FORD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Ford County are investigating reports of clowns.
There have been rumors of alleged clown sightings in the Dodge City area in the past couple days, according to a social media report.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Dodge City Police Department informed citizens that all alleged accounts have been investigated and followed up on.
None of the alleged sightings or rumors have been substantiated.
Police also reminded the pubic to please notify them if they receive any information on clown threats or any other suspicious activity.
On Monday, several school districts in south central Kansas increased security following online clown threats and one student was in USD 259 was arrested. Three students in Maize were also involved in a clown prank, photo that circulated on social media.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Soccer moved up one spot in the latest NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday (Oct. 4). The Tigers are No. 16 in the latest edition.
The Tigers have now owned every ranking possible between No. 15 and No. 20 in the nation this year. FHSU was No. 15 in the preseason poll and has now held the No. 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 rankings throughout the regular season. The Tigers are 6-2-1 overall for the season.
Fort Hays State and Lindenwood are the only two MIAA teams referenced in the latest poll. Lindenwood moved from receiving votes to No. 22 in the nation this week. So Sunday’s meeting between FHSU and Lindenwood in Hays will be a battle of ranked teams. Both are currently undefeated in conference play.
Rockhurst continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in the nation at 9-0-1 overall. One of FHSU’s two losses on the season was against Rockhurst.
Below is the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll for October 4, 2016.
Rank
School
Prev.
W-L-T
1
Rockhurst University
1
9-0-1
2
Simon Fraser University
4
8-0-0
3
University Of Charleston
5
9-1-0
4
LIU Post
8
9-0-0
5
Regis University
9
8-0-1
6
Wingate University
10
7-0-0
7
University Of Tampa
7
5-0-2
8
St. Edward’s University
3
9-1-0
9
Limestone College
14
8-0-0
10
Tusculum College
18
9-0-0
11
Barry University
11
5-1-0
12
Tiffin University
23
8-1-0
13
California State University-Los Angeles
12
5-1-3
14
Adelphi University
16
6-1-1
15
Lynn University
15
8-1-1
16
Fort Hays State University
17
6-2-1
17
Gannon University
19
6-2-1
18
Midwestern State University
25
7-2-1
19
University Of Southern Indiana
NR
9-1-0
20
California State University-Dominguez Hills
NR
7-2-1
21
Pfeiffer University
6
7-2-0
22
Lindenwood University
NR
7-2-2
23
Millersville University
22
6-2-2
24
Merrimack College
NR
8-1-0
25
Palm Beach Atlantic University
NR
6-2-1
Also receiving votes: Colorado Mesa University (14), Drury University (8), Notre Dame College (7), University of California-San Diego (5), Urbana University (2), Franklin Pierce University (2).
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a one week absence from the NSCAA Division II Poll, FHSU Women’s Soccer returned to the receiving votes section on Tuesday (Oct. 4). The Tigers have now been referenced in three of the last four polls released.
The Tigers broke into the top 25 for the first time in program history back on November 13. But after a draw and a loss, the Tigers dropped into the receiving votes section on September 20. FHSU was not referenced in the poll on September 27, but has returned to the receiving votes section this week.
The Tigers (6-3-1 overall) have posted five shutouts this season, gaining another last week at Lindenwood before falling 1-0 at No. 2 ranked Central Missouri. FHSU is at home for two matches this week against Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western.
Besides Central Missouri (9-0) at No. 2, Northeastern State is the only other MIAA school referenced in the poll. The RiverHawks moved up to No. 19 this week and remain unbeaten on the year at 10-0.
Below is the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll for October 4, 2016.
Rank
School
Prev.
