By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

The Russell Police Department announced Wednesday that two suspects in a string of vehicle burglaries earlier this month have been identified.

“Those suspects, who are juveniles, have been taken into custody and were transported to juvenile detention,” according to the announcement. “Offense reports have been forwarded to the Russell County Attorney.”

The department said the names of the suspects would not be released.

In the annoucement, the department thanked Russell citizens for their assistance with the investigation and reminded residents to keep their vehicles, residences and outbuildings locked.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

ELLIS — The Ellis Police Department is seeking information related to damage that occurred overnight Tuesday at the Ellis Railroad Museum.

“Sometime during the night, an unknown individual or individuals broke more than a dozen windows at the City of Ellis Railroad Museum,” Ellis Police Chief Taft Yates said.

The damage was caused by rocks and other found objects.

No damage was discovered inside the building, according to Yates.

The museum houses a variety of railroad memorabilia and historical artifacts from the history of Ellis.

“The museum is a part of the history of the City of Ellis and the County of Ellis,” Yates said.

“This act is very disheartening to the Railroad Museum and the community,” the department posted on their Facebook page Wednesday afternoon.

“We would like to reach out to anyone that has any information that could assist in finding the person or persons that did this criminal damage,” he said. “We would greatly appreciate it.”

The Ellis Police Department can be reached at (785) 726-4462.

He also said any information collected would be kept confidential.

The director of the museum declined to comment.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Portions of Wilson Lake will remain closed through July 31 due to heavy precipitation that has caused flood concerns across the state since May.

Due to the conditions around the lake, the Wilson Lake Area Association has postponed the Fourth of July firework display to 9 p.m. Aug. 31, the group announced on Facebook this week.

On Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers listed the lake as 10.83 feet above conservation levels and at an elevation of 1,526 feet.

At that time, the dam was listed as releasing water at a rate of 1,200 cubic feet per second.

While the park at Wilson Lake remains open, many facilities are closed due to the high lake elevation and will remain closed through the end of July, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

In Lucas Park, sites 1-42 and 51-96, Swim Beach Road, Group Camp and Boat Ramp Road are included in the list of sites closed through July.

In Minooka Park, the A-F loop is closed along with the east and west boat ramps and the swim beach.

The spillway ramp boat ramp and east end of the dam access are also closed.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism listed parts of the park as currently closed as well.

“All of Otoe is closed including the four cabins,” according to the KDWPT website.

In Hell Creek, the Lower Switchgrass primitive camping area, swim beach and kids pond, Little Bluestem primitive area, and sites 8-16 in Big Bluestem east and west were listed as closed as well.

They also listed Birdy loop of the Switchgrass Mountain bike trail as under water along with part of the marina loop.

The Indian Grass primitive, Lovegrass group camp, Big Bluestem sites 1-7 and 17-40, Buffalograss primitive, Hell Creek Boat ramp, Side Oats primitive, Wheatgrass east and west, Grama east, Switchgrass mountain bike trail, Marina, Dropseed east, seasonal camp and Marina Cove Toadstools were listed as open by the KDWPT.

In May, the dam received the highest amount recorded since recording keeping began in 1964, 10.83 inches of rain, according to the Corps.

During the drought of 2012, rainfall totaled 13.29 inches for the entire year.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

ELLIS — As the Ellis City Council works to prepare its 2020 budget, five organizations presented budget requests at Monday’s city council meeting, totaling over $55,000.

Cheryl Kinderknecht presented first for the Ellis Alliance while their new executive director was unavailable.

“The main reason we need the funding is to take care of our building and our equipment,” she said.

The request from the alliance totaled $12,500.

Another $12,000 per year is collected through memberships fees from three business groups in the area, with another $2,650 from the Walter P. Chrysler museum for management services.

Pauleen Edmonds, president of the Ellis Community Foundation, presented next and shared with the council their request totaling $10,000.

“It’s the same as we requested in past years,” she said. “We are very proud of the projects we worked on. Everything we have done so far has made Ellis a better place to live.”

Maintaining the Ellis food pantry is among the top priorities with their budget request.

The pantry is open once a month to provide food to those in need.

The foundation also operates a backpack donation program and a children’s food program that operates over the summer months.

“Basically, we really want to make sure that program continues as one of our ongoing projects,” Edmonds said.

“A lot of the money we will get from you actually goes for the food pantry,” Edmonds said, noting the request only covers about half of the cost to operate the pantry. Donations cover the remainder of the cost.

“That is one program that we have a lot of donations from people out in the public because they feel it is such an important program,” she said.

Food for the program comes from the Kansas Food Bank and is purchased by the foundation.

While they also accept canned food donations, it is only a small part of what is given out during the open pantry.

