PRATT — Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed Ward Cassidy, St. Francis, to the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s Commission. Cassidy replaces Roger Marshall, Great Bend, whose term ended in June. Cassidy will serve a 4-year term.
Cassidy has resided in St. Francis since 1969, teaching for 11 years before serving as principal and counselor for 20 years. He coached high school basketball for seven years. Cassidy’s wife Gloria taught first grade for 38 years. The Cassidys have two daughters, both married and living in St. Francis. They have six grandchildren.
In 2010, Cassidy was elected to the Kansas House and represented District 120 for two terms. He did not seek re-election in 2014.
“I have been an avid hunter all my life, and one of my greatest pleasures is spending time with my grandchildren in the outdoors,” Cassidy said. “I am honored to represent northwest Kansas on the Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission.”
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is advised by a non-partisan, seven-member commission. Commissioners are appointed by the governor and serve staggered 4-year terms. The Commission advises the KDWPT Secretary on planning and policy issues and approves regulations which are adopted and administered by the Secretary.
Cassidy will join commissioners Chairman Gerald Lauber, Topeka; Vice-Chairman Tom Dill, Salina; Aaron Rider, Columbus; Gary Hayzlett, Lakin; and Harrison Williams, Wichita.
I stepped out the front door one morning earlier this spring just in time to see a large falcon-shaped bird glide low overhead. It landed in a tree a block away, so I hustled to get my binoculars and our Kansas bird book.
The bird sat contentedly, almost posing for me as if making certain I correctly identified it. It was a Mississippi Kite, and although my bird book doesn’t show or give details to differentiate between males and females, we figured it to be a female in town to nest.
We affectionately named her Gladys, for reasons I’ll explain later.
Steve Gilliland
Mississippi Kites are light gray and slightly smaller than a red tail hawk, and are built trim and sleek, much like a falcon. They derive their name from their unique soaring style called “kiting.”
Picture how a child’s kite rides the wind, gliding and sliding sideways back and forth. That’s how Mississippi Kites soar, sliding and almost rocking back and forth from side to side as they float effortlessly on the summer Kansas thermals. They are summer residents here, arriving in mid-April and leaving again in mid-November.
They are slowly expanding their territory northward and are quite comfortable nesting in our Kansas cities and towns. We have asked around and even tried to follow Gladys to find if and where she’s nesting, with no luck. Nesting females are known to become very aggressive when their chicks are about to leave the nest, often dive-bombing humans and pets that get too close to the nest to suit them. We’ve not heard about any of that around town, so Gladys must just be a frequent visitor.
Mississippi Kites are very social birds and are often seen in large groups. One day this week in downtown McPherson as I waited in the car for my wife to return from an errand, I began seeing Kites soaring above me. One or two at a time they appeared until I lost count at 15.
My wife Joyce grew up on a farm south of Meade, KS, and after we got married I began hearing stories about a man named James Parker who had come to their farm for years to watch and study a Mississippi Kite named Gladys that had nested there forever. A friend still living in Meade did some research and found more details to the story.
According to newspaper clippings it was mid-June 1982 when Dr James Parker from the University of Maine first visited the Friesen farm near Meade. He was indeed there to observe Mississippi Kites, but he brought with him some visitors. Stan and Gladys were Swallow Tailed Kite chicks rescued from a nest in the Florida swamps. Swallow Tailed Kites, although larger with a huge ornate tail, are close cousins to Mississippi Kites and until the early 1900’s were common in the eastern Kansas skies.
They hadn’t been seen in the state for decades and Dr Parker was there to explore the possibility of reintroducing Swallow Tailed Kites into Kansas by transplanting chicks into existing Mississippi Kite nests. Stan and Gladys were put into active nests and Parker stayed around to observe. After two or three weeks Stan grew weak, lost weight and died, but Gladys was accepted by her foster-parents and seemed to thrive. Although the time line is unclear, Parker spent parts of 14 summers in Meade studying the local Mississippi Kite population.
No one seems certain whether any more Swallow Tailed Kites were transplanted into Kansas. They’re not listed in my Kansas bird book so I suspect there are none in the state today. No one knows what happened to Gladys either. It must have been like a child’s story book story though, especially for the Mississippi Kite foster parents that raised her, as the chick they thought was their own grew up to become much bigger than them with a huge ornate tail. Sorry you couldn’t have seen her Stan!…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
The Ellis County Commission wants to modify the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), commonly referred to as the three-mile boundary, around the Hays city limits.
