FHSU University Relations and Marketing

TheBestSchools.org has recognized Fort Hays State University’s online Bachelor of Arts in political science as one of the best online political science degree programs in the country, ranking it No. 18.

Three main factors that TheBestSchools.org takes into consideration when selecting schools are the academic excellence shown by the faculty, the return on investment and the benefits available on campus and in the community. Ranking the political science program also took into consideration the program’s quality, available courses, faculty, awards and reputation.

The list is at www.thebestschools.org under Rankings > Bachelor Degree Ranking Articles > Liberal Arts & Humanities > Political Science: The 20 Online Degree Programs.

By James Bell
Hays Post

At 3:30 a.m. Sunday a fire in a storage unit adjacent to the Hays Municipal Golf Course, 1450 Golf Course Rd., was being contained by at least six fire trucks, along with members of the Hays Police Department, as a fire, caused by an unknown source, ravaged a storage unit north of the course.

While no injuries are being reported at this time, the large blaze had consumed at least one unit in the storage facility and several others had been opened to contain the blaze.

As firefighters reported to the scene large flames were pouring out of the building at the far west side of the multi unit storage facility, but were extinguished quickly although smoke billowed from the building for at least an hour as crews worked to extinguish the fire.

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The Hays Fire Department released the following information about the fire Sunday morning:

At 3:57 AM on Sunday, September 13, 2015, the City of Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Hays Police Department and Ellis County EMS, was dispatched to a building fire at the Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course; 1450 Golf Course Road. On arrival, firefighters found a golf cart storage building with fire spreading throughout. The Ellis County Rural Fire Department was called to assist.

Firefighters used four hose lines to bring the fire under control. Because of the limited water supply at the golf course, a tanker truck from the Rural Fire Department was used to augment the fire hydrant water supply.

The fire was discovered by a passing motorist. The building was heavily damaged by the fire. There were no injuries.

The cause of the fire was accidental but due to the heavy damage, the most probable cause was not determined.

Seven fire trucks and twenty four firefighters responded. The last firefighters left the scene at 5:55 AM.

An online ranker has given Hays high marks in a new listing of the best places in Kansas to call your retirement home.

OnlyInYourState.com listed Hays in the Top 10 of the listing, which can be seen HERE.

If you had your choice, what Kansas town would you call home upon retirement?

First Congressional District candidate Roger Marshall will have a meet-and-greet event in Hays next week.

Marshall, running as a Republican against incumbent Rep. Tim Huelskamp, is a practicing physician from Great Bend.

The Hays event will be 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Gella’s Diner in downtown Hays.

RELATED: Marshall talks about his candidacy during June stop in Hays.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Since he “missed all the fun at last week’s work session,” Hays City Commissioner James Meier said Thursday night he wanted to publicly voice his views on the presentation proposal for Big Creek Travel Plaza. Meier was on vacation Sept. 3 when Colby-based NWK Investments, LLC, asked for three types of economic development incentives to build northwest of Hays.

The proposal was withdrawn Wednesday after investors decided the plan could not move forward with funding solely from a Community Improvement District (CID).

Meier said all three incentive requests were “non-starters” for him.

“As far as the IRB (Industrial Revenue Bond) goes, I think that was a non-start for everybody because essentially they were asking the city to give up its sales tax (for construction-related purchases.) As far as the CID (Community Improvement District) goes, if you need 2 percent more on your revenues to make your project work, then you should just charge 2 percent more. As far as the TIF (Tax Increment Funding) goes, if it’s used to pay for public infrastructure, I guess that you can look at that as a good thing. But if somebody builds there anyway, we’re going to get that property tax anyway and we could use it for that public infrastructure.”

The developer had identified $10.5 million in TIF-eligible costs, but only $4 million were for public infrastructure — water, sewer, and street infrastructure. The rest of the TIF eligible costs were for land acquisition, site development and private streets/paving.

After Thursday’s meeting, Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil said he was surprised he “had not heard a lot from the public” after news of the project withdrawal became generally known.

During last week’s presentation, Musil said he thought the travel plaza could be a “huge project for the city” and that he supported the idea.

“But, on the other hand, I think the incentives they were asking for were probably a little too much,” Musil explained as his reason for deciding against a TIF and IRB. “For us to be close-minded and say it’s not a good idea, I think is a mistake on our part. But, you know we can only do so much and at this time, as a group, we didn’t think it was the responsible thing to do for our community.”

