Marcellus Anthony Weber was born February 3, 1931 to Joseph and Helen (Weigel) Weber in rural Victoria. He died Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at the age of 87.
The family moved to Beloit in 1944. He served in the Air Force from 1951 – 1955.
He married Winnie Mae Kadel on May 12, 1954.
He was a farmer/stockman on a farm just southwest of Beloit for 55 years, before moving to town in 2015. He enjoyed going to auctions and visiting at the coffee shop.
Survivors include his wife Winnie Weber; son, Ron (Laura) Weber of Beloit; son-in-law, Dan Bowles of Wichita; grandson Levi (Kristin Whitehair) Bowles of Lenexa; granddaughter, Gayle (Brian) Donaldson of Manhattan; two great granddaughters, Stella and Paige Bowles; brother Norman Weber of Beloit; and sister, Cecilia Hyman of Beloit.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Kae Bowles; brothers, Linus, LeRoy, Donald, and Bill; and sisters, Dorinda Bourque and Mildred Hyman.
Funeral services will be at 10 AM Saturday, October 27 at St. John’s Catholic Church. Visitation will be from 1-5 PM Friday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home, with a rosary service at 7 PM Friday at the Church. Memorials may be given to Solomon Valley Hospice or Solomon Valley Transportation.
RENO COUNTY — Two more people have been arrested in connection with the Monday kidnapping case involving a Hutchinson man.
Thompson -photo Reno Co.Officers on the scene of the arrests Thursday -photo Reno Co. sheriff
On Monday, 38-year-old Titus Thompson and an unknown white male forced their way into a home in the 400 block of East B in Hutchinson, according to police. They demanded prescription drugs from the homeowner believed to be in his 50s.
The homeowner tried to fight back, but was kicked repeatedly. The suspects took a knife the victim used to try to defend himself and put it to his neck and threatened him with his life.
Thompson then forced the man to search the home looking for prescription drugs. The suspects took some prescription medications as well as the victim’s wallet, cell phone, a big screen TV and clothing from the home.
They then blindfolded the victim and loaded him and the stolen items into the victim’s car.
The suspects left and at some point stopped a Kwik Shop, a liquor store in Burrton and traveled to a farmhouse in eastern Reno County.
This is where Thompson allegedly tried to sell some items to two individuals. The victim was still in the back seat and saw an opportunity to escape. He jumped into the front seat of the car and took off. During that time a TV fell off the top of the car where it had been placed.
The victim’s call 911 started the investigation.
Thompson was later found walking in the 1800 block of Landon in Hutchinson. Based on the description from the victims and surveillance video from Monday’s incident, police arrested Thompson.
The victim in the kidnapping suffered bruises and cuts according to police.
Thompson is jailed on a $167,000 bond and during a first court appearance was denied a bond reduction.
He has prior convictions for obstruction, domestic battery, and driving while suspended for a case in Reno County in 2008. He also has priors for convictions of aggravated burglary and criminal possession of a firearm for a case in Sedgwick County in 2001.
On Thursday Hutchinson police reported that 32-year-old Amanda Gresham and 30-year-old John Sullivan were taken into custody in connection with the crime.
Gresham is charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and aggravated battery. Sullivan is charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.
Gresham and Sullivan, along with 38-year-old Titus Thompson, are the believed suspects behind the abduction of 50-year-old Leon Levasseur, who was taken by knifepoint from his residence, then placed in his car and driven to an area near Burrton, where he was finally able to escape and call 911.
Police say the recovery of multiple items taken from Levasseur’s residence led them to the additional arrests. Detectives determined Thompson and a second suspect were dropped off in the area of Avenue B and Elm in the morning hours of Oct. 22, by a woman, with the intent to commit robbery.
Gresham is being held on a $135,000 bond. She has previous convictions for Aggravated battery, Aggravated burglary and drugs. Sullivan’s bond is set at $160,000.
To be sure, the appeal of autumn’s foliage changing all around us is it’s plethora of subtle and intense colors. There are shrubs and trees that turn various hues of red, purple, yellow, orange and brown.
