RUSSELL CO. ECO DEVO

RUSSELL – Russell County business owners are encouraged to apply for the storefront/signage grant and submit it by Friday, January 4 if you are going to be improving your storefront and/or business signage.

Email [email protected] for an application.

Seven storefront/signage grants will be awarded in 2019. Funds for the program come from the 1/2 cent sales tax for economic development and capital improvements.

The grant is a program of Russell County Economic Development and CVB.

HCT

Audition call for “Murder Can Be Habit Forming”, a murder mystery spoof directed by Cheryl Glassman for the Hays Community Theatre.

Synopsis: A busload of passengers is stranded during a snowstorm at a secluded convent. A murderer is on the loose who only murders women named Mary. All the nuns are named Mary (Mary Elizabeth, etc.) and several of the travelers are too.

Auditions for high school age and up Jan. 9 and 10 from 7-9 p.m. at the Hays Community Theatre Venue, 121 E. 8th St.

There are 15 character roles ranging in age and interest for  7 men and  8 women. Those auditioning will read lines from the script. Show dates February 15 and 16 in Hays and Feb. 23 in Great Bend (with a practice in between).

You must be available for all shows.

The Kansas teacher shortage reflects a national trend. When classes started this fall Kansas was 612 teachers short, up 19 percent from last year. Some positions still remain open. Furthermore, the cost of recruiting high-quality teachers has risen and become controversial.

A recent furor involves the cost and effectiveness of a Kansas contract with the not-for-profit teacher recruiting and training organization, Teach for America.

The heart of the debate is not the final 2018 payment to TFA which, as of this writing, is unannounced or the efficiency of last year’s TFA recruiters, who after agreeing to 12, placed only three teachers in Kansas.

The underlying dispute is about the merits of TFA. It’s an organization not well known among Kansans but often criticized by some Kansas educators.

TFA was born as a 1989 undergraduate thesis written by Princeton student, Wendy Kopp. Her idea led to creation of a homeland Peace Corps where recent graduates, regardless of college major, would commit to teaching for two years in inner-city and rural schools throughout the United States.  

Today TFA has taught more than 50 million students. This year in the Kansas City area there are 120 TFA teachers with 13 of those in Kansas City, Kansas, but none elsewhere in Kansas.

The teachers receive the going rate for new teachers by the school district where they are hired.  

TFA members undergo five weeks of pre-teaching training and participate in mentoring and professional development after that. In Kansas, TFA teachers must meet a state requirement of being enrolled in a master’s degree program.  

With goals of promoting equity, offering students effective instruction and mobilizing young teachers to become future leaders, what’s not to like? Critics voice two major complaints:

• TFA teachers are inexperienced and most are not prepared by colleges of education.

• The two-year teaching model, rather than a transforming students’ learning is a résumé-boosting experience that results in disruptive teacher turnover.  

In recent years, TFA has worked hard to address those issues. Moreover, teacher shortages and dramatic increases in high-need student populations have altered perceptions about what is adequate teacher preparation.  

Consequently state requirements for teacher preparation and university teacher education curricula have become similar to or are fewer than TFA requirements.

Individuals with bachelor’s degrees may become Kansas classroom teachers with a summer preparatory course; then they complete licensure coursework or a master’s degree through online and campus options.  

At least one Kansas university offers a program where para-professionals (classroom teacher-aides) work toward an elementary education bachelor’s degree through online coursework and mentorship and can become classroom teachers after about one year of coursework.

Reports differ but TFA data show at the end of five years, retention rates similar to that of all teachers in high-need schools and about 70 percent of TFA completers continue in an education-related career—school administration, elected public office, educational media, etc.  

The recent TFA recruitment contract was meant to address the teacher shortage. Good intentions turned out to be an administrative issue for state government and a TFA problem of achieving contract objectives.

During almost 30 years, TFA has made substantial contributions in high-need schools. It’s time to move on, from current contract issues and concerns of the past about TFA’s value, to consider the benefits a restructured teacher-placement division of TFA could bring to Kansas.

Sharon Hartin Iorio is a professor and Dean Emerita of Wichita State University College of Education.

KDWPT

PRATT – Every five years, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) staff review the state Endangered, Threatened and Species-in-need-of-conservation (SINC) lists. These lists were authorized by the Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1975 and are in KDWPT Regulations 115-15-1 and 115-15-2.

