SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex charges.
Lawrence photo Shawnee Co.
Just after 7:30a.m. Friday, police in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigations served a search warrant at a residence in the 2100 Block of SW Fairlawn in Topeka regarding crimes involving exploitation of children, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
Police arrested Antonino Jo Von Lawrence 30, of Topeka, at a separate location without incident and hewas booked into Shawnee Co Department of Corrections on requested charges of sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, electronic solicitation and aggravated human trafficking.
Authorities released no additional details Saturday.
About 5:15 p.m. Saturday Hays emergency responders were dispatched to a structure fire in a residence in the 200 block of Ash St. in Hays.
The reporting party told Hays dispatch a fan had caught in on fire inside a bedroom and all occupants and pets were outside of the home according to scanner traffic.
Utilities were cut to the residence while emergency responders were on scene.
By 5:45 p.m. the fire was reported out after a check of the entire building was completed.
Wichita police say the shooting happened around 10 p.m. Friday in the Benjamin Hills neighborhood.
The man had just returned from a trip to the grocery store after work to his home when he was shot. A person with knowledge of the investigation told the newspaper that the victim had been robbed.
Police have not released the victim’s name.
Police are searching for a suspect and have asked anyone with information about the crime to call CrimeStoppers.
Our unclaimed property division at the Kansas State Treasurer’s office takes in millions of dollars in new
property a year. Each piece of property has a story, and it is up to us to use the details we have to help find out who it belongs to. Sometimes, though, that story takes a lot more work to figure out. Money and property can come to us with no name, address, or other important details making it nearly impossible to return the property to the rightful owner. We love it when we can connect the dots and get someone’s property returned to them, whether big or small.
In a case we’ve been working on for the past year, a property came to our office with little identifying
information to help us get it back to its rightful owner.
Last month we received a call from a woman who had been searching for the sale proceeds from her father’s home. It had gone to auction after he passed away, and the money never made it back to her or her brother, both heirs of their father’s estate.
Our unclaimed property division began their skilled work at checking the documentation she had against
county records, last known addresses, and other necessary identifying information.
After a diligent effort on their part, they found the match, and the woman and her brother were successfully reunited with the over $50,000 in cash from the sale of their late father’s home.
Both siblings were very grateful for the work done on their behalf and delighted to finally have the mystery of the missing money solved.
We have over $300-million in unclaimed property still waiting to be claimed and want to encourage Kansans to take a minute to check our website, www.Kansascash.com, and see if any of it belongs to them. Remember, we never charge for searches or returning unclaimed property, so it’s important to be wary of those who do. We’ve returned a record amount to Kansans for the past two years in a row, and would love to have more and more success stories like this one in the year ahead.
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly appointed Dr. Tiffany Anderson to the Postsecondary Technical Education Authority.
“Dr. Anderson is the right choice for this important assignment,” Kelly said. “She’s highly qualified, driven, and knows education at every level, to include higher education.”
Currently, Anderson serves as superintendent for the Topeka public schools district, USD 501. She also served as a school superintendent in Missouri and Virginia. Since 2003, she’s been an adjunct professor in the Department of Educational Leadership for Kansas State University. Anderson received her doctorate and master’s degree in education leadership and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Saint Louis University, Mo.
Dr. Anderson currently resides in Overland Park. She succeeds Sabrina Korentager.
The authority is composed of 12 members. Four members are appointed by the Kansas Board of Regents. Three members are be appointed by the governor. One member is appointed by the president of the Senate, and one member is appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Regarding the governor’s appointments, one represents Kansas business and industry, and two represent the general public.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The Reno County attorney says 10 officers who fired at a suspect during a confrontation at a Hutchinson home last month will not face charges.
County Attorney Keith Schroeder announced Friday the officers were acting to defend themselves and others when they fired at least 150 rounds at 21-year-old Brendan Jones. Jones was shot at least eight times but survived.
Hours after a standoff began, Jones agreed to come out of the home. He says Jones walked outside raised a handgun and fired at least 11 shots at officers, who returned fire.
