It is not as big of a truck stop that many people in Great Bend have been seeking, but Great Bend Chamber of Commerce CEO Jan Peters says it is the closest thing the City can get right now.

Peters announced at Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting that Love’s Country Store on 10^th Street will be expanding their property lines to include diesel pumps and semi-truck parking.

Peters noted the Chamber and City of Great Bend have been working with Love’s since 2015 to install a truck stop.

Jan Peters Audio

Love’s plans to expand their current location to the south and the east. Along with creating parking stalls for trucks, the expansion will have two diesel bays.

Peters acknowledged that they were working with Love’s to relocate further east near the Kansas Department of Transportation building and Eldridge Fencing to a much bigger lot to help alleviate the truck parking at Walmart. Love’s noted the success of the current location as the reason to stay put.

Jan Peters Audio

Love’s will spend $1.5 million to $2 million on the renovation. Engineers from Love’s anticipate coming to Great Bend in mid-January to work out more of the details and contracts.

Other news from the City Council meeting Dec. 17, 2018…

– City Administrator Kendal Francis said Venture Corporation anticipates finishing asphalting 8th Street between McKinley and Grant this week. Waterline construction will begin after the asphalt is laid.

– Public works will be doing patching work on 10th Street near Burger King and Sonic starting at 4 a.m. Dec. 18 and hope to be done by 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. Repairing potholes will eventually take place at the Harrison & Broadway intersection.

– Public works has also inspected and flushed all fire hydrants in town. They identified roughly 10 that need repairs. The fire hydrant at 24th & Washington was struck in a hit-and-run accident last week and needs repairs. Francis said that hydrant and the one at 24th & Adams have valves that are not properly working. The hit-and-run accident caused Jefferson Elementary School to close for a period of time last week because the City could not get the valves shut off quick enough. Police Chief David Bailey says the Police Department is still investigating the case to locate the driver.

– Community Coordinator Christina Hayes mentioned the Trail of Lights was referenced in winter edition of Kansas Magazine.

– The City Council approved 2018 nonbudgeted transfers from the general fund not to exceed $2,140,389.12.

– A renegotiated contract between the City and Great Bend Chamber of Commerce was approved that starts Dec. 18, 2018 that better outlines the scope of services and articulates the Chamber’s goals.

– The Council removed the request for Executive Session to discuss City Administrator Kendal Francis’ evaluation and potential pay raise. City Attorney Bob Suelter said the staff wanted to create some guidelines for the Council to conduct the six-month evaluation of Francis. Francis started at the end of July so the evaluation will need to be done at the next meeting in January.

The Great Bend High School KSHSAA Regional Debate team of Patrick Heath, Bayle Sandy, Geoffrey Pafford, Isaiah Smith, Malachi Wasson and Skylar Fletcher tied for third place at Regionals this past Saturday at Salina South. After tie breakers, the team officially finished in fourth place.

The regional tournament is unique in that one, four-person squad plus alternates is chosen to represent the school. While debaters usually alternate affirming the resolution and attacking the resolution, at regionals one team debates affirmative all day while the other team debates negative all day. The tournament is also a round-robin tournament with every school having the opportunity to debate every other school on both sides of the question.

Great Bend defeated Valley Center, Salina South and McPherson on one side of the question. The Panther debaters lost both rounds against Newton, but soundly defeated Hays on both the affirmative and the negative.

Selected to represent Great Bend on the affirmative side were the team of Bayle Sandy and Patrick Heath.

Mrs. Heath noted, “Patrick and Bayle consistently outdebated teams with an affirmative case that they had poured their hearts into all season long. They did it while setting tremendous examples for my novices of how to work hard, take coaching advice and speak confidently and maturely. I am blessed that they will be returning as senior leaders next year.”

On the negative side, the team was handicapped when junior Daniel Abbott was unable to debate due to illness. Freshmen alternates, Wasson and Smith, stepped up and rotated in to debate with senior Geoffrey Pafford.

Heath praised Pafford saying, “When faced with his last debate tournament ever and confronted with the reality of losing the partner he had strategized with and prepared with all season long to illness, Geoffrey stepped up to lead these two novices on the negative side. His wonderful attitude is a model for all my students of how they should act in the face of adversity.” She continued, “The lessons learned by Malachi and Isaiah, who got this opportunity to debate with Geoffrey at the Regional level, will carry them far in this activity. I am going to greatly miss his senior leadership.”

Other December Debate Results

December began with the debaters travelling to Clay Center on Saturday, December 1st. The novice team of Tia Mitchell and CJ Gibson amassed 3 wins and 2 losses and earned fifth place medals. Novices also lead the Great Bend debaters in the open division at Clay Center. Freshmen, Skylar Fletcher and Malachi Wasson earned a 3 win and 2 loss record. While freshman debater, Isaiah Smith, competed with senior Geoffrey Pafford for a 2 win and 3 loss record. Juniors Patrick Heath and Bayle Sandy also finished with 2 wins and 3 losses.