Rip Winkel
The causes for this array of colors are plant pigments found within the leaves. The normal green color that leaves exhibit during summertime comes from the familiar pigment chlorophyll, the compound that uses the energy of the sun along with water and CO2, to produce sugars and O2. The color green that we see is actually the color being reflected by the chlorophyll, as the other colors in the visible light spectrum given by sunlight are being absorbed.
Other pigments reflecting hues of red, yellow, orange, etc., are sometimes seen in certain plants all season long like purple leaf plums, or golden euonymus’ as examples. But the real showcase is in autumn when one sees shrubs and trees exhibiting various colors all around town.
It is interesting to know, however, the red and purple colors are primarily caused by a pigment called anthocyanins (or Betalains). The colors of yellow are caused by the xanthophylls pigments, where the oranges are by a combination of carotenes (of which there are 6 kinds) and xanthophylls. Browns are the result of tannins present in the leaf. Most of these compounds are present throughout the growing season, but are drowned-out by the green color reflected by the dominating chlorophyll pigment. Anthocyanins (red and purple) are the exception and are produced after the chlorophyll is destroyed, and phasing out in the fall. (Note: blueish colors are usually the result of refracted light rather than a pigment, or a combination of certain pigments.)
If you have ever seen pictures of the north eastern US in the fall, you might have wondered why trees in Kansas do not look the same way in the fall. This difference is in part due to the tree species mostly found in New England. Certain oaks and maple varieties just naturally produce great fall color. These colors can also be determined by the weather.
Warm, sunny days and cool nights are requisites for good fall color. Sunny days encourage photosynthesis causing sugars to be built-up in the leaves. As fall progresses, the leaves develop a callus (abscission) layer at the base of the petiole (leaf stem) preventing these sugars from being transported down to the roots for winter storage. This high sugar content in the leaves produces those intense colors. Likewise, cloudy days and warm nights prevent some of the sugar build-up, resulting in less vibrant colors being reflected from the leaves.
The weather at other parts of the growing season can also have an effect. Both heavy rains in the early spring or hot, dry weather during the summer months can have a diminishing effect on fall color. Furthermore, the length of time trees or shrubs keep their fall color also depends on the weather. The pigments that cause red, yellow and orange hues are short-lived when and if trees undergo frosts and freezes.
Rip Winkel is the Horticulture agent in the Cottonwood District (Barton and Ellis Counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at [email protected] or calling either 785-628-9430, or 620-793-1910.
Phillipsburg resident Edna E. Look passed away Oct. 23, 2018 at the Phillips County Retirement Center in Phillipsburg at the age of 92. She was born Jan. 17, 1926 in Brewster, KS, the daughter of Phillip & Katherine (Ridder) Hiegert.
Survivors include her step son, Dwight Look, Jr. of Rolla, MO; her sister, Anna Anderson of San Diego, CA and nieces and nephews.
Cremation was chosen. A Memorial Mass will be held Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 10:00 a.m. in the SS Philip & James Catholic Church, Phillipsburg, with Father George Chalbhagam officiating. Interment will follow in the Stockton Cemetery, Stockton, KS.
Friends may sign the book from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Church or Hospice Services.
The chill is in the air and you can almost smell the dough baking. That means it’s bierock time!
If you are craving bierocks and cookie dough, you have until Thursday, November 8, to place your order with Thomas More Prep-Marian School, 1701 Hall. These items make great gifts and last minute menu items for those holiday gatherings!
Proceeds of the annual sale benefit the school’s transportation fund, which provides bus and suburban transport for our students to hundreds of activities over the span of a school year. Last year’s sale netted over $12,000 for the transportation fund.
Volunteers will gather at the kitchen of TMP-Marian on Friday, November 16, to fill orders that can be picked up later that afternoon.
The chocolate chip cookie dough — made ahead of time and frozen is $10.00 per tub, which makes 30 to 36 cookies.
