Jacob Patrick, Elizabeth, Colo., a second-year master’s student at Fort Hays State University, received an Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the American College Personnel Association’s College Student Educators International.
Patrick is the graduate assistant for new student programs and community standards in the Office of Transition and Student Conduct. This award recognizes Patrick for his contributions to the admissions, orientation, and first-year experience programs at FHSU.
HARVEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey continue to search for a suspect involved in the chase of a stolen car that left two officers with injuries.
On Friday, the Harvey County Sheriff released a photo of some of the weapons and ammunition recovered from the stolen car.
Authorities reported they have a suspect of interest developed who they know through past history has a habit of doing drugs and drinking.
Those combinations of drug use, alcohol consumption and firearms are never a good thing, according to Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton
Just after 10p.m. on Tuesday, two law enforcement officers were injured in the accident during a pursuit.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Harvey County Sheriff 2015 Chevy Tahoe driven by Deputy James Slickers, 43, Halstead, followed by a Kansas Highway Patrol 2015 Dodge Charger driven by Trooper Joseph Owen, 33, Newton, were southbound on Hertzler Road four miles west of Sedgwick attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle.
Stolen vehicle from Tuesday’s chase -photo Harvey County Sheriff
Sheriff Deputies had responded to multiple vehicle burglaries in the 2300 block of N. Oliver Road. While speaking with the victims of the burglaries a call came out of another burglary occurring at the Newton City/County Airport.
Deputies approaching the area observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed away from the airport. Deputies pursued the vehicle, a Ford Escape stolen from Butler County.
During the course of the chase, the driver threw numerous objects from the vehicle including a shot gun, rifle, and paperwork belonging to the earlier reported vehicle burglaries. The driver avoided three sets of spike sticks placed at various locations in Harvey County. Speeds reached 100 mph.
When the suspect’s vehicle slowed to turn onto Southwest 84th, the Charger rear-ended the Tahoe.
The collision caused the Deputy’s vehicle to spin into a ditch and hit a telephone pole. The Trooper’s vehicle was disabled on the roadway.
Slickers and Owen were transported to Newton Medical Center with minor injuries.
The chase continued into Sedgwick County where Deputies lost sight of the suspect vehicle in the area of Tyler and 77th.
A citizen called to report a vehicle in a field at 73rd and Ridge road. The vehicle was the Ford Escape that had been in the chase. The driver of the vehicle was not located. Inside the Ford Escape were numerous weapons and stolen property, including a $14,000 airplane prop from the earlier burglaries.
The case has been turned over to the Harvey County Sheriff Investigators for follow up and documentation of all stolen property.
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HARVEY COUNTY – Two law enforcement officers were injured in an accident during a pursuit just after 10p.m. on Tuesday in Harvey County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Harvey County Sheriff 2015 Chevy Tahoe driven by Deputy James Slickers, 43, Halstead, followed by a Kansas Highway Patrol 2015 Dodge Charger driven by Trooper Joseph Owen, 33, Newton, were southbound on Hertzler Road four miles west of Sedgwick attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle.
When the suspect’s vehicle slowed to turn onto Southwest 84th, the Charge rear-ended the Tahoe.
Slickers and Owen were transported to Newton Medical Center with minor injuries. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
The Gove County Medical Center will host a fundraising talent show on April 2, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Quinter High School Auditorium. Proceeds will purchase patient care items for the Long Term Care Facility.
There is no charge for the event, but free will donations will be accepted at the door. Tickets to win door prizes will be available for $1.00/ticket or 6 for $5.00. Door Prize Baskets will be on display at the Gove County Medical Center from March 28-April 1st. Winners will be announced at the talent show.
If you are interested in performing at the talent show, please e-mail Doreen Wente at [email protected] or call at 785-769-4853.
There is no fee to enter.
If you are interested in sponsoring the show, please contact Carolyn Nelson at cnelson@govecountymedicalcenter or 785-754-3341 xt 5261. Bronze sponsors provide $50-100.00; Silver sponsors $100.00 – $250.00 and Gold Sponsors $250.00 or more. Platinum sponsorship is also available for gifts of $500.00 or more.
The talent show is a family friendly event. Thank you for your support of the Gove County Medical Center Long Term Care Facility.
