Three-day weather outlook
Year: 2019
Operation Christmas Child craft event is this weekend
Operation Christmas Child volunteers will be making crafts to place in shoebox gifts from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Messiah Lutheran Church, 2000 Main.
Rachel Albin, area coordinator, said participants do not need to have special skills, and youth are welcome to participate.
“If you want to take some of the items you make for your own shoeboxes or for your church’s shoeboxes, that’s absolutely fine,” Albin said. She added that if participants have crafts they are working on for their own shoeboxes, they are welcome to bring them along.
“This will be a fun time when we can gather together as an interdenominational group and work on projects and share ideas.”
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief agency headquartered in Boone, N.C., and led by the Rev. Franklin Graham. Every Christmas thousands of individuals prepare shoeboxes filled with small toys, school supplies and hygiene items, which are then delivered to needy children around the world.
Children receiving shoeboxes also receive a booklet titled “The Greatest Gift,” which tells the children about Jesus and how much he loves them. For many of the children, the shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.
Albin said in 2018, individuals in Ellis County donated 2,615 shoeboxes. This year’s shoebox collection week is Nov. 18 to 25.
Donations for craft supplies are always accepted and appreciated, Albin said. More information is available by contacting her at (785) 639-1325 or at [email protected].
— Submitted
Administrator with FHSU ties named AD at Southern Illinois University
By TOM WEBER
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Director of Athletics Jerry Kill announced on Monday he is leaving his position at SIU to accept a job on the football coaching staff at Virginia Tech, effective immediately. Kill will serve as special assistant to fourth-year head coach Justin Fuente.
Chancellor John M. Dunn has appointed Liz Jarnigan — who has ties to Fort Hays State University — to replace Kill as athletic director. Jarnigan joined the athletics staff in July 2018 as associate director of athletics, overseeing all aspects of the program’s internal operations.
“The opportunity to serve as an administrator at SIU has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career, and it was a difficult decision to leave so many wonderful friends and colleagues at Southern Illinois,” Kill said. “There is an outstanding leadership team in place within Athletics and I’m confident they will continue to build upon the foundation we’ve laid, allowing me to return to my passion, which is coaching football. I’ve tried to get away from football, but I just can’t.”
A three-time national coach-of-the year, Kill is a beloved figure in southern Illinois, where he led the Saluki football program to five-consecutive NCAA playoff appearances from 2003 to 2007. In addition to his many coaching awards, Kill has a long list of civic honors, stemming from his public advocacy for worthy causes, such as the Coach Kill Cancer Fund that he started in southern Illinois while coaching at SIU, and the Epilepsy Chasing Dreams Fund he began while at Minnesota.
“We’re grateful to Jerry for taking on the leadership of Saluki athletics at a critical time, and we respect his decision to return to his passion,” said SIU Chancellor John M. Dunn. He has worked diligently on behalf of the university and the athletics program. In just over a year, he has hired seven head coaches, reorganized the program’s administrative structure and dedicated himself to fundraising efforts. Notably, he was an architect of the 20-year, $10 million agreement with Banterra Bank to rename the SIU Arena the Banterra Center. We are fortunate to have had his energy and enthusiasm focused on SIU and know he will continue to do great things moving forward.
After leaving SIU in 2007, Kill made coaching stops at Northern Illinois and Minnesota, then tried his hand at athletic administration, working as an assistant AD at Kansas State in 2016, before returning to the sidelines as an assistant coach at Rutgers for one year.
Kill returned to SIU in February of 2018 as a special assistant to the chancellor, and two months later took over as AD. During his 16 months on the job, Kill replaced seven of the department’s 11 head coaches. His list of coaching hires includes Bryan Mullins (Men’s Basketball), Grant Williams (Soccer), Rosalind Joseph (Track & Field), Ed Allen (Volleyball), Danielle Kaufman (Women’s Golf), Geoff Hanson (Swimming & Diving) and Lance Rhodes (Baseball).
Kill also restructured the department’s administration, hiring Liz Jarnigan as his Senior Woman Administrator, plus senior-level administrators Jeff Jones (operations), Jimmy Karayiannis (community outreach), Kate Hanson (development), Katie Gerlach (facilities), Hilary Wittenborn (academics) and David Rule (athletic training).
