Alley conditions in the City of Hays have continued to worsen as a result of the ongoing wet weather.
Due to damaged and impassable alleys, City crews will temporarily be performing curbside trash pickup for all residents effective Monday, until further notice. No alley collection of municipal trash or recyclables will be performed during this time.
The city asks that all residents, except those with paved alleys, move their polycart to the street side of their property, so crews can collect the refuse curbside. Recycling materials should also be placed curbside. Note that this change might alter the timing of normal scheduled collections, but the day of collection should remain the same. If at all possible, attempt to place the polycart where it is not blocked by parked cars or other fixed objects.
If you have any questions or wish to report an issue, contact the Public Works Department at (785) 628-7350.
UPDATE 2 p.m. Thursday: The Kansas Department of Transportation has reopened westbound I-70 from Hays to the Colorado border. Additionally, westbound U.S. 40 has also reopened at Sharon Springs.
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The Kansas Department of Transportation has now closed I-70 from Hays to the Colorado border. The following routes also remain closed:
U.S. 24 from Colby to Levant
U.S. 36 from Atwood to the Colorado border
U.S. 40 from Sharon Springs to the Colorado border
K-27 from Sharon Springs to the Nebraska border
K-161 from Bird City to the Nebraska border
For up-to-date information on road closures and road conditions, call 511 in Kansas or 866-511-5368 outside Kansas, or check travel information online at www.kandrive.org.
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
It’s a bit of de ja vu for Paige Lunsford this week.
Lunsford, then a junior, was a starter on the Fort Hays State University women’s basketball team in 2015 when the Tigers earned the right to host the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships for the first time in program history.
Now a graduate assistant coach for the Tiger women, Lunsford plans to tell the players to savor every single moment.
FHSU again was selected to host a regional this year. The Tigers will take a 30-1 record into Friday’s 5 p.m. quarterfinal game vs. No. 8-seeded Pittsburg State University. A complete schedule and other tournament information can be found at fhsuathletics.com.
Playing in front of a large, vocal crowd back in 2015, the Tigers made it all the way to the regional championship game. Injuries to two major backcourt players late in the season hit FHSU hard, but the Tigers still played second-seeded Emporia State University a tough game before falling by five points in the finals.
Lunsford credits part of the Tigers’ success at home – both during her playing days and now – to the huge crowd support. Fort Hays State has ranked second in the nation in attendance among NCAA Division II teams four years running.
Lunsford
“It’s so unique what we get to experience here,” said Lunsford, a Hays native and four-year starter for Hays High School. “The support we get from the community and surrounding communities is incredible.”
Starting with 2012-13, the Tigers have never lost more than one game in a season at Gross Memorial Coliseum. During that time, they have amassed a staggering home record of 107-5.
In fact, FHSU’s only home loss Lunsford’s junior year was that regional championship game. Her senior season, the Tigers won all 15 of their home games, and that mark was surpassed this year (16-0).
Having the home court advantage is not lost on the players and coaches, Lunsford said.
“The atmosphere here is hardly like this anywhere else we play,” she said. “Some places, there are more Fort Hays fans than, or at least as many as, there are for the home team.”
Lunsford doesn’t expect that to be any different this weekend, and she is looking forward to watching her players experience it.
“I didn’t realize at the time back then how special it was to get to host the regional,” she said. “When you’re in the moment, you’re busy taking care of business at hand.”
Looking back, Lunsford definitely sees the significance of that experience now and is thoroughly enjoying this year’s run.
FHSU was seeded second to Southwestern Oklahoma State University in the regional rankings heading into last week’s MIAA tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
The Tigers went 3-0 to win their first-ever MIAA tourney crown, but they still were unsure of what their final ranking would be. SWOSU also won its conference tournament. Both the Tigers and Bulldogs are 30-1, and SWOSU had entered conference tournament week with the slightest of edges over the Tigers in the regional rankings.
The national selection show was scheduled for 9 p.m. Sunday, but the top-seeded teams were to be notified by Twitter about 8.
The Tigers were on their way home from Kansas City about that time, and the team bus made a stop in Topeka for dinner. The coaches told the players to shut off their phones so they all could learn of their fate together.
