On Saturday, September 15 at 2:06 a.m. Great Bend Police Department officers were dispatched to Charlies Place, 1109 Main, in reference to several fights.

Upon officers arrival there were multiple fights going on behind the bar. Joseph Givens, age 26, pulled a handgun and fired it into the air. Once Givens discharged the gun the crowd fled the area. Givens was arrested and booked at BTSO in lieu of bond.

There were no injuries reported at this time.

If you have any information regarding this crime or any other crime please call the Great Bend Police Department 793-4120 or Crime Stoppers 792-1300.

A visioning project in Great Bend has spent time gathering information about the community in hopes of developing a plan to bring Great Bend into the future.

Great Bend’s population has declined 2.97 percent since 2010, there are 70 vacant housing units for sale, there are four employers that have over 300 employees, and 24 percent of the population is considered a millennial between the age of 15 and 34.

These statistics and many more were put together as a starting point for the master plan according to Sheila Shockey, founder and president of Shockey Consulting Services.

Sheila Shockey Audio

Shockey introduced herself and the intentions of the visioning group at the Great Bend City Council meeting earlier this month.

Shockey Consulting Services was hired by the visioning group known as, “Great Bend, Better than Great,” through money from the Harms Trust. The process includes a steering committee that is meeting to discuss what they want to see in the future.

Sheila Shockey Audio

Shockey says the visioning group will present information about trends that will help community people spur conversation about what to do in the future. Eventually an online survey will be available to identify a long-range vision for the community and strategies to reach their goals.

The master plan of is set to be revealed at the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce banquet next February.

You can learn more about the committee and its goals at gbbetter.com.

The Golden Belt Humane Society will continue to provide animal control services for Barton County after Commissioners approved a new three year agreement Monday. In addition, the Humane Society will continue to assist the Sheriff’s Office with animal control issues and will continue to assist the Health Department and 911 in animal bite cases. The county will have the option to determine the funding level each year, and both the county and Humane Society will have the option to opt out of the agreement by providing 30-days notice. The vote to approve the agreement was 4-1 with the only dissenting vote coming from Commissioner Alicia Straub.

Alicia Straub Audio

The funding level for 2018 will be $31,500, the same amount that has been in place since 2016. Commissioner Don Davis told Straub that the funding level can not be just calculated by taking the total funding amount and dividing it by the number of animals that are cared for.

Don Davis Audio

So far in 2018, the Humane Society has responded to 103 animal complaint calls that have taken place in the unincorporated areas of Barton County.

Press release…

Garrett Kahrs, author and Forge Firebrand Itinerant speaker, will launch the release of his debut book “#Relationshipgoals” from 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 4, located at Celebration Community Church.

In “#Relationshipgoals,” Kahrs invites individuals to share his personal journey in encountering a relationship with God he never knew was possible. The book takes a fresh, unique and scriptural approach in seeing God’s desire for a relationship with us and ways to say “yes” to the life and love He’s always intended.

Kahrs describes how every day, social media pages are filled with millions of people sharing their desire for a relationship that will bring joy and depth to their life. “#Relationshipgoals” shows God’s desire for a relationship with all individuals dating back to the beginning of time and long before the invention of the internet. His book depicts the relational revolution that can happen as individuals discover God’s desire and design for a relationship with Him.

“Many young people are walking away from their faith,” explains Kahrs, “this book records the journey from me being a statistic of walking away from my faith, and how I began to return back to it.”

“#Relationshipgoals: Discovering God’s Desire and Design for a Relationship with Him” is available now for preorder on Amazon.

About the Author:

Kahrs is a Christian speaker who speaks at schools, colleges, churches, young adult events, youth groups, and conferences around the world. He graduated with a degree in Applied Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute, Chicago. Garrett is married to Talia Kahrs, the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Fort Hays State University.

Physical Capacity Profile Testing, also known as “WorkFit”, will continue to be part of the pre-screening process for potential Barton County Employees. WorkFit provides physical capacity profile testing for pre-employment and determines the abilities of the potential employee to perform a job’s essential function, with or without reasonable accommodation. Barton County Commissioners Monday voted 5-0 to continue the Workfit program.

Phil Hathcock Audio

That’s County Administrator Phil Hathock who told the board that the service rate will continue to be $105.00 per testing, which Commissioner Jennifer Schartz says is a good deal for the county.

Jennifer Schartz Audio

WorkFit is a partnership between Advanced Therapy and Sports Medicine and Barton Community College. The comprehensive testing procedure utilizes 28 medical measurements to provide objective baseline data about an employee’s maximum performance.

FEMA/DHS have delayed the planned Wireless Emergency Alert test. It is now scheduled for October 3, 2018 at 1:18 PM CDT.

Again, the scheduled test for this Thursday (September 20) has been postponed until Wednesday, October 3, 2018 at 1:18 PM CDT.  There will not be cell phone interruptions in your facilities this week.

Remember, this will be Presidential Alert which everyone will receive and it can not be “turned off”.

When this test occurs, all WEA capable phones will be triggered. Please plan accordingly.

