SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects in connection with a weekend shooting.
Rogers Gomez photo Sedgwick Co.
Just after 8 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a walk-in shooting call at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, according to office Charley Davidson.
The investigation revealed that a 17-year-old boy and his 19-year-old brother were outside of their residence in the 2300 block of N. Mascot in Wichita.
A white Chrysler 300 approached the residence occupied by four individuals that included 20-year-old Rogers Gomez and a 17-year-old. Gomez and the teen exited the vehicle; shots were fired shots toward the brothers, striking the 17-year-old victim in the abdomen and the second victim in the foot. Both were treated at a local hospital for non-life-threating injuries.
On Wednesday, police reported they had arrested Gomez on requested charges of aggravated battery and the 17-year-old on requested charges of aggravated battery and criminal possession of a firearm by a juvenile. Gomez remains jailed on a $50,000 bond, according to online jail records.
Richard Schleicher, Stockton, competes at the 2019 Cheyenne Frontier Days. The bull rider will ride in Phillipsburg on Saturday, Aug. 3, at Kansas Biggest Rodeo. Photo by Hubbell Photos.
PHILLIPSBURG – Over 425 cowboys and cowgirls will make the trek to Phillipsburg, Kansas, this weekend, for the annual Kansas Biggest Rodeo.
They hail from 22 states and a Canadian province, from Oregon to Florida to Alberta.
But one bull rider won’t have far to travel.
Richard Schleicher, of Stockton, started his bull riding career as a kid, mutton busting and riding steers, and competing at Little Britches Rodeos and junior high rodeos.
But by the age of twelve, he quit. He was burned out and tired of the travel.
After graduation from Stockton High School in 2015, he decided to start back up.
Two months shy of his nineteenth birthday, he got his PRCA permit, and, since then, he’s been competing at as many rodeos as he can get to.
Schleicher, a graduate of a welding program, is an employee at the New Holland dealership in Plainville, and is able to take off to rodeo most weekends, except during harvest, when he’s needed.
And he’s having the best year of his four year pro rodeo career.
Much of the winter he spent in practice pens, getting on five or more bulls a week. Friends like PBR bull rider Cooper Kanngiesser and stock contractor Mark Ward helped him, as he practiced in Garden City, Medicine Lodge, and North Platte, Neb.
After each ride, he and his mentors would assess what went right and what didn’t, and he’d get on again “When you make a mistake, you get on another one till you get the problem figured out,” Schleicher said.
Injuries have plagued him, too. He’s torn ankle ligaments, broken the radius and ulna bones in his right wrist, torn his groin, and had concussions. This winter, he took time off for surgery on his riding hand. The injuries kept him from riding well. “I was trying to ride and I wasn’t healthy,” he said. “You keep trying and you dig yourself into a hole.”
Schleicher is pleased, because he’s finally making money at riding bulls.
But whether he was making money or not, he loves it. He thrives on the competition. “I hate losing,” he said. The adrenaline rush is still there, but after four years of competition, it’s lessened. “When I started riding better,” he said, “I got a lot more calm.”
And he loves the rodeo atmosphere and the camaraderie. His favorite part? “The people, honestly,” he said. “They’re like family, pretty much. I go to a rodeo and see all my friends.”
This week is one of his busiest so far, with several Kansas and Prairie Circuit rodeos going on. He competed in Manhattan, Kan. and Burwell, Neb. last weekend, and this week he’ll be in Hill City, Dodge City, Abilene, and on Saturday night, Phillipsburg. He’s entered the Phillipsburg rodeo three times but only competed there twice. Last year, Phillipsburg was his last rodeo before he was out due to a torn abductor muscle from his groin to his pelvis. This winter, he’ll have surgery on his other wrist, to repair damage done from bone chips from the ulna.
Schleicher, who is 22 years old, is the son of Harold and Deb Schleicher.
