The 45th annual Auction for Christian Education will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Al Billinger Fieldhouse.
Month: April 2019
Brush pen calligraphy class offered at Hansen Museum
HANSEN MUSEUM
LOGAN – The Hansen Museum Continuing Education Program is pleased to present its first-ever Brush Pen Calligraphy class on May 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Hansen Museum Community Room.
Led by instructor Chandra Feldman of “Sarcasm & Calligraphy” out of Glen Elder, KS, participants will discover the basics of modern calligraphy while using a brush pen. Feldman will demonstrate and teach the convenience of the brush pen to practice consistent calligraphy techniques in this illustrative class. Students will take home two brush pens and workbooks to allow them to continue creating art on their own.
Class size is limited; please register by May 13. Registration is $45 per student with discounts available for Patron and Sustaining Hansen Museum Members.
This learning opportunity is brought to you through the Hansen Museum Continuing Education Program. For more information, please call 785-689-4846.
The Dane G. Hansen Museum is open Monday through Friday 9-12 & 1-4; Saturdays 9-12 & 1-5; Sundays & Holidays 1-5. We are closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The Museum is handicapped accessible and admission is always free thanks to the generous support of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. For more information or if you have questions, please contact us at 785-689-4846.
2 men shot in Kan. home less than block from police station
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the shooting of two people less than a block from a police station.
Just after 7 p.m. Friday police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Pawnee and Market in Wichita.
Arriving officers found two injured men in a house just down the street from the police station. Both were rushed to a hospital, one in critical condition and the other in serious condition. The victims’ names have not been released.
Police say the injured men, ages 29 and 31, were the only two involved in the shooting. Police say they “the two people in the residence know what happened,” and want to speak to them to determine what led to the shooting.
Kan. district fires teacher after video shows child being kicked
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The Shawnee Mission School District says it fired an elementary school teacher after a video showed her kicking a 5-year-old girl in the back.
The incident occurred Feb. 21 at Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School in Shawnee. The girl’s mother said her daughter had a large red mark on her arm after school that day and said the teacher hit her.
A video obtained by the station shows the child refusing to leave the library with the other students and hiding in a bookshelf. The teacher is seen dragging the girl out of the bookshelf and kicking her in the back.
Shawnee Mission district spokesman David Smith says the district feels terrible about the situation.
The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case.
KSHSAA: Getting smart but acting stupid — there is a solution
By KARISSA NIEOFF
Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations
and
BILL FAFLICK
Executive Director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association
We communicate on smart phones, drive smart cars, make purchases using smart cards and even drink smart water. But, really, how smart are we?
Between college admission and internet privacy scandals, sexual misconduct investigations, stolen trade secrets and the growing concern about how we communicate and connect with each other, technology seems to be outpacing our capacity to understand the most responsible way to use it.
In other words, how are tomorrow’s leaders being groomed to make decisions that provide the perspective, balance and strength of character that today’s advanced world needs?
The answer is by participating in high school sports like the ones offered by the high schools in Kansas.
Most researchers agree that leaders are made, not born, through relationships with others. Human interaction and life experiences enable young men and women to develop leadership characteristics such as trust, mutual respect, integrity and accountability. These are the same values that are learned as a result of playing on a high school sports team.
And while club sports often have only a singular focus (the participant’s athletic abilities), research documents that high school sports programs have an unparalleled positive effect on the physical, academic and emotional growth of teens, including a more mature level of character development.
In other words, high school sports have a more profound role to play in society today than you may realize.
The high school sports and activity programs in Kansas—including music, speech, theatre and debate—typically account for only about one to three percent of a school’s overall budget, making them one of the wisest investments your community makes. You can help by attending as many games and events as possible, donating to the booster club and volunteering to work in the concession stand.
Most of all, encourage your children to participate in as many sports and activities as they can. Because when they do, they will be joining a new generation of leaders who are both technologically smart and ethically responsible.
And that’s exactly the kind of leadership our hyper-intelligent world needs.
Earl John Ward
Earl John Ward, age 79, of Hays, Kansas passed away Thursday, April 25, 2019 at the Salina Regional Health Center. He was born October 17, 1939 in Russell, Kansas to Linden and Blanche (Heffernan) Ward. On February 14, 1987 he married Jean (Hudson) Quick.
Earl was a long time Livestock Appraiser working the sales ring at the Osborne, Russell and Plainville sale barns. He was a partner in the Osborne and Russell sale barns. Earl enjoyed fishing, basketball, horse racing and family time.
