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Month: August 2018

Richard ‘Dick’ Ochs

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Richard “Dick” Ochs, AKA Daddio, left this world on Sunday, August 5, 2018, at the age of 77.

Dick is survived by his overly-patient and accepting wife Sandy (Ficken), who was a cheerleader in high school and he was the quarterback. They were married in 1961.

He is also survived by his daughter; Kenda Fischer and husband Rodger, inherited grandkids; Nicole Bollig and husband Tom, and Brianna Myers and husband Nate, great grandchild; Addy Bollig, plus three granddogs.

Dick was born in Bison, Kansas at the Storks Nest, to John and Frances Ochs. He later moved to LaCrosse, Kansas where he graduated from high school. Along with his high school friends that school and staff were never the same again.

Dick worked for SWB (formerly AT&T), and after 40 years of begrudging service he retired. He worked as a lineman where he accumulated many sweaty, smelly shirts that Sandy had to wash. He also worked as an installer, repairman, and on pay phones.

He enjoyed many things such as: fishing, hunting, shooting guns, camping, watching the Military Channel, Bonanza, History Channel, war movies, KU sports, KC Royals, John Cash, and above all his family.

He couldn’t give a damn about most material things and cars were never to be bought new. He believed the only good carp (fish) was a dead carp.

Dick died knowing that Tombstone was the best movie ever and young Clint Eastwood was the best badass man ever.

Dick believed that Thousand Island dressing and Keebler Club Crackers went hand-in-hand. Snicker candy bars and Hershey Bars with almonds were a food group in itself. He loved Sandy’s fried chicken and homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. Watermelon was of course the best on a hot, windy, Kansas day. A cold bologna sandwich with mustard was the bomb. He also grossed out his daughter Kenda when he ate a Spam sandwich or Vienna Sausages. Last, but not least, a good cold red beer was never ever wrong.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother Kenneth Ochs.

Many thanks to: Kathy Morton and Sara Baltazor at home health, Nate Myers for being a private caregiver for a year, Centennial Towers, and Hospice of Hays. Much love to Locust Grove Village for all the exceptional care and love they give. Daddio loved you all.

A celebration of Dick’s life will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at the Hays VFW Hall, 2106 Vine Street, for family and close friends. A private family burial will be at Mt. Allen Cemetery at a later date. Memorials may be left for the family, in care of Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine Street, Hays. In memory of Dick, you may also visit your favorite watering hole, where you are instructed to tie a few on and tell fishing tales of the great Dick Ochs, AKA my daddio. Rest in paradise catching only the biggest fish, Daddio. Condolences and memories of Dick may be left at www.haysmemorial.com

Fleeing driver charged with deadly Kansas City crash

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KANSAS CITY (AP) – A fleeing Kansas City driver has been charged with manslaughter in a deadly crash.

Delozier -photo KCPD

Samuel Dozier. 22,  is charged in the death of 32-year-old Thomas Colatrella.

Police said in court documents that Dozier fled Saturday night as officers attempted to stop a pickup truck that had been stolen from Lee’s Summit. The truck matched the description of a vehicle that had been seen in a shooting in which a man fired at a person in the street.

Dozier is accused of speeding through several intersections before running through a stop sign and broadsiding Colatrella’s car. The impact slammed the car into a rock wall in Kansas City’s Northeast neighborhood. Colatrella was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

Mabel Ellen Harris

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HILL CITY, KANSAS — Mabel Ellen Harris, 90 of Hill City, passed away Tuesday, August 7, 2018. She was born August 22, 1927, in Bunker Hill, Kansas to William Spears and Myrtle Oletha (Harvey) Owen.

She was preceded in death by husband, Kenneth E. Harris (on Aug. 5, 2012); son, Terry; three brothers: Wayne, Charles and John; three sisters: Vivian, Alice and Esther.

She is survived by her daughter, Sandra Harris of the Dominican Republic; brothers, Bill (Joann) Owen, Don Owen and Mike (Junell) Owen all of Hill City; sisters: Jean (Lee) Anderson of Bogue, and Ethel (Tom) Starns of Ellinwood; and four grandchildren.

Click HERE for service details.

Florence ‘Lucile’ Romine

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Florence “Lucile” Romine, 95, of Homosassa, Florida died Friday, August 3, 2018 in her home at Sunflower Springs Assisted Living. She was born June 15, 1923 in Osborne, Kansas to Franklin LaVerne and Iva Jean (Claytor) Rothenberger. Lucile married Richard Romine, May 21, 1950, in Osborne, Kansas. They made their home in Palco, Kansas and had three sons: Ricky Alan, Reggie Lynn, and Rory Lane.

