Fort Hays State University’s Shotgun Team successfully defended its national championship at the Scholastic Clay Target Program Nationals shoot in Marengo, Ohio.
The championship completed a season in which they also placed first in all-team events and High Overall Awards (HOA) at the Prairie Circuit Conference Shoot in North Platte, Neb., and at the ACUI Upper West Coast Conference Shoot in Carson City, Nev.
At the SCTP Nationals shoot, Heather Gordon, a Colorado Springs, Colo., senior majoring in criminal justice, won co-champion of the female HOA, placed first in Ladies Trap and third in Ladies Sporting Clays.
Jake Whipple, a Cambridge, Neb., graduate student, placed second for the male HOA.
Jennifer Schoenecker, a Hays senior majoring in agricultural business, placed third in Ladies Skeet.
In addition to individual awards, Fort Hays State placed first, first, and second in team events for Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays, respectively.
At the Hastings College Shoot, Riley Ross, a St. Paul, Neb., junior majoring in agriculture, won the male HOA, and Hailey Zulkoski, an Ord, Neb., sophomore majoring in sport and exercise therapy, won the female HOA.
In addition, six individuals won first-place medals.
At the Prairie Circuit shoot, Ross won the male HOA, Gordon won the female HOA, and Logan Smith, a Burwell, Neb., freshman majoring in biology and criminal justice, won the male freshman HOA.
Some team members were awarded all-conference medals. To earn all-conference, members had to be among the top 10 male and top five female shooters when scores were totaled.
Recipients of all-conference medals: Whipple; Cordell Waggoner, a Tribune junior majoring in tourism and hospitality management; Hank McVeigh, a Lincoln, Neb., sophomore majoring in physics; Colton Lashley, a McCook, Neb., senior majoring in criminal justice; Ross; Brock Barton, a Fairbury, Neb., sophomore majoring in information networking; Gordon; and Schoenecker.
Smith received an all-conference freshman medal, awarded to the top five male and top five female freshmen.
At the ACUI Upper West Coast shoot, Whipple won the male HOA and Schoenecker won the female HOA. In addition, eight first-place, six second-place, and seven third-place individual medals were won across all events.
Three FHSU team members shot perfect rounds of 100: Ross and Michael Saint, a Jewell graduate student, in Men’s Skeet and Whipple in Men’s Trap.
On Thursday, the Sunrise Rotary Club in Hays sponsored the annual Grocery Grab at Dillons, 1902 Vine, netting Brenda Radke more than $705 in merchandise and funds for the club to continue improvements at Ekey Park.
During the run, Radke had five minutes to grab from the shelves.
“Chartered April 29, 2010, the Hays Sunrise Rotary Club is the newest service club in Hays. It is comprised of 20 men and women who are business, professional and community leaders with a shared commitment to make the world a better place through humanitarian service above self,” according to a press release for the event. “The club meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 a.m. at Augustine’s Bakery, “On The Bricks” on Main Street off 13th Street.”
One hundred years ago in Hays, on Nov. 17, 1919, a fire and resulting gas explosion killed six residents and two firefighters.
At least 42 people were hospitalized with severe burns, four in critical condition, and another 100 or so residents suffered injuries.
“Blast From Bursting Tank Imperilled [sic] Lives of Hundreds” reads the secondary headline of the Nov. 20, 1919 issue of The Ellis County News, which called the gasoline and oil fire at the Standard Oil Company “the most disastrous and tragic event in the history of Hays.”
The two firefighters, Nick Arnhold, 34, and Steve Tourtillotte, 44, are the only two personnel known to have died in the line of duty in the history of the Hays Fire Department, according to Ryan Hagans, fire chief.
(Courtesy National Fire Protection Association)
Much of the research about the disaster was done by two 30-year Hays firefighters, Richard Shubert, who died last year, and Ralph Burns, Jr., who passed away in 2008.
The men, aided by other volunteers, researched the history of the Hays Fire Department from its beginnings in 1878 through 1995 when the compilation was published.
“That’s how we, the members of the fire department, keep this event in the back of our minds,” says Hagans.
“You gotta know where you came from. The fire service is a family. Everybody likes to know their own family history, but it also teaches us the hows and whys of what we do today.”
A memorial plaque on the side of the Hays Fire Department building, 1507 Main.
A memorial plaque honoring Arnhold and Tourtillotte was installed in 1991 on the south exterior of the Hays fire station on Main Street.
Several years ago each shift made a presentation about the event to teach the firefighters about it and why the department operates differently today, a section labeled “Lessons Learned.
“There are advancements in firefighting technology, changes in building construction, implementation of fire and life-saving codes, building codes, zoning regulations,” Hagans said.
“All of that comes into play now because tragedy happened.”
News reports from The Ellis County News and the Hays Free Press recounted the catastrophe three days later in their newspapers dated Nov. 20, 1919.
The fire was started shortly before 7:30 a.m. by a vehicle backfiring in the garage of the Standard Oil Company, located in what today is the 200 block of East 10th Street next to the railroad tracks in downtown Hays.
The fire spread to three gasoline storage tanks in the garage, which began exploding.
(Courtesy State Fire Marshal)
At 8:15 a.m., the final and biggest explosion sent a 200-gallon gasoline barrel flying two blocks to the north through the residential area, showering flaming oil and debris onto a crowd of spectators gathered to watch the spreading fire.
The nearby Farmers Cooperative Union Elevator, filled to capacity, was also completely engulfed by fire.
“Fire Threatened Entire Eastern Portion of City. Flames Visible More than Forty Miles” read a subheadline in the News.
The residents killed were Phillip Sargent, Mrs. Lewis Miller, Miss Elizabeth Buchholz, Mrs. Peter Heronime, Peter Rheim and Miss Mary Stressler.
Three homes were also destroyed.
Total property loss was estimated at $60,500.
Approximately 16 Hays firefighters responded to the scene with two hose carts and one chemical wagon. Mutual aid was provided by the Ellis and La Crosse fire departments.
The State Fire Marshal of Kansas, L.T. Hussey, issued a report about the fire within a 1919 annual Kansas fire statistics summary to Gov. Henry Allen.
A deputy from Hussey’s office was dispatched to the scene in Hays “while the ruins were still burning.”
