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Hays High’s ‘Anything Goes’ casts off Thursday
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays High cast of “Anything Goes” is sure to tap and croon their ways into your heart this week.
Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Twelfth Street Auditorium.
“Anything Goes” is a 1934 musical that features notable tunes such as “Anything Goes,” “You’re the Top” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The musical is a romantic comedy that takes place aboard a vessel en route to London from New York.
“I chose this musical for a handful of reasons. First of all, I think it fits our students incredibly well. There are lots of roles for many students to have opportunities, which I really like,” Alex Underwood, director, said. “Beyond that, I think it is important for students to get to explore cultures, time periods, and utilize skills that are different from their own. In this case, they get to study 1934 New York and learn some pretty significant tap dancing.
“Finally, it’s just a lot of fun. The music is charming, and the comedic bits are hysterical. It’s a wonderful way to spend a few hours.”
The principle roles in this show are Reno Sweeney, an evangelist-turned-night club singer whose brassy personality drives the plot, Underwood said. That role is double cast — played by Shirley Lee and Caitlin Leiker.
Billy Crocker is the leading man in this production, played by Gabe McGuire. Finally, Moonface Martin is a second-rate gangster disguised as a minister who drives quite a bit of the mayhem and fun in the show. Moonface is played by Kai Kaufman.
The show features a slew of dancers — Reno’s four angels and a quartet of dancing sailors. Beyond that, there are tons of other bit parts that are quite hilarious, Underwood said.
The challenges with this show revolved around the difficult production numbers — particularly the tap dancing, Underwood said.
“We hired a choreographer from New York to teach the students, and we’ve spent hours and hours working on it. Once it’s all said and done, it looks incredible!” he said. “I’m so proud of them for pulling off super tricky choreography. And we didn’t cut the dance breaks even one measure — it’s the full Broadway orchestration.”
Underwood said he has been proud of the work the students have put in thus far.
“I think these students bring some amazing skill as well as heart and commitment,” he said. “So many of them are fiercely dedicated to the success of this production and have been working tirelessly for months in preparation. It’s inspiring to watch, honestly.”
Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketsource.us/hays-high-school, at the box office at Twelfth Street Auditorium between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. this week, or at the door. They are $10.
Cast list
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Henry T. Dobson (Carson Brooksher) advises his converts , Luc and Jean (Alexis White and Matthew Bollig). Reno Sweeney – Shirley Lee (Nov. 14 and 16) and Caitlin Leiker (Nov. 15 and 17)
- Hope Harcourt – Alisara Arial
- Evangeline Harcourt – Katelyn Engel
- Lord Evelyn Oakleigh – Tom Drabkin
- Elisha Whitney – Andrew Duke
- Billy Crocker – Gabe McGuire
- Moonface Martin – Kai Kaufman
- Erma – Hanna Dannar
- Luc – Alexis White
- Jean – Matthew Bollig
- Captain – Ashley Vilaysing
- Purser – Sierra Adkins
- Reno’s Angels
- Purity – Anna Brull
- Chastity – Marie-lyn Castaing
- Charity – Jessica Leiker
- Virtue – Savanna Lawson
- Dancing Sailors – Nathan Leiker, Alex Flavin, Sydney Wittkorn, Stanna Flinn
- Singing Sailors – Seth Tripp, Alex Johnson, Nathan Leiker, Quinton McGuire
- Fred – Eliana Buller
- Henry T. Dobson – Carson Brooksher
- Newspaper Photographer – Zach Chance
- Reporter – Tegan Hartman
- FBI Agent 1 – Samantha Vesper
- FBI Agent 2 – Jocelyn Rigler
- Old Lady in a Wheelchair – Eliana Buller
Passengers
- Elizabeth Dickman
- Michaela Dickman
- Devlyn Jochum
- Emry Lundy
- Macy Meyers
- Spenser Mills
- Summer Schneider
- Gracie Wente
Sailors
- Aidan Gregory
- Gabe Nichols
- Da’Vontai Robinson
Orchestra
- Conductor—Alex Underwood
- Violin—Douglas Drabkin
- Bass—Cami Moore
- Reed 1 — Matthew Rome
- Reed 2 — Kristin Pisano
- Reed 3 – Dawson Whalen
- Reed 4 – Patric Norhtrop
- Trumpet 1 — Brad Dawson
- Trumpet 2 — Gavin Blehm
- Trombone 1 — Jennifer Shinska
- French Horn — Renetta Dawson
- Trombone 3 – Peter Lillpopp
- Piano — Alexis Robinson
- Percussion 1 — Spencer Wittkorn
- Percussion 2 — Emma Tschanz
