HAYS, Kan. – The Hays Monarchs Jr. American Legion split their doubleheader with Beloit Friday night. Beloit scored four runs in the first inning and won the first game 6-3. The Monarchs (14-4) came back with four runs in the second inning and two in the third and won the second game 7-4.
Chase Werth went the distance with eight strikeouts and four walks and suffered the loss. Braydon Conn had two hits with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Adam Gottschalk had two hits and scored two runs in the second game. Gavin Schumacher drove in two. Carlos Schwindt pitched five innings and allowed four runs on eight hits and picked up the win.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas Legislature’s debate on school funding (all times local):
Kansas legislators have passed an education funding plan from Republican leaders that boosts aid to poor school districts to satisfy a state Supreme Court mandate and end a threat that the state’s public schools might not reopen next month.
The plan approved Friday night increases aid to poor school districts by $38 million for 2016-17 by diverting money from other parts of state government.
The votes were 116-6 in the House and 38-1 in the Senate, sending the plan to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
Brownback said the Kansas Legislature has done a “fantastic job” in passing a school funding plan.
and he told reporters he will sign the bill.
Legislators had a two-day special session to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that the education funding system remained unfair to poor districts. The justices warned that schools would be unable to reopen after June 30 without changes.
Kansas legislators ended their special session after passing the education funding plan
The Senate adjourned at about 8:20 p.m. Friday, and the House followed about 30 minutes later.
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7:15 p.m.
The Kansas House has approved an education funding plan from Republican leaders that would boost aid to poor school districts to satisfy a state Supreme Court mandate and end a threat that the state’s public schools might not reopen next month.
The vote Friday night was 116-6 on a bill that would increase aid to poor school districts by $38 million for 2016-17 by diverting money from other parts of state government.
A Senate vote also was expected Friday night. Its approval would send the bill to Gov. Sam Brownback.
Legislators had a two-day special session to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that the education funding system remained unfair to poor districts. The justices warned that schools would be unable to reopen after June 30 without changes.
NEW YORK (AP) — Government researchers say the nasal spray version of the annual flu vaccine didn’t protect kids this past flu season.
Health officials reported Wednesday that the spray performed dismally for the third straight year, while the traditional flu shot — the one that stings — worked reasonably well this winter.
The vaccine’s manufacturer, AstraZeneca, presented its own study that found the FluMist vaccine was somewhat effective, but still not did not work as well as flu shots.
FluMist was once regarded as the best vaccine for protecting children against flu.
The new research was presented at a medical meeting in Atlanta.
An expert panel is expected to consider a proposal to rescind its recommendation for the spray.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A coroner’s office wasn’t able to determine what killed a 2-year-old Wichita girl whose body was found in a field.
Medical examiner Timothy Gorrill says in an autopsy report that toxicology tests on Jhornee Bland were negative and the cause of her death will be listed as undetermined.
The girl was found dead in a field May 9, a day after her mother reported her missing.
Wichita police have said her body showed no signs of trauma. Investigators said they believe she died early Sunday, May 8.
A babysitter was caring for Jhornee in the days before her death. Police have said the babysitter put the girl’s body in the field and lied to her mother about Jhornee’s whereabouts. The babysitter was arrested but later released without charges.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) —The Kansas Senate has rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have prevented the state’s courts from closing schools in deciding future education funding lawsuits.
The vote Friday was 26-13, one vote short of the 27 needed for a two-thirds majority to pass a constitutional change.
The measure was a response to a state Supreme Court ruling last month declaring that the state’s education funding system remains unfair to poor school districts. The justices warned schools might not reopen after June 30 if lawmakers didn’t make changes.
Critics said the proposal was designed to handcuff the courts.
But supporters said future school closure threats need to be eliminated. The proposal also would have prevented legislators from closing schools in response to a court order.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a Kansas man for allegedly lying to FBI agents who were investigating an attack on three Somali men in Dodge City.
An indictment unsealed Friday charges 27-year-old Diego Martinez of Dodge City with one count of making false statements. He is the brother and the half-brother of two of the alleged attackers.
