By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board will hear an update on the Oak Park Medical Complex project Monday.

The board will also discuss renaming the facility.

The complex is being renovated for use by Early Childhood Connections.

Representatives from Nabholz Construction and Paul-Wertenberger Construction will provide an update to the board on the progress on the $1.76 million renovation project.

The school district purchased the complex for $2 million, which will be paid for through a lease agreement out of capital outlay funds. The district received a $1.47 million federal grant and a $500,000 donation from HaysMed, the primary owner of the complex before it was sold, for the renovations.

The district hopes to have the facility open sometime this fall.

The board will also consider two other capital projects during its meeting Monday.

It is set to vote on a plan to add secure entrances at Hays High School and HMS. The district has received more than $86,000 in grants for the project. The district’s portion of these projects is $16,693. The district hopes to have the entrance projects completed this summer.

The projects will funnel visitors through the schools’ offices after the start of the school day.

The board will consider bids for a project to pull wiring for new clock, phone and security camera systems at the high school. The low bid was from Nex-Tech for $129,337.

The board also will:

• Hear a report on HHS Pathways and Career Technical Education
• Hear a report on Kansas Education Systems Accreditation
• Hear a report from the HHS site council
• Hear a report from Tribe Broadcasting students

HFD

HaysMed will be conducting a series of small controlled burns on its hospital grounds, 2220 Canterbury, Mon., April 8, beginning at 8 a.m.

These burns are a natural weed and vegetation control to care for the prairie grasses.

The Hays Fire Department will be staffing a fire truck and be on standby for this burn.

CITY OF HAYS

Beginning Monday, M & D Excavating, Inc. will be conducting multiple sanitary sewer point repairs in Hays.

The first four repair locations are located:

• In the alley at Mission Mount between 17th and Elm
• In the alley between Walnut and Ash from 15th to 16th
• In the alley between Allen and Milner from 19th to 20th
• Behind the houses on Ash between Pershing and 17th.

The project is scheduled to be completed by June 1.

Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public.The traveling public should use caution and if possible avoid areas of construction.

The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Office of Project Management at 628-7350 or the contractor, M & D Excavating at 628-3169 or 650-3802.

KDA

MANHATTAN — Livestock owners face numerous challenges, including natural disasters like flooding and wildfire and the threat of foreign animal diseases like African Swine Fever and food-and-mouth disease, which have impacted other countries. The Kansas Department of Agriculture works to help Kansas livestock owners, from large feedyards to families with show animals, in preparing for the impact any of these disasters could have on their lives. This spring, KDA will host eight regional workshops to assist Kansans throughout the livestock industry with emergency preparedness.

The workshops will help livestock owners understand which foreign animal diseases are a possible threat to their animals and how an outbreak could impact them as well as the industry as a whole. Attendees will learn what precautions they can take to protect their herds, and how to respond if they do suffer losses due to natural disaster or disease. The workshops are geared toward all livestock owners, regardless of species or size of their herd.

The Emergency Livestock Management Workshops will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the following dates in the following cities:

Tuesday, April 30 — Great Bend: Great Bend Convention Center
Wednesday, May 1 — Montezuma: Hy-Plains Feedyard
Monday, May 6 — Olathe: Johnson County Research and Extension
Tuesday, May 7 — Mankato: Mankato Livestock Inc.
Wednesday, May 8 — Goodland: Emergency Management Training Facility
Monday, May 13 — El Dorado: Butler County 4-H Building
Thursday, May 16 — Iola: Allen County Courthouse
Monday, May 20 — Manhattan: Kansas Department of Agriculture

All of the workshops are free, and registration is now open for all of the locations at www.agriculture.ks.gov/EmergencyManagement. Registration includes lunch; however, lunch will only be guaranteed to those participants who pre-register. Space is limited to 50 participants.

For more information about the Emergency Livestock Management workshops, contact Kelly Oliver, KDA’s assistant emergency management coordinator, at 785-564-6608 or [email protected].