Lucile graduated from Kansas University with a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance and earned her teaching certificate from Fort Hays State University. She taught choral and/or instrumental music in Palco, Holyrood, Colby, Natoma and Logan, Kansas for 17 years combined. She operated a private piano studio in her home for many years. She was also co-owner of and bookkeeper for Thunderbird Oil Company before retiring.

Lucile was preceded in death by her father and mother, her husband and two sons, Ricky and Rory Romine.

She will be missed by her son, Reggie of Hernando, FL; granddaughter, Autumn (Romine) Braun and grand son-in-law, Chad Braun; great grandson, Bo Braun, all of Hays, KS along with extended family and friends.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 18th at 11:00 am at the First Presbyterian Church in Hays, Kansas with a reception following the service. Arrangements in care of Cline’s Keithley Mortuary 1919 E. 22nd street Hays, KS 67601.

The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 2900 Hall Street, Hays, KS 67601.

Condolences may be left by guest book at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or by email at [email protected]

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: What’s in your hopper?

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Steve Gilliland

My farmer friend whose underground irrigation tubing has become chew toys for the local gophers called me this week with yet another development. His home had inexplicably been without natural gas for a couple days, and the gas company crew found the problem to be holes also chewed in the underground PVC gas line near the corner of a soybean field. This all reminded me of a past story concerning squirrels and a plastic deer feeder.

A few years back we embarked on an adventure to build a simple and inexpensive deer feeder. A friend had an old unused fuel tank stand made from angle iron – the kind that once held a three hundred gallon drum on its side. I bought it for a song, and then came the challenge of what to use for a hopper to hold the corn. I’m not sure my wife has ever thought INSIDE the box, and she came up with the idea of using a poly cart like the ones that hold our weekly trash. I called the local solid waste utility company, found an old one with a broken axle and bought it for another song. We wanted to use a “flinger” style mechanism to dispense the corn, and since the bottom of poly carts are flat, that required somehow making the inside of the poly cart funnel shaped to funnel the corn down to the mechanism. That problem was solved by cutting two pieces of scrap plywood to fit inside the hopper, making the inside wedge-shaped.

We purchased the dispensing mechanism which consists of a small wheel mounted above a motor that’s driven by a square six volt battery. It’s all controlled by a timer which turns the dispenser on and off at programed times, spinning the wheel and flinging corn around onto the ground. A thick plastic funnel comes with the dispenser and bolts around a hole cut into the bottom of the hopper. That funnel is specially designed so that when it’s positioned the right height above the flinger, it allows corn to run out of the hopper onto the flinger wheel, but causes it to “bridge-up” and stop until the wheel spins. In other words, if the funnel was wider or placed too far above the wheel, the corn would just pour constantly onto the ground until it had all run out.

That following spring we were using the feeder to feed corn to turkeys prior to spring turkey season. I remember going there one evening to check the amount of corn in the hopper and was surprised to find it empty with lots of corn on the ground. I backed up to the feeder and climbed up onto it with a bucket of corn like I had done numerous times before, but when I dumped the bucket into the hopper the corn all ran straight through onto the ground. Upon inspection, I found that the plastic funnel had been chewed off by some critter making it much shorter and allowing the corn to just pour through the hole. The feeder was now useless until a new funnel of some sort was put onto the bottom of the hopper.

A couple weeks later we headed out to pick up our then-useless deer feeder for repairs. It dawned on me that the hopper was made to be easily removed and that’s all we needed anyway, so we began removing the bolts that held it to the frame. As we worked, it seemed like I could hear an occasional rustling sound inside the hopper. Each time I stopped to listen, the rustling noise stopped too, so I dismissed it to my imagination. When the hopper was finally loose we toppled it over into the bed of the pickup, and Joyce began hearing my “imaginary” rustling noise also.

Supposing a no-good packrat was inside, I pulled the hopper to the back of the pickup and started to open the lid. My plan was to stand to the side and let the open lid dangle over the back of the bed in hopes that our freeloader would jump out the back and be gone without incident. While rolling the hopper around, the rustling inside turned to scratching and clawing and with the hole in the hopper facing away from us, I prepared to open the lid and confront the intruder. I unsnapped the tarp strap that held the lid closed, but before I could fling it open, a squirrel bailed out the hole in front, clearing the side of the pickup in one bound like Rocky the flying squirrel. Joyce and I starred at each other in disbelief; I think her only words were” I didn’t see that comin’!” The critter had actually chewed a hole through the half-inch plywood inside and had quite the cozy little nest built within; we pulled grass and leaves out of there for five minutes.

