City of Hays

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

According to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.

Members of the City of Hays Fire Department are joining firefighters across the nation in wearing pink to raise breast cancer awareness. Members of the HFD C-shift pose in their pink t-shirts; L to R Back Row – Captain Aaron Ditter, Firefighter Lucas Everett, Firefighter Allison Friesen, Firefighter Lyle Pantle. Front Row – Lieutenant Luke Scoby, Firefighter Justin Choitz.

Hays Post

Despite the time and distance that separates Hays and the events in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, the legacy of the events that occurred remain fresh for many. But with tragedy comes honor, and last Thursday at Carpet One Floor and Home, 113 E. 13th, through the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a small piece of the tragic day was brought to Hays.

Vincent Doherty, former Fire Department of New York Captain, visited with area residents sharing the legacy of one hero of that tragic day and the foundation that was born from his tragic death and presented Carpet One with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center site in recognition to the company’s contributions to the Siller Foundation.

Doherty shared with the audience who Siller was and the culture of service he was raised in that led him to join the NYFD and the heroic effort he made on 9/11 to help others.

“On September 11, 2001, Stephen had just gotten off the late shift at Squad 1, Park Slope, Brooklyn. He was on his way to play golf with his brothers when his scanner told of the first plane hitting the Twin Towers. When he heard the news, Stephen called his wife Sally and asked her to tell his brothers he would catch up with them later, and then returned to Squad 1 to get his gear,” according to the foundation’s website.

“Stephen drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but it was already closed. So he strapped 60 pounds of gear to his back, rushed on foot through gridlocked traffic and ran from the Tunnel to the Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others.”

Following the tragedy friends and family of Siller’s worked to find a way to remember him and use his memory to do good and, with contributions from business such as Carpet One, the organization works to serve others, in the vein of service that Siller worked for during his life.

The foundation began with a memorial run, but quickly morphed into much more.

“The organization helped establish the Tunnel to Towers Run, a living, breathing tribute to all that died on 9/11 and to those who serve in the line of duty to protect our country. Participants of the Tunnel To Towers Run retrace the final footsteps of heroic Stephen Siller from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center site,” according to the foundation.

The run quickly turned into an effort to help veterans as a part of the same brotherhood of Americans that provide service to others.

“What began as a runner-led memorial for Siller eventually evolved into ensuring that honor and service is provided to the brave men and women serving in America’s recent wars, as well as our courageous first responders who serve domestically each and every day. In 2011, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation officially began the Building for America’s Bravest program to provide a specially adaptive home for the first ever quadruple amputee to survive, Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco. By the end of 2013, BFAB has the goal to have completed or broken ground on 23 Smart Homes for veterans across the country.”

Carpet One, is an active partner with the foundation, which boasts over a 90 percent rate of funds going directly to charitable activities, with less than 5 percent going toward administration costs.

For more information on the foundation visit their website at tunnel2towers.org.

By James Bell
Hays Post

The National Transportation Safety Board has closed the investigation into a train derailment in Hays on July 16, 2013, that caused an estimated $1.4 million in damages. The investigation found the accident was caused by human error, but could have been avoided if recommendations from the NTSB had been adopted.

After securing cars on a side track, a switch had been incorrectly set, causing the next train to move to the side track, derailing the train and causing a massive fire in the area. 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the brakeman of train LDG89 15 (the train that was parked on the side track) to return a main track switch to the normal position after the crew had secured the train on a siding track. Contributing to the accident was the inability of the crew of train MSIDV 16 (the train that was in movement) to determine the position of the main track switch in nonsignaled territory,” the report said.

Similar incidents in the past, evaluated by the NTSB, have resulted in recommendations that automated systems be installed to help mitigate the risk of a singe point of failure.

“All of these accidents resemble the accident at Hays, Kansas. In each instance, a crewmember failed to return a main track switch to the normal position. More significantly, these accidents occurred in nonsignaled territory where there is only local indication of switch alignment. The brakeman of LDG89 15 erred when he failed to return the main track switch to the normal position before he and the rest of the crew departed the accident area,” the report said.

While the NTSB has made recommendations that would have stopped the accident from occurring, those recommendations have been rebuffed by the Federal Railroad Administration as being to expensive.

“A single errant act on the part of an individual that can lead to an accident is a single point failure in system safety analysis. If the single point failure is significant and the potential consequences are severe, the risk should be mitigated by additional layers of protection,” the report said.

Three incidents prior to the Hays derailment were cited in the report to be caused by similar situations.

The full NTSB report can be read here.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Oktoberfest and the Fort Hays State University Homecoming weekend was a relatively uneventful one for local law enforcement agencies.

According to Lt. Brandon Wright of the Hays Police Department, there were no reported problems at Municipal Park on Friday for Oktoberfest. It was pretty much “a typical weekend night in Hays,” Wright said.

Between Thursday and Sunday, the Hays PD made six driving under the influence arrests, according to the department’s activity log. The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office also made one DUI arrest, according to Sheriff Ed Harbin.

According to the arrest log, there were 10 alcohol- and six drug-related arrests over the four days between Thursday night and Sunday morning.