- Percussion 3 — Hanna Eikenberry
Production Staff
- Stage & Musical Direction — Alex Underwood
- Rehearsal Pianist and Production Assistant — Alexis Robinson
- Technical Direction — Jeremy Wann, Jeff Bitikofer
- Choreography — Adrian Rifat
- Director’s Assistant — Elijah Zimmerman
- Stage Management — Mazzy Sacia
- Assistant Stage Management — Alicia Feyerherm and Zoe Buffington
- Light Board Operation — Marshall Meier
- Set Construction — Brad Moritz (lead), Lisa Brooksher
- Set Painting — Yvette Moritz (lead), Lisa Brooksher, Jessica McGuire
- Properties — Jessica McGuire (lead), Lisa Brooksher, Cathy Drabkin, Jeff Flavin, Adonia Gould, Jennifer Leiker
- Costumes — Emily Buller (lead), Sabrina Adkins, Mary Vilaysing, Shauna Chance, Lisa Brooksher, Dara Jochum, Lynette Danner, Jasmine Arial, Kiera Vilaysing
- Box Office — Jenni Leiker (lead), Randy Adkins, Sandra Meyers, Jolene Kaufman, Amy Flavin, Laurie Dickman
- Development — Jenni Wittkorn, Josephine Squires
- Hair — Stanna Flinn (lead), Heather Stringer, Jessica McGuire, Valerie Wente
- Make-up —Tegan Hartman (lead), Carl Denny, Sabrina Adkins, Lisa Brooksher
- Lobby Display — Jodie Leiker (lead), Jeff Flavin, Lisa Brooksher
- Spots — Zoey Urban, Liam Buller
- Headshots — Caitlin Leiker
🎥 Hays, Colby incidents highlight difficulty of catching ‘interstate bandits’
By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
A group of thieves made off with thousands of dollars after a theft at a Hays business last month.
The incident was captured on video by Sue McRae Bickle, owner of Northglen Antiques, 2010 Vine, but even with video evidence, the crime highlights the difficulty in investigating crimes that occur as people get off and quickly back on the interstate.
On the video, three people are captured traveling throughout the store, looking at various items in the early afternoon of Oct. 6.
Shortly after two females enter the store together, one steps behind the counter located near the entrance and looks around before they began walking around the store.
Another man walks in seconds later, looking at the security cameras and texting on his phone while walking around.
At one point while the three people were in the location, a clutch was stolen from a cabinet in the store’s office where there were no cameras.
Cash totaling $1,172 was taken along with two credit cards for the business and Bickle’s personal bank card.
Those cards would be used to make over $5,000 in purchases at Walgreens, Walmart, Home Depot and Dillons in Hays within two hours of the three people leaving the store.
Those purchases were all completed within an hour and were likely used to purchase gift cards, she said, as several of the purchases are for the same amount.
And while in her shop, one of the three people in the video made a purchase with a Visa gift card.
On Oct. 26, the clutch was returned after being found in the bushes of a Hays hotel near I-70 and returned to Bickle, with something extra inside.
In the checkbook, she found two credit cards from a person in Colby.
Colby Police Chief Ron Alexander said those cards were taken during a vehicle burglary reported on Oct. 6, the same day as the theft at Northglen.
“The cards were apparently used in Hays at the Walmart from our theft,” he said, they had also attempted to use the cards in the Walmart in Colby early in the day.
After looking at video from Hays, Alexander said the possible suspects appear to match those from the theft in Colby.
“I imagine this is tied into it,” he said.
The purse stolen in Colby was found two weeks later by KDOT employees near I-70 mile marker 65.
“This is two cases this month where somebody has come from the west and committed a crime and continued on east,” Alexander said. “We think they were likely just passing on down the road and, unless you get them caught with this stuff in hand, it’s hard.”
“We wish you could absolutely solve every crime, but just because you have someone on camera, it’s not always the case,” he said.
Meanwhile, the video and pictures have been pushed out across the state.
“We shared (the video) with local law enforcement and the Kansas Intelligence Association,” said Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler. “It is still an open investigation.”
But cases like these are hard to investigate locally, he said, as the perpetrators are often only in town for a short time.
In this case, Bickle said in around 12 minutes the suspects had the cards from her business, within a couple of hours they had made off with thousands of dollars.
