Author: Hays Post
Marcella D. Albers
Marcella D. Albers, 86, of Oakley, died Saturday, March 10, 2018, at her home.
She was born November 24, 1931, in Sheridan County, KS, to Levi and Margaret (Trembley) Ribordy. She attended Harmony Grade School, in Sheridan County and later received her G.E.D. from Colby Community College. Growing up Marcella enjoyed roller skating, which is how she met her husband, Ralph Albers. They were united in marriage on November 24, 1948, at St. Agnes Catholic Church, in Grainfield. The snowstorm of 1948 made it a memorable and event for friends and family. They were married 69 years. Marcella was a member of the Wheatland VFW Post #2864 Ladies Auxiliary, St. Joseph Altar Society and multiple card clubs. She was a talented seamstress, making clothes for her family. Her four daughters often returned home from school finding a dress for each of them only needing the hem to be finished.
She was an avid quilter and quilted for many friends and family. Gardening was another talent of hers and she enjoyed canning what she produced. Marcella also loved to cook, especially for big groups. Pheasant hunting was a yearly event with meals all weekend for the hunters which included a mountain oyster fry, loved by most all. Christmas and Easter were important holidays, with Santa distributing presents to all and the Easter egg hunt for the grand and great grandkids. The adults seemed to enjoy finding and re-hiding the other adults bag of candy as much as the younger kids. Marcella loved going to auctions and collecting antiques. Her trips to town always ended buying fabric she loved to make into something beautiful. Marcella was a very caring and involved Wife, Mother and Grandmother and Great grandmother. She was a very involved in everyone’s activities.
Marcella was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Kenneth, Lenard and Leon; sisters, Madeline Rumback and Marceline Rowland; and granddaughter, Stacy Taylor.
She is survived by her husband, Ralph, of Oakley; children, Eulalia (Gary) Muschik , of Union Bridge, MD, Marvin (Bette) Albers, of Oakley, Vickie (Rich) Farney, Wilson, KS, Elaine (Ken) Ptacek, Colby, KS, Stan Albers, Hoxie, KS, Sandy (Monty) Moore, Monument, KS, Chris (Terri) Albers, Oakley and Lynn (Vivian) Albers, Pagosa Springs, CO; sisters, Maryann Racette and Rita Huffman; 22 grandchildren and 42 great grandchildren.
Visitation is 5-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at Baalmann Mortuary, Oakley, with a Vigil at 7:00 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be Thursday, 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Oakley, with burial to follow in the church cemetery. Memorials are suggested to St. Joseph Catholic School in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 204, Oakley, KS 67748. For condolences or information visit www.baalmannmortuary.com
Clarence R. Barta
Clarence R. Barta passed away Friday, March 9, 2018 at Almost Home in Great Bend, Kansas at the age of 89. He was born on September 2, 1928, on the family farm in Ellsworth County, Kansas near Wilson, to the late Oda and Eleanor (Svaty) Barta. Before finishing high school he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and served for three years.
After being honorably discharged from the Coast guard, he completed school and began working in the oil industry. On October 18, 1954 he was united in marriage to Mary Podlena at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wilson. Together they lived in numerous Kansas towns, but spent most of their later life in Great Bend. Aside from his love of family, his greatest passion was playing cards. He was known for a life time of planting trees and saving stray animals. He attended St. Patrick Catholic Church in Great bend and was a lifetime member of the American Legion.
Clarence is survived by son Randy Barta and wife Kayla of Overland Park; daughter Cindy McQuade and husband Tim of Hoisington; grandsons Mike Barta of Lenexa, Ryan McQuade of Hays, Mark Barta of Mission; granddaughter Holly Simpson of Topeka; great-grandson Chace Barta; great-granddaughter Charlotte Rose Barta; and sisters-in-law Emily Zorn of Hoisington, Anne Ehrlich of Haven, and Sister Loretta Podlena of Great Bend.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 63 years, Mary Barta, parents Oda and Eleanor Barta, brother and sister-in-law Alvin and Loretta Barta.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30am on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wilson. Burial will follow in the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00pm on Friday at the funeral home with Prayer Vigil at 6:00pm.
