Hays Post – Page 150 – Hays Post Archive

HaysMed cardiologist receives  AMCC Fellowship designation

Posted on September 21, 2019September 20, 2019

Dr. Byungsoo Ko, cardiologist and director of the Cardiovascular Cathertization Laboratory at HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System, was recently elected to a Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology.

Fellowship is one of the most distinguished designations the AMCC offers its members, and is the ultimate recognition of professional achievement.

Based on outstanding credentials, achievements and community contributions to cardiovascular medicine, those who are elected to Fellowship signal to peers and patients their commitment to quality cardiovascular care through use of the FACC designation. Fellows of the ACC come from all specialties within cardiology and include adult cardiologists, pediatric cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, surgeons, researchers, academicians, specialists in a cardiovascular-related field and cardiovascular team members with advanced degrees.

The strongest evidence of achievement for those who earn the FACC designation comes from the applicant’s peers through letters of sponsorship attesting to their professional competence and commitment to excellence.

“Achieving FACC designation is an important professional milestone for Dr. Ko.” said Dr. Jeffery Curtis, Director of Cardiology Services at HaysMed. “We congratulate him and we are proud to have him as a colleague here at DeBakey Heart Institute at HaysMed.”

— HaysMed

Ellis Co. Conservation District photo contest closes Oct. 1

Posted on September 21, 2019September 19, 2019

Local photographers are encouraged to participate in the Ellis County Conservation District plat book cover photo contest. Entry forms may be picked up the ECCD office, 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays.

The rules are:

ELIGIBILITY: The Ellis County Conservation District Photo Contest is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Ellis County, KS. (An amateur photographer is one whose majority of income does not come from photography.) Persons of any age may compete in this contest. Ellis County Conservation District board of supervisors and employees and family members and employees working in the Hays Field Office are not eligible to enter.

SUBJECT MATTER: Photos should be taken within Ellis County. Photos can be of community events, friends, family, scenic, historical structures, or conservation practices** within the county. Do not use or show any copyrighted material in the photo.

ENTRIES: Should be sent or delivered to Sandi Scott, District Manager, 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays, KS 67601. Photos may also be digitally transmitted at [email protected]. Photos must be received NO LATER THAN CLOSE OF BUSINESS ON OCTOBER 1, 2019.

AWARDS: 1st place winner will receive a $50 cash prize. The winning picture will be featured on the cover of the 2020 Ellis County Conservation District Plat Book.

PHOTO RULES: Photo must have been taken any time from October 1, 2018 – October 1, 2019. Minor digital enhancements for cropping, red-eye removal, filters and corrective functions are permitted, but images that have been judged to be altered in any significant manner will be disqualified. Contestants are not to place watermarks, dates, signatures or copyright images on photos. Previously published photos are not eligible.

MOUNTING THE PHOTOGRAPH: Please mount on white mount board or paper. Mount the photo on the “whitest” and “smoothest” side of the board. Do not use foam core board or poster board. Remove white border from the enlargement before mounting. All photos must be 8” x 10”. If photos are mounted, leave a top edge of the print 1” below the top of the mount board. The sides of the print must be equal distance from the two sides of the mount. Photograph may use either a horizontal or vertical format. Use only adhesives designed for permanent photography mounting. Do not use rubber cement or other household glues (white glue, etc.).

NAME AND ADDRESS: A completed entry/release form must be submitted with the photo. Include a brief description of the photo, when and where the photo was taken, photographer’s full name and age, parent’s name if under the age of 18, home address, and contact number. Entry forms may be picked up at 2715 Canterbury Drive, Hays.

TERMS: In submitting photos, the photographer gives the Ellis County Conservation District permission to use their photo on the cover of the 2019 Plat Book and in any publications, social media, websites, displays and other places without payment or other consideration. An entry/photo release form is required to be submitted with the entry.

