Hays High School seniors have selected the candidates for 2018 Indian Call. The dance is scheduled for Feb. 17, and the winners will be announces the previous night.
Pictured from left: Ryan Will, Gabriela Taliaferro, Logan Clark, Tana Herreman, Ethan Nunnery, Karee Dinkel, Abigail Brungardt, Tayzian Otte, Mallory Linn, Cole Murphy, Abigail Balman, Eric Adams.
Robert L.Walters, 63, of Russell, Kansas died on Friday, February 9, 2018 at the Russell Regional Hospital in Russell, Kansas.
Robert was born on June 02, 1954, in Russell, Kansas, the son of William R. and Clarice L. (Metz) Walters. He grew up in Russell and graduated from Russell High School in the class of 1972. After high school he attended Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.
He met, fell in love and was united in marriage to LuAnn L. Schulze on June 04, 1977, in Norton, Kansas. From this union Robert and LuAnn were blessed with three sons, Luke, Steven and Tristan. Robert began his career working beside his father and grandfather at Russell Automotive Supply. At the time of his passing, he was a parts buyer for S & W Supply in Russell, Kansas, having recently completed 20 years with the company. He was a longtime member of First Congregational Church and Trinity United Methodist Church. He was also a member of the Russell Masonic Lodge, Russell Shrine Club and Isis Shrine Temple. Robert was the 1968 National Spelling Bee Champion. He loved music and enjoyed singing bass with the 4-Told Quartet, traveling the country and attending quartet sing fests. Robert enjoyed hunting and fishing with his family and friends. In recent years, he volunteered at Trinity Community Thrift Store. He was especially gifted at telling jokes and had a special talent in remembering all of them. Most of all Robert enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his children and grandchildren.
Surviving family include his wife LuAnn from the home; sons Luke Walters (Bern) of Kansas City, MO, Steven Walters (Jenny) of Hays, KS and Tristan (Ammi) of Wichita, KS; brothers William Clay Walters (Jean) of Topeka, KS and John Matthew Walters (Janell) of Manhattan, KS; sister Phoebe Walters of Salina, KS; six grandchildren Willem and Theron Walters, Magnolia and Giovanni Hayes, Anniston and London Rudisell. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Services are pending at this time. Please check back later for funeral service date and times. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita church preschool director has resigned as more concerns surface about a fired employee who’s accused of sexually assaulting two children at a YMCA child care.
Caleb Gaston, 21, was fired in October from his job at Plymouth Learning Center after an inappropriate touching complaint. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment couldn’t substantiate the allegation.
The Greater Wichita YMCA says it wasn’t notified about what happened before Gaston was charged with raping a 4-year-old. He’s also been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting another child at the YMCA.
Plymouth Congregational Church senior minister Don Olsen says he’s reported to the state that a couple other parents say their children may have been touched inappropriately. He provided no details on the director’s resignation.
Longtime Goodland, Kansas, resident Olathe “Ole” D. Juhl, 74, passed away on Wednesday, February 7,
2018 at the Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado.
Ole was born on October 21, 1943 in St. Francis, Kansas, and was adopted by James Estle and Gladys Elizabeth (McCurry) Cullum. He grew up in St. Francis where he attended school and graduated from St. Francis High School in 1963.
On April 27, 1968, Ole married Patricia Babcock in Goodland, Kansas. To this union, three children, Shaunna, Sharon and Stacey were born. Ole spent most of his life as a farmer. He enjoyed cooking and usually made peanut brittle to give at Christmas. He also loved to repair and fix anything he could.
Preceding him in death was his father James Cullum, and two daughters Shaunna Armknecht and Sharon
Juhl.
He is survived by his wife Pat of the home, his mother Gladys Cullum of St. Francis, Kansas, one daughter Stacey Rasmussen (Troy W.) of Newton, Kansas, one son-in-law Tim Armknecht of Goodland and two sisters, Goldie Harman of Otis, Colorado and Neva Pederson of Hutchinson, Kansas. He is also survived by four grandchildren and extended family and friends.
Mass of Christian Burial for Ole will be held on Monday, February 12, 2018 at 10:00 AM MT at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Goodland, KS with Father Norbert Dlabal and Father Richard Daise officiating. Burial with Military Honors will follow in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, KS.
Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 11, 2018 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM MT at the Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Goodland with a Vigil and Rosary service to begin at 7:00 PM MT.
Memorial contributions may be designated to the VFW Lowell Coleman Post 1133 or to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and may be left at the services or mailed to Koons-Russell Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, KS 67735.
