SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged burglary.
Rodgers-Shortt -photo Shawnee Co.
Just after 3:30 a.m. Friday, police were patrolling an area in Topeka that had several reports of car burglaries in the recent past, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
While scouting the area the officers spotted a subject skulking around a vehicle.
The subject, later identified as Dominque Rodgers-Shortt, 22, was checking for unlocked car doors in the 3900 blk of SW Colley Creek Dr.
While conducting their investigation, Officers found that Rodgers-Shortt had a loaded firearm in his waistband. That firearm was found to be stolen from a burglary of another unlocked vehicle in the area.
Officers also found evidence on Rodgers-Shortt of at least two other vehicle burglaries committed overnight in the same vicinity. Contact was made with the victims of the other burglaries and the property was returned.
Police arrested Rodgers-Shortt and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on charges of burglary to a vehicle, possession of stolen property, possession of marijuana and obstruction.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
Donna KrugLearning safe food handling practices is one of the best skills a person can acquire. We have two opportunities for anyone interested in the ServSafe program coming up in August. Read on for more details.
An Employee ServSafe Class will be offered in Great Bend on Wednesday, August 15th. This class for food handlers will be held from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the Cottonwood Extension District – Great Bend office, located at 1800 12th Street. As an Extension educator, I am happy to offer this training to food handler employees. This course is based on the 6th Edition of the ServSafe Food Handler Guide. Participants who complete the class will receive a certificate. The cost to register for the August 15th class is $10 and registration may be completed online by going to the KRHA website, www.krha.org
A ServSafe Manager Certification Course will be held on Thursday, August 23rd, from 8:15 am to 5:00 pm at the Cottonwood Extension District – Hays Office, located at 601 Main Street. The ServSafe program is a national certification program designed to teach safe food handling practices to those who serve food to the public. ServSafe in Kansas is provided by K-State Research & Extension in partnership with the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association (KRHA).
Neeley Carlson, KRHA, will be the course instructor. The cost for the course is $113 for KRHA members or $133 for non-KRHA members and includes the ServSafe 7th edition textbook, national certification exam, training materials and refreshments. The course is taught in English, however exams in other languages are available. Please note language preference in registration. Pre-registration is requested in advance to allow for ordering books and materials. Mail registration and payment to KRHA or register online with a credit card at: www.krha.org A minimum attendance is required to hold this class.
If you have any questions about either of these ServSafe workshops please contact me.
Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director for the Cottonwood Extension District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]
GREAT BEND — The Kansas Wetlands Education Center will host its annual Perseid Meteor Shower Watch Party – a free, fun-filled family evening of crafts, science experiments, games, snacks, and stargazing – at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center.
The center, 592 NE K-156 Hwy, is at the southeast side of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, northeast of Great Bend.
The Persied Meteor Shower occurs every year when the earth passes through the trail of dust and debris left by the Swift-Tuttle comet. Perseids are a popular show, but this year will be better than most, with a peak of 60-70 meteors per hour.
The moon will be near new moon, at a crescent, so it will set early. This means clear, dark skies for better meteor watching. The shower gets its name because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus.
Families of all ages are encouraged to come out to learn the difference between an asteroid, comet and meteor through a dry ice science experiment, enjoy a night hike on our nature trail, create a space rock fridge magnet, play glow-in-the-dark wiffle ball, and enjoy s’mores while gazing at the night sky.
In addition to the activities, the FHSU Science and Mathematics Education Institute will have its inflatable planetarium for guaranteed star-viewing.
Activities will run until the sky is dark enough to enjoy the meteors. Bring a lawn chair or blanket for more comfortable stargazing.
For more information, call the KWEC at 1-877-243-9268.
Several members of a task force formed by Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer to address the opioid crisis claim his refusal to consider Medicaid expansion undermines their work.
Sen. Barbara Bollier, left, a Mission Hills Republican, and Rep. Elizabeth Bishop, a Wichita Democrat, talking strategy after a meeting of the Substance Use Disorder Task Force on Thursday. JIM MCLEAN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
State Sen. Barbara Bollier, a moderate Republican and retired physician from Mission Hills, called expansion and the increased federal funding it would trigger critical to implementing many of the recommendations being considered by the group.
