The United Way of Ellis County will have its second annual Day of Action on July 26 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 its offices, 205 E. Seventh, Ste. 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 26 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.
RUSSELL — Open auditions for the Russell Community Theater production of A Bad Year for Tomatoes will be held July 31 and August 2 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Auditions will be held at the RCT Playhouse at 5th and Kansas, Russell. Prepared audition materials are not required.
In A Bad Year for Tomatoes, actress Myra Marlowe leases a house in a tiny New England town where she hopes to get away from it all. Her long time agent is finally letting her relax a bit, but her nosy neighbors are a different matter. In an attempt to gain some privacy, she invents a crazy sister who is “locked in an upstairs room”. Complications arise when the local handyman develops feelings for “Sister Sadie” and the church ladies decide it’s their duty to save Sadie’s soul. A desperate announcement from Myra ends in an accusation of murder and the arrival of the sheriff.
Roles are available for 4 adult women and 3 adult men. Production dates are Tuesday through Saturday, October 16-20, 2018. A Bad Year for Tomatoes is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. For more information, contact RCT at 785-483-4057.
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 93 full-scale theatrical productions.
John Schlageck writes for the Kansas Farm Bureau.While the 2018 wheat harvest remains fresh in the minds of Kansans, it’s worth remembering civilization has been directly linked to the cultivation of grain. When primitive man first learned he could grow wheat during the summer, store it for winter food and use the leftover wheat to plant in the spring, he realized he could settle in one place.
Villages and towns followed as man no longer needed to follow game and forage for food. Anthropologists speculate that primitive man probably first chewed the raw wheat kernel before he learned to pound it into flour and mix it with water to make porridge.
Approximately 10,000 years B.C., man first started eating a crude form of flat bread baked with flour and water. Since that early beginning, wheat has become known as the staff of life. It has remained a staple in our diets in this country and around the world.
During this year when the Kansas wheat crop will be one of the smallest on record, it seems only fitting to take a closer look at this healthy food source.
For many, our day begins with a slice or two of bread made from wheat. Some people continue to eat wheat in snacks or some other form, throughout the day. Still, most Americans rarely eat more than four or five servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta foods each day. The daily recommended intake is six to 11 servings according to U.S. dietary guidelines.
Today’s well-informed consumer continues to understand the importance of increasing the consumption of whole grains. The convenience and nutrition of wheat makes it a natural for our fast-paced society. Wheat snacks come in an endless variety bound to please nearly every pallet.
Wheat consists mainly of complex carbohydrates that provide a source of time-released energy. The nutrition community recommends 45-65 percent of our daily calories come from carbohydrates.
Nutritionists also advise eating no more than 20-35 percent of our calories from fats and approximately 10-35 percent of our calories from protein.
Wheat foods provide fiber in our diets. Fiber is the carbohydrate in food that humans cannot digest. Fiber acts as a broom and sweeps out the digestive tract.
Eating fiber regularly helps with fewer incidences of colon cancer and some types of heart diseases. Sufficient amounts of fiber in our diet have been related to better control of diabetes and an overall healthy colon, according to nutritionists.
Research also suggests eating wheat bran may help prevent breast cancer.
Wheat foods are good sources of fiber as are fruits and vegetables. The American Dietetic Association recommends eating 20-35 grams of fiber daily. Americans usually consume only about 12 grams.
Kansans use hard red winter wheat in yeast breads and hard rolls. This state also produces the best flours in the world.
Look for ways to serve wheat products with every meal. This may not only improve your health and that of your family, but the economy of Kansas – the Wheat State.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
For you folks who grind your teeth when that little circular arrow is spinning on your computer, or who see the screen on your computer go blank during that Netflix movie, well, help eventually may be on the way.
That help? The Statewide Broadband Expansion Planning Task Force, which is the Legislature’s start on making sure that from border to border there is fast, reliable and affordable broadband Internet access.