“We had just gotten back on the bus about 8:10,” Lunsford said. “We coaches looked at Twitter and saw it, and told the girls. They were so excited.”
The team arrived in Hays after 11:15 p.m., and the next day, it was down to business – after a day of rest, that is.
“After five days in Kansas City, they were tired,” Lunsford said. “With this week being spring break, it gives them a chance to get some rest.”
The Tigers practiced Tuesday and will do so every day leading up to Friday, “trying to keep everything as normal as possible,” Lunsford said.
She thinks playing in the tough MIAA will help those five conference teams that were given regional berths. Playing at home also should help the Tigers, although Lunsford admitted that taking the court for that first regional game is a thrill like no other.
“I remember walking out on the court that first game (at the 2015 regionals) and seeing the amount of people in the stands and getting chills,” Lunsford said. “I was so in awe that all these people would come to watch us play. I think, growing up, every kid has a dream of playing in front of that kind of crowd someday. It was amazing.”
She thinks it will hit home for this year’s players on Friday, somewhere about 4:45 p.m.
“I think it will hit them during the starting lineup, at that moment when you have a second to look around at the crowd,” Lunsford said. “I get chills now, just thinking about it. I can hardly wait.”
The Heartland Community Foundation, which serves Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties, is accepting applications for fall grants. Online applications open March 15 are due Wednesday, May 15, 2019.
Over $150,000 is available to charitable projects in Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties through the Dane G. Hansen Community Grant Fund, with $50,000 available per county. Focused on improving quality of life, grants will support education, health care, community social services and security, conservation and environment, arts and culture, and community beautification.
Funding is limited to projects in Ellis, Rooks and Trego counties and will be awarded through a competitive application process. Non-profit organizations including government and public entities, educational institutions and churches are encouraged to apply. Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on May 15. Complete funding criteria and the grant application are available at https://heartlandcommunityfoundation.org/search-apply-for-a-grant/.
During its fall grant cycle, the community foundation awarded over $163,000 to area organizations across the three counties.
For more information, contact Sandy Jacobs, executive director, at 785-621-4090.
The Kansas Legislature has appointed a new, bipartisan Rural Revitalization Committee, with Rep. Don Hineman as its chair and Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers a strong supporter. Here is a hint for them: there is only one way to bring economic growth to rural Kansas. Bring in the workers that businesses want to hire. That means thinking differently.
Michael A. Smith is a Professor of Political Science at Emporia State University.First, here is what not to do. Do not offer tax breaks. It is a popular, but wrongheaded strategy. At the state level, the relationship between taxes and economic growth was put to the test with former Governor Brownback’s “Great Experiment” starting in 2012. The results were disastrous, with the state highway trust fund and other savings drained, schools and social services cut, and an attempt to fill the hole with regressive sales taxes, pushing Kansas’ grocery taxes up among the nation’s highest. Meanwhile, Kansas lagged the region in economic growth.
Tax cut packages do not work at the local level, either. Just ask the folks in Kansas City. In recent years, Kansas has forfeited $184 million in tax revenue to lure businesses across the state line, while Missouri has blown $120 million on the same. There is no net increase in jobs, since the businesses just move back and forth—or threaten to —in order to reap the tax breaks. Meanwhile, schools and infrastructure lose funding, and the tax burden is shifted to individuals and families. This is why the Missouri House recently passed a “truce” bill that would end this practice in the KC area, once Kansas responds with similar legislation. Come on, Kansas, do it!
Back East, New Yorkers recently told Amazon to “fugetaboutit,” withdrawing their huge tax package when they realized the staggering cost of a new headquarters. This has triggered a long-overdue, national discussion. Site-specific tax breaks are out of control.
If tax breaks will not do the trick, what will? Just ask any employer in rural Kansas. What they need are good employees. Economists call it “human capital theory.” The best way to lure businesses is to lure the workers that they wish to hire.
Start with the blue collar workforce. Among native-born Americans, the working class is getting older. For example, the average age of truck drivers is over 55. This pattern can also be found in a host of similar jobs. However, there is a growing sector of people willing, perhaps even eager, to take these jobs. They come from Mexico, Central America, Africa, south Asia, and around the world. They are immigrants, eager to live the American dream and willing to live in places that native-born young Americans may overlook. Will they be welcomed by the communities, schools, churches, and workplaces of rural Kansas, as they were at First United Methodist Church of Dodge City? Our future depends on it.