“This fire, or fires, rather, was the result of the too common error of keeping automobiles in a building adjacent to oil storage tanks. … I am convinced of the need of stringent regulations regarding the location of gasoline and oil storage plants, also the handling of gasoline and oil from these plants,” the report read.
Hussey added that as a result of the Hays fire, his department was deluged with requests from all over Kansas for regulations covering the storage of large quantities of gasoline and oil near the residential or business sections of towns.
The National Fire Prevention Association changed its codes to require all flammable liquids storage tanks at all automotive service stations to be stored underground. Modern zoning regulations now keep industrial/business districts separated from residential areas.
Less than a year after the tragedy the city of Hays purchased its first mechanical fire truck on April 15, 1920. The first motorized fire truck, a REO Speedwagon, was purchased new in 1921.
The REO was tracked down by Shubert in Wichita Falls, Texas, and returned to Hays in July, 2016.
Among the advancements in the last 100 years is firefighting foam, which would most likely be used on such a fire today, according to Shane Preston, HFD deputy chief.
“We’d use a little bit of water, but we’re mostly going to foam now,” Preston says. “Technology in foam has advanced so much it does really help separate the fumes from the ignition source.”
Foam is carried on each of the department’s fire trucks.
Advanced technology is used in other areas including monitoring equipment, thermal imaging cameras and the trucks themselves.
Fire training is also more technical.
When Preston started his career 18 years ago, “we were taught you put the wet stuff on the red stuff,” he smiled. “That was Firefighter 101.”
“Now it’s more, we gotta look at what the smoke’s doing, what we’re going into, what the building is telling us, and knowing what kind of equipment we bring.”
The term firefighter is misleading, contends Hagans, who has more than 20 years experience. “We do so much more than fight fire.”
Hays firefighters spend more than 300 hours a year training.
In partnership with the Ellis County Fire Department, they learn specialized rescue techniques for situations including high buildings and trench and grain bin collapses.
The FAA mandates training at the Hays Regional Airport. HFD recently participated in a drill assessing emergency response to an airplane crash at the airport.
Fire inspections of buildings are conducted year-round as well as fire prevention education.
All Hays firefighters are also EMTs. The on-duty shift responds to calls with Ellis County Emergency Medical Services.
Another tribute will be made to Arnhold and Tourtillotte when a street sign is soon erected at the entrance of the new Hays Regional Fire/Rescue Training Facility in south Hays. A classroom is currently under construction.
Hays Fire Department personnel Lisa Beilman, Allison Friesen, and Ryan Hagans, along with City Attorney John Bird contributed information and research to this story.
CORRECTION at 8:20 a.m. Nov. 18, 2019: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated this fire caused the only civilian deaths in Hays. Three Hays residents died in a house fire in 1997, according to information in the Hays Daily News. Hays Post regrets the error.
John F. Kennedy changed the way politicians campaign in his historic run up to the the presidency, said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas Oliphant.
Kennedy’s presidential campaign made a sweep through Kansas in 1959, which included a stop in Hays.
Thomas Oliphant, co-author of “Road to Camelot,” will be the keynote speaker at a banquet at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the former Kennedy Middle School, commemorating the 60th anniversary of JFK’s campaign trip to Kansas.
“What we discovered in our research that the collection of almost exclusively young people around him starting basically in 1956, they invented modern politics on the fly,” Oliphant said in an interview via phone with Hays Post.
“So many of the things we see today — for better and for worse — polling, how you organize in non-primary states, how you organize in primary states, the use of television advertising on a scale that had never been attempted before and on and on — the modern game that we watch today essentially begins in 1960.”
Oliphant said northwest Kansas at that time had a pocket of Democratic support despite Kansas over time being generally a conservative state.
Thomas Oliphant
“In the 1950s and in 1960, northwest Kansas for the Democrats was a sort of isthmus of strength or an island of strength. Getting out to where the Democrats were made all the sense in the world,” Oliphant said.
JFK also made stops during his trip in Wichita, Kansas City, Dodge City and Salina, but almost never made it to Hays, Oliphant said. Hays didn’t have an airport big enough at the time to accept his DC-3 airplane. A Hays resident flew to Salina in a small plane and picked up Kennedy and flew him back to Hays to land on what was then a grass landing strip.
JFK was greeted upon his arrival to Hays by the marching band from the local Catholic school, which would eventually became Thomas More Prep-Marian. Oliphant noted Kansas was not particularly Catholic at the time, either, but Hays and the surrounding rural communities were strongly Catholic, based on the settlement of Catholic Volga Germans immigrants in the area.
Kennedy was only in Hays five or six hours, but was here long enough for a fundraising dinner.
All 645 people in attendance in 1959 that Friday evening ate chicken fried steak except for one person who requested fish — JFK. Norbert Dreiling, the Hays attorney and Sixth Congressional District Chairman who was instrumental in bringing JFK to Hays, had the bishop grant a dispensation allowing Catholics in attendance to eat meat on a Friday. That provision was noted in the banquet program.
Oliphant said Kennedy had been running for president for three years by the time he made his trip to Hays. He was making about 15 stops a year, Oliphant said.
“You have a very practiced candidate by the end of 1959 just almost on the eve of all the amazing things that happened the following year,” Oliphant said. “By then, his travel routine was really settled. He generally would have eaten a quick meal that included meat although he wouldn’t have on this Friday. He would eat in his hotel room so he wouldn’t have to worry about eating at the event.”
Kennedy did not stay the night in Hays, but when he did stay overnight, his staff would ask his host for a long board to place under his bed to help with his back problems. Kennedy stayed earlier in the 1950s with Gov. Docking, and his family saved the board they used to support Kennedy’s bed.
Oliphant said politicians are still using Kennedy’s campaign model today.
“All the most important aspects of national politics were really invented during those four or five years when JFK put his operation together,” Oliphant said. “Essentially everything they did had never been done before, but the success of it created a whole new generation of copycats.
“In fact, four years later, the successful Republican campaign by Barry Goldwater was organized along the same lines that Kennedy had used. The guy who put together the Goldwater operation, partisan differences aside, was an avid student of the way JFK did politics, and if you look at the Goldwater campaign, you kind of see the ultimate compliment, which is imitation.”
In researching the book on Kennedy, Oliphant said he became even more interested in the former president.
