The city of Hays Water Resources Department has contracted with Pro-Pipe to conduct sewer line cleaning and inspections at the locations shown on the map. Cleaning will begin Monday, November 5, 2018. Pro-Pipe should be completed with the entire project on Friday, December 14, 2018.
Door hanger notices will be placed on homes and businesses affected before the cleaning.
During this process, residents may experience a rumbling sound, in addition to the possibility of water entering your sink, bathtub and/or toilet. Sewer lines can develop air pressure or a partial vacuum from the cleaning process. Usually any excess air pressure or vacuum will dissipate through the plumbing vents, but occasionally there are facilities with inadequate plumbing vents (i.e.: no vents, undersized vents or obstructed vents). In this case of inadequate venting, air pressure could escape through the toilet, floor, sink, tub or shower drains, causing water to splash out or a vacuum could draw the water out of the fixture traps allowing unpleasant odors.
If you will not be home or on vacation during the time of sewer line cleaning, please protect your home by keeping your toilet lids down.
The city of Hays apologizes for any inconvenience this may impose. Performing this preventative maintenance by cleaning the sanitary sewer will improve the sewer’s performance and significantly reduce the chance for future sewer backups and related problems.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at the Water Resources Office at 785-628-7380 or via email [email protected].
Imelda D. “Millie” Flax, 82, Hays, died Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Brookdale Senior Living in Hays.
She was born October 9, 1936 in Hays the daughter of Isidore and Lidwina (Younker) Kreutzer. She was a graduate of Hays High School in 1954 and on April 26, 1955 she was united in marriage to Frank W. Flax in Hyacinth, Kansas. They celebrated over fifty years of marriage before he preceded her in death on July 9, 2005. She was a member of St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, the Daughters of Isabella Circle #254, and was a former member of the Sunflower Polka Club. She was a homemaker, enjoyed sewing, and she often commented that “dancing was her joy in life.”
Survivors include three sons; Ron Flax and wife Rhonda of Hays, Wayne Flax and wife Janet of Fort Collins, CO, and Allen Flax of Mesa, AZ, six daughters; Melinda Dreiling and husband Joel of Hays, Joan Youmans and husband Bill of Centennial, Colorado, Lucy Hutchison and husband Craig of Hays, Rebecca Ginther and husband Clay of Dodge City, Tammie Macari and husband Barney of Wichita, and Laura Hertel and husband John of Hays, one brother; Leroy Kreutzer and wife Sandy of Hays, one sister; Firma Pfannenstiel of WaKeeney, a sister-in-law; Judy Kreutzer of Russell, twenty-one grandchildren; Lucas Flax and wife Amanda, Jeremy Dreiling and wife Amy, Jennifer Werth and husband James, Nathan Flax and wife Tori, Jay Dreiling, Mandi Garrett and husband Justin, Nicholas Ginther and fiancé Raia, Marc Hertel and wife Katy, Kelsey Burgess and husband Nathan, Elizabeth Bolmer and husband Matthew, Shawn Hutchison, Landon Flax and wife Sarah, Kylie Youmans, Joshua Ginther and wife Hayley, Jarrod Flax and wife Brianna, Jill Schlegel and husband Jake, Brett Hertel, Madison Macari, Alison Macari, Tara Hertel, and Jordan Flax, seventeen great-grandchildren; Preston Palmer, Laine, Emerson and Hadleigh Werth, Maddix Randa, Xavier Flax, Porter and Lexen Garrett, Reese Owens, Mary-Kate Hertel, Kinley and Kyron Burgess, Allie, Jacob, and Penelope Bolmer, Collins Flax, and Daniel Ginther.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Frank, sisters; Anna Sanders (Linus), Alice Nemechek (Leo), Verla Staab (Roger), Neola Schmidtberger (Robert), and an infant sister Viola Kreutzer, three brothers; Marvin Kreutzer, Kenneth Kreutzer, and an infant brother Leroy Kreutzer.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, 2901 E. 13th Street, with Fr. Jarett Konrade, Fr. Dan Scheetz, and Fr. Bill Surmeier officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 pm until 8:00 on Monday and from 9:00 am until 9:45 on Tuesday, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine Street. A Daughters of Isabella rosary will be at 6:00 pm and a vigil service will be at 7:00 pm, all on Monday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to the St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church remodeling fund. Condolences and memories of Millie may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com
ELLIS – Ellis City Council members will hear an update on water exploration contracts during their meeting tonight.
