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Author: Becky Kiser

Reading is Fundamental for State Legislator at Hays Public Library

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November 3 is national “Reading is Fundamental Day.”  One day early, state senator Eber Phelps of Hays (D-111th Dist) was the special guest reader during story hour at the Hays Public Library.

Even more special, the brand-new book he shared with the youngsters is “Chilly the Penguin is Swept up in Snowflakes.”  It’s written by Youth Services Director Brandon Hines with other HPL staff members, and illustrated by Brandon’s wife, Carrie Hines.

Phelps is a member of the House Education Committee.

”RIF” was founded in 1966 in Washington D-C to prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most.

EAS Subsidy and Great Lakes Likely to Continue at Hays Airport

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The Fly Hays program is  expected to continue for the next two years with Great Lakes Airlines providing 24 non-stop flights per week to Denver.

The U-S Department of Transportation Monday selected Great Lakes to continue as an Essential Air Service provider for Hays, Great Bend, Dodge City and Liberal.  American Eagle Airlines will provide the federally subsidized air service between Garden City and Dallas.

There is a  10-day waiting period, through November 9th,  for any objections.

The combined federal subsidy is nearly 11 million dollars.

I-70 Repair Work Underway in Ellis County

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Repair work started this week on I-70 in Ellis County.  The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is overseeing the project which will make repairs to the driving lanes.

Existing cracks will be sealed beginning at the US-183 Interchange and extending 15 miles east to the Russell County line.

I-70 traffic will be reduced to one lane traffic throughout the work zone, during daylight hours.  The speed limit will be reduced to 60 mph within the work zone.

Interstate Sealant & Concrete, of Waukesha, WI., will be performing the maintenance work, which is estimated at $123,882.

Weather permitting, the road work will be complete within a three-week period.

Commissioners Discuss City of Hays Employees Health Insurance

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The City of Hays has received Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas’ renewal rates for employees health insurance costs in 2012.   This year’s renewal is a negative 6.96 percent.

According to Assistant City Manager Paul Briseno, utilization is lower than expected, due to an increase in employees’ education about health care procedures and options making employees more cost conscious.

Many city employees changed to a high-deductible plan for 2011, says Briseno.  Those employees also were enrolled in a health savings account.

City Commissioners will discuss the options during their work session Thursday night starting at 6:30.  Commission policy is a $95-hundred dollar average cap per employee.

 

NCKTC Offers Veterans Honorary Associate Degree in Technical Education

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A lot of former military servicemen never got the chance to pursue a college education.  Instead, they had to go right to work to support their families.  And often, they worked for many years in the same area of specialized technical skill they learned during their service.

North Central Vocational Technical College wants to recognize them with a Veterans Honorary Associate Degree of Technical Education.

NCKTC President Clark Coco, whose own dad and son are military vets,  says the veterans’ diplomas will look exactly the same as that of any other graduate, with an added flourish of stars and stripes.  The veterans will participate in commencement ceremonies next May on the campuses in Hays and Beloit.

There’s no fee involved.  Coco believes it’s just the right thing to do.

Nominations are open for honorably discharged U-S veterans at least 50 years old.   Nomination forms are available on the North Central Kansas Technical College website www.ncktc.edu.

Watch Street Beat ECTV Channel 14 tonight for more details.

KS Revenue Secretary Talks Flat Tax at Hays Welcome Center

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Wednesday was the last day of a listening tour by Kansas Department of Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan.  It’s  part of the Brownback Road Map for Kansas to gather input on tax policy and economic growth.

At the Hays Welcome Center, Jordan talked about a proposed flat income tax rate which Rep. Don Hineman(R-118th District) of Dighton fears will force up local property taxes.

Jordan responded that Governor Brownback’s plan would not do that, instead broadening the tax base with tax credits and by closing deduction loopholes.

Jordan says the plan would also focus on getting more money to small businesses which should help boost rural Kansas.

Watch Street Beat tonight on Eagle Community TV Channel 14 for more details.

Dictionaries Given to Ellis County 6th Graders by Hays Optimists

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It’s a book many students have kept into their adult lives.  For the 27th year,  Hays Optimist Club members is distributing free paperback dictionaries to Ellis County sixth graders and their teachers.

Project chairman Gary Wentling says 318 Webster New World dictionaries will be handed out Tuesday and Wednesday to sixth graders at Felten, Kennedy, Holy Family, and Victoria schools.  More than 10,000 dictionaries have been given out over the years.