Jones photo Reno Co.
Police say Jones and another man, Tyson Samuels, holed up in the house after shooting another man at a different location. Samuels surrendered before the gun battle between Jones and police.
ELLSWORTH COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just before 9a.m. Saturday in Ellsworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Ford F150 driven by Chantrielle Porter, 21, Wichita, was eastbound on Interstate 70 just west of the K-156 Junction. The driver fell asleep. The pickup drifted into the median, struck a drainage berm, went airborne and vehicle came to rest on the passenger side.
Porter and a passenger Derrick Cottner, 35, Wichita, were transported to the hospital in Ellsworth. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty to kicking a cat like a ball on a Kansas City high school football field in an act that was captured on video and posted to Snapchat.
Image courtesy Kansas City Animal Control
Johnathan Taylor, of Kansas City, was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty Thursday to misdemeanor animal abuse. He also was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service and to donate $500 to an animal shelter.
Court records say the cat was found dead in May 2018 at Center High School, where Taylor had been a student.
Police say the person who recorded the video identified Taylor as the man kicking the cat in the video. A voice can be heard on the recording yelling “field goal!”
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) with World Food Program USA
By WORLD FOOD PROGRAM USA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Throughout our nation’s history, leaders from across the aisle have dedicated their careers to ending global hunger.
Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas is one of those leaders. Senator Moran is chair and co-founder of the Senate Hunger Caucus and a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and throughout his career, he has worked with the World Food Programme to implement programs and policies that promote food security. We recently sat down with Senator Moran to learn more about his commitment to feeding hungry families across the world.
WFP USA: Why do you personally care about global food security?
Sen. Moran: The call to feed the world has been answered by so many Kansans before me. Each of us is taught at a young age that it is our duty to help those in need. Kansans take that moral responsibility to heart. As individuals, we help our neighbors. Through churches and local organizations, we feed our communities. And as a country, America leads the world in providing food for millions of people in need of assistance around the globe.
WFP USA: Imagine you’re hosting a town hall meeting in Kansas and you’re met with skepticism about global engagement generally or food aid in particular. Why should Kansans and the rest of America care about global food security?
Sen. Moran: American farmers are linked to global markets and, by extension, to the wellbeing of people everywhere. Today, 821 million people around the world suffer from chronic hunger. About 113 million are facing immediate, life-threatening hunger. America’s international food assistance programs build stronger markets and more stable societies. They also provide a reliable market for American farmers right now when they need it most.
Food security also contributes to our national security. When governments cannot feed their own people, chaos and violence often follow. Food assistance provided by the United States leads to greater stability in regions of the world important to America’s strategic interests. When parents have access to food, they can provide a better future for their children. And when hunger no longer impedes a child’s ability to learn, they can remain and thrive in school, leading them down a path to greater opportunities.
While our country’s collective moral convictions make fighting hunger the right thing to do, the benefits we receive as a nation from reducing global food insecurity also make it the smart thing to do.
WFP USA: America has always been a leader in the fight against global hunger. Looking back at our history of hunger relief, what are key U.S. policies and programs that have made a big difference in reducing hunger abroad?
Sen. Moran: Kansans in particular have a long history of leading the fight to end global hunger. Most notably, Senator Bob Dole from Kansas (a Russell native) worked to expand our nation’s efforts to provide food to the most vulnerable populations around the world, including young school girls, through the Dole-McGovern Food for Education Program. It is an honor to continue this tradition and example set by Senator Dole as we continue the fight against hunger.
And, of course, Food for Peace has also been instrumental in fighting global hunger.
WFP USA: Let’s look specifically at the Food for Peace Program. This year marks its 65th anniversary. What role has this program played in addressing global hunger?
