Over 400 Barton County fourth graders participated in the 24th annual “Kids Ag Day” Wednesday at the Koelsch farm Southwest of Great Bend. The event works to improve the agricultural literacy of children in Barton County.
This year’s host Ron Koelsch was one one of many people involved in agriculture that helped organize the first Kids Ag Day that was held at the Kevin Mauler Farm.
Ron Koelsch Audio
Students were divided up into groups that visited different presentations put on by community volunteers like Barton Community College Ag Instructor Vic Martin.
Vic Martin Audio
Martin says the annual event is an important part of the education of Barton County elementary students who learn about one of the area’s biggest industries.
Vic Martin Audio
Kids Ag Day is held in celebration of “National Ag Week” and helps students gain a better understanding of the agriculture industry and its importance to the local economy.
GREAT BEND — Robert N. “Bob” Henning, 86, died Sept. 5, 2017, at Clara Barton Hospital, Hoisington. He was born Dec. 5, 1930, at Willowdale, the son of Anthony “Pop” and Emma (Mertens) Henning. He married Elvira “Vera” Elsen Jan. 21, 1956, at St. Patrick Catholic Church Chapel, Great Bend. A Great Bend area resident for 60 years, Mr. Henning worked for Marlette Homes and retired from Fuller Brush. He was a lifelong farmer and stockman, raising pigs and cattle. He was a United States Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict.
Mr. Henning was a member of Prince of Peace Parish at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, and American Legion Argonne Post 180, both of Great Bend, and Knights of Columbus Council #2662, Willowdale. He enjoyed fishing, playing cards, camping, gambling and spending time with grandchildren.
Survivors include his wife, Elvira “Vera” Henning, of the home; three sons, Daryl Henning and his wife Kelly of Great Bend, Dale Henning and his wife Joan of Great Bend, and Dean Henning and his wife Kristi of Great Bend; five daughters, Kala Gwin and her fiancé Dale Klug of Great Bend, Karen Parsons and her husband Rick of Goddard, Kathi Hoffman and her fiancé Jeff Barnes of Great Bend, Kelly Hoffman and her husband Tracey of Claflin, and Kristi Lytle and her husband Evan of Great Bend; three brothers, Julius Henning of Ransom, Leonard Henning and his wife Rosie of Spivey, and Eugene Henning of Zenda; two sisters, Joan Schwartz of Chase, and Florence “Dee Dee” Elsen and her husband Jerome of Great Bend; 20 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren with two more on the way. He was preceded in death by one infant son, Kevin Henning; one brother, Anthony Henning, Jr.; one son-in-law, Curtis Hoffman; two grandsons, Joshua Gaunt and Christian Parsons; one great-grandson, Memphis Gwin; and one grandson-in-law, Kebby Myers.
Vigil Service with Knights of Columbus Rosary will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 at Bryant Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Great Bend, with Father Ted Stoecklein celebrating. Burial will be in Great Bend Cemetery with military rites by the United States Navy Honor Guard. Friends may call from 2-9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, at Bryant Funeral Home. Memorials have been established with Holy Family School, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.
Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.bryantfh.net
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Army veteran from Reno County was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $70,000 in restitution for benefits he received by pretending to be blind.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said 62-year-old Billy J. Alumbaugh, of Turon, was sentenced Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the government.
His ex-wife, 52-year-old Debra Alumbaugh, also of Turon, was sentenced to a year on probation for helping with the scheme.
While pleading guilty in June, Alumbaugh admitted he told the Veterans Administration that he was blind and homebound in order to receive monthly pension benefits. In fact, he was able to drive and engage in other routine activities without assistance.
His wife accompanied him to medical visits, where they pretended he was blind and depended on her for help.
Information in the table is compared to data from both 2015 and 2016. The reporting period for the Labor Day holiday always runs from 6:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the holiday, through 11:59 p.m. the Monday of the holiday. – CLICK TO EXPAND
TOPEKA —The Kansas Highway Patrol released data from its Labor Day Weekend holiday activity. The reporting period for the holiday weekend ran from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017, through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 4, 2017, according to a media release.
Two fatal crashes were worked during this reporting period, which killed two people (Stanton County and Allen County). Neither of the crashes was alcohol-related.
Information in the table is compared to data from both 2015 and 2016. The reporting period for the Labor Day holiday always runs from 6:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the holiday, through 11:59 p.m. the Monday of the holiday.
This week’s high school football rankings from K-Preps.com. Listen to the K-Preps statewide pre-game show Friday’s at 6pm on B-104.3 the point prior to Great Bend High School football.
