BURIEN, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state trooper who pulled over to help what he thought was a disabled vehicle found something else instead: The driver had eight phones simultaneously playing the video game Pokemon Go.
The driver was stopped on the shoulder of Highway 518 in Burien, south of Seattle, on Tuesday evening.
The agency tweeted a photo showing a blue foam square, with the phones sitting in eight rectangular cutouts.
Trooper Rick Johnson is a spokesman for the patrol and said Sgt. Kyle Smith did not issue a ticket because he did not observe the car moving while the driver was using the phones.
But Smith asked the driver to put the phones in the back seat and move along, because stopping on the shoulder is for emergencies only.
Studies show people spend 36% of their life at work. Why not spend that time enjoying your work while becoming an owner?
Eagle Communications is growing and we are looking for motivated individuals. Openings range from customer service to I.T. to account executives to radio announcers to field service technicians.
To learn more, attend our job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Eagle Media Center, 2300 Hall.
Eagle is an employee-owned company and an E. E. O. employer.
KEAVY, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky say three thieves thought they were stealing gasoline from a property for their broken down car until the car stopped working again.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook said the three stole a 5-gallon gasoline jug from a garage for their car. Except there wasn’t gasoline in the jug. It was peroxide.
News outlets report Latasha Bryant, Timothy Storms and Dustin Napier were arrested Wednesday on various charges including burglary.
Spokesman Gilbert Acciardo says after the trio filled their tank up with peroxide, they pushed the vehicle onto the victim’s property.
The sheriff’s office says Napier was found with a pill in her mouth that she refused to spit out. Bryant was found with a glass pipe.
It’s unclear if an attorney is available to comment.
STURGIS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota woman who recently gave birth to triplets says she didn’t find out about her pregnancy until she went to the hospital with what she thought were kidney stones.
KOTA-TV reports Dannette Giltz, of Sturgis, gave birth to the healthy triplets on Aug. 10.
Giltz says that despite having two other children, she did not know she was 34 weeks pregnant. She says that when she started having pains, she thought it was from kidney stones, which she has had before. Doctors told her she was actually in labor — with multiple babies.
The triplets were born within four minutes. Each weighed about 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms).
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Authorities say four teens have been wounded in a shooting at hotel at an upscale shopping and dining district in Kansas City.
Police on the scene of the investigation photo courtesy KCTV
Witnesses told police that “many teens” were gathered in a room early Sunday at the Sheraton Suites Country Club Plaza when an argument broke out. Police say there was at least one shooter who fired multiple rounds.
Police say two of the victims have life-threatening injuries. All of the victims are believed to be from the Kansas City area. Police searched the hotel before determining that the shooter or shooters had fled in an unknown direction.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man discovered a 50-year-old letter in a bottle from the Russian Navy on the shores of western Alaska.
Tyler Ivanoff found the handwritten Russian letter early this month while gathering firewood near Shishmaref about 600 miles (966 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, television station KTUU reported.
“I was just looking for firewood when I found the bottle,” Tyler Ivanoff said. “When I found the bottle, I had to use a screwdriver to get the message out.”
Ivanoff shared his discovery on Facebook where Russian speakers translated the message to be a greeting from a Cold War Russian sailor dated June 20, 1969. The message included an address and a request for a response from the person who finds it.
Reporters from the state-owned Russian media network, Russia-1, tracked down the original writer, Capt. Anatolii Prokofievich Botsanenko, KTUU reported.
He was skeptical he wrote the note until he saw his signature on the bottom.
“There — exactly!” he exclaimed.
The message was sent while the then 36-year-old was aboard the Sulak, Botsanenko said. Botsanenko shed tears when the Russian television reporter told him the Sulak was sold for scrap in the 1990s.
Botsanenko also showed the reporter some souvenirs from his time on the ship, including the autograph of the wife of a famous Russian spy and Japanese liquor bottles, the latter kept over his wife’s protests.
Ivanoff’s discovery of the bottle was first reported by Nome radio station KNOM.
Serving up extra helpings of its signature hospitality in honor of the National Waffle Day holiday, the Hays Comfort Inn & Suites is hosting its 3rd annual free waffle breakfast for first responders 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wed., Aug. 21.
The Comfort Inn & Suites, located at 1001 E. 41st St., has joined a brand-wide #ComfortSaysThanks movement, with similar National Waffle Day celebrations taking place coast to coast.