“Everybody in that room, with possible exception of two or three, knows that expanding Medicaid would help us pay for the services we need to deal with this crisis,” Bollier said Thursday after the group’s most recent meeting.
But she said Greg Lakin, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment official leading the task force, has made expansion off limits for discussion.
“Because the governor doesn’t support it … we’re essentially not allowed to make that recommendation,” Bollier said. She said “it’s very possible” that members who disagree will issue a competing set of recommendations that include expansion.
Sheldon Weisgrau, a policy advisor to the pro-Medicaid expansion advocacy group Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, called the task force “a farce” in a series of tweets sent during Thursday’s meeting.
At Gov’s Task Force on Substance Use Disorder. Rep. Bishop asks why discussion of #ExpandKanCare is not reflected in minutes. Chair Dr. Greg Lakin replies that they will only record and recommend policies the Gov will approve.
— (((Sheldon Weisgrau))) (@ACAResource) July 26, 2018
Lakin, the state’s chief medical officer, bristled at the contention that he imposed what amounts to a gag order. He insisted the directives were necessary to keep members focused on developing a targeted set of affordable and politically viable policy recommendations.
“There are a million different subjects and everybody’s got their own agenda,” Lakin said. For instance, he said also discouraged discussion of medical marijuana.
“I’m just trying to keep us on task,” he said.
After years of fruitless advocacy, the Kansas Hospital Association and organizations belonging to the alliance pushed an expansion bill through the Legislature in 2016. But then-Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed the measure and lawmakers failed by a few votes to override him.
Expansion advocates hoped that Colyer’s desire for a fresh start after serving for seven years as Brownback’s lieutenant governor would make him open to compromise on the issue.
That didn’t happen. Instead, Colyer, a Republican running to keep the office, quickly reiterated his opposition and lawmakers backed away from plans to force another showdown on the issue.
Current eligibility for KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, is limited to children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and low-income seniors in need of nursing home care.
Single adults without children aren’t eligible for KanCare regardless of income. Parents can qualify, but only if they earn less than a third of the federal poverty level, which for a family of four is less than $10,000 a year.
Expansion would make all Kansans who earn up to 138 percent of the poverty level eligible. That’s about $17,000 for an individual and roughly $34,000 for a family of four.
About 150,000 Kansans — mostly low-income adults — currently fall in what is known as the “Medicaid gap.” They’re ineligible for KanCare but unable to afford private coverage.
Colyer has said he favors helping low-income Kansans get better jobs rather than increasing their dependency on government.
The task force, officially known as the Substance Use Disorder Task Force, is scheduled to deliver its recommendations to the governor by Sept. 1.
The Hays Police Department will host its 3rd Annual Community Night Out event Thursday, August 2 from 5-8 p.m. at the Hays Aquatic Park, 300 Main.
Join us for a fun evening of free swimming and food! Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served to the first 1,000 people in attendance.
We would like to thank our sponsors that help make this event possible: Fraternal Order of Police Hays Lodge 48, Pepsi, Phaze 2, Walmart, Crawford Supply and the Hays Recreation Commission.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
“Kansas ranchgirl” and “Turkish princess” are probably not the first words one would associate together, but in the 1920s these came to refer to one and the same person. Then there was the Kansas rooster who became a movie star in the 1940s, appeared in Life magazine, and was insured by Lloyd’s of London. These amazing stories and many more are shared in a new book by rural Kansas author Roger Ringer.
Roger Ringer is author of the book “Kansas Oddities – Just Bill the Acting Rooster, the Locust Plagues of Grasshopper Falls, Naturalist Camps and More.” Roger and family live near Medicine Lodge.
Roger is a freelance writer, western entertainer, history buff – and Kansas treasure. He’s a board member of the Cowboy Storytellers Association of the Western Plains, a founding member of the Western Music Association, Kansas chapter, and active with the We Kan conference and the former Kansas Sampler Festival.
