Fort Hays State head wrestling coach Chas Thompson will welcome eight student-athletes to campus next week that make up the 2019-20 Tiger Wrestling signing class. This year’s incoming class includes one transfer and seven freshmen.
“I’m very happy with this group we have coming in for the upcoming 2019-20 season,” said Thompson. “The guys that are coming in are all middle to upper weights, and that is where we were a bit thin this past season. I feel like these guys are all a great fit, and I am looking forward to see them mixing it up with our returners in our room.”
Colten Ballentine is an incoming freshman from Hershey High School in Hershey, Neb. He is projected to wrestle at the 165 pounds after qualifying for state as a senior at 160 pounds.
Jarod Camacho will be a freshman after wrapping up at Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas. Camacho placed sixth in the Texas 6A state championship as a junior at 195 pounds. He is set to contend at either 184 pounds or 197 pounds.
LJ Flax is a true freshman from Goddard Eisenhower High School in Goddard, Kan. He was a two-time state qualifier at 220 pounds and projects to wrestle at 285 pounds for the Tigers.
Tereus Henry heads to Hays from Montwood High School in El Paso, Texas. The projected 184-pound wrestler was the Texas 6A state champion at 182 pounds as a junior in 2018 before finishing second at the same weight class in 2019.
Clint Herrick is an incoming freshman out of Raymore-Peculiar High School in Raymore, Mo. Clint was a three-time state qualifier in Missouri, finishing third in Class 3A at 182 pounds as a senior. He is projected to hit the mat at 184 pounds.
Nick Lucas is the lone transfer in this year’s recruiting class, moving to Hays after two years at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kan. The Pratt native is a two-time national qualifier at the JuCo level, earning All-American honors as a sophomore after a sixth-place finish at 165 pounds in 2019. Lucas was a three-time Kansas 4A state qualifier, finishing runner-up as a senior in 2017 while placing fifth as a junior. Lucas projects to compete at 174 pounds in 2019-20.
Elias Robles is a true freshman from Montwood High School in El Paso, Texas. The projected 197-pounder was high school teammates with fellow incoming freshman Tereus Henry. Robles advanced to the Texas 6A regional tournament three times.
Caleb Willis will be a freshman after a successful wrestling career at Bonner Springs High School in Bonner Springs, Kan. Willis was a four-time state qualifier in Kansas, taking the 4A title at 220 pounds as a sophomore in 2017 before finishing runner-up as a junior and placing third in 5A as a senior. He is projected to hit the mat at either 197 pounds or 285 pounds.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -Police announced Wednesday that a woman’s body has been found in Arkansas after police fatally shot her estranged rifle-toting husband the day before near a popular shopping area in Kansas City, Kansas.
Pearson courtesy Cass Co. Sheriff
The body of 49-year-old Sylvia Ussery-Pearson was found Tuesday night in northwest Arkansas’ Benton County, police said during a news conference in Overland Park, Kansas, where she was from. The discovery was made hours after 51-year-old Charles Pearson, a 21-year veteran Army Ranger who had completed two combat tours in Iraq, walked into a Country Inn & Suites and told the general manager that he killed his wife.
Pearson said he was armed and heading to the nearby Legends Outlet shopping district.
Police in Kansas City, Kansas, said that when law enforcement confronted Pearson at a nearby intersection, he fired several shots at officers, who returned fire and killed him.
Ussery-Pearson had been missing since Monday after leaving her home with her husband, who lived in nearby Lenexa, Kansas. Overland Park Police Chief Frank R. Donchez Jr. said her family filed a missing person report later that day and contacted her husband on Tuesday. He agreed to be interviewed and his home and car were searched.
Donchez said Pearson later called family and friends and said he was suicidal before going to the shopping area, where the shooting happened.
A note found in a Lenexa residence later led law enforcement to his wife’s body. Donchez said her death is believed to be a homicide but the cause hasn’t been released. He said no other suspects are being sought. He said the couple had been estranged since February.
Cass County, Missouri, officials on Tuesday searched a patch of land outside of Harrisonville that belonged to U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler. Police said the reason for the search was that Ussery-Pearson’s phone had pinged on Hartzler’s land about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) south of Kansas City.
Hartzler’s spokesman, Steve Walsh, said Wednesday the Hartzlers didn’t know the missing woman or Pearson.
Johnson County District Court online records show Charles Pearson was charged last year with misdemeanor criminal damage to property after an incident in Lenexa on Oct. 8, 2018, that referenced a woman named Sylvia Pearson, according to The Kansas City Star.
