The Ellis County Commission will gather for two meetings Monday. The first meeting will be a regular meeting at 5 p.m. at the County Administrative Center.
Interim Ellis County Treasurer Josh Wasinger is scheduled to introduce himself to the commission. Wasinger was appointed to serve as the treasurer earlier this month after the current treasurer resigned. Wasinger will serve in the position until the treasurer-elect Lisa Schlegel takes office in October.
In other business, the commission will continue discussions on adding a full-time position within the appraiser’s office and also discuss employee health insurance.
Following the commission’s regular meeting, commissioners will travel to Victoria to meet with the Victoria City Council.
Among the topics for discussion are the extra-territorial zone (the 3-mile zone surrounding Victoria), repairs to Cathedral Street, EMS funding and the Railroad Cemetery.
The joint meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Victoria City Hall.
Hays city commissioners agreed Thursday night with a recommendation from staff and the Hays Area Planning Commission to change the zoning of 1601 E. 27th St. Frontage Road from Multi-family Residential (NC 4) to Neighborhood Shopping (C-1).
The property sits at the northeast corner of the intersection of 27th St. and Indian Trail in east Hays.
A house was torn down in early 2016 leaving an empty lot which abuts existing multi-family and single-family zoning. The property owner requested the rezoning to encourage redevelopment of the property for a use more suitable to the location along 27th, a major arterial street. Commercial zoning (C-2) is across 27th St. to the south.
With visibility that is more than adequate and access from 27th Street, Hays Planning, Inspection and Enforcement Superintendent Jesse Rohr said “the area is well-suited to commercial development.”
“Of course, the Unified Development Code (UDC) will require certain screening and buffering is the lot is developed as proposed,” Rohr explained. “At a minimum, a fence that is at least six foot in height will have to be erected along the adjacent boundaries of the residential zoned properties. Landscaping will also be required.”
1601 E. 27th Frontage Rd.
A public hearing was conducted March 20 by the Planning Commission. All property owners within 200 feet of the subject property were notified of the public hearing. “Three neighboring property owners spoke up at the hearing with various questions, with none being opposed to the rezoning request,” Rohr reported.
The Hays Comprehensive Plan identifies this immediate area as “Low Density Residential” while the surrounding areas are denoted as “Commercial,” “Mixed Use,” and “Park/Greenway” uses.
Hays Mayor Shaun Musil (left) said the Neighborhood Shopping Dist. will be a nice addition to the frontage area at 1601 E. 27th.
“I think this will be a nice addition,” said Mayor Shaun Musil. “Some of those houses have fallen into disrepair. I know they tore that one down. From my understanding, I believe this is going to be an office building, so I think it’d be a nice addition.”
Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve an ordinance rezoning the property. Commissioner Sandy Jacobs was absent from the meeting.
After last week’s wild weather, Sunday afternoon brought yet another round of moisture to Ellis County.
While accompanies by some thunder, the front left between 0.18 and 0.33 inches of rain in gauges in Hays. The official rainfall recorded for Hays by the K-State Agricultural Research Center was 0.37 inches.
A report south of Ellis was just less than a half-inch, while Victoria had a report of 0.52 inches. Catharine received 0.16 inches of rain.
In Russell County, reports ranged from 0.07 to 0.66 inches, and most of Trego County received a half-inch or more of precipitation.
Skies are expected to remain clear to start the work week, although there is a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight.
So here we are, it’s the first week of the 2017 Kansas turkey season and I can’t quite explain why I haven’t been chomping at the bit as usual. For some reason I’ve just been feeling ho-hum about the whole turkey hunting experience this year, so much so, that I wasn’t even sure if I would get a permit and hunt. A fellow deer hunter at church who has never hunted turkeys before told me if I decided to hunt, he wanted to go along.
So thinking that might just be the motivation I needed, Thursday morning I went early to a property, intending to see how many turkeys are there this year and where they are roosting. The property is a long narrow hay field bordered on one side by a pasture and woodlot, the other side by a pasture with a pond and with crop ground behind it. I misjudged sunrise and arrived just in time to hear one lone gobble and the unmistakable sounds of turkeys flying down from their roost over the neighbor’s pond, then all was quiet. I mentally took my pulse and sensed a slight uptick in enthusiasm. The neighbor guy told me he was seeing just a few hens with a couple gobblers so I decided to hang around and try to get a count and to see where they were headed.
