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Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Photo shoot

Steve Gilliland
The evening was far too hot and humid for the middle of April as I quietly walked across the alfalfa toward a tree line thick with fallen cottonwoods and old rotting hay bales. I followed the tree line until it ended abruptly, then tiptoed through a sea of Poison Ivy to the back door of our pop-up hunting blind. Once inside, I settled into a camp chair and unzipped windows on 3 sides. Approaching storms blew a nice breeze through the blind. In front of me was a narrow strip of alfalfa, hemmed in on the far side by wheat, and framed on 2 more sides by the river as it meandered through the countryside.

My quarries tonight were wild turkeys which I had seen here with some regularity, and I was prepared to shoot as many as possible. The flock I’d been seeing was perhaps a dozen birds, and I was pretty sure I could get them all with 2 shots at most! Three Blue Herons rose from the timber along the river, but were gone before I could shoot. A lone Red Tail Hawk perched high above the river was also giving me a nice shot if I hurried!

Now before you overload the switchboard at Operation Game Thief to turn me in to the authorities, allow me to explain. That night my weapon of choice hung by a strap around my neck; its barrel was a lense, and the trigger a small silver button. You guessed it! I was “shooting” photos with a camera

In the Kansas Hunter Education Manual, the chapter on Hunter Responsibility lists four stages of a sport hunter. This topic discusses how the standards by which a hunter defines success evolve and change as the hunter develops and matures. Stage 3 is called the “Trophy Stage,” and stage 4 is the “Method Stage.” During these 2 stages in a hunter’s life, he or she matures to the point where a trophy can just as easily be a photograph rather than a mount on the wall.

One frigid April morning years ago, I shared a blind with a young man and his guide during the youth turkey hunt. That was before cell phones had such fantastic cameras, so I had a digital camera around my wrist, hoping to record some of the hunt in pictures. Among the group of birds that came to our decoys were several hens, and among them was a white-speckled hen. My camera wouldn’t work in the icy morning air, so I didn’t get a photo of her, and now I’m relegated to remembering her only in my mind, (which is quickly fading.) I was more disgusted over the camera malfunction than if I had missed a shot at a long bearded tom!

I started deer hunting when I was just a kid, and I wish I had pictures of every awesome and unusual event I’ve seen in the woods since. Once as I sat quietly on a log, a mother fox and several cubs ran by me so closely I could have reached out and grabbed one. While fishing one evening at McPherson State fishing lake I watched a beaver swim clear across the lake with a huge leafy branch in its mouth. Another time during the early January antlerless-only deer season, a buck with a monstrous rack hanging full of long grass and weeds stood just yards away from me. He looked like a hanging garden on four legs.

I could go on, but my point is that all these things are in my mind’s eye only, and someday will probably be forgotten. If they were documented as photos, at least I could pass them on for others to enjoy as well. High dollar trail cameras are available that transmit photos directly to a computer, so why not a pair of glasses that does the same with images and action see through their lenses?

Not many years ago, if someone had suggested I could be as happy with a picture as with a mounted trophy on my wall, I would have bristled at the thought. Now, however, I feel like that transition will someday be an easy one… Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

🎥 Hannah Norris & the Band set to open for nationally recognized act in K.C.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Local music fans are sure to know Hannah Norris, and now her audience is about to get a bit larger as her band — Hannah Norris & the Band — is set to open for nationally recognized singer/songwriter Neko Case during her stop in Kansas City at 8 p.m. May 10 at the Uptown Theatre.

“We are really excited,” Norris said. “That has been our main thing for the moment.”

Norris, who grew up in Hays, currently resides in Lawrence after relocating to study psychology at the University of Kansas.

The gig took shape after a booking agent in Lawrence submitted Norris’ band for the spot earlier this year.

“It’s pretty wild,” she said.

While this will be her first outing in a setting this large, she has performed with other well-known bands locally.

“Previously in Hays, I had the opportunity to open for Jefferson Starship and Warrant through Wild West Fest, so it’s not my first interaction with bigger acts like that, but it’s definitely my first interaction with one at a venue of that scale,” she said.

Norris is currently taking a break from school to focus on music but is keeping active with two bands and a full-time job.

“I work at The Roost. Currently, I am a barista up there and just focus on trying to get out, play some shows and write some tunes. Between those two, I keep myself pretty busy,” she said.

Norris hopes this will kick off a summer filled with other opportunities.

