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Freda Rose (Queen) Hunt

Freda Rose (Queen) Hunt passed away on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida at the age of 77. She was born on March 22, 1941 on a farm in Thomas County, Kansas to the late Herbert A. and Lillian M. (Kleymann) Queen. She grew up in the Grainfield, Kansas area graduating from Grainfield High School with the Class of 1959. She went on to earn her Associate of Arts Degree from Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas in 1976, and then completed her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology, graduating Suma Cum Laude from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas in 1978.

After completing her college education, Freda began working as an Information and Referral Specialist for Northwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging from which she eventually retired. A strong hardworking single mother, she was always involved in her children’s activities including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League Ball, Kid’s Wrestling, and most especially 4-H. She was a 4-H Club Leader, Project Leader, and Assistant County Club Leader. She also spent many years participating in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program helping people file their income taxes. She was not only proud of her own work and career, but was even more proud of her children and their accomplishments, particularly of the fact that three of her children also earned their four year college degrees.

Freda is survived by her children William W. Dossey of Oliver Springs, TN, Catherine M. (Dossey) Nelson and husband Paul of Deland, FL, Randy A. Dossey and wife Kim of Fleming Island, FL, and Frederick A. Hunt of Jacksonville, FL; siblings Edna M. Queen of Lakewood, CA, Herbert F. Queen of Grainfield, KS, Henry Queen and wife Wilma of Bremerton, WA, Sylvia Tanner and husband Tom of Independence, MO, and Leonard J. Queen and wife Donna of Salina, KS; step-siblings Gerhard “Gary” May of Hanover, MD, Marilyn May of Wichita, KS, Rose Nickelson and husband Nick of Nixa, MO, David May and wife Toy of Tucson, AZ, and Karen May of Wichita, KS; grandchildren Pamela Dossey of Oliver Springs, TN, Patricia Dossey of Raleigh, NC, Peggy Dossey of Oliver Springs, TN, Benjamin Dossey of Oliver Springs, TN, Charina Cross of Deland, FL, Joshua Cross of Deland, FL, Adam and Mariann Nelson of Jacksonville, FL, Kevin Nelson of Palatka, FL, Sabrina and Fred Teem of Satsuma, FL, Heather and Blake Hornung of DeLand, FL, Tasha and Nathan Farnsworth of Jacksonville, FL, Melissa and Joshua Jacobson of Orange Park, FL, Elyse and John Girard of Charlottesville, VA, Christina and Aaron Stemen of Gainesville, FL, Randy T Dossey of Orlando, FL, and Alexadria Martinez of Colfax, WA; great-grandchildren Logan Doa, Danielle Nelson, Stacy Nelson, Alex Hornung, Jacob Hornung, Stella Hornung, Adam Hornung, Savannah Nelson, Jordan Cable, Caleb Farnsworth, Allie Farnsworth, Abbey Farnsworth, Conor Farnsworth; Annabelle Jacobson, Marlowe Girard, Tristan Dossey, Tyler Stemen, Lily Stemen, and Tanner Stemen; great-great-grandchild Rylee Driggers; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Herbert and Lillian Queen, step-mother Evelyn (May) Queen, brothers John Queen and Nickolaus “Nick” May, and great-granddaughter Amelia Kate Jacobson.

The 4‑H Pledge says, “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.” Freda not only lived these values, but passed them on to her children and grandchildren. She leaves a legacy of strong independence mixed with love and compassion for family, friends, and neighbors that will live forever in the generations that follow her.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home in Hoxie. Burial will follow at the Grainfield Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1:00-2:00pm on Saturday at the funeral home.

Rohleder to retire after 24 years leading Lincoln Leopards

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Elaine Rohleder has a large bulletin board in her office dedicated to notes, pictures, stories and crafts that her students have made for her over the 24 years at Lincoln Elementary.

In the middle of the board is a large pencil drawing of Bambi created by a former fifth-grader in 2004. There also a little paper snowman and a snowflake.