Hays High journalism students qualify for state competition
HHS Guidon
After competing in both digital and on-site regional competition at Fort Hays State University on Feb. 22, qualifiers for state journalism have been announced.
According to journalism adviser Bill Gasper, there are 19 total digital and on-site competitions, and only two students can be entered into each event. Individual students can be entered in multiple events, but not more than five.
Out of the 38 possible state qualifications available, Hays High earned 37 berths at the Kansas Scholastic Press Association State Journalism Competition in Lawrence on May 5. Up to six places are awarded in each event, including first, second and third, as well as up to three honorable mentions.
“The students once again did very well at regionals, and I’m very proud of their efforts,” Gasper said. “Our goal is to prepare hard for state journalism competition and compete for the overall sweepstakes award in our division. As an adviser, I am blessed to have a bunch of talented students and I know they want to do well and will work hard to achieve that goal.”
Individual results are included below:
Lacey Gregory
1st Advertising
1st Headline Writing
1st Feature Writing
2nd Newspaper Layout
Honorable Mention Editorial Writing
Amiyah Gonzalez
3rd Feature Writing
Honorable Mention Editorial Writing
Isabelle Braun
1st Copy Editing
2nd Headline Writing
Jacob Maska
2nd Sports Writing
3rd Yearbook Sports Writing
Honorable Mention Sports Photography
Taylor Schiffelbein
1st Newspaper Layout
Honorable Mention Sports Writing
Honorable Mention Yearbook Sports Writing
Madison Weber
1st News Writing
2nd Copy Editing
Allison Hillebrand
Honorable Mention Yearbook Copywriting
Elizabeth Lee
1st Editorial Cartoon
Scout Perryman
3rd Editorial Cartoon
Alyssa Owens
2nd Advertising
Emily George
1st Yearbook Layout
2nd Cutline Writing
Abby Balman
2nd Infographics
3rd Yearbook Layout
3rd Cutline Writing
Tana Herreman
1st Infographics
Honorable Mention Photo Illustration
Joshua Arthur
Honorable Mention Photo Illustration
Jacie Robinson
1st Student Life Photography
Kaitlyn Brown
Honorable Mention Student Life
Lindsey Pfannenstiel
Honorable Mention Sports Photography
Hannah Harman
1st Academics Photography
2nd Yearbook Copywriting
Cassidy Prough
2nd Academics Photography
Abby Balman and Alyssa Owens
3rd Yearbook Theme & Development
Emily George and Jacie Robinson
Honorable Mention Yearbook Theme and Development
Exploring Outdoors Kansas: What’s with these Kansas deer?
Many wildlife studies take place behind the scenes; if you don’t happen to hear or read about them or stumble upon them in progress, you never know they occur. Such is the case with a fairly extensive deer research project underway in northwestern Kansas this year.
The project has two stages; the first stage is to capture and collar 120 deer, the second stage is to monitor those deer and their fawns to collect valuable data about Kansas deer. I spoke with Levi Jaster, Big Game Coordinator with Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism who is supervising the project. He says there has been a noticeable retraction of the KS mule deer population, slowly withdrawing westward, while at the same time the whitetail population is also spreading westward. Jaster told me “We are already on the western edge of the mule deer range and hate to see their population dwindle any more here in Kansas, and Nebraska is not seeing the same problem, so that leaves us Kansas wildlife biologists searching for answers.” Jaster says all studies about deer mortality rates, habitat use and reproduction rates have been done in either the Dakotas or Texas, neither of which have topography or conditions representative of Kansas, so everyone felt it was time for a KS study to be done.
Eight KS counties were chosen; Decatur, Norton, Sheridan and Graham in the extreme northwestern corner, and Logan, Gove, Scott and Lane a little farther south. In February, 120 deer divided evenly between each group of counties, between whitetails and mule deer, and between bucks and does were netted from a helicopter and collared. Bucks were given a quick health check including blood samples, fitted with GPS radio collars that will remain on them for their lifetime and then released. Does were airlifted to an area set up with handling facilities where they were each given an ultrasound to determine pregnancy rates and blood samples were drawn.
