SHAWNEE COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just after 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Shawnee County.
A 1996 Ford Truck, driven by Levi D. Towns, 17, Topeka, was westbound in the 5200 block of SW 69th Street when it left the roadway, entered the north ditch, and hit a tree, according to a media release from the Shawnee County Sheriff.
First responders extricated Towns from the vehicle and he was transported to Stormont Vail.
Towns was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the sheriff’s department.
HAYS, Kan. – Mitchell Robinson held Fort Hays State to three runs on 11 hits in his first career complete game and Nebraska-Kearney beat the Tigers 11-3 Wednesday night at Larks Park. The sophomore struck out five and walked two as the Lopers (14-20, 11-14 MIAA) move into a 10th place tie with the Tigers (17-19, 11-14 MIAA) in the MIAA.
Steve Johnson Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
Dallas Schramm hit a hit a three-run homer in the first inning off starter D.J. Carr (3-5) to give the Lopers the lead for good. Carr gave up seven runs, five earned, on five hits over 3 2/3 innings.
The Lopers took advantage of four walks and seven hit batters for their 11th win on the 13 games with the Tigers.
Connor Ross led Fort Hays State’s 11 hit attack with a double and home run and scored all three of the Tigers runs. Nick Hammeke and Austin Unrein both had two hits.
FHSU continues their four-game homestand Thursday at 7 pm against Missouri Western. The Tigers and Griffons will play two nine inning games on Wednesday beginning at 3 pm. You can hear all three on Tiger Radio Mix-103.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say there’s no longer any doubt that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects.
Experts had been cautious about making a definitive link despite a surge of babies born with a rare birth defect in Brazil during a Zika outbreak. The virus is mainly spread by mosquitoes, and no mosquito-borne virus had ever been known to cause birth defects.
But on Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there’s enough evidence now to declare Zika the cause of a birth defect called microcephaly (my-kroh-SEF’-uh-lee) and other brain abnormalities.
CDC officials said their advice to pregnant women won’t change. Pregnant women should avoid traveling to places where the Zika virus is spreading, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A door sales and service company plans to expand and renovate its headquarters in Kansas and add 150 new jobs.
The Kansas Commerce Commission announced in a news release Wednesday that DH Pace Company will spend about $3 million to expand its corporate headquarters in Olathe to accommodate the new employees.
In 2013, DH Pace relocated from four locations in North Kansas City, Missouri, into one plant in Olathe. The construction is expected to be completed about June 30.
DH Pace Company operates facilities in over 25 markets throughout the U.S. It has more than 1,500 employees with annual sales exceeding $300 million.
2016 Problem Solving Team – First Place: Dr. Dmitry Gimon, Anthony Walters, Brady Hutchison, Wade Buck, Kori Sanchez and Eric Deneault
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Fifteen students representing the Fort Hays State University Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association won first and second place titles at the recent International Technology and Engineering Educators Association 78th annual conference in Washington, D.C.
FHSU placed in four of six competitive events. They placed first in problem solving, second in live manufacturing, third in robotics and third in transportation.
Having four top finishes earned FHSU a spot as the second most-placing university. FHSU competed against 14 other universities, including Division I schools. Earning the No. 1 spot was Brigham Young University with five top finishes. California University of Pennsylvania, with three top finishes, was No. 3.
In the problem solving competition, Hays freshman Brady Hutchison, Dighton freshman Kori Sanchez, Hays junior Anthony Walters and Grinnell junior Wade Buck teamed up to solve the challenge of building a model museum with electronic controls for the lights and doors as well as an emergency escape plan on site. The team developed the structure of the model using a department laser engraver and worked in collaboration with Dr. Dmitry Gimon, assistant professor of informatics, who used an Arduino write code and programmed the lights, doors and LED display.
“This team exceeded 30 hours of extracurricular work — nights and weekends — to make this championship a reality,” said Eric Deneault, assistant professor of applied technology.
In the live manufacturing competition, Rush Center senior Michaela Jochem, McPherson junior Aaron Elsasser, WaKeeney senior Blake Fritts and Gypsum junior Heather Cleveland designed, documented and implemented a continuous manufacturing system. Participants were judged according to their pre-production process, documentation and overall quality of the final project.
“These individuals dedicated more than 150 hours of extracurricular activity to their final project. This truly exemplifies the passion and dedication that these individuals have to their department, college and career,” said Deneault.
In the robotics competition, Assaria sophomore Davin Smith, Russell sophomore Devin Thomas, Ness City sophomore Landon Fellhoelter and Garden City junior Jose Vital formed a team to engineer a robot that would pick up and launch objects into a goal.
“The FHSU team had one of the most elaborate and intricate robots competing in the ITEEA Vex National Robotics Tournament and went on to defeat the defending champs,” said Deneault. “This team exceeded 85 hours of build time and was awarded, for the second year, the Student Government Association equipment request fund to purchase robotics equipment, allowing us to be a model university and have an elitist program recognized nationally.”
In the transportation competition, Superior senior Raile Blackburn, Concordia senior Joshua Pounds, Clay Center junior Dustin Braun and Sanchez faced the challenge of picking up and dropping off triangular straw prisms from a docking station with a quad copter.
“After only placing two straws in the field of play in the first round, this team overcame adversity and went on to place the most amount of straws in the target zone over the next two rounds. Their performance landed them second place,” said Deneault. “They went on to complete in a final four round for bragging rights and placed first in the all-around.”