Six of the nine champions from last year’s rodeo will be in town to defend their titles. They include bareback rider Blaine Kaufman, Pretty Prairie, Kan.; steer wrestler Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore.; team ropers Clay Tryan, Lipan, Texas and Travis Graves, Bluff Dale, Texas; saddle bronc rider Colt Gordon, Comanche, Okla. and all-around champion Marcus Theriot, Poplarville, Miss.
Seven of the reigning world champions will be on hand to compete. They are bareback rider Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa; steer wrestler Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La.; team ropers Clay Smith, Bowie, Texas and Paul Eaves, Millsap, Texas; saddle bronc rider Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa; tie-down roper Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas; and bull rider Sage Kimzey, Salado, Texas.
Performances are August 1-3 at 8 pm each night.
Tickets start at $15 for adults and $11 for children ages 3-12 and can be purchased at Heritage Insurance Co. in Phillipsburg (685 Third Street) or over the phone at 785.543.2448. They are also available at the gate.
For more information, call 785.543.2448 or visit the website at www.KansasBiggestRodeo.com.
One of the things I love most about being president of Fort Hays State University is that I get to hear stories from our alumni about the life-changing power of a college education and the caring, hard-working people of this amazing institution.
This week, I want to share alumnus Michael Durall’s personal story of transformation. It is a story that begins in the 1960s with a “shy, uncertain young man” who credits the people of our university with encouraging him to persist and discover the person he was meant to be.
Fort Hays Kansas State College changed my life forever
By Michael Durall, B.A. ’70
I enrolled at Fort Hays Kansas State College in the fall of 1964. At that time, tuition was $125 per semester, and many students paid in cash. I remember standing in line at the Registrar’s Office in the Coliseum to pay. I could hear the basketball team practicing on the nearby court, where the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center is today.
I worked various jobs that paid $1.25 per hour. At first, I lived at home to save money. When I eventually shared an apartment, the going rate was about $30 per guy, per month. We shared one landline phone and divvied up the cost.
I was a naïve, shy and uncertain young man. I hadn’t studied much in high school and shouldn’t have gone to college, but I just didn’t know what else to do. I flunked out my freshman year. I worked construction for about eighteen months, and when I returned most of my beer-drinking and poker-playing buddies had moved on.
I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. I changed majors a number of times, trying to find a path.
But by then, the Vietnam War was heating up, with body counts increasing daily. The civil rights and the women’s liberation movements were also gaining momentum. No one realized that the ’60s would be one of the most tumultuous eras in American history.
I remember a silent anti-war vigil on the corner of 12th and Main on a Saturday morning, led by a number of local clergy. They stood silently for an hour while police with sniper rifles were on the roof of the bank building across the street. Things like that weren’t supposed to happen in Hays, Kansas. A poll revealed that about 60 percent of Americans believed the National Guard did the right thing by killing four unarmed students at Kent State.
The once peaceful world I knew evaporated forever, lost in an alarming, unpredictable, and surrealistic turn of events.
Amidst this turbulence, one seemingly innocuous event at Fort Hays State remains etched in my memory. It falls into the category of late-night conversations that many college students remember as life altering, more than anything they learned academically.
I was a student in the late Bob Lowen’s journalism class. I was seated next to a married female student who was a few years older than I. By any imaginable calculation, she was out of my league. She told me she had gotten straight A’s, then added, “It’s not so much my grades that are important. Rather, I’m becoming a person who is increasingly interested in the world and the people who inhabit it.”
I felt like I had been struck by lightning. This was the person I wanted to be. I began to take my education more seriously. I looked at my professors in a new light, and realized how much time, effort and skill was required to teach effectively at the college level. Being an English major, I was exposed to the world’s great literature. In art history classes, the late John Thorns opened a visual world of art and sculpture that I hadn’t known even existed.
I also realized that if I wanted to become more knowledgeable about the world and its people, there were certain requirements. These included not making snap judgments about people based on their appearance; being a reliable friend; becoming strong enough to stand against prejudice when I encountered it; and being slow to criticize and quick to forgive.
