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Year: 2019

Labor Day holiday changes trash collection schedule

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CITY OF HAYS

Due to the observance of the Labor Day on Monday, September 2, 2019, refuse/recycling route collection schedules will be altered as follows:

Monday, September 2, 2019 and Tuesday, September 3, 2019 will be collected on Tuesday, September 3, 2019.

There will be no changes to Wednesday, September 4, Thursday, September 5, and Friday, September 6 routes.

Although collections may not occur on your normal day, collections will be completed by the week’s end. It is anticipated that heavy volumes of refuse/recyclables will be encountered around the holidays. Please make sure your polycarts and recyclables are out by 7:00 a.m., and keep in mind that the trucks have no set time schedule.

Hays customers that may have any questions regarding this notice should contact the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department at 628-7350.

Haag to join FHSU’s TILT program as training specialist

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Haag
FHSU University Relations

Latisha Haag joined the Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies staff at Fort Hays State University as the new faculty development training specialist.

Haag brings nearly 20 years of experience in professional development from a variety of educational settings and topics, ranging from public to private schools.

Recently she served as a teacher, librarian, and professional development committee chair for Thomas More Prep-Marian High School.

Haag earned her Bachelor of Science in education from Kansas Newman College and her Master of Science in communication studies from FHSU.

She has also taught as an adjunct virtual professor in communication studies for five years.

Registered Kan. sex offender admits sending 12-year-old obscene material

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WICHITA, KAN. – A registered sex offender in Kansas pleaded guilty Thursday to production of child pornography and other child exploitation charges, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Daniel Eric Merida, 35, El Dorado, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography, one count of transporting child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography, and one count of sending obscene material to a minor.

Merida is being held in Butler Co.

In his plea, Merida admitted using the internet to contact a minor beginning in 2012 when she was 12 years old. He used the internet to sexually exploit the victim, sending her obscene material and well as child pornography. During a search in March 2018, he was found in possession of additional child pornography. After his arrest in November 2018, a second search revealed the defendant had used online storage to transport more child pornography, and he was in possession of more child pornography on his phone.

Sentencing is set for November 18, 2019. The government has agreed to argue for a sentence of no more than 40 years in federal prison. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Wichita Police Department, and Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Elizabeth Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.

Inmate at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility dies

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PAWNEE COUNTY—An offender at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility (LCMHF) died Sunday,

Fancher photo KDOC

According to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections, Micheal Fancher, 29, was pronounced dead at the hospital in Larned just after 2p.m..The cause of death is pending an autopsy.

Per protocol when an offender dies in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections
(KDOC), the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Fancher was serving sentences from Lyon County for a 2018 Possession with Intent to Distribute
Methamphetamine, (1-3.5 grams) a Severity Level 3-D nonperson felony. He was also convicted of Sale/Distribution/Cultivation of Opiates, Opium, Narcotic Drugs or Designated
Stimulants in 2011 and Possession of Opiates, Opium, Narcotic Drugs or Designated Stimulants in 2017.

Mondesi has big game in return from IL as Royals top O’s

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Adalberto Mondesi matched a career high with four hits and stole three bases in his return from the injured list, leading the Kansas City Royals past the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 on Sunday.

Meibrys Viloria drove in the go-ahead run for the Royals with a two-out single in the seventh inning. Kansas City took two of three in a series between struggling teams.

Mondesi, who spent 41 games on the IL, led off the seventh with his third hit and stole second. With two outs, Alex Gordon drove him in with a tying double, and Gordon scored on Viloria’s single to make it 5-4.

Whit Merrifield added a solo homer in the eighth.

Kevin McCarthy (3-2) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win. Ian Kennedy pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

Paul Fry (1-7) took the loss.

Royals starter Danny Duffy was solid in his return from the injured list. He gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Baltimore scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Renato Nunez.

Kansas City came right back with three runs in the bottom half. Hunter Dozier drove in Mondesi and Jorge Soler with an opposite-field double. Dozier scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s single.

The Orioles tied it with four straight hits in the third. Richie Martin and Hanser Alberto scored on Trey Mancini’s single.

Baltimore regained the lead in the sixth when Jonathan Villar’s speed helped manufacture a run, with the aid of a throwing error by Viloria behind the plate.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: RHP Shawn Armstrong was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. He had been out since Aug. 22 with a right forearm strain. … OF Mark Trumbo is expected to be activated Monday before Baltimore plays at Tampa Bay.

Royals: Duffy, Mondesi and catcher Cam Gallagher were activated from the 10-day IL. Duffy had been sidelined since Aug. 4 with a left hamstring strain. Mondesi had been out since July 17 with a left shoulder injury, and Gallagher had been on the IL since Aug. 5 with a left oblique strain. Gallagher is not expected to play against this season, except in an emergency. “I’m not playing him,” manager Ned Yost said.