Employers also need professional workers in fields like research and development, and also management. This means college graduates, and even my students from rural Kansas agree overwhelmingly: to feel welcome, their friends who are LGBT must feel welcome, too. For them, being open and affirming has become the litmus test for tolerance. Even heterosexual young college grads use this yardstick: if their friends are welcome here, then all are welcome. Throw in a crazy-low cost of living, beautiful prairie land, good schools for the kids that may come along someday, and an easy commute back home to visit their parents, and you just might have a deal.
Rep. Hineman, forget the tax breaks. If our young blue- and white-collar workers know they are welcome here, the employers that hire them will come, too.
Michael A. Smith is a Professor of Political Science at Emporia State University.
MANHATTAN — As 2019 began, the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources initiated a statewide effort to assist water users in online filing of water use reports, in an effort to save resources and improve efficiency. As the March 1 deadline to file the 2018 annual water use reports passed, KDA–DWR found that 86 percent of all total water use reports were completed online, representing 91 percent of all water rights in the state. This greatly exceeded KDA’s expectations of 50–60 percent filed online. Last year only 27 percent of water use reports were filed online.
For the 2018 water use reporting period, KDA implemented a $20 per water right paper fee for those water right holders that reported their water use using the paper forms, while the online reporting option was free to the water users. Less than 8 percent of total water users submitted their reports in paper form this year, compared to nearly 73 percent last year.
The online water use reporting system has been in use by KDA-DWR and under continued development by the Kansas Geological Survey for the last six years. The system cuts down on staff time required to collect, enter and review data from the paper reports, allowing the division to share the data faster with other agencies and organizations. The program continues to receive useful input regarding the online filing system and will keep developing it to be more user friendly in future years.
Efforts to increase the use of the online reporting system involved instructional videos as well as meetings and individual support from KDA staff, especially at KDA field offices in Garden City, Parsons, Stafford, Stockton and Topeka. In addition, the outreach efforts were supported by several partners across the state, including the Kansas Rural Water Association, staff at KGS, Natural Resources Conservation Service offices, local irrigation companies, and groundwater management districts.
This success of the online water use reporting system will be a great benefit to the state, as it will improve efficiency in collecting and reviewing water use data. Water use data is essential for management of the state’s resources. Each owner of a water right is required by law to submit a complete and accurate water use report every year. This process ensures that the people of Kansas — and officials responsible for managing or monitoring water resources — have access to complete information about how water is used. For more information about water use reporting, contact KDA–DWR at 785-564-6640 or visit agriculture.ks.gov/WaterUse.
RUSSELL – Russell Community Theater has announced its 2019 slate of plays.
“About Time”, written by Tom Cole and directed by Bob Roe, opens the season April 30 through May 4, 2019 at the RCT Playhouse located at 5th and Kansas in Russell.
In “About Time”, an elderly married couple is found in the kitchen of their condominium at breakfast, lunch, dinner and finally for a late snack. The couple talks about everything under the sun, including food, sex, children and aging. She is slowing down some and he can’t get around like he once could, but they are both still sharp as tacks. Through the four scenes, they grapple with what it means to share – and come to the end of – a life together.
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] is written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. Mitch Eaton will direct the summer production which will be presented June 25-29 at the RCT Playhouse.
Celebrating over 30 years on the stage, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]” features all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays (SURPRISE!!) performed in just over 90 minutes (WOW!!) by three actors (NO WAY!!). Fast paced, witty and physical, it’s full of laughter for Shakespeare lover and haters alike. Join these madcap men in tights as they weave their wicked way through the Bard’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless with laughter.
The 2019 season wraps up at the RCT Playhouse October 8-12 with “Four Old Broads”, written by Leslie Kimbell and directed by Crystal Craig.
Retired burlesque queen Beatrice needs a vacation from Magnolia Place Assisted Living and a Sassy Seniors Cruise sounds perfect if she can convince her best friend, Eaddy Mae, to join her. Other residents are facing their own issues – memory loss, soap opera obsession, unrequited love – and things just haven’t been the same since Nurse Pat began working there. Mysteries unfold as the gals try to outsmart the evil Nurse Pat. If everything goes as planned, they’ll make it to the cruise ship after all.