Ellis Co. Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes and Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty met several times to discuss possible modifications to the boundary and then presented it to the Planning Commission July 18.
Ellis County adopted countywide zoning in 2006 after which the city and county commissions signed an ordinance/resolution defining the current ETJ.
As Dougherty pointed out to city commissioners during their work session last week, Ellis County can unilaterally make changes to the city of Hays’ ETJ. Within the ETJ, the city has control of zoning and platting. The county has control of everything in unincorporated areas or not controlled by an ETJ. The city of Ellis also has a three-mile ETJ.
The proposed boundary change removes 19 square miles “yet still protects Hays and its potential growth areas for a long time to come,” Dougherty told the commission.
The east edge was left as is. “We don’t feel the east side warrants any change because this is a pretty active growth area for the city,” Dougherty said. “This boundary we feel should stay the same.”
The southwest side of the current boundary is state-owned property, either by Fort Hays State University or Kansas State University.
“When the commission discussed the Blue Sky Acres rezone request, one of the comments made was it’s highly unlikely we’re ever going to develop south and west of the state-owned property. That’s why we changed the boundary, taking out of the ETJ the privately-owned land on the opposite side of that state-owned land.”
In the northwest there are flood plain issues, and to the far north is an industrial area and a feed lot.
“Highly unlikely we’re ever going to want to annex that into the city,” Dougherty said, “so your potential for growth is limited there.”
The active growth of the city, Dougherty predicted, is “probably going to be along the areas where infrastructure can be extended,” as he pointed to areas immediately north of the city limits.
The proposed ETJ boundary, which removes 19 square miles, in in blue. The current boundary is in yellow.
“There’s absolutely nothing scientific about this,” he cautioned. “This is just us sitting around going through the map.”
And it can change.
“The reality is, this is not an immutable boundary. It can be changed, as evidenced by the fact it was adopted in 2006 and we’re talking about the possibility of it being modified now.”
“If Hays was to experience a residential growth spurt north of Walmart, north of 48th Street, you can always revisit the county and ask them to possibly modify it to accommodate that.”
The county is the entity that sets the three-mile boundary, Dougherty reminded city commissioners. “The city commission has a voice in the process but the decision is theirs to set the three-mile boundary.”
Commissioner Lance Jones said he saw “no issues at all with it.”
“I was just looking at a map that shows how much developable area is in the city of Hays already. With the city population at 21,000 right now and we expand out to that new blue line, you’re probably talking over 100,000 people and I don’t see us getting there any time soon,” Jones said.
Vice-Mayor Sean Musil agreed with Jones, but also added, “In talking to developers, I think we’re going to be up north there a lot quicker than what we think.”
Dougherty agreed it was a possibility, while also noting nearby industrial and commercial areas that would have to be “leapfrogged” around.
“We have time to make course corrections if it does happen. If we start seeing a lot of plats, a lot of movement in that area–significant investments in infrastructure–we have time to ask the county for a modification to allow for that, for any part of it.”
“I think this is completely reasonable,” concluded Commissioner James Meier.
Dougherty will return the commissioners’ comments to county administrator Smith-Hanes.
The proposed boundary change would not affect the current makeup of the Planning Commission. Members consist of six city of Hays residents and three members who live within the three-mile extra territorial jurisdiction.
Commissioner Henry Schwaller was absent from the meeting.
QUINTER– U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) will tour the Gove County Medical Center (GCMC) Wednesday, August 10. Moran will be at the hospital in Quinter, 520 W. 5th Street from 3 to 3:45 p.m.
GCMC was founded in 1925 with the mission of providing exceptional healthcare services delivered in a spirit of compassionate care.
Today Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 94. South wind 7 to 14 mph.
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 10pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South southeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 97. South wind 8 to 16 mph.
Wednesday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 74. South southeast wind 10 to 15 mph.
ThursdayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South wind 10 to 13 mph.
Thursday NightA 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68.
FridayA 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 82.
Friday NightA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 63.
BUTLER COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 6:30p.m. on Monday in Butler County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Toyota Pickup driven by Jay Westerterp, 36, Derby, was northbound on Santa Fe Lake Road five miles north of U.S. 54.
The pickup entered the west ditch, struck a trash can, a mail box continued north, struck a fence, a tree, crossed both lanes of Santa Fe Lake Road, entered the east ditch and rolled.