My friend Sean Wilson with his son Cooper and Sean’s first Kansas turkey.
Beyond the neighbor’s pasture was cropland clear to the nearest road. I pulled into a driveway overlooking that field and got out the binoculars. A wide grass waterway runs across the back of his property behind the pond and winds its way across the entire field. In that waterway, bobbing in the breeze I could see the fanned out tails of strutting toms and the dark specks of hen turkeys. More and more appeared until a group containing half a dozen mature gobblers, a handful of jakes and numerous hens totaling 20 birds in all slowly flowed across the open field. I mentally checked my pulse again and now the hunt was on!
I picked up my friend and the two of us put up a blind at the corner of the pasture overlooking the grassy waterway where the turkeys seem to turn and head across the crop field. About 4:00 that evening my friend, his son and myself situated ourselves in the blind to await the flock as they headed back to roost for the night. Two adults on folding camp chairs and an 11 year old boy on an overturned 5 gallon bucket pretty well fill up my blind. Two decoys, one a hen and the other a jake (a young one year old gobbler) with a tiny beard were set out in front of the blind in the middle of the waterway.
The wind was howling, flapping the sides of the blind and causing us to use an extra stake to hold down the jake decoy. Knowing my luck, the decoys would take off in the wind like the Wizard of Oz about the time several turkey dinners were approaching. My friend occupied the “shooter’s seat” facing the decoys, and his son and I provided eyes and tried to stay out of his way. Talk was about the weather, Sunday morning church, turkey hunting and everything else guys talk about in a blind. Somewhere after 5, I happened to glance directly behind us to find a lone gobbler slowly making his way back across the field toward us in the wind.
As we sat there I had called a couple times just out of formality and the gusty south wind could have carried my pleas to him I suppose, but after all the birds I’d seen it seemed odd for just one old tom to show. In time, the old guy was just outside the blind 15 feet away, doing his best to hold his tail erect in the wind as he strutted, trying to impress our rubber lady and take her away from her friend, the rubber jake. My friend’s young son sat in front of the side window and could see the entire show as the old gobbler strutted his stuff, twirling and stomping trying to win the affection of our hen decoy. My friend was turned as far sideways as he could to see the gobbler, and finally the old tom’s love-sick shenanigans became his undoing and my friend harvested his first ever Kansas wild turkey.
Over the hill more of the flock were coming behind the old tom, but the shot spooked them and we hadn’t seen them again when we left. Early Saturday morning amidst rolling thunder and lightning flashes we again made our way to the blind to try and help my friend’s son harvest his first turkey also, but in typical spring turkey fashion, they managed to elude us. We’ll keep trying as were just gettin’ started, but what I did manage to do was to hook both my friend and his son on spring Kansas wild turkey hunting; after all isn’t that what it’s all about!…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Please be advised that beginning Monday, April 17, 2017, Lincoln Drive will be closed north of 20th Street halfway to 23rd Street for pavement replacement with the north half opened to traffic.
The concrete patching is in conjunction with the 2017 street maintenance projects. This section of the project is scheduled to be completed within three weeks (pending weather conditions).
Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. The traveling public should use caution and if at all possible avoid these areas.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Public Works Planning, Inspection, and Enforcement Division at (785) 628-7310 or the contractor, Sweeney’s Pavement Maintenance at (785) 639-3919 or (785) 432-0772.
The Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Mon., April 17, 2017 in the area from Hall St. to Vine St. between 8th St. and 20th St. This is part of a coordinated effort by the city of Hays to inspect all fire hydrants in the city and flush all water mains annually.
Inspecting fire hydrants ensures that the valves operate properly and that there is no damage or obstructions that will prevent or interfere with the prompt use of fire hydrants in an emergency. Firefighters are also checking the pressure and volume of water mains in each neighborhood for firefighting purposes. The associated flushing of water mains allows chlorine to be distributed throughout the system to eliminate bio-filming in the water mains.
Slight discoloration of the water supply may be encountered although there will be no health risks to the consumer. All reasonable efforts will be taken to minimize the inconvenience to the public. Drivers are asked to avoid driving through water discharging from a fire hydrant during the short flushing period.