JUDGING STANDARDS: Photos will be judged on technical merit, composition and visual and aesthetic criteria. For technical merit, judges may check to see if the photo is well-framed, properly exposed, sharp and clear. For composition, judges determine if the photo features a recognizable center of interest, action and imagination and creativity. For visual and aesthetic criteria, judges will consider framing and choice of viewpoint, background, design elements and visual impact.

**Examples of conservation practices include Contour Buffer Strips, Contour Farming & Strip cropping, Cover Crop, Critical Area Planting, Crop Residue Management, Crop Rotation, Diversion, Field Borders, Grade Stabilization Structures (dam/embankment), Grass Waterways, Livestock Management, Manure Storage and Runoff Control, Nutrient Management, Pasture Planting, Pest Management, Riparian Buffer, Rotational Grazing, Stream bank & Shoreline Stabilization, Terrace, Tree Planting, Upland Wildlife Habitat, Water & Sediment Control Basin, Wetland Restoration, Wildlife Food Plot, Windbreaks, and Woodlot Management.

WPAA hosts Glenn Miller Orchestra Sept. 29.

Posted on September 21, 2019September 17, 2019

COLBY — One of the greatest Big Bands of all time, the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, is coming to Colby on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 3 p.m. CDT at the Colby Community College Cultural Arts Center.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has been swinging in his memory ever since 1954. Miller started his orchestra in March 1938. After touring with Benny Goodman, the Dorseys, and other greats, Miller began recording under his own name for Columbia records in 1935. During his professional career, the Glenn Miller Orchestra produced an average of more than ten Top 10 hits every year from 1939 through 1944.

Just a few of his career hits include: “Moonlight Serenade,” “Tuxedo Junction,” Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “In the Mood,” “A String of Pearls,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” and “That Old Black Magic.”

Admission to this Western Plains Arts Association 50th Anniversary Celebration program is with WPAA season ticket or at the door: adults, $20 and students $10.

Benefactors for the Miller Orchestra include: The Dane Hansen Foundation, Logan, Kan., the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation —Dane Hansen Community Grant for Thomas County, and the Seele Foundation. A large number of additional businesses and individuals across the area make these live programs possible.

In October 1942, Glenn Miller reported for induction into the Army, disbanding the orchestra during his years of service. He was immediately assigned to the Army Specialist Corps. He eventually earned the rank of captain, then major, and ultimately organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.

To assist the war effort, his band performed at military camps across the globe and hosted a weekly radio services. Following a tour in Great Britain, Miller boarded a transport plane to Paris on Dec. 15, 1944, disappearing over the English Channel. He was never to be seen again. The army declared him and the others on that plane officially dead a year later.

“A band ought to have a sound all of its own,” Miller once said. “It ought to have a personality.”

Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa, in 1904. He got his start several years later in North Platte, Neb., when his father brought home a mandolin. Miller promptly traded it for an old battered trombone, which he practiced every chance he got. He mother once quipped, “It got to where Pop and I used to wonder if he’d ever amount to anything.”

In 1923, Miller entered the University of Colorado, although he spent more time traveling to auditions and playing where and whenever he could. After flunking three of his five courses one semester, Miller dropped out to concentrate on his career as a professional musician.

With the 1954 release of the movie “The Glenn Miller Story”, featuring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson, interest and popular demand led the Miller Estate to authorize the formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra. The orchestra was under the direction of drummer Ray McKinley, who had become the unofficial leader of the Army Air Force Band after Miller’s disappearance.

Since January 2012, vocalist Nick Hilscher has led the band. Today, the 18-member ensemble continues to play many of the original Miller arrangements both from the civilian band and the AAFB libraries. Additionally, it also plays some more modern selection arranged and performed. See www.glennmillerorchestra.com for more information.

In 2003, Miller posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

— Submitted

This weekend’s Hays-area garage sales

Posted on September 21, 2019September 20, 2019

Hays-area garage sales

Scroll to the bottom for a map of garage sale locations. Hays Post offers FREE garage sale listings weekly. Having a garage sale next weekend? Click HERE to submit your information.

