SEWARD COUNTY –One person died and two others were injured in an accident just after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday in Seward County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Explorer driven by
Manuel Hernandez, 25, Guymon, OK., was westbound on U.S. 54 and crossed over the overpass for Old U.S. 54 just west of Liberal.
The driver lost control on the overpass, entered a side skid into the north ditch and rolled multiple times.
A passenger in the Ford Thay Torres-Ocacio, 35, Guymon, was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Miller mortuary.
Hernandez and another passenger Jesus Ponce, 22, Guymon, were transported to Southwest Medical Center. Two others in the SUV were not transported for treatment.
Torres-Ocacio and Ponce were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
NORTON COUNTY – A Thomas County teen died in an accident just after 5:30p.m. Saturday in Norton County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Dodge Charger driven by Tyson J. Smith, 20, Weskan, was traveling southwest on Kansas Highway 383 four miles north of U.S. 36.
The Charger skidded off the road at the intersection at Kansas Highway 60. struck an embankment and rolled.
A passenger in the Charger Takoda A. Turner, 19, Brewster, was transported to the hospital in Norton where he died.
In his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Sam Brownback threw down a gauntlet for state universities: come up with a $15,000 bachelor’s degree. In education world, almost nobody saw that coming.
But now that the idea for a bargain bachelor’s is out there, it’s up to the Kansas Board of Regents to try and make it a reality.
“If we are to meet this challenge, it will be through a multi-institution response,” Regents spokesperson Breeze Richardson said in an email. So right now, the Regents believe, no four-year institution in Kansas can meet a $15,000 price point and that means a student would probably have to complete two years at a community college.
But many credits earned at Kansas community colleges already transfer to any of the state’s six universities. “We are unique, in that the entire 32-institution system is centrally coordinated,” said Richardson.
The governor’s detailed budget proposal, submitted to the Legislature Wednesday, calls for $1 million to help fund the idea. Right now, nobody knows if that’s for scholarships or administration.
But the Brownback plan suggests that he doesn’t want the state to create a bargain bachelor’s degree for just any subject. “The Governor’s proposal is intended to provide access to quality affordable higher education while focusing on high demand fields in an effort to grow the economy,” according to the budget document.
While there are no specifics, educators would generally agree that means IT jobs, engineering or nursing. In fact, the Regents already have programs to help fill the need for those jobs. The state provides $1.8 million a year for nursing scholarships resulting, the Regents say, in an additional 2,865 nursing graduates since 2007.
But even if the Regents can get tuition and fees down to $15,000, there’s still room and board to consider, plus inflation.
“To me it’s a puzzle,” said freshman Republican Sen. Ed Berger, appearing on the podcast Statehouse Blend Kansas. Berger is the former president of Hutchinson Community College. “You can throw a number out — $15,000 — I’m not sure how you’re going to arrive at that without additional state support for those universities to offset tuition increases.”
There’s also concern that $15,000 may exclude students from attending the University of Kansas or Kansas State. Tuition at KU is $10,550 a year and at K-State it’s $9,874. The cheapest tuition in the state is at Fort Hays State where it’s $4,884.
Sam Zeff covers education for KCUR.org, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamZeff.
PLAINVILLE – The results of a national hospital review ranks Rooks County Health Center as tied for 39th out of the 5,627 hospitals in the country for having the lowest rate of patient readmissions. The data was accumulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and published by Becker’s Hospital Review.
CMS guidelines use a hospital’s percentage of unplanned readmissions to gauge its efficiency in such areas as preventing complications arising from a hospital stay, providing clear instructions to the patient upon discharge after a stay and ensuring a smooth transition from the hospital back to the patient’s home.
An added note to this honor is the fact that RCH is the only rural critical access hospital to be named. All other hospitals honored are major regional or specialty surgery hospitals. Two specialty surgery hospitals, Kansas Spine & Specialty Hospital and Kansas Surgery & Recovery Center, both located in Wichita, were also ranked for a total of three Kansas hospitals to make the list.
Critical access hospitals located in rural regions like RCH normally experience higher rates of readmissions than the national average due to high percentages of the population being Medicare beneficiaries, older and with lower incomes. This information, along with the fact that several of the other hospitals listed don’t even have emergency rooms, places RCH at a significant disadvantage when reviewing hospitals for the rate of patient readmissions. Overcoming these disadvantages and being ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the United States illustrates how RCH’s recognition is even more profound.