“People have been telling me interesting stories all my life,” Roger said. “As I’ve shared those stories with others, people told me I should write a book.”
Beginning in 2013, he finally took time to do so. “Everytime I did research on one story, I’d come across two or three more,” he said. “Often the local people were not aware of the remarkable history in their own community.”
In spring 2018, his new book was released by History Press. Kansas Oddities chronicles remarkable stories from all over the state, described as “eccentric tales celebrating independence and ingenuity.”
“We are a state of firsts,” Roger said. The first patented helicopter is an example. Several types of cars, tractors, threshing machines, boats, and other manufactured products were first designed in Kansas and are described in the book. “Those farm boys were out there thinking, `how can I do this easier?’” Roger said. “The motto for many of those entrepreneurs was, `if you needed something and you couldn’t afford to buy it, you just built it.’” This resulted in several innovative backyard prototypes.
Kansas people are highlighted. One unusual example is Sidia Wirt who grew up on a ranch near Garden City and went to KU. She performed music in New York and became a Hollywood socialite.
A Brazilian count asked to marry her as did a newspaperman in Hutchinson, Kansas. According to legend which she never confirmed nor denied, a coin toss decided whom she would marry. The newspaperman won the coin toss but lost the war. They married, but after a few weeks, she informed him that he was not keeping her in the lifestyle she expected so she left him for Los Angeles.
Later she married a Turkish prince and literally reigned over a mansion in Constantinople, but again the marriage didn’t last. She moved back to the U.S., married an Army aviator and withdrew from the social scene.
Then there is the story of Just Bill the rooster. Stafford County businessman Earl Kelly bought Just Bill from Nebraska for $100, a goodly sum in 1946. Just Bill beat hundreds of competitors from 40 states to be named grand champion rooster at an Oklahoma poultry show sponsored by RKO film studio. He won a large trophy and a movie contract – I am not making this up – and became the RKO trademark rooster, crowing on the newsreels that preceded the movies in theaters. Earl Kelly insured Just Bill for $1,000 from Lloyd’s of London.
Each vignette in the book is short and readable, covering urban and rural Kansas. Stories range from the formation of the Orient Railroad in Kansas City to the invention of the bulldozer in the rural community of Morrowville, population 155 people. Now, that’s rural.
“This book is necessary to keep these stories from being lost,” Roger said. “What hurts is the stories I couldn’t get in. I have enough for another twelve volumes.” His current book is available from Sam’s, Costco, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Kansas Oddities makes for fascinating reading. We commend Roger Ringer for making a difference by capturing and sharing these quirky but true stories of Kansas history. He makes oddities interesting.
Today
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7am and noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. East wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 3am and 4am. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. East northeast wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Northeast wind 7 to 9 mph.
Sunday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. East northeast wind 6 to 10 mph.
Monday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. North northeast wind around 8 mph.
PHILLIPSBURG — Despite Phillips County and surrounding counties being under a drought watch, most of “The Little Great Lakes” of the Solomon and Republican River watersheds are doing just fine. The Little Great Lakes includes Kirwin, Sebelius, Harlan, Webster, and Waconda reservoirs.
Continuing its half-century tradition of going through periods of feast and famine, over the course of recent months Kirwin Lake levels have continued to rise, and it is now at over 100 percent of its capacity.
As recently as August 31, 2016, Kirwin held only 30,384 acre feet of water, which was 31 percent of its 98,154 acre feet capacity.
Three days after that date massive downpours 60 miles west of the lake dumped a deluge of water into the Solomon and Bow Creek drainage basins, with up to 14 inches falling in Norton and Graham counties in a few hours time.
By the end of September of 2016 the lake level had jumped all the way up to 69,704 acre feet, putting it at 74 percent of capacity.
Throughout the following 22 months Mother Nature has continued to provide a healthy dose of precipitation exactly where it needs to be to feed the lake.