Sen. Moran: Since Food for Peace was signed into law 65 years ago by President [Dwight] Eisenhower, a native Kansan (from Abilene), it has reached over 4 billion people in the world. Food for Peace is the cornerstone of U.S. international food aid programs. It provides U.S.-grown food to hungry people in some of the most dangerous and hardest to reach areas in the world, including in conflict zones. From the aftermath of the Korean War to conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia today, Food for Peace continues to provide hope for people who have nowhere else to turn. With several areas of the world facing famine or near-famine conditions today, Food for Peace has never been more important to addressing global hunger.
WFP USA: How are you currently working to fight global hunger? Are there any pieces of related legislation that you’re passionate about passing to advance this cause?
Sen. Moran: As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I work to prioritize funding for our international food aid programs, including Food for Peace and Dole-McGovern. Each year, Congress must decide how to allocate limited funds among many important policies across government. I fight for international food aid programs to be at the top of the priority list because these programs help save lives around the world, contribute to global stability and provide important markets for American farmers.
WFP USA: Sen. Moran, you serve a large agriculture producing state. How do you see food assistance programs creating and expanding markets for U.S. agriculture products?
Sen. Moran: Kansas is a top wheat, sorghum and beef producing state. We also grow corn, soybeans and cotton, and are one of the fastest growing dairy production states in the nation. Kansans’ ability to earn a living in rural areas is by exporting the food and fiber we grow to consumers around the world. Through international food aid programs, we are helping to connect the bounty of food that farmers and ranchers produce in Kansas with people facing starvation around the world.
Good harvests, coupled with a lack of markets, have made large stockpiles of grain a familiar site across the state in recent years. I pulled over to the side of the road to take a photo in Kensington, Kansas of a huge pile of sorghum on the ground because all of the grain elevators were full. I’ve shown that photo to President Trump, Secretary Perdue and others to illustrate the importance of export markets for Kansas farmers and ranchers. The photo has also raised the question – how do we do better at getting the large amounts of food we grow in Kansas to people who are facing hunger and starvation?
WFP USA: What is your hope for the future of America’s role in global food security? What do you think we need to do as Americans to ensure that everyone across the world has the food they need to not only survive, but also reach their full potential?
Sen. Moran: In my lifetime I believe we can end hunger, malnutrition and achieve food security across the world. We can accomplish this if America continues to lead the world in combatting hunger. This is an issue in which the morally correct thing to do is also what’s in the best interest of our country. By continuing to invest in Food for Peace, Dole-McGovern and other international food-aid programs, we will save lives around the world and reduce conflict by promoting greater social and economic stability.
To read the full World Food Program USA Q&A with Sen. Moran, click here.
CALABASAS, Calif. — A Kansas high school skilled trades teacher is among 50 teachers and teacher teams from across the country who were named today as semifinalists for the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
Mark Meyer, who teaches agricultural education at Marion High School in Marion, and his skilled trades program are in the running for a share of $1 million in total cash awards.
Meyer was chosen by an independent panel of judges from among a field of 749 skilled trades teachers who applied for the prize. The semifinalists—some competing as individuals and some as teacher teams—hail from 26 states and specialize in trades including manufacturing, welding, construction, automotive and agriculture mechanics.
Meyer has more than 30 years’ experience teaching agriculture and welding. Growing up on a dairy farm gave him early experience with fixing equipment, and his passion for teaching skilled trades comes from his belief that students learn best by applying what they learn.
Meyer’s students pursue activities that reinforce physical science concepts, like studying Bernoulli’s principle before designing wind turbine blades to maximize power production.
Meyer is also a teacher leader, training dozens of teachers nationwide in the Curriculum for Agriculture Science Education (CASE) course in agriculture power and technology and in mechanical systems in agriculture.
“We never cease to be amazed by the talent, creativity and resourcefulness of skilled trades educators,” said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. “This year’s semifinalists teach more than a dozen trades and have spent a collective 800 years in the classroom—teaching our students critical skills that our country needs—and we couldn’t be more excited to honor their work.”
The full list of the 50 semifinalists is posted here.
