SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated robbery and have identified a suspect.
Just before 4a .m. Tuesday, police responded to an alarm at Love’s Country Store located at 208 W. Pancake Blvd. in Liberal. A witness reported a robbery in progress, according to a media release.
Responding officers from the Liberal Police Department and Seward County Sheriff’s Office quickly set up a perimeter.
The suspect(s) were not immediately located. Evidence near the scene indicated a vehicle was used during the suspect’s escape.
Investigators learned that a masked man armed with a gun entered the store. The suspect fired the gun, removed the safe and escaped with an undisclosed amount of money. Two employees were working in the store at the time. There were no injuries.
Investigators located evidence near the scene confirming the make and model of the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle was located at a local residence early Tuesday afternoon and the damaged safe was located during a subsequent search at the residence.
Investigators have identified a person of interest in this case. No arrests have been made at this time.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Liberal Police Department at 620-626-0150 or the Crime Hotline at 620-624-4000. Persons providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible are eligible for a reward.
Ernest F. “Ernie” Wolf, 99, Hays, died Tuesday, July 4, 2017 at Via Christi Village Long Term Care.
He was born July 1, 1918 in Hays the son of Carl and Adelheid (Schmidt) Wolf. He graduated from St. Joseph Military Academy in 1939 and was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus Council #1325.
On May 15, 1944 he was united in marriage to Venita VonLintel. She preceded him in death on January 29, 2017. Ernie owned a Nash car dealership, a liquor store, worked at Midwest Tobacco and Candy, was a property manager, farmed for Don Pratt, and was a farmer and cattleman. He truly loved to be on the tractor and checking on his cattle daily. He was an active investor who watched the stock market closely, and he enjoyed sports, watching the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs, the St. Louis Cardinals, and KU basketball.
Survivors include two sons; David Wolf and wife Gloria of Windsor, Colorado and Karl Wolf of Hays, a daughter; Barbara Werth and husband Darrell of Hays, five grandchildren; Ashley Hatfield and husband Bob of Dodge City, Angela Chaffin and husband Matt of Dodge City, Christopher Werth and wife Bethany of Overland Park, Kansas, Ryan Werth and wife Sara of Prairie Village, and Jessica Werth of Kansas City, MO, ten great grandchildren; Amanda Hatfield, Payson Hatfield, Kylie Collins, Maleia Chaffin, Cecelia Fisk, Mary Katherine Werth, Aidan Werth, Brooklyn Werth, Atley Werth, and Bennett Werth, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Venita, four brothers; Ferdinand, Marcel, Clarence, and Carl Wolf, and nine sisters; Marge Stenger, Victoria Wolf, Pauline Dechant, Josephine Rupp, Rose Dreiling, Mary Rupp, Clara Antle, Anna Rupp, and Catherine Wiesner.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Saturday, July 8, 2017 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 215 W. 13th. Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 pm until 8:00 on Friday and from 9:00 am until 9:45 on Saturday, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine St. A parish vigil service will be at 6:30 pm followed by a Knights of Columbus Council #1325 rosary at 7:00, both on Friday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested in Ernie’s memory to St. Joseph Catholic Church, TMP-Marian High School, or to St. John’s Chapel at Via Christi Village, all in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com.
First responders on the scene of Monday’s fatal accident-photo courtesy KWCH
SEDGWICK COUNTY -A Kansas man run over by a work van on Monday died of his injuries.
The man was behind the van in the 3800 block of East Lavon in Wichita Monday morning when it rolled backward, according to officer Charley Davidson of the Wichita Police Department.
The man was pinned beneath the vehicle and pronounced dead a the scene.
The man’s name and additional details have not been released.
Susan Ann (Soapes) Bierman, age 92, passed away July 3, 2017 at the Brookdale Greenwood Village in Greenwood Village, CO. She was born February 26, 1924 in Greeley, CO to Arlan and Winnie (Walker) Soapes.
She is survived by her daughter Denise (Paul) Yourick of Castle Rock, CO; son Dennis (Barb) Bierman of Sunrise Beach, MO; 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
Celebration of Life Services will be at 1:00 PM Saturday, July 8, 2017 at Simmons-Rentschler Mortuary.
Burial will follow in the Olive Branch Cemetery, Kensington, KS.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be given to the Susan Bierman Memorial Fund and can be sent in care of the mortuary.
It is with much sadness that we announce Bryan Lynn Smith suddenly passed away on Thursday, June 15, 2017, at his home in Smith Center, Kansas.