Wright partly attributed the relatively quiet weekend to the increased police presence. Along with the Hays PD and the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, the FHSU Police Department, Kansas Highway Patrol, Alcohol Beverage Control and Union Pacific Police were all on patrol in Hays this past weekend.

“All area law enforcement came together to make the community safer,” said Wright.

On Friday night, Wright said they had a few people ask the police to break up a party before it got out of control.

Saturday night, there were even groups who registered their parties through the Party Smart program, which gives people guidelines for having a party and allows them the chance to interact with the police if something were to go wrong without receiving a citation.

Harbin said, “Kids were respectful and polite.” He added that it was not what he expected from previous experience.

Safe Ride also had a busy weekend, according to Anna Findley, transportation manager of DSNW/ACCESS Public Bus Transportation.

On Friday, the service provided transportation to 861 people for a total of 635 miles. 369 individuals took advantage of Safe Ride on Saturday and they drove a total of 158 miles.

KDHE

TOPEKA — The 2014 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics is now available. The report contains information on births, deaths, marriages, divorces and more.

Among the highlights for 2014:

• The state’s infant mortality rate has decreased from 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013 to 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014.
  • The rate for Black non-Hispanic mothers was 10.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, a
    32.7 percent decrease from the 2013 rate of 15.3.
• Teen pregnancy numbers decreased by 6.5 percent, from 3,335 in 2013 to 2,118 in 2014.
  • The pregnancy rate for mothers under 20 years of age was 16 per 1,000 females. This is the lowest pregnancy rate for this age-group in the past 20 years, down from a peak of 34.5 in 1995.
• Pneumonia and influenza resulted in an age-adjusted mortality rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 population, down from 20 in 2013.
• The number of births to Kansas residents was 39,193, an increase of 1 percent from 2013. The state’s birth rate increased to 13.5 per 1,000 population from 13.4 in 2013.
• The state’s population increased by 0.3 percent in 2014 to 2,904,021.
  • Geary, Pottawatomie and Riley Counties had the largest relative increases in population from 2010 to 2014 with respective changes of: 7.4 percent, 6.5 percent and 5.7 percent

You can access the full Annual Report of Vital Statistics on our website here: https://www.kdheks.gov/hci/annsumm.html

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

One of the newer dining establishments in Hays, On the Rocks Bar and Grill, 507 W. Seventh, is offering a pretty sweet deal to area residents with the intention of spreading acts of kindness.

The offer was posted on the establishment’s Facebook page Tuesday morning. 

“I want to try a little experiment with all of you,” said Tony Taylor, owner. “Without being too political, I tend to believe that we can get caught in the rat race and lose sight of what really matters, our fellow man.”

The intention to focus on others sparked the idea at the establishment, that carries few rules, instead focusing on positive community interactions.

“I will offer anyone a free meal (excluding beverages or alcohol) every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. if that person in the previous week, Monday through Saturday, does something nice for anyone or organization in the community,” Taylor said.

“Something nice” for the offer covers a wide array of activities.

“You could pick up trash, donate money to animal rescue, mow someone’s lawn for free, carry someone’s groceries, donate time anywhere, compliment five random strangers, basically anything that can change or impact anyone for even one second,” he said.

Participants will document the activity on the establishment’s Facebook page in order to track the good deeds.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

It may still be a long time away, but the Hays USD 489 Board of Education discussed the next steps in funding necessary building maintenance at Monday’s work session, trying to find the best solution for aging buildings and outdated facilities that would be mostly supported by a bond issue anticipated to be on the 2016 ballot.

The long list of needs found by an independent committee presented last year are being closely examined by the board, but completing projects suggested by the commission come at a high price – recent budget projections suggest around $93 million – and the board is has little desire to push the measure to vote without examining every contingency.

However, there might be no way to cut corners to lower the price tag to get the districts facilities ready for the upcoming decades, officials said.

“You have two years of committee that said it’s needed,” said Mark Hauptman, assistant superintendent for special services.

“There wasn’t a lot of fat built in,” he said, adding the group listed items that were needed, not just wanted.

View the original commission report here

At this point, the board is asking for HTK, the firm that would handle the maintenance projects, to break down the numbers more thoroughly and give the board reasons for the full bond issue before beginning to present the plan to the public for input.

“To me, it’s just muddled to look at it,” said board member Josh Waddell.

The current plans from HTK center around the facility needs committee’s list of needed maintenance and at least one board member at the work session wants to put everything on the table to see what could be adjusted in the best interest of the district.

Superintendent Dean Katt further expressed a desire to get the details worked out by the board in order to present the issue to the community for input.

“We need to go out to the public, have these discussions and find out,” he said, adding the the board will not know the feasibility of passing the full bond amount until public input is received.

In the meantime, one project cannot wait for a bond issue to be passed, and the board has to begin addressing it now in order for the projects to be completed in time for the maintenance window next summer.

The heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems across the district were discussed by the board during the meeting after hearing from Terry Clark, service account executive from Performance Solutions.

While Hays High topped the list of the systems that are in the most need of upgrades, replacement of Hays Middle School’s system would provide the district the most “bang for the buck,” according to Katt.

