Ralph F. Albers, born Sept. 6, 1928, died Fri., July 19, 2019 in Colby, Kansas.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Tue., July 23, at Baalmann Mortuary, 304 E. 8th St., Oakley Kansas. A vigil will follow at 7 p.m.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Wed., July 24, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 625 N. Freeman Ave., Oakley.
Interment is in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, East 8th Street, Oakley.
Baalmann Mortuary, Oakley, is in charge of arrangements.
WESTMORELAND – A Kansas woman must repay more than $3,800 to the Kansas Medicaid Program after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud-related charges, Kansas according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Elizabeth Joyce, 22, Junction City pleaded guilty on May 16 in Pottawatomie County District Court to one felony count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program and one felony count of theft.
District Judge Jeff Elder ordered Joyce to repay $3,870.31 to the Kansas Medicaid Program and sentenced her to 12 months of probation with an underlying sentence of six months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.
An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division revealed that Joyce claimed she was providing personal care attendant home based services to her mother, when in fact she was clocked in and working for other employers.
The pay for the personal care services was placed into a joint checking account accessible to both Joyce and her mother, Terry Sherrick. An analysis of the Medicaid payment data showed 370 hours of overlapping time billed by Sherrick on behalf of Joyce, while Joyce was working for other employers. The crimes occurred between October 2015 and July 2016.
The Ellis County Public Works Road & Bridge Division announced that Union Pacific will perform railroad crossing maintenance on the crossing located at Walker Avenue and U.S. 40.
The maintenance will begin on Monday and will last through Tuesday. Motorists traveling in the affected area should use alternate routes of travel until the project is completed.
Please direct any questions to Union Pacific at 1-888-877-7267.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Officials say a 41-year-old Kansas City man has been charged in the fatal shooting last month of a transgender woman.
Marcus Lewis is charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm in the June 25 death of 32-year-old Brooklyn Lindsey. Police say she was found dead on the porch of a home in northeast Kansas City. She had been shot several times.
Court records say DNA testing of the shell casings at the scene led detectives to Lewis and that Lewis admitted to shooting Lindsey. Police say Lewis told investigators he and Lindsey were engaged in a physical fight when Lewis pulled out a gun and shot her.
Police say Lewis is a felon and barred from possessing guns.
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — A northeastern Kansas man has been charged with first-degree murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of a woman.
Felipe Chavez Jr., 28, Shawnee, was charged Saturday in the death of 30-year-old Lucia Frayre, of Kansas City.
Police say the charges stem from a July 13 incident in which Shawnee police were called to a local hospital for a suspected domestic battery. Frayre was unconscious and receiving medical treatment when officers arrived. She died from her injuries Tuesday. Police say her death is Shawnee’s first homicide this year.
Chavez is being held on $1 million bond. He’s scheduled to appear in court on the charges Monday.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Electric charging stations have been introduced at the Topeka, Lawrence and Towanda services areas on the Kansas Turnpike.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced the additions Wednesday, calling the charging stations “a game changer” for electric vehicle drivers.
The Topeka Service Area, similar to the ones in Lawrence and Towanda, has three charging stations.
The charging station additions came as a result of an alliance between the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Westar Energy and Kansas City Power and Light.
Turnpike officials said the charging stations will help to eradicate “range anxiety,” or the concern an electric car battery will run out of power before reaching a destination.
“Electric vehicle charging stations are something we’ve been asked about by customers,” said Kansas Turnpike Authority CEO Steve Hewitt. “We’re excited to make this request a reality for our electric vehicle customers.”
Turnpike officials said each of the three locations will include two DC fast-charging stations and one Level 2 station. Typically, a DC Fast charging station can completely charge most electric vehicles in under 30 minutes.
Officials said those needing to recharge their vehicle’s battery can drive to a charging station, connect the charging cable, then wait inside the service area while their vehicle is being charged.
With a growing number of electric vehicles on the road, the addition of the charging stations “allows us to be ahead of the game,” Hewitt said.
