James Everett “Jim” Blazer, II, 81, of Natoma, Kansas, passed away Tuesday, August 6, 2019, at his home.
Jim was born February 24, 1938, in Stafford, Kansas. He was one of ten children born to James E. and Goldie (Pound) Blazer. He grew up in St. John, Kansas and Basin, Wyoming. He graduated from Basin High School.
Jim was united in marriage to Ruby Daldeen Fortner on April 10, 1981, in St. John, Kansas. This union was blessed with four children; Tammy, Jacci, James III, and Kelly. They made their home in Great Bend, Kansas until 1999 when they moved to Natoma. Ruby preceded him in death on October 28, 2013.
Jim was an Engineering Technician for Kansas Department of Transportation. In his spare time he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He will missed by everyone who knew him.
Jim’s surviving family include two sons, Kelly Staples of Okeechobee, Florida, James Blazer, III (Lois) of Beloit, Kansas; two daughters, Tammy Hoffman of Cawker City, Kansas and Jacci Standlee (Rick) of Ellinwood, Kansas; three brothers, Roger Blazer of Natoma, Kansas, John Blazer (Charlene) of Oak Grove, Arkansas and Steve Blazer of Oak Grove, Arkansas; 2 sisters, Emily Jean Blazer of Natoma, Kansas and Ellen New (Al) of Jacksonville, Texas; five grandchildren, and ten great grandchildren.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, wife Ruby, brother Robert Blazer and sisters Mary Taylor Nedra Sizemore & Pauline Baldwin.
Celebration of Jim’s Life will be held at 11:30 A.M., Saturday, August 10, 2019, at Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary in Russell. Graveside services will follow at the Lakin Comanche Cemetery in Ellinwood, Kansas. Visitation will be held the morning of the service from 10:00 A.M. to service time at the mortuary. A memorial has been established with the American Alzheimer’s Association.
Contributions and condolences may be sent to Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary in Russell, Kansas, is in charge of these arrangements.
Josefa Chason was born in Krakow, Poland. She met and married Aubrey Chason, who was serving in the armed forces in Germany. After WWII, she emigrated to America and was proud to become an American Citizen. She donated generously to the Statue of Liberty refurbishing in honor of her citizenship.
Josefa lived and worked for many years in Topeka, KS. She loved to bake cakes, cookies, and candies in her spare time and treated family & friends. Josefa was a devout Catholic and took part in many activities at the Sacred Heart Church in Topeka.
Josefa passed quietly on August 5, 2019 at the Good Samaritan Society of Decatur County in Oberlin, Kansas. She is survived by her son, Audie Chason and his wife Ella of Captain Cook, HI; son, Ronald Chason and his wife Marcia of Overland Park, KS; her granddaughter, Jennifer Juenemann and her husband Gary and great grandchildren: Wade, Brent, Troy, Jeffrey, Andrew, Jenna and Josh Juenemann.
She was preceded in death by her great grandson Gabe Thomas Juenemann.
Graveside service will be held 12:00 pm Saturday, August 10, 2019 at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Topeka, KS. Condolences may be left at www.paulsfh.com
SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities in Wichita are responding to online reports they prevented a mass shooting at Town West Mall, 4600 West Kellogg in Wichita.
After receiving multiple emails, call and text messages about the story, Wichita Police spokesman Charley Davidson confirmed the information is false.
Wichita,
The WPD has been notified about an article on social media speaking about a “mass shooting attempt in Wichita thwarted by WPD.”
This information is FALSE. The information listed in this article is inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/HvFcX3SVcv
On their twitter page, the agency said “the information in an article speaking about a mass shooting attempt in Wichita thwarted by WPD is false and inaccurate.”
This oversize load is pictured Tuesday afternoon turning off U.S. 36 onto its proper KDOT-designated U.S. 183 route. Minutes before this photo was taken the oversize load operator had driven past that turn and attempted to turn onto 3rd Street in the downtown Phillipsburg business district, just as four other semi drivers have done in the past week. This vehicle was stopped before he could do so. With this vehicle far over-committed, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Department had to stop highway traffic in both directions, and the semi driver had to drive his almost-block long load two blocks in reverse so he could get back to his correct U.S. 183 turn.
