Children and Allergies
A little girl was wearing one of those Medical Alert bracelets.
Someone asked her what the bracelet was for.
She replied, “I’m allergic to nuts and eggs.”
The person asked, “Are you allergic to cats?”
The little girl said, “I don’t know… I don’t eat cats.”
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Jason Livesay, respiratory therapist at HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System, was recently named Respiratory Therapist of the Year.
Respiratory Services awards an annual Breath of Fresh Air award to recognize a respiratory therapist for their hard work and dedication.
The award winner is nominated and chosen by their peers and highlights an Associate in the respiratory therapy department who positively contributed the most teamwork and patient care during the year.
And, maybe we’ll also find out what happened to those 21 delayed modernization and expansion projects for the state’s highway system that were believed to be good ideas 10 years ago in the now near-expiration T-WORKS 10-year highway program that legislators and administrators touted a decade ago.
Yes, we’ll find out this week when that “vision task force” puts together most of a new highway and transportation plan that it will present to the Legislature sometime in January.
Remember that the near-ended T-WORKS plan was presented as a way to not only make the state’s roads better, more convenient and safer, but as a demonstration that representatives and senators had genuine clout in the Legislature by getting road projects in their districts, or near their districts, that their constituents would like.
Nothing quite like standing next to the governor, the local Chamber of Commerce officials, mayors, county commissioners and others when that ribbon was cut to make driving easier and safer for your local voters. Not quite like crowning a beauty queen, but politically, close.
That old T-WORKS is nearly over, and of course nobody’s forgotten those promised and then not delivered road projects.
Reason, of course, was that the now mostly repealed Gov. Sam Brownback tax cut program reduced state revenues so sharply that the state had to withhold more than a billion dollars in funds for those projects from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The governor and his allies called it “sweeps” of those highway funds, we’re supposing because “sweeping” sounds so much better than robbery.
The delayed projects include about 96 miles of modernization, ranging from wider and safer shoulders to flattening out hills and straightening curves so you can not only see where you are going, but so you can see the vehicles coming from the other direction. Safety stuff. Oh, and about 35 miles are road expansions, including four-lane expressway construction, making intersections safer and adding frontage roads so there are fewer cars slowing ahead of you as they pull off to get to a quick stop or hamburger stand or such.
Those delayed projects? Pretty evenly split between western and eastern Kansas, either side of US-81, which is the east/west dividing line of the state.
This time around, besides catching up, or not catching up on the projects that weren’t done, we’re going to see just where new money is planned to be spent in the upcoming decade.
And that’s where the issue comes down to legislators’ clout on the House and Senate floors. House members in their first year of a new term: What a good time to show that their constituents elected someone with genuine muscle? And Senate members who will be on the ballot about the time that the new highway program is to start, they’ll be measured by constituents on what they were able to bring to their home districts. Whether it’s four lanes or upgraded two lanes, or maybe just an off-ramp near the city center. Lots of options here.
But the key is that everyone wants better roads, faster roads, smoother roads, and they want everyone else in the state to pay for them…somehow.
Could be a motor fuel tax, could be provisions that prohibit that “sweeping” of funds from KDOT if the economy goes south, or it could be a battle between lowering the sales tax on groceries or getting that new or at least smoother road.
We’ll get a hint of how this may come out by week’s end.
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
Jacob Schmeidler: Qualified for the 2018 National Livestock Judging Competition
The Ellis County Joint Planning Commission will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting will be 7 p.m. at 718 Main in the commission chambers.
Call 785-628-9449 for more information.
FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State head softball coach Adrian Pilkington has announced the signing of six student-athletes that will join the team for the 2020 season. This year’s signing class includes three freshmen and three transfers.
Loren Beggs joins the Tigers from Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kan., the 2017 Kansas 6A State Champions. Beggs has helped the Ravens to the state semifinals as the starting third baseman each of the last three years, winning the title in 2017 before finishing runner-up last season. She was an all-conference selection and earned honorable mention All-State accolades.
Kyla Etter comes to Hays to serve in a pitcher/utility role from Eudora High School in Eudora, Kan. Etter earned 4A first team All-State honors as a pitcher after her junior season in 2018. She has been listed on the Lawrence Journal World All-Area team each of the last two seasons and has been named an all-conference honoree after each of the last three years. Etter led the Cardinals to a 17-5 record and a trip to the regional championship as a junior in 2018.
Haley Fox is the first of three transfers, joining the Tigers after two seasons at Colby (Kan.) Community College. Fox was an all-conference and all-region selection as a freshman infielder with the Trojans, batting .316 with 31 RBI and 15 extra base knocks. The shortstop ranked second on the team with five home runs and legged out a team-best two triples while appearing in 51 games. The Colorado Springs, Colo. native was a standout at Mesa Ridge High School, earning four all-conference selections, three Colorado Springs Metro League gold gloves and one CSML Most Valuable Player award.
