WAMEGO — Details are still scarce, but a tornado near Wamego caused damage on Thursday afternoon.
The storm downed trees in the community.
Check Hays Post for details as they become available.
Category: News
Governor Brownback views Dickinson Co. Tornado Damage
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, the adjutant general and director of the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, visited Dickinson County and the Abilene area today, assessing the damage caused by a tornado that touched down north of Abilene. Brownback and Tafanelli took an aerial tour of the tornado damage. While on the ground in Abilene, Brownback and Tafanelli were given an update from county emergency management and Incident Management Team officials.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected by Wednesday night’s tornadoes,” said Brownback. “The local and statewide teams that are on site have done great work helping initial recovery efforts. With additional rounds of dangerous weather expected, I encourage everyone to remain aware of weather conditions and take action to be safe.”
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management staff in the State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka continues to monitor storm activities across Kansas. Additional storms are predicted to move across Kansas starting during the afternoon/evening hours of Thursday,
May 27 into Saturday, May 29.
Wichita teachers vote for shorter school year, longer day
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Union officials say Wichita teachers have approved a plan to lengthen the school day and shorten the year.
United Teachers of Wichita president Steve Wentz tells The Wichita Eagle that nearly 70 percent of the more than 4,000 ballots the union received Wednesday morning were in favor of the proposed calendar.
The calendar was proposed as a way to trim about $3 million from next year’s budget. It’ll shorten the school year by 15 days for Wichita students and lengthen the school day by 30 minutes.
The Wichita school board must approve the proposed change. Members are expected to approve an addendum to this year’s teacher contract noting the calendar change, as well as a new calendar for the 2016-17 school year, during its June 6 meeting.
Kan. man enters plea in 5-year-old girl’s chase-related shooting death
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man faces life in prison now that he’s admitted in federal court that he kidnapped his Kansas girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter and killed her during a police chase.
Thirty-two-year-old Marcas McGowan pleaded guilty Thursday in Kansas City to charges of kidnapping resulting in death, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Authorities allege McGowan abducted Cadence Harris on July 18, 2014, after a domestic dispute in the Atchison, Kansas, home they shared with the girl’s mother.
During an ensuring chase in which McGowan fired at police, authorities pursuit him into Missouri before officers shot McGowan after they say he pointed a gun at them in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 6. Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of life on the kidnapping charge.
Kan. Senate leader seeks vote against Obama’s LGBT directive to schools
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle wants the chamber to vote next week on a resolution condemning a recent federal directive on accommodating transgender students in public schools.
Wagle’s office disclosed Thursday that she is drafting a nonbinding Senate resolution to be considered next week, when lawmakers have a brief ceremony scheduled to formally adjourn their annual session. Wagle sent an email to GOP senators Wednesday evening.
President Barack Obama’s administration earlier this month directed public schools to allow transgender students to use the restrooms associated with their gender identities rather than their birth genders.
Many GOP officials in Kansas question whether the Democratic president’s administration has the legal authority to issue such a directive.
LGBT-rights advocate Tom Witt said Thursday that lawmakers are singling out transgender children for harassment.
Police: Kan. man arrested after locking himself in neighbor’s home
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect in connection with burglary and criminal damage to a neighbor’s home.
Salina Police reported a homeowner called them around 9p.m. Wednesday evening to report a man, who lived across the street, had gone inside and locked him out of his home in the 400 Block of Missouri Street.
The man refused to let Davis back into the house.
After obtaining a key, officers went inside and found Brandon Doherty who had kicked at 42 inch television into a window and eaten a hamburger.
When going back to Doherty’s residence, police found he had caused damage to walls, windows, window blinds inside the home and damaged property in a detached garage.
He also smashed windows, mirrors and did extensive damage to a 2000 Volkswagen Beetle parked nearby.
Doherty was arrested on requested charges including burglary and several counts of criminal damage to property,
First Amendment: Without virtue, freedom fails
Civic virtue — or the loss of civic virtue — doesn’t make the top ten list of issues pollsters ask voters to rank. But I suspect many, if not most, Americans are doing a fair amount of private handwringing these days about our collective descent into the proverbial mud.
In the brave new world of presidential politics, personal attacks, insults and ridicule are becoming the new normal. Protesters shout down candidates, partisans get into violent confrontations and users of social media create daily streams of vitriol and hate.