Bryan was born in Hill City, Kansas, on November 28, 1956, to Donald Reed and Peggy (Rust) Smith. He attended school in Hill City before moving with his family to Smith Center in 1965 and then to Colby, Kansas in 1970. After high school Bryan’s work took him to many places and he ultimately returned to Smith Center to work at Peterson’s Industries and to help with the care of his parents.
Bryan willingly shared his kind soul and warm heart with his family and friends. He never ended a visit, phone call or message without telling you how much he loved you.
Bryan was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his daughter, Kelsey L. Smith, and his son, Michael Jones, brother Mitchell R. Smith (Emi) sister Cindy L. Hoffman (Tom), nephews Aaron Smith (Melissa), Christopher Smith (Jenny), Dennis Hoffman, David Hoffman, great nephews Caleb, Aidric and Owen Smith, and many relatives and friends.
Services will be held on Friday, July 7th, at 10:00 a.m., at Simmons-Rentschler Mortuary in Smith Center. Burial will be in Germantown Cemetery, Kensington, Kansas.
Memorials contributions can be made to the Bryan Smith Memorial Fund and can be sent in care of the mortuary.
Myron Joseph Sander, 59, of Collinsville, OK passed away Saturday, July 1, 2017 in Collinsville. He was born December 24, 1957 in Hays, KS to Daniel F. Sander and the former Alexia M. Schmidt. He started as a Police Officer for the Hays Police Department in 1988 where he was the Firearms instructor and the Sharp Shooter for their S.W.A.T. team. He had been with the Campus Police for Jenks Public Schools since 2001. He was an avid outdoorsman, hunting waterfowl, deer and fishing. He was also a member of the N.R.A.
Visitation will be 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 5, 2017 at the Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Thursday, July 6, 2017 at the Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home Chapel with Father Sylvanus Amaobi officiating.
Survived by: his wife: Ruth Sander of the home. 2 children: Molly Lynn and her husband David of Tulsa and Joseph Sander and his wife Amber of Owasso. 8 grandchildren: Preston Lynn, Alexia Lynn, Delilah Lynn, Lorelei Lynn, Spencer Lynn, Calvin Lynn, Evelyn Sander and Dahl Sander. 3 sisters: Mary Rose Peterson and her husband George of Topeka, KS, Dorothy Klaus and her husband Alex of Hays, KS and Cecelia Sander of Manhattan, KS. 2 sisters-n-law: Gerry Cole of Owasso and Elsie Linenberger of Collinsville. 2 brothers-n-law: Gilbert Linenberger, Jr. of Blue Grass, IA and Arthur Cole of Owasso. Several nieces and nephews also survive him.
Services are under the direction of Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home.
Robin Ann Edgett, the third of four children, was born January 26, 1960, in Norton, Kansas, to Floyd E. and Phyllis (Bozarth) Edgett. She passed away July 1, 2017, at her home in Oberlin, Kansas, at the age of 57.
When she was born, her family was living in Norton. Two years later, they moved to Oberlin. Robin attended Oberlin Elementary School and graduated from Decatur Community High School with the Class of 1978.
After graduating, Robin was married to Rick Gamblin. After their divorce, she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she worked in the floral industry. Robin later returned to Oberlin to care for her dad and had been working at Decatur Health Systems for the past 15 years. She currently was the Materials Management Department Head.
Robin loved to read and travel, collect Precious Moments and Tweety Bird items, and spend time with her family and friends. She had a compassionate and caring nature and lived with and cared for her father for many years.
She is survived by a brother, Michael Edgett (Anne) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; three sisters, Jana Edgett of Kearney, Nebraska, Nancy Vath (Bill) of Oberlin, and Brenda Nodine (David) of Alaska; nephews and niece, Alex, Jerrod, Jenn, Zeke and Zach; in addition to other family members and many friends.
Robin was preceded in death by her parents, Floyd and Phyllis; brother, Eugene Edgett; and sister, Glenda Sue Edgett.
Celebration of Life: Saturday, July 8th at 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home in Oberlin
Memorial Fund: In Robin’s name, for community service projects
Margerete Virginia (Howard) Lowe passed away on Saturday, July 1, 2017 at her home in Stockton, Kansas at the age of 95. She was born on April 2, 1922 on a farm south of Woodston, Kansas to the late Carl and Eva (Bemis) Howard. She always held special memories of going to school and growing up around Lenora, Kansas. Eventually the family moved to Stockton where she graduated from Stockton High School with the Class of 1939. On June 13, 1939 she was united in marriage to N. Efford Lowe in Stockton. They were blessed with five children, Darlene, Virginia, Nick, Cindy, and Kim.