Mahealani Haegele will also transfer to FHSU from Colby (Kan.) Community College. Haegele appeared in 30 games as a pitcher last season, making 26 starts for the Trojans and earning all-conference and all-region honors. She led the team with 80 strikeouts and ranked second on the pitching staff with 128.1 innings pitched and a 3.38 ERA. She made just one error in 69 chances in the field, posting a fielding percentage of .986. A native of Richland, Mich., Haegele was a two-time all-conference selection at Liberty High School.
Lexi Kagan is the third transfer from Colby (Kan.) Community College that will join the Tigers next season. Kagan also picked up all-conference and all-region accolades as a freshman, playing in 52 of the Trojans’ 53 games. She ranked third on the team with 163 at bats, compiling a batting average of .366 while posting a .422 on-base percentage. The infielder ranked third on the team with 60 base knocks and 38 RBI while stealing 10 bases on the year. Kagan hails from Castle Rock, Colo., where she was an all-state selection and earned three all-conference honors at Castle View High School.
Kristen Reed heads to FHSU from Fort Collins, Colo. where she earned numerous accolades as a first baseman/outfielder at Fossil Ridge High School. Reed earned a trio of all-conference selections while being named all-state honorable mention. She appeared in 83 games as a SaberCat, posting a .482 batting average, a .572 OBP, 122 hits, 89 RBI and 116 runs scored. Reed helped Fossil Ridge to four consecutive state tournaments, finishing second in the state in 2017 while reaching the state semifinals in 2015 and 2016. She was high school teammates with current Tigers Grace Philop and Megan Jamison.
KANSAS CITY (AP) – A mother and her boyfriend are charged with the malnutrition death of a 2-year-old in a rat-infested Kansas City home.
Prosecutors announced Monday that 25 -year-old Saritza Serrano and 24-year-old Ruben Yepez-Ruiz are charged with abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death. No attorneys are listed for them in online court records.
Charging documents say emergency crews responded to their home on Nov. 16. They found the boy’s body in feces-covered bedroom with a door that latched on the outside.
Serrano told police the boy had been sick for three weeks but that she hadn’t taken him to a doctor. She said she fed him milk through a bottle. Yepez-Ruiz said he hadn’t seen the child in several weeks, although they lived in the same home together.
SCOTT COUNTY— One person died in an accident just before 7:30 p.m. Monday in Scott County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Toyota Camry driven by Mony Sen Conner, 39, Dodge City, was southbound on U.S. 83 twelve miles north of Kansas 96.
The driver attempted to pass a southbound 2010 Freightliner truck driven by Luis Fernando Jimenez-Sanjuan, 35, Garden City, on the left.
The Toyota side-swiped the driver’s side of a northbound 2015 Ford E450 driven by Stanton Ray Herrada, 19, Garden City.
The Toyota then pushed back over into the southbound lane and side-swiped the Freightliner truck.
Conner was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Price and Sons Mortuary.
Jimenez-Sanjuan and Herrada were not injured. All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Today Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 34. Light and variable wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. South wind around 8 mph.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. South southwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 29. South southwest wind around 6 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
ThursdayPartly sunny, with a high near 47. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.
Thursday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 28.
FridayA slight chance of snow before 9am, then a slight chance of rain and snow between 9am and 10am, then a chance of rain after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday Night Rain likely before 1am, then rain and snow likely between 1am and 2am, then snow likely after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
SaturdayMostly cloudy, with a high near 43.
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s OK to eat some romaine lettuce again, U.S. health officials said. Just check the label.
The Food and Drug Administration narrowed its blanket warning from last week, when it said people shouldn’t eat any romaine because of an E. coli outbreak. The agency said Monday the romaine linked to the outbreak appears to be from the California’s Central Coast region. It said romaine from elsewhere should soon be labeled with harvest dates and regions, so people know it’s OK to eat.
People shouldn’t eat romaine that doesn’t have the label information, the FDA said. For romaine that doesn’t come in packaging, grocers and retailers are being asked to post the information by the register.
Romaine harvesting recently began shifting from California’s Central Coast to winter growing areas, primarily Arizona, Florida, Mexico and California’s Imperial Valley. Those winter regions weren’t yet shipping when the illnesses began. The FDA also noted hydroponically grown romaine and romaine grown in greenhouses aren’t implicated in the outbreak.
The labeling arrangement was worked out as the produce industry called on the FDA to quickly narrow the scope of its warning so it wouldn’t have to waste freshly harvested romaine. An industry group said people can expect to start seeing labels as early as this week. It noted the labels are voluntary, and that it will monitor whether to expand the measure to other leafy greens and produce.
