CITY OF ELLIS
ELLIS – The Ellis City Council will meet in special session Tue., Jan. 29, 2019, at 6 p.m.
The agenda follows.
HPD
The Hays Police Department will be conducting training between 1 and 4 p.m. Tuesday at 810 E. Eighth.
“Police officers will be training with special tactical equipment. This training is being done with great care and safety,” the HPD said in a news release. “As a home or business owner, you may see law enforcement officers move through your area. There is no need to be alarmed. The officers are merely conducting a realistic training exercise and there is no danger to the community.”
If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact the on-site supervisor (Team Commander Tim Greenwood or Team Leader Aaron Larson), or Chief Don Scheibler at 785-625-1030.
But I will not forget this vocation of agriculture and more importantly the men, women and children who call this vocation their own.
Who knows?
After a few months, I may put pen to paper and write about this most honorable profession once more.
The opportunity to advocate on behalf of agriculture for 45 years has given me a reason to believe. No other career I could have embarked on would have fulfilled my inner need to remain connected to a life I was born into 70 years ago in northwestern Kansas.
My family and four others literally carved the community of Angelus out of the prairie during the waning years of the 19th Century. Before settling in northwestern Kansas, they’d settled in up-state New York by way of Germany in the early 1830s. From there they moved to a small farm near Milwaukee, Wis. A decade later, on to Wein, Mo. and finally the short-grass prairie on the great High Plains.
Growing up in a family of hard working, dedicated German and French immigrants, I was destined to “tell the story of agriculture.” I will carry a place in my heart for the farmers and ranchers who remain a part of this vocation as long as I inhabit this old world.
After four decades of writing a weekly column, starting “Kansas Living” magazine, producing “Insight” on the radio, “Voice of Ag” radio spots, writing speeches for three Kansas Farm Bureau presidents, video production and managing KFB’s print media department, far too many events occurred to mention them all. Here are a few highlights:
Droughts, killing freezes, brutal winters with blizzards and loss of livestock, farm bills including the Freedom to Farm spearheaded by Kansas’s own Sen. Roberts, Russia’s Boris Yeltsin cutting wheat at the Rau farm in Sedgwick County followed by a visit from the white combine.
The advent of animal welfare including PETA and HSUS, Waters of the U.S. in a semi-arid western Kansas, the over appropriation of irrigation out of the Ogallala Aquifer, yearly Governor’s tours, Farm Bureau members lobbying congress in D.C. led by KFB President John Junior Armstrong in ’78.
So much history, so much fun and so many wonderful farm families. The opportunity to visit farms and ranches in all 105 counties. The chance to visit with members – in their pickups, combines or drive through a pasture filled with fleshy momma cow-calf pairs – as they proudly showed me their farms and shared the intimate details of their lives and livelihood.
I also witnessed the sorrow and pained hurt in the eyes of a wheat farmer a few minutes after a hailstorm hammered his crop into the ground. Followed by his vision and hope for the next great year. I’ll never forget and always cherish these moments.
I will remember always the friendships forged with farmers and ranchers throughout Kansas. We all share a love of this business of agriculture, each other and our Farm Bureau organization.
This continues to make Farm Bureau the best. We care on a personal level. Our families and lives became intertwined.
We share common concerns. Kansas agriculture remains a moving target, always changing. What’s right for you, may be wrong for me. Still, in Farm Bureau, we work together to find solutions for our shared industry.
At the end of the day, week, month or year, we love our great organization. We’re unafraid to tilt at windmills like the brave Don Quixote. We toil behind the scenes “to finish the task,” driven by dedicated farm and ranch leaders and dedicated staff, we make a difference in the agricultural vocation.
While it may seem like a long, hard road, it’s been an exhilarating ride. One I wouldn’t change for anything. I’m truly honored and humbled to have served with each one of you.
God bless.
John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.
FHSU University Relations
With help from 58 donors and an $81,000 matching grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University is ready to officially open its newly renovated and equipped fossil preparation lab.
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at the museum, 3000 Sternberg Drive in northeast Hays. Representatives of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce will cut the ribbon. The public is invited.
The Hansen Foundation grant, awarded in January 2017, was combined with proceeds from museum galas in 2016 and 2017.