Musil hopes the city commission’s decision doesn’t set a precedent for future development.

“One thing I thought about after talking with many people in the community, is it could possibly hurt the school district and Ellis County for 20 years. With low oil prices, they’re already hurting. Even though we’re not really making anything off of it right now, hopefully, within the next 20 years something will be developed. I think the possibilities are endless out there,” Musil added.

“Even though the city doesn’t rely on property taxes, I don’t want to hurt the county or the schools (which do rely on property taxes for their budget funding.) I think that would be a disservice to all of us,” he said.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Always quick with a smile and a handshake, Chad Haynes, 31, is a well-known person around Hays and, after sustaining serious injuries in a motorcycle accident early last month, the community has responded in a big way. A series of fundraisers have been planned to support Haynes, the first occurring this weekend.

The events are being organized by Danielle Scott, a cousin to Haynes.

“I just wanted to do something to help him out,” Scott said. “It has just kind of really gotten big from there.”

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at The Mall, 2918 Vine, a benefit bake sale is planned for Haynes, with donations pouring in from the area, including baked goods from Great Bend High School, as part of a service project.

“We are doing all of this all for Chad,” Scott said.

Donations of baked goods can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. before the sale.

In conjunction with the bake sale, there will be prizes offered including various packages and items donated from local businesses.

To help spread the message of bicycle safety, Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson, 1100 E. 43rd, will also be on site providing motorcycle safety information.

A second fundraising event is planed next month.

A 5K run/walk is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 17. Registration will begin at 9:10 a.m. the morning of the race.

Participants will run a course near Sunrise Park, 19th and MacArthur, where the run will start and end.

Registration for the race is $25.

For participants who register before Sept. 30, aT-shirt commemorating the event will be given out during registration. The form to register can be found here.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up, collecting donations for Haynes. In the last month, the page has collected over $1,600.

Haynes has remained hospitalized in Wichita since the Aug. 8 accident in Russell County.

TMP-M

Thomas More Prep-Marian High School has announced its 2015 Homecoming court.

Homecoming activities are scheduled for Sept. 17 to 19.

Pictured, top row, from left, are king candidates Jared Rack, son of Marvin & Jennifer Rack; TJ Flax, son of Tim and Michele Flax; Ryan Ruder, son of Russ and Janel Ruder; Nick Hernandez, son of Anthony & Kristin Hernandez; and Justin Pfeifer, son of Galen & Cathy Pfeifer.

Pictured, bottom row, from left, are queen candidates are Olivia Herbel, daughter of Charlie & Lisa Krull; Jordyn Manhart, daughter of Scott and Dyane Manhart; Tyra Younie, daughter of Phil Younie and Chris Werth; Annaka Applequist, daughter of Myron & Joannah Applequist and Amy & Leonel Perez; and Melissa Pfeifer, daughter of Gerald & Marcia Pfeifer.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The Big Creek Travel Plaza proposed to be built in Hays has been withdrawn by investors.

“They determined that without the TIF (tax increment financing), they were unable to move forward. The package just didn’t move forward,” Aaron White, Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development Executive Director, said Thursday morning.

White said he notified Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty and city staff Wednesday morning of the decision by Colby-based NWK Investments, LLC.

“Obviously, a lot of work was put into this and we would have liked to have seen it be successful. There may be an opportunity to try and rework the project and move something forward at a later date, but at this point in time, I don’t see that happening,” White added.

Hays city commissioners last week rejected two of the three economic development options  available through the city’s economic development policy. They rejected both the TIF application and the IRB (industrial revenue bond) application during a presentation at the Sept. 3 city commission work session. Commissioner James Meier was absent.

James Millensifer, vice president of operations for Chance Management, which would have managed the project, and Hays attorney Don Hoffman, presented a revised plan for Phase 1 of the $28 million project.

After two hours of discussion, during which each commissioner said he supported the full-service truck stop and travel plaza, ultimately they told Millensifer they were interested only in utilizing the third economic development option — a CID (community improvement district) — and directed city staff to begin negotiations with NWK Investments.

TIF sets the property value on the land at its pre-development rate, with the additional tax revenue created by the value of buildings and businesses (the “increment”) used to pay for infrastructure and other capital costs. A CID allows the city to create a district that would add sales tax on goods and services sold within the district to pay for infrastructure and improvements. The CID most recently was used in the ongoing rehabilitation project at the Mall at Hays.

