A legislative audit released this week concluded that while wildfires in Kansas are becoming more frequent, a lack of resources and coordination are hampering the state’s ability to fight them.
South Central Kansas wildfire
Firefighting duties and resources are spread across three separate agencies, which auditors said is complicating wildfire response and communication between state and local officials.
The Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office is the lead agency for wildfire response, but it has no firefighting resources. Those resources are held by the state Forest Service, which doesn’t have enough funding to deploy the equipment. The Division of Emergency Management also serves a supporting role.
The state agencies join firefighting efforts when they’re requested by local officials.
“Local jurisdictions do not always know when to call for state assistance, what resources are available through the state or how the state wildfire suppression system is supposed to work,” the report found.
It’s a similar situation when it comes to training 13,000 local firefighters, the audit found. The Forest Service has the expertise, but not enough funding to provide adequate training.
Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker, one of the lawmakers who requested the audit, says she wasn’t surprised by the results.
“We have a lot of work to do. I think the most significant thing we can do is provide (funding),” she said. “It won’t take a lot of funding. A million dollars more would make a significant difference.”
According to the audit, Kansas spends less per square mile on preparedness and fighting wildfires than other Great Plains states. At the high end, Texas spends $144.83 per square mile. At the low end, South Dakota spends $19.20 per square mile. Kansas spends much less — just $4.50 per square mile.
More dollars would be used to boost staff, equipment and especially training, says State Forester Larry Biles.
“At this point, we’ve got the equivalent of one full-time (teacher) trying to serve 13,000 students,” he said.
If the agency receives more funding, Biles says they would hire more staff for teaching and establish regional offices that can more easily coordinate with local agencies.
“If we’re going to be responsive to the wildfire challenges,” he said, “additional staff will make a great deal of difference.”
Kansas Fire Marshal Doug Jorgensen agrees more funding is needed, but he is pushing back on some of the details.
Jorgensen says the audit overcounts the number of fires in recent years, making the situation appear worse than it really is. He says the audit relied on a study using satellite fire tracking and that study didn’t differentiate between wildfires and purposeful fires like controlled burns.
While some large recent fires have led to a hundreds of thousands of acres burned, the state fire marshal says responders have had fewer to deal with.
“Overall, actual fires have decreased in the last three or four years,” Jorgensen said.
And he says recent recent improvements to training and communication aren’t reflected in the audit.
“There wasn’t anything in the report about the improvements that we’ve made and how we lessened the amount of fires and the length of fires this year,” he said.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.
The Management Development Center at FHSU will offer a crash course on marketing and sales on July 11.
In “Marketing 101,” participants will learn about common marketing myths as well as fundamentals including “segmentation, targeting and positioning” (STP), strategic and tactical marketing decisions, and database marketing.
“Sales Training 101” will cover selling basics, including prospecting, understanding customer needs, matching needs with benefits, closing, and good customer follow-through.
“Marketing 101” is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon and “Sales Training 101” from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Both workshops will be Wednesday, July 11, in Hansen Entrepreneurship Hall on the FHSU campus.
Dr. Mary Martin, professor of marketing at FHSU, will facilitate the morning session. Dr. Mike Martin, associate professor of marketing, will facilitate the afternoon workshop.
Each person who completes a half-day workshop will receive 0.3 continuing education units; both courses are worth .6. The cost for one workshop is $119 or $200 for both. Hays Area Chamber of Commerce members can call to receive a discount code for 15 percent off registration (discount not available if purchasing both courses).
Registration is available online through the sidebar Registration link at www.fhsu.edu/mdc. To learn more about this workshop or additional upcoming trainings, contact Hannah Hilker by phone at 785-628-4121 or by email to [email protected].
Today
Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. West southwest wind 5 to 8 mph.
Tonight
Increasing clouds, with a low around 65. South southwest wind around 7 mph becoming southeast in the evening.
Sunday
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. East southeast wind 6 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Sunday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1am. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Northeast wind 7 to 11 mph becoming west northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. West northwest wind around 9 mph.
PRATT – A summer in Kansas isn’t complete without getting your feet a little wet – while frogging, that is. Yep, there’s a season on bullfrogs in Kansas and come July 1-October 31, farm ponds, puddles, shallow creeks and marshes will be teeming with the sounds of splashing and bullfrogs croaking.
