WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State’s new center for student-athletes is one step closer to reality.
Breaking ground on the new Student-Athlete Success Center photo courtesy Wichita State Athletics
The school held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for its $13.8 million Student-Athlete Success Center close to where it will be constructed near Koch Arena.
The 36,000-square-foot, two-level center will include a 2,500-square-foot study hall, tutoring rooms and a large computer center.
The university’s track and field program will also have a dedicated space in the facility. The team is housed in Cessna Stadium, which athletes say has mice in the showers and rundown conditions in locker rooms and team rooms.
Currently, all student-athletes at Wichita State share the same academic center and weightlifting room and the areas are often overwhelmed by demand.
The new center is expected to be completed by July 2020.
William A. Smith, age 56, passed away Wednesday, June 12, 2019 in Goodland, Kansas.
Bill was a good person and a great friend; he always did his best to help everyone he knew, despite his disabilities from cerebral palsy. He loved building military replica model tanks, vehicles, and planes from the WWII era. He also enjoyed video games, reading sci-fi books and classics like Huckleberry Finn, White Fang and Treasure Island, fishing and visiting spending time with his friends.
He is survived by his sister, Anissa Perkins of Bend, Oregon; his aunt, Leslie Jean Robinson Peterson of Portland, Oregon; and his uncle, Ed Queen of Bend, Oregon.
He is preceded in death by his parents and grandparents.
Memorials may be mailed to Bateman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 278, Goodland, KS 67735. Online condolences and information www.batemanfuneral.com
Clayton D. Williamson, 84, died June 17, 2019, at Almost Home, Great Bend, Kansas. He was born April 24, 1935, in Hoisington, Kansas, the son of Ivan Gilbert and Edith Blanche (Hanson) Williamson.
Clayton graduated from Hoisington High School in 1953. He then served in the United States Army during the Korean War.
On March 11, 1960, he married Teddy I. Fennell in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Clayton was a welder in the oil field, owning his own welding service, Willie’s Welding Service and his own sprinkler and fencing company. He later worked for Epox Poly Fittings for 17 years. He was a designer and engineer for GeoScope Pro, LLC. Later, he was a driver for both Manweiler and Dove Chevrolet, delivering cars all over the country.
He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, where he was a trustee and the treasurer for 17 years. Clayton was an ordained minister, and had the great pleasure of officiating for three of his grandchildren’s weddings. He was the co-founder for the Kansas Association of Inventors, helping to write laws, and a co-founder for the United Inventors Association. Clayton also served as mayor of Hoisington for 15 years.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Teddy I. Williamson of the home; children, Rita Secrest (Dane) of Checotah, Oklahoma, Jettie Zoller (Jeff) of Hoisington, Laura Barnard (Brad) of Hoisington, Karla Weeks of Reno, Nevada; sister, Joy Unruh of Kearney, Misouri; 9 grandchildren, Daneil Secrest, Brance Barnard, Ryan Zoller, Breanna Weeks, Matthew Secrest, Blaine Barnard, Brooke Mann, Jonathan Weeks, and Bailey Streit; 10 great grandchildren, Alyssa Secrest, Maddie & Jaylin Kolas, Braelyn Johnson, Chase Secrest, Branson Barnard, Kenley Secrest, Huntley Streit, Shaylin Barnard and Renley Streit.
He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, Ilomay Darner and brother, John Gilbert Williamson.
Friends may sign the book, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, with family to receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. There will be no viewing as cremation has taken place.
Memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 21, 2019, at the First United Methodist Church in Hoisington, with Rev. Seong Lee presiding.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Almost Home, Kans for Kids or GPS Kids Club, in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544.
MANHATTAN — Law enforcement authorities are investigating for attempted murder after an altercation in Manhattan.
Just after 6:30 a.m., Tuesday, police responded to a residence in southwest Manhattan, for a report of a past domestic altercation, according to Captain Josh Kyle.
A 38-year-old woman at the home told police that she was physically assaulted by a domestic partner.
After conducting an investigation, police arrested 39-year-old Shawn Henderson of Manhattan, on requested charges of Attempted 2nd Degree Murder (Intentional), according to the Riley County Police Department arrest report. He remains in custody on a bond of $250,000.
The woman was transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to Kyle.
