WICHITA – A woman from Mexico who was stopped in Kansas with 21 pounds of methamphetamine pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of drug trafficking, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said Monday in a news release.
Maria Alonso-Espinoza, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped her car on Feb. 26 on Interstate 70 near Russell. Her brother was driving, and she was riding as a passenger. She was the registered owner of the car.
Troopers found 21 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the driver’s side rear quarter panel, McAllister said. Investigators learned Alonso-Espinoza was taking the methamphetamine from Colorado to Wichita for distribution, he added.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 27. She could face a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million. McAllister commended the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst for their work on the case.
Entrepreneurship comes with both its challenges and its rewards. As an entrepreneur, you might sometimes feel as if you’re flying solo and dream of having a co-pilot to help steer you around the many obstacles that you face during the course of your everyday business.
EshipConnect brings you an opportunity to talk to some of the leading business professionals in western Kansas; allowing you to ask the questions that matter most to you and your business. Whether you are an established entrepreneur or you’re thinking of taking that leap of faith to start your own business, our panel of resource professionals will provide you with the assistance you need. So get ready to build your network and make some connections to help develop upon your existing hard work and talents.
9:00am Introduction
9:20am Women and Minority Owned Businesses Programs: Rhonda Harris -Director, Office of Minority & Women Business Development; Kansas Department of Commerce.
9:40am Entrepreneur/Employee Learning Opportunities: Sabrina William – Director, Management Development Center, College of Business & Entrepreneurship; Fort Hays State University.
10:00am WorkforceONE: Tucky Allen – Business Services Director/Rapid Response Coordinator; Kansas WorkforceONE.
10:20am From Startup to Succession Planning: Rick Feltenberger – Regional Director; Kansas Small Business Development Center.
10:40am E-Community and Funding Opportunities, Board Certified Programs – Business programs: Sarah LaRosh – Product Manager, Rural Entrepreneurship, Western Region; NetWork Kansas. Amara Kniep – Product Manager, E-Community Programs; NetWork Kansas.
11:00am Kansas Department of Commerce – Business Assistance Programs: Dan Steffen – N.C. Kansas Regional Project Manager, Business & Community Development; Kansas Department of Commerce.
11:20am USDA Business Assistance Programs (funding): Doug Bruggeman – Loan Specialist, Rural Development; United States Department of Agriculture.
11:40am Employees and Employment: Phyllis LaShell – Workforce Response Coordinator; KANSASWORKS.
12:30pm Agribusiness/Value Added Ag in Kansas; From The Land Of Kansas Program: Kerry Wefald – Agriculture Marketing Director; Kansas Department of Agriculture and Lexi Wright – From the Land of Kansas.
12:50pm Nex-Gen Programs: Jacque Beckman – Director; Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth.
1:10pm SBA: Michael Aumack – Economic Development Specialist & Public Information Officer; SBA.
1:30pm K-State Technology Development Institute: Courtney Kuntz – Outreach Coordinator.
1:50pm NWKPDCi: Randall Hrabe – Executive Director; Northwest Kansas Planning & Development Commission/Pioneer Country Development.
2:10pm K-State R&E/Hansen Programs: Nadine Sigle – Associate, Community Vitality; K-State Research & Extension.
2:30pm NWKEICI Programs: Scott Sproul – Director; Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center.
2:50pm SCORE: Morris Engle – Mentor; SCORE
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
Cancun Mexican Grill 105 W. Second, Ellis – Oct. 29
A routine inspection found seven violations.
In the single-door Argus refrigerator, there was a container of reduced oxygen packaged tilapia fillets that did not have a slit in the packages.
In the single-door Argus refrigerator there was a container of raw bacon that was being stored on a wire rack directly above an opened container of cut tomatoes. No evidence of leaking was observed.
In the single-door Argus refrigerator, there was a container of raw beef that was being stored on a wire rack directly above an opened container of cooked chorizo. No evidence of leaking was observed.
In the single-door Argus refrigerator, there was a container of raw chicken that was being stored on a wire rack directly above an opened container of raw pork. No evidence of leaking was observed.
In the refrigerated prep table, there was an opened container of milk with no date on the container.
In the refrigerated prep table, there was a container of tamales that did not have a date of when they were made.
