Sara Natalia Solis, infant daughter of Oscar Solis and Emily Stutzman was born November 20, 2018 in Deerfield, Kansas and passed away later in Lakin, Kansas.
Survivors include her parents; a brother-Eñosael Solis; Grandparents- Tessa Blood, Bernardina & Oscar H. Solis, and Craig Stutzman; 5 aunts; 2 uncles; and numerous cousins.
A Funeral Mass will be held 11:00 am Friday November, 23, 2018 at St. Mary Catholic Church of Garden City with Father Charles Seiwert officiating. Burial to follow in Deerfield Cemetery. The family suggests memorials to the Sara Natalia Solis Memorial Fund in Care of Garnand Funeral Home of Garden City, 412 N 7th St, Garden City, KS 67846.
Condolences may be posted at www.garnandfuneralhome.com
Law enforcement authorities on the scene in Pratt Tuesday evening –photo courtesy KWCH
PRATT (AP) — A man shot by police earlier this month near the small Kansas town of Pratt has died.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says 38-year-old Rene Prieto died Wednesday in a Wichita hospital, where he had been treated since the shooting on Nov. 13. An autopsy is planned and the bureau says in a brief news release that the investigation continues.
The shooting happened after Pratt police officers responded to a report of a man waving a gun on a street outside a home.
Authorities say Prieto fired at one of the responding officers. Three officers returned fire.
This Santa’s Workshop is not located at the North Pole; it’s a little closer, in Hays.
Children ages 12 and younger are invited to Santa’s Workshop for a kids’ shopping day Sat., Nov. 24, to buy Christmas gifts for their loved ones.
The special event will be held at the VFW Post 9076, 2106 Vine, where the VFW Honor Guard and Auxiliary members, along with other volunteer elves, will help children select the perfect gifts.
Kat’s Hallmark is sponsoring the event. Business owner Kathy Schupman has an in at the local VFW. She is the Post Quartermaster.
Schupman grew up in Ohio where she participated in similar holiday shopping events as a child.
“I loved the idea and I’ve always wanted my daughter to be able to participate. Being in the military and moving around, I never came across this again,” Schupman said.
She talked to her team members at Kat’s Hallmark, 4320 Vine, and they decided to “give this a try.”
All the gifts are priced at $5 or less and are Hallmark brand products or its affiliates. “Hallmark is very much behind this endeavor,” she added.
The gifts available for purchase are suitable for family members, other loved ones, friends and even pets. The shoppers will be given a form to help them keep track of whom they’re buying for and how much they’re spending.
Parents who bring their children will wait in the lobby area with coffee while the kids shop. Students from TMP-Marian school will be offering free gift wrapping.
“They’re coming home with something that’s wrapped that says ‘From Johnny to Mom’ and Mom doesn’t know what it is.
“It gives excitement for the children and for the parent. And it doesn’t matter what financial bracket you’re in,” Schupman stressed. “This is just a good fun event for everyone to participate in.”
Santa Claus himself will be in the lobby to pose for pictures with the kids.
Santa’s Workshop is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Proceeds will benefit the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9076 in Hays.
The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team climbed up both national rankings in the first regular season version of each poll, released Tuesday. The Tigers are now ranked 11th in the WBCA Division II Coaches Poll and No. 16 in the D2SIDA Media Poll, up from 12th and 22nd in the preseason, respectively.
The Tigers opened the year 2-0 last weekend in Hays, defeating Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa by a combined 68 points. FHSU ranks second in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 46 points per contest, while ranking third with a +12.0 turnover margin.
SALINA — A 41-year-old Salina man was booked into the Saline County jail Tuesday on charges that included six counts of rape of a girl under age 14.
Salina Police Sergeant Gary Hanus said Wednesday an investigation that began Nov. 3 resulted in the arrest Tuesday afternoon of Phillip J. Garrett, 41, Salina, on suspicion of six counts of rape of a victim under age 14 and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy.
The girl was an acquaintance of Garrett’s, Hanus said. The incidents occurred in a south Salina residence during a period of May through August, he added.
Hanus said the girl’s parents took the girl to the police after finding text messages between the girl and her friends that raised their suspicions and caused them to question her.
Scott SchwabTOPEKA (AP) — Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab is preparing to take over as secretary of state after promising to be less colorful and more focused on nuts-and-bolts administrative details than outgoing Republican incumbent Kris Kobach.
