KANSAS CITY (AP) — A teen who became the first patient at a Kansas City hospital to walk while on life support has recently returned home.
photos courtesy Children’s Mercy
Zei was the first Children’s Mercy patient to walk while on ECMO life support. This week she walked out of the front doors of the hospital after more than 450 days, just in time to be home for her birthday. Read more about her powerful journey back home.
Zei Uwadia left Children’s Mercy Hospital on Thursday after being hospitalized for more than a year for unexplained lung failure. Zei will continue to recover at home in Wichita, Kansas.
The now 17-year-old inspired hundreds of thousands of people who watched videos of her walking down the hospital’s halls while on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an invasive form of life support.
Doctors still don’t know what caused Zei’s lungs to fail, but she’s no longer on ECMO and instead uses a tracheostomy, a tube in her neck that helps her breathe.
Zei says she’s looking forward to having more freedom.
Mary Catherine “Kay” Wellbrock, age 81, former Hays, Kansas resident died Friday, January 25, 2019, at Select Specialty Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Funeral Services at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, February 23, 2019, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hays, Kansas. Inurnment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Hays, Kansas.
Services are entrusted to Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601. A complete obit will follow.
Applications are now open for the Healing Kids Hearts retreat sponsored by the Hays Center For Life Experience, Inc. The applications are due March 8.
The retreat, Sat., March 30, at the Sternberg Museum, is for children ages 7-12 who have experienced the loss of a loved one, friend, or special companion.
An adult trained and matched “buddy” will guide and support the children throughout the day through a variety of activities that may include but are not limited to creating special keepsakes, music, drawing, writing, and a balloon launch. A optional museum tour will be offered after the balloon launch.
Fort Hays State University is part of a project titled “Our Town, Our Kids,” aimed at helping prevent youth from entering the criminal justice system.
Rural counties in western Kansas are part of a study devoted to developing support systems for youth and families with the goal of providing services that maximize their chances of leading productive lives. The project was awarded funding by the Kansas Department of Corrections and the Kansas Advisory Group.
Dr. April Terry, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at FHSU, said rural western Kansas is often overlooked. It is important to have a study in which 22 of the 23 counties are in rural areas of the state, Terry said. Ellis County is included.
“There is a big hole in rural criminology (research),” Terry said. “There is very little research in rural areas and juvenile(s). We hope that his project will result in a national initiative to look at other rural areas.”
Michael Walker
Also part of the study is Michael Walker, director of the Docking Institute of Public Affairs, which will collect and analyze data. Walker said it speaks well of the Docking Institute and FHSU for its involvement in the project.
“It’s good for us to be recognized as someone who should be part of the team,” Walker said. “We do have a good reputation. A lot of folks in western Kansas know who we are and affiliated with Fort Hays State.”
Over the next two years, project members will work with stakeholders in the 22 rural counties plus urban Wyandotte County, which was selected for comparative purposes. They will collect data and provide analysis in fostering community collaboration in support of youth and families.
Terry said it was important to have a presence from FHSU in the study.
“You are coming into Tigerland when you come to this part of the state,” Terry said. “It’s important to include Fort Hays State people. Fort Hays State people also are interested in their kids.”
FHSU’s involvement in the project shows the university’s commitment to its service area. “It shows an investment to the community,” Terry said. “It’s a focus on juveniles, but it impacts everybody. I think having local people invested in local issues is helpful.”
Walker said the Docking Institute chooses to work primarily with non-profit organizations and governmental entities. “The project is very important,” Walker said. “We are able to take on projects that are beneficial to overall society.”
As part of the effort to engage positive community support, the group plans to develop a tool kit to assist communities in serving the needs of their youth. The group’s website, https://ourtownourkids.org./, will have the tool kit made available. The group will issue a report at the end of the study.
Healing After Loss (HAL) will meet Tue., Feb. 5 at 10-11:45 a.m. at the Center for Life Experience (CFLE), Inc., 205 E. 7th, Room 257 in the Hays Hadley Center.
Lunch will follow at 12 noon at JD’s Chicken, 740 E. 8th, Hays.
Healing After Loss (HAL) will meet Tue., Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Thirsty’s Bar & Grill, 2704 Vine, followed by a gathering at 7 p.m. in CFLE.
Supervised childcare is available by calling 785-259-6859.
