Larry Kaufman, 82, of Wilson, Kansas, died on Thursday, January 12, 2017, at his home in Wilson, Kansas.
Larry was born on July 15, 1934, in Russell County, Kansas, the son of Frank and Mollie (Schultz) Kaufman. He grew up in the Dorrance and Bunker Hill areas and graduated from Dorrance High School. He attended Brown Mackie College before going into the United States Army Infantry, where he served in Germany. After serving his country, he attended Emporia State College and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education. For the majority of his career, he taught business at Belleville High School where he also sponsored the junior classes. He loved being a teacher. After retirement, he spent many years taking care of his mother, gardening at his farm and visiting with family.
Surviving family include his sister in-law Alice Kaufman of Wilson, Kansas; nephews Russell Kaufman of Wichita, Kansas and Roger Kaufman (Patty) of New Braunfels, Texas; niece Teresa Hart (Barry) of Bonner Springs, Kansas; great nephews and nieces Trent, Tim, Alice and John Kaufman, Wendy Allen and Tracy Anderson. Larry’s family also included 10 great-great nieces and nephews which he greatly enjoyed.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Francis and Gene Kaufman and an infant sister.
A private family burial will take place at the Wilson Cemetery in Wilson, Kansas. A public memorial service will take place at a later date and time. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.
Logan resident Patricia Ann Schandler passed away January 14 at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, KS at the age of 81. She was born Jan. 26, 1935 in Kansas City, MO.She was the daughter of Frank & Marie (Glennemeier) Riemann.
Survivors include her husband Eugene of the home; her son Tom of Logan and 2 grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m. in the St. John’s Catholic Church, Logan, with Father George Chalbhagam officiating.Burial will follow in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Logan.
Visitation will be from noon to 9:00 Friday at the funeral home.
A Rosary will be held Friday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Logan Funeral Home.
Farmers and ranchers are currently experiencing one of the biggest downturns in history with many parallels to the 1980s, and commodity outlooks remain pessimistic into the future.
The Ellis County Extension Office is hosting the “Top 10 Considerations to Navigate a Struggling Farm Economy” program on Monday, February 6th in Hays at the K-State Ag Research Center in Hays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The focus of the program will be on several different topics to start thinking critically about how the farm operation might withstand these hard times, and to provide the decision framework of how to evaluate what viable options or opportunities exist to become more efficient and to strengthen the farm business.
Some of the topics of discussion are: Overview of the Farm Financial Situation, Cost of Production for Crops & Livestock, Maintaining Working Capital & Restructuring Debt, How Long Can I Afford to Lose Money on Rented Ground, and more.
The RSVP and $15 registration fee are due by Monday, January 30th.
To register, call the Ellis County Extension Office by January 30th at (785) 628-9430.
Approximate location of Sunday’s fatal shooting in Winfield-google map
COWLEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Cowley County are investigating a Kansas man for the murder of his wife.
Just after 6:30p.m. on Sunday, police responded to report of a shooting at a home in the 500 Block of East 4th Avenue in Winfield, according to a media release.
First responders found the victim identified as 33-year-old Melissa Gardner.
Police arrested Zachary Gardner, 32, and booked him into the Cowley County Jail on requested charges of second-degree murder.
Cowley County Dispatch reported additional details may be released on Monday afternoon.
The first week of the 2017 session saw all members being sworn in and Governor Brownback delivering his sixth State of the State Address. There were also numerous bill introductions and the start of finding ways to make up for the budget deficit for the remaining fiscal year. Tough decisions will be made and one of the underlying themes in this legislative session is “compromise”, so I am not expecting to get everything I would like, but am hopeful a package will be agreed upon which does not derail any positives in the economy.
On Wednesday, Shawn Sullivan, Director of the Division of the Budget, presented the Governor’s Budget Recommendations to a joint meeting of the House Appropriations and House Taxation Committees. The stated goals, of the Governor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 and FY 2019 budget proposal, are to protect core services, gain additional efficiencies and achieve structural balance with more ongoing revenue than ongoing expenditures. Additionally, the Governor’s budget met a goal of having an ending balance greater than 7.5 percent in FY 2019.
The Governor is addressing the FY 2017 budget in a rescission bill [HB 2052]. The bill makes revenue adjustments, including transferring $317 million from the Pooled Money Investment Board (PMIB) to the State General Fund (SGF). Expenditures are also adjusted, including not funding the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) at the approved FY 2017 level. The Governor’s FY 2017 budget contains an ending balance of $99.6 million.
The FY 2018 and 2019 budgets will be addressed in a separate appropriations bill. The proposal includes transfers from other funds, securitization of the 1998 tobacco settlement funds, and tax policy proposals to bring in greater revenues to the budget. Several expenditure adjustments are made, with more KPERS changes, and the capture of additional efficiencies that were part of the efficiency study commissioned by the Legislature. The Governor’s budget reflects a focus on increasing Medicaid reimbursement and addressing critical rural health care services and a rural teacher scholarship program. As noted, the planned ending balances grow to $216.5 million in FY 2018 and $538.7 million in FY 2019.
