HaysMed announced Wednesday they have signed agreements with all three managed care organizations (MCOs) associated with KanCare.

Those MCOs include Amerigroup of Kansas, Inc., Sunflower State Health Plan and United Healthcare Community Plan of Kansas. Under the partnership, all healthcare entities under HaysMed will accept individuals using these services.

KanCare, which includes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), eligible pregnant women, Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD) and long-term care beneficiaries; and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), replaced Medicaid and HealthWave in Kansas on January 1, 2013.

“These agreements will ensure that its members enrolled in Medicaid will continue to have access to our tertiary healthcare services, ” said William Overbey, Chief Financial Officer at HaysMed.

Dee Bodine was up and out the door so early this morning, her cats refused to wake up for breakfast.

Bodine is chairman of the annual Hays Lions Club Sausage and Pancake Feed fundraiser underway today at the National Guard Armory.

She had to meet the Highland Dairy delivery man at 4:45a.m. who brought in three types of milk to wash down the pancakes and sausage.  Diners can also choose coffee, water or pop.

As usual, Jim Kuper, The Pancake Man, from Council Bluffs, Iowa, is behind the portable griddle, which cooks up to 92 pancakes at one time.

Kuper really does flip flapjacks, on the griddle of course, and flying high through the air to a hungry diner holding out their plate to catch it.  Once in awhile, a pancake ends up on the floor, but “it’s all part of the fun,” says Kuper.

Proceeds are used by the Lions Club to support numerous youth projects in Hays as well as the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation.

Pancakes are being served until 1p.m. this afternoon and again from 4:30 to 7p.m. tonight.  Tickets are available at the door.

 

 

 

Funding for the printed edition of University Leader, Fort Hays State University’s student newspaper, has been restored and increased by the Student Government Association.  Senators voted Thursday night to approve an allocation of $51,801.50 for the newspaper in the 2013-14 academic year.

Last spring, SGA cut The Leader’s funding to $19,765.45.  President Ed Hammond refused a request for the university to fill the financial gap.  The Leader published its final print edition in January, but has maintained an online edition.

Hammond has appointed a task force to implement a multimedia model to disseminate student-produced news, information, opinion and entertainment.

The task force, which does not have any representatives from the Leader, will host a public symposium March 25.

FHSU also has campus radio and television stations.

 

From the Hays Recreation Commission:

No Soccer or Flag Football practices today or tomorrow (March 11 & 12) due to the wet field conditions following the three-inch weekend snow in Hays.

Saturday’s high of 74 degrees in Hays still wasn’t enough to coax some local youth outdoors.  They already had their plans made to participate in the annual Hays Optimist Club Tri-Star Basketball Contest at the Hays Recreation Center.

Boys and girls in 2nd-7th grades tested their skills in the basketball basics of  dribbling, passing and shooting.  Optimist members served as judges and also shouted encouragement from the sidelines.

All contestants got a t-shirt and the top three contestants in each grade received special awards.

 

Hays police are investigating a report of suspicious activity this morning near a school bus pickup point at 24th and Allen Streets.

Shortly after 7a.m., the mother of two boys reported seeing a man in a dark green pickup stop and motion her sons, ages 10 and 13, into his vehicle.

The boys’ mother saw it happen from down the street and approached the pickup.  She told police that when the man saw her, he quickly left the area, running a stop sign in the process.

The man is described as a white male in his 40s, with long brown hair and wearing a hat.  The pickup is described as a dark green extended cab with a white tool box in the front of the bed.

Police Chief Don Scheibler says this is the only such incident reported.

Anyone with information about this or other possibly related incidents is asked to contact the Hays Police Department at 785.625.1011.

Members of the Hays Fire Department are in the second day of training on the top floor of the downtown Emprise Bank building.

Crews are practicing procedures to attack a fire in a multistory building.

Large and tall buildings, such as the six-story bank building,  are equipped with built-in water mains supplying interior “fire hydrants, ” according to Lieutenant Ryan Hagans.

“We hook-up a two-and-a-half inch line outside and an additional attack crew takes 150 foot of hose inside, hooks it up to the inside hydrant and then stretches the hose throughout the building,” he explains.

The firefighters use the fire exit stairs, and have to estimate the reach of the hose and its proper deployment and management on an upper floor.

Business is going on as usual at Emprise Bank and the other building tenants during the drill.  “When we don’t have access to a multistory building,” says Hagans, “we have training props at the station for practices several times a year.”

The third and final training starts at 9a.m. Friday.

 

 

 

 

2.5 in line at fire truck with 150′ of house stretch across building

 

use training props

 

Two Hays residents are among 13 individuals and organizations recently honored for their conservation efforts in 2012 by the Kansas Wildlife Federation (KWF).

The Conservation Achievement Program Awards banquet  February 23 in Emporia was part of KWF’s annual meeting.

Out of the 13 awards given, five of the recipients have been or are currently employed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) including the Hays couple.

Randy Rodgers and Helen Hands, Land and Soil Wildlife Conservationist Award

Rodgers provided years of valuable service to KDWPT as an upland bird research biologist. He researched and developed options to improve habitat on private land in conjunction with crop production. Now retired, Rodgers and Hands, his wife – also a former KDWPT biologist – are developing wildlife habitat on their private land. They currently reside in Hays.

KWF, an affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, has been dedicated to the sustainable use, conservation, appreciation, and restoration of Kansas wildlife and natural resources since 1950.

From USD 489:

Roosevelt Elementary School will reopen tomorrow, Thursday, March 7.  Repairs to the building’s natural gas meter have been completed by Midwest Energy.

The meter was damaged by a car Tuesday night, causing a major gas leak.