CITY OF HAYS
Concrete shoulder work on Eighth Street east of Vine in Hays is now complete.
Traffic control has been removed and the roadway is now fully open to traffic.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this construction may have caused. Comments and questions may be directed to the Office of Project Management at 785-628-7350.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The harsh winter in Hays was rough on the streets.
In addition to numerous potholes caused by freezing and warming temperatures, a lot of sand and salt was applied to the streets, and the snowplows were kept busy.
As the plows moved snow to the street edges, the machines were also scraping the street markings.
“Our street markings have taken a beating,” says Toby Dougherty, city manager, “especially on the arterials. They’re very rough and they degraded very quickly over the winter.”
Arterials are major streets at least 53 feet wide and are heavily trafficked. In Hays, Vine, U.S. Highway 183 Bypass, 8th, 13th, 27th, Hall, and Canterbury are classified as arterial streets.
Typically, the city improves the street markings as they begin to deteriorate. Employees can do some thermoplastic applications and painting in-house.
This year though, given the scale of the deterioration, the Public Works Department and the city project planner are devising a project to bid “a rather large marking project,” according to Dougherty, “probably a $150,000 to $160,000 project to get all the arterials back into place with professionally applied paint and thermoplastic markings.”
Funding is expected to come from the 2019 Street Maintenance budget of $774,455. It has some cost savings in it after no bids were approved for diamond grinding this year. Those bids were all well above staff estimates.
“We’ll probably utilize a good majority of that (saved) money for this. It’s money well spent,” Dougherty says. “We have to get these street markings done. It’s a safety issue.”
The FrostFest Parade in downtown Hays is part of magical time in early December. Folks from near and far brave the cold to watch the lighted floats pass them by while making their way down Main Street.
Some swift action by a Fort Hays State University police officer prevented the joyous time from possibly turning tragic during the 2018 event.
Spying some candy in the middle of the street, a young girl darted out in front of a pickup in the parade. In a flash, Officer Jonathan Rupp skidded his bicycle to a stop between the youngster and the truck.
At Friday’s Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Valor Awards Banquet in Topeka, Rupp received the Silver Life Saving Award in honor of his decisive action at the parade. His boss, Fort Hays State University Police Chief Ed Howell, was on hand for the presentation.
The truck driver in the parade hit his brakes when he saw Rupp suddenly appear in front of him – and was able to stop in time. Neither Rupp nor the girl were injured.
Rupp was on bicycle patrol while assisting the Hays Police Department at the time of the incident. Lt. Tim Greenwood of the HPD said that Rupp was so close to the truck that when the driver came to a stop, he could have touched the vehicle’s hood.
“I didn’t think it was necessarily a big deal,” Rupp said. “I was in the right spot at the right time. I did what I had to do.”
“I don’t believe it was luck,” Greenwood said. “I believe it was Officer Rupp’s professionalism, work ethic and attention to detail that prevented a tragedy. Officer Rupp intentionally placed himself in physical danger by riding between that child and the vehicle to get the driver’s attention.”
Greenwood, who has served with the Hays Police Department since 1998, recommended Rupp for the award.
“I’ve been doing this job for over 20 years, and that’s by far the closest call I’ve seen at a parade,” Greenwood said. “I am certain that had (Rupp) not been paying attention, that little girl would have been hit. I know it would not have been good.”
The girl, who was about 3 years of age, made a beeline for the candy when her mother became distracted. Rupp said he had been eyeing the girl, whose identity he still does not know. He went back to his duties along the parade route after the mother thanked him several times.
“I could tell before it happened that she was thinking about running out into the street,” Rupp said. “That’s why I turned all of my attention toward her.”
Howell said his officers know what to do in such a situation.
“We train our officers to make that reaction and act accordingly,” Howell said. “This is a primary reason why we’re out there.”
This is the first commendation for Rupp, who has worked in law enforcement since 2015, when he joined the University Police Department.
Rupp, 37, previously worked as an electronics technician and in the oil fields after graduating from Hays High School in 2000. His wife, Amanda, was present for the award presentation. The couple has two children, Ivan, 3, and Amelia, 1.
Rupp hopes to have a long career with the University Police Department.
“I enjoy the interaction with the students, faculty and staff,” he said. “I don’t have any plans to go anywhere else. Hopefully, I will retire from Fort Hays State.”