130 N Ash, Russell
Saturday 8-Noon

Lots of neat stuff, some antiques, Women’s Clothes, Men’s Big and Tall, household, garden, BBQ stuff, crafts and craft supplies and Misc. everything priced to sell. 130 North Ash Street Russell 8-Noon Saturday 9-21-19

———————

2206 Downing Ave., Hays
Friday, September 20th 5:30 until dark & Saturday, sept. 21st 8:00 am until 1:00 pm

Household items

———————

508 W 15th, Hays
Thursday, September 19th 4p.m. to dark, Friday, September 20th 4p.m. to dark, Saturday September 21st 9a.m. to Noon

Daycare closing! Toys, books, puzzles, baby items, pack n play, exersaucer, booster seats, house hold items, electronic keyboard with stand, sewing machine, too much to list

———————–

2516 Henry Drive, Hays
Friday 9/20 from 8 am to 8 pm and Saturday 9/21 from 8 am to noon

Automatic Baby Bottle Maker, antiques, collectables, porcelain dolls, queen bed frames, small grill I Robot Floor cleaner, toys, games puzzles, clothes, furniture, microwave, mens electric tools, lots of miscellaneous.

————————–

217 W. 35th St, Hays
Saturday, September 21st 8:00am to 12:00pm

Large, Multi-family garage sale
Girl’s clothing Newborn – 12 months, car seats, baby accessories, maternity clothes
shoes
Lots of home decor
wooden rocking chair
media console tables
desk hutch
coffee table
lots of miscellaneous!

—————————-

FIRST FIVE: First Amendment freedoms not just ‘office hours’

Posted on September 21, 2019September 20, 2019

Our First Amendment freedoms don’t keep office hours.

There’s nothing in the 45 words that start the Bill of Rights that says our freedom of speech only applies when it’s convenient for others, or polite or gains official permission to be heard.

There’s no provision for our right to petition the government for redress of grievances — in plainer terms, to ask our elected and appointed officials to fix something, to correct an error or simply to do a better job — to be shunted aside in favor of convenience.

And nowhere in that First Amendment is a priority given to creating a positive public image or deference provided to some amorphous, bureaucratic search for “order” or efficiency.

In truth, our First Amendment freedoms are inextricably intertwined with a deliberately messy, sometimes inconvenient or tedious, often inefficient, occasionally confrontational and impolitic system of self-governance called democracy.

Yet, time and again, we see public officials in high and low office ignore that truth — some with good intentions, but others with more venal goals: Shutting down vocal opposition, a quiet path to pre-determined action, avoiding contentious discussion, or creating a roundabout way to silence critics.

In state legislatures, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported in 2017, lawmakers “in nearly 20 states proposed bills in 2017 that would restrict people’s right to protest.” In North Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Florida, proposals were introduced to protect drivers from liability if they ran their cars over demonstrators standing in streets as long as it was “accidental.” Other states would place new limits on where the public might freely protest — from campuses to locations near oil and gas pipelines or other “critical infrastructure” — which, of course, might well be the very reasons for the protests.

On the local level, it can mean a recent ordinance adopted in Paducah, Ky., that bans the public from speaking during public meetings of the city commission on anything not on that meeting’s agenda. Supporters — including the four of five commissioners who voted for it — cite efficiency as their reason to end the practice of allowing citizens to speak at the end of each session. One was more blunt: The new law aims to silence what he said are groups that attend and make the same speeches each time.

A recent report on the new law by WPSD-TV in Paducah quoted one commissioner as saying if the public doesn’t like the way the commission does its work, they can vote members out at the next election — a clear, if unintended, view that freedoms of speech and petition apply in this case one day every four years. In an earlier WPSD report, City Commissioner Richard Abraham said members of the public would still be able to talk to city council members about concerns that are not on the agenda, just not at public meetings: “You can email your commissioner. You can call city hall for the number. We’ll get back to you.”

