Contested recounts, an independent spoiler candidate, and national publicity each time our Secretary of State starts a new round of antics. Never a dull moment in Kansas these days.
Enough already. To heck with those guys. I am not even going to bother naming them. It is time to talk about Laura Kelly and the return to sanity.
Michael A. Smith is a Professor of Political Science at Emporia State University.
Kelly is an experienced state senator, with particular expertise in the state budget, which is desperately needed right now. She easily won the Democratic primary for governor against several other good candidates and can now focus on November. More importantly, Democrats, and their independent and moderate Republican sometime-allies, are now free to focus on Kelly. Otherwise, they just may hand the election to the Republican nominee.
The Democrats could not have chosen a better candidate, to contrast their party with all the foolishness and drama in Topeka over the past eight years. Kelly is low-key, the kind of Kansan who prefers a few words instead of many and who seems less than comfortable in the public spotlight. She brings experience instead of show. Kelly had a whole career delivering education and social services before seeking elective office. She is familiar with many of the state budget’s most expensive and most troubled programs, including Medicaid. She promises a step-by-step plan to repair the damage done to Medicaid recipients by Brownback’s privatization plan. Her experience on the state budget committee brings her the practical knowledge needed to reverse other aspects of that disastrous experiment. No wonder that former Governor Kathleen Sebelius encouraged her to run and has energetically campaigning for her.
After World War I, Warren G. Harding won the presidency by promising a “return to normalcy.” Like humorist Dave Barry, I am not sure if “normalcy” is a real word, but sanity certainly is, and Kansas sure could use some right now. The Brownback experiment busted the budget, while the Secretary of State wasted time chasing virtually nonexistent illegal voters down rabbit holes and losing lawsuits at our expense. On most issues, Kelly is closer than her Republican opponent is to every living Kansas ex-governor except Brownback. For example, like all of them, she opposed Brownback’s attempts to politicize the selection of judges. Like the former governors, she opposed Brownback’s attempts to oust Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and his colleagues in 2016.
In the end, voters retained the judges—the cooler heads, and the ex-governors, prevailed. This is what a return to sanity looks like. There is more at stake here than partisanship.
I would caution Kelly’s supporters to stay away from the phrase, “anybody but_____.” Such campaigns rarely work.
A case in point is 2014, when challenger Paul Davis said little about his own qualifications and plans. Instead, his focus was “anybody but Brownback.” Lacking a reason to vote for Davis as opposed to against Brownback, late-deciding voters in 2014 helped hand Brownback a narrow re-election. The ante increases for Kelly because she also has a wild-card independent in the race. If voters seek only an alternative to the Republican nominee, they may get confused between the two other candidates.
This fall’s message should be “nobody but Kelly will do,” not “anybody but _______.” Kelly’s extensive policy experience and unassuming Midwestern demeanor are just the ticket for a return to sanity.
Michael A. Smith is a Professor of Political Science at Emporia State University.
Click HERE for more information on how to apply and for other career opportunities at Eagle Communications.
Eagle Communications in Hays is seeking a full-time Digital Media Coordinator to join our team of employee-owners. Qualified applicants should be detail-oriented and goal-driven, but more importantly, focused on providing quality work and an excellent experience to our valued customers.
Experience:
Experience in social media management and/or digital advertising ad trafficking a plus.
Requirements:
Candidates should be hard working, goal oriented and self-motivated. Certifications in Google AdWords and Facebook are a plus. The Digital Media Coordinator is responsible for managing existing digital campaigns and creation of new account campaigns. This may include but is not exclusive to: customer service, ad building, search and ad trafficking in Google and Facebook, ad trafficking on Hays Post, information gathering on web design projects as well as social media maintenance and advertising campaigns in Social Media for clients. Continued client reporting and support is required.
Salary:
Compensation is commensurate with experience. Eagle offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance, 401K, paid vacation, and employee stock ownership plan.
Other information:
Applications will be accepted until the position is the position is filled. The selected candidate will be required to pass a criminal history background check and motor vehicle check. Eagle Communications is an Employee-Owned company and an EEO employer.
Come get autographs from our very own FHSU Football team (2017 MIAA Champions) from 1pm-3pm!
Beforehand, don’t forget to come grab a bite to eat from our food truck vendors outside our parking lot from 11am-1pm! Throughout the rest of the weekend our stores will showcase their latest back-to-school fashion trends to kick off the Fall Semester!
March to Main, formerly known as Core2Campus, fills Downtown with Fort Hays State University, NCK-Tech, and Hays Academy of Hair Design students and Hays community members. Students meet on the quad at FHSU for a March to Main Street, led by prominent community members. The event includes food, t-shirts, music and big prizes.