Charles Pearson, who allegedly broke a mirror, was booked into the Johnson County jail and released the next day after posting bond. The court records indicate a diversion agreement in the case was signed Nov. 28, 2018.
Donchez said he didn’t know whether Pearson had PTSD from his military service.
“We need to do more for our veterans that return from combat,” he said. “This may or may not be an unfortunate circumstance of his service.”
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police have identified a man they fatally shot near a popular Kansas City-area shopping area after he said he had killed his wife.
Pearson photo Johnson Co.
Police on Wednesday said 51-year-old Charles Pearson, of nearby Johnson County, Kansas, was the man who walked into a Country Inn & Suites Tuesday and told the general manager he killed his wife. He said he was armed and heading to the nearby Legends Outlet shopping district.
Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman Jonathon Westbrook said when law enforcement confronted Pearson at a nearby intersection, he fired several shots at officers, who returned fire and killed him.
Overland Park police said Tuesday they were searching for 49-year-old Sylvia Ussery-Pearson, who hasn’t been seen since leaving her home Monday. Ussery-Pearson is listed in 2018 property records as Pearson’s wife.
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By MARGARET STAFFORD
Kansas City, Kansas, police shot and killed a man on Tuesday who told a hotel manager that he had killed his wife and was heading to a popular shopping and restaurant area.
Officer-involved shooting scene photo courtesy KCTV
The “very angry and distraught” man entered the Country Inn & Suites near the Legends Outlet shopping area said he had killed his wife, said Jacob Honeycutt, general manager of the business.
“He said ‘I’m heavily armed and very dangerous. I’m going to Legends. You better call police,'” Honeycutt told The Associated Press.
The man was not armed when he entered the Inn, said Honeycutt, who tried to follow the suspect but couldn’t catch him before he got into a car and sped away, driving through stop signs before the confrontation with police.
Officer Jonathan Westbrook told The Kansas City Star the gunman was waiting at an intersection for police to arrive.
“We were able to locate him so quickly because he was stationary,” Westbrook said. “Given the information that he was heavily armed and dangerous, our officers were very tactical in how we approached the subject.”
The man raised an assault-style rifle at officers, who tried to convince him to put it down, Westbrook said. Eventually the man fired several shots at the officers and they fired back, he said.
The number of rounds fired by the unidentified gunman and officers was not immediately known. No officers or bystanders were injured.
Law enforcement authorities were investigating to determine if the man had committed any earlier crimes, Westbrook said.
Honeycutt said he and a front desk manager were the only people in the front desk area of Inn when the man arrived. He praised police for their quick response to the situation.
“I was worried about the safety of my guests and employees but also all the people in the rest of the shopping area,” he said “We wanted to try and stop them but unfortunately we couldn’t so we got ahold of the police as quickly as possible.”
The man was stopped before he made it into the Legends, which is full of stores and restaurants in a rapidly developing area in western Kansas City, Kansas. The County Inn & Suites is on a road that surrounds the shopping area, located near other businesses such as Cerner and Cabela’s and the stadium for the Sporting KC soccer team.
All the businesses were reopened and operating normally about two hours after the man was shot.
Doris Winifred Stephens Gilbert passed away August 13, 2019 at Decatur Health Systems.
Doris was born and raised in Jennings, Kansas to Clyde Stephens and Flora Barnett Stephens on March 9, 1925 in Jennings. Doris attended Oberlin High School where she met James. After his stint in the Army, they were married September 12, 1944 in Clayton, KS. They then moved southeast of Achilles, Kansas where James farmed and raised cattle until his passing in 2004.
Doris was a partner with James in farming. After the children were raised, she worked for a number of years at Duckwall’s in Oberlin, then Doris became an Avon Representative. While James was away in the Army, Doris worked at Remington Arms in Colorado.
Doris was an active member of the “Hello There” Hobby Club, active with Atwood Farm Bureau, an excellent seamstress, and loved to cook, bake and knew her way around her kitchen.
Doris had been a resident of Good Samaritan Society for several years. Prior to that, she resided at Wheat Ridge Terrace. After her husband James’ passing, she was very happy to move into the city of Oberlin and to Wheat Ridge joining in all their activities.
Doris is survived by her two children, James C. Gilbert of Vero Beach, Florida and her daughter, Marsha J. Colby of Garfield, Washington. Also surviving her are grandsons, Michael and James Jeffery; great grandson, Aaron Gilbert; granddaughter, Melissa Hunt; great granddaughter, Alexandria Martinez; sisters-in-law, Marion Dempewolfe and twins Donna Otis and Karon Scott. Also surviving Doris is her good and helpful friend, Ivis Hanson and her love ones from Wheat Ridge Terrace. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, James and her sister, Clara Mae Yakowenko.
