5:28 p.m. Tuesday: The National Weather Service in Dodge City has issued a flash flood warning for northeastern Rush County and south-central Ellis County.
At 5:05 p.m., radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Up to 2 inches of rain have already fallen. Flash flooding is expected to begin shortly.
Some locations that will experience flooding include Schoenchen, Liebenthal, Pfeifer and Loretta.
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The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement warning of a potentially damaging thunderstorm in the area.
UPDATE
At 432 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Schoenchen, moving north at 10 mph.
The NWS said winds in excess of 30 mph will be possible with this storm.
TREGO COUNTY — The Kansas Highway Patrol has reported that a 60-year-old Ness County man was killed in an accident just before 1:30 p.m. Monday in Trego County.
The KHP said a 2007 Pontiac SUV driven by James R. Rohr, 60, Ransom, was traveling northbound on U.S. 283 near the intersection of County Road S when the vehicle drifted across the centerline. The SUV struck a semi driven by Chance W. McMullen, 27, Norton.
Rohr’s vehicle came to rest in the northbound lane, and the semi came to rest in the west ditch.
The KHP said both drivers were properly restrained.
Bob Taylor, field services specialist for the Kansas State School for the Blind works with a visually impaired student to launch a drone during an extended school year learning camp on the FHSU campus last week.
By JAMES BELL Hays Post
Last week, visually impaired students from across central and western Kansas traveled to Fort Hays State University for a weeklong extended school year camp that brought together learning, fun, and comradery with the goal of helping students become fully functioning members of society.
The camp was organized by the Kansas State School for the Blind, which brings instructors from across the state to help teach the students a variety of life skills.
“For a person who is visually impaired, there are additional skills they need to learn in order to be productive members of society,” said Anna Cyr, field services specialist, Kansas State School for the Blind.
The camp focused on nine areas of learning that a visually impaired person needs as they transition to adulthood including, independent living skills, assistive technology, compensatory skills, such as Braille and large print, recreation and leisure, orientation of mobility, and social skills.
“We have been doing a variety of activities all week to address all of those areas and increase these student’s skill so that they can continue to learn and grow both in school and in life,” Cyr said.
Students that participated in the camp ranged in ages from 10 to 16, an ideal age Cyr said for their first experiences away from home and to work on developing skills they will need as they move towards college or the workforce.
“They are learning a lot of life skills,” she said. “They also have the opportunity to interact with other students that are visually impaired,” Cyr said.
Along with practical skills learned, the students are also getting valuable time interacting with others who share their experiences.
“Especially in western Kansas, it is pretty common to have one student who is visually impaired in a school district, so it’s not very often that they have someone else who also uses a white cane, or also reads Braille, or uses the technology that they interact with on a daily basis,” Cyr said.
Abrienda, a second-year attendee of the camp, said she was having fun interacting with the other students and practicing different skills.
Bob Taylor, field services specialist for the Kansas State School for the Blind works with a visually impaired student to type with a braille input device during an extended school year learning camp on the FHSU campus last week.
“Basically it’s (an) extended school year. You get to learn different things that maybe your school doesn’t teach,” she said. “You get to learn how to do different things, while you are cooking, or while you are out and about.”
She also enjoyed working with the technology available during the camp that helps visually impaired students develop communication and navigation skills.
“Technology is a lot different than what other people have,” she said. “So that’s kind of a new experience.”
But while she enjoyed the learning aspects of camp, she was a particular fan of a more leisurely activity.
“My favorite part of camp so far would probably be the art, because we are learning how to weave and do other things,” she said. “It’s a really good experience.”
Bob Taylor, an education technologist who is another field services specialist for the Kansas State School for the Blind, worked with the students over the week to learn and use specialized technology that helps the students adapt to the larger world.
“If we can get the kids talking about this stuff and what the outcomes are, they can self-advocate,” Taylor said. “We are trying to go ahead and get a lot of these kids to not be afraid and to self-advocate.”
If the students learn to ask questions and develop basic skills with the technology, it will help them to branch out into other educational opportunities.
