Hunter / Ellis County photoBy JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays Post
A Hutchinson woman who admitted to driving a vehicle while her husband robbed a man with an hatchet was sentenced to probation Monday.
Hollie Hunter, 35, was initially charged with aiding and abetting a kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of methamphetamine. In June, as part of a plea agreement, she pleaded no contest and was found guilty of aiding and abetting in the commission of aggravated robbery and possession of methamphetamine.
As a result of the plea agreement, Hunter was sentenced to 36 months – three years – probation Monday in Ellis County District Court.
According to court documents, Hollie Hunter and her husband, David, were giving a man they knew a ride to his girlfriend’s house in the early morning hours of March 29 when David Hunter threatened the man with a hatchet.
David Hunter took a wallet, backpack, jewelry, a cellphone and approximately $150 from the victim, authorities reported.
At Monday’s sentencing, Hollie Hunter chose not to address the court.
Chief Judge Glenn Braun said it concerned him that she chose not to say anything. He said that Kansas sentencing statutes calls for her to be sentenced to prison because she was facing serious person felonies and she had nine prior convictions — adding she needed to convince him to sentence her to probation.
Hunter said she has had issues with drugs in the past and wanted to get treatment and try and get into a treatment facility in Emporia.
She also said she is trying to get custody of her two children back and said she “wanted the opportunity to try and change my life.”
Braun said, because she cooperated with law enforcement and testified against her husband, he sentenced Hunter to the agreed-upon sentence of three years of probation. If she violates probation, she will be required to serve a total of 55 months in prison.
She is also required to complete an alcohol and drug treatment program and apply to the treatment program in Emporia.
Hunter still faces a misdemeanor child in need of care case in Reno County and was remanded back to the Ellis County jail while they wait to see if Reno County authorities will take her back to Hutchinson.
David Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced Monday.
WICHITA– A Kansas woman was sentenced today to a year of supervised probation for mail fraud in a scheme to make it appear her employer left her half his estate when he died, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release Monday.
In addition, she was ordered to make monthly payments of $100 to Fort Hays State University during her probation.
Wanda Oborny, 66, Hays, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. In her plea, she admitted that in 2013 she mailed a fraudulent purported codicil to Kansas banker Earl O. Field’s will to Fort Hays State University. The document falsely claimed Field had left a fourth of his estate to the university, a fourth to his lawyer and half to Oborny. In fact, Field left the majority of the estate to the university.
McAllister commended the FBI, Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Gurney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Barnett for their work on the case.
Ralph Augustine of Ralph’s Electric alongside Jesse Rohr, public works director for the city of Hays.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The Hays city commission knew there would need to be some tweaking of the residential and electrical code updates adopted by the city in July 2017.
Three concerns in relation to upgrades and remodels of existing homes requiring a city permit were brought to their attention during the commission work session last week.
“Almost all rooms except bathrooms and garages now require AFCIs (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter),” explained Jesse Rohr, public works director. An AFCI protects against electrical- related arcs from an electrical circuit or a device, which commonly lead to fires. If an arc is detected, the AFCI is tripped and kills the power to that individual circuit.
“AFCIs and the wiring are easy to install in new homes. However, in existing houses, that’s where we have an issue.”
AFCI receptacles are much more expensive – $22 to $75 – as compared to $1.20 for a regular non-AFCI receptacle.
Some existing electric panels are not configured to work with AFCI breakers and older wiring methods may not be conducive to new devices and codes.
“Homes that were wired 30 to 80 years ago just weren’t wired the way you would wire homes today,” he added, “making it very difficult to protect an electric circuit with an AFCI.” The labor costs to do so are quite high, according to Rohr, “thousands of dollars extra.”
Similar issues affect placement and interconnection of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in remodel/addition situations. Current code requires the alarms to be installed throughout the house and to be connected to each other, the same as required for new construction.
“You can see why this is problematic, having to fish wires through walls and ceilings. … the labor is probably $1,500 to $2,000 and that’s probably on the cheap side if you have to do an entire house.”
Local contractors recently brought the concerns to the attention of Rohr who agreed with them.
