Edith L. Taylor, 91, of Colby, passed away Saturday, August 25, 2018. She was born September 7, 1926 in Colby to Harry and Lois (McArthur) Eicher. Edith married William A. Taylor September 1, 1947 in Colby. She was a retired Colby Grade School teacher.
Survivors include daughter Lois (Leland) Francis, of Wilson, KS; sons Tom (Kristie) Taylor of Minden, Ne; William Taylor of Colby and Robert Taylor of Colby; daughters-in-law Sue Ellen Taylor of Colby and Kris Taylor of Salina. Edith is also survived by brother Curt (Beverly) Eicher of Colby and sister Esther Eicher of Brewster. Her seven grandchildren are Lindsey (Francis) Steinle, Logan (Francis) Julstrom, Austin Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Lauren Taylor, Morgan Taylor, and Miranda Taylor. Four great grandchildren also surviving are Skylar Steinle, Trevor Steinle, Inga Julstrom, and Britta Julstrom.
Edith was preceded in death by her husband William A. Taylor, daughters Lee Ann Taylor and Maril Taylor, sons Allan Taylor and Harry Taylor, sister Lillian Buckner and brother Kenneth Eicher.
Cremation was chosen. A private family Inurnment will be scheduled for a later date.
Memorials are suggested to Colby United Methodist Church or Colby Grade School in care of Kersenbrock Funeral Chapel of Colby at: kersenbrockfuneralchapel.com
Charles Earl “Chuck” Bryant, 59, passed away August 23, 2018, in Garden City, Kansas.
He was born August 27, 1958, to Robert Earl and Carol Staffie (Costello) Bryant in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Chuck served in the Marines for 6 years. He was a diesel mechanic most of his life.
He was preceded in death by his father: Robert Bryant and his grandparents.
Survivors: mother, Carol Bryant, Cederedge, Colorado; brothers: Joe (Christina) Bryant, Clifton, Colorado; Adam (Testa) Bryant, Parker, Colorado and several nieces, nephews and friends.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY — A small plane made an emergency landing just after 8:30a.m. Wednesday in rural Pottawatomie County.
Location of the emergency landing in rural Pottawatomie County -google map
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1976 Beech Bonanza piloted by Jensen, Drew J. Jensen, Lincoln, Neb., said he was trying to switch fuel tanks and the lever broke halfway between both fuel selector settings causing a starvation of fuel. The pilot made an emergency landing in a grass meadow near just west of Lake Elbo and Noel Road, approximately 12 miles east of Manhattan.
Jensen and two passengers were not injured. The KHP also reported no damage to the aircraft from the incident.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge says crews can begin tearing down a 17-story waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy was decapitated when his raft went airborne.
The Verrückt water slide at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City, Kansas -photo Kansas News Service
Wyandotte County District Court Judge Robert Burns said Wednesday that the preservation of the Verruckt slide “traumatizes everyone.”
The 2016 death of Caleb Schwab at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, led to criminal charges against the company that built the slide and five people, including Schlitterbahn’s co-owner.
Caleb Thomas Schwab-courtesy photo
Delays in taking down the slide had stemmed from disagreements over which parts should be preserved as possible evidence.
Attorneys representing the owners of Schlitterbahn said preliminary deconstruction of Verruckt will start soon. The visible slide will likely start to come down by Nov. 1.
GOVE COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 7a.m. Wednesday in Gove County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Toyota Camry driven by Karl A. Warcup, 17, Houston, Texas, was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of the Grinnell exit in the driving lane. The driver fell asleep and rear-ended a semi.
A passenger in the Toyota Janice Garcia, 20, Fort Myers, Fla., was transported to the Logan County Hospital.
Warcup and the semi driver Lawrence J. Meiar, 62, WaKeeney, were not injured. All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Dr. Tisa MasonI find myself thinking a lot about leadership these days. I really like the perspective of Simon Sinek, the famous and highly popular motivational speaker, who once tweeted, “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” Taking care of the people, and nurturing the university to fulfill its potential, is indeed a heavy responsibility.