The Center for Life Experience has moved to the Hadley Center, 205 E. 7th, Suite 251, in downtown Hays.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The Center for Life Experience, Inc. (CFLE) has moved to a new location in Hays and is now a non-profit organization, but its purpose remains the same.
“We’re here to help people address those life challenges that come with grief and loss, and restoring healing and hope,” says Ann Leiker, CFLE executive director and a licensed social worker.
Through three core support groups that are a part of CFLE – Healing After Loss, Healing Hearts, and Healing After Loss of Suicide – participants learn that everyone grieves differently and adjusts to the loss of a loved one differently.
“We don’t stop when you’re mostly through the initial grief and loss phase. There’s another phase that can be very daunting and challenging, and that’s ‘who am I now without this person in my life?'”
People need to move forward with their lives and want to still honor those they’ve lost, Leiker says.
“We address things like going back to work, how to have the hard conversations, family changes, adjusting differently. We address all kinds of life challenges that come with grief and loss, not just grief and loss. That’s not something you see in many groups.”
Healing After Loss (HAL) deals with the loss of adults, including spouses, parents, siblings, and friends. Healing Hearts is for those who’ve lost a child of any age. Healing After Loss of Suicide (HALOS) brings together people who are surviving the loss of someone to suicide.
The fourth core group, “Healing Kids’ Hearts,” is in its fourth year.
It’s an annual daylong retreat for children ages 7-12 who’ve had a significant loss in their lives.
“Children grieve differently than adults,” Leiker stresses. “They don’t talk the same way as adults. They may want to grieve creatively, doing things like making a memory box with pictures and drawings.”
Children attending past retreats have made bird houses and memory stones to place in a garden.
Plans for the 2019 retreat in late March are to make kites along with memory boxes.
Each child is paired with an adult volunteer mentor for the day.
“They become friends and they just share. The kids come in pretty quiet and by the end of the day, they’re smiling and they have hope. They have memories of their loved one that they can share.”
CFLE also shares leadership with NAMI-Hays, the local affiliate of National Alliance on Mental Illness.
CFLE is the NAMI resource center for information about mental health issues. The NAMI-Hays support group meets at CFLE and educational programs are offered quarterly to the public.
All the groups meet at CFLE and are open to anyone at no cost.
Each meeting starts with the reminder that it is not a clinical therapy group.
“These are true support groups where we bring together people who’ve had similar experiences, where they can share and learn from each other. By listening to each other, they at least learn they are not alone. Others are dealing with the same issues although the outcomes may not be the same.”
The Center for Life Experience was launched 18 years ago in the Hays First Presbyterian Church, with donor funds specified to benefit the community, not the church.
Last May, the Session of First Presbyterian determined it could no longer financially support CFLE.
In November CFLE became a stand alone community-based not-for-profit 501(c)(3) and in late December, CFLE moved to the second floor of the Hadley Center in downtown Hays.
“We are extremely grateful and appreciative of the support we get from the community,” Leiker said, “because it allows people to just come and participate [in these groups] and feel welcome. They don’t have to worry about becoming a member or having to pay.
“They just come when they can, learn to celebrate the lost one’s life, and go on with the rest of their own lives.”
More information about CFLE is available by calling or texting 785-259-6859.
FINNEY COUNTY— One person died in an accident just after 7a.m. Friday in Finney County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Toyota Tundra driven by Mark Todd Goodwin, 55, Garden City, was southbound on Old U.S. 83 four miles south of Business 83.
The driver realized he was in the wrong lane. The vehicle traveled to the right, tipped onto the driver’s and rolled.
Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene. The KHP did not have details on his seatbelt usage.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old Kansas woman accused of leaving her two toddlers in a car while she was in a bar pleaded with a judge to not take her children away from her while acknowledging that she made a mistake.
Photo courtesy Players Sports Bar
Tiara Dillon of Lawrence was charged Thursday with two felony counts of aggravated child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle under the influence.
Judge James George ordered Dillon to have no contact with her children, who are 2 and 3.
Before judge George issued the no-contact order Dillon repeatedly asked him not to take her children and said she never meant to hurt her children.
Dillon was arrested early Wednesday after allegedly leaving her two children unattended in a vehicle at the Playerz Sports Bar in Lawrence bar on a dangerously cold night.
Rosalie Valnet (Snow) Seemann, Colby, passed away on February 1, 2019 at Citizens Medical Center, Colby, Kansas.