Russell Community Theater is a non-profit theater company in Russell, Kansas.
The sole purpose of RCT is to produce theater for the community and the surrounding area. Completely volunteer-driven, RCT is supported financially solely through ticket admissions and gifts from those supportive of community theater.
Since its inception in 1986, RCT has presented 94 full-scale theatrical productions. For more information, call 785-483-4057 or find us on Facebook.
ELLIS – The 6th annual St. Mary’s Valentine’s Dance has been rescheduled for Sat. April 6, 2019, featuring Jimmy Dee and the Fabulous Destinations. The event will be held in the newly remodeled school gymnasium.
Tickets are on sale now at $25.00 each (includes dinner and dance). Attendees must be 21 & older to attend.
There is also a Valentine’s Day Raffle. Get your chance to win 2 prizes:
7” Samsung Galaxy Tablet (no need to be present)
50/50 Cash (winner needs to be present at dance)
Tickets are available for an additional price of (2) – $5.00 or (6) – $10.00.
Dinner & Dance tickets may be purchased by calling or stopping by today at St. Mary’s Parish Office, 703 Monroe St., Ellis or Divine Mercy Radio, 108 E. 12th St. #1 in Hays.
In February, Kansas Judge Michael Gibbens came under fire in national news for claiming that two girls, ages 13 and 14, acted as “aggressors” in a situation of exploitation in which a 67-year-old male, Eugene Soden, paid them to have sex. While public reaction to Gibbens ruling was appropriately harsh, the reality is that his decision is reflective of a much larger societal and legal paradox.
Countryman-Roswurm
Informing his ruling, Gibbens made multiple statements that less harm was done to the girls because he felt they had acted “voluntarily” and were paid. In speaking of the 13-year-old, Gibbens questioned:
“So, she’s uncomfortable for something that she voluntarily went to, voluntarily took her top off for, and was paid for?”
“I wonder, what kind of trauma there really was to this victim under those peculiar circumstances?”
As a society, we must ask, why did money sanitize what, in any other circumstance, would be considered child rape? And more concerning, how did the exchange of money shift the narrative so dramatically so as to characterize children as aggressors in the crime of which they were victims?
The answers lie in the paradox in which victims of child sex trafficking are legally apprehended and consequently, socially stigmatized. Twenty-five states, including Kansas, still allow commercially sexually exploited minors to be charged and prosecuted for prostitution and human trafficking offenses despite federal and state laws that recognize these same minors as victims of child sex trafficking. This paradox still exists despite an increase in awareness, and specific laws to protect children from such offenses over the last couple of decades.
Laws, and the manner in which they are applied, should reflect a community’s attitudes and beliefs.
The law in Kansas fixes the age of consent at 16 in apparent recognition that sexual contact between an adult and a minor is not consensual. Despite this long-standing law and an increased understanding of the damaging effects of sexual violence, victim-blaming toward sex trafficking survivors remains. Gibbens’ comments towards the children in this case, reflect a culture that seeks to diminish or justify the harm of buyers and abusers by placing responsibility within the victims. The reactions of citizens, in which nearly half of the comments on social media placed blame on the minors and used terms such as “delinquent,” “out of control,” “promiscuous,” “prostitute,” and “choice” illuminate the reality of this disconnect. Illustrating this further, in response to Gibbens’ ruling, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt proposed a new law that would prevent judges from reducing sentences for adult sex offenders because a child was labeled the “aggressor.” Kansas lawmakers rejected the bill.
Thus, amidst anti-trafficking awareness campaigns and fancy fundraisers, as Kansans we must ask ourselves: How do we really view individuals who have been victimized by and survived human trafficking? If we truly care, how do we shift our culture to recognize all survivors of sexual violence, including child sex trafficking, as unequivocally blameless in the conduct that constitutes their very victimization? How do we ensure that individuals victimized are afforded services, protection, and responses free of judgement and injustice, while simultaneously developing modes of accountability for offenders?
