Agra resident Rose E. Haskett passed away Sept. 1, 2019 at the Colonial Villa Nursing Home in Alma, NE at the age of 97. She was born December 4, 1921 in Harlan County, NE, the daughter of Henry & Mary (McFarlane) Allen.
Survivors include her sons: Gerald & Nick of Agra & Larry Pat of Jewell; daughters: Nancy Dix of Agra, Judy Holloway of Oklahoma City, Janice Patterson & Sally Thomas of Phillipsburg; 23 grandchildren & 20 great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Sept. 6 at 10:30 a.m. in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with Pastor J.D. Washington officiating. Burial will follow in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery.
Memorials have been established to the Royal Rangers Missionettes or the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5:00 to 9:00 Wed. & 9:00 to 9:00 Thursday at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel with the family receiving friends from 7:00 to 8:00 Thursday evening.
Online condolences: www.olliffboeve.com.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Western Kansas Human Resource Management Association will hold its annual seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Fort Hays State University Robbins Center (Eagle Communication Hall), One Tiger Place.
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. with the program being held from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The program for the October seminar will be presented by Melody Rayl and Lauren Sobaski of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
Program topics include: Creating a Culture of Inclusiveness, The Real Problem with Workplace Retaliation Claims, Drugs in the Workplace & Changing Marijuana Laws, Preparing and Surviving when OSHA Calls, and Handling Audits.
RSVP at wkhrma.shrm.org by October 9. The program is $75 for WKHRMA members and $90 for non-members. Lunch is included.
WKHRMA is an affiliate chapter of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), a local professional organization for persons engaged in personal or human resource management.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal weekend crash and have identified the victim.
First responders at the scene of the fatal Sunday night crash photo courtesy KWCH
Just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday, a Nissan Extera driven Kaitlin Whelan, 30, Wichita, was westbound on 21st Street near Tealbook in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
The Nissan crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck a Hyundai Elantra driven by a 24-year-old woman head-on.
Whelan was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported the 24-year-old woman to a local hospital. She remains hospitalized with serious injuries, according to Davidson.
Whelan was not wearing a seat belt, according to Davidson.
HaysMed’s annual drive-through flu shot clinic has been scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. The event will offer free flu shots for all residents older than 6 months.
It will be the 20th year the hospital has offered the community service, and approximately 3,500 people are expected to be vaccinated during the free clinic.
Adults wanting to receive a free flu shot can get one without having to leave their vehicles. HaysMed volunteers will direct traffic during the event, and the maximum wait time is estimated at 15 minutes.
Children older than 6 months will be vaccinated inside the gym at the Center for Health Improvement (CHI). Adults attending with children also can receive their shots inside the waiting area of Hays Orthopedic Institute, located inside the CHI building.
More than 100 volunteers will be on hand to help with the event. HaysMed partners with Fort Hays State University and North Central Kansas Vo-Tech as both facilities provide students to help with the shots.
There will be no nasal flu vaccine at the drive-through flu shot clinic. There will be no egg free vaccines available at the drive-through flu shot clinic. People with a severe egg allergy will need to contact their local healthcare provider for their flu vaccine.
The event is sponsored by the Hays Medical Center Foundation. While there is no cost for flu shots, participants are asked to bring a canned food item to benefit the Community Assistance Center.
The vaccine also is available at HaysMed clinics for patients who are unable to attend the drive-through flu shot event. Charges will apply at regular clinic visits, though the vaccine is covered by most health insurance plans.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old in the shooting death of a man outside of a Kansas City community center.
Hawkins photo Jackson Co.
Jackson County authorities said Friday that Treshaun Hawkins, of Kansas City, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 28-year-old Cartez Seals.
Seals died killed Aug. 25 outside the Brush Creek Community Center.
Hawkins is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.
Court records indicate a witness told police Seals and another man met at the community center to discuss an ongoing feud. Video reportedly shows Hawkins, who was recording the men fighting, firing several shots at them.
Hawkins then drove away from the scene. He surrendered to police on Thursday.
The annual, “Go Truck Go!” event is Thursday, Sept. 19 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The event will be held at the new USD 489 Early Childhood Connections complex located at 2501 East 13th Street.
This free family event allows children to get an up-close and personal look at their favorite vehicles. Free information will be available from local early childhood resources. Free food and drink are provided.
The orchestra is about to open the new season with a new name, new conductor and a new theme.
