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Month: April 2018

Brantley leads Indians to home-opening win over Royals

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Brantley singled home two runs in his first at-bat this season and Carlos Carrasco worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win in their chilly home opener over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Brantley missed Cleveland’s first six games while on the disabled list recovering from offseason ankle surgery. But just hours after being activated, the two-time All-Star delivered in the first inning against Danny Duffy (0-2), who managed to hang around until the sixth.

Following devastating finishes in the past two postseasons, the Indians are hoping this is the year they end their 70-year World Series title drought, baseball’s longest.

Brantley is a major part of their plans, but he needs to stay healthy after being limited to 101 games the past two seasons due to injuries.

Carrasco (2-0) gave up two runs in the first inning, but settled in. The right-hander retired 13 straight before running into trouble in the sixth, when the Royals loaded the bases on two singles and a one-out intentional walk.

But Carrasco struck out Lucas Duda looking at a 3-2 pitch and retired Cheslor Cuthbert on a liner to left.

Nick Goody worked the seventh, Andrew Miller put on two runners then struck out the side in the eighth, and Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his second save.

The Indians, who didn’t hit while blowing a 2-0 lead to New York in the AL Division Series last October, came in batting a league-low .161. They only got four hits, but that was enough thanks to Carrasco and their top-flight bullpen.

The Royals dropped to 3-16 in Cleveland since May 8, 2016.

Down 2-0 in the first, the Indians benefited from Duffy’s early wildness to score three times.

The left-hander, possibly bothered by the bitter, blustery weather conditions, walked Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis before Jose Ramirez dribbled an RBI single through the middle.

After Duffy’s third walk of the inning, this one to slugger Edwin Encarnacion, Brantley dropped a two-run single into right, a satisfying moment for the 30-year-old who has spent the past two seasons battling back from shoulder and ankle injuries.

The Royals scored twice in the first on an RBI groundout by Mike Moustakas and Duda’s broken-bat RBI single, which came after he inadvertently flung another bat into the netting behind home plate.

WELCOME BACK

Rajai Davis received a huge ovation from Cleveland’s fans during pregame introductions. Davis, who hit a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of Game 7 in the 2016 World Series, re-signed with the club this winter.

Davis doubled in three at-bats.

CHILLING OUT

The Royals have played a league-low five games, thanks to weather postponements against the White Sox and Tigers. But manager Ned Yost isn’t fretting about their erratic workload. “You can’t do anything to change it, so it’s as difficult as you want to make it,” he said. “You just try to go with the flow the best you can.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Duda (right hamstring tightness) returned to the lineup after missing one game. Yost said he will serve as the designated hitter all weekend.

Indians: Brantley’s workload will be closely monitored before he plays regularly. Manager Terry Francona said the Indians will use a “common sense” approach with Brantley, who has been limited to 101 games over the past two seasons.

UP NEXT

Kansas City RHP Ian Kennedy (0-0, 1.50 ERA) takes on Cleveland RHP Trevor Bauer (0-0, 3.60 ERA) in the second game of the series Saturday. Kennedy is winless in his last five starts against the Indians. Bauer pitched five innings in his first start.

Police rescue 5 animals in alleged dog fighting ring

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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a case of alleged animal cruelty.

Just after 3p.m. Wednesday, police received a tip from a local animal rescue group of a resident in the 1500 Block of North Minnesota Street in Wichita might be involved in dog fighting, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police responded to the scene and through their investigation five dogs were collected by animal control officers. Two of the animals were taken to a local vet due to broken leg injuries, according to Davidson.  Police also recovered drugs, cash, a stolen weapon and dog fighting paraphernalia.

The paraphernalia include large chains, medication, tie downs along with other equipment used in the training of fight dogs, according to Davidson.  Police reported no arrests in the case.

Service held to remember 2-year-old Kansas girl

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BARTON COUNTY — Family and friends in central Kansas held a

Iviona Lewis -Courtesy Barton County Sheriff

memorial service Friday for Iviona Lewis.  The 2-year-old Hoisington girl was found dead on March 20.  She had been missing since Sunday March 18, according to police.

Chaz Stephens, her mother’s boyfriend is being held on a $1,000,000 Bond in connection with her death.

A memorial has been established to help with funeral expense, in care of Bryant Funeral Home in Great Bend.