Kobach won the office in 2010 on a platform of rewriting state election laws. He boosted his national profile by championing tough voter identification laws and ran unsuccessfully for governor as a vocal ally of President Donald Trump.
Both Schwab and Kobach are conservative Republicans. But Schwab said in a recent Associated Press interview: “People want things to calm down.”
His plan is to focus on improving the day-to-day administration of elections but the Kansas Senate’s top Democrat has a proposal to curb the office’s power to oversee elections in the state’s four most populous counties.
Dr. Tisa MasonYou know the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
It is a great metaphor for the payoff of hard work and determination – strong characteristics of Fort Hays State University. I am so proud of how our faculty and staff stay focused and put in whatever effort is required to stay the course to see our students reach their level of success. We invest everything we have in our remarkable students, preparing them to excel throughout their lives and careers.
Amidst the multitude of illustrations of how we prepare our students, one recent example of the Carnegie Hall expression came to fruition both metaphorically and, well, literally!
It was Tuesday, Oct. 30, and the Russian String Orchestra was on its way to Fort Hays State as part of our Encore Performing Art Series. They arrived in the United States late Monday night, but without the cellists. Apparently, they missed their flight due to some unfortunate ticketing problem. As Ben Cline tells the story, flying with a cello is harder than flying with unhappy children!
Cline, chair of the Department of Music and Theatre, went on to share with me that there was a lot of concern and angst – a missing section of the orchestra, Cline said, is like missing your running backs or defensive line. How would the show go on? Of course the show must always go on – right? And after all, this is Fort Hays State University. Determined. Resilient. A deliverer.
As the evening unfolded, our music chair and our guest conductor put together a plan to save the concert. The orchestra was able to put together enough music for the first half of the concert without the cellos. But they had to have cellos to make the second half of the concert work. Cline had an idea.
Misha (the Russian conductor), invited Cline to select students to play with the orchestra on a piece the students had worked on in the past – a very difficult work that is 30 minutes long (yes, 30 minutes, one song). Cline contacted the students on Monday night and they jumped at the opportunity. Even though they felt unprepared, they were willing to take the risk because they had the opportunity to work with a professional chamber orchestra; indeed, a once in a lifetime moment!
Early Tuesday evening, immediately prior to the performance, the students (Natalie Thomas, Stockton; Clara Kachanes, Great Bend; Jayce Milburn, Arcadia; Tanner Callis, Hays; Megan Rayl, Littleton, Colo.; and Carl Rorstrom, Hays), together with Cline, rehearsed and then performed this 30-minute piece of music with the Russian String Orchestra – all in the same evening. The audience was delighted.
Indeed, it was extraordinary!
I join Professor Cline in saying how really proud we are of these students. In less than 24 hours they helped locate the music, practiced as much as they could, and with that Tiger resilience, did their very best. Their effort and results speak volumes to their commitment and their willingness to take a chance. I am equally proud of Ben Cline.
One of the students described the experience as like “going into battle.” The students were focused. They were prepared. They were practiced.
I, however, describe the evening of Oct. 30, 2018, as a moment in time when our Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center was magically transformed into Carnegie Hall.
Grayce Joann (Bock) Lucas, 87, passed away November 20, 2018 at Country Living Memory Care, Larned, KS.
She was born August 17, 1931, in Hutchinson, KS the daughter of Alfred and Alice Bock. A longtime area resident, she was a housewife and a teacher.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, First Presbyterian Women, PEO, all of Larned. She was very active in many organizations and was a member of the Symphony Orchestra in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She taught junior high Home Economics in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and also taught part time at Barton County Community College.
On August 6, 1949, she married Dale D. Lucas in Macksville; he passed February 27, 2015. During their marriage she was an avid supporter of all his endeavors.
Survivors include; two sons, Daryl (Sandy) Lucas, Macksville, Myron (Cynthia) Lucas, Garden Plain; four grandsons, Sebastian Lucas, Garden Plain, Mackenzie Lucas, Garden Plain, Christopher (Krista) Lucas, Denver, CO, Nickolas Lucas, Macksville; one granddaughter, Emily Lucas; Macksville; three great granddaughters, Kenli, Kaybri, and Kypton Lucas, Denver, CO.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Dale, and brother Bob Bock.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 26, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, Larned with Pastor Bill Stapleton presiding. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sunday at Beckwith Mortuary, Larned. Private family inurnment will be in the Farmington Cemetery, Macksville, Kansas at a later date.