 

FHSU University Relations

Anyone who is interested in the mental health and well-being of students, pre-kindergarten through college, is invited to a day-long symposium on Friday, April 12, in Fort Hays State University’s Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

The featured speaker is Dr. Bernard Franklin, vice president for student life at Mount St. Mary University in Emmitsburg, Md., who will address how to create “trauma informed environments” that support the mental health of Kansas’ students.

“Trauma informed environments are environments in which all students feel safe and welcome,” said Dr. Brooke Moore, assistant professor and interim chair of the Department of Advanced Education Programs at Fort Hays State. “This is particularly important for students who have experienced or are currently experiencing traumatic events in their lives,” she said.

Franklin’s appearance is part of the Olliff Family Educational Symposium. He has been featured before in the symposium, said Moore, and is back “by popular request.”

The event is free for all FHSU faculty, staff, and students. The event is open to the public, but registration and a fee apply. The cost is $15 in advance, $20 at the door and includes breakfast pastries, coffee, and lunch. Online registration is at https://bit.ly/2JX7OCL.

Franklin is regarded as a leader in articulating the issues of men, youth, and families. He serves on a number of healthcare and community-centered boards and has consulted on a wide range of topics, including leadership, diversity, urban education, urban father and family issues on a local, national, and international level.

As an undergraduate at Kansas State University, Franklin became the first black student ever elected president of the Student Government Association. At the age of 24, he made Kansas history by becoming the youngest person ever appointed to the Kansas State Board of Regents and the youngest chair of the board at age 28.

He has been a fellow for the Study of the United States Presidency and has served on an advisory commission to President Jimmy Carter’s administration with Martin Luther King III and other prominent African Americans.

Franklin received his master’s in counseling and behavioral studies from the University of South Alabama and a PhD in counseling and higher education administration, with an outside emphasis in family studies, from Kansas State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Kansas State University.

Franklin recently published a chapter in the book, “The Faith Factor in Fatherhood: Renewing the Sacred Vocation of Fathering.” The Morehouse College Research Institute presented him with the Vision Award for his “pioneering work in the area of educating men on the importance of fatherhood.”

The Olliff Family Symposium is sponsored by the university’s College of Education.

The 105th annual Roundup will be Thursday, April 18 in the Auditorium at the KSU Agricultural Research Center, Hays. The Trade Show and registration will open at 9 a.m. with the program beginning at 10 a.m. Lunch will be provided and there is no cost to attend.

Topics include Variability of weather and climate in the Great Plains, Bovine anaplasmosis, Limit feeding in current production systems, Rangeland Recovery after wildfire, and Modified intensive early stocking for cow/calf production.

The following presentations will begin at 10 a.m.

• New Insights into Subseasonal, Seasonal, and Interanual Variability of Weather and Climate Extremes in the Great Plains – Jeffrey Basara, School of Meterology, University of Oklahoma
• Bovine Anaplasmosis – What We Know/ What We Want to Know – Dr. Kathryn Reif, Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, KSU School of Veterinary Medicine
• A Review of Limit Feeding: An Old Time Feeding Method that Deserves Attention in Today’s Feeding and Environment Conditions – Dr. Dale Blasi, Beef Cattle Nutrition and Management Extension Specialist, KSU Dept. of Animal Science and Industry
• Rangeland Wildfire: The Road to Recovery – Keith Harmoney, Range Scientist, KSU ARCH
• Effect of Intensive Early Stocking Cow/Calf Pairs on Cow Performance – John Jaeger, Beef Cattle Scientist, KSU ARCH

For more information, contact John Jaeger, [email protected], 785-625-3425, Ext. 211

• Early registration is available by contracting Milissa at 785-625-3425, Ext. 200 or [email protected].

CITY OF HAYS

The Hays Board of Zoning Appeals will meet at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.

Agenda items include a variance request for an additional sign on a building other than the storefront.

The applicant, John Kyle Doerfler, recently opened a new business at 810 E. 11th.

The property is zoned I-1 Light Industrial and sign regulations allow signs on the building front façade only. The applicant has placed a sign on the east side for visibility to Vine Street and would like to keep it there.

City staff supports a request to set a public hearing for the variance request.

The meeting agenda is available here.