Starting the week of July 30, the Kansas Department of Transportation will close a portion of U.S. 24 from the K-18 junction in Graham County to the Stockton city limits for a bridge replacement project.
KDOT will be replacing a flood-damaged bridge approximately 1 3/4 miles west of the Graham/Rooks County line. Traffic will be detoured on U.S. 183 and K-18 throughout the duration of the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of November.
King Construction is the primary contractor for the project with a total contract cost of approximately $559,000.
Fall classes begin the week of August 20th. If you danced at Jackie Creamer’s The Dance Studio last year, bring a friend who didn’t dance last year and both get 1st semester for 1/2 price.
Join us for an open house and dancing with Vision Dance Company members August 10th from 5-7pm. Come and go and grab some cookies and lemonade. Enjoy getting to know the teachers and the studio and enroll for fall classes.
Vision Dance Company auditions are August 7th-9th.
A teenaged girl was nervous as she took the wheel for her first driving
lesson. As she was pulling out of the parking lot, the instructor said,
“Turn left here, and don’t forget to let the people behind you know what
you’re doing.”
She turned to the students sitting in the back seat and announced, “I’m
going left.”
CHEYENNE COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 1a.m. Friday in Cheyenne County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2018 Volvo semi driven by Glen E. Travers, 61, Garden City, was southbound on K 27 five miles north and two miles west of St. Francis.
The semi traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned.
Travers was transported to St. Francis Hospital. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Kaylan Lagerman of Hays was recently elected as an officer for the Fort Hays State University chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
Lagerman, senior majoring in psychology at Fort Hays State University, was elected to the position of Student Vice President and will serve during the 2018-2019 term.
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Society inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually at more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines.
Hays city commissioners set a public hearing date of Aug. 9 for the proposed 2019 budget.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
With no comment, Hays city commissioners Thursday night set a public hearing for August 9 on the 2019 draft budget. The public hearing will be part of the commission’s regular meeting.
The mill levy remains at 25.00 mills where it’s remained for several years. In 2011 the city commission began paying cash for most capital projects rather than utilizing general obligation bonds in an effort to keep the mill levy at 25, requiring a prioritization of projects.
The proposed budget includes a new employee pay plan and an increase from $9,500 to $11,000 per employee to provide health insurance.
In earlier reviews, commissioners increased the outside agency funding allotted to Fort Hays State University’s city scholarship program to $100,000 from the recommended $90,000.
Jesse Rohr, public works director, shows the requested zoning change for Crawford Addition to Commercial General District.
In other business, commissioners unanimously approved the Crawford Addition requests for annexation, rezoning and final plat. The property site, at the northwest corner of 48th and Roth, is being considered as a location for a new Tractor Supply Company (TSC) retail store by an Arkansas land developer.
The requests had already been approved by the Hays Area Planning Commission.
Public Works Director Jesse Rohr said the land, owned and sold by Scott Crawford of Hays, is north of Interstate 70 and contiguous to the Hays city limits. The area has been in agricultural production for many years and the request for rezoning was from Agricultural to Commercial General District.
There are two lots on the property. The south 3.5 acres (Lot 1) is the proposed location for the store. Rohr noted all public utilities, including public water and sewer, are in place to be extended across W. 48th allowing for development of this property.
(Click to enlarge)
“Water and sewer are both located on the south side of 48th and Roth and both will be extended to the north side of the developed lot by the developer at their cost, ” he said.
“They’re ready to move on this. They’ve submitted plans, hoping for your approval on these things tonight.” Rohr added that the city has received a site plan from Tractor Supply which would have two entrances on the west and north sides.
The two acres in the north end of the plat (Lot 2), for which no use has yet been designated, has a right-of-way for a future proposed street. Rohr noted the developer has dedicated the right-of-way in anticipation of a road for remaining undeveloped land to the west.
The commission also approved a bid award for construction of a three story drill tower at the Fire/Rescue Training Facility on the south ball field of the old Frank Stramel ball fields in south Hays. American Fire Training Systems had the low bid of $145,917. The city received a $272,000 grant from the Dane G. Hansen for funding to construct the facility which will be used for regional training.
