DEWEY COUNTY, OK —The suspect wanted in connection with Monday’s robbery at Newton’s First Bank south branch is in custody, according to the Dewey County Sheriff’s office.
Paris -photo courtesy Newton PD
On Thursday night, police arrested Martin L. Paris, 50, in Seiling, Oklahoma, in the northwest part of the state, according to a media release.
A tip from someone who recognized Paris from media coverage led police to the motel where he was staying. He was taken into custody without incident.
Paris is now being held at the Dewey County Jail. He had been on federal probation in Oklahoma for previous bank robberies.
The robbery in Newton occurred Monday evening at about 5:45 p.m., when a man entered the bank, 1404 South Kansas Avenue, and passed a note to the staff. The man left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. No weapon was displayed.
Jerry A. Ross, 67, died on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at his home in Russell, Kansas.
A celebration of Jerry’s life will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at St. John Lutheran Church in Russell, Kansas, with Pastor Roger Dennis officiating. Burial will follow at St. John Lutheran Cemetery in Russell. Visitation will be from 9 A.M. to 8 P.M. on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the mortuary with family present to greet guests from 6 P.M. to 7 P.M. Tuesday evening.
Memorials may be given to Pheasants Forever or St. John Lutheran Church. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.
GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects on drug charges after an Interstate 70 traffic stop.
Police seized 350 pounds of pot and $326,000 -Photo courtesy Sterling Heights Police
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reported their drug interdiction unit made the traffic stop April 5, near Junction City, according to Sheriff Tony Wolf.
Deputies discovered 350 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle. The marijuana was intended for sale in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Deputies arrested 2 suspects then made notifications to the Drug Enforcement Administration-Michigan Office for further investigation.
With swift and decisive action by the DEA Group 6, a collaborated effort between Sterling Heights Crime Suppression Unit, City of Warren Police Department and the Michigan State Police resulted in the arrest of one suspect in Sterling Heights the following day.
The hard work and perseverance of these officers lead to the forfeiture of $326,000 in cash, according to a media release.
Due to the investigation, the DEA did not release names of the suspects.
Jim Butler, a senior scientist and chief of the geohydrology section of the Kansas Geological Survey, was one of those on a panel that presented science findings during the 2018 Ogallala Aquifer Summit in Garden City.
Meeting helps citizens, officials from eight states to share ideas and concerns
By PAT MELGARES K-State Research and Extension
GARDEN CITY – More than 200 people from agriculture and other industries came together April 9-10 to discuss the challenges and opportunities for preserving groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer region, a large resource that touches parts of eight states from South Dakota to Texas.
The Ogallala Aquifer Summit marked a key accomplishment in the 50-year water vision for Kansas, a plan set forth in 2013 by then Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.
“The Ogallala was one of the two marquee parts of the governor’s 50-Year Water Vision, along with the reservoirs in the eastern part of the state,” said Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, which organized the summit along with Kansas State University and Colorado State University.
“This conference is very important in helping us achieve our goals under the 50-year water plan that the governor set us on three years ago.”
Dan Devlin, the director of the Kansas Water Research Institute at Kansas State University, noted that the meeting was also in response to citizen’s requests.
Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, encouraged participants of the 2018 Ogallala Aquifer Summit to continue the conversations and share information with others.
“It was really interesting back when Gov. Brownback was doing the meetings for the 50-Year Water Vision for Kansas, we heard at meeting after meeting from citizens that they wanted to talk to the other Ogallala states,” Devlin said. “They said, ‘we want to know what they’re doing. We want to know what we can learn from them and we can also share things.’”
The Ogallala Aquifer underlies 175,000 square miles, or about 112 million acres in parts of eight states. For nearly 80 years, farmers and communities have been using the aquifer for agriculture and public water supplies. The Ogallala supports about 30 percent of all U.S. crop and livestock production, accounting for an estimated $35 billion in agricultural products annually.
But the resource is dwindling…quickly. Southern parts of the aquifer – including many areas of Texas and New Mexico – are nearly dry and in western Kansas, an extremely productive agricultural region, wells are slowing down as the amount of water available to farmers is becoming increasingly scarce.
“When we are dealing with issues like the Ogallala Aquifer, addressing them from one state’s perspective is just not the best way to get something done,” said Jackie McClaskey, secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, who participated in the two-day meeting.
“By pulling together all of the states impacted by the Ogallala it allows us to bring lots of great ideas and lots of minds and lots of folks together to really say how can we work together to address concerns in the Ogallala, whether that be decline or economic conditions surrounding the Ogallala…all the different types of issues that not only Kansans are concerned about, but all of the folks that live on the Ogallala.”
Summit participants heard presentations on science and research, technology, producer practices and water policy, and shared their views on each during small group sessions. Their opinions were compiled and will be part of a report due out later this year.