Westerterp was transported to Wesley Medical Center.
He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
RENO COUNTY— A Kansas woman entered a plea on Monday in a drug distribution case.
Kandra B. Carter, 39, Haysville, was arrested in May and charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and interference with law enforcement.
She entered pleas as charged in front of Judge Joe McCarville and will be sentenced in September.
As part of the agreement, she cannot appeal any sentence handed down by the judge, but both sides will recommend concurrent sentencing and community corrections.
She was arrested along with 40-year-old Jason Fike in the 300 block of South Pershing in Hutchinson.
Police went to the Schlitterbahn Kansas City Water Park on Sunday to investigate a death photo courtesy KMBC
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the death of a 10-year-old boy at a Kansas City, Kansas, water park (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
Kansas City, Kansas, police say a 10-year-old boy who was killed while riding the world’s tallest water slide died of a neck injury.
Police say Caleb Schwab was one of three passengers riding in a boat Sunday on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark.
According to a police statement, an off-duty officer working at the water park notified dispatch of the accident around 2:30 p.m. Emergency responders arrived to find the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride.
Police say two women who also were in the boat — but not related to the boy — sustained minor facial injuries and were treated at area hospitals.
The Police Department’s Major Case Unit is seeking anyone who has additional information on the incident.
___
4 p.m.
The Kansas park where a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son died on what’s billed as the world’s largest waterslide says the park is tentatively planning to reopen on Wednesday. The slide will remain closed.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, also said in a statement Monday that it is “deeply and intensely saddened” for the family of Caleb Schwab. He was killed Sunday while riding the 168-foot Verruckt, which remains closed indefinitely.
The park and police have not publicly detailed what caused the death of the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe.
Calling safety its top priority, Schlitterbahn says all of its rides are inspected daily before opening. The park directed questions about the investigation to police.
FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a teenager at Fort Riley while recklessly handling a firearm.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall says Juwuan Jackson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the September 2015 death of 16-year-old Kenyon Givens Jr.
He originally said a masked man broke into the home and shot Givens. He later admitted he was spinning the chamber of a .22-caliber handgun while holding the trigger, causing it to go off.
Beall says the initial false story prevented paramedics from treating Givens until after police searched the house.
Jackson faces up to eight years in federal prison when he is sentenced in January.
Luther Fry and his wife, Ardis, of Garden City- photo Univ. of Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A $1 million gift will allow the University of Kansas to endow a chair of ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The school announced the gift Monday from Luther Fry, who graduated from the Kansas School of Medicine in 1967, and his wife, Ardis. They had previously donated $1 million to establish an endowed professorship to in the Department of Ophthalmology.
The additional gift will allow the medical center to elevate the endowed professorship to an endowed chair. Dr. John Sutphin currently holds the position.
The Frys established the Fry Eye Associates in Garden City. Their son, Eric, is an ophthalmologist there. He is a graduate of the Kansas School of Medicine in 2003 and completed his ophthalmology residency in 2007.
Muriel, a 1935 Lockheed Electra L-10E -Photo courtesy Grace Mcguire
ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — An airplane similar to one flown by Amelia Earhart when she disappeared in 1937 is flying this week to Earhart’s home in Kansas.
The fuselage of Muriel, a 1935 Lockheed Electra L-10E, outfitted exactly like the one Earhart used when she tried to fly around the world, will begin a five-day journey Monday from California to Atchison, where Earhart was born.
The Wichita Eagle reports the airplane will be put on permanent display at the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. The organization plans to build a museum commemorating the flight when Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared in July 1937.
The plane was acquired from Grace Mcguire, a pilot who spent three decades restoring it.
Scene of Thursday morning fire in Hutchinson- photo courtesy KWCH
HUTCHINSON — The woman injured in a house explosion last week in Hutchinson remains in critical condition, according to fire officials.
Theresa Kappel, 47, was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita following the explosion and fire that engulfed her home last Thursday.
The fire at 1502 East 2nd was reported just after 2a.m., according to Hutchinson Police.
Fire crews found the house fully involved with fire venting from all windows of the structure, according to a media release.
Crews brought the fire under control in approximately 25 minutes before entering the structure to complete work on extinguishing the fire.
Investigators are still not certain what caused the explosion, but are still leaning towards a loose gas line fitting, according to Hutchinson Fire Chief Kim Forbes.
By BECKY KISER
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 10pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South southeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