March to Main is hosted by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the participating schools. The goal of this event is to welcome students, faculty and staff back home. Many downtown business participate in the event by offering food, coupons, and/or submitting prizes.
PAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on charges that involved drugs and explosives.
Christopher Trimble-photo Pawnee Co.
According to a media release from the Pawnee County Attorney, Christopher Lee Trimble, 54 of Rozel, appeared in custody Wednesday afternoon before Pawnee County Magistrate Judge Julie Cowell.
She advised the defendant that he faces a six-count complaint including charges of Aggravated Violation of Offender Registration Act, Criminal Use of An Explosive, Possession of Methamphetamine, Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
The charges stem from the execution of a search warrant on August 9, 2018 at Trimble’s home in Rozel, by the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Fire Marshall and the Kansas Highway Patrol. Trimble was taken into custody at the scene without incident.
Trimble is being held in the Pawnee County Jail in lieu of $7,500 bond. In the event the defendant posts bond, the Court directed he report to Court Services with standard drug and alcohol conditions. A Preliminary Hearing has been scheduled for August 27, 2018.
DETROIT (AP) — Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul” who sang with matchless style on such classics as “Think,” ”I Say a Little Prayer” and her signature song, “Respect,” and stood as a cultural icon around the globe, has died at age 76 from advanced pancreatic cancer.
Publicist Gwendolyn Quinn tells The Associated Press through a family statement that Franklin died Thursday at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit. The statement said “Franklin’s official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute” in Detroit.
The family added: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds.”
The statement continued:
“We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
Franklin, who had battled undisclosed health issues in recent years, had in 2017 announced her retirement from touring.
Franklin sang at White House in 2014 -Photo Courtesy White House
A professional singer and accomplished pianist by her late teens, a superstar by her mid-20s, Franklin had long ago settled any arguments over who was the greatest popular vocalist of her time. Her gifts, natural and acquired, were a multi-octave mezzo-soprano, gospel passion and training worthy of a preacher’s daughter, taste sophisticated and eccentric, and the courage to channel private pain into liberating song.
She recorded hundreds of tracks and had dozens of hits over the span of a half century, including 20 that reached No. 1 on the R&B charts. But her reputation was defined by an extraordinary run of top 10 smashes in the late 1960s, from the morning-after bliss of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” to the wised-up “Chain of Fools” to her unstoppable call for “Respect.”
Her records sold millions of copies and the music industry couldn’t honor her enough. Franklin won 18 Grammy awards. In 1987, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Fellow singers bowed to her eminence and political and civic leaders treated her as a peer. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a longtime friend, and she sang at the dedication of King’s memorial, in 2011. She performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and at the funeral for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Clinton gave Franklin the National Medal of Arts. President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2005.
Franklin’s best-known appearance with a president was in January 2009, when she sang “My Country ’tis of Thee” at Barack Obama’s inauguration. She wore a gray felt hat with a huge, Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow that became an Internet sensation and even had its own website. In 2015, she brought Obama and others to tears with a triumphant performance of “Natural Woman” at a Kennedy Center tribute to the song’s co-writer, Carole King.
Franklin endured the exhausting grind of celebrity and personal troubles dating back to childhood. She was married from 1961 to 1969 to her manager, Ted White, and their battles are widely believed to have inspired her performances on several songs, including “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone,” ”Think” and her heartbreaking ballad of despair, “Ain’t No Way.” The mother of two sons by age 16 (she later had two more), she was often in turmoil as she struggled with her weight, family problems and financial predicaments. Her best known producer, Jerry Wexler, nicknamed her “Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows.”
Franklin married actor Glynn Turman in 1978 in Los Angeles but returned to her hometown of Detroit the following year after her father was shot by burglars and left semi-comatose until his death in 1984. She and Turman divorced that year.
Despite growing up in Detroit, and having Smokey Robinson as a childhood friend, Franklin never recorded for Motown Records; stints with Columbia and Arista were sandwiched around her prime years with Atlantic Records. But it was at Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father was pastor, that Franklin learned the gospel fundamentals that would make her a soul institution.
Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee. The Rev. C.L. Franklin soon moved his family to Buffalo, New York, then to Detroit, where the Franklins settled after the marriage of Aretha’s parents collapsed and her mother (and reputed sound-alike) Barbara returned to Buffalo.