WICHITA,- A Wichita woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in a sex trafficking case in which a 17-year-old girl was the victim, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.
Natasha L. Harper, 33, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of transporting the girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.
In her plea, Harper admitted she transported the girl from Kansas to Michigan, Illinois and Iowa and back to Kansas so the girl could engage in sex acts for money. Harper, who placed ads on an adult Web site offering the girl’s services, received part of the money.
Sentencing is set for July 7, 2016. The parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 90 months in federal prison followed by 10 years on supervised release. Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for his work on the case.
It’s as simple as putting one step in front of another. That’s the idea behind Walk Kansas, an eight-week program that starts April 3, designed to promote activity, good nutrition and better health. Even Kansans who are not routinely active find Walk Kansas to be an easy way to get moving.
The low-cost fitness program attracted over 16,000 participants across the state last year. It has also become a popular worksite wellness program in Kansas with many employers encouraging– or sponsoring– employees to participate. Last year, more than 300 people participated in Ellis County and logged enough miles to circle the globe 1.7 times.
Groups of six people, one serving as a captain, work together toward a common goal – typically to exercise at least 150 minutes per person per week. Though the team does not actually walk across Kansas, by exercising 150 minutes per week a team of six people would be able to cover the 423-mile distance across Kansas in eight weeks.
Teams that want a greater challenge can choose to (figuratively) walk a new meandering diagonal route across the state, which totals 750 miles and requires about 4 hours of exercise per team member per week. A third challenge is to walk the equivalent of the perimeter of Kansas – 1,200 miles – with each person on a team logging six hours of exercise per week.
The cost to participate is $8 per person which covers weekly newsletters, extra group activities and statewide program support. Optional Walk Kansas apparel can be ordered at an additional cost.
Register your team by March 24; walking begins April 3 through May 28. Teams can be registered on the newly-updated Walk Kansas website at www.walkkansas.org. Captains should initiate the process by registering the team first, then team members will receive an automatic email invitation to join the online team. Paper registration materials are also available at the Extension Office, 601 Main Street in Hays, or online at www.ellis.ksu.edu under “Health and Nutrition.”
Team members record minutes of exercise and cups of fruits and vegetables eaten each day. They can also track strengthening exercises and water consumption, if desired, and each team member can report his/her own totals on the new Walk Kansas website themselves. Or they can report weekly totals to their captain to report once a week for the whole team. The website converts minutes of exercise into miles. Teams can track their progress across or around the state on the website map.
Physical activity can be done individually or in groups, on a treadmill at home, in your neighborhood, or at a gym – whatever works for each individual. Although walking is easy for most people, any activity can count for Walk Kansas as long as it is done at a moderate to vigorous level for at least 10 consecutive minutes at a time. So, if you play basketball, ride a bike, do water aerobics or hoe in the garden, Walk Kansas is still a great fit for you.
Team members who wear an activity tracker (such as a wrist tracker or pedometer) can start counting steps for Walk Kansas after they reach the threshold of 6,000 steps in a day. Report 15 minutes of Walk Kansas activity for every 2,000 steps taken above 6,000.
Health experts know that exercising controls weight, reduces risk of premature death from heart disease, helps to alleviate arthritis, reduces the risk of diabetes, decreases blood pressure, helps older adults become stronger and remain independent, helps lower cholesterol levels, decreases anxiety and helps to alleviate depression. Physician Robert H. Butler once said, “If exercise could be purchased in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.”
For more information or help to register your Walk Kansas team, contact the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main Street, Suite A, Hays, 785-628-9430.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
Starting Monday, weather permitting, the Kansas Department of Transportation will close a portion of U.S. 83 in Sheridan County. The closure is necessary for the reconstruction of an 11-mile stretch from the Thomas County line to the K-23 junction.
Traffic will be detoured using U.S. 24 and K-23 for the duration of the project. KDOT expects the road to be reopened by Sept. 30, 2016.
Venture Corporation of Great Bend is the primary contractor for the project with a total contract cost of $15.2 million. The project is funded under T-WORKS, the statewide transportation program approved by the Kansas legislature in 2010.
KDWPT
GREAT BEND – Come “taste” the outdoors with outdoors writer/photographer Michael Pearce at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center (KWEC), 592 NE K-156 Hwy, Great Bend. Pearce will present “Savoring the Kansas Outdoors, One Bite at a Time” at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 13. The event is free.
