The United Way of Ellis County will be having their Second Annual Day of Action on July 26th and once again, the United Way is calling on our communities to help collect supplies that will benefit the partner agencies. The United Way will be accepting donations at their offices, 205 E. 7th – Suite 111.
Last year the United Way used the Pacesetter Kick-off to establish their first Day of Action. They had accepted over 700 donated office supply items for the partner agencies. This year they hope to surpass that number.
Examples of items needed are pens, staples, paper, paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenexes. For more information go to www.liveunited.us/day-action.
This year, UWEC is doing something new and different.
In conjunction with their Day of Action, they will be holding a county-wide Business Campaign Kick-off on Thursday, July 26th, 2018 at 4 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Hadley Center. If your business is interested in participating in the Business Kick-off, please call 785-628-8281 for more information and to request a campaign packet.
The backpacks are available to students K-12 who reside in and attend school in Ellis County. Children who attend the STAR classroom at Roosevelt Elementary School in Hays are also eligible.
Donations for the backpacks are still being collected.
According to project coordinator Laura Schoaff, there is an extra need for 1 subject spiral notebooks in wide or college-rule, 2-pocket folders, 4 oz. washable school glue, 3″x5″ ruled index cards, large pink erasers and shampoo.
Backpacks will be distributed Thu., Aug. 2, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Hays Armory, 200 Main Street.
For more information, contact Schoaff at 785-623-2800.
Dane G. Hansen Foundation has awarded Hays USD 489 a grant to purchase an audiometer and tympanometer.
The grant was for $8,266.
The equipment will be used by to screen students in grades pre-K through 12 in all USD 489 schools.
The current hearing instruments were purchased in 2004.
Nurses will be trained on the new equipment before the beginning of the school year by a Hays High School alumna. The grant was written by Corina Beam, USD 489 Foundation secretary, with the assistance of current and former USD 489 nurses.
The Hays USD 489 school board will receive a report Monday on projected enrollment for the 2018-19 school year.
A report in the board packet estimated total K-12 enrollment at 2,912. Kindergarten through fifth-grade enrollment is estimated at 1,409. Hays Middle School enrollment is projected at 674, and Hays High enrollment is projected to be 829 students. Hays enrollment was 3,047 students on its official count day on Sept. 20, 2017. Hays enrollment was 3,070 in 2016.
The final enrollment figures are important because they are plugged into a state formula to determine funding.
Superintendent John Thissen said Wednesday he hoped as many as half of all students will be enrolled online by the time in-person enrollment starts. That will be Aug. 1 and 2 at the Hays High School cafeteria. This is the second year for one-stop enrollment. You will be able to enroll all your children at the same time at this site. The site will also have an express pay line for those who do not wish to pay enrollment fees online.
Wilson playground
The board is also set to consider the purchase of new playground equipment for Wilson Elementary School.
Wilson has received a $5,000 grant toward the purchase of playground equipment from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. The total cost of the equipment will be about $78,000. No district funds will be used to purchase the equipment. The Wilson Home and School Association has been saving for years toward the replacement of the aging equipment and will cover the rest of the cost.
Other business, the board will
• Hear recommendations for committee appointments from board president Mandy Fox
• Vote on Kansas Association of School Boards policy recommendations
• Discuss board goals
• Hear a report from Chris Hipp, new director of special education
• Discuss the annual Lewis Field Stadium facility use agreement with Fort Hays State University
Hays has won the Sister Cities International 2018 Award for Best Overall Program for a city with a population of 10,000-25,000.
The awards competition, which is open to over 500 sister city programs nationwide, recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding individuals and community sister city programs that are promoting peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation.
In 2017, the Hays Sister City Committee welcomed residents from both its Sister Cities — Santa María de Fe, Misiones, Paraguay and Xinzheng, China — for Hays’ sesquicentennial celebration. A four-person delegation from Paraguay came to celebrate the occasion and the newly rekindled Sister Cities partnership. The committee worked with Fort Hays State University to include visiting students and faculty from Xinzheng, China in the festivities.
The impact of the visits was widely visible in the Hays community, as the city officially introduced guests at many events including a formal celebration and community barbecue.
The visit sparked many conversations with locals. Some conversations were light-hearted, and included teaching the rules of baseball at a local game, chatting about American cars at the car show, or small talk while browsing local vendors at the market and sidewalk sale.
However, there was also much more serious interaction, as people discovered common challenges between the sister cities: fostering business, stimulating growth, and retaining young people in the community after schooling.
“We all stand to learn from these superstar Sister City programs as they impact their communities across a broad range of sectors that include business entrepreneurship, youth leadership, and arts and culture,” said Roger-Mark De Souza, Sister Cities International’s President & CEO.