ROSTER MOVES

With rosters expanding, the Orioles recalled OF Dwight Smith Jr., RHP Branden Kline and LHP Tanner Scott from the minors. Kansas City recalled RHP Heath Fillmyer from Triple-A Omaha.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Asher Wojciechowski (2-7, 5.12 ERA) starts Monday afternoon when Baltimore begins a three-game series at Tampa Bay. With Hurricane Dorian bearing down on Florida, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games have been rescheduled as part of a single-admission doubleheader Tuesday.

Royals: LHP Mike Montgomery (3-7, 4.66) pitches Tuesday at home against Detroit.

Prowler suspect shot by Police In suburban Kansas City

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INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A prowler suspect is hospitalized after being shot by police in suburban Kansas City, Missouri.

Police were called around 8:45 a.m. Sunday to a report of three prowlers at an apartment complex in Independence. An altercation occurred with the suspects and one of them was shot by police.

Police say the injured suspect used a truck to ram a police vehicle and then fled. The truck crashed at an Interstate 70 ramp about three miles away.

The injured man is hospitalized but police say his injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

Police were searching for the other two suspects, a man and a woman. The investigation of the shooting is ongoing.

81-year-old driver dies after I-70 crash

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ELLIS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 10a.m. Sunday in Ellis County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica driven by Mary D. Stanley, 81, Hurst, TX., was west bound on Interstate 70 near the U.S. 183 Bypass. The vehicle left the roadway and struck the guardrail.

Stanley was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported a passenger John R. Stanley, 81, Hurst, TX., to the hospital in Hays and later to Via Christi in Wichita. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

Dicamba complaints continue despite federal, state efforts

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — For the third straight year, a volatile pesticide is damaging crops across the Midwest and South, despite federal and state efforts to lessen the drift.

Since 2017, farmers have sprayed an increasing amount of the weed killer, called dicamba, on soybean and cotton crops genetically engineered by agribusiness company Monsanto to withstand being sprayed by the herbicide.

But each year, dicamba has drifted off-target and damaged millions of acres of non-resistant soybeans, specialty crops and other plants.

In fact, farmers in Illinois, the nation’s leading soybean producing state, have reported record levels of crop damage caused by pesticide drift in 2019, with 590 dicamba-related complaints as of Aug. 23.

In 2017, the state had 246 dicamba-related complaints. In 2018, the state had 330.

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The nonprofit news outlet Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting provided this article to The Associated Press through a collaboration with Institute for Nonprofit News.

Police: Kansas girl in critical condition after shot multiple times

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SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and

Just after 4:00 a.m. Saturday, police responded to the 2500 Block of SW Hillcrest Road in Topeka for a reported shooting, according to Lt. Robert Simmons.

Officers located an 18-year-old girl suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim identified as Reyna A. Soto was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. Authorities reported late Saturday she was still in critical condition but expected to survive.

Police have a 17 year old  suspect in custody. He was the only suspect identified in this investigation, according to Simmons.

Police transported him to the Shawnee County Juvenile Department of Corrections on requested charges of attempted first degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon and criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle.   Police did not release the suspect’s name.

NW Kansas KLA Young Stockmen tour beef and dairy industries

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Pictured (Back Row, L to R) are Cami Roth, Sterling; Evan Woodbury, Quenemo; Bryce Barnett, Muscotah; Patrick Turner, Ingalls; Taylor Hughes, Pratt; Garrett McKinney, Walton; Clayton Jarnagin, Protection; Reed Koop, Abilene; (Front Row, L to R) Thomas Thayer, LaCygne; Dalton Rutledge, Plains; Carl Clawson, Ulysses; Hannah Brass, Medicine Lodge; Heather Gibson, Satanta; Grace Hammer, Sharon Springs; Jessalyn Strahm, Sabetha; Jamie Holman, Bronson; Ashley Fitzsimmons, Pratt; Michaela Peterson, Dodge City; and Clinton Laflin, Russell.

KLA

TOPEKA – The third installment of the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) Young Stockmen’s Academy (YSA) was held September 16-18. The group of 20 young producers spent three days touring various segments of the beef and dairy industries in central and western Kansas. Merck Animal Health is the exclusive sponsor of the YSA program.

El Dorado Livestock Auction was the first tour stop. The group heard from co-owner Josh Mueller about the modern facility, where more than 50,000 head of cattle are sold per year. During a stop near Cottonwood Falls, Trey and Frank Hinkson explained how they use high-accuracy sires and cow families that combine the best of calving ease and performance with maternal efficiency and high-quality carcass traits on their seedstock operation. C.J. and Russell Blew, brothers who make up the Blew Partnership, hosted the group on their ranch near Medicine Lodge. They use artificial insemination, carcass data and DNA testing to enhance the economic traits of their Red Angus-based commercial cowherd. In addition, the Blews focus a great deal of time on environmental stewardship, including implementing more than 100,000 feet of water line on their Barber County ranch, along with numerous stock water sites, several reservoir tanks and miles of cross-fencing to create rotational grazing paddocks.