RCH CEO Mike Sinclair credits the success to the hospital’s robust quality improvement program as well as the staff-driven culture of caring, compassion and striving for excellence.
“We strive to exceed the expectations of every patient we treat. To ensure that the highest quality of care is delivered, we measure many care indicators including preventing complications, patient safety, timeliness of care and providing clear discharge instructions.”
Sinclair conceded that inclusion on the list is extremely satisfying to RCH administration and staff because it is a testament to the effectiveness of the hospital’s overall quality improvement program and the caring culture embraced by every staff member.
Stephanie Bjornstad, RN and RCH Quality Coordinator, agrees, “All departments at the hospital constantly measure and analyze data to see where they can improve. We compare ourselves to state and multi-state groups. If we find an area for improvement the staff embraces the challenge and if needed has the full support and direction of the hospital board to back them up to make necessary changes.”
According to Bjornstad the staff of RCH is dedicated to the goal of being the best hospital in the state if not the nation. “We are doing great things at RCH every day and this just happens to be one that caught national attention.”
John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.
My second through fourth grades were in a two-room schoolhouse. (Yes, I am old.) There were four rows of desks, one for each grade 1-through-4. Today, education schools demean such a system because teachers can only give one-fourth of their attention to each grade of students. But as a student, I found the system had advantages.
Three-fourths of the time, my row was assigned to do our class work while the teacher was teaching another row. I remember listening ahead to the next grade up. I got a head start on reading and math that was more advanced. And classmates in my row who were having difficulty were able to listen in on the lower grade class; they got a refresher lesson.
By my fifth grade, Indiana schools consolidated and modernized. Six little one-room and two-room schools shut down and we all rode the bus to our new township school. Everyone in my room was in the fifth grade.
But the better students still played a role in helping the students who had difficulty. Although the class was all fifth-graders, there were still classmates who needed the help of the better students. When the teacher talked about job interviews, a classmate would lean over and whisper “What’s she mean?” And we would whisper back that it was like when we “chose up” teams to play ball during recess. A good teacher relies on good students to help other students learn.
Many years later, as an experienced teacher walking the streets of Hong Kong or mainland China, I often passed by an elementary school where I could hear 60 young pupils in a classroom reciting the multiplication tables in unison. This recitation style of teaching is derided by many education schools but in fact it is very effective. The teacher is using the momentum of the whole class to advance the learning of all students at a pace that some students would not achieve working alone.
The students who have difficulty are motivated to keep up with their peers. Despite the personal events of their life, they rise above it to stay with their group. For young students, belonging and performing with their group is a very effective motivation when they are too young to appreciate how important the mathematics or grammar will be to them.
I also clearly remember as a student back in that 2-room schoolhouse how it was important for me in row three (third grade) to be an example for the good students in row two and the struggling students in row four. It was not an elitist feeling—and any student who acted as a know-it-all would be rapidly put in their place—but just a recognition that we had a responsibility to help our classmates learn too. Because we could learn it, they realized they could learn it too.
As a public school teacher, I used this knowledge to pair good students with students who struggled. These were important lessons in empathy and caring and communication for the good students as well as much needed assistance for the students needing help.
So along comes this so-called “personalized education” of one-to-one computers in the classroom. While this allows a student to supposedly go at his/her own pace, it is supremely isolating. The abstract programmed learning is anything but “personal.” The communication involved is programmed and sterile. A student doesn’t care what a cold machine says. The laptop doesn’t “care.” Everyone proceeds at their own isolated pace. The group can no longer motivate its members.
But then, “personalized education” on a laptop or tablet really isn’t about learning. It is about tech companies selling expensive technology that will be obsolete in 3–4 years. It minimizes the role of the teacher to a technology manager. It is isolating. And it removes the lessons in helping and caring that students would learn when they study with their classmates together.
If you are a parent of a student who is now spending his or her day playing all day on a laptop or tablet, ask your school: “When are they going to get back to real teaching?”
NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — MiKyle McIntosh scored 20 points, Deontae Hawkins added 14 more and Illinois State took sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 76-62 win over Wichita State on Saturday night.
Illinois State (14-4, 6-0) got a layup from DJ Clayton with just over five minutes left in the first half to spark a 12-3 run that gave the Redbirds a 36-27 halftime advantage and the lead for good.
Clayton finished with 11 points, while Evans and Paris Lee had 10 points apiece for the Redbirds, who shot 54 percent from the field.