I also know how blessed I am to be surrounded by so many talented colleagues. Indeed, nowhere else will you find a faculty and staff as dedicated and willing to give 150-percent effort to the FHSU mission. I rely on those talented colleagues to help shape university decisions both through formal and informal processes.
Essential to this work is a commitment to building a culture of trust, establishing clarity on how we define success, doing our best to make decisions based on knowledge rather than opinion, and creating nimble and well-defined processes (many voices with clarity regarding who is accountable for specific areas of decision making). These commitments help our university think and act strategically as we provide accessible, quality education to Kansas, the nation and the world.
As simple as those commitments may appear, to be successful, they require intentionality, focus, and practice. At Fort Hays State University, I work on a daily basis through four key groups to practice those commitments: President’s Roundtable, Executive Leadership Team, Senior Leadership Team, and Cabinet. Briefly, the purpose of each of these structures are as follows.
The President’s Roundtable consists of the presidents of the Faculty Senate, the University Support Staff Senate, and the Student Government Association. Besides me, these are the elected leaders of three primary elements of the university’s universe. Fort Hays State is so successful because we support each other and work together. In this group, we talk about our work, explain our priorities and share our perspectives. In this way, we create opportunities for collaboration and enhance our communication.
The Executive Leadership Team (the ELT) is the vice president for academic affairs, the vice president for administration and finance, the vice president for student affairs, and the president of the FHSU Foundation. This group brings together the executives responsible for leading the primary operational and financial divisions of the university. They serve in an advisory role to the president to help guide and shape the vision and strategy within which the larger university community can practice the innovation and creativity that makes the university great.
The Senior Leadership Team comprises the ELT plus the associate provost and the deans; the directors of university relations, athletics, alumni and governmental relations, and facilities planning; the chief information officer for technology; the general counsel; and the assistant vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
The members of this group serve as consultants and coordinators for the executive team, widening the perspective of campus so that it includes both the trees and the forest. The experience ranges from academics and alumni to facilities and technology, giving leadership a view of how policy and strategy affects people throughout the university.
The Cabinet is the largest group with whom I meet regularly, and it has representatives from the broadest cross-section of the university population. Its membership includes the Roundtable, the ELT and the senior leadership as well as people who report to the vice presidents and the president of the faculty bargaining unit, the American Association of University Professors.
In this body we evaluate, discuss, create and shape the policies that guide work and life at Fort Hays State. We share information across campus and identify – and work to fill – gaps in our information and communication.
These four organizational structures are supplemented by a variety of other teams, committees and task forces that work across the university for the collective wellbeing of Fort Hays State. The people on these teams work tirelessly and deliberately to fulfill our mission by focusing on the core commitments of leadership – trust, clarity, knowledge-based decision making, and clearly-defined processes for making those decisions. Inevitably we face challenges, but we do so together, and we continue to press on and grow together.
The strength of mind and spirit, the innovation and the experimentation that are hallmarks of education at Fort Hays State are not accidents. They are the fruits of hard work in every area of the university.
I am truly fortunate to be surrounded by strong leaders who care deeply about one another and about our close-knit community; whose resolve is as firm and steady as our century-old limestone buildings; whose drive to achieve pushes students to be their best; and who understand that our students’ success is the community’s success, the region’s, the nation’s, the world’s, and ours.
DICKINSON COUNTY — A man arrested in June in Pennsylvania on a Dickinson County warrant in connection with 150 counts of rape is now back in Kansas.
Millsap-photo Dickinson County
Eric Millsap, 44, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, was extradited from the Allegheny County Jail, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Abilene on Monday, according to Dickinson County Attorney Andrea Purvis.
Millsap faces 178 counts including the alleged rapes, according to the complaint for crimes that are alleged to have occurred between 2006 and 2015 when he lived in Abilene and Dickinson County.
He made a first court appearance Monday and remains jailed on a $1.5 million bond, according to Purvis.
His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10.
TOPEKA, KAN. – An architect who worked for Payless ShoeSource was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $425,000 in restitution for defrauding the company, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Ruiz-Lacayo-photo Shawnee Co.
