Due to rainy weather last year, the numbers at the Great Bend Wetlands Waterpark were slightly down. Great Bend Public Lands Director Scott Keeler says numbers coming to the pool this year were better with more consistent warm temperatures.

The 2017 summer marked the 13^th year for the waterpark and Keeler says during the pool’s offseason, the slides will be recoated.

Scott Keeler Audio

Things will change for Keeler and the city staff after Kansas lawmakers passed a law tightening regulations on rides this year following the death of a young boy on a 17-story water slide at Schlitterbahn’s water park in Kansas City. Under the changes, amusement rides face new inspection and permit requirements.

Sunday, August 13 will be the final day the pool in Great Bend is open. Keeler says there must be at least 14 guards on duty when the pool is open. Since many of the pool staff are in college, the August 13 date made sense because of the staff reduction with many going back to college.

A fourth subject was arrested Tuesday afternoon that was connected to a search warrant Monday in Olmitz that resulted in several arrests for drug charges.

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was searching for Eric Peters, age 37, in connection to the earlier arrest and eventually apprehended him in Hoisington. Peters was booked for distribution of hallucinogenics, possession of methamphetamine, and rape with a $100,000 bond. Peters was also arrested for felony obstruction with a $5,000 bond.

On Monday, July 31, Sheriff’s Office detectives obtained a search warrant for 306 Garfield Street in Olmitz. Approximately 2.5 pounds of processed marijuana and more than two ounces of methamphetamine were found.

Josh Frydendall, age 26 of Great Bend, was arrested, as was Darren Halzle, age 34 of rural St. John and Rachel Kelly, age 40 of Olmitz. All of the subjects were arrested with a $100,000 bond.

Not only are citizens of Great Bend sorting out information and waiting to find out the truth with the dispute between Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch and the city’s governing body and administration, but local businesses are backing their stance with financial support. “Stand with Chief Couch” is a Facebook page created last week to back Couch as the police chief faces possible termination. The Facebook page acknowledged that Fuller Industries LLC made a $2,000 donation on August 1 to the fundraising page to help finance Chief Couch’s legal fees.

The Great Bend City Council voted 5-3 on July 24 to suspend Couch with pay partially because of “false or reckless” accusations the police chief made towards City Administrator Howard Partington and Mayor Mike Allison. Couch brought attention to possible misconduct by Partington and Allison in regards to officer shortages at the Police Department and other procedures.

It was council member Brock McPherson’s understanding that no investigation has been conducted to search into Couch’s accusations.

While waiting for a hearing to be set to allow Couch to make a rebuttal to his suspension, many groups have voiced their support for Couch or the city. The “Stand with Chief Couch” page noted along with the donation, Fuller Industries commented, “Fuller Industries would like to convey our overwhelming and unwavering support to Chief Cliff Couch…Fuller Industries strongly supports and encourages that the city administration makes the right decision for the citizens of Great Bend and retain Chief Cliff Couch as Police Chief.”

As of Wednesday morning, the “YouCaring” fundraising website raised $3,085 to support Chief Couch and offset his legal fees.

BUSINESS NEWS

In some cases, a fake email is obvious. The sender isn’t familiar; it is written in broken English; and/or it is asking for money or personal data. However, in other cases, an email may have the ring of familiarity, which leads the recipient to click on an attachment. It is only later that the recipient realizes data has been compromised or money has been lost.

Since this scenario is becoming more and more common, Office Products Inc. now offers a product to alleviate the problem. It is called KnowBe4.

“This is an interactive training course that a company can use to monitor itself,” said Joey Bahr, OPI technology sales manager. “We can train you how to use it, which doesn’t take very long. KnowBe4 is well-designed and user-friendly.”

The product is available to companies that have at least 25 users with email addresses specific to the business. A company can set it up and administer the software on its own, or OPI can handle everything.

“Anyone with sensitive data could benefit from this,” Bahr said. “You can spend thousands of dollars on security but if you click on the wrong attachment, it is not going to help.”

For example, in Kansas recently someone received an email that appeared to be a legitimate invoice. And the invoice was paid.

“But it was a scam and they just lost the money,” Bahr said. “This happens when an email appears to be from a friend or colleague.”

Bahr emphasized that email recipients should look at the sender’s address if they have any doubts at all. The address could be correct, in part, but a closer look reveals that a few characters have been changed.

Initial training for KnowBe4 covers the basics, said Michael Juergensen, OPI technology sales representative. Juergensen and Patrick Jacobs, service technician, are the go-to guys for KnowBe4.

“This amazing software is interactive and adapts over time to keep the client up-to- date,” Juergensen said. “Tests can be sent out from time to time so that users can take full advantage of the software.”

KnowBe4 is sold annually in a variety of tiers, depending on varying needs; the user renews after each year.

“Initially, we can run a free test to get a report of your status,” Juergensen said. “But this test will not reveal everything. The software is capable of letting you know who is clicking on emails and who might need extra training.

“We want to help you decrease the number of human errors caused by absent-minded clicking and learn to detect a scam. KnowBe4 lets you know if you should be suspicious of certain emails. You need more than a Fort Knox type of security wall to protect your company and data.”