Construction was completed in 2018, and custom equipment was then installed. The prep lab is now up and running with a graduate student lab manager and undergraduate volunteers.
“We plan to offer workshops for the public to those interested in being trained in fossil prep and becoming a museum volunteer,” said Dr. Reese Barrick, museum director.
The fossil preparation lab is where collections, research, exhibits and education intersect, said Barrick.
“It is where staff, volunteers, and students clean, stabilize, and repair fossils for long-term preservation before they are ready for research, educational use, or exhibit,” he said.
“The lab is a fundamental part of the museum, and having a large, safe, and state-of-the-art lab allows us to provide more hands-on education, volunteer opportunities, and professional development to students and the community,” he said.
The new lab is more than three times the size of the original lab, and Barrick said that will allow the space to be used as a hands-on classroom for K-12 programming and summer camps as well as for FHSU students.
Students will get hands-on experience cleaning and studying fossils that can spark their interest in the sciences and, said Barrick, “set them apart as they advance into college and careers.”
“Working with fossils is a big attraction to many museum volunteers and students and it a great way to get the community involved in science,” he said.
The lab is also a key resource needed to sustain the high-level of scientific research undertaken by museum students and staff and scientists from around the world. Because the lab is integrated into exhibit space, museum visitors are able to get an in-depth view of the scientific process not offered at other museums in the state, said Barrick.
The new space actually incorporates two lab spaces, the main the fossil prep lab and a smaller research lab. The research lab, occupying the old lab space, is a “clean” lab with computer, microscope, fume hood, and equipment for student, staff, and faculty research projects.
The labs together are named the Dane G. Hansen Paleontology Research Center. The prep lab is the Oceans of Kansas Fossil Prep Lab, named by Mike and Pam Everhart. The small research lab is currently unnamed.
The Ellis County Bar Association (ECBA) has made charitable donations totaling $2,000 to three local charities.
First Call for Help, Saint Francis Community Services, and the Community Assistance Center were designated to receive donations by a committee comprised of attorneys appointed by the president of the ECBA, Christopher Lyon. Members on the committee included Colton Eikenberry, Alex Herman, and Todd Powell.
The Ellis County Bar Association is comprised of attorneys and judges from Hays and the surrounding area. The group has regular meetings for the benefit of the members, organizes and presents an Annual Continuing Legal Education Seminar open to all attorneys, and makes charitable contributions to area organizations.
– SUBMITTED –
By RUTH FIRESTONE
Hays Music Lover
Attention all music lovers. Please mark your calendar for the Hays Symphony Orchestra’s free Valentine’s Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, in Fort Hays State University’s Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center, featuring an evening of ravishingly romantic music.
The orchestra will perform three exciting suites, all of which are fantasies of a sort.
Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” originated as a series of piano pieces memorializing the paintings of his recently deceased friend Victor Hartmann. The suite remained nearly as unknown as Hartmann’s art until it was orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. Led by conductor Shah Sadikov, the orchestra will play the Ravel adaptation.
“Carmen Fantasy,” an arrangement of Bizet’s opera by Pablo de Sarasate, will follow. Sarasate was a world famous 19-century violinist and composed the fantasy as a virtuoso piece for himself – today, it is his best-known work. Internationally famous violin soloist Veronique Mathieu will join Sadikov and the orchestra for the stirring fantasy.
“Pelleas et Melisande” began as a drama by the French author Maurice Maeterlinck. The suite, composed by Gabriel Faure, was commissioned as incidental music for the British version of the play. Guest conductor Mark Bartley of West Texas A&M University, also an associate conductor of the Amarillo Symphony, will lead the orchestra in the suite.
The post-concert reception will give the audience and performers an opportunity to meet and greet while enjoying refreshments sponsored by Insurance Planning.
Free tickets are available online at www.hayssymphony.org, at the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, or at the Downtown Hays Development Corporation.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas expect to push forward this week with an income tax relief proposal in defiance of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s call for lawmakers to avoid adjusting state tax laws this year.
A Senate committee is set to open hearings Tuesday and could vote Thursday on a bill aimed at preventing individuals and corporations from paying more to the state because of changes in federal income tax laws at the end of 2017. Top Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature have made tax relief a priority.
