BARTON COUNTY— Two new female lions have arrived at Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo.
After a year-long search, the zoo staff finally located the pair of six-month old sister cubs, Sauda and Amana at a small zoo in Florida, according to a social media report. They are expected to be excellent companions for the zoo’s lone lion Luke.
The girls are currently living in the Brit Spaugh Tiger Building and yard until they have grown large enough to be able to be introduced to Luke.
They currently weigh around 75-pounds. Luke weighs 425-pounds, so it will be a year or two until they are big enough for them to safely be introduced to each other. The young pair currently do not have access to the yard while zoo staff “baby proofs” the area.
In July, Mumbasa, affectionately known as “Boss” the African Lion that has called Great Bend home for 19 years died.
Zoo Supervisor/Curator Sara Hamlin said, “I’ve been searching for a female to provide companionship for Luke before Mumbasa (Boss) had even passed away but there weren’t any available. We are really fortunate to find a zoo looking to place two!”
A public debut is planned for some time in early September.
UPDATE: The Stockton and Trego football game has been moved to Hill City. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
STOCKTON — An overnight fire at the Stockton High School football field will force the Tigers to relocate the the first game of the football season.
Stockton was scheduled to play WaKeeney on Friday night to open the season. The fire destroyed the press box, which housed the controls for the scoreboard and lights.
Stockton High School Athletic Director Clint Bedore said Friday morning the game will now be played in Hill City.
Check Hays Post for details as they become available.
Hays High’s Zach Wagner recorded a first-half hat trick as the Indians picked up a 5-0 win over Wichita Classical School Thursday in Wichita.
Wagner scored his first goal in the eighth minute. His second goal came in the 35th minute on an assist by Trea McCrea. Wagner’s final goal of the first half came on an assist by Ethan Nunnery in the 38th minute.
Ethan Nunnery added two more in the second half with Wagner assisting on both goals as Hays moves to 1-1 on the season.
Hays High will begin play at the Wichita Invitational on Monday.
TOPEKA, Kan. – For the third-straight season, the FHSU women’s soccer team is kicking off the 2017 season with a shutout over Southwest Minnesota State. The Tigers matched up with the Mustangs in Topeka and captured a 6-0 victory to go up 1-0 on to start the season. Fort Hays State now has defeated SMSU in four-straight season openers.
It took under 10 minutes for the Tigers to get on the board as Catalina Hernandez netted the go-ahead goal at 5:56 into the game for the first goal of the season for FHSU. Just sixteen minutes later, last season’s leading scorer for the Tigers, Eden Stoddard, found the back of the net as she put FHSU up 2-0 at the 21:58 mark. The final goal in the first 45 came at the feet of Darby Hirsch with an assist by Savannah McClease just seven minutes after Stoddard’s goal.
The second half was much the same for the Tigers as they netted three additional goals. Silvana Romero started off the half with a short cross goal assisted by Stoddard seven minutes in to go up 4-0 over the Mustangs. Stoddard then got in on the action by recording her second goal of the game assisted by Alexa Franks with just under 25 minutes left to play. The final goal of the night for the Tigers saw Franks netting her own with an assist from freshman Olympia Katsouridis at the 83 minutes mark.
The Tigers were able to muster up a dominating offensive match as they recorded 15 shots with 10 on goal led by Stoddard with four. The Mustangs attempted four shots as well, with just one hitting on target.
Kristen Thompson for the Tigers picked up her first win of the season between the pipes with her one save.
Next up for FHSU is another contest in Topeka as they meet up with Upper Iowa on Saturday (Sept. 2) at 2 p.m.
Hays, Kan. – The 11th-ranked Fort Hays State men’s soccer team opened the 2017 season Thursday night (Aug. 31) hosting No. 3 Rockhurst in a rematch of last season’s national quarterfinals. After losing to the Hawks twice last season, FHSU held the perennial powerhouse in check, leading to a scoreless draw. The Tigers are now 4-1-2 all-time in season openers and 0-2-2 against the Hawks. Both teams begin the season with a record of 0-0-1.
The first half began with an aggressive start for both sides as they combined to take nine shots in the half. The Tigers controlled possession for much of the frame, totaling six shots and four corner kicks. However, none of their attempts were on frame.
Momentum seemed to shift after the break as Rockhurst controlled field position for the majority of the second half, leading to a five to one advantage in shots. The Hawks seemed poised to steal the win late in regulation when Umoh Ufot sent a screamer off the post. The ball deflected back in front of goal, where RU’s Ben McDonald was waiting to strike. McDonald fired on net, but Michael Yantz was there to make a game-saving save with four minutes left on the clock.
The two overtime periods were a defensive battle as neither team attempted a single shot in the first overtime period. Both squads had their chances in the second overtime period combining to take five shots, but Yantz once again contributing a crucial save in the final minutes to secure the draw.
Tobias Patino and Luis Torres both attempted two shots for the Tigers, while Antonio De La Torre came away with the lone shot on goal. Yantz finished the match with four saves, earning his 10th career clean sheet.
The Tigers return to action Saturday (Sept. 2) as they travel to Lebanon, Ill. to take on the Bearcats of McKendree University. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The TMP-Marian volleyball team finished 2-1 Thursday at the Abilene quadrangular to move to 4-1 on the season.
