LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Douglas County sheriff’s found a body inside a burning vehicle just northeast of Lawrence.
Sgt. Kristen Channel says the deputy discovered the vehicle on fire shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday. It had apparently left the roadway and struck an unoccupied farm truck.
The Lawrence Journal-World reported Monday that authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the body or determined what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The two water slides at the Hays Aquatic Park (HAP) remain open but they are affected by a new state law that became effective Sat., July 1. That law has resulted in the temporary shutdown of the water slides at the Russell Municipal Swimming Pool.
The law is under review by the Hays city attorney, according to Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood.
Amendments to the Kansas Amusement Ride Act state that no amusement ride shall be operated in Kansas unless a valid permit for such ride has been issued by the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and the owner of the ride has registered with KDOL as an amusement ride owner, beginning July 1, 2017.
Water slides are required to meet ASTM standards and receive written certification by a qualified inspector, acknowledged by the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials (NAARSO) or other nationally recognized third party training organizations, prior to applying for a KDOL permit to operate the slide.
Water slides that are at least 15 feet in height and that use water to propel the patron through the ride are considered an amusement ride, as defined in the new law.
“There is some disparity in the law,” Wood said, “and our HAP slides may or may not qualify as amusement rides. There’s a difference between using water to propel someone down the slide as opposed to the water being used as a lubricant on the slide.
“We won’t close them down for now. We’ll probably have a decision within the next couple of days,” he said Monday afternoon.
The water slides at the Hays Aquatic Park and the Russell Municipal Swimming Pool exceed 15 feet in height.
Two new water slides were just opened Saturday, July 1, at the Ellis Municipal Swimming Pool. According to City Clerk Amy Burton, both slides are less than 15 feet in height and therefore not subject to the new state law.
“When we were looking at purchasing them, we kind of figured this law might happen, so we took that into consideration when we bought the slides,” Burton said.
On June 23, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill delaying a provision that creates criminal penalties for operating a ride without a license until Jan. 1, 2018, and prohibits the Department of Labor from enforcing penalties until new rules are published. The department had been concerned that some parks wouldn’t be able to comply with the new tougher standards by July 1.
The initial law was enacted in April after the death of Republican Rep. Scott Schwab’s 10-year-old son, Caleb, last summer at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City.
According to a notice on the KDOL website, a public hearing has been set on new permanent rules and regulations under the Kansas Amusement Ride Act at 9 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2017, at the Kansas Department of Labor in Topeka.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal appeals court is refusing to revive a former Kansas attorney general’s lawsuit against the state Supreme Court over its indefinite suspension of his state law license.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Monday against ex-Attorney General Phill Kline.
The anti-abortion Republican was disciplined over allegations of misconduct arising from investigations of abortion providers as attorney general from 2003 through 2006 and Johnson County district attorney in 2007 and 2008.
Kline has strongly denied wrongdoing.
A federal judge dismissed Kline’s case last year and said lower federal courts can’t take up the case because only the U.S. Supreme Court can review state supreme court decisions.
The federal appeals panel agreed.
The nation’s highest court refused in 2014 to consider Kline’s case.
By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Baker Hughes last week reported the first drop in its US oil rig count since September: 756 active oil rigs, down two. There were 184 rigs drilling for natural gas, up one. There are 189 active oil and gas rigs in Canada, up 19. Independent Oil and Gas Service reports 14 active rigs in eastern Kansas, up one, and 22 west of Wichita, down two. By Friday they were drilling at one site in Stafford County, reported drilling ahead at sites in Ellis and Russell counties, and they’re moving in rotary tools at one site in Barton County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 46 new well completions last week. That’s 661 so far this year. There were 12 completions in eastern Kansas and 34 west of Wichita, including two in Barton County and three in Ellis County.
Operators filed 13 permits to drill at new locations across Kansas last week, that’s 710 so far this year. There were seven new permits east of Wichita, and six in western Kansas, including one in Barton County and two in Ellis County.
We’re expecting the formal final tallies for the month of June later on, but the weekly reports from Independent Oil & Gas Service confirm some trends in Kansas oil and gas production for the first half of this year (at least through June 29). As you might expect, comparisons to the totals from the last couple of years are not impressive. Blame it all on the price of a barrel of crude, down from over $105 dollars a barrel at the end of June of 2014 to just over $46 today. Statewide, operators have completed 661 wells so far this year, which is up from 635 at this time last year, but well below the 2,492 in June of 2015 and the 3,058 by midway through 2014. In Barton County, there have been 22 well completions this year, compared to 76 through the first half of 2014. Ellis County reports 26 completions, compared to 83 in 2014. In Russell County, producers have completed just 11 wells, compared to 56 three years ago. Stafford County notches 14 completions, compared to 41 through June of 2014.