LIBERAL – After having their 12-game win streak snapped Monday, the Hays Larks jumped right back to their winning ways Tuesday night with a 7-1 victory over Liberal in a game called after eight because of weather at Brent Gould Field.
Soon to be Fort Hays State Tiger Drake Angeron had four hits and drove in two to lead the Larks (14-2, 5-1 KCLB Jayhawk West) 13-hit attack. His fourth inning double scored Jimmy DeLeon with the go-ahead run. The Larks would add another run in the sixth then two more in the seventh and eighth.
Wyatt Divis (3-0) pitched all eight innings for the complete game victory. Divis allowed only the only the run in the second inning, scattering five hits along with six strikeouts and two walks.
Game three of the four-game series is Wednesday night at Brent Gould Field.
Brenda Meder, Hays Arts Council executive director, hangs a Cally Krallman painting for the “Waterways & Byways of the Prairie” exhibit that will start Friday at the HAC.
The Hays Arts Council will feature two exhibits by Topeka artist Cally Krallman during the Summer Art Walk, which will be 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday.
“Waterways & Byways of the Prairie” will be featured in the main gallery with “Along the Santa Fe Trail” in the Founder’s Gallery through Aug. 10. Krallman works primarily in oil and acrylic.
“It is all these incredible prairie scenes from different parts of the state,” Brenda Meder, HAC executive director, said of “Waterways & Byways of the Prairie.” “They are not of one particular place or representing one particular moment on the Kansas prairie or representing one particular season.”
For “Along the Santa Fe Trail,” Krallman visited locations along the historic Santa Fe Trail, including locations in Kansas. She created paintings depicting how those places look today. Visitors will be able to locate the scenes on a trail map that will be displayed with the exhibit.
Cally Krallman painting for the “Along the Santa Fe Trail” exhibit
Brief descriptions of the locations and their history associated with the trail will accompany the paintings as well.
The Santa Fe Trail was founded in 1822 and was an important north/south trade route between Franklin, Mo., and what would become Santa Fe, N.M. The trail came nearest to this area at Larned.
Visitors to the exhibit can see the topography change as they move from one painting to the next.
“If people want to take the time, they can follow that line. They can literally walk the Santa Fe Trail through the art in this room,” Meder said.
Cally Krallman painting for the “Along the Santa Fe Trail” exhibit
Brian Hutchinson, a member of the FHSU art faculty, guided an alternative-methods printmaking workshop this summer. Prints from that class will be on display in the Hays Arts Center Annex, 1010 Main St. Hutchinson also taught FHSU Secondary Art Education students this spring who worked with Hays High School students to create an installation project that will be in the annex.
Also in the annex will be photographs from the 16 HAC Summer Youth Photography class students and paintings and photography by Bruce Burkholder.
Although the spring and fall art walks are usually twice as large as the summer walk, Meder said the Summer Art Walk is still worth the time.
“Even though there are just 13 sites … it is the most delightful array of things to see and do — all focused on creativity, originality and the arts and design, but probably one of the most diverse and unique collectively that we have ever had,” she said.
Cally Krallman painting for the “Waterways & Byways of the Prairie” exhibit
John Makings, a psychotherapist from Great Bend, will bring his handcrafted drums for an impromptu drum circle at the Union Pacific Park and Pavilion. He is not a music therapist, but has used music therapy in his work.
“Drum circles are a very wonderful, creative, inclusionary kind of experience and something that is fun to engage in because of the simple rhythms and how [easy] it is to do. Music therapy is a wonderful,” Meder said. “So children or adults come and look at John’s drums and bang around a little bit and engage in a drum circle experience, but it is not something formal. It is not a concert. It is an interactive engagement experience in a collective community drum circle.”
Frank Werth will have Elvis Presley replica costumes on display at Couture for Men, 1111 Main.
“He is bringing in an array of his outfits, which are reproductions down to details of Elvis Presley costumes,” Meder said. “Costume design is an incredible art form whether it is for theater or movies or various stage shows.”
Mary Kay Schippers will be at Regeena’s, 1013 Main, to sign copies of her book, “A Year on the Family Farm.”
“I love it when we can incorporate the literary arts in some capacity,” Meder said. “We do recognize it as an awesome art form. The literary arts, the performing arts, the visual arts — they are all central to who and what the arts represent in our community.”