Commissioners Sandy Jacobs and Henry Schwaller were absent from the meeting.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative candidate Kris Kobach so relished criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union in the Kansas governor’s race that he waved the group’s mailer in the air before 250 supporters last week so they could groan in disapproval at the effort to prevent him from winning the Republican primary.
The controversial flyer -courtesy image
Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and sometime adviser to President Donald Trump, has made the ACLU a political foil for years as he has championed some of the toughest state voter identification and immigration policies in the nation. Now, he is hoping to ride the ACLU’s attacks to victory on Aug. 7 in a hard-fought primary with Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is seeking a full four years after filling out the remainder of former Gov. Sam Brownback’s term.
Kobach and his supporters have tweeted repeatedly about the ACLU’s actions, and in a Thursday fundraising email, Kobach’s campaign manager said the ACLU is opposing him because it wants “a weak governor who won’t challenge their liberal policies.”
“The enmity between me and the ACLU has been around for many, many years,” Kobach said during an interview with The Associated Press.
Gov. Colyer and Sec. of State Kobach during a July 12 candidate debate
Kobach said he believes the ACLU attacks help him in the Republican primary because of “how much conservatives and Republicans dislike them.”
The ACLU mailers sent last week featured a color photo of a smiling Colyer and unflattering black-and-white one of Kobach. On two of three issues listed in the mailers — education and government transparency —Colyer was mentioned more favorably. Both were listed as unfriendly to LGBT rights.
The ACLU is spending about $200,000. It has sent about 22,000 mailers and made more than 10,000 phone calls to prospective voters — enough to influence a tight race.
The ACLU says it is not endorsing any candidates, only informing voters. Supporters of Colyer, who has the National Rifle Association’s formal endorsement, contend that Kobach’s attempt to tie the governor to the ACLU show he is losing.
“It smacks of desperation,” Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said Thursday.
Faiz Shakir, the ACLU’s national political director, said Kobach “rises to the very top” of any list of candidates whose records on civil rights issues alarm the group.
“Kobach is unique among candidates around the country,” Shakir said. “It was a natural extension of the fight we have been waging for many years against him.”
The ACLU has also intervened in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona to criticize law-and-order former sheriff Joe Arpaio, and in a high-profile Democratic primary for local prosecutor in St. Louis County after a white police officer was not charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.
Kobach has a national profile and strong ties to Trump, having endorsed him early and advised his 2016 campaign and the White House. He served as vice chairman of a now-disbanded presidential commission on election fraud that was reviled by Democrats and voting-rights activists.
“Kris Kobach is a guy kind of like Trump. He likes to throw out, you know, the outrageous stuff,” said state Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican backing Colyer. “Colyer’s more measured and thinks things through.”
At a parade in June in a Kansas City suburb, Kobach rode a jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on it. When some people who attended the parade complained that the stunt scared some children, he derided what he called a “snowflake meltdown” and kept riding the same jeep in other parades, posting photos on social media regularly.
Kobach has battled the ACLU repeatedly in court over strict voter ID policies, and a federal judge earlier this year struck down Kansas’ requirement for new voters to show papers documenting their U.S. citizenship when registering. The state is appealing the decision.
A judge became so exasperated with Kobach earlier this year in a case brought by the ACLU that she ordered him to take remedial legal training courses for misleading the court.
Shakir said the ACLU is appealing to GOP conservatives who have concerns about voter privacy and public education.
“I am not naive in believing everyone is going to suddenly change their mind, but there is some percentage who are open to the argument,” Shakir said.
But University of Kansas political scientist Patrick Miller said the GOP’s right-leaning primary voters are the wrong audience for the ACLU’s message and if their intent was to “ding” Kobach, “I have to question how well they understand electoral politics.”
Yvonne Starks, a conservative Republican and Kobach backer from the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, said she doesn’t trust the ACLU because of its liberal leanings.
“If nothing else, it will bring out his base supporters to rally for him more,” she said.
