MANHATTAN -Following notification from the Big 12 Conference of potential violations of its sportsmanship and ethical conduct policies, Kansas State University has agreed to sanctions with the conference office, according to a media release from KSU.
The potential violations occurred during the first home football game Sept. 5 against South Dakota with the band’s halftime depiction of a mascot from a team other than the day’s opponent.
“At Saturday’s home football opener Kansas State University fell short of its obligation to conduct itself in a consistent manner with the principles of sportsmanship,” said President Kirk Schulz.
“Good sportsmanship is part of the Wildcat way; we do not want to do anything that takes away from the tremendous efforts of our student athletes and the award-winning Pride of Wildcat Land marching band.”
After Saturday’s game, the administration formally apologized to the chancellor and athletic director at the University of Kansas, which was the mascot depicted by the band.
K-State students previously signed a sportsmanship pledge as a way to increase awareness of good sportsmanship. The sanctions proposed by President Schulz demonstrate the university’s commitment to provide additional leadership in this area:
A self-imposed $5,000 fine to be paid to the Big 12 Conference for violation of the league sportsmanship policy.
A single-game suspension for the university director of bands (Dr. Frank Tracz). The suspension will take place Nov. 28 at the game against the University of Kansas.
Prior approval for the content of all band halftime shows by representatives from the Office of Student Life and the Athletic Department.
“We look forward to our upcoming athletic contests with the expectation of sportsmanlike conduct from the entire K-State family,” Schulz said.”
It was a deadly Labor Day holiday weekend in Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported seven fatal accidents from Friday through Sunday.
Just after 4 p.m. on Friday a 1999 Dodge pickup driven by Cornelius Loewen, 65, Sublette, was westbound on U.S. 56, two miles east of Ensign and struck a semi. He died at Western Plains Medical Center in Dodge City. The semi driver was not injured.
Jason B. Simpson, 42, Chetopa, died just after 7 p.m. on Friday when the Dixon lawn mower he was driving exited a yard in Labette County into the path of a pickup.
Just before 9p.m. on Friday Dawn Michelle Caruthers, 48, Baldwin City, a passenger on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, died when she and the driver of the bike Steven L. Harris, 45, Baldwin City, were ejected in a Leavenworth County accident.
On Saturday morning at 10 a.m., Douglas Jay Carie, 69, Wichita, died when his Ford F150 overturned on U.S. 166 west of U.S. 75 in Chautauqua County.
Just before 4 p.m. on Saturday Ryan T. Scott, 36, Wamgeo, died after a Chevy passenger vehicle hit his Honda motorcycle on U.S. 24 just west of Goodyear Road north of Topeka. There were no other injuries reported in the 3-vehicle crash.
In Pottawatomie County Colby Scott Mathies, 27, Manhattan, died after he was ejected when his 1997 Chevy 1500 rolled on Carnahan Road just after 4 a.m. on Sunday.
In Seward County just after 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jon Steven Wiggins, 27, Dodge City, died when his SUV crossed the centerline and struck a semi on U.S. 54 one mile west of Kismet. The semi driver was not injured.
In addition to these, a Sunday accident that claimed the life of Shannon Chebultz, 45, Blaine, in Pottawatomie County is still under investigation.
Authorities in Johnson County are also investigating the death of an 83-year-old woman who was hit by a motorcycle on Sunday in Overland Park
King Phillip Amman Reu-El changed his name from Phillip D. Cheatham Jr. while awaiting retrial in the capital murder case.- photo Kan. Dpt. of Corrections
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 42-year-old Kansas man claims he didn’t have effective counsel during a retrial of his death penalty case.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports King Phillip Amman Reu-El wants a Shawnee County judge to void his two consecutive sentences, as well as his convictions based on no-contest pleas.
He was convicted in 2005 of capital murder and other charges in the killings of two women in Topeka in 2013. Those convictions were overturned, and the case was sent back for retrial.
During his second trial, Amman Reu-El says he was misled into thinking a no-contest plea wouldn’t be used by the Kansas Supreme Court to deny a pre-trial action he filed in 2014.
Amman Reu-El changed his name from Phillip D. Cheatham Jr. while awaiting retrial in the capital murder case.
MARBLE FALLS, Texas (AP) — A San Antonio-area police department is investigating two football players who rammed into a referee during a high school game. View video of the hit here.
Marble Falls, Texas, police said in a statement Monday there have been no arrests.
The Northside Independent School District is conducting its own investigation into the incident Friday and has suspended the two players from the school and the team.