The easy answer, of course, is to blame Donald Trump. After all, Trump has broken every unspoken rule about how presidential candidates speak and behave (apparently a significant part of his appeal). Because Trump hurls insults, intimidates the media, mocks the disabled, the argument goes, the lid is off for the rest of us to do likewise.
But did Trump create the current climate — or did the current climate create Trump? Perhaps soul-searching about how we got to this unfortunate place should begin by asking the American people to take a good, hard look in the mirror.
After all, “we the people” give high ratings to angry radio talk show hosts, shock jocks, reality-show shouting matches and popular entertainment filled with images that demean and dehumanize others.
Of course, the loss of virtue — the inattention to character — in much of our culture is only one factor in the coarsening of our political arena. But it helps explain how an outrageous reality TV star can successfully transition to an outrageous presidential candidate aided and abetted by media outlets eager to cover demagoguery and bad behavior in pursuit of higher ratings.
If Americans continue to ignore or devalue core civic virtues such as commitment to civil discourse, respect for the rights of others, concern for the common good and compassion for those in need, our experiment in democratic freedom is doomed.
“Liberty can no more exist without virtue,” warned John Adams, “than the body can live and move without a soul.”
Absent civic virtue, ideological differences lead to censorship, as is the case on many college campuses today. Absent civic virtue, religious differences trigger anger and violence, inflicting harm on minority religious groups. Absent civic virtue, school board and city council hearings degenerate into shouting matches, tearing apart communities. In short, absent civic virtue, freedom is no longer free.
Reversing the decline in our collective commitment to civic virtue will not be easy — especially in the year of the anything-goes presidential campaign.
But if we take the long view, there is something we can do to prepare the next generation to do better: Make sure that every school teaches and models civic virtues and good character as a core part of its educational mission.
Earlier this month, while grownups were shouting past each other at the Democratic convention in Nevada, young people of strong civic character were being celebrated in Washington, DC.
At a press event on May 17, Character.org, a national organization that supports character development in schools, workplaces and communities, designated 68 schools and four districts from 15 states as National Schools and Districts of Character. (Full disclosure: I am a founding board member of Character.org.)
If you want to feel hopeful about the future of democratic freedom in America, visit a School of Character (the complete list of past and current honorees can be found at www.Character.org). From the moment you walk in the door, you can tell that this is a place where young people and adults care about one another.
In Schools of Character, students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents collaborate to create a shared commitment to core ethical values that are taught and modeled throughout the school culture. Students participate in service-learning projects, develop the skills of civil dialogue, learn to address differences with understanding and respect, and in many other ways, prepare to be engaged, ethical citizens in a democracy.
Educating for civic virtue works: In Schools of Character, bullying is rare, cheating declines, test scores go up, drop out rates are low, attendance and graduation rates are high. Isn’t that the learning environment we want for every student in every school?
Legislatures and courts alone cannot protect our fundamental freedoms, especially the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Our freedom is ultimately sustained by the civic virtue of citizens.
“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people,” wrote George Washington. “The general government can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any despotic or oppressive form so long as there is any virtue in the body of the people.”
Charles C. Haynes is vice president of the Newseum Institute and founding director of the Religious Freedom Center. [email protected]
Why Planned Parenthood Kansas will merge with Oklahoma affiliate
By DAN MARGOLIES
CREDIT MATT HODAPP / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri says it’s merging with its central Oklahoma counterpart and will be renamed Planned Parenthood Great Plains effective July 1.
The combined affiliates will operate nine clinics in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and will be headquartered in Kansas City, according to a news release from PPKM.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity to combine two well-established reproductive and sexual health care providers under one system, which will reach more women and men who need crucial preventive health care,” Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri President and CEO, Laura McQuade said in the release.
“The merger strengthens our mission to provide health care to diverse communities with different and changing needs.”
McQuade will lead Planned Parenthood Great Plains as its president and CEO.
The combination comes as Planned Parenthood fights attempts by Kansas to strip it of Medicaid funds. Gov. Sam Brownback vowed in his State-of-the-State address to defund the organization, and the state took steps to do so in May. Planned Parenthood sued to block the move the next day. The case is now scheduled to be heard by a federal judge in June.
In Missouri, the organization scored a victory earlier this month when a federal judge ruled that Missouri’s attempt to revoke the abortion license of its clinic in Columbia was unconstitutional.
And in Oklahoma it’s facing a hostile legislature that recently passed a bill making it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, except where the mother’s life is at stake. Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed the bill last week, saying it was vague and unconstitutional.
Planned Parenthood plans to open a new clinic in Oklahoma City, giving it three in the area.
