Karen Louise Furr, 76, passed away on October 19, 2017 at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas. She was born on August 20, 1941 in Hays, Kansas the daughter of William and Erma (Foster) Halbleib.
She was a dispatcher for Ness County and Morton County. She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, Liberal, Kansas. Karen was a graduate and Class Valedictorian of Brownell, Kansas.
Survivors include 3 daughters, Angie Lutters, Elkhart, Kansas; Jennifer (John) Weber, Camp Verde, California; and Kristina Brooke (Chad Oberhelman), Ness City, Kansas; a brother, Chet (Corlie) Halbleib, Tucson, Arizona; a sister, Carol (Harold) Dinkel, Ellis, Kansas; 7 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her parents, and a sister MaryAnn Schreiber.
Graveside service will be on Monday, October 23, 2017, 10:30 a.m. at the Vansburgh Cemetery, Brownell, Kansas.
Memorial contributions may be given to Good Samaritan Society of Ellis, Kansas.
Lilas “Jeannene” Powers, 83, passed away October 19, 2017 in Hill City, Kansas. She was born to Ralph and Marjorie (Pierson) Hahn November 28, 1933 in Morganville, Kansas. Her sister Pat was born a few years later. The Hahn family moved to Norton, Kansas in 1946 and Jeannene graduated from Norton High School in 1951.
First meeting on a blind date, New Year’s Eve 1952, Darrell and Jeannene were engaged the following Valentine’s Day. They were married in Norton, August 16, 1953.
The couple moved to Manhattan where Darrell attended Kansas State University and Jeannene worked at Farm Bureau. Their first child, Kim was born in 1956 and in 1958 the family moved to Eugene, Oregon where Darrell took a job with the University of Oregon. In 1959 their son Kelly was born and Jeannene became a “stay at home” mom.
The following year, the family moved back to Manhattan for Darrell to work on his Master’s Degree and Jeannene went back to work with Farm Bureau. While living in Manhattan their third child, Kappi was born in 1962.
In 1963 the family moved to Derby, Kansas where they lived until 1975. While in Derby, Jeannene was a very active member and President of the PTA. Their home in Derby had a large yard, as Kelly recalls, needed grass, so they all pitched in and put down thousands of grass plugs. The back yard was famous or infamous for impromptu barbeques and just plain ole good times that were sometimes interrupted by fire trucks and even police cars!
Their final move was to Hill City, taking over the greenhouse business from Jeannene’s parents. They owned and operated Hill City Greenhouse until 1996. Later, Jeannene worked part-time in the bookkeeping department at Money Chevrolet where she was still working at the time of her death.
Jeannene was a member of the Eastern Star, the Red Hat Society and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and enjoyed her Tuesday night Widow Ladies’ Supper Gathering.
Sports were an important part of her life. For years, she and Darrell had season tickets to the KSU football games, attending as many as possible. Even after Darrell’s death, Jeannene still headed east to see her beloved Wildcats. Purple was definitely her favorite color! Living close to her grandchildren afforded her opportunities to watch them play any and all the sporting events and many other activities they participated in.
Several months ago, Jeannene moved from her home to the housing north of the hospital. She loved it and got to know others there and never wanted to miss one of the card parties. Whether a game of pitch or pinochle, she so enjoyed those afternoons.
Jeannene was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her sister, Pat Norris and brother-in-law, Bill Norris.
Leaving to mourn her passing are: daughters Kim (Don) Nickelson, Penokee, Kappi (Lyle) Billips, Hill City; son Kelly (Nancy) Powers, Derby; 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, three nephews and three nieces.
Jeannene was a good friend to many and a confidante to some who will never forget the good and down to earth advice that she gave out of love. Her smile, her good humor, her warmth and a gift for making people comfortable will just be some of the many things she has left as her legacy to family and friends. God now has this wonderful lady with Him in Paradise, but we will miss her here. Rest in Peace, Jeannene.
Virjean M. Reeh, 80, Hays, formerly of Atwood, died Friday, October 20, 2017 at her home.
She was born January 30, 1937 in Atwood the daughter of Virgil and Mathilda (Barenberg) McKnight. On June 14, 1955 she was united in marriage to Eugene C. Reeh at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atwood. He preceded her in death on September 8, 2003.