Some electric vehicles can travel up to 200 to 250 miles on a single charge, though many average anywhere between 110 and 130 miles per charge, said Chuck Caisley, Westar Energy’s chief customer officer.
Caisley noted manufacturers are expected to spend around $500 billion over the next seven to eight years on electric car development.
Electric vehicles signify “the next big step in transportation evolution,” he noted.
KU NEWS SERVICE
LAWRENCE — Dec. 7, 1941. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A date which will live in infamy.
But what few people understand is the attack wasn’t limited to Hawaii, and it didn’t actually end Dec. 7.
That’s the impetus for a new book titled “Beyond Pearl Harbor: A Pacific History,” which brings together 11 renowned scholars who reinterpret the events, politics, strategy and results of that military campaign and why many of its stories have been overlooked. The book is the brainchild of editors Beth Bailey and David Farber, who are both professors of history at the University of Kansas. And they’re married to each other.
“It wasn’t so clear at the moment that Dec. 7 was a date that would live in infamy,” Farber said. “That was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s summation a day later. In those first 24 hours, Americans were trying to understand, ‘Was this a war on us? The homeland? The Pacific empires of European and Asian countries? Was this a war in which we would even participate?’”
The historians claim that what Americans of today believe to be a galvanizing rallying point is based on a skewed received narrative. It ignores the nearly simultaneous attacks on Guam, Wake Island, Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Newspaper headlines that appeared across the nation before FDR spoke portray the event in all sorts of ways,” Bailey said. “Hawaii isn’t always the most important place. Sometimes it’s not even mentioned. Sometimes the focus is on Guam or the Philippines. That this was an attack on Pearl Harbor, a ‘stab in the back’ — that wasn’t Americans’ initial understanding.”
“Beyond Pearl Harbor,” which will be published July 24 by University Press of Kansas, had its origin several years ago during a conference organized by the couple. Bailey runs the Center for Military, War and Society Studies. Every year she organizes an event, and this one sprung from a gathering on the occasion of the raid’s 75th anniversary.
“We tried to find the best-known international scholars on the various nation-states and colonies involved in the Pacific War. And we asked if they wanted to come to Lawrence, Kansas, to have a conversation,” she said of the group, which included participants from Japan, China, England, Australia and the Netherlands.
After short presentations and conversations, the theme of what would become the book emerged.
“That’s why the university is a great spot,” said Farber, a Chicago native. “We didn’t just read papers to each other and then go away. A dozen scholars came together, spent two hard days thinking out loud with one another and, possibly, rewrote how people will think about the origins of World War II in the Pacific.”
Bailey, a native of Atlanta, said one of her favorites of the 10 essays is titled “American Lives: Pearl Harbor and War in the U.S. Empire” by Daniel Immerwahr of Northwestern University. In it he recounts the strikes on the U.S. territories of Midway, Wake Island, Guam and the Philippines, probing the question, “Why have the Japanese attacks of December 7/8 been metonymically reduced in public memory to a single event?”
Indeed, in the American colony of the Philippines, casualties were in the tens of thousands. The war essentially destroyed Manila.
“The United States didn’t come to the rescue of its own colony because its people were not seen as American,” Bailey said.
Farber added, “It was all about whose lives matter. Why did Filipino lives matter less, for example, than the lives of people in Hawaii?”
The chapter “Pearl Harbor and the Asian Cultural Turn” by Ethan Mark of Leiden University in the Netherlands is Farber’s top pick. Here, Mark explores how the population of the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) reacted.
“The scholar who wrote that piece is a brilliant guy, and he was able to capture that sense of uncertainty in the Asian world through the eyes of Indonesians trying to figure out what’s next,” Farber said. “The nationalists weren’t sure which way to turn. Was Japan the future? Was the United States the future? Which represented the way Asia should go?”
In addition to the introduction and prologue, Bailey and Farber contribute a chapter exploring the different strikes on territories that included ones controlled by other nations.
