By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Drivers on their Friday morning commute to school or work in west Hays need to pay extra attention.

A contractor for the city began working late Thursday afternoon to restripe north Hall Street between 27th and 41st from four lanes down to three lanes.

Hays Assistant Public Works Director John Braun said Thursday night the middle lane turn arrows may not be placed until Monday.

“It will be an adjustment for drivers,” Braun acknowledged, “although studies show it is a safer traffic configuration.”

He noted that when east 13th Street between Vine and Canterbury was re-striped to three lanes in late 2013, some people complained but have since realized the traffic is more efficient.

Milling and an asphalt overlay on the north section of Hall Street was completed earlier this month.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

After operating without an early morning flight at the Hays Regional Airport since January 2015, SkyWest/United Express will reinstate the popular 6:40 a.m. weekday departure beginning the first week of January 2017.

The city of Hays received confirmation of the decision by SkyWest August 19.

City Manager Toby Dougherty is delighted about the change. He anticipates the schedule modification will also apply to the weekend.

“When SkyWest instituted services as United Express in Hays in August of 2014, we had a very similar schedule. The plane spent the night here, left early in the morning for Denver, a mid-day turn around, and then came back late at night. In Jan. 2015, SkyWest had to make some modifications in their fleet and they had to move the plane to a place where it could be more lucrative from a business standpoint to spend the night. They chose to move the overnight portion to another airport…the (subsequent) 10 o’clock arrival in Hays and 10:35 departure we have in the morning is about as early as they can get it when the plane doesn’t spend the night here,” Dougherty explained.

“Evidently the decision has been made that it’s more lucrative to put it here in Hays, and I believe, it’s also in hopes of increasing ridership, increasing passengers to Hays Regional Airport.”

Dougherty has the same hope.

“It’s been no secret that we at the city have been a little frustrated by the amount of passengers that have been utilizing the Hays Regional Airport,” he said.

“Back four, five and six years ago, we were approaching 10,000 annual passenger boardings with Great Lakes–a very unreliable airline flying old equipment on a somewhat unreliable schedule. And, it was an extremely expensive ticket because it was always an add-on ticket. You paid your price to get from Hays to Denver and back and then you paid the price of your ticket to somewhere else,” Dougherty pointed out.

Yet, Hays has averaged fewer annual boardings–about 8,000–the past two years with SkyWest.

“SkyWest flies top-of-the-line 50-passenger regional jets, gets to Denver International Airport in 40 minutes. Fares are very competitive with United Airlines. You book your ticket online at United.com. It’s a seamless, dynamic pricing so you’re not paying the leg to Denver and then somewhere else,” Dougherty said.

He understands the schedule can be a challenge if trying to get to some certain destinations, but believes “by-and-large, it was still a good schedule.”

After doing some research, it became apparent the number of business travelers was down more than the numbers of leisure travelers at the Hays airport. A survey of the local business community revealed the lack of an early morning flight was the number one reason for the downturn. Price was mentioned but not as significant.

All of the information was shared with SkyWest by Airport Manager Nathan Marcucci.

For months, the city had already been encouraging local and area businesses to “Fly Hays” whenever possible, sending a message of  “use it or lose it.”

“We didn’t dream SkyWest was going to put the early morning flight back in January,” Dougherty said in amazement. “Evidently they see potential and have reinstituted it.”

The city continues to encourage increased ridership, especially for business use.

“I understand a little bit about the economics of what it takes to fly a jet in and out of the Hays Regional Airport and it’s extremely expensive. Even with the Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidies they’re getting from the federal government, you still depend on passengers to make this route profitable.”

During the first five months SkyWest was in Hays and providing the early morning departure, “we didn’t exactly rush back to utilize it as a flying public,” Dougherty noted.

There’s a back story to that.

“We were coming off a couple negatives–negative number one was Great Lakes.  Great Lakes was a terrible airline and they did not serve our community very well, especially the last couple years they were here. They had a flight completion percentage of somewhere around 50 percent towards the end–meaning half the flights wouldn’t even go,” Dougherty recalled.

Great Lakes then discontinued its service before SkyWest began its contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, leaving Hays without commercial air passenger service for four months in 2015.