The most amazing thing about the whole squirrel-nest-inside-the-deer-feeder-hopper thing is that the only way into it was up through the hole in the bottom. I know squirrels can squeeze their bodies into some impossible places, but I’d loved to have watched it leap from the frame of the feeder onto the motor, then stuff itself up through the gnawed-out plastic funnel and into the polycart. This gives a whole new meaning to the term “squirrel corn.” So, as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors, if something seems squirrely, it probably is!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

James M. ‘Jim’ Staab

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James M. “Jim” Staab, 65, Hays, died Thursday, August 9, 2018 at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. 

He was born October 14, 1952 in Hays the son of Frank and Mary (Weigel) Staab.  He graduated from St. Joseph Military Academy in 1970.  On June 26, 1987, he was united in marriage to Therese “Terry” Brungardt in Hays, and they celebrated 31 years of marriage.  Jim worked at S&W Supply as a Purchasing Agent for Warehouse, Inc. until retiring in May.  He was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and the Catharine Third Degree Knights of Columbus Council #11687. 

He was a K-State, KC Royals, and KC Chiefs fan, enjoyed tinkering in his shed and other woodworking projects, and telling big stories with neighbors.  He loved spending time with his family, playing a competitive game of pitch, telling his grandchildren stories of his high school years, and watching his grandsons play football and a granddaughter play volleyball. 

He is survived by his wife Terry of the home, two daughters; Patricia “Trish” Cook and husband Sedrick and Nicholle “Niki” Staab and Frank Lewis all of Olathe, a stepson; Cory Phlieger and wife Christy of Shawnee, a stepdaughter Patricia “Pat” Mares and husband Daniel of Norman, Oklahoma, and nine grandchildren; Kirk Meier, Alexis Staab, Kiley Phlieger, Marques Cook, Abigail Mares, Rikai Cook, Ty’juan Lewis, Rayquan Lewis, and Laronte Lewis; two brothers; Delbert Staab and wife Jeannie of Texas and Terrance “Terry” Staab and wife Jacque of Florida, a sister; Virginia Chada of Missouri, and a sister-in-law; Betty Staab of LaCrosse.  He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers; Verlin and Jerry Staab, a sister; Nadine Hopkins, two brothers-in-law; Hoppy Hopkins and John Chada, and a sister-in-law; Sonja Staab.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Monday, August 13, 2018 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 1805 Vine Street, Hays, with Fr. Barry Brinkman officiating.  Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on Sunday and 9:00 am until 9:45 on Monday, all at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine Street, Hays.  A vigil service will be at 6:30 pm followed by a St. Catharine Knights of Columbus rosary at 7:00 pm, all at the funeral home. 

Memorials are suggested to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or The Cancer Council of Ellis County, in care of the funeral home.  Condolences and memories of Jim may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com

Herman Frederick Griem

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Herman Frederick Griem, age 88, passed away on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at Wichita County Health Center in Leoti, Kansas. Herman was born March 2, 1930 in Enid, Oklahoma, and adopted as an infant by Frederick Herman & Bertha (Lee) Griem.

He attended elementary school in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, including a one-room school. Herman graduated in 1948 from High School in Maude, Oklahoma. Following high school graduation, he moved with his parents to Wichita County, Kansas, about six miles northeast of Leoti, Kansas. Herman helped his father farm, operated earth moving equipment building terraces and ponds in Wichita County.

In 1951 he enlisted in the military and was inducted at Fort Carson, Colorado. Herman trained in San Marcos, Texas as an aircraft mechanic. His service during the Korean Conflict in the United States Army concluded in 1954 with him earning the rank of Corporal.

He then studied electronics through a correspondence school in New York State, learning how to build his own television and receiving his certificate as an electronic technician. Herman used his knowledge servicing televisions and appliances in Leoti, Kansas for the Gambles Store and Harkness Motors. He later owned and operated his own shop for several years and then worked for Western Hardware in Leoti for twenty-five years until his retirement.

Herman was a man of many talents. He enjoyed woodworking and welding. His children said, “Dad could fix anything”. His special interests lie in music and photography. He played piano, guitar, accordion and his favorite electric organ. He had a small amateur photo-lab in his home where enjoyed developing and printing photos for his family and friends. He also enjoyed collecting cameras. Being outdoor, camping and fishing at Cedar Bluffs Reservoir with his family always gave him pleasure.

