KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State junior forward Derick Gonzalezhas been named the MIAA Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week for Tuesday (Oct. 18).
Gonzalez scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in a 3-0 win at home over the University of Mary. It was the only contest for FHSU this past week. Gonzalez has averaged one goal per match in his last six contests and he leads the team in points with 17. His tied for second in the MIAA in total goals for the season and ranks second in goals per match. He also ranks second in points per match (1.42).
Eagle Communications announced this week Mike Doerfler has joined the Broadband Division as its newest employee-owner.
Doerfler will serve as director of Eagle Technology Solutions, which was created after the recent acquisition of Hays-based SICOIR Computer Technologies and already has expanded into the Abilene and Columbus, Neb., regions.
Eagle Technology Solutions provides information technology services and support for business and residential customers.
Doerfler comes to Eagle with a wealth of industry experience, having spent the past 18 years working for companies such as Systems Solutions, Inc. and Nex-Tech, and has experience leading teams that create and implement managed I.T. services for business. His expertise lends itself to developing managed service offerings in areas such as network security and support, managed firewall, compliance, proactive network monitoring, cloud computing, managed backup, remote desktop support, computer repair and more.
Doerfler has been instrumental in leading teams through acquisitions and developing managed service offerings that are focused on solutions for business growth, innovation and profitability.
“Mike’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge has already made him a key addition to the Eagle Communications family. Bringing Mike on to lead our Technology Solutions team is a sign of our commitment to being the leading technology company in our industry,” said Travis Kohlrus, Eagle Broadband general manager. “Our new service offerings were driven by our customers asking for more support in the fast-paced world of technology. Mike’s addition to our team strengthens our promise to customers to provide exceptional service. We are very fortunate that we were able to find someone of Mike’s talents to lead us forward. I’m confident that he will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for our customers.”
Eagle Communications, Inc. is a Kansas-based Broadband Services and Media Company with more than 285 Employee-Owners. The company operates 28 radio stations in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, as well as cable TV systems in 59 Kansas, Nebraksa and Colorado communities. The company also offers e-business solutions, web hosting, telephone service, high-speed internet, and wireless internet in most service areas.
WASHINGTON — America’s Navy is coming to Hays, one of 18 cities in seven states to host a performance by the United States Navy Band during its 2016 tour — one of the signature outreach programs of the U.S. Navy.
The United States Navy Band Commodores performance is scheduled for Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Beach-Schmidt Performing Arts Center.
Jazz is America’s music and the Commodores, the Navy’s premier jazz ensemble, have been performing the very best of big band jazz for the Navy and the nation for more than 40 years. They have appeared on TV shows, played nearly all major jazz festivals and toured across the United States and abroad. This vibrant, dynamic group is constantly striving for musical excellence and the pursuit of new and exciting ways to communicate with their audiences.
One of the U.S. Navy Band’s primary responsibilities involves touring the country. All of the band’s primary performing units embark each year on concert tours throughout specified regions of the country, allowing the band to reach out to audiences in areas of the country that do not have opportunities to see the Navy’s premier musical ensembles on a regular basis. The concerts are family-friendly events, meant to be entertaining to veterans, families, individuals and those interested in joining the Navy.
All Navy Band performances are free and open to the public.
A road allowing access to a proposed residential development south of Hays will remain following a vote by the Ellis County Commission Monday.
On Sept. 1, the Ellis County Clerk’s office received a petition for vacation of Randall Lane south on Hays in the VonFeldt residential addition. The petition was signed by 13 residents who live nearby.
Randall Lane runs through the VonFeldt subdivision approximately 2 miles south of Hays and would connect the proposed Blue Sky Addition to U.S. 183.
Ellis County Commissioners Dean Haselhorst and Marcy McClelland, along with a surveyor and three Ellis County residents selected by the commission, viewed the road on Oct. 7. On Monday, the commission held a public hearing to hear from residents.
The road was originally platted in 1977 and, if vacated, would leave the proposed Blue Sky Addition and approximately 66 acres of ground owned by Mary-Alice Unrein landlocked, according to County Attorney Tom Drees.
If the road was vacated, the county would have to provide another access road and then have to pay the extra costs of building the new road — as opposed to the cost of developing Randall Lane, according to Drees.
“If she (Unrein) develops Blue Sky, she also has to pay to develop that road,” Drees said. “If we move it elsewhere, any cost beyond what it would cost to develop Randall Lane, she can petition for damages to the commission.
“The commission can assess that, even back too, some of it back on the petitioners,” he added.
Ernest Pfeifer was one of the “disinterested householders” appointed as part of the road view committee. Pfeifer said at Monday’s meeting he was in favor of vacating the road because Unrein owns property to the south and he believes they would have access through that property.
The other two residents – Dennis Pfannenstiel and Wes DeBey — were not present at the meeting but, in submitted statements to County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes, said they were in favor of keeping the road.
