ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Members of Congress have been put on notice: the threat of flooding continues in the Midwest.
A Congressional subcommittee hearing held by Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves has discussed the continuing threat and suggested management of the Missouri River needs to change. Graves says Midwesterners keep hammering the same point home every time they have the opportunity.
“We talk about this time, after time, after time and the Corps doesn’t seem to understand or doesn’t get it. That system was designed for flood control and it needs to be managed for flood control otherwise it does not work,” Graves tells St. Joseph Post.
Graves says the Army Corps of Engineers has too many priorities as it tries to manage the Missouri River, including wildlife habitat and upstream recreation.
Graves
Graves has sponsored a resolution that would keep the Corps and Fish and Wildlife from spending money trying to improve the breeding habitat of the pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River.
“We’ve spent millions and millions of dollars trying to do these experiments, but yet the Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife they can’t show any progress whatsoever,” according to Graves. “So, we’re trying to say, quit spending money on this when you can’t even show if it’s working or not.”
Graves says Congressional spending habits display the misplaced priorities. He says $12 billion will be spent to repair levees with $31 billion will be spent on habitat reclamation.
Graves says the Midwest is strong, but it could use a little help from Washington.
“Those of us in north Missouri are pretty resilient when it comes to this, but the Corps of Engineers isn’t helping any, that’s for sure, when it comes to the management of the river,” Graves says. “Now, with the recovery, hopefully they’re going to do a much better job of that and getting these levees fixed.”
Graves says he and other Midwestern members of Congress will continue to push the Corps of Engineers pretty hard on repairing the more than 100 levees damaged by this year’s flooding.
Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha has awarded a nearly $2.8 million contract to repair a levee in southwestern Iowa.
The contract calls for the elevation of the levee breached near Percival and Hamburg during historic flooding in March to be raised from 2 to 4.5 feet. The breach near Percival was closed last month and work to close the one at Hamburg is nearly done.
That levee breach sent floodwaters from the Missouri River bluff to Hamburg, shutting down I-29 for months.
LEAVENWORTH COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after a traffic stop.
Photo courtesy Bonner Springs police
On Thursday, an officer from the Bonner Springs Police Department’s Traffic Unit stopped a vehicle on eastbound Interstate 70, according to a media release.
During the investigation, the officer discovered that the vehicle was carrying a substantial amount of methamphetamine. Officers from the Bonner Springs Police Department’s Community Action Team and Investigations Bureau were called to assist. They located more methamphetamine within the vehicle.
Authorities arrested the driver and seized 75 pounds of methamphetamine. They did not release the suspect’s name or all the possible charges.
The Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter arrived at Pratt Optimist Park beyond the Larks Park left field wall just after 4 p.m., according to Trooper Tod Hileman. The helicopter will be at the park until 7 p.m.
The Larks will play the Denver Cougars. It’s Pack the Pantry weekend with all fans are encouraged to bring a canned food or non-perishable food item.
Admission is free courtesy of the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Hays Regional Airport.
Come to @HaysLarksBB tonight from 5-7 pm and you can check out our cool KHP Helicopter!
It will take off at 7 and I will parachute out of it and land on the pitcher’s mound. Wait what..I can’t parachute out of it? Okay scratch the parachuting idea 😕
OWASSO, Okla. — Marty Barnett recently made history when he was selected as the inaugural winner of the top high school strength coach of the year for Oklahoma.
It was an honor the Rejoice Christian coach humbled accepted last month at the National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
“That was pretty cool,” Barnett said. “I was just really blessed. We’ve got a really neat thing going.”
A staple of the Eagles athletic success since 2016, Barnett was nominated for the award by Rejoice athletic director Brent Marley and fellow coaches in the department, who have been appreciative of his impact.
“He’s made a huge impact,” Marley said of Barnett, who also serves as an assistant coach on his football staff. “We talk about the process. He’s the process guy. His role as a strength coach, he takes that on very seriously and he understands it.”
Barnett’s award is another sign of his success at Rejoice. But, more importantly, the former high school football coach acknowledged the formal recognition and plaque were just another example of how a decision he made more than decade ago proved to be one of the best moves of his life.
Barnett is a native of La Crosse. He grew up in the Sunflower State and attained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Kansas. His wife, April, was raised in nearby Otis.
Barnett went on to be a head football coach at Stockton and later at Pratt Skyline, which was part of the smallest 11-man classification in the state.
