By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The Ellis County Courthouse will open for business this week.

After spending more than a year at the former NEW building, court staff completed the move last week back into the courthouse, and court services will begin at the newly remodeled courthouse this week.

At Monday’s commission meeting, Chair Dean Haselhorst said the court is 100-percent complete and was ready to open Tuesday but because of the winter storm it will open later this week.

Haselhorst thanked all the personnel for their help during the move.

The company contracted to finish the jail floor is expected to begin work later this week. It is scheduled to take about a week according to Haselhorst. After talking about the bids at a prior meeting, the commission officially accepted a bid with Treadwell for $38,972.

Haselhorst told the commission the contractors already had been scheduled to begin the project on Thursday.

The Public Building Commission approved three change orders for the courthouse construction. Haselhorst, the construction liaison, said all three are credits back to the county. Haselhorst said there have been 70 proposed change orders on the jail/courthouse project, and they have only approved 47.

The commission approved the Public Works Department to hire four new employees. Three of the positions will be for truck drivers with the possibility of a fourth truck driver or an equipment operator.

Fire Chief Darin Myers asked the commission to weigh in on the department’s facial hair policy. Myers said in the past one person was forced to retire because he would not shave his beard. Myers said the policy he wants enforced is that facial hair cannot impede an air mask.

Commissioners Haselhorst and Marcy McClelland agreed they need to enforce the policy currently in place.

A representative from the Munjor Church asked the county to look into reopening the street between the school and the church for parking. The representative and Interim Public Works Director Curt Hoffman will talk about the possibility of opening the road.

Appraiser Lisa Ree informed the commission the county received the 2016 oil price for county valuation. Ree said this year’s oil valuation will be between $24 and $27. Last year’s oil price was $34 to $38.

BUNKER HILL – Few things capture a child’s imagination like a good book.  We would like to invite you to join Smoky Hills Public Television as we encourage children in central and western Kansas to build critical literacy skills by creating their own stories and taking part in the SHPTV PBS Kids Writers Contest.

Smoky Hills Public Television is looking for stories from kids throughout the viewing area. The SHPTV PBS Kids Writers Contest is designed to be a valuable, hands-on, active learning tool.  The contest is for children in grades K-3.

The contest is currently underway, and entries can be submitted to SHPTV through April 1. Smoky Hills Public Television will select local winners and award prizes in April or May. The rules and entry form are available at www.smokyhillstv.org.

By Randy Gonzales
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Fort Hays State University is not only building an entrepreneurial scholarship residence hall on campus. The university also hopes to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among those students selected to live there.

Who knows, the next Steve Jobs or Phil Knight might come up with the next big thing late one night while living in Dane G. Hansen Scholarship Hall.

“Our job is to provide the wisdom to our students so then they can have meaningful careers so they can impact the human condition,” FHSU President Mirta M. Martin said. “A meaningful career doesn’t mean you have to go work for somebody; a meaningful career means you can go create your own dream.”

Students from any academic major at FHSU interested in entrepreneurship may apply for acceptance to the scholarship hall. Those who are accepted will be required to complete the 12 hours necessary for a certificate in entrepreneurship.

Ideal candidates have two years of academic coursework remaining. Undergraduate students must be enrolled in 12 hours and graduate students enrolled in a minimum of nine hours per semester. Undergraduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.50, and graduate students’ cumulative GPA must be 3.0.

Students in the new scholarship hall will have a reduced rate. The cost savings will depend on where the student is currently living. For example, a student living in a suite at Tiger Place on campus would currently pay $4,729 for the academic year. The projected cost for a U.S. resident living in the new scholarship hall is $1,575, a savings of $3,154. The projected cost for an international student residing in the new hall is $3,150, which would be a savings of $1,579 over Tiger Place. The scholarship is renewable for a second year.

Go to https://webapps.fhsu.edu/scholarshiphall/default.aspx to apply for admittance to the Dane G. Hansen Scholarship Hall. The deadline for applications is Monday, Feb 29, 2016. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by Friday, March 4. If accepted, applicants will be required to complete all Residential Life applications and paperwork for the scholarship hall by Monday, March 21.

“I’m really excited to recruit students to be the inaugural class of that entrepreneurship hall, and I can’t wait to see the incredible genius that these creative young minds are going to come up with and the incredible businesses they are going to dream about,” Martin said.