“I had not understood how political he was,” he said. “This guy did a lot more everyday than just make speeches that were written eloquently. He loved the game. He understood politics as the process that supplies the grease in our society to get things done.
“I was struck over and over again in the research how minutely he followed this kind of approach and how down to the tiniest detail. He loved the tactical infighting, actually.”
Kennedy used the theme of a new frontier in his campaign.
JFK delivered at stump speech in Hays, Oliphant said. One of the big lines in that speech was his vow to get this country moving again. He based that theme on a detailed analysis of the country’s condition that came to the conclusion that at the end of the 1950s American life was a little stuck in the mud and there needed to be a new burst of energy, Oliphant said.
Oliphant said the more he researched Kennedy, the more fascinated he became.
“All his accounts of him in Hays were that he was very vigorous and engaged in the hours that he was there, but the feeling was mutual. This would have been the fifth stop on a two-day swing through Kansas and apparently he was alive and vigorous at the end of it as he was at the beginning of it and that is typical of him.”
Oliphant said JFK had a knack for connecting with the average voter. He said the ability to connect likely started in the Navy during the war.
“You know he ran for Congress before he ran for president,” Oliphant said. “His first campaign was in 1946 and it was for a seat in the House of Representatives. You don’t win one of those fights with eloquence. Yo win it with hard work — sometimes door-to-door. The process forced Kennedy to either learn to relate to people or to be a failure. ”
Oliphant and his co-author were stuck when they looked at Kennedy’s early Congressional campaigns about how he used retail campaigning, including meeting with small groups, going door-to-door and doing walking tours.
“The more he did it,” Oliphant said, “the more it became apparent to us, the more he liked it. … It really helps if you like people, if you like meeting people you’ve never known before. Kennedy turned into one of those. He didn’t come by it naturally, but the time he arrived in Hays, he had been a practicing national politician for 14 years — by then, behaving in ways that ordinary Americans could relate to was second nature to him.”
The Nov. 20 event is being organized by the Ellis County Democratic Party.
General admission tickets to the banquet are now on sale at $50 each. Tickets for the banquet may be purchased at 1500 Vine or online by clicking here.
Other activities commemorating JFK’s visit
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, in the Fort Hays Ballroom, there will be a panel discussion about JFK’s trip to Hays, its impact, and the role of Norbert Dreiling, the Hays attorney and Sixth Congressional District Chairman who was instrumental in bringing JFK to Hays. Panelists will be longtime leader of local, state and national Democratic politics, Hays attorney John Bird; Larry Gould, chairman of Political Science Department at FHSU; and Randy Gonzales, who graduated in May from FHSU with master’s degree in history and who wrote his thesis on Kennedy’s trip to Hays. The event is free and open to the public.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, in the Memorial Union, Oliphant will answer questions at a historical commemoration of Kennedy’s news conference 60 years ago. The location will be adjacent to where JFK held his press gathering. The event is free and open to the public.
Forsyth Library on the FHSU campus opened an exhibit on Nov. 7 on JFK’s trip to Hays and on Dreiling’s role. It can be viewed in the south study area.
Spencer Mohler, left, of Randall shakes hands with James Arnold, right. Mohler and his wife have donated the use of the camper to James, who was homeless.
Jewell Co. couple donates camper, RV park owner offers a place to live
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
James Arnold’s friend Preston Wolf said James was almost in tears when a stranger pulled in at Wolf Furniture Galleries on Friday morning with a camper — a camper that was going to be James’ new home.
James has been homeless for 16 years. About a year and half ago James moved into a makeshift shelter cobbled out of cardboard, shipping pallets and sheets of plastic behind the Hays furniture store
Caroline von Lintel, owner of the RV Village on Vine, read a story Hays Post about Arnold and offered a camper pad at her park with all fees and utilities paid.
She was looking for a camper when Spencer Mohler of Randall, Kan., contacted von Lintel after seeing the story about James on social media. He let her and Wolf know Arnold could use his family camper indefinitely.
James Arnold in his new camper.
Mohler and his wife cleaned out the camper Thursday night, and Spencers drove the camper to Hays this morning for James.
“James was kind of peaking around the corner and tip toeing around, and when he found out that was his, it was if he just got issued a new lease on life,” von Lintel said. “There’s a spring in his step, and he said ‘I’m going to have a barbecue for everybody in the summer time.’ ”
The von Lintels also own the Wendy’s in town, and she said she would look into hiring him at the RV park or at Wendy’s.
“We want to get him in front of the people he needs to figure out where he’s at and what he needs,” she said. “Once we have that and feel he has his feet on the ground, we’ll just offer more opportunities as he is able to take it on.”
Now that James is no longer homeless he hopes to get a job and save some money.
Von Lintel has a history of working with homeless shelters, including Esther’s House and another shelter in Arizona.
“I’ve had some hard times myself. I’ll be honest with you,” she said. “When I read that, I know that feeling. I know what he felt. I just felt it. I said, ‘No, no, no, we are Hays. We can do this. Maybe Hays doesn’t have something in place now, but maybe this will create the synergy to get something in place. We are not a cold-hearted community. We care.’ ”
She continued, “People want to help. They just don’t know how. Hays is an amazing community. You don’t know how many calls I have got about clothes and food and bedding and whatever he needs.”
Von Lintel said she got more out of helping James than he did, because she knows now he can have some peace and start rebuilding his life.
“There is no one who needs to be homeless in Hays,” von Lintel said. “We can figure something out.”
Spencer Mohler, 26, said his family did not have much invested in the camper, were not using it and saw a chance to help someone else.
“I have never been homeless and I hope I never am homeless, but things do happen,” Mohler said. “I’ve been in lower places, and I know what it’s like trying to get out of whatever might be going on to get back on your feet and sometimes you need a little bit of help. I only had $1,500 in the camper, and that probably felt like $1 million to him.”
James’ former homeless encampment behind Wolf Furniture Galleries.
Mohler said they have opted to retain ownership of the camper for now, so James doesn’t have to pay the taxes.
When Mohler first brought up the idea of letting James use the camper to his wife, she said he was nuts. However, she read the story about James and the couple ultimately decided allow James to use the camper.
“If I can help someone who just a little worse off than I am, it’s all worth it,” he said.