The novice season officially ended on December 4th with an evening tournament at Lyons. Four freshmen represented Great Bend High School. Natalie Bayona and Citraly Torres won 2 rounds and lost 1, while the team of Smith and Wasson compiled 1 win and 2 losses.

Saturday, December 8th found the Panther debaters at a regional, warm-up tournament at Moundridge. Like regionals, GBHS was represented by a 4-speaker team. Sandy and Fletcher debated on the affirmative, while Pafford and Abbott debated on the negative. Great Bend finished with six wins and four losses to finish 7th out of 23 different teams from various classifications.

Reflecting on the year first-year, debate coach Kim Heath said, “I am proud to say that all of my squad’s goals for the year have been met. We ended the year with an above 50% win/loss record and all members of the team earned membership in the National Speech and Debate Association honor society. We learned, grew and improved throughout the semester. I can’t wait to see what forensics season holds!”

Competitive speech, also known as forensics, will begin in the middle of January 2019.

Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer has signed off on the appointment of Levi Morris as Barton County Attorney. Morris and Barton County Commissioners both received letters from the Governor on Saturday. Morris’ name was submitted last week to the Governor after he was elected by the Barton County Republican Committee to replace former County Attorney Amy Mellor who resigned effective December 7th.

Before Monday’s Commission meeting, Morris took a few minutes to meet with the board where he was asked what his vision was for the office going forward.

Levi Morris Audio

Commissioners including Chairman Jennifer Schartz said they were supportive of Morris as he begins to fill the final two years of Mellor’s term in office.

Jennifer Schartz Audio

Morris told Commissioners that he would expect to be sworn into office later this week but added that it will take a little bit of time to close out his private practice that he has in both Lyons and Great Bend. He plans to move to Great Bend from Lyons as soon as he able to sell his home.

Morris is familiar with the Barton County Attorney’s Office after working there from 2013 to 2015 where he was responsible for prosecuting felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, child in need of care cases and juvenile offenders. In 2015 he left to begin his own law practice.

BUSINESS NEWS

written by: Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice

Recently I have been relating some lessons from a vacation my wife and I took this summer. We spent a couple weeks in the mountains of Colorado. While there, we had a rotation of visitors. They included friends and family
members.

I enjoy hiking. I have an old backpack that I keep packed for hikes. It includes a water bottle, water filtration system, compass, map, matches, and other survival items. During our stay in Colorado, one of my sons led a hike of some friends into the mountains. He “borrowed” my backpack, which was fine.

Several days later I decided to go up a mountain trail. As I was about to start my hike, I put on my backpack, but it seemed strangely light. I discovered that the water filtration system, my jacket, and map were missing. Later, I had a talk with my son.

After our vacation to Colorado I met with a family. In 2012, they set up an estate plan. When I met with them in November of 2018, their “estate plan” included a Tupperware container of documents.

What did I discover? Land and other assets were not in their trust (which would end up requiring a probate). They had children that helped them invest some of their money, but did not consider their estate plan in that process. As a result, the money in the investments was not properly titled in a trust, nor were the funds going where the family intended on their death. As I asked questions I kept getting blank looks from my clients and their family.

Keep in mind that in 2012 their plan was in order. Now they did not even know what they had. Part of the problem was things had been taken out; and other things were put in or intended to be put in.

And now, mom was sick; dad was burned out; they were trying to stay at home; and they wondered what to do next and whether they had what all they needed.

It was kind of like my backpack – originally it contained all the tools they needed to travel safely, or in the event of an emergency. But now my clients were lost; they looked in their “backpack” and did not know what was there, what should be there, and whether they had what they needed for their journey.

This is what happens many times: people set up a plan for a given trip. Then they deal with their family, accountant or investment person, creating changes. Or something happens that is a significant event (death, marriage, illness, etc.). But those changes do not make it back into their plan or their plan is not adjusted as a result of those changes. The result is their backpack is not ready for their journey.

What do you do? First, realize certain events may require changes to what is in your backpack; or may even require a brand new backpack.

Second, be careful with people that may modify what is in your backpack, without actually knowing what was in your backpack and what was intended to stay in your backpack. It could have a significant effect.

Third, review your backpack often (every year). Be sure it has in there what you think it has, and that it will take you on your journey. I do not make these comments lightly. I know I have to look in my own “backpack” every so often. When do I do it? I usually do it at tax time. In addition, every couple years I ask my law partner to look over what is in my backpack to be sure I am not missing anything.

My law partner asks me some good questions: “Are there any family dynamics?” “Have you opened any new accounts?” “Can I look at your tax return to see what accounts you have?” You would be surprised how often she finds something that I need to fix. Usually it is a little thing, but it is something that by fixing it now makes it a lot cheaper later on.