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri also recently announced plans to expand into three new health service areas this year, including pre- and post-menopausal care, transgender care, and PrEp care, a preventative that lowers the chance of contracting HIV for patients who have a high risk of infection.
Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
Huelskamp Named ‘Hero of Main Street’
Submitted
Congressman Tim Huelskamp R-Kan., has announced that he has received the “Hero of Main Street” award from the National Retail Federation for his support of legislation critical to the retail industry. Huelskamp is part of a bi-partisan group honored for their support of a wide range of issues including international trade, infrastructure investment, tax reform and labor issues.
“I am proud to stand with Main Street retailers against Obama and his burdensome taxes and over-regulations,” Huelskamp said. ” We need to push back against Obama and give our small businesses fighting chance at survival. They are critical to the growth of our economy and in families around the First District.”
“Huelskamp has shown through his support that he cares about retailers big and small, and values the role these businesses play in communities across the country,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Huelskamp is an advocate for his thriving Main Street and to the long-term growth the retail industry – our nation’s largest job creators and the catalyst for continued growth and opportunity for our nation’s economy.”
The Hero of Main Street award was created by NRF in 2013 to recognize members of Congress for support of the retail industry’s public policy priorities. Eligibility is based on NRF’s Retail Opportunity Index, bill sponsorship and advocacy to advance the industry’s priorities. The “heroes” have supported policies and initiatives defined by NRF that recognize the contributions of the retail industry and have worked to encourage a “vibrant, sustained and healthy” retail sector.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation.
Kansas woman hospitalized after ejected when SUV rolls
FINNEY COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 9:30p.m. on Wednesday in Finney County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer driven by Cynthia A. Davis, 50, Dighton, was traveling westbound on K156 just before Farmland Road.
The SUV came to a curve, left the roadway, rolled four times and the driver was ejected.
Davis was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita.
She was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the KHP.
Cleanup, damage assessment continues after SW Kansas tornado
FORD COUNTY The severe weather response continues following Tuesday’s tornado in southwest Kansas.
The Ford County Sheriff’s Office reported approximately 9 structures were destroyed and hundreds of structures were damaged according to a media release.
Roads Closed:
Highway 50 was closed between Cimarron and Dodge City for approximately one (1) hour due to emergency personnel/vehicles responding to severe weather event (now open)
Garnett Road between 105 & 110 road due to power lines/poles down (now open)
110 North from Garnett to Denim due to debris in the roadway
104 between Tillman & Upland due to debris was still closed on Wednesday night.
Horseshoe between 106 & 107 due to irrigation system in roadway was still closed on Wednesday night.
There were two people that received injuries. One had to be extracted from the home. Both patients have been treated and released from the hospital.
The Severe weather event followed a path approximately 10 miles wide from the southwest corner of Ford County traveling north-northeast into Hodgeman County.
Electric companies are still in the process of repairing downed power poles and power lines and restoring power to some subscribers.
The Red Cross is assisting displaced families. The Red Cross asks that physical items be donated to other local charities and not the Red Cross. Monetary donations can be accepted via social media, full website and by their toll free number.
Contributions may also be made to the local Salvation Army.
Top Kan. lawmaker leads protest on Obama’s LGBT directive to schools
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Kansas legislator is drafting a letter to federal officials promising resistance to a recent directive on accommodating transgender students in public schools.
House Speaker Ray Merrick circulated a copy of the letter Wednesday to fellow House members to give them a chance to sign on.
Merrick spokeswoman Rachel Whitten said the Stilwell Republican intends to send it June 2, the day after the ceremony formally adjourning the Legislature’s annual session.
The letter questions whether President Barack Obama’s administration has the authority to require public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms and other facilities associated with their gender identities.
Merrick circulated his letter as 11 other states sued over the directive.
LGBT-rights advocate Tom Witt said such resistance will lead to transgender students being bullied.
Federal judge gives Kansas more time to register voters
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request to put on hold pending appeal an order requiring Kansas to add to voting rolls for federal elections thousands of eligible voters who did not provide proof of citizenship when registering at motor vehicle offices.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson on Wednesday instead extended for an additional two weeks a temporary stay of her order. The move gives Secretary of State Kris Kobach more time to register more than 18,000 eligible voters or request a stay from an appeals court.
Robinson cited the “fair amount of administrative effort” to comply when extending her temporary stay to June 14. The previous deadline was May 31.
Kobach has filed a notice of appeal of the preliminary injunction with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.