Hays Post

The winners of the 50th Annual Hays Arts Council Creative Writing Awards were celebrated Sunday in Grand Ballroom of the FHSU Memorial Union.

This project continues to touch a broad scope of young people as it invites entries from every public and private school in Ellis County – kindergarten through 12th grade, in both prose and poetry, Brenda Meder, Hays Arts Council executive director, said.

For many of the students, writing is their primary creative medium and an important aspect of self-expression, she said in a grant request letter. For others, it is another facet of their educational and cultural interests.

The FHSU English Department partnered with the arts council on this project, with a team of qualified team of judges assembled by the department project chairperson, Paulia Bailey.

The arts council asks each instructor to screen the entries and submit 15 works in prose and 15 in poetry for each section of English they teach.  Even with this stipulation, the council typically receives almost 1,000 entries per year.

The Hays Optimist Club was a sponsor for the program this year.

The students who were awarded honors for the prose and poetry contests are as follows:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A horse named for a community in western Kansas is among the early favorites to win Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

McCraken will break from the No. 15 hole. He took the show money at last month’s Blue Grass Stakes.

The last of five winners from No. 15 was Triple Crown champion American Pharoah two years ago.

Janis Whitham, 81, a resident of Wichita County community of Leoti, Kansas owns McCraken. That is why this 3-year-old is named for the town in Rush County.

In 2013, The Daily Racing form detailed Witham’s ownership style.

Watch McCracken’s  workout here.

McCraken five-furlong breeze in 1:00.80 highlights Sunday, April 30 #KyDerby & #KyOaks activity. https://t.co/zKZLAGnUlh pic.twitter.com/u9rVv7tgda

— Churchill Downs PR (@DerbyMedia) April 30, 2017

Classic Empire was made the early 4-1 favorite for the Derby on Wednesday, with just four of the 20 horses listed at single digits in a wide-open race.

Classic Empire will break from the No. 14 post on Saturday.

The favorite has won the Derby in each of the last four years. It’s the longest such streak since the 1970s.

Mccracken and Always Dreaming are co-second choices at 5-1.

A total of 22 horses were entered, two more than the maximum limit of 20. Also eligible are Royal Mo and Master Plan, who would need defections by early Friday morning to get into the 1 1/4-mile race.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Each month Hays assistant city manager Jacob Wood presents a review of projects and training completed by city departments to the Hays city commission.

Here’s a look at what was accomplished during April.

The Hays Police Department responded to 5 animal calls and 22 traffic stops Mon., May 1, 2017, according to the HPD Activity Log.

MV Accident-Personal Injury–27th and Fort, Hays; 7:25 AM
Found/Lost Property–1400 block E 19th St, Hays; 8:45 AM
MV Accident-Private Property–1200 block E 27th St, Hays; 8:59 AM
Found/Lost Property–300 block E 12th St, Hays; 9:06 AM
Burglary/vehicle–100 block E 17th St, Hays; 4/29 12 PM; 5/1 9 AM
Found/Lost Property–Hays; 9:35 AM
Animal At Large–600 block E 15th St, Hays; 11:54 AM
Animal At Large–Enersys Rd, Hays; 11:53 AM
MV Accident-City Street/Alley–100 block Elm St, Hays; 11:57 AM
Found/Lost Property–600 block 210th Ave, Antonino; 12:19 PM
Suspicious Activity–500 block E 16th St, Hays; 12:27 PM
MV Accident-Private Property–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 3:59 PM
Wildlife Incident–2500 block Indian Trl, Hays; 4:59 PM
MV Accident-Hit and Run–700 block Fort St, Hays; 12 AM; 7:40 AM
Battery – Domestic–300 block W 16th St, Hays; 8:04 PM
MV Accident-City Street/Alley–4100 block Vine St, Hays; 8:19 PM
Drug Offenses–500 block E 20th St, Hays; 9:10 PM
Harassment (All Other)–400 block W 20th St, Hays; 11:06 PM
Suicidal Subject–2000 block Metro Ln, Hays; 11:42 PM

The Hays Police Department responded to 13 animal calls and 14 traffic stops Tue., May 2, 2017, according to the HPD Activity Log.