As a waitress and salesclerk, Margarete worked in the Stockton Hotel Restaurant, Bob’s Café, Webster’s Peter Pan/Supermarket, Smith’s Gift Shop, and nineteen years at Cindy Lou’s Main Street Café. To say that she liked to remain busy would be an understatement. Always community minded she was affectionately known by one of her daughters as “Miss Stockton.” She was a member Main Street Christian Church, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, VFW Auxiliary, Century Club, Rooks County Historical Society, Stockton Alumni Association, and the Red Hat Society.
Of the many jobs and responsibilities Margerete had, what she loved the most was being a devoted homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and neighbor. As a young woman she and Efford enjoyed dancing the jitterbug to their favorite big band swing music. A great cook in her own right, her family often said, “She loved us with food.” And when it came to taking care of grandkids, spoiling them, spending time with them, loving and encouraging them, nobody did it better than her. Indeed, her family and friends were her life.
Margerete is survived by her son Nick Lowe and wife Angie of Stockton; daughters Darlene Hartzler and husband Duane of Tucson, AZ, Virginia Angelovic and husband Bob of Loveland, CO, and Cindy Turnbull and husband Tony of Elk City, OK; fifteen grandchildren; twenty-seven great-grandchildren; thirteen step-grandchildren; and twenty-one great-step-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents Carl and Eva Howard, husband Efford Lowe, daughter Kim Ray, and sisters Lucille Zwonitzer and Celia Howard.
It has been said, “Angels live among us. Sometimes they hide their wings, but there is no disguising the peace and hope they bring.” A lover and collector of angels, Margerete was also an angel who lived among us. Her love, devotion, friendship, and caring will live in our hearts for generations here, and for eternity hereafter.
Memorials are suggested to Main Street Christian Church and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. First Street, Stockton, KS 67669.
Paul William Olson of Stockton, Kansas, passed away on July 3, 2017 at Parkview Care Center in Osborne, Kansas at the age of 84. He was born on January 7, 1933 in Jamestown, North Dakota to the late Bert and Ella (Bergman) Olson. When Paul was 7 years old, his father was killed in an auto accident. Paul, his younger brother Donald, and their mother went to live with Uncle Paul Bergman on his farm southeast of Bottineau, North Dakota. He helped with the farm work and attended country school, where he enjoyed playing the ocassional trick on the teacher.
On November 26, 1960 Paul was united in marriage to Joan Knutson from McKenzie, North Dakota. They bought the farm near Bottineau, where they raised their five children. In 1983, they sold their farm and bought the KOA campground in WaKeeney, Kansas where they enjoyed hosting campers for 4½ years. They sold the campground and moved back to Bottineau then Bismarck, North Dakota,. Upon retirement they settled in Stockton, Kansas.
Paul loved working the soil and bringing in the harvest. A “jack-of-all-trades,” he worked part-time as a welder, electrician, and other odd jobs. But his main hobby was woodworking. He helped build the new Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Bottineau, participated in many church activities, and was always a patient, fun-loving father, husband, and friend.
He will be greatly missed by his wife Joan Olson of Stockton; sons Robert Olson and wife Tammy of Bottineau, ND, Michael Olson and wife Brenda of Minot, ND, and Timothy Olson and wife Patricia of Colorado Springs, CO; daughters, Kathleen Clark and husband Kevin of Inman, and Paulette Wildeman and husband Mark of Stockton; grandchildren Kristin Friesen and husband Eric, Dylan Clark, Tyler Olson, Miranda Wildeman, Hannah Wildeman, and Josh Olson; greatgrandson Hunter Clark; brother Donald B. Olson and wife Inez of Fargo, ND; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents Bert and Ella Olson.
It is the hands of a carpenter that hold our todays and tomorrows. Paul has layed aside his working tools today, and the cares of this world for tomorrow, in order to take up the joys of life eternal with the carpenter who is his Lord and saviour. No doubt our hearts can rejoice with his as he hears the words, “Well done, good and faiuthful servant. Enter now into your heavenly rest.”
