Heavy rain skirted north of Hays early Tuesday morning, dropping more than 2 inches of rain in some areas.
Northeast Trego County and western Rooks County topped the 2 inch mark, while a report northeast of Hays showed 1.31 inches of rain in the gauge, according to early reports.
Hays proper received from trace to 0.02 inches of rain, while Ellis and Victoria areas received about a quarter of an inch.
Russell County saw a report of 1.22 inches in the eastern portion of the county, with most of the county receiving more than a half inch of rain.
The skies are expected to be threatening again Tuesday, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms developing after noon. There is a chance of large hail, damaging wind and tornadoes.
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
Whiskey Creek 3203 Vine, Hays – May 20
A routine inspection found 11 violations.
Heavy accumulation of dust and other debris on the equipment shelf above the three compartment sink in the prep room.
One spray bottle of light pink liquid was being stored in the bar area without a label. Two spray bottles in the hostess station were unmarked.
Grill cooks utensils were being stored in a metal pan with water.
A server was grabbing plates off of kitchen serving window to be served. She then grabbed two carrot sticks and one celery stick to place on the plate with her bare hands.
Two plastic storage containers on the cooking line had through and through cracks on the corner and bottoms of the containers.
Metal pan of raw chicken – Korean Chicken – in the walk-in cooler was being stored directly over ready-to-eat desserts.
The ice machine in the main prep area had its scoop handle in the ice.
Single use foam bowl being used as a scoop in the butter sauce in the walk-in-cooler.
Chef’s knife being stored above the cooks serving window had dried food particles present. Cook was unsure last time of use.
Plastic containers for the line were cleaned and stacked wet.
Two #10 cans of canned tomatoes had class two dents on the edges that were affecting the top seal of the container.
Dillons 517 W. 27th, Hays – May 19
A standardization inspection found 10 violations.
A box of rolls and a box flaxseed bread is stored underneath the condenser of the walk-in freezer and has been contaminated by dripping water that has formed ice on the boxes.
The attachment plates, for the soda fountain nozzles, has an accumulation of syrup splatters.
Management had no knowledge or documentation of when the water treatment device attached to the water flow for use in the proofer had been changed.
Mops that have been used in the meat department and the produce department are stored in the basket of the mop bucket in a position that does not allow for air drying.
The thermometer used by the employee to take the hot cook temperature of commercial chicken nuggets registered 106 and the inspector thermometer registered 194.4.
In the three vat sink area of the meat department, a spray bottle of disinfectant is stored on a shelf next to single-use paper towels.
Packages of ground beef patties have a store label covering the safe handling instructions.
In the fuel station kiosk, a plastic crate of assorted commercial packaged snack food is stored directly beneath a hose attached to a container of winter additive.
The commercial slicer, used in the bakery area for slicing deli meats and cheese, has an accumulation of dried food debris on the slicing blade.
The bakery hand sink hot water is 68.7.
Subway 3408 Vine, Hays – May 19
A routine inspection found two violations.
In the customer self-serve beverage center unwrapped plastic stir sticks are dispensed with no protection to the lip contact surface
Plastic food storage containers were cleaned and being stacked wet.
Wendy’s 4235 Vine, Hays – May 19
A standardization inspection found eight violations.
Two containers of in use freeze dried chives, as identified by the manager, did not have a common label.
In the walk-in cooler, a container of prepared on site cut leafy greens was in the cooling process and the lid of the container was not vented to allow for heat transference.
The commercial food chopper had food debris on the cutting blade and the plunger.
A container of mango has a spoon stored with the handle in direct contact to the fresh mango.
Four of 10 plastic food containers have cracks in the food contact area.
The hand sink, next to the three vat sink, had no hand drying provision.
Three employee beverages were stored in different areas of the walk-in cooler.
The nozzle attachment plate of the customer self-serve soda machine has an accumulation of soda syrup.
Cancun Mexican Grill 105 W. 2nd, Ellis – May 18
A routine inspection found 12 violations.
Opened containers milk in the walk-in-cooler and the bar Coke cooler had no date of when they were opened.
Jalapeno peppers were being stored directly in “thank you” bag in the walk-in cooler.
The consumer advisory does not use asterisking to reference undercooked food ordered by the consumer.
Warewashing machine that was using a chlorine sanitizer was not reading with chlorine test strips. No Sanitizer was present.
Fountain syrups were being stored directly on the floor in the banquet storage area.