The Governor’s Tax proposal includes:
Taxing passive incomes including rents/royalties
Freezing bottom income tax at 2.7%
Increase for-profit entity annual report filing fee from $40 to $200
Cigarette tax increase of $1/pack; Increase the other tobacco products tax from 10% to 20%
Increase the liquor enforcement tax from 8% to 16%
Total predicted revenue gained for FY 2018 is $179.1 million and $198.6 million for FY 2019.
The Taxation Committee will have a long day on Thursday, hearing testimony on H.B. 2023 which deals with pass-through income for income tax purposes; many call this the “LLC Loophole.” It will be another busy week in Taxation, Transportation, Water & Environment.
Stopping by the office this week included: U.S.D. 388 – Ellis Superintendent Robert Young and U.S.D. 211 – Norton Superintendent Phil Wilson to discuss K-12 education challenges.
I am now in Room 352-S. My phone number has changed to: (785) 296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and my cell number is (785) 302-8416.
Phillipsburg resident Dennis N. Paulsen passed away Saturday, January 14, 2017 at his home at the age of 70.
He was born August 27, 1946 in Phillipsburg, Kansas the son of John & Alice (Austin) Paulsen.
He was united in marriage to Marcia Francis on May 5, 1968 in Phillipsburg, KS, she preceded him in death August 21, 2013.
Survivors include two daughters, Tiffany VanDerVeen & husband Curtis of Prairie View, KS & Courtney Martin & husband, Tyler of Boston, MA; two sisters, Miriam Sansom of Edmond, KS & June Aubushon & husband, Milt of Phillipsburg, KS; and two grandchildren, Michael & Chloe VanDerVeen.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, January 19, 2017 in the United Methodist Church, Phillipsburg, with Pastor Lew Van Der Wege officiating. Burial will follow in the Iowa Union Cemetery, Phillips County, KS.
Dennis will lie in state from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday with family receiving friends Wednesday evening from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for visitation at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, 1115 2nd Street, Phillipsburg, KS 67661.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice Services, Inc. Online condolences: www.olliffboeve.com.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Think it’s hard for firefighters to rescue a cat in a tree? Try a cow in a swimming pool.
Firefighters in Oklahoma City were summoned Sunday morning after a homeowner reported hearing some sort of “snorting” coming from his swimming pool area. Watch the rescue here.
Emergency responders arrived and discovered a hole in the swimming pool’s liner and a cow trapped in the water.
Oklahoma City Fire Department Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson says firefighters used their pumps to remove about 5 feet of water from the pool so the cow wouldn’t experience hypothermia. Crews then brought in a wrecker to hoist the nearly 1,500-pound animal from the pool and to safety.
Fulkerson says the cow appeared to be uninjured after its ordeal.
According to Western Cooperative Electric, the cities of Bunker Hill and Dorrance are without power as of 8:30 a.m. Monday.
Dennis Deines, manager of member services, said there are more than 500 meters without power in the company’s 13-county coverage area, which runs from Oakley to Ellsworth.
He said they are mainly experiencing “burn downs” because of the weight of the ice on the power lines are tree limbs getting into the lines.
“Either from the excessive weight from the conductors rubbing against each other, or touching each other and then eventually when they arc they’ll burn themselves in two,” he said.
Deines said crews are working in full service to resolve the area, but they do not have a timetable on when power could be returned.
He said even if they are able to restore power to the lines, when the ice begins to melt, it may cause the same issue.
“Until the temperatures rise to the point where that ice and moisture comes off that line,” Deines said. “It’s not going to get a whole lot better.”
If you come across a downed line, stay away, and Deines said “don’t assume anything.”
“When that line is down on the ground it doesn’t mean that it’s not energized,” he said.
Deines said crews have come across lines on the ground that are still energized.
“If there is any question at all, don’t assume the fact that the lines are not hot,” he warned.
An official 1.13” of freezing rain fell in Hays Sunday during the daylight hours.
According to Joe Becker at the K-State Agricultural Research Center, a half inch of ice glaze on exposed surfaces with a thin layer of water on top was still making it treacherous to walk outside Monday morning.
Sunday’s high in Hays was 31°. The low temperature was 27°.
An Ice Storm Warning for Ellis County remains in effect until noon today, with rain, sleet and snow in today’s forecast.
Click HERE for the extensive list of latest cancellations and delays.
The Hays USD 489 Board of Education meeting scheduled for Monday has been canceled due to the weather.
Items on the approved agenda for Jan. 16 needing approval will be moved to the Jan. 23 meeting at 6:30 p.m. The board plans to act on naming a construction at risk manager at the meeting.
Other cancelled USD 489 events include Early Childhood Connections and all work for district employees.
Click HERE for a complete list of area cancellations.