C.L. Franklin was among the most prominent Baptist ministers of his time. He recorded dozens of albums of sermons and music and knew such gospel stars as Marion Williams and Clara Ward, who mentored Aretha and her sisters Carolyn and Erma. (Both sisters sang on Aretha’s records, and Carolyn also wrote “Ain’t No Way” and other songs for Aretha). Music was the family business and performers from Sam Cooke to Lou Rawls were guests at the Franklin house. In the living room, the shy young Aretha awed friends with her playing on the grand piano.
Franklin occasionally performed at New Bethel Baptist throughout her career; her 1987 gospel album “One Lord One Faith One Baptism” was recorded live at the church.
Her most acclaimed gospel recording came in 1972 with the Grammy-winning album “Amazing Grace,” which was recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in South Central Los Angeles and featured gospel legend James Cleveland, along with her own father (Mick Jagger was one of the celebrities in the audience). It became one of of the best-selling gospel albums ever.
The piano she began learning at age 8 became a jazzy component of much of her work, including arranging as well as songwriting. “If I’m writing and I’m producing and singing, too, you get more of me that way, rather than having four or five different people working on one song,” Franklin told The Detroit News in 2003.
Franklin was in her early teens when she began touring with her father, and she released a gospel album in 1956 through J-V-B Records. Four years later, she signed with Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who called Franklin the most exciting singer he had heard since a vocalist he promoted decades earlier, Billie Holiday. Franklin knew Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. and considered joining his label, but decided it was just a local company at the time.
Franklin recorded several albums for Columbia Records over the next six years. She had a handful of minor hits, including “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody” and “Runnin’ Out of Fools,” but never quite caught on as the label tried to fit into her a variety of styles, from jazz and show songs to such pop numbers as “Mockingbird.” Franklin jumped to Atlantic Records when her contract ran out, in 1966.
“But the years at Columbia also taught her several important things,” critic Russell Gersten later wrote. “She worked hard at controlling and modulating her phrasing, giving her a discipline that most other soul singers lacked. She also developed a versatility with mainstream music that gave her later albums a breadth that was lacking on Motown LPs from the same period.
“Most important, she learned what she didn’t like: to do what she was told to do.”
At Atlantic, Wexler teamed her with veteran R&B musicians from Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, and the result was a tougher, soulful sound, with call-and-response vocals and Franklin’s gospel-style piano, which anchored “I Say a Little Prayer,” ”Natural Woman” and others.
Of Franklin’s dozens of hits, none was linked more firmly to her than the funky, horn-led march “Respect” and its spelled out demand for “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”
Writing in Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, Wexler said: “It was an appeal for dignity combined with a blatant lubricity. There are songs that are a call to action. There are love songs. There are sex songs. But it’s hard to think of another song where all those elements are combined.”
Franklin had decided she wanted to “embellish” the R&B song written by Otis Redding, whose version had been a modest hit in 1965, Wexler said.
“When she walked into the studio, it was already worked out in her head,” the producer wrote. “Otis came up to my office right before ‘Respect’ was released, and I played him the tape. He said, ‘She done took my song.’ He said it benignly and ruefully. He knew the identity of the song was slipping away from him to her.”
In a 2004 interview with the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, Franklin was asked whether she sensed in the ’60s that she was helping change popular music.
“Somewhat, certainly with ‘Respect,’ that was a battle cry for freedom and many people of many ethnicities took pride in that word,” she answered. “It was meaningful to all of us.”
In 1968, Franklin was pictured on the cover of Time magazine and had more than 10 Top 20 hits in 1967 and 1968. At a time of rebellion and division, Franklin’s records were a musical union of the church and the secular, man and woman, black and white, North and South, East and West. They were produced and engineered by New Yorkers Wexler and Tom Dowd, arranged by Turkish-born Arif Mardin and backed by an interracial assembly of top session musicians based mostly in Alabama.
Her popularity faded during the 1970s despite such hits as the funky “Rock Steady” and such acclaimed albums as the intimate “Spirit in the Dark.” But her career was revived in 1980 with a cameo appearance in the smash movie “The Blues Brothers” and her switch to Arista Records. Franklin collaborated with such pop and soul artists as Luther Vandross, Elton John, Whitney Houston and George Michael, with whom she recorded a No. 1 single, “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me).” Her 1985 album “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” received some of her best reviews and included such hits as the title track and “Freeway of Love.”
Critics consistently praised Franklin’s singing but sometimes questioned her material; she covered songs by Stephen Sondheim, Bread, the Doobie Brothers. For Aretha, anything she performed was “soul.”