Dried food particles were present on a cleaned and put away knife.
In the walk-in cooler, there was raw bacon being stored directly above ready to eat cheese and peppers.
Rubber spatula that had been washed and put away had cuts and imperfections on the rubber end of the spatula.
Class two dent on a #10 can of sliced mushrooms.
Bar Coke cooler does not have any type of temperature measuring device present
An unmarked container holding red/brown liquid that had mold growth on the inside of the container.
The garbage disposal has a water inlet below the flood rim.
Papa Murphys 2700 Oak, Hays – May 18
A routine inspection found three violations.
Rubber spatula had cuts and imperfections present on the head of the spatula.
A container of thick golden liquid was being stored next to the dough making station.
Plastic containers that had been washed and put away were stacked wet.
Walgreens 2600 Vine, Hays – May 18
A routine inspection found two violations.
Class two dent was present on a can of Cream of Mushroom soup.
Trash receptacle that is outside has damage to it, allowing trash to fall out of the receptacle. This is allowing easy access for rodents.
Applebee’s 4101 Vine, Hays – May 16
A routine inspection found nine violations.
Raw salmon 58 in the under grill reach-in-cooler.
Cutting boards with scratches and scoring in the cutting surface of the boards.
Large metal pot, not in use, with several crack along the top edge of the pot.
Plastic tray storing clean dishes with debris in the plastic tray.
Class one dented can of peppers stored on the shelf in the prep area.
Door seals on the four door Traulsen reach-in-cooler and reach-in-freezer with cracks in the seals.
Metal mixing bowls stored with the food contact surface exposed to contamination on the top shelf in the salad prep area.
No disposable hand towels at the hand sink in the prep area near the dishwashing area.
A small amount of mold build up in the soda nozzle holder at the bar.
Days Inn, 205 Washington, Ellis – May 16
A routine inspection found one violation.
No handwashing sign posted in the public men’s and women’s toilet room.
Gutierrez/Trio 1106 E. 27th, Hays – May 16
A follow-up inspection found two violations.
On the steam table rice was 150 and taco meat 150, refried beans 123 reheating from cooling overnight.
Papas were being cooled with reused water bottles.
Officers from the Hays Police Department will conduct a sobriety checkpoint Sunday, June 5, in the 2800 block of Vine. The check lane will be held between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m.
The purpose of the lane is to improve the safety of the community by identifying impaired drivers and removing them from the roadway. Those motorists suspected of driving under the influence will be given on-site sobriety tests.
Efforts will be made to minimize the interruption of traffic flow, but many drivers will be stopped as part of this program.
This event is being conducted in accordance with the Kansas Department of Transportation “I.D.D.P.” – Impaired Driving Deterrence Program.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Court of Appeals has overturned an Emporia man’s drug convictions and faulted a prosecutor for “flagrant” errors.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that three judges agreed Friday with defense arguments that there was a lack of evidence to convict Matthew Judd of three drug charges. He was acquitted of two charges, including the most serious. He’ll also receive a new trial in Lyon County on the third charge.
The charges stem from a 2013 search of his mobile home. The judges found that the presence of drugs in a common area isn’t sufficient evidence to convict all occupants in a home of possession.
The judges also said that an assistant county attorney wrongly suggested to jurors that the owner of a house is responsible for the drugs inside.
Probably because there was no immediate outroar, you got the feeling in the Statehouse that the reaction was generally good for Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision last week to sign most of the budget bill and take the state revenue shortages out of care for the state’s ill and poor.
What?
Yes, his choices were clearly to either cut funding to schools by more than $50 million in the upcoming school year or take roughly the same amount from state programs that provide health care to Kansans without insurance, without much money, and who still need medical care.
Cut spending on schools and you not only get parents of all income levels angry — and the state’s education industry more politically active in the upcoming elections in which the entire House and Senate stand for re-election — but you get the friends, neighbors and grandparents of those schoolchildren upset. And, a lot of those folks vote both in primary and general elections.
Cut spending on health care for the poor who need state assistance to maintain their health, get their children checked before they head to schools and suffer any manner of illness, and, well, those folks don’t vote in very high numbers. Many Kansans who vote probably can’t name a friend or relative who depends on Medicaid (given the catchy name KanCare in Kansas).
Now, that probably outlines pretty clearly why the governor who isn’t on the ballot this year and is unlikely to be in the future chose the health care of the poor for cuts to make the budget balance, or at least appear on paper to balance.