By KIRBY ROSS Phillips County Review
PHILLIPSBURG — And we were doing so, so well!
Remember all the drama about the oversize wind turbine load fiascos that had been taking place in Phillips County? Well, to paraphrase Michael Corleone from the Godfather, “just when we think we’re out, they drag us back in again.”
First a quick recap — around a half decade ago wind turbine manufacturers ramped up production to meet market demand and a little extra, as major U.S. government subsidies were being doled out.
As those turbines were being built, they were being shipped down U.S. 183 and through Phillipsburg for stockpiling in central Kansas.
During the course of that transport, Phillipsburg turned into the Wild West as up to a dozen of the huge loads were being convoyed through town every day. And as they were coming through town, their pilot car drivers were steering directly into oncoming traffic, playing chicken to clear a path. They were also driving on sidewalks, running red lights, and taking rest stops in lanes of traffic. In addition, drivers were getting out of their vehicles and literally yanking street signs out of the ground to help them make tight turns.
Because of the resulting public uproar, a decision was made in Topeka to detour those oversize loads around Phillipsburg — and the only way to do that was to send them down K-383 through Long Island in rural northwest Phillips County and then on down through Almena in Norton County.
Out of sight, out of mind. Problem solved? Not on your life.
All the plan did was shift the problem from a highly-visible area, to one of less visibility. In effect, it was a hide-the-problem solution.
Pilot car drivers were still going amok, driving into oncoming lanes of traffic and running cars off the road. And to top it off, K-383 is extremely narrow and has no shoulders at all. Oncoming traffic was not only being sideswiped by the wide loads, but the semis carrying the loads were slipping off the highway and tipping over into steep ditches.
Finally a school bus was clipped last spring, followed in close succession by incidents where a farm truck was hit and a wind turbine trailer faded over to the side of the road and ended up dumping its massive load into a ditch.
With all three events happening in a 48-hour period, two things happened — 1) a 30-mile stretch of highway had to be closed down twice in one week, and 2) Topeka woke up and got involved again.
So the new solution was that instead of hiding the problem of oversize loads by shuttling them through lower population areas, there was no choice but to run them back through Phillipsburg.
For the first few months, they started coming back through town all went well.
CLICK TO EXPAND: Downtown Phillipsburg. Google image
Until now.
We have all heard stories about knucklehead drivers blindly following GPS and ending up driving into lakes. But those stories always seemed like an urban myth — nobody would have that much lack of common sense that they would drive into a lake just because their GPS told them to take a turn and continue driving. Would they?
Based on recent events, maybe so.
Carry that thought process one step further. We can admit it — our mothers asked every single one of us at one time or another, “would you jump off a cliff just because everybody else was doing it?”
Well, it seems we have had a bizarre version of both those things going on in regard to the oversize loads passing through Phillipsburg this past week.
Either that, or the transporters are practicing as stunt drivers for Mad Max: Phillipsburg Thunderdome.
So here’s what’s been happening — wind turbine convoys are heading into town from the west, and are driving right past their well-marked U.S. 183 turn. Instead of giving proper instructions for travel up U.S. 183, the pilot cars’ GPS has been telling them to turn onto 3rd Street in the downtown Phillipsburg business district a block to the east of 183. Phillipsburg 3rd Street — quaint, historic, flower planter-lined and red brick-paved, with diagonal parking on both sides as well as parallel parking along its center.
With that parking configuration, whatever roadway that’s left for a lane of traffic is barely wide enough for an oversize pickup. Run a massively huge oversize wind turbine tower that is too wide for K-383 down that same street and…well, you get the picture. (Actually, you don’t have to just imagine it — -there’s a real picture).
One pilot car driver who made that fateful turn into oversize load hell with a full convoy puppydogging behind him reportedly tried to loop his entourage around the entire four corners of the Phillips County Courthouse Square in an effort to make his way back to sanity.
So chaos erupts, the cops show up, and people start trying to explain what in the holy heck they are doing with a load the size of a barn on a street originally built to accommodate a horse and buggy. And that explanation?
The GPS made me do it.
Another incident on Thursday afternoon. The driver was fined $300.
Have the drivers been questioning the little voice coming out of the GPS that is doing the same as telling them to drive into a lake? No? What about that little voice in the back of their heads that has to be screaming at them?