From her earliest recording sessions at Columbia, when she asked to sing “Over the Rainbow,” she defied category. The 1998 Grammys gave her a chance to demonstrate her range. Franklin performed “Respect,” then, with only a few minutes’ notice, filled in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti and drew rave reviews for her rendition of “Nessun Dorma,” a stirring aria for tenors from Puccini’s “Turandot.”
“I’m sure many people were surprised, but I’m not there to prove anything,” Franklin told The Associated Press. “Not necessary.”
Fame never eclipsed Franklin’s charitable works, or her loyalty to Detroit.
Franklin sang the national anthem at Super Bowl in her hometown in 2006, after grousing that Detroit’s rich musical legacy was being snubbed when the Rolling Stones were chosen as halftime performers.
“I didn’t think there was enough (Detroit representation) by any means,” she said. “And it was my feeling, ‘How dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends — musical legends, plural — and not ask one or two of them to participate?’ That’s not the way it should be.”
Franklin did most of her extensive touring by bus after Redding’s death in a 1967 plane crash, and a rough flight to Detroit in 1982 left her with a fear of flying that anti-anxiety tapes and classes couldn’t help. She told Time in 1998 that the custom bus was a comfortable alternative: “You can pull over, go to Red Lobster. You can’t pull over at 35,000 feet.”
She only released a few albums over the past two decades, including “A Rose is Still a Rose,” which featured songs by Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lauryn Hill and other contemporary artists, and “So Damn Happy,” for which Franklin wrote the gratified title ballad. Franklin’s autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots,” came out in 1999, when she was in her 50s. But she always made it clear that her story would continue.
“Music is my thing, it’s who I am. I’m in it for the long run,” she told The Associated Press in 2008. “I’ll be around, singing, ‘What you want, baby I got it.’ Having fun all the way.”
KANSAS CITY (AP) – Authorities are investigating after two bodies were found in the woods near a Kansas City area lake.
Area near where authorities found the bodies -google image
Police aren’t identifying the people found Wednesday afternoon at Longview Lake or said how they died. But relatives and friends of 29-year-old Michael Brewer and 25-year-old Keith Wasmer gathered at the lake because they suspect the bodies were those of the missing men.
The friends disappeared after going to the Longview Marina on Aug. 6 to meet someone. Wasmer’s mother, Shannon Wasmer, says her “mom-stinct is not doing so well right now.” Her son has four children, the youngest just 1-month-old.
Michael Brewer’s father, Jeff Brewer, says there will at least be “some sort of closure” if the bodies are identified as those of the two friends.
Romanus (Bob) J. Racette, age 90, passed away on August 11, 2018 at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado. Bob was born on April 12, 1928 at home in St. Joseph, Kansas to Delphos and Emma (Pelland) Racette. Bob was a graduate of Clyde High School of 1946. On September 11, 1950, Bob married Shirley Ann Resco in Clyde, Kansas. The day following their wedding, Bob was inducted into the U.S. Army.
Bob was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, mentor and great friend to many. Bob served in the Korean War and is a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient. Bob worked for Kansas Power and Light Company for 38 years and retired in 1990. Bob was a dedicated member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, as well as an active member of the Knights of Columbus of Larned, KS. He was a dedicated fireman for many years at the Larned Fire Department.
Bob enjoyed traveling, spending time with friends and family, camping and fishing, and watching his grandchildren’s sports and other activities. He was an avid sports fan and followed many college teams. Bob could accomplish anything that he set his mind to and was a very hard worker.
Bob is survived by his wife of 68 blessed years, Shirley Racette, Loveland, Co; his children, Larry Racette and wife Trudy, Allen, Tx; Kathy Kolb, Salina, Ks; Kevin Racette and wife Barbara, Loveland, Co; and Lori Prescott, Loveland, Co; his seven grandchildren, Ann Collins, Salina, KS, Amy Hallman (Rich), Blue Springs, MO, Brian Racette (Jenny) Valparaiso, Indiana, Julie Rembold (Dan), Allen, TX, Scott Racette, Loveland, CO, Shane Carr, Dillon, CO, Shanna Prescott, Hays, KS; and twelve great-grandchildren. He has one surviving sister, Darlene Weatherhead, Clyde, KS.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Delphos and Emma (Pelland) Racette; one sister, Jean Weatherhead; three brothers, Ronald Racette, Wilbur Racette, and Eldon Racette (infant brother), and son-in-law, Kiah Kolb.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 6, 2018 from 1:00 P.M.–8:00 P.M. with a Knights of Columbus Rosary Service held at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, evening at the Chaput Mortuary, Clyde. Family will receive friends after the Rosary Service.
