What did the triangle say to the circle?
You’re pointless.
Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry
Month: July 2017
Hays High junior qualifies for Optimist International Junior Golf Championship
Hays High junior Tradgon McCrae has qualified to participate in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at PGA National Resort & Spa at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. July 28th through August 2nd.
McCrae will represent Hays in the boys 16-18 age division.
The Optimist International Junior Golf Championships is one of the largest and best-known junior golf tournaments in the world and offered to boys and girls ages 10-18 throughout the nation. Each year, more than 600 golfers participate in THE OPTIMIST. Optimists have been involved in the sport of junior golf for more than 30 years by holding local, regional and international tournaments.
Hays enrollment to begin Tuesday
Hays Post
The Hays school district is offering a one-stop shop for in-person enrollment this school year.
In-person enrollment will be offered 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hays High School cafeteria.
Returning students can enroll and pay fees online with a credit card. The enrollment link will be posted on the district website on Monday. For those who wish to pay with some other form of payment, they can enroll online and join a speedy checkout line during in-person enrollment for payment only.
School supply lists, student handbooks, forms and school calendars are also available on the website.
Shanna Dinkel, assistant superintendent, said she hoped consolidating enrollment in one location will help make enrollment more convenient for parents.
Principals and support staff will be on site to answer questions.
Spanish translators will be available all three days of enrollment, and enrollment information is available online in Spanish. Mandarin Chinese translators will be available 7 to 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Larks drop two in Colorado
GOLDEN, Colo. – The Hays Larks couldn’t hold on to a couple of early leads and lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Colorado Sox Tuesday night at Jim Darden Field.
The Sox, who won the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Baseball League title, scored the go-ahead run on a third strike wild pitch with two outs in the sixth and won the first game 3-2. They scored seven runs in the second inning of the second game after the Larks (30-13) had scored three in the first and took the night cap 10-7.
Peyton Battenfield (4-3) gave up three runs on two hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief and took the loss in game two. Colin Simpson and Clayton Rasbeary both homered. Simpson tripled and drove in a run in the first game which saw Ryan Kotulek (0-2) take the loss in relief.
The two teams wrap up the series Wednesday night before both head to Championship Week at the NBC World Series.
School district’s proposed budget includes raises for teachers, staff
By Cristina Janney
Hays Post
The Hays school district seeks to use a portion of an estimated $1.9 million increase in state funding to raise wages for faculty and staff for the coming school year.
In a preliminary budget report presented to the school board at its meeting Monday, the district had set aside $743,275 for salary increases.
How that money will be distributed has yet to be determined as negotiations with the teacher’s union and custodial and maintenance staff union are still ongoing.
Tracy Kaiser, USD 489 executive director of finance, said teachers are paid on a step grid based on education and experience. The teachers will likely request a move upward on the step scale. Teachers last received a raise for the 2015-16 school year, but have gone several other years recently without raises.
Classified staff are usually given a percentage wage, and the district tries to keep it in line with teacher raises. Four years ago, Fort Hays State University conducted a wage survey for the district. USD 489 wages were far below those in the private sector, Kaiser said.
Kaiser said the district hopes to move the wages at least a third closer to the district’s private peers.
The district hopes to wrap up negotiations within the next couple of weeks.
Superintendent John Thissen said the negotiation process was moving forward. However, he noted the entire budget process has been delayed for all districts in the state because the Legislature approved its school funding formula later than usual.
The district will see savings for 2017-18 of about $435,835 from a decrease in insurance premiums, staff attrition, reduced sick leave payout and decreased Internet costs for a total revenue increase of $2,356,515.
Although the district is anticipating an increase in state aid and some savings in other areas, it is also forecasting a decrease in other funding and increases in other expenses.
The district is facing a drop of $150,000 in federal funding, a $241,650 decrease because of enrollment decline and an $80,000 loss in Medicaid funding in 2019.