WEA – Wireless Emergency Alerts (phones)
EAS – Emergency Alert System

9/14

BOOKED: Colby Hopkins on BTDC for bond revoked, no bond. Warrant for burglary, attempted theft, theft x2, bond set at $5,000 C/S. BTDC warrant for burglary x2 and theft, bond set at $5,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Dusti Beckham of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Chad Wornkey of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for domestic battery with a bond set at $1,000 C/S.

RELEASED: Tammy Lowe of Great Bend after completing Great Bend Municipal Court case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: William Rowe of Great Bend on BTDC case for time served.

RELEASED: Chad Wornkey of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for domestic battery after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Dyn-O-Mite.

RELEASED: Michael Mickle of Salina on BTDC warrant for probation violation after posting a $163 cash only bond.

9/15

BOOKED: Joseph Givens of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for unlawful discharge of a firearm, bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Charles Bowers of Great Bend on Barton County District Court case for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, no lamps on bicycle, and criminal littering, bond set at $10,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Nathan Myers of Ness City on HPD case for driving while suspended, bond set at $1,000 C/S or 18-hour OR bond.

BOOKED: Walter Bell on GBMC case for battery DV, bond set in lieu of $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Jackson Whiterock on BTDC serve sentence.

RELEASED: Joseph Givens of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for unlawful discharge of a firearm after he posted a $1,000 surety bond.

RELEASED: Nathan Myers of Ness City on HPD case for driving while suspended, posted bond amount of $1,000 C/S through Ace Bail Bonding.

RELEASED: Walter Bell on GBMC case for battery DV after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding.

9/16

BOOKED: David Brady of Pratt on Barton County District Court case for DUI and speeding, bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Jose Santana of Great Bend on GBMC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Kristie Perez of Ellinwood for Great Bend Municipal Court case for contempt of court, bond set at $1,566.50 cash only.

BOOKED: Candis Christiansen of Great Bend for Great Bend Municipal Court case domestic battery, bond set at $1,000 C/S or 48 hours OR.

BOOKED: Abraham Rivas-Ramos of Great Bend on BTDC case for aggravated battery, bond set at $20,000 C/S.

RELEASED: David Brady of Pratt on Barton County District Court case for DUI and speeding after he posted a $1,000 surety bond.

RELEASED: Brandi Milford of Kingman on Barton County District Court case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Cody Crawford of Great Bend on BCDC case for probation violation, bond revoked.

RELEASED: Candis Ehrlich of Great Bend for Great Bend Municipal Court case for domestic battery after receiving an OR bond through GBPD.

RELEASED: Dusti Beckham of Great Bend on GBMC case for serve sentence after serving.

RELEASED: Kristie Perez of Hoisington on GBMC warrant for contempt of court after she posted a $1,566.50 cash bond.

First as usual, a drought update is in order and it reflects the rainfall from the previous weekend.  The rains prior to 8 a.m. September 11, significantly improved drought conditions across the state.  Essentially the western two-thirds of the state is totally out of soil moisture deficit conditions.  The area of extreme and exceptional drought has retreated to the east of Manhattan towards Kansas City.  And the additional rains should help ease conditions further.  Now, although no one wants to say it too loudly, we need a dry stretch with seasonal temperatures.  Much of the corn is ready or almost ready to cut.  Soybeans should be able to finish well and much of the milo looks great.  The only fly in the ointment would an early frost, especially for the cotton crop to the south of Barton County.  Wheat farmers will have to adjust to dealing with wet soils as they prepare ground to plant the 2019 crop.  Now for today’s topic.

If you pay any attention to what’s going on in the world of agriculture, it’s hard to miss the concern over insect pollinators, their role in pollinating many of the foods we eat, and the challenges they face on a variety of fronts.  These challenges include climate change, loss of habitat, pesticide use and for bees – colony collapse disorder.  Pollinators are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of fruits and vegetables every year.  This isn’t just certain insecticides but also it seems for bees, fungicides.  K-State Research and Extension has just released a new publication entitled “Pesticides and Bees.”  The publication may be downloaded for free here as am Adobe file and contains valuable information: https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/Item.aspx?catId=236&pubId=21298.  It provides information on minimizing the possible damage to bees through proper pesticide use.

Other problems include loss of specific plants for specific pollinators, for example milkweed species and the Monarch butterfly.  Here again, information can and is helping, but not just for Monarch butterflies.  To that end, The Kansas Wetlands Education Center hosted a butterfly festival yesterday.  And it included a stop on bees.  The Kansas State Fair has a new butterfly exhibit and features Monarch butterflies.  The Great Bend Zoo also has a butterfly enclosure.  Kansas 4-H is actively involved in education regarding pollinators. The list could go on and on.  Many state agencies across the country, including the KDWPT, are working to improve pollinator habitat.

You may be wondering why this is featured in an ag column.  Simply put, where we produce crops and livestock is an interconnected ecosystem between the managed and natural world.  Complicating the problem is a changing climate which is having a significant negative impact on pollinators.  We risk much by ignoring one for the other and the unintended consequences of ignoring or eradicating something as simple as a butterfly species can have a cascade of unintended and irreversible consequences.

If you’ve attended a K-State Research and Extension wheat plot tour in the last few years, you might remember the K-State Specialist mentioning the dangers of stem rust and the increasing use of susceptible varieties. Although the disease has been well controlled lately, stem rust is a potential threat every year.