Healing After Loss
Tue., Jan. 9
5:30pm-Dinner : JD’s Chicken| 740 E. 8th St., Hays
7:00pm- Gathering
Center for Life Experience
2900 Hall St., Hays
Call (785) 625-2847 for more information.
Month: January 2018
Fish fry Jan. 13 in Ellis
Ellis Knights of Columbus is having a Pre-Lenten
FISH FRY
SATURDAY JANUARY 13
5PM TO 7PM
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS HALL, 1013 Washington St
CALL GREG AUGUSTINE 785-726-3778
OR GORDON AUGUSTINE 785-259-2194
WITH QUESTIONS
Kan. man wounded by police transferred from hospital to jail
SEDGWICK COUNTY— A 21-year-old man who was wounded after a police chase in which he was accused of shooting at officers has been booked into jail.
The man identified as Elijah Martinez was booked Monday on suspicion of attempted capital murder and other charges.
The chase began Dec. 27 after a witness spotted the man and a woman stealing mail and called 911, according to Wichita police Lt. Todd Ojile.
A police officer went inside a business, where the suspect shot at the officer. Police say the officer got outside and that the man stole a truck.
A chase ensued, and police say the man fired more shots before two officers returned fire. The suspect was struck in his lower jaw and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Martinez has two previous convictions for burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Judy Ann Phillips
Judy Ann (Blackburn) Phillips, age 68, of WaKeeney, passed away Thursday, January 4, 2018 at her home in WaKeeney. She was born November 15, 1949, in Hays, Kansas, to William Frederick and Leona Lorene (Shubert) Blackburn.
Judy was a 1967 graduate of Ellis High School and attended Fort Hays State University. On September 1, 1967, she was united in marriage to Albert Lynn Phillips, in McPherson, Kansas. She wasn’t afraid of any type of work or challenge. She worked several professions including housewife, mother and grandmother, Scale operator at Farmer’s Grain of Ellis, Rancher, and would retire as the Director of Communications at the Trego County Dispatch Center.
Judy was in her 40th year of sobriety and mentored many in their paths to sobriety during her lifetime.
Judy was the queen of pinochle and found much joy in teaching the game to others. She spent many hours of her life on the Saline River north of Ellis. Judy enjoyed shooting photos of nature and wildlife, using those photos and her poetry to create greeting cards. Judy loved to cook and shared her secret recipes with her granddaughters. Her sense of humor and laughter were infectious and recognized by all.
Survivors include her husband Bert; son, Travis (Monique) Phillips of WaKeeney; daughter, Nikki (Steven) Hausler of Ellis; grandchildren, Cheyenne (Zack) Ewing, Shawnee Phillips, and Dani Jo Hausler; brother, Wayne Walz of Plainville; sister, Peggy Blackburn of Ellis; numerous nieces and nephews; and her special little service dog, Nellie. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Delores Elliot and Diane Langley; and son-in-law, Todd Joseph Schmidt.
Family hosted memorial services will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 13, 2018 at Ellis United Methodist Church.
Memorial contributions are suggested to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude PL, Memphis, TN 38105 or Hospice Services, Inc., 424 8th St, Phillipsburg, KS 67661.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that you bring a rock to the service to symbolize the “rock” Judy was to so many and to honor the love Judy had for rocks.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.schmittfuneral.com.
McClelland passed over as Ellis Co. Commission chair
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission approved reorganization for 2018 at Monday’s meeting but not without controversy.
The commission voted 2-1 to appoint Dean Haselhorst as the chair instead of Commissioner Marcy McClelland, who served as the vice chair this past year and was in line to take over the chair position.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger made the motion to nominate Haselhorst, who previously served as the commission chair in 2016.
In a statement, Wasinger said she could not support McClelland as the chair of the commission because of the current lawsuit involving the Blue Sky Acres residential development.
“I simply cannot support Commissioner McClelland as chair of the Ellis County Commission due to her decision to put the interest of seven homeowners in the VonFeldt subdivision over those of the almost 29,000 residents of Ellis County,” Wasinger said. “Her decision in the Blue Sky Acres matter has, in effect, halted development for over a year in Ellis County, and it has denied the county any potential tax revenue from such development.”
McClelland and the county commission are currently in the middle of a lawsuit after the commission failed to approve a final plat of the subdivision south of Hays.
With Wasinger recused due a conflict of interest, the vote on the final plat was 1-1, essentially defeating the proposal.
McClelland had expressed concerns that the new septic systems could contaminate the existing water wells used by residents in the VonFeldt Addition, directly east of the proposed residential subdivision.
Wasinger was appointed as the vice chair. McClelland had no comment after the meeting.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved a proclamation declaring January as Stalking Awareness Month.
• Approved a conditional use permit allowing Casey Zimmerman to start a trailer sales business in rural Ellis County.
• Met as the Public Building Commission and conducted the 2018 reorganization. Haselhorst was appointed president and Wasinger vice president.
KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 1/9/18
What do you get if you cross a chicken with a cow?
(Roost beef!)
Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry
New city commissioners sworn in, governing body reorganizes
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Hays city commission was not the only governing body in Kansas to meet in an unusual Monday session.