Excluding the increase in salaries, the district expects a $1,139,265 increase in expenses for the coming fiscal year. Almost $400,000 of that increase is in health insurance premiums. About $582,000 will go back into classrooms in the form of new certified positions, classroom aids, bilingual support and curriculum support.
The district also voted to decrease the material/workbook fee for all students at its meeting Monday. This, coupled with a required elimination of kindergarten fees, which are going to be supplemented by state aid, means a $121,000 decrease in district revenue for the coming year. All this means negatives to the bottom line equal to $2,354,190.
Kaiser said ultimately the district is hoping for a balanced budget with a net of $2,325.
However, the district’s budget is far from set in stone at this time.
A lawsuit is pending in front of the Kansas Supreme Court that alleges the state’s funding level for schools is inadequate. Although the Kansas Legislature passed legislation that would increase funding by $293 million during the next two years, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit still assert the Legislature has not provided enough funding to the state’s schools. The Kansas Board of Education requested a $900 million funding increase for the current fiscal year.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on July 18. The court has allowed the Legislature’s funding plan to become law, but has yet to issue a ruling on the adequacy of the funding formula.
The school board approved two special meetings Monday to deal with the budget. The board will meet at 7 a.m. Aug. 10 for its budget hearing and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 to approve the budget.
Hays ARPN joins Stockton Medical Clinic
STOCKTON – While technically a new medical provider at the Stockton Medical Clinic, Ron Williams is very familiar to many in Stockton, having provided services at Rooks County Health Center since 2012. On July 7, Williams opened his practice at SMC, located at 107 S. Spruce, in preparation for the upcoming retirement of Genny Robben-Rahjes in August. Robben-Rahjes has provided services in Stockton since joining RCH in 2002.
Although a Hays resident, Williams is no stranger to Rooks County. He joined RCH to be a part of the emergency department and Doctors Without Delay, RCH’s six-day-a-week walk-in clinic. The transition to SMC allows him to host his own practice.
Williams, an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, holds a Masters in Science in Nursing from the University of Kansas School of Nursing. He has nearly 15 years experience in ER, Level I Trauma and Air Medical Transport Nursing.
“I grew up in a small town similar to Stockton, I understand the people and am very comfortable to be practicing here,” he said.
SMC is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. To schedule an appointment, call (785) 425-6921 or visit www.postrock.us.
Hays Police will conduct tactical training Thursday
HPD
The Hays Police Department will conducting training on July 27 between the hours of 1 and 4 p.m. at 1705 Eisenhower.
Police officers will be training with special tactical equipment. This training is being done with great care and safety.
As a homeowner, you may see law enforcement officers move through your area. There is no need to be alarmed. The officers are merely conducting a realistic training exercise and there is no danger to the community.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the on-site supervisor (Team Commander Tim Greenwood or Team Leader Aaron Larson), or Chief Scheibler at 785-625-1030.
CLINKSCALES: Taking steps to remember
At the end of May, we moved our office. Our new office is now on Main Street in Hays. It is a comfortable location.
In our rush to get set up, we put up some essential artwork just to make the new office look decent. This last Saturday, I was rummaging through the storage room. I realized that there were some photographs from the old office that I had not taken the time to hang. I even thought about not hanging those old, personal photographs.
I pulled them out of the box and I realized it was important to put them up. Let me just go through a few of those with you.
One was a photograph of my grandmother’s brother, Billy Tom. Billy Tom was a pilot entering into World War II. Unfortunately for him he was in Philippines at the time the war broke out, was captured, was one of the involuntary participants in the Bataan Death March, and spent years in prison camps in unspeakable conditions.
He was my grandmother’s older brother. She worshiped him. During the time of his captivity, it was thought by the family that he had died. It was with great excitement and joy that they learned at the end of the war that he was still alive. She had cards from him from his rehabilitation camp in Cuba, where he was sent by the Army to gain weight before he came home. My grandmother told stories of the homecoming. He married his sweetheart. He stayed in the military service.