W-L-T
1
Grand Valley State University
1
9-0-1
2
University of Central Missouri
2
9-0-0
3
East Stroudsburg University
4
9-1-0
4
Stonehill College
5
9-0-1
5
Western Washington University
7
9-0-1
6
Lee University
6
7-1-1
7
Colorado School Of Mines
3
9-1-0
8
University of California-San Diego
8
8-2-0
9
Columbus State University
13
7-2-0
10
Truman State University
10
9-0-1
11
West Chester University
9
10-0-0
12
Adelphi University
12
8-1-0
13
Minot State University
15
7-1-0
14
Nova Southeastern University
18
5-1-1
15
St. Edward’s University
NR
7-1-1
16
University of North Georgia
22
5-1-2
17
Rollins College
16
7-1-1
18
University Of Bridgeport
17
6-3-0
19
Northeastern State University
23
10-0-0
20
Bellarmine University
25
8-1-1
21
Limestone College
NR
8-1-0
22
Kutztown University
RV
8-2-0
23
Sonoma State University
19
7-2-1
24
Dallas Baptist University
NR
6-3-1
25
Central Washington University
RV
7-2-0
Also receiving votes: Carson-Newman University (7), Edinboro University (7), Texas A&M University-Commerce (5), Rockhurst University (4), Fort Hays State University (1).
SEWARD COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 10a.m. on Tuesday in Seward County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Maggie L. Marcellus, 26, Liberal, was northbound on U.S. 83 four miles north of Liberal.
The driver looked back to attend to the infant in the backseat.
The Jeep entered the southbound lane, hit the trailer of a southbound semi, entered the west ditch and rolled.
Marcellus was transported to Southwest Medical Center.
The semi driver Alfredo Tapia, 40, Liberal was not injured.
She and a 1-year-old boy in the Jeep were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
Martin Straub of Hays High School announced recently that Keegan Chapman has been named a Commended Student in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program, will he presented by the principal to this scholastically talented senior.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2017 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” said a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”
Topeka – The seven-member Consensus Revenue Estimating (CRE) Working Group on Tuesday issued its final recommendations to improve the CRE estimates that, per statute, are used as the base for developing the State’s budget, according to a media release.
The working group was created in June in response to a request from Governor Sam Brownback to conduct a comprehensive review of the CRE process.
Sam Williams, Chair of the working group, was joined by Budget Director Shawn Sullivan and Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan in unveiling the findings and recommendations. The group met four times to study the process and analyze data related to CRE estimates, fiscal notes and state tax policy.
“The inability of the consensus revenue estimating group, of which I am a part, to develop accurate forecasts makes it very difficult to develop and maintain a stable budget,” said Budget Director Shawn Sullivan. “We built our budget for fiscal year 2016 and 2017 on estimates completed after tax legislation passed in 2015. The actuals for fiscal year 2016 were $464.7 million, or 7.5 percent less, than those estimates.”
The working group also researched whether major tax policy passed in 2012 and adjusted in the 2013 and 2015 legislative sessions created an environment in which some businesses changed their tax filing status, making accurate revenue estimates more difficult. After analyzing the data, the working group determined there is no evidence of a large number of C-Corporations changing their filing status to LLCs, S-Corporations or Sole Proprietorships. A review of data from 2007 through 2014 shows the decline in C-Corporations remained consistent with the range of decline prior to the tax policy. Data also showed that the growth in the number of pass-through entities in Kansas is consistent with growth prior to state tax policy changes.
Key recommendations from the group include:
Utilizing more industry experts from various sectors including representatives from Kansas CPAs and bankers to provide a more diverse and forward-looking economic outlook.
Investing in new economic and revenue modeling software and reports necessary to track tax collections and forecast tax receipts.
Changing the composition of the CRE group by issuing an RFP for one economist experienced with macro-economic and revenue forecasting.
Working with the Legislature to provide the CRE Group flexibility to push the April CRE to May 1 in order to provide the group with more information on state tax filing deadline collections.