The indictment alleges he lied to FBI agents to provide himself a false alibi for the time of the assaults.
Court records do not show an attorney.
His indictment is the latest fallout from the June 19, 2015, assault on the three Somali men, who were in the country legally, by Hispanic men outside the African Grocery Store in Dodge City.
Omar Cantero Martinez and Armando Sotelo were charged in April with federal hate crimes.
“That’s good news. Hopefully that trend continues.”
So said Hays Mayor Eber Phelps following Thursday’s report from Finance Director Kim Rupp showing an increase in sales tax collections for the city. “Everybody sat up when they heard we finally had an increase in sales tax (revenues),” Phelps said.
In his monthly financial report for May 2016, Rupp noted that month-to-date general fund sales tax collections were at $611,927, an increase of $11,689 as compared to last year.
“That ends a four month slide in sales tax,” Rupp pointed out, although “eight of the last twelve months experienced a notable decrease in sales tax receipts.”
Year-to-date general fund collections are $2,960,302, down $117,404 or -3.81% as compared to the same time last year.
Commissioner James Meier was curious why the city’s sales tax collections are down less than those for Ellis County which is looking at a 10 percent decrease during the past two years. “How do you reconcile that?,” Meier asked.
“The county is more than just Hays,” Rupp replied, “so outside the (Hays) city limits, sales are doing a little worse.” The city’s general fund money comes from sales taxes.
One notable area of increased revenue compared to May 2015 was water and sewer revenues. Vice-mayor Shaun Musil wondered if related infrastructure replacement could be sped up.
“We should be able to,” Rupp responded. “In sewer, it was around September/October 2015 that we did a rate increase, and then we did another rate increase on Jan. 1, 2016. Water was one increase on Jan. 1, 2016. We’re pretty much on track of what we thought where we’d be, even with the dip in consumption. The way we’re looking at projecting 2016 and budgeting for 2017, we should be able to put away what we thought we could (to pay for infrastructure replacement.)”
“And you’ll see that in the 2017 budget when it’s presented,” added City Manager Toby Dougherty. “The Capital Improvement Plan will have a lot more projects year after year after year because now we know we should have the revenue to cover those.”
Water and sewer revenue were up 2.88% and 29.74% respectively, or a combined $55,000 as compared to May of 2015 despite water consumption being down 9.6%. Year-to-date water consumption is down 6% while total water revenue is up 5.75% and sewer revenue up 30.2%.
Commissioner Lance Jones was absent from the meeting.
SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County continue to investigate the death of a 3-year-old girl who drowned in a pool at her daycare provider’s Wichita home.
Police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow says the girl and a 5-year-old were playing in the backyard Thursday morning.
The 3-year-old somehow got into an above-ground pool that was about 4 feet high. She died at the scene.
Woodrow said the daycare provider and three other children were in the house when the girl drowned. She says it’s unclear how long the girl was in the pool and an investigation is continuing.
MCPHERSON COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just before 1p.m. on Friday in McPherson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Chevy Tahoe driven by Cynthia Maclennan, 64, Dallas TX., was northbound on Interstate 135 just south of K-4 when the trailer started to sway to the right.
The driver over corrected to the left and the SUV overturned.
Maclennan was transported to the hospital in Salina.
She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
FHSU alum Dr. Sonia Esquivel speaks at the university’s first Hispanic College Institute.
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
The goal is to give students pointers for a successful college career — and to make them feel at home.
Welcome, students, to your home away from home.
From the get-go, Fort Hays State University President Mirta M. Martin got the attention of the nearly 90 high school students participating in this week’s inaugural Hispanic College Institute.
They arrived on campus from across Kansas, Colorado and Missouri about noon Wednesday and spent the afternoon doing team-building activities and touring the campus.
Martin was on hand when the students arrived by bus, helping unload their belongings. Late in the afternoon at the opening ceremonies, Martin, a native of Cuba, delivered her welcoming speech in Spanish.