They write: “Within days of the attack, Americans began to distinguish between their need to restore empires and defend allies in the Pacific and their desire to protect ‘America’ — a term open to debate on racial, geopolitical and historical grounds.”
Bailey and Farber both came to KU four years ago. She’s an expert in U.S. military, war and society as well as history of gender and sexuality. His expertise encompasses modern U.S. history. They’ve been married for 34 years.
“Scholars today talk about the importance of taking transnational and international approaches to better understand how events connect and affect people across national boundaries,” Farber said.
“Exactly what this conference was about: recreating the origins of World War II by looking beyond each nation-state and seeing the Pacific as the geographical realm of importance. So we think it was a kind of disciplinary breakthrough.”
FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — The stepson of a slain Missouri Ku Klux Klan leader has been sentenced to a total 59 years in prison for his role in the death. Paul Jinkerson Jr. was sentenced Friday.
A St. Francois County jury found him guilty in May of involuntary manslaughter, abandonment of a corpse and other crimes in the fatal 2017 shooting of 51-year-old Frank Ancona Jr. Ancona was imperial wizard of the Klan’s Traditionalist American Knights.
She initially claimed that Jinkerson shot her husband while he was sleeping. But in her guilty plea, she said Jinkerson had no role in the shooting, though he helped clean up the crime scene and dump the body.
DICKINSON COUNTY — Authorities are investigating a reported scam in Abilene.
According to a statement from the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, a local business reported that they were the attempted target of a check cashing scam and that as many as 5 fake checks could potentially have been presented to their bank.
The business owner was tipped off when one of the check recipients called them to verify the legitimacy of a check they had received via UPS from “THE HEALTHY JUICE, CO”.
The check recipient had allegedly received the check in the amount of $2,470 after signing up online for a “work from home” promotion on THE HEALTHY JUICE, CO’s website. However, the printed name and address in the upper left-hand corner of the check they received as payment belonged to a local Abilene business, with no connection to the juice company.. The check was accompanied by a letter from THE HEALTHY JUICE, CO with instructions to take the check to their local bank, cash it, and then deposit the cash to another account. From that point on, the recipient would purportedly receive a similar check each week.
The local business owner did more investigating after receiving that first call, and discovered that at least 4 other fake checks had also been created. The counterfeit checks looked very similar to the local company’s real checks, with only a few small differences. The check numbers on the fake checks matched checks that the business had recently used to pay vendors in multiple geographic locations. There was no obvious pattern indicating where THE HEALTHY JUICE, CO may have obtained the local business’s check information.
Each of the forged checks the local business uncovered in their investigation was for exactly $2,470. The local business owner stated that they had spoken with at least one other Abilene area business that had been the target of this same scam recently.
Experts say that these check cashing scams typically originate overseas, making it very difficult for local law enforcement and banks to track the source. Monitoring your bank account closely and using checks with enhanced security features can help protect you and your business.
If you fear that you or your business have been the target of this or another scam, notify your bank immediately and call the Abilene Police Department at 785-263-1212.
The Chamber reminded consumers, there a number of ways to safeguard yourself against becoming an unwitting pawn in a check cashing scam. For more information on how check cashing scams work, click to read “The Anatomy of a Fake Check Cashing Scam”.
Jon L. Thummel, 65, of Hoxie, Kansas passed away on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, at his home in rural Sheridan County, Kansas. On March 2, 1954, Jon and his twin sister, Jane, were born to Lawrence A. and Mildred B. (Huelsman) Thummel. They joined five brothers and a sister. Jon attended the Seguin School thru eighth grade and attended Hoxie High School graduating with the class of 1972. After graduating, he began farming on his family’s farm south of Seguin, KS. On May 27, 1978, Jon and Janice Ritter were united in marriage at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Leoville, Kansas. They then settled together on the family farm where they continued to reside. They were blessed with three children Daniel, Chris, and Michelle.
