DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling nearly 1.4 million midsize cars in North America because the steering wheel can detach from the steering column and drivers could lose control.
The recall covers certain Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ cars from the 2014 through 2018 model years.
Ford says steering wheel bolts can loosen over time. The company says it knows of two crashes and one injury caused by the problem.
Dealers will replace the bolts with longer ones that have more aggressive threads and a nylon patch to stop them from coming loose.
Just over 1.3 million cars in the U.S. are being recalled. The rest are in Canada and Mexico.
Kim Thomas is pictured receiving the Kansas League of Municipalities E.A. Mosher Excellence in Local Government award last September. Kansas League of Municipalities photograph
Rahjes, unchallenged last election, draws opponent
By KIRBY ROSS Phillips County Review
STOCKTON — Ken Rahjes, Agra, incumbent legislator for the 110th House District, has drawn an opponent in the 2018 election cycle.
The 110th District encompasses all of Phillips, Rooks, and Norton counties, as well as parts of Graham and Ellis counties.
Rahjes was originally appointed to the position after the sitting House of Representatives member, Travis Couture-Lovelady, resigned a little over two years ago. Rahjes was sworn in January 2016, and ran unopposed for reelection in the primary and general elections held later that year.
Rahjes has not yet filed for another re-election bid, but it is anticipated that he will.
In the meantime, Kim Thomas, mayor of Stockton has filed for the position. Thomas has recently served as president of the League of Kansas Municipalities, and vice president prior to that. Named as Kansas Mayor of the Year by the Kansas Mayor’s Association, she has served on the boards of Rooks County Economic Development, Kansas Municipal Utilities, Kansas Municipal Energy Agency and Kansas Hospital Auxiliary.
In a statement issued to Main Street Media on Monday evening Thomas said, “I’ve always been an advocate for northwest and north central Kansas. I’ll do my best to help our people who are involved with farming, education, hospitals and the oil industry, our cities, and all areas that are important to rural communities.”
Republished with permission
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Editor’s note: Ron Wilson of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development conducted a fairly in-depth interview with Thomas a year and a half ago and wrote the following profile of her:
By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
October 2016. It is the League of Kansas Municipalities annual conference, and it is time to pass the gavel to a new president. This new president will have several distinctions: She is a woman, she is an African-American, and she comes from rural Kansas.
Kim Thomas is the mayor of Stockton, Kansas.
Her family has deep roots in northwest Kansas, where she is the fifth generation to come from the community of Nicodemus. As we have previously profiled, Nicodemus is a historic African American community which was settled after the Civil War.
“My great-grandfather had the annual Nicodemus community celebration in his grove,” Kim said. She grew up in Plainville but spent lots of time with her grandparents in Nicodemus.
While still in high school, she worked for Southwestern Bell as a telephone operator. She went on to Emporia State and then came back to northwest Kansas to work for Southwestern Bell on equipment. She spent 32 years before retiring as a communications technician with the company, located at various towns throughout the region.
In 1992, her job brought her to Stockton. Two male employees had retired in neighboring towns, and Stockton was located between the two communities so she could serve both. “I told them it took one woman to replace two men,” she said with a smile.
“I always tried to get involved in whatever community I was located in,” Kim said. Her son was a wrestler, so she coached wrestling and the local softball teams through the years.
Then her co-workers encouraged her to run for the city council in Stockton. “They thought it would stir things up,” Kim said. She ran and did not make it the first time, but when she ran again in 1999, she got elected to the city commission. She continued to serve through the years, and in 2002 she became mayor – a position she has held ever since.
Kim Thomas is the first female African American mayor in the state of Kansas. “My grandmother was a teacher,” Kim said. “We were taught to work hard – that was more important than the color of your skin.”
Her hard work has paid off. She has led her community through major improvements in the water plant, sewage treatment facility, water line replacements, housing improvements, new businesses downtown, and enhancements of the city power plant.