Jarnigan came to SIU after serving for two years as senior women administrator for the Air Force Academy’s athletics program. Prior to that, she worked for eight years at San Jose State University, starting as the director for student-athlete success before being promoted to senior woman administrator. During her tenure at San Jose State, the department’s overall Academic Progress Rate (APR) rose from 925 to 972. The football team’s APR increased from 888 in 2008 to 975 in 2015. The overall student-athlete GPA reached an all-time high in 2016.
Jarnigan has also served as coordinator of student services and an associate athletic director for student services at the University of Tulsa. Her career in athletics administration began at Briar Cliff College, where she was an assistant athletic director and interim director of athletics. The 1987 graduate cum laude of St. Olaf College was a four-year letter-winner in volleyball. She received her master’s degree in athletic administration from Fort Hays State University in 1988.
At the time of Jarnigan’s hire to SIU, Kill said “this is the most important hire I’ve made in a long time.”
“She has the ability to solve complicated issues,” he added. “She’s much more qualified to be an athletic director than I am.”
Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Sittin’ pretty
Jim Kammeyer remembers a dove hunt with his dad years ago when he was about fourteen. A small group on a father and son dove hunt had stopped along a pond to determine how to capture a dove someone had shot and dropped into the pond. A breeze was steadily blowing the downed bird out to sea where it would soon be lost if not retrieved.
Jim says his dad Roger strode up to a small willow tree growing near the water’s edge and with a couple shots from his shotgun toppled the tree into the pond near the floating dove. He grasped the tree and raked the dead bird to the bank where it could be added to the harvest. The rest of the group was left thinking “Why didn’t we think of that?” and the other kids turned to Jim and said “Your dad is so cool.”
Roger Kammeyer has always been known as a tinkerer and a problem solver. He grew up near, and never left the small farming community of Concordia, Missouri where he had been a barber, then a sales rep for a food brokerage company and finally a life insurance salesman before retiring in 1999.
In his early days as a barber, Kammeyer could often be found building fishing rods or designing and building his own fishing lures between haircuts. He is thought to have possibly invented the first “buzz-bait” top water lure used to catch bass, though he never pursued a patent. The spinner blade on that lure was fashioned from an old lunch box Kammeyer had found while scrounging for treasures at the dump. Aptly named the Lunch Box, many feel the lure will still out-fish commercial buzz baits available today.
Years back I penned a column called Man’s Best Friend in which I extolled the virtues of the five gallon bucket. To this day I’m convinced that no better and adaptable product than the five gallon bucket has ever been invented. Whether used as a seat for deer hunting, turkey hunting, or ice fishing, or picking vegetables from the garden, most garden projects and outdoor adventures somehow make use of man’s best friend, the five gallon bucket.
Sometime after his retirement, a friend gifted Kammeyer with a wooden stool that sat on top of a five gallon bucket and made it a nice rig to sit on when picking green beans. The seat of the stool was raised just enough higher than the lip of the bucket, leaving a handy opening to toss beans into the bucket below. The problem was it took two hands to carry the thing, one to carry the lid and the other to carry the bucket. Into Kammeyer’s shop it went, emerging later adapted so the stool fit upside down as a lid that snapped into the bucket, and the original Bucket Stool was born. Now made from durable plastic, the bucket stool sits on the bucket in four notches that allow it to spin silently around the bucket. With my 210 pound frame seated on one, it moved effortlessly and quietly around the top of the bucket, allowing me to face any direction I pleased. The Bucket Stool can then be turned upside down and snapped into the bucket to become a lid.
Roger got a patent on this invention, and built them in his garage for over ten years. Today the Kammeyer family’s business, RWK Solutions, LLC is located in Concordia, Missouri where the Kammeyers grew up and where they still live today. The Bucket Stools are manufactured there in Missouri too, in the good ol’ USA. Check out the stools on their website www.bucketsstool.com and find them for sale on Amazon and at other retailers. Kammeyer says that thanks to his Bucket Stool, he can still tinker in his shop, work in his garden and shorten the life of many fish…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Royals rally past Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Brett Phillips hit a tying home run off Liam Hendricks in the ninth inning, Adalberto Mondesi followed with an RBI double and the Kansas City Royals beat Oakland 6-5 on Monday night to end the Athletics’ six-game winning streak.
Oakland’s lead over Tampa Bay for the top AL wild card was cut to one game. Cleveland is 1 1/2 games behind the Rays.