The members of the working group included: Chair, Sam Williams, retired managing partner/CFO of Sullivan, Higdon and Sink; ; Gary Allerheiligen, retired managing partner for Grant Thornton; Gerald Capps, senior vice president for state and local tax services and private equity team leader at Allen, Gibbs and Houlik (AGH); Gary Cloud, senior vice president and co-chief investment officer for FCI Advisors; DeAnn Hill, State of Kansas CFO and owner of a CPA firm; Kurt Knutson, founder and CEO of Freedom Bank, chairman of the Kansas State Banking Board; and Brad Palen, principal at KCOE ISOM.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
Nearly 225 years after the ratification of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the cause of conscience protected by the principles of “no establishment” and “free exercise” may be losing support in the minds and hearts of the American people.
Appeals by religious individuals and groups for exemption from government laws and regulations that substantially burden religious practice are increasingly unpopular and controversial. So much so that many in the media have taken to using scare quotes, transforming religious freedom into “religious freedom.”
Now the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights appears to be recommending that we make it official: Our first freedom is first no more.
According to a commission report released on Sept. 7, “civil rights protections ensuring nondiscrimination, as embodied in the Constitution, laws, and policies, are of preeminent importance in American jurisprudence.”
If we accept this assertion, it means that conflicts between religious freedom and nondiscrimination principles are resolved by denying accommodation for religious conscience — except perhaps in very rare and narrow circumstances.
According to the findings of the commission:
“Religious exemptions to the protections of civil rights based upon classifications such as race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity, when they are permissible, significantly infringe upon those civil rights.”
The findings and recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights — an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency — carry weight with government officials responsible for national civil rights policy and enforcement.
Robust protection for civil rights is, of course, essential in a democratic society. But so is protection for liberty of conscience. Despite dark chapters of religious discrimination, the United States has a long and honorable history of taking claims of conscience seriously. From conscientious objection to war to religious accommodations in the workplace, the American experiment in religious freedom seeks (on our best days) to ensure that people are free to follow the dictates of conscience in matters of faith.
Yes, accommodations for religious practice often affect the lives of other people. But the aim must be to balance competing claims and interests, minimizing harm while protecting conscience.
Consider, for example, the bitter conflict over allowing county clerks to opt out of performing same-sex marriages. Last year, Utah passed legislation designed to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people while simultaneously protecting religious freedom.
A key provision of the Utah law ensures that county clerk offices perform marriages and that a clerk be readily available to marry same-sex couples. A clerk may opt out of performing a same-sex marriage if, and only if, another clerk is available to issue the license and perform the ceremony. Under this balanced approach, same-sex couples are provided the service (without knowing who, if anyone, has opted out in the clerk’s office) and religious conscientious objectors are accommodated.
Unfortunately, the commission’s report does nothing to encourage — and, I would argue, actually discourages — efforts like the one in Utah to find a balance between nondiscrimination and religious freedom.
The title of the commission’s report alone speaks volumes: “Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles with Civil Liberties.” First, the wording suggests that religious freedom is a “civil liberty,” when in truth it is a fundamental, inalienable right protected by the First Amendment. And second, the commission’s report is less about reconciling differences and more about asserting the primacy of nondiscrimination over religious freedom.
Peaceful coexistence is not difficult to achieve if one side declares victory and demands that the other side concede defeat before the argument even begins. In real life, of course, peace between those who worry that religious claims are code for bigotry and those who seek religious accommodations will not be possible without setting aside name-calling, committing to civil dialogue and working for common-ground solutions.
The commission’s report arrives at a time when popular support for religious accommodations — particularly for minority faiths — has been eroding for decades as our increasingly secular society relegates religion to the purely private sphere. In recent years, culture wars over abortion and gay marriage have accelerated the public distaste for religious conscientious objectors, often poisoning the well for religious freedom claims in the public square.
Without getting into finger pointing, there is enough blame to go around. Some religious freedom advocates have pushed for accommodation while simultaneously opposing even the most basic nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. And some LGBTQ advocates have mistakenly labeled all efforts to seek religious exemptions as a form of bigotry.
