WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed the five charges remaining against for state senator and current Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell at the request of prosecutors.
Michael O’Donnell-photo Sedgwick Co.
Jurors on Monday found O’Donnell not guilty of 21 countsof wire fraud but deadlocked on two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren dismissed on Thursday those remaining counts without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. The government had filed a motion the day earlier seeking the dismissal of those charges.
O’Donnell said Wednesday he’s glad common sense prevailed but he’s sorry the legal action was such an expense for him and taxpayers.
O’Donnell was indicted last year on charges that he misspent $10,500 during campaigns for state senate and the Sedgwick County Commission.
Hays High students competed in regional journalism on Feb. 25 at Fort Hays State University. Hays earned 23 state placements in a variety of journalism categories.
Hays High School qualified 16 students for state after taking 23 awards in 19 events at the regional journalism competition on Feb. 25 at Fort Hays State University.
The annual contest featured schools from throughout Kansas ranging from 1A-6A. Although Hays students competed at Fort Hays, they were in fact competing against other 5A/6A schools from the “Ad Astra Regional.” It was one of six 5A/6A contests that took place.
Schools competing for state qualifications with Hays were Maize, Wichita Northwest, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, Pittsburg, Andover Central, Wichita South and Derby.
In order to qualify for state, students had to place first, second or third in any event or receive an honorable mention. Up to three honorable mentions were awarded in each category.
Those who participated in digital entries could place in a variety of categories: Academics Photography, Advertising, Headline Writing and Design, Infographics, News Page Design, Photo Illustration, Sports Photography, Student Life Photography, Yearbook Layout and Yearbook Theme and Graphics.
This is the first year since 2014 that Hays has competed at the 5A/6A level. During the last four years, Hays competed in the 3A/4A division and enjoyed considerable success, winning three state championships and placing second once.
“The competition gets much tougher in 5A/6A, simply because of the size of the schools and the number of students those schools have to pick from for their journalism programs,” adviser Bill Gasper said. “I’m so pleased with how our students performed in our regional. They worked hard to prepare for the contest and I know they are determined to do well at state. I have great students who are really dedicated and who want to produce award-winning contest entries and publications.”
Hays will travel to Lawrence on May 4 for the state competition, where they will face off against winners from the other five regionals.
Patients reap many benefits from staying close to home to receive medical services.
Yet, some Ellis County patients still travel outside of the county to receive medical treatment.
Hospital officials spoke to Hays Post about the factors that might lead to patients leaving home for treatment and what local providers are doing to try to change perceptions that care is better elsewhere.
HaysMed market share in Ellis County is 80 percent to 85 percent, which is good, according to Ed Herrman, HaysMed CEO.
Herrman
For the hospital’s primary service area, the market share is about 77 percent. This includes Ellis, Russell, Rooks, Rush and Trego counties. The hospital also has a secondary market that extends about 75 miles from Hays and a tertiary market that encompasses most of northwest Kansas and some of southwest Kansas.
Herrman said some patients think they will receive better care in a metro area, but bigger is not always better.
“The care is not better,” he said. “Actually in many cases, from quality outcomes, the care is not as good as we are here. In Leapfrog, we are rated an A. We are rated as high as you can be rated on quality of care in our industry. There are many of those facilities that people are going to in Wichita or another metropolitan area that are not As on Leapfrog’s grading scale.
“That is our focus — quality and the patient.”
Issued twice per year, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade empowers regular people to find a safer hospital in their community by using a A, B, C, D, F grading system.
The hospital has some of the best outcomes in the state on hip and knee surgeries, Herrman said. In orthopedics, HaysMed has a Durable Medical Equipment Accreditation and the DNV-GL Healthcare Hip and Knee Replacement Certification for Center of Excellence. It was the first in the state to obtain this certification. HaysMed also is certified in managing infection risk.
Staying at home for medical care can be better for your health, Herrman said.
“You’re close to home. Any time you don’t have to add the stressors of travel. … If you are going to have surgery, we are always going to hope the outcome is textbook and is just as they said it was going to be, but sometimes it is not that way because other things happen. We have patients and families who find themselves thinking they are going for a routine procedure who are now spending the next three or four days in a city they didn’t plan on staying in,” he said.
Staying close to home also means you are closer to care if you have a complication after a procedure.
“They are typically either in an emergency or some type of crisis, and our surgeons are not the ones who have dealt with the procedure to begin with. That always makes it a little more difficult,” Herrman said.
Staying locally also supports the local facility, he said.
“We always want to give people access to as much as possible, so they don’t have to travel, but when they are not utilizing the resources that are right here for them, it makes it much more difficult to provide all those resources in the future,” he said.