CLASS 6A
#1 DERBY (1-0)
#2 SHAWNEE MISSION EAST (1-0)
#3 BLUE VALLEY NORTH (1-0)
#4 LAWRENCE FREE STATE (1-0)
#5 TOPEKA HIGH (1-0)
Others Considered: Blue Valley (0-1), Garden City (1-0), Hutchinson (1-0), Lawrence (1-0), Olathe North (1-0), Washburn Rural (1-0)
CLASS 5A
#1 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1-0)
#2 GODDARD (1-0)
#3 BISHOP CARROLL (1-0)
#4 ST. JAMES ACADEMY (1-0)
#5 MILL VALLEY (0-1)
Others Considered: Blue Valley Southwest (1-0), Bonner Springs (1-0), Emporia (1-0), Great Bend (1-0), Kapaun Mt. Carmel (1-0), Pittsburg (1-0), Shawnee Heights (1-0), Topeka Seaman (1-0), Wichita Heights (0-1)
CLASS 4A-DI
#1 BISHOP MIEGE (1-0)
#2 MCPHERSON (1-0)
#3 MAIZE SOUTH (1-0)
#4 BUHLER (0-1)
#5 DE SOTO (1-0)
Others Considered: Andale (1-0), Augusta (1-0), Basehor-Linwood (1-0), Fort Scott (1-0), Labette County (1-0), Louisburg (1-0), Mulvane (1-0), Paola (1-0), Tonganoxie (1-0)
CLASS 2-1A
#1 SMITH CENTER (1-0)
#2 JEFFERSON CO. NORTH (1-0)
#3 PLAINVILLE (0-1)
#4 LYNDON (1-0)
#5 VALLEY HEIGHTS (1-0)
Others Considered: Ell-Saline (1-0), Elkhart (1-0), Jackson Heights (1-0), Sacred Heart (1-0), Sedgwick (0-1), St. Mary’s Colgan (0-1)
8-MAN D-I
#1 ST. FRANCIS (1-0)
#2 OSBORNE (1-0)
#3 BURLINGAME (1-0)
#4 SPEARVILLE (1-0) #5 VICTORIA (1-0)
Others Considered: Argonia-Attica (1-0), Atwood-Rawlins Co. (1-0), Central Plains (0-1), Clifton-Clyde (1-0), Hoxie (1-0), Logan-Palco (1-0), Oxford (1-0), Solomon (1-0), South Central (1-0), St. Paul (1-0), West Elk (1-0)
8-MAN D-II
#1 HANOVER (1-0)
#2 PIKE VALLEY (1-0) #3 HODGEMAN COUNTY (1-0) #4 OTIS-BISON (1-0)
#5 HUTCHINSON CENTRAL CHRISTIAN (1-0)
September 6, 2017, Topeka, KS — The Kansas Volleyball Association is pleased to announce
the 2017 Week 1 Volleyball Rankings. Records listed reflect information that was submitted by Monday, September 4.
Rank – School – Record – Pre-Season Ranking
Class 6A
1. Blue Valley West 3-0 (2)
2. Blue Valley 3-0 (6)
3. Manhattan 0-0 (4)
4. Shawnee Mission Northwest 2-0 (NR)
5. Blue Valley North 2-1 (3)
6. Olathe Northwest 1-1 (1)
7. Lawrence 3-0 (NR)
8. Washburn Rural 4-1 (NR)
9. Gardner-Edgerton 1-1 (7)
10. Shawnee Mission South 3-0 (NR)
Class 5A
1. St. James Academy 3-0 (2)
2. Lansing 3-1 (4)
3. St. Thomas Aquinas 1-1 (3)
4. Newton 7-1 (5)
5. Maize 7-1 (8)
6. De Soto 5-0 (9)
7. Pittsburg 4-0 (NR)
8. Goddard-Eisenhower 2-1 (6)
9. Goddard 3-0 (NR)
10. Shawnee Heights 2-2 (1)
Class 4A – Division 1
1. Rose Hill 2-0 (1)
2. Andover Central 2-1 (4)
3. Bishop Miege 0-2 (2)
4. Louisburg 6-1 (3)
5. Basehor-Linwood 7-3 (NR)
6. Abilene 2-1 (5)
7. McPherson 6-2 (7)
8. Maize South 5-3 (9)
9. Ulysses 6-0 (10)
10. Kansas City-Piper 1-1 (8)
President Donald Trump is giving Congress six months to come up with a solution to help unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children, including thousands in Kansas.
U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall, a Republican who represents the 1st District in Kansas, concedes that President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive order that provided a reprieve from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — also known as DACA — may not have been constitutional.
Supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program rallied Tuesday outside the Sedgwick County Courthouse in Wichita. NADYA FAULX / KMUW
“But that’s not my fault, it’s not these kids’ fault,” Marshall said Tuesday in a phone interview. “I have to deal with the situation today — that we have 15,000 DACA kids in Kansas, and that immigration is a top issue in southwest Kansas. So I need to deal with the problem at hand. We need to do the right thing.”
Marshall says law-abiding young people who are in school or have jobs should be granted some sort of legal residency status, with a two-year renewal process.
Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can’t, I will revisit this issue!
Kansas was one of 26 states that had sued over DACA, charging that Obama did not have the authority to create the program by executive order.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a statement Tuesday that he would now ask for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
“The Trump administration’s actions today return the issue to the only place constitutionally empowered to resolve it: The United States Congress,” Schmidt said.
“The obvious reality is our country is not going to round up and deport 800,000 people who in the past were brought here as children, grew up here, have committed no crimes, and now have relied in good faith on the Obama administration’s false but enticing promises,” he said. “Congress needs to enact immigration law that humanely and responsibly fixes this problem once and for all.”
