The proposed bond and sales tax issues for a series of Hays USD 489 building upgrades have been scheduled for a June vote. Do you support the sales tax portion of the ballot?
Click HERE for more.
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Sponsored by World Pest Control
EL CO EXTENSION
The Ellis County Extension Office will host a free program on “Simple Seasonal Meals” on Wednesday, April 6 at noon at the Extension Office meeting room, 601 Main Street in Hays.
Donna Krug, Barton County Extension Agent, will present a noon-hour program and recipes for cooking and eating seasonal produce. Featured recipes will be sampled.
The benefits of enjoying produce when at is peak are many. By choosing foods in season you get all the benefits– food that tastes good, is good for you, and is reasonably priced.
This is the program which was rescheduled due to bad weather in January.
Please RSVP to the Ellis County Extension Office, (785) 628-9430, to ensure adequate supplies. Bring a lunch to enjoy during the program if desired.
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Bryan Noone, Director of the Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Institute at HaysMed, with the topic of “Sleep Health” by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
FHSU UNIVERSITY RELATIONS AND MARKETING
Fourteen students of the Fort Hays State University Rho Psi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, an International English Honor Society, were among the thousand registrants who attended the recent International Convention for Sigma Tau Delta in Minneapolis, Minn.
Scholarly and creative writing by FHSU students was selected for presentation and roundtable discussion. FHSU was the only chapter to have every member volunteer at the registration table.
Taran Becker, Hays senior, Adaline Billinger, Ellinwood senior, Jera Gales, Coldwater senior, and Kylie Herrington, Salina senior, were the four students whose work was selected for blind review. Two students, Herrington and Zach Walker, Garden City senior, presented in roundtables.
Only inducted members of Sigma Tau Delta may submit work to present at the convention. To be inducted, members must have a GPA of at least 3.2 in their English coursework and 3.0 overall.
“Needless to say, to have a submission accepted is a major accomplishment, as the competition is fierce,” said Dr. Lexey Bartlett, associate professor of English.
“The spirit of community involvement and service that permeates FHSU travels with us, and our students distinguish themselves by their community spirit everywhere they go, creating positive associations with our university’s reputation nationwide,” said Bartlett.
In total, 14 students attended from FHSU. They presented research, attended panels and workshops, and volunteered. Co-sponsor Lisa Jones, instructor of English at FHSU, served as a panel moderator.
“These students exhibited every positive quality of citizenship at the convention and were able to engage in a number of presentations and workshops on scholarly and creative writing, career development, and leadership topics,” said Bartlett.
JEFFERSON COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 9p.m. on Friday in Jefferson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford Utility vehicle driven by Harry Stephen Russom III, 37, Manhattan, was southbound on U.S. 59 two miles south of Oskaloosa, when the front seat passenger Elizabeth Ann Russom, 36, Manhattan, jumped out of the vehicle.
Russom was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
The driver was not injured and was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
No additional details were released.
Kiwanis Annual Easter Egg Hunt- Saturday, March 26th, 2016
· FHSU Memorial Union
· 600 Park Street
· 9:00am
· Ages 0-10
· Hunt for Easter Eggs; Easter Bunny will be on hand for photos
Easter Eggstravaganza at Big Creek Crossing
– Saturday, March 26th, 2016
· Big Creek Crossing in Hays
· 2918 Vine · 9:45am
· Hunt for eggs throughout Big Creek Crossing (formerly The Mall)
· For more information call 785-625-3314
Sternberg Museum- Saturday, March 26th, 2016
· 3000 Sternberg Hays, KS
· 1:00-2:00pm
· Various age groups available
· Ages under 5, 5-9 and 10-12
· Cost is Free for members/$3.00 non-members
· For more information call 785-628-4286
Orscheln Farm & Home Supply- Saturday, March 26th, 2016
· 2900 Broadway Hays, KS
· 11:00am
· All ages welcome
· Hunt for eggs inside the store
· For more information call 785-625-7316
Related posts:
https://www.hayspost.com/2016/03/25/kiwanis-to-host-42nd-annual-easter-egg-hunt-saturday-morning/
https://www.hayspost.com/2016/03/24/big-creek-crossing-to-host-easter-eggstravaganza-saturday/
DCF
TOPEKA – Recognizing the career potential of people with disabilities and affirming the importance of work in the psychological well-being of such individuals, Governor Sam Brownback highlighted on Friday the work of vocational rehabilitation counselors.
Among those recognized was Great Bend resident Donald Crouse, a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor with the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
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VR Counselor Sound Bite – VR Counselor Appreciation Month Proclamation Signing from DCF Kansas on Vimeo.