Other agenda items include certification of the completion of a special improvement project and ratification of the purchase of pagers for the fire department.
The complete Nov. 5 agenda follows.
AGENDA
November 5, 2018
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS
City Hall – Council Meeting Room
BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)
CONSENT AGENDA
Minutes from Regular Meeting on October 15, 2018
Bills Ordinance #2056
(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
Update from Campground Committee
NEW BUSINESS
Consider Approval of Public Property Permit Application and Request for Traffic Control – Ellis Polar Express
Consider Approval of Letter of Support for ACCESS Transportation
Consider Approval to Purchase Chemicals for Wastewater Treatment Plant
Consider Approval of Purchase of Winter Mix Asphalt
Consider Approval to Certify Completion of Special Improvement Project
Consider Ratification of Purchase of Pagers for Fire Department
Steve Gilliland
From where we parked near the entrance to Kanopolis State park, we could see the mountain man encampment scattered among the trees across the road.
White canvas tents of all sizes and descriptions, including teepees dotted the little valley. The sharp smell of wood smoke from campfires hung in the air, stinging our eyes and slightly provoking my grandsons asthma. Mountain man rendezvous began in the early 19th century as opportunities for mountain men to gather for social interaction, to trade furs and goods and to purchase needed supplies they couldn’t make or harvest for themselves like traps and rifles.
Shooting and knife & tomahawk throwing competitions were a part of such gatherings, and as we walked into the encampment the booming sounds of muzzleloader fire echoed through the trees as both men and women shooters tried to best each other. I could only try to imagine what welcome sights and sounds these would have been to the mountain men of generations ago as they gathered together after months of trapping, hunting and living alone in the mountains.
A sign announcing you are in the camp of 2 Paws and Songbird
Our grandson Jacob Friesen shooting his first muzzleloader with “Wolf’s” help
George “Bart” Mills, mountain man Santa
The Prairie Long Rifles (PLR) mountain man club started in 1978 with 11 members (7 of which are still in the club today) and began holding annual rendezvous open to the public in a pasture just east of Salina, KS. They changed rendezvous venues a couple times and in 1993 chose Ottawa State Fishing Lake near Minneapolis, KS.
Wendy Bowls, a conservation worker at Kanopolis Reservoir attended PLR’s rendezvous there at Ottawa State Fishing Lake in 2000. The weather had been wet and rainy and the side roads leading to the site were muddy, greatly restricting public access, and parking was terrible. Wendy convinced her bosses at Kanopolis Reservoir to invite PLR to hold their annual fall rendezvous there at Kanapolis Lake where they have been now since 2001. Wendy’s daughter Lacey first shot a muzzle loading rifle at their fall get together when she was 4 years old, and has returned to shoot again each year for the past twenty years. Prairie Long Rifles presently has 30 active members.
I was certain my 10 year old grandson Jacob would turn himself inside-out for a chance to learn how to throw a big knife and a tomahawk (known in camp as a “hawk”) at a wooden target, but when he strongly declined, I wasn’t even going to suggest he shoot a muzzle loading rifle. But when asked, he was eager to do just that. Paul Riedel, a retired school counselor from Minneapolis has been helping teach kids to shoot muzzleloaders at PLR rendezvous for at least 20 years.
A special range was setup for kids with small steel buffalo targets balanced side-by-side on a board and a picnic table for a shooting bench. Dennis Wolf, known around camp as “Wolf” sat down with Jacob and explained to him the workings of a muzzle loading rifle and how to safely load and shoot one. With each shot, a puff of blue smoke enveloped them both for a couple seconds, and Jacob’s third shot spun the buffalo around on the board. With the firing line secured, Wolf walked downrange with Jacob, showed him where he hit the target and hung a medallion around his neck that said “I shot a muzzleloader.”
George Mills, known around camp as Bart, lives in Tonganoxie, KS and by day helps make “Cheese It” cheese crackers at the Kellogg Bakery in Kansas City. On his time off, he becomes “Bart” and attends mountain man rendezvous where he sells and trades leather goods he’s made. He told me “I make leather shirts, pants, moccasins and about anything a mountain man uses.”