“We know that had an effect on our flying public and when SkyWest came in under United Express…we were slow to come back and they saw the (financial) possibility of moving the (overnight) plane somewhere else after five months. It was highly unlikely to me they were going to preemptively move it back.

“Evidently they see the potential. They’ve heard the feedback from some of the larger businesses–Fort Hays State University, Hays Medical Center–and they see the potential in what a morning flight could provide.”

Promotion and advertising the use of the Hays Regional Airport will continue and even ramp up, according to the city manager.

“The analogy I used in a recent staff meeting was McDonald’s McRib campaign–‘You asked for it. The McRib is back.’

“Well, Flying Public, you asked for it. The early morning flight is back and that’s what we have to promote.”

Although Dougherty personally has never found it difficult to overcome the mid-morning versus early-morning departure, he understands going some places can be difficult.

“I think some people got caught in the traffic of trying to come back to Hays where you had to be in Denver at noon or 1 p.m. (Mountain Time) in order to catch that last flight back. That’s where it could be really difficult. If you’re coming from an east coast location, it may be difficult to get out of there early enough to get to Denver to come back.

“So, the late arrival that comes with the RON–Remain Over Night–with the plane staying overnight in Hays, that late arrival is just as important to flexible schedules as the early morning departure is. They kind of go hand-in-hand.”

Part of the promotional campaign, marketed by the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, focuses on affordability.

“When you take in account the time to drive to Wichita, Kansas City, or Denver, it can be affordable to fly out of Hays. If you’re a leisure traveler with family members, you have to consider the costs of drive time, meals, parking and maybe a hotel stay versus the additional $100 to $200 per ticket.

“If you’re flying on business–usually it’s just one person or maybe two–the business also has to value the employee’s time, the productivity, perhaps paying mileage if the employee has to drive, the expenses that come with travel, the employee being out of the office (for a longer time). Therefore the convenience becomes a lot more affordable for a business.

“It’s been the business community saying this airport is absolutely critical to our success.  That’s why this latest outreach has been at the business level….we think they got a little used to driving to other airports and didn’t give Hays the full consideration they should have.”

In an email to Hays Post Thursday, City Commissioner James Meier said he’s starting his own marketing campaign.

“I have asked city staff and other city leaders to please stop talking about SkyWest and to start talking about United or United Express so we have a unified, clear message to send to the public.

“I think by talking all these years about ‘SkyWest’ that people are thinking about ticketing and pricing in terms of the old Great Lakes where people had to get a ticket to Denver and then a second ticket to wherever they were going. With Great Lakes it was ‘add-on pricing,’ meaning they paid a fair on United and then another fare to Great Lakes.

“This isn’t the case with SkyWest as SkyWest operates completely under the United system. Flying from Hays now is no different than flying from Wichita, Kansas City, or anywhere else there is United,” reminded Meier. “You may change planes… but it’s all one ticket because it’s all United.”

Meier said he thinks the flying public is checking prices to Denver “because that’s what they’ve always done, and then deciding the price is too high, not realizing they need to price their ticket from Hays to their final destination.”

According to Meier, all the United ticket prices he’s checked “are $350 to $450 round trip to pretty much anywhere in the U.S. from Hays.”

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

As questions continue to swirl about the circumstances surrounding the death of 36-year-old Joseph Weber, members of the community gathered together Thursday evening to remember the man described as a quiet, but joyful man living with autism.

Over 100 people gathered in Hickok Park to share stories, show support and mourn the loss after a funeral was held in Oakley on Tuesday.

Weber was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Aug. 18 in a residential area of Hays.

“In the past few days of working with them, they were so happy to know there is a candle vigil in his honor tonight. They were absolutely ecstatic to hear that there is being more done,” said Jenna Jacobs, an event-co organizer who works in disability services, speaking about people she works with who knew Weber.

Weber was associated with New Age Services, a licensed disability services provider in Kansas.

“Some of them knew Joey on a personal level, not all of them, but everyone I’ve talked to had multiple great things to say about Joey,” Jacobs said.

J.J. Wright, a co-founder of Justice for Joey, who had a statement read at the vigil called the gathering of people in remembrance of Weber providence. Wright knew Weber through school in Oakley from kindergarten through 12th grade and currently resides on the West Coast.

“It’s because a person can transcend time and distance,” Wright said. “Make no mistake he was and should be remembered that way.”