Fortunately, in the years since I was a student, I’ve been able to travel. In gratefulness, I funded a travel fellowship at Fort Hays for about five years that allowed students from small Kansas towns to travel anywhere in the world. Since I had been given much, I felt an obligation to give in return.
Looking back to the days I was a student, I don’t even remember my classmate’s name. But I am eternally grateful for Fort Hays Kansas State College giving me the opportunity to be in that particular place and time. Becoming curious about the world and the people in it helped me become who I am today.
The 2018 Farm Bill was passed in December 2018. Though it has much in common with the previous farm bill, there are some significant differences.
To address the differences and give producers the most up to date information, Kansas State University Agricultural Economics department and K-State Research and Extension are holding regional programs around the state. These in-depth Farm Bill meetings will cover the new provisions of the programs, economic decisions to consider when making a decision, and present a new decision tool for producers to use.
Specifically, the discussion will look at commodity programs, particularly the economics of the ARC/PLC decision and the OSU-KSU Farm Program Decision Aid. There will also be discussion of SCO and changes in crop insurance.
One of these meetings will be held in Great Bend on Aug. 29 at the Great Bend Convention Center, 3111 10th Street. Speakers are Dr. Mykel Taylor, Dr. Monte Vandeveer, Robin Reid, and Dr. Dan O’Brien, as well as local extension agents and FSA personnel.
There will also be sessions Aug. 26 in the Hill City and Aug, 27 in Goodland and Leoti.
There will be no fee to attend this program, but pre-registration will be required. Registration is now open at https://bit.ly/2MTDsTi or by calling 620-793-1910. You can also email Alicia Boor at [email protected] for any questions or to register.
Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or calling 620-793-1910
The FHSU Student Veterans Association would like to thank all the donors that helped make the new Military and Veterans Scholarship at Fort Hays State University a reality.
Without support from university staff, community organizations, and our generous donors this could not have happened. The FHSU-SVA would like to take this opportunity to specifically thank the Hays VFW, Post 9076; the Russell VFW, Post 6240; and all the donors who participated in the I Fed the Tiger campaign for your generosity and your continued support.
The awards for the Fall 2019 semester are the first from a scholarship specifically designated for currently serving and veteran military members and the SVA hopes to continue the scholarship for many years.
For more information about the FHSU Student Veterans Association or the scholarship please contact [email protected].
Spencer Goff
FHSU Student Veterans Association vice president
Friday, September 6, 3:00 p.m. through Sunday, September 8, 12 noon at the Docking and Specter Center, Fossil Creek Hotel & Suites, 1430 South Fossil, Russell.
Contact Kim Lyon for more details at 785-259-5872.
BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on.drug charges after a Wednesday arrest.
Just after 11:30 a.m. officers searched a home at 1407 22nd Street in Great Bend, according to a media release from police. They found a large quantity of marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside of the residence.
Officers arrested 41-year old Jared Alan Disney. He was booked into the Barton County Jail on requested charges ofDistribution of marijuana. Possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on a bond of $100,000, according to police.
The Hays Eagles offense exploded for 14 runs and starter Colby Dreiling allowed just one hit in four shutout innings in a 14-0 win over Ottawa at Larks Park Wednesday in the first day of the AA/AAA State American Legion Baseball tournament.
Coach Dustin Schumacher
After a quick 1-2-3 top of the first inning in which Dreiling used just nine pitches the Eagles Cody Petersen homered to left first with one out in the bottom of the first to get the offense going.
Hays then took advantage of back-to-back errors by the Ottawa shortstop and a Brady Kreutzer two-run single. Jamison Martin also singled in a run in the inning. Hays also scored on an error and a passed ball to take a 6-0 first inning lead.
Palmer Hutchison homered in the second inning to put Hays up 7-0.