He is survived by his wife Jean of Hays; a son, Neal Ward (Lisa) of Hays; two daughters, Kim Dawson (Brian) of Hays and Jera Janzen (Jason) of Goleta, California; two step sons, Chad Quick (Cathy) of Botavia, Ohio and Kyle Quick (Paula) of Bethany, Oklahoma; a step daughter, Tisha Samha (Nael) of Centreville, Virginia; a brother, Steve Ward (Edie) of Ellis; two sisters, Lynn Richardson (Gary) and Kathy Rogers both of Firestone, Colorado; four grandchildren, Nathan and Ryan Ward, Jobe and Jesse Janzen; nine step grandchildren, Shane and Alyssa Quick, Lacy Smith, Christian Quick, and Aubry Quick, Abdulla, Fatima, Amal and Mariam Samha; two step great grandchildren, Kelsie Tillman and Thad Smith. Earl would also like to recognize Joyce Rorabaugh as mother of Neal, Kim and Jera.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and three brothers, Bruce, Donny and Dean Ward.
Funeral services will be 11 AM Monday, April 29, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church in Hays. Private family burial will follow.
Visitation will be Sunday 5 PM – 7 PM and Monday 10 AM – 10:30 AM all at Brock’s Keithley Funeral Chapel and Crematory 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Rebecca A. Morrison House 400 S. Santa Fe Salina, KS 67401 which is a Hospitality Home in Salina or the Cancer Council of Ellis County 701 Riley Hays, KS 67601.
Condolences may be left by guest book at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or by email at [email protected]
Leaders from Kansas, 3 other states hit by flooding meet again with Corps
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The leaders of several Midwest states hit recently by flooding along the Missouri River said Friday they’ve received assurances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the states will “have a seat at the table” when it comes to river management decisions.
Finally getting back from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Spent the afternoon meeting with @GovRicketts, @GovParsonMO, @IAGovernor and @USACEHQ to discuss our regional response to recent flooding. pic.twitter.com/Uw2CVrjFJo
— Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers (@LtGovRogers) April 27, 2019
“That was crystal clear when we left that table, that the states were going to have some say in how the river is managed,” said Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson immediately after leaving a meeting with Corps officials in the western Iowa city of Council Bluffs. Parson was joined by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, both Republicans, and Kansas Democratic Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers. It was the second such meeting since last month’s flooding that devastated farms and communities and ripped apart roads and bridges, causing more than an estimated $3 billion in damage.
Ricketts said the four states are considering pushing for formation of a Missouri River management group — similar to the Mississippi River Commission — that would include representatives from the states.
“We’re going to work together and pull together as four states … to be able to change the way the river is controlled,” he said.
The Mississippi River Commission was formed 140 years ago to recommend policy regarding flood control, navigation and environmental projects on the Mississippi River. Its membership consists of three Corps officers, a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and three civilians, two of whom must be civil engineers. The U.S. president appoints the commission’s members.
“We along the Missouri River don’t have that,” Ricketts said. “I think it’s something we should look at.”
The state leaders also received an update Friday from the Corps on the progress of repairing the largest levee breaches along the river, most of which occurred in southwestern Iowa. Reynolds said repair contracts for three of the four largest breaches have already been awarded and that some of the repairs could be finished as early as July.
The Corps announced Friday that it awarded a $6 million contract to repair a 1,200-foot breach on the levee south of Highway 34 in Mills County, Iowa. The initial repair will provide flood protection to areas behind the levee, including work to repair Highway 34 and Interstate 29, both of which were heavily damaged by the flooding and remain closed.
The Corps expects that repair to be finished within 45 days of the work beginning.
Chicago advertising firm creates opportunities for FHSU students
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Her message was simple, but inspiring nonetheless.
“This year is about meaningful impact,” Kerri Soukup told a group of 25 Fort Hays State University graphic design students setting up their portfolios in the Robbins Center.
Soukup was one of three advertising executives from Leo Burnett Worldwide in Chicago on campus for the day to review the students’ portfolios.
The grand prize for all those days – and nights – of hard work for the students was twofold: the possibility of winning scholarship money and a chance at earning a summer internship at the one the largest ad agencies in the world.
Soukup, who grew up in Ellsworth and graduated from FHSU in 1997, spoke from experience about the meaningful impact the university’s graphic arts program had on her journey.
As a student taking general education classes at Hutchinson Community College, Soukup took a lettering class as an elective one semester.
That decision ultimately changed her life.
During that class, the instructor took her students to an American Institute of Graphic Arts portfolio review in Wichita.