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission will consider the purchase of new election equipment at Monday’s meeting.
Earlier this year, Ellis County Clerk Donna Maskus began the process of replacing the county’s aging equipment with three equipment demonstrations.
The new equipment will replace the current iVotronic voting machines, which are more than a decade old. They will also allow Ellis County to comply with state law that requires all counties to be able to perform a post-election audit with paper ballots.
The machines will be paid for from funds from the equipment replacement fund. Maskus has been transferring money into the equipment replacement fund for several years to pay for the equipment.
In other business, the commission will consider the addition of a fitness room at the Emergency Medical Services Building, bids on a new elevator at the Law Enforcement Center, and removal of stairs at County Administrative Center. Discussions on the 2020 budget also will continue.
Monday’s meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at the Administrative Center, 718 Main.
ELLIS – Following a public hearing last week regarding application for a state grant to help finance a new swimming pool, Ellis city council members will continue the discussion at tonight’s meeting
Andy Smith of Lamp Rynearson will meet with the council to discuss the Community Development Block Grant application and an engineering contract for the proposed project.
Another community project will be updated with the consideration of contracting with Midwest Energy for electrical service in the expansion of the Ellis Lakeside Campground. City Clerk Amy Burton will also discuss the budget for the expansion.
In other business, the council will consider a resolution adopting a revised fee schedule.
The complete meeting agenda follows.
AGENDA
April 15, 2019
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS
City Hall – Council Meeting Room
BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)
(Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda. By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes. If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson. ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment. Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The cattlemen affected by the bankruptcy of the Plainville Livestock Commission should receive most of their money back, but it could be months more before they see any of their money.
In early February, the Plainville Livestock Commission issued checks to more than 40 producers for sale of their cattle.
On Feb. 12, Almena Bank froze two of Plainville Livestock Commission’s bank accounts. When the bank froze the accounts, tens of thousands of dollars worth of checks owner Tyler Gillum had written to area ranchers who had recently sold cattle at the Plainville Livestock Commission bounced.
On March 1, the Plainville Livestock Commission filed for bankruptcy.
RELATED: Producers try to recoup losses after Plainville Livestock Commission drains account
The Rooks-Phillips County Extension hosted Roger McEowen, Kansas Farm Bureau professor of law and taxation at the Washburn School of Law, Friday in Stockton to talk about the process of recovering funds for cattlemen after the bankruptcy of a livestock market agent.
The cattlemen’s money is protected under the Packers and Stockyards Act.
The market agency is supposed to hold funds from the sale of cattle in a custodial account until all the sellers are paid. Someone allegedly transferred the money in the custodial account into the Plainville Livestock Commission’s general operating account, according to court records.
At that time, the bank holding the funds, Almena Bank, froze the Livestock Commission’s accounts.
McEowen said in a bankruptcy filing the unpaid cattlemen’s claims take priority over other creditors in accordance with the Packers and Stockyards Act.
There are deadlines to file claims under the Packers and Stockyards Act. Cattlemen can bring a reparation proceeding within 90 days of the sale. They need to file the proceedings with Secretary of Agriculture through the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, which is within the USDA’s Ag Marketing Service. There are specific forms available through the GIPSA to file the action.
“This is a process that is going to take months,” he said.
GIPSA does not have enforcement authority. If GIPSA finds a cattleman is owed money, the cattleman has to have the payment enforced by federal court or a district court that has jurisdiction within a year.
“The point is, if you understand the process, you are going to understand how long this is going to take to shake out,” McEowen said. “The cattlemen will get paid, maybe not 100 percent of their claim. They will be paid something, but it is not going to be tonight. It is not going to be tomorrow or next week. It is going to take some time.”
The impact on the community is going to be great. For every dollar that the cattlemen are owed in this case, that equals $3 to $4 that is not available to be cycled through the local economy, he said.
In this case, it equals millions of dollars.
“We don’t want the cattlemen to fail. They are going to get paid. We want them to get back on their feet at some point in time,” McEowen said. “Probably the majority of the funds they are owed they will recover, but what is going to happen in the meantime?”
He encouraged the cattlemen to evaluate their own personal situation, for the cattlemen to work together and the community to support the cattlemen who have been affected.