The 2019 semifinalists now advance to a second round of competition, where they will be asked to respond to online expert-led video learning modules designed to solicit their insights and creative ideas about teaching practices. The contenders will be asked how ideas from the modules might be used to inspire students to achieve excellence in the skilled trades. Two rounds of judging, each by separate independent panels of reviewers, will narrow the field to 18 finalists and, finally, name the three first-place and 15 second-place winners. Winners will be announced on Oct. 24.
The 18 winners will split $1 million in prizes. First-place winners will each receive $100,000, with $70,000 going to their public high school skilled trades program and $30,000 to the individual skilled trades teacher or teacher team behind the winning program. Second-place winners will each be awarded $50,000, with $35,000 going to their public high school program and $15,000 to the teacher or team. Past winners have dedicated their winnings to modernizing their shops, investing in specialized tools, promoting their programs to families and purchasing equipment to prepare students for higher-level accreditations. Semifinalists whose school, district or state policy prohibits receipt of the individual portion of prize earnings were eligible to apply on behalf of their school’s skilled trades program. If they win, the entire prize will be awarded to the school.
The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was started in 2017 by Eric Smidt, the founder of national tool retailer Harbor Freight Tools. The prize recognizes outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools and the teachers who inspire students to learn a trade that prepares them for life after graduation. Now, in the third year of the prize, more than 150 teachers have been recognized as winners or semifinalists. Winners are invited to attend an annual convening to share best practices for advancing excellence in skilled trades education.
“Skilled trades teachers help hundreds of thousands of students each year experience the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes from learning a trade,” Smidt said. “These teachers, their students and skilled tradespeople everywhere, too often don’t receive the respect and gratitude they deserve. Without them, construction would halt, homes, cars and appliances would fall into disrepair, and our infrastructure would crumble. We are thrilled to be able to honor and elevate the importance of their work.”
About Harbor Freight Tools for Schools
Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is a program of The Smidt Foundation, established by Harbor Freight Tools Founder Eric Smidt, to advance excellent skilled trades education in public high schools across America. With a deep respect for the dignity of these fields and for the intelligence and creativity of people who work with their hands, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools aims to drive a greater understanding of and investment in skilled trades education, believing that access to quality skilled trades education gives high school students pathways to graduation, opportunity, good jobs and a workforce our country needs. Harbor Freight Tools is a major supporter of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools program. For more information, visit us at harborfreighttoolsforschools.org/ and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
SALINA – Years before joining Smoky Hill Education Service Center as one of its newest consultants, John Girodat was a high school principal having a difficult conversation with a teenager about to drop out of high school.
“I asked him if there was anything we could have done to avoid that conversation,” Girodat said, recalling, “And he gave me one of the best insights I’ve ever heard.”
He had given up on school in third grade, when he realized that if he was ahead of his classmates he would just be given “busy work” or sit around because they wouldn’t be getting to the next topic until tomorrow. He wasn’t pushed, or even allowed, to dig deeper and explore his strengths.
On the other hand, if he was struggling, he wasn’t given the time he needed to fully understand the material, because they had to get to the next topic tomorrow.
The student was turned off to school and eventually tuned out because of the rigidity of a system that didn’t meet his needs. The student wasn’t given the time to develop his strengths, or work on addressing his weaknesses, so he slowly withdrew from the educational process.
So now at Smoky Hill ESC since March 1, Girodat sees his mission as being coach and counselor to allow educators to focus on their kids.
Smoky Hill ESC is comprised of more than 50 Kansas school districts, including Hays USD 489, Ellis USD 388, and Victoria USD 432 across 25 counties.
“My main goal is to give support to our teachers, administrators and schools so they can accomplish the goals they have for their students. They don’t lack the will or ability to make these changes,” he said. “They lack the time. So my job is to do the things they could and would do if they had the time.”
He is designing his workshops, training, and consulting work to meet the personalized needs of area educators served by Smoky Hill ESC – whether that be understanding the influence of poverty; critically examining the true usefulness of grades, homework, and school discipline; or infusing practical skills that lead to employment into the classroom.