Once you’ve purchased a 2018 fishing license, you can legally take bullfrogs using hook and line, dip net, gig, bow and crossbow, or of course, the old-fashioned but time-tested method of using your bare hands. The daily limit of bullfrogs is eight and the possession limit is 24.
While frogs can be caught during the day, most frogging is done at night. Stealth and a good light are “musts” for a successful frogging foray. Frogs’ eyes shine in a flashlight beam and the light seems to freeze them in place, so have a buddy hold a light for you or take a headlamp to keep your hands free. Approach the frog slowly and carefully, minding your foot placement; Heavy footfalls on shore or ripples in the water will send a bullfrog hopping every time, light or no light. Once the frog is in your possessions, place it in a 5-gallon bucket drilled with small holes, a burlap sack or fish basket.
The ultimate challenge is to catch bullfrogs by hand. This requires a low, quiet approach from behind, then a lightning-fast snatch. Aim to grab them mid-body, just in front of the rear legs. Should you decide to keep your catch, frog legs make for fun and surprisingly tasty table fare. Serve them dipped in batter and fried.
On the map: Salina, Kansas Distance from Hays: 97 miles Drive time: 1 hour and 28 minutes
SALINA — For many in northwest Kansas, Salina is the “big city.”
It’s not. It is a small town, in many ways similar to Hays.
I lived for a few years in Salina right out of college. There are places here I have been frequenting for years, and yet I often find new places to explore.
“Patches” is part of the 2018 ScultpureTour Salina and is found on Santa Fe Avenue in Salina.
The south Ninth Street corridor has grown significantly since I lived in Salina in the mid-1990s. I try to resist its big-box store allure when I visit. Instead, I go to where I feel more at home — downtown.
My most frequent stop in Salina even if is for just an hour on my way to see family is Martinelli’s Little Italy, 158 S. Santa Fe. My sister has driven 115 miles to just eat at this restaurant. My family likes the simple spaghetti and meatball. I say meatball, because one of their meatballs is a little smaller than tennis ball. I am not exaggerating.
Across the street from Martinelli’s is the Stiefel Theater, a beautiful art deco movie theater that was opened in 1931. The theater was designed by the Boller Brothers. If the name sounds familiar, it should. They were the same architects on The Dream Theater in Russell. The Stiefel is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Steifel is primarily a live-performance venue.
The Stiefel Theater, 151 S. Santa Fe, a beautiful art deco theater, was opened in 1931 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tony’s Pizza Events Center is the other major venue in Salina. It hosts concerts and trade shows, among other events. It will host the Salina Comic Con July 7-8.
If you want to do dinner and a show at the Stiefel, there are other downtown dining options. I recently tried Blue Sky Brewery and Eats. These guys will put about anything on their wood-fired pizza. I had the Big Lebowski, which has pasta as a topping. I didn’t think this would work, but it did. Some other recent pizzas of the week, included Crab Rangza and Uncle Morty reuben pizza. Check out their Facebook page for weekly special.
I am not a beer person, which I know is heresy in Hays, but the night I was there, some of their craft beer selections were Crankcase IPA, Watermelon Crawl, Jalapeno Cream Ale, Fire Engine Red and Dirty Ol’ Stout.
I prefer ice cream over beer, so here are a couple of great places in Salina.
A Dagney’s employee is ready to serve up the shop’s homemade ice cream.
Dagney’s Ice Cream, 105 E. Iron, is a newer establishment downtown. Salinans Ken and Dagney Stromberg make their ice cream in store. I had the Speculoos, which tastes like a snickerdoodle, but for the young or young-at-heart, they also have fun flavors, such as Fruity Pebbles and Captain Crunch Berry.
I have been going to Bogey’s for more than 20 years. The small ice cream shop and burger joint was founded in Salina 32 years ago. Carole Sperling, owner with her husband and son, was a big fan of old movies and named the restaurant after Humphrey Bogart.
If Blue Sky will put anything on a pizza, Bogey’s will put anything in a shake. Their slogan is, “Shaking over 101 ways,” but the manager insists they have well more than 100 shake combinations. If you are buzzing through on I-70, they have a drive-through.
