By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Every year, Rockalooa gets a bit bigger, and this year promises to be no different as bands from across Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado will descend upon Hays on Saturday, Sept. 21, in Municipal Park for a music event like no other in the area.

“It seems that every year we do it, there are more bands coming out,”  said Matt Isley, organizer.

The event is an opportunity for bands to bring their musical talents to Hays.

“It’s a showcase that features local bands and other bands from regional hubs like Kansas City, Denver and Wichita,” Isley said. “It also features visual artists and food.

“It’s something interesting and out of the ordinary that people can enjoy in Hays,” he added.

This is the second year the event will be held outdoors after the event outgrew venues available in Hays.

“It will be 20 bands at the park and there is going to be an after show at the (Golden Q, 809 Ash), that’s going to be three bands,” Isley said.

While the event will feature several genres of music, rock will be the primary music showcased at the event.

“As the name suggests, it’s mostly rock music,” Isley said. “You’ve got indie rock, you’ve got harder rock, there are some covers in there.

“There are some other genres too,” he said. “We have some singer-songwriters, we have some folk music, there’s some hip-hop music, so it’s pretty diverse and a little bit of everything.”

After being involved in bands in the area, Isley created Rockalooa after seeing an opportunity to bring a music festival to Hays that is a draw in other cities across the state.

It also gives the bands exposure outside of the normal late-night scene at local bars and venues.

“I really feel like it’s a place for local bands have a place to be and showcase them in a light that isn’t just at the bar, on a larger platform than usual,” Isley said.

Outside of the musical acts, art vendors use Rockalooa as a way to showcase their work.

“They are showing art, they are selling art,” Isley said. “You can buy big, nice paintings or you can buy prints of the paintings. There are all kinds of things that people bring out.

“Local artist can show off a little bit and promote their thing,” he said, noting it’s not just visual artists that will be there, but jewelers and handmade bookbinders have been apart of previous events.

Some local organizations also use the event as a fundraising platform through games or sales, Isley said.

While the music will likely appeal to a young adult crowd, Rockalooa will be a family-friendly event.

“It’s all ages, and there are kids activities,” Isley said. “Kids under 10 will get in free with a parent or guardian.”

For more about the show, volunteer, or buy tickets visit rockhays.com.

Tickets are also available at local Cervs locations, the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the downtown visitors center.

 

The Kansas Department of Transportation has started work on a project to resurface a portion of U.S. 83 in Decatur County.

Crews will be performing a surface recycle and overlay on a 12-mile segment from the U.S. 36 junction in Oberlin to the Nebraska state line. Traffic is reduced to one lane through the construction zone and directed by flaggers and a pilot car during daylight hours. Minor delays not exceeding 15 minutes should be anticipated. KDOT expects work to be completed by the end of November, weather permitting.

Venture Corporation is the primary contractor for the project with a total contract cost of approximately $2.5 million.

— KDOT

NORTON COUNTY — A Norton Correctional Facility Central Unit offender, Jeremy J. Palmer, died Monday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Palmer, age 46, was transported from a Norton area job site by ambulance to the Norton County Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:37 p.m. The cause of death is pending an autopsy.

Per protocol, when an offender dies in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections, the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Palmer was serving a 97-month sentence for previous convictions in Barton, Ford and Thomas counties. In 2013, he was found guilty in Thomas County of possession of heroin and methamphetamine, with intent to distribute. In Barton and Ford counties in 2016, he was found guilty of distribution of opiates, fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, and was charged with interference of law enforcement.

The Norton Correctional Facility houses low-medium and minimum-custody male offenders, and has a population of 970.

The Ellis County Fire Department announced Tuesday that Lyle Pantle has been named the new Ellis County Assistant Director for Fire & Emergency Management.

Pantle comes to Ellis County with seven years of experience as a volunteer and full-time firefighter/EMT with the Hays Fire Department. Pantle has also spent the last 11 years with USD 489 as a para-educator and substitute teacher for the district.

Pantle and his wife, Megan, live in Hays, and they have a year-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Emersyn.

His addition to the ECFD will bring the full-time staff up to two, along with 86 paid-per-call firefighters within six companies.

“I am excited for the opportunity to work for a larger department and all the challenges and excitement that comes with it,” Pantle said.

His primary duties will be to help improve the quality of and provide more training opportunities for the ECFD firefighters. He will oversee the fleet of 20 emergency vehicles and six different fire stations. Pantle will also help with emergency preparedness and exercise activities for all of Ellis County.