“We definitely feel they came off the interstate and got back on the interstate and are gone,” Scheibler said.
By the time patrol officers had submitted the evidence to a detective, they were likely already out of the area, he said.
“We do tend to have good luck releasing videos and photographs, especially if they are local, but if they are just passing through, pulled off and committed a couple of crimes and got back on the interstate, we are going to struggle,” Scheibler said.
Bickle said shop owners and managers should report suspicious activity, especially when large amounts of gift cards are purchased or crimes like this will continue to occur in Hays, but credit card policies add another layer of difficulty as it is against Visa and Mastercard policy to require identification to make a sale — meaning even a suspicious clerk has little recourse if theft is suspected.
“We have been a vocal advocate for stricter regulations surrounding requiring IDs on credit card purchases,” said Tara Aston, senior manager of national media relations at Walmart. “We are not allowed to require that.”
In Bickle’s case, and the case from later in the month, a vehicle was captured on video that was shared by Walmart, but without a clear license plate number, they are also hard to track.
“Car license plates are major for catching these people,” Bickle said. “The police said my thieves covered their license plates while they were in Walmart and the cameras couldn’t get it.”
The Post Podcast: HACC announces new board members
🎥 Veterans Day Ceremony 2019
🎥 Veterans Day Ceremony 2019
Eagle Communications presents the 2019 Veterans Day ceremony from the VFW in Hays.
Temperature dips below zero across NW Kan.; record lows in Hays, Russell
The National Weather Service in Goodland reported today at least five monitoring stations recorded temperatures below zero Tuesday morning.
Colby and Norton each dipped to 3 degrees below, and stations in Russell Springs, northeast of Goodland and Oberlin all saw lows below zero.
The K-State Ag Research Center also reported a new overnight record low for Hays, with a low of 1 degree recorded. Russell also dropped to a record low of 3 degrees overnight.
After a bitter cold snap, the mercury is expected to rise through the rest of the week, with a high of 45 predicted Tuesday. By the weekend, the NWS in Dodge City is expecting temperatures in the Hays area to reach into the low- to mid-60s.
Click HERE for the complete extended forecast.
Kan. college students can ace tests, but they need help ‘adulting’
By STEPHAN BISAHA
Kansas News Service
MANHATTAN — Millennials get blamed for killing off sports, drinks and entire industries. Those millennials — and their Gen Z successors — have also given rise to a new word: adulting.
Aging folks from the baby boom or Generation X enjoy ridiculing today’s college students when those younger people can’t change a tire or wash their clothes without turning to Mom or Dad.
But educators say students privileged enough to go to college and who somehow avoided learning when to change their oil also grew up under a mountain of academic pressure. All that drilling for college entrance exams and robust GPAs left them book-smart — and less life-savvy.
So Kansas State University and other colleges have turned to adulting workshops. The noncredit classes aim to teach students the practical skills that don’t come up in ordinary classrooms.
Mental health advocates hope the workshops can also temper the stress caused by academic pressure and a lack of knowhow about living beyond the reach of hovering parents.
Curbing home economics
Adulting lessons used to go by another well-known name: home economics. Those classes taught cooking, sewing, budgeting and other practical skills.
But long before adulting classes took over, home economics got rebranded. To shred the house-wife-in-training sensibility, many of the classes were relabeled as “family and consumer science” in the 1990s.
Their popularity declined anyway. In 2012, fewer than 3.5 million students were taking FCS classes, a 38% drop over a decade. FCS teachers are in short supply.
And two decades of shifting education policies — starting with the No Child Left Behind Act — have caused schools to focus on a narrow set of often-tested subjects.
“It’s not considered to be a core area, and so it’s easier to say, ‘maybe we don’t need this,’” said Duane Whitbeck, the chair of Family and Consumer Sciences at Pittsburg State University.
That emphasis on a limited number of subjects and the pressure to perform well in them has left today’s college students feeling unready for challenges not found on a Scantron test.
“I feel like I was ill-prepared for life in general,” said Ashley Fox, a K-State student.
Enter adulting
Some colleges want to fill in those missing life skills with free, noncredit workshops they often call “Adulting 101.”
Wichita State University offered one on budgeting. The University of Nebraska-Kearney’s version touches on tax preparation. A University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill workshop focuses on building credit.
K-State offers a series of workshops. The school’s lessons include car maintenance, food safety and conflict resolution for dealing with that roommate who expects you to do all the toilet scrubbing.