New drilling permit totals also lag behind 2014’s numbers. Statewide, producers filed 710 permits to drill at new locations through June 29, up from 432 last year at this time, but way down from the 1,260 permits filed two years ago, and 3,802 at this time three years ago. In Barton County there were 21 new drilling permits filed, compared to 68 through June, 2014. Ellis County reports 25 new permits, compared to 62 three years ago. In Russell County, operators filed 13 new permits, compared to 52 by the end of June 2014. In Stafford County, 13 permits filed so far this year, compared to 42 by June of 2014
Chesapeake Energy is dedicating almost half of its capital expenditure program to its big new play in the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk in South Texas. The company believes it may have more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and says they have more than 25 years of potential drilling targets in South Texas.
Houston’s Linn Energy and Tulsa’s Citizen Energy will combine 140,000 net acres of contiguous oil land across Oklahoma, with each taking half of the equity in the new company that will drill up the acreage. Officials with the Houston firm tell the Houston Chronicle Roan Resources (the new company) will focus solely on the SCOOP and STACK shale plays with a large footprint across the region. The firm plans to drill 58 wells this year with five rigs. They expect to take the company public early next year. The companies said the acreage has roughly 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in resources that could last two decades.
There’s an unusual side effect of the oil glut reported by Reuters this week. Pipeline operators are offering steep discounts to new short-term customers to keep their lines full. That doesn’t sit well with customers whose long-term contracts are now more expensive than spot purchases. Some of those pipeline firms are offering prices as low as 25 percent of federally regulated rates, creating a secondary market that undercuts shippers with long-term contracts. Eight pipeline operators contacted by Reuters declined to comment on their discounted spot pricing. The discounts emerged after a global glut and crashing oil prices caused many shippers to let their pipeline contracts lapse or declare bankruptcy.
Oil-eating microbes have consumed a considerable portion of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A new study shows the chemicals used to disperse the oil kept it underwater, making it more available to the microbes that live in the deeper portions of the ocean. Scientists hope the discovery can help with the mitigation of future spills.
In what’s believed to have been a first, a supertanker three football fields long and six stories high navigated through the port of Corpus Christi, Texas last month. According to the San Antonio Express News, the tanker didn’t pick up any oil. Instead it docked at Occidental’s terminal to determine if some of the world’s biggest carriers could start ferrying Texas oil to foreign buyers. The shipping upgrade is necessary after a surge in production from U.S. shale fields brought more light sweet crude than Gulf Coast refiners could handle.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado regulators are seeking potentially steep fines, upwards of $100,000 a day, for several years worth of alleged air pollution violations by PDC Energy of Denver. Federal and state officials accuse the company of failing to control air pollution at dozens of oil tank sites.
Effective July 1, 2017, the Russell Municipal Swimming Pool water slides will be closed to public use, until further notice.
On June 29, 2017, the City received notice that amendments to the Kansas Amusement Ride Act, signed by Governor Brownback on June 26, 2017, states that no amusement ride shall be operated in Kansas unless a valid permit for such ride has been issued by the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and the owner of the ride has registered with KDOL as an amusement ride owner, beginning July 1, 2017.
Water slides that are at least 15 feet in height and that use water to propel the patron through the ride are considered an amusement ride, by definition of the new law.
Both of the Russell Municipal Swimming Pool water slides exceed 15 feet in height.
The water slides are required to meet ASTM standards and receive written certification by a qualified inspector, acknowledged by the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials (NAARSO) or other nationally recognized third party training organizations, prior to applying for a KDOL permit to operate the slide.
The city has initiated the application process. However, according to information received from KDOL there are only four qualified inspectors in the state of Kansas. Other inspection options are being considered. The city has made contact with the KDOL regarding these amendments and the impact on our facility and community.
Citizen concerns may be voiced to area legislators about this new state law.
The city apologizes for this inconvenience and appreciates your patience.
KDHE
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has rescinded a boil water advisory for the city of Norton. The advisory was issued because of a loss of pressure in the system. Failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.
Public water suppliers in Kansas take all measures necessary to notify customers quickly after a system failure or shutdown. Regardless of whether it is the supplier or KDHE that announces a boil water advisory, KDHE will issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.
Laboratory testing samples collected from the city of Norton indicate no evidence of contamination, and all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed by KDHE officials to be resolved.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Another couple of good rains in Hays this past weekend have pushed the yearly total precipitation to more than 20 inches.
Weather data from the K-State Agricultural Research Center south of town indicates 0.62 inches of rain fell Saturday and another 0.70 inches received Sunday.
A Flash Flood Warning was issued Sunday morning for central Ellis County after more than 5 inches of rain fell in some rural areas.
Water ran across some country roads and washed out others in the northern areas of the county, according to Ellis County Public Works Director Bill Ring.
Rainfall to date in Hays is 20.04 inches.
Phillipsburg resident LeRoy M. Stephen passed away Saturday, July 1st, 2017 at the Phillips County Hospital, Phillipsburg at the age of 72.
He was born on January 3, 1945 in Rooks County, Kansas. He was Sheriff of Phillips County for many years.
He was united in marriage to Barbara J. Horn on June 6, 1965 in Stockton, Kansas. She survives.