HaysMed has an especially strong oncology department, Herrman said. HaysMed follows the same protocols as the University of Kansas Medical Center and, in some instances, the Mayo Clinic.
“That is not a process of healing that you want try to have to do on the road,” he said. “It is very taxing and it is difficult and painful for those patients who are going through cancer treatment and radiation treatment.”
Herrman said the quickest way for local residents to get the care they need is to come to HaysMed.
“Because if our physicians diagnosis you with something that is not in their practice — it is not something that they do — they still already know the guys and the gals who are out there that do that speciality,” he said. “If we can’t take care of it here, we know who can, and we will set it up for you and make it easy and seamless.”
HaysMed has the advantage of being connected to the University of Kansas Medical System, which allows it to bring in more specialists and connect with specialists in the system in other parts of the state. HaysMed has been affiliated with the University of Kansas system for two years. The hospital still has its own board and manages its own strategic plan.
HaysMed is using its affiliation with the health system to increase access to specialists through telemedicine. Some of these specialties will include psychiatric and neurological evaluations, as well as oncology.
“The University of Kansas Health System is known for its oncology program,” Herrman said. “It is state of the art. It competes with the best in the nation. It gives the opportunity to get those super sub-specialists. They do things that no one else in the state or region does. It gives the ability to hopefully have access to those individuals, so people from western Kansas don’t have to drive to Kansas City to necessarily get that care or second opinion. If they don’t want to do that travel, we can set it up to do it here.”
When Colby lost its oncologist, HaysMed took over the program.
Telemedicine provides access to a limited resources. Medical schools can’t graduate doctors fast enough to replace the Baby Boomer physicians who are retiring in some specialties, Herrman said.
HaysMed was without an ENT for two years, but the University of Kansas Health System helped HaysMed secure a ENT who is at the hospital three out of four weeks a month and an advanced practice provider who works in Hays five days a week. Before that clinic was offered in Hays, patients from northwest Kansas would have had to travel to Salina or Hutchinson for treatment.
Telemedicine also helps manage a finite resources. If a specialist doesn’t have to drive or fly to a remote location, they can spend more time seeing patients.
Herrman said he saw telemedicine expanding with advances in technology.
Twelve-lead ECGs to monitor the heart and an otoscope, which is used to look into your ears, can already be hooked up to smart phones. He said he sees a time in the future when families will have some of theses devices at home so they can have telemedicine visits with doctors after hours.
Despite the use of telemedicine, Herrman said the hospital would still like to sign a contract with a neurologist and rheumatologist. There is only one neurologist in all of western Kansas.
Herrman said the hospital is constantly in the recruiting process. Recruiters follow students from pre-med all the way through their residencies.
“We are making sure that we are trying to connect with them early to get them to come back to western Kansas,” he said.
Rural Kansas has assets such as good schools, opportunities to connect in the community and a work/life balance. Yet, Herrman said living and working in western Kansas is not for everyone. The hospital tries to work with physicians and their spouses to make sure Hays is the right fit for their families.
The hospital is also unwilling to compromise on quality candidates, Herrman said.
“That’s why it takes us a little more time for some positions because we are not willing to accept someone that is substandard just to have someone,” he said. “We are selling ourselves short if we do that, and we are selling the community short if we do that. We have a wonderful community, and we have a wonderful facility. We know there is always someone looking for what we have to offer.”
Veach
Shae Veach, vice president of regional operations and marketing, said the affiliation with the University of Kansas Medical System is also helping the hospital recruit physicians. He added HaysMed is well below the national turnover rate for physicians.
“I think it is so much more magnified here because of the size of the community and the size of the medical staff,” Veach said. “One physician might leave, and everyone feels it.”
Last year was the third wettest year on record for the city of Hays.
In 2018, Hays received 37.55 inches of moisture, just a quarter-inch shy of 37.99 inches that fell in 1993 – the second wettest year.
Official daily records have been kept by the K-State Agricultural Research Center south of town since 1868.
Still, the abundant moisture does not mean an end or even slowdown of the city’s water conservation programs started in 1992.
Holly Dickman, Hays water conservation specialist
“We’re in really great shape right now. The seasonal drought outlook is good for us showing no drought at least through April,” said Holly Dickman, Hays’ water conservation specialist. “The soils are very saturated right now.”
She presented a wrap up of the water conservation programs in 2018 to city commissioners last week and talked about what will be done in 2019.
The high efficiency toilet rebate program was the most popular in 2018 and Dickman expects the same this year. Most of the rebates were for residences.
