No data was stolen during a ransomware attack against Hays USD 489 on Friday.
Superintendent John Thissen gave a report to the school board Monday night. The district lost temporary use of its servers and its website went down after an attack about 6 a.m. Friday.
The district was able to use backups to restore the website and many other functions before the end of the day on Friday.
The district did not pay the ransom request. The only costs to the district were the time and effort to deal with incident. District staff believe the attack was made through a special education server, which had the capability of being accessed from outside the district. That outside access is being closed due to the attack.
The incident was reported to the Hays police and FBI, who Thissen said classifies the hack as an attack of terror.
The only substantial data that was lost were files for the middle school yearbook. Thissen said they were lucky this is still early in the year so alternative content can be found. The district is working on creating a permanent backup system for that program.
The district is considering an audit of its cyber systems in lieu of the attack.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Three Kansas State Fair employees are facing charges after allegedly selling fair gate tickets for their own profit.
The employees were arrested Tuesday and accused of approaching people who were walking toward the fair, selling them tickets and keeping the money for themselves.
Two of the men, Leeon Virgil Gould Jr., and Charles Scott, both 47 and of Hutchinson, made a first court appearance Wednesday and were ordered to return next week. The third suspect, Brett Ezra Thomas, bonded out of jail and did not make his first appearance.
Reno County Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen said another fair employee reported the sales to authorities.
UPDATE at 3:30 p.m.: Saturday’s public forum with the Kansas Legislature’s Women’s Caucus has been canceled.
According to Kathy Rome, the two Republican lawmakers have had a change in their schedules and will not be able to attend. Rome says organizers hope to reschedule the event.
The newly organized Hays/Russell chapter of Women for Kansas is helping to sponsor a public forum Saturday featuring a bipartisan group of female state lawmakers who helped to find the solution to the tax issue this past legislative session.
Representatives Cindy Holscher (D-Olathe), Stephanie Clayton (R-Overland Park) and Sydney Carlin (D-Manhattan) of the Kansas Legislature’s Women’s Caucus, will speak about how and why the caucus formed. The women will also discuss important legislation of the 2017 legislative session, upcoming elections and share the strategic vision of the caucus.
Perhaps most importantly, the trio will talk about how to get more people involved in politics.
The basis of that, according to Kathy Rome of Hays and a member of the local Women for Kansas chapter, is getting people registered to vote.
“We had a voter registration booth at the Ellis County Fair this summer,” Rome said.
The group is forming a leadership team comprised of several women from Hays and Russell. Although they have not yet set a schedule of regular meetings, Ellis County Clerk Donna Maskus and Russell County Clerk Mary Nuss recently spoke to the chapter about election laws in Kansas.
Rome, a former teacher, is the northwest Kansas Uniserv Director for the Kansas National Educators Association and has long been aware of politics at the state level. She first learned about the Women for Kansas group during the 2014 gubernatorial election and attended their convention in Wichita.
“It sounded like an organization I’d like to be involved with,” she said, “and ever since then, I thought it would be nice if we could get a group going in our area.”
Rome talked with several women, including former State Senator Janis Lee, who expressed interest in the idea. Core members of the leadership team include Hays residents Rome, Lee, Dawn Berry, and Celeste Lasich and Russell resident Ann Blessin-Deyoe.
“Anybody is welcome to join our group. It is definitely bipartisan,” Rome added. “We just focus on the issues that are going on locally.”
The Hays/Russell chapter of Women for Kansas plans to host a speaker in November to address Medicaid in Kansas, which is “a concern of many people” Rome believes. They also will help with a Oct. 17 local candidate debate in conjunction with Fort Hays State University and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce prior to the November general election.
For more information about joining the Hays/Russell chapter of Women for Kansas call Rome at 785-259-1456, Berry at 785-483-2066, Lasich at 507-530-3671, or Blessin-Deyoe at 785-483-2066.
The Kansas Bipartisan Women Legislators Forum is Saturday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Stouffer Lounge of the Fort Hays State University Memorial Union. The public is invited.
The event is sponsored by the FHSU groups Phi Kappa Phi, Student Government, Collegiate Democrats, and Collegiate Republicans, the FHSU Political Science Department and the Hays/Russell chapter of Women for Kansas.