“The domino effect on this is the potential really bad situation,” he said. “That needs to be avoided so we don’t have a whole community that really suffers because of this.”
The U.S. bankruptcy court in Wichita on Thursday, indicated the cattlemen do have a priority to funds being held by the bank. Judge Roger Nugent ordered the money that is being held at Almena Bank continue to be held there in a segregated account, but he said he needed more time to consider the case.
The bankruptcy case has been continued to 10:30 a.m. May 9.
In the meantime, attorneys have broad subpoena power under the Packers and Stockyards Act to do a legal “fishing expedition.” The investigation of the finances of Plainville Livestock Commission could draw the case out, McOwen said.
The curator was glad to receive two pictures of early Ford and one of a uniformed policeman wearing spats and standing by his K-9, a Rin Tin Tin double. She soon posted them online. I embarrassed to see my paragraph detailing the relationships resulting in my having the documents included. I hadn’t meant to share that with the history-loving world, but I see why it’s important to maintain a chain of evidence, so to speak.
In short time, viewers responded to the photos. One even recognized that the old family boarding house is still in Ford, now functioning as a home on main street. Unfortunately, the accompanying livery stable once located behind this business is now gone. The highlight was a response from a fellow history buff who had tickets and warrants my Great Grandfather had signed. I was especially excited when she said she’d share her treasures.
Considering that I never look forward to receiving speeding or parking tickets, I laughed at my quick response, “I’d love to see them!” Then my mind took several bunny trails. Did this person have a relative inclined to break the law and run into my ancestor? Did she, like a friend in Ellis, inherit boxes filled with ancient documents from the early days of settlement? I haven’t inquired yet, but there’s still time.
Keep in mind, this grandpa was dead and buried in the Dodge Cemetery long before I was a sparkle in my mother’s eye. Despite that, stories his son, my grandpa, told wide-eyed grandchildren riding in his Mercury’s back seat on Sunday drives to Jetmore brought this early law enforcement officer and his era to life. I still hear Grandpa pointing out a washout where his dad once arrested bank robbers. I get lost while examining sepia-toned photos that relay snippets of the life he shared with his first wife, my great grandma.
While it was a thrill to think about receiving those old tickets and warrants my long dead police officer relative signed, I admit it’s a better idea for them to be included in the Ford County Historical Society Archives. The administrators responded as quickly as I did to the individual offering to share them. Now that I know where they are, I can either ask for copies or stop by to visit.
On that note, I encourage you to copy and share family documents with local historical organizations. Who knows when a researcher will discover the connecting piece that fills a hole in their ancestral jigsaw?
Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.
Gary interviews Jenny Russell about ruralandremote.org
HFD
The Hays Fire Department will be inspecting and flow testing fire hydrants on Monday, April 15, 2019 in the area of Hall St. to Fort St. between 27th St. and 16th St. and also from Main St. to Vine St. between 21st St. and 12th St.
This is part of a coordinated effort by the city of Hays to inspect all fire hydrants in the city and flush all water mains annually.
Inspecting fire hydrants ensures that the valves operate properly and that there is no damage or obstructions that will prevent or interfere with the prompt use of fire hydrants in an emergency. Firefighters are also checking the pressure and volume of water mains in each neighborhood for firefighting purposes.
FHSU University Relations
A news release distributed Friday contained incorrect information on student admission for the Fort Hays State University Rodeo the weekend of April 19 and April 20.
Admission this year is $5 for Fort Hays State students with Tiger ID, which is a change from past practice.
Public performances begin at 7 p.m. both Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20. The Cowboy Church service, ordinarily held on Sunday morning of the rodeo weekend, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday this year to accommodate Easter celebrations.
Events for the nearly 500 competitors from 22 schools in the Central Plains Region are: bareback bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, cowgirls barrel racing, cowgirls breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping and tie-down roping.
Tickets can be purchased at the Student Service Center in FHSU’s Memorial Union; Orscheln Farm & Home, 2900 Broadway Ave.; and Vanderbilt’s, 2704 Vine. Advance ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Prices at the gate will be $12 (adults) and $8 (children).
September 9th-12th, 2019
Join Eagle Radio of Hays for a trip to Branson, MO, during a beautiful time to visit the Ozarks and see some of the best shows Branson has to offer. All times listed are start times of the show.