Online condolences may be left at www.koonsrussellfuneralhome.com.
Funeral services are entrusted to Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Goodland.
CASA of the High Plains’ annual Valentine’s Dinner fundraiser set for Saturday is sold out.
The board would like to thank all those in the community who bought tickets for the event and businesses and individuals who donated monetary gifts as well as items for the dinner’s live and silent auctions.
All proceeds benefit CASA to help support the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which appoints volunteers to serve as a voice for abused and neglected children in court.
Mark you calendar for next year’s dinner, which will be Feb. 9, 2019.
For more information on CASA or to learn how to become a volunteer, call 785-628-8641, see the CASA website or like the CASA Facebook page.
Victor J. “Vic” Schmidtberger, 91, of Quinter, formerly of Grainfield, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018.
He was born Aug. 24, 1926, in Pfeifer, Kansas, to Joseph and Anna Mary “Emma” (Mader) Schmidtberger. He attended grade school at a country school near their farm and high school in Grainfield, later receiving his honorary high school diploma.
Vic served in the United States Army stationed in Germany during WWII. As a telephone operator, part of his responsibility included handling orders to prepare troops for their return home. He enjoyed being a farmer and rancher. Vic was well known in area sale barns for buying and selling baby calves.
He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Esta; infant son, Mark Alan; sons-in-law, Eugene Baalmann, Kenneth Cooksey and Russell Baker; sisters, Irene Ziegler, Hilda Wolf, Albina Mowery and Marcella Heier and second wife, Jane.
He is survived by his children, Sylvia (Terry) Krannawitter, Hays; Lela Cooksey, Quinter, Kansas; Doris Schmidtberger-Baker, Lemon Grove, California; Delores (Danny) Lockhart, Oakley, Kansas; Leroy (Pam) Schmidtberger, Collyer, Kansas; Joe (Jennifer) Schmidtberger, Grainfield, Kansas; Delmar(Linda) Schmidtberger, California; Arnold (Kathy) Schmidtberger, Salina, Kansas; Alvera (Gary) Bruggeman, Oberlin, Kansas and Vicki (Sean) Timiney, Plantation, Florida; 29 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, at the St. Agnes Education Center, Grainfield, with a Vigil at 7 p.m. Funeral Mass is 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Grainfield, with burial to follow in the Grainfield Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Grainfield Cemetery Fund, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 204, Oakley, KS 67748. For condolences or information, visit www.baalmannmortuary.com.
KANSAS CITY (AP) – The reward for information in the death of a 9-year-old boy fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire in Kansas City has increased to $10,000.
Dominic Young, Jr-courtesy-Serenety Memorial Chapel
Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers says those with tips that lead to an arrest or the filing of charges in the death of Dominic Young Jr. could be eligible. Dominic’s father told police he was driving with his son last month when people in two other vehicles began shooting at each other.
The father didn’t initially realize that his child had been caught in the crossfire and continued driving to suburban Grandview. When his wounds were discovered, the boy was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Crime Stoppers says elected officials and a pastor are among those contributing to the reward.
The Kansas Supreme Court could soon decide whether there’s a right to abortion in the state constitution.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer and some lawmakers say if the Kansas Supreme Court finds a right to abortion in the state constitution, they’ll try to amend the document. FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Gov. Jeff Colyer wants lawmakers to consider amending the constitution to establish that such a right doesn’t exist.
In his first address to lawmakers this week, the Republican governor called for amending the state constitution to help protect Kansas abortion restrictions.
That came in response to a case pending before the Kansas high court. Justices are considering a lower court ruling that recognized a right to abortion in the state constitution.It’s an outgrowth from a legal fight over the state’s so-called “dismemberment abortion” ban, which bars dilation and evacuation procedures.
If the court rules the Kansas Constitution includes a right to abortion, that could put many state abortion restrictions on the books in jeopardy.
Colyer, speaking to a joint session of the legislature, said the lower court ruling “cannot stand.”
“This is violence against basic facts,” Colyer said. “The stakes are so high, the issue is so foundational, the people of Kansas must have the final say.”
Republican Rep. Chuck Weber of Wichita said he’s been talking with other legislators about an amendment if the court finds a right to abortion in the constitution.
“(That) would definitely stoke the conversation,” Weber said. “I haven’t heard a lot at this point to push it without that.”
The legislature has approved additional abortion restrictions in recent years and Weber said he believes a constitutional amendment would have broad support.
“A constitutional amendment … would just take this question out of the hands of unelected judges in the future,” Weber said. “It would really reflect the will of the people.”