Owen LouRay Carpenter, 60, Stockton, Calif., brother of Dee (Laura) Carpenter of Colby, died Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, at the St. Joseph Hospital in Stockton, following a long battle with cancer.
He was born Aug. 1, 1957, the son of Merle and Peal (Owens) Carpenter of Levant. He grew up on a farm northwest of Levant, attending school in Colby until 1970, when he transferred to Edson. After that school closed, he attended his senior year at Goodland High School. He earned an associate degree from Colby Community College.
Preceding him in death were his parents and a brother, Gary Carpenter.
Survivors include five children: Travis Carpenter, Clovis, N.M.; Tyler Carpenter, Round Rock, Texas; Candice Carpenter, Kansas City, MO; and Krystal Carpenter and Kelly Carpenter, both of Sebring, Florida; another brother Melvin (Nancy) Carpenter, Overland Park; and two grandchildren.
Inurnment services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at Beulah Cemetery, Colby, Kansas.
The Hays school board will have a special meeting at 7 a.m. Friday.
The board is set to discuss the Hays teachers’ contract and insurance. The board has also set aside time for an executive session to discuss negotiations.
The board and the teachers union are at odds over the insurance provider for the district. The district wishes to change its provider to Aetna to save money, and the teachers’ union wishes to stay with the state plan, which is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Click here from more on this issue from the teachers. Click here to see the board’s arguments on the issue.
A tentative agreement went to the custodians’ union Monday night. The custodians’ union has until noon on Thursday to give a reply on the board’s revisions to its contract, which eliminates language that would require the district to provide the state insurance plan. Click here for more on the board’s Monday action on the contract.
Crews on the KSU campus Wednesday morning-photo courtesy Manhattan Fire Dpt.
MANHATTAN — Officials are investigating a hazardous waste leak on campus at Kansas State University.
Just after 8:30a.m. Wednesday the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to the Chemistry/Biochemistry Building on Kansas State University’s campus for a report of a hazardous materials spill, according to a media release.
Upon arrival, crews found a small ammonia cylinder on the third floor had been leaking and had been shut off by K-State Facilities.
Fire crews monitored the air to ensure the building was safe for occupants. A total of 13 firefighters responded on 4 fire apparatus with the last units clearing at around 9:30 a.m. Two patients were checked out by Riley County Emergency Medical Services for possible exposure to ammonia and were released.
The Chemistry/Biochemistry Building houses offices, classrooms and research labs for those departments. There was no loss associated with the incident. Fire crews assisted in ventilating the building and the building was turned over to facilities and lab personnel.
Fire crews were assisted by K-State Environmental Health and Safety, K-State Facilities, Riley County EMS, and K-State Police Department.
First responders at Norton Correctional Facility Sept. 5 (Photo courtesy KWCH-TV)
By KIRBY ROSS Phillips County Review
With major renovations taking place at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing starting a couple of months ago, hardened convicts there were transferred to correctional facilities across the state.
The prison in Norton, which houses medium and minimum security prisoners, had over 100 inmates from Lansing brought in, with others being sent out to different facilities in the corrections system.
Subsequent to these moves, major Kansas and national media outlets have discovered that there have been a string of disturbances at the maximum security prison in El Dorado.
After the most recent outbreak of violence at El Dorado, which is a maximum security prison, some of the prisoners there were transferred to Norton, joining the ones already brought in from Lansing. The newly-imported prisoners from Lansing and El Dorado numbered around 180, out of a total of over 800 at Norton.
With the large influx of new convicts, a corrections officer who works at the Norton Prison said the facility there has faced increased tension in recent weeks.
A report by the Associated Press confirms this, stating “The number of disciplinary reports at Norton jumped from 226 to 396 from July to August, an increase of 75 percent, according to figures provided by KDOC.
“The previous peak was 328 reports in June 2016. Last year the prison averaged 209 a month, compared with 245 per month from January through August this year.”
With this volatile backdrop in play and with tensions rising, on Monday night of last week there was a small inmate riot in C Block at the Norton Prison that was put down by correctional officers.
Then, 24 hours later, on Tuesday night, the pot boiled over in full force as a major riot erupted and law enforcement officers from across the state.