Other survivors include his two sons, Terry of Ponca City, OK and Gary & wife, Amy of Phillipsburg; two brothers, Leonard of Atwood, KS and Lewis of Hays, KS; two sisters, Lana Odle & husband, Larry of Stockton, KS & Lorene Alexander & husband, Don of Carmichael, CA; and 4 grandchildren.
Cremation is planned. Memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 8, 2017 in the United Methodist Church, Phillipsburg, with Pastor Lew Van Der Wege officiating. Inurnment will take place in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Logan.
Friends may sign the book from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, where the family will receive friends from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. that evening.
Memorial contributions may be made to the United Methodist Church or Phillips County Sheriff’s Dept. Equipment Fund.
Online condolences: www.olliffboeve.com.
Phillipsburg resident Douglas W. Case, age 67, passed away Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at the Phillips County Hospital in Phillipsburg, KS.
He was born May 3, 1950 in Phillipsburg to Ralph & Arlene (Miller) Case. He was a US Navy Veteran.
Survivors include two brothers, Jon (Margarita) of Morris, IN and Michael (Jan) of Greensburg, KS.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Gary L. Case.
Cremation was planned. Memorial services will be Friday, July 7, at 10:30 a.m. at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with Pastor Barrett Case officiating. Inurnment, with military rites, will follow in the Fairview Cemetery, Phillipsburg.
Friends may sign the book Thursday, July 6, from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. at the funeral home, where the family will greet friends from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. that evening.
Memorials may to go to the Phillips County EMS or to the donor’s choice in care of the mortuary.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, 1115 2nd Street, Phillipsburg, KS 67661, is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences: www.olliffboeve.com.
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After receiving heavy rain overnight Saturday, Ellis County crews are still busy fixing roads that were washed away.
According to reports, the area around Catharine received the most rain Saturday night and into Sunday morning with as much as 5.60 inches of rain reported in that area.
Ellis County Public Works Director Bill Ring said there are a number of roads that have been washed out or damaged by the rain and his department still is assessing the actual number of roads that need repaired.
He said that number continues to change as the water works its way downstream.
“I’ve got guys that have come in that are just out trying to blade roads, where they can, to get them out, or get them at least passable,” he said.
Ring said there were four crews working on the roads Sunday and 16 employees doing nothing but trying to get the roads in shape during the day Monday.
He said because of the amount of rain that came down in such a short period of time, “there’s not much you can do about that. That amount of water in that amount of time? That’s going to happen.”
Ring also encouraged people who do not have to travel in the affected areas to stay away, as crews attempt to make the roads safe for travel. He also reminded motorists that driving through water on the roadway, moving or standing still, can be dangerous.
If you come across damaged or washed out roads, Ring said to call the Public Works office during business hours at (785) 628-9455 or, after hours, call the non-emergency dispatch number at (785) 625-1011.
PHILLIPSBURG — When the Phillipsburg Rodeo stampedes into town August 3-4-5, it’ll bring a treat for western fans!
Western showman Rider Kiesner will be on hand during every performance of the rodeo to enthrall crowds with his western-style art.
Kansas Biggest Rodeo-goers will see him trick rope, spin guns, and do some good old fashioned whip-crackin’! He’ll even bring his fire whips: two six foot whips, soaked in lighter fluid, that he lights during his show as he cracks them. “They throw a big flame,” he said. “They’re pretty cool.”
The 25-year-old cowboy knows how to entertain. He first learned how to trick rope from a Will Rogers trick roping kit his parents gave him when he was nine years old and the family lived in Colorado. “It was cold that winter and we moved all the furniture back (in the living room), and I trick roped in the house,” he remembers.
From there it only grew. He polished his showmanship and learned the art of gun spinning and bullwhip cracking to add to his repertoire.
And since then, he’s entertained at some of the biggest rodeos and wild west shows in the nation and across the world: the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas the last three years, Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, Clovis, Calif., San Angelo, Texas, and Prescott, Ariz., and at the Cavalia, an equestrian and performing art show that toured last year in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
He’s also won numerous awards: four times as world champion trick roper, twice as world champion gun spinner, and the all-around western performer twice, at the world finals in Las Vegas and Tombstone, Ariz.
Kiesner loves to entertain. “It’s something I’ve always done,” he said. “To be able to make a living by performing is the best.”
Kiesner will perform with his western arts during each night of rodeo at the rodeo grounds north of town, August 3-5. The rodeo begins each night at 8 pm.
Tickets for the rodeo are on sale at Heritage Insurance in Phillipsburg and at the gate. They range in price from $12 to $18.
For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at KansasBiggestRodeo.com or its Facebook page (search for Kansas Biggest Rodeo.)
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Cutline: Trick roper, gun spinner and whip cracker Rider Kiesner will entertain during Kansas Biggest Rodeo in Phillipsburg. The young phenom is a great western entertainer. Photo by Bob Hosker.
Cutline: Rider Kiesner stands on his horse as the finale to one of his trick riding routines. The performer will be in Phillipsburg for the enjoyment of fans August 3-4-5. Photo by Bob Hosker.