The second ranked Monarchs opened with a win over Concordia in three sets. Concordia took the first set 21-25 but TMP bounced back taking the final two sets 25-13 and 25-16.
TMP then swept Smokey Valley in two, winning 25-15 and 25-5.
The Monarchs opened their final match of the day with a 25-23 win over the host Abilene but the Cowgirls won the final two sets, 25-27 and 19-25.
Two local veterans organizations are bringing a play based on letters written by veterans and their families to Hays on Sept. 8.
Douglas Taurel wrote and performs “The America Soldier,” a one-man show that highlights the experiences of veterans from the Revolutionary War through Afghanistan.
The performance will be 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Beach-Schmidt Performing Arts Center at Fort Hays State University, 600 Park, Hays. Tickets are $10 at the door.
There is no charge for veterans (discharge papers or VFW or American Legion membership cards are preferred, but not required). The event is sponsored by the FHSU Veterans Association and Vietnam Veterans of America.
John Pyle of the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America said he hopes the performance helps non-veterans and family members to understand the fears and hopes veterans experience.
Taurel is not a veteran, but spent eight years researching and selecting actual letters to portray in the play. He also has family members who are veterans and active service military.
Taurel explained the play does not attempt to judge if war is good or bad, rather he tries to depict the experiences of veterans and their families during and after their service.
“My play is really to give audiences appreciation of what veterans and families go through and what their sacrifices really are,” he said. “We talk about sacrifice but really don’t know what that means to lose a father, to lose a mother, to lose a son, to lose a wife, to financially not to be able to support your family because you are not really able to reassimilate back into society and make money anymore.”
Taurel said these are things society doesn’t really talk about anymore.
“We only talk about the shiny part of war,” he said. “We don’t talk about the back side of war. There is a very deep price, and a small population of our society is paying for it.”
Taurel wanted to bring more awareness of the experiences of veterans to non-veterans through his play. Many themes arise in the play, put Taurel said a common thread for many who have viewed the play has been difficultly reassimilating into society.
“If you see heavy combat, you almost have to go into some kind of decompression group therapy for six months to a year to reassimilate — to learn that a tire in the road is not an IED, it’s just a tire in the road. Knowing that huge crowds of people around you are not people trying to blow you up, they are actually just huge crowds of people,” he said. “As a country, we just don’t put any money into the reassimilation of veterans back into society.”
Taurel said this has been a thread through all the wars he has studied.
“It is the same story. We throw our veterans away kind of like used trash,” he said.
Of the 14 people who are portrayed in the one-hour play, most are infantrymen. However, Taurel also has included a letter from a mother who lost her son during the Vietnam War, and a soldier’s wife and her 8-year-old son.
Taurel said the play is very emotionally draining to perform and has been emotional for many of his audience members.
“Family members sometimes cry,” he said. “I have really emotional moments afterwards literally crying with family members or veterans. It becomes a catharsis for some people. It allows them to release things that they have never been able to release for any reason.”
“The American Soldier” first appeared off Broadway in 2015. Since, Taurel has performed at the international Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Kennedy Center and is set to perform later this year at the U.S. Library of Congress and in front of members of the U.S. Congress. The play also was nominated for Amnesty International’s annual Freedom of Expression Award.
Taurel has been in talks to bring a longer version of the play to Broadway and film.
TOPEKA — Gregory L. Bauer of Great Bend, Stanley L. DeFries of Topeka, and Derrick L. Roberson of Manhattan were appointed to four-year terms on the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys.
Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss of the Kansas Supreme Court made the appointments. Their terms end June 30, 2021.
In addition, Nuss designated John D. Gatz of Colby as chair of the board. Gatz had been serving as vice chair. Roberson was named the new vice chair.
The Kansas Disciplinary Administrator’s Office reviews complaints of misconduct against lawyers, conducts investigations, presents cases to the board, and makes recommendations as to the disposition of the complaints.
Gatz and Roberson serve on the review committee, along with at-large member Leslie M. Miller of Lawrence. They review all cases docketed for investigation and issue a report on the disposition of the case, which may be dismissal (with or without a letter of caution), diversion, informal admonition, or institution of formal charges.
Members of the board — made up of lawyers from across the state — meet in three-person panels, which include two board members and one at-large attorney, to conduct hearings in cases where the review committee has found probable cause that a lawyer has violated the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct and that published discipline is warranted.
Leaving the board are Patricia Dengler of Wichita, who most recently was chair, Randall D. Grisell of Garden City, and Jack Scott McInteer of Wichita.
Other members of the board are:
Kimberly K. Bonifas of Wichita
M. Jennifer Brunetti of Frontenac
Stephen W. Cavanaugh of Topeka
Jeffrey A. Chubb of Independence
Shaye L. Downing of Lawrence
John M. Duma of Olathe
Glenn I. Kerbs of Dodge City
John E. Larson of Shawnee
Kathryn J. Marsh of Leawood
Mira Mdivani of Overland Park
James P. Rankin of Topeka
Bethany J. Roberts of Lawrence
Lee M. Smithyman of Overland Park
Gaye Tibbets of Wichita
Sarah E. Warner of Lawrence
Darcy D. Williamson of Topeka