NEW YORK (AP) – Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was hit on his right wrist by a pitch and forced to leave early Thursday night, overshadowing New York’s 7-2 romp past the Kansas City Royals.
The Yankees said Judge was seen by a team doctor at the stadium and taken to a hospital for an MRI. The Yankees said Judge had a chip fracture and that no surgery has been recommended. The team estimated it would be about three weeks before Judge could swing the bat in a game.
Normally an All-Star outfielder, Judge was the designated hitter. He winced when he was stung by a fastball from Jakob Junis in the first inning, got an infield hit the next time up and then was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the fourth.
On a busy day for the Yankees, Sonny Gray (8-7) pitched five shutout innings to win three straight starts for the first time since last July. He exited soon after getting nicked in the pitching hand by a hard grounder.
Didi Gregorius hit a three-run homer for New York, which began the day 5 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston. Center fielder Aaron Hicks threw out Alex Gordon at the plate to end the game as Gordon tried to score from second on a single.
Before the game, the Yankees obtained Toronto left-hander J.A. Happ in a trade for infielder Brandon Drury and minor league outfielder Billy McKinney. Also, ace reliever Zach Britton tossed a perfect eighth inning in his New York debut, two days after being acquired from Baltimore for three pitching prospects.
There was a strange sighting, too. As Neil Walker batted with two outs in the Yankees seventh, several thousand fans in the sellout crowd suddenly switched on their cell phone lights and shined them toward the field. There was no instant explanation.
Junis (5-11) is 0-8 in 10 starts since beating the Yankees in mid-May. He has allowed a major league-high 25 home runs, and the drive by Gregorius made it 6-0 in the fourth.
Gregorius homered one pitch after shortstop Adalberto Mondesi bounced a throw to first on a routine grounder with two outs. As Gregorius rounded the bases, Mondesi took off his glove and wandered into shallow center field.
UP NEXT
Royals: Rookie RHP Brad Keller (3-4, 3.20 ERA) starts on his 23rd birthday. He pitched a perfect inning in relief against the Yankees in mid-May.
Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.51) will start on 12 days’ rest. A rainout and the All-Star break resulted in the long break. He’ll pitch on his bobblehead night in the Bronx.
Cliff Van Kooten, the “Man of Steel,” left a memento atop the west grandstands. The Phillipsburg man helped build the grandstands and some of the pens at the Phillipsburg rodeo grounds.
PHILLIPSBURG – He’s the man of steel, and he’s put up plenty of it at the Phillipsburg rodeo grounds throughout the years.
Cliff Van Kooten has been associated with the rodeo, either on the committee, as chairman, or as a volunteer, since 1982.
After graduating from high school in 1960, the Long Island, Kan. native spent three years in the military before coming back home to marry his wife, Helen, in 1964. The couple moved to Phillipsburg. He went to welding school and worked for the International Harvester dealer in Phillipsburg while he welded on the side.
In 1967, he started his own business, and two years later, he bought the location where Cliff’s Welding is situated, on the west side of Phillipsburg.
In 1982, a Phillipsburg businessman stopped by his shop, offering his rodeo share in the Rodeo Association for $100 to Van Kooten. But Van Kooten couldn’t afford it. “At the time, I didn’t have the money, so he said he’d keep it till I had enough. It wasn’t long, and I had the $100.”
Cliff Van Kooten has volunteered with Kansas Biggest Rodeo for every year since 1982. He served as chairman of the committee from 1986-1990, constructed the grandstands, and now serves as concessions coordinator.
A year later, he was voted on the committee, and from then on, he started rebuilding parts of the rodeo grounds.
First to be rebuilt was the above-the-chute seats. Along with help from Danzy Price and the committee, the old wooden stands were torn down and new steel ones built. Next, the stands on the southeast side were redone, then the northeast side (also known as the rowdy section). After that, Van Kooten started on the west side, with the northwest, the west, and the southwest stands. He often donated his labor, working evenings and weekends, along with Price and other committee members. Price constructed the arena fence, and he and Van Kooten often helped each other out.