Even leading a pair of football program during the early-to-mid 2000s, Barnett’s heart was pulling him in a different direction.
“I enjoyed being a strength coach more than I did being a head coach,” Barnett said. “I enjoyed the process of getting the kids ready. That’s the reason I became a head football coach. It wasn’t because I wanted to be the guy. It was because I wanted to run the weight room.”
Barnett continued to feel the tug to working as a strength coach. In 2006, he took action.
“I’m mowing the football field like every small school coach in Kansas does and I’m just praying about it,” he said. “I knew my heart. That’s where my heart was.”
So, Barnett began to do some research and eventually accepted an unpaid internship at the University of South Florida in Miami. He, his wife and their then 6-month-old son, Isaac, packed up and made the trek to an unfamiliar area and a vastly different environment.
During that year, Barnett completed his internship and April got her foot in the door on a new career path as well, in the human resources and recruiting industry. It paid off. She currently works as a senior recruiter for the Williams Companies in Tulsa.
“She found her niche when I found mine,” Barnett smiled.
Following the completion of Barnett’s internship at USF, the couple decided to move to Oklahoma in 2007. They took another leap of faith.
“Neither of us had a job offer there,” said Barnett, whose only connection to family in Oklahoma was an older brother in Chandler. “We just knew we didn’t want to stay in Florida. We wanted to get closer to family.”
Marty found a job as a freshman football and basketball coach at Mustang High School. April continued her work in HR with INTEGRIS Health Care System.
In the summer of 2008, Marty had reached out to a connection from his college days at Kansas State University and found a way to sharpen his skills as a strength coach. This connection was working at the University of Tulsa at the time so Barnett drove back and forth that summer as free labor for Golden Hurricane athletics.
By that fall, the athletic department created a graduate assistant position for Barnett, which brought them to Tulsa. While working at TU, Barnett attended Victory Church. It was there, he struck up a friendship with another Victory attendee, Marley, who was then a coach at Victory Christian.
“Brent was needing a strength and conditioning guy at Victory,” Barnett said. “And, even though I was at TU at the time, I knew I wanted to work at the high school level again. I wanted to be able to have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to do what I love but I wanted to be home in time to tuck my kids in and see my wife.”
In 2009, Barnett went to work at Victory Christian. He stayed at the south Tulsa school until 2015 when Marley left to take over at as Rejoice’s head coach and athletic director. Even though Marley moved to Owasso, the new campus and facilities, which included a weight room, were a year away from being completed.
“The timing wasn’t right,” Barnett said. “They didn’t have a position for me, unless it was as assistant athletic director. And that’s not where I feel called to be.”
Instead, Barnett moved back to the Oklahoma City area, this time as a strength coach at Moore High School. He served in that capacity for a year before Marley reached out again in 2016.
While he and his family had been faced with tough decisions in the past, Barnett said the choice to move to Rejoice was a no-brainer.
“I loved the people and the vision,” he said. “Coach Marley has done an amazing job as an athletic director of setting the tone with the whole athletic department. I’ve been blessed that every coach has bought in and they see me as their head strength coach.”
Marley said the addition of Barnett has helped raise the level of athletics at Rejoice across the board.
“He knows what he needs and what we need as a school and what we need as a football program,” he said. “If our football program and athletic department was an automobile, he’d be the transmission. He definitely is the guy that makes it go on the inside.”
When Barnett reflects on his journey, he sees his path to Rejoice led by his faith.
“When you step out of the boat and step out in faith, hold on,” Barnett said. “We joke about it but God has been good. All along the way, he’s been there.
“I tell anybody that will listen, it took me 10 years but I’m in my dream job. Now I get what all that was about.”
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide and have made an arrest.
Norris photo Sedgwick Co.
Just after 8:30p.m. April 1, police responded to a drive-by shooting call in the 1200 Block of North Minnesota, according to officer Charley Davidson. A citizen contact police after hearing gunshots in the neighborhood.
Upon arrival, officers located Marquez Hutton, 23, of Wichita, outside a residence with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene, according to Davidson.
With the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s service, authorities located Malcolm Norris, 27, Valley Center, at a residence in Texas. He was arrested, extradited back to Kansas and is being held on requested charges of first-degree murder and a bond of $250,000, according to online booking records.