Republicans argue Kansas is receiving an unanticipated revenue “windfall” because its income tax laws are tied to the federal tax code. While the changes championed by President Donald Trump cut rates, they also included provisions that could keep many residents from claiming itemized deductions on their state tax forms.
GOP leaders also are pushing to have their proposed changes apply retroactively, so people benefit when filing their taxes this spring for 2018. The Kansas Department of Revenue told legislators Monday that taxpayers would save $192 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1.
“Whose money is it? It’s the taxpayers’ money,” said Sen. Larry Alley, a Winfield Republican and member of the special Senate committee reviewing the legislation. “Let the individuals and corporations get that money back that was intended for them.”
The GOP’s push sets up a political confrontation with Kelly, whose top priorities are increasing spending on public schools and expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy.
Under the Senate proposal, the state’s revenue loss — and taxpayers’ savings — would be far higher during the next budget year because of refunds of taxes already paid for 2018. The bill would reduce state revenues by $113 million in the fiscal year that begins in July 2020.
“The question is: Can we afford it at this point in time?” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “You have to put it in the context of the entire budget.”
Kelly won the governor’s race last year by running againstformer GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s unpopular fiscal policies. Brownback successfully pushed legislators to slash state income taxes in 2012 and 2013, and most of them were reversed in 2017 after persistent budget woes.
State officials have struggled to calculate the effects of the federal tax changes. Last summer, legislative researchers projected $146 million in additional revenues during the next budget year, but Democrats have been skeptical.
“This is not the time to be making any substantial changes in our tax structure,” Kelly said during a news conference last week. “We have no idea if there’s a windfall.”
But Kelly also has consistently refused to say whether she would veto a tax relief bill. Spokeswoman Ashley All said Monday only that Kelly would review any bill to “determine if it’s in the best interests of the state.”
The bill before the Senate committee would allow Kansas taxpayers to claim itemized deductions on their state income tax forms even if they don’t itemize on their federal tax forms.
The federal standard deductions have increased, discouraging taxpayers from itemizing. But the state’s standard deductions aren’t changing — a hit for some taxpayers who formerly itemized on their federal forms. Their savings would average about $60 million a year.
The bill also would make changes to keep Kansas from taxing foreign income earned by individuals and corporation — saving them $137 million during the next budget year, when they could claim refunds on their 2018 taxes, but dropping to less $60 million a year after that. Republicans argue that without such changes, businesses would be encouraged to leave the state for a more favorable tax climate elsewhere.
“I have a sense of urgency,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican and chairwoman of the special tax committee.
She noted that individuals are preparing to file returns and added, “Businesses certainly need certainty.”
___
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board Monday night heard a summary of projects from its architect and construction manager that could be the district’s next bond issue.
DLR Group along with Nabholz Construction presented a list of projects totaling $29.4 million that would include finishing air conditioning projects at the Hays High School, expanding the cafeteria at Hays Middle School and renovating Roosevelt Elementary School to accommodate five sections of each grade.
Roosevelt now holds three sections of each grade. The expansion would allow the district to close Lincoln Elementary School, which is one of the oldest schools in the district and has had serious infrastructure problems in recent years.
Some work on the HHS HVAC system has already been finished with capital improvement funds, but an additional $6.7 million is needed to complete the work.
The HMS cafeteria was built to hold about 450 children, but is now accommodating about 700 students. Expansion of the cafeteria would cost $1.3 million.
The suggested renovation and expansion at Roosevelt would cost about $21.3 million and include new classrooms, an expanded cafeteria to meet the needs of the increased student population and a new gym that would serve as a storm shelter. Roosevelt does not currently have a storm shelter.
Existing classrooms would be renovated, the HVAC system improved and some exterior improvements would be made.
The entrance of the school would be relocated to the new addition. This would allow for separate lanes for car and bus drop off.
“Roosevelt, it really had the best assets. The one issue it did have was that it didn’t have a storm shelter, and we are solving that,” said Amber Beverlin, principal senior architect DLR Group. “It had great classroom spaces. The classrooms that are there now are perfect size. We can build on all the great things this building already has.”