TOILET REBATES 2018
449 toilets replaced at a cost of $38,200 to the city
289 replaced in 2017
Potential 2,934,853 gallons of water saved
WASHING MACHINE REBATES 2018
91 washing machines replaced at a cost of $9,100 to the city
89 replaced in 2017
81% of machines had Integrated Water Factor (IWF) of 3.2 gallons or less
Potential 691,849 gallons of water saved
URINAL REBATES 2018
3 urinals replaced at a cost of $900 to the city
Potential 191,625 gallons of water saved
Urinal rebate eliminated for 2019
TURF CONVERSION 2018
9 turf conversions of 12,734 sq. ft. at a cost of $9,023 to the city
26 conversions in 2017
Average rebate of $931.40
Pending conversions of 18,864 sq. ft.
LOW FLOW SHOWER HEAD PROGRAM 2018
146 shower heads distributed
103 distributed in 2017
Potential 852,640 gallons of water saved
Last year was slow for turf conversions due to the plentiful rain. Several pre-inspections are pending. Property owners have one year to complete the work.
The urinal rebate is not a popular program according to Dickman and has been eliminated for 2019. She noted the Golden Q Sports Bar & Grill was the sole participant last year.
“If there is a commercial business that would like to replace their urinals, I encourage them to contact me. There are other ways we can help facilitate that,” she added.
Notable projects of 2018 included the change out in Jan. of 98 toilets by the Fort Hays Inn, 2524 Vine, to models with a 1.28 gallon per flush (gpf).
In 2017, the motel used an average 7,890 cu. ft. of water per month. In 2018, that was reduced to 2,704 cu. ft. per month.
Tiger Mart convenience store, 335 W. 8th St., changed out a water-cooled ice machine for an air-cooled model in Aug. Average monthly water use for the ice machine was reduced to 620 cu. ft. from 2,400 cu. ft.
“Those are phenomenal,” said Commissioner Sandy Jacobs.
Commissioner James Meier agreed. “Of course, we’re excited about the water savings, but the monetary savings. Think what that means to them. That has to be thousands of dollars.”
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Dickman shared a list of 18 types of education and outreach she uses, “in all ways, shapes and forms,” saying it all comes down to communication. “The more variety, the better.”
Dickman also noted the revamped city of Hays website includes a blue topic button on the front page and a featured column for water conservation information.
A new mascot, Water$mart Wally,” was created last year and first introduced to the Lincoln School third-graders.
The city of Hays and KSU Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds will host a free World Water Day Fun Fest for children 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Thu., March 14 in the lobby of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Drive.
WICHITA, KAN. – A jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday in the federal trial of a Russian-born woman accused of unlawfully taking her child out of the United States and keeping the child away from the child’s father in Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Mobley is being held in Harvey Co.
Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 38, was found guilty on one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money from the child’s father.
During trial, the prosecutor presented evidence that in April 2014 Mobley took a child of hers (identified as S.M. in court records) to Russia despite the fact the biological father, Brian Mobley, had been awarded joint custody in Sedgwick County District Court. At the time, the Mobleys had a pending divorce case before the court. The defendant did not obtain the permission of the court or Brian Mobley before going to Russia with the child. The child still has not returned to the United States.
Between April 2014 and November 2016, the defendant only permitted Brian Mobley to communicate with S.M. via cell phones and Skype applications. She told Brian Mobley that he needed to send her money in order to see the child.
Sentencing is set for May 20. She faces up to three years in federal prison on the kidnapping charge and up to 20 years on the extortion counts.
Rural Long Island resident Henrietta June Van Kooten passed away Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at the Kearney Regional Medical Center in Kearney, NE at the age of 90.
She was born April 22, 1928 in Phillips County, KS, the daughter of Garrit & Gradda (Veldhuizen) Tien. On May 7, 1947, she married Alfred Earl Van Kooten in the Luctor parsonage in Phillips County. He preceded her in death on July 2, 1988.
Those left to mourn her passing include her five children, Conrad Van Kooten of Long Island, KS, Judith Horne of Grand Island, NE, Karen Van Kooten of McCook, NE, Ann Griffin and Cynthia Schemper, both of Almena, KS; her siblings, Marie Bousema of Worthington, MN; Dorothy Huyser of Des Moines, IA; Rosalee Verhoef of Artesia, California; Arlo Tien of Prairie View, KS; Edward Tien of Phillipsburg, KS; Carmen VanBeek of Sioux Center, IA; 14 grand-children, 32 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in the Luctor Christian Reformed Church, Phillips County, KS, with Gale Tien officiating. Burial will follow in the Luctor Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, March 7, from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. and Friday, March 8, from 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, where the family will receive friends from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Friday evening.