Governor Sam Brownback met with several vocational rehabilitation counselors employed by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) at the Statehouse Friday morning, to thank them for their service and to learn more about the accomplishments of DCF’s Vocational Rehabilitation division. The Governor signed a proclamation to designate March as Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Appreciation Month.
DCF’s VR director, Michael Donnelly, shared some of the successes of the agency with the Governor, stating that the agency helped 7,837 Kansans with disabilities become employed in the past five fiscal years. He said many of these clients are now filling positions in high-demand jobs, such as registered nurses, accountants, teachers and software developers. The Governor noted the value these employees.
“Our vocational rehabilitation counselors invest their time and energy in helping Kansans with disabilities realize their potential,” Governor Brownback said. “Thanks to the hard work of our counselors and clients, people are getting jobs and achieving their dreams.”
During his administration, Governor Brownback has stressed self-reliance and the benefits of work. He thanked the counselors in attendance for their role in empowering Kansans with disabilities to achieve and maintain employment.
“We work with people with a wide-variety of obstacles to employment,” said Jeanette Suther, a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Hutchinson. “Whether it’s physical, emotional, psychological, we help them to recognize their abilities, their capabilities, their strengths and their interests. Then we help them find the right environment to maximize their employment.”
Suther said she may work with a client for just a few months, or for several years. Sometimes clients have success in a career field and then return for help in a different position. She estimated that in her 21 years with DCF (formerly Social Rehabilitative Services), she has assisted more than 3,000 individuals in their journey to self-reliance and career advancement.
DCF employs 65 counselors who provided services for 12,114 Kansans in State Fiscal Year 2015. Donnelly can personally attest to the impact of vocational rehabilitation services.
“When I was finishing up high school, I loved carpentry, particularly cabinet making, and I was about to go into work as a builder,” said Donnelly. “But I broke my back in a swimming accident, and that ended my chance to work in that field. But fortunately a rehab counselor came along and said ‘now while you can’t go exactly in that direction, there are still many things you can do.’ And that person helped me to develop new skills and learn how to work in different environments than I had prepared for.”
Tour the new Ellis County Emergency Services building with EMS Director Kerry McCue.
Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation, Kansas National Guard, will fly missions on Saturday, March 26, to support firefighting efforts in south central Kansas, according to a media release.
Each Black Hawk is manned by a 4-person crew, and will be equipped with a 660 gallon Bambi bucket, which can scoop water from local water sources to dump on the flames. In addition to the aircraft, the 108th is sending a fuel tanker truck and another ground support vehicle with 2 crewmembers each.
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management continues to monitor the grass fires and is coordinating resources. The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka is activated at a 24-hour watch level.
Current estimates indicate approximately 300,000 acres have been burned. No injuries or fatalities have been reported as a result of the fires, but five homes have been destroyed along with multiple outbuildings and an unknown number of livestock have been lost. Two bridges in Barber County have also been reported destroyed.
Barber, Comanche, Harvey and Reno Counties have all issued state of local disaster emergency declarations and Gov. Sam Brownback signed a State of Disaster Emergency declaration March 23 for all affected counties. The state requested and was granted a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant for Barber and Comanche Counties.
A cold front moving through the area will bring cooler temperatures and breezy conditions today. Areas of light rain will lift and move North this afternoon leaving mostly cloudy skies and a high temperature in the upper 40s.
Sunday will start with clear skies and cold morning temperatures in the mid 20s. Mild and sunny conditions are expected Sunday afternoon, with high temperatures in the lower 60s.
Today: A chance of morning showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 13 to 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. North wind 7 to 14 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 61. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 33. South southwest wind around 8 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Breezy.
By MEGAN HART
Federal officials may halt Medicare funding to an Emporia hospital because a mental health patient was discharged too soon — an incident that hospital officials say resulted in part from a lack of mental health beds in Kansas.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a follow-up visit March 10 at Newman Regional Health to determine if it had corrected the lapse in procedure that led to a patient being improperly discharged in September. CMS has not made results of the follow-up visit public.
If the hospital has corrected the violation, it will continue to receive Medicare payments. Otherwise, it could lose those payments. Newman also could lose its Medicaid funding, as CMS requires the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to halt those payments when a facility is decertified.