So healthy, that as of June 30, 2018, Kirwin was holding 102,262 acre feet of water, putting at 104 percent of capacity. And it’s worth noting that that number is down from 108,096 af just 30 days earlier, when Kirwin was at 110 percent of capacity. Releases through the Solomon River outlet has brought it down.
Throughout the month of June, an average of 223 acre feet of water flowed into the lake per day according to monthly reservoir statistics provided by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. But as good as June was for Kirwin, it ranked in fourth place for inflow compared to Waconda, Harlan, and Webster.
Of all of the other area reservoirs, Sebelius in Norton County continues to be the most anemic. With a total possible conservation storage capacity of 34,510 acre feet, as of the end of June it held 14,849 af, putting it at 43 percent of capacity. This number is virtually unchanged from 12 months ago, when it was just a few hundred acre feet fuller.
Adding insult to injury, a few weeks ago the Kansas Department of Health and Environment raised a blue-green algae health alert for Sebelius, resulting in direct contact with the water being discouraged and the governor declaring a state of emergency for the city of Norton, which sources its drinking water from Sebelius. Fish caught during a blue-green algae outbreak are safe to eat provided they are rinsed with clean water.
Webster Lake in Rooks County has been faring a good bit better. As of June 30, that reservoir was 110 percent full. With a total conservation storage content capacity of 76,157 af, it stood at 83,595, which is up from 106 percent of capacity 12 months earlier.
Just across the state line north of Phillipsburg, the Harlan County Reservoir is still lower that its full capacity. At the end of June 2018 Harlan was holding 248,944 acre feet of water, which is pretty good but is 79 percent of its 314,111 capacity. Like Sebelius, Harlan is down a bit compared to 12 months ago, when it held 255,759 af of water.
The 800-pound gorilla of lakes in the region remains, and will remain for the foreseeable future, Waconda Reservoir.
Waconda had an incredible month in June 2018, averaging 1,726 af of inflow per day. That compares to 243 for Webster; 223 for Kirwin; 254 for Harlan; and 20 for Sebelius.
Sitting at the edge of a slightly different climatic region and being fed by multiple rivers and creeks, as well as a relatively major constant-flowing spring, in recent years Waconda has been able to maintain, with little difficulty, its status as being one of the largest lakes in the state of Kansas.
With a total conservation storage capacity of 219,461 acre feet, as of the end of June Waconda held 225,390, which put it at 103 percent of capacity, an improvement over 12 months earlier when it was at 98 percent of capacity.
SABETHA – With both teams already locked into Saturday’s bracket round at the AA State American Legion Tournament Marysville beat the Hays Monarchs 6-3 in their final pool play game Friday.
The Monarchs jumped out to a 2-0 lead scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on a Cole Zimmerman RBI single.
Marysville answered with three runs in the third inning, taking advantage of two walks and an error to take a 4-2 lead.
Marysville also scored single runs fifth and seventh on their way to the 6-3 win.
After the first inning the Monarchs’ offense was held in check until the seventh when they scored a run on an Adam Gottschalk sacrifice fly. But they left the bases loaded.
Carlos Schwindt was the tough-luck loser for the Monarchs. He allowed five runs, but just one earned over five innings. He struck out three and walked four.
Trent Mayo and Eston Brown each collected a pair of hits for the Monarchs.
Hays drops to 17-5-1 on the summer. They finished 2-1 in pool play and will take on Iola in the 10:00 a.m. game Saturday.
Marysville will take on Silver Lake at 12:15 p.m.
The two winners will play for the state championship Saturday evening.
EMPORIA, Kan. – The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion watched their season end from the stands Friday night as the Nickerson Panthers run-ruled the Topeka Senators 10-1 after four innings and advanced to Saturday’s AAA state semi-finals.
Prior to the heartbreak, was a rollercoaster of emotions in a 3-2 thrilling victory as Hays scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning to hand Emporia Post 5 their first loss of the tournament. Coming into Friday evening’s game, Hays was 1-1 in pool play and desperately needing a win to keep their chances alive of advancing to Saturday’s semi-finals.