All of the these treasures are soon to be packed. After 31 years in education, Elaine Rohleder will retire at the end of the school year.

Yet these simple mementos remind Rohleder she has made a difference in her students’ lives.

“It is the little things that the kids do. They draw you pictures. They put them in your mailbox. They write stories about you. It is just the neat things that kids do that make you know that you are making a difference. It’s the simple things that they say. Just little things all of the time like a hug.”

Rohleder, 54, didn’t always want to be a teacher. She entered Wichita State University as a freshman to study social work.

However, after a year at Wichita State University, she felt she wasn’t going in the right direction. The Russell native decided to move back to western Kansas and enroll in Fort Hays State University as an education major. She did her internships for her undergrad degree in the Hays school district.

Her inspiration was her first-grade teacher in Russell, Mrs. Robertson, who she described as a sweet lady who always cared for her students. Rohleder said she wanted to be able to give some of that caring back to her students.

“It was just the right fit for me,” she said. “I loved working with kids. I loved seeing the difference I could make in the classroom and helping kids who were struggling or kids who were exceeding and being able to find ways to challenge them.”

Rohleder started her career as a substitute teacher in Russell and then in Dorrance. From there, she went to Westmoreland where she was a fifth-grade teacher for six years. While at Westmoreland, her husband studied toward his vet degree and she went to summer and night school at K-State to earn her master’s degree.

Her decision to study education administration rose out of a desire to reach more children.

“I felt I was making a difference with the students in my classroom,” she said. “I thought rather than making a difference with 25 students, I could make a positive impact on an entire school full of students, and that was the reason why I went into administration.”

After Rohleder and her husband graduated from K-State, they moved to Savannah, Mo., where she was the principal at very small school in Helena, Mo., for a year.

Rohleder and her husband missed being near family in western Kansas, so they moved back to the area in 1993, and Elaine took the position as principal at Lincoln Elementary where she has been ever since.

Rohleder said after so many years working in schools, her favorite aspect of being a principal is still working with kids every day. It has been easy to do her job, because she has loved it.

“There are challenges, but just being able to be a positive role model or a positive influence in their lives and letting them know they can be whatever they want to be if they dream it,” she said. “If they can dream it, they can be it. They just have to work hard.”

Education and the Hays district has changed much in the 24 years that Rohleder has led Lincoln. She said one of the most significant and challenging transformations has been in the area of technology.

When Rohleder came to Lincoln, the school office was still using a typewriter. When she was an elementary school teacher, her classroom had one computer for 28 students. The students worked in teams and took turns using the computer to type articles for a monthly classroom newspaper. Their stories were printed on a very slow, noisy tractor-fed, ribbon printer.

However, Rohleder talked about finding one of those classroom newspapers recently and remembered her students and co-workers at the school fondly.

“I was reminiscing about what a great place it was to teach and begin my career and seeing what the kids produced in the newspaper and the writing,” she said. “It was a good reminder of where I started and how times have changed.”

Today, schools have acknowledged the importance of integrating technology into education to prepare students, even at a young age, for work after graduation.

“I think the Hays district has always been a very progressive district. We have always looked for ways to  be on the cutting edge — just making sure that the curriculum we choose for our students is challenging. We know technology is a direction society is going and work is going, so we have added that into our curriculum as well.

“But you have to find a balance between studies and the integration of technology. Sometimes that can be difficult, but I think we have done a great job in this district of finding a balance between teaching curriculum and the basic skills and incorporating technology to build on those skills.”

What has not changed and what has kept Rohleder at Lincoln for so long has been the family atmosphere.

“It was the family atmosphere that kept me here at Lincoln,” Rohleder said, “not just the staff being a family, but taking in all of our students’ families. It was just a place where people felt comfortable and liked being. They trusted each other and our students’ families trusted us to help them and give them guidance. The staff leaned on each other if they had things happening. It’s a great place to be.”

Rohleder’s children, who are now adults, attended Lincoln.

She asked herself each year if she was the kind of teacher or principal she would want for her own sons, Samuel and Thomas.