The Salina’s culinary history goes even further back. The Cozy Inn, 108 N. Seventh, has been operating in Salina since 1922 and is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine. You can buy chips and a drink at the Cozy, but that is all. It is all about the burgers. Its greasy onion-laden burgers are nationally known. The burgers are slider-sized and most people buy them by the bag takeout because the Cozy is one of the few remaining last six-stool diners in the U.S.
The Cozy Inn has been serving up their burgers by the bag from the same grill for 96 years.
The legend goes the secret to the Cozy burger is the grill, which is the same grill that has been used at the burger joint for 96 years. One of the owners of the Cozy decided they would upgrade, so they sold their old grill and purchased a new one. Cozy regulars complained the burgers didn’t taste the same. The owners had to track down the original grill and repurchase it.
If you are at the Cozy, turn around, because down the street is a beautiful relief sculpture on Sacred Heart Cathedral. The church was built between 1951 and 1953 and combines Greek styles with something that is reminiscent of a Kansas grain silo. The limestone sculpture depicts Christ on the Cross with a turned head looking down upon a processional lead by a Kansas farmer and his family.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, 118 N. Ninth St.
If your belly’s full, downtown has plenty of boutiques, gift shops, antique shops, a you-paint ceramic studio (On the Pot), quilt shop, free-trade store and an organic and local produce market, Prairieland Market.
One of my newer favorites is Ad Astra Books and Coffee House. It is a frequent hangout for local artists and entertainers. It carries a wide selection of used books and a section of new books by Kansas writers.
I have always seen Salina as a culture and arts haven on the prairie. Like Hays, Salina has a strong arts commission. The Salina Arts and Humanities Commission was created in 1966 and is a department of the City of Salina, which means it has been influential in public works projects and public art installations.
Santa Fe, the main drag downtown, is lined with ScultpureTour Salina. The Arts Commission rotates in new art every spring.
Permanent installations and murals dot the city in public places and parks. The colorful “Waiting in the Wings” by David Lowenstein graces an outdoor stage off Santa Fe downtown. Oakdale Park, the home of the Smoky Hill River Festival in June, boasts “Kansas Blues,” an almost patchwork quilt on the former Carver Pool floor. Also in Oakdale Park “Under Cottonwood,” columns of recycled newspaper, are a commentary on decay and formation of land.
The Salina Arts and Humanities website has photos, locations and a list of artist names to guide you on your sculpture tour around they city.
At the heart of the arts commission is the Salina Art Center. This a space similar to the Hays Arts Center that hosts rotating exhibits. “Anthony Hawley: Fault Design” and “Birdless” will be featured in the gallery through Aug. 26. Admission is free.
Fault Diagnosis by Anthony Hawley is the current exhibit at the Salina Art Center. Photo Courtesy of the Salina Art Center
“Fault Diagnosis“ is a multimedia performance event and exhibition that explores what happens when things we think we know so well break down and fail us, according the art center website. “Birdless“ explores themes of hoarding, collecting and the spam of our lives.
Just down the street from the art center on Santa Fe is the Salina Art Center Cinema. The theater shows foreign films, documentaries and other films that the big movie houses in rural America are probably not going to dedicate space to. Most shows run for only a week and showtimes are limited.
You can sign up for the Salina Art Center email list at the art center to receive weekly updates about exhibitions, lectures and classes at the art center and movies showing at the cinema.
Salina offers plenty of family fun. The Smoky Hill Museum has a new area for kids called the Curiosity Shop. You can make designs on a giant peg light board. An area is dedicated to tornado education in which you can create your own vortex as well as experience a tornado in a wind tunnel.
I was lured into a few free games on their mechanical pinball machine. I am a little bit rusty.
A quiet nook in the rear of the Curiosity Shop offers a place to play board games; games are provided. The museum offers plenty of education opportunities, including several exhibits on Salina’s agrarian history. Children are free to touch and play with items in a dugout model.
The museum currently has a temporary exhibit, “In the Trenches with Company M,” which depicts the journey of Salina’s Company M during World War I. Those interested in military history can also view artifacts from Salina’s closed Schilling Air Force Base. The museum itself is a former art deco post office and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It too has relief sculptures on its exterior. They were carved by Carl Mose and Jon Johnson. Admission is a free-will donation.
Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park Photo Courtesy of the City of Salina
My nephew had fun last summer at Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park. Philip particularly liked the park’s 1,400 feet of slides. Kenwood also has a lazy river, wave pool and children’s area. Kenwood offers affordable passes: $4 for children through age 17 and $6 for adults.
Salina has many beautiful parks, but one of my favorite recreation areas in the city is Lakewood Park. Nature trails wind around a small lake with plenty of trees and shade. It’s a nice walk on a summer evening. The park also has a discovery center that is open during the week with a lot of displays on native wildlife for kids to explore. Lakewood also has a disc golf course.
Salina Masonic Center, 335 S. Santa Fe Avenue
There are 24 miles of walking trails in Salina. See walksalina.com. One of these tours is “When Houses Became Homes Tour,” which takes you from about Ninth and Iron streets to Ninth and Prescott streets.
H.D. Lee of Lee Jeans founded a garment factory in Salina in 1911. The home in which he lived, at 200 S. Seventh, is on the historic homes tour and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Although not on the NRHP, the Salina Masonic Center on Santa Fe is necessary stop for those interested in local architecture. It was completed in 1927 and is framed by columns and carved gargoyles.
When Philip was younger, he liked to visit Rolling Hills Zoo, which is 6 miles west of Salina off of Interstate 70. The zoo is particularly known for its white rhinos, but you can ride a tram or walk to see more than 100 species.
In the heat of the day, Rolling Hills offers an air-conditioned museum with mounted animals specimens from around the world. At the rear of the museum is a children’s area with lots of hands-on play. The museum hosts traveling exhibits and is currently featuring “The Art & Science of Arachnids” through Sept. 3. See the Rolling Hills website for hours and admission.
One attraction I have yet to get to in the Salina area is Prairie Lavender Farm, which is about 9 miles north of Salina near Bennington.
Prairie Lavender Farm, north of Salina. Photo Courtesy of Prairie Lavender Farm
The Bennington farm was established in 2002 and has 4,600 plants representing 15 varieties.
The lavender is blooming and being harvested now. The farm operates a small shop that sells lavender products. Lavender, which is a member of the mint family, has long been revered for its healing and relaxing properties. In addition, to the lavender, the farm has fairy, flower and herb gardens and plenty of room for children to run and play. Now through September, the farm is open 9 a.m. to noon. Admission is free, but a 45-minute tour will cost you $5 per person for anyone 6 and older. To set up a tour, call 785-488-3371.
I know that is a lot, and probably way more than you could do in a day. Pick and choose what fits your tastes and family.
I’m out to far western Kansas this week, so see you on the road!
Other links to check out while you are planning your trip:
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say they have reached plea deals with former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle that allow him to be released on probation as long as he stays out of trouble.
Randle
The Sedgwick County district attorney’s office said in a news release Friday the agreements cover four cases against Randle. He has already been in jail more than two years.
Taken together, the pleas call for a controlling sentence of 80 months that allows him to be free on probation for 60 months. If he violates probation, prosecutors can seek imposition of the prison sentence.
Randle was sentenced Friday for aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, criminal threat and marijuana possession.
He will be sentenced on Aug. 17 on cases related to a jail fight, interference with a law enforcement officer, breaking a jail TV and threatening a guard.
KANSAS CITY —The Amber Alert issued for a missing 15-year-old Kansas City girl was canceled Friday afternoon but she is still missing.
Based on extensive investigation today, we can no longer confirm that Brajean Sledge was abducted, according to Kansas City police.
Police believe Sledge is in the company of a person of interest Anthony King.
Authorities described King as an 18-year-old black male, 5-feet-8 and weighs 140 pounds.
Sledge and person of interest King- courtesy photo
King is considered to be a person of interest in several crimes in connection with this incident, according to police.
Sledge was reported missing after her grandfather was found shot.
Police were called Thursday night to a home where the grandfather was found wounded. He is hospitalized in stable condition.
The man told police he didn’t know the suspect who shot him before leaving with the victim’s granddaughter, Brajaean Sledge. The suspect drove away in the victim’s car.
————–
KANSAS CITY —Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a 15-year-old girl abducted in Kansas City on Thursday.
Brqajaean Sledge was reported missing after her grandfather was found shot.
Sledge is described as 5-foot-8, weighs 125 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Police are searching for a 2017 Kia Forte with the Missouri license plate, MB5-G5B.