Doris loved everybody and everybody loved her. She will surely be missed by her family and many friends. We wish to thank Dr. Richard Akromis and the staff at Decatur Health, and the wonderful care given to Doris at The Good Samaritan Society.
Graveside services will be held 11:00 am Saturday, August 17, 2019 at Oberlin Cemetery. Visitation will be 9:30-10:30 am Saturday, August 17 at Pauls Funeral Home, Oberlin. Memorial contributions may be made to United Church of Oberlin, Good Samaritan Society of Decatur County or Wheat Ridge Terrace. Condolences may be left at www.paulsfh.com
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A judge has found prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City, Kansas, improperly listened to recorded communications between inmates and their defense attorneys in a ruling that could upend hundreds of federal convictions and sentences.
Photo by Sol Rosenberg
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in a ruling handed down late Tuesday set up what she called a roadmap for reviewing federal cases for potential violations of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Robinson also found the office in contempt of court for violating her orders to preserve evidence and turn over documents to the court-appointed special master investigating the practice.
Robinson said she would impose monetary sanctions against the government as punishment.
The ruling also cited internal dysfunction in the U.S. attorney’s office, saying prosecutors distrusted current and past management “to the point of insubordination.”
Two of the 70 or so members of Celebration Community Church who showed up to help salvage items last night from the main sanctuary — heavily damaged by Tuesday’s severe storm that went through Hays — had also lost part of the roof on their own house.
The church’s two-year-old metal roof over the main sanctuary was peeled off by northwesterly wind gusts up to 77 mph as recorded at the Hays Regional Airport at 7:56 p.m. last night and steady northwest wind of 56 mph.
Fortunately, no one was in the church at the time.
“We have a regular Tuesday night women’s Bible study group that meets, but they canceled because of the severe weather threat,” Senior Pastor Brant Rice said Wednesday morning. “We feel blessed nobody is hurt.”
Rice, along with associate pastor Derek Mayfield and youth pastor Kael Bloom, gathered again shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday to assess damage in the daylight. They also met with the church’s insurance agent. Other church employees and volunteers also arrived to begin the cleanup process.
“We’ve told people for so many years the church isn’t a building, it’s the people,” said Rice. “No sooner did we get up here last night that we had dozens of people from the church that were already here cleaning up stuff, getting water out of the building, moving equipment out.”
The church is located just north of the Interstate 70 157 Exit west of Hays at 5790 230th Ave.
Four portions of the roof were blown to the south. One large piece wrapped around a light pole in the parking lot. The section tossed the farthest landed just north of the I-70 westbound lanes. Piles of rain-soaked insulation littered the parking lot and were wrapped around trees.
“It looks like we’re going to have to pretty much start from metal and concrete and build it back up again. We’ve got good insurance coverage,” Mayfield added.
Mayfield was the project manager for the new sanctuary and seeing the destruction hit him hard.
“It was tough coming up here last night but as Brant said, the church is the people, not the building,” he said.
“So my sour thoughts of all the hard work that went into getting the building ready changed pretty quick when I saw how our church family and the people responded, coming up here to lend a helping hand however they could. That changed my perspective real quick,” Mayfield said with a wry smile on his face.
Volunteers arrived last night after the storm using the flashlights on their phones to light their way because the electricity was off.
“We had people moving 400-500 chairs out as quick as they could out of the worship space, pulling TVs and projectors off walls just to get things out so if the walls collapsed we salvaged what we could,” said Rice said, noting work continued until about 12:30 a.m. “We’re so proud of our church family and people from the community already who have offered their help, their equipment. We know it’s going to be good.”
“We’re going to have church this weekend, no doubt about it. I don’t know where. We’ll make it work,” Mayfield added.
“We just want to thank everyone for reaching out,” Rice said. “We know there’s damage throughout the community. Just know we’re praying for everybody that’s been affected by this.”
Celebration Community Church has a weekly Sunday service attendance of about 1,100 people during the school year. A number of members are from outside Hays and Ellis County.
Hays Celebration Community Church suffered significant damage in Tuesday night’s severe weather.
Two road signs sheared off at the I-70 157 exit
A sheared stop sign at the westbound I-70 Exit 157
A Midwest Energy transmission line downed east of the church.
A second MWE electrical transmission pole south of I-70 near the Kansas Highway Patrol building leans after the storm.
Roof insulation strewn on the ground and wrapped in trees.
Roughly 1,500 customers, mainly in Ellis Co., remain without power at this time. Crews from Hays, Colby, WaKeeney, Oakley and several contract crews are working on this, primarily in NW Hays near Celebration Church, the Highway Patrol office on the bypass, the Fairgrounds, and in east Hays off Victoria Road. We have roughly 50 poles down in the Hays district.