Rosalie was the 8th child and 4th daughter of Harry Monroe and Ora Rachel Power Snow. She was born on September 5, 1934 in rural Bow Creek Township of Phillips County, Kansas. When she was 1 year old the family moved to a farm 11 miles north and 1 east of Agra, where she attended Country Schools Norton and Gooder. Rosalie worked for several neighbors and eventually moved to Kensington to work where she met her future husband Ernst (Ernie) Seemann. They were married in St. John’s Lutheran Church at Kensington, Kansas on September 10th, 1950.
Rosalie was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran faith on March 25, 1951 at St. John’s Lutheran Church at Kensington, Kansas. She then transferred her membership to Our Savior’s of Brewster in April 1959.
Rosalie and Ernie were the parents of three children born in Smith Center, Kansas. Their 4th child was born in Colby, Kansas. Her children are Craig Allen, Gary Linn, Lisa Marie and Kelly Blayne.
In February 1959 the family moved to Levant, Kansas where Ernie was a grain elevator manager. Rosalie worked for Ernie for 18 summers.
For several years Rosalie worked at different places in Colby and in 1974 accepted a challenge to run for Thomas County Clerk, a position she held for 25 years. During her tenure as County Clerk she served on many different organizations:
Thomas County Council on Aging
All offices of the Northwest Kansas Clerk/Appraisers Association
All offices of the Kansas County Clerk’s Association, serving as President in 1995
Rosalie served on the KCAMP Board for 10 years, an organization insurance pools for counties, she served all offices of this organization
½ of the Levant Walking Team
Board member and President of Genesis, the local food bank
One of the things Rosalie enjoyed was helping the elderly with various tax associations, going to their homes to assist them.
After Rosalie retired October 1, 1999, she became a Sliver Haired Legislator for Thomas County serving nearly 10 years. She also served on the Board of Trustees of Citizens Medical Center for 9 years
She has also served on the Area Agency on Aging Board of Directors since October 1999.
In her later years, thanks to granddaughter Adrea, Rosalie became an avid KU basketball supporter attending games in Lawerence Ks, Ames Iowa, Lubbock Texas and Boulder, Colorado.
Rosalie has been a member of the Lutheran Church since 1951, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary.
Her favorite scriptures were from Ecalastics stating a time for everything,
Rosalie enjoyed many things in life, her family, singing with the kids while driving somewhere, (they might not remember), her God, her flowers and flower gardens, many of her flowers are in various gardens around Northwest Kansas, meeting new friends and sewing. All of her children and grandchildren have quilts she made for them.
Rosalie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband in 2007, brothers Chester, Leonard, Orland Dale, Darrell, Guy, Kenneth, Terry and Denny. Sisters Cleora and Oneita, nephew Rodney Snow, neices Michelle Snow Killian and Judy Jay. A great nephew and three great neices and one great-great niece.
She is survived by her children Craig of Colby, Gary (Joy) of Great Bend, Lisa (Albert) Ree of Schoenchen and Kelly (Lori) of Amarillo, Texas. Grandchildren Jenni (Mark) Penka of Dighton, Eric (Whitney) Seemann of New Braunfels, Texas, Amanda (Nate) Franklin of Atwood, KS, Brian (Wendy) Seemann of Manhattan, KS, JC Zahradnik (Beth) of Anthony, KS, JT (Becca) Zahradnik of Muscatine, Iowa, Adrea (Shawn) Katzenmeier of Wichita, Kansas, Taylor Ree of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Halsey, Faith and Alli Seemann of Amarillo, Texas and Dakota Hiebert of Wichita Falls, Texas. Great grandchildren Kierstyn, Kierra and Brody Penka, Noah Seemann, Camden and Corbin Franklin, Jackson and Brooklyn Katzenmeier, Clarksly, Carter, and Monroe Zahradnik, Genevieve, Isaiah and Juliet Zahradnik and Bradley Hiebert. She is also survived by one sister Darlene Fuller, sisters-in-law NoElla Snow of Doniphan, Nebraska, Wanda Snow of Agra, Kansas and Velma Snow of Phillipsburg, Kansas, Pauline (Wendell) Gardner, Tuscon, Arizona, plus many family members and friends.
Memorial: Our Saviors Lutheran Church of Brewster and Citizens Medical Center Foundation.