For more information please contact the Hays Fire Department at(785) 628-7330.
Outback Steakhouse may advertise blooming onions, but I have blooming turkeys in a green field north of my house. Like a rose going from a tight bud to full summer bloom, those big ol’ gobblers put on a show. Puffing their feathers and spreading their fan-shape tails into full-blown sails, they strut and rattle. Their not so subtle actions woo nearby hens that coyly scan the area for insects and greens. If all works out, baby turkeys will soon follow.
Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.
Spring gobbler watching is always a treat for nature lovers, but this year it is spectacular. Timely rains and Jekyll and Hyde temperatures combined to create a dense, green back drop for this year’s extravaganza. Wheat and alfalfa that just a few months ago appeared anemic and scraggly soaked up an all-day, gentle rain, turning it into a lush, velvety backdrop for those spring show-offs. Brilliant emerald fields highlight iridescent feathers of toms and hens to dazzle turkey watchers willing to find birds to watch.
Four mature long beards star in the pageant below our house. A number of jakes or young male turkeys meander outside the inner circle of strutting toms, snagging a bite here and there while keeping an eye on the show. My guess is that they are studying the dance steps so they know what to do next spring.
The hens, in my opinion, are most entertaining of all. While the males fluff, preen, and strut, the ladies focus on dining. With their heads to the ground, they seek tasty snacks. It’s amazing that they can stand in the midst of all those fanned tails, red wattles and blue faces, while hearing that curious rattling sound toms make as they strut in choreographed steps, and not notice.
As intent as the girls appear on anything but the toms, you would think they were totally unaware of their suitors’ energetic presentations. If I didn’t see gangly poults awkwardly following proud hens through fields and down roads in early June, I’d guess the guys’ efforts were in vain.
While turkeys will always look like lumbering, big-bellied cargo planes as they fly to their evening roost, their spring dance has an unarguable elegance. On the ground in full strut, the male turkey puts on a show worthy of Las Vegas headlines. When rain-fueled Mother Nature’s greenery serves as a backdrop to the show, it’s more dazzling.
Take a morning or evening drive along western Kansas roads and highways bordered by wheat fields and alfalfa patches to see this spring gala. Follow any highway or country path, keep your eyes open, and your camera ready. Blooming turkeys will delight you.
Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.
Please be advised that beginning Monday, April 17, 2017 old Highway 40 east of Vine Street will be restricted to one-way traffic flowing east for pavement repairs.
This work should be completed in approximately 20 working days.
Traffic control devices will be placed to direct the traveling public. The traveling public should use caution and if at all possible avoid these areas.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Public Works Division at (785) 628-7350.
Today Areas of fog between 7am and 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Northeast wind 5 to 11 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Tonight A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. South southeast wind 9 to 11 mph.
Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind 8 to 11 mph.
Tuesday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 60. South southeast wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
WednesdaySunny, with a high near 81. South southwest wind 11 to 14 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Wednesday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 46.
ThursdayMostly sunny, with a high near 67.
Thursday NightA 20 percent chance of showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45.
FridayA chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 55. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Just after 4p.m. on April 6, first responders were dispatched to a home in the 1100 Block of Bramble Bush Drive in Hutchinson.
They found Carter Lee Krehbiel, 4, Hutchinson, in critical condition. He was taken to a Wichita hospital, according to Hutchinson Police Lt. Josh Radloff.
The child lived a few houses down the street from the pool.
His mother went into her home to check on another child and when she came back the four-year-old was missing.
The home owner with the pool had put a hose in her pool to fill it up and was inside when she noticed the hose was out of the pool and a gate to the pool open.
She went to check on the hose and saw pants by the pool. That’s when she saw the child.
Fatal Sunday accident in Wyandotte County-photo Courtesy KCTV
WYANDOTTE COUNTY- A Kansas man died in an accident just before 3p.m. on Sunday in Wyandotte County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Casey
Bezdek, 37, Kansas City was west bound on Interstate 70 at Minnesota Avenue.
The motorcycle’s rear tire started to drift. The driver lost control of the vehicle and struck the concrete bridge rail. From the impact, the driver was ejected over the bridge rail and fell approximately 90 feet.
Bezdek was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.