UPDATE: Legislative Coffee in Hays is postponed

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Legislative Coffee in Hays March 3

UPDATE: Legislators will remain in session Saturday, therefore this event has been postponed, with a date to be determined.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The second Legislative Coffee hosted by the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce will be held Sat., April 7, at the Fort Hays State University Robbins Center.

Doors open at 8 a.m. with the legislative panel speaking at 8:30 a.m.

Scheduled to participate are Sen. Rick Billinger (R-Goodland), and Reps. Eber Phelps (D-Hays), Ken Rahjes (R-Agra) and Leonard Mastroni (R-Lacrosse).

The public is invited to attend the free event.

Both the House and Senate are expected to adjourn the regular session Friday.

Police seize 58 pounds of pot during Kansas drug raid

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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug distribution charges and have made an arrest.

photo courtesy Wichita Police

Just after 8:30p.m. Wednesday, police special investigations unit executed a search warrant at a residence near Seneca and Mt. Vernon in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

During the raid, officers seized 58 pounds of marijuana worth of street value of approximately $127,000, according to Davidson. They also seized 3 ounces of cocaine worth a street value of $3,000.

Police also booked a 33-year-old suspect on drug related charges. He is a mid-level drug dealer believed to be distributing drugs throughout the community, according to Davidson.

Kansas’ Vick joins Newman in planning to enter NBA draft

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Kansas junior guard Lagerald Vick plans to skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft.

Vick averaged 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds this season while earning All-Big 12 honorable mention honors. His mother, La La Vick, told The Kansas City Star that her son planned to hire an agent.

Vick’s decision, announced Friday in a news release, made him the second Jayhawk to announce for the NBA draft this week. Sophomore Malik Newman announced Wednesday that he would enter the draft and hire an agent.

Vick was inconsistent for much of the season but averaged 13.5 points in Kansas’ first four NCAA Tournament games. Coach Bill Self said it was time for Vick to move on and explore his professional options.

Kan. court overturns woman’s conviction in double murder

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has overturned a woman’s convictions in the 2002 shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his fiancee.

Dana Chandler was convicted in 2012 of killing Michael Sisco and Karen Harkness in Topeka.

Dana Chandler-photo Kan. Dpt. of Corrections

The court ruled Friday that Chandler was convicted after Shawnee County prosecutors falsely claimed that Sisco had taken out a protection from abuse order against her before the killings. The justices wrote prosecutors used that false claim and circumstantial evidence to support its theory that Chandler was dangerous.

Chandler consistently said that she did not kill the couple. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports no physical evidence linked Chandler, who lived in Denver at the time of the killings, to the crime.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay must decide whether to try Chandler again.

Bubble Dash 5K run/walk to benefit Hays Area Children’s Center

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Submitted

The Hays Area Children’s Center is sponsoring its Splish Splash Bubble Dash on Saturday, April 21.

This family-friendly 5k race, walk and stroll features an untimed race—you choose the pace—plus games for the kids and oodles of bubbles and foam to play in.

Registration is 9 a.m. and the race and games start at 10 a.m. Gather behind the Big Creek Crossing, 2918 Vine St. in Hays.

Register by April 10 to guarantee a Bubble Dash T-shirt.

There is no registration cost for children 5 and younger (purchase T-shirts for $5). Registration cost for children 6 and older is $10 and adults are $20, which includes T-shirts. After April 10, Adults are $25.

Register online at www.hacc.info through eventbrite.com or contact the Children’s Center at 785-625-3257. You can also register at the event or on weekdays at Hays Area Children’s Center, 94 Lewis Drive in Hays.

The Bubble Dash rain date is April 28.

All proceeds support the Hays Area Children’s Center’s early childhood education programs and services for children with disabilities and developmental delays.

 About the Hays Area Children’s Center

Founded in 1966, the Hays Area Children’s Center (HACC) is a nonprofit organization that provides and promotes quality care and educational experiences for young children and families. Because the first years of life are the most crucial stages of development, HACC services help ensure a healthy, positive start for children and their families, primarily in Ellis and Rush counties.

In 2017, HACC served more than 725 children and their families with a range of programs that include free early intervention services, developmental screenings, Healthy Start Home Visitor Services for prenatal mothers and post-natal infants and their new parents, and care coordination for children and youth with special health care needs. In addition, HACC provides high-quality daycare to infants through preschoolers and enriched summer camp for kindergarten through fifth–grade children.

