were falling behind in getting an education.
“A college degree no longer is a luxury; it’s a necessity,” Martin said. “It’s a necessity to fulfill your dreams and aspirations. It is a necessity to become your best self. It is a necessity so our nation can have a future. It is the mission of Fort Hays State University to make sure you get that college degree.”
Jacqueline Chavez, from Johnson City, who will be a senior this fall at Johnson-Stanton County High School, won the talent contest held during the week. She won a $2,000 FHSU scholarship. Her talent was acting, and she did a dramatic portrayal from a favorite book of hers, “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson. Chavez was overcome with emotion when her name was announced as the scholarship winner on Saturday.
“To know that I have a chance to go to such an amazing college just made it all worth it,” she said. “This is my first school choice.
“It was really amazing,” she said of the whirlwind week. “I actually have a family here now, and it’s amazing.”
Ernie G, a Latino comedian and activist who was brought in by Martin to help facilitate FHSU’s first HCI, gave of himself one final time on Saturday.
“This week has been about moments, moments of truth,” he said. “The moment you got off the bus. Moments when I performed for you. Then you got into your ‘familias’ and you bonded and shared your stories.”
Ernie G closed by singing “For Good” from the musical “Wicked.” He has sung it at other Hispanic college forums. This time, he seemed to choke up ever so slightly toward the end, singing, “Who can say if I have changed for the better, but because I knew you I have been changed for good.”
As a first generation Hispanic attending college, Chavez’s life will change for the good.
“I feel like I’m going to set the path for the rest of my family,” she said. “It is hard to be a first generation. We can make a better country, a better place for everybody.
“They’re going to be really proud of me, I know they are,” Chavez said of her family. “I want to make everybody that’s Hispanic proud.”
A premier business magazine in the Kansas City area – Ingram’s – recently released it’s list of “50 Kansans You Should Know,” highlighting some of the most notable people in the state.
Out of the group of movers and shakers in the state, only one person from Hays was recognized — Ness City native, Fort Hays State University instructor, renovation expert and business owner Kris Munsch.
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
Bingo Haus 1218 Canterbury, Hays – June 26
A routine inspection found one violation.
Spray bottle of pink liquid was being stored under the sink.
Days Inn 3205 Vine, Hays – June 23
A first operational inspection after licensing found one violation.
A spray bottle of glass cleaner was being stored on top of the whirlpool refrigerator.
Golden Griddle 230 W. Ninth, Hays – June 23
A routine inspection found six violations.
There were 10+ plastic containers that had sticker residue present with containers stacked together.
No consumer advisory for raw or undercooked food was on the menu or anywhere else.
Bucket of pink liquid was present in the kitchen with a towel being stored in it.
Two rubber spatulas that were not in use had cuts and imperfections present.
Milk that was being stored in the True reach-in cooler had no date of when it was opened.
The container of taco meat in the heating element was dated for 6/15.
Hampton Inn 4002 General Hays, Hays – June 23
A routine inspection found five violations.
In the Frigidaire refrigerator number two, there were raw shelled eggs being stored above ready to eat/cut cantaloupe.
Self-service juice dispenser had fuzzy substance on the dispenser nozzle.
Number 10 can of sliced jalapenos had a class two dent on the top of the seam.
Hand washing sink in the kitchen had disposable towels.
In the Frigidaire refrigerator number two, there was a gallon of open milk without a date.
Jump Start Health and Fitness 1301 Main, Hays – June 22
A routine inspection found two violations.
Chemical wipes were being stored directly above single use silverware and single-use gloves.
In the single door Frigidaire refrigerator there was three dozen raw eggs being stored directly above bottled water.
Breathe Coffee House 703 B Main, Hays – June 21
A first operational inspection after licensing found one violation.
Liquid hand soap that was being stored in the back storage area was being stored directly over single-use towels.
Osaki Japanese Restaurant 2522 Vine, Hays – June 21
A first operational inspection after licensing found five violations.
Raw whole muscle beef was being stored directly above ready to eat vegetables in the walk-in cooler.
Two door, white sliding reach-in cooler on the west wall in the kitchen was storing cut lettuce at the temperature of 53 F. Ambient air temperature was 58 F.
In the walk-in cooler, there was a pan of cooked chicken being stored without a date.
Chef knives that were being stored on a magnet strip on the east wall next to a prep area had dried food particles present.
Freezer downstairs was storing frozen pork bones in “thank you” bags, Nonfood-grade container. In the dry goods storage area, there was sugar, flour, and salt being stored in Sterilite, nonfood-grade containers.
Toby Jugs 104 E. Seventh, Hays – June 21
A routine inspection found one violation.
Three spray bottles of chemicals (Windex, Simple Green, and Pine Sol) were being stored directly next to single-use cups, with the spray tip towards the cups.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Sen. Bob Dole is using his new Twitter account to take a swipe at a Republican congressman who’s facing a primary challenge in his home state of Kansas.
Dole started tweeting Monday. The 92-year-old World War II veteran’s first message was: “I’m proof that it’s never too late to join Twitter.”