During the presentation, Chad Pritchett presented the request for the Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum totaling $15,000.

While the request was the same as last year, the museum sought financial help from the city earlier this year.

Since 2016, the organization has not been able to cover expenses, Pritchett said, and has been forced to dip into savings.

“Right now, we have about four years worth of savings,” he said.

He noted the organization brings tourism into Ellis that is vital for the community and many visitors have shared their dismay the museum is not completely sponsored by Chrysler.

The Ellis Public Library also presented a budget request to the council that matched the amount of funds received last year totaling $16,500.

A portion of that total is earmarked for capital improvements.

“The average that you guys have been doing for us has been paying off in the long run,” said Steve Arthur, director. “This is the first time in 13 years that I have been here that I don’t have to worry about the library so much anymore.”

“The reason that we always ask for the kick in capital improvement is that when I finally leave I want to leave that place better than I found it,” he said.

He said the library is active right now and, in general, the programming the facility offers has drawn people back into the library.

The last organization to present at the meeting was Options. They are requesting $1,200 to continue to provide services in Ellis.

“We are a nonprofit, and we serve 18 counties in Kansas,” said Jennifer Hecker executive director. “Our mission is to provide help, hope and communion for victims and survivors of violence and abuse.”

The organization provides 13 core services, including 24-hour crisis intervention, she said.

The request this year will help offset the cost of the increase in demand for services.

“In this last year, services for domestic violence have increased 22 percent and the demand for our sexual assault victims cases increased an astounding 99 percent in a single year,” Hecker said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Population declines create more urgent need for business development, Williams tells council

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

VICTORIA — During Monday night’s Victoria City Council meeting, Grow Hays Director Doug Williams shared with the group a few of the challenges facing western Kansas as the area is forecasted to trend toward an older and small population.

“The reality is western Kansas is dying,” Willams said. “We have an aging population, we are not retaining our young people, we are attracting less and less outside investment, and we have diminishing natural resources. If we believe in 20 years we are going to be pumping as much oil in Ellis County as we are now, we fooling ourselves and it’s a slow, but steady progression.”

Williams noted population decline as a primary driver in the concerns facing the county, sharing with the council results of a Wichita State University population projection study.

Looking at 2024, the charts showed a much higher average age throughout western Kansas, increasing even higher in 2034 until, by 2064, the average age would be roughly the same as it is now, he said.

But at that point, the population of the area is projected to be significantly lower.

Many of the counties in the area, by that time, are expected to be 59 to 95 percent lower in population.

“Only one county on there projects an increase, and that is Ellis County,” Willams said.

“What’s happening is the counties out in western Kansas are dying. Those people are moving to Hays. They are moving here for health care or various reasons,” he said. “Or they are moving elsewhere.”

He then shared that while that might seem good for Ellis County when looking at the population of the trade area, the larger loss is concerning.

“The current population, of that trade area, is 80,000 people,” Willams said. “If you look at that worst-case scenario, they project that same trade area will be 52,000 people — or 35 percent fewer people — to come to Hays to shop, to eat and for kids to go to Fort Hays State.”

The best-case scenario is that the area population stays even, but even that is concerning when looking at a 40-year projection he said.

“We can be like Nero and play our fiddle and do nothing and let it happen or we can try to be positive and do some things about it,” Willams said.

He urged the council that if action is taken now, the trend could change, calling for a greater sense of urgency in addressing the problem through development and recruitment including long-term investments that may not have near-term returns.

“And we can have a good neighbor policy, which means we help Trego County, we help Rooks County, we help Phillips County, whatever the case may be, because we are all in this boat together,” Williams said.

Entrepreneurship is key to reversing the trend, Williams told the council. He detailed several Grow Hays programs being offered over the summer to help spark business development in Ellis County.

Those programs, he said, can help increase business interest in Ellis County, including a housing development program that helps buyers secure funds to rehab area houses.

Details of the programs can be found on the Grow Hays website.

Willams also asked the council for funding from the city.

“We haven’t requested public funding for the last couple of years, from any public agencies,” Williams said. “We were trying to get our act together and show we provide value.

“We feel like we are now and that’s why we have gone back to the public sector to ask for funding,” he said. “Victoria has been good enough to fund us in the past at a level and we would ask for that level to start again in your 2020 budget.”

Council members are expected to consider the funding request at their next meeting. In the past, Victoria has funded Grow Hays, formerly he Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, at a $1,000 level.

As he was wrapping up his presentation, Williams shared a final thought with the council.

“We have to recognize we are in a battle and the clock ticks,” he said. “We have some time to do something about it, but if we don’t, there is a tipping point out there someplace where it won’t make any difference.”