Ottawa got their first base runner in the third inning on a hit batter. They recorded their only hit in the fourth inning.
After sending 11 to the plate in the first inning the Eagles sent 12 to the plate in the bottom of the third inning.
In that inning Hays scored seven runs highlighted by Petersen’s two-run double and Jamison Martin’s two-run single.
Petersen and Martin each drove in three runs in the victory.
Dreiling earned his fourth win of the season. He allowed just one hit while striking out one in four shutout innings.
Hays improved to 31-6 with the win.
They will take on Emporia Thursday at 6 p.m. at Larks Park.
Other scores from the day one of the state tournament:
Sabetha defeated Norton 15-0
Emporia rallied to be Great Bend 4-3
Iola downed Russell 10-0
WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced Wednesday to serve a year on probation and pay a $1,000 fine for trying to get out of a traffic ticket by pretending to be an FBI agent, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Andra photo Sumner Co.
Jarrod M. Andra, 36, Milan, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating an agent.
In his plea, he admitted that on Nov. 30, 2018, he was stopped for speeding in Sumner County by a Sumner County Sheriff’s Deputy. Andra claimed he was a special agent for the FBI and presented what appeared to be an FBI identification card with his photo.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old man shot by Wichita police in July is charged with making a criminal threat.
Suspect Christian Joel Washington during the incident image courtesy Wichita Police
Christian Joel Washington was charged last week with criminal threat and violating a protection order.
Police have said Washington displayed “aggressiveness” toward an officer before he was shot on July 14. They say the officer thought Washington had a gun but it was later determined that he was holding a pouch with a metal piece.
The confrontation occurred when officers responded to a woman’s call saying her son was causing a domestic disturbance.
Christian Joel Washington photo Sedgwick Co.
Washington was shot once in the abdomen and was hospitalized before he was booked into jail.
In court documents, Washington said he was homeless and unemployed. He is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail.
DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating another case of possible swatting in Kansas.
Just after 1am Tuesday, officers from the Lawrence Police Department responded to the 2400 block of Cedarwood Ave, on what was initially called a domestic disturbance with weapons, according to a media release.
An as of yet unidentified man called dispatch claiming to have shot his wife.
After arriving at the scene, officers learned the call was a probable attempt at swatting, stemming from a disagreement in an online video game chat room. Police have not released the caller’s name or additional details.
In December 2017 two online gamers whose alleged dispute over a $1.50 Call of Duty WWII video game bet ultimately led police to fatally shoot a Wichita man not involved in the argument in a case of “swatting” that received national attention.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Ohio woman who said she lost a job offer at Wichita State University after she revealed she was pregnant has reached a $50,000 settlement with the university.
Evangeline Heiliger sued Wichita State in December because she said the school withdrew a job offer for an assistant professor of women’s studies a day after she told Center of Women’s Studies director Chinyere Okafor that she was expecting a baby and asked about child care options on campus.
Heiliger was a visiting assistant professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Ohio’s Oberlin College when she applied for the Wichita State job in 2017. She said she was offered the position after interviewing in February 2018.
A day after she told Okafor in March of that year about her pregnancy, then-department head Ron Matson told her in an email that she had been removed from consideration and also ignored a follow-up email saying she was eager to begin the job, according to her lawsuit.
Court records show that Heiliger and Wichita State agreed to settle the lawsuit following a seven-hour mediation session in May.
Wichita State spokesman Joe Kleinsasser said Wednesday that school would not comment on the settlement. The university’s general counsel, David Moses, said previously that an administrative agency investigation found the university didn’t violate any laws and that the school “remains committed to creating a fair and equitable workplace.”
As part of the settlement, Heiliger agreed to dismiss her lawsuit and never again apply for employment with Wichita State, according to a settlement agreement released by the university last week. The agreement also bars her from discussing or commenting on the settlement or her pregnancy discrimination claims.