Manuel Francisco Ruiz-Lacayo, 38, Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted the crime occurred while he worked for Payless as a project manager for store planning. His work included designing exteriors and interior floor plans for new stores in Central and South America. He coordinated with Ordonez Architecture and Construction in Bogata, Columbia, and Christian Heins Finkenstaedt in Barranquilla, Columbia, on the projects.
Without the knowledge of his employer, Ruiz-Lacayo told the contractors that 3D renderings of storefronts were required for all projects. He told them to use a firm he said was located in Costa Rica. In fact, the address he gave them was his mother’s and no renderings were produced. Ruiz-Lacayo submitted invoices from the fictitious firm to Payless for payment.
Theresa “Tracey” L Perkins, 61, of Colby, passed away in her home on Tuesday August 28, 2018.
She was born October 7, 1956 in Colby, KS, to Leland and Celeste (Schwebach) McIlnay. Tracey graduated from Colby High School and served as the Thomas County Clerk for 8 years and as a bookkeeper at Tubbs and Sons for 11 years.
Tracey enjoyed fishing, camping and taking her dog for walks at the walking trail and driving her around town. Tracey was a woman of great spirit and had a heart filled with humor and love. Tracey cherished every minute with her grandchildren; family was of great importance to her.
Tracey was preceded in death by her parents; granddaughter Sydni Perkins, sister Carol Baalman, brother Burt McIlnay, brother in law Joseph Rehmer, sister in law Barb McIlnay and her beloved dog Princess.
She is survived by her children, Rachel (Jeff) Perkins-Maley, of Hutchinson, KS, and Adam (Crystal) Perkins of Colby, KS; grandchildren, Quincy, Tommy, April, Nathan and Ava; siblings, LeeAnn Rehmer of Grinnell, KS, David McIlnay of Loveland, CO, Kathleen (Jim) Tubbs of Colby KS, Joe (Sheryl) McIlnay of Colby, KS and brother in law Howard Baalman of Hoxie, KS and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be 5-7:00pm, Thursday, August 30, 2018 at Baalmann Mortuary in Colby KS with vigil service at 7:00pm. Funeral mass will be 10:30am, Friday, August 31, 2018 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Colby, KS. Memorials are suggested to Tracey Perkins Memorial Fund in care of Baalmann Mortuary, P.O. Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences: www.baalmannmortuary.com.
RENO COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 7:30p.m. Tuesday in Reno County.
According to Police Sgt. Eric Buller, a motorcycle driven by Michael Jones, 58, Hutchinson and a vehicle driven by 25-year-old Krista Baker, 25, Hutchinson were westbound on East 4th Street in Hutchinson and stopped for pedestrians crossing the road.
A westbound vehicle driven by 73-year-old Jesse R. Penner struck the motorcycle forcing it into Baker’s vehicle.
Jones was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center where he died. He was not wearing a helmet, according to Sgt. Buller.
Police have not released details on any charges or citations.
The TMP-Marian Alumni Association invites the community to share in its 2018 Homecoming Celebration with any entries they would like to add to further enhance its parade.
Any groups that are interested in participating in the parade need to contact the Alumni Office at TMP-Marian prior to Friday, Sept. 14, at 785-625-9434 or [email protected].
Kansas has joined 15 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that it’s legal to fire people for being transgender.
Last week, the 16 states filed a friend-of-the-court briefurging the court to overturn a federal appeals court’s decision that it was illegal for a Michigan funeral home to terminate an employee who was transitioning from male to female. The appeals court ruled that Aimee Stephens’ firing violated Title VII’s prohibition against discrimination based on sex.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt joined attorneys general from 15 other states in filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that federal protections against sex discrimination don’t apply to transgender people. CREDIT KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The facts of the case before the Supreme Court are not in dispute. After working for six years as a funeral director at R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Detroit, Stephens told the funeral home’s owner that she was a transgender woman and planned to dress accordingly.
The owner, a devout Baptist who believed that God created males and females in the traditional biological sense, told her that was unacceptable and fired her. Stephens filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued the funeral home for sex discrimination.