The Hays Symphony Orchestra is now the Hays Symphony, and the conductor will be Dr. Brian Buckstead.
Dr. Buckstead has a thriving career as a performing artist, conductor and educator; his knowledge of orchestral literature is impressive. He has performed as violin or viola soloist with ensembles throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, and also has a number of recordings. He is well known as a conductor in the upper Midwest and Canada and comes to Fort Hays State University from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
This season’s theme, “Symphonic Visions,” promises to be as delightful and exciting as in years past.
Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” with its thunderstorm and chase, will formally open the season in FHSU’s Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21.
The Children’s Halloween Concert, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, in Beach/Schmidt, will envision what it might be like to have Beethoven as one’s upstairs neighbor.
As ever, the Basilica of St. Fidelis Catholic Church in Victoria will supply its own imagery for the annual Cathedral Concert at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8. The magical combination of the Basilica plus the glorious Christmas music of several ensembles never fails to enchant its audience.
Spring 2020 will bring three more events guaranteed to cast concertgoers young and old into a state of bliss – the annual Valentine’s concert, the Cottonwood Festival, and the Masterworks Symphony and Choir shared concert.
The Valentine’s Concert, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in Beach/Schmidt, will feature both classical music and romantic themes from the movies.
The date is yet to be determined for the Cottonwood Festival, a three-day celebration of chamber music. Guest artists collaborate with Department of Music faculty and students in rehearsals, master classes and concerts.
The Masterworks symphony will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, in Beach/Schmidt. The orchestral work will be “Symphonie Fantastique” by Berlioz. The choral work has not been announced.
All Hays Symphony performances are free. Tickets can be reserved online at www.hayssymphony.org. In addition, tickets may be picked up at the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, 1200 Main, one week in advance of the concert or in the lobby 30 minutes before the concert starts.
Check the Hays Symphony Facebook page for additional concert details such as pre-concert talks and post-concert receptions.
Hays Symphony performances and post-concert receptions are made possible by generous support from Kay and Dick Werth (AutoWorld), Claire Matthews, Dr. Michael Meade, Sandra Gottschalk, the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, Werth Wealth Management, Insurance Planning, Chartwells, and music lovers like you. Thank you.
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
Burger King 1212 Vine, Hays – Aug 27
An inspection following a complaint found three violations
Walk-in cooler ambient temperature was 51.6 F. Items as follows had internal temperature from 50 F – 53 F. Five and one half cases of cut lettuce, eight fully cooked grilled chicken, 3/4 case of fully cooked pulled pork, two and one half cases of sliced cheeses, two cases of shredded cheese, one and one half case of fully cooked ham, 12 quarts of heavy cream, one a one half case of raw bacon, two and one half cases of cartons of eggs, eight cans of dairy whip topping, three and one half cases of dairy ice cream base.
The establishment has a walk-in cooler that is not working, a refrigerated line cooler and a small refrigerated prep table that is not working. Due to not having enough equipment for cooling or cold holding establishment choose to do a voluntary closure.
No paper towels or other hand drying provisions at the men’s restroom handwashing sink.
Burger King 1212 Vine, Hays – Aug 28
An inspection following reopening found no violations.
Chartwells – McMindes Hall FHSU McMindes Hall 600 Park, Hays – Aug 28
A routine inspection found 12 violations.
An employee was refilling containers for the buffet line. While filling she was using a spoon with her bare hands filling what containers with Nutella Spread. While she was trying to get the Nutella off the spoon into the white container she used her barehanded finger to removed it from the spoon.
In the True two-door refrigerator, on the noodle line, there was a uncovered metal container of raw shrimp that was being stored on a wire rack directly over a covered container of fully cooked rice. No evidence of leaking was observed.
In the grill area of the buffet line, there was a cook that was cooking raw hamburgers. During this time she had finished cooking a hamburger and placed it on the buffet line to be served. The temperature of the hamburger was 147 F.
In the cooked foods walk-in cooler there were three large plastic tubs that held fully cooked cavatappi pasta. These tubs had lids on each tub and were being stacked on top of each other. The center of the top tub of pasta was 48 F. The outer edges of the tub of pasta was 39 F. A second tub’s center temperature was 53 F. Outer edge of the tub of pasta was 42 F. A third tub’s center temperature was 45 F. The outer edge of tub of pasta was 39 F. These 3 containers of pasta did not reach required temperature within 6 hours.