Bierocks will be freshly baked that day but can be frozen. Bierocks are $35 per dozen.
Anyone interested in ordering can call Sandy Losey at 785-621-5414.
All orders must be picked up. We are not able to ship any orders at this time.
The Fort Hays State University Foundation announced the start of its annual Campus Campaign Friday during a press conference in the Memorial Union’s Sunset Atrium.
The Campus Campaign is an initiative to encourage current and retired faculty and staff of the university to make a gift back to FHSU. Faculty and staff contribute in varying ways to departments, athletic teams, student organizations and scholarships. As employees, faculty and staff also have the unique option to make their gifts via payroll deduction.
“All gifts to FHSU from faculty and staff, no matter what area they choose to support, count toward not only our Campus Campaign but also our Journey campaign,” said Jason Williby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation.
Williby
This year’s campaign is chaired by the presidents of Fort Hays State’s staff, faculty and student governing bodies, Lisa Lang, Dr. Tony Gabel and Adam Schibi.
While the FHSU Foundation focuses on campus gifts for a month, participation is counted throughout the entire fiscal year, which ends on June 30.
Lang, who serves as finance and database manager for the FHSU Alumni Association and as president of the University Support Staff Senate, shared the pride and gratitude many staff members feel towards Fort Hays State.
“As staff, we can be that difference when we take the time to say hello, to share information, to give advice or simply listen,” she said. “Another way to be that difference is with our financial support.”
Student Government Association President Adam Schibi thanked everyone present for their support.
Schibi
“Personally,” said Schibi, “I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship early on in college, which required me to work only one part-time job. This afforded me the necessary time to focus on my classes, to get involved on campus, to discover who I was and who I wanted to be.”
“I wouldn’t be serving as the president of our Student Government Association if it wouldn’t have been for that first scholarship,” he said.
Dr. Tony Gabel, associate professor of management and president of the Faculty Senate, noted that he and his wife, Chris, “have benefitted from the generosity of others.”
Gabel
“As a faculty member, I have learned the impact that even a small gift, the smallest of gifts in fact, have on our students,” he said. “We have been inspired to establish our own named scholarship. After all, why not give now and experience the joy of giving while helping outstanding and deserving students?”
“Every student matters, and every gift matters,” said Dr. Tisa Mason, president of Fort Hays State. “As faculty and staff, we know firsthand that many of our students struggle financially. I want to continue to pay forward the many blessings that I’ve received, to make a difference for others.”
“Just imagine, with more than 920 faculty and staff,” she said, “what we could accomplish if we all sat down and wrote a check – how that little bit of money from each of us could mean everything to someone else and, in the process, change the trajectory of their lives.”
As the fundraising arm of the university, the FHSU Foundation raises and manages all funds that are entrusted to it for the benefit of various needs in support of the university and works closely with FHSU to support the university’s initiatives.
To learn more about the Fort Hays State University Foundation and the funding needs of Fort Hays State, visit https://foundation.fhsu.edu, call 785-628-5620 or email [email protected].
Join Trinity Lutheran Church for a journey through the liturgical year as we celebrate Christ the King, in all seasons and time!
Come to Trinity Lutheran Church, 2703 Fort Street in Hays, on Sunday, November 25, at 10:15 a.m. to celebrate Christ the King Sunday. This service will recognize the rule of Jesus, acknowledge that the reign of God comes to us in unexpected ways; and proclaim that God is love for us in every seasons and time.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man charged with making a hoax call that led Wichita police to fatally shoot a man is facing 46 new federal charges in California related to making threatening calls.
Barriss- photo courtesy Glendale, Calif. police
In a court document filed in California Wednesday, Tyler Barriss says he will plead guilty to the new charges and asked that the case be transferred to Kansas.
Barriss is charged in Kansas with involuntary manslaughter in the December 2017 death of 28-year-old Andrew Finch. A Wichita police officer shot Finch when he answered the door before authorities realized the call was a hoax.