Video showed the referee watching the play, and his head snapping back when he is leveled from behind. The other player then dove on top of him. The team from John Jay High School in San Antonio was playing Marble Falls High School in Marble Falls, located about 90 miles north of San Antonio.
The names of the players and the referee have not been released.
Update – WAMEGO- The 45 year old woman who died in an accident in Pottawatomie County at Macy Place Drive and Elm Slough Road on Sunday has been identified as Shannon Chebultz.
Officials say her last known address was Blaine, Kansas.
The investigation of the accident continues, according to the Pottawatomie County Sheriff.
————
WAMEGO – Law enforcement authorities in Pottawatomie County are investigating the death of woman in an accident on Sunday afternoon.
Sheriff Greg Riat reported that just after 4 p.m. the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call after of a woman was found lying in the road bleeding from the head.
The location given by the caller was Macy Place Drive and Elm Slough Road, in rural Wamego.
Sheriff Deputies along with Emergency Services responded and found the body of a woman near a pickup at the location who had been seriously injured.
Pottawatomie County EMS arrived and determined the female to be deceased.
The victim, a 45-year-old resident of Pottawatomie County had been riding in a 2007 Chevy Pickup with a male driver prior to this accident, according to the Sheriff.
The incident at this time is under investigation by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol. The name of the victim is being held pending notification of next of kin.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota woman who became sick after eating cucumbers that may have contained salmonella is suing a California company.
The lawsuit filed Monday says Kathleen Dvergsten got sick after eating a salad at a Red Lobster in Farmington. She became severely ill on Aug. 14 and was hospitalized for nearly a week.
Dvergsten is suing Andrew and Williamson Fresh Produce, Inc. The San Diego company voluntarily recalled “Limited Edition” brand cucumbers Friday.
Health officials say the cukes are the likely cause of hundreds of illnesses since July 3 and the Aug. 17 death of a 99-year-old woman.
Half the people who became ill are under 18 years of age.
The cucumbers were distributed in Kansas; Alaska; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Florida; Idaho; Illinois; Kentucky; Louisiana; Minnesota; Mississippi; Montana; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Oregon; South Carolina; Texas, and Utah.
The lawsuit says Andrew and Williamson had a duty to sell safe foods. It says Dvergsten seeks unspecified compensation for medical expenses and suffering.
Company official Dave Murray declined to comment because of pending litigation.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
On August 31, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from Kim Davis, a county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky who objects on religious grounds to issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
Undeterred, Davis turned away a gay couple the very next day. When the couple asked under whose authority she was acting, Davis replied “under God’s authority.”
With those words, Davis joined the long list of religiously motivated conscientious objectors in American history — from both the Left and the Right — who have used civil disobedience to defy laws they consider unjust or immoral.
From pacifists refusing combat service to civil rights workers sitting in at lunch counters to pharmacists who will not provide the “morning after pill,” the United States has a storied and contentious history of dissent compelled by moral and religious convictions.
Of course, when conscientious objectors like Kim Davis challenge laws they consider unjust, they must be prepared to pay a price. A federal judge has now jailed Kim Davis for contempt of court.
Davis is a high-profile example of civil disobedience by public officials opposed to gay marriage that is playing out in other states. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in June upholding same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, some county clerks and other officials still refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Some states, including lawmakers in Kentucky, are considering legislation like the law recently enacted in North Carolina that would permit judges and other public officials to opt out of performing marriage — as long as that includes all marriages. But this arrangement risks offending gay couples that may be denied service — or have difficulty finding service — on what is supposed to the happiest day of their lives.
Utah has a better idea.
In March, the Utah legislature passed compromise legislation that went a long way toward both protecting religious liberty and prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people. One of the law’s key provisions ensures that county clerks’ offices perform marriages and that a clerk be available to marry same-sex couples.
A clerk may opt out of performing gay marriage if, and only if, other clerks are readily available to issue the license and perform the ceremony. A clerk who chooses to opt out of gay marriage may not perform any marriages.
Under this arrangement, gay couples are served (they will not know who, if anyone, in the clerk’s office has opted out) and religious claims of conscience are accommodated.
Replicating the Utah compromise in Kentucky would probably not satisfy Kim Davis.
Not only does Davis refuse to issue licenses to gay couples, she refuses to allow other clerks in her office to do so. If she continues to turn gay couples away, the only recourse is to remove her from office.
Protecting religious conscience is a key American principle — but it does not extend to denying gay couples in Rowan County the ability to exercise what the Supreme Court has recognized as a constitutional right.