Yes, public demonstrations and public comments by ordinary citizens at public meetings can and do disrupt, delay, extend, confuse, confound, irritate and even at times bore those elected or employed to do the public’s business. Frankly, all of that simply goes with the job — and the public salary.

Yes, some restrictions on demonstrations and speaking at public meetings can pass constitutional muster — for example, setting reasonable time limits on individual remarks to allow more people to speak during any given meeting.

But the First Amendment protects our basic right to speak directly to public officials in public about matters of public interest — and, if nowhere else, that should apply most at the government level that is closest to us.

Providing email addresses or promises to “get back” to us just don’t measure up.

Gene Policinski is president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. He can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter at @genefac.

KU study: E-cigarette ads influence adolescents who fail to question tactics

Posted on September 21, 2019September 20, 2019

KU NEWS SERVICE

LAWRENCE — The tobacco industry has a history of targeting young people in its advertising to attract new customers. As vaping and electronic cigarettes have grown in popularity, advertisers are up to the same old tricks. New research from the University of Kansas shows that not only do those advertising tactics work, but young people also fail to question information touted in those ads.

Adolescents are the target market for e-cigarette advertisers as drawing in young customers is key to the industry’s business model. While research has examined how young people view e-cigarettes, or how high school youths view advertising, little attention has been paid to how such ads target adolescents. Researchers conducted five focus groups with 39 youths ages 12-17 who don’t use e-cigarettes to find out how they viewed the ads. The findings reflect three key themes:

The ads motivate nonsmokers to use e-cigarettes.
There was a fascination with the technical and emotional appeal of the products.
When searching for information about e-cigarettes, there was very little validation of information.

Yvonnes Chen, KU Associate Professor, School of Journalism

Yvonnes Chen, associate professor of journalism & mass communications; Chris Tilden, research project manager at KU’s Center for Public Partnerships & Research, and Dee Katherine Vernberg of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department conducted the focus groups and published their findings in the journal Psychology & Health. The study was funded by a Centers for Disease Control Community Health Grant.

“When e-cigarettes were just starting, people were curious how and why they existed and how they work. But now that they are increasingly popular, we want to know more about their advertising and marketing,” Chen said. “Research has skimmed over the advertising factors, especially as they relate to adolescents’ intent to use them.”

Participants said advertising for e-cigarettes made them want to try the products. They pointed to multiple flavors, the idea that they were a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes and the way they made vaping look cool as the main reasons. Multiple respondents said the ads mentioned they were healthier than cigarettes, leading them to believe they would not get addicted.

“These e-cig companies steal the entire playbook from the tobacco industry,” Chen said. “You see the ‘cool factor,’ the sex appeal and all the same tactics cigarette companies used in advertising. But before now we haven’t looked at how those approaches are perceived by adolescents.”

Respondents also indicated a fascination with the technical and emotional appeal of the commercials. Several pointed out the appeal of the e-cigarettes themselves, their sleek design, batteries and packaging to look like flash drives or “Lord of the Rings” branding were appealing.

“I saw a magazine ad for high-end e-cigarettes, marketing them as a more classy alternative to cigarettes. They were highlighting features and technologies they had, like how long the battery lasted. So it was making it seem fancy — special vapor technology,” one participant said.

Others recalled special effects used in the ads, such as how Blu, one of the most popular brands, had black-and-white commercials highlighting only the color of the e-cigarette.

The emotional appeal was front and center, with participants reporting they perceived social benefits like increased friendships or health benefits including a safer alternative to traditional tobacco, help in quitting smoking or the absence of secondhand smoke.

The third theme showed that when adolescents search for information on e-cigarettes, there was little verification of the information they found. The majority reported youths their age learn about e-cigarettes through search engines and social media platforms. Participants cited YouTube and Instagram demonstration videos on blowing smoke rings and other vaping tricks. When asked if they searched for specific information, the adolescents reported they searched for information on ingredients, if they contained nicotine, health effects, how to obtain them and price. While some said they found “very scientific” information, others said they mostly found information aimed at justifying use.