The Roosevelt project would take 16 to 18 months to complete.
Dustin Avey, senior vice president Piper Jaffray, presented options for 10-, 15- and 20-year financing. He noted the district would pay less in interest under a shorter term, but the taxpayer would pay a higher per moth tax for a 10-year versus 15-year bond.
The district would pay $5 million more in interest by increasing the bond term from 1o year to 15 years.
The cost per month on a $150,000 home for a 10-year bond would be $16.32, $12 per month for a 15-year bond and $10.06 for a 20-year bond.
The mill levy would be 11.35 mills for a 10-year bond, 8.35 mills for a 15-year bond and 7 mills for a 20-year bond.
The bond amount would include design and bond fees, and costs for furnishing the renovated spaces.
The board members asked the presenters questions, but did not discuss the merits of the proposal nor did they vote on moving the proposal forward.
The district would not need approval from the state to move forward with a bond vote. Beverlin said if the board wished to pursue the proposal, they would only need to notify the county clerk of its desire to call a special election. This requires 60 days notice. Beverlin recommended a mail-in ballot.
Hays has had two failed bond issues in the last three years. A $78.5-million bond failed in November 2017, and a $94-million bond failed in June 2016.
See related story: Hays USD 489 school bond fails; another bond likely on the horizon
See related story: Voters soundly reject Hays USD 489 bond issue
Parent concern
A parent addressed the board about his daughter being bullied at Lincoln Elementary School. He said someone at the school was supposed to contact him about his concerns, but no one called him. Board members expressed concern about the issue and directed Superintendent John Thissen to take the parent’s information and follow up on his concerns.
Check presentation
The school district recently purchased the former Oak Park Medical Complex, which it plans to renovate for use by Early Childhood Connections.
HaysMed had a majority interest in the complex and Monday donated $500,000 of the $2 million purchase price back to the school district to be used for renovations. The district has also received a $1.47 million federal grant for renovations.
Superintendent search
Gary Sechrist, field specialist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, provided the superintendent applicant information to the board during an executive session. Current Superintendent John Thissen has resigned. He will serve out his contract, which ends June 30.
At the next board meeting, the board is scheduled to vote on the administrative contracts for Shanna Dinkel, assistant superintendent, and Chris Hipp, director of special education, for the 2019-2020 school year.
Teacher negotiations
Board member Pauls Adams also asked the board to consider moving to interest-based bargaining with teachers. Thissen said he would contact the Hays NEA to see if they were interested in the change. The issue will be discussed at a future meeting.
RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man made a court appearance Monday on two serious charges.
Police arrested 40-year-old Richard Andrew Petty for breach of privacy — disseminating sexual media of a person 18 or older — and blackmail for videotapes and photos of a person.
The state alleges the blackmail charge occurred Sept. 1 and Sept. 14, 2018. Petty tried to persuade a person against her will by threatening to disseminate pictures or videotape.
The breach of privacy charge occurred Sept. 13 when he released photos or videos of the victim in a sexual act.
Petty was arrested on warrant after an investigation by the Hutchinson Police Department.
The victim was in court Monday and said she wanted the charges dropped. Petty said it was a misunderstanding.
Petty has a stalking charge pending from an incident on Jan. 9.
Magistrate Judge Daniel Gilligan agreed to lower the $50,000 bond to $25,000.
Petty served some time for an aggravated battery case from 1997.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 38. Northwest wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 9. Wind chill values as low as -2. North northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east after midnight.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 31. Wind chill values as low as -3. East wind 8 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Wednesday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 17. South southeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
ThursdayMostly sunny, with a high near 43.
Thursday NightMostly clear, with a low around 22.
FridaySunny, with a high near 50.
The TMP girls stayed unbeaten in the MCL while the TMP boys suffered their third straight loss as the two teams split a doubleheader Monday night in Smith Center.
Girls: TMP 57, Smith Center 41
The TMP Lady Monarchs had three players scored in double-figures and outscored Smith Center by 12 in the third quarter as they pick up a 57-41 win Monday in Smith Center.