Negotiations On Kan. School Spending Just Beginning

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By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

Arm wrestling over a final deal on Kansas school spending begins in earnest Friday after the Senate settled on a figure that’s much lower than the House’s position.

The battle over school funding is far from over
STGERMH / FLICKR-CC

The bill squeaked through after hours of discussion, winning the last vote necessary only after leaders forced lawmakers who initially abstained to weigh in.

“We had some private talks,” Wagle said. “I felt like, that in order to keep a Republican majority in the Kansas Senate through the next election, that we need to make sure we don’t force ourselves into another tax increase.”

Sen. Carolyn McGinn was in the meeting, but wouldn’t provide details.

“I’m not in a very good mood,” she told reporters on her way out of the chamber. “There was a plea to help them move the process forward.”

Republican Sen. Dinah Sykes had prepared an amendment to bring the Senate’s bill in line with the House’s version, but backed down when it appeared destined to lose.

“I think we were close,” she said.

The Senate wants to increase education funding by between $50 and $60 million each year for the next five years. That’s about half as much money as the House wants.

House leaders say their version won’t require a tax hike — and they have backing from Gov. Jeff Colyer — but Wagle said revenue projections don’t show that.

Sen. Molly Baumgardner, who carried her chamber’s bill, pleaded on the Senate floor with her colleagues to think about programs in the bill that would help children who struggle with academics and access to college.

“All of us,” she said, “care about our kids.”

But some wanted long-term commitments to increase special education funding or other services. They worried the Kansas Supreme Court will find fault with whatever middle ground the House and Senate now reach.

Senate Democratic leader Anthony Hensley called the Senate’s bill “woefully inadequate.”

“We have to come up with an adequate amount of funding in order to take it across the street and convince those seven people,” he said, referring to the justices presiding over the fate of the seven-year lawsuit that is pushing lawmakers to hike education funding.

Republican Ty Masterson was one of the senators who initially declined to vote. In the end, he signed on despite reservations.

“This is too high,” he said, and bemoaned a lack of changes to education policy. “I’d love to see accountability, school choice.”

School choice measures that expand the public’s access to private schools have helped sweeten past school finance bills for conservative Republicans.

The Senate bill increases funding for special education and early childhood programs, and gives high school students access to the ACT college entrance exam and to advanced English coursework for college-credit. But only some of the funding carries over year to year, causing consternation from some senators who wanted guarantees.

Money in both the Senate and House bills comes on top of a $300 million increase that lawmakers approved last spring.

Sen. Lynn Rogers, a Wichita Democrat, said his years on the board of Kansas’ largest school district taught him how inflation eats into school budgets year by year. In that context, he said, schools need more.

“It is not a lot of money,” he said, “in terms of what it can do on the ground, in the school districts.”

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. 

Winter Weather Advisory for Ellis Co. Friday night

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(Click to enlarge)

NWS

The National Weather Service in Dodge City has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Ellis County from 6 p.m. Friday evening until 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

Counties included in the advisory are Ellis, Trego, Rush, Ness, Lane, Pawnee, Scott, Edwards, Kiowa, and Comanche.

Total snow accumulations of up to two inches are expected.

Roads conditions will be slippery. Expect reduced visibilities at times. Use caution while driving.

Kan. police chaplain arrested in prostitution investigation

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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have arrested a Kansas man in connection with a prostitution investigation.

Syrcle image courtesy YouTube

On Wednesday, the Wichita Police Department (WPD) VICE section conducted a prostitution investigation in which detectives discovered information that lead to the arrest of an unpaid volunteer chaplain that serves WPD and the Sedgwick County Sheriff Office, according to officer Paul Cruz.

The arrest took place just before noon Thursday, according to Cruz.

Daniel Syrcle, 53, was interviewed by detectives and booked on misdemeanor charges for purchasing unlawful sexual relations and official misconduct.

Detectives were pursuing an unrelated prostitution case when they discovered Syrcle’s involvement with prostitution and made the arrest.

Syrcle has been terminated from his volunteer assignment with WPD and Sheriff’s Office. Police released no additional details.

Billie Dean ‘Bill’ Delka

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Billie Dean “Bill” Delka was born on May 10, 1945 at Red Cloud, Nebraska. He passed away on April 4, 2018 at his home in Guide Rock, Nebraska after a long fight with chronic leukemia.