“We just recently submitted for the NPR Tiny Desk contest…getting somewhere with that would be great,” she said.

Her entry into that contest can be found here.

“Now we are just looking forward to booking more shows.”


On Hays

While Norris no longer lives in Hays, she hopes her local fans will get the chance to see her perform nearby soon and recognizes the music scene in Hays remains strong, despite her absence.

Hannah Norris
Hannah Norris performs at the 2015 Wild West Festival in Hays.

“We are trying to get back to Rockalooa,” she said. “It’s a really great way to bring different bands into Hays and get everybody connected.

“I feel like we have made a lot of progress for a small town, and I think I’m very fortunate to be able to be a part of that scene and to have grown up in it,” she said. “Hays actually has a lot going for it for a small town … I think it’s really important that people understand we are very fortunate to have that.

“I definitely think I would not have gotten this far, even today if I didn’t have those types of connections.”

As established as the music scene is in Hays, Norris hopes to see it expand in the future.

“Absolutely there should be more bands getting involved in Hays, but for the size, I think we are doing great,” she said.

Along with the community, Norris credits her parents for helping her to come so far already in her music career, first learning to play the guitar around age 12, and taking some piano lessons with her grandmother soon after.

She said there are no musicians in her immediate family but they were instrumental in getting her to where she is today, noting that starting at the age of 14 they were helpful in getting her into some of the local venues that normally would not allow minors.

“I am very fortunate to have the family I do. They have been very supportive,” she said.


The Music

While Hannah Norris & the Band is getting ready for the Kansas City show, Norris is working on the lineup and sound of a second band.

“I’m working on getting that redirected right now,” she said, keeping focused on the music she wants to release. “For my band, my goal is to write music that I am happy with and that I feel like that I connect with … It represents me and it represents the people that I play with and I want to make sure that it fits us as people.”

While she describes Hannah Norris & the Band as rock, she said they have been “experimenting” lately.

“We’ve had a lot of different influences in the mix.”

The current lineup has released a single, but Norris says the hope to have a full album out this summer and is looking forward to more shows.

“Keep an eye out we’re trying to hit the road a bit more often,” she said.

Music from Hannah Norris can be found on the band’s website hannahnorrisandtheband.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/Hannahnorrisband, or through hannahnorris.bandcamp.com and Spotify.

Norris can also be found on Instagram.

Tickets for the concert on May 10 with Neko Case and Hannah Norris & the Band can be found at Ticketmaster.

Cover photo courtesy Hannah Norris

Chiefs Legends youth football camp set for June 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs Legends Community Youth Football Camp presented by Window World is set for June 5 at Arrowhead Stadium from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pro Football Hall of Famer Will Shields, Chiefs alumni and Kansas City Ambassadors will lead the camp throughout the day. Registration is now open at www.chiefs.com/fans/youthfootballcamp.

Children ages 8-14 will have the opportunity to become a part of Chiefs Kingdom and participate in an educational, energizing, and action-packed day on the field at Arrowhead Stadium. Campers will spend the day learning non-tackle fundamentals from Kansas City Chiefs alumni and Kansas City Ambassadors presented by Empower Retirement, as well as key life skills that will help them grow as athletes on and off the field.

The first 50 sign-ups are eligible for early-bird pricing at $100. After early-bird registration closes, registration will cost $125 for all sign-ups through Tuesday, May 28. Late registration sign-ups following Tuesday, May 28th are $150. Included in the cost of registration is a water bottle, drawstring backpack, T-shirt and VIP access to Arrowhead Stadium. A nutritional lunch will be provided for all campers. More information on registration and the camp can be found at www.chiefs.com/fans/youthfootballcamp.

With registration to the camp, children will have the option to opt-in to Chiefs Kingdom Kids. Chiefs Kingdom Kids is free for any child ages 6-12, and members will get year-round information about all the youth-related activities the Chiefs provide. Members will get a Chiefs Kingdom Kids youth football, an annual birthday card, invites to exclusive events, a chance to enter a preseason ticket giveaway and more. Information on Chiefs Kingdom Kids and a link to sign up for the program can be found at www.chiefs.com/kids.

All net proceeds from the camp benefit the Kansas City Ambassadors Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to be distributed to non-profits throughout the Kansas City Metro.

In the event of inclement weather, activities on the field at Arrowhead will be moved to the indoor practice facility at The University of Kansas Health System Training Complex located ¼ mile from the stadium (One Arrowhead Drive Kansas City, MO 64129).