In particular, he uses the technology to teach navigation skills and as a fun motivational activity to help the students self-advocate, by asking making them ask for things to use the technology.
“If they can self-advocate they can do other things,” he said, “if they are interested.”
A visually impaired student puts together a specially designed learning toy during an extended school year learning camp on the Fort Hays State Campus last week.
During the camp, Taylor said he is often in awe of the abilities and experiences the students bring with them.
“The more I do this, the more I bring in,” Taylor said. “Actually the students are teaching me.”
During the camp, the students also traveled into the community visiting local shops, restaurants and the Sternberg Museum.
“A big initiative of the Kansas School for the Blind in the last five years and beyond is to bring more of our services out to the students in their home areas,” Cyr said.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson closed out the month of June at $48.75 [[“forty-eight seventy-five”]] per barrel. That’s five dollars more than at the beginning of the month, thirteen dollars more than at the beginning of the year, but nearly sixteen dollars less than last year at this time. The average price for June was $45.14 [[“forty-five fourteen”]] per barrel, compared to $57.50 [[“fifty-seven fifty”]] in June of last year.
Baker Hughes reported 967 active drilling rigs across the U.S. Friday, an increase of four oil rigs. There are 124 active drilling rigs in Canada, up five. Oklahoma reports an increase of two rigs and Texas was up one. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports six active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, up two for the week, and 22 west of Wichita, which is unchanged.
Triple-A is predicting higher gasoline prices for some of us going into the Independence Day holiday. A fire in Philadelphia forced the permanent shutdown of the oldest and largest refinery on the east coast. The federal government announced large reductions in domestic crude oil and gasoline inventories. This could all push pump prices higher. The national average price for a gallon of regular on Monday (7/1) was up a penny to just over $2.71 a gallon, which is about 11 cents lower than last month at this time. The average in Kansas was a little over $2.46 a gallon. Locally, you should be able to save about two dollars on your 15-gallon fill up compared to a month ago.
Regulators report just 115 new intent-to-drill notices across Kansas for the month of June, bringing the statewide total to just 530 for the first half of 2019. That’s 355 fewer intents than the total through June of 2018, a year in which total Kansas crude production reached its lowest level in more than a decade. There was one new intent filed last month Barton County. That’s 18 so far this year. Ellis County reports six new intents in June and 20 through the month of June. Russell County had one last month and seven year-to-date. There were no new intents filed last month in Stafford County, which has 11 for the first six months of the year.
The Kansas Geological Survey reports the state’s crude oil production in March was 2.8 million barrels. First quarter production was just over 8.1 million barrels statewide. Barton County production stands just short of 400-thousand barrels for the first three months of the year. Ellis County produced 625-thousand barrels. The total in Russell County was 369-thousand barrels and Stafford County produced just over 253-thousand.
Regulators approved 24 permits for drilling at new locations statewide last week, seven east of Wichita and 17 in Western Kansas, for a total of 455 permits so far this year. There’s one new permit in Ellis County and one in Russell County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reports continuing weather-related problems delaying some production activity in Western Kansas. There were four leases in Ellis County where the site is too wet to begin completion work. There was one well completed in Ellis County last week and three in Barton County. Across the state there were 46 newly-completed wells, 750 so far this year. There were 33 completions in Western Kansas and 13 east of Wichita.
The government said U.S. crude oil inventories dropped nearly 13 million barrels last week to 469.6 million barrels. That’s about five percent more than the five-year average for this time of year.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported domestic production was down slightly to 12.07 million barrels per day for the week ending June 21. That’s a drop of 92-thousand barrels from the week before, but over a million barrels per day more than a year ago at this time.
Imports were down more than 800-thousand barrels to 6.7 million barrels per day. The four week average for imports is down more than 10% from the same period a year ago.
A new report shows that we’re consuming a lot more oil than we’re producing. According to the authoritative Statistical Review of World Energy from BP, worldwide crude oil consumption set a record last year at 99.8 million barrels per day. Worldwide production only reached 94.7 million barrels per day. The United States remains the world’s top oil consumer, at 20.5 million barrels per day last year. China was second and India was third.