Wichita State (15-4, 5-1) cut the deficit to a single point in the second half with a 3-pointer from Brown that made it 43-42 before the Redbirds pulled away again with an 11-2 run and held on down the stretch.
Landry Shamet and Darral Willis Jr. led Wichita State with 14 points each.
KEARNEY, Neb. – The 18th-ranked Fort Hays State wrestling team moved to 3-4 overall on the season after going 2-2 on Saturday at the Midwest Duals, hosted by Nebraska-Kearney. The Tigers dropped their first match to Colorado Mesa by the score of 31-11, but bounced back with consecutive wins over Western State and New Mexico Highlands by the scores of 24-15 and 31-10 respectively. In the final match of the day the Tigers dropped the dual with Chadron State 32-10.
The No. 9 ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, Christian Lance, was the best performer for the Tigers on the mat, the only FHSU wrestler to go undefeated on the day. With the four wins, Lance has now hit 30 wins for the season as he is sporting a 30-3 record on the year.
Brandon Ball was another Tiger that performed well on the mat for the FHSU at 141 pounds. The 7th-ranked Ball went 3-1 on the day dropping his only match in the opening dual to Colorado Mesa’s Daniel Salazar. Salazar was the 12th-ranked wrestler in the nation coming into the event.
Greg Tooley also went 3-1 on the day and won his final three matches, pushing his record to 13-2 on the year. Tooley dropped his first match of the day to Payton Tawter, the No. 9 wrestler in the nation, before responding with three straight major decisions for the Tigers.
Josh Martinez (133), Micquille Robinson (174) and Rakim Dean (184) each added two wins on the day for the Tigers, while Jacob Kay (149), Kyler Mick (165) and Austin Brandt (197) each picked up a win. The Tigers get back to action on Sunday (Jan. 22) when they host the Kansas Cup, looking for a four-peat in the event.
ELLENTON, Fla. (AP) — The owners of Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced Saturday that they will close the 146-year-old show in May.
Kenneth Feld, the chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, said declining attendance combined with high operating costs are the reasons for closing.
Here’s where things stand with the iconic show:
WHEN IS THE CIRCUS’ FINAL SHOW?
Ringling Bros. has two touring circuses this season: “Circus Extreme” and “Out of This World.” The final show for “Circus Extreme” will be in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7, and the other will close after a performance in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on May 21.
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WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN NOW AND MAY?
The two touring circuses will perform a total of 30 shows over the next four months. Most of the shows will be held in the South or the East Coast. Major stops include Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Brooklyn. Tickets can still be purchased online and at venues.
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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE EMPLOYEES?
The Feld family has owned the circus for 49 years, and employs some 500 people for the show. Those employees were told about the closure on Saturday night, after shows in Orlando and Miami. A handful will be placed in positions with the company’s other shows — it owns Monster Jam, Disney on Ice and Marvel Live, among other things — but most will be out of a job. Chief Operating Officer Juliette Feld said the company will help employees with job placement and resumes. In some cases where a circus employee lives on the tour rail car (the circus travels by train), the company will also help with housing relocation.
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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ANIMALS?
In May of 2016, Ringling retired all of its elephants to a property in central Florida. Forty elephants live at the Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk County. But the circus still has other animals, such as lions, tigers, camels, donkeys, alpacas, kangaroos and llamas.
Juliette Feld says homes will be found for the animals, but the company will continue operating the Center for Elephant Conservation.
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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE COSTUMES AND PROPS?
The Feld family hasn’t decided what it will do with the enormous warehouse filled with circus costumes and props. Kenneth Feld says the company will continue to work with the Circus Museum at The Ringling in Sarasota. That museum holds memorabilia dating to the 1800s, when John Ringling and his family founded Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Manu Lecomte scored 26 points after battling early foul trouble, Ish Wainright and Al Freeman had key baskets down the stretch and top-ranked Baylor outlasted No. 25 Kansas State 77-68 on Saturday.
Wainright and Freeman had 15 points apiece for the Bears (15-1, 3-1 Big 12), who bounced back from a lopsided loss at No. 10 West Virginia in their first game as the nation’s No. 1 team to deal the Wildcats (13-4, 2-3) another close, disheartening conference defeat.
Johnathan Motley was held to seven points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 4:34 left and the Bears leading 62-55. But they managed to hang on down the stretch without their most dependable player.