Widespread severe weather rolls across Kansas

Sunday’s widespread severe weather saw flooding rains, large hail, high winds and 15 reports of tornadoes across Kansas.

Tornado near Great Bend on Sunday photo courtesy Lorraine Aldrich-Ames Smith

The National Weather Service issued the first tornado warnings Sunday afternoon in Meade and Ford County. Barton, Rice, Reno and Sumner counties all were impacted by tornadoes and high winds.

Baseball and golf ball size hail also did significant damage in a number of areas. South Central Kansas also reported massive amounts of hail from Sunday evening’s storm.

Flooding rains have prompted emergency management officials to close some rural roads in portions of central Kansas.

Tornado in Barton County Sunday evening photo courtesy Allie Broadrick

There are no reports of injury from the severe weather. The National Weather Service will release additional details Monday on the strength of the tornadoes and or straight line winds.

Update: Kan. boy hospitalized after video game dispute, police make arrest

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a violent disagreement between juveniles that sent one to a hospital and have made an arrest

Police at the scene of Saturday night investigation -photo courtesy KWCH

Just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to a stabbing call in the 2200 block of South Glendale in Wichita, according to officer Kevin Wheeler.

At the scene, police located a nine year old boy who received a cut to his back.  He was transported to a local hospital where he was remains hospitalized with a non-life threatening injury, according to Wheeler.

Investigators learned that three boys, ages 13, 12, and 9 were in the basement of the 12-year-old’s home in playing video games when an argument started among the boys.

During the disturbance, the 12 year old retrieved a knife and threw it at the nine year old outside of the residence, which caused the minor injury. There were no injuries to the other boys.  The 13 and 9-year-old boys are brothers.

Officers contacted the boys’ parents, conducting interviews and on Sunday arrested the 12-year-old for aggravated battery and aggravated assault, according to Wheeler

The case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

—————

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a disagreement between children that sent one to a hospital.

Just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to a stabbing call in the 2200 block of South Glendale in Wichita, according to officer Kevin Wheeler.

At the scene, police located a nine year old boy who received a cut to his back.  He was transported to a local hospital where he was remains hospitalized with a non-life threatening injury, according to Wheeler.

Investigators learned that three boys, ages 13, 12, and 9 were in the basement of the 12-year-old’s home in playing video games when an argument started among the boys.

During the disturbance, the 12 year old retrieved a knife and threw it at the nine year old outside of the residence, which caused the minor injury. There were no injuries to the other boys.  The 13 and 9-year-old boys are brothers.

Officers have contacted the boys’ parents and were still conducting interviews Sunday.

 

 

 

Partly cloudy, mild Monday with a chance for thunderstorms

Monday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65. Northeast wind 9 to 11 mph.

Monday Night Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a low around 50. Northeast wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tuesday Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 61. East northeast wind 11 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tuesday NightShowers and possibly a thunderstorm before 1am, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 1am. Low around 52. East wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

WednesdayShowers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday NightA 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 42. Breezy.

ThursdayMostly cloudy, with a high near 58.

Kansas man accused of killing Italian clothing store owner

VITERBO, Italy (AP) — Italian police have arrested a 22-year-old American and accused him of killing a 74-year-old Italian owner of a clothing store in Viterbo, a city near Rome.

Pang as seen on security cameras image courtesy KBC-TV

Police arrested Michael Aaron Pang on Saturday and allege the killed the Italian storekeeper by striking him with a stool. The body of Norveo Fedeli was found inside his store Friday, Lt. Col. Guglielmo Trombetta said.

Trombetta said Pang, who was born in South Korea, is a graphic designer from the Kansas City area who arrived in Italy about two months ago. Trombetta said it was unclear why Pang was in Italy. He said the suspect has not spoken yet with detectives.

Pang’s lawyer, Remigio Sicilia, said he came to Italy on a tourist’s visa and had a desire to learn Italian and work in Italy. He said Pang is from Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. He said Pang appeared to have no criminal past.

“He’s 22, but he is like a child,” the lawyer said. “He’s a well-behaved boy from a good American family.”

Trombetta said Pang ordered designer clothes worth about 600 euros ($670) from Fedeli’s store. He said Pang had gone to the store twice before Friday to purchase the clothes, but his credit card was rejected.