Memorials may be given to First Presbyterian Church, Larned, in care of Beckwith Mortuary, P.O. Box 477, Larned, KS 67550.
LAWRENCE (AP) — A judge is barring an attorney from representing the man charged with fatally shooting three people and wounding two others in downtown Lawrence.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Douglas County District Court Judge Sally Pokorny says she has “grave concerns” about the competency of Jennifer Chaffee. Pokorny cited a laundry list of missteps that culminated with a mistrial four days into jury selection in the high-profile case.
Chaffee declined to comment. She was representing 21-year-old Anthony Roberts Jr., who is charged with three murder counts and one attempted murder count. Two other suspects face less series charges in the October 2017 shooting.
Pokorny has appointed a new attorney to represent Roberts and says she intends to appoint a second attorney soon. Roberts’ trial is now set for Feb. 4.
Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed and Champ Bailey are among 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The three made the cut in their first year of eligibility.
Champ Bailey
In all, 13 defensive players, nine on offense and three coaches — Jimmy Johnson, Tom Flores and Don Coryell — are semifinalists. Contributors Gil Brandt and Pat Bowlen, and senior committee nominee Johnny Robinson are already finalists for the hall.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Light right falling Wednesday in some areas of Northern California could aid crews fighting a deadly wildfire while raising the risk of flash floods and complicating efforts to recover the remains of those killed.
Heavier rain was expected later in the day in the Paradise burn area, where a monstrous wildfire has killed at least 81 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes.
Residents of communities charred by a Los Angeles-area fire stacked sandbags as they prepared for possible downpours that threaten to unleash runoff from hillsides left barren by flames.
Satellite view of the wildfires in Paradise, California. NASA
Forecasters say rain expected over areas of Southern California burned by recent wildfires could cause mudslides and rock slides.
In Paradise, teams sifted through ash and debris as they searched for bodies about 140 miles northwest of San Francisco.
“The task is arduous,” said Rick Crawford with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “And the possibility exists that some people may never be found.”
Officials said nearly 870 people were still unaccounted for.
Precipitation could hinder the search by washing away fragmentary remains and turning ash into a thick paste.
Authorities trying to identify people killed are using rapid DNA testing that provides results in just two hours. The system can analyze DNA from bone fragments or other remains, then match it to genetic material provided by relatives of the missing.
The technology depends on people coming forward to give a DNA sample via a cheek swab.
But as of Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the start of the inferno, only about 60 people had provided samples to pop-up labs, said Annette Mattern, a spokeswoman for ANDE, a Colorado company that is donating use of the technology.
“We need hundreds,” Mattern said. “We need a big enough sample for us to make a positive ID on these and to also give a better idea of how many losses there actually are.”
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for Paradise and nearby communities and for those areas charred by wildfires earlier this year in Lake, Shasta, Trinity and Mendocino counties.
The Camp Fire, which has burned an area about the size of Chicago — nearly 238 square miles — was 75 percent contained.
In Southern California, people who worried days earlier that their homes might be consumed by flames were taking precautions against possible mudslides caused by the approaching storm.
Residents filling sandbags at Malibu’s Zuma Beach were mindful of a disaster that struck less than a year ago when a downpour on a fresh burn scar sent home-smashing debris flows through Montecito, killing 21 people and leaving two missing.
The 151-square-mile Woolsey Fire in the Los Angeles area was almost entirely contained after three people were killed, 1,643 structures destroyed and 364 damaged.
___ Associated Press journalists Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, and Christopher Weber and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Sportsman / Shawnee County Department of CorrectionsTOPEKA (AP) — A judge has found sufficient evidence for three men to stand trial in a double homicide in Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 19-year-old Matthew Hutto, 31-year-old Richard Showalter and 41-year-old Bradley Sportsman were bound over for trial Tuesday. They’re each jailed on $1 million bond on charges that include first-degree murder in the deaths of Sportsman’s estranged wife, 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman, and her cousin, 17-year-old Jesse Polinskey.
Twenty-year-old Cole Pingel testified at the preliminary hearing that the three talked about “taking care of business” while making the two-hour drive from the small town of Greenleaf to Topeka on July 22. The victims were found stabbed and beaten to death the next day.
Pingel is charged with interference with law enforcement for allegedly making a false statement during the investigation.
SALINA — A 41-year-old Salina man was booked into the Saline County jail Tuesday on charges that included six counts of rape of a girl under age 14.