“I wanted to be that person if one of my kids had gotten in trouble at school, did I treat them honestly and fairly if there was a discipline issue. I wanted people to know I wanted the best for their kids because I only wanted for them what I would have for my own children.”

A number of the longtime Lincoln teachers and staff returned last week to see Rohleder be honored by the Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals as 2018 District 5 National Distinguished Principal honoree during an assembly at the school.

Hays Superintendent John Thissen said at the assembly, “I love working with individuals who are smart—intelligent people who know what they are doing and are organized—and Elaine has those characteristics. But the piece that has really made the difference and why I love working with Elaine and really miss the idea of her not being around next year is her heart. She has the most beautiful heart, not just working with the children but also her staff.”

Rohleder was nominated by fellow USD 489 principal Anita Scheve of Wilson Elementary School for the award. The National Distinguished Principal Program recognizes principals for their school leadership, school improvement, dedication, professionalism and service to students.

“It is rewarding because the people who you work with, the colleagues who you work with have the same goals as you,” she said. “We want the best for our kids, and we want our kids to succeed and be successful citizens. It starts at the elementary level. To be recognized by your peers is very rewarding and humbling at the same time.”

A desire to be closer to her family is leading Rohleder out of education. For years, she has gone on vet calls with her husband, and now her son Samuel has joined his dad in the vet practice. Elaine will be joining the staff at Rohleder Vet Service so she can spend more time with her family.

Rohleder said she knows she will miss the school, the staff, the children and their families, but she is looking forward to spending the next stage of her life with her family and working side by side with her husband and son.

Hydrant inspection and testing continues Wed.

HFD

The city of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Wed., April 4, 2018 in the area of Hall St. to Vine St. between 27th St. and 32nd 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.

 

HaysMed launches Walk with a Doc program in Hays

HaysMed

The Center for Health Improvement at HaysMed is encouraging Hays residents to take a step toward better health with Walk with a Doc, a national health program that brings doctors and patients together to walk.

The first walk will be Saturday, April 28, at 9 a.m. Participants are asked to meet at 2500 Canterbury Drive on the Fitness Trail (at the shelter house behind HaysMed). If inclement weather, walk will be held indoors at The Center for Health Improvement.

Walk with a Doc is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages and reverse the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in order to improve the health and well-being of the country.

“This program has had tremendous participation and success in hundreds of cities around the country”, said Steph Howie, Director of The Center for Health Improvement. I’m very pleased to bring this exciting and simple program to Hays as it has shown such improved health results for countless people around the county.”

CLINKSCALES: Same old furniture

Randy Clinkscales
The year was 2008. A couple years earlier, I had moved my grandmother from Fort Worth, Texas, to Hays, Kansas. Now in 2008, we had finally sold her home. It was time to clean and empty the house. We were going to keep the “valuable” stuff, sell what we could, and trash or donate the rest. As I walked through Pop and Mammaw’s home those last few days, a flood of memories from my age of 10 years old through the next 50 plus years were contained in that three-bedroom home on River Oaks Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas.

My grandparents, Pop and Mammaw, represented stability in my life. My parents divorced when I was young and we lost our home in a bankruptcy. Between the 4th and 7th grade, I was in five different schools in five different towns in two different states, finally ending up in Kansas. It was a turbulent time with the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and though young, the tension and anxiousness was felt.

Yet, I could go to and feel safe at Pop and Mammaw’s house. There, everything was the same. I slept on the same floor using the same quilt pallet (that is what we called it). I put my feet up on the same couch. Each morning we had the same breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy. Supper would usually include fresh corn bread and many times boiled potatoes. The board games and toys were exactly where they were the last time I was there. I could walk in the same garden. Mammaw’s pecan pie was just as delicious. Pop’s rod and reels were still in the back of his pickup, ready to head out for fishing. I knew exactly where to find a pair of pliers or other tools. If we headed to the farm, we fed the cows in the same way, from the same feed bin, with the same road trip where I would drift off to sleep on the way home, leaning next to Pop.