Monday, September 9th, 2019
5:30 AM Leave Hays
Casino Stop for couple hours and lunch
6PM Dinner at Lambert’s—(If you go away hungry that’s your own fault 😊)
Arrive in Branson-Check into hotel.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
10:00 AM Clay Cooper’s Country Music Show
Lunch on your own at Branson Landing
03:30 PM Curling Vine Winery Tour
05:30 PM Montana Mikes 76 Plated Dinner
07:30 PM Haygoods Show at Clay Cooper Theater
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
9:00 AM Shopping at Tanger Outlet Mall (optional for you to go)
12:00 PM Showboat Branson Belle Lunch, Show & Cruise
03:30 PM Samson at Sight & Sound Theater
06:30 PM Paradise Grill Buffet Dinner
08:00 PM Amazing Acrobats of Shanghai at Grand Shanghai Theater
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Leave Branson and travel home with stops at Osceola Cheese & Russell Stover’s enroute. Arrive back in Hays approximately 7pm.
We will be staying at the beautiful Grand Plaza Hotel in Branson, MO. It is a wonder hotel with great amenities such as a full hot breakfast daily served from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM, elevators, indoor corridors, pool, hot tub, sun deck, game room, fitness center, Plaza View Restaurant and Lounge.
All noted times are when the shows starts we are usually asked to be at the venue approximately an hour before the show starts.
This trip includes 3 nights lodging, baggage handling, roundtrip bus transportation, breakfast, 7 meals, 5 shows, 1 wine tour, all taxes, bus driver tip, and gratuities on the above items. Lunch on the way down to Branson and back home will be on you own. Single $889, Double $798, Triple $725, and $699 Quad Occupancy.
Thirteen-year-old Cael Austin and his dad Jason were hunting northwest of McPherson on the opening evening of Kansas youth turkey season, and had set up along one of several wheat fields, calling every few minutes hoping to attract the attention of roaming gobblers.
After a time, they moved, sat awhile and called some more, repeating that strategy twice more before finally hearing and spotting a small group of turkeys in a field of wheat and corn stalks. Slinking slowly through the trees surrounding the field, they eased into position, but the turkeys disappeared ahead of them and a dozen-and-a-half deer flooded onto the field instead (now where were they during deer season?) They called again, trying to convince the gobblers that some lonely little hen required their attention, and sure enough, as the deer spooked and ran for the trees, out came the small group of turkeys they had spotted before, consisting of a few hens and 2 strutting toms.
The hunters had a Scoot-N-Shoot turkey decoy, a very lifelike looking decoy that holds a real turkey fan for a tail and has wings that fold open, allowing a hunter to hold the decoy in front of them and actually move toward a group of turkeys. On hands and knees with the decoy in front of him, Cael inched across the stalks toward the 2 strutting toms, figuring they would be nervous about the new “intruder.”
Things changed in an instant though as both gobblers headed for Cael and the decoy on a dead run like a pair of linebackers rushing the quarterback. As he attempted to pull himself into a shooting position, the sling on his shotgun caught on his boot. So there he was, crouched behind the decoy with 2 angry gobblers bearing down on the decoy, probably intent on giving it a good thrashing, and unable to get his shotgun into shooting position. A final tug loosed the sling from his boot and he swung the shotgun into position to stop the biggest tom at about 5 yards as his buddy raced for cover.
Cael had 2 tags, so a week later, they were out again, this time northeast of McPherson. They parked on a mud road and after carefully navigating through a ravine filled with junk washers, dryers and rusting old car hulks, they again situated themselves along a cornstalk field. After a couple hours of calling and moving, the 2 hunters ended up behind a stack of irrigation pipe. While his dad sat there and called, Cael set out by himself and after another long walk, happened upon a lone gobbler munching on a pile of deer corn below him in a ravine along the river.
He tried placing the decoy on the ridge to get the gobblers attention so he could slip around beside him, a trick his brother Jared had shown him, but the wise old bird busted him and headed for a nearby stand of cottonwood trees. He watched the turkey disappear among the trees, and noticed a couple smaller saplings that had bent and grown across each other, forming a “cross” shape a couple feet above the ground. As he pondered the odd tree formation, the bright red head of the tom turkey that had just run from him suddenly appeared in the upper notch formed by the trees, much like a shooting game on the state fair midway.