Jon was a kind and gentle person, eager and willing to help anyone in need. He was a friend to many and often knew no stranger. He enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his brothers. Attending auctions with them in search of antiques and collectibles was always a fun experience.
Jon was always concerned about the well being of others who were struggling. He was by nature a caring person. He was a proud alumni member of Valley Hope of Norton and served wholeheartedly as a sponsor for several people. He was also a member of the Hoxie AA group where he supported and believed in the work they do.
Jon often boasted about what he called his greatest achievement in life, his children. The family would take summer vacations, after harvest of course, and usually to the Ozarks. No trip was ever complete without a couple stops at the roadside antique malls and flea markets. He rarely, if ever, missed his children’s sporting events and was always there to lend his advice. Jon was mechanically inclined and would always make his own repairs; this knowledge also allowed him to help his sons take on the task of restoring their classic cars. His love for woodworking also led to many other projects and he always enjoyed helping his children remodel their homes.
His other greatest achievement in life was being a grandfather. He was blessed with 5 grandchildren, Eric, Jon O., Ellie, Cohen, and Morgan. Jon always included them in completing the farm duties and taught many lessons along the way. He loved them dearly and enjoyed spending his time with them.
Jon is survived by his wife, Janice, of the home, Hoxie, Kansas; sons, Daniel Thummel and wife Betha of Hoxie, Kansas and Chris Thummel of Colby, Kansas; daughter, Michelle Wise and husband Skyler of Cawker City, Kansas; brothers, Leon Thummel (Carol) of Wichita, Kansas, Bernard Thummel of Kansas City, Kansas, and Michael Thummel (Mary Lou) of Wichita, Kansas; and sisters, Charlotte Wolf of Grinnell, Kansas and twin sister, Jane McDougal (John) of Colby, Kansas; sisters-in-law, Marilyn Thummel and Linda Thummel; and grandchildren Eric, Jon O., Ellie, Cohen, and Morgan.
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He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Mildred Thummel; brothers, Gerald and Larry Thummel; brother-in-law, Dean Wolf; and sister-in-law, Sharon Thummel.
A Mass of Christian Burial is planned for Tuesday, July 23, 2019, to be held at St. Martin Catholic Church, Seguin, Kansas, at 10:30 A.M. with interment following the service in St. Martin Cemetery, Seguin, Kansas. Visitation is planned for Monday, July 22, 2019, from 1:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. with the family receiving friends from 5:30 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. A vigil service and rosary will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Monday July 22,2019, at Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, Hoxie, Kansas. Memorials are suggested to the Hoxie, Kansas AA Group or for Masses and may be sent in care of Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, PO Box 987, Hoxie, Kansas 67740. Online condolences may be left at www.mickeyleopoldfuneral.com
Jon was taken to his heavenly home far too soon. He would ask you to miss him a little but not too long. Instead, remember the love he had for his most precious family and friends. As the morning sun rises, remember he is with you in spirit and will greet you again one day when you take your journey to heaven.
Steven Lynn Hughbanks, age 71, of Denton, TX, died July 17, 2019 in Denton. He was born to Hanley and Lennie (Andersen) Hughbanks on January 13, 1948 in Pratt, KS. He married Jeri Dee Kough, the love of his life, on June 6, 1971 in Page City, KS. He was a national sales representative for Acme Laredo Boot Co.
Survivors include: his daughter, Rachel Hughbanks of Denton, TX, and his brother, Ron Hughbanks (Linda) of Omaha, NE. Also his nephew, David and (Clara) Hughbanks of Plymouth, MN; and brothers-in law and sisters-in law: Ron and Sonja Kough of Winona, Mike and Sheryl Kough of Russell Springs, Roger and Connie Kough of Colby, and nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jeri in 2008, and his parents, Hanley and Lennie Hughbanks.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 26, 2019 at Kennedy-Koster Funeral Home, Oakley. Interment will follow in the Oakley Cemetery. No Visitation. Memorials to the Humane Society may be sent in care of Kennedy-Koster Funeral Home, PO Box 221, Oakley, KS 67748.