Bart sports a nice beard and years ago he was told he looked like a mountain man Santa. So he wears his Santa hat from Thanksgiving till Christmas and plays Santa at the annual Salina Trade Show, a mountain man trade show where one can buy or trade for anything needed to enjoy the pastime of mountain man living. George says he enjoys the mountain man lifestyle “Cause’ it allows me to spend time like the old folks did.”
Paul Ottensmeier is a retired purchasing agent that was given the name 2 Paws when he was young by his grandfather. His wife Teresa, known in camp as Songbird is the kitchen manager at McKinley school in Abilene. Their son Jonathon, aka Shooting Star, his wife Jean and their kids all participate in mountain man activities with 2 Paws and Songbird. 2 Paws made all the buckskin period clothing the group wears, and puts out a “trading blanket” on the ground covered with clothing and other mountain man necessities to buy, sell and trade. They belong to the Turkey Creek Muzzleloaders but are welcomed at all PLR events.
I asked everyone I spoke with why they enjoy reliving the lives of mountain men and their families. Some liked the historical aspect of it, some liked what it taught their kids, some liked the challenges of that life, but everyone without fail liked the simplicity of that lifestyle of days gone by; all wonderful reasons in my book to Continue Exploring Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Wanda Lorraine (Houston) Smith, age 87. Passed away on Friday, October 19, 2018 at Greeley County Long Term Care in Tribune, Kansas. Wanda was born on November 29, 1930 in Raymond, Kansas, to William “Bill” & Blanche Viola Jeffery Houston.
On July 22, 1949, she married Dearld Milton Smith in Tribune, Kansas.
Wanda was always very involved in the community with Dance Club, Golf Course, Holland Park, Pride, Library, Tennis Courts, and many other projects. She was always willing to help in any way she could.
She spent hours working in her yard and it was beautiful. She also enjoyed photography, stained glass, scrapbooking- she loved making cards, macramé, bowling, golfing, playing tennis and dancing with the love of her life, Dearld.
She was a resident of Tribune, Kansas, moving here in 1947. She started as a Senior in High School. Wanda began her career at Greeley County Schools in 1960 as the School Secretary and later served as the Clerk of the Board. She retired in 1992. She later worked for the Greeley County Chamber of Commerce.
Survivors include son, Randall & Connie Smith, Tribune, Kansas, daughter, Marla and Gary Graham, Engelwood, Colorado. Three siblings, Lawrence Houston and Cecile Shepherd, Tribune, Kansas and Roger Houston, Lakewood, Colorado. Four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Her parents. Husband, and daughter, Marilyn Klein, precede her in death.
A Celebration of Life will be held on November 29, 2018 at the Presbyterian Church at 10:30 a.m. A private inurnment will be held at Greeley County Cemetery.
Memorials may be given to the Charity of your choice.
Michael Joseph Hrabe, 73, passed away Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Smith County Memorial Hospital, Smith Center, KS.
Michael was born November 26, 1944 in Smith Center, KS, the son of George Joseph and Lois Virginia (Schoeni) Hrabe. On September 6, 1964 he married Diann Ruth Johnson in Kirwin, KS.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Michael is survived by his wife Diann Hrabe of Kensington; three sons, Michael Shane (Laura) Hrabe of McPherson, Joel (Kendra) Hrabe and Daniel Hrabe all of Kensington and six grandchildren.
A Celebration of Michael’s life will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, November 8, 2018 at All Faiths Funeral Chapel, Smith Center, KS, with Pastor Tom James officiating. There will not be a public visitation as cremation was chosen. Memorials may be given to Fort Bissell Saddle Club of Phillipsburg and can be sent in care of the funeral chapel.
Barbara Ann Ginther, 86, passed away November 2, 2018 at Hodgeman County Health Center, Jetmore.
She was born January 2, 1932 in Hill City, the daughter of Carroll and Catherine Peltier Wainwright. A longtime area resident, she was a homemaker.
She was a member of United Methodist Church and FCE, both of Jetmore and Builders Sunday School at the Garden City United Methodist Church.
On August 14, 1949, she married Verlyn I. Ginther in Hill City. He died April 6, 2015.
Survivors include: two sons, Carroll (Tammy) Ginther, Kalvesta and Douglas Ginther, Wichita; daughter, Kathleen (Bob) Taylor, Prairie Village; seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Kenneth and Francis Wainwright.