Additionally, we have five service crews in Hays and Ellis responding to dozens and dozens of calls about downed yard lines, limbs on wires, etc. Thanks for being patient – the guys are working through these as quickly as possible, and will stay on the job until all are done.
Great Bend area crews are busy working on 20 poles that were downed there.
Please continue to call in your outages to 1-800-222-3121 if you’ve not done so, or if you spot a dangerous condition like wires on the ground. Thank you!
Update 10:38 a.m. Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Some county roads closed due to downed trees; most to reopen today
Feedlot Road and Antonino Road were closed temporarily Tuesday night due to downed trees as where other county roads.
230th Road was closed Wednesday morning at the request of Midwest Energy as crews worked on overhead power lines.
Bill Ring Sr, Ellis County Public Works director, said all county roads should be reopened today with the exception of road that may have to be closed temporarily for work on power lines.
Although roads were closed due to downed power lines and limbs and trees in roadways, no county road had to be closed due to wash outs, Ring said.
Road signs are down throughout the county. Ring said the county is still receiving sign damage reports. Stop signs will be replaced first. He said there is a list in the works of repairs that need to made.
RPM Speedway and the Ellis County Fairgrounds received substantial damage. Watch the Hays Post for more information on that story as it becomes available.
Update 10:27 a.m. Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Limb pick up to start Monday in Hays
The Hays Public Works Department will begin picking up limbs on Monday. Limbs must be placed at the curb. City officials urged residents to keep limbs out of streets and off of sidewalks. Limbs will not be picked up from allies.
Trees down in Ellis Photo by Scarlett Deutscher
Update: 9:39 a.m. Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Old Ellis High School damaged; trees uprooted in Ellis
Although the old Ellis High School building received substantial damage, the Ellis High/Junior School and Washington Elementary School buildings were not damaged.
School will start on time on Thursday, Aug. 22, a school official said this morning.
A school officials said a portion of the brick from a wall came down at the old high school and the wall was now bowed. She said insurance adjusters will be on site today, but it is too early to determine what will become of the building.
Limbs were also down over the school’s track and in the football practice field.
Dan Wickham, Ellis Public Works foreman, said trees were down across town, but especially on the west end of town. Some roads were initially blocked, but are open now and power is back up to the city, he said.
Memorial Park had power poles snapped and cleanup was continuing today at the Ellis campground.
Wickham said the limb burn site will remain open throughout the week and into next week. The city will pickup limbs, but they must be placed at the curb.
Update 8:50 a.m. Cristina Janney/Hays Post, video by Amy Burton
Hays Fire Department
The Hays Fire Department responded to 12 storm-related calls Tuesday night. The bulk of these calls were related to arching power lines and tree limbs on fire in power lines, Shane Preston, Hays deputy fire chief, said.
The HFD was called to a structure fire in the 2200 block of Fort Street. That ended up being a downed power line that was causing appliances in a home to short out and filling the home with smoke. No fire was discovered. No one was hurt.
The HFD responded to one person stranded by flood waters in a car on Canal Street. That person was able to escape their vehicle unhurt by the time the HFD arrived.
Preston said they had a report of water inside at least one apartment in town, but Preston did not have the exact address.
Preston said the HFD responded to no major injuries as a result of the storm. He described Tuesday night as a “fortunate night.”
Preston urged residents to be cautious during cleanup in the coming days. He encouraged property owners to be vigilant that tree limbs they are removing are not touching power lines.
“Wear long pants and gloves. Look up as you are removing trees to make sure you are not around power lines,” he said. “It is still wet. Look above as you carry off limbs to make sure you don’t get in power lines.”
UPDATE 8:30 a.m. Midwest Energy power outage report
From Midwest Energy’s Facebook page
Crews worked through the night and got power back to Ellis, most of Hays, and many rural areas. From 7,000 down at the storm’s peak, we currently have 1,800 meters without power.
If you still don’t have power, please call that in first thing today at 1-800-222-3121. We have crews from WaKeeney, Oakley and Colby coming to help, as well as several contracted crews.
As always, treat any downed wires as live; don’t move them yourself, and keep people and pets away. If you have tree branches on wires, call us and we will come assist. Stay safe, and thanks for your patience! We’ll update again later this morning.
Update 8:31 a.m. Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Ellis County Emergency Management
Darin Myers, Ellis County Emergency Management director, said no one was seriously hurt in the county in the storm last night that he was aware of.