And for you folks who by now try to remember where you put your walker before heading out to pick up the newspaper on the driveway, this is a whole new level of “universal access.” The old version? That was when the state’s effort was to make sure that everyone in Kansas had access to a black dial telephone back when phone poles were sparse in areas where cattle outnumbered Kansans and where there were more combines than lawn mowers.
The effort: To first map out the areas of the state where access to fast Internet service is important to Kansans, to businesses and industries and to governments and organizations. That’s going to be tricky, because nobody doesn’t want the fastest Internet available, whether it’s for watching movies, sending e-mails, the kids doing school work at home or competing for contracts for intellectual services.
It’s different than the old days when a paved road was a major boost for economic development, isn’t it?
The issue has turned out to be not just a rural issue where cell towers and cable services are sparse and a hill or a grain elevator can hamper that fast Internet service. There are blocks in major Kansas cities where the skies are obstructed by cable wires and a forest of antennae atop buildings, there are down times when that service isn’t available or your computer or phone can’t get online.
Figuring out where that Internet over wire or through the airwaves is substandard or not dependable is going to be tough. For rural areas, it’s going to require cooperation among providers and some cost sharing between state and federal governments and the providers of Internet access to get that signal everywhere—at a profit.
Because, now that we’ve all got phones, broadband Internet access is joining water, electricity and mail as basic services that Kansans are demanding.
At some point, it’s probably a good thing that the Legislature has decided to jump into the complicated issue of getting that broadband to everywhere in the state, and to some point, it’s going to be interesting to see where the priorities are on that service.
Spend money, or maybe impose a tax on Internet service so that the high-demand areas help finance the rural areas? That’s what happened with telephone service, as your phone bill tells you.
Does that access become a right, like access to public schools, which by the way want more broadband access so that students can study from home and the schools can provide study materials from around the world, not just the occasional e-mail or those textbooks, which once printed aren’t updated?
It’s going to be interesting to watch and important for the state…
But…those little circular arrows are spinning on the task force, because its members haven’t all been designated by legislative leaders, and there’s not a list yet of the non-legislative members who are supposed to figure this broadband business out for us.
Yes, there is this election coming up, and in some rural areas of the state there are candidates talking about bringing high-speed broadband to every acre of Kansas.
But for now, that little arrow is still spinning…
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
Each month of the 2018 season, Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and its member-owners will give away a pair of tickets to see a Kansas City Royals home game! Enter below and be sure to come back and enter each month for your chance to win!
Bethesda Place and the Downtown Hays Market have partnered to create a 4-mile fun run like no other on Saturday, July 28.
The Market to Farm Run is the only run that feeds you a campfire fresh breakfast as soon as you cross the finish line.
The delicious post-run menu includes campfire scrambled farm fresh egg burritos, zucchini tomato tarts, cherry danishes and pumpkin apple coffee cake with plenty of coffee and ice water to go around.
All of this, as well as a free race shirt is included with registration. Registration is 6:30 to 7:15 a.m. The run/walk starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Downtown Pavilion.
Race, walk or stroll 4 miles from the home of the Downtown Hays Market, the downtown pavilion, to the Bethesda Place Farm. Although this route is not all blacktop, bikers, strollers, walkers and runners will have no problem reaching the end.
Registration is just $25 up until the event. On the day of the run, the fee increases to $30. Online registration is available at downtownhays.com or swing by the Downtown Hays Visitors Center at 106 W. 12th St. to register in person. All proceeds from the fun run will benefit Bethesda Place and the Downtown Hays Market.
To recognize this partnership, Kacey Dannels, Joseph Reed and Noalee Augustine from the Kansas Special Olympic team will kick off the day. Dannels and Reed recently competed at the Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle. Augustine was selected as a coach for the Kansas team that traveled to compete.
Event participants will have the opportunity to explore the farm and to cool off in the pool before returning to town. Shuttles will be available to take the participants back at 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Before heading home, make sure to enjoy the annual sidewalk sale, Bazaar on the Bricks from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sales span Main Street from Eighth to 12th Street.