An inspection report from CMS cited the case of a person, identified only as patient #1, who sought treatment Sept. 24, 2015, at Newman’s emergency department for chest pain and thoughts of suicide.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CMS INSPECTION REPORT FOR NEWMAN
A staff member from the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas determined the patient qualified for inpatient mental health treatment, and a physician at Newman contacted three unidentified hospitals that provide inpatient psychiatric treatment to try to find a place for the patient, according to CMS. The three hospitals declined to take the patient because of a lack of space and because the chest pain could have indicated a cardiac condition.
Newman hospital staff conducted suicide checks on the patient until the next afternoon, when the patient was discharged with the understanding that a staff member from the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas would take the patient to one of the hospitals the Newman physician had contacted earlier. Staff told CMS the arrangement was unusual, because they didn’t fill out the typical paperwork for a transfer in this instance.
According to the report, a staff member from the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas told CMS the hospital where the patient was taken hadn’t been notified and didn’t have a bed available in its psychiatric unit. The report didn’t specify what happened to the patient after the botched transfer.
Federal law prohibits hospitals from discharging a patient with an unstable emergency medical condition, which would include signs of cardiac trouble or severe psychiatric problems. They can transfer an unstable patient to a facility capable of treating the patient if the benefits of treatment at a different facility outweigh the risks of the transfer.
A statement from Newman CEO Robert Wright said the hospital is taking steps to comply with CMS and will continue to treat Medicare patients. Decertification means that federal authorities won’t pay for care to Medicare patients but doesn’t forbid a hospital from providing care to those patients.
“We have fully cooperated with CMS and developed a plan of action,” Wright said in the statement, which was issued March 17.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STATEMENT FROM NEWMAN CEO ROBERT WRIGHT
In the statement, Wright noted a shortage of mental health beds and other mental health services, particularly in rural Kansas. He also cited an admissions moratorium at Osawatomie State Hospital during renovations under way due to CMS concerns about patient safety.
“As a result of a waiting list for inpatient psychiatric beds, which has persisted since at least June of last year in Kansas, many rural hospitals like ours are in the position of trying to care for mental health patients in emergency rooms and other inpatient and outpatient settings not intended for that purpose while waiting for the next available psychiatric bed,” Wright said in the statement.
Osawatomie, which is about 70 miles east of Emporia, is one of two state-run inpatient facilities for Kansans with severe or persistent mental illness. The other is in Larned.
Wright said the hospital has hired a consultant to assess its policies and clarified which psychiatric symptoms constitute an emergency medical condition that would prevent a person from being discharged. It also clarified how the mental health center and hospital should communicate and trained employees on discharge requirements.
The hospital declined to comment on its corrections beyond the statement.
Cindy Samuelson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Hospital Association, said several hospitals have been affected by capacity problems in the state’s mental health system. She said officials at several member hospitals have reported that mental health patients are having to wait in their emergency departments — some for days — for an inpatient psychiatric bed to open.
She said she hadn’t heard of CMS investigating other hospitals for housing mental health patients in emergency departments, but that small hospitals with fewer resources have had more difficulty serving those patients.
Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
RILEY COUNTY – A Kansas woman died in an accident just before 11p.m. on Friday in Riley County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Honda CRV driven by Shelly J. Moore, 50, Manhattan, eastbound on U.S. 24 three miles west of Manhattan.
The vehicle left the roadway, struck an embankment, vaulted, overturned landing on its roof.
Moore was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Irvin-Parkview Funeral Home.
She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
By Jessica Larson
KU Statehouse Wire Service
TOPEKA – Kansas lawmakers sent a school funding bill to Gov. Sam Brownback before they adjourned Thursday for a four-week break.
The House and Senate budget committees advanced their versions of a revised education budget Wednesday. The Senate passed the budget bill with a 32-5 vote, while the House approved the measure 93-31.
The revisions are in response to the Kansas Supreme Court’s February ruling on the current means and methods for equalization of funding to school districts. The court ruled the state’s plan to use block grants to fund schools was unconstitutional because of a requirement for poorer districts to impose higher property taxes in order to raise adequate funding.
Republican leaders in the Senate discussed using language that could arguably send a message to the Supreme Court. Members said the bill “fully complies with the Supreme Court’s order” for revision.
Sen. Laura Kelly, D–Topeka, who is on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said she doubted the court would appreciate the language.
“I certainly appreciate all the editorializing we put into the bill today. I’ve never seen that happen before,” Kelly told the committee Wednesday. “I do believe that this is cobbled together in the hopes that the court, which probably doesn’t want to shut the schools down either, will say this is good enough.”
In its February ruling, the court said if lawmakers do not have a sound budget by July 1, it would close public schools until lawmakers produce a constitutional budget for adequate education funding. July 1 is the first day of the next fiscal year.
Edited by Leah Sitz