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 pm on Friday, July 7, 2017 at the United Methodist Church in Stockton. A private family inurment will take place at a later date in Oak Creek Cemetery in Bottineau, ND. There will be no visitation. Memorials are suggested to Shepherd’s Hill at the Cross Roads or Alzheimer’s Association and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. First, Stockton, Kansas 67669. Words of comfort may be sent to the family at www.plumeroverlease.com
Clarence W. Bryant, age 94, passed away on Monday, July 3, 2017 at Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas. He was born on December 14, 1922 in LaCrosse, Kansas, the son of Oscar Leo & Myrtle Childers Bryant. A resident of Scott City, Kansas since 1973 moving from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, he was a Co-Farmer of Bryant Farms and father extraordinaire.
He was a member of the First Christian Church in Scott City, Kansas and The Gideons International and American Agriculture Movement.
On November 30, 1941 he married Lois M. Sharp in Dighton, Kansas. She passed away on April 22, 2017 in Scott City, Kansas.
Survivors include his Two Daughters – Jan & Paul Barkey of Manhattan, Kansas, Sharon & Dan Canterbury of Berthoud, Colorado, One Daughter In Law – Karen Bryant of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Two Grandchildren – Tandi Bryant of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Barry & Shannon Bryant of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Six Great Grandchildren – Daylan Bryant, Dalton Bryant, Dyllin Bryant, Dreden Bryant, Declan Bryant of Colorado Springs,Colorado, and Tallyn Bryant of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
He was preceded in death by his Wife, Parents, Two Sons – Phil Bryant & Darrel Bryant, One Grandson – Aaron Barkey, Three Brothers – Elmer Bryant, Carrol Bryant, Marvin Bryant, and One Sister – Leona Fay Bryant.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday at the First Christian Church in Scott City, Kansas with Steve Payne & Rev. Paul Barkey presiding.
Memorials may be given and made to First Christian Church, Gideons International in care of Price & Sons Funeral Home in Scott City, Kansas.
Interment will be in the Scott County Cemetery in Scott City, Kansas.
Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Thursday at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Scott City, Kansas.
On any given school day at Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, students with disabilities receive an array of medical and support services, from physical therapy to help from nurses.
Congress is working on a health bill that could affect Medicaid funding for districts like Kansas City Kansas Public Schools. Kansas schools receive around $46 million total to pay for services provided to students with disabilities. FILE PHOTO / KCUR
The services are meant to ensure access to education for all children, said Michelle Colvin, director of special education for the district.
“All means all,” Colvin said. “It benefits us to include everyone in our education system.”
Medicaid helps pay for such services — providing around $46 million for schools statewide, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
As Republicans in Congress work on an Obamacare repeal and replacement bill that would impose caps on Medicaid funding and give states more authority to decide who and what to cover, education advocates in Kansas are scrambling to determine how those changes would affect schools.
“We’re trying to get that nailed down,” said Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, which has been urging its members to contact Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran with their concerns.
“If federal aid goes down, that doesn’t change the cost to the districts,” he said, referring to federal statute that requires schools to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
Michelle Colvin, director of special education for Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, said services for disabled students wouldn’t decrease at her district if Medicaid reimbursements drop in Kansas. But the district might need to use other funds to provide those mandated services. CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
A coalition of concerned groups — ranging from the National Disability Rights Network to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to the American Psychological Association — are sounding the alarm, warning that proposed caps on federal Medicaid spending risk reducing financial support to schools or even crowding them out of the program.
In May, the House passed a bill that would curb projected growth in Medicaid spending by $830 billion over the next decade, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The Senate may soon vote on a version that slashes $770 billion.
Kansas GOP Congressman Kevin Yoder said in a recent emailed statement that the House bill prioritizes Medicaid spending on the elderly and people with disabilities. He noted that the bill cuts growth in spending, rather than reducing current funding levels.
“The bottom line is we are protecting these children by prioritizing them in our reforms and ensuring the Medicaid program will not go insolvent,” Yoder said.
The CBO estimates the House version would cut the federal deficit by about $120 billion over a decade. It pegged the figure at about $320 billion for the Senate version.
Those savings would be achieved in large part by the Medicaid spending caps, which would reduce enrollment by an estimated 14 million to 15 million people by 2026.
Funding caps in the Senate version wouldn’t apply to disabled children, according to the CBO, but educators remain concerned that states could still reduce the funding that schools receive to provide services to students with disabilities.
Areas of impact
Among schools, the state’s biggest Medicaid billers are its largest urban-core districts, which serve high numbers of children from low-income families. These include the 50,000-student Wichita district, the 22,000-student Kansas City Kansas district and the 14,000-student Topeka district.