The severity of what happened next has become the subject of a bit of back and forth, with bureaucrats in Topeka calling what took place in Norton a “disturbance,” while the guards and police who had boots on the ground and were in harm’s way are calling it a riot.
With things falling apart a little after 9 p.m. that night, Norton police advised local residents to pull their car keys and lock their doors, as prison officials sounded a call for help to law enforcement in surrounding counties. The Phillips County Sheriff’s Department was among the first from the outside to respond, with Sheriff Charlie Radabaugh and Undersheriff Nathan Schwenn, along with three more deputies, arriving before a command post was even set up. They were assigned to the west side of the prison complex, where they provided security just outside the fence.
Sheriff Radabaugh told the Review that he and one of his deputies were pelted with rocks and bricks for a short time, and that his patrol vehicle sustained damage from a brick that narrowly missed the law enforcement officers.
Radabaugh, noting that the situation had the looks of being a riot from where he was located, diplomatically observed that “whether it was a riot or disturbance is subject to interpretation depending on where you were at at the time.”
Accounts from the scene indicate a serious situation. CBS News reports that Norton City Administrator Chad Buckley said all the town’s fire trucks and its entire police department responded to the scene to assist corrections officials.
In addition, the Norton Telegram newspaper reports the situation was so dire that armed reinforcements were called in not only from Phillips County, but also from sheriff’s departments in Smith, Ellis, Graham, Trego, Rawlins and Sheridan counties, as well as the Kansas Highway Patrol, including a special tactical team, dog teams and a helicopter. The need for manpower and firepower was considered so critical that game wardens were included in the request for assistance. In addition, hospitals, fire departments and EMS units from surrounding counties were put on standby alert.
With Kansas Department of Corrections officials telling KSN-TV in Wichita that the Norton situation was under control, the television station was simultaneously reporting, “However, the Union for Kansas Executive Branch Employees has reported a huge riot at the facility. The union reported buildings are burning, and some inmates have weapons.”
With 15-20 corrections officers reportedly trapped inside the fence at one point, Department of Corrections spokesman Samir Arif noted from Topeka that there were only two minor injuries to guards, neither of which required medical treatment. Arif went on to say damage at the prison consisted of a mattress and rags that were burned. Pressed, he was unsure if flames caused any structural damages, saying the buildings would need to be evaluated.
According to the Wichita Eagle, at least three Norton prison guards took exception to Topeka’s description of events– “‘When a little disturbance is when the inmates take over the facility, I don’t know what a riot is,’ said a corrections officer who spoke on a condition of anonymity. Two other officers on the scene backed up this description of the incident. ‘Basically, they tried to burn the place down,’ he said.”
In a statement to the Kansas City Star, Kansas Organization of State Employees director Robert Choromanski disputed comments downplaying the seriousness of the situation and provided what information he had, stating that the newly-transferred inmates in Norton were angry that they had been taken there, hundreds of miles away from their eastern Kansas families.
With state corrections officials and law enforcement issuing few statements about what happened, little more has officially been made public other than to say a full investigation is now under way.
The Kansas City Star reports that the Norton Correctional Facility riot “follows weeks of unrest in Kansas’ prisons, which prompted Gov. Sam Brownback to announce a pay raise for prison workers last month to help facilities deal with high staff turnover that has exacerbated safety issues. At the Lansing facility, multiple disturbances have occurred in recent months that the Department of Corrections did not initially report to the public. One of the more serious ones broke out in early July, when a half-dozen inmates were involved in an altercation. Four inmates suffered stab wounds, one had a punctured lung and two needed outside medical treatment.”
‘Threat Is Intense,’ lethal force authorized
The Kansas City Star further notes that pepper spray was deployed by corrections officers during last week’s Norton riot and that “For three hours Tuesday night at the Norton Correctional Facility, chaos reigned. Inmates tried to escape, and lethal force by guards was on the table, according to a log book obtained by The Star.
‘North yard threat is intense, advise (inmates) to remain on ground otherwise use lethal force,’ the log book states.
The emergency log is a record of communication among correctional officers by radio.
The log confirms correctional officers’ accounts about the state of disarray inside the Kansas prison: Inmates wrapped ‘large pieces of glass’ in towels to use as weapons, they threw rocks at correctional officers, and they tried to devise a plan to charge the guards on duty.
