Hays public safety officials responded to a precautionary landing Friday morning at Hays Regional Airport after receiving reports of a plane with engine trouble.
Airport Manager Robert Johnson said this morning the private Cessna called in reporting a problems and landed safely.
Johnson added the plane was looked at and the pilot departed without incident.
He did not have information about where the plane originated.
The Hays Fire Department, Ellis County Rural Fire Department, Ellis County EMS, Hays Police Department and Ellis County Sheriff’s Department all deployed to the scene as a precautionary measure — prepositioning assets in accordance with a standard plan for airport emergencies.
WICHITA — Meet Kim McDowell, associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in Wichita State University’s College of Education. She has a Ph.D., is a mother of seven – and a beauty queen.
Kim McDowell
She knows what you’re thinking, but it’s for a good cause. McDowell is a long-time advocate for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a cause that is as much a passion as it is her profession, and in July she’ll compete for the title of Mrs. International, a beauty pageant for married, professional women who champion important causes.
“When I first decided to do this,” said McDowell, “I was worried that it would reflect negatively on me professionally. A lot of people have misperceptions about pageantry and what it is, especially involving a married woman who is 41, but when they see that this is just an extension of what I already do they’re very supportive.”
McDowell’s area of expertise is elementary and early childhood education, as well as communication sciences and disorders. She’s a graduate of Wichita State, and she attributes her passion to an experience as a 19-year-old undergraduate tutoring for a group called Partnership Assisting Student Success.
“We were going to the homes of at-risk kids in the community,” she said. “Ever since then, my entire professional career and all of my philanthropic activities have revolved around kids who are at risk – kids who need help or assistance – and their families.”
‘I was kind of hooked’
McDowell was involved in her first pageant in 2006 when she won the title of Mrs. Kansas. She entered the contest as a way to motivate herself to get back in shape after the birth of her sixth child. She was surprised to win the state title and went on to place in the top 10 at the Mrs. USA pageant.
“After that I was kind of hooked,” she said. “I’m a bit competitive, so this is a nice way to continue to do what I love, which is working with kids and families, but then, occasionally, I get to put on a pretty dress, some fake eyelashes and a big smile.”
McDowell says her involvement with CMN Hospitals started off as a parent in need of services. Her now 10-year-old was born preterm and spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which resulted in developmental delays and a need for speech therapy.
“As we needed less and less help,” she said, “I realized the need for increased advocacy and fundraising was great. I’ve spent several years being an advocate and spokesperson for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. As a mother of a child with exceptionalities and a professor preparing teachers to teach children with exceptionalities, I feel like my work with CMN Hospitals and the pageant is an extension of what I do in the classroom.”
Additionally, McDowell is executive director for Models for Miracles, which is having a fashion show of its own at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Doubletree Hilton in Wichita. Local teens will participate in the event, each raising $50 as part of the community service. The event has already raised $15,000 for CMN Hospitals.
The Mrs. International pageant will take place in Jacksonville, Fla. McDowell says she’ll be in Florida for five days with her husband, doing some sightseeing, lots of rehearsals and the pageant itself. The areas of competition will include an interview, eveningwear and fitness wear – but no swimsuits.
“It will be a great opportunity to talk about my platform and the things I believe strongly in,” said McDowell. “Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has been great in letting me continue to champion them in my crown and sash.”
Of course, McDowell still hasn’t picked out her evening gown for the pageant.
“I tend to wait until the last minute for wardrobe,” she said. “I’m busy doing the things that mean the most to me, which is working with the kids and their families.”
MANHATTAN — “Service” would be a common theme among the five Kansans who were recognized at a Feb. 19 luncheon by Kansas State University’s Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development as 2014 Leaders of the Year.
A scene from a Peterson brothers parody.
“Whether advocating for agriculture on social media, adding value to honey as an energy food, customizing flower arrangements for families, leading a statewide organization, or attracting hunters to our state from far away, these Kansans have demonstrated outstanding service in diverse ways,” said Clare Gustin, chairwoman of the board of directors of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development.
Gustin is a vice president at Sunflower Electric Cooperative in Hays.