We must put an end to the paradigms, practices, and policies that allow survivors to be criminalized for surviving their victimization while perpetrators get a pass. Instead, we must believe the experiences of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and hold forth the truth of their innocence. We must protect survivors and provide access to holistic services. We must demand justice.
Dr. Karen Countryman-Roswurm is the Founding Executive Director of the Center for Combating Human Trafficking (CCHT) as well as an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Wichita State University. Grounded in her own life experiences of overcoming streets and systems, Dr. Roswurm has over two decades of personal, professional practice, and community-based research expertise in the Anti-Trafficking Movement.
Linda Smith served as state legislator and Member of Congress from Washington (1983-1998). She founded Shared Hope in 1998.
ThursdayA chance of rain and snow showers before 1pm, then a chance of rain showers between 1pm and 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Very windy, with a north northwest wind 36 to 39 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Thursday NightMostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 25. Windy, with a northwest wind 23 to 28 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph.
FridaySunny, with a high near 46. Northwest wind 11 to 14 mph.
Friday NightMostly clear, with a low around 26. North northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable.
ELLSWORTH COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. Wednesday in Ellsworth County.
I-70 semi crash Wednesday in Ellsworth County
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Kenworth semi driven by Oritz M. Rubio, 28, Chicago, IL., was eastbound on Interstate 70 one mile east of 12th Road.
The wind caught the trailer causing it to overturn and block both lanes.
A passenger in the sleeper Rosas U. Diaz, 29, Chicago, IL, were transported to the hospital in Ellsworth.
The driver was not injured and properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Northeast corner of Commerce Parkway and 27th Street (Click to enlarge)
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
In April 2018, the city of Hays purchased an 18-month irrevocable option to buy 91 acres in the northeast corner of the 27th Street and Commerce Parkway intersection at the east I-70 Exit 161. That option expires September 19 of this year.
The property, currently owned by the Cathy A. Braun Revocable Trust of Hays, has significant potential for future retail, commercial, and business park development.
City commissioners will vote Thursday on whether to exercise the purchase option after discussing it during last week’s work session.
Sandy Jacobs has supported the proposed city purchase from the beginning.
“I think we made the decision to take the option for all the right reasons. I think we still have those same reasons in front of us today,” said Jacobs. “We have an opportunity to save some money on the purchase price. Let’s get it done.”
Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil has backed off his earlier support.
“I originally was a big fan of this. I’ve seen nothing to where, in my personal opinion, it’s a gain to having this property,” Musil said. “So if we do move it one, I will be voting no.”
Another “no” vote was promised by Commissioner James Meier.
“After speaking with our retail consultant, I don’t think this is something I can support,” said Meier.
“But I think the majority here supports it.”
According to City Manager Toby Dougherty, the cost to exercise the option is the original price of $800,000, less the credited option payment of approximately $17,500 if paid the day following the regular March 14 commission meeting, and prorated taxes of $108. The total remaining purchase price would be $782,608 plus shared closing costs and title insurance.
Staff is recommending the city commission approve the purchase.
Other agenda items for the March 14 meeting include:
Holding a public hearing to hear comments regarding special assessments in the Heart of
America Second Addition and King’s Gate First Addition
Approving an ordinance assessing the cost of improvements to Heart of America Second Addition and King’s Gate First Addition as presented for water, sewer, street, and park improvements
Approving an ordinance amending the current city of Hays Code of Ordinance to include a reference to beer containing not more than 6% alcohol in accordance with changes in state law
The Eagle Radio Auction kicks off Thursday morning at 8 a.m. on radio stations 99.5 KHAZ and 103.3 KJLS.
There are thousands of items to bid on and buy, including a pop-up camper from Four Season RV Park in Enterprise Kansas, valued at over $14,000, an extra-extra-large Big Green Egg Grill valued at $3,800 from BTI, a bumper replacement from Better Built Trailers valued at $1,425 and lots of hearing aids and hearing supplies from Hearing Solutions of Hays.
You will also be able to bid on food and hotel gift certificates, and much more.
To see a complete list of items, click HERE, or you can click the radio auction link on the right side of the page!
To bid on an item, simply call 785-301-2211.
The Eagle Radio Auction, where saving money is just a phone call away!