Funeral service will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at United Methodist Church, Jetmore, with Pastor Cyd Stein presiding. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at Beckwith Funeral Home, Jetmore. Burial will follow immediately at Garden City Valley View Cemetery, Garden City.
Memorials may be left at Jetmore United Methodist Church Piecemakers in care of Beckwith Funeral Home, Box 663 Jetmore, KS 67854.
Frankie A. Gooch, 87, of Russell, Kansas, died on Friday, November 02, 2018, at the Russell Regional Hospital in Russell, Kansas.
Frankie was born on November 09, 1930, in Quanah, Texas, the daughter of James Frank and Ethel Belle (Young) Stepp. She grew up in Borger Texas and graduated from Borger High School. She met fell in love and was united in marriage to Corbett Gooch, Jr. on August 02, 1955, in Stinnett, Texas. From this union Frankie and Corbett were blessed with 5 children Cathlene, Lee, Amelia, Patricia and James. The family moved to Russell in 1973, from Borger. Frankie worked as a bookkeeper for Bogart’s Grocery and their family weed spraying business in Russell but her fulltime job was wife and mother to her growing family. She attended the Church of Christ and was a member of the Russell VFW Auxiliary. She enjoyed gardening, growing house plants, sewing, working puzzles, baking, and playing with her many grandchildren.
Surviving family include her daughter Cathlene McClain, son Lee Wayne Gooch (Sonya), daughter Amelia Heaton, daughter Patricia Parrett and son James Gooch (Pam); 17 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren and 7 great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Corbett, sister Mary Francis and a granddaughter.
A memorial service to celebrate Frankie’s life will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, November 07, 2018, at the Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary with Pastor Michael Eurit officiating. Cremation has preceded the service and inurnment will follow the services at the Russell City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. on Tuesday, November 06, 2018, at the mortuary. Family will greet guests the day of the service.
Memorials may be given to the Russell V.F.W. Post 6240 Auxiliary and sent in care of the mortuary. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas is in charge of the memorial service.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the cause of a fire and have made an arrest.
Tamisha Brown -photo Shawnee County
Just before 2p.m. Sunday, the Topeka Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire located at Providence Living Center, 1112 SE Republican in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Michael Martin.
The facility was evacuated and the fire was quickly extinguished.
Fire crews discovered a fire had occurred in one of the rooms within the multi-person facility.
The Topeka Fire Department Investigation’s Unit responded to the scene to perform an origin and cause scene investigation. As a result of the investigation, police arrested 32-year-old Tamisha L. Brown for Aggravated Arson, according to Martin.
Crews in Topeka responded to four additional weekend fires including fires blamed on careless smoking at an apartment at 4420 SW 34th Street and at 5991 SW 22th Street, an electrical fire 507 NE Paramore and another suspicious fire at a home 1401 SE Washington Street, according to Martin. There were no injuries reported in the fires, according to Martin.
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man pleaded guilty Friday to another murder in a series of violent crimes in Kansas and two other states separated by nearly 2,000 miles.
Deaton-photo Rankin Co. MS Sheriff
Alex Deaton pleaded guilty Friday in Neshoba County Circuit Court to the February 2017 murder of Brenda Pinter, a 69-year-old woman who was cleaning a rural Baptist church. Circuit Judge Christopher Collins sentenced him to life without parole, the second such sentence Deaton has received in Mississippi, in addition to a prison sentence of nearly 13 years in Kansas.
Still unclear is why Deaton shot Pinter multiple times. District Attorney Steven Kilgore says that prosecutors were never able to discern a motive.
“We were able to prove he was the one that did it, but as to why he though he needed to kill this 69-year-old lady, we don’t know,” Kilgore said.
Deaton did tell the judge he was on drugs at the time of the shooting. He has earlier testified he has bipolar disorder.
Pinter’s death came the day after Deaton strangled his girlfriend in her suburban Jackson apartment, stole her SUV and shot and wounded a jogger near Robinson’s home. Deaton admitted to those crimes in August when he pleaded guilty in Rankin County. Rankin County Circuit Judge William Chapman also sentenced him to life in prison. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey has said he believes Deaton’s series of crimes were sparked when Robinson tried to break up with him.
The 30-year-old Deaton also faces a multicount indictment in New Mexico’s Sandoval County, accusing him of trying to kidnap two teenage hikers. Authorities say he shot and wounded one of them and stole a car.