Police allege Pang and Fedeli scuffled before Pang killed the storekeeper. Police say Pang changed his clothes and took the man’s wallet before fleeing the store with one of his shoes covered in a bag because it was stained in blood.

Police say they found Fedeli’s stolen wallet and other evidence linking Pang to the killing at a room he rented in Capodimonte, a lake town near Viterbo.

Pang, who faces murder and robbery charges, is expected to appear in court Monday, Trombetta said.

Woman arrested at KC bus station admits transporting fentanyl

KANSAS CITY– A woman carrying more than five pounds of fentanyl in her suitcase as she traveled through Kansas City pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday, according to the United State’s Attorney.

Sanchez -photo Clay Co.

Evelyn C. Sanchez, 33, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute.

According to court documents, Sanchez was traveling from Los Angeles, Calif., en route to New York, N.Y. Her bus stopped briefly at a Kansas City bus station on Aug. 21, 2018. After Kansas City police detectives interviewed Sanchez at the bus station, they became suspicious that she was not being truthful about her trip and purpose for going to New York. A police service canine alerted to a grey, hard-sided suitcase under one of the seats near where Sanchez had been seated on the bus, and she eventually acknowledged that that suitcase belonged to her.

When detectives searched Sanchez’s suitcase, they found two bundles wrapped in several layers of plastic, which contained a total of 5.3 pounds of fentanyl. When officers searched Sanchez’s purse, they discovered a false bottom to the purse that contained five separate baggies of cocaine that weighed a total of 5.64 grams.

Under federal statutes, Sanchez is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Tiger Women Claim 10th at MIAA Championships; Singhateh and Deutscher Earn Provisionals


WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Fort Hays State women’s track and field team earned a tenth place finish at the 2019 installment of the MIAA Outdoor Championships hosted by Central Missouri. Throughout the event, multiple Tigers achieved strong marks and places, with Alexcia Deutscher and Rohey Singhateh adding provisional marks.

Deutscher earned a fourth place finish in the javelin with her provisional throw of 148 feet, 4 inches. Singhateh claimed her provisional with a sixth place finish in the triple jump with her distance of 39 feet, 6 ½ inches.

Other strong performances for the Tigers included a fifth place finish by Peri Lange in the heptathlon as she gather 4,500 points. Teammate Mattie Rossi finished close behind in ninth with 4,098 points of her own. Senior Yessenia Gonzales earned fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:30.05, followed by a sixth place finish in the 10,000-meters at 37:50.57. Abigail Stewart finished in the 10th place in the 10,000-meters with a time of 38:54.66

The Tiger strength continued into field events on the weekend. Robin Ritsema finished in fifth place (5 feet, 4 ¼ inches), Summer Kragel earned seventh (5 feet, 4 ¼ inches) and Haley George added an eighth place mark (5 feet, 2 ¼ inches) in the high jump. Singhateh also earned a 10th place mark in the long jump with her distance of 18 feet, 2 ½ inches. Kayla Smith captured tenth place in the triple jump with her own jump of 38 feet, 7 inches.

Fort Hays State ended with 25.7 team points to finish in tenth place out of 13 MIAA programs. Pittsburg State won the team title as they accumulated 144.2 points, followed by Missouri Southern with 144 points in second, and Lincoln rounded out the top three finishes with 104 points as a team.

Meyer Claims 1,500 and 800 Meter MIAA Title; Men Finish in Seventh as a Team


WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Brett Meyer claimed two individual MIAA titles at the 2019 edition of the MIAA Outdoor Championships and helped the Fort Hays State men’s track and field team to a seventh place finish. The event, hosted by Central Missouri in Warrensburg, ran from May 3 -5.

Meyer is ending his senior season on a high-note, as he is now the MIAA champion in both the 1,500-meters and 800-meters. In both events on the weekend, Meyer claimed provisional marks by running his 1,500-meters in 3:49.98 and submitting a time of 1:51.45 in the 800-meters.
Philip Landrum earned All-MIAA in one event and claimed two provisional marks. In the 100-meters, Landrum earned third place at 10.52 while earning third in his preliminary heat in the 200-meters for his provisional at 21.07.

In field event provisionals, Ryan Stanley claimed fourth with his height of 16 feet, 9 ¼ inches in the pole vault. Gilbert Peters beat his personal record multiple times on the day to earn his provisional in the shot put with his hurl of 53 feet, 8 ½ inches. Matthew Pieper finished fourth place in the decathlon with a provisional amount of 6,491 points.