Students working with the university’s health center organized the workshops. They were interested because they felt they had few other opportunities to pick up these skills.
“We don’t have classes on how to change a tire at school,” said Frankie Skinner, a student at K-State who helped create the adulting workshops. “We lack knowledge of just basic adulting.”
Adulting 101: more than Home Economics 2.0
Educators hope even a lesson on oil changes does more than teach students about car maintenance. They’re trying to build sturdier adults in the context of what they describe as a mental health crisis.
Mental health treatment for college students went from 19% to 34% between 2007 and 2017. Students and educators point to an unprecedented amount of academic expectations leaving students exhausted and stressed.
“In high school, I felt really pressured to take a lot of college classes to succeed because there was a huge race for valedictorian and being top of the class,” said K-State student Anna Traynham. “No matter how high your GPA was … everybody was still stressed. … You had to be perfect all the time.”
While academic pressure is believed to play a big part in stressing out students, evidence suggests it’s not just high-achieving students feeling the anxiety.
Mental health advocates believe adulting classes can help in two ways: The first is simply preparing already-overwhelmed students to deal with life’s pitfalls. A flat tire is less stressful when you know where to find the tire iron.
“These basic problem-solving life skills are being brushed under the rug,” said Megan Katt, a health educator at K-State. “Instead, we’re just drilling all this academic work into their head.”
The second idea deals with another word that’s become popular on campus — resilience.
That ability to bounce back from challenges can mean the difference between working through a stressful event and spiraling into a breakdown.
And educators believe today’s students are less resilient than previous generations.
“When we’re not given the tools to solve problems, we are not able to be resilient,” said Megan Katt, who helped create the K-state’s adulting workshops.
Mental health advocates say there are merits to both adulting and workshops specifically aimed at building resiliency.
But Laura Horne, chief program officer at the mental advocacy organization Active Minds, warns that these are just short-term solutions. Addressing the college mental health crisis takes changing the culture of campus so that more staff and students feel comfortable talking about mental health issues.
“It’s a long game,” Horne said. “This is really difficult work to do, but it is … worth doing.”
Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha or email him at [email protected]. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
‘Surviving to Thriving’: Women in ag invited to special workshop
Women involved in agriculture are invited to “Surviving to Thriving: Care for Yourself to Care for the Farm – Women in Ag Workshop,” scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9., at the Agricultural Research Center in Hays, 1232 240th Ave.
Registration and supper begins at 5:30 p.m. and the program will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Will Stutterheim with Fort Hays State University’s Kelly Center will talk about his experiences with the farm crisis and mental health. Kaley Conner with High Plains Mental Health will give some tips on nurturing your mental health, and Berny Unruh with Cottonwood Extension will discuss healthy eating for the busy farm family. Meagan Cramer with Kansas Farm Bureau will finish out the evening sharing some organizational tips on bullet journaling: organizing your brain.
RSVP by Dec. 4 to the Ellis County Conservation District at (785) 628-3081, Ext. 3. A $5 fee for the meal can be payable in advance to the Conservation District at 2715 Canterbury, or at the event. If you do not RSVP, a meal cannot be guaranteed.
This workshop is sponsored by Ellis County Farm Bureau, Ellis County Conservation District, Farm Service Agency, High Plains Mental Health, Cottonwood Extension and NRCS.
NW Kansas man hospitalized after semi overturns
SHERMAN COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 5 p.m. Monday in Sherman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Freightliner semi driven by Craig K. Busse, 38, Bird City, was northbound on County Road 28 one mile east and 13 miles north of Edson.
The driver lost control of the semi as he was attempting to maneuver a curve to the right and overturned. EMS transported Busse to the hospital in Goodland. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
HAWVER: Money count is in, now the fight starts for Kan. lawmakers
Well, we gotta wonder, besides getting that prom date you hoped for, what is better than having $510 million more to spend in the upcoming legislative session than you thought you’d have when you left Topeka last summer?
Hmmm…not sure…
The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, as we predicted last week, boosted the state revenue estimate. And now that the state’s budget experts and three university economists have released their estimate—it is $510 million in increased tax revenues for the remainder of this fiscal year and next—we’ll see how good this gets.
Already, we know that about $65 million of that new, or, rather, predicted new money is already spent even before the Legislature convenes. That’s the estimate of how much more the state is going to have to spend this year and next on social services for the state’s poor to provide the services that they get now. That estimate just came in a day before the revenue estimate. Think welfare, foster care, and health care for the state’s poor. Not flashy, not anything that’s going to be a big campaign issue, but a necessary state expenditure from that $510 million.