An investigation into the death remains ongoing, and no further information has been released.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty said he “was shocked,” although in a good way, when conformation came last Friday that an early morning flight would be reinstated at the Hays Regional Airport by SkyWest/United Express in early January 2017.

“They are reinstituting the early morning departure with the late arrival,” Dougherty said.

The plane will originate in Hays with the first flight to Denver International Airport at approximately 6:40 a.m. There will be a mid-day turnaround, meaning the plane will come back into Hays, unload passengers and board new passengers, and then head immediately back to Denver. There will be a late arrival in Hays at about 10 p.m. with the plane remaining overnight, then leaving again the next morning on the same schedule.

The Monday through Friday schedule is scheduled to start the first week of January.

Dougherty had not yet seen a weekend schedule. “On the weekends where we only have one flight in and one flight out, I assume it’s going to be a morning departure with a later arrival because I would assume the plane will spend the night in Hays on the weekends as well.”

The schedule change was a SkyWest decision and Dougherty is not aware of their process or strategy leading to it.

He is, however, very happy with the change.

Passenger boardings at the Hays airport have been averaging 8,000 a year since SkyWest service began in Aug. 2014. In Jan. 2015, SkyWest made modifications to its fleet and as a result, dropped the early morning flight out of Hays.

Boardings four, five and six years ago with then-provider Great Lakes, which Dougherty called “an unreliable airline,” averaged 10,000 passengers a year. He hopes SkyWest ridership will increase with the return of the early morning flight out of Hays.

Use of the Hays airport for business trips has fallen off although pleasure flights remain stable.

The city, along with the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, “reached out to the business community to find out why they weren’t using the Hays airport as often,” Dougherty said.

“Feedback showed a lot of people lamented not having that morning flight and claimed that was their biggest barrier. We understand there are times it’s not going to work out, but when it does, we need the business community to use the Hays airport.”

Price was also mentioned in the recent online survey, the results of which was shared with SkyWest/United Express by Hays Airport Manager Nathan Marcucci.

“Evidently, they were listening,” Dougherty said.

“We had reached out to the business community with the message that if you want the morning flight back you’re probably going to have to earn it with higher utilization before they’re going to put it back.

“We didn’t dream they were going to put it back in January. Evidently, SkyWest sees potential in the Hays morning flight and they reinstituted it. Now, I hope our passengers appreciate it and utilize the Hays Regional Airport whenever possible.”

Although “there’s never a guarantee in the airline industry, right now, SkyWest has indicated to us it is their intent for this to be a permanent move. But if we don’t respond as a flying community and enplanement levels stay somewhere to what they are, the next time they need the jet somewhere else overnight, it’s probably gonna get moved. The way we can make it permanent is by utilizing it,” Dougherty emphasized.

Price will always be an issue flying out of Hays, he acknowledged. “We will never be cheaper than Denver, Wichita, Kansas City, Dallas–places like that with many more flights a day.

“It costs a lot of money to fly any plane in and out of the Hays Regional Airport.”

And yet, there’s still more good news for Hays passengers.

“I do know SkyWest has reached out to United and they are in the process of lowering fares for the future. In conjunction with the morning flight, they’re having a lower fare rollout–across the board, if they can.

Dougherty said he’s already aware of some people who booked flights after January 1 finding fares significantly cheaper in some cases as compared to December travel for the same flight.

“All we can ask is for the flying public to check United.com for flights out of Hays first,” he urged.

By James Bell
Hays Post

Justice for Joey, an organization that has been organized in the wake of the shooting death of Hays resident Joseph Weber, has planned a candlelight vigil for 8:30 p.m. Thu., Aug. 25, at Hickok Park, 26th and Donald Dr., to gather the community together to remember Weber.

J.J. Wright, co-founder of Justice for Joey, said the campaign is growing organically and many people have been already involved.

Wright attended school in Oakley with Weber from kindergarten through high school. Wright graduated from Fort Hays State University before relocating to the west coast.

“It’s (the vigil) absolutely 100 percent about Joey and the loss of his life and someone so amazing and great and another person with disabilities to have lost his life by the hands of a police officer,” Wright said.

But while mourning the loss, he said a conversation needs to begin about the tragedy.

“Now, the important thing is to have dialogue and talk about this and talk about the tragedy. I think we all want answers and we are not getting them.