“It’s a good community,” Kim said. “People work together here.” She represented her community on many other organizations as well, from the Rooks County Economic Development Board to the boards of the Kansas Municipal Utilities, Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, Kansas hospital auxiliary and more.
Kim was appointed to the board of the League of Kansas Municipalities and has continued to move through the chairs of that organization. As vice president, she is scheduled to assume the reins as president in October 2016. “It is an honor,” Kim said.
“Home rule is very important to us,” Kim said. “The state doesn’t like it when rules are passed down to them from the feds, and the cities don’t like it when it happens to us,” she said.
Stockton is unusual among small communities in that the town’s leaders make a trip to Topeka each year. “We meet with agency heads and others, but we don’t go in asking for things. We ask how we can be of help to them,” she said. “I even take cookies every year,” Kim said. “I’m kind of known as the cookie lady.”
In 2014, the Kansas Mayors Association named Kim the Mayor of the Year. In September 2016 she will receive the Kansas Community Outreach Award from the Kansas African American Museum, before becoming league president in October. It’s a remarkable record for a person from the rural community of Stockton, population 1,535 people. Now, that’s rural.
It will soon be time to pass the gavel to a new president of the League of Kansas Municipalities, and this president is a remarkable African American woman from rural Kansas. We salute Kim Thomas of Stockton for making a difference with her groundbreaking service through the years. Her ancestors in Nicodemus would be proud.
Gerald Reed “G.R.” Burkhead Sr. passed away on Friday, March 9, 2018 at his home in Wilson, Kansas at the age of 62. He was born on December 19, 1955 in Salina, Kansas to the late Cleveland and Ethel (Stillwell) Burkhead. On December 16, 1995 he was united in marriage to Juanita West in Oakley, Kansas. He worked for 22 ½ years as a track laborer for Union Pacific Railroad.
G.R. is survived by his wife Juanita Burkhead of the home in Wilson; sons Jeffrey Burkhead of Aurora, CO, and Gerald Burkhead, Jr. of Wilson; daughter Angelia Burkhead of Salina; and brother Tim Burkhead of Wilson.
He was preceded in death by his parents Cleveland and Ethel Burkhead, and daughter Valeria Burkhead.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00am on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at the United Methodist Church in Wilson. Burial will follow in the Oakley Cemetery in Oakley, Kansas. Visitation will be from 2:00-8:00pm on Wednesday at the funeral home in Wilson.
Orscheln Farm and Home in Hays has partnered with Red Brand for years to give money to the Hays High FFA chapter to cover various expenses the organization has throughout the year. Red Brand is one of the most recognizable names in agricultural fencing in the United States and through their “Home Grown” program, provide funds for local FFA chapters of Red Brand retailers.
Wittman (far left) presents check to HHS FFA officers and Curt Vajnar (far right)
According to Hays Orscheln manager Shelly Wittman, grass fires in the area last year caused an increase in Red Brand barbed-wire fencing sales.
“This year, our particular store sold more barbed wire than any other store. They (Red Brand) donated a dollar for every roll that was sold,” Wittman said.
Usually, the check that Wittman presents to the Hays High FFA from Orscheln is between $200 and $300.
The check she handed over for $1,072 to Curt Vanjar’s class at Hays High School on Monday is the most has ever been donated.
“We’ve done this for quite a few years. We have never have had that much donated,” Wittman said.
Vajnar, the agriculture science instructor and FFA adviser at Hays High, said the money will be used to help with travel expenses throughout the year.
“This will be used for paying for state convention,” he said. “I’ve got four kids going to Washington Leadership Conference, so it may be part of a plane ticket for a kid. Those kinds of things.”
Over the past week, a malicious virus has been discovered on point-of-sale machines at more than 160 Applebee’s locations.
This virus has exposed credit card information from unknowing diners. In Kansas, three of the restaurants have been identified to have been infected — Topeka, Emporia and Manhattan.
The dates on which the stores were hit vary, but the majority were found to have occurred from November to January. All things considered, RMH, which owns the restaurants, responded quickly and contained the malware by early February. RMH was able to enlist the help of several cybersecurity forensic firms and reported the issue right away.