The suspect drove away in the victim’s car.
Authorities believe the suspect is between the ages of 18 and 20 and may be armed and dangerous.
Authorities are looking for this 2017 Kia Forte with Missouri license plate MB5-G5B.
A potential motive for the shooting has not been disclosed.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 30-year-old inmate was charged Friday with capital murder in the shooting deaths of two Kansas sheriff’s deputies who were overpowered by him while they were trying to move him between a courthouse and jail.
Fielder photo Wyandotte Co.
Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced that his office charged Antoine Fielder with two counts of capital murder in the deputies’ deaths. In Kansas, the intentional, premeditated killing of a single law enforcement officer is eligible for the death penalty.
“We will do our best to bring justice,” Dupree said during a news conference.
Deputies Patrick Rhorer and Theresa King
Wyandotte County deputies Patrick Rohrer and Theresa King were killed June 15 when, according to police, they were apparently overpowered by Fielder in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, possibly with one of their own guns. He was being transported between the jail and courthouse for a hearing in another case.
“He then overpowered one of the deputies and caused the incident that ultimately caused us to charge these crimes,” Dupree said.
Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting and King, 44, died the next day at a hospital. A joint funeral service was Thursday.
Fielder was shot but survived. He has an extensive criminal history.
Fielder was tried twice for the June 2015 killing of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, a single mother of a 1-year-old son whose body was found in a parked car in Kansas City, Kansas. But the murder charge was dropped in September after a second trial ended in a hung jury.
Authorities allege that Fielder then fatally shot 55-year-old Rosemarie Harmon in December in Kansas City, Missouri, and wounded her friend. Ballistics testing on a gun stolen during a carjacking in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in December tied him to Harmon’s slaying.
At the time that the deputies were shot, Fielder already was facing a first-degree murder charge in Jackson County, Missouri, in Harmon’s death as well as multiple charges in Wyandotte County in the carjacking.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Fielder.
He could face charges for additional crimes.
According to court records filed in Harmon’s killing, Fielder bragged to a woman whom he allegedly held at gunpoint that he had killed four people. The court records don’t provide details about those alleged crimes, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said the claims are “under investigation.”
Mark Dupree, the Wyandotte County district attorney, has said that prosecutors did “everything we could to prove to a jury that he was guilty” of killing Ewonus. The charges against Fielder in Ewonus’ killing were dropped in such a way that they could be refiled if new evidence arises.
Ewonus’ father, Kent Ewonus, told WDAF-TV in an interview that he “knew without any doubt” when Fielder was freed that he would kill again.
“I think I am disgusted with a system that would allow such an evil individual to be out on the streets,” he said.
———
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 30-year-old inmate was charged Friday in the shooting deaths of two Kansas sheriff’s deputies who were transporting him between a courthouse and jail.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office on Friday announced charges against Antoine Fielder, 30, but didn’t immediately specify what he is charged with. A news conference was scheduled for later Friday afternoon.
Wyandotte County deputies Patrick Rohrer and Theresa King were killed June 15 when they were apparently overpowered by Fielder in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, possibly with one of their own guns.
Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting and King, 44, died the next day at a hospital. A joint funeral service was Thursday.
Fielder was shot but survived. He has an extensive criminal history.
Fielder was tried twice for the June 2015 killing of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, a single mother of a 1-year-old son whose body was found in a parked car in Kansas City, Kansas. But the murder charge was dropped in September after a second trial ended in a hung jury.
Authorities allege that Fielder then fatally shot 55-year-old Rosemarie Harmon in December in Kansas City, Missouri, and wounded her friend. Ballistics testing on a gun stolen during a carjacking in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in December tied him to Harmon’s slaying.
At the time that the deputies were shot, Fielder already was facing a first-degree murder charge in Jackson County, Missouri, in Harmon’s death as well as multiple charges in Wyandotte County in the carjacking.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Fielder.
He could face charges for additional crimes.
According to court records filed in Harmon’s killing, Fielder bragged to a woman whom he allegedly held at gunpoint that he had killed four people. The court records don’t provide details about those alleged crimes, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said the claims are “under investigation.”
Mark Dupree, the Wyandotte County district attorney, has said that prosecutors did “everything we could to prove to a jury that he was guilty” of killing Ewonus. The charges against Fielder in Ewonus’ killing were dropped in such a way that they could be refiled if new evidence arises.