Lyle will start his duties on Oct. 7.

— Ellis County

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Fort Hays State University Student Governing Association is compiling a report on Chartwells after the dining service for the university was cited for 12 priority health violations at McMindes Hall during its Aug. 28 health inspection.

Students will have an opportunity to speak about the issue during an open forum at the regular SGA meeting a 7 p.m. Thursday in the Black and Gold Room in the FHSU Student Union. SGA has also made a request online for students to contact SGA if they have concerns about dining services.

It has recently come to our attention that our on-campus meal provider, Chartwells, has earned an abundance of violations since our contract began. We are beginning to investigate, but we need your help. DM us any issues you have seen or experienced!

— FHSU SGA (@fhsusga) September 6, 2019

Student Body President Brad DeMers also said he hoped to have a representative of Chartwells at the meeting to address student concerns.

He initially said some of the health violations were “shocking.”

“We are hoping to get some stories to see what students are going through,” he said. “We are going to have a Chartwells representative come to one of our meetings to really answer some questions to see what they are doing to fix these issues and what they are going to be doing in the future to prevent.”

The issue first came to the attention of the SGA when a student expressed concern about the violations two weeks ago.

Among the violations were issues of food not being held at the correct temperatures, mishandling of food, dried food residue on utensils and containers, and issues with a hand-washing station. See the complete list here.

Chartwells had a repeat inspection on Monday, Sept. 9, in which they had four repeat violations, including food temperatures not being correct, expired food on hand and a food container not being clean and sanitized. See a complete list here.

After being informed about the latest violations Monday, DeMers said he wished to wait to comment until after the SGA meeting Thursday.

Through a Kansas Open Records Act request, SGA obtained a copies of health inspections for Chartwells for McMindes and the Union going back to 2010.

Those reports showed repeated issues with food not being held at the correct temperatures, issues with hand washing or hand-washing facilities, and issues with food surfaces not being clean and sanitized.

Going back further, there were repeated issues of cleaners not being stored properly and problems with plumbing.

Chartwells was contacted by Hays Post for this story, but an on-campus representative offered no comment.

Hays Post also contacted FHSU about the inspection and spoke with Teresa Clounch, assistant vice president of Student Affairs.

“After [Chartwells] received the report, they began to work on a food safety action plan to correct the violations. The action plan involves training and direct supervisory monitoring of food service operations on the front line,” she said.

FHSU contracts with Chartwells for dinning services. However, Clounch said she was not at liberty to release information about FHSU contract with Chartwells, including the renewal date for the contract.

Hays Post asked Clounch why FHSU continues its contract with Chartwells knowing of its repeated health violations.

“We take very seriously the importance of providing nutritious and healthy dining options for our students, faculty, staff and guests. Chartwells is our partner in providing this service, and they share in this commitment,” McMindes said in an email. “Chartwells’ charge is to hire and train a staff that they are confident in,” she said. “Chartwells has identified areas they need to address, and their senior leadership on campus is actively working to ensure they not only address the items pointed out in the most recent inspections, but that they establish and maintain only the highest quality of food service to our campus community.”

Clounch noted when a food service provider has violations, the Kansas Department of Agriculture does repeat inspections to make sure the violations have been corrected.

“As we look at these concerns that have been shared through the inspection, I and my senior leadership team we are having ongoing conversations with Chartwells that focus on providing the best service to our students and our guests in McMindes and all the other dining locations on campus,” Clounch said. “We are reviewing their operations and their progress on implementing these action plans.”

“They have shared a plan with us and with those directors in different areas. We will be working directly with the staff in those spaces that are the FHSU staff to make sure they are following the plan that has been put in place.”

Clounch did not release specifics of Chartwells’ plan to correct the health concerns. She said Chartwells has a plan to work through their latest violations on Monday, Sept. 9

“I am confident they are going to be able to implement necessary changes to their food service operations and get things in good order,” she said.

CITY OF HAYS

A preservative seal will be applied to various city streets in Hays on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 18th and 19th.

Traffic access will be maintained during construction on arterial streets; however, access may be limited at times. Residential streets may be closed for a short period of time during construction.

Door-to-door notification will be made on streets to be closed.

Questions may be directed to the Office of Project Management at 628-7350 or the contractor, Proseal, at (316) 650-9805.