‘Do it the right way’
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has advised President Donald Trump on immigration issues, discussed the future of DACA during several media appearances in recent days.
He said Tuesday on MSNBC that Trump’s decision means the thousands of young immigrants are “back into your illegal status.”
“I would suggest, go home and get in line, come into the United States legally, then get a green card, then become a citizen,” Kobach said. “Do it the right way, like so many hundreds of thousands of your countrymen are trying to do.”
Congressman Ron Estes of Kansas’ 4th District applauded the president for giving Congress time to fix the immigration system and secure the nation’s borders, without providing amnesty.
And U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, from the 3rd District, expressed sympathy for those in DACA, saying he’s not in favor of deporting them. But Yoder said he opposed Obama’s executive order creating DACA and that only Congress has the authority to decide the status of minors brought here illegally.
Rally in Wichita
Trump’s DACA decision sparked a rally in Wichita, where immigration advocates also called on Congress to act.
Carolina Hernandez is the immigrant justice organizer at Sunflower Community Action in Wichita. During the rally outside the Sedgwick County Courthouse, she urged those in the crowd to encourage Congress to protect those in the DACA program.
“We might not know what our future looks like in six months, but we know we have an opportunity to come together,” she said.
After the rally, Hernandez said Trump’s move to rescind DACA is a “wake-up call.”
“We were, you know, pretty comfortable, for these past few years,” she said. “Even myself, I was too.”
Hernandez is originally from Mexico and enrolled in DACA in 2012, when she was 16. When her permit expires in 2019, she won’t be able to reapply.
Leaders of organizations that serve Latino families in the Kansas City area share Hernandez’s concerns.
“These folks have passed background checks, have paid taxes and have done everything they were supposed to do,” said Irene Caudillo, CEO of El Centro in Kansas City, Kansas. “It’s now time for Congress to pass legislation and have the courage to do it.”
El Centro officials and many area educators have been worried about the end of DACA since the election, Caudillo says.
Some local institutions have embraced DACA students. Over the last several years, Kansas State University has been recruiting DACA and other students who are in the country illegally, using privately raised money to provide grants and scholarships. Bryan Thompson is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics.
FINNEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drinking, driving and other charges.
Just before 4p.m. Saturday, police observed a Purple 2006 Chevy HHR driving recklessly in the 300 block of West Mary Street in Garden City, according to a media release. Officers attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle and the driver failed to yield, and a pursuit was initiated.
The pursuit continued west on Mary Street into a rural area of Finney County. As the pursuit continued, an occupant of the vehicle threw beer cans out of the window. With the assistance of the Finney County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect vehicle was disabled near the area of Railroad and VFW Road.
The suspect came to a stop in the 2200 block of West Kansas Avenue.
Espita -photo Finney Co.
Police arrested the driver Jonathan Barboza, 20, Garden City, on requested charges of Fleeing and Eluding (F), DUI, Minor in Consumption, Reckless Driving, No Proof of Insurance, Illegal Tags, and other traffic violations.
Police also arrested the passenger, Victor Espita, 23, of Garden City for a Non-Appearance Warrant for a prior DUI arrest.
MANHATTAN —The Latest on reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation.
Kansas State University released a statement addressing students who may be impacted by possible upcoming changes the status of DACA.
In December 2016, Kansas State University was informed of possible changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, status. With today’s announcement by the executive branch of the federal government, there understandably are concerns by those who will be affected by this action.
The university joins with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in their statement calling for swift congressional action. DACA was initiated by the Obama Administration in 2012. Under the policy, certain undocumented immigrants to the United States who entered the country as minors can receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for employment.
Affected students with questions should contact the Office of Student Life. The university is not aware of any changes that would affect enrollment, admission, student employment or merit scholarship status at this time. There are numerous university resources, such as academic advising, student financial assistance, counseling and health services.
University policies regarding disclosure of student records remain the same under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA. We do not release student records without written consent from the student or a lawfully issued subpoena, warrant or judicial order. It remains our policy to require the necessary legal documents before disclosing student records or information derived from student records.
K-State is committed to providing educational opportunities for all qualified students. We are committed to our Principles of Community, which affirm the inherent dignity and value of every person. We affirm the value of human diversity for community.
Over 400 Barton County fourth graders participated in the 24th annual “Kids Ag Day” Wednesday at the Koelsch farm Southwest of Great Bend. The event works to improve the agricultural literacy of children in Barton County.
GREAT BEND — Robert N. “Bob” Henning, 86, died Sept. 5, 2017, at Clara Barton Hospital, Hoisington. He was born Dec. 5, 1930, at Willowdale, the son of Anthony “Pop” and Emma (Mertens) Henning. He married Elvira “Vera” Elsen Jan. 21, 1956, at St. Patrick Catholic Church Chapel, Great Bend. A Great Bend area resident for 60 years, Mr. Henning worked for Marlette Homes and retired from Fuller Brush. He was a lifelong farmer and stockman, raising pigs and cattle. He was a United States Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict.