Over 60 vendors are already signed up. Thousands hit the Bricks for the biggest bargains of the year from our Downtown merchants as well as their favorite Downtown Hays Market vendors. New this year, made possible by Aikido of NW Kansas and A2Z Escape, there will be a free ninja obstacle course and kids crafts under the Pavilion. Since activities are under the Pavilion, farmer’s market vendors will be on Main Street.
It is not too late to sign up to be a vendor for Bazaar on the Bricks. You can sign up on the DHDC website, calling the DHDC office or stop in. Vendor cost is $75. There is no cost for nonprofits.
There will also be carnival games, face painting and street fair food. For a full list of vendors and activities, visit www.DowntownHays.com. For more information, contact Downtown Hays Development Corp. at 785-621-4171 or [email protected].
Today Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 7am and 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southeast wind 6 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. East southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
Wednesday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 91. South southeast wind 7 to 9 mph.
Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 68. East wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 98.
Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Owens has a previous conviction for Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer in Thomas County, according to the Kansas Dept. of CorrectionsANADARKO, Okla. (AP) — A Kansas man wanted in connection to a Texas slaying has been found dead in Oklahoma.
Authorities say the body of 37-year-old Jeremy Judd Owens of Oakley was found Saturday in a parking lot in Anadarko, about 60 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
Owens was a suspect in the Friday shooting death of 61-year-old William Schoolcraft. The Texas Department of Public Safety says Schoolcraft was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in a cemetery in Crowell, Texas, about 170 miles southeast of Amarillo.
Anadarko police found Owens’ body in a car about 8:10 p.m. Saturday. Texas officials say it appeared that Owens shot himself and left a letter in which he acknowledged shooting Schoolcraft to death.
Crude prices dropped nearly four percent Monday, with the US benchmark falling below $69 a barrel. Monday’s price for Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson was down three dollars to $58.25 per barrel.
Kansas operators filed 158 new drilling permits in June, 95 east of Wichita and 63 in the western have of the state, with one in Barton County, three in Ellis County, one in Russell County and two in Stafford County. For the first six months of the year we’ve seen 820 new permits filed, which is slightly better than last year’s mid-year total of 718, and nearly double the six-month total of 432 in June of 2016..
Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 112 new well completions for the month of June, 40 in eastern Kansas and 72 west of Wichita, including four in Barton County, five in Ellis County and two in Stafford County. During the first half of this year, Kansas operators completed 735 oil and gas wells. Last year at the end of June we reported 661 completions, and the mid-year total the year before was 635.
Independent Oil & Gas reported 25 newly-completed wells across Kansas for the week, 816 so far this year, with eight new completions east of Wichita, and 17 in the western half of the state. There were two completions reported in Barton County and one in Ellis County.
Operators filed 31 new permits for drilling at new locations across the state last week, 15 in eastern Kansas and 16 west of Wichita, bringing the total to 885 new permits so far this year. There are three new permits in Barton County, one in Ellis County and two in Russell County.
Kansas rig count totals are nearly 20% higher than a month ago and nearly 30% higher than last year at this time. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 20 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, down one, and 29 west of Wichita, which is unchanged. Operators report drilling underway at one lease in Stafford County, and drilling about to commence at two sites in Stafford County and one in Barton County. They’re moving in completion tools to four wells in Barton County and six in Ellis County. Baker Hughes reported 1,054 active rigs nationwide, up two gas rigs, and Canada checks in with 197 active drilling rigs, up 15.
OPEC now forecasts global oil demand will top 100 million barrels per day for the first time next year, but also warned of possible market disruptions due to trade tensions. Saudi Arabia’s oil production jumped by nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, as that country and others try to rein in prices. Output from OPEC was up 173,000 bpd.
Libyan oil production returns to normal levels after the suspension of oil loading at four ports was lifted. The national oil company said Wednesday rebel blockades had cut down daily production to about 80 percent of the country’s pre-conflict production, and cost the company about $67 million per day.
