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Month: March 2018

Clarence R. Barta

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Clarence R. Barta passed away Friday, March 9, 2018 at Almost Home in Great Bend, Kansas at the age of 89. He was born on September 2, 1928, on the family farm in Ellsworth County, Kansas near Wilson, to the late Oda and Eleanor (Svaty) Barta. Before finishing high school he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and served for three years.

After being honorably discharged from the Coast guard, he completed school and began working in the oil industry. On October 18, 1954 he was united in marriage to Mary Podlena at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wilson. Together they lived in numerous Kansas towns, but spent most of their later life in Great Bend. Aside from his love of family, his greatest passion was playing cards. He was known for a life time of planting trees and saving stray animals. He attended St. Patrick Catholic Church in Great bend and was a lifetime member of the American Legion.

Clarence is survived by son Randy Barta and wife Kayla of Overland Park; daughter Cindy McQuade and husband Tim of Hoisington; grandsons Mike Barta of Lenexa, Ryan McQuade of Hays, Mark Barta of Mission; granddaughter Holly Simpson of Topeka; great-grandson Chace Barta; great-granddaughter Charlotte Rose Barta; and sisters-in-law Emily Zorn of Hoisington, Anne Ehrlich of Haven, and Sister Loretta Podlena of Great Bend.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 63 years, Mary Barta, parents Oda and Eleanor Barta, brother and sister-in-law Alvin and Loretta Barta.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30am on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wilson. Burial will follow in the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00pm on Friday at the funeral home with Prayer Vigil at 6:00pm.

Hays High journalism students qualify for state competition

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Photo courtesy Bill Gasper
By AMIYAH GONZALEZ
HHS Guidon

After competing in both digital and on-site regional competition at Fort Hays State University on Feb. 22, qualifiers for state journalism have been announced.

According to journalism adviser Bill Gasper, there are 19 total digital and on-site competitions, and only two students can be entered into each event. Individual students can be entered in multiple events, but not more than five.

Out of the 38 possible state qualifications available, Hays High earned 37 berths at the Kansas Scholastic Press Association State Journalism Competition in Lawrence on May 5. Up to six places are awarded in each event, including first, second and third, as well as up to three honorable mentions.

“The students once again did very well at regionals, and I’m very proud of their efforts,” Gasper said. “Our goal is to prepare hard for state journalism competition and compete for the overall sweepstakes award in our division. As an adviser, I am blessed to have a bunch of talented students and I know they want to do well and will work hard to achieve that goal.”

Individual results are included below:

Lacey Gregory

1st Advertising

1st Headline Writing

1st Feature Writing

2nd Newspaper Layout

Honorable Mention Editorial Writing

Amiyah Gonzalez

3rd Feature Writing

Honorable Mention Editorial Writing

Isabelle Braun

1st Copy Editing

2nd Headline Writing

Jacob Maska

2nd Sports Writing

3rd Yearbook Sports Writing

Honorable Mention Sports Photography

Taylor Schiffelbein

1st Newspaper Layout

Honorable Mention Sports Writing

Honorable Mention Yearbook Sports Writing

Madison Weber

1st News Writing

2nd Copy Editing

Allison Hillebrand

Honorable Mention Yearbook Copywriting

Elizabeth Lee

1st Editorial Cartoon

Scout Perryman

3rd Editorial Cartoon

Alyssa Owens

2nd Advertising

Emily George

1st Yearbook Layout

2nd Cutline Writing

Abby Balman

2nd Infographics

3rd Yearbook Layout

3rd Cutline Writing

Tana Herreman

1st Infographics

Honorable Mention Photo Illustration

Joshua Arthur

Honorable Mention Photo Illustration

Jacie Robinson

1st Student Life Photography

Kaitlyn Brown

Honorable Mention Student Life

Lindsey Pfannenstiel

Honorable Mention Sports Photography

Hannah Harman

1st Academics Photography

2nd Yearbook Copywriting

Cassidy Prough

2nd Academics Photography

Abby Balman and Alyssa Owens

3rd Yearbook Theme & Development

Emily George and Jacie Robinson

Honorable Mention Yearbook Theme and Development

Virginia, Villanova, Kansas, Xavier are No. 1 seeds

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UNDATED (AP) – Top-ranked Virginia has received the first overall seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which begins with first-round games Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.

The Cavaliers has the No. 1 seed in the South Region after going 31-2 while winning the ACC regular-season and tournament championships. Virginia will open against UMBC on Friday.