Khris Davis’ RBI single off Kevin McCarthy (4-2) gave Oakland a 5-4 lead in the eighth.
Phillips homered on a 2-0 fastball from Hendriks (4-3) with one out in the ninth, Hendriks’ sixth blown save in 28 chances.
Whit Merrifield reached when center fielder Ramon Laureano allowed his drive to pop out of the pocket of his glove at the front of the warning track for an error. Mondesi sliced an opposite-field double to left.
Marcus Semien singled leading off the bottom half for Oakland but Ian Kennedy retired his next three batters for his 30th save in 35 chances, giving the Royals’ Ned Yost his 1,200th win in 16 seasons as a major league manager. At 56-95, the Royals are trying to avoid their second straight 100-loss season.
Jorge Soler homered leading off the fourth, tying injured Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout for the AL lead with his 45th home run.
Alex Gordon had two RBIs.
DEFENSIVE DIMES
Laureano made back-to-back strong throws to the plate in the first, including one on the fly, to keep Mondesi at third after Mondesi’s RBI triple.
ONE MORE THAN RICKEY
Semien’s home run was his 29th while batting first in the order, breaking the A’s record he shared with Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson.
ROUGH STARTS
Oakland starter Tanner Roark struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings but allowed four runs and seven hits. Kansas City’s Glenn Sparkman also had a short night and allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings. He threw two wild pitches and hit a batter.
BEGINNING OF THE END
There were concerns the game might be postponed due to field conditions following an NFL game Sunday and rain Monday. The infield still had football markings and there were large dark patches of dead grass in center field, which bore the weight of stands that were removed overnight. It’s the final time the A’s will have to deal with the situation after having shared the Coliseum with the Oakland Raiders since 1995. The Raiders won’t play at the Coliseum again until Nov. 3, well after the A’s season has ended, and are moving to Las Vegas next year.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Mike Fiers is getting further testing for nerve irritation in his right arm but the A’s are hopeful their top pitcher can throw a bullpen Tuesday and won’t have to miss his turn in the rotation.
UP NEXT
A’s LHP Brett Anderson (12-9, 4.07 ERA) has already set a career high for wins going into Tuesday’s start against the Royals. RHP Jorge Lopez (4-7, 6.09) is riding a three-game road winning streak for Kansas City.
Missouri man faces 20 years in prison for fatal boat crash
Cletus Barsch pleaded guilty on Sept. 10 to one count of boating while intoxicated resulting in a homicide and two counts of boating while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury. Sentencing will be March 11.
The fatal crash happened during the 2018 Memorial Day weekend.
Authorities said Barsch was driving a boat that struck another boat. A passenger in the second boat, 20-year-old Alec Potthoff, of Van Meter, Iowa, suffered a serious head injury and died in August 2018 at a care facility in Des Moines, Iowa.
Barsch’s 14-year-old daughter and two other passengers on the second boat suffered minor injuries.
Ellis Co. Conservation District photo contest opens
ECCD
Local photographers are encouraged to participate in the Ellis County Conservation District plat book cover photo contest. Entry forms may be picked up the ECCD office, 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays.
The rules are:
ELIGIBILITY: The Ellis County Conservation District Photo Contest is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Ellis County, KS. (An amateur photographer is one whose majority of income does not come from photography.) Persons of any age may compete in this contest. Ellis County Conservation District board of supervisors and employees and family members and employees working in the Hays Field Office are not eligible to enter.
SUBJECT MATTER: Photos should be taken within Ellis County. Photos can be of community events, friends, family, scenic, historical structures, or conservation practices** within the county. Do not use or show any copyrighted material in the photo.
ENTRIES: Should be sent or delivered to Sandi Scott, District Manager, 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays, KS 67601. Photos may also be digitally transmitted at [email protected]. Photos must be received NO LATER THAN CLOSE OF BUSINESS ON OCTOBER 1, 2019.
AWARDS: 1st place winner will receive a $50 cash prize. The winning picture will be featured on the cover of the 2020 Ellis County Conservation District Plat Book.
PHOTO RULES: Photo must have been taken any time from October 1, 2018 – October 1, 2019. Minor digital enhancements for cropping, red-eye removal, filters and corrective functions are permitted, but images that have been judged to be altered in any significant manner will be disqualified. Contestants are not to place watermarks, dates, signatures or copyright images on photos. Previously published photos are not eligible.
