Roger Ward went before the Great Bend City Council on April 2 asking for a vehicle to drag the field at Al Burns Field this summer.
Ward is the manager of the Great Bend Bat Cats, the summer collegiate baseball team that will make use of Al Burns Field again this year for their home games in the Jayhawk Baseball League.
Last year, a local business donated a 4-wheeler to attach the drag to, but that ATV was not available this year. While the City of Great Bend provided Ward with no option to drag the field on the city-owned field, Straub International provided the Bat Cats with a unit to attach the drag to.
Roger Ward Audio
Dragging a baseball field helps redistribute the soil in the infield to prevent bad hops and leave an even surface.
The City Council changed the facility fee from $750 to $1 to assist Ward with finding a vehicle capable of pulling the drag.
The Bat Cats start the season May 30 in Ellinwood and will play their first game in Great Bend on June 5.
PRATT COUNTY — Wednesday’s round of severe weather brought reports of five more tornadoes along with damaging wind and hail in many areas of Kansas.
Storm damage Wednesday in Pratt County-photo courtesy KWCH
Wind gusts of sixty to ninety mile per hour were reported in Pratt County, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts over seventy miles per hour were reported in Greenwood County.
Residents in Reno and McPherson County also reported tennis ball size hail. There are no injuries reported.
FORD COUNTY — A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. Wednesday in Ford County.
Wednesday accident scene -photo courtesy Ford County Fire and EMS
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chrysler passenger vehicle driven by Frank Nall, 88, Offerle, was westbound on US 50 two miles west of Offerle.
Due to weather the driver could not see. The Chrysler traveled left of center and struck the fourth axle of the trailer on an eastbound semi driven by Almir Pracic, 47, Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
The accident temporarily blocked traffic on U.S. 50
Nova Martensen was just two years old when she died from cancer on January 21, 2018. The Great Bend toddler was a member of Kans for Kids Fighting Cancer and the daughter of Josh and Heaven Martensen. Nova’s family continues to fight to bring awareness to childhood cancer.
Josh found out about a man named Kevin Fern, a childhood cancer survivor that is walking across the United States to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer oncology camps across the country.
Josh Martensen Audio
Nova Martensen
Kevin started his journey in Manhattan Beach in California on March 25 and it will take him to Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Along the trek, Kevin will push an IV pole that will hold cancer wristbands for children across the country, including Nova’s.
Martensen has reached out to several news stations along Kevin’s route to bring more awareness to his cause.
Josh Martensen Audio
Kevin Fern
It is a seven-month journey for Kevin and he is currently in Phoenix, Arizona. Martensen says the closest Kevin’s path will take him to Kansas is the northern tip of Texas. Martensen plans to make it down to Texas when Kevin comes through and walk a portion of the journey with him.
RENO COUNTY— One person was injured in an accident just before noon Wednesday in Reno County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Ford passenger vehicle driven by Jean L. Cole, 66, Larned, was eastbound on U.S. 50 two miles west of Sylvia in a construction zone following a pilot car.
The Ford rear-ended a 2016 International semi driven by Lashawn Linnwood Tony Spiller, 37, Manhattan, that slowed when the pilot car slowed.
Cole was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
Spiller was not injured. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director for the Cottonwood Extension District – Great Bend Office. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu
written by: Donna Krug, Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director, Cottonwood Extension District – Great Bend Office
National Bike Month includes an ever-expanding diversity of events in communities nationwide – but the biggest day of the month is Bike to Work Day. In 2018, Bike to Work Week will be May 14-18, with Bike to Work Day on May 18.
40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it is not surprising that, from 2000 to 2013, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more than 62 percent.
I started bike commuting a number of years ago when there was street construction downtown and parking spaces were limited. I found that if I rode to work in the morning, home for lunch and home again at the end of the day I would log a total of 7 miles. Now I’m hooked on bike commuting. Unless it is below 15 degrees or icy underfoot, you are likely to see me in my hi-vis green jacket pedaling to or from work.