Manual pumping of the sewer lift station at West 27th and U.S. 183 Bypass continued Friday morning following a sewer line break and subsequent shut down late Wednesday afternoon.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The city of Hays Water Resources Department continues to manually pump waste today from the sewer lift station at 27th and U.S. 183 Bypass after a leak was discovered late Wednesday afternoon in a forced sewer main line along nearby Big Creek.
Jeff Crispin, director of water resources, said Friday morning his crew decided not to find and temporarily fix the leak.
“This is an old line, and we’re going to abandon it for safety’s sake,” he said. Crispin estimates the 10-inch sewer line is buried 15 to 20 feet below the bank level of Big Creek.
A new line will be installed parallel to the existing line. Crispin said materials have been ordered and he expects the supplies to arrive Monday.
The city immediately shut down the sewer line and nearby lift station that serves that line after the leak was reported by a farmer who saw excess water flowing from the side bank of Big Creek.
There is no contamination of the city water supply, Crispin said. He noted the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s northwest unit in Hays asked for two samples of the Big Creek water late Thursday afternoon, which were sent to Salina for analysis.
There has not been any interruption of water or sewer service to city customers, and installation of the new pipeline will not require service interruption.
Hertel Tank Service has been hired to help with pump removal of the sewer line contents into trucks as needed and transporting it to the city wastewater treatment plant.
Crispin said manual pumping at the lift station began at Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m. and continued until approximately 1 a.m. Friday.
Crews from the city and Hertel Tank Service were back on the scene after sunrise this morning.
Hertel Tank Service is has been hired to help manually pump waste from the sewer lift.
The sewer line contents are being trucked to the Hays wastewater treatment plant.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Fans may soon be able to buy used Arrowhead Stadium seats, possibly before the end of the Kansas City Chief’s preseason next month. Jackson County is set to approve a contract that would allow those sales.
photo courtesy KC Chiefs
Under the proposal, seats with Arrowhead logos on their metal end caps would sell for $399 a pair. Double seats with no logo would go for $299 and singles for $199.
Customers could request specific seat numbers for an additional $20 charge. Jackson County residents will have the first crack at the seats.
The proposed contract would guarantee the county $75,000 up front to cover the hauling and storage charges on 30,000 seats. The county and its vendor would then split net proceeds for the seat sales evenly.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex charges.
Palmeri photo Pottawatomie County
As a result of the investigation, deputies arrested Peter Palmeri, 52, St. Marys, on Tuesday on requested charges that include 2 counts of Rape, 6 counts of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, 3 counts of Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, 1 Count of Aggravated Kidnapping and 1 count of Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor, according to Sheriff Greg Riat.
Palmeri made an initial court appearance Wednesday and remains jailed in Pottawatomie County on a $100,000 bond, according to the Pottawatomie County Attorney’s office. He is expected back in court July 22.
GREAT BEND — The Great Bend Recreation Commission received a thank you letter from the Kansas State High School Activities Association for hosting the Class 2-1A State Baseball Tournament this past May.
KSHSAA thanked the Recreation Commission and City of Great Bend for being great hosts but did encourage continued improvements at the facility. GBRC Executive Director Diann Henderson says one of the implied improvements is to install turf.
“They always ask that we continue to improve our facilities at the Sports Complex, especially turf as they start looking at those premier facilities for selections every year,” Henderson said.
KSHSAA has announced state championship sites for fall and winter sports, but has not revealed spring locations. The Great Bend Sports Complex has been the host of the 2-1A State Baseball Tournament for the past six years.
One of the goals listed in the Recreation Commission’s 2019-2020 strategic plan is to collaborate with the City of Great Bend and USD 428 to improve recreation facilities, including turf at the Sports Complex.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Trump administration is moving forward with a nationwide immigration enforcement operation targeting migrant families, despite loud opposition from Democrats and questions over whether it’s the best use of resources given the crisis at the border.
The operation could happen as soon as this weekend after being postponed by President Donald Trump late last month. It would pursue people with final deportation orders, including families whose immigration cases were fast-tracked by judges in 10 major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
The plan has sparked outrage and concern among immigrant-rights advocates and lawmakers.
“Our communities have been in constant fear,” Estela Vara, a Chicago-area organizer said Thursday at a rally outside the city’s Immigration and Custom Enforcement offices where some activists chanted “Immigration Not Deportation!”