“We kind of liken this to bringing your 1950 Ford to the mechanic for a fuel pump and the mechanic says you now have to put seatbelts in it. You have to bring it up to current code. Again, this is may be an overstep of bounds that we’re seeing as we’ve started enforcing this code.”
Rohr is proposing amendments to the 2014 National Electric Code (NEC) and 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) which were adopted in an update by the city of Hays in July 2017. The suggested changes remove many AFCI and smoke alarm requirements for remodel projects in existing dwellings.
One proposal is to allow modified or extended electrical circuits in existing dwellings to not be AFCI-protected due to the high cost and impracticability of doing so. Rohr also suggests that changing a receptacle should not require the new receptacle to be an AFCI-type receptacle.
A third suggestion is “a change to the code that would not require a placement of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms unless a sleeping room is remodeled or added.”
Rohr noted that’s how the code has been enforced the past several years.
City commissioners will consider the proposed residential and electrical code amendments at their Aug. 8 meeting.
In other business, commissioners set Aug. 8 as the public hearing date for the proposed 2020 budget.
Speaking via phone, Mayor Henry Schwaller asked the commissioners if the proposed $12,000 in funding to the Ellis County Historical Society (ECHS) should be reconsidered.
The ECHS Board of Trustees announced last week the closure of the gallery and stone church to the public due to mold growth. Offices, photo collections and archive materials are being relocated to to 1111 E. 30th.
“Our funding was originally intended to help them with building maintenance,” Schwaller noted.
The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce (HACC) is seeking qualified applicants for the full-time position of Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
This position reports to the President/CEO and works closely with the rest of the HACC staff, Board of Directors, Chamber members and other stakeholders. This position is responsible for effectively marketing the Chamber, its businesses, and the Hays area.
The Vice President of Marketing and Communications will maintain the Chamber’s social media accounts, photograph and video record events, assist in website maintenance, create advertisements and ads, send weekly correspondence to the membership, and write and design the monthly newsletter and annual Community Guide.
Applicants must be proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, InDesign, and Photoshop. Preference will be given to candidates who possess strong written and oral communication abilities.
Candidates should be highly energetic, organized, self-motivated, and pay strong attention to detail, as well as understand, assist, and promote the Chamber in achieving its mission. Please send cover letters and resumes to:
Sarah Wasinger
Hays Area Chamber of Commerce
2700 Vine Street
Hays, KS 67601 [email protected]
Resumes will be accepted until position filled.
“We are celebrating a year in this incredible space that has done wonders for our community and gives so much opportunity,” said Sarah Wasinger, president and CEO of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.
“This whole venture started several years ago, actually,” said Doug Williams executive director of Grow Hays. “Through a whole lot of trials and tribulations, and a whole lot of gray hair, we got it done about a year ago and we moved in.
“It’s been very well utilized so far,” he said.
BriefSpace has “stunning workspaces to help you be productive, as well as functional meeting and training spaces for networking and collaboration,” according to its website. “We offer access to the professional services of Grow Hays and the vibrant, diverse local business community of Hays. BriefSpace was designed and built through a generous grant provided by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing opportunities for the people of northwest Kansas to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.”
BriefSpace has a variety of membership levels, Williams said, and also has meeting space available Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We are pretty flexible if we don’t have anything else going on we are going to be very reasonable on somebody using it,” Williams said. “What we are really after is usage of the facility.”
Williams said he views the goal of the facility is not to make a profit but to be a valuable space for local business.
“Our entire goal here is not to make money, it’s to try and break-even,” he said. “We want usage more than anything else.
“If somebody has an event or something like that, call us and we’ll figure it out,” Williams said.
Features of the space include 1-gigabit WiFi, 24/7 building access, an on-site community manager, conference and training rooms, unique common areas, private phone booths, a copier/printer/scanner, a coffee bar, a kitchen, and the Proximity app.
Official weather records from the K-State Agricultural Research Center show Hays with 14.54 inches of moisture so far this year.
By the end of August, the average annual rainfall in Hays is 17.57 inches.
High Plains
During the last week in July, rain fell in a band roughly from northeast Colorado through the Nebraska Panhandle and across central and southeast South Dakota. Otherwise, dry weather prevailed in the High Plains during the last week of July.
