LOGAN — From Dec. 9 through Feb. 5, the Dane G. Hansen Museum will be hosting the exhibit Birds in Art 2015. This is an exhibition of mesmerizing artwork by some of the world’s most talented artists. Birds in Art 2015 features luminous depictions of avian life that range from realistic to whimsical “trompe l’oeil” in an array of mediums. These varied and accomplished depictions of avian life highlight why throughout four decades “Birds in Art” has earned international esteem.
Each fall the “Birds in Art” exhibition presents original paintings, sculptures, and graphics created within the last three years by artists from all over the world. More than 500 artists annually submit their work for consideration by a jury of three professionals who winnow the field to about 100 works. The 2015 jurors were Danny Bills, curator of collections and exhibitions, Wichita Falls Museum at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas; Virginia Eichhorn, director and chief curator, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada; and Terry Pitts, director emeritus, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Artists strive to be chosen for the internationally renowned “Birds in Art” exhibition, organized annually by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families confirmed this week that a call center for child abuse reports had trouble keeping up with the volume of calls it received in September but denied the center had a “backlog.”
Foster care contractors learned of the issue in a Sept. 22 email sent by a DCF employee that said the call center was “experiencing a backlog in processing new reports of abuse or neglect, due to a severe staffing issue.”
The email asked family preservation workers with KVC Kansas, one of two foster care contractors, to use an online form for reporting child abuse and neglect instead of calling the Kansas Protection Reporting Center. The email has since been shared on social media and with KHI News Service.
Theresa Freed, spokeswoman for DCF, confirmed that the email did come from a DCF employee but said the call center wasn’t experiencing a “backlog.” She said she defined a backlog as employees being unable to answer or respond to calls.
“That is not the case and was not the case in September,” she said.
However, Freed said employees were “struggling to keep up with the volume of calls” in September, because school was back in session and teachers are required to report signs of abuse or neglect.
At that time the call center had employees assigned to follow up immediately on “priority” calls, such as when a child had suspicious bruises, and family preservation workers were asked to use the online system to keep phone lines open for members of the public, she said.
Freed didn’t respond to questions about staffing levels at the call center in September. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, DCF said last week that the agency had 463 staff positions open.
Sarah Coats, who said she recently was fired from her job as a family preservation therapist for KVC Kansas and shared the DCF email on social media, said at times the call center staff didn’t call her back about a report for several days or never called back.
KVC officials declined to comment Friday on whether Coats had worked there.
Coats said she had difficulty getting someone from the call center on the phone for about a year. She said she never received a follow-up email indicating the call center backup had been resolved.
The online form also wasn’t an ideal situation when she was meeting with children, Coats said, because she couldn’t easily set aside time to write a report.
Several recent child abuse cases have drawn attention to how DCF handles child abuse reports.
A Legislative Post Audit report released in July found DCF hadn’t always responded to calls in a timely manner from July 2013 to January 2016. Auditors took a sample of 40 cases that involved calls from more than one person and appeared to be high risk, based on the severity of the allegations.
Download the Legislative Post Audit Report: Foster Care and Adoption in Kansas
In 30 cases, DCF followed up within the required time, which could be one day, three days or 20 days, based on the type of allegations. In five cases, staff didn’t follow up in time, and the evidence was unclear for the other five cases. The call center handled about 170,000 reports during that time period.
“Even though we found only five investigations where follow-up was not timely, that number is still concerning,” the audit report said. “That is because the report center is a primary method used to help ensure that child abuse and neglect reports are addressed.”
Freed said anyone who suspects a child is being abused or neglected should continue to call the reporting center at (800) 922-5330.
Meg Wingerter is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
KEARNY COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 5p.m. on Friday in Kearny County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1977 International water truck driven by Victor A. Jennings, 69, Lakin, was southbound on X Road six miles north of U.S. 50.
The truck’s passenger side tire came off.