“I saw all these tables of Fort Hays State students’ work, and they really stood out,” Soukup said. “I knew right then that’s what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go to school.”
FHSU students have been impressing Leo Burnett executives for a quarter of a century.
This marks the 25th anniversary of Leo Burnett Portfolio Review and scholarship awards. During the first few years of the awards, students sent their portfolios to Chicago for review. Soukup, who was recruited from FHSU to work at Leo Burnett shortly after graduation, has been coming to the Fort Hays State campus with other Leo Burnett representatives for nearly 20 years.
“One of the most fulfilling and rewarding things is to give back to these students,” she said, “to give back to a program that gave so much to me. It’s awesome to come here and scout interns and to give out scholarships.”
In an effort “to really make a difference in the students’ lives,” Soukup was instrumental in helping start the “Pencil Project” last year where students were given the challenge to “Create It. Write It. Be it.”
“We wanted to see a collection of their work, their story,” she said.
Twelve students applied and sent their work to Chicago for that project. Soukup and co-workers Tuan Huynh and Tracie Roberson evaluate the projects for about a week, then make their final decision during the reviews Monday.
“We had an idea of about five or so from their submissions before we came,” Soukup said. “But we wanted to see the ‘Be it.’ and how their presence embodied their work.”
Rayvon Lewis, a junior from Blue Springs, Mo., went away the big winner – earning a $10,000 award for his Pencil Project. But Soukup told all the students she wanted them “all to find your unique story and find your super power.”
“No matter what you’re working on, always ask ‘What’s more?’ ” Soukup said.
Soukup told the story of how, following graduation from FHSU, she had taken a job as a waitress at a restaurant while awaiting acceptance to graduate school.
“I thought I didn’t want to do advertising, and I didn’t want to live in Chicago,” she said. “I wanted to be at a small design firm and change the world.”
“Have any of you ever passed up an opportunity because you were afraid of the outcome?” Soukup asked. “I almost did that. I want everyone to be able to see that your path can be whatever you make it.”
After landing the job as an associate art director back in 1998, it didn’t take Soukup long to advance quickly in the company, and she now bears the titles of executive creative director and executive vice president.
There are about 6,000 applicants for internships each year at Leo Burnett for only 40 spots. Of those 6,000, about 1,000 applicants are in the creative department, and only 15 are chosen. Because of the relationship between Leo Burnett Worldwide and FHSU, they reserve two of those 15 spots for FHSU students.
“This is such a wonderful opportunity for our students,” said Karrie Simpson Voth, chair of the Department of Art and Design and professor of graphic design. “It’s also great for recruitment.”
Simpson Voth was one of the first recipients of a Leo Burnett scholarship back in 1994. The following year, she received an interview and offer to work for the company, but she had already committed to going to graduate school. When the opportunity came around again for another offer, she had just accepted a position at FHSU, teaching graphic design.
“The time and energy Kerri, Tuan, and Tracie put into these students during their one-on-one reviews is invaluable,” Simpson Voth said. “The students never get more thoughtful feedback anywhere else they present their work, and that is because of the relationship we have built over the years and the students who go on to work for them. They want to pass on that impact to the upcoming students.”
The morning presentation by the Leo Burnett trio was followed by six-plus hours of personal reviews with all the students, making for a long day.
But Simpson Voth said that it’s important for the students to hear validation of their work, concepts and skills as well as constructive criticism on how to improve upon what they have.
“They hear it from Chaiwat (Thumsujarit) and me all the time, but the input from Kerri, Tuan and Tracie adds the voice of industry, which is powerful,” she said.
It was an even more challenging day for Hill City sophomore Annalise Albrecht. She tripped over her dog’s chain on the stairs and sprained her ankle on her way to the evening scholarship presentation and had to call a friend to help her get to the Robbins Center in time.
It was worth the extra effort for Albrecht, one of the nine students awarded a $250 Leo B. scholarship. Four larger scholarships were awarded to two seniors and two juniors for first- and second-place overall portfolios.
Albrecht, a graphic design and photography major, said she first got into art because of her mom and is glad she chose Fort Hays State to continue her education after high school.
“My mom is an artist and always inspired me and encouraged me,” Albrecht said, “and this is a great program.”
Plan with LGBT bans OK’d by United Methodist judicial panel
NEW YORK (AP) — The United Methodist Church’s judicial council on Friday upheld major portions of a new plan that strengthens bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT pastors.
Conservatives welcomed the decision and said key elements of the policy, called the Traditional Plan, could begin taking effect in January. Among liberal and centrist opponents of the plan, there was dismay; one group, Reconciling Ministries Network, called for an upsurge of resistance.