Terry Krannawitter lives in the Vonfeldt Addition along Randall Lane and said Monday he was not in favor of allowing the road to remain because of the increased traffic, dust and litter it will create.
Krannawitter said all of the traffic from the six-lot Blue Sky Acres will exit the subdivision onto U.S. 183 and that will make it difficult getting out of his driveway. He was also concerned with turning onto U.S. 183.
He was not aware the county would have to pay the extra costs of developing another access to Blue Sky and said he would not be in favor of paying for a portion of that.
The commission voted 2-0 to not vacate Randall Lane, meaning the road will remain in place, and Unrein is expected to pay to upgrade the road. She said it will match the standards or roads set by the county.
The commission still has to vote on the proposed plat of the Blue Sky Acres Addition. It was previously approved by the city commission against the recommendation of the Hays Area Planning Commission and city staff.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger, who was not present at Monday’s meeting, and County Counselor Bill Jeter recused themselves due to conflict of interest.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved the purchase of a 2017 Ram pickup from Lewis for $29,870 for the sheriff’s department and for $28,932 for Public Works.
• Approved a resolution banning stickers from election ballots. According to Smith-Hanes, the resolution bans stickers placed on the ballot for a write-in candidate in place of actually writing in the candidate.
• Approved a resolution selling an extra dump truck to the city of Ellis.
BUTLER COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Butler County are investigating a series of vehicle burglaries and asking the public for help to identify suspects.
The suspect’s vehicle is identified as red 2000’s model Chevy 1500, with tool box in back driven by a white male, approx. 6 ft, 170lbs. wearing a Texas Longhorns hat, Puma shoes, a hoodie and jeans, according to Andover Police.
There was also a white female in the passenger seat. Police released no details on her.
Anyone with information is asked to please contact police at 316-733-5177, extension 0.
UNDATED (AP) – The 10 schools that make up the Big 12 are bound together by a deal committing their television rights to the conference through the 2024-25 school year.
Expansion wasn’t going to change that, so the Big 12 declined yesterday to add two schools from a group of 11 that included BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. The conference’s leaders then tried their best to put forth a unified front and positive outlook for the future.
In spite of yesterday’s decision, the Big 12 still has much to figure out in the near and long-term. For one, the conference must decide how best to implement its football championship game, which is slated to return next year. Almost all available solutions are square-peg-round-hole proposals, but the conference thinks it needs the game to better its chances at the College Football Playoff and raise more revenue.
The Big 12 paid out $30.2 million to each of its members this year, a record amount and third most among Power Five conferences. Still, long-term projections have the Big Ten and SEC pulling away in the revenue race from the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC over the coming years.
Bowlsby said figuring new ways to generate more is one of the conference’s top priorities.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been charged in the drug overdose death of a suburban Kansas City man.
The Kansas City Star reports that Michael Christopher Bickley of Kansas City, Kansas, made his first court appearance Monday in Johnson County District Court. He said he planned to hire his own attorney.
Bickley is charged with the distribution of drugs resulting in the death in February of a 27-year-old Overland Park man. Bickley also is charged with possession of heroin, possession of oxycodone and possession of Xanax.
He is jailed on $250,000 bond. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Elections of the Ellis County Extension Council will Thursday.
Any Ellis County resident 18 years of age and older is eligible to vote. Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main, and from 5 to 7 p.m. at Big Creek Crossing during the Chamber of Commerce Ag Appreciation Event.
Three members will be elected to the Program Development Committees representing the following areas of Agriculture, Family and Consumer Sciences, 4-H Youth Development and Community Development. For a list of candidates and more information, visit www.ellis.ksu.edu.
The Hays Community Theatre is reviving the Haunted Hays City Historic Tours for another year. Tours take place Oct. 27 to 30, starting at the theater, 118 E. 11th, and runing every 15 minutes from 7 to 10:30 p.m.
This year’s tour was written by the Ink Spots, a group of local writers and historians, and features questionable characters, haunting figures, farm animals, horseback riders, a cowboy camp, snake oil salesmen — and even gunfights.
“(The tour is) based on actual people who lived here, and actual things that happened,” said Pamela Grizzell, head of the HCT venue and fundraising committee. “If there was a shootout, we re-enact it close to where it actually happened.”
All money raised during the tour goes toward helping build the community theater. Last year’s tours were so successful, the theater was able to put in public restrooms.
“Last year, with the help of Glassman Plumbing, we raised enough money to finance and put in our bathroom,” Grizzell said. “There was just such a positive response, we figured we’d bring it back.”
The tour is not recommended for small children and those with mobility or heart problems. The use of strollers is also discouraged.
Tickets for the tour are $10 each, and there are 18 available spots per tour.
Tour organizers are also looking for a few extras to fill minor roles.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit the HCT website.
Three architecture firms offered presentations to the Hays USD 489 Board of Education during Monday night’s special board meeting.
All are vying for the position as the creative force behind getting a bond issue to pass for USD 489.