Von Lintel and Wolf said they were flooded with calls and contacts of people hoping to help James in some way.
Someone donated an ACCESS bus pass. On the Rocks has offered him meals. Someone from LINK has offered to help James fill out paperwork to apply for assistance with medical needs.
James had few words Friday. He seemed overwhelmed, but happy and grateful. He talked about his goals of finding work and saving money. “Security,” he said excitedly. He knows know he has a place he and his belongings can be safe.
“I have knots in my stomach,” he said. “I have butterflies.”
Sitting on the couch in the camper, a huge grin curled over his wrinkled face.
“I ain’t homeless no more,” he said. “I have a home.”
The city of Hays says it’s doing everything it can to address a zoning issue involving a homeless man illegally living behind Wolf Furniture Galleries, 4213 Vine.
An Oct. 30 notification letter from Planning, Inspection, Enforcement Superintendent Curtis Deines to owner Preston Wolf declared that Arnold’s shelter had to be gone from the Wolf property by Friday.
Hays city commissioners brought up the issue at the end of their meeting Thursday night.
Eber Phelps said the Hays Police Department “does not go out and harass anybody and run them off.”
“That’s been a rumor going around that police have been hard on people out there and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “Actually, they go out there (near Walmart) and tell them all the assistance that’s available (locally).”
He specifically mentioned the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance and First Call for Help.
Phelps said he’s talked previously to Police Chief Don Scheibler about the issue of people panhandling in the Walmart shopping area.
“He said there’s three categories. People that have broken down on the highway and don’t have a way to get the money for a new transmission or whatever, so their only avenue is to possibly ask for contributions to get themselves on the road. There are organizations in Hays that will contribute to that.
“The next group of people that are out there are literally homeless. A lot of them have health issues and what have you. They’re just there trying to get enough money for their next meal.
“There’s a third group Scheibler contends have a place to live, have a vehicle, and don’t want any assistance whatsoever. They just like to panhandle for money, I guess.”
City Attorney John Bird got involved after the PIE department determined the shelter created by James Arnold should not be maintained in a commercially zoned area.
“The city manger directed all the staff to back up and look at the whole situation with some compassion,” Bird said. “There isn’t anybody who is getting disenfranchised or getting kicked out of the place they are. … The city is doing everything, as far as I can tell, to address the legal problem – the zoning issue – without having the unintended consequence of having somebody ground up by the system.
“That’s not going to happen while this city manager (Toby Dougherty) is here or I’m here,” Bird added.
Bird told Hays Post Friday morning “the city will not take any action to evict Arnold or remove his structure until we know all the facts.”
According to Bird, the city first became aware of the situation when Arnold appeared in court for allegations of threatening someone with a knife.
Bird said the city is looking into pending court matters and might be able to get help for Arnold through the court system. According to Bird, the Ellis County Sheriff and county attorney’s offices normally get involved in any sort of mental health petition.
“It was never our intent to move quickly (on this),” Dougherty said to Hays Post Friday. “After the notification period is up, we’ll look again at all our options.”
Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil and Mayor Henry Schwaller both complained Thursday night about inaccurate statements made on social media regarding a Nov. 14 Hays Post news story about the situation.
“Maybe you should ask before you go on social media and complain how bad our city is, because our city is pretty darn good,” Musil said. “I really believe in this community and there ain’t a person in this town that wouldn’t help a homeless person if they had the ability to do that.”
Musil said he read on social media where people have offered the use of a camper for Arnold.
“That’s our community right there, whether he takes advantage of it. So possibly that brought out a good thing.”
Schwaller urged anyone who’s angry to get together and form a homeless coalition in Ellis County.
“Take that anger and that time it took to post those comments and solve this problem. … We have a lot of resources but not enough,” Schwaller said. “That’s what makes this community great. When we have a problem, we solve it.”
Preston Wolf, left, helps James Arnold secure the door to his shelter outside of Wolf’s Furniture in Hays.
City commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday to proceed with a condemnation resolution of some properties adjacent to the North Vine Street Improvement Corridor project. Mayor Henry Schwaller voted against the resolution.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
A resolution to begin condemnation proceedings of some private properties near the proposed North Vine Street Corridor Improvements was approved 4-1 by Hays city commissioners Thursday night.
Mayor Henry Schwaller voted against the resolution. He has previously expressed opposition to the proposed design.
Drafted by John Bird, city attorney, the resolution is essentially administrative and does not designate any particular property.
“City staff, and I’m not including myself in this, has been diligently negotiating with land owners and with quite a bit of success,” Bird told the commission.
“But we can’t count on all of them having been signed up by the deadline imposed by our grant from the federal government calling for this project to be underway.”
Since May, WSP Engineers has been developing design plans for the construction of improvements to North Vine between 32nd and 41st Streets to include four traffic roundabouts.
(Click to enlarge)
Appraisals and compensation estimates were prepared. On September 26 the city commission authorized making offers to adjacent properties for the necessary easements and rights of way to construct the project.
According to Bird, the resolution authorizes the use of eminent domain and calls for the city manager and city staff to cause legal descriptions of the properties to be prepared.
“We’ve been working on those so we know we can do that quickly.”
Final action on any actual eminent domain would occur at the Nov. 26 commission meeting, although it will be reviewed first at the Nov. 21 work session.
“We hope we can come back to you and tell you it won’t be necessary at all,” Bird said, “but I don’t want you to be overly optimistic on that. We just don’t know until we’re done talking to various landowners.”
John Braun, city project manager, told Hays Post after the meeting that approximately 70% of the property negotiations have been successful.
“I’m very optimistic we’ll be able to reach an agreement with about half of the remaining 30% ,” Braun said. “There’s 10-15% of the properties we just don’t know about.”
“In order to give the few remaining property owners time to come to an agreement before those legal descriptions are published, we will wait until Thursday’s work session to have the legal descriptions to you and to the press,” Toby Dougherty, city manager, told the commission. Agenda information is provided to commissioners on Mondays prior to Thursday meetings.
Commissioner Sandy Jacobs and Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil both said their affirmatives votes were carefully considered.
“This is a very serious thing we have to do to accomplish this project in front of us, which we got $6 million for from the federal government,” Jacobs said.
“Condemnation is not something we really want to do. It’s something we have to do to finish the job we started.”
