Video By Cooper Slough

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

After completing a remodel announced in January, Dillons, 1902 Vine, celebrated the renovation Wednesday with a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting and the announcement of community donations exceeding $28,000.

The celebration kicked off with remarks from Mike Matney, district manager.

“It’s great that we get to invest in the community of Hays and Hays is invested in us as a company,” he said, noting a lot of hard work went into the location in the last six months.

Through the remodel, the location added a new sushi kiosk, a Starbucks coffee kiosk, a new pharmacy and expanded selections throughout the store.

“It took some work of a lot of people to make it happen,” Matney said. “It’s outstanding to have that support to give our customers exactly what they are wanting.”

“It’s truly a brand new Dillons,” said Don Koerner, store manager in an event announcement. “Many of our guests are raving about how open and fresh the store looks with the renovation. Now, our customers can now find all their favorites, right here in Hays at Dillons. Our customers have been thrilled with the new sushi bar, Starbucks coffee, and gourmet cheeses. Our selections of natural and organic foods have also been expanded, along with garden-fresh produce, and fresh meat and seafood. These departments have been a huge hit with our customers.”

During the celebration, announcements were made for community donations, as well, led by Shelia Lowrie, associate communications and media relations manager.

“We love to celebrate with our neighbors and give back to the community that has been so good to us,” she said. “With our commitment to our communities, it’s one thing that we want to do to continue to say thank you and build a strong community together.”

The largest donation was a $27,500 to the United Way of Ellis County, with $26,400 made up of pledges from Dillon’s staff members.

“This is what makes Ellis County, this is what makes who we are,” said Sherry Dryden, executive director of United Way of Ellis County. “This helps Ellis County … and we can’t do it without the wonderful folks at Dillons.”

Dryden said 15 partner agencies will benefit from the donation.

“For years, our store teams here in Hays have made a commitment to help give back and serve our goal organizations and, through the help of United Way of Ellis County, this store team right here in town, joined by our other store team had made a significant donation,” Lowrie said. “The most impressive (thing) about this donation is it is made possible by all of our associates in this store.”

Other donations announced were a $500 donation to the Community Assistance Program and $500 to First Call for Help, to be used for their annual Backpack for Kids drive.

Volunteers from the store will also assist in putting the packs together, and donations will be collected at the store until July 29.

For a list of needed items click here.

 

 

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

City commissioners along with Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty offered a public “Thank you” to city employees and Ellis County as cleanup continues following Wednesday morning’s severe storm.

“Kudos to all of our city crews as they clean up all the downed trees and limbs,” Dougherty said during his report at Thursday night’s city commission meeting.”They still have lots of hard work ahead.”

Mayor Eber Phelps described west 6th and 7th Streets as “looking like a war zone.”

The city of Hays pays a small fee to Ellis County for allowing residents to take trees, large limbs and brush to the county waste transfer station. “That keeps it out of our city compost pile,” Dougherty said, which is used for grass clippings and garden waste.

He got a phone call Wednesday from the county and was told “the landfill wasn’t set up to receive so many loads of decimated trees. The landfill’s KDHE permit (Kansas Department of Health and Environment) allows just a small area for tree disposal. Ellis County had to get a special permit from KDHE to use a larger area.”

Dougherty said two Hays employees helped direct Thursday’s constant traffic flow at the landfill as city, commercial, and private vehicles and trailers came in loaded with broken tree limbs and sawed-off portions of huge tree trunks.

He also announced more time will be allowed for residents to get tree limbs to the curb for pick-up by city crews. Curbside collection begins Friday, July 15, east of Vine Street.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Turns out, one of the trees mangled in the Fort Hays State University quad area Wednesday morning was home to a good-sized bee hive.

Elissa Jensen, Hays freshmen, is president of the new FHSU Bee Club, which was organized during the spring semester.

“Moving the bees from the tree and away from the busy campus sidewalks was quite the task, but was accomplished! A very cool thing to see and get pictures of,” Jensen posted on her Facebook page yesterday morning.

Between 12,000 and 15,000 bees were settled in a hive on the outskirts of the campus in early May.

Jensen’s family manages bee hives at their farm north of Hays.

City of Hays

As a result of the July 13 wind storm, Hays residents are encouraged to haul tree branches to the Ellis County Transfer station, 1515 W 55th Street. There is no cost for City residents to dispose of tree branches at Ellis County.

No tree branches may be taken to the compost site.