The truck dropped off the shoulder and rolled coming to rest upside down in a nearby field.
Jennings was transported to the Kearny County Hospital where he died.
He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
Hays High and Thomas More Prep Marian faced off the both the girls and boys semi-finals of the Gerald Mitchell Hays City Shootout Friday Night.
Girls TMP 62 – Hays 54
Hays High jumped out to their biggest lead of the first half on a 7-1 run on baskets by three different players. TMP responded back with a 7-2 run to tight the game back up at 9-8. Hays led after the first quarter 13-11. The lead swapped hands five times and the score was tied twice more before TMP gained separation with seven straight points to take a 27-21 lead. Hays scored just one point over the final four and a half minutes of the first half leaving the Indians trailing at half time 28-22.
Highlights
TMP pushed the halftime lead to 10 in the third quarter with six minutes left. Hays then came firing back with a 10-2 run to tighten the game back up at 36-34 in favor of the Monarchs. Hays took the lead back at 40-38 with 1:44 remaining in the third on a Savannah Schneider three point play. TMP tied the game back up at 40 to end the third quarter. Hays took the final lead of the game at 43-42 following a Talyn Kleweno three pointer. Kayla Vitzum then seized control of the game scoring 13 of her teams 15 points in less than three minutes. Hays tied the game one more time at 50 but TMP hit eight of their final nine free throws to win 62-54.
Coach Kirk Maska
Kayla Vitzum scored 24 to lead all scoring. Madyson Koerner added 16 and Deonna Wellbrock scored 13. Hays was led by Savannah Schnedier with 18. Kallie Leiker added a career high 11. Hays High falls to 1-1 and will play Great Bend in the third place game at Hays Middle School at 1:30 on Saturday. TMP is 2-0 and will play the winner of Manhattan and Garden City.
Boys Hays 67 – TMP 48
Hays took an early four point advantage on two occasions at 4-0 and 6-2 when TMP settled in going on a 8-3 run to take the lead for the first time at 10-9. Hays answered with Peyton Kieffer’s first career three pointer to give the Indians a 12-10 lead after the first quarter. The two swapped the lead a couple more times in the second quarter with TMP taking their largest lead of the first half at 20-17. Hays answered back with a 11-3 run to close the half and lead 28-23 going into the locker rooms.
Highlights
The Indians shot much better in the second half shooting 12 of 21 pushing their lead as high as 22 late in the fourth quarter. Hays led by two points with 5:30 to go in the third quarter but strung together 10 straight points to take their first double digit lead and never looked back. Hays led 47-36 after the third quarter and then hit 11 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter for the 67-48 win.
Coach Rick Keltner
Claiborne Kyles led the Indians with 17. Ethan Nunnery and Tyrese Hill each added 12 and Shane Berens scored 10. TMP was led by Hayden Lowe with 11. Hays is 2-0 and will play Manhattan in the championship game of the Hays City Shootout. It is the 19th time the Indians have made the title game. TMP is 1-1 and plays Olathe North for third at Hays High School at 1:30.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is among the sources behind Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that “millions” of people voted illegally.
Kellyanne Conway was Trump’s campaign manager and mentioned Kobach twice as a source during an interview Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Trump has claimed without providing evidence that he would have prevailed in the popular vote absent illegal voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Republican president-elect won enough electoral votes thanks to narrow victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Kobach on Wednesday supported Trump’s claim while providing no evidence of specific cases of fraud this year. He is the architect of tough voter identification laws in Kansas.
Kobach’s spokeswoman did not return a telephone message seeking comment Friday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former Kansas City-area man who conspired with a former Kansas City postal carrier to distribute multi-kilogram quantities of PCP through the mail was sentenced in federal court on Friday, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Michael Garrett, 57, of Victorville, Calif., formerly of the Kansas City area, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
Garrett pleaded guilty on Sept. 1, 2016, to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and to using a telephone to distribute PCP. Co-defendant Carol Barfield, 65, pleaded guilty her role in the conspiracy on Nov. 14, 2016, and awaits sentencing.