During a tour of High Plains Ponderosa Dairy near Plains, co-owner and general manager Greg Bethard discussed the protocols used to manage their dairy cow herd and took the class on a tour of the facility, including the new cross-ventilated, free-stall housing barn. Reeve Cattle Company near Garden City also hosted the YSA group. Manager Keith Bryant took the class on a tour of the feeding facility, which also includes an onsite ethanol plant. In addition, the group toured the National Beef packing plant in Dodge City.

Members of the 2019 YSA class are Bryce Barnett, Muscotah, Hannah Brass, Medicine Lodge; Carl Clawson, Ulysses; Ashley Fitzsimmons, Pratt; Heather Gibson, Satanta; Grace Hammer, Sharon Springs; Jamie Holeman, Bronson; Taylor Hughes, Pratt; Clayton Jarnagin, Protection; Reed Koop, Abilene; Clinton Laflin, Russell; Socorro Martinez, Liberal; Garrett McKinney, Walton; Michaela Peterson, Dodge City; Cami Roth, Sterling; Dalton Rutledge, Plains; Jessalyn Strahm, Sabetha; Thomas Thayer, LaCygne; Patrick Turner, Ingalls; and Evan Woodbury, Quenemo.

The 2019 YSA class will gather for their final session at the KLA Convention December 4-6 in Wichita. More information about YSA can be found at www.kla.org.

KLA is a trade organization representing the business interests of members at both the state and federal levels. Voluntary dues dollars paid by producers are used for programs that benefit KLA members in the areas of legislative representation, regulatory assistance, legal troubleshooting, communications and the advancement of youth.

 

AP source: Chiefs agree to 1-year deal with RB LeSean McCoy

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — LeSean McCoy is going from a rebuilding franchise in Buffalo to a Super Bowl contender in Kansas City, and he’s reuniting with his close friend and former coach Andy Reid, too.

The Chiefs and the two-time All-Pro running back have agreed to a $4 million, 1-year deal, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because McCoy must still pass a physical, which could be completed as early as Sunday.

That would allow him the week to prepare for the Chiefs’ opener in Jacksonville next Sunday.

McCoy would become the top backup to Damien Williams, likely siphoning carries from rookie Darwin Thompson and backup Darrell Williams. The Chiefs traded the other veteran running back that was expected to earn carries, Carlos Hyde, after he failed to impress during training camp and the preseason.

The 31-year-old McCoy spent his first six seasons in Philadelphia, four of them under Reid, before spending the past four seasons with the Bills. The six-time Pro Bowl selection was released on Saturday, when general manager Brandon Beane cited the emergence of rookie Devin Singletary likely leading to a diminished role for a running back who for years has been a “bell-cow back.”

“Difficult as it was, we always have to make what we think is the best decision for our team, and we just felt it was the right time to make this move,” Beane said. “We did this being a running back-by-committee with whatever group we kept, and that would be a different role for LeSean.”

Over the course of 10 seasons, McCoy has run for more than 10,600 yards, placing him 25th on the career list and fourth among active players. Some of his best seasons came under Reid, including the 2011 season in which he ran for 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns while earning his first All-Pro nod.

McCoy had kept Father Time at bay the past few years, too. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in Buffalo before a drop-off last season, when he totaled just 514 yards and three touchdowns.

A few weeks ago, McCoy acknowledged seeing speculation that he may be traded or released, but he also expressed confidence that he would finish out his five-year contract with the Bills.

“I know who I am. I know how to play. And my teammates know that,” McCoy said. “I’m the guy. I feel like that. That’s what I’ve been told. And that’s my everyday approach.”

Damien Williams emerged as the Chiefs’ lead running back late last season, when Kareem Hunt was released following a series of off-the-field issues. But despite showing a dynamic ability in both the run game and the pass game, Williams has been hampered by injuries, including a hamstring issue in camp.

That left the Chiefs with Thompson, an untested rookie out of Utah State, and journeyman Darrell Williams in the backfield. And when Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was asked about McCoy specifically on Saturday, he admitted that the club was likely to inquire about him.

“As a step-back, broad-view type of perspective, listen, we play a lot of common opponents and got to see him on tape, and he’s still a talented player and does a lot of great things in the passing game,” Veach said. “I’m sure that he is a guy that we will take a peek at.”

Veach also alluded to McCoy’s relationship with Reid, saying: “We kind of have a rapport with him.”

McCoy should have some familiarity with the terminology of Reid’s offense, but it has also undergone major changes since the running back was last carrying the ball for him in Philadelphia. The Chiefs have embraced a more wide-open style under MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and that means McCoy will have a steep learning curve if he expects to be active against the Jaguars next weekend.

That’s unlikely to bring him down.

Despite his affinity for Buffalo, McCoy is going from a franchise that has made just one playoff appearance since 1999 and won six games a year ago to an organization that has won three consecutive AFC West titles and came within an overtime coin-flip of possibly going to the Super Bowl last season.

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