She received her associate degree from McCook Community College and was a Certified Dietician at Rawlins County Hospital for many years. After moving to Hays she worked at First Call for Help then was a Senior Companion and is an honorary member. She was an excellent seamstress, making clothes for her family and she also knitted and crocheted. Her hobbies were many and included cooking, catering and dinners, baking chocolate chip cookies by the bucketful, and fishing and camping. She loved to travel with her husband and family. They visited every state and took some trips overseas.
In the winter months, she looked forward to being at her second home in Mission, Texas, away from the cold winter months of Kansas. She was very involved with the Christian Mothers Altar Society and was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atwood and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Munjor, Kansas.
Survivors include two daughters; Beatrice Suppes and husband Michael of Hays and Bernadette Luedke and husband Dennis of Atwood, a brother Arthur McKnight of Enid, Oklahoma, four grandchildren; Nicholas Suppes and wife Amanda of Del Rio, TX, Natalie Armbrister and husband Darin of Ellis, Shane Luedke of Chicago, IL, and Sheena Brogan and husband Gary of Atwood, six great grandchildren; Alexa and Adam Armbrister, Eliana and Gage Suppes, and Jayden Ashford and Kian Brogan, and numerous nieces and nephews, other relatives, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and three sisters; Elizabeth McKnight, Phyllis Ann Reeh, and Joyce Annala.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 am on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atwood, Kansas with Fr. Gnanesekar Kulandi officiating. Burial will follow in the Mt. Calvery Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Monday at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home and from 10:00 am until service time on Tuesday at the church. The Christian Mothers from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church will have a rosary at 6:00 pm followed by a parish vigil service at 6:30 pm, all on Monday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to the Sacred Heart Christian Mothers Altar Society or to the St. Francis of Assisi Christian Mothers, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com
Marjorie Joye (Anderson) Meyer of Wichita, born in Portis, KS and a 1950 graduate of Portis HS, left her earthly life of 86 years on October 20, 2017, to spend eternity with the many loved ones that preceded her passing.
Preceding her were parents, Virgil & Lula (Angell) Anderson, brothers Richard and LaVern Anderson, and her husband of 50 years, Waldene “Wally” Meyer, with whom she lived in Kensington, KS where they owned and operated Meyer Electric from 1959-1999.
She is survived by husband Pat Anderson, her loving children, Dr. Angela Meyer (husband Arlen Sheldon) and Andrew Meyer (wife Deborah Schiell), and grandchildren Erik Meyer (wife Genavieve), Aria Sheldon, and Aden Sheldon. Her middle name, Joye, proved to be the theme for her life. She was a songbird who sang for many special occasions including weddings, funerals, and musical productions mostly in Smith County KS, but also in Kansas City, and Chicago. A fun companion on road trips, she could turn the frustration that often flares among people confined in a car too long into inside jokes they shared the rest of their lives.
During many stays in care facilities in her last decade, her care providers remarked on her infectious smile and delighted in her habit of assigning them silly nicknames. After retiring from 20 years as a Driver’s License Examiner, she took numerous part-time jobs including: delivering buses nationwide, working at the resort in Denali Alaska, transporting railroad crews, to name just a few. She loved making hand thrown pottery with her niece LaVerna Yarnell, specializing in communion sets for churches and dinner settings for wedding gifts, and traveling throughout KS selling their pottery at arts and crafts fairs. Perhaps most of all, she relished meeting people from all walks of life and believed every interaction was an occasion to nudge someone closer to joy.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a stabbing.
Just after 5:30a.m. Saturday, Stormont Vail Hospital notified Topeka Police of a 38-year-old man who walked into the Emergency Department with a stab wound to the chest.
Officers arrived and spoke to the white male, who was not forthcoming when answering the questions of officers.
He indicated the wounds were from a fall onto a glass bottle and would not provide a location in which the incident occurred.
Further investigation revealed the case address to be 3906 SE Freemont in Topeka Kansas.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Topeka Police.
If you go to any of the Hays High School home football games you might find yourself singing along to the marching band’s half-time show.
The marching band is made up of freshman through seniors and practices every Maroon Day. In addition to playing at every home football game they perform at two marching festivals, and march in both the FHSU and the Hays High Homecoming parades. The two festivals are the Western Athletic Conference Marching Festival on Oct. 16, and High Plains Marching Festival on Oct 23.