This year’s award categories, winners and their home communities are:
• Agribusiness: Greg, Nathan and Kendal, the Peterson Brothers, Assaria;
• Business and Entrepreneurship: Jerry and Debbie Brown, RevHoney, Haddam;
• Leadership: Brenda Chance, city clerk, Phillipsburg (past president of League of Kansas Municipalities);
• Local Retail: Matt and Bronwyn Douglas, Kistner’s Flowers, Manhattan; and
• Tourism: Carlos Navarro, Santa Maria Ranch, Junction City.
As agriculture students from a farm near Assaria, Greg, Nathan and Kendal Peterson depicted agricultural life in a catchy Youtube video and music parody called “I’m Farming and I Grow It.” The video went viral, generating 7.6 million views in five months and paved the way for them to be flown to New York for an interview on Fox News. Another music parody called “Farmer Style” generated 13 million views. Altogether, their videos have generated some 30 million views. The Peterson Brothers see their ongoing efforts as a way to educate urban consumers and others about agriculture. For more information, go to www.facebook.com/PetersonFarmBros.
Jerry Brown’s grandfather started beekeeping in north central Kansas in 1948 and his father started Brown Honey Farms in 1963. They grew the business into the largest beekeeping operation in Kansas by the 1980s. In 2006, Jerry, his wife Debbie and son Nate launched an initiative to add value to that honey by using it as an energy food. They founded a company named RevHoney which offers flavored honey snacks and honey-based energy drinks. These products are now sold in more than 500 stores and coast to coast through online sales. For more information, see revhoney.com.
Brenda Chance joined the City of Phillipsburg as a waste water treatment facility operator in 1981 and gradually worked her way up through the organization. She was appointed city clerk in 1987 and became active in state municipal organizations. She was named Clerk of the Year in 2008, served as president of the City Clerks/Municipal Finance Officers Association, and president of the League of Kansas Municipalities in 2012-13. She is one of only eight women to have held that position since the organization was founded in 1910, and is the first female city clerk to ever be president of that organization. For more information, go to www.cityofphillipsburg.com.
Matt and Bronwyn Douglas both worked at Kistner’s Flowers in Manhattan while students at K-State. The business had been founded by the Kistner family in 1946 and purchased by the Orr family in 1973. In 2006, Matt and Bronwyn came back and purchased the business themselves. Kistner’s Flowers now offers fresh flower arrangements, plants for indoor use, and interior plantscape for business clients. Matt and Bronwyn especially enjoy creating personalized, customized arrangements for weddings and funerals. Kistner’s won the Lux award for best outdoor weddings in northeast Kansas. For more information, go to www.kistnersflowers.com.
Carlos Navarro loved hunting as a boy in Mexico and arranged hunting trips with his friends. He moved to Kansas City, became a U.S. citizen, and took up bowhunting. In 2000, he bought the Santa Maria Ranch south of Junction City and began operating a guided hunting business. He now leases 10,000 acres for hunting for his clients. An accomplished hunter himself, he is one of approximately 300 people in the world who have accomplished a World Slam (bagging one bird from each of the six subspecies of wild turkeys) and one of only 10 people who have accomplished this task with a bow. For more information, go to wwwsantamariaranch.com.
The 2014 Huck Boyd Leaders of the Year winners were selected by students in an entrepreneurship class in K-State’s College of Business. Each year the Huck Boyd Institute selects its leaders of the year from among those featured on its weekly Kansas Profile radio program and column during the previous 12 months Kansas Profile is distributed by the K-State Radio Network and K-State Research and Extension News Media Services to radio stations and newspapers statewide.
The Huck Boyd Institute is a public/private partnership between K-State Research and Extension and the Huck Boyd Foundation. The foundation office is at the Huck Boyd Community Center in Phillipsburg. The Institute office is at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
TOPEKA — A program that provided oral health care to kids in Head Start before being effectively terminated by KanCare is nearly set to resume, officials say.
Working as part of the Kansas Cavity-Free Kids program, dentist Joe Ferguson performs an on-site exam of a child’s teeth at Clay Center Head Start in 2008. Photo by KHI.