The charges filed Wednesday accuse Barriss of making calls across the country between September 2014 and December 2017 when he lived in California. The calls included bomb threats and other acts of violence.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have identified the victim in Wednesday’s fatal car accident.
Just before 8:30p.m. Wednesday, police responded to an injury accident at Southlake Village Apartments, 4141 S. Seneca in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
Upon arrival, first responders found 57-year-old Phillip Luekenga of Wichita in the driver’s seat of a 2000 silver Lincoln Towncar.
The Towncar had collided with a tree next to the paved road leading to the apartments.
It is believed a medical issue contributed to the accident, according to Davidson.
We tried to hold a candidate forum. Half the candidates wouldn’t show up. Salina League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, nonprofit volunteer organization, invited candidates for Kansas Secretary of State, Attorney General and U.S. House 1st District to meet in Salina.
We decided that if any race had both a Democrat and a Republican willing to appear, we would hold the forum.
In not a single race would both parties attend. In two of the races, the absent candidate would not even reply to our invitation, despite repeated attempts.
It’s a grave concern when candidates for public office refuse to face the public. A political ad is highly edited and may not be accurate or complete. There are few better ways to research voting decisions than to meet a candidate in-person.
We urge you to seek candidate information from other reliable sources. LWV recommends www.vote411.org. Enter your address there to find the candidates who will be on your ballot and information about them. Some candidates have answered questionnaires at our website: lwvsalina.org (under “Elections & Voting”).
The local candidates, parties, offices for which they are running, and their responses to our forum invitations are as follows:
Kansas Secretary of State:
Brian McClendon, Democrat– willing to attend
Rob Hodgkinson, Libertarian – willing to attend
Scott Schwab, Republican – no response
Kansas Attorney General:
Sarah Swain, Democrat – willing to attend
Derek Schmidt, Republican – no response
U.S. House, District 1:
Alan LaPolice, Democrat – willing to attend
Roger Marshall, Republican – responded, unable to attend
LWV has a 98-year record of providing non-partisan information for informed voters. We regret that this year we are unable to hold a forum for you to meet statewide candidates.
Vote on or before Nov. 6.
Your voice – your vote – is crucial to our democracy.
Salina League of Women Voters
Lori Trow, President
Ann Zimmerman, Vice President
Carla Strand, Secretary
Margaret Wyatt, Treasurer
Editor’s Note: The deadline for submission of letters related to the November general election will be Nov. 1.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Kris Kobach raised a migrant caravan moving through Mexico as an issue in his campaign for Kansas governor, suggesting that lax state immigration policies are helping to lure them north.
Kobach and candidate Greg Orman during Thursday night’s debate in Garden City -photo Koback for governor
Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, is a strong ally of President Donald Trump and has made enacting state policies against illegal immigration a cornerstone of his campaign for governor. He’s had a national profile on the issue for at least a decade and advised Trump’s campaign in 2016 and the White House since.
During a debate Thursday night in the southwest Kansas town of Garden City, Kobach repeated a disputed claim that Kansas provides $377 million a year in welfare benefits and other services to immigrants living in the state illegally.
“And policies like that are why we have a caravan marching north to come to the United States, because we give out the goodies as soon as you come across the border,” Kobach said.
Kobach’s statement drew a mix of loud boos and cheers from the crowd, and his closing statement also was interrupted. His comments about immigration came in a wide-ranging debate on familiar campaign themes that included taxes, public school funding and other state spending.
Southwest Kansas has seen an influx of immigrants in recent decades, lured by agricultural jobs, particularly in meatpacking. Nearly half of Garden City’s 27,000 residents are Hispanic, according to census figures.
Both Democratic nominee Laura Kelly, a veteran state senator from Topeka, and independent candidate Greg Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, suggested that Kobach’s hardline approach on immigration would hurt the state’s economy.
“So much of our economy, whether you’re talking about here in the southwest or across the state, depends upon quality immigrant labor,” Kelly said, adding that she’d push Congress for comprehensive immigration reform to “let people live in peace.”
