SHERMAN COUNTY — Traffic along Interstate 70 in Sherman County is being rerouted after an incident on the roadway.
At approximately 8 a.m. Friday, a law enforcement officer was involved in an incident while attempting to conduct a traffic stop on a car traveling eastbound between Edson and Brewster.
According to Sherman County Sheriff’s Office dispatch, eastbound traffic is being diverted around the area onto Kansas 24 at the I-70 exit 27 at Edson.
According to scanner traffic, a subject was taken into custody and an investigation into the incident is underway.
Check Hays Post for additional information as details become available.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, issued the following statement in reaction to the United States Director of National Intelligence’s recent report revealing that two more released Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) detainees have returned to engaging in terrorist activities:
“Since the president announced his plan to close GITMO, we’ve seen a rush to transfer detainee terrorists out of the facility. This administration’s willingness to endanger American lives in order to fulfill a campaign promise is unacceptable, especially given the clear evidence showing that former detainees continue to return to the battlefield. I will continue fighting to keep the remaining detainees at the facility where they cannot engage in terrorist acts against the United States or our allies.”
The confirmed and suspected reengagement rate of GITMO detainees returning to the fight is more than 30 percent and includes those released since 2002.
Background
Sen. Moran has long advocated against relocating Guantanamo Bay detainees. He works to uphold current law by sponsoring multiple amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act and sponsors the following legislation:
The Protections Against Terrorist Transfer Act of 2016 (S. 2780) to strengthen the certification requirements relating to the transfer or release of detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba;
The Detainee Transfer Transparency Act (S. 2788) to make available to the public the intended transfer or release of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at least 21 days in advance;
The Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act (S. 165) to prohibit the transfer to the United States of detainees designated medium- or high-risk for two years and ban transfers to Yemen, where dozens of the remaining Guantanamo detainees are from; and
S. 2559 to prevent President Obama from transferring GITMO back to Cuba without congressional approval.
Additionally, Sen. Moran introduced a Senate Resolution to call for the detention of captured Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters at GITMO.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Payless Shoesource is set to reopen in Big Creek Crossing, 2918 Vine, with a whole new interior design and merchandise.
The store has been closed for five months after a section of roofing collapsed above the location.
“You will see a whole new layout when you enter the store,” said Katie Dorzweiler, BCC property manager. “We welcome the community to come out and shop with them again.”
To kick off the reopening, BCC will host a public ribbon cutting at 9:45 a.m.
“We’re very glad to see Payless back in the neighborhood,” said James Younger, BCC marketing manager.
The store is last to open in the shopping center following the collapse after local contractors were used to repair damage at the facility. Outside repairs were completed on July 15, according to Younger, and Payless has worked in the space since that time in order to reopen.
Dorzweiler said the local contractors and businesses worked “tirelessly” to get damage to the shopping center repaired, including Commercial Builders, Ralph’s Electric, Glassman Corp., Hess Services, Heartland Building and High Plains Roofing.
“I feel like this experience was a blessing in disguise,” Dorzweiler said, noting the incident allowed for mall staff to work with the local contractors, helping to build a stronger bond to the community. “I love that all this work was done locally.”
While the mall was able to repair the space relatively quickly, Payless used corporate contractors from their headquarters in Topeka and had to work on other new construction projects in the company.
While the shopping center is celebrating the completion of repair work, it will also be getting ready for exterior upgrades to commence.
Improvements at the facility, funded in part by a Community Improvement District, were split into two phases. Phase one was completed in February with the replacement of off-street signage. Phase two is set to begin Monday.
Originally, Phase two was scheduled to start earlier this summer, but securing time with the contractors pushed the project back slightly.
The project will completely replace the facade of the facility, including new awnings and landscaping.
In addition to the exterior work, Glik’s – a new fashion boutique – is working to be ready for its expected Oct. 20 opening and leasing details continue to be worked out with two interested parties to secure space on the shopping center property.
In the meantime, the shopping center is also hosting a series events through the fall season.
“We’re expecting a big fall here,” Dorzweiler said.
LARNED, Kan. – The TMP-Marian girls’ golf team finished second at the Larned Invitational Thursday. The Monarchs shot a 379 which was three strokes back of Hoisington. Larned was third with a 382.
Last season, TMP was runner-up at state, Hoisington was third and Larned was 4th.
Individually, Karee Dinkel and Shannen Chin finished first and second respectively with rounds of 81 and 85. Alison Helget was ninth with a 96. Rounding out the TMP scoring was Gracie Wasinger who shot a 117, Jenna Romme with a 123 and Halle Lang at 132.
FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating an alleged threat at school in Garden City.
The Garden City Police Department indicated they had received several calls from the community and witnessed multiple social media posts about someone making alleged threats towards the Garden City High School for Friday, according to a social media report.
This has been investigated and there have been no threats towards the school, students or staff.
There is an incident being investigated by police that involved a threat made to a student by another student, not towards the school, staff or other students.
It is an isolated incident between the two.
Because of all of the concerns the police will have extra patrol at the schools in Garden City in an effort to ease tensions.