This has led to him developing courses this summer that go beyond academic abstraction and give workshop participants the skills and lessons they can apply in the classroom on day one. Girodat is also developing an array of workshops and training sessions coming this fall, with dates still to be determined, including:
· Project Based Learning: Both the basics and more advanced topics of this innovative teaching style that gives students ownership, self-direction, and voice within their learning.
· Grading and Homework: Focuses on making homework assignments and grading effective and efficient, as well as how to make these traditional parts of education meet their true purpose.
· Family Engagement: Develop authentic and effective interactions and partnerships with students’ families to support student education – particularly families not already involved.
· Chronic Absenteeism: Showing up to class is a strong early indicator of ultimate academic success. The class will teach participants how to use existing attendance data to identify and assist at-risk students as soon as possible.
· Scarcity and Poverty: With almost half of Kansas students eligible for free or reduced lunch, poverty and scarcity has a profound effect on student education across the state. The class well help educators better understand the effect of scarcity on students and to be more effective in closing that achievement gap.
· Self-Care for Administrators and Staff: There’s a reason airlines instruct passengers to put on their own oxygen mask before helping others – people have to care for themselves to be of any service to anyone else. In education, more and more is being asked of teachers and administrators and burnout is becoming epidemic. This course will address these critical self-care techniques.
Perhaps as important as Girodat’s expertise in these areas is his perspective. His knowledge is far beyond the academic, with nearly two decades in education in as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal, principal, and with the Kansas Department of Education as an education program consultant.
Having seen education at all levels, he can now step back and give the larger picture and quality advice to educators at all levels.
Those interested in workshops or training with Girodat – or the other six expert on-staff consultants or guest consultants – can visit www.smokyhill.organd click on the link for the calendar for a comprehensive month-by-month listing of all workshop events. A workshop brochure, monthly newsletter, and online registration form are also available under “News” or “Learn & Connect” on the site.
Girodat said students are in the classroom only about a quarter of their day-to-day lives, so the most important resource educators have isn’t money or materials.
It’s time.
“With limited time, we have to be intentional about what we do,” he said, “because we don’t have time to waste.”
Founded July 1, 1990, Smoky Hill Education Service Center is a cooperative consortium of more than 50 school districts, including Hays USD 489, Ellis USD 388, and Victoria USD 432 across 25 counties, formed to provide cost and efficiency savings in a variety of educational services for its participating members. The service center’s mission is: “In partnership with school districts, we promote success for learners by providing superior services.” Through staff development classes and services, the service center supports more than 2,700 teachers and administrators – benefitting more than 31,000 students. In addition to educational institutions, any non-profit or governmental organization can benefit from Smoky Hill Education Service Center, either as a member or by selecting needed services.
LARNED – Melanie Urban, RN, BSN, HACP has been named administrator of The University of Kansas Health System Pawnee Valley Campus in Larned. She will begin her duties on August 19.
Urban currently serves as the Director of Patient Quality services at HaysMed, a position she has held for the past 10 years. Overall, she has twenty-six years of experience in the healthcare industry serving as a quality, accreditation and infection prevention director; risk manager; case manager and acute care nurse. Urban has also served in a leadership role at Pawnee Valley Campus since 2010.
She earned a BS in nursing from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. Urban is a Healthcare Accreditation Certified Professional. She is a member of the American College of Health Executives, board member for the Kansas Association of Risk and Quality Management and task force member for the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management.
“The Pawnee Valley Campus is very dear to my heart and I look forward to expanding my leadership role at the hospital and integrating myself into the community,” Urban said. “I’ve been increasingly impressed by the amazing healthcare team and the outpouring of support the hospital receives from the community. The Pawnee Valley Campus is absolutely a top-notch facility and a vital part of the community.”
Urban is a native of central Kansas and she and her husband own and operate a farming operation in Rush county.
“I’m excited about Melanie becoming the new Administrator and vast experience she will bring to the facility. I look forward to her continued leadership with our organization in this new role.” stated Eddie Herrman, President and CEO, HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System.
University of Kansas Health System Pawnee Valley Campus