Cally Krallman painting for the “Waterways & Byways of the Prairie” exhibit
The Hays Community Theatre will feature five different artists (see the complete schedule below) as well as mermaid face painting by Alexandra Herrman to promote the HCT’s summer performances of “The Little Mermaid.” Meder described it as a mini art walk of its own.
eyeSMILE Vision and Dental, 1300 Main, will be a stop on the walk for the first time this summer. Visitors will be able to get a glimpse of the renovations that have been completed to that historic downtown Hays building that was once a service station.
The art walk will be extended into Saturday with a Summer Polka Party from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Hays Public Library. The Hot Shots polka band will play followed by the showing of the documentary “Herman Dinges: Colorado’s King of Christmas and Polka.” Dinges is originally from Schoenchen.
“He was also incredibly well known in Denver for his incredible, huge Christmas displays,” Meder said. “Before there was a Clark Griswold and ‘Christmas Vacation,’ there was Herman Dinges, and he is very proud of that.”
After several years away from education, former Washington Elementary School Principal Allen Park is seeking to return to Hays education as a member of the USD 489 school board.
Park, 56, joins a field of eight other candidates for four open positions on the board, including incumbents Paul Adams and Luke Oborny and newcomers Craig Pallister, Lori Hertel, Tammy Wellbrock, Alex Herman and Cole Engel.
Park has worked at all levels education preschool through college.
He started his career as a para at Washington Elementary School, then was a teacher at Hays High School and Kennedy Middle School. He spent the last 25 years of his education career as the principal at Washington Elementary School. He was a transition coordinator briefly before retiring in October 2015.
“I think with my experience and having children in Hays for over 25 years straight — I still have kids in Hays schools — that I have a unique perspective and maybe have some things that might be able to help,” he said.
Park was part of the first Leadership Hays Class in the early 1990s. He said that experience and a desire to give back to the community also led him to his decision to run for school board.
Park was part of the committees for the last two bond issues that passed in the 1990s. The district has had two failed bond issues in the last three years — in 2016 and 2017. The board is considering a third bond election in 2020.
“I think getting the community involved in all aspects of the planning stages and asking their opinions and helping all schools are areas that might be helpful,” Park said. “I think involvement is key and asking opinions and being inviting.”
He said getting teachers and staff more involved in planning a bond is also important.
Park said he supported the last two bond issues.
“I have always supported anything that helps kids,” he said. “We just need to look at all of the different angles to see what we need to improve facilities and make sure facilities are safe.”
He said voter turnout has been low during the last two bond elections.
“I think something as important as a bond issue, we need everyone to express their opinions,” he said. “That is something we need to look at to see how we can inform our public and get them involved.”
The current school board has discussed three projects for the next bond although it has not voted on them yet. Those projects include finishing upgrades to the HHS HVAC system, expanding the HMS cafeteria and renovating and expanding Roosevelt Elementary School.
“It is really sad that we need to take care of maintenance issues on a bond election, but maybe that is the only thing we can do to get those things taken care of,” Park said.
The USD 489 school board went to impasse with teachers during negotiations last year.
“Education and what is best for kids, you need to have a quality and a strong staff. We need to make sure we support them and help them in any way we can, but have high expectations and be accountable for results, he said.
In recent years, the board has also debated its one-to-one computer policy for students.
Thanks to grants, Washington school was one of the first schools to go to a one-to-one program.
“I think that is something that needs to be looked at and see what the teachers need, so they can be successful” Park said of computers, “and give them the training and in-service they need to make sure they can bring that technology to kids the best way possible.”
Park named a list of goals he would have if elected:
Achieve what is best for all kids in the community
Build trust and increase public involvement
Help ensure USD 489 has quality and safe facilities
Help the district be fiscally sound
Support local businesses
Build a positive and team atmosphere on the board
Use local and national data to help drive decisions on what works in education
Include the whole school community
“I think people care,” Park said, “but we need to be more inviting to get them at the board meetings whenever possible.”
Park is on the Student Development Committee for the Cottonwood Extension District and is a member of the Hays Sunrise Rotary Club where he is a chairman of the community basketball challenge. He continues to volunteer in USD 489, is on the Roosevelt Site Council and is involved in church activities.
Park has four children. They all have gone through Hays schools. His youngest child is a junior at HHS.
“I hope I can use my experience as a parent and an educator to help move USD 489 to the next level,” Park said.