County first responders extracted a person from a semi that was blown over o Interstate 70 near Ellis, but that person was not seriously hurt.
Myers confirmed that the multiple semis where blown over on the interstate last night, but an exact number had not yet been confirmed.
Myers said power outages in the county were widespread. County public works is compiling a list of rural rod closures. County officials said Wednesday morning that multiple stop signs had been toppled by winds that peaked at 78 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service Tuesday night.
Although last night’s storm was reported to have only contained straight-line winds. 78 mph winds rival an EF-0 tornado, which includes winds of 68-85 mph. The winds would also be equal to a category one hurricane.
Weather information from the Hays Regional Airport shows the squall coming through with a peak wind gust of 77 mph at 7:56 p.m. Tuesday.
The official weather report from K-State Extension was of 1.34 inches of rain Tuesday night.
Rainfall at the Hays Regional Airport was measured at 0.92. Other reports from Hays residents range from (1.55 to 2.5 inches)
Donna K. Spreier, 82, passed away August 13, 2019 at Hodgeman County Health Center, Jetmore.
She was born June 9, 1937, in Macon, MO, the daughter of Wayne and Dora Keister Rhoades. A lifetime area resident, she was an office manager for Dodge City COOP, Jetmore branch, for 39 years.
She was of the Methodist faith and was a big supporter for the community and various organizations and enjoyed gambling.
On November 26, 1955, she married Marlin L. Spreier in Dodge City, KS. He survives.
Other survivors include: three daughters, Shelvie (Alfonso) Batres, Alexandria, VA, Kyleen Stimpert, Dodge City, KS, Lanese (Todd) Wherry, Lenexa, KS; brother, Donald Rhoades, Jetmore; three sisters, Deanna Fagen, Spearville, Darla Mueting, Dodge City, KS, Dixie Stengle, Oklahoma City, OK; six grandchildren, Chad Lampe, Megan Schartz, Ashton Wherry, Christian Stimpert, Alyssa Wherry, Andrew Wherry and three great grandchildren, Alyjah Maciel, Austin Maciel, Brynlee Stimpert.
She was preceded in death by her parents;
Funeral will be 10 a.m., Saturday, August 17, 2019 at United Methodist Church, Jetmore, with Rev. Peter Mtuamwari presiding. Family requests casual dress. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Beckwith Funeral Home, Jetmore. Burial will be in the Fairmount Cemetery, Jetmore.
Memorials may be given to Hodgeman County EMS or Sons of the American Legion in care of Beckwith Funeral Home, Box 663 Jetmore, KS 67854. Condolences may be left at www.beckwithfuneralhome.com.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and searching for suspects.
Police on the scene of the Tuesday traffic stop photo by Rick Felsburg courtesy WIBW TV
Just before 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, police in the area of the 800 Block of SE Rice in Topeka heard several gunshots, according to Lt. Robert Simmons.
A few moments later, police stopped a vehicle at Interstate 70 and SE Rice Road with an adult male passenger with a gunshot wound that was determined to be life threatening by medical personnel.
The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Police have not reported an arrest and have not identified the victim.
The Hays Chamber of Commerce and United of Way of Ellis County are organizing volunteers to assist in cleanup from the storm that hit Hays and Ellis County Tuesday night.
The agencies announced the volunteer opportunity through the new volunteer website sponsored by United Way, nwksvolunteers.org.
Contact the Hays Chamber at 628-8201 or United Way of Ellis County at 628-8281 for volunteer opportunities in helping storm victims.
The organizations will be posting specific businesses/homes needing help, the groups said on the volunteer website.
Volunteers must should wear appropriate work attire, including pants, close-toed shoes (no flip flops), and bring work gloves.
Check out the website for other volunteer opportunities in the region.
Members of the Hays High football team are lending a hand with cleanup efforts around the Hays community Wednesday.
Head coach Tony Crough said several members of the football team spread throughout the community early Wednesday morning to various locations in and around Hays.
“We realized the community is in need, and we thought we could surely help since we’re not in school today” Crough said.
Crough said he more than 50 members of the team were helping in the morning and anticipated more players would be helping out.
They have already received several messages from people around Hays looking for help.
“We’ve got four or five different crews of kids around town,” Crough said.
The kids were already helping Wednesday morning move furniture from flooded areas, helping to cleanup a shed that was destroyed by the wind and move bleachers that were blown over at Hays Middle School.
Damage at the middle school forced officials to push the start of the school year back a day in the USD 489 district.
If you need help cleaning up, you can reach out to the Hays High football team through their Twitter account, which can be found HERE.
Crough said people can also reach out to a Hays High staff member or football player.
FHSU Athletics