Garrett and Barfield participated in a conspiracy to distribute PCP from Nov. 2, 2015, to March 4, 2016. Garrett mailed bottles of PCP from California to separate addresses on Barfield’s Kansas City, Mo., postal route. Barfield, at Garrett’s instruction, would then deliver the packages to their intended recipients rather than to the false addresses provided on the labeling.
At the time of the offense, Garrett was on federal supervised release after being incarcerated for conspiracy to possess crack cocaine with the intent to distribute and attempted possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute in a 1991 conviction in the Western District of Missouri.
Garrett mailed a total of 15 parcels to separate addresses on Barfield’s carrier route from Nov. 2 to Dec. 16, 2015. Each of the parcels weighed in excess of 10 pounds. Barfield scanned all of the suspicious mailings as “delivered” on her route.
On March 1, 2016, surveillance video identified Garrett mailing four parcels at the Victorville post office. The four parcels, which listed a false name and address for the sender, were mailed to separate addresses on Barfield’s postal route, but were addressed to individuals who did not reside at those addresses. On March 4, 2016, federal agents set up surveillance on Barfield’s postal route. Barfield loaded the parcels into her postal vehicle. She scanned the first parcel as delivered, but she did not actually deliver the parcel.
Barfield became suspicious that she might be under surveillance, so she scanned another parcel as undeliverable. Barfield delivered one of the parcels as addressed and left it at the front steps of the residence. However, shortly after delivery, the actual homeowner arrived. Noticing he was not the listed recipient on the package, the homeowner picked up the package and, upon finding Barfield still in the neighborhood, returned it to her. For the last parcel, Barfield scanned the package as “no secure location” and left a delivery notice receipt at the listed address. Barfield subsequently rescanned the first parcel as “undeliverable as addressed,” returning all four packages to the post office.
Agents opened the suspicious parcels, which each contained two 64-ounce plastic Welch’s Grape Juice bottles of PCP. The total weight of the liquid from the eight bottles was approximately 13.45 kilograms.
Barfield told investigators that Garrett had mailed packages to her route five or six different times, and that it was usually three packages each time. Barfield stated that on some occasions Garrett would fly into Kansas City after mailing the packages and she would hand them directly to him. Other times, she would give them to an acquaintance of Garrett. If she did not give the packages to Garrett or his acquaintance, she would leave them at the address on the package, knowing Garrett or one of his people would come by and pick it up.
Barfield told investigators that, in exchange, Garrett bought her clothes, fixed her car, and provided her with spending money. She stated Garrett basically took care of her and gave her money to help out. Barfield said that the most money Garrett gave her at one time was $500, but she did not know how much total cash she had received from him.
Thanksgiving day fire in Barton County-photo Great Bend Fire and EMS
BARTON COUNTY- Officials are still working to determine the cause of a Thanksgiving Day fire in Barton County.
On the morning of November 24, fire crews responded to multiple fires along Kansas 96 Highway northwest of Great Bend.
The fires stretched for over a mile.
“Somebody has to work on the holiday,” said Battalion Chief Eugene Perkins. “There is a lot of speculation on the cause of the fire but we are not certain,” he said.
“Something went by on the highway.”
Crews were able to prevent the fire from spreading beyond five acres, according to Perkins. There were no injuries.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Agribusiness giant Cargill has unveiled plans for its new $60 million complex for its protein operations that it plans to build at the site where the Wichita Eagle is now located.
The company said released more details Thursday about its project, along with an artist’s rendering. The four-story, 188,000-square-foot building accommodates about 800 employees. The proposal includes a 750-space parking garage.
The Wichita Eagle reported its building will be torn down, and the new complex is anticipated to open in 2018.
Wichita is home to Cargill’s beef business and its turkey and cooked meat business, which includes deli meats. Its processed-protein services, such as its North American egg business and food distribution, also are located in Wichita.