Before the launch of KanCare, Kansas Cavity Free Kids had for five years helped more than 7,000 children in 41 rural counties get regular cleanings, fluoride varnishes and sealants from dental hygienists in Head Start classrooms.
But the program was effectively shut down when day-to-day management of the state’s Medicaid program was turned over to three for-profit managed care companies on Jan. 1, 2013.
UnitedHealthcare, one of the three KanCare contractors, chose to not authorize payment for teeth cleanings performed at Head Start, a decision that effectively put the entire program on ice.
Timothy Spilker — president of United’s Kansas health plan — told KHI News Service that the company has been working for the last three months to resolve the problem and that work is nearly complete.
“We’ve revised all of our payment policies and the codes will be consistent with what was covered prior to KanCare,” Spilker said. “All of that should be effective here in the next week or two — mid-March at the absolute latest.”
Kathy Hunt, the Head Start official who coordinated Kansas Cavity Free Kids, said that it would then take some time to get the program back on its feet.
“Once the fix is in place, we’ll talk to the Head Start programs that were involved and they can work on rebuilding the system that they weren’t able to continue,” Hunt said. “It will take time. It’s been a year and the folks they had in place, of course, moved on to other things.”
Even so, Hunt said the glitch in the program may prove to be a good thing in the long run.
“Not only are they putting in this fix, but they want to work with the Head Start Association in other avenues, too, like helping promote oral health for pregnant women and finding other ways that we can help each other out,” Hunt said. “In the long run, I think this might have been good. It may be the start of a partnership that might not have come about otherwise.”
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has given in to pressure from European diplomats and is offering concessions to defuse the crisis that has divided his country and left scores dead.
Photo by Abayomi Azikiwe, flikr
After all-night negotiating in Kiev, President Viktor Yanukovych announced early presidential elections and promised to bring opposition members into the government, though he didn’t say when. He’s also promising constitutional reforms that would trim presidential powers, which has been a key demand of protesters.
Despite the concessions, the capital remains tense today. Shots rang out near the protest camp and skeptical members of the opposition massed in central Kiev, divided over what to do next.
One lawmaker allied with the opposition tells the Associated Press the deaths of 77 people yesterday in clashes between police and protesters “changes the stakes,” and nothing short of Yanukovych’s immediate resignation will satisfy the protest movement. She says protesters will not abandon occupied buildings until after the constitution is changed.
Bringing attention to sensitive topics such as domestic abuse usually requires a somber attitude and an eye for tact and sensitivity. Sometimes, however, it simply needs frat boys walking around the student union and campus wearing women’s shoes.
Fort Hays State University’s fraternities will host the sixth annual “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event to raise awareness for the victims of sexual and domestic abuse. Proceeds will go to Jana’s Campaign and OPTIONS Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, two local organizations dedicated to fighting and exposing domestic abuse.
The pageant will be at 6 p.m. March 3 at FHSU’s Memorial Union and will feature speakers from Jana’s Campaign and OPTIONS before the culmination of the night — when men from FHSU Greek Life, student organizations, faculty, staff and athletic teams literally will walk 1 mile in women’s shoes.
Registration to walk is $15 and includes a T-shirt. Attendance is free and open to the public. For more information or registration information, contact the FHSU Center for Student Involvement at (785) 628-4664.
Hays Area Children’s Center will have free development screenings for children age birth to 5 on March 7 at Hays United Methodist Church, 305 W. Seventh.
The screenings help parents assess speech, language, vision, hearing, self-help, height and weight, thinking, behavior, and motor development.
Appointments can be made by calling Kathy or Debbie at (785) 625-3257 or emailing [email protected]. The HACC is located at 94 Lewis Drive.
TOPEKA — Fossils of the Tylosaurus and Pteranodon soon could resurface as dignitaries in classrooms across Kansas.
A legislative committee approved House Bill 2595 to declare these ancient creatures, who resided millions of years ago in what later became Kansas, the official state marine and flying fossils.
“It may seem like insignificant legislation and not worthy of the time in a day where there are many pressing issues, but the kids of Kansas deserve this,” said Steven Fisher, an 11-year member of the Manning Jayhawkers 4-H Club in Scott County.