Four times last week pilot car drivers turned up quaint Phillipsburg 3rd Street when their GPS told them to.
And four times the huge over-size-over-weight-over-wide-over-length-wind-turbine-tower-loaded-semi truck did the equivalent of following that pilot car driver over the cliff by trailing behind him onto the narrow brick street.
These guys can barely make the legal turn onto U.S. 183 because the loads are so long and the turn is so tight. How they are making that even tighter highly-skilled but absolutely illegal turn onto 3rd Street is a bit of a mystery.
The Review contacted a pilot car driver we have consulted with previously, and sent them a picture of one of the incidents from last week.
That person’s response? Drivers gotta have a little common sense.
There actually might be a way to instill that common sense into them — through their wallets. Anyway, Phillips County Sheriff’s deputies are testing that theory.
Large load semi truck drivers taking the beautiful Downtown Phillipsburg scenic tour are now being cited for deviating from the route the Kansas Department of Transportation oversize load permit requires transporters to stick to. I would think impeding traffic, careless driving, and impersonating Burt Reynolds from Smokey and the Bandit tickets might also help do the trick. With citations in hand, maybe the drivers can take their GPS to court with them to have it testify and take the rap instead.
Absent that, at this rate some people are going to have to outfit their semis Mad Max 3rd Street-style just so they get their product through the P-burg business district.
Jerry Eugene “Jake” Rider, age 64, passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at the Ness County Hospital, Ness City. He was born September 20, 1954 in Ness City, Ks to Earl and Opal (Likes) Rider. Jake was raised in rural Brownell and graduated from Ransom High School in 1973.
Jake was a lifetime resident of Ness County. On September 2, 1978 he married Jan Schlegel in Ness City. Together they raised two boys, Tyler and Tanner. After working in the oil fields as a floor hand for Warrior Drilling, he went to work for D & S Machine as a roustabout. Later he joined his father-in-law on the family farm. When his father-in-law, Pete, retired he was joined on the farm by his sons. His hobby was making scale toy farm implements for friends and family and taking them to toy shows to sell. Jake was an avid K-State fan and enjoyed following the team and traveling to bowl games. He cherished spending time with his five grandchildren and being a part of their many activities.
Jake is survived by his wife, Jan; sons, Tyler Rider and his wife, Becky and Tanner Rider; five grandchildren: Eve, Daphne, Asher, Titus, and Jayne Rider all of Ness City, brother Jim Rider and his wife, Bessie, and his sister, Sue Luetters, and her husband, John, all of Hutchinson. Preceding Jake in death were his parents and a brother, Billy Rider.
Visitation will be held at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City, on Thursday, August 8, 2019 from 6:00 –8:00 p.m. A memorial service will be on Friday, August 9, 2019, 10:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church, Ness City with Pastor Deb Harvey presiding. Graveside inurnment will follow the memorial service at the Ransom Cemetery. Friends may sign the book at the funeral home on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Ness County Hospital or the United Methodist Church.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Coming off the program’s first trip to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals, the Fort Hays State men’s soccer team heads into the 2019 season ranked third in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25, announced Tuesday by the organization. It is the best ranking in program history after the Tigers wrapped up 2018 ranked fourth in the country.
This is the sixth time that Fort Hays State has been mentioned in the preseason coaches poll in the nine-year history of the program. The Tigers were listed in the initial top 25 for five consecutive seasons from 2013 through 2017 before they opened last year unranked. FHSU’s previous top preseason ranking was No. 11 in 2017.
The Tigers earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament for a seventh-straight season in 2018, the second-longest active streak in the nation (LIU Post, eight years). Fort Hays State has won four of the last five Central Region championships, leading to three trips to the national quarterfinals before last year’s appearance in the Final Four.
The Tigers return five All-Conference performers and three All-Region athletes from last year’s team that finished the year 17-2-2. Included in that list is Santiago Agudelo, the reigning D2CCA National Player of the Year. Agudelo etched his name up and down the record books in his junior campaign, scoring 26 goals alongside six assists. Other returning All-Region honorees include defender Sergio Villalba and midfielder Moritz Walther.