Kansas City Kansas schools received about $4.1 million through Medicaid last year. That figure includes money for some services provided to the neighboring Bonner Springs and Piper school districts.
But smaller districts are worried, too. The National Rural Education Association, part of the coalition concerned about the fate of Medicaid in schools, said losses can be difficult for such districts to absorb.
“Most rural districts are already strapped for cash anyway,” said Allen Pratt, the Tennessee-based group’s executive director. “It’s only going to make things a lot worse.”
There’s some indication Medicaid plays a larger role in increasing access to health care for residents of rural areas and small towns. Research published this month by Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina found that more children in those areas are insured by Medicaid than children living in metropolitan areas.
In Kansas, 36 percent of children in towns and rural areas have Medicaid coverage, compared to 27 percent in metropolitan areas. The rate of uninsured children — about 5 percent — is the same for both.
Erosion of state aid
The decades-old federal law on the educational rights of children with disabilities was born of civil rights efforts that moved schools away from systematically isolating kids with special needs from regular classrooms and other classmates.
It pushes schools to tailor medical and educational services so that children can learn in general education environments as much as possible.
For Colvin, the reasoning is simple: All children should have the opportunity to achieve their potential.
“We have to provide these students with the best possible education,” she said.
But state and federal funding that schools receive doesn’t fully cover the cost of providing the mandated services. And this feeds into school administrators’ fears of losing Medicaid dollars.
Under Kansas law, schools should receive from the state 92 percent of the extra costs associated with educating children with special needs, after adjusting for some federal assistance. But Kansas has ignored that law since 2011. Amid tight budgets in recent years, the state has covered around 80 percent instead.
A key type of federal special education aid is a similar story. According to the National School Boards Association, on a per-student basis, Congress is putting in less than half of what it committed upon passing a landmark special education-related law in 1975.
Kansas lawmakers agreed to add about $12 million to special education funding for next school year — part of their response to the long-running Gannon v. Kansas lawsuit that accuses the state of underfunding public schools. This could lead to a bump in aid per student, but the Kansas Association of School Boards said reductions in Medicaid could easily undo it.
Shifting dollars
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The national Save Medicaid in Schools Coalition warns scaling back the program could lead schools to divert money from other education programs to make up the difference. It could also weaken medical and mental health services, the groups said.
Colvin said services for disabled students, whose rights are governed by federal mandates, wouldn’t decrease at her district if Medicaid reimbursements drop in Kansas.
“There’s no negotiation there,” she said, but added that the district would need to pull money from elsewhere in its general budget.
Kansas City Kansas Public Schools is one of the plaintiffs in the Gannon lawsuit and has long argued its classrooms are already underfunded.
Colvin also warned that early childhood services billable in part to Medicaid aren’t subject to the same federal mandates, making them more vulnerable.
Kansas City Kansas schools serve nearly 700 infants and toddlers born with disabilities or facing other risk factors. About $275,000 for this program comes from Medicaid, and the district would struggle to find the money elsewhere, she said.
“That’s probably more scary to me,” she said. “They don’t have a fallback.”
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — FBI agents seized bomb-making materials, seven guns and ammunition from the Montana home of a man they suspect of carrying out bank robberies in five states.
An inventory of the property seized from Richard Gathercole’s home in Roundup shows that agents also took sheriff’s badges and patches, a sheriff’s vest and an ammunition vest, a military style helmet, an organic chemistry book and material to make identification badges.
The inventory list was filed with U.S. District Court in Billings on June 27.
Authorities believe Gathercole is the man they call “the AK-47 bandit” who held up at least six banks since 2012.
Gathercole is being held in Lexington, Nebraska, where he is accused of stealing a truck and guns and firing on a Kansas state trooper on Interstate 70 in Northwest Kansas last month.
Man seriously injured in Wednesday morning accident-photo courtesy KWCH
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man who apparently was sleeping in a dumpster in Wichita, Kansas, was injured when that large metal trash bin was emptied into a garbage truck.
The man was sent to the hospital after the accident shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday outside an apartment complex.
A Wichita Fire Department battalion chief, Sid Newby, says the truck’s driver had emptied the dumpster and was compacting the trash when he stepped out of the vehicle and heard the victim screaming.
The victim was taken to a hospital, and his injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
The man’s name was not released.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man who apparently was sleeping in a dumpster in Wichita, was injured when that large metal trash bin was emptied into a garbage truck.
The man was sent to the hospital after the accident shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday outside an apartment complex, though his medical status was not immediately clear.
SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated robbery and have identified a suspect.
