Norton resident Lois O. Dietz passed away Sept. 12 at the Andbe Home in Norton at the age of 102. She was born March 4, 1914 in Phillips County, the daughter of Arthur & Elizabeth (Noel) Flowers. She was the Lenora City Clerk and Postmaster in Lenora.
Survivors include her daughter, Joyce Scott of Norton; her son, James McNulty of Columbus, OH; 3 grandchildren & 1 great grandchild.
Graveside services will be held Friday, Sept. 16 at 2:30 p.m. in the Lenora South Cemetery.
Memorials have been established to the United Parish Church or the Lenora Senior Center.
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department will begin the process of hiring new jail staff positions soon than expected.
At Monday’s County Commission meeting, the commission approved the immediate recruiting, testing and hiring of three new jailers.
The county had previously approved the funds for the three new staff positions in the 2017, but Sheriff Ed Harbin said Monday because of the increased population, they need more staff.
“We’ve more than doubled our inmate capacity in there,” and Harbin said. “Due to all the events that go on — court, dealing with inmates, medical (and) things along that line — we just need more staffing.
“We tried it with less, it’s not working.”
The remodeled jail now holds about 70 inmates. Before the remodel, the jail held approximately 35.
Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes estimated it will cost approximately $32,000 to add the three positions through the end of the year. The county budgeted $146,000 for the added positions in 2017.
Harbin said Wednesday his office already had a number of applications on file, some from experienced law enforcement officers, and testing of qualified applicants will begin in the next couple of weeks.
Fourth graders (in Hays USD 489) got to experience the annual agricultural day that is put together by our fellow students Sept. 8.
Fourteen students helped at Ag day (at the Harold Kraus farm southwest of Antonino.) These students include seniors Alanna Hansen and Lane Pfannenstiel, juniors Kara Gabel, Jared Kisner, Ashlyn Sonntag and Collin Werth , sophomores Maci Fisher, Ashton Klaus, Zoe Martin and Jessica Straight, and freshmen Ashton Ottley, Kenna Pfannenstiel, Quinton Rupp and Shannon Smith.
“You just get to volunteer,” Hansen said. “I love doing it.”
This year, more people signed up than they could take. “They put all our names in a container and drew out who went,” Ottley said.
Most of those who volunteered either manned their own station, had someone older and more experienced with them, or got to help with different things throughout the day.
Martin worked with two people, a professor and Maci Fisher. The three held a station called “Wow that Cow.” It was about parts of cows that are in things used in everyday life.
Those who were upperclassman such as Hansen and Lane Pfannenstiel did a multitude of things.
“We served pizza, got to blow the air horn to signal station rotation and even got to fish and show kids a huge bass and bluegill,” Hansen said.
However, there were a few who volunteered specifically to do a sunflower presentation. The presentation showed kids how sunflowers are grown and what they’re used for.
“There were five of us total who volunteered to do this,” Kisner said. “This was my third year as presenter.” Straight also volunteered for this presentation. “We had a big board that had the parts of the sunflower labeled on it and we had several things that were made from sunflowers,” Straight said.
The event is normally prepared for a week or two in advance but time restraints shortened that window.
“We only had three days or so,” Kisner said.
Ag day is something put together to inform kids about agriculture. It is supposed to get them to want to be involved in it.
“Some kids don’t really know much about the ag industry, so it’s really fun to be teaching them about things like this,” Straight said.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German drug and farm chemical company Bayer AG says it has signed a deal to acquire seed and weed-killer company Monsanto for $66 billion in cash.
Bayer says it is paying Monsanto shareholders $128 per share, which represents a 44 percent premium over Monsanto’s closing price on May 9, the day before a proposed deal was announced.
The deal is subject to approval by Monsanto shareholders and anti-trust regulators.
Bayer said Wednesday the transaction brings together two different but complementary companies. Bayer makes a wide range of crop protection chemicals, while Monsanto is known for its seeds business.
Leverkusen-based Bayer said the merged companies’ agriculture business would have its seeds business and North American business headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, where Monsanto is currently based.
This Saturday, September 17, will be the Kansas Wetlands Education Center Annual Butterfly Festival. Several events are scheduled for Saturday’s festival including; tagging monarch butterflies, crafts and making milkweed seed bombs. Mike Cooper visits with program specialist, Pam Martin about the event.
The Hays Lions Club is selling homemade cinnamon rolls and bierocks with proceeds used for the club’s vision screenings and eye glasses for those in need.
To place an order call (785) 628-6009. Order deadline is Fri., Sept. 16.