Sky high economic expectations in the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico are prompting United Airlines to offer daily flights direct from Hobbs, New Mexico to Denver. United is ready to start the new service October 28. Flights from Hobbs to Houston began eight years ago.
WICHITA – A Larned man was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison for causing a series of denial of service attacks on a Kansas internet service provider, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Golightley photo Butler Co.
In April, a jury convicted Michael D. Golightley, 35, Larned, Kan., on seven counts of damaging a protected computer and one count of threatening to damage a protected computer.
During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Golightley contacted an entity called DDosCity to arrange for a series of attacks on Nex-Tech’s computers.
Nex-Tech is an internet service provider with offices in Hays, Lenora, Beloit, Concordia, Courtland, Dodge City, Downs, Great Bend, Hill City, Hoxie, McPherson, Norton, Osborne, Phillipsburg, Plainville, Quinter, Russell, Salina, Smith Center, Stockton and WaKeeney.
Prosecutors presented evidence that on March 30 and 31, 2017, Nex-Tech was hit by three denial of service attacks that overloaded the company’s servers.
Before the attacks, Golightley sent Nex-Tech two threats. He was angry about the company removing an ad he placed on Nex-Tech Classifieds for a PlayStation 3 game that been “jail broken,” or modified to bypass a system security check. Golightley placed the ad a second time and sent Nex-Tech a warning that he would “violate this site by bringing it offline” if the ad were removed again. He added: “If u make me upset, I will retaliate — your choice.”
McAllister commended the FBI, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan McCarty for their work on the case.
— Corrected 8 a.m. Tuesday after U.S. Attorney’s Office clarification
A Hays resident was arrested over the weekend after reportedly fleeing a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper in Rooks County.
At 11:05 p.m. Friday, a trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol attempted to stop a 2002 Dodge Stratus with a Kansas tag on County Road CC in Rooks County, according to Trooper Tod Hileman.
The vehicle fled the trooper going eastbound for an unknown amount of time before the car crashed.
The suspect then fled the crash and was later arrested by the KHP, Hileman said.
The KHP identified the suspect as Scott Finnesy, 39, Hays.
Finnesy was charged with transporting an open container, flee and eluding law enforcement after an accident, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident, along with six moving violations. He was transferred to Rooks County jail.
Finnesy has two prior convictions in Kansas. In 2011, he was convicted for attempting to elude a law enforcement officer and driving while suspended.
In 2015, he was sentenced for attempted aggravated intentional battery causing great bodily harm. Finnesy served over a year in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility related to that conviction.
He was released from the facility in January 2017 and his sentence expired in January of last year.
NESS CITY — Last week, the Ness County Sheriff’s Department made three drug-related arrests on K96 finding various narcotics, paraphernalia, large amounts of currency and firearms.
Ness County Sheriff Brandon Mitchell attributed the arrests to a new K9 unit — along with some good timing and training.
“It’s actually a little bit of both,” Mitchell said. “We obtained a K9 unit earlier this year and that has assisted in most of these drug busts on the highways.”
Along with the highway arrests, Mitchell said there have been many arrests in the county.
“We have also done a lot of search warrants in the county, but that has just been investigations of our patrol sargeant and helping our other deputies and our undersheriff.”
Mitchell attributes the four small highways that run through the county as a main cause of the trafficking, as people avoid Interstate 70 and other major highways in an effort to avoid detection.
“I believe that people transporting narcotics and other illegal activities are happening on the smaller highways because they believe they can avoid the interstates and or avoid apprehension this way, and we are doing our best to up our patrols and try to catch what is coming through the county,” he said.
But turning the knowledge of illicit activities into arrests is a function of training, according to Mitchell.
“These guys are really good at interdiction stops,” he said. “When they make a traffic stop, whether it is for speeding or any kind of traffic violation, they are looking for indicators that would contradict what their story is telling you.”
Some examples he gave included a suspect saying they are on a long trip, but having no luggage in the car, or getting different stories from the driver and passenger.
He said the trip itself can be an indicator if, for example, the driver said they are traveling from Kansas City to Denver.