It’s time for all sides to reaffirm equality and liberty as twin pillars of the American Republic. Authentic peaceful coexistence requires moving from the zero-sum game described in much of the commission’s report to the level playing field required by our constitutional commitment to both nondiscrimination and religious freedom.
This column first appeared in the “Acts of Faith” section of The Washington Post online.
Charles C. Haynes is vice president of the Newseum Institute and founding director of the Religious Freedom Center. Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @hayneschaynes
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 43-year-old woman has been ordered to stand trial in the fatal 2007 shooting of her son’s teenage friend in Topeka.
A Shawnee County judge found sufficient evidence Monday for Michelle Antoinette Filby to be tried on a second-degree murder charge in the killing of 16-year-old Michael Torneden.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Torneden’s death originally was reported as a possible suicide but was ruled a homicide after an autopsy.
Filby’s son, Lance Olsson, testified that his mother said the shooting was an accident. Olsson had talked to Torneden beforehand. Olsson said Torneden talked about wanting to resume high school. The pair planned to walk to school the next day.
Filby was arrested in May in Torrance, California. Her trial is scheduled to start in February.
Gun and holster located by the K9- photo KDWP&T Game Wardens
WICHITA -Law enforcement authorities in southern Kansas are investigating a case involving a stolen handgun.
Just after 10 a.m. on Monday, K-9 Ruby and Kansas Game Warden/K-9 Handler Chris Stout were contacted by a police and asked to assist with the search for the handgun that had been burglarized from a residence on Sunday night, according to a social media report.
Ruby and Stout arrived on the scene at 2:45p.m.
Ruby started her search and five minutes later had located the stolen handgun and holster in chest high reeds.
“She is an amazing animal,” said KDWP&T Captain Larry Hastings. “That was very deep grass.”
The location and additional details were not released while the investigation
K-9 Ruby and Kansas Game Warden/K-9 Handler Chris Stout
BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement and school authorities in Barton County are investigating an alleged social media threat.
Great Bend Police Department learned that a student at the High School had posted disturbing writings on a social media account, according to a media release.
The writings contained some violent references directed toward fellow students, as well as a reference to shooting responding police officers.
It was titled “Skool Shooter” and appeared to be written in the form of a song or poem.
Officers were able to locate the student and take him into custody prior to the start of the school day.
The preliminary information they obtained in their investigation led officers to believe that the student acted alone in producing the writings.
Due to this information and the fact that the student was in police custody, school was not cancelled.
However, out of an abundance of caution, extra officers were stationed at the High School to provide security as students came to school.
Officials from the School District and Police Department stayed in constant communication throughout the event in order to ensure that the safety of students was not compromised.
The student who allegedly produced the writings was taken into protective custody to be evaluated by mental health professionals. The name of the student was not released.
PAWNEE, Okla. (AP) — A 3.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Oklahoma on Tuesday morning, hitting the same spot where a record-setting temblor that shook Kansas and 7 other states was centered a month ago
The U.S. Geological Survey says Tuesday’s earthquake hit shortly after 4 a.m. with an epicenter about 10 miles northwest of Pawnee, or about 75 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. There are no reports of damage or injury.
On Sept. 3, Oklahoma’s strongest earthquake on record struck Pawnee and was felt widely throughout the central United States. Scientists later said the 5.8-magnitude quake led to the discovery of a new fault line, leading to worries that oil and gas production could trigger more powerful earthquakes.
Scientists have linked Oklahoma’s sharp increase in earthquakes in recent years to the underground injection of wastewater during oil and gas production.
Police investigators on the scene of Monday’s fatal shooting- photo courtesy KMBC
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a killing outside a Kansas City, Kansas, apartment complex.
Police said in a news release that officers found the victim Monday afternoon while responding to a report that shots had been fired. The release said the man died from apparent gunshot wounds.
The name of the suspect wasn’t immediately released, pending notification of relatives.
Police say no suspect information is available. Anyone with information is urged to call a tips hotline.
FORD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Ford County are investigating reports of clowns.