“I don’t want to speak for everyone else, but it’s suspicious. I believe many others think it’s suspicious as well,” Wright said, adding the lack of detailed information from officials is “very disheartening.”

“I think that a lot of people might feel that way. We’re searching for answers as to what the real facts are, but we’re also searching for answers that speak to how the Hays Police Department is being trained,” he said.

And Wright feels the death of Weber should be a part of a national conversation that needs to begin.

“This is so much bigger than (Weber) as well,” he said. “The very same day Joey was shot and killed, a deaf man by the name Daniel Harris was shot and killed.”

“They both were supposedly being looked into for a traffic violation. They both apparently continued on, there was a chase of some sort and they both went directly to a place of safety.”

Harris was shot and killed by a North Carolina state trooper the same day as Weber and is being described as deaf and speech impaired.

“So we have two men who did exactly the same thing. Daniel went to his home, Joey went to his other home for a group with disabilities that he spent a lot of time at, and they were both shot and killed in front of those homes. That for me is something worth discussing and talking about,” Wright said.

He also noted a recent report by the Ruderman Family Foundation found up to half of all police-involved shooting deaths are of disabled individuals and often times those deaths are blamed on the victim.

“That’s pretty staggering with all the other movements happening and going on; this one (Weber) still hasn’t still gotten a lot of attention,” Wright said.

And he said many comments in the Weber case allude to Weber’s abilities and are taking away from what should be the focus of the incident.

“I think a lot of people jump to conclusions and the dialogue surrounding this incident is more about victim blaming and I’m worried that is the narrative.”

As an example, many comments on social media suggested Weber should not have been driving a vehicle with his disability.

“That’s victim blaming,” Wright said.

“The only situation that should matter, in my opinion, is the behavior of the Hays Police officer.”

As details of the incident have yet to be released, Wright has trouble understanding the use-of-force in this case.

Weber lived with autism as long as Wright knew him and was always smiling and treating everybody perfectly.

“To me, Joey posing a threat to the Hays Police Department in my eyes is almost laughable,” Wright said and he questions why other tactics were not first utilized.

“I think that is the hardest thing for everyone to understand,” he said.

Now, Wright believes the goal should be to continue to raise awareness of the problems caused by frequent misunderstandings between police and disabled individuals – that often carry fatal consequences.

“I think ultimately the most positive outcome would be the community of Hays and communities across the nation would look at their own police forces and celebrate them, but also determine why these incidents are happening, look into them and get the conversation started,” he said.

“Ultimately, the outcome would be to celebrate Joey and to also see whether or not this was an injustice.”

If an injustice is found, Wright hopes the community can come together and agree on the outcome for the officer and department.

“I hope that the community, the state, the nation,–if this story does spread and that enough people become aware of it–those voices can collectively help agree on that decision,” he said.

In the meantime, Wright hopes the vigil can be a solemn reflection on Weber’s life.

“We ask for it to be very peaceful, very civil and just a celebration of Joey,” he said.

“We hope everyone in that community understands that.”

The vigil is open to the public, with participants asked to bring candles if possible.

To find out more about the campaign, visit their Facebook page or follow the group on Twitter.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

“There’s always a transition no matter what,” acknowledged Hays Director of Public Works Greg Sund, “and the Neighborhood Conservation Zones are in there to make the transition as easy as it possibly can be.”

The city of Hays is updating its zoning and subdivision regulations for the first time since 1974. After more than two years of work, the result is a new user-friendly Unified Development Code (UDC) and a revised zoning map.

Both documents were approved by the Planning Commission following public hearings and recommended for approval to the city commission.

Major changes to the revised Hays zoning map include new Neighborhood Conservation (NC) Zones. Sund called it “a really innovative approach to zoning.”

“It takes all of the existing residential areas of town and puts them in specific zones so they are protected in whatever the zoning allowances were before the (new) law is adopted. Oftentimes when you go through a complete rewrite (of zoning codes) like we’re going through now, a lot of properties can be dropped into what’s called a non-conforming condition. By doing these Neighborhood Conservation areas…it keeps all of their zoning the way it is and all of the abilities they have, plus it also gives them some of the extra-added benefits of the Unified Development Code (UDC),” Sund explained.