Suspicious Activity–400 block Oak St, Hays; 5/1 9 PM; 5/2 7:30 AM
Animal At Large–100 block W 35th St, Hays; 7:58 AM
Dead Animal Call–22nd and Canterbury, Hays; 7:59 AM
Theft (general)–50 block Main St, Hays; 9:56 AM
Animal At Large–1000 block Reservation Rd, Hays; 1:22 PM
Warrant Service (Fail to Appear)–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 1:34 PM
Suicidal Subject–1900 block Fort St, Hays; 2:20 PM
Probation/Parole Violation–1000 block Fort St, Hays; 3:17 PM
Animal At Large–100 block E 15th St, Hays; 3:28 PM
Animal At Large–14th and Elm, Hays; 3:30 PM
Contempt of Court/Fail to Pay–1000 block Fort St, Hays; 3:38 PM
Theft (general)–1100 block Canterbury Dr, Hays; 05/02/2017 04:03:00 PM
Animal At Large–500 block E 13th St, Hays; 4:22 PM
Suicidal Subject–1100 block Centennial Blvd, Hays; 4:20 PM
MV Accident-City Street/Alley–600 block E 13th St, Hays; 5:13 PM
Lost Animals ONLY–100 block E 15th St, Hays; 5:44 PM
Credit Card Violations–600 block E 13th St, Hays; 5/1 12:02 AM; 5/2 6:48 PM
Overdose–200 block W 17th St, Hays; 10:34 PM
Suspicious Person–2800 block Fort St, Hays; 10:58 PM
Suicidal Subject–2000 block Vine St, Hays; 11:31 PM
Drug Offenses–100 block E 11th St, Hays; 11:31 PM; 11:35 PM

University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tim Cross is well respected for his leadership of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture within the state of Tennessee, and that admiration extends across the southern United States.

Cross is the recipient of the Southern Extension Service Award for Excellence in Leadership from the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors. The award recognizes those who have served Southern Extension Services, ASRED, and the national land-grant university system with exemplary distinction. Cross received the award at the group’s April 24-27 meeting in New Orleans.

“This award means a lot to me because it’s from a group of outstanding leaders who have taught me a great deal during my time as an Extension administrator,” Cross says. “The members of ASRED are people I admire, respect and trust, and this recognition serves to further inspire and motivate me in my role as chancellor.”

Cross spent the 1982 school year at Fort Hays State University as an ag business instruction, he told Hays Post on Wednesday.

“It was my first job following completion of my MS degree, and I look back on my year in Hays with very fond memories,” Cross said. “I enjoyed teaching students who were largely focused on returning home to farm, and my experience at FHSU motivated me to devote my career to engaging with students, farmers, and families to advance agriculture and rural communities.”

In nomination materials, Cross was praised for work at the national level in areas such as the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, the Southern Region Program Leadership Network’s Resource Development Committee, the USDA’s Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers and its Small Business Innovation Research Program, and the National Women in Agriculture Advisory Committee.

Dr. Delton Gerloff, Interim Dean for UT Extension, Dr. Edwin Jones, Associate Dean and Director of Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech University, and Dr. Jimmy Henning, Associate Dean for Extension for the University of Kentucky, nominated Cross for the honor.

“The service appointments and accomplishments by Dr. Cross place him in a small group of people who continue to make a difference in fulfilling the land-grant mission,” says Gerloff.

“Tim exemplifies the best in Extension and has distinguished himself at every level and in every role he has ever taken on,” says Henning. “His knowledge of economics, of farm management and Extension was all utilized in the development of policies and procedures that became national policy.”

Cross was named UT’s Chancellor for Agriculture in December 2016 after having served the institution 23 years, including a stint as Interim Chancellor last fall. He was later confirmed by the UT Board of Trustees to assume the job permanently, and began his new appointment the first day of 2017. He has also served as Dean of UT Extension and Professor in Agricultural Economics. From upstate New York, Cross has spent time as a student and faculty member at Oklahoma State, Fort Hays State in Kansas and Oregon State universities. He and his family live on a farm in east Knox County where they raise livestock, and all four Cross children have been active in 4-H.