Temperatures were warmer than normal in the Colorado high plains, southeast Wyoming, and northeast North Dakota, while cooler than normal temperatures occurred in southwest North Dakota, western South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, and southeast and south-central Kansas. Warmer than normal temperatures in northern North Dakota were putting stress on soil moisture conditions, resulting in a slight expansion of short-term moderate drought to the southeast. Otherwise, the region remained free of drought.
Abnormal dryness developed in parts of central Kansas including Ellis County, and northeast Nebraska, where short-term precipitation deficits were developing.
HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System, is pleased to welcome Dr. Hema Pamulapati, MD, Cardiologist. She will be seeing patients at the DeBakey Heart Clinic.
Dr. Pamulapati received her medical degree at the S.V.S. Medical College in India. She completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
“As we continue to expand our cardiac program at HaysMed, Dr. Pamulapati will be an excellent addition to our medical staff,” said Dr. Jeffery Curtis, cardiologist and Administrative Director of Cardiology.
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
Comfort Inn 1001 41st St., Hays – Aug 1
A joint inspection found one violation.
Two rubber spatulas where handles connect are dirty.
Tiger Burgers 700 Main St., Hays – Aug 1
A joint inspection found seven violations.
Cook had gloves on his hands and was handling raw ground beef by placing it on the grill. After this, he removed his gloves and placed new gloves on his hand without washing, then proceeding to hand ready to eat buns.
In the Acantco two-door refrigerator there was a plastic food grade container that had raw shell eggs being stored on a wire rack directly above a container of raw onions and jalapenos. No evidence of leaking was observed.
On the self serve condiment line there were cut tomatoes and cooked mushrooms that were at the temperature of 49 F. Ambient temperature of the unit was 47 F. On the cooking line there were two containers of made in-house BBQ Sauce that were at the temperatures of 49 F.
The establishment is serving over-easy eggs on the menu with no consumer advisory present.
The establishment did not have a thin probe thermometer present.
The mop sink faucet had an atmospheric backflow prevention device present along with a Y connection and a shut-off valve after the backflow device. One hose is connected to the chemical dispenser (with air gap) and one hose is connected but hanging below the flood rim.
Upon entering into the kitchen inspector started the process to wash his hands but no hand soap was present.
Walmart 4301 Vine, Hays – Aug 1
An inspection following a modified complaint found no violations.
Hays Tiger Inn 3404 Vine, Hays – July 29
An inspection following a modified complaint found one violation.
A small amount of trash under a bed frame. There were also some dead spiders present under the bed.
Hooker / Ellis County photoA Reno County man is in custody after a low-speed pursuit in Ellis County.
Officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked on the side of the road in the 2600 block of Saline River Road on Friday. The driver of the vehicle fled, traveling north at speeds ranging from 20 to 45 mph, according to Ellis County Undersheriff Scott Braun.
The pursuit ended when officers conducted a tactical vehicle intervention, spinning the vehicle out in the 2600 block of Emmeram Road.
The driver — 64-year-old Breck Hooker — was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence, transporting an open container of alcohol, aggravated battery, and fleeing and eluding a law enforcement official, Braun said.
No officers were hurt, although one cruiser sustained minor damage.
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office was assisted during the incident by the Kansas Highway Patrol and Victoria Police Department.
Hooker remains held in the Ellis County jail as of Monday morning.
Natoma native Seth Hachmeister with Kansas 1st Dist. Congressman Roger Marshal (R-Great Bend)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Seth Hachmeister, a rising Firstie at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, recently completed an internship with Congressman Roger Marshall, of Kansas. Hachmeister was in Washington, D.C. July 8-25, participating in an Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) program with West Point.
The ADIDs are designed to provide Cadets a venue for educational experiences that would not be possible within the traditional framework of the academic, military, and physical programs which comprises the 47-month USMA experience.
Hachmeister seized the opportunity during a meeting with Rep. Marshall to invite the Congressman to the Remembering Our Fallen display in Plainville in October.
This national touring tribute of military personnel that have paid the ultimate sacrifice since 9-11 will be in Plainville October 18-2, 2019.