My grandmother’s heart was again broken when about a year and a half after his return from the prison camp, his experimental jet plane exploded over Langley Airforce Base.
We do a lot of work with Veterans Pension Planning. I hung that photograph on the wall near our VA Specialist’s office. I think it is important to remember the sacrifices made by our veterans. It is important for us to remember that it touched us personally.
Another photograph was of my grandfather. My grandfather (Pop) was the sheriff of Hill County, Texas. He was a big, tall man. After being a sheriff, he became a police officer and subsequently assistant chief of police in a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. He always had an interesting philosophy as a police officer: If he stopped someone for speeding or some other minor citation, if they would take time to listen to his lecture, he would not write them a ticket. He thought if they would listen rather than just being angry about a ticket, it would go further on keeping them safe.
Pop was an honorable man. He was unassuming, methodical in his thinking and always did what was right. He had one true love, my grandmother. They were married when she was 17 and they spent only one night apart (when Pop was injured in a train wreck) in almost 60 years of marriage. She was his partner and best friend in life. He always treated her with the utmost respect.
I hung Pop’s photograph in one of our conference rooms. Pop brought integrity to everything that he did. It is a great reminder of the integrity that we should all bring to our lives, our dealings, and the people we deal with.
Finally I found my grandmother’s picture. My grandmother was the inspiration for me transitioning to elder care services. Why? She was a caregiver her whole life. She cared for her own mother for over 30 years. She had two sons that were hemophiliacs. She learned how to give IV’s of whole blood into their body in order to keep them alive. She was with them when they both passed. When my grandfather had a stroke and when he broke his neck in a train accident, she nurtured him back to good health, in her home. At one time, she helped care for my sister and me when my parents were going through a very tough time.
When I was called on to be a caregiver for my grandmother, it was the job I took most seriously. Saturday I hung her picture in the main office area of our life care planning team. I want our team, and me, to remember why we do this. I want us to remember that we should treat our clients just like I would want my grandmother to be treated, and as my grandfather would expect.
This weekend of hanging photographs of my grandparents and my great uncle reminded me that it is never too late to remember. It is never too late to fall back on the lessons that you have learned from your family members. Just because you are 63, 73, 83 or even 93 does not mean that you cannot take time to recall the past and let those lessons guide you.
Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.
20th & MacArthur intersection closed for pavement repairs
CITY OF HAYS
Beginning Wednesday, the 20th Street and MacArthur Road intersection will be closed for pavement repairs.
The concrete patching is in conjunction with the 2017 Street Maintenance Projects. This section of the project is scheduled to be completed within two 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 this 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 639-3919 or 432-0772.
Fort Hays State grad returns to his musical roots
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Professional singer and Fort Hays State University graduate Calder Craig is back in his hometown of Russell through the month of July. He is combining work with pleasure, catching up with old friends while at the same time performing as a guest artist at Russell’s Ad Astra Music Festival.
“It’s been really nice to be back among family, here in my old haunts, seeing old friends,” said Craig, a 2007 graduate of Russell High School who turned 29 last week. “I don’t have any responsibilities here other than music. That’s been a real pleasure.”
Craig, a 2014 Fort Hays State graduate in musical performance, went on to earn his master’s degree in classical voice performance at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in 2016. After graduation, Craig remained in New York City, where he now works as a barista to help pay the bills while also performing with an opera company, LoftOpera.
Craig took voice lessons from Dr. Joseph Perniciaro, associate professor of voice at FHSU, for a couple of years while in high school. Perniciaro suggested Craig audition for scholarships and apply to Fort Hays State.
“Fort Hays State, I felt, supported and had opportunities I would not have had at other schools because of the size of the music program,” Craig said. “I got a lot of special attention because the teachers weren’t overwhelmed with too many students. We could perform operas that I might not have had a chance to perform.
“Fort Hays State was the right fit for me.”