While the findings show that adolescents remember specific aspects of the ads, their comments lacked skepticism, suggesting the influence of the ads is even more effective on adolescents than older audiences. The results, when taken with the industry trend of increasingly using digital and mobile media for product promotion, show that e-cigarettes and marketing should be regulated by the FDA, researchers argued. While such regulation does not currently exist, media literacy campaigns designed to help adolescents better understand targeted messages and encourage critical thinking would be beneficial.

“The ads were all about being designed so they would be remembered by the viewers. And the e-cigarette industry is very aware of that and very good at it,” Chen said. “I think this adds to a growing body of research and adds support for researchers urging the FDA to take swift action to regulate e-cigarettes.”

Area Game of the Week: Thunder Ridge at Hill City

Posted on September 20, 2019

There was royalty under the lights as a homecoming king and queen were crowned in Hill City. However, no homecoming is complete without a homecoming football game, and that is just what was on tap when the Thunder Ridge Longhorns payed a visit to the Hill City Ringnecks.

The two squads facing off also meant a coaching clash of two former standout running backs. Coach Travis Desbien is in his 3rd year leading the Hill City Ringnecks. He was a standout running back on Palco’s 2005 state runner-up team. Coach Joel Struckhoff is leading Thunder Ridge for a second year. In 2011 he led Thunder Ridge to a state title as a running back and he still holds several career yard and point records at the 8-man level.

Both coaches were decorated players, but tonight was about this year’s athletes. Reece Struckhoff, a cousin of Joel’s, got the scoring started when he returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The Senior running back had to sit out last year due to transfer rules, but he has been making up for lost time this season. He did it again later in the quarter, breaking off a long touchdown run on 3rd and 10. Struckhoff helped his team to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Ringnecks struck first in quarter number 2, on a long touchdown pass to junior receiver Brody McDowell, the ensuing conversion was good, making the score 14-8 Longhorns. Each team found one more score before the half, making it 28-16 at the break. Both squads also had a touchdown brought back by a penalty in the quarter.

Hill City started the second half with the ball, but they failed to score and were forced to punt. Thunder Ridge was able to cash in on their next possession as Struckhoff took in another touchdown, making the score 36-14. More solid defense and a pick-six by Struckhoff helped Thunder Ridge ride out an exciting second half, resulting in a 48-22 victory to spoil Hill City’s homecoming.

Struckhoff finished with 22 carries for 253 yards and 5 touchdowns, he also had the kick return touchdown, the interception return, and 12 tackles. Hill City’s junior standout quarterback Jayce Hamel had 124 yards and a score on 26 carries, he also threw for 132 yards and a touchdown. Brody McDowell finished with 6 receptions for 172 yards and 2 scores. Thunder Ridge is 3-0 on the year, while Hill City drops to 1-2.

Thunder Ridge plays the second of a 3-game road trip next Friday when they head to Almena to face District 5 opponent Northern Valley.

Hill City will hit the road as well next Friday when they face undefeated Clifton-Clyde.

Plainville beats TMP on homecoming

Posted on September 20, 2019

HAYS – The Plainville Cardinals scored on a couple of long touchdowns and held the TMP-Marian offense in check Friday in a 16-0 win at Lewis Field in Hays.

Jay Harris postgame interview

Game highlights

The Cardinals struck first, putting together an eight-play 41-yard drive that was capped off by a Jordan Finnesy 23-yard touchdown run. The Cardinals were able to convert on fourth down twice on their way to the endzone.

In the second quarter the Monarchs put together an eight-play drive of their own but it stalled on downs. Plainville took over and drove down the field in eight plays and scored their second touchdown of the game, a 30-yard touchdown pass from Finnesy to Cody Crawford. The two-point conversion gave Plainville a lead with 5:19 left in the first-half.

Both defenses really played well in the second half, with the only points coming on a TMP safety after a bad snap that went out of the back of the endzone giving Plainville the 16-0 lead just twenty seconds into the fourth quarter.