When the Kansas legislature voted to move local elections from April to November last year, there was an additional component to the law, explained City Manager Toby Dougherty.
“I think it was an unintended consequence of that,” Dougherty said. “The intent of the legislation was to move the elections to November, but when they wrote the legislation, they specifically called out the date that the new commissioners took seats, which is today, so we had to have a special Jan. 8 meeting to make it happen.” Some bodies, Dougherty noted, may normally meet Mondays, and therefore would not have had to make a change in their schedule.
In Hays, newly elected commissioner Chris Dinkel was sworn in by City Clerk Brenda Kitchen, alongside incumbents Shaun Musil and Sandy Jacobs.
James Meier was selected as mayor and Henry Schwaller IV was selected vice-mayor.
Outgoing commissioner Lance Jones and former mayor Musil were thanked for their service.
According to Dougherty, cities were the only local governing bodies in the state required to install their new officials January 8.
The Hays city commission will not convene Thu., Jan. 11, its regular meeting night.
Rep. Marshall in Osborne, Stockton Friday
OFFICE OF REP. MARSHALL
WASHINGTON, D.C. – First Dist. Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend) will resume his listening tour in northwest Kansas Fri., Jan 12.
Marshall will be at the Osborne VFW, 123 W. Main Street, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. He’ll then be in downtown Stockton, 409 Main Street, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.
The tour started Jan. 3 and will conclude in Wabaunsee County on Monday, January 15.
KFIX House Band For Tue 1/9: Scorpions
Today, enjoy at least one song an hour from the Scorpions on 96.9
“Like” KFIX on Facebook.
Hays Police Department will train this week on Indian Trail
HPD
The Hays Police Department will conduct training on Thursday between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m. at 2701 Indian Trail, Hays.
Police officers will be training with special tactical equipment. This training is being done with great care and safety.
As a homeowner, you may see law enforcement officers move through your area. There is no need to be alarmed. The officers are merely conducting a realistic training exercise and there is no danger to the community.
If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact the on-site supervisor (Team Commander Tim Greenwood or Team Leader Aaron Larson), or Chief Scheibler at 785-625-1030.
Hays High speaker: Human traffickers usually someone victims know
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
For many, sex trafficking seems like a far-away problem — something that happens in another country or a big city, but a Kansas advocate for trafficking victims says it happens in Kansas too.
Jennifer White, executive director of ICT SOS, talked to Hays High School students Monday about human trafficking as a part of a weeklong awareness campaign sponsored by the school’s DECA club.
Related story: Hays High DECA students raise awareness for human trafficking
ICT SOS was created in 2011 after two local high-profile sex trafficking cases were covered by local media. Victims in that case were close in age to White’s own daughter, who was 12 at the time.
“Reading that article and realizing that this kind of activity was happening not only in my community, but to kids that were the same age as my kid, was really what gave me what I call a gut-check moment,” she said.
The national average for children becoming victims of human trafficking is 12 to 14 years old. In Wichita, ICT SOS typically sees victims in the 14- to 17-year-old age range. Although most of the victims ICT SOS deals with are girls and women, men and boys are also trafficked. The rate of sexual violence among girls is one in four. For boys, it is one in six.
White said almost none of the cases of human trafficking ICT SOS deals with are kidnapping cases. Most of them involve a friend, boyfriend or family member.
“This is not a stranger-danger crime,” White said. “This is a situation where someone is building a relationship. They are gaining trust. It is a gradual thing. It is manipulating. It is talking someone into taking one step, and then the next step and then the next step.”
Predators often target youth who have difficultly feeling as if they belong. It may be a child who is in foster care or is experiencing abuse at home.
“We all want to belong to something — a sports team or choir or band or whatever that is — our family, our church,” White said. “There are so many people who don’t believe they belong anywhere, and that’s who traffickers prey on. They figure out what that vulnerability is for kids, and they try to be what the kid needs if that is a father figure, if that’s a boyfriend or girlfriend or a friend to listen to them.”
Almost every case ICT SOS now sees involves the internet. It might be recruiting on the front end with social media or advertising on the back end for prostitution.
“As sad and as sick as it is, you can order a person like you can order a pizza,” she said.
She urged the students if they receive a messages through Facebook from people they do not know to block and delete them. Law enforcement subpoenaed the social media records for one human trafficker and found records of 250 women and girls he was talking to on social media.
White said the relationship between a human trafficking victim and their pimp might be similar to a domestic violence situation.
“It’s that same kind of honeymoon phase,” White said. ” ‘Oh, I love you. You are the greatest thing in the world,’ and then it switches to, ‘You are so stupid. No one is ever going to want you. Do you know what you’ve done? No one is ever going to love you. But I love you, I think you are amazing.’ ”
Some youth may fear seeking help, because they are afraid they will be in trouble for what they have done.
In Kansas, minors involved in the sex trade, such as prostitution, stripping, escorting and pornography, are automatically considered victims because it is assumed they do not have the ability to consent, White said.
Kansas is considered a source state for human trafficking. Youth are recruited in places like Wichita, and traffickers use major highways like Interstate 135 or I-70 to move the youth to other states.