She told the students she was speaking in Spanish because she wanted them to understand that like their parents and like them, she was fluent in Spanish and she was proud of that ability.
“Having an accent in English should never be embarrassing,” Martin said. “It means you speak a second language.”
Following Martin’s opening talk, the motivational speaker, Dr. Sonia Esquivel, intermingled Spanish and English while talking to her audience of teenagers heading into their junior and senior years of high school.
“I think they can relate to me because of my experiences,” said Esquivel, who grew up in Garden City, the youngest of 10 children of Hispanic parents. She noted at the time that Finney County had the one of the highest — if not the highest — rates in the state for teenage pregnancies.
“We’re all looking for the American dream. That’s where you guys are right now,” said Esquivel, who talked about her journey of juggling the responsibilities of teenager motherhood and college classes to earning a doctorate degree.
Esquivel now is an assistant professor and counselor at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
She said she was honored to be asked to speak at the first HCI — and to have the chance to make a difference.
“I’m excited to be back at my alma mater,” said Esquivel, who was accompanied on this trip by her 11-year-old daughter, Karina.
With her young son, Manny, at her side and with her parents’ support, Esquivel worked her way up, earning an associate degree from Garden City Community College, bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fort Hays State, and a Ph.D. from Kansas State University.
“I mention my parents a lot,” Esquivel said, “because they had the biggest influence on me.”
Esquivel also talked about the importance of friends — old and new.
“I came here with about seven friends from Garden City, and I think there were only 20 Latinos on campus,” she said. “What do you do when you go to a place where people don’t look like you? You get involved so that you fit in. You make new friends.”
That place could be Fort Hays State, stressed Martin, the first woman president at FHSU and the first Hispanic president in the Kansas Board of Regents system.
“When I started down this path, I didn’t have a community of people to support me,” said Martin, who escaped the Communist regime of Cuba as a 6-year-old, lived in Spain for a few years as a youngster before coming to the United States at age 10, unable to speak English.
“Here at Fort Hays State, you don’t only have a community, you have a family to support you,” she said. “As the fastest-growing minority in the United States, you need to be educated so you have access to meaningful careers; you need to be educated so you are an integral part of the economic engine of our state and of our nation.”
Martin started the HCI institute — a four-day residential program for Hispanic and Latino high school students to learn about the college admissions process — from a similar model she used while working in higher education in Virginia.
“As the only Hispanic (university) president in the state, I understand your values. They are my values. They are the values of Fort Hays State University — hard work, sacrifice, dedication, loyalty,” Martin said. “Together with close to 1,300 faculty and staff, we are all here for you to guide you so you can achieve your American dream.
“I want all of you here so you can seize that opportunity, an opportunity that can only be achieved through education,” she added. “Regardless of where you go, the goal is to get you to college and then to ensure you graduate from college. At Fort Hays State University, we are uniquely positioned to make your dreams a reality.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Four former Kansas governors are lashing out at Gov. Sam Brownback over policies they say have thrown the state into a serious fiscal crisis.
A letter signed Friday by Republicans Bill Graves and Mike Hayden and Democrats Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin calls the upcoming elections the most important in Kansas history.
The letter says Kansans are starting to acknowledge that many of the wrong people are serving in state office, but adds that too many residents don’t understand the issues and will be vulnerable to misleading political campaigns.
The governors are part of the Save Kansas Coalition, which also includes more than a dozen former lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
A Brownback spokeswoman said Friday afternoon the governor hadn’t seen the letter and couldn’t comment.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A new lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler prominently mentions “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed last weekend by an SUV under recall.
The suit was filed Thursday in California federal court on behalf of four people who own cars that are among the 1.1 million FCA vehicles recalled worldwide amid complaints from drivers. Some have said they can’t tell if the transmission is in park after stopping.
The lawsuit says the shifter issue potentially caused Yelchin’s death Sunday, when his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward and pinned him against a brick mailbox. Police are still investigating, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the death may be related.
An FCA spokesman says the company hasn’t been served with the lawsuit and it would be inappropriate to comment.
MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
By BECKY KISER