‘(Inmates) are trying to run over Capt. Crowder,’ the log states.
Another entry states that inmates had tipped over a medical response vehicle. An air conditioner was removed from a window and panes were shattered as inmates tried to move into different areas of the prison. They commandeered a cart and progressed toward a fence, apparently in an attempt to escape.
“The public does not appreciate what really happened behind the walls of Norton,” Kansas Organization of State Employees Director Choromanski told the Kansas City Star. “It blows my mind that the facility lost control and that there was a captain that almost got run over. That to me is very serious right there and what the administration did, saying, ‘Oh, maybe a couple stones were thrown and a mattress caught on fire, well, that’s not true. There was a lot more going on here.’”
As the riot was finally brought under control, the following day several fully-loaded prison buses, escorted by multiple police cars could be seen traveling east through the heart of Phillipsburg. KDOC officials stated inmates seen as being the most serious security risks were being moved from Norton to facilities at Lansing, Hutchinson, and Ellsworth.
Rep. Russ Jennings (R-Lakin), who serves as the chairman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee in the Kansas Legislature, called what happened in Norton “a bit of a melee.”
After speaking with Department of Corrections head Joe Norwood about it, Rep. Jennings commented, “I’m sure that there will even be more that is revealed as this thing goes along. You had what sounds to be a very serious event with a large number of inmates that did a significant amount of damage and got into areas of the facility that they didn’t belong.”
OTTAWA COUNTY —A Kansas homicide victim’s Australian shepherd found in California where it had been adopted out by an animal shelter has been reunited with his Kansas family.
The dog, named Zeus, and a pickup truck were missing when a family member found Matthew Schoshke’s body at his rural home on Aug. 12.
The Ventura County California Animal Services Center shared more of the story on their social media page.
“Tragedy struck a Kansas family in early August when Jan and Gary Schoshke’s son, Matthew became the victim of a senseless homicide. The suspected killer presumably stole his truck, kidnapped his loyal companion, an Australian Shepherd named Zeus, and eventually made his way to California.
Law enforcement caught up with the suspect after he spent time in a Northern California hospital. Zeus, however, was not with him. The dog was found tethered to a tree near the train station in Ventura where the suspect left him before boarding a northbound train – leaving Zeus with no known connection to the victim or to the crime.
Following Matthew’s murder, the family began searching for Zeus. They subsequently created a Facebook page titled, Help the Matt Schoshke Family, to which an individual posted a picture of an Australian Shepherd taken at our Camarillo Animal Shelter suggesting that it might be the missing dog.
This person also thought that the dog had been adopted out of the shelter to another family. After speaking to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Ottawa Sheriff Department, we concluded that the dog that had been in our care was, in fact, Zeus!
Tara Diller, Director of Ventura County Animal Services, and Bryan Bray, VCAS Field Operations Supervisor, met with the family who adopted Zeus from VCAS and explained the horrific circumstances surrounding the dog.
They had no idea their new four-legged family member had suffered such a traumatic loss. After presenting them with documentation related to the case, the family agreed to release Zeus back into the shelter’s custody so the dog could be reunited with Matthew’s parents in Kansas.
Tara Diller made contact with the Schoshkes by phone. She said, “It was the most touching conversation! Matthew’s mother told me, ‘Getting Zeus back is almost like getting my son back!’”
Since his death, Matthew’s family has gone through an unbelievable ordeal. It is our hope that Zeus’ homecoming will not only bring some closure, but also provide them a piece of the love that was shared between the dog and his beloved master.”
Thirty-four-year-old Robert Colson, of Bucksport, Maine, is charged with second-degree intentional murder in the killing. He was arrested about two weeks after the killing in Martinez, California. He had been injured while trying to escape from an Amtrak train after a person was stabbed.
Troy Wade of DLR, the district’s architect, talks to a group at a bond meeting in a classroom in Lincoln that is used for art, music and orchestra.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
About 25 local people Tuesday night took a tour of Lincoln Elementary School and had the opportunity to ask questions about a proposed $78.5 million Hays USD 489 bond issue.