Bierocks are $48 for one dozen or $24 for six. Cinnamon rolls are $36 a dozen or $18 for a half-dozen. The are frozen; cinnamon rolls may be fresh or frozen.
Delivery is Sept. 21 and 22 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Payment is due upon delivery with cash or a check.
A California man is facing drug charges for an incident that occurred in Ellis County earlier this month.
According to a news release from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall, Sabino Hernandez, Jr., 26. Paramount, Calif., was charged Tuesday with possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The crime is alleged to have occurred Sept. 12, in Ellis County.
No other details of the incident were released.
If convicted, he faces not less than 10 years and a fine up to $4 million. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Rodebaugh is prosecuting.
HaysMed Medical recently welcomed three new physicians to their medical staff. Dr. David Lerner, Dr. Elizabeth Snyder and Dr. Wally Walstrom have all recently begun practicing at HaysMed.
Dr. Lerner, a radiologist, received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kansas. He completed a residency in Radiology from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri and a fellowship in Abdominal Imaging from Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Snyder
Dr. Snyder received her medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Snyder is a hospitalist and will be joining the hospitalist group who provide full time inpatient care coordination at HaysMed.
Walstrom
Dr. Wally Walstrom is triple boarded in Allopathic Family Medicine, Osteopathic Family Medicine and Sports Medicine. He completed medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine Biosciences, Kansas City, Missouri. He completed a Family Medicine Residency and sports medicine Fellowship at Via Christi in Wichita, Kansas. Walstrom will be seeing patients both at the HaysMed Orthopedic Institute and Family Medicine.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a man who pleaded guilty to a series of shootings on Kansas City-area highways in 2014 will be sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a news release that 30-year-old Mohammed Whitaker pleaded guilty Tuesday to 20 felony charges arising from the shootings.
The random shootings in March and April of 2014 frightened drivers and injured at least two motorists. Shootings were reported in Kansas City; the Missouri suburbs of Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs; and the Kansas suburb of Leawood.
After tips directed officers to Whitaker, they followed him for days before arresting him in April 2014 at his apartment in the Missouri suburb of Grandview.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A judge has denied self-defense claims from one of four men charged in a fatal gunfight at a suburban Kansas City.
De’Anthony Wiley, of Kansas City, Missouri, claimed that he was wounded and trying to surrender when Jon Bieker was fatally shot in January 2015 while defending his wife at the She’s A Pistol gun store in Shawnee, Kansas.
Bieker
The Kansas City Star reports District Judge Timothy McCarthy on Tuesday denied Wiley’s self-defense claim. He it was Bieker acting in self-defense when he fired at Wiley and three other men trying to rob the store.
Johnson County prosecutors argued that Wiley fired after he was wounded and did not try to give up.
The four men are charged with attempted robbery and first-degree murder in Bieker’s death.
Bieker lived most of his early years in Trego County and lived in Hays for a time before moving to eastern Kansas.
ELLIS – The TMP-Marian volleyball team improved to 14-1 with three wins at the Ellis quad Tuesday. The Monarchs swept Smith Center (25-19, 25-14), Phillipsburg (25-23, 25-19) and Ellis (25-8, 25-14).
Kayla Vitztum led the Monarchs with 22 kills. Savannah Yost added 17 and Madyson Koerner had 16. Yost hit .517 in the three matches and Koerner .484. Kendra Werth recorded 29 digs.
The Monarchs are off until September 20th when they travel to Smith Center.
Cheslor Cuthbert doubles in the 4th inning in Tuesday’s game with Oakland. (Courtesy Kansas City Royals / Jason Hanna )
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Pinch hitter Yonder Alonso delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied past Kansas City 5-4 Tuesday night, another key loss for the Royals.
The defending World Series champion Royals dropped five games out of the wild-card race with only 18 games left.
Joakim Soria blew his seventh save chance in eight opportunities. He was summoned with two outs in the eighth and the Royals clinging to a 3-2 lead lead.
On his second pitch, Soria gave up a double to Alonso over the head of center fielder Jarrod Dyson, scoring Brett Eibner and pinch runner Joey Wendle. Soria then yielded an RBI single to Marcus Semien.
Rookie Matthew Strahm (2-1), who gave up an infield single to Chad Pinder before Soria replaced him, took the loss.
John Axford (6-4) pitched one inning. Ryan Madson balked home Dyson with two outs in the ninth before closing for his 30th save in 36 tries.
Norton resident Lois O. Dietz passed away Sept. 12 at the Andbe Home in Norton at the age of 102. She was born March 4, 1914 in Phillips County, the daughter of Arthur & Elizabeth (Noel) Flowers. She was the Lenora City Clerk and Postmaster in Lenora.
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