Scene of Deaton’s crash when he was captured Ellsworth Co.-photo courtesy KHP
Deaton already pleaded guilty in July 2017 to the final act in his criminal drama — robbing, stealing a car from and shooting a convenience store clerk in Pratt, Kansas. Deaton was sentenced in October to nearly 13 years in prison in Kansas for attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery there.
“We’re all working toward the same goal and trying to make sure this man never sees the light of day again,” Kilgore said.
Kilgore said Deaton has family members in Neshoba County, but said they bore no responsibility for Pinter’s killing or Deaton’s other acts. He said a bullet pried from the wall of Dixon Baptist Church matched a gun recovered with Dixon when he was arrested in a snowy Kansas field after overturning his vehicle during a police chase. Kilgore said surveillance video also links Deaton to Pinter’s death.
It’s believed that thousands of KanCare’s 360,000 enrollees have chronic hepatitis C, which can be fatal.
BY DAN MARGOLIES Kansas News Service
Kansas has agreed to cover the cost of drugs to treat Medicaid patients with chronic hepatitis C without subjecting them to a lengthy list of requirements.
A legal settlement, which awaits final court approval, resolves a class action lawsuit alleging the state made it too difficult for hepatitis C patients to receive the potentially life-saving treatments.
The parties first notified the court in July that they had resolved the case after mediation. On Tuesday, the court set deadlines for approval of a final settlement.
“Essentially, the agreement is that all hep C patients who use Medicaid to get their drugs will be entitled to Mavyret or Harvoni, the two curative drugs, regardless of their fibrosis score,” said Lauren Bonds, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas, which along with the Shook Hardy & Bacon law firm, sued Kansas officials over the state’s hep C treatment guidelines in February.
Fibrosis scores measure the health of the liver. Scores range from F0, referring to mild or no scarring of the liver, to F4, referring to significant liver damage or cirrhosis. Kansas’ privatized Medicaid program, known as KanCare, had limited coverage to patients with a fibrosis score of F3 or F4.
Theresa Freed, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, confirmed that Kansas has stopped limiting coverage to patients with F3 or F4 scores.
The state had imposed other conditions for treatment as well, including denying direct-acting antiviral drugs, the current standard of care, to patients who tested positive for alcohol or illicit drug use. In addition, patients had to undergo six months of “abstinence” testing before KanCare would consider covering the drugs.
Bonds said the settlement resolves all the claims laid out in the lawsuit.
KanCare has about 360,000 enrollees. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2014 estimated that about 35,000 Kansans had hepatitis C, but it’s not known how many of them are enrolled in KanCare. The lawsuit estimates the number to be in the thousands.
“I think the law is very clear on this front,” Bonds said. “We’re one of probably 15 cases on this issue that have been filed and there’s been a very clear trend of how they’re being resolved — and that’s in favor of the plaintiffs.”
Many states balked at paying for the high-priced drugs and limited treatment for Medicaid patients and prison inmates. But recent court decisions have ruled that states cannot deny treatment because of the drugs’ costs.
Most recently, a federal judge in Indiana found that withholding hepatitis C treatment from prison inmates violated the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual punishments” clause. Similar rulings have been handed down or settlements reached in other states, including Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington and Colorado.
A lawsuit against Missouri was dropped in November 2017 after the state agreed to cover the cost of direct-acting antiviral drugs.
Hepatitis C is a contagious infection that can cause severe damage to the liver and even death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 2.7 million and 3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C. Most people become infected by sharing needles, syringes or other equipment to inject drugs.
Until recently, there was no effective treatment for chronic hepatitis C infections. But in 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new class of highly effective direct-acting antiviral drugs that have few side effects and boast a cure rate of more than 90 percent.
The drugs are extremely expensive. Mavyret runs about $26,400 per treatment course, before discounts. And Harvoni runs about $94,500 per treatment course, also before discounts.
Bonds said her understanding is that the state has funding in place to cover the drugs.
“We were assured about that, but don’t know a ton of the specifics,” Bonds said.
U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree must approve the settlement, final details of which are being hammered out.
Jennifer Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Attorney General’s office, which defended the lawsuit, said work on the settlement was proceeding and the office was “optimistic about getting it resolved.”
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