Representatives of DLR, the district’s architectural firm; members of the district’s Community Vision Team; teachers; board members; Superintendent John Thissen; principals; and the construction manager at risk, Nabholz Construction, were all on hand to answer questions and provide information.
The bond would increase the mill levy by 11.43 mills, which would be $16.43 per month on a $150,000 home. The district does not receive any state aid for bond projects, because it is considered a “rich” district. This means state taxes paid here end up going to other districts in the state like Dodge City, Garden City, Hutchinson, Salina and Liberal to pay off their bond debts.
See a list of all the projects that are part of the bond and FAQ sheet by clicking here.
A member of the cafeteria staff talked to attendees about the problems Lincoln has with its basement cafeteria and kitchen. It is not large enough for all the preparation to be done there, so a great deal has to been done off site, and much of the food has to be stored off site.
The bond tour took groups through the Lincoln cafeteria, which has had plumbing problems and is too small.
The sewer lines run in the back of the walls of the cafeteria, and the school dealt with a line break that lead to an odorous yellow liquid seeping through the wall while the children were eating. Crews had to come in and work at night to fix the plumbing. A regular odor comes from one of the utility closets in the basement cafeteria.
Since the cafeteria is in the basement, children or staff who have disabilities or injuries can’t make it down the stairs. They can’t have lunch with their peers and have to be served lunch in the library. The basement also serves as the school’s tornado shelter.
The building was built before the national school lunch program was created, and the basement was likely never intended to be used for a cafeteria.
Children at Wilson Elementary School only have about 10 to 15 minutes to eat their lunch. One younger students was in tears because she couldn’t finish her lunch in that amount of time. The times are short because of a lack of space in the cafeteria.
Two art teachers, music and orchestra all share one room on the second floor of Lincoln. Rita Legleiter, art teacher, said the arrangement is difficult because she has to reconfigure her classroom every morning. Because she has to move between schools, she also loses time and she can’t stay with students as they progress into the upper grades of elementary school.
Five students and a reading teacher share this room. At one time it may have been an office, but it’s about the size of a walk-in closet.
Certain special education services are also sharing rooms in the building, which are split by dividers.
The district is proposing closing Lincoln, repurposing O’Loughlin Elementary and building a new elementary school.
Three elementary schools would not only mean staff would have less travel between schools, it would mean millions in savings.
Amber Beverlin, senior architect for DLR, said the district should save $400,000 to $500,000 each year of the 30-year bond because of the new buildings and consolidation to three elementary schools instead of four.
That will be an estimated $10 million over the term of the bond.
Some members of the community have had questions about the length of the bond. Troy Wade, also of DLR, said the district stands to save money by attending to the building needs now. The cost of construction goes up 4 to 5 percent each year. Interest rates are also low now, and those could increase if the district came back to do another bond in 10 or 15 years.
Delaying construction could add 40 percent to the cost of the work, Wade said.
One attendee said she lived near one of schools that was scheduled to close and wanted to know what would happen to the empty buildings.
Special education services share this classroom, which raises concerns about privacy.
Lincoln, Washington, Munjor, Westside and Rockwell would no longer have students in them if the bond passed.
Early Childhood Connection students at Munjor and Washington, students at Westside and the Learning Center students would all go to O’Loughlin. The Westside and Rockwell buildings will still be used by administration support staff. Other arrangements may eventually be made for those offices.
Munjor would go back to the Catholic Church. The district would try to repurpose or sell the Lincoln and Washington buildings. If this could not be done, there is money in the bond to demolish the buildings.
Valerie Wente of the Community Vision Team, said an old school in her hometown of Topeka had been taken over by the Topeka Community Theatre. Chris Dinkel also of the Vision Team said the space could even become green space or a park.
Another attendee asked where the new elementary school would be built. Thissen said that has not been determined. The district has land at the high school that the school could be built on. However, Thissen said he was not sure if that is where the community wants to place the school. There is money in the bond to purchase land for the new school.
HHS principal Marty Straub said he was excited at the prospect of having an elementary school near the high school as it would allow high school students to act as mentors with the younger students and the younger children to be involved in the early childhood development labs at the high school.
A group on the bond tour listens to principals talk about the needs in their buildings.
The district can’t release a possible location for the new school yet because that would affect negotiations for a possible land purchase. Thissen said that would be one of the first things addressed if the bond passes.