“I don’t enjoy doing this,” agreed Musil, “but it’s something we have to do if we do want to move forward.
“I just truly believe that this is going to be good for the city of Hays way past when I’m a commissioner. That’s why I’m for it.”
Musil also noted he’d read online social media comments that said the city was trying to put one local business in the corridor out of business.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth. Actually, one business, I believe, is actually going to gain space with the project the way it’s laid out,” Musil said.
“Me being a small business owner, that’d be the last thing I’d want to do is put somebody out of business.”
Musil is the owner of Paisley Pear Wine Bar, Bistro and Market in downtown Hays.
James Arnold has been given notice to leave the only home he knows — a makeshift encampment behind Wolf’s Furniture in Hays.
If you weren’t looking for it, you probably won’t see it. The encampment is made out of shipping pallets, sheets of plastic and cardboard. The makeshift shelter has just enough space for James to crawl into for the night. He has a small space heater that kept his hideaway warm even as the temperature dipped into the single digits this week.
He has squirreled away a few possessions — dishes and a few household items he hoped to use to start a new life in his own apartment — in a couple truck toolboxes. He recently adopted a mother cat who took advantage of the warmth of his shelter to have her kittens.
Preston Wolf, owner of Wolf Furniture and James’ friend, received a letter on Oct. 30 from the City of Hays Planning Inspection and Enforcement Department saying James could no longer stay in his encampment because the area was not zoned for residential use. Wolf was given until Friday to have James out.
James, who has been homeless for 16 years, wants to stay in Hays. His face tells the tale of those years, mostly lived in similar makeshift shelters. A long white beard stretches halfway down his tall, lean frame. The heavy lines in his weather-worn face make him appear much older than his 57 years.
James has been in Hays for the last year and half, working odd jobs, hoping to save up enough money to get an apartment of his own.
Wolf befriended James. He helped him apply for and receive a new ID and Social Security card, which took almost a year. Although James said he prefers his encampment, Wolf put James up in a hotel last winter at his own expense.
James said he doesn’t want to keep taking advantage of Wolf’s kindness.
“I can stay back there and it doesn’t cost him as much money. … I’m homeless. I’m used to this stuff back here by now,” James said. “The first three or four years I wouldn’t have made it, but now it’s been 15 years and I’m used to it. It doesn’t bother me as bad. He’s so nice. I’m not going to let him spend that much money on me this winter. I’d rather stay back there if he’ll let me and do it cheaper and save more money.
“This guy’s like a gift — like a banker, but I don’t want to abuse him,” James said.
James said he has made a connection with people in Hays.
“I have people who I like now and a lot of people I enjoy being around,” he said.
The inside of James’ shelter. There is just enough room to crawl in and lie down.
James appears to have no family ties or support system outside of what Wolf has offered him here in Hays. He has mentioned an ex-wife and kids, but James’ mind wanders from one grandiose topic to the next. It’s hard to nail down a history and tell what is truth and what is fantasy. Wolf said he suspects he might have mental health issues.
Wolf expressed great distress about what might happen to James after Friday. James said he plans to hitchhike to another encampment up north, but Wolf has tried to dissuade him.
“It’s just a field,” Wolf said.
James has COPD, a lung condition, which means he is winded easily. Wolf said he doesn’t think James will last long out on the road.
“If he leaves here, he is probably going to die because he has no place to go and no help,” Wolf said. “If there was someplace he could go where he would have a roof over his head … We understand that is not the ideal out there.”
“It’s not harming me,” James said of his Hays encampment. “If he ain’t mad about, it ain’t harming me. I have been saving a little money.”
Few resources in Hays for homeless
The City of Hays says James Arnold can no longer stay in this makeshift shelter behind Wolf’s Furniture because it is not zoned for residential use.
Linda Mills, director of First Call for Help, which helps transients in the community, said Hays unfortunately has little to no resources for a person in James’ predicament.
“It’s frustrating,” Mills said. “The thought of someone sleeping outside when it was a cold as it was last night … I couldn’t do it.”
There are housing programs for veterans, but the veterans have to have proof of service. Hays also has a housing program for people who have mental illness, but recipients must have a diagnosed mental illness and meet other criteria to qualify.
First Call needs $215,000 to remodel the rear of its building into transitional living areas for its new First Step housing program. Now that First Call has a firm bid in hand, it hopes to start applying for grants for the project. You can donate to that project by clicking here.
Even if the transitional housing project was ready, Mills said James would likely not qualify for the program because he has not been able to hold down steady work.
In addition to his COPD, which makes it difficult for him to do physical labor, his mind tends to wonder, Wolf said.
“I definitely don’t mind him staying there,” Wolf said. “He causes no problems. What we were trying to when we got his ID and his Social Security card, we were try to get him a job at Walmart or someplace. The ideal thing was to try to get him back into society to find a little one-bedroom apartment or something. We are trying. We just haven’t got that — with the job application. I don’t know if James could work eight straight hours.”
Mills said James might qualify for disability, but that process can take months or even years. Initial applications are often denied and applicants have to appeal and even employ an attorney to secure disability payments.
“If he doesn’t want to leave Hays, I’m not sure unless people are willing to set up a GoFundMe or something and match what he has saved up to get into an apartment,” Mills said. “But even if he gets into an apartment, how is he going to pay for the rent month to month? It probably doesn’t makes sense to raise money to get him into the apartment unless they are going to raise money to keep him in the apartment because he’ll get evicted.”
Mills said the best First Call could do for James is to offer him a bus ticket to Salina, the location of the nearest men’s shelter.
James said he has been in shelters in Denver and Wichita, and said they were like being in prison. He doesn’t want to go.
It’s the law
Curtis Deines, superintendent of Planning Inspection Enforcement, said Arnold’s situation was unfortunate and he hoped Arnold would be OK, but he had to follow the law. He said the city had worked with Wolf to try to resolve the situation, noting it’s Wolf’s obligation as the property owner to remove Arnold from the property, according to Deines.
Deines said the the city was first made aware of Arnold’s encampment when police were called to the area because of a civil disturbance involving Arnold. He allegedly pulled a knife, threatened another individual and was arrested.
“I know it can seem like the city is going after somebody, and that is not the case,” Deines said. “There was an unfortunate event there and that prompted the situation.”