Democratic Rep. Valdenia Winn of Kansas City, Kansas, said a constitutional amendment would draw the state back into fierce abortion debates.
“Here we’re going to have a fight over, as far as I’m concerned, current law,” Winn said. “Forces that think like me are not going to be intimidated.”
It takes a two-thirds majority of lawmakers and a vote from the public to approve constitutional amendments. House Majority Leader Don Hineman, a Republican from Dighton, agrees there could be wide support for a constitutional amendment on abortion.
“Whether it’s enough remains to be seen,” Hineman said. “It’s a high bar. It’s a high bar for a reason.”
A 26-year-old Hays man has agreed to serve more than two years in prison after shooting another man in the face with a pellet gun during a robbery in December.
Dean Joseph Manning, 26, Hays, waived his preliminary hearing Friday and pleaded no contest in Ellis County District Court to robbery and aggravated battery.
Under the plea agreement, Manning will served a presumed sentence of 32 months in prison for robbery and 12 months for aggravated battery. The sentences will run concurrently for a total of 32 months.
Court services must go over Manning’s criminal history to determine his exact sentence. He also agreed not to seek probation in lieu of jail time.
Manning was originally charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, intimidation of a victim and drug possession.
According to the Hays Police Department, Manning and Pascual Guzman were arrested Dec. 9 after a male victim said the two men forced their way into his hotel room at gun point in the 3400 block of Vine Street.
The two men were allegedly looking for a gun and money that was stolen from them. During the incident, police said Manning shot the victim in the face causing him to seek medical treat at the emergency room.
Manning was remanded to the Ellis County jail pending sentencing.
Guzman also waived his preliminary hearing on Thursday in Ellis County District Court.
Curtis Schmidt, Sternberg zoology collections manager, holds a specimen of one of the 17 species of bats that are found in Kansas. Schmidt and his colleagues are researching threatened northern long-eared bats.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
A researcher at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History is studying a disease that is wiping out a species of bats across the nation.
Curtis Schmidt, Sternberg zoology collections manager, Elmer Fink, PhD, along with others from Fort Hays State University, have been studying the northern long-eared bat. Schmidt, although primarily trained as a herpetologist, co-wrote a book on Kansas bats with former Sternberg director Jerry Choate and two other scholars in 2011.
The northern long-eared bat was listed as threatened on the endangered species list in 2015. The bats, which normally live in caves, are succumbing to a fungal infection called white-nose syndrome that proves fatal in almost all cases.
The fungus was not introduced to the U.S. until 2006, but since has been decimating bat populations by the millions.
The fungal infection has not yet been found in Kansas.
The fungus that is affecting the bats is normally found in soil. However, it is being brought into caves by humans. People pick up the fungi on their shoes and carry it from one cave to another. The infection is also transferred from bat to bat and is carried from cave to cave by infected bats.
Bats have extremely high metabolisms. They have to be constantly eating when they are awake. When insects are scarce during the winter, some bat species, including the northern long-eared bat, hibernate. The fungal infection disrupts the bats’ hibernation. They become active in attempts to fight the illness, yet can’t feed, and starve to death, Schmidt said.
“It’s just spreading like wildfire,” he said, “and right now we have no idea how to control it.”
Some populations are showing they are starting to evolve resistance to the disease. One scientific paper suggested ultraviolet radiation will kill the fungus, but the caves in which the bats live are not exposed to ultraviolet radiation. If this solution proves effective, humans may have to go into the caves and provide ultraviolet radiation to kill the fungus.
Schmidt and his fellow researchers have banded about 700 to 800 bats during the last three years primarily in Ellis, Rooks, Russell and Trego counties. The scientists use fine mist nets to catch the bats as they search for water in the early evening. Contrary to the saying “blind as a bat,” bats can see. The bats use memory to locate water. The don’t start to echo locate for prey until later in the evening.
Researches don’t know much about where the bats roost or hibernates in Kansas. The bats use caves in other areas, but there are no caves in the areas in which the bats live in Kansas.
The bats not only eat mosquitoes, but many insects that can be harmful to crops. Scientists estimate bats in the U.S. prevent billions in crop damage annually.
Schmidt acknowledged bats are often viewed negatively by the public. Seventeen species of bats live in Kansas, all of which are insect eaters. The bats not only eat mosquitoes, but many insects that can be harmful to crops. A study in Texas indicated bats had a $1.8 billion annual benefit to agriculture in the state.
The most common bat in Kansas is the big brown bat, and if you have seen a bat in Kansas that is probably what you observed.
Bats are actually quite abundant, but we just don’t usually see them because of their nocturnal lifestyle, Schmidt said.