“These individuals and local organizations inspire us to be better citizens as their work exemplifies President Eisenhower’s vision of engaged international citizen diplomats. They create beneficial connections and lasting relationships which will help their communities today and for years to come.”
Sister Cities International Annual Awards recognize excellence in overall programming and highlight key innovations in arts and culture; business and trade; humanitarian assistance; youth and education; and professional and technical exchange categories. Award winners will be recognized during SCI’s 2018 Annual Conference Aug. 2-4 in Aurora, Colorado.
The conference will bring together hundreds of the most influential citizen diplomats and global leaders in diplomacy, foreign affairs, policy, business, and innovation to discuss, share examples, and network. This year’s theme, “Cities Leading the Way,” will focus on smart and resilient cities, leadership development, and entrepreneurship as key building blocks of President Eisenhower’s vision of creating a more peaceful world through citizen engagement and international cooperation between cities.
Founded as a Presidential Initiative by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International serves as the national membership organization for 500 member communities with over 2,000 partnerships in more than 140 countries on six continents. The sister city network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers who work tirelessly to promote the organizations’ mission of creating world peace and understanding through programs and projects focusing on arts and culture, youth and education, business and trade, and community development.
The Hays Sister Cities Committee members are Olga Detrixhe, Melissa Dixon, Ann Leiker, Dawne Leiker, Heather Musil, Brandon Nimz, Mehran Shahidi, Brittney Squire, and Corrie Zimmerman. Past committee members that played an important part in 2017 events include Max Maximov, Carol Solko-Olliff, and Helen Ang Robson.
Our 2019 budget proposes spending $2.4 million over expected income. Raising the mill levy will not fix this. It’s a matter of spending more than we take in – we need to learn to live within our means. This overspending is unsustainable.
Priority one is the Ellis County taxpayer. Many of them live from paycheck to paycheck and can’t spend $100 when they only have $50. For the past few years we have moved money from capital accounts and using it to pay for day-to-day operations, hoping that someday in the future additional tax revenues would rebound or appear. Painfully, the reality is that we as a county can no longer rob Peter to pay Paul.
It is absolutely necessary that we get control of spending in Ellis County now and not place this burden on future commissioners. Each and every county elected official and department head needs to change how they operate. I know that department heads have started working on this, but it was also made abundantly clear that this is not a popular idea with elected officials or employees. We were elected by the taxpayers of Ellis County to make hard decisions when it comes to spending and that’s what we need to do now and in the future.
We received a letter from Ellis County attorney Tom Drees which was addressed to our county administrator in which he claimed his department is $14,937 down from what he claims is necessary to adequately fund his department and imply the threat of a lawsuit with his declaration that Kansas law “requires the county to adequately fund the county attorney”. It appears Mr. Drees believes the courts should decide what constitutes “adequate funds” and not the Ellis County Commission, whose members have been elected by taxpayers to make these very decisions.
I believe this thinly veiled threat of legal action is unappreciated, unwise and in very poor taste. Particularly with a requested budget of $924,787.00 – which has risen steadily each year from his budget of 2015 at $771,416. His budget has increased 8.5% over this period and let me point out that inflation has risen less than 2% over the past few years. Comparable counties such as Barton and Ford have larger staffs and significantly lower budgets for 2018 of $702,000 and $824,000, respectively.
My vote on the 2019 budget will ultimately depend on what steps we as a commission are willing to take to bring spending in line with revenues. I look forward to the suggestions of my fellow commissioners.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
If precision agriculture is the process of placing the exact amount of crop inputs needed at the precise time and place that they are needed most, then what is precision marketing? Precision marketing would mean using technology to provide potential customers with timely information most useful to them. One rural Kansas company is on the leading edge of such technology.
During the past two weeks, we have learned about the Mertz family. Today in the conclusion of this three-part series, we’ll meet the younger generation: Abram Mertz. Abram and brother Lincoln are founders and co-owners of LivestockDirect in Manhattan, a printing and marketing company which is essentially using precision marketing to benefit its customers – seed stock cattle producers across the country. Abram and his siblings grew up on the family farm and went to high school at the nearby rural community of Wamego, population 4,372 people. Now, that’s rural.
“Since my own family sold Simmental and SimAngus bulls, I grew up reading bull sale catalogs with my dad after dinner,” Abram said. “When I was in high school, Dad asked Lincoln and me to build a website for River Creek Farms,” Abram said. “We enjoyed working on the challenge together.”
It went so well that other people asked if he and Lincoln would develop websites for them also. During this time, Abram was active in 4-H and the American Junior Simmental Association, serving as national president one year.