The sweep remains in flux and could begin later, according to two administration officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The American Civil Liberties Union pre-emptively filed a lawsuit Thursday in an attempt to protect asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, activists ramped up efforts to prepare by bolstering know-your-rights pocket guides, circulating information about hotlines and planning public demonstrations. Vigils outside of detention centers and hundreds of other locations nationwide were set for Friday evening, to be followed by protests Saturday in Miami and Chicago.
The operation is similar to ones conducted regularly since 2003 that often produce hundreds of arrests. It is slightly unusual to target families, as opposed to immigrants with criminal histories, but it’s not unprecedented. The Obama and Trump administrations have targeted families in previous operations.
This latest effort is notable because of the politics swirling around it.
Trump announced on Twitter last month that the sweep would mark the beginning of a push to deport millions of people who are in the country illegally, a near-impossibility given the limited resources of ICE, which makes the arrests and carries out deportation orders.
Then he abruptly canceled the operation after a phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, while lawmakers worked to pass a $4.6 billion border aid package . Plus, details had leaked, and authorities worried about the safety of ICE officers.
The agency said it would not discuss specifics about enforcement operations.
“As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” it said in a statement.
Trump started hinting anew in recent days that more removals were coming. He said last weekend they would be starting “fairly soon.”
“Well, I don’t call them raids,” he said. “I say they came in illegally and we’re bringing them out legally.”
Ken Cuccinelli, the new head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, told CNN on Wednesday that the raids were “absolutely going to happen.”
Pelosi said she hoped the administration would reconsider. “Families belong together,” she said.
Advocates in border areas have “received word” that up to 1,000 families are expected to arrive at an immigration center in Dilley, Texas, according to attorneys representing separated families in a long-running lawsuit.
In court papers filed Thursday, the attorneys said the government has not responded to questions about the operation.
The administration has been straining to manage a border crisis , and some officials believe flashy shows of force in deporting families would deter others migrants from coming. But others have criticized any move that draws resources away from the border at a time when the Border Patrol is detaining four times the number of people it can hold. Also, a watchdog report found filthy, potentially dangerous conditions at some stations.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a former immigrant advocate, accused the administration of showing a “willingness to be cruel at every turn.”
photo courtesy Department of Homeland Security
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, blamed Pelosi for the raids, saying she had done “nothing” since they were delayed. “It is the speaker who caused this problem,” he said.
He said Trump would have postponed the raids again if he saw progress in House.
Some activists said they were gearing up for operations to start Sunday and planned to protest. Organizers estimated a rally planned for Saturday in Chicago would draw around 10,000 people.
“We will not be swayed by fear and fiat,” said Justin Valas with Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Chicago.
In New Orleans, any operations were put on hold due to severe weather. The city tweeted that it confirmed with ICE that enforcement would be suspended through the weekend as the region braced for the first hurricane of the season.
The ACLU lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, argued that thousands of migrants fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were not allowed a fair chance to request asylum due but were still ordered removed from the country. They are asking that those individuals get another hearing.
Others said they were skeptical that Trump would follow through on the threat.
Advocates have ramped up know-your-rights training since Trump took office, reminding immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, about their right to remain silent and to ask authorities for proper paperwork.
They have also explained that immigrants can often avoid arrest simply by not opening doors to agents, who need permission to enter private homes. That has forced ICE officers to wait outside courthouses and other public places to make arrests.
“We don’t want to alarm folks, but we want to alert folks,” said Melissa Taveras of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Mark Wayne Banks, 55, passed away June 22, 2019, at his home in Great Bend. He was born January 13, 1964, at Hoisington to Charles E. & Carol (Fahlising) Banks.
Coming originally from Texas, Mark was a Great Bend resident and was a roughneck in the oilfield.
Survivors include, his father, Charles E. Banks of Oregon; one son, Delzel Carey-Banks; two daughters, Molli Banks and Baily Banks, all of Great Bend; ex-wife, Jacqueline (Jake) Urban of Great Bend; and a step brother, Richard Ward of Great Bend. He was preceded in death by his mother, Carol Cook; two step fathers, Phil Ward and Dennis Cook; and sister, Cara Banks.
There will be no visitation as cremation has taken place. Service are pending at a later date, however, friends my stop by the children’s home.
Memorials are suggested to the Mark Banks Funeral Expense Fund, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.