The FDA said the industry committed to making the labeling standard for romaine and to consider longer-term labeling options for other leafy greens.
Robert Whitaker, chief science officer of the Produce Marketing Association, said labeling for romaine could help limit the scope of future alerts and rebuild public trust after other outbreaks.
“Romaine as a category has had a year that’s been unfortunate,” Whitaker said.
The FDA still hasn’t identified a source of contamination in the latest outbreak. There have been no reported deaths, but health officials say 43 people in 12 states have been sickened. Twenty-two people in Canada were also sickened.
Even though romaine from the Yuma, Arizona, region is not implicated in the current outbreak, it was blamed for an E. coli outbreak this spring that sickened more than 200 people and killed five. Contaminated irrigation water near a cattle lot was later identified as the likely source.
Leafy greens were also blamed for an E. coli outbreak last year. U.S. investigators never specified which salad green might be to blame for those illnesses, which happened around the same time of year as the current outbreak. But officials in Canada identified romaine as a common source of illnesses there.
The produce industry is aware the problem is recurring, said Jennifer McEntire of the United Fresh Produce Association.
“To have something repeat in this way, there simply must be some environmental source that persisted,” she said. “The question now is, can we find it?”
Growers and handlers in the region tightened food safety measures after the outbreak this spring, the industry says. Steps include expanding buffer zones between cattle lots and produce fields. But McEntire said it’s not known for sure how the romaine became contaminated in the Yuma outbreak. Another possibility, she said, is that winds blew dust from the cattle lot onto produce.
McEntire said the industry is considering multiple theories, including whether there is something about romaine that makes it more susceptible to contamination. Compared with iceberg lettuce, she noted its leaves are more open, thus exposing more surface area.
Since romaine has a shelf life of about 21 days, health officials said last week they believed contaminated romaine could still be on the market or in people’s homes.
Food poisoning outbreaks from leafy greens are not unusual. But after a 2006 outbreak linked to spinach, the produce industry took steps it believed would limit large scale outbreaks, said Timothy Lytton, a Georgia State University law professor. The outbreak linked to romaine earlier this year cast doubt on how effective the measures have been, he said.
But Lytton also noted the inherent risk of produce, which is grown in open fields and eaten raw.
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board approved raises for teachers, administrators and classified staff at its meeting on Monday.
However, not everyone received the same amount.
The board approved the teachers’ contract, which was ratified on Nov. 14. That contract included a 3.7 percent raise, a $200 one-time payment for insurance and vertical and horizontal movement on the pay scale. The raises will be retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year in June.
The board approved a 4.6 percent raise for classified staff and 3.7 percent raise for administration.
The administration and classified received a 4.6 percent pay increase in error in June. On Nov. 1, the board stopped that raise, but agreed the staff would not have to pay back the salary increase that was paid in error.
The board in the past has given administration and classified staff the same percent raise as it has negotiated with teachers. However, the Hays NEA can’t legally negotiate on the behalf of other staff.
Board member Greg Schwartz made a motion to increase pay for classified and administrative staff by 3.7 percent. That failed on a vote of 5 to 1. Board member Lance Bickle was absent.
Luke Oborny proposed increasing classified staff by 4.6 percent and increasing administrative staff by 3.7 percent.
A wage comparison that was included in the board packet indicated some of the classified staff are being paid less than comparable positions in Ellis County.
The district budgeted a 4.6 percent increase for all staff. The difference between a 4.6 and 3.7 percent raise for the classified staff would be $20,000 total. Board member Paul Adams said the difference in hourly rate for classified staff on a 4.6 percent raise would be between 9 and 23 cents.
Although that might not seem much to the board, he said he that might mean something to the staff members.
Board member Sophia Rose Young said she could not live on the amount some of the classified staff are being paid.
Schwartz said, “Where are you going to draw the line? $50,000?”
Schwartz voted against the split raises. He said the pay system needs to be evaluated, but the board needs the facts before making any significant changes in the pay scale.
However, he and other board members agreed a committee needs to be formed to review staff pay.
Board member Mike Walker said it would be very bad for morale if the board took action Monday and then did nothing to evaluate and revise staff pay. Superintendent John Thissen said he would work to form a committee to bring back recommendations to the board.
District custodians had already negotiated a 4.6 percent pay raise. This is the last year the district will negotiate with the custodian’s union, SEIU. The board also already approved a $2 per hour raise for paraprofessionals. The move was aimed at reducing turnover among special education staff.
Chris Hipp, special education director, told the board Monday the coop has had a 4 percent reduction in open positions since the raise was instituted in August.
The board also approved the contracts for the Oak Park Medical Plaza. The property will be renovated for use by Early Childhood Connections. See a complete story on Tuesday.