The Ad Astra Music Festival began its final week with free chamber music concerts, featuring the Ad Astra string quartet. There will be a concert at noon Wednesday at the Russell Senior Citizens Center. On Friday at 1 p.m., there will be another concert at Espresso Etc. in downtown Russell.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the festival will close with a semi-staged performance of Handel’s “Samson” at Trinity United Methodist Church. Admission is $10. At 10 a.m. Sunday at the Basilica of St. Fidelis in Victoria, the 2017 Young Artists will perform a “Jager” Mass during the regular Mass that morning.
Craig, who is interested in bringing classical music to those uninitiated audiences, and watching them learn to enjoy it, performed at his hometown musical festival in 2014 during its formative years. He returned this summer as a paid professional singer. Craig’s goal is to perform professionally for his lone source of income. Music is his life.
“I’ve been performing for as long as I can remember,” Craig said, “from kindergarten all the way up.”
KDOT announces additional projects for Kansas airport improvements
KDOT
An additional 10 airports will receive funding assistance in fiscal year 2018 to repair or improve facilities from the Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP), according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. Twenty-six airports were awarded assistance earlier this year.
“Aviation is a large part of the state’s economy, and airports are significant economic engines for that activity,” said Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson. “By providing this financial assistance, we help continue to build a strong economic tradition of aviation in Kansas.”
KAIP receives $5 million annually through the T-WORKS transportation program. KDOT’s Division of Aviation, which manages the program, received 130 applications for projects totaling $31.7 million.
“Aviation in Kansas accounts for $20.6 billion in total economic activity,” said Aviation Director Merrill Atwater. “The General Aviation segment, which is everything except military and commercial air carriers, accounts for over $9 billion of that total activity. We are proud to help keep Kansas aviation strong and assist these airports.”
KAIP requires airport sponsors to share the project costs by paying a minimum of 5 percent of the total project costs up to a maximum of 50 percent, depending on project category (of modernization, equipment, design and preservation).
The following is a list of the 10 airport improvement projects and the funding requested:
Baldwin City – Solar powered lighted windsock; $7,785
Beloit – Replace fuel system components; $53,975
Dighton/Lane County – Height and hazard overlay ordinance planning; $33,250
El Dorado – Materials for replacing entry road and parking lot; $36,000
Johnson/Stanton County – Design ramp and taxilane repairs; $95,000
Ness City – Relocate two hangars for new runway; $85,000
Oberlin – Rehabilitate terminal building; $8,500
Pratt – Reconstruct aprons; $225,000
Rose Hill/Cook Field – Taxiway improvement and extension; $112,500
Wellington – Airport utilities project; $261,482
Kansas aviation activity accounts for $20.6 billion in economic impact. More than 700 aerospace and aviation companies operate in the state. About 92 percent of Kansas airports support flight training and more than 60 percent have aviation outreach programs. Aviation activity supports more than 91,000 jobs in Kansas.
Hays Baseball Club will have meeting on 2018 season
The Hays Baseball Club will have an informational meeting for parents of any 7- 10-year-old (age as of April 30, 2018) interested in playing traveling, competitive baseball in the summer of 2018.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1 in the lecture hall at Hays High School. The purpose of the meeting is to provide the vision of the club as well as answer any questions or concerns that may be had prior to making a commitment.
If you’re unable to make the meeting or have any questions, email [email protected].
Hot, windy Wednesday with a chance for thunderstorms
Today A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 97. South wind 9 to 17 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Tonight A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. North wind 14 to 16 mph.
Very hot temperatures are once again today, although this will be the last of 100-degree heat for awhile with upcoming pattern change #kswx pic.twitter.com/wvelXxCtqX
— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) July 26, 2017
Thursday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 86. North northeast wind 8 to 11 mph.
Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. East northeast wind 5 to 9 mph.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.
Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 65.
SaturdayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Saturday NightA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66.
SundayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86.