“We know that Denver to Kansas City is an I-70 trip, one way, it is the easiest way there,” Mitchell said. “If they are going out of their way to hide, then it starts to raise suspicion.”
Once a stop is made and indicators of deception are noticed, Mitchell said the K9 undersheriff is called in to confirm or deny suspicions.
“That’s where a lot of this is coming from, the guys are just doing a good job and knowing their job well,” he said.
The first highway drug arrest was made on Tuesday, June 25, at approximately 4:45 p.m. at K96 at W Rd.
“During the stop, K9 Bach was deployed and a probable cause search was conducted. Deputies recovered over $11,000 in U.S. currency, cocaine, marijuana edibles and drug paraphernalia,” according to a department announcement.
A male suspect was arrested and transported to the Ness County jail, where he is being held on a $50,000 bond.
The second arrest was made just a day later at approximately 4:09 p.m. when Ness County patrol deputies initiated a traffic stop on K96 at milepost 109.
“During the investigation, K9 Bach was deployed and indicated a probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted. The search produced cocaine, narcotics scale, and $400 in U.S. currency,” a release from the department said. “One male suspect was arrested and booked into the Ness County jail for charges of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, driving while license suspended/canceled/revoked and possession of drug paraphernalia.”
The third incident occurred on Saturday.
“On (June 29), Ness County Sheriff’s deputies initiated a traffic stop on K96 eastbound at W Rd,” an announcement from the department said. “During the investigation, K9 Bach was deployed and indicated the odor of narcotics in the vehicle. A probable cause search was conducted. Deputies found a hidden compartment containing a loaded handgun with the serial numbers removed, four baggies of methamphetamine and a glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine.”
In that case, two suspects were arrested and taken to the Ness County jail on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm with altered identification and several traffic violations.
TOPEKA – It was a winning weekend for some Kansas Lottery players after $36,000 in prizes were won in draw games across the state.
One $20,000 Lotto America ticket was sold in the June 29 drawing. The winning ticket was sold in the northwest region of Kansas.
The northwest region includes the following counties: Cheyenne, Sherman, Wallace, Logan, Thomas, Rawlings, Decatur, Sheridan, Gove, Norton, Graham, Trego, Phillips, Rooks and Ellis.
Also in the June 29 drawing, there was one $4,000 Lotto America All Star Bonus winner and two $1,000 Lotto America winners. All three winning tickets were sold in the northeast region of Kansas.
The northeast region includes the following counties: Marshall, Nemaha, Brown, Doniphan, Riley, Pottawatomie, Jackson, Atchison, Geary, Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, Johnson, Osage, Douglas, Franklin, Miami, Morris and the northern half of Lyon.
You found it! Click on the Golden Egg for a chance to win FREE Wild West Festival VIP tickets!
In the June 28 Mega Millions drawing, one $10,000 Mega Millions ticket was sold in the northeast region of Kansas.
The lucky winners have 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim their prize.
The Kansas Lottery encourages all winners to sign the back of their tickets and to put their tickets in a safe place until they are ready to claim their prize.
Last week’s inspection results from the Kansas Department of Agriculture:
EL DOS 1002 41st St., Hays – June 27
A routine inspection found nine violations.
During the inspection, a prep cook opened the door on the outside and stepped out and closed the door. He then spent three minutes outside and then opened the door and came back in and went directly to the cooking line and placed gloves on his hands and grabbed raw chicken and placed it on the flat top grill.
In the north walk-in cooler, there were six tilapia fillets that were in reduced oxygen packaging.
In the walk-in cooler, there was a food grade, 5-gallon bucket, that had raw shrimp and raw chorizo being stored in the same container. No evidence of leaking was noticed.
In the south walk-in cooler, there was a head a cabbage that had been cut in half with no date of when it was cut.
In the north walk-in cooler, there was a container of fully cooked beef with a date of 6/20/19. In the mak-table on the cooking line, there was a container of fully cooked pork that had a date of 6/19/19.
The establishment’s menu had the Consumer Advisory present but did not have the Asterisk present on the menu items that could be undercooked.
North of the walk-in cooler, on a shelf, there was a non-food grade (Sterilite) container that had iodized salt present in the container.