The new season will be the first year under new head coach Gerry Cleary, announced as the second head coach in program history in early 2019. Cleary has earned three national titles as a head coach, winning two NAIA championships with the Martin Methodist women’s program before leading the Martin Methodist men’s squad to the 2013 national title.
After turning in the first perfect MIAA record in history (8-0-0), the Tigers will compete in the Great American Conference beginning in 2019. The MIAA and GAC announced a sport sponsorship partnership last year in which the MIAA will oversee men’s tennis competition while the GAC administers men’s soccer. The Tigers will play a 14-game double round-robin conference schedule against Newman, Northeastern State, Rogers State, Harding, Oklahoma Baptist, Ouachita Baptist and Southern Nazarene. The RiverHawks of Northeastern State are the only other conference rival listed in the preseason top 25, entering the year ranked 22nd.
The Tigers open the year at home against perennial power Rockhurst on Thursday, September 5 at 7 p.m., the first of eight regular season home matches.
Larry Insley, 71, of Creighton, SD passed away on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, August 10th from 1:00 to 3:00pm at The Dakota Prairie Playhouse in Madison, SD. We will be honoring Larry with prayers & reflections on his life & the lives he touched at 2:00pm. Please come & share your memories.
Larry Wayne Insley was born on January 21, 1948 in Akron, OH. He was adopted in June 1948 by Wayne & Vesta (Lindenmann) Insley, and grew up on the farm in northwest Ohio. Adoption day was special and he always said he had won the lottery.
He graduated from high school in McComb, OH and went on to receive his Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science at The Ohio State University, Master’s Degree from Kansas State University and completed his education with a PhD from North Dakota State University.
Larry married Christine Anderson on January 18, 1975 in rural Argusville, ND. They had two children, Aaron Wayne & Stacy Marie. Larry taught at Fort Hays State University from 1976-1980. After finishing his education in Kansas and North Dakota, the family moved to Brookings, SD where Larry began his 15 year career at South Dakota State University in the Animal Science Department as a Beef & Horse Extension Specialist and also taught the horse classes there. He absolutely loved teaching & always said he truly missed the students when he decided to leave.
After leaving his postion at SDSU, Larry and Chris bought a ranch near Creighton, SD in 2003, where they raised cattle & horses. He loved livestock and horses, but especially his Belgian draft horses. Larry received the South Dakota Horseperson of the Year Award in 2012. He made it to his last Waverly Horse Sale this past spring where he sold many Belgians over the years. He really enjoyed watching the horses sell.
Larry is survived by his wife, Chris of Creighton, SD; children Aaron (Olivia) Insley of Kalispell, MT and Stacy (Todd) Klein of Winfred, SD; his beloved grandchildren who absolutely adored him, Shiloh Insley and Hayz, Elli and Newt Klein; and sisters-in-law Linda (Ken) Astrup of Jamestown, ND and Ann Killpack of Fort Collins, CO; niece Kim Astrup of Fargo, ND, and nephews Eric (Tennley) Astrup of Reno, NV and Jason (Jamie) Astrup of Mapleton, ND.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brother-in-law, Jim Killpack.
Ellis County Emergency Medical Services will add two new ambulances to its fleet in the next two years after the county commission approved the purchase of the ambulances from Osage Ambulance in Jefferson City, Mo., on Monday.
The ambulances will replace two others with more than 150,000 miles.
Health Services Director Kerry McCue said his department has delayed buying new ambulances in an effort to save money but those need to be replaced.
“Our fleet, currently of seven ambulances, has almost half of those vehicles (with) over 100,000 miles, so we’re trying to get as much mileage out of each vehicle as we can,” McCue said.
One of the ambulances, a 2003 Ford, was scheduled to be replaced in 2013 and the second, a 2010 Chevy, was scheduled to be replaced in 2018. Both scheduled replacements were delayed in an effort to save the county money.
“We have moved those back to get more mileage and more use out of those vehicles,” McCue said. “We’ve gone to really the end of those vehicles’ useful life.”
McCue said ambulances experience a lot of wear and tear.
“While they have 150,000 miles on them, you pretty much have to double that mileage in the fact that they sit and idle for extended periods of time,” McCue said.
The commission approved the bid from Osage Ambulance for $373,080 for the two ambulances.