Ewonus’ father, Kent Ewonus, told WDAF-TV in an interview that he “knew without any doubt” when Fielder was freed that he would kill again.
“I think I am disgusted with a system that would allow such an evil individual to be out on the streets,” he said.
One of the “kid-friendly” spaces at contractor KVC’s Topeka office. Kids who spend the night in contractors’ offices hang out in spaces like these, sleeping on couches, futons or air mattresses if a bed outside the office can’t be found. MADELINE FOX / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
So far this month, Kansas foster care contractor KVC Kansas hasn’t had any kids sleep in its offices. St. Francis, the contractor for the rest of the state, has had four kids overnight, according to the latest update from the state child welfare agency.
In recent months, each of those contractors logged dozens of overnight stays per month.
KVC says it first started keeping children in its offices overnight in September 2016, while St. Francis saw its first office overnight in February 2017. Getting kids off couches, cots and air mattresses has been a priority since then — though it’s been more challenging amid a spike in the number of kids in the foster care system overall.
Chart: Kansas News Service Source: Department for Children and Families Get the data Created with Datawrapper
Kids end up in offices when there aren’t placement options for them in the community. Many of those children fall into categories that can make them hard to place — like being older, or having behavioral issues or mental health needs that available foster homes might not be equipped to handle.
Both state foster care contractors are opening youth residential centers — group homes that will provide mental health services to meet the needs of some of those hard-to-place kids — in the coming months. KVC will open one in Kansas City, Kansas, while St. Francis hopes to get a space in Wichita operational by early next year.
The number of kids sleeping in offices for both contractors peaked for the year in April.
In an email, KVC Kansas President Chad Anderson credited the decrease this month to “our communities stepp(ing) up in many different ways.”
He said more kids are getting into kinship placements, meaning they’re either with family or with known adults like coaches or neighbors. Subcontractors who help KVC place kids and the communities where they work are also getting a clearer picture of the kids’ needs, he said, allowing KVC to find homes that can meet those needs.
St. Francis is also adding beds for different levels of need. St. Francis spokeswoman Janis Friesen said the contractor added 46 new beds in residential facilities or emergency shelters between Feb. 28 and the end of May. With more than 80 families currently enrolled in classes to become licensed foster homes for St. Francis, more beds will follow.
“The goal is to have zero children sleeping in offices,” Friesen said in an email. “We won’t rest until we achieve it.”
OMAHA, Neb. – The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion ran their winning streak to 11 games Friday with a pair of wins at the Battle of Omaha Tournament. The Eagles defeated Omaha Bryan 16-8 then knocked off the Wichita Aeros 6-3 to move to 17-1-1 on the season.
Palmer Hutchison’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run second inning which put Hays up 6-0 in the first game. They took back the lead for good with six runs in the fourth after Bryan scored six in the top of the inning to take an 8-6 lead.
Hutchison had a double to go along with his home run and drove in five runs. Cole Murphy had two hits including a double and drive in three.
Braiden Stauth allowed one hit and no earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief and picked up the win.
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings in the second game against Wichita then scored two in the sixth after the Aeros scored three unearned runs in the fourth to pull within a run.
Cole Murphy struck out 11 and walked only one and didn’t allow an earned runs over six innings for the win. Dawson Harman had two hits and drove in three runs to lead the Eagles 10-hit attack.
The Eagles continue pool play Saturday against Effingham, IL and Waverly-Shell Rock, IA. Sunday they take on Omaha Northstar.
KANSAS CITY (AP) – A rape suspect says he was burned with scalding water at a jail in Kansas City and later mistakenly released.
Schneider -photo Jackson Co.
Shawn Schneider discussed his concerns about the Jackson County jail in an interview with WDAF-TV . He says he plans to file a lawsuit over his injuries.
Schneider is awaiting trial on a rape charge. He told the TV station that in March, another inmate poured scalding water on the back of his neck in a recreation area of the jail. Schneider says he was hospitalized for weeks with second-degree burns.
Schneider was mistakenly released Tuesday, but returned to jail on his own a day later.
Jackson County Corrections Department director Diana Turner says in a statement that the jail will review policies and procedures.
Today
By CRISTINA JANNEY