Cincinnati is the No. 2 team in the South, followed by Tennessee and Arizona. The Volunteers are the only top-4 seed in the South to lose in the conference tournaments.

The East is led by Villanova, the Big East champions and 2016 national champs. Second seed Purdue, third seed Texas Tech and No. 4 Wichita State failed to win their conference tourneys.

Conversely, the Midwest Region looks like the bracket of death with No. 1 seed Kansas opening up in Wichita. The No. 2 seed is Duke, with Michigan State at No. 3 and Auburn fourth. The Jayhawks, Blue Devils and Spartans have combined for 39 Final Four appearances.

Xavier’s loss in the Big East semifinals didn’t stop the Musketeers from landing the top seed in the West. ACC tournament finalist North Carolina is No. 2, Big Ten champion Michigan is third and West Coast Conference winner Gonzaga is fourth.

Providence received a No 10 seed in the West after its stunning run to the Big East finals. Other bubble teams to make the NCAA Tournament are Arizona State, Oklahoma, Syracuse.

Notre Dame and Louisville were left out of 68-team field, as were Southern California, Baylor and Saint Mary’s.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: What’s with these Kansas deer?

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Steve Gilliland

Many wildlife studies take place behind the scenes; if you don’t happen to hear or read about them or stumble upon them in progress, you never know they occur. Such is the case with a fairly extensive deer research project underway in northwestern Kansas this year.

The project has two stages; the first stage is to capture and collar 120 deer, the second stage is to monitor those deer and their fawns to collect valuable data about Kansas deer. I spoke with Levi Jaster, Big Game Coordinator with Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism who is supervising the project. He says there has been a noticeable retraction of the KS mule deer population, slowly withdrawing westward, while at the same time the whitetail population is also spreading westward. Jaster told me “We are already on the western edge of the mule deer range and hate to see their population dwindle any more here in Kansas, and Nebraska is not seeing the same problem, so that leaves us Kansas wildlife biologists searching for answers.” Jaster says all studies about deer mortality rates, habitat use and reproduction rates have been done in either the Dakotas or Texas, neither of which have topography or conditions representative of Kansas, so everyone felt it was time for a KS study to be done.

Eight KS counties were chosen; Decatur, Norton, Sheridan and Graham in the extreme northwestern corner, and Logan, Gove, Scott and Lane a little farther south. In February, 120 deer divided evenly between each group of counties, between whitetails and mule deer, and between bucks and does were netted from a helicopter and collared. Bucks were given a quick health check including blood samples, fitted with GPS radio collars that will remain on them for their lifetime and then released. Does were airlifted to an area set up with handling facilities where they were each given an ultrasound to determine pregnancy rates and blood samples were drawn.

They were then ear-tagged and fitted with a GPS radio collar that will drop off after a predetermined number of weeks. Before their release each doe was also given a small vaginal implant transmitter (VIT) that will drop out when she gives birth and help researchers attempt to locate fawns. This entire process was completed in only 4 days. To process the does, KDWPT staff was joined by Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit staff, K State graduate students, veterinarians, volunteers from the Kansas Bowhunters Assn. and landowners who allowed access to their land.

The second part of the project will begin in mid to late May when collared does begin to birth fawns. The transmitters will begin transmitting when they are expelled and are linked to each does collar, giving researchers data on when and where fawns were born. The thinking is that since fawns are hidden for the first few days of their lives, if the signal can be tracked within a few hours after birth, most fawns can be located. Each will be quickly checked, measured and fitted with a special expandable collar so it can be tracked also. The goal is to find and collar 80 – 90 fawns this spring.

Data collected during this first-of-its-kind 3 year study here in KS will help researchers learn more about Kansas deer reproductive and mortality rates and causes of mortality, deer movement, survival of different year classes of deer, and mule deer and whitetail deer interaction. This data will help provide much needed insight into deer densities, deer-human interactions, crop damage and the effects of habitat and crop changes on KS deer populations.

I asked Levi if there was anything else he wanted deer hunters to learn from this story, and he told me “We want deer hunters who see these collars to act as though the collar doesn’t exist. If they were going to harvest a collared deer before they spotted the collar, harvest it anyway. If they were going to pass on a collared deer, pass on it despite the collar. This will give us real-world, real-time data.” Fifteen years ago, my wife and I hunted for several years where she grew up in Meade County, and back then we could expect to see as many muleys’ as whitetails. Today, I know that whitetails are much more prevalent down there, so I’m anxious to see what this study turns up; a wonderful way to continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

HaysMed joins network to improve supply chain efficiencies and reduce costs

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HAYSMED

HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System today announced they have joined Captis, a collaborative network of hospitals and health systems focused on improving clinical outcomes and reducing the costs of healthcare products and services through the aggregation of buying power and collective decision making.