They were then ear-tagged and fitted with a GPS radio collar that will drop off after a predetermined number of weeks. Before their release each doe was also given a small vaginal implant transmitter (VIT) that will drop out when she gives birth and help researchers attempt to locate fawns. This entire process was completed in only 4 days. To process the does, KDWPT staff was joined by Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit staff, K State graduate students, veterinarians, volunteers from the Kansas Bowhunters Assn. and landowners who allowed access to their land.
The second part of the project will begin in mid to late May when collared does begin to birth fawns. The transmitters will begin transmitting when they are expelled and are linked to each does collar, giving researchers data on when and where fawns were born. The thinking is that since fawns are hidden for the first few days of their lives, if the signal can be tracked within a few hours after birth, most fawns can be located. Each will be quickly checked, measured and fitted with a special expandable collar so it can be tracked also. The goal is to find and collar 80 – 90 fawns this spring.
Data collected during this first-of-its-kind 3 year study here in KS will help researchers learn more about Kansas deer reproductive and mortality rates and causes of mortality, deer movement, survival of different year classes of deer, and mule deer and whitetail deer interaction. This data will help provide much needed insight into deer densities, deer-human interactions, crop damage and the effects of habitat and crop changes on KS deer populations.
I asked Levi if there was anything else he wanted deer hunters to learn from this story, and he told me “We want deer hunters who see these collars to act as though the collar doesn’t exist. If they were going to harvest a collared deer before they spotted the collar, harvest it anyway. If they were going to pass on a collared deer, pass on it despite the collar. This will give us real-world, real-time data.” Fifteen years ago, my wife and I hunted for several years where she grew up in Meade County, and back then we could expect to see as many muleys’ as whitetails. Today, I know that whitetails are much more prevalent down there, so I’m anxious to see what this study turns up; a wonderful way to continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
HaysMed joins network to improve supply chain efficiencies and reduce costs
HAYSMED
HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System today announced they have joined Captis, a collaborative network of hospitals and health systems focused on improving clinical outcomes and reducing the costs of healthcare products and services through the aggregation of buying power and collective decision making.
Captis, a Vizient, Inc. Member Business Venture, includes more than 70 health care organizations across the nation with $9.6 billion in supply chain purchasing power. Members collaborate to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses by aggregating spend and establishing contracting strategies that meet the unique needs of their members. Since it was established in 2008, Captis has provided over $500 million in savings to its members.
“As value-based care models continue to evolve, we need to be proactive in reducing costs and improving clinical outcomes” said George Harms, Chief Financial Officer at HaysMed. “By joining Captis, we are helping to reduce costs and improve the delivery of care to our patients and the communities we serve.”
“We are excited to welcome HaysMed to Captis. The continued growth and collaboration between member hospitals helps reduce supply chain costs and drive operational efficiencies beyond what they could achieve on their own” said Brenda Peterson, RN and Vice President of Captis. “Equally important, they continuously participate in shared problem solving and in the development of innovative approaches that help assure the best clinical outcomes for patients.”
Fire hydrant testing continues this week
HFD
The city of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Mon., March 12, 2018 in the area from Vine St. to Indian Trail 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.
KFIX House Band For Mon 3/12: Bruce Springsteen & The E. Street Band
Today, enjoy at least one song an hour from Springsteen & the E. Street Band on 96.9
“Like” KFIX on Facebook.
Cover photo: Laura
Reconstruction closes portion of Allen Street
CITY OF HAYS
Beginning Monday, March 12, 2018 Allen Street will be closed from the north side of 8th Street to the railroad tracks.
This phase of construction is scheduled to last until April 13, 2018 (pending weather conditions). The entire project should be complete by November 16, 2018.
Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. Motorists should use caution in these areas.
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 or the contractor, Paul-Wertenberger Construction at 785-625-8220.
Community to honor slain Missouri officer Monday
HENRY COUNTY —Residents held a Candlelight Vigil Sunday at the Henry County Courthouse grounds in Clinton, Missouri to honor officer Christopher Ryan Morton.
Morton was shot and killed and two others officers were wounded after they had been sent to the wrong house following a 911 call on March 6.
The three Clinton officers went inside the home to determine if criminal activity was occurring and James Waters was in the residence and shot them, according to police. It’s not clear if Waters, 37, was living there.
The funeral for Officer Morton will be 11 a.m., Monday, March 12, Benson Center, Clinton, Mo.