“Deferred maintenance at the middle school and high school is quite high because of aging equipment,” he said.

The HVAC system at Hays Middle School is 20 years past its expected lifespan already, having been installed in 1964, according to the district’s evaluation.

“Every building, every day, we are doing something with HVAC,” said Rusty Lindsay, director of buildings and grounds.

The amount of money that would be saved by a new system is unknown at this time, but installing the new system would provide improved climate control through the Middle School and would save the high cost of replacing components of the old system, including insulation that likely contains asbestos that would need purged before the old system could be upgraded.

A new system would be based on the building’s roof, bypassing the old lines and system altogether.

The new system would also allow for individual areas of the building to be cooled independently and would add cooling to the gym and locker room, however the added cooling would not add extra costs to the district.

The system’s efficiency would outweigh what it would cost to cool the gym and locker room, Katt said.

While the HVAC upgrade would occur during the summer months, the board will need to work quickly to pass the improvement plan in order for the repairs to be made before classes begin next fall.

The full middle school upgrade is expected to cost the district around $1 million.

The full Hays Middle School HVAC improvement plan, along with a breakdown of the current bond issue budget, can be found here.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Toepfer Board Room in the Rockwell Administration Building, 323 W. 12th.

Among the topics to be discussed is an upcoming bond issue proposition, at a current total of over $93 million. The board will discuss with HTK Architects the proposed upgrades and facility building needs at each of the district’s locations.

The largest portion of the newest proposed budget is at Hays High School, at a cost of over $28 million. That money would fund a new 800-seat auditorium and a 200-seat gymnasium.

The board will also discuss the 20-day enrollment count for the district.

The full meeting agenda and minutes from the last board meeting can be found here.

The agenda has a full budget of the overall proposed bond issue.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Kansas residents with incomplete voter registrations now have 90 days to complete that registration before they are removed from the voter rolls.

The rule by Kansas Secretary of State’s office went into effect Friday, directing county election officials to remove those voters who are in suspense at the end of the 90 days.

Ellis County Clerk and Election Officer Donna Maskus said, as of last week, there were 274 Ellis County registrations that her office is not able to process because of a lack of proof of citizenship.

Maskus said registrations that do not include proof of U.S. citizenship are not considered a registration, and are considered incomplete or inactive.

In April 2011, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law the Kansas Secure and Fair Elections Act, which required anyone registering to vote in Kansas after Jan 1, 2013, to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.

Maskus said those with incomplete a registration can provide a birth certificate, a passport or naturalization documentation to meet the citizenship requirement.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, one of the reasons for removing the incomplete registrations is to save money. Elections offices send out reminders to those with incomplete registrations, and Maskus said in some cases her office has sent five reminder letters.

“I feel like we have really reached out to those voters, and if they signed the registration card,” she said, “I want to get them registered.”

Maskus said it has been discouraging for her office because it is hard to get in contact with some of the people on the list and, because people move more often, they might not be able to get in touch with them. Some of those on the Ellis County list may not even live in Ellis County anymore, Maskus said.

In Ellis County, the number of incomplete registrations covers all ages, according to Maskus.

With the presidential election in 2016, Maskus said those who have incomplete registrations should not wait to finish the process.

She also said if you are not sure if you are on the list, you can call the county clerk’s office at (785) 628-9410 or stop by the County Administration Office at 718 Main in Hays.

Once the 90 days is up, those who have not completed the registration will have to register all over again.

The Secretary of State’s office said there are more than 31,000 incomplete registrations statewide.

Submitted

TOPEKA — Holy Family Elementary School’s chess team came from behind in a sixth-round spoiler at Topeka’s Christ the King opening chess season tournament this weekend.

Noah Bruggeman won four games, placing 10th individually in the K-5 division. Jensen Brull also contributed four wins placing 14th overall.

Braydon Binder and Tate Dinkel added three wins apiece at 23rd and 26th place, respectively. All four boys had a sixth round win, which was enough to steal third from Jay Schindeler Academy in a final-round nail-biter.

The Christ the King tournament featured competition from Topeka, Lawrence and the Kansas City areas.

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

HAYS–Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism staff, in cooperation with the Smoky Hill Pheasants Forever #424 Chapter, invite youth to an upland hunt Saturday, Oct. 10. The event will take place at Hays City Sportsman Club and will be held in memory of former chapter volunteers, Darrell Brown, LaVern Steiben, LeRoy Culbreath, and Sid Carlile. There is no cost to attend.

Youth ages 12-18 are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to harvest at least four birds. Pointing dogs will be available.

In addition to the hunt, participants will receive instruction on a variety of topics including training and hunting with dogs, field safety and gun handling, preparing birds for cooking, and upland bird habitat. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program will also be incorporated into the event.

This special hunt is a part of the Kansas Hunter Recruitment and Retention Program, “Pass It On.”

For more information, or to register your child for this event, contact Shayne Wilson at (785) 628-1415, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Presented by the Volga German Society of Ellis and Rush Counties

Enjoy the opening ceremony and tapping of the keg and then check out some scenes from this morning.

The Oktoberfest continues until 7 p.m. in Municipal Park, north of the dike.