Fisher, who endorsed nomination of the Tylosaurus and Pteranodon, has distinction of finding a Tylosaurus vertebrae in chalk beds of Scott County.
Other supporters of the bill included representatives of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and the Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism supported concept of the bill.
Each of these entities had a sense designation of official state fossils could promote tourism in Kansas. The bill isn’t expected to create any additional cost to the state.
“State symbols represent the magnificence of the great state in which we live and show other what we have to offer,” said Christopher Tymeson, chief legal counsel for the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. “This bill is a step to increasing visitation and awareness of Kansas.”
Forty U.S. states and Washington, D.C., have officially recognized fossils. Both the Tylosaurus and the Pteranodon are almost exclusively Kansas fossils as they were first most abundantly discovered here.
Fossilized skeletons of both creatures reside at the KU’s Natural History Museum and the FHSU’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History, as well as across the nation and globe.
“Here we get to see the actual skeletal remains,” said Rep. Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican and chairman of the House Vision 2020 Committee. “That makes it more of an attraction.”
“There are fossils in Harvard, Yale, England and other places that came from here,” Sloan said. “It’s where the best specimens are at. It will make people like paleontologists, archeologists and lovers of old stuff to come to Kansas to vacation.”
Other state symbols established in Kansas law include the Barred Tiger Salamander, state amphibian; Western Meadowlark, state bird; bluegill, state fish; Western Honey Bee, state insect; Plains Cottonwood, state tree; Ornate Box Turtle, state reptile; and American Bison, state mammal.
Fisher, the high school student, said creation of state fossils could teach children more about creatures of the past than what can be observed watching the movie “Jurassic Park.”
“As a 4-H geology project member and leader, I have had the opportunity to learn and teach other 4-Hers about the ancient seas and their inhabitants, but what about kids who aren’t in 4-H geology?” he said. “Only by the passage of this bill will many kids ever know who Kansas’ earliest inhabitants were or that they are sitting in the middle of an ancient ocean.”
Long-rumored, it is finally confirmed Hobby Lobby will open a Hays location this year.
According to Vincent Parker of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., the arts-and-crafts/home decor store is expected to open mid-year in the former Walmart at 3300 Vine.
The 52,420-square-foot facility will be the 13th in Kansas and among the nearly 600 Hobby Lobby stories nationwide owned by the Green family.
“We feel that we can bring a very unique shopping experience to the area. We are looking forward to becoming part of the community,” Parker told Hays Post.
The store will employ between 30 and 50 local employees ranging from cashiers and stockers to custom picture framers and floral designers. Pay for full-time employees is expected to start at $14, with part-time employees beginning at $9.50 hourly. A call for applicants is usually made between three and four weeks of a store’s opening.
“The constant element throughout our 44 years of growth has been our loyal customers and our outstanding employees,” said Parker, Hobby Lobby’s director of training and customer service. “The foundation of our business has been and will continue to be strong values based on biblical principles, including integrity, service to others and giving back to those in need. We thank everyone who has contributed to our success during the past four decades and look forward to many more years of growth and service.”
Store managers and co-managers generally are trained at other Hobby Lobby locations and “come with the store,” Parker noted.
“Each new Hobby Lobby location enables us to become an integral part of the community by contributing to increased foot traffic, generating sales tax, and adding new jobs, while sharing in the growth of both the state and the city,” John Schumacher, assistant vice president of advertising, said in a press release Thursday.
Hays Post will have additional details on the development as they become available. For more on Hobby Lobby, click HERE.
TOPEKA — Lawmakers from the Health and Human Services committee heard lengthy testimony from opposing sides Wednesday about House Bill 2372 dealing with fluoride and its effect on water in Kansas.
If passed, the bill would require all Kansas municipalities that fluoridate their water to “notify the consumers of that treated water, that the latest science confirms that ingested fluoride lowers the I.Q. in children.”
Some of the language in the bill discussed that more research would need to be made on the exact effects of fluoride, but there’s a possibility for harm to important organs in the human body and the lower of IQ.
Michael Connett, a lawyer, led bill proponents by discussing the difficulties with fluoride in water.