One day at the Riley County Fair, Abram met a fellow 4-Her named Dani Devlin. The two eventually married and graduated from K-State. They now have an 18-month-old baby, Madden, and are expecting their second child in November 2018.
Meanwhile, Abram and his brother Lincoln began working on websites for other livestock producers. Many of these customers also printed full-color sale catalogs for their bull sales. “As we heard customers talk about their printers, the need for a high quality, full-color printing option tailored to the industry was clear,” Abram said. The two brothers formed their own company which specialized in producing such products. They named the company LivestockDirect.
Today, LivestockDirect prints and mails high quality sale catalogs and also works to make sure that those catalogs are being delivered most effectively. Abram and Lincoln developed a high-tech system called MailScope which tracks catalog deliveries to customers and enables the seedstock producer to call, text, or email specific customers directly from the MailScope platform. MailScope can be accessed anytime from anywhere, including any laptop, desktop, or mobile device.
In other words, a rancher can mail catalogs, track where they are in the mailstream, know when and where they were delivered to the customer, and follow up with that customer immediately – from a cell phone, for example.
“In the past, it was a shotgun approach,” Abram said. “A rancher might mail sale catalogs to 2,000 names, talk to 100 potential customers and 50 might buy. MailScope takes the uncertainty out of the personal touch,” he said. “Knowing when your customer has received the catalog allows you to perfectly time a follow-up call or email. The platform also reduces uncertainty and stress caused by the USPS.”
In the future, LivestockDirect wants to enable seedstock producers to understand consumer preferences and respond to them in more targeted and efficient ways. “We’re a tech company,” Abram said. “We’re providing our customers online tools to market more efficiently.” In addition to high quality printing services, LivestockDirect helps businesses produce tri-fold mailers and specialty items such as caps, tumblers, mugs, knives, gloves, and much more.
Abram and Lincoln have grown their business. “In our first year, we produced catalogs for 25 breeders in Kansas and Nebraska,” Abram said. “In 2018, we’ll print catalogs for over 600 breeders in 30 states.” The catalogs go from coast to coast and North Dakota to Texas.
For more information, see www.livestockdirect.net.
If precision marketing can have efficiency benefits just like precision agriculture, then we commend Abram and Lincoln Mertz of Livestock Direct for making a difference by applying technology to seedstock sales. In rural Kansas, such innovation and entrepreneurship is precisely what is needed.
Today
A 20 percent chance of showers before 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
Tonight
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 69. East southeast wind 6 to 11 mph becoming north after midnight.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. North wind 6 to 8 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. North northeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east southeast in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 66.
Wednesday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91.
Wednesday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84.
A security notice at Hays Middle School directs visitors to ring a doorbell so someone in the school’s office can let them in.By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Hays USD 489 is completing upgrades this summer on its security systems at all district schools.
A new buzz-in system will be in place by the beginning of the school year.
When a visitor or parent comes to a school during school hours, they will have to ring a doorbell at the front entrance. This will alert staff in the office who will ask the person who they are and their business at the school. The school staff will be able to observe the front door from cameras in the office.
The person will be buzzed in and will need to check in at the office.
Although some schools in the district have already installed buzz-in systems, not all of them have.
The front doors of schools will be unlocked as normal when children are coming and letting out for the day.
“It is that press in the whole nation of trying to be as safe as you possibly can,” Superintendent John Thissen said. “You turn on the TV and see ugly things have happened even in small communities. We are just trying to be in line with the safest procedures you can do.”
Some of the district schools’ offices do not have a direct line of sight to the front doors of the buildings. One example of this is at Lincoln Elementary School.
“Unless someone is really looking at the monitor, they would have free rein of the building,” Thissen said. “At least now through the day while kids are in school, someone in the office should have accountability of everybody who walks in that building.”
Thissen said the security upgrades not only protect against a terrorist, but can protect children and staff from issues with non-custodial parents.
Thissen said the district will not be on the cutting edge, but is catching up to what other districts have been doing for years.
The estimated cost for the project will be $50,000. The USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence has slated a dinner and auction for Nov. 3. The proceeds from that auction will go toward reimbursing the district as much as possible for the buzz-in system. The foundation has set a goal of $50,000 in hopes covering the complete cost of the project.
The district has also received $57,700 from the state toward a $250,000 project to upgrade all of the interior locks in the district. The district will have to match the $57,000 with money from the general or capital outlay funds. The district had asked for $125,000. However, Thissen said he was thrilled to have received what it did with so many districts vying for limited money — $5 million.
The lock system will be standardized with master keys for administrators and more limited access for teachers. Hundreds of locks, including classroom door locks and some padlocks would be changed.
Some of the district’s buildings are so old that non-secure doors such as closets still have skeleton key locks. Other locks are worn out. The new key system requires keys that can’t be replicated at a standard key replacement station.