Pop and Mammaw’s stuff was not nice. It was old, scratched, faded, and, most importantly, used. It was used by the family, every day, at every Thanksgiving, Christmas and summer vacation that we were there with Pop and Mamaw.

Most importantly, there was love at Pop and Mammaw’s. Pop always had a twinkle in his blue eyes when he and my grandmother talked. They always loved each other; they were always best friends. We kids were greeted at each visit with smothering hugs and kisses.

When we meet with families in my office, one topic of conversation is the home, and the “stuff” in it. It can be an emotional conversation. One question is about the importance of the house. Do they need to keep it in the family? How long can they live there? If someone needs a walker or a wheelchair, will it work? Does someone in the family want the home after mom and dad are gone?

We also need to be sure that we talk about the “stuff” in the house. Who gets what? Who wants what? Does anybody want anything? Should they make a list?

The other thing that comes up in our conversations is about how many times my aged clients have set an example for their children. Many times, they have been married for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years. It was not always easy. There were turbulent times, but they were there. The kids could always come home, no matter the difficulties of life. The kids could feel the warmth. The home represented stability. The home represented not only the way the world was, but the way the world should be.

So it was with me. My grandparent’s home represented stability to me. It represented how to love someone. It represented a time of reason in a time of unreason. Their old furniture was a blanket of warmth, support and love.

My wife and I have owned our home for almost 20 years. Our home is full of stuff. It has great memories. It has seen graduations, marriages, deaths and births. It has heard laughter and crying. It has felt excitement, joy and disappointment.

Though I enjoy traveling, there is nothing quite like getting back home, slipping into the house like slipping into a favorite pair of shoes. I hope for my family it represents some of the same warmth and security of Pop and Mammaw’s home.

One day our homes may not work for us. I know that. One day someone will have to decide what to do with the stuff in it. I know that.

What I want my family to realize is that the home and what is in it, are just stuff. However, the intangibles, the warmth and love, are what I want them to take from it. I want them to take that and build their own place of stability for their family. I want them to have for their family what I had with Pop and Mammaw.

No, there was not a lot of “stuff” that I took from Pop and Mammaw’s house that day in 2008, but there were sure a lot of memories and lessons of life that I still cherish to this day.

Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.

Water park co-owner booked into Kansas jail on murder charge

KANSAS CITy (AP) — The Latest on charges filed in the 2016 death of a 10-year-old boy at a Kansas water park.

Jeff Henry -photo Wyandotte County

The co-owner of a water park who is charged in a 10-year-old boy’s decapitation death on a water slide arrived in Kansas on Tuesday night.

Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry was booked into the Wyandotte County jail.

Charges against him include

Murder in the 2nd degree; Intentional Aggravated battery; Intentional great bodily harm or disfigurement and Aggravated endangering a child; Reckless situation to child <18, according to the Wyandotte County booking report.

Henry has been jailed in Texas since March 26 when he was indicted on charges including second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab on the Verruckt water slide at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Henry’s is due in court Thursday in Wyandotte County (Kansas) District Court.

———–

4:20 p.m.

The co-owner of a water park who is charged in a 10-year-old boy’s decapitation death on a water slide is expected to arrive in Kansas on Tuesday night.

Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry was en route Tuesday from a Brownsville, Texas, jail to Kansas. His attorney, Carl Cornwell, told The Kansas City Star that Henry is expected to be booked into the Wyandotte County jail Tuesday night.

Henry has been jailed in Texas since March 26 when he was indicted on charges including second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab on the Verruckt water slide at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Henry’s is due in court Thursday in Wyandotte County (Kansas) District Court.

___

2:30 p.m.

Authorities in Texas say the co-owner of a water park who has been charged in the decapitation death of a 10-year-old boy has been extradited to Kansas.

Cameron County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Gus Reyna Jr. says 62-year-old Jeffrey Henry was taken from a South Texas jail to Kansas on Tuesday to face charges including second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab.