“After last week’s meeting, they (NWK) went back to their investors, ran the numbers, and determined they are not going to move forward with the travel plaza just trying to utilize the CID alone,” White said.

The developer had identified $10.5 million in TIF-eligible costs, but only about $4 million were for public infrastructure — water, sewer, and street infrastructure. The rest of the TIF eligible costs were for land acquisition, site development and private streets/paving. The IRB could have been used to avoid paying sales taxes on any construction materials. The CID request would have imposed an additional 2 percent tax on retail items sold within the CID.

A TIF district was approved by the city for construction of The Home Depot, 1310 E. 41st. CIDs are currently in place at the Hays Mall, 2918 Vine, and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 4650 Roth.

The travel plaza would have been built on 23.3 acres of land at the northwest corner of 230th Ave. and 55th Street, just north of the west Interstate 70 exit.

By RICKY KERR
Hays Post

Drug and alcohol crimes spiked at the beginning of this school year, while violent crime and theft remained low on the Hays Police Department tally, according to HPD arrest records from Aug. 2 to Sept. 2.

Ninety-three arrests were made last month for alleged drug and alcohol related crimes, with 37 of these arrests allegedly involving minors consuming or purchasing alcohol. One quarter of the 93 arrests were related driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Fifteen arrests were made for alleged violent crime and 19 arrests for alleged theft.

Out of the 29 arrests for drug possession or possession of paraphernalia, nine were made with suspicion of distribution.

Laurie Mortinger, co-director of the community assistance center opens the new dropbox to check for donated items.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Sometimes the little things make all the difference, and the Hays Community Assistance Center has found a new donation drop box is a win-win, allowing donations to get to people in need, rather than passersby.

“I’ve seen a lot of drop boxes out of town and I know that we get stuff dropped off and a lot of times they’ll string it all over the yard, they go through it, or somebody will pick it up,” Laurie Mortinger, said co-director of the Community Assistance Center, 208 E. 12th.

But solving the problem was not a easy as just buying the box for the center. They looked into the cost of buying one, but with most being made on the coasts, shipping cost was prohibitive.

Luckily, local businesses stepped up and were able to fabricate a box for the center.

The center’s board “talked to steel fab in Hays, they said they thought they could make us one,” Mortinger said. “Leon’s Welding, they have the paint shop, they painted it for us.”

The box was put in recently in front of the center and, much to the satisfaction of the center staff, is being used, having already filled up once.

“We finally got it put in, and we had just a really good response for us,” Mortinger said.

The box helps ensure donations get where they need to be.

“We like people to give us donations,” she said. “We would rather you didn’t leave it at the door when we’re not here and not open — as we usually don’t get it.”

For items too big to fit in the box or for large donations after hours, staff can also be made available for a drop-off, Mortinger said.

While the new box is helping to keep donations coming in, the staff is also preparing for their next big food drive — “Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat,” which helpings ensure food is available for those in need.

“We serve disabled, senior citizens, single mothers, anybody that can use our services,” Mortinger said.

“We get no city or federal money at all,” she said, instead the center runs completely on local assistance, including donations from local grocers and cash donations from community members.

Even locally grown food gets put to use at the center.

“If you have that extra garden produce or fruit trees, bring it to the center. Our clients can always use that stuff,” Mortinger said. “We have the two public garage sales and private donations are what keep our doors open.”

The center has two part time staff and over 40 volunteers.

“We couldn’t do it without them,” Mortinger said.

The center is also thankful for the community that has kept them open for 30 years.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of the community. Hays has been very generous to us,” Mortinger said.

She estimated 75 to 100 food orders are given out every month, with up to 200 people coming in every month — and a large portion of those using the center regularly.

The center will host its largest drive of the year next month, “Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat.”

The center is open 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

City of Hays

The reconstruction of 13th Street from Main to Milner continues.

13th Street remains closed from Pine to just west of Milner, and traffic is restricted to one-way eastbound from Main to Oak.

Scheduled work this week includes paving from Milner to Pine streets, and the Allen intersection.  Grading, base rock and paving will be done from Pine to Oak streets.

The City appreciates the public’s patience and understanding during the course of this project. If there are any questions, contact the Public Works Department at (785) 628-7350 or the contractor APAC at (785) 625-3459.