Bike commuting is a great way to squeeze regular exercise into a busy schedule. Commuting time can be used to stay in shape instead of sitting frustrated in traffic. Statistics also show that bicycle commuters are happier and more productive at work. The mild temperatures we have been enjoying the past few days give us few excuses to not get out there and go for a ride. Whether you are an occasional or everyday rider please keep the following bicycle safety tips in mind.
Consider a helmet a necessity. Without a helmet, riders who sustain an injury are 14 times more likely to become a fatality. Choose a helmet that meets or exceeds safety standards established by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Make sure the helmet fits, rather than one a child will grow into. Replace the helmet if an accident occurs or if the helmet is badly jarred or cracked.
Ride with traffic, rather than facing the traffic. Consider adding a rear view mirror to your bicycle gear. I have one that attaches to my helmet so I can constantly monitor the traffic behind me.
Obey traffic signals. Use hand signals to let others know your intentions.
Stay alert and keep your mind on your riding. This should be the same advice for many people in cars. Too many times we have been in close calls with drivers who are on cell phones or just inattentive to the traffic around them.
Many parents ask at what age a child is old enough to ride in the street rather than on the sidewalk. There is not a one-size-fits-all age. A child’s maturity level is the main factor. Other factors are
the size of the community, traffic patterns and congestion, and whether it is a residential area or a business district. A smaller community can seem peaceful and safe, but may have periods when safety is compromised – for example, after a ball game, during a community festival, or at harvest time.
Now go out and enjoy this beautiful spring weather with a family bike ride!
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House lawyer Ty Cobb will retire at the end of the month, the White House said Wednesday, further shaking up President Donald Trump’s legal team as the president intensifies his attacks on the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
Cobb-photo courtesy Hogan-Lovels
Cobb, the White House point person on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, informed White House chief of staff John Kelly last week that he would retire at the end of May. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Cobb had been discussing the decision for “several weeks.”
Cobb did not personally represent the president, but he was a key adviser, coordinating the administration’s dealings with Mueller. His retirement comes as the president’s personal legal team has been negotiating the terms of a possible sit-down between Trump and prosecutors.
It also comes a day after one of Trump’s former personal attorneys, John Dowd, confirmed to The Associated Press that Mueller’s team in March raised the prospect of issuing a grand jury subpoena for Trump, an extraordinary idea that would seek to force a sitting president to testify under oath.
Dowd said Mueller’s team broached the subject during a meeting with Trump’s legal team while they were negotiating the terms of the possible interview with the president.
Dowd himself left Trump’s legal team more than a month ago.
It was not immediately clear in what context the possibility of a subpoena was raised or how serious Mueller’s prosecutors were about such a move. Mueller is probing not only Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates but possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
Trump lashed out against the investigation in a familiar fashion Wednesday, saying on Twitter: “There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap).”
Even if Mueller’s team decided to subpoena Trump as part of the investigation, the president could still fight it in court or refuse to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination.
Dowd’s comments provide a new window into the nature of the Trump lawyers’ interactions with the special counsel, whom the president has increasingly tried to undermine through public attacks.
On Tuesday, Trump said it was “disgraceful” that a list of proposed questions drafted in response to Mueller’s negotiations with the legal team was “leaked” to the news media.
The about four dozen questions were compiled by Trump’s lawyers during negotiations with Mueller’s investigators earlier this year over the prospect of a presidential interview.
A person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, told the AP that the president’s lawyers extrapolated the list of expected questions based on conversations with Mueller’s team about the topics prosecutors wanted to cover with Trump. The questions reflected what the defense lawyers anticipated Trump would be asked, rather than verbatim queries that Mueller’s team provided, the person said.
The Washington Post first reported that Mueller’s team raised the possibility of a subpoena for Trump. The New York Times first published the list of questions.