The Legislature, and its members who are after another term or two, can say that they defended K-12 education with their proviso in the budget bill that the governor would have had to line-item veto in order to cut funding for schools, and they won that showdown.
But there wasn’t anything specific about cutting funds for health care for the poor in the budget bill, and the governor won’t face any challenges for those cuts which he could make with his own budgetary authority and without legislative oversight.
So, while you are campaigning, you can say you’ve saved schools a roughly 4 percent reduction in funds, instead allowing without much rancor that same amount of cuts to programs for health care for the poor, who you might or might not bump into at the lottery ticket window or gas pump or garage sale or grocery store.
So at least for conservatives, mostly Republicans, though not all of them, the governor has allowed them to talk about continuing to finance schools, and if on any doorstep in the state any candidate is asked about health care for the poor, they can say, yes, they heard something about that, but they didn’t do it.
Except…of course, if someone behind the screen door wants to know why there wasn’t enough money to take care of schools and the poor, we imagine, a smart campaigner will—depending on the neighborhood—divert the discussion to low taxes or maybe to the renaming of a local highway off-ramp after a well-known constituent.
So that’s why there wasn’t a lot of talk about the governor’s signing of the budget into law. No telling which way that discussion would go, and in an election year, even Democrats and moderate Republicans are unlikely to pledge to support tax increases next session to make sure that the K-12/health care for the poor decision doesn’t crop up again.
Now, it’s just waiting for the monthly state revenue figures to roll in and we learn whether the governor has pared that health care for the poor line item enough to make it to July 1, when a whole new fiscal year opens.
Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.
Few experiences are more powerful or moving than a visit to a cemetery on Memorial Day. Unlike a military cemetery where rows upon rows of graves give silent testimony to the human cost of war, in most Kansas cemeteries the stories of the dead – young, old, male and female – tell a story about the community.
But like their battlefield counterparts, cemeteries that dot the Kansas countryside are the resting place for veterans. Some of these graves are filled with young men who barely reached adulthood when they died. Their stories tell of dreams unfulfilled, of promises and potentials cut short.
When visiting these places, it is possible to be overcome with a sense of yearning. It is also possible to feel something larger, a sense of finality and rest, and a sense of peace.
The soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan are at rest in these cemeteries. They live on in the memory of their families and friends and, in a larger sense, in the memory and gratitude of the nation they gave their lives for. Lingering among the memories is always the nagging question: Did they die in vain?
On Memorial Day, Kansans will once again gather in cemeteries in Iola, Valley Falls, Meade, Washington, Hoisington or Grinnell to recall and reassure themselves that the lives and deaths of these young men and women had meaning.
When we think of our liberties this Memorial Day, remember that some gave all. Remember those veterans who died so we could remain free.
Only a handful of those who served in World War I remain, and the number who served in World War II dwindles daily. Vietnam veterans have reached middle age and today’s young men and women are the veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
For many their story remains the same. They grew up as farm kids in the Midwest or some other region of our country. Those from the Midwest grew up with the feel of the prairie earth beneath their feet, the wide-open sky overhead and the rhythm of the seasons in their blood.
At an early age, most of the young men and women learned to cultivate the soil, plant crops and harvest the bounty with their parents. Like many farm boys and girls, they understood machinery and the use of tools. They developed self-reliance and initiative.
Soon, many found themselves in another field far from home. This field was a battlefield in Europe, the Far East, Vietnam or the Middle East. These veterans become the unsung heroes of war.
But these young men and women were not repairing a combine in a harvest field or operating a small business on Main Street. Instead, they were patching up a tank under enemy fire, threading their way through the jungles of Vietnam, avoiding anti-personnel mines in Iraq or keeping an eye peeled for snipers in Afghanistan.
This Memorial Day, mothers, fathers, families and friends will travel to cemeteries across Kansas and our country. Once on those hallowed grounds, they will pause to remember and pray for the young men and women who did not return from war.
The blowing of taps always brings out what Memorial Day is about. For many, coming out to a cemetery on Memorial Day somehow eases the pain and loss of loved ones.
At the same time let’s give thanks and remember those veterans who are still with us. Let’s not forget those serving around the world today in the armed forces.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
ULYSSES – Hays High Freshman Tradgon McCrea shot a three-over 75 and the Hays High golf team won its first state championship since 1996 Monday at the Bentwood Golf Course in Ulysses.