Wolf described James as mild-mannered and said he has never had any issues with him since he took up residence behind the store. James doesn’t drink or use drugs.
James said he just wants the city to leave him alone until summer comes and he can move to his encampment up north — home.
Wolf said, “We just don’t know what to do. That’s what it boils down to.”
Billy Crocker (Gabe McGuire) gives Reno Sweeney (Shirley Lee) a kiss in the Hays High production of “Anything Goes.”
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The Hays High cast of “Anything Goes” is sure to tap and croon their ways into your heart this week.
Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Twelfth Street Auditorium.
“Anything Goes” is a 1934 musical that features notable tunes such as “Anything Goes,” “You’re the Top” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The musical is a romantic comedy that takes place aboard a vessel en route to London from New York.
“I chose this musical for a handful of reasons. First of all, I think it fits our students incredibly well. There are lots of roles for many students to have opportunities, which I really like,” Alex Underwood, director, said. “Beyond that, I think it is important for students to get to explore cultures, time periods, and utilize skills that are different from their own. In this case, they get to study 1934 New York and learn some pretty significant tap dancing.
“Finally, it’s just a lot of fun. The music is charming, and the comedic bits are hysterical. It’s a wonderful way to spend a few hours.”
Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Tom Drabkin) takes notes as his fiancee Hope Harcourt (Alisara Arial) and two reporters (Zach Chance and Tegan Hartman) look on.
The principle roles in this show are Reno Sweeney, an evangelist-turned-night club singer whose brassy personality drives the plot, Underwood said. That role is double cast — played by Shirley Lee and Caitlin Leiker.
Billy Crocker is the leading man in this production, played by Gabe McGuire. Finally, Moonface Martin is a second-rate gangster disguised as a minister who drives quite a bit of the mayhem and fun in the show. Moonface is played by Kai Kaufman.
The show features a slew of dancers — Reno’s four angels and a quartet of dancing sailors. Beyond that, there are tons of other bit parts that are quite hilarious, Underwood said.
The challenges with this show revolved around the difficult production numbers — particularly the tap dancing, Underwood said.
“We hired a choreographer from New York to teach the students, and we’ve spent hours and hours working on it. Once it’s all said and done, it looks incredible!” he said. “I’m so proud of them for pulling off super tricky choreography. And we didn’t cut the dance breaks even one measure — it’s the full Broadway orchestration.”
Passenger and crew perform “(There’s No Cure Like Travel)/Bon Voyage” in HHS’ production of “Anything Goes.”
Underwood said he has been proud of the work the students have put in thus far.
“I think these students bring some amazing skill as well as heart and commitment,” he said. “So many of them are fiercely dedicated to the success of this production and have been working tirelessly for months in preparation. It’s inspiring to watch, honestly.”
Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketsource.us/hays-high-school, at the box office at Twelfth Street Auditorium between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. this week, or at the door. They are $10.
Evangeline Harcourt (Katelyn Engel), Elisha Whitney (Andrew Duke), Hope Harcourt, (Alisara Arial), and Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Tom Drabkin) sing as their vessel is about the cast off.
Cast list
Henry T. Dobson (Carson Brooksher) advises his converts , Luc and Jean (Alexis White and Matthew Bollig).
Reno Sweeney – Shirley Lee (Nov. 14 and 16) and Caitlin Leiker (Nov. 15 and 17)
Hope Harcourt – Alisara Arial
Evangeline Harcourt – Katelyn Engel
Lord Evelyn Oakleigh – Tom Drabkin
Elisha Whitney – Andrew Duke
Billy Crocker – Gabe McGuire
Moonface Martin – Kai Kaufman
Erma – Hanna Dannar
Luc – Alexis White
Jean – Matthew Bollig
Captain – Ashley Vilaysing
Purser – Sierra Adkins
Reno’s Angels
Purity – Anna Brull
Chastity – Marie-lyn Castaing
Charity – Jessica Leiker
Virtue – Savanna Lawson
Dancing Sailors – Nathan Leiker, Alex Flavin, Sydney Wittkorn, Stanna Flinn
A group of thieves made off with thousands of dollars after a theft at a Hays business last month.
The incident was captured on video by Sue McRae Bickle, owner of Northglen Antiques, 2010 Vine, but even with video evidence, the crime highlights the difficulty in investigating crimes that occur as people get off and quickly back on the interstate.
On the video, three people are captured traveling throughout the store, looking at various items in the early afternoon of Oct. 6.
Shortly after two females enter the store together, one steps behind the counter located near the entrance and looks around before they began walking around the store.
Another man walks in seconds later, looking at the security cameras and texting on his phone while walking around.
At one point while the three people were in the location, a clutch was stolen from a cabinet in the store’s office where there were no cameras.
Cash totaling $1,172 was taken along with two credit cards for the business and Bickle’s personal bank card.
Those cards would be used to make over $5,000 in purchases at Walgreens, Walmart, Home Depot and Dillons in Hays within two hours of the three people leaving the store.
Those purchases were all completed within an hour and were likely used to purchase gift cards, she said, as several of the purchases are for the same amount.
And while in her shop, one of the three people in the video made a purchase with a Visa gift card.
On Oct. 26, the clutch was returned after being found in the bushes of a Hays hotel near I-70 and returned to Bickle, with something extra inside.
In the checkbook, she found two credit cards from a person in Colby.
Colby Police Chief Ron Alexander said those cards were taken during a vehicle burglary reported on Oct. 6, the same day as the theft at Northglen.
“The cards were apparently used in Hays at the Walmart from our theft,” he said, they had also attempted to use the cards in the Walmart in Colby early in the day.
After looking at video from Hays, Alexander said the possible suspects appear to match those from the theft in Colby.
“I imagine this is tied into it,” he said.
The purse stolen in Colby was found two weeks later by KDOT employees near I-70 mile marker 65.
“This is two cases this month where somebody has come from the west and committed a crime and continued on east,” Alexander said. “We think they were likely just passing on down the road and, unless you get them caught with this stuff in hand, it’s hard.”
“We wish you could absolutely solve every crime, but just because you have someone on camera, it’s not always the case,” he said.
Meanwhile, the video and pictures have been pushed out across the state.
“We shared (the video) with local law enforcement and the Kansas Intelligence Association,” said Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler. “It is still an open investigation.”