During this annual event, Comfort brand hotels invite local “hometown heroes” and community groups—such as first responders, teachers and volunteers—to enjoy a complimentary breakfast, featuring the brand’s signature fresh-baked waffles, to thank them for their service to the community.
A robotic arm operating at Flame Engineering in LaCrosse. Flame has achieved 18 years with no loss-time accidents. File photo
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Flame Engineering employees at their safety recognition luncheon on Friday.
Flame Engineering in LaCrosse celebrated 18 years with no loss-time accidents during a luncheon on Friday.
Flame, which is locally owned, has been in LaCrosse for almost 60 years and sells its products all over the world. Flame manufactures LP gas equipment. This includes torches for home, agriculture and tar roofing among other products.
Flame Engineering is currently recognized by the Kansas Department of Industrial Safety & Health along with OSHA as a SHARP (Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program) company. This recognition was accomplished in October 2000 and maintained to date. Companies who are SHARP designated must renew their SHARP every two years.
SHARP is a national program. Kansas has the second largest number of SHARPs only behind Texas. Flame is one of 157 companies in the state to hold the prestigious SHARP designation. It has held that designation longer than any other company in the state.
Flame has held OSHA’s SHARP (Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program) designation longer than any other Kansas company.
“Achieving SHARP means that you are the best of the best for safety and health for your employees,” said Allen Vinyard, Kansas Department of Labor consultation program manager. “It means you are following all the rules and regulations, that you have all your written programs in place. It is very prestigious to achieve SHARP recognition. It is also very difficult to achieve SHARP recognition.”
Representatives of the Kansas Department of Industrial Safety and Health, the company’s insurer, Insurance Planning, and Sen. Jerry Moran’s office were all on hand to help the company celebrate its accomplishment.
“They have built a very good safety and health culture here,” Vinyard said, “and that starts at the top. It has to start at the top and work its way down to the employees.”
Both the representatives of the state and Insurance Planning said they routinely use Flame’s safety procedures as a model when working with other companies.
“We will point to Flame as a shinning star that, ‘Yes, look what they’ve done. Look how they maintain it every single year,'” Vinyard said. “We definitely use them as an example. If you want to achieve this, look at what this company has done.”
Stan Jackson, executive vice president at Insurance Planning, said one of the company’s annual trainings is a fork lift rodeo. Although the company was not able to shut down the plant for the annual rodeo this year because they were so busy, usually the rodeo is a fun day of training and competitions, which Jackson officiates, compete with a flag an officials jersey.
Although the company has had 18 years with no claims, it has only two claims in the last 30 years.
Flame Engineering has a Safety Committee. Members of that committee rotate every year so everyone has an opportunity to serve on the committee. It meets monthly and sets yearly goals. Mike Pivonka, owner and founder of the company, said any person in the factory has the authority to shut down a piece of equipment if they believe it is not being operated safely.
File photo
Pivonka said safety is not only good for the well-being of the employees, but it sustains productivity and decreases the company’s insurance costs.
He said he has had good buy in from the company’s 30 employees on the company’s safety initiatives.
“We probably have 95 percent buy in from our employees. They all realize they are the ones who are going to get hurt,” Pivonka said. “I’m not in the shop that much. I don’t have the exposure they do. I know everyone of our employees, most of their kids, know their wives and family, and I don’t want to have to call and say, ‘Hey, you have to go to the hospital because so and so got hurt. They all realize that it is their finger and toes and eyes.”
Although he does not spend much time on the plant floor these day, Pivonka said his employees will call him out if they see him without his safety glasses.
In addition to a luncheon, a half day off and T-shirts, the employees can also earn cash safety bonuses.
Pivonka said the company could operate anywhere in the country, but his family likes central Kansas and has found quality employees here.
“I am extremely proud of the employees that we have,” he said. “They just couldn’t be a better group of people.”
VICTORIA — Construction is set to begin soon on a $4.5 million water system revitalization project in Victoria that will replace the town’s water tower, revitalize two of their wells and replace aging water lines throughout the town.
The project will also connect the town’s supply to the Trego 2 Rural Water District.
The first stage in the project that is being completed by EBH Engineering is the replacement of the water tower.
“The water tower is 20 years past its estimated life span,” said Brad Schmidtberger, city superintendent. “We are going from a 50,000 gallon to a 150,000 gallon above ground. That fulfills the needs of growth for the town.