Hachmeister presented Rep. Marshall with a Remembering Our Fallen t-shirt, and personally invited him to the event. While Rep. Marshall instructed his scheduler to add this event to his agenda, word has been received Rep. Marshall will be needed in Washington as Congress will be in session. Tyler Mason, Congressmen Marshall’s Military Affairs Representative, has confirmed he will be attending the opening ceremony.
Hachmeister completed his third year at West Point in May, and is majoring in U.S. history. He is the son of Ken and Sheila Hachmeister of Natoma.
Artist Jason Lamb works on a landscape mural on the west wall of Professor’s, 521 E. 11th St.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
After a long spring spent prepping the west wall of Professor’s, a landscape is slowly starting to emerge.
Artist Jason Lamb volunteered to paint an exterior mural on the length on the Professor’s Classic Sandwich Shop & More building at 521 E. 11th in Hays.
Lamb, who moved to Hays less than a year ago and lives across the street from Professor’s, has little formal training as an artist.
His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all painters, and his father made a living as a house painter, a trade his dad passed on to Jason.
“I kind of have paint in my blood,” Lamb said.
Lamb modified paint brushes and mounted them on extension poles for this painting.
Lamb, 43, has dabbled in various media, including oil, watercolor, graphite and sculpture. He also tattooed professionally for eight years before moving to Hays.
“My favorite work to do, where it is not so technical, which is most free to work on is impressionistic,” he said. “I love to paint impressionistically … kind of like my own take on Van Gogh. I love Van Gogh, and I love Monet.”
Although he enjoys using nature as as a theme in his impressionistic work, he also creates works of fantasy, which tend to have a more realistic style.
He has painted interior murals before, but nothing as large as the Professor’s project.
The painting is going to be a impressionistic landscape with sunflowers, trees, dragonflies, butterflies and, of course, bees and mushrooms.
The painting is going to be a impressionistic landscape with sunflowers, trees, dragonflies, butterflies, and of course bees and mushrooms as a nod to Professor’s, which sells honey and mushrooms that are grown in the building’s basement.
As light changes throughout the day, the mural will appear differently. Lamb said he intends to use metallic paints, which should pop more during the afternoon in full sun.
“My goal with this painting is to have it readable at a distance, so when you look at it from far away you get a general feel of the colors and intensity. As you get closer, more surprises appear,” he said, “So there are little treats the closer you get to the piece of art. People who stop and come see it closely will be able to see things they couldn’t see from far away.”
Lamb said as the mural has taken shape he periodically steps back to appraise his work from different angles.
“This is the first mural where I was given the freedom to do whatever I imagine,” he said. “Amy (Jensen) was very open for me to create a true piece of art out of my ideas, out of my soul. Most murals before this have been commissioned illustrations that I have brought to life that was someone else’s idea.”
He said one the most significant challenges of this project thus far has been the amount of paint required. The exterior wall Lamb is working with is made of a weathered wood. He said he spent a significant amount of time prepping and sealing the wall before he starting painting the image.
The heat is another factor. Lamb primarily works on the mural in the mornings when it is cooler.
Lamb is nearing completion on the background. He said he will start working on the foreground next. He anticipates the mural will be completed in late October. He said he will likely have hundreds of hours in the painting before it is completed.
“Patience — I have to just be patient with myself, because I really don’t like my art until the last couple of days really that I work on it,” he said.
Lamb will be finishing the mural with a UV protectant and anticipates the colors will remain vibrant for up to 10 years.
The mural is only about 25 percent complete. Lamb anticipates it will be complete by the end of October.
“My goal for any art is that people for just a tiny moment in their life to be removed from the normal day-to-day problems they have and escape and feel a sense of happiness and joy and beauty,” he said. “If I can get someone just running by or someone driving by … if for just one second they’re happier and they experience artistic beauty in a way I can express it, then my goal has been met.”
Amy Jensen, Professor’s owner, said she hopes the mural will beautify the neighborhood.
“And maybe people will come just to see it,” she said.
Lamb said his next project will be designing his own set of tarot cards in pencil and watercolors. He is self-employed, reads tarot and sells toys at toy shows in addition to his art.
Lamb takes commissions and is interested in doing more murals. You can reach him at 303-532-7068 or by email at [email protected].
Although Lamb has painted murals before, this will be his largest painting to date.