Henry is an owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts. Attempts to reach a Texas attorney for him were not successful.

U.S. marshals on Monday arrested a co-defendant, 72-year-old John Timothy Schooley, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as he got off a flight from China. He also faces charges including second-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Dallas County jail.

Caleb died on the 17-story Verruckt waterslide when the raft he was in went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Howland is newest member of American Angus Association

Cody Howland, Ellis, is a new member of the American Angus Association, said Allen Moczygemba, CEO of the national breed organization headquartered in Saint Joseph, Mo.

The American Angus Association, with more than 25,000 active adult and junior members, is the largest beef breed association in the world. Its computerized records include detailed information on over 18 million registered Angus.

The association records ancestral information and keeps production records and genomic data on individual animals to develop industry-leading selection tools for its members. The programs and services of the association and its entities — Angus Genetics Inc., Angus Productions Inc., Certified Angus Beef LLC and the Angus Foundation — help members to advance the beef cattle business by selecting the best animals for their herds and marketing quality genetics for the beef cattle industry and quality beef for consumers.

— Submitted

HHS baseball sweeps Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Hays High baseball needed only eight innings to score 32 runs on 29 hits as they roll past Dodge City 20-1 and 12-2 to move to 4-0.

The Indians scored 10 runs in both the second and third innings of the first game which was called after three by run rule. Palmer Hutchison had two doubles and a triple and drove in four to lead the Indians 21 hit attack. Cole Murphy allowed one run on four hits for the win in game one.

Trey Riggs gave up two runs on three hits for the game two victory. Murphy and Hunter Brown both had two hits while Riggs drove in three.

TMP-Marian girls’ soccer wins

WICHITA, Kan. – The TMP-Marian girls’ soccer team is 2-0 after their 5-2 win over Wichita Classical School Tuesday.

Ashley Ostander and Kayla Vitztum both scored two goals and Aubrey Koeningsman added another.

Gracie Schmidt and Julia Cox were the goalkeepers who combined for the shutout.

Kan. GOP leaders seek to stop court rulings on school funding

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two top Republicans issued an ultimatum Tuesday that Kansas legislators act to curb the power of judges before they will allow them to vote on increasing public school funding to satisfy a demand from the state Supreme Court.

A packed court room listens to school funding arguments in Sept. of 2016

The declaration brought action on education funding to a halt after significant progress had been made.

The House had passed a bill, 71-53, that would phase in roughly a $520 million increase in education funding over five years. Meanwhile, a Senate committee on school finance approved a bill that would phase in a $274 million increase over five years. A debate by the full Senate on at least one of the bills was scheduled to be next

But Senate President Susan Wagle, of Wichita, and Majority Leader Jim Denning, of Overland Park, both GOP conservatives, said they won’t schedule any debate until lawmakers put a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with the courts on the ballot for a statewide vote. A House committee is reviewing such a measure, to strip state courts of the power to declare the state’s total spending on public schools insufficient.

Wagle and Denning said the state cannot afford the House’s school funding plan without a tax increase within two years. They questioned whether the Supreme Court would accept the Senate committee’s plan — undercutting GOP lawmakers who pushed it — and said the legal battles forcing lawmakers to consider higher spending must end.

“We have been put in a situation where we just have to stop the train,” Wagle told reporters. “We’ve been pushed into a corner.”

Denning said: “The madness has to stop.”

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in October that the state’s current spending on public schools of more than $4 billion a year still isn’t sufficient under the state constitution, even with increases approved last year. The court says the constitution requires legislators to finance a suitable education for every child.

Kansas has been and out of education funding lawsuits for several decades, and the last one was filed in 2010 by four local school districts. The Supreme Court has issued multiple rulings forcing lawmakers to increase their spending, and GOP conservatives have sought regularly to amend the state constitution, without success. An effort by conservatives to oust four of the seven justices in the 2016 elections also failed.