But cases like these are hard to investigate locally, he said, as the perpetrators are often only in town for a short time.
In this case, Bickle said in around 12 minutes the suspects had the cards from her business, within a couple of hours they had made off with thousands of dollars.
“We definitely feel they came off the interstate and got back on the interstate and are gone,” Scheibler said.
By the time patrol officers had submitted the evidence to a detective, they were likely already out of the area, he said.
“We do tend to have good luck releasing videos and photographs, especially if they are local, but if they are just passing through, pulled off and committed a couple of crimes and got back on the interstate, we are going to struggle,” Scheibler said.
Bickle said shop owners and managers should report suspicious activity, especially when large amounts of gift cards are purchased or crimes like this will continue to occur in Hays, but credit card policies add another layer of difficulty as it is against Visa and Mastercard policy to require identification to make a sale — meaning even a suspicious clerk has little recourse if theft is suspected.
“We have been a vocal advocate for stricter regulations surrounding requiring IDs on credit card purchases,” said Tara Aston, senior manager of national media relations at Walmart. “We are not allowed to require that.”
In Bickle’s case, and the case from later in the month, a vehicle was captured on video that was shared by Walmart, but without a clear license plate number, they are also hard to track.
“Car license plates are major for catching these people,” Bickle said. “The police said my thieves covered their license plates while they were in Walmart and the cameras couldn’t get it.”
Physical therapy is typically something a person does not think about until it is needed and then finding time during a workday when offices are open is often a challenge.
But Aimee Riegel opens to change that with her new business Fit PT and Physical Therapy.
“What I have done is created a mobile concierge physical therapy practice where I can come to the client,” Riegel said.
And she offers different services than what you might see in a traditional physical therapy office such as working with employers to develop programs for their employees to help them before therapy is needed.
“A lot of them are simply because we sit too long during the day,” she said. “There is a lot of things I can teach people and employers to show their employees.”
Working directly with the public can be beneficial for the individual as well in both well being and pricing, she said. Not being contracted with insurance companies means she can offer a flat rate – sometimes lower than out-of-pocket costs after a traditional office setting.
“You know what you get up front,” Riegel said.
Working outside of insurance she said also allows her the flexibility to work with what the client needs regardless of the mandates of an insurance company.
“We can make a plan and really follow through without having insurance dictating (care),” Riegel said.
When the range of motion is recovered, insurance companies will often stop covering treatment – that’s where her new service can come in.
Working with people to maintain a range of motion can help stop problems from occurring that can happen when not seeking treatment.
She launched the business in September and has been gaining clients through word of mouth and continues working at Progressive Physical Therapy two days a week in order for clients who are going through insurance companies to be able to use her services as well.
But through the new business, she offers flexibility in scheduling that a regular office normal will not.
“I’m available evenings. I can be available weekends. I try to be as flexible as I can for my clients,” Riegel said.
“I’ve gotten some really great responses from the community,” she said, adding many have told her this service is much needed in Hays.
And while the service is new, many will already know Riegel as she has been a long-time practitioner of physical therapy.
“I have been practicing physical therapy for about 12 years and decided I wanted to branch out into something a little different,” she said.
Using her services can help maintain motion and stay pain-free, and utilizing physical therapy prior to a specific incident is becoming more popular.
“The American Physical Therapy Association is actually pushing really hard for preventative wellness and medicine,” Riegel said.
By doing so, they hope to keep insurance costs lower, she said, by engaging people before they have an issue.
Wellness services can also more personally directed than insurance-mandated treatment.
“Its more than developing exercises for an individual. It’s very personal,” Riegel said.
She helps see how people move and can direct their treatment to address their specific concerns.
Riegel offers a free discovery consultation where she can hear problems and see if her services would be a good fit.
An initial full consultation is $150 for approximately an hour and a half and includes a full evaluation and treatment during the visit.
A regular session is $125 for wellness or physical therapy.
She also offers a half-hour session for $70 or stand-alone dry needling for $45.
Health Spending Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts can be used and if multiple sessions are needed she offers discounted rates packages.
After more than 38 years in the printing business Marvin Rack, and his wife, Jennifer, sold their business, Northwestern Printers to longtime employee Josh Zweifel on Aug. 1.
The sale had been part of the Racks’ succession plan for years. Marvin said he knew he and Jennifer would eventually want to step away from the business, but the couple did not want to see the company they built together close.
The Racks began to discuss a possible sale with Zweifel years ago, and slowly allowed him to be more involved in the management of the company.
Doug Williams, director of Grow Hays, said succession planning is one of the most difficult topics to discuss with small business owners, but can be one of the most important issues to those businesses and the communities they serve.
“Our mission is business creation, business retention and expansion and business recruitment,” he said. “I view succession planning as a big part of retention and expansion.”
Hays has a number of Baby Boomer-owned businesses, and those owners are nearing retirement, Williams said.
“Unfortunately, not enough of them have planned very well about what their strategy is as far as how they will exit their businesses, and in my opinion, that leaves all those businesses at risk of not continuing on,” he said.
In some cases, there is an obviously family member to take over, but in a lot cases there isn’t, Williams said.
“They haven’t in all cases done what they need to make sure that their businesses can continue on and prosper and thrive and hopefully grow,” he said, “as opposed to they just get to the point where they say, ‘I’m tired. I’m ready to be done, so I’m just going to have a going-out-of-business sale.’ ”
When a business closes, it is not an optimum outcome for the community, Williams said. It gives the community fewer options for shopping. Employees are laid off. It is one less attraction that will bring people to a community, and it reduces the tax base.
“All the positives of businesses opening and growing are just the opposite when businesses close,” he said.
Tony Gabel, associate professor in the department of management at Fort Hays State University, gave a talk to a conference of the western Kansas Rural Economic Alliance in September in Hays and noted when business owners start to develop a succession plan a “cloud” of advisers can be helpful in assisting them. This can include their attorney, accountant and a financial adviser.
Succession planning is not always an issue of retirement — it can be about death. And that death may be unexpected.
“Can your business continue without you?” Gabel said, “(That) is the question.”
Estate planning and succession planning might go hand in hand, but they are not the same thing, he said.