Captis, a Vizient, Inc. Member Business Venture, includes more than 70 health care organizations across the nation with $9.6 billion in supply chain purchasing power. Members collaborate to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses by aggregating spend and establishing contracting strategies that meet the unique needs of their members. Since it was established in 2008, Captis has provided over $500 million in savings to its members.

“As value-based care models continue to evolve, we need to be proactive in reducing costs and improving clinical outcomes” said George Harms, Chief Financial Officer at HaysMed. “By joining Captis, we are helping to reduce costs and improve the delivery of care to our patients and the communities we serve.”

“We are excited to welcome HaysMed to Captis. The continued growth and collaboration between member hospitals helps reduce supply chain costs and drive operational efficiencies beyond what they could achieve on their own” said Brenda Peterson, RN and Vice President of Captis. “Equally important, they continuously participate in shared problem solving and in the development of innovative approaches that help assure the best clinical outcomes for patients.”

Fire hydrant testing continues this week

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HFD

The city of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Mon., March 12, 2018 in the area from Vine St. to Indian Trail between 27th St. and 33rd St.

This is part of a coordinated effort by the city of Hays to inspect all fire hydrants in the city and flush all water mains annually.

Reconstruction closes portion of Allen Street

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CITY OF HAYS

Beginning Monday, March 12, 2018 Allen Street will be closed from the north side of 8th Street to the railroad tracks.

This phase of construction is scheduled to last until April 13, 2018 (pending weather conditions). The entire project should be complete by November 16, 2018.

Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. Motorists should use caution in these areas.

The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Office of Project Management at 785-628-7350 or the contractor, Paul-Wertenberger Construction at 785-625-8220.

Community to honor slain Missouri officer Monday

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HENRY COUNTY —Residents held a Candlelight Vigil Sunday at the Henry County Courthouse grounds in Clinton, Missouri to honor officer Christopher Ryan Morton.

Officer Morton-photo courtesy Clinton Police

Morton was shot and killed and two others officers were wounded after they had been sent to the wrong house following a 911 call on March 6.

The three Clinton officers went inside the home to determine if criminal activity was occurring and James Waters was in the residence and shot them, according to police. It’s not clear if Waters, 37, was living there.

The funeral for Officer Morton will be 11 a.m., Monday, March 12, Benson Center, Clinton, Mo.

It is anticipated there will be some 1,000 law enforcement and public safety vehicles in the funeral procession from Clinton to Knob Noster, Missouri.

Les Kerr of the Missouri Law Enforcement Funeral Assistance Team says they will use the same route in Clinton as that of the funeral procession of Officer Gary Michael in August, 2017.

 

FHSU Baseball Clipped by No. 7 Mules in Series Finale

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HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State baseball team could not keep up with No. 7 Central Missouri Sunday (March 11), falling 11-6 in the series finale. The Tigers move to 9-11 on the year and 1-8 in MIAA play while the Mules are now 16-3 overall and 8-1 in conference contests.

The Tigers outhit UCM for the second time this weekend, 11-9, but the Mules took advantage of eight walks.

Freshman Dawson Sramek had his best outing so far this season at the dish, collecting three hits, including one double. Dayton Pomeroy drove in three of the six runs, including two on one swing of the bat in the form of his sixth home run of the season.

Central Missouri jumped in front with two runs in the first inning, but the Tigers quickly tied things up with two runs of their own. Alex Weiss punched a two-out single through the right side before Pomeroy crushed a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left, placing him in a tie for third in the MIAA in homers this season.

The Mules tacked on four more runs over the next three innings, but Fort Hays State got all four back in the bottom of the fifth to tie things up once again, 6-6. The Tigers got things going at the plate, collecting five hits in the inning, all singles. Marcus Altman, Sramek and Addison Kaasch all singled to open the inning, loading the bases for Clayton Basgall. The shortstop kept the line moving with a single of his own, driving in one run. Weiss drove in the next run with a fielder’s choice before Pomeroy added his third RBI of the afternoon with a single to left. Weiss later tied things up when he came in to score on a wild pitch, allowing Pomeroy to advance to third with just one out. Central Missouri got out of the jam without falling behind, striking out the next two batters to escape with the score tied.

The Tigers allowed five runs over the next two innings, allowing UCM to begin to pull away. The Tigers had runners reach base in the sixth and seventh frames, but the Mule bullpen finished the final five innings with 10 strikeouts and only three hits.