The project is funded by the annual sales of natural Christmas trees by the Optimist Club.  This year, the lot will open the day after Thanksgiving in the Hays Wal-Mart parking lot.

Kansas Revenue Secretary to Stop in Hays

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TOPEKA – Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan will be traveling through western Kansas Tuesday and Wednesday on a listening tour to gather people’s thoughts on Kansas’ tax climate.

“This is part of our ongoing effort as part of the Brownback Road Map for Kansas to gather input on tax policy and economic growth from a wide array of Kansans,” he said.

Jordan will be at the Hays Welcome Center, 27th and Vine, from 8-8:45a.m. Wednesday, November 2.

The meeting have been arranged with the help of the Kansas Farm Bureau and western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance.

 

FHSU Docking Institute Study Finds Kansans Ambivalent

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Kansans in 2011 generally prefer keeping income, sales and property taxes at current levels, but the percentage favoring tax increases for corporations and high income earners has been on the increase since 2009, according to Dr. Gary Brinker, director of Fort Hays State University’s Docking Institute of Public Affairs. This is the third annual Kansas Speaks survey.

Tax increases for large corporations were favored by 63 percent of respondents (up from 54 percent in 2010 and 52 percent in 2009), and 58 percent favored tax increases for top income earners, which was up from 47 percent in 2010 and 41 percent in 2009.

Among the many survey questions, three recent hot-button issues: proof of citizenship for voting, elimination of the Kansas Arts Commission and repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

The Docking Institute’s Kansas Speaks findings are the result of a survey of 1,039 Kansas adults over the age of 18 who completed the survey by mail and by phone between June 21 and Sept. 2. The survey has a 3.04-percent margin of error.

The full report, Kansas Speaks 2011, is available in pdf form through a tab on the Docking Institute home page, www.fhsu.edu/docking/.

 

Cold Weather Rule Effective November 1

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The Kansas Cold Weather Rule takes effect November 1 and remains in place through March 31.

Overseen by the Kansas Corporation Commission, the Cold Weather Rule prohibits utility companies from disconnecting a customer’s natural gas or electric service during periods of extreme cold. It also requires utility companies to offer a 12-month payment plan to allow consumers to maintain or re-establish utility service.

Disconnection Conditions:

  • Utility companies may not initiate disconnection until temperatures are forecast to be above 35 degrees for the next 48 hours.
  • Utility companies must contact the customer by phone or in-person 24 hours before disconnecting service.
  • Utility companies are prohibited from disconnecting a customer’s service when temperatures are forecast to be at or below 35 degrees over the next 24 hours.

More information about the Cold Weather Rule is available at: https://kcc.ks.gov/pi/cwr_english.htm.  Kansans may also contact their local utility company.

 

Kansans United Mobilizes Message in Hays

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Tamara Werth and Crystal McComas, co-founders of Kansans United in Voice and Spirit, lead a meeting in Hays Sunday afternoon as part of a mobilization weekend across the state.
The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in September, is working to unite concerned Kansans in protecting and advocating for state services and programs.

 

The group’s research by David Burress of Ad Astra Institute of Kansas in Lawrence, finds “Race to Zero” tax changes proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback to eliminate or significantly restructure personal income taxes, will mean higher property and sales taxes for all Kansans.

Werth, a Munjor native, says the actions and policy making of the current administration should derive from the consent of Kansans, not the will of ideologues and outsiders.

More information about Kansans United in Voice and Spirit is available online at www.kansans-united.org and on an upcoming edition of Street Beat, Eagle Community TV Channel 14.

20,000 Meals in 2 Hours Destined for Starving Africans

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9,000 meals packed in less than 45 minutes. Just 11,000 more to go.
Volunteers with the Fort Hays State University Global Leadership Project gathered at Forsyth Library Saturday afternoon to assemble food packages donated by the non-profit hunger relief organization Numana, based in El Dorado.  Sixteen higher education institutions in Kansas are participating this month in the SWIPE Out hunger initiative.
Each meal package consists of rice, soy, freeze-dried beans, and a vitamin blend, that feeds six people.  The 20,000 meals assembled in Hays will be shipped to starving people in the Horn of Africa.
Nearly 25,000 people die every day from hunger-related issues.

 

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