The district is also issuing new ID/key cards. The cards will be color-coded by building. Although the district eliminates key code access to cards when staff leave the district, the staff IDs have not been updated in years.
The district would also like to make the high school more secure by renovating its main entrance so all visitors would be funneled through the school’s office. That project won’t be finished this summer, but it could be finished before the end of the school year, Thissen said. This project would cost an additional $30,000 to $50,000. Ultimately, Thissen said having all schools with this type of entrance would be preferred.
Long term, the district would like to devote funds to upgrading security cameras, most of which are 15 to 20 years old. Some newer camera systems have the option of allowing police to have direct internet access to the camera feeds.
Thissen said, unfortunately, he believes all schools will be dealing with security issues and investments for many years to come.
Foundation dinner and auction
The Foundation is accepting donations for its silent auction, is seeking businesses sponsors and selling advertising for the auction catalog.
Sponsorships start at $250. Ads are $25 for a business card size ad, $50 for a half page and $100 for a full page.
Tickets will be $75 per person or $500 for table of eight and will go on sale Sept. 1. The Unrein Building, which is were the dinner will be conducted, holds a maximum of 500 people for this type of event. You may purchase raffle tickets at the time you purchase event tickets. You do not need to be present to win. The raffle prizes have yet to be announced.
Tickets can be purchased at the superintendent’s office at Rockwell Administration Center, 323 W. 12th, or by phone at 785-623-2400.
The dinner will be at the Unrein Building at the Ellis County Fairgrounds. Doors will open at 4 p.m. for a preview party. Elvis entertainer Frank Werth and The Vibrations will be the evening’s entertainment. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. Alcoholic beverages and snacks are included in the price of a ticket. The silent auction booths will begin closing at 6 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 7 p.m. USD 489 nutrition services will serve an evening snack of cinnamon rolls and juice at the conclusion of the live auction.
Volunteers are needed for the auction. People will be needed to set up the silent auction, as cashiers, bar tenders, runners, silent auction booth workers, raffle ticket sellers and for the cleanup crew.
“Probably the most important thing is what the auction proceeds will go to,” Sarah Wasinger, foundation board member, said. “We decided to do something that would impact all of the schools in the district.”
For more information on the dinner and auction, contact Wasinger at the superintendent’s office at 623-2400 or by email at [email protected].
RUSSELL COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 6:30p.m. Saturday in Russell County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Ford Ranger driven by Leonard L. Hejny, 66, Gorham, was northbound on 177th Street seven miles west of U.S. 281.
The pickup entered the east ditch, traveled through a KDOT fence, continued north over the eastbound lanes, landed in the median, traveled across the westbound lanes and hit a guardrail.
Hejny was transported to Wesley Medical Center. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP
GOVE COUNTY— One person was injured in an accident just before 12:30p.m. Saturday in Gove County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Jeep Liberty driven by Danielle N. Preyer, 27, Columbia, MO., was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of the Grinnell exit.
The jeep dropped off the left side of the highway into median. The driver over corrected to the right. The jeep traveled over the KDOT fence and rolled.
Preyer was transported to the Logan County Hospital. She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
RAWLINS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 4p.m. Friday in Rawlins County
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Sandra L. Antholz, 79, McDonald was trying to pin up the wings of the a Sunflower Plow Sweep two miles north and three miles east of McDonald.
Carl William Antholz, 84, McDonald, was driving a tractor and unable to see her.
The sweep struck Sandra as Carl was trying to move the tractor.
She was pronounced dead at the scene and transported Knodel Funeral Home.
EMPORIA — Drew Keller of Ellis, Kansas, is part of the cast and crew presenting “Moo Juice: The Musical” by Krista (Funky Mama) Eyler.
The show, inspired by the real-life exploits of Eyler’s own two sons, is ideal for kids and parents alike. The show is a rock n’ roll musical about a group of 5-year-olds making it through one very musical and comical day in daycare with their kind and harried teacher, Mrs. Patty. Each character in “Moo Juice” plays a role in maintaining order in what can be a very chaotic daily environment. The children must behave or their favored field trip to Happy Chippy Cheeseland will be cancelled.
Keller, a freshman theatre major, works in the scene shop.
The show is under the direction of Jim and Lindy Bartruff. Chris Lohkamp is the technical director and scene shop manager.
“Moo Juice: The Musical” runs July 25-27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre in King Hall at Emporia State University. A family matinee is scheduled for the final performance on Saturday July 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $12 (adults), $10 (seniors) and $5 (students) and are available from the Memorial Union Ticket Office. Tickets are also available online at tickets.emporia.edu or by calling 620-341-6378.
UWEC
Today