Aside from provisional marks, other Tigers produced strong marks and finishes throughout the weekend. Alex Barbosa earned eighth place in the 1,500-meters with a time of 3:56.49 followed by a ninth place finish by Seppe van ‘t Westende with a time of 3:58.33. In the 5,000-meters, Layton Werth was named All-MIAA after completing a third place finish with a time of 15:04.70. Justin Reed was close behind in sixth place at 15:17.03.

In the 10,000-meters, Israel Barco earned fifth in the 10,000-meters at 31:19.79 with Werth coming in seventh at 31:30.99 and Justin Moore finishing in ninth with a time of 31:49.70. The Tiger 4×100 relay team, made up of Brayden Soza, Landrum, Malcom Gardner and Adrian Soto, finished in sixth place with their combined time of 41.71. the 4×400 meter quad of Piper, Gardner, D’Corian Williams and Meyer finished in ninth place with their total time of 3:20.68.

Moving to field events, multiple Tigers produced encouraging finishes. Kolt Newell earned sixth in the high jump with his height of 6 feet, 7 inches. Mark Faber achieved an eighth place finish in the pole vault at 15 feet, 5 ½ inches. Cameron Fouts rounded out the top-ten finishes on the field for Fort Hays State with a seventh place finish in the javelin following a throw of 189 feet.

The Tigers accumulated 62 team points to end the weekend in seventh place. Central Missouri won the men’s side with 133 points. Pittsburg State earned 122 to place in the runner-up position and Missouri Southern rounded out the top-three with 119 points.

Kansas man hospitalized, suspect jailed after shooting

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery and have a suspect under arrest.

McClain -photo Shawnee Co.

Just after 12:30 a.m, Saturday, police were dispatched to the area of SE 10th and Liberty in Topeka on a report of a man who had been shot according to Lt. Manuel Munoz.

Upon arrival, police determined the incident had taken place at 730 SE Liberty and found a male victim in the home suffering from a non-life threating gunshot to the arm.

The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Officers took several people into custody at the scene and transported them to the Law Enforcement Center for further questioning.

They also transported Wilbert McClain, 61 to Shawnee County Department of Corrections for Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Robbery and Felony Obstruction, according to Munoz.

Kansas, other states work to avoid vast undercount in 2020 census

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a squat office building not far from downtown, Esperanza Guevara is getting ready to look for people who might not want to be found. And her job could get a lot harder.

The immigrant-rights activist is leading a drive to reach tens of thousands of people who entered the United States illegally and persuade them to participate in the 2020 census, the government’s once-a-decade count of the population.

The Trump administration’s plan to use the census to inquire about each person’s citizenship has sent a chill through immigrant communities. Guevara and others fear the question could discourage participation and, by some estimates, leave millions of people uncounted across the country.

Such concerns are concentrated in Democratic-led states with large immigrant populations. An inaccurate count could have real-world consequences, since billions in federal dollars and seats in Congress are allocated according to population.

In immigrant communities often wary of government, a question about citizenship status will make people “less likely to fill out the census form or even answer the door when someone comes knocking,” said Guevara, who works for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Those concerns have been heightened by Trump’s slashing rhetoric toward immigrants and by fears that census information could be used to find and deport people.

“Their first thought is, ‘Is this information going to be used against me?'” Guevara said, standing near rows of computers that will be staffed by volunteers trying to connect with prospective census participants.

Census Bureau chief Ron Jarmin said the agency is legally barred from sharing its information with law enforcement agencies, adding: “We are committed to ensuring that the data we collect are always protected.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a legal challenge seeking to strike the citizenship question from the census form. During oral arguments last week, the court’s conservative majority appeared ready to allow the question.

The Trump administration has argued that it has wide discretion in designing the questionnaire and that the citizenship question is clearly constitutional because it has been asked before — most recently, 1950 — and continues to be used on smaller, annual population surveys.

The Public Policy Institute of California has said that failure to accurately tally immigrants and other hard-to-reach groups could lead to an undercount of 1.6 million people, or roughly 4 percent of the state’s population. That would be enough to cost California one of its 53 House seats.

So California and other states are spending millions to persuade residents, legal and not, to fill out census forms, employing such means as public service messages, mailings, visits to people’s homes and informational gatherings.