“The grant was approved, and the engineering firm is doing all of the surveying,” Schmidtberger added.
Bidding for construction should start soon and he said tower construction could start in September.
Waterline replacement is likely to come next as stage two of the system overhaul and will replace approximately 14,000 feet of waterlines and adding waterline loops to many existing lines.
“We have done water projects over the years and replaced a lot of the water lines around town naturally, and this would replace some of the ones that were not replaced in the most recent water project in the 1980s,” Schmidtberger said.
Adding loops to waterlines will help with water flow and water quality.
“We have some waterlines that are very dated, and we have a couple that are not looped in some lower-use areas. We are going to loop those in. That will produce much higher quality water in those lower-use areas,” Schmidtberger said.
Repairing two of the city’s wells and connecting to the rural water district will complete the project and will help ensure the water supply is sufficient for the expected growth in Victoria.
“We would have basically new wells,” Schmidtberger said. “They are both very dated and in need.”
“By offsetting these and re-drilling with new screens, new casings and so forth, it’s going to give us a better and a more efficient quality of water and a more efficient supply of water,” he said. “With the repairs, we will be able to capitalize more on what’s there.”
Adding water from the rural water district will add another water supply to the system and ensure the supply remains sufficient for future growth.
“That will allow us to feel comfortable with the amount of water we have, long term,” Schmidtberger said.
The decision to connect to the Trego 2 Rural Water District was based on location as the district runs lines through Ellis County and the properties of the water.
The rural district’s water is “the best match for our water,” Schmidtberger said. “It will blend very well with our water and our existing well field.”
Having water that is similar in makeup to the city well makes it the most cost-effective method of adding to the water supply, he said, as they can blend the water with the well water as it will not need additional treatment.
Once the connection is made, the water from the district will be added to the central reservoir for processing.
Beginning Monday, Hays city crews will be doing a one-time collection of downed tree limbs as a result of the recent wind storm.
All limbs are to be placed curbside. Limbs will not be collected from alleys. Please do not pile limbs on sidewalks or streets.
Collection will start Monday and continue until a sweep of the city is complete.
Crews will not come onto private property to collect limbs. If a resident has a large tree or limb on their property, they can utilize the services of a professional tree trimmer to either have the tree removed or moved to the curb.
As a reminder, city residents can haul their limbs to the Ellis County Sanitary Landfill for disposal free of charge. Limbs can’t be taken to the city compost site.
Landfill hours are Monday-Friday 8-5 and Saturday 9-4. Limbs CANNOT be taken to the city compost site.
Any questions should be directed to the City of Hays Public Works office at (785) 628-7350.
Phillip James Harry, 67, of Colby, died Friday, August 16, 2019, at Hays Medical Center, Hays, KS. He was born May 19, 1952, in Atwood, KS, to Everett and Adella (Vrbas) Harry. On September 15, 1979, he married Dorothy Havel, in Atwood. Phillip worked at the Colby Super Market, ran the projectors at the Colby Theater, and then went on to work maintenance at Sacred Heart Church and Grade School, Colby, Oakley High School and Colby Community College, before retiring. Phillip enjoyed watching football, especially college football, the Chiefs and the Colby Eagles, where he often worked the “Chain Gang” during games. He enjoyed fishing and bowling and he especially loved spending time with his family and his dog, Buddy James. He was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, in Colby.
Phillip was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Calvin Harry; sister, Glinda Guard; in-laws, Ralph and Ruth Havel; brothers-in-law, Richard Pabst, Leonard Havel, Raymond Havel and Edward Havel.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, of the home; daughters, Paula (Terry) Wilt, Hays, KS, Kayla (Luke) Sawyer, Inman, KS and Brandi (Brian) Emmot, Levant, KS; grandchildren, Tyler Harry, Rylie Sawyer, Avery Sawyer and Melissa Emmot; sisters Gloria Pabst, Oakley, KS, Cheryl (Michael) Maggard, Wichita, KS and Regina Depperschmidt, Loveland, CO; brother-in-law, Gary Guard, Hays, KS; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation is 5:00-7:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 20, 2019, at Baalmann Mortuary, Colby, with a vigil at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 21, 2019 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Colby, with burial in the church cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the church, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701.
By JAMES BELL