A few hours later, Dole used his verified account to weigh in on the closely contested race for the Republican nomination in Kansas’ 1st District. Dole criticized Rep. Tim Huelskamp for what he called “misleading attacks” on his challenger in the Aug. 2 primary, obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Roger Marshall.
Eber Phelps, candidate for 111th State Representative, greeted a large crowd of supporters at the home of former Senator Janis Lee, in Hays, with news about the upcoming campaign, at a gathering on Sunday.
Phelps, who is seeking the 111th seat – composed of Hays, Victoria and rural Ellis County – spoke to a group including Republicans, Democrats and Independents from Ellis County. He was introduced by the guest of honor, Paul Davis, the Democratic candidate for Governor in a close race against incumbent Sam Brownback in 2014. Davis reminded those present that the “incumbent 111th Representative, Sue Ellen
Davis reminded those present that the “incumbent 111th Representative, Sue Ellen Boldra and Brownback worked with other far right Representatives and Senators to implement unwise tax policies and reckless spending which has left the State of Kansas reeling financially while neighboring States have reaped the benefits of Kansas’s failures,” Davis said. “While Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma and Nebraska have had healthy gains in jobs, Kansas has fallen woefully short of Brownback’s and Boldra’s promise of 30,000 new jobs.”
“I served in the Kansas House with both Eber Phelps and Sue Boldra and I can tell you that Boldra is incapable of telling Brownback and his handlers ‘No’ for the remaining two years of Brownback’s term. Eber will fight for his constituents, not for a deluded Governor and his failed experiment,” Davis said. “Boldra and others spent the last few elections running with Sam Brownback and now I expect to see them run from Sam Brownback, but Kansans are smarter than that and I believe that we have turned a corner. The pendulum is swinging and it needs to sweep fickle office-holders like Boldra out of the Statehouse,” Davis said.
Phelps told the gathering that he is proud of having voted against Brownback’s tax “experiment” and that he will have no problem joining with moderate Republicans and Democrats in restoring fairness to the tax code and bolstering education at the local and state levels. He said he will seek the advice of Duane Goossen, the Budget Director for the three Governors preceding Brownback, in crafting immediate solutions to the crucial funding of highways and education and programs for the elderly.
“I had no intention of running for this office until I saw the deliberate sabotage of our State’s finances by Boldra and others when they were given a clear opportunity to start fixing the problem at the end of the 73 day session. When I saw them pass a law that turned the problem right back to the creator of it, Sam Brownback, I knew that things won’t change in Topeka unless we change our representation there. My service on the City Commission has reminded me that it is important to keep our infrastructure maintained and to use a balanced tax system to do that. Brownback and his followers, including my opponent, have stripped us of the ability to fix our streets and highways and have taken needed money from our universities, including Fort Hays State. They have put a band aid on the unconstitutional funding system foisted off on the taxpayers. She had numerous chances to do the right thing for us but instead waited to see how the political winds were blowing to cast “safe” votes when they didn’t hurt Brownback’s foolish policies and voted the other way when Brownback told her he needed her vote,” Phelps said. “Neither Ellis County, Hays ,Victoria, nor the State can afford those kinds of games in these serious times,” he said. “We definitely cannot afford two more years of Brownback and Boldra.”
Phelps announced that he has selected a Treasurer and that he considered all in attendance at the event to be among his policy advisers and asked that his supporters help him wage a grassroots campaign.
“I anticipate that Ms. Boldra will once again rely on campaign money from Brownback and others who have unfairly benefited from the shift of taxes from large corporations to people at the grocery store and while I can’t expect to raise that kind of money from Ellis County, I can outwork them, with your help,” Phelps told the group.
Wichita Area Technical College will be the newest partner with Fort Hays State University in the university’s Technology Leadership Program when WATC President Sheree Utash and FHSU President Mirta M. Martin sign a transfer agreement at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 30, in the main lobby of the Gateway Administration Center of WATC’s National Center for Aviation Training Campus, 4004 N. Webb Road, Wichita.
The applied technology to technology leadership program is a 121-hour, interdisciplinary program built on the Associate of Applied Science degree that a student earns from WATC. Under the agreement, up to 60 hours of credit will transfer to FHSU toward the Bachelor of Science in Technology Leadership. The transferred credits can include up to 40 hours of applied technology credits among the required general education credits.
At FHSU, students will complete a minimum 60 hours, which includes 45 hours of upper division courses, of which 33 are the core degree requirements.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old Kansas man convicted of mistaken-identity killing has been resentenced to a shorter prison term.
Charles Christopher Logsdon was sentenced Monday to life without the possibility of parole for 25 years for the 2011 killing of 27-year-old Jennifer Heckel. He also was sentenced to another 23 years for four other crimes.
Intruders entered Heckel’s home by mistake and shot her twice as her young son watched television in an adjoining room. Their real target was a drug dealer. Logsdon insisted he didn’t kill Heckel.