On the prep table, there was a meat tenderizer that had dried food residue present along the blades.
Clarity Consulting Group 230 E. Eighth, Hays – Oct. 29
A routine inspection found four violations.
In the bar area of the establishment, there was a bottle of Wild Turkey and a bottle of Ancient Age Whiskey that had flying insects present with the liquor.
In the north walk-in cooler, there was a container of cut tomatoes and cooked roasts with no date of when they were cut.
In the south walk-in cooler, there was an opened bag of cut cabbage with no date of when it was opened. In the north walk-in cooler, there was an opened container of smoked salmon that did not have a date of when it was opened.
In the bar area of the establishment, there was no handwashing sink present. The establishment is mixing drinks, pouring wine and beer at this location.
Dollar General 1208 E. 27th, Hays – Oct. 28
A routine inspection found two violations.
On the retail side of the establishment, there were four gallon containers of Top Job Cleaner that was being stored on the same solid shelf as eight packages of single-use plastic cups. No evidence of leaking was observed. In the infant section, there were two containers of hand foam sanitizer that was being stored on a metal shelf directly above 10 or more Pedialyte beverages. No evidence of leaking was observed.
In the back storage room, there was a case of Draino that was being stored directly on top of a case of aluminum foil. No evidence of leaking was observed.
Fairfield Inn 377 Mopar Dr., Hays – Oct. 28
A routine inspection found three violations.
In the single-door Kenmore refrigerator, there was a container of waffle batter that did not have a date of when it was made.
In the Kenmore single door refrigerator, there were open containers of milk and silk milk with no dates of when they were opened.
On the floor below the hand sink, there is a spray bottle that contains a blue liquid with no label of what the liquid is.
Osaki Japanese Restaurant 2522 Vine, Hays – Oct. 28
A routine inspection found five violations.
During the inspection, a cook had had one hand gloved and one hand not gloved. With his gloved hand, he had taken raw shrimp and placed it in the wok. He then proceeded to add other ingredients to the dish. The last ingredient was a raw shelled egg. He was holding this raw shelled egg in his bare hand, and cracking it on the counter and opening it into the wok. After this, he grabbed a clean plate with his bare hand.
On the table next to the cooking line there was a pan of fully cooked rice at the temperature of 114 F. The ambient temperature of the room was 69 F. All other cold holding temperatures are in compliance.
In the walk-in cooler, there was a container of cut garlic with oil being stored with no date of when the garlic was cut. In the three-door sushi refrigerator, there was cooked shrimp with no date of when they were cooked.
In the three-door sushi refrigerator, there were eight open containers of fully cooked imitation crab meat with no date of when they were opened.
In the back kitchen area, there was cooked sushi rice that was not marked with a time stamp.
The Hays Police Department responded to 7 animal calls and conducted 30 traffic stops Tue., Oct. 29, 2019, according to the HPD Activity Log.
Traffic/Driving Complaint–2800 block Indian Trl, Hays; 7:47 AM
Traffic/Driving Complaint–1800 block Ash St, Hays; 7:50 AM
Lost Animals ONLY–1000 block Reservation Rd, Hays; 9:42 AM
Animal Call–700 block Vine St, Hays; 10 AM
Theft (general)–2700 block Canal Blvd, Hays; 10:14 AM
Warrant Service (Fail to Appear)–1200 block Vine St, Hays; 10:20 AM; 10:40 AM
Sex Offense–2800 block Fort St, Hays; 12 PM
Animal At Large–800 block Commerce Pkwy, Hays; 1:41 PM
Dead Animal Call–100 block E 7th St, Hays; 3:44 PM
Animal At Large–400 block Lyman Dr, Hays; 3:33 PM
Suspicious Activity–700 block E 6th St, Hays; 6:27 PM
Animal Call–100 block E 23rd St, Hays; 6:51 PM
The Hays Police Department responded to 6 animal calls and conducted 25 traffic stops Wed., Oct. 30, 2019, according to the HPD Activity Log.