The Traditional Plan was adopted in February on 438-384 vote by delegates at a special UMC conference in St. Louis. Most U.S.-based delegates opposed that plan and preferred LGBT-inclusive options, but they were outvoted by U.S. conservatives who teamed with most of the delegates from Methodist strongholds in Africa and the Philippines.
The nine-member judicial council, at the close of a four-day meeting in Evanston, Illinois, ruled that some aspects of the Traditional Plan — mostly related to enforcement of its rules — were unconstitutional under church law. But the council upheld the bulk of the plan, clearing the way for its implementation in January.
The Rev. Tom Lambrecht, general manager of the conservative Methodist magazine Good News, hailed the council’s ruling as a “strong affirmation” of the Traditional Plan’s core elements.
He suggested that Methodists opposed to the plan should start negotiating to leave the UMC and form a new denomination that would allow them to adopt LGBT-inclusive policies.
Opponents of the Traditional Plan will have a chance to overturn it at the UMC’s next general conference in May 2020. But Lambrecht said he agreed with other analysts who predict the UMC’s conservative bloc will be even stronger then.
An alliance of Traditional Plan opponents, calling themselves UMC-Next, has been holding meetings to discuss the best path forward for those who share their views.
Its leaders say one option would be for centrists and liberals to leave en masse to form a new denomination. Under another option, opponents of the Traditional Plan would stay in the UMC and resist from within, eventually convincing conservatives that they should be the faction that departs.
Lambrecht dismissed that possibility.
“We’re not leaving,” he said.
Formed in a merger in 1968, the United Methodist Church claims about 12.6 million members worldwide, including nearly 7 million in the United States. It is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S.
While other mainline denominations have embraced gay-friendly practices, the UMC still bans them, though acts of defiance by pro-LGBT clergy members have multiplied. Many have officiated same-sex weddings; others have come out from the pulpit.
Enforcement of the bans has been inconsistent; the Traditional Plan aspires to beef up discipline against those engaged in defiance.
Under rules upheld by the judicial council, bishops are prohibited from ordaining “self-avowed homosexuals,” while clerics who perform same-sex weddings could be suspended without pay for a first offense and ousted from the ministry for a second offense.
Under the ruling, individual churches could disaffiliate with the UMC if two-thirds of the church community agrees, and if the church meets certain financial requirements.
The Reconciling Ministries Network, which supports LGBT inclusion, called its supporters “to repeatedly state your dissent, to support the work of resistance by United Methodist seminaries, to continue to write open letters and visibly be in solidarity with those on the margins.”
“We call upon the Church to repent of the sin of homophobia,” it said. “Now is the time to rise and resist.”
Many Traditional Plan opponents already are expressing their dissatisfaction. Some churches have raised rainbow flags in a show of LGBT solidarity; some are withholding dues payments to the UNC administration in protest.
The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ-rights group, said the judicial council’s ruling “is deeply disappointing for countless LGBTQ Methodists, including young people and their families, who are yearning for a welcoming church family.”
Teacher of the month: HHS DECA sponsor Prough: ‘Chase the cheetah’
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Shaina Prough, business teacher at Hays High School, is one of four generations of Hays teachers in her family.
Her grandmother taught in Hays and was present for the opening of the Felten Middle School. Her mother was a teacher. Her oldest daughter, Madison, a FHSU senior, is working in the USD 489 after-school program while she finishes her teaching degree.
“It is that whole lineage,”she said. “My grandma would be so proud,”
Shaina, 49, was nominated for the Hays Post Teacher of the Month Award by Madison.
Madison acknowledged her bias, but said she felt her mother deserved the award.
“She always goes above and beyond for her students and always puts them first,” Madison said. “She spends so much time in and outside of the classroom making sure she is prepared and can be the best teacher she can be for her students.
“I first-hand have seen all the hard work, sweat and maybe even tears that she puts in without ever thinking twice. She truly does touch the lives and hearts of so many people daily.”
Shaina Prough said she loved school as a child.
“I was that kid at the last day of school every year who would be sad because I wouldn’t be near my friends and near my teachers,” she said. “I loved coming to school, and I think I always knew that I would be a teacher somehow.”
She said she likes being able to start fresh with new students every year.
“That is the one thing about teaching,” she said. “We get do-overs. If we don’t like the way something turned out the last time we did it, we get to reinvent it for next year. Young people create an energy like none other.”