Head Coach Dustin Schumacher
Emporia started the game with a 1-0 lead after Cole Moore hit an RBI single to bring home Beau Baumgardner in the top of the first inning. Both teams would be scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Hays tied it up on an error by Emporia third baseman Sawyer Slayden that scored Trey Riggs from third to tie the game at 1-1.
After a scoreless fifth, Emporia’s Cole Moore came through again with an RBI single to score Slayden, making it 2-1 Emporia in the top of the sixth. Hays pitcher Cole Murphy, who went all seven innings in the victory, got three straight outs in the top of the seventh to give Hays one final chance at tying or winning the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Brett Herrman lead off the bottom of the seventh pinch-hitting for Willie Sennett and reached base on balls before moving to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Dawson Harman. Brady Kreutzer hit a single to move Herrman to third. Jamison Martin then hit a big-time RBI single to score Herrman and tie the game at 2-2. Emporia intentionally walked Palmer Hutchison to load the bases with one out for Trey Riggs. Riggs hit a ground ball and Emporia got Kreutzer out at home on a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning. Cody Peterson would come up next and hit a ground ball at the Emporia second baseman who mis-played the ball and Martin came home on the error to give Hays the victory.
Murphy went a complete game and got the win, throwing 99 pitches and giving up four hits and one earned run while striking out five and walking four.
Martin was 2-4 with an RBI and run scored. Harman was 1-1 with a sacrifice and walk. Hays as a team was 3-23 at the plate with one RBI and seven walks and left five on base. The defense committed two errors.
Despite going 2-1 in pool play and defeating Emporia Post 5, the Eagles needed Nickerson (who beat Hays Wednesday) to either lose or give up five runs to Topeka in the late game Friday night. Instead, Nickerson won and advances to the semi-finals with Emporia, Salina and Newton. Hays’ season ends at 34-6-1.
TOPEKA —The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the 2011 convictions 38-year-old Thomas Jenkins of Salina for the death of Alfred Mack in 2009, according to a published decision released Friday.
Jenkins -photo KDOC
In a unanimous decision written by Justice Eric Rosen, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Jenkins’ convictions in Saline County District Court for first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, theft, three counts of criminal threat, two counts of domestic battery, and criminal restraint.
The court held the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions; the district court had not abused its discretion when it found there had been no juror misconduct; and a retrospective competency hearing was feasible.
Mack was killed in the early morning hours of June 13, 2009, in his apartment.
DICKINSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple drug charges as the result of law enforcement search in Chapman on Tuesday.
Matthew Schoettle. Photo courtesy Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office
The Dickinson County Drug Enforcement Unit with the assistance of officers with the Riley County Police Department and deputies from Dickinson County conducted a search warrant at 2998 Sage Road, Lot 8 in Chapman.
During the search of the residence, officers located more than 400 grams of marijuana, 336 hydrocodone pills, 40 grams of methamphetamine, one gram of cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.
Deputies arrested Matthew Good, 26, Manhattan and Matthew Schoettle, 28, Chap,man. They are being held in the Dickinson County jai.
Matthew Good. Photo courtesy Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department
Good faces two counts of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, felony possession of drug paraphernalia, no drug tax stamp, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Schoettle faces three counts of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, four counts of possession of a controlled substance, felony possession of drug paraphernalia, no drug tax stamp, and unlawful to acquire drug proceeds, and possession of marijuana.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Video and audio recordings from a fatal tourist boat accident in Missouri show that the lake went from calm to deadly dangerous in a matter of minutes.
First responders on the scene of the lake accident near Branson-photo courtesy KYTV
The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released information gathered from the video recorder camera system salvaged by divers after the duck boat sank July 19 at Table Rock Lake near Branson. Seventeen of the 31 people on board died.
The recordings show that the lake was calm when the vessel entered the lake around 6:55 p.m.
But the NTSB says whitecaps suddenly appeared at 7 p.m., and winds increased. The captain twice made calls on a handheld radio and alarms sounded. Water began splashing the passenger compartment around 7:05 p.m.
About eight minutes after whitecaps emerged, the video recording ended.
Today