But a federal judge dismissed the EEOC’s complaint. While he agreed it had proven sex discrimination, he ruled the owner’s religious beliefs would be burdened under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The EEOC appealed and earlier this year the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, finding that gender identity discrimination is a form of sex discrimination prohibited under Title VII.
Kansas and the other states contend that “sex” denotes biological status, and the Sixth Circuit’s ruling “erases all common, ordinary understandings of the term ‘sex’ in Title VII and expands it to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘transgender’ status.”
“In doing so,” says the brief, written by the Nebraska attorney general’s office, “the lower court rewrites Title VII in a way never intended or implemented by Congress” when it passed Title VII as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who signed the brief, declined KCUR’s interview request. But his spokeswoman, Jennifer Montgomery, emailed a statement saying that his office has “consistently argued for a narrow interpretation of the term ‘sex’ in Title VII and Title IX because of the state’s interest in limiting the taxpayers’ exposure in potential future lawsuits.”
“It is within Congress’ authority to expand the scope of these laws, but to date Congress has not chosen to do so,” Montgomery added. “Whether to change these laws is for the people’s elected representatives to decide and not the courts.”
That’s been Kansas’ position since Sam Brownback became governor. In 2015, Brownback rescinded an executive order by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that offered protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state employees. The current governor, Jeff Colyer, has said harassment and discrimination are not acceptable in his administration but has not reinstated Sebelius’ executive order.
“It’s just sad that in this day and age we still live in a world where people have to conform to these archaic notions of what it means to be male or female and not have to fit into those arbitrary, decidedly constructed boxes,” said Stephanie Mott, president and executive director of the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project.
The question of whether federal sex discrimination laws apply to transgender people has been taken up by numerous federal courts over the last 20 or so years. The majority have ruled that the laws do apply. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Kansas, is one of the few courts to rule otherwise.
In a 2007 decision, it upheld a lower court decision finding that federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination do not protect transgender people.
“The majority of the judges who have encountered this issue have said this has to do with sex and so it’s covered by the sex discrimination aspects of Title VII,” said Mark P. Johnson, an attorney in the Kansas City office of the Dentons law firm.
Johnson said the minority of courts seems to view the prohibition against sex discrimination as applying to one sex or another and not to someone who’s transitioning.
“Their argument appears to be that if Congress wanted to cover this sort of third status, if you will, then it would have written the law that way either originally or amended it,” Johnson said.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor at KCUR a partner in the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies
Charles L. Patten, age 75 years, of La Crosse, Kansas and formerly of Dodge City, Kansas, passed away at the University of Kansas Health Systems – Hays Campus early on Sunday morning, August 26, 2018. Charles was born on October 29, 1942 at Russell, Kansas to Robert and Irene (Blair) Patten, and was a resident of Dodge City, Kansas for many years. He was united in marriage to Reva Thompson on June 17, 2007 at Dodge City, Kansas. Charles worked at various jobs throughout his life, including as a dishwasher for Dodge City Community College for a number of years, and was also involved in Christian ministry. He liked to play and call Bingo, and loved fishing. Charles was formerly a member of Dodge City Lodge #134 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Survivors include his wife, Reva Patten of La Crosse, Kansas; a son, Franklin Ray Sulenes of Erie, Kansas and a daughter, Lisa Taylor of Statesville, North Carolina; three brothers: Howard Dierking of Clark, Wyoming, Robert Dierking of Dodge City, Kansas, and George Dierking of Irvine, Texas; one sister, Carol Dierking; nieces and nephews. Charles was preceded in death by his parents and a previous wife, Effie.
Cremation has been chosen. The family is planning a Memorial Service for Thursday, August 30, 2018 at 2:00 PM at Locust Grove Village, 701 W. 6th Street, La Crosse, Kansas. Inurnment will take place at a later date at Beverly, Kansas. Memorial contributions may be designated in care of the family.
Edith L. Taylor, 91, of Colby, passed away Saturday, August 25, 2018. She was born September 7, 1926 in Colby to Harry and Lois (McArthur) Eicher. Edith married William A. Taylor September 1, 1947 in Colby. She was a retired Colby Grade School teacher.