Trafficking is highly under-reported, so it is difficult to get solid statistics on its prevalence, White said. The number of cases in Wichita has been steadily increasing — 81 for 2016. These are only victims who are minors, and 2017 figures are not yet available. White said law enforcement believes the incidents of trafficking are not increasing, but awareness is resulting in more victims reporting it and getting help.
“It is a conversation we have to be having because it does happen here, and when we don’t talk about it, it lives in the secrets,” White said. “It is very important that we are talking about it and talking about it accurately.”
ICT SOS works to assist victims of human trafficking, but it also has a prevention effort that seeks to end human trafficking in Wichita and across Kansas.
“As community members, we feel if we can get out in front of it and we can stop it from happening to the kid, that is ultimately what is better,” White said. “It is great to have all those restoration pieces in place and being able to help someone on the back side of this, but if we can keep this from happening in the first place, we feel that is where we can have the greatest impact.”
White listed a number of ways youth and adults can help ICT SOS or help in their own communities.
ICT SOS takes a number of donations for its partner agencies that are used when agencies interact with trafficking victims or youth who are at risk of becoming trafficking victims. These include individually wrapped snack items, hygiene items and warm clothing like hoodies, sweat pants or socks.
“We had a girl come in the (homeless youth) drop-in center a couple of years ago who was about 14 or 15, and she was hanging around with a guy the staff knew to be a pimp in the area. They said, ‘You are a smart kid, why are you running around with this guy?’
“The thing for her that meant he loved her and he was going to take care of her and he was her protector was that he taught her to wash and condition her hair properly. … This girl had not had anyone who had invested enough in her to teach her how to take care of her hair, so those hygiene products coming form a safe place might have made a big difference.”
ICT SOS does Fresh Start Bags with hygiene items and clothing for abuse or neglect victims. White said children who law enforcement see now at 6, 7 or 8 are more likely to be victims of trafficking when they get older.
ICT SOS also has a program to help trafficking victims get tattoos removed or covered up. Often trafficked victims have tattoos of their pimp’s name, a gang name or symbol, or a street name. This can be dangerous for the victim and it is a constant reminder of a life they are trying to leave behind.
Besides donations to programs like ICT SOS, youth and adults can work in their own communities to help prevent human trafficking by serving as a mentor to younger children.
“Whether it is this issue or hunger or poverty or whatever,” White said, “it starts with caring about other people. So whatever that issue is for you, figure out what that is and figure out how you can help.”
🎥 Watch This Week’s Tiger Talk
HAWVER: School funding and other early session priorities for Kan.
Yes, lawmakers convene in formal session Monday afternoon, at which time they become locked and loaded and worth paying attention to.
The key this session, of course, is either fixing the public K-12 school funding formula that the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional or convincing the court that it was wrong—and maybe just a little tune up here or there can yield a public education system where every kid has the support necessary to earn a high school degree and continue education or find a good job.
But education funding is going to be fixed, one way or another, with or without tax increases and so far, the legislative leaders are pretty predictable. Everyone wants the best schools possible, and that’s where things start to splinter. Most Democrats generally want more money spent on K-12 education without any specific source for that new money. And most Republicans aren’t sure just what K-12 should cost, but once that is determined by someone in authority, it’s figuring out where to get the necessary money.
It’s virtually everything else that is going to take a couple weeks to learn just how lawmakers lean on issues.
Restrict concealed-carry of guns? Probably not, but there’s a shot at keeping those guns out of hospitals without extensive and expensive security measures at the front door. Those “bump-stock” devices that turn a military-style rifle into a machine gun? Probably not a bunch of opposition from anyone who has ever spent a night (and most of their paycheck) in Las Vegas. But watch opposition rise—not to the bump-stock provisions—but the possibility that while the National Rifle Association is looking the other way that something else gets added to the measure.
Transparency? That’s something that ought to be kicked off pretty quickly, with bills that are designed to, or at least purport to, tell Kansans more about what happens at the Statehouse.
The simple start is, of course, putting the sponsor’s name on each bill as it is introduced, not just the “Senate Tax Committee” or something generic like that. Now, there are bills—say the governor’s annual budget bill—introduced through a committee as a simple matter of getting the issues up for hearings and debates and votes. Nobody’s for it just as it is introduced, but everyone is for having a bill as a start for debates.
Maybe recording the vote by committee members on the bill introduction would tell us something, but if those votes to introduce are recorded, there’s the chance that the budget bill might not be introduced. And where do we go from there? Do lawmakers get more political points from voting to introduce a bill, or from amending-up the bill they voted to introduce to do what they and their constituents want?
Somewhere, there’s a balance. We probably ought to know the vote on getting the bill out of committee and to the House or Senate floor where votes are recorded for us to read on a slow day… But some legislators are wary of leaving too many tracks in the snow and having to explain that they really didn’t want a bill introduced, but figured they needed a piece of bread to put their own amendment jelly on.
Couple weeks and we should have an idea where individual bills are going…and, of course, what they can be amended up to do. It’s just going to take some chatting in committees and in the hallways and while waiting for service at the snack bar to find out.
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com