“As an initial point, infants do not need to receive fluoride,” he said.
Dr. Yolanda Whyte, testified on the basis of protecting pediatric care and pregnancy dealing with fluoride and children. Connett went on to agree with these
“They started doing studies and low and behold the children getting more fluoride have lower IQs,” Connett said.
The two cited a study done by Anna Choi of Harvard University that said fluoride used in China and Iran affected IQ. No such research has been done in the United States.
“The problem with that approach is the absence of evidence does not equal the evidence of safety,” Connett said.
The committee members asked several questions of the proponents especially since there has not been conclusive fluoride testing in the United States.
“I hope you understand our concern about creating a bill or creating a requirement based off inconclusive science, but we’ve also made laws based off of inconclusive science,” Rep. John Wilson, D-Lawrence, said.
Rep. Leslie Osterman, R-Wichita, asked how many other states are looking at an anti-fluoride bill.
Connett said that Kansas would be the first state to pass this kind of legislation.
After hearing from the proponents for the bill, a long list of opponents began their testimony.
One of the opponents was Dr. John Neuberger, professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He represented the Kansas Public Health Association, which “promotes and improves the population health in Kansas.”
He said many parts of the Harvard study were not conclusive. He said Choi’s results were preliminary in nature and should not be used for setting drinking water policy in the United States.
Greg Hill testified on behalf of the Kansas Dental Association that every dollar invested in water fluoridation saves $38 in dental costs.
There were several other written and oral opposition testimonies from the Kansas Action for Children, Oral Health of Kansas, the American Dental Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The session closed without a vote from the committee.
10:55 a.m. February 18 Investigators have determined the fire to be accidental but the specific cause cannot be determined, according to a press release from the City of Hays Tuesday.
Investigators stated the fire started inside the attached garage and spread into the attic of the house and to the vehicle parked outside in the driveway.
A team of investigators from the City of Hays Police Department, City of Hays Fire Department and Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office all took part in the investigation.
Investigators are working on determining the cause of a fire at a home in Hays.
“Thankfully, no one was hurt,” said Hays Police Department Detective Dave Bunger.
According to a press release, the fire started at 3:37 a.m. Monday. The city of Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Ellis County Rural Fire Department, Hays Police Department and Ellis County EMS, were dispatched to a building fire at 3502 Fairway Drive.
The first firefighters arrived at 3:44 a.m. and found a fire in the attached garage of a large single-family dwelling with fire spreading into the attic and the living areas. A vehicle was also on fire in the driveway. Nearby property also was threatened by wind-blown items.
The occupants were awakened by a smoke alarm and were able to escape the building before the arrival of firefighters. They were transported to Hays Medical Center by Ellis County EMS.
A total of 22 Hays firefighters staffing five fire trucks and four Ellis County Rural firefighters staffing one fire truck responded. Three hose lines were needed to control the fire. The building suffered heavy fire damage.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. A team of investigators from the HPD, HFD and the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating.
3502 Fairway Drive
The HFD said the fire serves as a reminder of the importance of working smoke alarms, which cut the risk of a fire becoming deadly by half.
Phillipsburg resident Frederick Lagergren passed away at his home on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, at the age of 95.
He was born Sept. 28, 1918 in Randall, KS, the son of William & Mary (Wellman) Lagergren. He worked for the USDA Soil Conservation Service for 35 years.
His wives, Beulah and Josephine, and a granddaughter, Amanda Munoz, preceded him in death.
Survivors include his son, Ralph, of Wichita; daughters, Joan Bowman of Phillipsburg and Nancy Greuter of Wharton, NJ; six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a sister, Rosella Damon of Mankato.
Funeral services will be held Wed., Feb. 19, at 10:30 a.m. in the Presbyterian Church, Phillipsburg, with Pastor Chris Davis officiating. A graveside service will follow at 2:00 p.m. in the Mt. Hope Cemetery, Mankato, KS, with military honors by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Visitation will be today from 5 – 9 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with the family receiving friends Tues. evening from 7-8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be given to the Westview Homes “bench fund,” the ALS Association, or Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, is in charge of arrangements.