Commissioner James Meier asked if “somebody comes in and buys several properties–a half block or a full block whether it has existing housing on it or not–say, the development on (west) 33rd Street that’s happening right now, and it’s in a Neighborhood Conservation district. Say they want to make some change to it that doesn’t fit that current NC district. So then that’s gonna have to go through rezoning and this map is going to change, right?”

“If they want to change the use of the area, it would have to be rezoned,” Sund answered. “The Neighborhood Conservation protects the people that are using it for what it’s historically been used for. But if you want to change it, you need to involve the neighbors and ensure they have opportunity for input–things like that.”

Another new zone that has been established is Mixed Use.

“If someone wants to make changes that aren’t allowed in their current zone, we would be happy to look at establishing some of the Mixed Use zones to promote more variability,” Sund said. “We want to encourage development.”

“Absolutely,” agreed Vice Mayor Shaun Musil.

The new Residential General (RG) zone will “push together a lot of those zones that are more separate in the current code,” Sund said, “and it makes far more options for development in the future. We don’t have R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4.  We’re pushing them into the Residential General zone.”

The current zoning map includes properties that are undeveloped and unplatted but zoned 30 or more years ago, according to Sund, which would revert back to Agricultural zones. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a zone of Industrial if the property owners don’t really ever intend to do anything with it. And if they ever do, we can come back and look at rezoning it again. It’s easier for the current zone to match what the use is instead of projecting something on a property owner they don’t want.”

“It was pretty common the way zoning was done 30 years ago, being proactive and setting zones anticipating where the city wanted to develop and how to develop, ” Sund added.

City commissioners will consider adoption of the new UDC and the revised zoning map as recommended by city staff and the Planning Commission during their meeting Thu., Aug. 25. A representative of the project consultant, Kendig Keast Collaborative, will attend the meeting.

The commission meeting will start one hour late, at 7:30 p.m., to allow city officials to participate in the annual Campus-To-Core event welcoming college students to Hays.

The Aug. 25 agenda can be seen here.

HFD

On Saturday, August 20, the members of the City of Hays/Ellis County Fire Department Technical Rescue Team conducted a high angle rescue training exercise.

The training was conducted at the Midwest Energy power plant in Hays. Because of its unique construction and arrangement, the power plant provides for multiple realistic high angle rescue training scenarios.

During the training firefighters reviewed essential rope rescue skills and conducted full-scale rescue exercises. The training simulated the work needed to rescue a victim from high on a water or radio tower, high building or similar high angle. Most often, these situations are due to worker accidents.

The Technical Rescue Team is cooperatively staffed by members of the Ellis County, City of Ellis, City of Hays and City of Victoria fire departments. The Technical Rescue Team is trained and equipped for specialized rescue work involving building collapse, confined space, trench cave-in and low or high angles.

The training was led by Firefighter Tim Detrixhe of the City of Hays Fire Department.

FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Following a membership-wide election spanning the entire network of more than 550 U.S. cities that are members of Sister Cities International, Cindy Elliott, assistant provost for global relations at Fort Hays State University, was one of 10 people elected to Sister Cities’ 27-member Board of Directors.

Elliott was elected as an at-large board member during the organization’s 60th annual conference in Washington, D.C., in July.

Sister Cities International was created Sept. 11, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his White House Conference on Citizen Diplomacy. It’s mission is to create world peace and understanding, one individual, one community at a time.

“This mission is as relevant today as it was 60 years ago,” said Elliott.

Elliott joined FHSU in 1998 as dean of the Virtual College and helped launch FHSU’s China initiative. Before coming to FHSU, she was director of distance learning at Florida International University and manager of product development and distribution at Miami-Dade Community College. She is also a trustee of the FHSU Foundation, the Sias International University Foundation and the Smoky Hills Public Television Advisory Board.

Hays has two sister cities, Santa Maria, Paraguay, and Xinzheng, China. The local board is a 10-member advisory board to the Hays City Commission.

“It is a privilege to represent a vibrant city the size of Hays,” said Elliott. “I am the only person on the board from a city of less than 100,000.”

U.S. member cities have relationships with 2,300 communities in 150 countries on six continents.

Sister Cities’ website is www.sistercities.org and can be engaged on social media: Facebook, Sister Cities International; Twitter, @SisterCitieslnt; Instagram, @SisterCitieslnt; and Medium: @SisterCitiesInternational.