Oil & Gas lease sales in New Mexico set another monthly record in June, and the total for the fiscal year is nearly five million dollars higher than the previous record. That money goes to the Land Maintenance Fund and benefits education and water resource managers in New Mexico. The June sale by the State Land Office set a record of $4.9 million in lease sales in June. The total for fiscal 2018 was $106.9 million. State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn says they actually sold fewer acres for more money, at about $1,057 an acre.
A county in northern North Dakota is preparing to use produced water from the oil field to help control dust on some gravel roads. Radio station KFGO in Fargo reports commissioners in Ward County, North Dakota approved a request for a brine storage tank and distribution equipment. Authorities say the produced water contains magnesium and calcium chlorides, which are commonly used in road-dust control, and they insist that it’s safe when used appropriately.
HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
HaysMed earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“HaysMed is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Erin Hemphill, Hospitalist and Medical Director of the Stroke Program at HaysMed. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
HaysMed additionally received the association’s StrokeSM Elite Plus) award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize HaysMed for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
ELLIS – Ellis city council members plan to rethink the days fireworks are allowed to be discharged in town. Currently, the city of Ellis allows fireworks July 3-5 from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.
The city of Hays allows the sale and discharge of fireworks July 2-4 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Ellis County Commission allowed the same hours and days for fireworks use this year in unincorporated areas of the county.
Other agenda items for tonight’s meeting include opening of bids for a city land lease.
The complete agenda follows.
AGENDA
July 16, 2018
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)
CONSENT AGENDA
Minutes from Regular Meeting on July 2, 2018
Bills Ordinance #2049
(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.)
PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
SPECIAL ORDER
Opening of Bids for City Land Lease
Fire Department Monthly Report – Chief Dustin Vine
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
Consider Approval of Application for License to Sell Cereal Malt Beverages – Ellis Volunteer Fire Department
Consider Approval of Noise Permit Application and Event Request for Traffic Control – Ellis Jr Free Fair
Online Enrollment for USD 489 has opened as of today. Below you’ll find steps for completing enrollment forms and paying the enrollment fees. There’s also information about when you can come in person to meet your enrollment needs. There are two steps for enrolling your student/students at USD 489. The first step is to complete the online forms that are accessible through your PowerSchool Parent Account. Once you are logged in you will click on Ecollect Forms in the menu along the left side of the screen. This will take you to a list of forms that are required for enrollment. You can fill these out at your convenience before Aug. 1 or you can come to Hays High on Aug. 1 or 2 during our Central Enrollment and use district devices to fill out the forms. Instructions on how to progress through the forms are attached to this email as well as on the USD 489 website, www.usd489.com
The second step is to pay the enrollment fees. This can be done online through our district store (3.61 % convenience fee is applied) or you are can go to the Central Enrollment at Hays High School on Aug. 1 and 2 to pay by either cash or check. The district online store is accessible at https://hays.revtrak.net or on the USD 489 website link above. Instructions on how to maneuver through the online store are attached as well as available on the USD 489 website. If you choose to fill out the forms online and pay by cash or check at the Central Enrollment, there is a Speedy Checkout line that will get you in and out quick. USD 489 Central Enrollment will be from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Hays High School cafeteria. At Central Enrollment, you can speak with any of the building administrators, get building-specific information, speak with our Nutrition Department, our Special Education Department, and many other services as well as community information. If you have any questions, contact the Rockwell Administration Center, 785-623-2400, or your student’s school. Hays High School 785-623-2600 Hays Middle School 785-623-2450 Lincoln Elementary 785-623-2500 O’Loughlin Elementary 785-623-2510 Roosevelt Elementary 785-623-2520 Wilson Elementary 785-623-2550 If you have problems going through the enrollment steps, you may contact Amy Arnhold at [email protected] for assistance.
Please also note any families with new students or incoming kindergarten students should attend central enrollment in person on Aug. 1 or 2. Information regarding enrollment and the 2018-2019 school year can be found at https://www.usd489.com/?p=5559.