The first ambulance was used as a demo and will be fitted to meet Ellis County needs and be ready in mid-August. The second ambulance will be built and delivered in 2020.
Both purchases were planned replacements through the county’s capital improvement plan.
McCue said the next scheduled ambulance replacement is 2021 but currently the capital improvement plan funds “are going to be tight.”
In past years, the commission has reduced the amount of money transferred into the capital improvement fund as a way to save money, but Commissioner Butch Schlyer warned against that.
“We have to make those transfers so we keep up-to-date on capital (improvements),” Schlyer said.
Walter J. Manteuffel, 88, formerly of Hays, Kansas, passed away Monday, August 5, 2019, at Aldersgate Village, Topeka, Kansas.
Walter was born March 19, 1931, in Cheyenne County, Kansas, the son of Walter and Viola Evins Manteuffel. He graduated from St. Francis Community High School in 1949. Walter earned his BS in Business Administration from Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1966 and MBA from Fort Hays State University in 1982. Walter married Winnie Belle Daniel on June 23, 1951, in St. Francis, Kansas. Walter and Winnie owned and operated a Grade A dairy farm south of St. Francis from 1955 to 1962. He retired from Fort Hays State University in 1993 as Comptroller in the business office. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Hays, and on the board of trustees, finance committee, permanent endowment fund committee and the administrative board. Walter was a lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Psi and Fort Hays State University Alumni Association. He was on the board of directors of First Call for Help of Hays.
Walter is survived by his wife, Winnie; children, Robert (Martha), Pamela and Craig (Paula); grandchildren, Jessica Quinlan (Chad), Laura Johnson (Brandon), Alexa Deghand, Bradley Deghand, Michael Manteuffel (Kayla) and Matt Manteuffel; and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Deloy Manteuffel; and sister, Ellen June Manteuffel Henderson.
Private graveside will be in Lawn Ridge Cemetery in St. Francis, Kansas.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Call for Help of Ellis County, or Meals on Wheels of Ellis County, sent in care of Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home, 2801 SW Urish Road, Topeka KS 66614.
LYON COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 7:30p.m. Tuesday in Lyon County.
Seth Matthews, 69, Reading, was working under his 1986 Chevrolet Mallard Motorhome in the 400 block of First Street in Reading when what is believed to be a mechanical issue caused the motorhome to come out of gear and roll over part of his body, according to the Lyon County Sheriff.
An emergency medical helicopter transported Matthews to KU Med Center in Kansas City for treatment of serious injuries, according to the sheriff’s department.
Fredrick O’Brian Rupp, 62, of Bushton and Hays, Kansas, died on Thursday, July 25, 2019, at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas.
Fred’s wishes were to be cremated and have a celebration of life at later date, which is still pending at this time. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita voters apparently will decide in November whether to re-elect Mayor Jeff Longwell or replace him with state Rep. Brandon Whipple.
Mayor Jeff Longwell- city of Wichita photo
Longwell received the most votes in Tuesday’s nine-candidate mayoral primary, followed by Whipple.
Retired banker Lyndy Wells received 160 fewer votes than Whipple. Wells said he is hopeful the results could change after provisional ballots and late absentee ballots are counted.
The election office estimated more than 400 votes remain to be counted.
Longwell said he will focus on progress made during his first term, while Whipple said his focus will be on improving public safety and reducing the city’s crime rate.
Longwell finished with 7,136 votes, 32.3% of the votes. Whipple had 5,729 votes, 25.9%; to Wells’ 5,569 votes, for 25.2%.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will give a Landon Lecture at Kansas State University next month.
Sec. of State Mike Pompeo with North Korean Leader Kim Jung Un in May of 2018 -photo courtesy White House
Pompeo will speak Sept. 6 at McCain Auditorium. He has been secretary of state since March 2018. Before that, he served a brief time as President Donald Trump’s director of the CIA.
His speech comes as speculation swirls that Pompeo might run for a political office. He said last month that a campaign for U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat in the Senate was “off the table” but that has not stopped the conjecture.
Fortune magazine CEO Alan Murry will also give a Landon Lecture. He is scheduled to speak Sept. 27.
Murray was previously president of the Pew Research Center and chief content officer for Time, Inc.