“For me, the importance of this meeting is just kind of listening to some of the concerns in the other states,” said Harold Grall, a farmer near Dumas, Texas. “We’re all pumping out of the same aquifer. Each of the states has its own set of rules and regulations on how they conserve water and I like hearing those different ideas.”
He added: “At times, it just seems because we’re depleting a finite source, that our time is limited, but talking to the people around here helps us to be hopeful that maybe we’ve got a longer time than we think.”
A common theme at the meeting was that farmers want to do what’s right and sustain the resource for generations to come. It wasn’t a message lost on 16-year-old Grace Roth, an officer in FFA and a Kansas Youth Water Advocate.
“It encourages me and also makes me feel kind of relieved because these people have a genuine care for the future and these people want to do something for our generation,” Roth said. “They want to take action today so that we can ensure our future; we can ensure the future not only of agriculture but also the future of our world.”
Roth, who gave an impassioned 10-minute talk during the meeting, said every person should be interested about issues that help to preserve and protect water.
“Just imagine if one day you turn on your sink and nothing came out,” she said. “How would you continue on with your life? It’s a very scary thought of not being able to prosper in the future.”
Much of the university research currently being conducted in the Ogallala Aquifer region is a result of a Coordinated Agriculture Project (CAP) grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. CAP grants are designed to involve researchers from many universities and organizations, and to communicate information to citizens.
“We want producers to be the voice that is spreading the message,” said the Kansas Water Office’s Streeter. “It’s one thing for ag departments, universities, water office folks to get up and tell these success stories, but it’s much better for the producers themselves to do it, and that voice does get heard by other producers.”
McClaskey added: “What I think is unique about (the Ogallala Summit) is that we have universities engaged, we have government agencies engaged, but most important we have farmers and ranchers engaged. And those are the folks that are going to hold the rest of us accountable to keep moving forward and make sure that progress happens.”
Learn more about work in the Ogallala Aquifer region by visiting https://www.ogallalawater.org.
Lawrence E. Schwindt, age 90, passed away on Sunday, April 8, 2018 in Great Bend, Kansas.
He was born February 7, 1928, in LaCrosse, Kansas, to Benjamin and Ella (Foos) Schwindt.
Lawrence graduated from the 8th grade in a country school in Trego County near the family farm, and then worked full time on his family farm. He loved to drive the tractors and trucks and he would tell you that John Deere is the Best. He was a very hard worker and when there was farming to be done, he was always up and in the field at the crack of dawn before anyone else was even up. He loved visiting and telling stories about working on the farm and the “old days” to anyone that would listen.
Lawrence loved to play baseball when he was younger and was very good at it. As he got older he enjoyed other games and was known as the “King of Dominos”. He was also the official “fly swatter”. He said that he worked hard enough when he was younger and swatting flies was relaxing and something he enjoyed doing. And besides…someone had to do it.
You would always see him wearing overalls, with the pockets full of ink pens and he wore a baseball cap most of the time. He collected thousands of pens in his life time and always had a few in his hand. And, if you ever left one laying around, it became part of His collection too. Lol. He also had a big collection of baseball caps. He loved ice cream, especially chocolate shakes, and bubble gum (by the million), he once said. He was easy to get along with and he had a good sense of humor and liked to make you laugh.
He was known by many in his later years as “Papa Bear” and “Grandpa”. He was loved by so many.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Mildred Brau and husband Albert; and brother, Benjamin Jr. He is survived by his brothers Delano Schwindt and wife Amelia of Utica, and Lyle Schwindt and wife Deana of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.
Memorial service will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 14, 2018, at Praise Fellowship Church, Ransom, Kansas. Inurnment will take place at a later date in WaKeeney City Cemetery.
Memorial contributions: the church, and may sent directly to 106 Old KS 4, Ransom, KS 67572.
The 13th annual John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activities Day, hosted by Fort Hays State University, will be on Wednesday, April 25, in the Memorial Union.
The day celebrates the research, scholarly and creative work conducted in varied disciplines within the university. Special activities including research presentations and exhibits will be provided.
The main events include poster presentations and a creative works exhibition featuring student and faculty work from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the College of Education, the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences and the Peter Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics.
The creative works exhibit will be in the Memorial Union’s Black and Gold Room from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The poster presentations, with more than 130 posters by students and faculty, will be in the Memorial Union’s Fort Hays Ballroom from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Poster creators will be available from 1 to 3 p.m.
Awards will be given at 3 p.m. for poster presentations to undergraduate, graduate, faculty and staff for empirical and non-empirical research and scholarly work. Awards for creative works and “People’s Choice Awards” will also be given.
Leslie Paige, project director in the Office of Scholarships and Sponsored Projects, said the day “not only showcases the significant work being conducted by faculty and staff, but also exemplifies the opportunities FHSU students have to conduct research, engage in scholarship opportunities, and present creative works with guidance from their faculty mentors.”