Upon walking into the main kitchen there were three very large tubs of fully cooked pasta cooling down. These containers of pasta had very little ice present in with the pasta. The temperature of the pasta was 96 F and the person in charge said that it had been cooling for about an hour prior to the inspector taking the temperature.
In the hot holding box in between the noodle line and Italian line there was fully cooked chicken at 123 F and fully cooked pork 114 F. On the Italian buffet line there was cooked pasta at 109 F, tomato sauce at 121 F, and meatballs at 115 F. On the home-cooked buffet line there was cooked carrots at the temperature of 102 F. All other hot holding temperatures are in compliance.
On the salad buffet there was yogurt that had a temperature of 45 F, cut watermelon at 48 F, cooked eggs at 44 F, cut salad at 46 F, and pasta salad at 44 F. Items were in ice storage containers and no ambient temperature is available. Items were not fully submerged into the ice and that very well could contribute to the temperatures being on the warmer side. On the pizza refrigerated prep table, there were containers of cooked chicken that had a temperature of 52 F and sliced ham 48 F. Ambient Temperature of the unit was 38 F. There were two containers being stacked inside one another with the top container having the ham and chicken present.
On a speed rack in the cooked walk-in cooler, there was fully cooked chicken on sheet pans that was cooked on 8/28/19. The speed rack had a label on it of 8/29/19 to 9/5/19. In the cooked walk-in cooler there was a container of stew and two containers of fully cooked chicken with no labels of when it was cooked. In the cooked walk-in cooler there was a container of cooked bbq carrots with dates of 8/27/19 to 9/3/19. The products could have been held for over 7 days.
In the cooked walk-in cooler there was a container of roasted red bell peppers that had an opened date of 8/28/19 to 9/5/19. This product could be held for over 7 days.
In the cooked walk-in cooler there was a container of fully cooked pork sauce with garlic and oil that had a date of 9/11/19 and a container of cooked Greek eggs with a date of 9/21/19.
In the main kitchen on the knife storage area there were one of four knives that had dried food residue present along the blade. In the main kitchen, in the container storage area, there were one of three plastic food grade containers that were being stacked inside one another. One of the three containers had dried food residue present along the inside of the container. In the main kitchen, in the container storage area, there were one of three plastic food grade containers that were being stacked inside one another. One of the three containers had dried sticker residue present.
Paper towels or other hand drying provisions were at the noodle line handwashing sink, but they were in a dispenser that was not working.
Holy Family Elementary School 1800 Milner, Hays – Aug 27
It’s gotta be nice, to be appointed to a state commission to study Kansas criminal justice reform. Everyone wants lawbreakers in prison, that’s the simple part. It’s making sure that they don’t wind up there again after victimizing the rest of us again that is the less-than-sexy part of the issue.
The Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission, which organized last week, is packed with Kansans who have deep background on just how the correctional system works and how to make it work better.
But the real key to that organizational meeting in which Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett was elected to lead the troop is that the commission wants to identify the buy-in to their task from legislative leaders and the Gov. Laura Kelly administration.
It’s easy to hand a commission a nice name, pay the members mileage, have staff hovering around it and claim that the Legislature is “deeply involved” in deterring crime, approving reasonable sentences for criminals and giving them the support and training, mental health care, drug use counseling to succeed after release…and even having some of those who have been convicted of crimes helping others to learn job skills so they don’t break the law.
All of that noble work—which, by the way protects the rest of us and protects the future of those prisoners—is going to cost money that the state is going to have to come up with.
Nope, it’s not as politically attractive as a new off-ramp or bridge, or maybe a tax cut for corporations with foreign revenues or upper-wage income tax filers, but it’s part of the duty of state government. Just not much of a bullet point on those palm cards that lawmakers are going to be handing out next year as they seek re-election.
The goal of the commission, to tell the Legislature just how the state can more effectively deal with prisoners, is important to all of us. Nope, don’t see a bullet point saying, “if your car wasn’t stolen, you can thank me,” or “helped prevent your high school kid from buying marijuana.”
There are important issues that the commission is looking at. Like specialized drug courts where prosecutors and judges have experience with drug crimes and know what works to reduce the chance of a criminal going back into the drug business. There is diversion from jail sentences which requires more active supervision of offenders, which means more probation officers, more social services for them.
