Hays Post

ELLIS — Explosives experts destroyed a homemade explosive device Tuesday night that led to a block of Ellis to be evacuated.

Ellis Police Chief Taft Yates said the incident began after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of East 15th when officers attempted to serve an adult male with an arrest warrant for failure to appear from another jurisdiction.

The suspect requested to recover something inside the residence, and the officer accompanied him into the home, Yates said. The officer reported smelling the odor of marijuana, and then investigated by interviewing the suspect and an adult female also in the residence.

The adult male was arrested on the warrant, while the female handed the officer a small bag of what is believed to be marijuana and also was arrested.

The Ellis Police Department requested and was granted a search warrant for the home by a district judge and executed that warrant just after 2 p.m.

“At about 2:30 p.m., they found what we believed to be a non-electric homemade explosive device,” Yates said.

Officers photographed the device and sent information to the bomb unit of the Kansas Highway Patrol, which made its way to Ellis and urged with EPD to cordon off the area.

“They wanted to evacuate the immediate area for precaution because they were going to be moving this device around,” Yates said.

The device, he said, was “what most people consider a pipe bomb” and was about 4.5 inches long with a 2.5-inch diameter.

“It had a type of fuse coming out of one end … capped on the other end and epoxied,” he said.

The device was taken to a range east of town where the bomb unit destroyed the device in a “non-explosive manner.”

“We didn’t have a big boom,” Yates said.

Officers completed another sweep of the residence, garage and a vehicle to ensure there was no secondary explosive device, he said. Residents were allowed to return to the area about 8:30 p.m.

Charges are pending against the two individuals, whose names were not released due to the pending investigation.

FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Deanell Reece Tacha, attorney, former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, professor and now a university administrator, will speak on “The Minerals, the Courts, and Me” at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in Fort Hays State University’s Albertson Hall, room 169.

Her appearance is sponsored by the Department of Geosciences in FHSU’s Peter Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics.

Tacha, a Kansas native, has been a practicing attorney and a professor as well as a federal judge and university administrator. She is currently the Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of the School of Law at Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.

“Our students identified her as someone who could inspire them by talking about her personal successes as a woman, as a Kansan, and as someone who grew up in a small town,” said Dr. Grady Dixon, chair of the Department of Geosciences.

“She also has history of working in the legal areas of oil and gas, which relate to our department,” he said.

She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1986, a position she held to 2011. From 2001 to 2007, she served the 10th Circuit as chief judge. The 10th Circuit oversees the federal court districts of Colorado and Kansas.

Tacha earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1968 and her juris doctorate from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1971.

For more information, contact Dixon at [email protected] or by phone at (785) 628-5389.

More information on Tacha is available at law.pepperdine.edu/faculty-research/deanell-reece-tacha/.

Ellis County Walk Kansas team members– and other interested community members– are invited to bring the children and celebrate health at the come-and-go Family Story Walk from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18. The self-guided walk in Massey Park begins and ends at the shelter house at 17th and Allen Street in Hays.

A Story Walk combines literacy and physical activity when the pages of a children’s book are posted along a walking path for families to read as they walk and enjoy together.

This event is free to Ellis County Extension Walk Kansas team members; those who are not on a Walk Kansas team may pay $3 per family to help cover the cost of water, snacks and supplies.

An RSVP to the Ellis County Extension Office is appreciated at 785-628-9430 to ensure adequate supplies. In case of rain or bad weather, check the Extension Facebook page at “K-State Research and Extension-Ellis County” for cancellation information.

Celebration Community Church will host a Good Friday service on April 14 at 6:30 pm.

Through song, video, biblical readings and the partaking of the last supper, the last days of Jesus’ life will be presented.

This service will take the place of the regular Saturday night service the church usually has.

For more information call the church office at 625-LIVE of visit online at www.celebratejesus.org.

Today A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Windy, with a south wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 21 to 26 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph.

Tonight A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. South wind 13 to 18 mph decreasing to 6 to 11 mph after midnight.

ThursdayA 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Light south wind becoming south southeast 6 to 11 mph in the morning.

Thursday NightA 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. South southeast wind around 10 mph.

FridayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. South wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Friday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 59. Breezy.