Gabel listed several items to consider in a succession plan:
Family harmony
Income taxes and estate taxes
Facilitation of retirement for the current management
The ability to maintain control of the business
Succession plans are also important in passing on farms and ranches.
Gabel said his family has been dealing with this issue recently as his mother passed away a year ago. The family is transitioning their farm. Gabel said he has been fortunate in that his family gets along and has agreed on how to proceed with the farm.
“Perhaps the very first thing you need to do in order to convince people to think about this is ask the question ‘What do you think is going to happen after you die?’ ” he said. “Let’s go with the worst case scenario. ‘After you die will your children get along with each other?’ Most people are going to be honest enough to say, ‘Probably not.’ ”
Business owners need to ask themselves what their end goal is and how are they going to get there, Gabel said.
More aspects to take into consideration in creating a succession plan include:
Management talent assessment
Compensation planning
Formal directorship roles for family and non-family
Stock transfer strategies
Corporate structure
Communication planning
Estate planning
Valuation of the company
If your children are a part of the management team, will they be ready to run the company when you are ready to leave? A rule of thumb is that a family business will only last three generations and then it will collapse, Gabel said.
The Racks said they wanted their children to be able to pursue their own dreams. They have seen other businesses in which the children had to take over a business from their parents and were miserable.
If the source of the management talent is not coming from family, it might come from inside the company or it from recruiting new talent or an outside buyer.
“You have to communicate with all of the interested parties,” he said. “This is where most things go south — a lack of communication, a lack of candid communication. People will say certain things, but they won’t give all the details.”
Williams compared talking to business owners about succession planning is like trying to talk to people about life insurance.
“I think it is just one of those things that is very easy to push onto the back burner,” he said. ” ‘I’ll worry about that a later date,’ but all of the sudden, that date is here and they haven’t laid the plans for it.”
Need for a succession plan can arise for a variety of reasons: sale of a business, death of an owner, health issues for an owner, retirement or other changes in circumstances.
It is not only the transfer of the assets, but the maximization of the assets, Williams said.
“People work their entire lives in a business and to just close it if it’s doing well and prosperous is really sad,” he said.
Maximizing what you receive from a transfer of your business could mean you have to exit at a time that is not perfect for you.
Marvin said he and Jennifer could have spent more years running the business, but now was the right time to step aside.
“I will be 61 this year — too early to retire, but when you have an opportunity, such as we did with Josh … It was 22 years of him seeing the shop. I am not sure if I would be a good business owner in 22 more years,” Rack said.
He said if you wait to do succession planning, you have to take what you are given. It takes time to find and train the right person to step into a leadership role.
Williams said the day is going to come when business owners are going to exit their businesses in one way or another.
“It can be feet first, which means you die in your business, which is not the best,” he said, “or you can plan and determine what the best way to exit your business is.
“Most people want to maximize the value of their business and exit with as much as they can. To do that takes a lot of planning, and it takes some thought ahead of time in order to make that happen. Rarely does it happen that someone comes waltzing down the road with a whole pile of money and hands it to you and says, ‘I want to buy your business.’ “
Hays school board members toured Wilson Elementary School on Monday and learned that space is an issue throughout the school.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The Hays school board toured Wilson Elementary School during its work session Monday night and discovered space is one of its significant challenges.
Wilson is housing more students now than it ever has, said Principal Anita Scheve. The school’s enrollment is 408 students. The school has three sections of each grade kindergarten through fifth grade.
A teacher has carved out a reading area in her room to promote the district’s reading and writing curriculum.
Although the enrollment at the other three-section elementary schools in the district are similar, the total square footage at Wilson is much less. Wilson has about 39,000 square feet. The square footage at O’Loughlin Elementary is 49,000 square feet and the square footage at Roosevelt is 59,000 square feet.
“If you think about it, Roosevelt has almost the same enrollment but almost 50 precent more square footage to work with,” Scheve said. “A common theme you are going to see tonight is lack of storage and we are crowded.”
At several locations throughout the school, Scheve noted lighting. Many of the lights are original to the building when it was built in 1959. The district has been replacing lights at other schools with LEDs in attempts to save money.
The art and music wing was added to Wilson in 1966. An addition was built at Wilson in 1985 and one more classroom added in 1989, but the school has not had a significant renovation since.
The Wilson boiler is original to construction of the school in 1959. At least one room remains at 85 degrees year round because of the problems with the HVAC system.
The HVAC system in the building also dates to when the building was constructed in 1959. Scheve said at least one of the classrooms remains at 85 degrees year round.
Storage is a serious concern for the school. The fire marshal told the school officials after a recent inspection that it will have to move items that are being stored in hallways to other locations for safety reasons.
The school has two very small storage sheds. Scheve said she is working with buildings and grounds to move in a shipping container for more storage for the school.
The school is using smaller desks, because it needed to have some floor space for children to gather to work on reading and writing curriculum. Each classroom has its own library as a part of that curriculum. Those books take up space, which is at a premium. Teachers also have to carve out space for the storage of iPads.
The average size of classrooms at Wilson is 700 to 750 square feet, but designers today are recommended new elementary classrooms be a minimum of 900 to 1,000 square feet.
Outside, Scheve said she would like to have more cameras on the playground, because it is large and hard to supervise. She also said she would like less asphalt, because children have been injured by slipping and falling on the asphalt.
Plumbing and corroded pipes are problems at Wilson. Some of the pipes date back to 1959 when the school was built.
Plumbing is becoming an issue because much of it is also original from 1959. Much of the plumbing in the building is cast iron.
As part of the school’s trauma responsive practices, classrooms have calm-down corners for kids.
“Really just a space where they can use if they are feeling frustrated and they don’t know what to do with those feelings,” she said. “It is a space to stay in the class, but for the teacher to recognize and the student to recognize ‘I need some help or I need some time to figure things out or to get myself back to a learning state.’ ”
Wilson’s gym is also used as the cafeteria and auditorium. When the building was built, it only had two sections of each grade, so many more students are using the space than was originally intended.
Scheve said the school has to schedule everything around its gym classes, because the time in the gym/cafeteria/auditorium is at such a premium. She said the students and staff are pressed for a time on a daily basis, because there is a gym class 10 minutes after breakfast and a gym class that ends 10 minutes before lunch is served.
The schedule is further complicated because Wilson shares a PE teacher with Lincoln Elementary School.
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