“States are doing this because of the number of threats to a fair and accurate count,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Colorado’s House recently endorsed spending $12 million to encourage participation in the census. The governors of Kansas and Nevada have moved to create committees devoted to making sure everyone takes part.

In New Mexico, where the state has launched a multimillion-dollar effort to ensure an accurate tally, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has warned that a 1% undercount could translate into more than $700 million in lost federal revenue over a decade.

Perhaps no state has more at risk than California, where no racial or ethnic group constitutes a majority and Hispanics outnumber whites. More than a quarter of its residents are foreign-born.

Nearly 3 in 4 Californians belong to groups the census has historically undercounted, including Hispanics, blacks, renters, immigrants, children and members of multiple families that share a single home. The state also has an above-average poverty rate, and the poor — especially the homeless — are difficult to count.

With online surveys being widely used next year, people with shaky access to the internet also could disappear from the count.

The state has budgeted about $100 million for education and media campaigns to reach people, a figure likely to jump to $150 million later this year. Most of the money is going to hire field workers and to advertise the importance of participating, a message that will be printed even on lottery tickets.

The Trump administration’s “citizenship question has one purpose: to undercount our diverse communities,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “Our state won’t be intimidated by the White House’s actions, and we aren’t going to back down from fighting for a fair count.”

The Census Bureau’s own plans call for hiring 450,000 to 475,000 temporary workers. Most of them will knock on the doors of people who do not fill out the questionnaires. That number is lower than it was 10 years ago because the bureau is counting on technological changes to make the job more efficient.

With a $400,000 contract from the state, Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles is working to reach into immigrant communities where more than a dozen languages are spoken, including Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese. Southern California is home to the largest Asian population in the U.S.

An Le, the group’s statewide census manager, said census research has found that Asians who speak little or no English and were born outside the U.S. are fearful of repercussions from the government if they submit the information. The group is stressing the importance of the census to health and education funding.

Le said more money is needed to produce census materials in a greater range of languages. She worries, too, about the citizenship question.

Even for legal permanent residents, that would serve as “a deterrent and a barrier,” she said.

Gorillas Spoil Tiger Senior Day Season Finale

HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State baseball wrapped up their 2019 campaign on Sunday (May 5), falling to Pittsburg State by a final of 10-6. The Tigers ended their season with an overall record of 3-40 and a 2-31 clip in MIAA play, while the Gorillas finished their regular season 28-19 overall and 20-13 in conference action.

The Tigers mustered up their best offensive performance of the series in the finale as they picked up six runs on eight hits in the contest. Three Tigers produced multi-hit bids on the afternoon with Ryan Grasser, Cody Starkel and Jordan Wilkerson earned two base knocks. Grasser led the way with two runs scored and Olson, Starkel and Wilkerson drove in one run each.

Tiger starter Cody Rottinghaus escaped a little bit of a jam in the opening frame after allowing a free pass, a single and a stolen base before inducing a fly out to end the Gorilla momentum. In the home half, Grasser doubled down the right field line and Starkel single up the middle to give the Tigers the edge. Grasser then stole home after Starkel distracted the Gorillas in the base path to give the Tigers their first lead of the series.

Pittsburg State knotted things up in the second after Quin Reasoner produced an RBI single. FHSU got the run back in the third frame after Garrett Francis scored on a throwing error by the Gorillas overthrowing the first baseman. FHSU then increased their lead to 3-1 in the fifth after Starkel ripped an RBI single up the middle, scoring Grasser from second.

PSU tied the game up once again in the top of the sixth with two runs, before the Tigers switched scripts again with two runs of their own in the home half. After a couple errors by the Gorillas, Jared Maneth came around to score. The very next plate appearance, Olson reached first on a fielder’s choice and Kyler Cox crossed home plate.

Rottinghaus tossed a solid six innings for the Tigers before the Gorillas took advantage of seeing him for the third time through the lineup. PSU plated six runs in the seventh inning to blow the game open. The Tigers were able to get one of the runs back in the home half as Wilkerson single to right center, plating Starkel from second. The Gorillas then tacked on another run in the ninth.

Rottinghaus (1-4) was charged with the loss in the contest after tossing 6.2 innings, allowing eight runs (four earned) on six hits. The Seneca, Kan. native allowed five free passes to first, while picking up four strikeouts. Ryan Brown came on in relief the rest of the way (2.1 IP), surrendering two runs (one earned) on three hits and fanning two Gorilla hitters.

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