On February 11, 1952 he married Georgia Rowton in San Marcos, Texas. They observed their sixty-sixth wedding anniversary this year. They were blessed with Ten children, five boys and five girls. They were lifetime residents of Leoti aside from a short time in Garden City and Medicine Lodge, Kansas.

Herman’s surviving family includes-

His wife-
Georgia Griem- Leoti, Kansas

Nine Children-
Rick & Jean Griem- Scott City, Kansas
Barbara King- Wilburton, Oklahoma
Edward & Susan Griem- Benton, Kansas
Debra & Jerry Eikelberger- Scott City, Kansas
Judy Lechenberg- Greenleaf, Kansas
Kenny & Krisi Griem- Lawrence, Kansas
Rennie & Donna Griem- Salina, Kansas
Elizabeth & John Gould- Leoti, Kansas
Lee Griem- Basehor, Kansas

One sister-
Delena McCullough- Lamar, Colorado

22 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, 3 great great grandchildren, 3 step grandchildren, 6 step great grandchildren an 6 step great great grandchildren.

His parents, a daughter, Nancy Sue Griem, and 2 grandsons, Terri Burch and Alvin Burch precede him in death.

Graveside services will be held at 1:00 pm Wednesday, August 15, 2018 at Leoti Cemetery in Leoti, Kansas with Terry Laws presiding. Family will be at Wichita County Senior Center, 108 Indian Road, to receive visitors following services.

Friends may call from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm Monday at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Leoti, Kansas.

Memorials may be given to Wichita County Health Center in care of the funeral home.

Condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home website.

Olmer J. Wittman

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Olmer J. Wittman, Hays, Kansas, age 92, died Sunday, August 12, 2018, at the Good Samaritan Society of Hays.

Services are 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, August 15, 2018, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 13th and Ash, Hays. Kansas.

Visitation is from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Tuesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601 and from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, at St. Joseph Church, Hays, Kansas.

A Daughters of Isabella rosary will be at 6:30 P.M. Tuesday, a Knights of Columbus 3rd and 4th degree rosary will be at 6:45 P.M. Tuesday, followed by a vigil service at 7:00 P.M. Tuesday, all at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays.

Condolences can be left by guestbook at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or can be sent via e-mail to [email protected]

Public hearing for Ellis’ 2019 budget set for tonight

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ELLIS – A public hearing for the city of Ellis’ 2019 proposed budget will be held at 7 p.m. Mon., Aug. 13 prior to the start of the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Following the hearing, city council members will consider adopting the budget.

In other business, recommendations from the Planning Commission property rezoning will be considered along with an ordinance that would establish a fund for tourism.

The complete agenda follows.

AGENDA

August 13, 2018

REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS

City Hall – Council Meeting Room

 

PUBLIC HEARING – 2019 BUDGET DOCUMENT – 7:00 P.M.

BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:15 P.M.

ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)

  • CONSENT AGENDA
    1. Minutes from Regular Meeting on July 16, 2018
    2. Bills Ordinance #2050
    3. Manual Journal Entries for June

(Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda.  By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)

PUBLIC COMMENTS 

(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes.  If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson.  ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment.  Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)

  • PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
  • SPECIAL ORDER
  • UNFINISHED BUSINESS
    1. Consider Approval of 2019 Budget Document
    2. Consider Bid for Land Lease
    3. Discuss Cost Estimates for Repairs on North Truck Route
  • NEW BUSINESS
    1. Consider Recommendation from Planning Commission Regarding Rezoning of Property
    2. Consider Approval of Ordinance Adopting the 2018 Edition of the Standard Traffic Ordinance
    3. Consider Approval of Ordinance Adopting the 2018 Edition of the Uniform Public Offense Code
    4. Consider Approval of Ordinance Establishing Tourism Fund
    5. Consider Approval of Resolution Adjusting Fixed Percentage Increase to Utility Rates
    6. Consider Approval of Credit Card Resolution
    7. Consider Repair to Washington Street from 5th Street to 6th Street
    8. Determine Voting Delegates for the League of Kansas Municipalities
  • REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
    1. Administrative
      • Public Works
        • Department Update
        • Consider Approval for Staff Training
      • Police
        • Monthly Activity Report for July
        • August Staff Calendar
        • Department Update
      • City Clerk
        • June Financial Statements
        • Health Insurance Savings Report for July
        • Minutes from Committee Meetings
        • Department Update
      • Attorney
        • Update on Status of Code Violation Cases
      • Mayor Update and Announcements

EXECUTIVE SESSIONS

  • ADJOURNMENT

 

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 8/13/18

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khaz cheesy joke logo 20110802The Bishop’s Role

The church was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and several former
pastors and the bishop were in attendance. At one point, the minister
had the children gather for a talk about the importance of the day. He
began by asking, “Does anyone know what the bishop does?”