The review process begins with a request for petitions to change listings, which was initiated last February. A seven-member Threatened and Endangered Species Task Committee, made up of members representing various disciplines, including staff from state and federal agencies and state universities, then determines if petitions merit full reviews.

For the current five-year review, three petitions with supporting evidence were submitted that the Task Committee determined warrant a full review. The committee will review a petition to move the Arkansas darter from the Threatened list to the SINC List; a petition to move the cylindrical papershell mussel from the SINC list to the Endangered Species List; and a petition to remove the Wabash pigtoe mussel from the SINC list.

The full review process must also include informational meetings and consultation with a panel of experts who complete a numerical evaluation and provide input regarding any information overlooked in the petition. A final recommendation will be provided to the KDWPT Secretary and Commission based on scientific merit. After a 90-day public comment period, the Commission will vote on listing changes at a Public Hearing.

Informational meetings are scheduled for:

Topeka –Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 2 p.m., KDWPT Region 2 Office, Basement Conference Room, 300 SW Wannamaker Road

Pittsburg –Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 3 p.m., Pittsburg State University, Overman Student Center, Governor’s Room, 302 E Cleveland Ave.

Hays –Thursday, January 24, 2019, 3 p.m., Fort Hays State University, Sternberg Museum, 3000 Sternberg Dr.

Pratt –Friday, January 25, 2019, 11 a.m., KDWPT Operations Office, Basement Conference Room, 512 SE 25th Ave.

The Arkansas darter (Etheostoma cragini)is a small bottom-dwelling fish that inhabits clear spring-fed streams with aquatic vegetation where it feeds mostly on aquatic insects. The petition states that it is one of the more common fish species where it occurs and it is resilient to drought and poor water quality. Although it has disappeared from some watersheds due to lack of water, it has been documented for the first time in two other watersheds and its numbers are stable. The majority of the Arkansas darter’s range is in southcentral Kansas. The number of sites where it has been found has increased more than tenfold since it was first listed as Threatened in 1978.

The cylindrical papershell (Anodontoides ferussacianus) is a relatively short-lived (10 years) freshwater mussel that was formerly documented in most rivers of northern Kansas. Currently, it is found in limited reaches of the Smoky Hill and Saline rivers. Currently on the SINC list, it is petitioned to be moved to the state Endangered List, the most imperiled category. Mussel larvae (glochidia) require attachment to a fish host to metamorphose to the juvenile stage before dropping off. While the cylindrical papershell can use several fish species as hosts for its glochidia, the petition cites loss of flowing-water habitat and climate change as factors in the decline of this mussel.

The Wabash pigtoe (Fusconaia flava)is a heavy-shelled freshwater mussel found in the rivers of eastern Kansas. This mussel was petitioned for removal from the SINC list due to evidence of a healthy population in Kansas. At some locations, it is the most numerous mussel present and the population has increased significantly in the Verdigris River since the early 1990s. It is also considered common in other southeast Kansas rivers. It is apparently not limited by fish host availability because it uses shiners and minnows.

 

Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 24. Wind chill values as low as 2. North northwest wind 13 to 17 mph.

Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as 3. North wind 7 to 11 mph.

Saturday Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 29. Wind chill values as low as 4. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.

Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 16. South southwest wind 6 to 9 mph.

SundaySunny, with a high near 40.

Sunday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 22.

MondayA 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 30. Blustery.

LOGAN COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 10a.m. Thursday in Logan County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2018 Peterbilt semi driven by Goodine, Robert Charles Goodine, 50, Bartlesville, OK., was westbound on Interstate 70 ten miles east of Colby.

The semi rear-ended a 2018 GMC Yukon driven by Justin Blaire Buerge, 42, Overland Park. The collision pinned the SUV against the guardrail.

Buerge and passengers in the SUV Trisha Marie Buerge, 40, Jaxon Buerge, 16, and Maxwell Buerge, 9, all of Overland Park were transported to the Logan County Hospital were Jackson died.

We now have a confirmed fatality crash on I-70 by Oakley at mile post 75.

PLEASE avoid driving if you can, if you have to be out in this, #SLOWDOWN

Follow KHP Crash Logs for more info. https://t.co/HYi0uC9QKF pic.twitter.com/Ierar9E8aS

— Trooper Tod (@TrooperTodKHP) December 27, 2018

Godine was not injured. All five were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.