D.J. Johnson scored 20 points for Kansas State, including two free throws that got the Wildcats within five with just over four minutes to go. But the Wildcats were unable to make key stops the rest of the way, and the trio of Wainwright, Freeman and Lecomte seemed to will the Bears to victory.
Freeman scored with just over three minutes left to make it 66-58, and Wainwright threw down a putback with about two minutes remaining that gave the Bears a 68-60 advantage.
Kamau Stokes made a pair of foul shots moments later to give Kansas State a chance, but Lecomte’s floater made it 70-62 with 1:35 left, and the Bears held on from there.
Barry Brown finished with 13 points, Xavier Sneed added 12 and Stokes had 10 for the Wildcats, while Dean Wade was held to five points and two rebounds in 35 minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Baylor answered a lot of critics after its ugly showing in Morgantown by beating the Wildcats on the road. The Bears have won six of their last seven against Kansas State.
Kansas State has lost three of its last four games, including a last-second loss at No. 2 Kansas and a loss at Texas Tech where the Wildcats also led late. Those defeats coupled with a weak nonconference schedule could haunt the Wildcats when the NCAA Tournament field is set.
UP NEXT
Baylor heads home to face Texas on Tuesday night.
Kansas State heads to Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is working on new guidelines for how to handle situations where a wild animal is being kept as a pet after game wardens were criticized for shooting a family’s pet deer.
It is illegal in Kansas to keep a wild animal as a pet. Wildlife officials said they shot the Mark and Kim Mcgaughey family’s deer out of concern it could hurt people or spread disease.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Robin Jennison, secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, says the situation could have been handled better. He wants new policies for similar situations in place quickly.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A western Kansas family is outraged after game wardens killed a deer that was allowed inside their house and took walks with the family.
Kim Mcgaughey, of rural Ulysses, described the deer as “very much a big pet.”
The 2-year-old mule deer was named Faline, after Bambi’s friend and future mate in the cartoon movie.
But it’s illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet in Kansas, and wildlife officials said something had to be done.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism says pet deer have killed at least two people. The department said it was trying to protect people from being physically injured by the deer, and eliminate the possibility of disease being passed to humans, livestock and other deer.
PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri authorities say one of 13 occupants of a van was killed when the vehicle crashed north of Kansas City.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 35-year-old Maung Hnin of Kansas City, Kansas, was ejected from the van during the crash early Saturday on Interstate 29 in Platte County and was hit by another vehicle. He died at the scene.
The patrol says three other occupants of the van were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. Others in the van declined treatment.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Frank Mason III scored 22 points, freshman Josh Jackson added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 2 Kansas held off Oklahoma State 87-80 on Saturday.
The Jayhawks (16-1, 5-0 Big 12) rallied for their 16th straight win and could move into the top spot when the AP poll comes out on Monday. No. 1 Baylor lost 89-68 to West Virginia on Tuesday.
Devonte’ Graham scored 21 points for Kansas, and Svi Mykhailiuk had 14. Landen Lucas added seven points and 12 rebounds.
The Jayhawks grabbed their first lead when Graham burst down the lane for a layup with 14:10 left. Graham also had a key three-pointer and Mason got loose in transition to help Kansas to the tight victory.
Jeffrey Carroll scored 23 for Oklahoma State (10-7, 0-5), and Mitchell Soloman had 16 points. Jawun Evans finished with 15.
The Cowboys got off to a nice start, holding the Jayhawks to 10 points in the first 12 minutes. Oklahoma State ran out to an 11-point lead over that same span, aided by early buckets from Evans and Carroll.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas remains the lone undefeated team in Big 12 play, but a difficult stretch is looming at the end of the month. The Jayhawks visit West Virginia and Kentucky and host Baylor over a span of nine days. If the Jayhawks want to keep their hopes alive for their 13th straight Big 12 title, they’ll have to find a way to give their starters adequate rest.
UP NEXT
Kansas travels to Ames, Iowa to take on the Iowa State on Monday.
Still in search of its first Big 12 win, Oklahoma State hosts No. 25 Kansas State on Wednesday.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A prison documentary filmed at the Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita in 2015 is set to begin airing on MSNBC.
The Wichita Eagle reports “Lockup” is a documentary show that profiles life in prison by following the stories of inmates and prison staff. The first episode is set to air Saturday. This will be the final season of the show.
Filming at the Sedgwick County Jail occurred from September to October of 2015. Lawyers with the public defender’s office tried to have the crews prohibited from filming in the jail, but a judge denied the request.