Or…the complicated process of assisting those who are being released from custody with just a few bucks and the clothes they wore when they went to prison. That re-entry into the general population is complicated, it requires counseling, it requires access to a job, social retraining and other skills. Not high-profile stuff, but important if we don’t want prisoners essentially “vacationing” among us until they commit another crime and are returned to prison.
Nothing cheap here, but then again there’s nothing cheap about just locking people up, building more prisons, or, at least this year, shipping prisoners off to a privately owned Arizona prison because we don’t have enough room for them and enough staffing to keep them safely in Kansas.
Last session’s bill that creates the Criminal Justice Reform Commission passed the Senate 39-0, the House 123-0, and was signed by the governor May 16.
Not surprisingly, that was the easy part, creating a panel to examine the correctional system in Kansas. The hard part? Diverting money from more politically popular programs to dealing with corrections.
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
Valarie Sue Duff, age 70, passed away on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at her home in Scott City, Kansas. She was born on May 2, 1949 in Goodland, Kansas, the daughter of Clarence and Betty Cloyd Harris. A resident of Scott City, Kansas since 1971 moving from Sharon Springs, Kansas, she worked at Beef Belt Feeders in the office and driving a feed truck.
She attended the Prairie View Church of the Brethren in Friend, Kansas.
On December 24, 1982 she married David Duff in Sharon Springs, Kansas. He survives.
Survivors include her Husband – David Duff of Scott City, Kansas, One Son – Darren & Kris Duff of Scott City, Kansas, Two Daughters – Gina & Michael Rodriguez of Dodge City, Kansas, Dina Craft of Scott City, Kansas, Eleven Nephews, One Niece and Numerous Great Nieces & Nephews, Ten Grandchildren and Four Great Grandchildren
She was preceded in death by her Parents, One Son – Daryl Duff and One Sister – Janie Wade.
A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at the Prairie View Church of the Brethren in Friend, Kansas with Pastor Jon Tuttle presiding.
Inurnment will be in the Scott County Cemetery in Scott City, Kansas.
Memorials can be made out to the St. Catherine Hospice in care of Price & Sons Funeral Homes.
James Roy Sherman, 75, passed away on August 31, 2019 at DiversiCare in Haysville, Kansas. He was born on December 19, 1943 in Wichita, Kansas the son of Edward and Anna (Gahm) Sherman.
He was the appliance and television repairman, salesman and manager for Fitzgerald Furniture for over 25 years and he worked as a clerk at Butterfields convenience store, both in Ness City, Kansas. Jim enjoyed traveling and he was a member of several bowling teams. After retirement, Jim and Donna wintered in Arizona for many years. While there Jim was elected president of Denali Park for two years. He also worked on the breakfast crew and played many games of Desert Golf, Ladder Golf and Shuffle Board. NASCAR was Jim’s greatest love. He watched the races every weekend on TV and attended several races. Jim was a US Navy Veteran, a former member of the First Baptist Church, Ness City, and a member of the United Methodist Church, Haysville.
He married Donna (Klein) on Saturday, October 20th, 2007, in Ness City, Kansas.
Survivors include his wife, Donna Sherman; daughters, Jamie Gallager and her husband, Cliff, Jennifer Kmet and her husband, Chuck, Dawn Thumser and her husband, Bryce and Beverly Wood; stepbrothers, Michael Hamilton, James Hamilton, and Eugene Hamilton; stepdaughter, Sondra Mayes; stepson, Brian Mercer; eight grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; six great grandchildren; four step-great grandchildren; his cat, Patches; and the Darrin Glover family which he considered his adopted family. He was preceded in death by his mother Anna Sherman Hamilton; his father; half-sisters, Judith Heaton and Carol Stone and his half-brother, Milton Sapp Jr.
Funeral service will be on Thursday, September 5, 2019, 11:00 a.m. at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City. Burial in the Ness City Cemetery, Ness City. Friends may call on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at the funeral home from 4:00 p.m. till 9:00 p.m., with the family present from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 pm.
Memorial contributions may be given to the Ness City First Baptist Church, Ness City Library, or Phoenix Hospice, Wichita, or the Haysville United Methodist Church.
Agra resident Rose E. Haskett passed away Sept. 1, 2019 at the Colonial Villa Nursing Home in Alma, NE at the age of 97. She was born December 4, 1921 in Harlan County, NE, the daughter of Henry & Mary (McFarlane) Allen. 