Cargill announced plans in May to keep its protein operations in Wichita.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is considering a rule that would require records related to the selection of nominees for the high court and other judgeships to be made public.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the rule change would require those records to be retained for at least three years after the nominating commission has made its decision. The minutes of the commission would be retained indefinitely.
The commissions are made up mostly of attorneys who interview and nominate candidates for the governor’s consideration.
The state Supreme Court will accept public comments on the proposed change before deciding whether or not to implement it.
A project to replace railroad ties in Hays could lead to delays at crossings.
The city of Hays announced Friday that Union Pacific will consist of two tie crews. The first crew will begin Saturday at Ash Street and work east. The second crew will begin Monday at 150th Avenue, near Yocemento, and work east.
Train traffic will be shut down, and crossing signals also will be turned off while the crews are working. Flag crews will direct traffic when it is necessary to temporarily shut down crossings.
Train traffic and signals will resume after the crews finish work each day.
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
The Fort Hays State University football coaches are making an example out of one of their players. But that’s fine with Tyler Bacon, a junior from Quapaw, Okla.
At 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Bacon is one of the smallest players on the FHSU squad. But game after game after game, he performs in a big way for the Tigers, who left town Thursday on what they hope will be a record-setting weekend.
Fort Hays State (7-4) will take on Eastern New Mexico University (7-4) in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl on Saturday in Copperas Cove, Texas.
It’s the first time in FHSU school history that the football team has advanced to postseason play in back-to-back years. Kickoff for the bowl game, which can be seen on ESPN3, is 6 p.m. And fans will probably see a lot of Bacon.
“Hard work always pays off,” said Al McCray, FHSU’s assistant head coach in charge of wide receivers. “Tyler Bacon is a great example of that. He is a young man I’m going to use as an example for years to come.”
Bacon, Fort Hays State’s primary punt returner, has the most catches on the team of any Tiger receiver this season heading into Saturday’s game. A Tiger win would give Fort Hays State football its first ever postseason victory in program history.
If FHSU’s starting wide receiver/punt returner has anything to say about it, the Tigers will be bringing home the bacon.
“I just want to go win the game and end the season on a winning note,” Bacon said. “A win in a bowl game would mean so much for our program, for Coach Brown and all our coaches.”
Bacon was referring to Chris Brown, whose teams improved by one win every single season his first five years, all while playing in the MIAA, one of the toughest NCAA Division II conferences in the country.
That he would earn a spot on an MIAA roster, let alone become a starter as a sophomore, didn’t seem possible for Bacon, a self-proclaimed “scrawny little dude, maybe 140 pounds soaking wet” when he entered high school.
“I grew a lot since then,” he said with a chuckle.
A multi-sport athlete in high school, Bacon actually had dreams of playing a different sport in college.
“I really wanted to play basketball,” he said, “but coming from a small school — and I didn’t play on any AAU team — I didn’t think I had much of a chance to do that.”
So Bacon continued to work hard at summer football camps put on by his native Quapaw Tribe in northeastern Oklahoma.
Coincidentally, Justin Iske, an FHSU assistant coach at the time, attended those camps and was impressed with Bacon’s work ethic from the time he was a freshman in high school.
“Coach Iske watched me grow and get faster and stronger, and the summer going into my senior year, he started recruiting me,” Bacon said.
Bacon knew Division II was a big step coming from a town of about 900. But he welcomed the challenge.
“I’m not the biggest player on the team. I’m not the strongest. I’m not the fastest,” Bacon said. “But when you work hard and do what the coaches ask, good things happen.”
It turned out to be a good fit for everyone involved.
“When we talk about the game of football, we look at the touchdowns and the big play,” McCray said. “But what’s really great about football is that it teaches these guys what hard work is all about.”
Bacon, who has one more year of football eligibility remaining at FHSU, wants to be a history teacher and coach when he graduates.