Jochem, a 2012 Mullen High School graduate, received the 2016 Foundation for Technology and Engineering Educators/Maley Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. She is the president of FHSU TEECA and has participated on the live manufacturing team over the last two years, earning two regional championships and two national runner-ups. Jochem also delivered a presentation titled “Live Manufacturing & STEM Applications.”
Deneault and Randy Jordan, assistant professor of applied technology at FHSU, were team sponsors. TEECA is a pre-professional organization for college students interested in applied technology.
ELLS WORTH COUNTY –Two people were injured in an accident just before 3p.m. on Wednesday in Ellsworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Shaun Anthony Tanner, 25, Independence, MO., was westbound on Interstate 70 at Elkhorn Creek Bridge.
The vehicle left the roadway struck the bridge center and rolled.
Tanner and a passenger Steven Tanner, 54, Independence, MO., were transported to Wesley Medical Center.
Steven Tanner was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has no full-time professional environmental engineers left working in the regulatory agency entrusted with overseeing more than 1,750 large-scale livestock feedlots.
State environmental regulators say four engineering vacancies have put the brakes on anybody getting a new facility started or expanding one because there is a backlog of between 20 and 30 permits and delays of an additional three months to review livestock wastewater permit applications.
The livestock-feeding industry says the lack of engineers at the state regulatory agency is not a pressing issue.
But environmentalists say the public should care because the biggest risks are groundwater and surface water contamination, and avoiding that requires sufficient engineering judgment to ensure feedlots are built correctly.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a report of a 12-year-old boy threatening 3 children on a school playground.
Just after 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, police officers were sent to the Schilling Elementary School playground in Salina when parents reported a boy chased three children with a brown handled knife with a 4-inch blade, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
The boy also allegedly threatened to stab the children if they did not leave the playground.
After police learned his identity, the boy was taken into custody at his home.
Charges of aggravated assault and criminal threats are being requested. He is being held at the juvenile detention center in Junction City
Sweeney said officers dealt with the same boy just before 3p.m. on Tuesday when police responded to a report about a student with a gun on a school bus.
The bus was stopped at Target and officers found the boy had a 4″ long toy, cap rifle.
Police took the toy gun from the boy and contacted his mother to take him home.
There are no charges requested in connection with the incident on the bus.
HaysMed is pleased to announce that they are one of 78 hospitals in Kansas that have signed the Healthy Kansas Hospital’s pledge to examine their current food and beverage practices. They are also one of 25 hospitals that have adopted a formal policy aimed at improving their food and beverage environments
The new policy provides for healthier food options in the hospital cafeteria and throughout the facility and includes the following practices: healthy entrée options will be offered daily, nutritional facts will be posted for cafeteria menu items, the food budget will included at least 10 percent fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking water will be offered at no charge at all meal times in the cafeteria, no energy drinks will be sold, no foods will be deep fat fried, catering for internal meeting will contain healthy snack and beverage options, 70% of beverages sold will not contain added sugars, snacks sold in the cafeteria will include fresh fruits and packaged snacks containing zero grams of processed trans-fat and pricing and placement strategies will be used to make health products more attractive for consumers.
This enhanced access to healthy food aims to positively impact hospital employees, patients and visitors, while also helping to establish norms for healthier living for the community.
“It is important that HaysMed is active in setting the example by providing the healthiest choices possible,” said John Fitzthum, Food Services Manager at HaysMed. “Not only is offering more healthy foods a better service to patients, it also represents better health for the community.”
More than 1,400 health care professionals who are employed by HaysMed who seek dining options on the hospital campus will benefit from these changes. “It is our hope that these changes will have a long-term positive impact on the health of those who seek medical care at HaysMed.” said Fitzthum.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A legal fight has ended over the Sedgwick County Zoo’s new African elephants.
The Wichita Eagle reports that animal-rights group Friends of Animals dropped its lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approving the transport of 17 elephants from Swaziland to zoos in Wichita, Dallas and Omaha.
Friends of Animals’ lawyer Jennifer Best says dropping the suit was a tough decision that came down to how to best use the group’s time and resources.
The Connecticut-based advocacy group filed the suit in February after the agency approved the transfer in January. The group argued that the agency didn’t consider the mental and physical toll on the elephants.
The zoos joined the government’s side and went ahead with the transfer about a month ago as a judge denied the group’s last-ditch effort to stop it.
HUTCHINSON– One of two men charged with the beating of a Reno County Correctional Facility inmate was scheduled to have his trial begin Tuesday, but he avoided trial and entered a plea in the case instead.
William Alexander and his brother Antoine are both charged by the state with a single count of aggravated battery.
They are accused of beating 30-year-old Darrell Beachy in September of 2015, in one of the pods at the new county facility.
Beachy was beaten so severely, he was taken by air-ambulance to a Wichita hospital.
William Alexander entered a plea to a lesser level of aggravated battery meaning at sentencing he will receive less time for the conviction.
SHAWNEE COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just after 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Shawnee County.
HaysMed
drinking water will be offered at no charge at all meal times in the cafeteria, no energy drinks will be sold, no foods will be deep fat fried, catering for internal meeting will contain healthy snack and beverage options, 70% of beverages sold will not contain added sugars, snacks sold in the cafeteria will include fresh fruits and packaged snacks containing zero grams of processed trans-fat and pricing and placement strategies will be used to make health products more attractive for consumers.