Mass of a Christian burial will be held 10:00 A.M., on Friday, September 7, 2018 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Clyde, Kansas with Fr. Steven Heina officiating. Burial will follow in the Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Clyde. Military Honors will be conducted by the VFW Post #7515 of Clyde.
Memorial contributions may be given to Kansas Honor Flight or Larned Fire Department in c/o Chaput Mortuary. For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com
LaNita Kay Shepard was born to Gerald and Ila Shepard on March 15, 1956 in Phoenix, AZ. LaNita passed away peacefully on August 13, 2018 at Citizens Medical Center Colby, KS.
LaNita lived a full life with strong faith and a deep love for her family. Over the years she has worked as a C.N.A. at Colby Medical Center, personnel caregiver, paraprofessional at Colby High School, Nanny for Wyricks, assistance at the fitness center, and sales associate at WalMart, LaNita also enjoyed being with her family especially swimming with her grandkids and teaching them to swim. She also spent time with the Victory House girls teaching them to crochet and any other activity they were doing at the time.
Preceding her in death are dad Gerald, granddaughters Abigail and Brittany, Grandparents Glen and Henrietta Banister and Ezra and Thesell Shepard, Aunt LaVena Thompson and uncles Richard Banister and Lyn Banister.
Surving LaNita are her son Brandon (Andrea) Shepard, mother Ila Shepard, Grandchildren Cheyanne, Chase, Darick, and Michael, Sister Denise (John)Sinkovitz, Brother Steve (Kizzie) Shepard, Neices and Nephews Mark, Kelly, Jay Sinkovitz, Patti Culmer, Amber Dockter, Jason Hemmingson, Courtney Hemminson,Jason Hemminsoss Great nieces and nephews Sophia and Ethan Culmer, Alayna and Caleb Dockter, and Gabriel and Adam Hemmingson.
Family is requesting that pink be worn in memory of LaNita.
Magdalena L. Zink of Kirwin, Kansas passed away on Monday, August 13, 2018 at Phillips County Hospital in Phillipsburg, Kansas at the age of 83. She was born on June 21, 1935 in Germany. In 1965 she was united in marriage to William Charles Zink, Jr. in England.
While living in Germany she worked for a suit manufacturing company. After coming to the United States she worked as a cook and waitress. As a faithful wife, mother, and homemaker, she not only took care of her home and family but also found time to take up knitting as well as enjoy the occasional bowling outing with friends.
Magdalena is survived by her son Joseph Zink; brother-in-law Leonard Zink of Glade; sister-in-law Jeannine Goertz and husband Bob of Hutchinson; grandsons Todd Allen Zink and wife Jessica of Norton, and Michael Ryan Zink of Norton; and great-grandson Kasen.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband William Zink, Jr.
A Graveside Service will be held at 11:00am on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery in Stockton. Inurnment will follow in the cemetery. There will be no visitation.
Norma Lea Simonton, 71, of Colby, died August 14, 2018 at Citizens Medial Center, Colby.
She was born February 13, 1947, in Norton, KS, to Burton and Beulah (Bretton) Bruinekool. Norma attended Norton Schools, graduated and worked a variety of jobs in her lifetime. She went back to school later in life and received her Associates Degree of Nursing from Colby Community College, where she was a member of Phi Theta Kappa. She worked at Citizens Medical Center as an RN. She enjoyed her job and her service and care to others. Norma enjoyed dancing with the Sunflower Polka Club and volunteered at Genesis Food Bank and as a “Pink Lady” at Citizens Medical Center.
Norma was preceded in death by her parents and husband of 33 years, Charles Simonton.
She is survived by her children, Jolena (LeRoy) McMillin-Wipf, Dodge City, KS, Kimberly (Michael) Schriner, Colby, KS and Tamira (Michael) Quattlebaum, Montgomery, AL; brother, Gary (Bertsie) Bruinekool, Lenora, KS; grandchildren, Aaron (Ashley) Schriner, Gabriel Schriner, Taylor Quattlebaum, Michael Quattlebaum II and Alexandra Quattlebaum ; great-grandchildren, Caden and Kiley Schriner and the love of her life, Alvin Dellere.
Cremation was chosen. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, August 18, at the College Drive Assembly of God Church, Colby. Private inurnment will be held at the Norton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Heartland Christian School or Genesis Food Bank in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. Sacred Heart Catholic Church-Colby, Memorial Mass will be held August 24, at 6 p.m. at the church. For information or condolences, please visit www.baalmannmortuary.com