Attendees will have the opportunity to taste some of Pearce’s wild game cooking, prepared with recipes included in Michael Pearce’s Taste of the Kansas Outdoors Cookbook, a book he published with the Wichita Eagle in 2014. During the program, Pearce will conduct cooking demonstrations and share game cooked with some of his favorite recipes for tasting.
The book features 53 recipes for Kansas wild game, more than 100 photos and a selection of stories that have appeared on his Wichita Eagle Outdoors Page. Recipes include everything from venison and elk to turkey and fish, with tantalizing titles: Venison Pumpkin Chili, Grilled Walleye Ribeyes with Lime and Rock Chalk Gobbler Gumbo. The book was named a prestigious “Notable Book of Kansas” by the state library association.
As the outdoors writer at The Wichita Eagle since 2000, Pearce has written about a wide variety of outdoor topics from catching crayfish at Cheyenne Bottoms to reporting on political issues that threatened Kansas wildlife and outdoor traditions. Before his days at the Eagle, Pearce frequently contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Outdoor Life and scores of other publications for 19 years.
For more information, contact the KWEC at (620) 566-1456.
Dense fog is expected to form early this morning as low level moisture pushes northwest into a cooler airmass. Visibility is forecast to fall to one-quarter mile or less in some areas. A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect until 10am.
A more unsettled weather pattern is expected this weekend into next week, bringing a slight chance for precipitation to the area. While not expected to be widespread, a few thunderstorms late Sunday afternoon and again Monday night cannot be ruled out. A gradual warming trend is expected this weekend into Monday.
Today: Areas of dense fog between 7am and 10am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 61. Light south southeast wind becoming south 12 to 17 mph in the morning.
Tonight: A slight chance of showers between 7pm and 8pm. Cloudy, with a low around 47. South southeast wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7am and 9am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Light and variable wind becoming south 8 to 13 mph in the morning.
HPV vaccination rates in Missouri and Kansas lag behind the nation as a whole. CREDIT MIKE SHERRY / HEARTLAND HEALTHMONITOR
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common of all sexually transmitted infections, with more than 100 different types. It causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, and to a lesser extent is to blame for several other cancers, including mouth and throat.
A three-dose vaccine significantly reduces the chances of contracting an HPV-related cancer, especially when it’s given to adolescent boys and girls before they become sexually active.
But because some parents worry that the HPV vaccination will give their kids the green light to have sex, public health professionals are focusing less on how the virus is transmitted and more on the cancer-prevention aspect of the vaccine.
A Wednesday afternoon panel discussion in Kansas City, sponsored by the Mid America Immunization Coalition, highlighted many of the efforts underway to boost HPV vaccination rates in Missouri and Kansas, both of which lag behind the nation as a whole when it comes to fully vaccinating adolescent males and females.
According survey data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in July, only about a quarter of adolescent females in Kansas and Missouri had completed the full regimen. The national average was 40 percent, although that was still well below the rate sought by public health advocates.
There are dollars flowing into Missouri and Kansas to help increase HPV vaccination rates, said Regina Weir, an official with the immunization coalition. She said the community must think beyond grant cycles.
“As we all know, with funding, it will last for 15 months, two years, and then it’s gone, and then we are kind of back to where we were,” Weir said. “That was one of the reasons for bringing everybody together and sharing all of what we are doing right now, and stressing the important piece of where are we going from here.”
One positive indicator, reported by Stephanie Lambert-Barth of the Kansas HPV Vaccination Project: She said that orders for HPV vaccines through a federal program that helps low-income families get vaccinations increased 15 percent last year in Kansas, whereas orders nationally increased by less than 1 percent.
Other initiatives underway:
A two-day meeting scheduled for later this month in Kansas City, convened by the Jackson County Health Department through a $35,000 grant it received late last year to help boost HPV vaccination rates. Project coordinator Carol Roberson said the meeting will bring together about 25 representatives from different organizations to help develop an action plan.
Efforts by the Kansas City Infectious Diseases Community Coalition Board, a partnership that includes academic researchers, patients, parents, and health care providers. One idea is to catch high school students on their way to college when they no longer need parental permission for the vaccine, said coalition member Andrea Bradley-Ewing of Children’s Mercy Hospital. “A late vaccination is better than no vaccination at all,” she said.