Sam Capps made the start for the Tigers, striking out a pair while allowing six runs on six hits over four innings of work. Tanner Smith (1-3) took the loss after allowing four runs over 2.1 innings of relief. Cody Rottinghaus came on to finish things off on the rubber, striking out three and allowing just two baserunners over the final 2.2 innings.

The Tigers will hit the road for one midweek game before returning to Larks Park for MIAA play next weekend, taking on Rockhurst in Kansas City, Mo. on Wednesday (March 14) at 4 p.m.

Sunny, cool Monday

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Today Sunny, with a high near 56. North northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.

Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.

Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 53. Northeast wind around 6 mph.

Tuesday Night Clear, with a low around 26. East wind around 6 mph becoming south after midnight.

Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 69. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday NightMostly clear, with a low around 42.

ThursdaySunny, with a high near 80.

Thursday NightMostly clear, with a low around 43.

Texas volunteers return to search for missing Kan. boy

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SEDGWICK COUNTY— Texas EquuSearch has returned to Wichita to assist in the search for 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez, according to the organization’s web site.

Lucas Hernandez.

Texas EquuSearch temporarily suspended their search for the boy last week to devote attention on another case.

Members of the volunteer horse mounted search and recovery team from Texas originally joined the search for Hernandez on March 2.

The boy was last seen in Wichita, on February 17.  Lucas was wearing a gray t-shirt with a bear on it, black sweat pants and socks. Lucas is missing his top / front teeth, and he has silver caps on his remaining teeth.

He also has a small scar on his upper / left abdomen from a prior medical procedure. If you have seen Lucas Hernandez since his disappearance, if you know of his current whereabouts or if you have any information whatsoever concerning his disappearance; please call the Wichita, Kansas Police Department at (316) 268-4111

Gayle Clifford Bainter

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Gayle Clifford Bainter was born to Roy C and Bessie Jane (Randall) Bainter on the family farm northwest of Hoxie, Kansas on March 31, 1920 the first of 7 children. He passed away on March 9, 2018 at the age of 97 . He attended the McGraw country school through 8th grade, and graduated from high school in Dresden, Kansas in 1938. He worked for several years and saved money to attend business college in Chillicothe, MO which he began in the fall of 1941.

After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor he was drafted into the US Army during WWII from and served from February 25, 1942 to December 31, 1945. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, in France, Belgium and Germany, and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in the crossing of the Sauer River. His unit liberated a concentration camp before the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945.

After the war, he married Ruth Mae Carstens on January 1, 1947 in Topeka, KS. To this union three children were born, Warren, Judy, and Wesley. They celebrated 71 years of marriage and were true partners in life.

Gayle graduated from Washburn University with a BS in accounting in 1952. He worked in Topeka, Ks for a medical laboratory while attending college and until 1957 when the family moved to the farm in northwest Sheridan County to assist his father in farming, who was 61 at the time. In addition to farming, he worked part time for Sheridan County Appraiser’s office for a number of years, and then became the County Appraiser from 1976 to 1984. He later served as County Appraiser for Decatur County for several years.

Gayle was active in a number of service organizations. He became a 32nd degree Mason in Topeka in 1957. He joined the Hoxie Rotary Club serving all the local offices, and was Rotary District 5670 Governor 1994-1995. He made 4 trips to Panama with Rotary groups to provide eye glasses to the poor in that country. He served as a mentor in the Kansas Rotary High School Leadership Academy for several years. He was a life member of the VFW Post in Grainfield, KS. He was a member of the McGraw Methodist Church all his life.

Gayle is survived by his children, Warren (Jan) Bainter of Oberlin, Judy Gaumer of Oberlin, and Wesley (Casey) Bainter of Hoxie, 10 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-granchildren, and sisters Rayta Mues of Golden Colorado and Della Jean Shipley of Hoxie.
He was predeceased by his Wife, Ruth, his parents, and sisters, Leta Neeley, Norma Tice, and Irma Shipley, brother Dale Bainter, and grandson, Adam Gaumer.

Services are scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, 2018, at the Hoxie United Methodist Church, at 10:30 A.M. Interment will follow in the Hoxie City Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Monday, March 12, 2018 from Noon until 7:00 P.M.at Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, Hoxie, Kansas.

The family suggests memorials to the McGraw Methodist Church, and they may be sent to Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, PO Box 987, Hoxie, Kansas 67740. On-line condolences may be left at www.mickeyleopoldfuneral.com

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