Monument Rocks in Gove County, also known as the Chalk Pyramids, is for sale.
The formation, one of the “8 Wonders of Kansas” and a National Natural Landmark, is part of the 13,000 acre Pyramid Ranch being sold in a private phone auction by a Ulysses real estate firm. The sale also includes 12,000 acres of mineral rights.
The current land owner, the family-owned Thies Pyramid Corporation, has allowed public access to the Monument Rocks site for many years.
A public “come and go” farewell reception for outgoing Ellis Police Chief Randy Taylor will be held Wednesday 2-4p.m. in the City Council chambers at the Municipal Building.
Taylor is leaving Ellis to become Chief of Police in Clarksdale, Arizona.
Taylor’s last day will be August 3. He was hired as the Ellis Police Chief in August 2008.
The city has designated a hiring committee for selection of a Chief of Police and investigation of possible countywide law enforcement services.
Topeka – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback will tour drought stricken areas of the state Tuesday with two stops in Trego County and one in Graham and Sheridan Counties.
Director of the Kansas Water Office Tracy Streeter, Kim Christenson with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, and other state and local officials will join the Governor on the tour.
The tour of western portions of the state will begin at Cedar Bluff Reservoir near WaKeeney at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday. From there, the group will view the effects the drought on a Trego County Farm owned by Larry Hixson.
Following a meeting with area farmers and agribusiness leaders at Gutierrez Mexican Restaurant in Hill City, the Governor will tour a Hoxie feed yard to discuss the effect the drought is taking on the cattle industry.
These visits are a part of the Governor’s drought tour that began last week with two stops in Saline County in Central Kansas, followed by a trip to Allen and Neosho Counties in Southeast Kansas.
UPDATE:
Bystanders report hearing an explosion and believe the fire started in the garage.
Midwest Energy has cut electricity and gas to the home.
The house on fire is on 15th Street, two blocks east of Main Street.
The fire reported jumped to a second house east, burning a porch area.
Reports from the scene indicate a wall has collapsed in the first house.
Ellis County Rural Fire Department Company 5 has been called out with one engine.
ORIGINAL: Fire fighters are responding to a fire in downtown Hays near 15th and Main. The call came in about 7:15p.m.
Traffic is being re-routed around the area.
Hays Fire Department ladder trucks are on the scene.
Fire units from Victoria and Ellis have responded.
The 4-H Concession Stand is a popular place this week at the Ellis County Fair.
Lots of cool drinks are being handed out the window by 4-H club members and other volunteers to lots of hot, thirsty customers.
The temperature has hit the century mark and higher every day so far. Tomorrow is the final day for the fair and again the weather forecast remains hot and dry.
The concession stand is new this year, a 35′ x 40′ building similar to the one at the rodeo grounds.
Topeka – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Kansas from sun-up to sun-down until sunset on July 25, 2012 as a mark of respect for the victims of the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.
“Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and I offer our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated in Aurora, Colorado,” Governor Brownback said. “The entire nation mourns the loss of the innocent victims.”
President Obama has also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at all federal buildings.
By noon today, there was already a whiff of mesquite woodsmoke wafting through the trees in Hays Municipal Park.
Contestants have registered and are setting up their sites for the 4th Annual KCBS (Kansas City Barbeque Society) BBQ Contest, presented by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation.
New this year, KIDSQ, a children’s barbecue competition, tonight on the NCKTC Big Creek Campus adjacent to the park.
Also new, BBQ Bucks, which allows attendees to sample the participating BBQ contestants’ food entries.
Awards for KIDS Q will be presented at 9 o’clock tonight at the band stage. The winning adult teams step to the stage Saturday at 3:30p.m.
For all the fun check out: https://www.haysbluesandbbq.com/
TOPEKA, KS—The Kansas Historical Society has announced the newest National Register of Historic Places listings.
The four listings were entered into the National Register July 3, 2012 and include a commercial building in El Dorado, an Abilene residence, and a school and church in rural Osage County.
This brings the total Kansas listings in the National Register to 1,276.
