Boxes of Love will once again be delivered to homebound seniors in Barton & Pawnee Counties. This is the third year for this project, and is a collaboration of United Way of Central Kansas, ElderCare Home Services, Meals on Wheels, and RSVP/Volunteers in Action. Partnering together, these non-profits work to brighten the day and warm the hearts of hundreds of seniors throughout Central Kansas.

Each box is filled with items for these seniors, some of them just for fun, and some practical items. Items include stationary and cough drops to shampoo and conditioner. Due to the size of the box and transportation of the packages, we do request that items be travel sized. Each box also gets topped off with homemade Valentine’s Day cards made by children at Great Bend Children’s Learning Center and Caring Hands Daycare.

The project is already off and running with donations from Dillon’s, Thrivent Financial, and Midwest Energy. Thanks to these generous donations each box will have chocolates, stamps, and night lights included.

If you would like to make a donation to Box of Love to show love to a homebound senior this Valentine’s Day, you can drop off your donations at: Clara Barton Hospital, University of Kansas Health System-Pawnee Valley Campus, First Kansas Bank (Hoisington & Great Bend), Trinity Lutheran Church, Sunflower Bank (Ellinwood & Great Bend), and Farmers Bank & Trust.

If you don’t have a chance to run to the store to make a donation, cash donations are accepted and will be used to purchase items for each box. Please make checks payable to United Way of Central Kansas, 1125 Williams, Great Bend, KS 67530.

ELLIS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two individuals in connection with a report of the shots fired call at Walmart in Hays.

Just before 7p.m. police dispatch received multiple calls of shots being fired inside the Walmart store, 4301 Vine Street in Hays, according to a media release.

Officers responded to Walmart for an active shooter situation.  Upon their arrival people were running from the store. Eye-witnesses identified two suspects as being involved in the shooting incident.  Officers quickly apprehended the suspects identified as Linda J. Lipe 45, and Phillip L. Lipe, 68,  both from Norcatur, Kansas.

Walmart was closed while the scene was processed and the building was searched.

The investigation has determined there was only one bullet discharged from a pistol owned by the Lipes, and that the gun went off after it was accidentally dropped on the floor.  The discharged bullet did not injure anyone.

Phillip and Linda Lipe were arrested on the following charges: criminal use of a weapon, endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits, interference with a law enforcement officer, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.  They were booked into the Ellis County Jail.

Can you feed your pregnant cows so their steer calves gain more weight and more heifer calves get pregnant?  Recent research suggests that proper supplementation pays off.

As winter forage quality declines and cow nutrient demands increase, wise operators feed protein supplements to assure healthy calves plus cows that will rebreed rapidly. But protein supplements are expensive, so we usually feed only what the cow needs to stay healthy.

New research, though, suggests that this strategy of minimizing input costs may overlook the impact supplements have on the future performance of the unborn calf.

Recent research has shown that properly supplementing the cow can increase profitability of the calf she’s carrying. In one study, steers born from cows that received protein supplement while grazing winter range produced an extra 60 pounds of carcass weight per animal compared to steers from non-supplemented cows.

In other studies, the pregnancy rate of heifers calved from cows that received protein supplements while grazing corn residue or winter range was higher than heifers from non-supplemented cows. And steers from these supplemented cows graded choice more often.

This outcome, where supplementing protein to the cow improves the performance of her calves later in life is called fetal programming. It is thought to occur partly because cow nutrition affects development of fetal organs and muscles, which is highest during the last third of gestation. Since most winter feeding and grazing programs use forages that are low in protein, adequate supplementing can pay big dividends.

As your cows approach calving time, don’t overfeed but also don’t scrimp on the protein. Feed what is needed, both for the cow and her calf.  You’ll be money ahead.

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910

The Barton County Communications and 911 Department handled 97,891 phone calls from both incoming and outgoing lines in 2018. Of those, 12,953 were 911 calls and 84,938 were administrative calls answered from the public and officers.

Barton County 911 Director Dena Popp says the amount of 911 calls in 2018 was down roughly 90 from the year before, but administrative calls went up 23,000. Popp feels some of that increase in administrative calls is the uptick in information to educate the public of what is an emergency and what is not.

Dena Popp Audio

When citizens call the Barton County Communications administrative line, 620-793-1920, Popp says the ring is different for their dispatchers compared to a 911 call.

Dena Popp Audio

Of the incoming 911 calls, 98.74 percent of them were answered within 15 seconds. The busiest month was October and the slowest month was February. About 78 percent of the 911 calls were from wireless devices.

The City of Great Bend is currently seeking a new Building Inspector to replace Lee Schneider who is retiring in May. Fire Chief Luke McCormick says they hope to have the new person in place before then so the new hire will have time to take advantage of Schneider’s 40+ years on the job in Great Bend. Battalion Chief John Stettinger has worked along side Schneider for every one of his years in the Department and appreciates everything that Schneider has done. Stettinger says is was also nice that Schneider was a firefighter too.

John Stettinger Audio

According to the job description on the city web-site, the Building Inspector works under the general direction from the Fire Chief and performs duties to ensure that codes are being enforced at an acceptable level. The scope of work encompasses all aspects of code enforcement including plan reviews, building code enforcement, nuisance code enforcement, building demolition and zoning administration.

Start times for Friday’s games the St. John Mid-Winter Classic have been moved up due to the impending weather.

St. John High School announced Thursday that the first game Friday will begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by a semi-final winner’s bracket game at 3:00, then another winner’s bracket game between St. John and Central Plains starting at 4:30.

Saturday’s game times remain unchanged.

Last year, the Great Bend City Council authorized funds to purchase a drone for use by both the Great Bend Fire Department and Police Department.

Last week, those departments got a step closer to drone use after staff went to Fort Hays State University to become certified drone pilots through an FAA Certification Program. Fire Chief Luke McCormick and firefighter Mike Smith along with Great Bend Police Chief David Bailey and Detective Heather Smith attended and passed the certification test.

McCormick says the use of drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, is becoming more routine for departments across the country.

Luke McCormick Audio

For now, the departments will share the drone which McCormick says is a good way to operate since most times they are in a mutual aid situation anyway.

Luke McCormick Audio

FAA regulations currently control the use of UAVs in the United States. These regulations prevent the commercial use of drones and are banned except for those that are used for recreational use. This ban applies to the fire service and requires a certificate of authority from the FAA prior to use, something that both departments took care of last week in Hays.