FHSU broke ground on the 12,775-square-foot building in October. The three-story scholarship hall will have bedrooms for 32 entrepreneur-minded students and a resident assistant. The $3.95 million building will be funded by a $3 million donation from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Logan as well as other private donations.

“To me, this entrepreneurship hall that is going to become a reality this August because of the generosity of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, only exemplifies that distinctiveness, that entrepreneurial spirit, that innovation here at Fort Hays State,” Martin said.

The hall is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2016 fall semester. It will be located on campus just east of a new 400-bed residence hall that will replace Wiest Hall.

“We’re excited about having a facility that will open doors for students and have a positive impact on this region and Kansas and the larger world,” said Dr. Mark Bannister, dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

The scholarship hall will include a community room equipped with the latest teaching and learning technologies as well as innovative spaces that stimulate teamwork. It will also provide an incubator environment for student-based start-up businesses.

“People from other universities are very impressed with what we are doing,” Bannister said. “We’re seen as a national leader in building a learning environment for entrepreneurship.”

Hansen Hall will be the first of its kind among Kansas Board of Regents institutions. When completed, it is believed it will be one of a handful of such residence halls in the nation.

“We have been known to have an entrepreneurial spirit; to me it’s even more than that,” Martin said. “For me, it’s having the vision and the ability to dream and then the heart and effort and the work ethic to make it a reality.”

Bannister drew a distinction between FHSU’s entrepreneur residence hall and others he’s familiar with.

“Other universities that are doing this are actually charging additional housing costs to live in this special type of environment, instead of a discounted scholarship for students living in an entrepreneurship environment,” Bannister said. “That’s one of the unique attributes, besides the gathering of students with an interest in entrepreneurship.”

The entrepreneurship scholarship hall is part of $88 million dedicated toward new construction over the next three years, Martin said. It’s all part of making FHSU a destination of choice, providing programs of distinction and having people of excellence.

“We are building 21st-century facilities built with 21st-century technologies to be able to educate the 21st-century leader,” Martin said.

Today Increasing clouds, with a high near 28. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph.

Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as -1. West wind around 8 mph.

ThursdaySunny, with a high near 35. Wind chill values as low as -2. West wind 8 to 13 mph.

Thursday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 16. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.

FridayMostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Light west wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Friday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 18.

SaturdaySunny, with a high near 41.

Saturday NightMostly clear, with a low around 25.

SundayMostly sunny, with a high near 41.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

At the USD 489 work session Monday night, the board directed its attorney, Bill Jeter, to submit a petition and signature collection form to Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees. The form begins the process to allow the board to collect signatures and place a sales tax issue before voters.

The sales tax would help fund a $94 million plan to upgrade schools throughout the district.

The signatures are required to put the sales tax question to voters after the Hays City Commission declined to put the question to voters at their work-session on Jan. 8.

The board will need to collect around 1,200 signature in order to put the question on the ballot, but even then it will not be guaranteed to be at the same time as the bond election, as the city commission has the power to require the election to occur during the next election in which the city is participating.

The earliest that might occur would be August 2017, Jeter told board members.

If the board fails to collect the signatures required for the sales tax initiative, the bond election would still be held, but the bond would be fully financed through property taxes.

“I don’t think anyone here would say they don’t prefer the (sales tax) option, but the timeline is the only thing that is very relevant,” board member Luke Oborny said.

The petition and signature form will be given to Drees as early as Tuesday, but state statutes provide five days for Drees to act.

“If he doesn’t act in five days, it will be approved,” Jeter said.

Even if the board collects the required signatures, they will need to be verified by the county election officer, a process that could take up to four weeks.

“We would have to be really proactive,” said Superintendent Dean Katt, in order to get the signatures to the Hays City Commission in time to have a June 7 bond election with a sales tax initiative attached.

The last meeting the Hays City Commission will host to meet that timeline is March 17.

The Board is hopeful the petition will be ready for signatures before the first of a series of town hall meetings, set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at O’Loughlin Elementary, 1401 Hall.

A full schedule for the meetings — and presentation materials — have been made available on the USD 489 website at www.usd489.com/?p=5174.

In the meantime, the administration is directing any group or business that would like a presentation to be made to contact Sarah Wasinger, board clerk, at (785) 623-2400, Ext. 112, or by email at [email protected].