Branches may be placed along the edge of the street for collection by City Crews. Do not block sidewalks and keep at least a 3-foot clear space around fire hydrants and utility pedestals. Crews will not go onto private property.

Hanging limbs and large trees will not be collected as the City does not have equipment to provide such service. A list of Licensed Tree Trimmers to provide these services is attached.

City crews will only make one pass through each area and will not collect branches from alleys. Make sure to have any branches to the curb by 7 a.m. of the scheduled day.

City crews will begin picking up tree branches according to the following schedule:
• Friday, July 15 – area east of Vine Street (Zone 1).
• Monday, July 18 – area west of Vine and north of 27th Street (Zone 2)
• Tuesday, July 19 – areas west of Vine and south of 27th Street (Zone 3)

By COOPER SLOUGH and BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Cleanup is underway in Hays following an early morning storm which caused damage across the town.  Hays Post talked with homeowners and USD 489 maintenance employees as they began picking up the pieces.

Midwest Energy employee Rich Augustine said MWE has been responding to numerous calls of downed power lines and broken gas meters “sometimes in the same location.”  The gas lines have “automatic shutoffs when excessive flow is detected,” according to Augustine, “as a safety feature.”

RELATED: City lays out plans to pick up limbs throughout Hays.

Hays Post

Midwest Energy crews have converged on the area in an effort to restore power to the region after Wednesday’s early-morning wind storm.

Utility spokesman Mike Morley said he expects the total number of down poles to be around 100, with the hardest-hit area appearing to be in the Toulon Road area between Catharine and Old U.S. 40. Morley said entire sections of lines were blown down in that area — a dozen or more pole at a time.

Crews are working to get “feeder” lines, which carry power for large sections of the grid, back up and running first. Once those “main arteries” are repaired, smaller outages will be addressed.

“There are lots of scattered outages,” he said, noting those could range from a small transformer that feeds a handul of houses to an individual power line running from the alley to a single home. “Those will be, unfortunately, the last ones we hit.”

Because crews are cutting power while isolating sections for repairs, Morley said customers across the area might see periodic outages throughout the day. Click HERE for the Midwest outage viewer.

With poles and lines down throughout the region, Morley stressed safety above all else.

He pointed to an incident where lines came down on a person’s car.

“Fortunately, the driver knew to stay in the car, called the sheriff, and we got crews out there,” he said, “and got her out of there safe.”

He cautioned to stay away from downed lines.

“Don’t try to drive around or over wires and definitely don’t try to pick them up or move them yourself,” Morley said. “That could be terrible.”

The utility issued the following statement this morning”

“Midwest Energy’s electric system was hit hard by storms the morning of July 13. At 8 am, there are more than 4,400 customers now without power in Ellis and Russell Counties. Due to the number of poles down, the cities of Victoria, Gorham and portions of eastern Ellis County and Russell County could be without power into the evening, or longer. Residents are encouraged to prepare now for a prolonged outage.

“If you encounter; please DO NOT try to move a downed line yourself! Call it in at 1-800-222-3121 and we’ll respond as quickly as possible. Dozens of Midwest Energy crews, and contract crews from across Kansas are in route to assist with restoration efforts. We thank you for your patience as we work to safely restore power.”

Courtesy photos

Wednesday’s early morning storm wreaked havoc across the Hays area.

As of 9 a.m., nearly 6,000 Midwest Energy customers were without power, as crews attempted to repair downed lines across Ellis and Russell counties. At Hays Medical Center’s recently purchased building (the former NEW call center), construction materials were scattered by the wind. Portions of the exterior of Gross Memorial Coliseum at Fort Hays State University were torn off, while a set of bleachers was whipped into the chain-link backstop at the Glassman baseball fields.

Hays Recreation Commission officials reported widespread damage at its outdoors facilities, with bleachers tossed by the strong wind and dugout canvas ripped away.

UPDATE: Hays airport closes runways after wind storm.

UPDATE: Expect periodic power outages.

RELATED: Power out to thousands.

Check Hays Post for addition details as they become available. Send your storm photos with descriptions and photographer attribution to [email protected].

Power remains out to thousands as Hays cleans up from an early morning storm that brought strong winds and more than an inch of rain.

According to Matt Gerard of the National Weather Service, winds in Hays were reported at 80 mph at just before 6 a.m. — when a tree branch fell and broke monitoring equipment.

Gerard said the storms developed in northeast Colorado overnight and moved east-southeast. When the front rolled through Graham County, meteorologists were seeing the possibility of tornadic activity.