Online Guest Book: www.kennedykosterfh.com
Marvin Francis Pfannenstiel, 88, Hays, passed away peacefully at his home with his wife by his side on Friday, July 19, 2019.
He was born January 31, 1931 in Munjor, the son of Mike and Eva (Degenhardt) Pfannenstiel. Marvin grew up in Munjor and Hays and graduated from St. Joseph Military Academy in 1949. He was a member of the Kansas National Guard, and in 1952 was drafted during the Korean War into the United States Army where he spent time in Okinawa, Japan with the Military Police. On October 22, 1955 he was united in marriage to Jane Rae Tremblay in Damar, Kansas and they celebrated over 64 years of marriage. To this union five children were born. Marvin owned and operated the Dodge House Inn in Dodge City and started the Chuck Wagon Breakfast during Dodge City Days. He enjoyed being the wagon master cook on many trail drives, fishing, fish fries, his team of horses, dancing with his wife Jane, and his greatest joy was his family. He was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Hays American Legion Post No. 173 and VFW Post No. 9076.
Survivors include his wife; Jane of the home, two sons; Dan Pfannenstiel (Connie Pfannenstiel) of Norton, and Tim Pfannenstiel (Susie Pfannenstiel) of Hays, three daughters; Cindy Guthrie and husband Rick of Dodge City, Carmen Kirchman and husband David of Dodge City, and Lisa Donovan and husband David of Norton, a brother; Frank Pfannenstiel and wife Celie of Hays, a sister; Aggie Miller and husband Jim of Hays, 18 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, three great-grandchildren on the way, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, six brothers, and two sisters.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church with Fr. Justin Palmer officiating. Burial with military honors by the Hays VFW Post No. 9076 Honor Guard will follow in the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery in WaKeeney. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on Monday and from 9:00 am until 9:45 on Tuesday, all at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home. A recitation of the rosary will be at 7:00 pm on Monday at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the family to establish a nursing scholarship. Condolences and memories of Marvin may be left with the family at www.haysmemorial.com
Iva Mae Triplett, 83 of Wakeeney KS, passed away July 5, 2019 at Hays Medical Center, Hays, KS. She was born in Ellis County on January 7, 1936 to Jacob and Ella (Schumm) Massier.
Iva was a 1954 graduate of Ellis High School. She was united in marriage to Leslie Eugene (Gene) Triplett on August 11, 1955 in WaKeeney, KS. They were married 43 years.
Iva worked as a laundry worker in Ransom, KS until the family moved to WaKeeney, KS in 1983. She then worked at the WaKeeney Hospital as a Certified Nurses Aide and Physical Therapy Aide until her retirement. She enjoyed gardening, puzzles and spending time with her family.
Iva was preceded in death by her father and mother Jacob and Ella Massier, her husband Gene Triplett and son Rick Triplett. She is survived by her four daughters, Debbie Schmale (Roger) of Salina, KS, Sandy Bostick and Karla Ghumm (Michael) of WaKeeney, KS and Dara Noll (Kip) Ness City, KS; ten grandchildren, Chanda Lunn, Chrissy Delimont, Sonya Lovesee, Tyson Triplett, Chelsea Dail, Matt Noll, Josh, Cody, Cameron and Devon Ghumm; fourteen great-grandchildren, Torrance, Taytum,and Tinley Lovesee, Rylee,Ansley,Breyer and Harper Delimont, Hudson and Walker Lynn, Addison and Josiah Lopez, Landyn Dail, Brantleigh and Briggs Ghumm; sister Betty Cain; and daughter-in-law, Korene Triplett.
Memorial service will be held 10:30am July 23, 2019 at Schmitt Funeral Home WaKeeney. Pastor Randy Gibbs of Bethlehem Lutheran Church will be officiating. Cremation has been chosen.
The family will receive friends the day of service, from 9am – 10am.
Memorial contributions may be given to the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 N. 12th WaKeeney, KS 67672.