SEATTLE (AP) – Whit Merrifield had two homers and a career-high six RBIs, Homer Bailey pitched into the eighth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 9-0 on Tuesday night.
The Royals jumped on struggling starter Yusei Kikuchi to get their third straight win. Kikuchi (3-5) allowed six runs in five innings.
Merrifield drove a three-run homer against Kikuchi in the fourth and added a two-run shot against Jesse Biddle in the eighth. Jorge Soler also homered for the Royals, and rookie Nicky Lopez had three hits.
Bailey (6-6) was crisp and efficient, allowing just one runner past second base with six strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings. He stranded two baserunners in each of the first three innings, then retired 14 of the next 15 batters.
Alex Gordon opened the scoring with a two-run single – the Royals’ third straight hit to start the game – for a 2-0 lead. Soler pushed it to 3-0 with his 20th homer in the third and Merrifield made it 6-0 with his shot. Merrifield also had a sacrifice fly.
Kikuchi has had an unsettling June after a fairly positive start to his major league career. He’s now 0-4 since May 25 and has allowed eight home runs during that stretch.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Adalberto Mondesi left the game with right groin tightness. Team officials said he’s day-to-day.
Mariners: Felix Hernandez was scheduled Tuesday to have an MRI on his right shoulder. The right-hander left his rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma on Friday due to fatigue and was scheduled for the scan of his right lat and the back of his shoulder after a visit with doctors Monday. Seattle manager Scott Servais said the development is not good news for the 33-year-old, who has been out since May 12. “It’s concerning enough to take new images of that (injured area) and not guess,” Servais said.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Brad Keller (3-8, 3.97 ERA) tries to stop a run of seven losses in eight appearances since April 22.
Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (7-6, 4.50 ERA) is looking for his third straight win since stopping a six-game losing streak.
By KIM BALDWIN McPherson County farmer and rancher
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my kitchen these days. Yes, I know it’s June. No, carols aren’t being sung, and we’re not decorating a tree. We’re beginning to bake massive batches of cookies and other goodies that will sustain our wheat crew once it’s time to harvest the grain. You see, Christmas and wheat harvest are really the only two times during the year when I do mass baking projects.
A major grocery run leads to dozens of eggs being stored in my refrigerator. Bags of chocolate chips fill my pantry. Flour ends up on the floor. Cooling racks cover my counters. Ziplock bags and my deep freeze are filled to the brim. And I set watch on my kitchen — monitoring my children and others who may dare to enter my territory to see what’s being created all in an attempt to sneak a few goodies out the door.
I take this time of year very seriously. I call in reinforcements, and we knock out the task at hand. I like to get ahead by baking in advance to avoid getting behind once harvest begins. After all, there will be plenty of meals to prepare daily once harvest starts. For me, it’s a matter of planning and organization, and not feeling overwhelmed.
Besides, I want to spread goodwill and good cheer to our harvest crew. They work hard every day during harvest trying to get the wheat out of the fields while the conditions are right. It’s hot. It’s dirty. It’s tiring. The least I can do is keep their bellies full of sweet treats.
There’s been a lot of talk around town, down the dirt roads and in fields lately. The main topic of conversation is all about when harvest will begin. I generally chuckle when this talk begins — although I am also guilty of participating. While we might like to believe we have our bullet-proof systems for prognosticating the start of wheat harvest, the fact remains we’re all just making predictions. To be honest, your guess is as good as mine.
Yes, we can make educated guesses based on the weather. We can narrow it down to single-digit days. But let’s be honest, just like Mother Nature can dupe the best meteorologist, so too can a farmer miss the mark. There are just too many factors that play into when wheat harvest will begin. The wheat might look ripe, but the ground might be too wet. Other farm tasks like planting soybeans and sorghum demand our attention. Mechanical breakdowns might stop a crew before it can even get started harvesting. Mother Nature might throw a pop-up rain shower that nobody was expecting, delaying the kick-off for another day.
Although we can’t pinpoint the exact day when we will fire up the combines and begin that rush to get the grain out of the fields, we know that wheat harvest is getting closer and closer every day. And just like when my kids mark down a calendar daily in anticipation of Santa making his visit, I too am mentally marking down the days. Anxiously awaiting the start of harvest. Until that day arrives, I’ll enjoy a few homemade cookies I’ve set aside from the mass baking operation in anticipation of the start of our wheat harvest.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ tax collections have beaten expectations nearly every month for the past two years and the state expects to end June with close to $1 billion in cash reserves, but the budget problems that followed a former governor’s notorious tax-cutting experiment aren’t necessarily a thing of the past.