Prough is in her 25th year as a teacher in the Hays school district. She would have received her 25-year pin from the district on Friday, but she is in Orlando with 15 students for the DECA international competition.
Prough said she gets excited about watching her students compete on an international stage.
“Getting to watch those kids — their faces light up,” she said. “When we go to an arena that holds 20,000 people and that is the size of their whole community, it is a little overwhelming. They get to shine on that international level.”
Prough has been the adviser for HHS DECA for 21 years. During her time as a mentor, DECA has been active with Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat, raised money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities and organized public awareness campaigns about sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, relationship violence in cooperation with Jana’s Campaign, and school finance, among many other projects.
She said the project on school finance was challenging.
“That one was really interesting. We tried to educate a school population on how school funding and finance works, so they could hopefully not only be a voice by voting, but be aware and be able to communicate with people who make decisions about school finance on a local level,” Prough said.
This year, juniors Allison Hillebrand and Paige Polifka Denson chaired the Happiness Project. The focus was on helping students and faculty find ways to be happier.
“We were trying to create mental health awareness, as well — that it is OK to ask for help and where can you go to get help if you are feeling stressed, if your are feeling anxious, if you are feeling overwhelmed,” she said. “So we were really trying to bring to light that you are not alone if you have those feelings.”
The community service branch of HHS DECA , lead by two HHS students who are graduating in May, raised $65,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities last year.
“Those skills to be able to network, interact, organize, manage, lead — those are going to be able to serve them well in whatever career field they choose to go into,” Prough said.
Prough said she works with amazing students.
“Being able to see a little glimpse of where their future is going, that’s awesome,” she said. “Being a part of that is fun and exciting.”
Teaching in the business department, Prough said she is getting students ready for their futures.
“I feel those are skills that transfer on to adulthood,” she said. “Whether the student goes directly to the workforce or they chose to attend post-secondary training of some sort, whether it be a two-year program or a four-year program, I feel the skills that they gain in our business classes are those that are going to serve them for the rest of their lives.”
Prough said her biggest challenge is getting students to see the bigger picture — that what they are doing now will have effects on their future. She said she also struggles with keeping the kids motivated. She doesn’t want them to settle for the status quo.
“Mediocrity drives me crazy,” she said. “Don’t settle for what everybody else is doing. Don’t be normal, go above. I have this ‘Live with gazelle intensity and chase the cheetah,’ sign. I teach that in my personal finance class. Dave Ramsey talks about that. Don’t be the one being chased.”
Kansas woman dead, 3 hospitalized after 4-vehicle crash
CRAWFORD COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 9:30p.m. Friday in Crawford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2018 Dodge Challenger driven by Tim F. Signlin, 68, Arma, was northbound on U.S. 69 just north of Kansas 47. The Dodge rear-ended a 2006 Chevy Silverado driven by Irma A. Hughes, 83, Fort Scott.
The impact, pushed the Silverado into the southbound lane. A southbound 2015 GMC Sierra driven by William C. Askren, 26, Lenexa, struck the Silverado and pushed it into the west ditch. A southbound Chevy truck driven by Brian T. Stedman, 51, struck the Silverado in the ditch and then struck a tree.
Hughes was pronounced dead at the scene. Askren, Stedman and a passenger in the Dodge Challenger Alex Szweedo, 30, Girard, were transported to Via Christi.
Signlin and three additional occupants of the Dodge Challenger were not injured.
Stedman and 2 passengers in the 1996 Chevy pickup were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
Free business development workshop for minorities/women
KDC
TOPEKA – The Minority and Women Business Development Office of the Kansas Department of Commerce will host a Workshop for Minority, Woman and/or Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Certification Programs on May 15.
Those interested in DBE/MBE/WBE Certification will be able to hear more about the application process and potential benefits of certification at the workshop.
DBE/MBE/WBE Certification Workshop
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Kansas Department of Commerce
1000 SW Jackson, Ste. 100
Topeka, KS 66605
(Curtis State Office Building)
Attendance is FREE, but registration is REQUIRED. Space is limited so sign up early!
Click on the following link to register.
The deadline to apply is Fri., May 10.
70-year-old federal judge in Kansas charged with DUI
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge in Kansas is facing charges after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Johnson County Court records show that 70-year-old Kathryn Vratil was arrested Thursday night. She is charged in Johnson County District Court with driving under the influence and improper driving.
Vratil is a senior judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
A complaint filed Friday says Vratil was arrested by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper. She posted a $1,000 bond. Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 21.
Chief Judge Julie Robinson said in a statement Friday that the federal court will handle the incident as a personnel matter and have no further comment.