Van Kooten served as chairman of the committee for four years (1986-1990). In 1997, he no longer was a committee member.
But he didn’t quit working. He volunteered as the concessions organizer, ordering the food for the concessions stands and lining up the volunteer help.
A year and a half ago, he had heart surgery, which slowed him down. He still orders the concessions supplies but gave up the job of getting volunteer help.
Van Kooten, in 1989, designed and built a self-unloading double-wide hay bale trailer, called Pride of the Prairie. He improved on the design throughout the years, and the trailer, with its ability to haul double the load, is popular across the nation and is sold by dealers from the coast to coast and border to border.
He spent countless hours, a lot of it during the evenings, at the rodeo grounds, building. But Van Kooten enjoyed all of it. He loved working with the committee, and he loved the construction part of it. “I have so much pride out there (at the rodeo grounds), I don’t know if I’ll ever sell my (rodeo) share. I took pride in what I did, and I wanted it to be good.”
One thing he especially appreciates is that people are always willing to help out. When he brings concessions supplies to the rodeo grounds, he rarely has to unload them himself. “Every time I get out there with a load of groceries, there’s always people to help unload.”
Van Kooten left a memento, high above the arena, on the corner of the big west grandstands: a sign that reads “The Man of Steel – Cliff’s Welding.” It’s a tribute to one of the many loyal volunteers who has made the Phillipsburg Rodeo possible, through his hard work and faithfulness.
Kansas Biggest Rodeo is August 2-4 and begins at 8 pm each night. Tickets are still available and range in price from $15 to $18 for adults and $11 to $14 for children ages 3-12. They can be purchased at Heritage Insurance in Phillipsburg (685 Third Street) and over the phone (785.543.2448). They can also be purchased at the gate, until they are sold out.
For more information, visit www.KansasBiggestRodeo.com.
Today A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Light south southeast wind increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the morning.
Severe thunderstorms will be possible across western Kansas late today and overnight. Hail up to the size of tennis balls, wind gusts of 70 mph, and periods of very heavy rainfall will be possible. #kswxpic.twitter.com/vFvUi9KUSq
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds. Low around 65. Southeast wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Saturday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. East wind around 8 mph.
ELLIS — St. Mary’s School in Ellis suffered 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.
Officials are optimistic school will start as scheduled on Aug. 23, but financial assistance is being requested. Monetary donations can be sent to Equity Bank, Attn: St. Mary’s, PO Box 255, Ellis, KS 67637.
SABETHA – Chase Werth and Cole Zimmerman each drove in two and three pitchers held Sabetha to just two runs as the Hays Monarchs earned a 5-2 win Thursday.
Sabetha took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning but the Monarchs answered back with a three-run third inning.
Eston Brown got the inning started with a two-out infield single. He then scored on a passed ball and then Chase Werth followed that with a triple to left field that scored two more putting Hays up 3-2.
Cole Zimmerman drove in a run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and added an RBI single in the sixth to put Hays up 5-2.
Tate Garcia allowed just two runs on three hits, struck out three and walked four in 4 2-3 innings to earn the win.
Chase Werth earned the save, he struck out three in an 1 1-3 inning.
Zimmerman was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Werth finished 1 for 2 with 2 RBI’s.
Ryan Post Interview
The Monarchs improve to 17-4-1 on the summer. They are 2-0 in pool play and have earned a spot in Saturday’s bracket round.
They will play Marysville at 8:15 p.m. Friday. Marysville is also 2-0 in pool play and Friday’s game will determine the pool winner.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City woman who sold thousands of counterfeit designer merchandise has been sentenced to a year of probation.
Pak -photo Johnson County
64-year-old So Wun Pak, owner of Sue’s Accessories in Mission, was sentenced Thursday.
She pleaded no contest in May to counterfeiting merchandise worth from $1,000 to $25,000.
Officers removed and will destroy more than 3,300 items taken from the store. Fake brands sold at the store included Burberry, Chanel, Coach and Ralph Lauren.
Pak will face five months in prison if she violates probation.