Abandoned Vehicle–400 block W 24th St, Hays; 5:14 AM
Abandoned Vehicle–400 block W 24th St, Hays; 5:14:49 AM
Found/Lost Property–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 9:06 AM
Animal At Large–100 block E 23rd St, Hays; 10:21 AM
Welfare Check–2700 block Vine St, Hays; 11:48 AM
Drug Offenses–Hays; 12:02 PM
Theft (general)–Hays; 12:23 PM
Criminal Damage to Property–300 block W 9th St, Hays; 2:45 PM; 4:06 PM
Warrant Service (Fail to Appear)–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 3:28 PM
Drug Offenses–1100 block Allen St, Hays; 4:17 PM
Animal At Large–27th Street and Augusta Lane, Hays; 5:10 PM
Animal At Large–14th and Oak St, Hays; 5:27 PM
Mental Health Call–2200 block Canterbury Dr, Hays; 6:45 PM
Mental Health Call–2100 block E 21st St, Hays; 7:58 PM
Mental Health Call–1400 block E 29th St, Hays; 11:26 PM
“How to Prevent Identity Theft” will be the topic of the Hays After 5 Christian Women’s meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11. The event will take place at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall, 2250 E. Eighth St.
Speaking will be Kristen Schmidt with the Hays office of the Northwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging.
“This is a topic that all women need to be educated about, so we invite women of all ages to attend,” said Linda North, program chair.
Also on the program will be inspirational speaker Marti Ford of Topeka. Ford said for several years she lived in fear and tried to control life. After several tragic events, including divorce, she said she began to see that some of her problems were “self-inflicted.”
Ford will share how she took steps to be an “overcomer” in her presentation titled “Moving From a Life of Fear to Trust and Peace.”
Cost of the dinner program is $12.50. Reservations are due by Thursday, Nov. 7, to (785) 202-1036 or to [email protected].
Hays After 5 is affiliated with Stonecroft Ministry of Overland Park.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Portland, Oregon put on hold a Trump administration rule requiring immigrants prove they will have health insurance or can pay for medical care before they can get visas.
In June, migrants who crossed the Rio Grande near McAllen, TX, surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents. From here, they will be transported to a processing center.- photo courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon granted a temporary restraining order that prevents the rule from going into effect Sunday. It’s not clear when he will rule on the merits of the case.
Seven U.S. citizens and a nonprofit organization filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday contending the rule would block nearly two-thirds of all prospective legal immigrants.
The lawsuit also said the rule would greatly reduce or eliminate the number of immigrants who enter the United States with family sponsored visas.
“We’re very grateful that the court recognized the need to block the health care ban immediately,” says Justice Action Center senior litigator Esther Sung, who argued at Saturday’s hearing on behalf of the plaintiffs. “The ban would separate families and cut two-thirds of green-card-based immigration starting tonight, were the ban not stopped.”
The proclamation signed by President Donald Trump in early October applies to people seeking immigrant visas from abroad — not those in the U.S. already. It does not affect lawful permanent residents. It does not apply to asylum-seekers, refugees or children.
The proclamation says immigrants will be barred from entering the country unless they are to be covered by health insurance within 30 days of entering or have enough financial resources to pay for any medical costs.
The rule is the Trump administration’s latest effort to limit immigrant access to public programs while trying to move the country away from a family based immigration system to a merit-based system.
The White House said in a statement at the time the proclamation was issued that too many non-citizens were taking advantage of the country’s “generous public health programs,” and said immigrants contribute to the problem of “uncompensated health care costs.”
Under the government’s visa rule, the required insurance can be bought individually or provided by an employer and it can be short-term coverage or catastrophic.
Medicaid doesn’t count, and an immigrant can’t get a visa if using the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies when buying insurance. The federal government pays for those subsidies.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan immigration think tank, 57% of U.S. immigrants had private health insurance in 2017, compared with 69% of U.S.-born, and 30% had public health insurance coverage, compared with 36% of native-born.
The uninsured rate for immigrants dropped from 32% to 20% from 2013 to 2017, since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to Migration Policy.
There are about 1.1 million people who obtain green cards each year.
“Countless thousands across the country can breathe a sigh of relief today because the court recognized the urgent and irreparable harm that would have been inflicted” without the hold, said Jesse Bless, director of federal litigation at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Earlier this year, the administration made sweeping changes to regulations that would deny green cards to immigrants who use some forms of public assistance, but the courts have blocked that measure.