There was silence.

Finally, one little boy answered gravely, “He’s the one you can move
diagonally.”

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

Homeowner holds Kansas burglary suspect until police arrive

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TOPEKA —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged burglary.

Just after 1:30a.m. Sunday, police were sent to a burglary in progress in the 1000 block of SW Medford in Topeka, according to Lt. Ron Ekis.

A resident was alerted to someone prowling around his home after his motion sensor was activated. The homeowner went outside to investigate and found two men on his property. One of them was rummaging through his vehicle, according to Ekis.

The homeowner was able to detain one subject until police arrived. The other suspect fled on foot and was not located.

Officers arrested a juvenile for conspiracy to commit burglary, theft and battery.

Police did release the name because he is a minor.

Cardinals rally to beat Royals for 5th straight win

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals were a .500 team after a loss on July 25, but since then they’ve been the hottest team in the National League.

Yadier Molina broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning, Tyson Ross won his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Sunday to win their fifth straight, matching a season high.

The Cardinals moved eight games above .500, equaling their season high set on June 11, and are a National League-best 12-4 since July 27. Manager Mike Matheny was fired on July 14 in an attempt to jump-start the disappointing team.

Molina’s bases-loaded single in the seventh scored Harrison Bader and Patrick Wisdom, who had two hits, drove in a run and scored two in his major league debut. Wisdom’s RBI single had tied it at 2-2.

“We feel pretty good about ourselves right now,” Molina said. “We are getting hot at the right time.”

The Cardinals concluded a three-city trip with a 7-2 record.

“It was a good game, a good road trip and a good series,” Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said.

Ross, who last pitched on Aug. 3 for San Diego, was an emergency starter, replacing Luke Weaver, who was scratched after cutting his right index finger on the aluminum foil cover of his clubhouse meal on Saturday night.

Ross (7-9), who made 22 starts with the Padres before the Cardinals claimed him on waivers last week, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings.

“I felt good and was ready to go,” Ross said. “I was happy to get out there and pitch. After the first inning, I was able to rein it in and get into the strike zone, and keep us in the ballgame.”

Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in a three-run ninth to cap the scoring.

Jason Hammel (2-12) entered in the seventh and retired none of the four batters he faced. He was charged with three runs.

“I set the tone for the rest of the game right there, coming in and not even getting an out,” Hammel said. “I’m embarrassed.”

Jakob Junis limited the Cardinals to three singles, walked none and struck out eight before leaving after six innings with a 2-1 lead.

“I hit my spots with my fastball and played my slider off that and I had some good results,” Junis said.

Lucas Duda singled home Salvador Perez in the third to put Kansas City up 2-1. Alex Gordon scored in the first after an error by Wisdom, the first baseman.

The Royals have lost nine of 10 and are 15-46 since May 30.

WEBB EJECTED

Cardinals reliever Tyler Webb was ejected with two outs in the ninth by plate umpire Adam Hamari after he hit Jorge Bonifacio with a pitch. Royals pitchers hit four St. Louis batters. “He definitely hit him on purpose,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I guess that warrants an ejection. We hit four guys today. When you hit four guys, somebody is going to get it. It’s just the way the game is. I don’t blame them for it. If they hit us four times, we’d probably be upset, too. Did he have to get ejected? No. I don’t think so. I think it was over. We didn’t intentionally try to hit anybody all day long.”

CARPENTER STREAK CONTINUES

Matt Carpenter singled and was hit by a pitch from Wily Peralta, extending his on-base streak to 30 games.

HERRERA AT SECOND

Rosell Herrera made his first start at second base for the Royals. He had started 19 games in right field, 11 in center, four at third base and three as the DH since joining the club on June 17. He made his big league debut on May 1 with Cincinnati starting at second base, his only other start at the position, although he played there in the minors.