Governor Laura Kelly at the Paris Air Show on Monday- photo courtesy office of Kan. Governor
The steep income tax cuts that former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback championed to try to stimulate the Kansas economy contributed to persistent and severe budget shortfalls that caused some GOP legislators to rebel and gave the state’s new Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, a potent issue to successfully campaign on last year.
Seeking to keep the budget stable since taking office in January, Kelly twice thwarted efforts by the Republican-controlled Legislature this year to reduce taxes. However, problems have arisen on the spending side of the state’s ledger: The budget that lawmakers eventually approved this year was relatively generous, leaving it unclear how far into the future the new spending can be sustained.
Projections from the Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff show that spending will outpace revenue under the budget covering the fiscal year that begins in July. The researchers predict that the same will be true in following years, making future budget shortfalls inevitable unless lawmakers raise taxes or pull back on spending. The most optimistic scenario has at least a small shortfall developing in 2023.
“The trend is certainly negative,” said state Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican. “Gov. Kelly will have one more year of easy budgeting, but her third year as governor, we will find out just out how deep her leadership skills are.”
The budget outlook didn’t stop Denning and other top Republican lawmakers from pushing for tax cuts this year. They argued that it’s unfair for some businesses and individuals to automatically pay more in state income taxes because of the changes to the federal tax code at the end of 2017. But even as the extra burden hit taxpayers this spring, the prospects of future budget problems undercut their efforts.
Kelly and other Democrats invoked Brownback’s tax experiment, in which the state slashed income taxes in 2012 and 2013. Big budget shortfalls prompted lawmakers to raise the state’s sales tax, divert funds from highway projects, reduce contributions to public pensions and tighten spending on social services, all while facing multiple court orders to boost spending on public schools.
Voters came to view the experiment as a failure, and bipartisan supermajorities repealed most of the tax cuts in 2017 over Brownback’s veto.
The history helped Kelly politically when she vetoed Republican leaders’ more modest tax bills, keeping a few GOP moderates in her fold to prevent her actions from being overridden.
However, the researchers’ projections are dampening state officials’ relief over Friday’s Kansas Supreme Court rulingthat state public school spending will be sufficient under a new education funding law. They could also hurt Kelly’s push to win passage next year of a plan to expand Medicaidcoverage for up to 150,000 more adults and efforts to increase spending on prisons, higher education and social services, which all received significant increases this year.
The most optimistic projection assumes that unanticipated tax collections this year will continue into the future even as spending outpaces revenue by at least $200 million every year, leaving the state with a $153 million shortfall for 2023. Under a more pessimistic revenue scenario, the state would see a shortfall of nearly $100 million in 2022.
Kelly has chastised GOP leaders for pursuing tax relief and rejecting her plans to give the state more budget breathing room by revising payments to the state’s public pension system.
She said during a recent interview that spending increases this year were warranted to repair a state government harmed by Brownback’s tax experiment, adding, “There is still a lot of work to do.”
“We might not have the amount of revenue that we need to pay our bills in 2023,” Kelly said. “I wanted to have the cash on hand to ride us through that storm if that storm comes our way.”
Top Republican lawmakers defended their push for tax relief this year, saying they wanted to move quickly enough so that the state wouldn’t start collecting its “windfall” this spring.
“Tax policy is one of things you look at as you look at trying to figure out how to make your economy grow and thrive,” said Senate budget committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, a Wichita-area Republican.
The state’s tax collections have exceeded expectations in 23 of the 24 months since Brownback’s tax cuts were reversed. Tax collections were $158 million ahead of expectations through May and, for the budget year that ends this month, are on pace to grow by nearly 6.4 percent. Cash reserves, meanwhile, are projected to hit $978 million by the end of the month.
The Department of Revenue doubts that the tax collection surplus will be ongoing. State officials and economists also believe that the national economy will slow down in 2020 or 2021, said Steve Stotts, the department’s taxation director.
“A recession is on the horizon sometime,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Troy Waymaster, a Republican from western Kansas. “We don’t know how bad it could be.”