POS malware is becoming more and more prevalent for all retailers and medical industry businesses. Already in January, Forever 21 revealed their POS machines had been infected for almost eight months before being discovered.
RMH and the other companies strongly urge customers to monitor their bank accounts at this point. RMH acknowledges the ultimate safeguard against this kind of malware must come from the retailers themselves.
All in all, you really need to monitor your credit cards and bank accounts closely if you use debit/credit cards on the regular. RMH responded promptly and extremely well to this issue, but you never know what business is currently infected and no one has any clue.
Be wary and be cautious as malicious entities are springing up everywhere now. If you have any questions or concerns on possible malware or scams, give us at ETS a call at 785.628.1330 and we will help you out!
From 10 to 10:17 a.m. Wednesday, all Viacom networks and social platforms will go dark in solidarity with the National School Walkout against gun violence.
“Viacom and its brands have a long history of supporting young people’s movements around the world, and the company is extending that tradition by using its platform to drive awareness and show support to all students and their allies as they participate in this national movement,” the company said in a news release.
All of the channels listed in the image above will be affected.
Please be advised that beginning Wednesday, March 14, poly patch work will begin on various street throughout the city by the contractor Sweeney’s Pavement Maintenance.
Traffic control devices will be set in areas where work is being completed and picked up by the end of the work day.
This project is scheduled to be completed within six weeks, depending on weather conditions.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Office of Project Management at 785-628-7350.
The city of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Wed., March 14, 2018 in the area from Vine St. to Highway 183 Bypass between 27th St. and I-70.
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.
A group of German exchange students hold their finished paintings from “Paint Like Ike.”
Founder of Eagle Communications was World War II vet
ABILENE — A grant from the Robert E. and Patricia Schmidt Foundation, based in Hays, has made it possible for almost 500 K-12 students to “Paint Like Ike,” as part of the Eisenhower Foundation’s
IKEducation program.
Over the past year, K-12 students from throughout Kansas and exchange students from Germany have participated in this interactive program, highlighting a favorite pastime of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Students learn about Ike’s art legacy — his protection of cultural pieces from Nazi looters during World War II and his use of painting as a means to balance his life’s stresses. Students then complete one of four paintings left unfinished by Ike when he passed away.
Around 300 student paintings from Abilene Eisenhower Elementary, Alma Elementary and Maple Hill Elementary School will be on exhibit in the lobby of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene through April 5.
This contribution is especially meaningful as it comes from the foundation of World War II veteran, Robert Schmidt, founder of Eagle Communications. Mr. Schmidt served on the Eisenhower Foundation’s Regional Council for the Dwight D. Eisenhower: A Legacy of Leadership Campaign and made this lasting contribution in honor of his late wife, Patricia, and her love of art just before his own passing last year.
IKEducation programs are free for school groups visiting the Eisenhower Presidential Campus. To book an IKEducation field trip, visit www.EisenhowerFoundation.net. Limited funding is available to offset field trip expenses. “Paint Like Ike” and other programs are also available on the Eisenhower Foundation’s website for teachers to implement in classrooms across the country. For more information about IKEducation and the Eisenhower Foundation’s K-12 school initiative, please contact the Director of IKEducation, Mitzi Bankes Gose at [email protected].
About the Eisenhower Foundation
The mission of the non-profit, public Eisenhower Foundation is to honor and champion the relevance today of the life and leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower through compelling programs and events that celebrate his legacy.
Donations to the Eisenhower Foundation provide funding to support the exhibits, educational programs, and events at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Pompeo’s hawkish instincts may seem at odds with traditional diplomatic norms. But after 14 demoralizing months of budget cuts and staffing reductions for the State Department, his conservative political bent and closeness to President Donald Trump could breathe new vigor into an agency all too often sidelined on many of the nation’s most pressing national security matters.