“One thing people don’t realize is how abundant bats really are,” he said. “They are extremely abundant, very, very common. If we could actually see into the sky at night, you would see that the sky is full of bats, no matter where in the country you are.”
Schmidt will be giving a presentation at the Bat Fair from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, 592 NE Kansas Highway 156, Great Bend.
He will be talk about a day in the life of a bat, which because of their high metabolism, involves primarily eating and sleeping.
Bats mate in the fall and the female bats will hold the live sperm until they are ready for the eggs to be fertilized in the spring. Bats, as mammals, give birth to live young and produce milk for their babies. Bats usually have two pup, but can have up to five. The baby bats grow rapidly and are able to fly and be independent of their mothers within two weeks.
Schmidt said he hopes through presentations such as the one in Great Bend he can raise awareness of the importance of bats.
“The No. 1 thing I like to promote is that they are OK, and they are good to have around,” he said. “I am really optimistic because it seems the more people are learning about them more recently with these diseases and things that are going on, the more people are appreciating and liking them. I have more people who come in and want to build bat houses because they realize how beneficial the bats are not only for agriculture, but for mosquitos and thing like that.”
Following Schmidt’s the presentation, children will be able to construct their own bats, complete a scavenger hunt in a “cave,” compare bat wing spans and “capture” and measure their own bats. KWEC will have live brown bats as well as several Sternberg Museum bat specimens on display.
The fair will also have examples and instructions on how to construct bat boxes, which can be used to attract bats to the yard.
For more information, contact KWEC at 877-243-9268.
Council Grove – Calvin Carl Hunter, 89, longtime resident of Council Grove, Kansas, passed away Thursday, February 8, 2018, at Diversicare.
He was born October 6, 1928, in Skiddy, KS, the son of Russell Floyd and Edna Mary (Kohler) Hunter. Cal graduated from White City High School. He attended the College of Emporia, where he was a 4 Sport Letterman.
Cal married Eunice Ann Bretz on September 10, 1949, in Council Grove. Over the years, Cal worked at various jobs; he worked as a mechanic for Hunter Chevrolet, Fairmont Creamery, Morris County Clerk, Bretz Shoe Store, Mayor and City Councilman of Council Grove, High School and College Sports official and he retired from the US Postal Service.
He was a member of the Council Grove Christian Church, Council Grove Country Club, Chamber of Commerce, Bowery Boys Slow Pitch, Coach of American Legion Baseball and a player for Council Grove Indians Baseball team.
Cal was an amazing husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Family was of utmost importance to him and he treasured his three daughters. He loved watching his grandchildren play ball. Cal loved all sports, he enjoyed playing pitch and was an avid golfer. “Pistol” as his grandchildren called him, will be sadly missed by all.
He was preceded in death by his parents, infant sister, Edna Mary and brothers: Lloyd and Don.
Cal is survived by his loving wife Eunice, of the home; daughters: Carla Pruitt and husband Don, of Victoria, Kathy Litke and husband Darrell and Christine Ziegenhirt and husband Donnie, all of Council Grove; 9 grandchildren: Alycia Straight (Dane), Amanda Pruitt, Dara Fillmore (Jason), Dana Reddick (Bobby), Deanna Buttrey (Thomas), Dawn Palmquist (Lucas), Derek Ziegenhirt, Casey Ziegenhirt, and Jacob Ziegenhirt.; 14 great-grandchildren; sister, Shirley Hickman; sister-in-law, Donna Aldrich; and brother, Russell Hunter, Jr.; and many nieces and nephews.
Family will receive friends Monday, February 12th, at Zeiner Funeral Home, from 5:00 to 7:00. Funeral services will be at 10:00, Tuesday, February 13th, at Council Grove Christian Church.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cal Hunter Memorial Fund, which will go to the Ben I. Smith Baseball Field improvements. They may be sent in care of Zeiner Funeral Home, PO Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846.
Police on the scene of the shooting-photo courtesy WIBW TV
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Topeka police officers who fatally shot a man have returned to work with the police department.
City spokeswoman Molly Hadfield said Thursday that officers Michael Cruse and Justin Mackey returned from administrative leave on Wednesday. She would not reveal their duty assignments.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports officers were placed on leave Sept. 28 after Dominique White was shot and killed near a park in Topeka.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay ruled in December that the shooting was justified. He said while White was fleeing from the officers, he moved his hand over a pocket that contained a gun.
In January, city officials said an internal police investigation found the officers followed department policies during the confrontation.
White’s family has consistently questioned whether the shooting was justified.