Under Logsdon’s original sentence, he would have to serve a half century for the killing before becoming eligible for parole. The Supreme Court ordered the resentencing because a jury, not a judge, must make a “Hard 50” determination.
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee are faulting the Obama administration in a report Tuesday on the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
Kansas 4th district congressman Mike Pompeo is a member of the Committee. See more here.
The panel accuses the Obama administration of stonewalling important documents and witnesses. Democrats say the panel’s primary goal is to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.
Clinton was secretary of state during the attacks, which killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Democrats released a report Monday stating that Clinton never personally denied any requests from diplomats for additional security at the U.S. outpost in Benghazi. Democrats said after a two-year investigation that the military could not have done anything differently that night to save the lives of four Americans killed in Libya.
Democrats’ release of their own report heightened the partisanship of the inquiry, which has been marked by finger-pointing on both sides.
PRATT – A Kansas man was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 46 years for aggravated criminal sodomy of a person under 14 years of age, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Dashaun Ray Howling, 29, was sentenced in Pratt County District Court by Judge Francis J. Meisenheimer.
In addition to the life sentence, Howling was sentenced to lifetime parole with electronic monitoring. Howling was found guilty in May by a Pratt County jury of aggravated criminal sodomy.
The conviction stemmed from a crime that occurred in June 2015. The crime falls under Jessica’s Law, because the victim was under 14 years of age.
The case was investigated by the Pratt Police Department. Assistant Attorney General Melissa Johnson of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.
After a two-day special legislative session which adjourned in the dusk of Friday, we need to see just who won what, or at least who claims credit for what leading into the election season.
Did the Kansas Supreme Court win by using its power—essentially the threat to close schools—to force lawmakers to provide equal support for all school districts that have property tax-supported Local Option Budgets? Yes.
So, the court forced legislators to provide equal state support for school districts with those local option budgets by threatening to close schools. It cost about $38 million to provide that equal support and the majority of that money won’t be spent to hire teachers or buy textbooks or even purchase playground equipment, but will instead allow school districts to cut their property taxes for patrons or at least not increase them.
That’s not exactly like rescuing children from a burning barn, is it?
The concept, the state treating all districts equally, sounds good and makes sense, doesn’t it? It loses a little of that glow when most of the additional money spent will allow districts to lower property taxes, but well, this is government. Probably, we could stop a dab short of asserting that the court forced the Legislature to “save the children.”
But that school-closing threat clearly forced the Legislature’s hand, and those spooky black-robed justices loomed large during the session, extorting that $38 million that provides equal treatment of school districts from legislators and their constituents that probably the Legislature should have provided without the threat.
You probably want to stop a little short of saying that the court forced the Legislature to do the right thing and had to use the extraordinary school-closing threat to accomplish that goal. Not sure how far short of that point you want to stop, because it’s doubtful that without that threat, there wouldn’t have been a special session and equalizing what amounts to less than one percent of the total state aid to schools wouldn’t have been done.
Let’s wait a minute to see who takes credit for what.
Lawmakers prevented that school closing, or threat of school closing. How much credit do they get? Did they prevent the courts from closing schools, or did lawmakers—116-6 in the House and 38-1 in the Senate—just follow the constitution? We’ll see how they portray the effort, and we already have an idea how it may play out. If you put one less ice cube in your highball, can you claim that somehow you’ve saved a polar bear?
And the court can take credit — and maintain its assertion that it is ensuring even-handed constitutional treatment of public education — for forcing that change in school finance law that probably shouldn’t have ever been necessary if legislators had read the constitution. But, that’s a little like asserting that by not buying that Donald Trump tie, you’ve saved a panda somewhere in China next to the tie factory.
There’s little chance that descriptions of the special session, the wheedling about where the money comes from in the state budget for that $38 million fix to equalize support for those LOB districts, will come down to just abiding by the constitution which requires the state to make sure that with relatively equal local property tax effort, all children get access to relatively uniform educational opportunities.
And, don’t forget that the governor will claim credit for the fix, too. Because nobody isn’t for equal educational opportunity, and he was the one who thought up the idea of bringing the Legislature back to town Thursday for the special session, understanding that most legislators didn’t want to spend the weekend off the campaign trail—and unable to accept campaign contributions—for more than two days.
The winner? It’s probably up to voters to decide…
Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.
Lorenzo Cain scores in the Royals 4-run 2nd inning Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals. (Courtesy Kansas City Royals / Jason Hanna)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Danny Duffy matched a career best with eight sharp innings, the Royals kept swinging hot bats and Kansas City routed the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Monday night to open a four-game, two-city series.
Kendrys Morales went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs, and Eric Hosmer also had a pair of RBIs as the Royals roughed up Adam Wainwright (6-5) to snap a four-game losing streak to their cross-state rival.
Duffy (3-1) served up a two-run homer to Matt Holliday in the first before settling into a nice rhythm, keeping the Cardinals off balance with pinpoint control. The left-hander struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter while breezing through a lineup that scored 11 runs the previous day against Seattle.
FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a pedestrian accident involving a teenager.
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