Studies show Americans are anxious about running out of money in retirement, but few have made an effort to determine what they will need in retirement. In this brief article, I will share the facts and figures facing all of us “in or close to retiring” and what you can do to change the course and retire with dignity.
We work forty years with expectations that we will be able to retire at the same income level as we had during our working years. However, the reality shows us that many “forgot” to save along the way. A recent survey from the Protected Lifetime Income Index (PLII) study shows that only 28% of non-retired Americans have made an effort to determine what their monthly income needs will be. Of those between the ages of 55 and 74, only 43% have made the calculation. So less than half of pre-retirees know “what their number is.” This is important because if you don’t “know what you’ll need”, then how do you “know what to save” to hit your goal. It is a common adage that people spend more time planning their vacations each year then they do in planning their finances!
The same study shows that 66% of Americans look forward to retirement with hope and optimism. Seeing it as an opportunity to enjoy the next season of life, with more travel, vacation homes, spending time at the lake, golf course, or purchasing that motor home to see the country. After all the years working and “living the American dream” the harshness of not being prepared for 25-30 years in retirement hits hard. Like a Joe Frazier left hook. In addition to not saving enough, medical expenses have dramatically risen, creating an even greater burden on those with limited (and reduced) income in retirement. A July 2019 study by the National Association of Plan Advisors found that a healthy 65-year old couple retiring in 2019 could expect to spend $369,000 in todays dollars over their lifetime for future health care. And if one of them lives beyond age 85, the estimated costs could be 250% higher than age 65. In addition to rising health care costs, basic living expenses for utilities, home maintenance, repairs are on the rise as well. Will these rising costs ever end? Probably not. So what does one do about it?
One of the first things to do is to do an inventory of all your investments, savings accounts, pensions, 401K’s etc and see what you’ve accumulated up to this point. Then do the same thing on your expenses and debts, see what they are and how fast you can pay down your debt and cut unnecessary expenses (do I really need all those cable channels and Sirius radio in all my cars?). According to the same PLII survey mentioned above 43% believe they have enough resources to live comfortably in retirement. This means about 60% of the people will not have enough money saved to retire in comfort.
The second thing you can do is make a commitment to start saving from 10-20% of your gross income and take advantage of employer sponsored plans such as 401k’s, Simple IRA’s, 403b and voluntary savings programs. If you have access to saving money first from your pay checks, then you have a greater chance of not “spending” more than you make. If you don’t have it in your checkbook, you won’t spend it. If you’re still spending more then you make, tear up your credit cards! But that’s a discussion for a later article.
The third thing you should do is visit with a financial planner who understands the dynamics of long term planning and has a wide range of services at his/her disposal to help you meet your goals thru the development of an “income based” retirement plan that will “guarantee” you a monthly income in retirement.
It’s not hard to do any of these, it just takes discipline and a commitment from you to change some old habits and create new ones. Athletes and artists have coaches or mentors to help improve performance. When it comes to something as serious as your retirement, so should you. There is much more I could write on the topic and will. In this short article, I’ve outlined one of the many financial challenge’s individuals are facing today. These are the types of challenges we at The Meckenstock Group have been helping our clients with for the last 82 years.
(Mr. Meckenstock is a registered representative offering securities and advisory services through IFG, a registered broker-dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. The Meckenstock Group, MSA and IFG are separate and unrelated companies. The opinions expressed above are his and his alone).
On Saturday, November 9 the Paradise United Methodist Women will hold their 69th annual Bazaar and Turkey Dinner in the Paradise auditorium on Main Street.
The Bazaar features the church cookbook, hand-made crafts, home-made baked items as well as candies, jellies, and other foods. All items are reasonably priced.
The bazaar opens at 10:30 a.m. and the turkey dinner begins at 10:45 a.m.
The menu includes turkey and dressing with all the trimmings, including homemade rolls, cranberry fluff, coleslaw, pies and desserts. Carryout is also available.
The cost of the meal is $12 for adults, and kids grades K-4 is $6.
The event is held the first day of pheasant hunting season, providing a great meal for hunters as well as anyone else who enjoys visiting with old friends over a delicious meal at an affordable price.