Bishop Gerald Vincke speaks to those attending the Catholic Charities 60th celebration. Photos courtesy Catholic Charities
SALINA — For 60 years, Catholic Charities has been serving the people of Salina and the surrounding area.
To recognize the milestone, an open house/reception was held Tuesday evening in the Salina facility of what is now Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas. The facility is located at 1500 S. Ninth.
“People love Catholic Charities. They love what Catholic Charities does for the community, for people,” Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Salina Roman Catholic Diocese said as he recognized all those in attendance who serve or who have served Catholic Charities in some capacity, either as an employee or volunteer.
“We feel so blessed to have you all here,” Michelle Martin, Catholic Charities executive director, told the crowd.
Martin talked about the history of Catholic Charities and noted that without the past, Catholic Charities wouldn’t be where it is today. Martin shared with the group a quote from Melody Beattie that she said encapsulates that concept:
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Martin attributed the success of Catholic Charities to all of the employees and volunteers who have helped the organization help others.
Martin also shared the organization’s vision for the future. Joking that she can talk a lot, Martin said she would limit her comments about the future to three items.
First, she said the organization’s offices in Manhattan were moving to a new location by April 1.
“I think great things are going to happen there,” she said.
She also talked about a grant from the Kansas Health Foundation that will allow employees to use tablets to gather more data more efficiently and do what she called social services triage. Martin said that the organization is hoping to get an app of its own to help in the process.
Finally, Martin talked about the organization’s mobile outreach program.
Martin explained that 24/7 Travel Stores has agreed to help with the mobile outreach by sponsoring the gasoline for the program. She also said that Long McArthur is giving the program new minivans.
“We’re super excited about this,” she said.
She said it was important to make sure people in rural areas have access to services.
“I think it is really important not only that we don’t neglect those people in those rural areas and so I am so happy that 24/7 and Long McArthur share that vision of reaching out to those rural communities,” Martin said.
Martin also revealed that a donor had agreed to do a fundraising match for the organization.
“We had a very generous donor come forward and agree to do a match for us. $60,000. $60,000 dollars in 60 days,” she said.
Part of the crowd at the Catholic Charities celebration.
Martin said the organization was already about halfway to its goal for the match funding.
When the Catholic Charities opened in 1959, they offered assistance to pregnant women in crisis, counseling, adoption services and operated a receiving home for neglected children out of the former Mowery Clinic at 425 W. Iron Street in Salina.
Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas now has offices in Salina, Hays and Manhattan and serves 31 Kansas counties. In addition to counseling and pregnancy and adoption services, Catholic Charities offers emergency rent and utility assistance, relief from predatory lending, homeless prevention programs, legal immigration services and partners with Salina Adult Education Center to offer a 6-week employment boot camp, Partners 4 Success, and ESL Classes.
In 2015, Catholic Charities started a Mobile Outreach Program to assist the under-served rural communities by providing food, clothing, blankets and hygiene items. Each month, Catholic Charities Mobile Outreach vans travel to Ellsworth, Lincoln, Wilson, Sylvan Grove, Minneapolis, Concordia, Osborne, Beloit, Russell, WaKeeney, Norton, Colby, Junction City, Ogden, Clay Center, Herington and Abilene.
Catholic Charities doors are open to all people living in poverty and crisis, regardless of religion.
“We do not just serve Catholics, we are here to serve anyone who asks. We don’t serve Catholics. We serve because we are Catholics,” Martin said.
Four people died in the blaze. Their bodies were transported to Topeka for an autopsy and to confirm their identities, according to Riley County Rural Fire District 1 Chief Pat Collins.
Investigators with the Kansas Fire Marshal’s office, ATF and local officials believe the fire started along the east wall near the end of a couch, according to Collins. “We may never know exactly what started the fire,” he said.
Several firefighters also suffered minor injuries while working in the extreme cold.
Jamie Wetig, candidate for Hays superintendent, said people matter.
The current Ashland Superintendent, Wetig showed this when his community was hit by a massive wildfire two years ago.
As the fire grew, the school was closed and the town was evacuated. The school district at that time was not part of the emergency management plan, but Wetig felt the district had something to offer in the crisis. He offered to serve lunch to the volunteers and firefighters.
The school district served lunch and then dinner and eventually offered its facilities as an emergency shelter. Over the better part of a week, the district housed 110 people and fed many more.