The school to replace Wilson Elementary School will be placed on the same site as the current Wilson. Once the new Wilson is completed, the old building will be torn down.
One attendee said she would not support the bond if all the schools were on the east side of town.
The group discussed the decision to build a new elementary school to replace Wilson instead of renovating Wilson. Wilson is insured for $5.9 million, Wade said. A renovation would cost $16.5 million. A new school is going to cost $21 million. When a renovation is going to cost more than 60 percent of the cost of a new building, architects recommend investing in a new building.
Each of three elementary schools would be four-section schools, which means that four classes of each grade could be located in those schools. The four-section schools would allow for growth, but also allow in the short term for class sizes to be reduced. The average class sizes at the schools right now is about 23, and the district wishes to decrease that to 18 to 22 students.
If the bond is approved, design work will take 10 months to a year. The new elementary schools would be the first to be finished. The renovations could take longer, and O’Loughlin would likely be the last project as the students would need to be able to move into the new schools before work on that building could begin.
Above all the district is urging people to register to vote and vote. The district is providing voter registration forms in the offices of all its buildings. In post analysis of a bond that failed in 2016, only about 30 percent of teachers and parents voted in the election.
Thissen said he urged people to vote no matter how they chose to vote. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 17. Early voting is set to start on Oct. 23 and Election Day is Nov. 7.
SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities and school district officials are investigating the cause of a fire Wednesday morning at a Salina Middle School.
Students and faculty at Lakewood Middle School, 1135 East Lakewood Blvd, evacuated the building at approximately 9 a.m. for the fire alarm, according to Jennifer Bradford-Vernon, USD 305 public information director.
“The alarm was due to smoke from a small fire started in a bathroom that was quickly extinguished,” she said.
Students and faculty waited outdoors for about an hour as crews extinguished the fire and aired out the building. There were no injuries and no significant damage to the building was reported.
The rest of the school day will resume as scheduled as investigators determined that the fire was not electrical or caused by anything defective in the building.
Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein are charged with domestic terrorism
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are appealing a judge’s decision to throw out a firearms charge against a man accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in a meatpacking town in western Kansas.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in August dismissed a firearms charge against Curtis Allen along with evidence upon which that charge is based.
The government appealed that ruling Tuesday. Prosecutors contend that the evidence is substantial proof of a material fact in the case.
Allen and co-defendants Patrick Stein and Gavin Wright still face charges of conspiring to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex in Garden City where Somali immigrants live. All three have pleaded not guilty.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday that prosecutors do not expect the appeal to delay the Feb. 20 trial.
BARTON COUNTY — A 79-year-old Kansas man died in an accident Monday in Ellinwood,
Just after 11a.m., A man riding a bike was westbound in the 500 Block of E Street in Ellinwood, riding against traffic in the eastbound lane, according to Ellinwood Police Chief Art Keffer.
The rider made an abrupt turn to the north and was struck by a 2006 Chevy Silverado in the westbound lane.
The bicyclist, who recently moved back to Ellinwood, was pronounced dead at the scene from a local coroner.
Police will not file charges against the pickup driver, according to Keffer.
The response to Options purple light night campaign has been so strong the organization is out of bulbs.
Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services is selling purple light bulbs to light up the night for domestic violence during the month of October.
Residents in the Hays and the Options service area are encouraged to buy the light bulbs, hang them in their store windows and use them in their home outdoor light fixtures.
You may still purchase your bulbs at Fantasy Graphics and Hays Academy of Hair Design. However, Options will not be holding its bulb sales this weekend at Big Creek Crossing. Options hopes to resume sales the weekend of Sept. 23.
Options provides personal, medical, court, law enforcement, youth/child and parent/child advocacy, as well as crisis intervention, a safe shelter, counseling, support groups, community education and a 24-hour Helpline.
Nationally, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Purple is the color for domestic violence awareness. From 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 5, Options will host its second-annual Purple Light Night in Massey Park. The free event will serve as a family activity night as well as an attempt to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence.
Organizations or individuals who would like to help sponsor the event should contact Ashley Hecker at Options at (785) 625-4202.
Options’ 24-hour hotline is (800) 794-4624. No appointment is needed to seek Options’ services.