Have someone look through your backpack with you. And do not let people take stuff out of your backpack without your knowledge and without your understanding the implications.

Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to randy@clinkscaleslaw.com. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.

They went 13-0 by outscoring their opponents 628 to 34, posted 9 shutouts and finished the season as the number 3 ranked 8-Man football team in the entire country. A good reason to designate Monday as “Central Plains High School Football State Champions Day” which Barton County Commissioners did during their Monday morning meeting.

Head Coach Chris Steiner, his coaching staff, all the players and Athletic Director Pat Stiles crowded into the Commission chambers to be presented with the honor that Steiner says is a credit to what his kids did both on and off the field.

Chris Steiner Audio

Steiner was named the 8-Man Division I Coach of the Year while defensive end Brett Liebl was named Defensive Player of the Year after leading Division I in sacks this past season.

Commissioner Kenny Schremmer found it all very impressive.

Kenny Schremmer Audio

The football team follows the Central Plains boys and girls basketball teams who were recognized with a day of their own last Spring after winning the 2A State Championship. The girls won the title for a 5th straight season.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Last week the House passed H.R. 1318, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017, legislation that aims to address maternal deaths across America by improving data collection analysis. Congressman Marshall, an early cosponsor of the bill, worked with patient advocates in urging Congress to pass this much needed legislation.

“Despite modern medical advancements, and improvements in care, nationally, the number of mothers who die from pregnancy-related causes remains far too high,”Rep. Marshall said.“Maternal mortality rates are tracked by the CDC, and show that nationally, maternal deaths have actually increased in recent years to 20.7 deaths per 100,000 live births. The good news is that Kansas has set the standard, already bucking the national trend, with maternal mortality decreasing from 19.6 to 17.7 deaths since 2016. Currently there are gaps in identifying trends and developing strategies for better patient outcomes, which this bill aims to address.”

Following the vote in the House, the Senate passed this legislation with unanimous consent. It now heads to the president’s desk for a final signature.

“Throughout my career as an OB/GYN, I am proud to have delivered thousands of babies into the arms of healthy mothers, but at times, there are circumstances beyond our control that are not fully understood,” Marshall said.“By improving data collection and analysis, and enhancing federal and state engagement, we can gain a better understanding of these causes. Not only will this be beneficial for public health officials, but it will allow my fellow physicians to continue to improve the quality of care we provide.”

Earlier this year, Congressman Marshall joined The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper, for an in-depth discussion on improving maternal and child health in the U.S.

12/14

BOOKED: Damien Clone of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear, bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Andrew Campbell of Great Bend on Barton County District case for hold for court.

BOOKED: Annalise Moore of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and no head lamps with a bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Melissa Slack on serve sentence.

BOOKED: Gerald Martin of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for bond revocation, no bond.

BOOKED: Cody Griffin on Reno County District Court warrant for probation violation, bond set in lieu of $5,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Aaron Pohlman of Ellinwood on BTDC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Carey Julian of Hudson on Barton County District Court warrant for theft, bond set at $2,500 C/S.

BOOKED: Oray Gray of Great Bend on BTDC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Christopher Fuentes of Hoisington on HPD case for burglary, released by order of the court.

RELEASED: Annalise Moore of Great Bend on BCDC case for aggravated battery, possession of marijuana, and possession of paraphernalia after posting $20,000 surety bond through Dyn-O-Mite. BCDC warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and no head lamps after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Dyn-O-Mite.

12/15

BOOKED: Christopher Morris of Salina on BTDC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Gerald Martin of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for possession of stolen property, possession of controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while suspended with a bond set at $20,000 C/S. Bond was revoked.

BOOKED: Christina Jimenez of Hoisington on Barton County District Court warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Miguel Jimenez on Barton County Court warrant for possession of controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, bond in lieu of $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Katana Jimenez of Hoisington on Barton County District Court warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia with bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Chad Schuster of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for disorderly conduct, bond set at $500 C/S.

RELEASED: Shaina Kuester on BCDC case for time served.

RELEASED: Miguel Jimenez on BCDC warrant for possession of controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.

RELEASED: Christina Jimenez of Hoisington on BCDC warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.

RELEASED: Katana Jimenez of Hoisington on BCDC warrant for possession of controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.

RELEASED: Carey Julian of Hudson on BCDC warrant for theft after posting a $2,500 surety bond through American Western Bonding.

RELEASED: Chad Schuster of Great Bend on BCDC warrant for disorderly conduct after he posted a $500 surety bond.

12/16

RELEASED: Ouray Gray of Great Bend on Barton County District Court serve sentence after he served a partial sentence.

RELEASED: Melissa Slack of Great Bend on Central Kansas Community Corrections serve sentence after serving partial sentence.

RELEASED: Aaron Pohlman of Great Bend on BTDC case for serve sentence.