“All that started with one thought of how can I help,” he said.
Wetig said the fire was an opportunity to volunteer, build leadership and learn how to accommodate and be flexible.
“I think if asked what you learned form the Starbuck Fire, I think I would say the community is resilient,” he said. “What did we learn about the ag community during the Starbuck Fire, not just in Kansas, but all across the country? It is that everyone in the community comes together to support one another. Maybe that is where we are at with USD 489.
“We are in a situation where we have a great community, great teachers, great students, and we need to come together and look at the needs of our students. Because it is the needs of our students that drives what we need to do.”
Wetig said he thinks the district has great programs, but it needs to expand them to create more opportunities for students. He said in talking to teachers at Hays High School, he learned Pathways and electives are getting filled up and the programs have to turn students away.
“My question to administrators is, ‘What do you need?'” he said. “Staffing came up in every conversation. We need to have a counselors at every elementary school. We need to have additional electives so we don’t have to fight [for] our traveling teachers consistently and ask where are we going to put them in the schedule. … We need to have school nurses in our buildings. We need to have SROs. We need to address the people issue, because brick and mortar is nice when it is brand new, but it doesn’t teach our kids. People make a difference.”
Weitg, 43, is familiar with Hays. His father attended Fort Hays State University. He attended preschool at FHSU and kindergarten at Wilson Elementary School before his family moved to Ness City. His family later moved to Great Bend, where he graduated high school. He has a bachelor’s degree in education from Kansas State University, a master’s degree from Emporia State University and a administrative endorsement from FHSU.
Previously, Wetig served in Valley Center as intermediate principal from 2011 to 2013 and middle school assistant principal and activities director from 2013 to 2016. Wetig also served as the Atchison County elementary principal from 2008 to 2011.
He said he had not considered other jobs before the Hays superintendent position became available, but he has family in Hays, Russell and the immediate area.
“It would be taking over what I consider one of the marquee school districts in the state,” he said.
As the district comes back to discussions of a third bond issue try in three years, Wetig said the district needs to go back to the community, employees and staff members.
“When you have a bond issue and 1,700 people vote for it and you have 2,400 people who don’t vote for it, there is a disconnect somewhere. If the community is so supportive of our schools — its teachers and its programs, there is a disconnect somewhere. I think it means we need to start over and have conversations with our community, with our business leaders, with our parents and with our own staff.”
Ashland’s elementary and intermediate school are Gemni I schools under the state school redesign plan. The district focused on social, emotional and character development. Children were grouped for twice-a-month student-led character lessons. The district also increased its Career Pathways from three to 11. Students are doing internships and student-led conferences. The district is also considering flex scheduling and a genius hour during which students would pick the topic they wish to study.
He said he liked the Guided Personal Study program already in place at Hays High School.
“I think that we have hit on a lot of things in our school that are best practices, and we have made them better,” he said of the Gemini program.
Kathy Rome, KNEA UniServ director, was at the meet-and-greet with Wetig Thursday afternoon. The Hays school board came to impasse during negotiations for this school year over pay. A federal meditator had to be brought in to settle the dispute.
Wetig was a KNEA student president at K-State, and he said KNEA serves a positive purpose in advocating for education.
He said if a district receives new money, it should consider raises.
“I don’t know what the magic number is, but certainly you want to try to match the average percent increase in the state,” he said. …
“I think you take care of your people first and then your operations second.”
Wetig also said he would work to strengthen board unity.
“Disagreements need to happen behind closed doors, and you must always present a unified front,” he said.
Wetig is the second of four candidates the USD 489 Hays Board of Education will be interviewing.Keith Hall, USD 489 interim director of finance and support services, interviewed for the job on Wednesday. Two more candidates will interview Wednesday, Feb. 6 and Thursday, Feb. 7.
Each day the candidates will meet with parents and other members of the public from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Toepfer Room of Rockwell Administration Center. The names of those candidates have yet to be announced.
ROOKS COUNTY — A female mountain lion was found dead in Rooks County on Thursday by a group of upland bird hunters, according to a social media report from Kansas Game Wardens.
Photo courtesy Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Game Wardens
The hunters immediately contacted the local game warden who responded to the scene.
The now 17-year-old inspired hundreds of thousands of people who watched videos of her walking down the hospital’s halls while on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an invasive form of life support.