Last year’s bond was soundly defeated by voters, which lead the BOE to bring in the firms of Hollis and Miller; Schaefer, Johnson, Cox, Frey; and DLR Group for the presentations.
All three firms emphasized how community involvement — and involvement with everyone in the district ranging from kitchen staff to students – is critical in a successful bond issue.
“This is the fun process. This is how they get passed, getting the community behind it, getting the staff involved. That’s how you get a bond issue to be successful,” said Kirk Horner, president of educational planning for Hollis and Miller.
All firms that presented had Hays ties.
Kevin Nelson, client leader for Hollis and Miller, is a 1985 Hays High School graduate, Amber Beverlin, principal for DRL Group has family in Hays, and SJCF mentioned people in their firm also have Hays ties.
“We would love to travel back and meet the people and the area we know,” Dana Taylor, SJCF, said.
Hollis and Miller focused on their process-oriented nature and was the only firm that was 100 percent focused on education.
Hollis and Miller breaks its firm down into three sectors — Public K-12, Private K-12 and High Education.
“Each group has its own team that specializes in that type of work, so you know you are getting the best,” Horner said.
Hollis and Miller had the longest presentation on the evening, as they broke down different steps for each process they go through to make a bond successful.
“We are very process-rich,” Horner said.
Each process presented had seven steps, which Hollis and Miller use to build the community and client trust to make sure both the community and client know the plan is in-depth.
“We want to work with you every step of the way to make sure you the client and us the designer can make something we can both be proud of,” said Michelle Chavey, Client Leader for Hollis and Miller.
One of the processes touched on was their credibility and financial responsibility.
“Here at Hollis and Miller, we are about long-range planning, to make sure you are set up properly and the foundation is laid,” Nelson said.
Before Superintendent John Thissen joined USD 489, he was the superintendent at USD 487 Herington and hired Hollis and Miller for a successful bond campaign after the previous election failed.
“That was one of our most rewarding projects for our firm,” Horner said.
Hollis and Miller touted the firm’s track record in getting bond issues to pass for educational purposes.
According to Horner, the firm of Hollis and Miller has done over 1,600 projects.
SJCF honed in on family in what was the quickest presentation on the night.
“Our clients are an extension of our family,” Taylor said.
SJCF spoke on collaboration from the whole community is key to getting a bond issues to pass.
“You need collaboration from all aspects of Hays life,” Taylor said. “Community engagement is the difference.”
SJCF is a diversified firm that does many projects outside of school bond elections, but still has helped pass 26 bond elections in the last 10 years.
The final firm to present was DLR Group.
“No one you spoke to tonight as passed a bond issues west of Salina for more than $50 million, but us,” Troy Wade, Expertise said. “Western Kansas, we have a 100 percent success rate.”
DLR Group presented a three-step process of data-driven community, customized vision of Hays, and examples of their proven bond election success.
Jim French, Senior Principal and Global K-12 Leader of DRL Group, has led the design of more than $1.5 billion in educational facilities and is a part of a group that is considered No. 1 firm in the United States, according to the America Institute of Architects.
“We run a lot of bonds and the firm is No. 1 in the world, but this team here has done bonds all over Kansas,” John Fuller, Chief Marketing Officer said.
Recently, DLR Group completed award-winning work on the bond election in Garden City.
Perhaps the most significant part of their presentation was their explanation how the June bond election failed.
Put on display for members of the board and administration was a map of Hays that showed which houses voted and what they voted for — proprietary information DLR said would be crucial for the next bond issue.
“Think about the power of this gives you towards your potential voter,” Wade said.
All three firms are expected to make one more presentation to the district.
Dr. Joan Dreiling, a Fort Hays State University graduate, will present her research at a seminar at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, in Tomanek Hall, room 106.
Dreiling is a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md.
She was chosen to attend the Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and also invited to present her research at technical physics conferences in both the U.S. and Europe.
Dreiling graduated summa cum laude from FHSU in 2008 with bachelor’s of science degrees in physics and mathematics. She was also the Torch Award winner in her class.
She earned her Ph.D. in experimental atomic, molecular and optical physics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Her dissertation, “Asymmetric Interaction between Spin-Polarized Electrons,” won the Folsom Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award.
Learn the basic principles of safe home food preservation in a basic canning class hosted by Ellis County Extension on Monday, Nov. 7, 5:30 to 9 p.m., at the Hays High School FCS room.
This hands-on workshop will teach the proper procedures for canning vegetables in a pressure canner and fruit in a boiling water bath canner. The $10 registration fee includes a simple supper and door prizes. Take home a jar of each product at the conclusion of the class. Instructors are Extension agents Linda Beech, Ellis County, Karen Shepard, Graham County, and Anna Schremmer, Phillips-Rooks District.
A minimum of 10 and maximum of 21 participants are allowed, so pre-register and pay fees at the Ellis County Extension Office, 785-628-9430, 601 Main Street in Hays.