David R. Gorden House – 400 N Cedar Street, Abilene, Dickinson County
Civil War veteran David R. Gorden arrived in Kansas in 1866 and found work with the Union Pacific Railroad as a telegraph operator. In 1869, he transferred to Abilene where he served as UP’s first station agent during the height of cattle-shipping activity. Gorden had many local business interests and also served as Abilene’s postmaster from 1889-1894. He hired architect Franklin Keagy of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to design this residence, which was completed in 1877. The two-and-a-half-story house reflects the late Victorian-era Gothic Revival style, with its brick exterior, decorative gable trim, paired peak-head windows in the front gable, and round-arch double-door entrance. The gables are not as steeply pitched as classic examples of Gothic Revival residential architecture, and the house form mimics that of the Folk Victorian gable-front-and-wing. It was nominated for its local significance in the area of architecture.
For information about all the latest Kansas nominations: https://www.kshs.org/p/register-database/14638
“The fair is really awesome. Rabbits are awesome.”
That is the fervent assessment of 11-year-old Emily Quinn of Ellis. She’s a member of the Gemini Juniors and has been in 4-H since she was six years old.
Wednesday morning at the Ellis County Fair, she showed her Red Satin rabbit, “Princess.”
First some fur brushing, then some washing. “It’s a kind of wash that sprays. It’s called ‘Horse Show’ and it really works on rabbits,” Emily attests. “It makes their fur all shiny and clean.”
Then it’s on to the judge’s table. “If your rabbit is missing a toenail or is blind, you are immediately DQ’ed and your rabbit gets kicked off the table.”
“DQ’ed means disqualified,” explains Emily. It has nothing to do with a certain chain of ice cream stores.
You can see Emily and Princess tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.
Rooks County Undersheriff Chad Sterling is the county’s new sheriff.
Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed Sterling to fill the unexpired term of Randy Axelson, who resigned in May after being charged with methamphetamine distribution. The 43-year-old Axelson faces nine felony counts of methamphetamine distribution. He is free on $45,000 bond.
Rooks County Republicans forwarded Sterling’s name to Brownback.
It was still hot–Tuesday’s high in Hays was 105 degrees–when the Ellis County Fair cow milking contest started at 7p.m. in the livestock show arena.
The annual event is sponsored by Fort Hays State University. The university farm’s dairy unit provides the bovines.
The three members of each team take turns doing the milking in timed heats, with Eagle Radio’s Todd Nelsen doing the “play-by-play” of all the action. Then the milk pails are weighed to see how much of the white stuff actually got in the bucket.
Once again, team “The Whey We Were” took first place, just as they did last year.
See the highlights tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.
TOPEKA, KAN. – In a year already marked with much celebration, its 25th anniversary year, the Kansas Lottery has achieved a new record for sales. Sales of Lottery products in Fiscal Year 2012, which began July 1, 2011 and ended June 30, 2012, were nearly $244 million (unaudited).
Executive Director Dennis Wilson says the Kansas Lottery will transfer $72 million to the State in FY12, the highest transfer in a single year since the Lottery started selling tickets in 1987.
Prizes paid also hit a new record mark at $137.5 million.
The recently ended fiscal year also saw the opening of two additional casinos with state-owned gaming to join Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City. Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane and Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, combined with Boot Hill to transfer $43.4 million to the Expanded Lottery Act Revenues Fund – another record for the Kansas Lottery.
The Problem Gambling and Addictions Grant Fund and local governments will each receive records amounts also, with transfers of $3.9 and $5.9 million, respectively.
Where Does the Money Go?
Traditional lottery revenue goes into the State Gaming Revenues Fund. On a yearly basis, the first $50 million is divided by a formula which first transfers $80,000 to the Problem Gambling and Addictions Grant Fund. Then 85 percent of the balance is transferred to the Economic Development Initiatives Fund, 10 percent to the Correctional Institutions Building Fund, and 5 percent to the Juvenile Detention Facilities Fund. Any receipts in excess of $50 million must be transferred to the State General Fund.
The 2007 Kansas Expanded Lottery Act created the Expanded Lottery Act Revenues Fund (ELARF). The state’s share of revenue from state-owned and -operated casino gaming is transferred from the ELARF for purposes of reduction of state debt, state infrastructure improvements and reduction of local ad valorem tax, and/or for such other purposes as directed by the Kansas legislature.