In the second half each team threw an interception, turned it over on downs and were forced to punt in a second half that was dominated by the defenses.

Plainville outgained the Monarchs 211 to 64 total yards of offense.

TMP falls to 1-2 on the season. They begin district play next week at Hoisington.

Plainville improved to 3-0 and will take on Smith Center next week in a battle of the top two teams in 1A.

Week 3 high school football scoreboard

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

Western Athletic Conference
Hays (0-2) 13 Liberal (2-0) 12
*Northwest(2-0) 31 Great Bend (2-0) 0
*Dodge City (2-0) 26 Heights (0-2) 23
*Hutchinson(0-2) 21 Garden City (0-2) 12

Mid-Continent League
Plainville(2-0) 16 TMP(1-1) 0
Phillipsburg (1-1) 7 Smith Center (2-0) 27

Mid-Continent League 8-man
*Trego (1-1) 54 Triplains/Brewster (1-1) 8
*Osborne (2-0) 46 Stockton (1-1) 8
*Thunder Ridge (2-0) 48 Hill City (1-1) 22

Central Prairie League
Victoria (2-0) 50 Macksville (1-1) 0
Central Plains (0-2) 56 Kinsley (1-1) 6
Ness City (2-0) 62 St. John (0-2) 0
*Otis-Bison (1-1) 58 Stafford (0-2) 8

Northern Plains League
Lincoln (2-0) 6 Sylvan-Lucas (1-1) 56
St. Johns/Tipton (1-1) 60 Tescott (0-2) 6
Wilson (1-1) 0 Clifton-Clyde (2-0) 72
*Hanover(2-0) 66 Rock Hills (2-0) 16

Northwest Kansas League
Quinter(0-2) 6 Hoxie (1-1) 46
Saint Francis (2-0) 46 Dighton (0-2) 0

Western Kansas Liberty League
*Wichita County (2-0) 68 Logan/Palco (2-0) 14

Central Kansas League
Heston (2-0) 26 Pratt (0-2) 0
Larned (1-1) 19 Hoisington (2-0) 41

North Central Activates Association
*Lacrosse (2-0) 21 Republic County (0-2) 14
Sacred Heart (0-2) 13 Ellsworth (2-0) 38
Mineapolis (2-0) 6 Beloit (1-1) 26
Russell (0-2) 10 Southeast of Saline (2-0) 52

Other games of note
Scott City (2-0) 55 Goodland (0-2) 0
Colby (2-0) 39 Holcomb (1-1) 21
Hodgeman County (2-0) 14 South Central (2-0) 48
Trinity (2-0) 0 Ell-Slaine (2-0) 34

6-Man

Natoma (1-1) 41 Deerfield (1-1) 27
Pawnee Heights (2-0) 0 Cheylin (2-0) 46

*Non-league

Kansas man jailed for violent baseball bat attack on stepfather

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect after a violent attack on his stepfather

Just before 10:30p.m. Thursday, police responded to report of a disturbance at a home in the 4800 Block of South Fern in Wichita, according to office Charley Davidson.

At the scene, police found a 59-year-old man with critical injuries. EMS transported him to a local hospital for treatment.

Investigators learned that the suspect identified as 26-year-old Tyler Lewis went to his stepfather’s home. During a disturbance between the two men, Lewis battered the step-father with a baseball bat, stabbed him multiple times and fled on foot.

Police found Lewis in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 2700 Block of South Topeka. They arrested him on requested charges of aggravated battery and an aggravated weapons violation.

The stepfather remains hospitalized but has been upgraded to fair condition, according to Davidson.

US to send troops to Saudi Arabia, hold off on striking Iran

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Friday announced it will deploy additional U.S. troops and missile defense equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as President Donald Trump has at least for now put off any immediate military strike on Iran in response to the attack on the Saudi oil industry.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Pentagon reporters this is a first step to beef up security and he would not rule out additional moves down the road. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more details about the deployment will be determined in the coming days, but it would not involve thousands of U.S. troops.