There is, however, considerable common ground between refusing service to gay couples and coercing all clerks to violate their conscience.
Ensuring that all couples seeking marriage licenses are immediately served while making provision for individual clerks to opt out on religious grounds is a compromise that upholds both marriage equality and liberty of conscience.
The defiant stance of Kim Davis has once again stoked the culture wars. She is mocked by some on one side as a buffoon and bigot — and hailed by some on the other side as the next Rosa Parks.
The challenge for the rest of us (and that, I suspect, is most Americans) is to get beyond the rhetoric and drama and find a way forward that reflects who we are as a people — at least on our best days.
Charles C. Haynes is vice president of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and executive director of the Religious Freedom Center. [email protected]
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old driver has died after hitting a tree in suburban Kansas City.
Police identified the victim Tuesday as Joshua T. Delaney of Lenexa. He was the vehicle’s sole occupant and was pronounced dead at the scene early Monday.
Jana’s Campaign is set to host this year’s fourth annual Empty Place at the Table fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Robbins Center on the campus of Fort Hays State University. The program includes a presentation on the organization’s latest progress, a dinner, and a live and silent auction.
“One thing that really sets us apart, I think, is that we do a really good job of using these funds to toward improving the communities that we’re in and the communities around us,” said Danielle Dougherty, program specialist for Jana’s Campaign.
All proceeds for the event go toward programming that educates middle school through university students about the dangers of gender-based violence.
“I believe we work with over 100 middle and high schools across the state,” Dougherty said. “So any funds that come in to Jana’s Campaign gets funneled directly into our programming.”
Some examples of programming include funding student-driven community projects wherein students are given the opportunity to speak to their peers about teen-dating violence. Jana’s Campaign also works to equip teachers with curriculum on how to avoid gender-based violence and also identify victims to get them the help they need.
Tickets for Empty Place at the Table are $50. To purchase a tickets, visit janascampaign.org, or mail your check to Jana’s Campaign, P.O. Box 647, Hays, KS 67601.
Jana’s Campaign also has reserved discounted rooms for out-of-town attendees at Best Western. To reserve a room, call (785) 621-4337 and reference Jana’s Campaign. The deadline for discounted reservations is Oct. 5.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a 12-year-old girl thwarted a home invasion near Seneca by punching one of the intruders.
According to Wichita Sgt. Bob Gulliver, police responded to a report of an attempted robbery at a residence at 3:10 p.m. Sunday. Gulliver said a 30-year-old woman told officers her daughter answered the door and a 16-year-old boy grabbed her and pushed her inside the house.
Police say a 19-year-old man followed the 16-year-old into the house before the girl punched one of the suspects.
According to Gulliver, both suspects fled the residence. Neither suspect has been found.
GRANDVIEW PLAZA- Two people were injured in an accident just after 7 p.m. on Labor Day in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Honda Civic driven by Katelyn M. Sanchez, 21, Inman was eastbound on Interstate 70 four miles east of U.S. 77
The driver lost control during heavy rain causing the vehicle to hydroplane.
The vehicle spun to the right and struck the bridge railing.
Sanchez and a passenger Nixon, Brenton J. Nixon, 23, Victorville, CA., were transported to Geary County Hospital.
They were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama spent his Labor Day courting labor unions.
Obama was met with resounding applause at a major union rally in Boston when he said he’d signed an executive order aboard Air Force One requiring federal contractors to give paid sick leave to their employees.
The Labor Day gesture to workers’ groups comes as Obama works to smooth over tensions with the labor movement over his trade agenda. Major unions are opposing Obama’s push for sweeping new trade deals with Asia and Europe, with some threatening to work against Democrats who voted to support those talks in Congress.
Under the executive order, employees working on federal contracts gain the right to a minimum of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Stretched out over 12 months, that’s up to seven days per year.
Business groups have argued that Obama’s order would make it harder for small businesses to retain federal contractors and could hinder economic growth.
BRONSON- Eight people were injured in an accident just before 6p.m. on Labor Day in Bourbon County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Marsh, Esther M. Marsh, 69, Bronson, was southbound on Kansas 3. The vehicle failed to yield at a stop sign.
It entered U.S. 54 and struck an eastbound 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Brian Ray Stewart, 36, Bronson.
A private vehicle transported Marsh, Stewart and passengers in the 2015 Dodge Megan N. Stewart, 35, and five children, ranging in age from 10 months to 12 years, to Mercy Hospital.