“That signature diminished and went away,” Gerard said. “That’s when it took on a bow echo configuration … which is indicative of a lot of wind.”

Midwest Energy was reporting more than 180 outages across Ellis and Russell counties, with about 4,400 customers affected. Some the outages could be prolonged, Midwest said. Click HERE for Midwest’s online outage viewer.

“Midwest Energy’s electric system was hit hard by storms the morning of July 13. At 8 am, there are more than 4,400 customers now without power in Ellis and Russell Counties. Due to the number of poles down, the cities of Victoria, Gorham and portions of eastern Ellis County and Russell County could be without power into the evening, or longer. Residents are encouraged to prepare now for a prolonged outage,” the utility said in a statement. “If you encounter; please DO NOT try to move a downed line yourself! Call it in at 1-800-222-3121 and we’ll respond as quickly as possible. Dozens of Midwest Energy crews, and contract crews from across Kansas are in route to assist with restoration efforts. We thank you for your patience as we work to safely restore power.”

Portions of the exterior of Gross Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Fort Hays State University were torn off by the strong wind, as well.

Check Hays Post for more information as details become available.

Damage in Victoria

PHILLIPSBURG — Phillipsburg rodeo fans will think they’re seeing double when Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo rolls around in August.

There will be not just one rodeo clown in the arena, but two.

Slim Garner returns with his brand of comedy, and he will be joined by Mark Swingler.

Slim will bring his “World’s Largest Toybox” – his semi-trailer loaded with a Cowboy Cadillac, barbecue grill, fishing boat, and wheelie truck. In 2012, fans were treated to Slim’s acts.

This will be Mark Swingler’s first trip to Phillipsburg. The Austin, Texas man’s main act is his signature firetruck: a refurbished 1964 Volkswagon bus, cut in half. Swingler “answers” a fire call in the arena, driving the bus in and putting it on its end when he hits the brakes. “I can get all four tires off the ground,” he laughs.

Having two rodeo clowns at one rodeo isn’t common, but it’s a real advantage. While one clown steps out of the arena to prepare for an act, the other clown can stay in and banter with rodeo announcer Randy Corley. “Phillipsburg likes (rodeo) acts, and especially big acts,” Swingler said. “This will be great. Rodeo fans won’t see the same acts the whole weekend.”

Slim grew up in Fredonia, Kan., and now lives in Whitman, Ariz. He has a nine year old daughter named Jacquelyn who is a member of the Arizona Sweethearts, a rodeo queen program for young girls. Mark has been married to his wife Tami for 25 years. They have a daughter, Jessica, who is a cake designer in Austin.

Slim will work as barrelman during the rodeo.

Slim and Mark will entertain between events during each night of the Phillipsburg rodeo August 4-6. Performances begin at 8 pm each night. Tickets are $16 for reserved adult seating and $12 for reserved child seating, and general admission tickets are $14 for adults and $11 for children. To purchase tickets, call Heritage Insurance at 785-543-2448. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at KansasBiggestRodeo.com or, on Facebook, search for “ksbiggestrodeo”.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

As part of a major expansion program, Oklahoma-based Billy Sims BBQ has identified Hays as a future site of the growing chain.

“This year has been a standout year for us, and we intend to make 2016 even better,” said Jeff Jackson, president of Billy Sims BBQ, in a press announcement late last year. “We have worked closely with our current franchisees to help them develop their restaurants, while also actively recruiting top-notch new franchisees to help us grow into 2016 and beyond.”

As the company works to expand, Hays was identified as a potential location late last year, but territory owner David Dunn, said no plans to open a location in Hays have been set.

“It’s a little early and premature probably,” Dunn said, to say that a location would open in Hays. “It’s high on my list, but we haven’t found the spot yet.”

Last year, Billy Sims BBQ opened locations in Chanute and Dodge City and recently opened a location in Newton.

“The plan is to come there and we do own the territory. It’s something we want to do, it’s just a matter of finding the right spot,” Dunn said.

The company is currently working on opening a location in Emporia right now, with an opening day expected around the first of October.

While the opening of a Hays location is not assured, Dunn said since buying the rights to open a location in Hays – after purchasing the location in Dodge City – he has an interest in bringing a location to Hays, if the right opportunity presents itself.

“I really do think Hays is a great market for our product,” Dunn said.

The sticking point right now comes down to finding a location that would fit the needs of the restaurant.