Pompeo and Kansas Senator Pat Roberts during the Senate confirmation hearing -photo courtesy Sen. Pat Roberts
Pompeo, the outgoing CIA chief, will bring a new, blunt-speaking style to the job of secretary of state, strikingly different from Rex Tillerson’s understated approach. Pompeo’s arrival in Foggy Bottom also promises far more aggressive stances on Iran and North Korea, and he’ll at least start with Trump’s full confidence — something Tillerson never enjoyed.
“One of the most important jobs for the secretary of state is to make clear to the world the president’s policies and priorities,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, an establishment Republican and initial Tillerson backer, said Tuesday, after Trump announced via tweet that Pompeo would replace Tillerson. “No one has a stronger relationship with President Trump than Mike Pompeo. This relationship will empower him throughout his tenure as secretary of state.”
Tillerson had been widely criticized for an aloof management style, which had alienated droves of career diplomats and driven many of the agency’s senior brass into early retirements. But his foreign policy was far less controversial, as he hewed to much of the agency’s pragmatic approach, from climate change to free trade agreements, and to preserving the Iran nuclear deal, even when that put him at odds with his president and his most conservative supporters.
In Pompeo, the diplomats and civil servants who make up the 70,000-strong department may now encounter the opposite: a fiercely partisan veteran of some of the most bitter battles in Congress while he was a House Republican, and someone willing to jeopardize his reputation to defend Trump, as evidenced when he called up journalists to try to discredit a New York Times story outlining Trump campaign connections to Russia.
But Pompeo also helped engineer a detente between Trump and the U.S. intelligence agencies after the incoming president likened them to Nazis. In doing so, Pompeo never lost his access to Trump, or experienced a mass revolt to his leadership like Tillerson faced at the State Department.
“Tillerson’s ouster is a sign of continued turbulence in U.S. foreign policy,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, a Cornell University professor. “A potential silver lining is that the State Department will fare better under someone who has Trump’s ear.”
Immediately, there were calls for Pompeo to abandon Tillerson’s plans to shrink the department and empower marginalized diplomats.
While some opponents lambasted the former Kansas lawmaker for his posturing on a House panel that investigated Hillary Clinton and the 2012 Benghazi attack, some Democrats held out hope he could lead a State Department turnaround.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a harsh critic of Trump and Tillerson, said Pomepo would be wise to let the State Department’s talent “do their jobs.” Referencing the departure of many senior diplomats, Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, said Pompeo will “need to recruit and fill the many offices that have been left vacant.”
While Tillerson sought to reduce staffing at embassies and consulates abroad, and seemed to hoard many of the agency’s minutest decisions among a small group of advisers, Pompeo sent more spies to the field and tried to improve the CIA’s agility and speed by cutting bureaucratic red tape and moving decision-making down the chain of command.
Pompeo said his goal as America’s spymaster was to create a culture that says: “If you are in a process and you’re not adding value, get out of the way.”
Pompeo and Tillerson navigated different paths with Trump, too.
While Tillerson survived a tumultuous year amid rampant speculation that the White House wanted him out, he was unable to use a much-touted alliance with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to keep his job. Pompeo took a more direct approach, carefully cultivating Trump and even assuming the previously lower-level responsibility of delivering the daily presentation of intelligence to the president in the Oval Office.
Bigger questions loom about Pompeo’s ability to counteract Trump’s often unpredictable decision-making processes. For all of Tillerson’s bureaucratic stumbles, some of the president’s most bitter adversaries credited the ex-oilman with acting as an adult and serving with dignity even as Trump publicly humiliated him.
And, as Trump noted Tuesday, he and Pompeo have a “similar thought process” on the Iran deal, which Trump has threatened to abandon unless there are significant changes by May.
Tillerson “has been a poor advocate for the State Department, but he served as a Cabinet-level check on some of President Trump’s worst impulses,” said Thomas Countryman, one of the career diplomats who left in early 2017. Countryman, who was assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, said if Pompeo “has a disdain for diplomacy mirroring Trump’s, it will be bad for the department and the country.”