MOUNTING THE PHOTOGRAPH: Please mount on white mount board or paper. Mount the photo on the “whitest” and “smoothest” side of the board. Do not use foam core board or poster board. Remove white border from the enlargement before mounting. All photos must be 8” x 10”. If photos are mounted, leave a top edge of the print 1” below the top of the mount board. The sides of the print must be equal distance from the two sides of the mount. Photograph may use either a horizontal or vertical format. Use only adhesives designed for permanent photography mounting. Do not use rubber cement or other household glues (white glue, etc.).
NAME AND ADDRESS: A completed entry/release form must be submitted with the photo. Include a brief description of the photo, when and where the photo was taken, photographer’s full name and age, parent’s name if under the age of 18, home address, and contact number. Entry forms may be picked up at 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays.
TERMS: In submitting photos, the photographer gives the Ellis County Conservation District permission to use their photo on the cover of the 2019 Plat Book and in any publications, social media, websites, displays and other places without payment or other consideration. An entry/photo release form is required to be submitted with the entry.
JUDGING STANDARDS: Photos will be judged on technical merit, composition and visual and aesthetic criteria. For technical merit, judges may check to see if the photo is well-framed, properly exposed, sharp and clear. For composition, judges determine if the photo features a recognizable center of interest, action and imagination and creativity. For visual and aesthetic criteria, judges will consider framing and choice of viewpoint, background, design elements and visual impact.
**Examples of conservation practices include Contour Buffer Strips, Contour Farming & Strip cropping, Cover Crop, Critical Area Planting, Crop Residue Management, Crop Rotation, Diversion, Field Borders, Grade Stabilization Structures (dam/embankment), Grass Waterways, Livestock Management, Manure Storage and Runoff Control, Nutrient Management, Pasture Planting, Pest Management, Riparian Buffer, Rotational Grazing, Stream bank & Shoreline Stabilization, Terrace, Tree Planting, Upland Wildlife Habitat, Water & Sediment Control Basin, Wetland Restoration, Wildlife Food Plot, Windbreaks, and Woodlot Management.
Man shot by Kansas police charged with carjacking SUV
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who was shot by Wichita police at a McDonald’s drive-through has been charged with carjacking a sport utility vehicle while trying to get away.
Federal prosecutors filed the charge Friday against 30-year-old Zachary Ausdemore.
Prosecutors allege he stole a Honda CR-V “with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm.”
driver to run over him during Sept. 10th incident-photo courtesy Wichita Police
Police say he was in the front seat of a stolen Jeep when police attempted to apprehend him, his girlfriend and the driver. Police say that when the driver accelerated toward an officer, the officer fired three rounds, striking Ausdemore in the arm.
After fleeing, the driver crashed and was arrested along with the girlfriend. But police say Ausdemore then stole the CR-V. A chase began, and he was arrested after the CR-V got stuck in deep mud.
HHS girls’ golfers runner-up in Liberal
LIBERAL – The Hays High girls’ golf team finished second at the Liberal Redskin Invitational Monday at Willow Tree Golf Course in Liberal. The Indians shot a 183, 14 shots back of Garden City.
Sophia Garrison fired an even-par 36 and finished in second place, three strokes off the lead. Taleia McCrae was third with a 41.
Team Results
1. Garden City – 169
2. Hays High – 183
2. Dodge City – 188
4. Great Bend – 201
5. Liberal – 229
Top 10 Medalists
1. Alyssa McMillen-Garden City, 33
2. Sophia Garrison-Hays High, 36
3. Taleia McCrae-Hays High, 41
4. Cailee McMullen-Great Bend, 42
5. Ashlyn Armstrong-Garden City, 42
6. Grace Yi-Garden City, 43
7. Emma Kells-Garden City, 43
8. Ella Friess-Dodge City, 44
9. Mckenzie Miller-Liberal, 48
10. Tiley Fry-Dodge City, 49
Kansas man jailed after alleged hatchet attack
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with a hatchet attack on Sunday.
Just after 11:15 p.m., officers police responded to a residence in the 600 block of SE 37th in Topeka on reports of a possible cutting, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.
Upon arrival, officers located an adult male victim suffering from what appeared to be a laceration. He was transported to a local hospital by American Medical Response for treatment.