An HPV vaccination summit the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hopes to convene this summer.
Mike Sherry is a reporter for KCPT television in Kansas City, Mo., a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
TOPEKA–State Fire Marshal Doug Jorgensen and his staff remind all Kansans this Sunday, March 13, is the day to “Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries.”
By routinely changing the batteries in smoke detectors at the same time they adjust their clocks for daylight savings time, Kansans can safeguard the lives of their loved ones. To be even safer, the Office of the State Fire Marshal recommends installing smoke alarms powered by long-life sealed lithium batteries.
“Your risk of dying in a fire is greatly reduced when your home is equipped with working smoke alarms,” said Jorgensen. “Having smoke detectors with dead batteries is no different than having no smoke detectors at all. When you change your clocks, take the time to protect your family by changing the batteries on your smoke detectors and testing them to make sure they are in proper working order.”
According to data collected through the Kansas Fire Incident Reporting System (KFIRS), over the past five years 39% of structure fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly OKincreases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.
To protect your home, follow these smoke alarm safety tips:
Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home, including in the basement.
Smoke alarms with non-replaceable (long-life) batteries are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years. If the alarm chirps, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.
For smoke alarms with any other type of battery, replace batteries at least once a year. If that alarm chirps, replace only the battery. Date each unit when they are installed and replace them after ten years – or sooner if they don’t successfully pass the test by sounding the alarm when the Test button is pressed.
In addition to changing smoke alarm batteries, it is also a good idea to practice a family escape plan:
Plan and practice two escape routes out of every room in your house.
Designate an outside meeting place.
In case of fire, call 9-1-1 once you are safely outside your home.
Once outside, stay outside and don’t return for anything – not even a pet.
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped 9 this week to 480, a record low and another sign of continuing price woes in the oil and gas industry.
Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 386 rigs sought oil and 94 explored for natural gas. A year ago, 1,125 rigs were active.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 12 rigs, Oklahoma lost three, New Mexico lost two and North Dakota and Ohio lost one.
Louisiana and Pennsylvania each gained three rigs, Kansas gained two and California and Utah each gained one.
Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, West Virginia and Wyoming all were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It previously bottomed out at 488 in 1999.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL Class 1A – DivisionI
Centralia 54, Hanover 44
Osborne 43, Victoria 33 Class 1A – Division II Hartford 41, St. John’s-Beloit 38
Attica 54, Logan 41 Class 2A Jackson Heights 58, Hill City 48
Salina Sacred Heart 62, Central Plains 52 Class3A Osage City 74, Southeast of Saline 45
Sabetha 40, Garden Plain 32 Class 4A – Division I Bishop Miege 62, Paola 56
McPherson 74, Andover Central 68 Class 4A – Division II Wichita Collegiate 50, Girard 44 Hugoton 50, Rock Creek 44
Class 5A Mill Valley 65, KC Washington 37
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 71, Highland Park 69, OT Class 6A
Wichita Southeast 74, Lawrence 61
Shawnee Mission North 54, Blue Valley Northwest 42
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Class 1A – Division I Waverly 45, St. Paul 35
Centralia 45, Hoxie 30
Class 1A – Division II Dighton 47, Wetmore 36
Axtell 52, Ingalls 29 Class 2A Central Plains 53, Hill City 47
Olpe 46, Valley Falls 34 Class 3A Silver Lake 61, TMP-Marian 44
Sabetha 50, Sterling 43 Class 4A – DivisionI
Bishop Miege 64, Labette County 46
Paola 64, Wellington 51 Class 4A – Division II Clay Center 53, Hugoton 42
Topeka Hayden 50, Girard 37 Class 5A St. Thomas Aquinas 48, Salina Central 39
Leavenworth 54, Bishop Carroll 36 Class6A
Wichita South 43, Olathe East 36
Shawnee Mission Northwest 38, Olathe South 36
Dense fog is expected to form early this morning as low level moisture pushes northwest into a cooler airmass. Visibility is forecast to fall to one-quarter mile or less in some areas. A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect until 10am.
OSFM
BOYS’ BASKETBALL