“What I’m trying to accomplish is a combination of two things,” said Matthew Rome, director of bands. “One is to keep moves relatively simple for individual musicians so they’re not sprinting across the field or having to take really absurd paths to get somewhere. But also, to try to keep some kind of visual interest up front, so that more often than not, at least part, if not all, of the band is moving. That way, out in front, there is always something happening but nobody’s having to sprint from 20 to 20.”
On average, Rome spends between three and five hours charting and choreographing for each song that the marching band plays in their shows.
“Every person is a dot, and I have to plan every single person,” Rome said. “It’s a matter of coming up with ideas, finding out that the idea doesn’t work, reworking the idea. Then when it’s all said and done, I go back and touch up the charts, taking a sharpie over them so they pop out a little better on the copier, it’s a process.”
After Rome finishes the charts, the students can start to put the show together. Before they get their charts however, students are practicing their music and working on memorization.
“We start in the summer at jump start so we can get started on our new music for the season,” senior saxophone player Gabriela Taliaferro said. “We have lots of practices, mainly early morning rehearsals, so we get to the school by 7:30 most days to run charts and play music or whatever needs to be worked on.”
Unlike in concert season when Rome conducts the band, two students are chosen to be drum majors and they conduct the band. The students are typically juniors or seniors.
“I play the oboe and you can’t march with an oboe,” junior Drum Major Cameron Karlin said. “I decided being a drum major would be more fun, and it is.”
Senior Drum Major Kyra PolifkaWilhelm said that she helps out with everything, doing what Rome needed done when she wasn’t conducting the band.
“The most rewarding parts of marching ban is just seeing the show come together,” Rome said. “Those little aha moments, like when the feet start moving together, start stopping together, when things start to become a cohesive show and not just a series of individual moves.”
There are four people running for three positions on the Hays school board in the Nov. 7 general election.
Lance Bickle, incumbent, Mike Walker and Sophia Young will be on the ballot, and Kevin Daniels is running as a write-in candidate.
Each elected board member will serve a four-year term.
Hays Post has talked to each candidate, asking why they are running, what are their opinions on the upcoming $78.5 million bond issue, which is also up for a vote Nov. 7, school funding, district accreditation and other issues they feel are pressing for the school district.
Daniels, 39, is the pastor of the Hays Christian Church. He serves as secretary of the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance and has served as past president. He also has served six years on the board of Lakeview Christian Camp in Stockton. He lead that board as president for four years.
Daniels lives in Hays with his wife, Lori ,and their son, who is a sixth grader at Hays Middle School, and his daughter, who is a fourth grader at Roosevelt Elementary School. The family has lived in Hays since 2009.
He serves on both the home and school organizations for the middle school and Roosevelt.
Daniels said he believes the board needs to be transparent in its actions and improve communication with the public.
Advance voting begins Monday Oct. 23 in the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main St., Hays, through noon Monday Nov. 6. Polls for the Tuesday, Nov. 7 general election are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout Ellis County.
Dr. Rick Rochester, assistant professor of leadership studies at Fort Hays State University, was recently awarded the Provincial Governor’s Award for his work in education at Shenyang Normal University.
Rochester has been teaching for more than 30 years and moved to China in 2004. He has been a full-time faculty member with FHSU for two years.
Shenyang Normal University is one of FHSU’s Chinese partners.
With high numbers of children in the foster care system and not enough homes to care for them, one Kansas contractor is turning to a short-term housing option.
News last month that more than 100 foster kids had to sleep in offices over the past year while contractors worked to place them shed light on stresses in the system. The number of children entering foster care in Kansas has gone up by a third in the last five years, and more than 7,000 were in out-of-home placement at the end of August.
Another contributing factor is the decline in the number of beds at psychiatric residential treatment facilities, from 780 in March 2011 to 272 in August 2017. That drop has made it more difficult to place children who need acute psychiatric care.
KVC Kansas recently opened a short-term crisis center in Hays with room for 20 foster care children. CREDIT COURTESY KVC KANSAS
In response, KVC Kansas, the foster care contractor for eastern Kansas, opened its first short-term crisis center in September in Hays. The crisis center is attached to KVC Wheatland Hospital, a children’s psychiatric facility. It can accommodate 20 children, with two beds to a room plus common spaces with TVs, couches and beanbag chairs.