“If somebody called and showed me a spot that I liked, I think you would see us open in probably four months,” Dunn said. “I would jump all over it I really would.”

The chain – now in its 12th year of operation – was founded by Billy Sims and Jackson.

Sims is known as a former University of Oklahoma running back and 1978 Heisman Trophy winner.

The restaurant chain has garnered numerous awards and accolades, including a Franchisee Satisfaction Award Winner for 2015 by Franchise Business Review and a Future 50 fastest-growing small chain restaurant in 2015 by Restaurant Business and Named by USA Today as one of the top athlete-based restaurant chains.

Billy Sims BBQ has an extensive menu of nine types of meat that are smoked daily in-house along with traditional sides like potato salad, smoked baked potatoes, smoked corn, coleslaw and entree size salads.

 

 

 

By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Students attending the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science at Fort Hays State University now have the opportunity to add studying abroad to their high school experience.

KAMS, established by the Kansas Legislature in 2006, is the state’s premier residential academic high school program for juniors and seniors.

July 8, Dr. Joey Linn, vice president for student affairs at FHSU, signed an agreement with the Daejeon Science High School for the Gifted in Daejeon, South Korea. The Daejeon school is one of only six in Korea categorized as “gifted,” which is the most prestigious category. It is a highly competitive process to get into the Daejeon school, with more than 2,000 students vying for 93 spots each year.

The agreement will allow KAMS students to experience a week-long cultural exchange with Daejeon students in the summer. This fall, a group of Daejeon students will have the same opportunity when they come to the Fort Hays State campus.

It promises to be a “gift exchange” like no other.

“We are very excited to establish this partnership with the Daejeon Science High School for the Gifted,” Linn said. “This agreement will provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for the students in the KAMS program to foster joint research across the globe. A partnership such as this reflects yet another ‘Forward thinking. World ready.’ initiative of Fort Hays State University.”

Linn made the trip to Korea for the signing, then greeted a KAMS contingent at the airport. Five 2016 graduates of KAMS, assistant director Alex Shaw and graduate assistant Regina Tolbert will spend eight days in Korea for the inaugural exchange between the two schools.

“Our idea is to be able to provide an amazing opportunity at a young age,” said Dr. Roger Schieferecke, KAMS director. “It’s another way that KAMS differentiates the high school experience for our students — the curriculum and the opportunities.”

The ultimate goal of the pilot program is to establish a partnership where students in both schools can do joint research projects.

“Our kids will be able to submit research into their competitions and be co-authors of competitions in Korea,” Schieferecke said. “When they graduate, as part of their resumé, they will have international presentation and research experience. It will open up all sorts of opportunities for them.

“Plus,” he added, “it’s about simply forming friendships, some that could last a lifetime.”

When Schieferecke told KAMS students about the program this past school year, he said he asked seniors who showed an interest in international collaboration to represent the pilot group.

Students sold Krispy Kreme donuts on campus during the spring semester to help defray costs of their trip, of which the majority was funded by the students themselves.

Although Korean is the language of instruction at the Daejeon school, Schieferecke said that all their students have some level of English proficiency.

He said that KAMS students will be paired with a host Korean student who speaks “very good English.”

KAMS student will stay with Daejeon students their families the first two nights, then spend the rest of their time at the Daejeon high school. KAMS students will learn some traditional cultural Korean lessons such as history, cooking and language. They will visit the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Daejeon and spend a couple of days at the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon-gun — 69 kilometers, or about 43 miles, from Daejeon.

“This is a great way to send kids over there to experience a different culture and gain the value that comes from that,” Schieferecke said. “I think it’s going to be an amazing partnership.”

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

You may not want to think about it yet, but it’s inevitable.

Hays USD 489 has issued its enrollment schedule for the 2016-2017 school year.

Online enrollment begins Mon., Aug. 1, for Hays High School, Hays Middle School and the elementary schools. Parents and guardians of students new to the district or kindergartners are urged to contact their respective school offices as soon as possible.

On location enrollment will be held Wed. and Thu., Aug. 3 and 4. HHS Freshmen Orientation is scheduled for Fri., Aug. 5. USD 489 classes start Wed. Aug. 17, with a half-day session.

Enrollment for The Learning Center is always available online. Early Childhood Connection is now enrolling students Monday through Friday by calling (785) 623-2430.

If there are conflicts families cannot avoid on the enrollment dates, they should  contact the HHS office at (785) 623-2600 in late July to make other arrangements.