VICTORIA — The Hays High boys and girls cross country teams both took the team titles at the Sand Plum Invitational Thursday. The Indians boys scored 33 points and outdistanced second place TMP-Marian 67. Ethan Shippy led the Indians with a sixth place finish while Caden Cunningham was 14th. Paul Brull led the Monarchs with a 15th place finish.
The Indian girls scored 27 points and edged Norton who had 30. TMP-Marian was third. The Indians Marie Reveles won the girls’ race with Adyson Albers ninth and Alyssa Bryant 10th. Allison Schibi finished 40th to lead the TMP-Marian girls.
The Weather Service also issued a flash flood warning for Norton and Sheridan County. There were no damage reports early Friday morning, according to a check with Sheriff’s Departments across the region.
Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.
Overnight storms brought damaging hail and wind, and also resulted in significant rainfall in portions of northwest Kansas.
A report from northeast Russell County showed 3.21 inches of rain in the gauge Friday morning, with most of the county receiving an inch or more of precipitation.
In Ellis County, the city of Hays received only about a tenth of an inch, while the Ellis area had reports ranging from 0.25 inches to 0.65 inches. There was a report of 1.44 inches from the northwest portion of the county.
Trego County also received between 0.33 and 1.53 inches of rain, and Rooks County saw reports ranging from 1.8 to 2.25 inches.
The skies are expected to clear and the temperature is expected to drop Friday, with a chance of storms returning Saturday night.
VICTORIA, Kan. – Both the Fort Hays State men’s and women’s cross country teams took the team titles at the Sand Plum Invitational Thursday evening. The Tiger men finished first with 19 team points, placing seven runners in the top-eight spots. The women also scored 19 team points, placing all five scoring runners in the top seven.
Senior Try Wineinger won the men’s event after traversing the five-kilometer course in 15:17.03, capturing his second career victory at FHSU. Sophomore Sophie Dalmasso won the women’s individual title with a personal-best time of 18:17.93 on the five-kilometer course.
Junior transfer Oscar Carmona was the third runner to cross the line in the men’s race, running in 15:42.75. Jacob Thomas (15:44.39) and Layton Werth (15:48.64) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while senior Feysel Rahmeto rounded out the scoring for FHSU with a sixth-place finish, posting a time of 15:53.08.
In all, 20 Tigers completed the race with 16 runners finishing in the top half of the 56-man field. MIAA rival Emporia State finished second with 54 points, 35 back of the FHSU total. Colby CC, Garden City CC and Dodge City CC finished in third, fourth and fifth in the team competition, respectively.
The Tigers will return to action next weekend when they travel to Emporia, Kan. for the Emporia State Invitational Friday, Sept. 23. The men will compete in an eight-kilometer race for the first time this season when the gun goes off at 5:45 p.m.
Sophie Dalmasso won Thursday’s Sand Plum Invitational (Courtesy FHSU Athletics)
Shea Bonine finished second for the women after completing the course in 18:32.6, a new personal-best for the junior. Chelsea Jackson (18:54.04) and Micki Krzesinski (19:22.05) finished third and fourth, respectively, for the Tigers. Sophomore Yessenia Gonzales rounded out the scoring in seventh with a time of 19:59.52.
Forty-two runners from four institutions competed in the event, with Colby CC finishing second after compiling 63 points. Dodge City CC finiished in third with 75 points with MIAA rival Emporia State bringing up the rear with 81 team points.
The Tigers will return to action next weekend when they travel to Emporia, Kan. for the Emporia State Invitational Friday, Sept. 23. The women’s five-kilometer race will begin at 5 p.m.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The 18th-ranked Fort Hays State men’s soccer team dropped to 2-2-1 overall after suffering a 1-0 loss at Western Washington on Thursday (Sept. 15). The Vikings improved to 3-1-1 on the season.
The lone goal in the match came in the 24th minute from Western Washington’s Jeremiah Lee. Ibra Drame found Lee with a pass around 20 yards out and Lee sent a bending shot into the upper left corner of the net.
Fort Hays State outshot Western Washington 13-11 on the night but lacked efficiency as only one of those shots was on net. Michael Yantz took the loss between the pipes for FHSU, saving two of the three shots on goal from the Vikings.
The Tigers look to rebound as their west coast trip continues on Saturday (Sept. 17) at Seattle Pacific University. The match is set for 9 pm (central time).
Another shot of refreshing air arrives in SW Kansas just in time for Friday. Highs only in the mid 70s to lower 80s , with a north breeze and lower humidity.
Today Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Light north wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 55. Northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light after midnight.
SaturdaySunny, with a high near 81. North northwest wind around 6 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Saturday NightA slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Southeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Stephen Vogt drove in five runs, Ryon Healy hit a mammoth three-run homer and the Oakland Athletics routed the Kansas City Royals 14-5 on Thursday night.
The A’s continued to wreak havoc on the Royals’ diminishing playoff chances, sweeping a four-game road series at Kansas City for the first time in their history. The A’s outscored the Royals 43-12, the largest Oakland run differential in a four-game series in franchise history.
Vogt had a two-run double in a five-run third, walked with the bases loaded in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the sixth. The five RBIs matched a career high.
Today Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Light north wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.