Scholarly and creative activity encourages critical thinking, innovation, collaboration and leadership, she said.
“FHSU supports developing new areas of excellence in all disciplines as part of its mission to advance knowledge and further the economic growth of the state,” said Paige. “Participation provides the opportunity to clarify academic and professional goals while promoting advancement in a particular field of study.”
Dr. John Heinrichs
Named after the late Dr. John Heinrichs, who championed research at FHSU, the Scholarly and Creative Activities Day is sponsored by the FHSU Scholarship Environment Committee with support from the Office of the Provost, FHSU deans, the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science, the Graduate School and the Office of Scholarship and Sponsored Projects.
The exhibits and presentations are free and open to the public.
For FHSU faculty, staff or students interested in submitting work for the exhibits, contact Linda Ganstrom, professor of art and design, at [email protected].
The City of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Fri., April 13 in the area of Walnut St. to Main St. between 27th St. and 33rd St.
This is part of a coordinated effort by the city of Hays to inspect all fire hydrants in the city and flush all water mains annually.
RUSSELL – Treasure seekers and bargain hunters are welcome to the Russell Community Garage Sale to be held June 2. Russell Community Theater, Advantage Realty and KRSL Russell Radio are sponsoring this year’s event and are striving to increase outreach and promotion efforts to ensure a successful day for all participants. Individuals, organizations, and local businesses are encouraged to participate in a variety of ways. Hosting a garage sale, whether individual or multi-family, gives old treasures a chance to find a new home. Organizations might consider a group garage sale or a lunch stand. Businesses may consider special sales or discounts.
Registered participants will benefit from the promotion of the big day – press releases, public presentations, social media outreach, local and area media advertising – all thanks to Russell Community Theater, Advantage Realty and KRSL Russell Radio.
Printed Garage Sale Guides will include a detailed map of all registered participants and will be available to the public starting Tuesday, May 29. The Russell County GIS & Mapping Department will create the Guide maps and Russell County Economic Development & CVB will be assisting with outreach efforts. Printing services will be provided by Office Products Inc., Russell.
All proceeds from Russell Community Garage Sale registrations directly benefit Russell Community Theater. Russell Community Theater is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation that was organized in 1986. Since its inception, RCT has presented 92 full-scale theatrical productions for the education and enjoyment of its patrons.
To be included in the Russell Community Garage Sale Guide, pick up registration forms at Encore Antiques & Collectables, 590 S. Fossil in Russell. Completed registrations and non-refundable, cash payment must be submitted no later than Wednesday, May 16. For additional information, contact Russell Community Theater at 785-483-4057 or stop by 590 S. Fossil, Russell.
— Submitted
UPDATE: The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Memorial Union Atrium.
Ground will be broken at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 14, at 404 W. Seventh St. in Hays for a new house for Fort Hays State University’s Zeta Tau Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. The public is invited.
Seeking to fund as much of the home as possible through private donations, Josh Callahan, chapter advisor, has been working with the FHSU Foundation in reaching out to alumni, as well as others who are interested in the project. To date, approximately $500,000 has been raised from alumni donations and pledges to support housing scholarships for students.
Until additional fundraising is complete, the remaining amount needed to build the home will be financed via a local bank and the Sigma Chi National Foundation.
“The new home should be completed in early October and will house 24 to 32 men,” said Callahan. “Sigma Chi has a long history at Fort Hays State University – going back more than 50 consecutive years with 600-plus alumni.”
“I think it is a great sign that they are building a new home for their undergraduate members,” said Dr. Teresa Clounch, assistant vice president for student affairs at Fort Hays State.
“It is a sign of sustainability and growth for the FHSU fraternity and sorority community,” she said. “It is important to celebrate what our students and organizations are doing.”
RENO COUNTY— Two Kansas women arrested for making an alleged swatting call to police were back in court Thursday.
Twenty-two-year-old Chassity Nicholson and 20-year-old Tatumn Watkins both of Hutchinson were charged with Giving False Alarm for violent activity or threat.
The state alleges the women knowingly gave false information to authorities.
Nicholson and Watkins claimed Michael Kirk battered two family members in the 1200 block of East 7th. According to the women, Kirk said he didn’t want to go back to prison. The women told authorities Kirk had a gun and was waiting for officers to arrive.
Nicholson-photo Reno Co.
Nicholson called police earlier in the day and said Michael Kirk had taken their child. She wanted the child back.
Once on the scene, officers were told Kirk was hiding in the garage. Officers, along with sheriff’s deputies, had guns drawn when they ordered him from the garage. He came out with the 3-month-old child in his arms. Kirk was not armed and was merely taking care of the child.
In court, Nicholson asked the judge to lift the no contact order so she could see her child. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen denied that request and noted this incident could have been much worse.