So, we’re at about $445 million in new spendable cash for the governor and legislators to scrap over.
The unsexy way to use that money? Rebuild the staffing shortages in state agencies that provide Kansans services. Pump more into K-12 education and produce a more valuable workforce for the state. Keep some balance in the State General Fund in case something unexpected happens.
But will that happen? That’s where the fight starts.
Remember, last year Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a massive tax-cut bill the Legislature sent her that would have fit into that $445 million with a little room to stretch. Remember? Of course, we didn’t know how much money would be available when she vetoed the bill. Republican legislative leaders essentially said don’t worry, it’ll work out. Well, it did, but we just didn’t know that last year.
So, this upcoming session?
There are several balls in the air. Kelly wants stable finances while she’s in the driver’s seat. Who wants to be captain of a sinking ship—especially because in just three years, she may want to be re-elected?
For the Legislature? That’s where it gets interesting.
Republicans in both chambers basically want sizable tax cuts to help them get re-elected and have lobbyists buy them drinks and meals for the next two years (House) and four years (Senate). They’ll leave it to Kelly to figure out how to keep the state running in the years leading to her re-election.
Besides the tax cuts/fiscal stabilization scrap, it’s also a chance to load up a tax-cut bill that Kelly might feel she has to veto. Who, even Democrats, wants to vote to sustain a veto of a tax-cut bill in an election year?
Oh, and that GOP tax-cut bill can be made very attractive to Democrats. Think a two percent cut in the sales tax on food. Biggest cut ever considered on a Democrat- and maybe even some Republican-hated tax that the state can, with its new revenue estimate, probably afford.
See the squeeze here? It’s Republicans finding a lever that puts an election-year veto-proof vest on big tax cuts. It might force Democrats to hold their noses and vote for de-coupling of state income tax deductions from the federal standard deduction, worth about $60 million to the more prosperous and likely Republican Kansas income tax filers.
The Consensus Revenue Estimate has handed Republicans a political baseball bat. Had the estimate shown no increase in revenues, or just a small increase, the upcoming legislative session would be dull.
It’s starting to sound like a prom date now, isn’t it…?
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
CFLE receives donation from Lifetime Dental Care patients
During the month of September and through Oct. 17, Lifetime Dental Care, Hays, educated patients on oral systemic health in celebration of National Dental Hygiene Month and Oral Systemic Health Month.
The office chose three local organizations for patients to choose where $5 of their hygiene visit cost would be donated.
The Center for Life Experience was one of the selected organizations.
“We were inspired by the many groups that benefit from the Center and some of those are even impacted by oral systemic health such as cancer, stroke and Alzheimer’s,” Lifetime Dental Care staff said in a press release.
— SUBMITTED
Three-day weather outlook
Fill Up, Give Back kicked off Nov. 1 in Phillipsburg
PHILLIPSBURG — Fill Up, Give Back kicked off Nov. 1 and lasts through the end of the year. For every gallon of E15, E20, E30 and E85 sold at USA Clean Fuels in Phillipsburg, 3 cents per gallon will be donated to the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office.
USA Clean Fuels has partnered with the sheriff’s office to promote the benefits of using higher blends of ethanol, while allowing the public to actively give back to our local law enforcement.
The mission of the Philips County Sheriff’s Office is to enhance the quality of life in Phillips County by working cooperatively with the public and within the framework of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear and provide for a safe environment.
“We drive more miles {using higher blends} than most people in Phillips County, we’re proud to help promote the benefits of ethanol at USA Clean Fuels,” said Sheriff Charles Radabaugh,
“E15 is EPA approved for vehicles 2001 and newer – about nine out of 10 vehicles on the road today. Multiple studies have shown mid-level blends, E20-E30, to be the most economical, high octane fuel choice that offers a boost in engine performance. E85 is the best choice for your flex fuel vehicle, which are specifically designed to run on E85, gasoline, or any mixture of the two. Choosing higher blends of ethanol supports your neighbor corn farmer, positively impacts your local economy and promotes cleaner air through an up to 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Ethanol also replaces harmful carcinogens and toxic additives like methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and benzene that can be found in petroleum-based fuels,” USA Clean Fuels said in a news release. “The choice is an easy one. Fill up at USA Clean Fuels on east highway 36, and during the months of November and December your purchase will give back to the individuals that work to ensure our safety, day in and day out.”