Memorial contributions may be given to the Henrietta Van Kooten Memorial Fund, to be designated at a later date. Online condolences to: www.olliffboeve.com.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, is in charge of arrangements.
In 1936, when America was plunged into the worst economic depression in its history, President Roosevelt told us that “the school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.” He understood then that creating an outstanding public educational system was worth the cost, but is it worth the cost to Kansans today?
Dr. Sharon Hartin Iorio is Professor & Dean Emeritus at Wichita State University College of Education.
At this writing, the Legislature appears reluctant to respond to the Kansas Supreme Court directive to add approximately $100 million to the more than $500 million over five years the court ordered in 2018. Can the mid-April deadline set by the court be accomplished?
Despite the urgency for closure, school funding remains an ongoing point of contention. Moreover, allocating funds to meet the court order may not guarantee an ending to contention.
Already there are three propositions the Legislature may consider that would weaken and decrease recent court-ordered appropriations to public schools that currently serve 90 percent of Kansas students.
The first proposal would introduce Education Spending Accounts, which are a restructured form of vouchers allowing families to decide whether to use their student(s) per-pupil funding for public school or a private school of their choice. Thus, some of the recently allocated funds would be pulled away from public schools.
Increasing tax credits now going to private school scholarships, if passed into law, would reduce the number of tax dollars coming into the general fund because of the 70 percent, or perhaps more, tax write off that would go to those who can afford to purchase the scholarship tax credits.
The third proposal would broaden charter school independence; thus, drawing per-pupil state dollars away from existing public schools while allowing charters to follow even fewer state policies.
Legislators should address the court mandate that is due in April, then take a comprehensive look at Kansas schools. Recommendations regarding school finance presented to the public by political parties and political action groups are numerous, confusing—even contradictory.
The turmoil pushes the general public into political divides that stem more from ideologies than the educational problems facing our state. It is impossible to correlate the amount of money spent with student achievement or lack thereof.
The resolution of Kansas’ current education finance dilemma does not need to be an economic killer or require a flood of new money that guarantees acceptance of schools’ current status quo. Plus, neither of these alternatives will get us the educational system that President Roosevelt envisioned that envisioned continuous improvement in achievement for all students.
Education is a responsibility beyond the Legislature and shared by all of us even though individuals can only do what we can with the time that we have. Reaching out doesn’t always mean organized, ambitious work of political parties or political action groups. Here’s some suggestions to help move schools forward: Text a friend or post a note about your ideas on education on your Facebook page, tutor or volunteer at a school or not-for-profit children’s center.
Simply do what you can to shift your and others’ thinking away from contentious games played out in the Legislature and toward collaboration and problem solving.
Realistically, this work may go no farther than just you. If it doesn’t we shouldn’t consider that a failure. None of us know how simply trying to help schools may shape the larger public sphere. Even though school choice disputes continue, mutuality, compromise and good will really can lead to more positive outcomes.
Sharon Hartin Iorio is a Professor and Dean Emerita of Wichita State University College of Education.
Hays USD 489 is showing strong results in directing students to post-secondary education.
Measuring post-secondary success is part of Kansas’ new state accreditation process. Hays staff released data compiled by the state during the school board meeting Monday.
In 2016, HHS had a 88.7 percent graduation rate. 69,9 percent of HHS students reported post-secondary advances in the two years after graduation.
This includes earning an industry-recognized certification while in high school, a postsecondary certificate, a postsecondary degree or being enrolled for two years in a postsecondary education program.
The district earned a 62.1 percent effective rate.
“We are not just responsible for getting the students across the stage during graduation, but we want them to be successful beyond graduation. … This is something to celebrate,” Shanna Dinkel, assistant superintendent, said.
The district had a significant jump from 2015 when the district’s effectiveness rate was 44.9 percent.
Although reporting is improving and that might have played a role in the increase, Dinkel also said she thought individual plans of study and an emphasis in the district in building relationships with students is affecting students’ success after graduation.
The school still has a long way to go to meet the Kansans Can state goals, which are a 95 percent graduation rate and at least a 70 percent effectiveness rate.
However, Hays is outperforming many of its comparable schools.
For example, Salina had a 50.7 percent post-secondary success rate and a 44.6 percent effectiveness rate. Manhattan had a 53.6 percent postsecondary success rate and 41.2 percent effectiveness rate.
Another measure of relevance in education is attendance.
“Are students wanting to come to school?” Dinkel said.
The district’s absentee rate is slightly higher than the state average.