Pokémon

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Everywhere you looked during the first-ever Hays Duck Derby last week, there were smiling faces.

The new fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ellis County brought an estimated 1,000 adults and youngsters to the Hays Aquatic Park Aug. 10 to enjoy the fun and sun.

Even Darla Braun, Bank of Hays Senior VP, had a smile on her face although she was about to face a daunting challenge.

According to Braun, “we struggled to come up with a theme and we wanted it to be somewhat bank-related. I’ve got two teen-aged boys that love Pokemon.” So Braun dug out one of her boys’old Halloween costumes and then “we named our boat the ‘S.S. Pokémoney’,” she said with a completely straight face. Kelly Fross, Bank of Hays customer service representative and Shelby Crabill, bank teller, struggled to look fierce as they sat beside Braun in front of their boat prior to the Soggy Bottom Challenge.

Braun credited her husband Jeff for the boat design–“he has one similar to it at home, and he said this is the way to go.”  The three women, their significant others, along with Bank of Hays CEO Randy Walker and his son built the S.S. Pokémoney in the Braun’s garage using cardboard and duct tape as required by the race rules.

There was no water testing of the hand-built craft ahead of time–“we were afraid it might sink,” Braun admitted with a laugh. It would also be the first time Braun had paddled a water craft.

“We think Big Brothers Big Sisters is just a great organization and that we would do anything to help them out,” said Fross, “so this is just one more way that we could have fun while trying to help them out.”

Proceeds from the 15 Soggy Bottom Challenge participants, buyers of the more 5,000 ducks in the Duck Derby and the Duck Dash for Kids, along with a hot dog feed, went to BBBS–a little more than $45,000.

“I just can’t believe it,” BBBS Executive Director Jenny Bates exclaimed. “”It was so great to see it all come together. It was amazing!”

Despite Braun’s strategy “to win,” the the S.S. Pokémoney did not win any of the three boat races in the HAP lap pool.

“Well, it didn’t go like planned,” she said, after clambering out of the boat with a hand up from Bank of Hays Loan Officer Josh Dreher.

“That’s harder than it looks,” Braun said as she panted to catch her breath. “And, you were going against the wind,” Dreher pointed out.

Although she struggled using the oars, Braun made it to the other end of the pool without taking on any water, “other than what maybe what I threw in with the oars,” she laughed.

“It’s all good, for a good cause.”

The new fundraiser for BBBS will replace the annual Christmas 4 Kids telethon held in early December.

Classes start Monday at Fort Hays State University for the 2016-17 academic year.

Students began moving into on-campus housing Thursday morning.

Hays Post’s Ricky Kerr has a look at the big day.

(Video by Ricky Kerr)

Ellis County Attorney’s Office

On Thursday at approximately 2:33 p.m., a Hays Police Department officer stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction in the 2700 block of Plaza Avenue in Hays.

The driver of the vehicle was not obeying the commands of the police officer, according to a news release from the office of Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees, and the officer requested additional officers to respond. As an additional officer responded, the stopped vehicle quickly accelerated and police vehicles pursued the vehicle for several minutes.

The vehicle was stopped in the 2300 block of Timber Drive in Hays, when the driver got out of the vehicle. An HPD officer gave verbal commands to the driver, which were not followed, Drees’ office reported. The incident escalated until, at approximately 2:41 p.m., one shot was fired by a Hays police officer, striking the driver. The driver, a 36-year-old white male, died from the gunshot wound.

Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler, following written Hays Police Department procedures, immediately deferred the shooting investigation to the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Scheibler further requested a public statement of the essential facts be released as soon as practical, consistent with the needs of the KBI and the Ellis County Coroner to conduct their investigation.

Scheibler said a full and impartial investigation of the shooting will take place.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of his family. The names of the officers involved are being withheld pursuant to the investigation. The shooting is under investigation by the Ellis County Coroner Dr. Lyle Noordhoek, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.

UPDATE: Details on Thursday officer-involved shooting released.

Police continue to investigate a shooting on Timber between 25th and 26th streets. The incident initially was reported at approximately 2:40 p.m. Thursday.

Traffic around the area has been allowed to resume in most areas.

Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said additional information about the incident were expected to be released Thursday evening.

Check Hays Post for more information as details become available.