Early in the first quarter with Smith Center leading by three at 8-5 the Monarchs answered with an 11-2 run to take a 16-10 lead at the end of one. Sasha Wasinger scored four of her team-high 14 points during that second quarter.
Smith Center came right back to take the lead in the second quarter at 21-16 following an 11-0.
Down five Emilee Lane scored seven straight to spark a 12-3 Monarch run to put TMP up 28-21, a lead they would never give up.
They extended the lead to double-digits in the third quarter as they outscored Smith Center 18-6 on they way to a 57-41 win.
Game highlights
Wasinger’s 14, matched her career-high. Emilee Lane finished with 13 and Jillian Lowe added 12.
Bree Freiling scored 12 for Smith Center.
TMP improves to 10-4 and 5-0 in the MCL while Smith Center falls to 7-6 and 3-3 in the MCL.
Boys: Smith Center 66, TMP 58
After building a 21 point second quarter lead the Smith Center Redmen had to hold off a second-half rally to beat the TMP boys 66-58 Monday in Smith Center.
Bill Meagher postgame interview
The Monarchs and the Redmen traded baskets back-and-forth in the first quarter then with the game tied at nine Smith Center ended the first quarter and began the second quarter on a 23-2 run to build a 32-11 second quarter lead.
TMP trailed by 17 at halftime but cut the deficit to nine after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter the Redmen had again built a 14-point lead but the Monarchs put together a 16-2 run to tie the game at 56 with 1:08 to play. Lucas Lang hit back-to-back three during the run.
But Smith Center made enough of the free throws down the stretch to pull away for the 66-58 win.
Game highlights
The Monarchs had two score in double-figures led by the 19 of Jackson Schulte. Ryan Karlin added 14.
Griffin Kuger scored a game-high 21 for the Redmen.
TMP drops to 8-7 on the season and 3-2 in the MCL. Smith Center improves to 4-8 and 1-6 in the MCL.
The Monarchs host Norton on Friday.
OFFICE OF SEN. MORAN
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today announced his appointment to key committees, as well as his continued chairmanship of two influential subcommittees, in the United States Senate. Sen. Moran will serve on the following committees for the 116th Congress:
“These committee assignments and their wide-ranging jurisdiction allow me to advocate for priorities important to Kansans,” said Sen. Moran. “Throughout the 116th Congress and as a member of these critical committees, I look forward to crafting and supporting legislation that helps rural communities grow and prosper, benefits farmers and ranchers, bolsters our Kansas economy and small businesses, provides for our nation’s military and veterans, ensures Native Americans have the tools they need to succeed and allows our federal agencies to perform their vital functions while responsibly using taxpayer dollars. I am grateful for the opportunity Kansans have given me to represent them in the United States Senate, and these committee assignments position me well to deliver results for our state.”
Sen. Moran will remain chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which exercises funding jurisdiction over the Department of Justice, the FBI, the United States Trade Representative, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, to name a few.
Sen. Moran will also retain his chairmanship of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, where he will continue to craft meaningful data privacy legislation and be a strong advocate for consumer protection and the empowerment of our Olympic and amateur athletes.
Sen. Moran’s membership on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will further allow him to advocate for Kansans on a wide array of issues pertaining to banking, financial services, insurance, housing, community development and global competitiveness.
Sen. Moran has worked throughout his time in Congress to improve the quality of life for the nearly 250,000 veterans living in Kansas. He has served on both the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees and will continue this service in the 116th Congress as the second highest-ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Additionally, Sen. Moran will continue serving on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to work on behalf of the four tribes in Kansas and propose and support legislation that promotes tribal sovereignty, economic development and land management.
GEARY COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drug charges after a traffic stop.
Deputies stopped a vehicle driven by Zeb Tefft-Young, 23, Elkins, West Virginia on Interstate 70 at Flint Hills Boulevard.
They arrested Tefft-Young on suspicion of Driving Without A License, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, No Drug Tax Stamp, Transporting an Open Container, No Proof of Insurance, Improper Driving On laned Roadway and Defective Tail Lamp.
They also arrested the passenger 30-year-old Nickoli Sowa on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Controlled Substance, No Drug Tax Stamp, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Transporting an Open Container.
Both were still in custody late Monday, according to online jail records.