The district is looking harder at students who are chronically absent, which is defined as students who miss 10 percent or more of their school days.
“That does impact at an early age if you are chronically absent,” she said. “Those gaps get wider and wider and will really make an impact on whether you graduate or not.”
Chronic absenteeism for the district is at 10.25 percent compared to 13.9 percent for the state.
Dinkel said schools will be looking at working with individual students as they approach or pass that chronic absenteeism mark to reduce missed days.
DENVER (AP) — Avalanches are causing more travel problems in Colorado’s mountains.
Firefighters say an avalanche at around 5 a.m. Thursday near Copper Mountain ruptured a natural gas pipeline. Nearby highways, including a stretch of nearby Interstate 70, the state’s busy east-west highway, was shut down as a precaution as crews work to shut off the gas.
Meanwhile, a tow truck was caught in an avalanche just after midnight on I-70 at Vail Pass. The Colorado State Patrol said he was doing OK.
The highway is closed there until road crews can trigger controlled avalanches to bring down more snow during the day.
WASHINGTON D.C.-This week, Kansas First District congressman Dr. Roger Marshall and members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), on which he serves as the Chairman of the Health Care Task Force, met with President Trump in the Oval Office to discuss advancing the committee’s agenda forward.
Photo courtesy Dr. Roger Marshall
“We discussed our plans to drive down health care costs and other market-based reforms that would give patients choice, access, and protect those with preexisting conditions.”
Congressman Marshall said. “These have been top priorities for my office, and as the Health Care Task Force Chairman, I was honored to sit down with the President and outline what fixing our broken health care system looks like.
In the nearly two-hour long meeting, President Trump expressed his support and commitment to the conservative agenda.
“Whether it’s a closed-door discussion, or an event open to the press, the President is transparent in expressing exactly what he feels. In the meeting, he was very positive and asked for our opinions. He was engaged and open to hearing our solutions.” Congressman Marshall said.
As the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, the RSC plays a critical role in shaping Republican policies, and challenging Democrat leadership when faced with misguided policies.
In the meeting, President Trump also discussed pending trade agreements with Congressman Marshall.
“Point blank, he assured me that he would not sign a bad trade deal for Kansas farmers. The president confidently said that they are making great progress with China and will prioritize the approval of USMCA by Congress.”
Southeast corner of Commerce Parkway and 27th Street (Click to enlarge)
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Hays city commissioners Thursday will discuss exercising the city’s option to purchase property near Interstate 70 and Commerce Parkway.
In April 2018, the commission purchased an 18-month irrevocable option to buy 91 acres in the southheast corner of the 27th Street and Commerce Parkway intersection at the east I-70 Exit 161. That option expires September 19 of this year.
The property, currently owned by the Cathy A. Braun Revocable Trust of Hays, has significant potential for future retail, commercial, and business park development.
According to a memo from City Manager Toby Dougherty, the cost to exercise the option is the original price of $800,000, less the credited option payment of approximately $17,500 if paid the day following the regular March 14 commission meeting, and prorated taxes of $108. The total remaining purchase price would be $782,608 plus shared closing costs and title insurance.
Staff is recommending the city commission approve the purchase.
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Commissioners will also see an engineering design proposal to build an additional waterline under I-70 to the north. There is currently just one 16-inch water main going under I-70 to the 500,000-gallon water tower constructed in 1993.
The lowest cost proposal is from Kaw Valley Engineers, Junction City, for $59,860. It would be funded from Water Capital.
The project is included in the Capital Improvement Plan within the 2019 Budget.
On April 1, Kansas laws change to allow for the sale of beer with up to 6% alcohol under Cereal Malt Beverage (CMB) Licensing.
Commissioners will review an ordinance amending the current City of Hays Code of Ordinances to include the reference to 6% beer.
There are no changes needed to CMB licensing procedures or qualifications in the City Clerk’s office, according to Kim Rupp, finance director. All current CMB licenses in Hays will remain in effect and will automatically qualify under the new ordinance.
Rupp will also talk about improvements which have been completed in two areas:
• Heart of America Second Addition (Resolution No. 2016-010) – Water, Sanitary
Sewer, Storm Sewer, and Street improvements (extension of 9th Street east to Commerce Parkway)
• King’s Gate First Addition (2012-004) – Park improvements (south of I-70 between Hall Street and the Highway 183 Bypass)
The city will begin the process of assessing property owners in the improvement districts.
Heart of America Second Addition will be a fifteen-year assessment of $277,836.51 spread against each lot.
King’s Gate First Addition will be a ten-year assessment of $82,163.49 split equally per square foot within the improvement district.