Both houses must pass a constitutional amendment by two-thirds majorities to put it on the ballot. Republicans have the necessary supermajorities in both chambers, but GOP conservatives and moderates are split over an education funding amendment. Democrats strongly opposed such measures, seeing them as an attack on both the courts and public schools.

Top Democrats said it’s irresponsible for Wagle and Denning to block school funding legislation over a constitutional amendment that’s not likely to pass. The court gave the state until April 30 to report on how lawmakers fixed the problems it has identified with school funding.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said the two Republicans were having a “temper tantrum” and acting like “school-yard bullies.”

“That sounds child-like, you know, ‘I’m going to pick up my ball and go home,'” said House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat. “You don’t get to do that when you’re under a court order.”

The House Judiciary Committee had a hearing Tuesday on a proposed constitutional amendment and was expected to vote on it Wednesday.

A coalition of business groups is backing the measure. Supporters argued that checking the courts’ power over school funding will protect spending elsewhere in state government and lessen the pressure for tax increases.

And at least a few Republicans voted for the House’s education funding plan primarily because, as conservative GOP Rep. Kyle Hoffman, of Coldwater, said, “We have a coalition willing to look at a constitutional amendment.”

In the House, Majority Leader Don Hineman, a moderate Dighton Republican, shrugged off Senate GOP leaders’ ultimatum.

“We have to work this out,” Hineman said. “We have an April 30 deadline to answer the court, and my expectation is that we will.”

Defense attorney challenges FBI informant in Kan. bomb trial

An FBI informant’s account of the investigation into an alleged bomb plot in western Kansas was called into question Tuesday.

Testimony continues in the federal trial of three men accused of conspiring to blow up an apartment complex in Garden City that was used by Somali Muslim immigrants.
By SEAN SANDEFUR / FILE PHOTO

Defense attorneys in the ongoing trial in Wichita’s federal courthouse had the chance to cross-examine Dan Day after two days of direct testimony. Day worked as an informant for the FBI for several months in 2016 as agents investigated Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen. The three men are accused of planning an attack on an apartment complex and mosque in Garden City.

As an informant, Day posed as a member of the Kansas Security Force militia. He recorded hundreds of hours of phone calls and meetings with the defendants at G&G Home Center, the business owned by Wright.

Day told prosecutors that by mid-September, a few weeks before their arrests, the men had all the materials they needed to make an explosive. The state is arguing the men were preparing to take action to carry out the attack.

But Allen’s attorney insists there was never a bomb.

“You said they had a bomb ready, put together and ready to set off?” Melody Brannon asked Day.

“They said they had everything they needed to do it,” Day responded.

“That’s different than having a bomb ready,” Brannon said.

Questioned further, Day said he never saw any equipment, except for the mortar and pestle he had provided.

Day was also unclear on what kind of bomb the men had planned to make and didn’t know what ingredients it would need. A sergeant with the Liberal Police Department testified a hotplate magnetic stirrer was found in Wright’s pickup as police executed a search warrant, but he couldn’t say with certainty whom the item belonged to, or who had put it in the truck.

Brannon acknowledged her client was “seriously worried” about the federal government, Islamic law and the upcoming election 2016 presidential election.

“In the end, though, Mr. Day, there was never any bomb at G&G, was there?” she said.

Attorneys for the three defendants have argued that Day is less a hero and more of a paid bounty hunter working for the FBI.

Day first came into contact with the FBI in July 2015, several months before he met the defendants. Shortly after, he joined a militia known as the Three Percenters. It was his choice to join, he said, but the FBI “asked me to follow them, and I agreed.”

James Pratt, an attorney for Stein, said Day had been providing the FBI information “for a while before they, for lack of a better word, ‘signed you up’ as an informant.”

Pratt provided as evidence a contract signed in October 2015, when Day formally became a paid informant while also serving as the militia group’s vetting officer. Day said he agreed to become an informant because he was concerned with extremists in the organization.

The defense will continue to cross-examine Day on Wednesday.

Nadya Faulx is a reporter for the Kansas News ServiceFollow her on Twitter @NadyaFaulx

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