ROSTER MOVES

The Royals optioned RHP Glenn Sparkman to Triple-A Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy has a stiff shoulder. Manager Ned Yost said Duffy has been dealing with it for his past four starts and a decision would be made Tuesday on whether Duffy will make his scheduled start on Thursday. Duffy received an anti-inflammatory shot Saturday. … RHP Blaine Boyer (lower back strain) was activated from the 60-day disabled list. He posted a 1.08 ERA in eight minor league rehab appearances. … OF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (elbow inflammation) will throw an inning Monday for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League. … With RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement) moved to the 60-day DL, his season is likely over. “I guess the timing looks like, yeah,” Shildt said. “It’ll be a challenge, but we never say never.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas will start the opener of a four-game series against the Washington Nationals at Busch Stadium.

Royals: Rookie RHP Brad Keller will start against Toronto. This will be his 13th start since moving into the rotation on May 30.

SCHROCK: Dark side of populism

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John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

Some in the press use the term “populist” as a synonym for “popular” or for any new political movement outside the traditional parties. It has a much richer history, some centered in Kansas.

I learned about populism in 5th Grade. Because I finished my work early, the teacher let me browse the library. I was enthralled with utopian ideas and voraciously read Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia.” Orwell’s “1984″ and Huxley’s “Brave New World” were anti-utopias. But it was Edward Bellamy’s utopian “Looking Backward,” written in 1888, that introduced me to populism.

Edward Bellamy was the cousin of Francis Bellamy who wrote the American Pledge of Allegiance. Edward published a magazine, The New Nation, that promoted the emerging People’s Party and Nationalist Clubs. The 1800s was a time when Great Plains farmers and ranchers were chaffing under high interest rates from bankers and exorbitant freight charges from railroad barons.

This populist movement promoted nationalizing the banking and railroad businesses—essentially a socialist plan. However, Edward Bellamy preferred the term “nationalism” to “socialism” because—similar to today—many citizens had a knee-jerk aversion to the term “socialism.”

His cousin Francis Bellamy was a Christian socialist minister and preached for “the rights of working people and the equal distribution of economic resources, which he believed was inherent in the teachings of Jesus.” Francis Bellamy understood the separation of church and state and did not include “under God” in his original pledge. (Only later, in 1954, would President Eisenhower ask Congress to add “under God” in response to the Joe McCarthy-era fear of god-less communism.)

The populists who formed the American, People’s and Populist Parties in the 1800s were unified by their opposition to the ruling elites and had an agenda that included women’s right to vote, the 8-hour work day, and progressive income taxes. In 1892, the Populist candidate James Weaver won 8.5 percent of the nationwide vote. And Kansas was one of the few states where Weaver won the majority.

Today, commentators who have done their homework correctly report that there are shades of populist theory in Bernie Sanders’ proposal for single-payer health care. There is likewise a whiff of populist anti-elitism in the rise of the Tea Party and separately in Trump’s “America First.”

But there is a dark side to populism. In the mid-1800s, the populist American Party targeted recent immigrants for stealing jobs and destroying our culture and religious identity. Despite being third or fourth generation immigrants themselves, populists wanted new immigrants to wait 21 years in U.S. residency before becoming citizens.

Francis Bellamy stated that he wrote the Pledge “…as an inoculation that would protect immigrants and native-born but insufficiently patriotic Americans from the virus of radicalism and subversion.”

But being anti-elitist and favoring immigration restrictions is not enough to define populism. Jan-Werner Muller, in the book “What is Populism?” describes how populists believe that even if they are not in the majority, “…they and they alone represent the people.” He describes populists as “…a shadow of representative politics” that sporadically arises when a portion of the population feels they are suppressed. They claim to represent the “real people” or “silent majority.” And populism is not about “…democratic will-formation among citizens” but merely confirming “…what they have already determined the will of the people to be.”

While the respected commentator David Brooks has concluded that populist us-versus-them movements “generally have a history of defeat,” there is one case of their rise to power.

The World War I Treaty of Versailles established massive war reparation payments that kept Germany in poverty. A population that could never get ahead fell prey to a message that scapegoated Jews and immigrants outside the Aryan race. Although only a minority of Germans were members, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party claimed that only they represented the “real” German people. Simply, the Nazis were a populist movement.

Only since World War II do we place hand-over-heart in our salute to our flag that accompanies the Pledge. Before then, our salute to the flag (the Bellamy salute) had been an outstretched arm, similar to the Nazi salute.

So journalists—don’t continue calling every third party or unconventional candidate a “populist”! Populism is more complicated than that.

And teachers—let your students browse the school library.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

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