By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

GOODLAND – An intense thunderstorm early Thursday evening in western Sherman County uprooted large trees, caused flooding, broke numerous power poles, destroyed a barn and flipped over four semi-trucks on Interstate 70 west of Goodland. One of the semis toppled onto a car.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported, according to Sherman County Sheriff Burton Pianalto, even to the seven people in the crushed car.

Pianalto watched the severe weather come in about 5:20 p.m. Mountain Time. Afterwards he and his deputies surveyed the damage along Highway 24 and in the I-70 rest area about 12 miles west of Goodland. Without electricity, the rest area had to be closed overnight by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

At least 30 electrical power lines were downed along Highway 24 and two cars were damaged by them, according to Pianalto.

“The electrical current actually blew their car windows out,” Pianalto said Friday morning. A power distribution station was “obliterated.”

Deputies were out again Friday morning surveying the damage. Four state game wardens helped check on rural residences Thursday night. Many of the roads were flooded. A trailer house next to the destroyed barn, which was unoccupied at the time, suffered damage.

Although he hasn’t yet heard from the National Weather Service in Goodland, Pianalto thinks the damage came from powerful straight-line winds.

A pickup driver pulling a camper got off I-70 into the rest area to sit out the storm. Afterwards he told Pianalto the wind lifted both the pickup and camper off the ground and blew the camper over onto its side.

Another driver whose passenger window was blown out was pelted by pea-sized hail. “He had little pock marks on his arm. The hail had to come in almost horizontally to strike him.”

The rest stop still had a carpet of hail when Pianalto arrived. In a live Facebook post he noted several large trees uprooted, an air conditioner ripped off the building, and tin tangled in a tree.

Midwest Energy (MWE) sent crews from Sharon Springs, Goodland, Colby, Oakley and Hoxie to the area last night, along with with two crews from Hays and two from Great Bend Friday to get power restored to nearly 400 customers. As of 9 a.m. Friday, there were still 150 customer outages, according to MWE spokesman Mike Morley.

“We estimate about two dozen of those are residences with the rest being pumps, fence chargers and sheds. We’ve found 32 poles down between Kanorado and Ruleton, and a group of 12 poles down in two spots west of Sharon Springs. We hope to have all residential back on today,” Morley announced on the MWE Facebook page.

The forecast is calling for another “significant threat of severe weather” in the Goodland area again today.

Once he gets back from more damage surveying, Pianalto said he “has a conference call with Goodland (National Weather Service) this afternoon.”

Round 2 may be on the way.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Gov. Jeff Colyer and Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann focused on ag issues when they made a stop in Hays on Wednesday during their Get Out the Vote statewide tour.

Colyer and Mann made multiple stops across the state Wednesday, talking to many farmers about the state of crops and trade.

Speaking in front of the grain elevator at Midland Marketing on Ninth Street, Colyer said he is working on opportunities for Kansas farmers to market their products.

“We have passed legislation on everything from weeds to industrial hemp to be produced,” he said. “Talking to farmers about trade, a lot of people are talking about trade and prices. Very early on when some of the trade disputes happened, for example, when China imposed 179 percent tariff on Kansas sorghum, we called in the Chinese consult general, we talked with Kansas farmers and ranchers, and that is one of the things they have actually backed off on.”

The state has worked with the White House on the trade issues, he said, but it is also trying to open up new markets.

“We have been dealing with, for example, Indonesia, Japan and a number of other countries on how to expand Kansas markets there,” Colyer said. ‘They know we are a great supplier. We are more affordable than anybody else. We are the best value and certainly the best product.”

Colyer said the farmers have told him they think a $12 billion farm aid package announced by the USDA on Tuesday is a good first step in helping producers overcome damage done by the tariffs.

“They know we need to have free and open markets, but they also know that we need to know that our farm and agriculture communities are doing well,” Colyer said. “It is a tight situation. Everybody knows that.”

Colyer said the state is trying to find ways to add value to products. He used the example of milk and cheese processors that have come to the state.

“We know agriculture is the center of the Kansas economy, and we have been talking to some folks about some new agriculture opportunities.”

Travis Brunner, Midland Marketing commodity risk manager, mentioned growing and marketing white wheat in the state as an example of a value-added product.

Mann said the state has tried to make moves such as expanding grazing rights on CRP land to deal with issues of drought in other areas of the state.

Colyer said managing water resources was also essential to the success of agriculture and the future of the state. He cited a Local Enhanced Management Area, or LEMA, in Hoxie that had successfully used technology to reduce water usage while maintaining incomes.

Colyer, who grew up in Hays, said he and Mann’s goal of the tour was to listen to voters.

“It is really to get home and talk to folks about what is happening in Kansas,” he said. “We are starting to solve problems. We have upgraded our credit rating. Our credit outlook is up for the first time in years. The economy is starting to move. Our unemployment rate is 3.4 percent. Our focus is to make sure we have good schools and great education, so we have an educated workforce. But we have to have low taxes and low costs, and that is what we are doing.”

Colyer touted the school funding package that was approved by the Legislature this spring that will add $500 million in education over five years. The Supreme Court issued a decision following the Legislature’s session that said more money needs to be added to the school funding formula. The state has until next June to comply with the latest order.

“What the focus will be is getting it into the classrooms,” Colyer said of the additional education funds. “We require outcomes in this. And by stair-stepping it in, there’s no tax increase. The schools can also absorb it better, and our goal is to see that in better teachers and better pay and making sure kids have those opportunities.”

He also said the state has dedicated more money to technical education to position Kansans for higher-paying jobs.

Colyer said the Kansas economy is starting to grow, and that will help some of the state’s budget woes.

“Wages are up 3.1 percent. We have more than 20,000 new jobs in the last 12 months,” he said. “If we can keep moving with these higher quality jobs and getting more money in people’s pockets, that makes a big difference. That flows through the entire economy. Our revenues are up over estimates, but the big thing is more people are working in Kansas, and we want them working at better jobs. That is what we are going to be focusing on.”

TMP-Marian

TMP-Marian announced Thursday that Jasmine Robles, junior during the 2017-18 school year, and Katy Walters, senior during the 2017-18 school year, have both been chosen to receive the Governor’s Community Service Award. This award was initiated by Gov. Jeff Colyer M.D., TMP-Marian alumnus.

This prestigious award recognizes just one Kansas High School Junior and Senior from each school. Students that answer the call to make their communities and schools a better place are nominated by school administrators.

Individuals must display a dedicated commitment to serving their community and volunteer their time in a selfless manner, putting the needs of the many over their own. Civic engagement is about students sharing their skills and knowledge through actions. Both of these students possess dedication to giving back and are welcomed recipients of the Governor’s Community Service Award.

Located in Hays, Kan., Thomas More Prep-Marian is a Catholic school serving grades 7-12. Students come from Hays, the surrounding region, and from countries around the world. The school was founded by the Capuchin Franciscans as Hays Catholic College in 1908 and ultimately became Thomas More Prep-Marian in 1981. The school continues to serve young people in the traditions of spiritual growth, academic excellence, and leadership formation.

ELLIS – St. Mary’s School in Ellis, Kansas had substantial damage due to storms on Wednesday evening. Portions of the roof were blown off and five classrooms had significant water damage.

Unfortunately, damages included classroom supplies and textbooks. We are optimistic that school will start as scheduled on August 23rd.

Monetary donations can be sent to Equity Bank, Attn: St. Mary’s, PO Box 255, Ellis, KS 67637

We Achieve, We Believe, We Care and now we need your help.

Statement from Father Dana Clark, Principal April Pfeifer, and SMS School Council