McCrea finished one shot back of the individual champion Clete Carlson from Chanute who carded a 74.
McCrea was one of two Indians to finish inside the top ten finishing in a tie for third but finished 5th after a playoff. Payton Ruder finished ninth three shots back with a 77. Justin McCulick and Allen Zollinger each turned in rounds of 80 to finish tied for 20th.
All four earned All-State Honors.
The Indians combined to shot a 312, edging Rose Hill by three shots.
HUTCHINSON -A Kansas man made a first appearance before a judge on charges involving the same victim.
Eric Peirce, 30, Hutchinson, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and criminal threat.
That state alleges that he threatened a woman on May 12 and May 14. The first incident allegedly involved a shotgun and the second, a handgun.
During the first incident, he allegedly used the barrel of the shotgun to batter the victim causing bruising and four broken ribs, according to statements made in court.
The criminal threat charge is also alleged to have occurred on May 12.
The alleged crimes occurred in Pretty Prairie according to Reno County Sheriff Captain Steve Lutz.
The judge denied a bond request calling what the defendant is accused of doing as quite appalling and noted that she’s in fear for the alleged victim’s life. The state opposed any reduction noting that this is believed to have been an ongoing behavior.
Bond was set at $100,000, charges have been filed and the case against Peirce will now move to a waiver-status docket on July 13.
FRANKLIN COUNTY – A Kansas woman and child were injured in an accident just before 1p.m. on Monday in Franklin County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Elizabeth Kaylynn Wright, 26, Osawatomie, was northbound on U.S. 169 just north of Virginia Road.
It was raining hard and the driver did not see a dog standing in the road.
The vehicle hit the dog, crossed the center and traveled into the southbound ditch, hit a culvert and flipped.
Wright and a 7-year-old passenger were transported to Miami County Hospital.
Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Salvador Perez had a career-high five hits, including a double, a triple and an RBI, to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.
Paulo Orlando added three hits and two RBIs in the rain-delayed game for the Royals, who put All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon on the disabled list on Monday with a fractured right wrist.
Ricky Nolasco (1-3) gave up six runs on eight hits and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings for the Twins (11-33), who have the worst record in the majors.
Peter Moylan (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Ian Kennedy, who gave up two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings of a start that had to be cut short thanks to the 41-minute rain delay in the third inning.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Monday commended the Senate passage of the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2613). The legislation would improve tracking of sex offenders through federal support of state registries and dedicated resources to target offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements.
“I am proud to join my colleagues in unanimously supporting this bill,” Sen. Moran said. “We owe it to those affected by these grievous crimes to make certain state and local law enforcement officials continue to have the support they need to track known offenders and prevent recurrences.”
The bill passed reauthorizes The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which established nationwide notification and registration standards for convicted sex offenders to bolster information sharing between law enforcement agencies and increase public safety through greater awareness. It is named for a six-year-old Florida boy who was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. Adam’s father, John Walsh, worked closely with Congress to develop the 2006 law and the reauthorization that passed today.
Severe thunderstorm development is likely again by mid afternoon and ending by the early evening. Tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind are all potential hazards this afternoon. The focus area of highest probability for tornadoes and hail in excess of 2 inches will be roughly from Meade to Dodge City to Larned and eastward into central Kansas. A general severe weather threat also covers most of our area late this afternoon, with the exception of the area around Elkhart.
Tuesday A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Breezy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. South wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 88. South southwest wind around 10 mph.
Wednesday NightMostly clear, with a low around 57. Southeast wind around 10 mph.
ThursdayA 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.
Thursday NightA 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Breezy.
FridayA 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80.
SALINA – Trego’s Emmit Owens shot an 83 Monday to finish 15th and lead the Golden Eagles to a fourth place finish at the 2A state golf tournament at the Salina Country Club.
Owens fired a 41 on the front nine and followed that with a 42 on the back. Dion Reetz and Dalton Mai finished 26th and 27th each firing an 89.
Plainville’s Gunner Kerns turned in a team-high 87 to finish 21st. Tanner Copeland finished 33rd and Justin Plante was 44th.
Ellis’ Chase Hudson shot a 106 to finish 69th.
Grant Herrenbruck of Salina Sacred Heart finished first with a 74.
Sacred Heart won the team title with a 310. Trego combined to shot a 362 and Plainville finished fifth with a 365.
