By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

A short agenda for the Hays city commission work session tonight.

Commissioners will hear an annual report from NCKTech president Eric Burks about operation of the North Central Kansas Technical College Big Creek Technical Training Center.

The Center is housed at 101 S. Main Street in cooperation with the city of Hays.

Kim Rupp, Director of Finance, will present the 2015 Comprehensive Financial Management Policy Review.

The work session begins at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main Street.

See the complete agenda here.

HPD

On Feb. 17, at approximately 4:18 p.m., the Hays Police Department received a report of a domestic disturbance in the 500 block of West 17th Street.

Officers responded to the area and learned that Rodney L. Walters, Hays, was armed with a rifle and had made threats to harm himself and others. Officers from the Hays Police Department, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol established a perimeter around the house, and attempts to talk Walters out of the house were unsuccessful.

The Thomas More Prep-Marian High School was locked down as a precautionary matter. The Hays Police Department later assisted in escorting students and staff off the school grounds.

The Hays Police Department Special Situation Response Team, along with resources from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, were called to the scene. At approximately 8:45 p.m., the SSRT entered into the residence and arrested Walters for criminal threat and criminal use of a firearm. No one was injured during the incident.

The Hays Police Department is grateful for the patience and the assistance of the community throughout this incident.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Record warm temperatures will blanket much of western and central Kansas on Thursday.

Meteorologist Ray Burgert with the National Weather Service in Dodge City said a dry-line will move across western Kansas. Behind that dry-line, temperatures will soar into the 70s and 80s Thursday afternoon.

Burgert said it is not unusual in February to see a warm-up at this time of year before a cold front returns to the central plains.

“The warm-up during either late January or into February is not completely unusual,” said Burgert. But the “warmth is.”

Part of the warm-up will include windy conditions, Burgert said, noting wind gusts up to 40 and 45 mph can be expected in the Hays area.

The high temperatures combined with the heat and dry conditions will create an increased fire danger. Counties from west Texas and southeast New Mexico through eastern Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and western Missouri and northwest Arkansas are all under a red flag warning on Thursday.

A red flag warning means that critical fire conditions are occurring and outdoor burning should not be postponed.

A weak cold front is expected to move into the region Friday, and temperatures are expected to return to near normal, around 50 this weekend and at the beginning of next week.

Chris Stegman has been named the most recent Covenant Builders Hometown Hero.

He will be honored at Thursday’s Fort Hays State University basketball games, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

From his nomination form:

“Chris has served in the Army Reserves and was deployed to Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm in 1990. After getting back to the United States, he rejoined the Ellis County Rural Fire Department, which he had originally joined in 1989, and was the Chief of Company 5 until he got hired by City of Hays Fire Department in 1998. He has worked his way up through the ranks and is now the Captain of the Hays Fire Department. He’s a life member at the Veteran of Foreign War Post #9076 and has served and still continues to serve as the Commander on the Post level.”