Figuring it was now-or-never, he shot the turkey through the notch in the trees and again won his prize. As a side note to this adventure, when they got home they noticed the gobblers beard, a turkey hunters trophy as revered as a buck deer’s antlers was missing completely. The next day Cael’s dad and a friend searched over their lunch hour and found the missing 10 inch long beard at a place they had stopped for a rest on their way back to the truck. Evidently Cael had stood on it when hoisting the bird over his shoulder and unknowingly pulled the beard clean off the turkey. A successful father – son hunting trip, great adventures and fresh roasted wild turkey breast; what better ways to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
By ANNA KASSINGER and BARBARA McCORMACK
Freedom Forum Institute
We grab our phones and tablets and brace ourselves for the hoaxes sure to be lurking behind every tap or click.
We wish every day could be like April Fools’ Day. Why?
Think about it. We awake on April 1, grab our phones and tablets and brace ourselves for the hoaxes sure to be lurking behind every tap or click. Determined not to be duped, we look at every post, email and text with a healthy dose of skepticism. Where is the evidence? What’s the source of this alleged scoop? Is this premise believable? “They won’t fool me into sharing false news,” we think and brag about all the clickbait we outwit.
Then 24 hours later, it’s back to business as usual. We let down our guard. We stop thinking critically about the content we encounter online and in our social media feeds. We indulge in bad habits and don’t ask questions. The media literacy superhero puts away the cape until next year.
It’s no secret that news consumers have developed some bad habits. We gravitate to platforms that only share news we want to hear, share stories after only reading their headlines and get sucked into content that outrages or entertains us.
The blame isn’t entirely consumers’, though. News producers may feed into the appetite for biased content and aggregators use mysterious algorithms that boost questionable content. But given all these imperfections in the media landscape, how do we encourage good daily habits? How do we restore trust in journalism, the unofficial fourth estate working daily on our behalf?
If we can’t make every day April Fools’, then from our vantage point, the answer is media literacy education.
Media literacy education is not new, but the recent intensified interest in building up these essential skills has cast light on some holes in traditional approaches. While media literacy teaches students how to analyze, evaluate and even make their own content, it often fails to instill an understanding of why these skills are so important and why they’re necessary in the first place — every day, not just on April Fools’. Without laying this foundation — the reasons to beware and the reasons to care — it can be too easy for media literacy training to breed hardened cynicism. This type of disillusionment can widen societal divisions and amplify the very echo chamber effect that media literacy should combat.
Because of our First Amendment mission, we’ve always approached media literacy differently. We marry the analytical aspects — such as separating fact from fiction and identifying bias — with active free expression and productive social engagement. For example, consider the need to confront and counter confirmation bias, the tendency to selectively search for and consider information that confirms one’s own beliefs.
Where traditional media literacy might focus on how to find diverse information sources and assess competing claims, we broaden the approach to also look at how confirmation bias can affect the ways we express ideas and engage with pressing issues as individuals and as a society. This marriage of free expression and analytical skill is what we call First Amendment media literacy.
How do we get these vital tools and habits? How do we hone the skills all citizens need to navigate the information universe? In our work, we partner with other educators who have the skills, existing relationships and community trust, helping us deliver content that engages and resonates with everyone from students to seniors.
But educators can’t do it alone. We need the help of news producers, aggregators, technologists and everyone involved in the production and distribution of news and information. In particular, journalists can lead the charge for accurate, fair, clear reporting on issues that are important to consumers. We all can celebrate the successes of the unofficial Fourth Estate, working daily on behalf of consumers and consistently providing reliable places for trustworthy news in all communities.
Technologists can take a more proactive approach to curtailing the spread of disinformation by developing algorithms and mechanisms that prevent this type of content from seeing the light of day.
We can all support each other as we develop the stamina to maintain a healthy skepticism throughout the entire year, not just on April 1 — and that’s no joke.
Contributing to this column were Pierce McManus, NewseumED’s digital communications and outreach director, and Kirsti Kenneth, NewseumED’s curriculum developer. Anna Kassinger, NewseumED’s director of curriculum and Barbara McCormack, NewseumED’s vice president of education, can be reached for media inquiries at [email protected].