Jenny Kutz, director of communications for KVC Health System, said in an email that while KVC is putting a “huge emphasis” on foster family recruitment, “any number of children sleeping in an office is too many.” KVC intends the crisis centers to provide “a safe, comfortable, child-friendly place to stay while waiting to be matched with a relative or foster family,” Kutz said.
KVC plans to open 20 additional beds in January by leasing additional space in its KVC Prairie Ridge Hospital facility in Kansas City, Kansas. It also is looking into opening another crisis center in Wichita.
Officials with Saint Francis Community Services, the foster care contractor in western Kansas, said they have been looking for ways to expand placements since 2014, and intensified efforts as the number of overnight office stays increase. Saint Francis has added 53 emergency shelter or other specialized residential beds since May.
Theresa Freed, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said the department has been involved “every step of the way” as KVC opened the crisis centers.
“It’s always our goal to make sure that children are placed as quickly as possible in a family foster home or in an appropriate facility, so we appreciate the work of our contractors to do so quickly,” she said.
But the contractors’ efforts to respond to the shortage of placements has not assuaged lawmaker concerns about problems in the foster care system or DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore and her department’s supervision of it.
House Minority Leader Jim Ward reiterated his past calls for Gilmore’s firing, while state Rep. Stephanie Clayton took it a step further on Twitter.
“From what DCF employees have told me, nothing gets better until everyone at the administrative level is gone,” Clayton tweeted. “It’s never just the Secretary.”
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Hutton also called for a leadership change at DCF in a statement Friday, citing concerns that Gilmore did not appear to be aware of the disappearance of three sisters in Tonganoxie from the foster care system in August.
Police announced Tuesday that three sisters, all under age 16, who went missing from a Tonganoxie foster home had been found safe, though an additional 62 children were missing from the two contractors’ care as of last week.
“It is time for accountability in our state government,” Hutton said. “The continued failures at the Department for Children and Families are unacceptable, with the most vulnerable among us paying the price, and it’s time that the Brownback-Colyer administration do something about it.”
Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is in position to take over for Gov. Sam Brownback when he leaves for a position in the Trump administration, has declined to comment on whether he intends to keep Gilmore on as DCF secretary.
Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @maddycfox.
When a student has reached the age of 16, they have the individual right to drop out of school. Every now and then, some do.
However, students don’t always completely leave the education system. They have the opportunity to go to the Learning Center to finish their schooling.
According to former student Nicholas Silva, the environment between the public high school and the Learning Center differ greatly.
The students go to the center between 8:00 a.m. and noon. Depending on the amount of work they have completed, they can stay or leave earlier if they have set that time with the instructor.
“I can go whenever I want. I can leave whenever I want,” said Silva. “The teachers give you plenty of freedom.”
Students don’t have to worry about passing period because it is held in only one room. While there are teachers there, the students use the computers all day on a software called Edgenuity.
Silva explained how much faster he can get his work done there because it is all focused on one computer program. He said he had already completed all of his elective courses at Hays High and just has to finish up his senior core classes.
Former student, Jake Pfannenstiel, dropped out of high school as a sophomore and said he is catching up to the point he could graduate high school with this year’s senior class.
Pfannenstiel has completed a semester of history in two weeks and a semester of math in three weeks. He is 50 percent done with his second semester of math, and he is still making progress on his English course.
Despite “dropping out”, both Silva and Pfannenstiel will receive the same exact diploma that a student attending Hays High would receive.
Silva said he enjoys going to the Learning Center more than Hays High.
“They provide you with food and coffee,” Silva said. “It’s just a nice environment.”
OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old Kansas man has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide charges for the crash deaths of four Iowa residents in western Nebraska.
The North Platte Telegraph reports that Jeser Cisneros-Hernandez, of Liberal, Kansas, entered the pleas Friday in Keith County District Court.
Cisneros-Hernandez is charged with four counts of motor-vehicle homicide, reckless driving and driving left of the center of the road. Prosecutors say hit two motorcycles carrying two people each on July 1 near Ogallala.
Authorities say 54-year-old Sheila Matheny a
nd 61-year-old James Matheny, from Bedford, Iowa, were on one motorcycle. The other riders were 58-year-old Michal Weese and 59-year-old Jerolyn Weese, who lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Cisneros-Hernandez’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 8.
Today