It is anticipated there will be some 1,000 law enforcement and public safety vehicles in the funeral procession from Clinton to Knob Noster, Missouri.
Les Kerr of the Missouri Law Enforcement Funeral Assistance Team says they will use the same route in Clinton as that of the funeral procession of Officer Gary Michael in August, 2017.
Sunny, cool Monday
Today Sunny, with a high near 56. North northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 53. Northeast wind around 6 mph.
Tuesday Night Clear, with a low around 26. East wind around 6 mph becoming south after midnight.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 69. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday NightMostly clear, with a low around 42.
ThursdaySunny, with a high near 80.
Thursday NightMostly clear, with a low around 43.
Texas volunteers return to search for missing Kan. boy
SEDGWICK COUNTY— Texas EquuSearch has returned to Wichita to assist in the search for 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez, according to the organization’s web site.
Texas EquuSearch temporarily suspended their search for the boy last week to devote attention on another case.
Members of the volunteer horse mounted search and recovery team from Texas originally joined the search for Hernandez on March 2.
The boy was last seen in Wichita, on February 17. Lucas was wearing a gray t-shirt with a bear on it, black sweat pants and socks. Lucas is missing his top / front teeth, and he has silver caps on his remaining teeth.
He also has a small scar on his upper / left abdomen from a prior medical procedure. If you have seen Lucas Hernandez since his disappearance, if you know of his current whereabouts or if you have any information whatsoever concerning his disappearance; please call the Wichita, Kansas Police Department at (316) 268-4111
Gayle Clifford Bainter
Gayle Clifford Bainter was born to Roy C and Bessie Jane (Randall) Bainter on the family farm northwest of Hoxie, Kansas on March 31, 1920 the first of 7 children. He passed away on March 9, 2018 at the age of 97 . He attended the McGraw country school through 8th grade, and graduated from high school in Dresden, Kansas in 1938. He worked for several years and saved money to attend business college in Chillicothe, MO which he began in the fall of 1941.
After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor he was drafted into the US Army during WWII from and served from February 25, 1942 to December 31, 1945. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, in France, Belgium and Germany, and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in the crossing of the Sauer River. His unit liberated a concentration camp before the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945.
After the war, he married Ruth Mae Carstens on January 1, 1947 in Topeka, KS. To this union three children were born, Warren, Judy, and Wesley. They celebrated 71 years of marriage and were true partners in life.
Gayle graduated from Washburn University with a BS in accounting in 1952. He worked in Topeka, Ks for a medical laboratory while attending college and until 1957 when the family moved to the farm in northwest Sheridan County to assist his father in farming, who was 61 at the time. In addition to farming, he worked part time for Sheridan County Appraiser’s office for a number of years, and then became the County Appraiser from 1976 to 1984. He later served as County Appraiser for Decatur County for several years.
Gayle was active in a number of service organizations. He became a 32nd degree Mason in Topeka in 1957. He joined the Hoxie Rotary Club serving all the local offices, and was Rotary District 5670 Governor 1994-1995. He made 4 trips to Panama with Rotary groups to provide eye glasses to the poor in that country. He served as a mentor in the Kansas Rotary High School Leadership Academy for several years. He was a life member of the VFW Post in Grainfield, KS. He was a member of the McGraw Methodist Church all his life.
Gayle is survived by his children, Warren (Jan) Bainter of Oberlin, Judy Gaumer of Oberlin, and Wesley (Casey) Bainter of Hoxie, 10 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-granchildren, and sisters Rayta Mues of Golden Colorado and Della Jean Shipley of Hoxie.
He was predeceased by his Wife, Ruth, his parents, and sisters, Leta Neeley, Norma Tice, and Irma Shipley, brother Dale Bainter, and grandson, Adam Gaumer.
Services are scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, 2018, at the Hoxie United Methodist Church, at 10:30 A.M. Interment will follow in the Hoxie City Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Monday, March 12, 2018 from Noon until 7:00 P.M.at Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, Hoxie, Kansas.
The family suggests memorials to the McGraw Methodist Church, and they may be sent to Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home, PO Box 987, Hoxie, Kansas 67740. On-line condolences may be left at www.mickeyleopoldfuneral.com