Bill was the sixth of eleven children born to Harold and Olive (Smith) Delka and spent his childhood years in the Bostwick area. Bill attended Guide Rock High School before being drafted into the United States Army where he was a heavy equipment operator.

While working construction, Bill met Arlene Schmidtberger, who was the sixth of thirteen children. They married on June 21, 1969 at the Cathedral of the Plains Catholic Church in Victoria, KS and would have celebrated 49 years of marriage this summer. Bill was extremely proud of his family and they were the most important part of his life. Bill and Arlene were blessed with their children: Julie, Les, Chris, Amy, and Jill.

Bill worked construction in Kansas and Texas before moving back to Nebraska where he worked as a mechanic. Bill & Arlene moved to Guide Rock in 1975 and opened Delka’s Sales & Service. The shop remained a central gathering space on main street until it closed in 1995 when Bill went to work for Road Builders in Grand Island. In his leisure time he loved to garden.

Bill was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous for 27 years. Through the AA community he actively lived the twelve steps and became a mentor to others. His quick wit and sense of humor led to contagious laughter in any setting. Even with surgeries and chemotherapy, Bill was known to brighten people’s days with his clever comments and genuine conversations. Regardless of sickness or health, Bill loved phone calls and visits with family and friends.

Survivors include his wife Arlene; children, Julie (Kory) Delkamiller of Omaha, Nebraska and children Maia, Lydia, and Naomi; Les (Jennifer) Delka of Lincoln, Nebraska and children Emily and Andrew; Chris (Gaye) Delka of Pierce, Nebraska and children, Dylan, Dalton, and Lauren; Amy (Brian) Howard of Papillion, Nebraska and children Joey, Lucy, Hunter and Austin; Jill (Kevin) Edgren of Grand Island, Nebraska and children Ikaiah, Hayden, and Gabriella. Also surviving are his siblings Neil (Audyne), Don (Alice), Ted (Myrtie), Frank (Connie), Ray (Lee), Dale (Diane), Betty (Dale) Ehlers, Elaine, Joe (Joann), and Doris Epke; nieces, nephews, other relatives and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Red Cloud, Nebraska with Rev. Paul Frank and Rev. David Korth officiating. Visitation will be Thursday evening and all-day Friday. Visitation with family present will be held Friday from 5-7 p.m. with the Rosary beginning at 7:00 p.m. Interment with military honors will be at the Guide Rock Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Red Cloud Sacred Heart Catholic Church or the Guide Rock American Legion.

Joyce J. Banbury

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Joyce J. Banbury, 83, of Russell, Kansas, died on Tuesday, April 03, 2018, at her home in Russell.

Joyce was born on August 24, 1934, in Holton, Kansas, the daughter of Charles and Loreda (Godsey) Raymond. She grew up in Smith Center, Kansas and graduated from High School in Topeka, Kansas in the class of 1952. After high school she attended Ft. Hays State University for 3 years and later received her B.A. from Kansas State University. She met, fell in love and was united in marriage to Conrad Banbury on August 20, 1969 in Smith Center, Kansas. From this union they took great joy in raising Joyce’s two sons Martin and Michael.

Joyce owned and operated Banbury Cross in the 1970’s, Wheatcraft in the 80’s and worked as a sales specialist for EBay from the 1990’s to current. With EBay she also worked as an education specialist teaching people how to buy and sell goods on EBay. With EBay she won several sales awards and was a well known presenter for EBay Live across the United States. She was a longtime member of Trinity United Methodist Church. She took great pride in helping raise her granddaughter Dannie’ll Heaton. She enjoyed painting, wheat weaving, gardening, growing flowers and power walking. Most of all she enjoyed spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Surviving family include her two sons Martin Heaton (Suzann) of Salina, Kansas, and Michael Heaton (Linda) of Winfield, Kansas; 5 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Judy Berridge and husband Conrad.

A memorial service to celebrate Joyce’s life will be held at 11 A.M. on Thursday, April 12, 2018, at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Russell, Kansas, with Pastor Ezekiel Koech officiating. A reception will be held at the Trinity Fellowship Hall immediately follow the church services. Visitation with the family will take be from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M. on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at the family home at 212 North Main Street in Russell. Memorials can be made out to the mortuary and sent in care of the mortuary. A memorial will be determined by the family at a later date. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.

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