Below the prep table, in the kitchen, there is a solid metal shelf that had two shredding attachments to a floor mixer that had dried food residue present along the back side of the blades.
Directly next to the ware-washing machine there is a shelf that had clean plates present. There was a spray bottle of grease cutter that was being stored directly next to the plates with the nozzle pointed towards the clean plates. No Evidence of leaking was observed.
TRYYAKI 2814 Vine, Hays – June 27
A joint inspection found nine violations.
In the walk-in cooler, a reduced oxygen package of fish was thawing. The package did not have a cut in it.
A metal pan had raw fish in it, and it was being stored above a plastic storage container of raw ginger that had a lid. No leakage was detected.
In the walk-in cooler, on the middle shelf, a plastic container of cooked chicken was being stored below a plastic container of raw chicken. No leakage was detected.
In the walk-in cooler, raw beef in a baggie was being stored next to a raw chicken baggie. No leakage was detected.
Upon entering the kitchen two bus tubs of fried chicken pieces were sitting out. The center of the chicken was 113 F.
In the mini fridge below the sushi prep area, a container of imitation crab meat had an internal temp of 46 F. In the make table, a container of chopped cabbage had an internal temp of 63 F. Two bags of chopped lettuce, one opened one not, had an internal temp of 58 F. In the back up storage of the make table a metal pan of fried chicken wings had the date of 6/22, and the internal temp was 53 F. Next to that was a pan of cooked shrimp with the date of 6/26 and an internal temp of 49 F. Also in the same area a metal pan of egg wash had an internal temp of 53 F. In a 30 minute period the ambient air temp never fell below 50 F. In a big metal bowl next to the wok was a mixture of raw chicken and batter. The internal temp of the chicken was 52 F.
No sanitizer test strips were present.
Hung up and stored as clean one of three rubber spatulas had a sticker on the food contact surface.
In the ware washing area three spray bottles had liquid in them; green, yellow and orange. The bottles were not labeled.
Hickok’s Steakhouse 3402 Vine, Hays – June 12
A follow-up inspection found one violation.
During the inspection there was a server who washed and dried her hands then started to grab a salad plate and placed spring mix on the plate using her bare hand.
Arctic Glacier 711 Canterbury, Hays – June 25
A routine inspection found no violations.
Augustine’s Bakery 1305 Main, Hays – June 25
A courtesy inspection found three violations.
On the back oven, there was an open tub of coleslaw with an internal temperature of 54 F. at 1:15 p.m.
There were three measuring cups with pits and inclusions that are not easily cleanable.
In the ware washroom, there was a bag in box degreaser on a solid plastic shelf directly over the top of single-use food grade bags.
The Golden Q 809 Ash, Hays – June 25
A follow-up inspection found no violations.
JR’s Snacks and Vending 310 E 11th, Hays – June 25
A routine inspection found no violations.
Let It Rise 1100 Main, Hays – June 25
A licensing inspection found no violations.
Old Chicago 383 Mopar, Hays – June 25
A follow-up inspection found one violation.
In the back hallway storage area, there were one of four cans of sliced tomatoes that had a Class 2 Dent present on the bottom seam of the can. This dent affected the bottom seal of the can.
Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend) speaks at a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast in April.
OFFICE OF CONG. MARSHALL
WASHINGTON, D.C. – First District Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend) will be in western Kansas this week for a series of town hall meetings during the Congressional holiday break.
Click on the link for information specific to each town.
My mother recently passed away and her services were held at the Hays Memorial Chapel. She was interned in the National Cemetery in WaKeeney therefore requiring the funeral procession to move from the middle of the city to I-70.
To expedite this journey required going through Hays during noon day traffic. This trip was made easy due to the Hays Police Department. Their efficiency and professionalism were readily apparent watching them stop traffic in respect for the circumstances.
We are thankful to have such men and women willing to serve.
Additionally, I was in awe of the citizens of Hays and the surrounding area pulling over demonstrating respect for a woman they didn’t know — it was moving. It’s moments like this that I cherish small towns and the citizens that make them a community.