Police arrested 40-year-old Winfred Devine Diamond-Cox and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of battery.
Border war between Kansas, Missouri is far from over
KANSAS CITY (AP) — There may be a cease-fire, but the economic “border war” involving the use of incentives to lure jobs across the state line in the Kansas City area isn’t exactly over.
Missouri officials plan to award more than $62 million in incentives to financial firm Waddell & Reed, based in Overland Park, Kansas.
Holly Koofer-Thompson of the Missouri Department of Economic Development said the incentives come from the Missouri Works program, which offers payroll tax withholdings or tax credits in exchange for growing or retaining jobs.
The company said it will invest about $90 million in its new Missouri headquarters and employ more than 1,000 workers at an average salary of $157,138. The specific location has not been announced.
Disclosure of the incentives comes about a month after Kansas and Missouri governors celebrated an end to the use of tax incentives to lure companies across the state line for moves that do not create new jobs for the region.
Koofer-Thompson said the company’s move was in the works before the so-called “border war” agreement between the two states. But others called the move a prime example of what was wrong with the previous practice.
“Waddell & Reed is benefiting dramatically from what is bad public policy,” said Bill Hall, president of the Hall Family Foundation, who has advocated for an end to state incentives for Kansas City-area companies that hop the state line.
Hall said Waddell & Reed’s $62 million award is among the largest given by either state. He estimates that since 2011, the states have spent more than $330 million luring companies away from each other.
Roger Hoadley, a spokesman for Waddell & Reed, said in a statement that the firm is “pleased that our current options allow us to remain part of the Kansas City community.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that generally he wants to see the region recruit new employers rather than shuffling around the current ones.
“This is fundamentally inefficient for our regional economy whether it’s border hopping across states, border hopping across cities,” Lucas said. “This is hopefully one of the last projects that would fall within the framework we had before.”
It was just last month that Kansas and Missouri governors celebrated their truce at a ceremony involving more than 300 people in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Sometimes commonsense does prevail,” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said at the time.
But Kansas officials did not expect an immediate end to incentives, said Ryan Brinker, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Commerce.
In fact, Brinker said commerce officials had been working to lure Kansas City, Missouri-based Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, to Kansas for six years. The company could be heading to Lenexa, Kansas, after that state approved an incentive package in June that includes up to $5.4 million in withholding taxes over nine years.
Hostess also will receive $930,000 from a program offering tax credits and tax exemptions to employers paying above-average wages.
Kansas teen hospitalized after crash with semi
SMITH COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Monday in Smith County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Salner, Tharen David Salner, 18, Athol, was southbound on Kansas 8 five miles east of Kensington.
The Pontac had slowed down or stopped just North of 160 Road
A southbound1996 Peterbilt semi driven by Stephen Neal Thompson, 49, Crescent, OK., approached the Pontiac
As the semi moved into the left lane to pass, the Pontiac made a left turn and struck the front axle of the semi’s trailer.
EMS transported Salner to the hospital in Smith Center. Thompson was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Elizabeth Chaplin Ledesma
Elizabeth Chaplin Ledesma, 24, passed away September 15, 2019, at her home in Great Bend. She was born February 14, 1995, at Hoisington to Thomas J. & Samantha (Johnson) Ledesma.
A lifetime area resident, Elizabeth lived in Great Bend and was a caregiver for Sunflower Diversified Services. She was a member of St. Mark Lutheran Church. She was known for her quick wit, always dishing out a good comeback. She was considered a cool friend and had many. She especially enjoyed being with her children and loving them.
Survivors include, her father, Thomas Ledesma and stepmother Kimberly; her mother, Samantha Wesley and stepfather Allan; one son, Damian Ehster of the home; one daughter, Autumn Ehster of the home; one brother, Isaac Ledesma of Great Bend; grandparents, Alberta Ledesma of Hoisington, Ronald Wilson of Great Bend, and Fred Johnson of Trousdale; many aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends. She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Cynthia Wilson; grandfather, Herman M. Ledesma; uncle, Bill McVey; and cousin, Adrian Martin.
There will be no visitation as cremation has taken place. Memorial Service will be held at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, September 21, 2019, at St. Mark Lutheran Church, with Pastor Adam Wutka presiding.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Children’s Education Fund, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.