McCray has no doubt that goal will become reality.
“He told me he wants to coach, and he’ll be a good one,” McCray said. “Tyler Bacon is going to be successful in life, period.”
Bacon has taken lessons learned on and off the field at Fort Hays State to heart.
“This coaching staff has given me more chances than any other,” he added. “They preach hard work will get you results, and they’ve kept their word.”
With the bulk of the work done at Tebo Village in Hays, the developer has announced another tenant for the retail shopping center.
Stephen Tebo of Boulder, Colo.-based Tebo Properties told Hays Post on Friday a deal has been signed for a retail UPS Store.
Nex-Tech Wireless has opened for business at the Vine Street development, while Pasta Jay’s opened earlier this fall in a standalone building.
More announcements could follow soon.
“We have signed one more tenant, but don’t have permission to release that yet,” Tebo said. “We have two more proposals out yet for signature, but they are not signed yet.”
Tebo Village is a 12-storefront, 25,000-square-foot center at the corner of 43rd and Vine.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Missouri woman was sentenced in federal court Friday for leading a Nigerian fraud scheme in which thousands of victims across the country were tricked into cashing up to $3 million in counterfeit money orders and cashier’s checks, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney.
Lisa Kaye Barwick-Majeski, 56, of St. Robert, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Barwick-Majeski to pay $49,131 in restitution to her victims and a money judgment to the government of $1,485,301, representing the proceeds of the conspiracy. Barwick-Majeski was taken into custody immediately at the conclusion of today’s hearing to begin serving her sentence.
On March 10, 2015, Barwick-Majeski pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Barwick-Majeski admitted that she was the primary leader of a conspiracy that involved counterfeit postal money orders, counterfeit bank cashier’s checks and numerous wires to unindicted co-conspirators in the country of Nigeria.
Barwick-Majeski and her co-conspirators dispatched counterfeit postal money orders and bogus cashier checks to thousands of victims throughout the United States. These false money orders and cashier checks were deposited in victims’ bank accounts after the victims were duped into believing they were paid participants as part of a “secret shopper” exercise designed for them to evaluate Wal-Mart and various money wire outlets. The victims were instructed to keep approximately $200 or more of the less than $2,000 counterfeited postal money order or bogus cashier’s check, and immediately wire the remaining money to Barwick-Majeski and her co-conspirators. After a few days, the counterfeited money order or bogus cashier’s check would be returned against the victims’ account as not negotiable. The victims would then be obligated to pay their banks or their financial institutions for most of the money they wired to Barwick-Majeski and others.
Barwick-Majeski and her co-conspirators shared most of their proceeds with a group of Nigerians that were responsible for supplying Barwick-Majeski with fraudulent postal money orders and cashier’s checks.
During the course of the investigation, according to court documents, law enforcement officers seized more than $1.7 million worth of counterfeit postal money orders. Some of those counterfeit money orders were taken directly from Barwick-Majeski and some were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or intercepted en route to Barwick-Majeski.
In addition to the counterfeit postal money orders, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Barwick-Majeski’s residence on Nov. 5, 2013, and seized a parcel that contained 354 counterfeit BMO-Harris Bank cashier’s checks with a total face value of more than $1 million. According to court documents, law enforcement officers also seized $406,800 in counterfeit Mid Missouri Credit Union cashier’s checks during the investigation.
Co-defendants Nancy Madelen Peebles, 76 (Barwick-Majeski’s mother), Cheryl Barber, 42, and Terry L. Shupe, 40, (who lived together), and Kenneth Fred Ruhl, 88, all of St. Robert, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and been sentenced. Peebles was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison; Barber was sentenced to time served; Ruhl and Shupe were each sentenced to five years of probation. Peebles was ordered to pay $28,571 in restitution. Barber was ordered to pay $25,129 in restitution. Ruhl was ordered to pay $16,814 in restitution. Shupe was ordered to pay $2,796 in restitution.