Other officials said the U.S. deployment would likely be in the hundreds and the defensive equipment heading to the Middle East would probably include Patriot missile batteries and possibly enhanced radars.

The announcement reflected Trump’s comments earlier in the day when he told reporters that showing restraint “shows far more strength” than launching military strikes and he wanted to avoid an all-out war with Iran.

Instead, he laid out new sanctions on the Iranian central bank and said the easiest thing to do would be to launch military strikes.

“I think the strong person’s approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “Much easier to do it the other way, and Iran knows that if they misbehave, they are on borrowed time.”

Dunford told reporters the extra equipment and troops would give the Saudis a better chance of defending against unconventional aerial attacks.

“No single system is going to be able to defend against a threat like that,” he said, “but a layered system of defensive capabilities would mitigate the risk of swarms of drones or other attacks that may come from Iran.”

The U.S. has not provided any hard evidence that Iran was responsible for the attacks, while insisting the investigation continues, but Esper on Friday said the drones and cruise missiles used in the attack were produced by Iran.

“The attack on Sept. 14 against Saudi Arabian oil facilities represents a dramatic escalation of Iranian aggression,” Esper said, adding that the U.S. has thus far shown “great restraint.”

In deciding against an immediate U.S. strike, Trump for the second time in recent months pulled back from a major military action against Iran that many Pentagon and other advisers fear could trigger a new Middle East war. In June, after Iran shot down an American surveillance drone, Trump initially endorsed a retaliatory military strike then abruptly called it off because he said it would have killed dozens of Iranians.

On Friday, he left the door open a bit for a later military response, saying people thought he’d attack Iran “within two seconds,” but he has “plenty of time.”

Trump spoke just before he gathered his national security team at the White House to consider a broad range of military, economic and diplomatic options in response to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi oil facilities.

Iran has denied involvement and warned the U.S. that any attack will spark an “all-out war” with immediate retaliation from Tehran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence have condemned the attack on Saudi oil facilities as “an act of war.”

Esper and Dunford declined to discuss any potential ship movements to the region, although a number of U.S. Navy vessels are nearby.

The additional air and missile defense equipment for Saudi Arabia would be designed to bolster its defenses in the north, since most of its defenses have focused on threats from Houthis in Yemen to the south.

A forensic team from U.S. Central Command is pouring over evidence from cruise missile and drone debris, but the Pentagon said the assessment is not finished. Officials are trying to determine if they can get navigational information from the debris that could provide hard evidence that the strikes came from Iran.

Russell church to collect food donations Sunday

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

RUSSELL – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday offers a way for congregations to play a critical part in addressing community needs.

The Russell County Food Pantry meets the most basic of needs, serving on average 48 families per month. With need outweighing resources, St. John Lutheran Church in Russell will be celebrating “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday by collecting non-perishable food items for the Russell County Food Pantry.

The Community Food Drive will be held Sunday, September 22 starting at 1:00 pm.

Those living in the Russell city limits are asked to place items in a plastic grocery bag and place on your porch. Volunteers will collect the food items from porches and deliver them to the Russell County Food Pantry. Please make sure donated items have not passed their printed expiration dates.

If you are missed on Sunday, or forgot to place your items on your porch, please bring your donations to the church office. Those living outside the city limits are also encouraged to drop donations off at the church office. For more information on this program, please contact St. John Lutheran Church at 785-483-5358.

– SUBMITTED –

Regents seek $95.3 million increase for higher education

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents is requesting a $95.3 million increase in state tax funding for 32 universities and colleges in the system.

$50 million of that proposal advanced this week would go to the six public universities that some regents hope could result in a second year of tuition freezes for resident undergraduate students.

Under the proposed budget, Kansas community and technical colleges would share an additional $13.5 million. Most of that would be for promoting a statewide program that allows high school students earn college credit.

Other items in the budget include $10 million for need-based student financial aid, $10 million for deferred maintenance and $1 million for Washburn University.

The proposed budget goes to the governor’s office, which will make budget recommendations in January.