According to the list, the questions range from Trump’s motivations for firing FBI Director James Comey a year ago to contacts Trump’s campaign had with Russians. Although Mueller’s team has indicated to Trump’s lawyers that he’s not considered a target, investigators remain interested in whether the president’s actions constitute obstruction of justice and want to interview him about several episodes in office. They have not yet made a decision about an interview.
In his tweet, Trump said there were “no questions on Collusion” and, as he as many times before, called Mueller’s investigation a “Russian witch hunt.” He said collusion with the Russians “never existed.”
In a second tweet, Trump said: “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened.”
The questions do appear to indicate that Mueller is looking into possible collusion. Some touch on Russian meddling and whether the Trump campaign coordinated in any way with the Kremlin. In one question, Mueller asks what Trump knew about campaign staff, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, reaching out to Moscow.
Mueller has brought several charges against Manafort already, including money laundering and bank fraud. None of the charges relates to allegations of Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates, and Manafort has denied having anything to do with such an effort.
The questions also involve key moments from the early months of the Trump administration, including his reaction to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation and Trump’s firing of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
One question asks whether there were any efforts to reach out to Flynn “about seeking immunity or possible pardon” ahead of his guilty plea last year. Flynn is now cooperating with Mueller.
Plenty of new additions are coming for this year’s June Jaunt celebration in Great Bend. The 7th annual event will have entertainment the first weekend in June, and 2018 will include a strongman and athletic competition.
Great Bend’s Strongest & Fittest competition will be June 2 to find out who the strongest male and female is in the area.
The event is organized by The Fieldhouse, and owner Julie Spray says contestants will challenge themselves with strength, endurance, power, speed, and agility tests.
Julie Spray Audio
The competition will be 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Kansas Avenue, between Broadway & Lakin. There is a $50 entry fee with cash prizes available. Spray noted the challenge is open to anyone, with a couple of entries already received from Salina. For more information on the event, contact The Fieldhouse at 620-603-8586 or fieldhousegb@gmail.com.
For a full weekend schedule of June Jaunt, go to Explore Great Bend on Facebook.
After enduring drought, freeze and hail, the moment of truth has arrived for the 2018 winter wheat crop in the Golden Belt and the State of Kansas.
Jeff Mauler Audio
That’s Great Bend COOP Seed Manager Jeff Mauler who was a guest Wednesday during the early morning show on 1590 KVGB and 97.7 FM.
According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the winter wheat condition in the state last week rated 16 percent very poor, 34 poor, 37 fair, 12 good, and 1-percent excellent. Winter wheat jointed was 52 percent, well behind 89 last year and 77-percent for the five-year average. Headed was 2 percent, well behind 41 last year and 24-percent average.
As for fall planting, Mauler says producers in this area have been very busy putting seed in the ground.
Jeff Mauler Audio
According to the USDA, corn planted in Kansas was 27 percent, behind 36 last year and the 35-percent average. Emerged was 6 percent, behind 11 last year and the 14-percent average.
Soybeans planted was 2 percent, equal to both last year and the average.
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge will be hosting a special event in honor of International Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, May 12. The event will feature a series of scheduled bird walks and guided birding caravan tours. These tours will begin from Quivira’s Environmental Education Classroom (EEC), located in the center of the Refuge, 8 miles north of the Visitor Center.
Tours are scheduled for the following times: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, and 1:00 pm, respectively. Registration is not necessary. Anyone interested in attending one of the tours simply needs to arrive at
the EEC at least 10 minutes prior to the start time of the selected tour.
Caravan tours will involve one or more personal vehicles birding as a group (these are not guided bus tours). All ages are welcome, but participants need to dress for outdoor weather and wear sturdy shoes for walking.
Quivira’s Visitor Center, located at the south end of the Refuge, will also be open during the event. The Center has educational displays about the Refuge, as well as restrooms and drinking water.
As with all of Quivira’s events and programs, there is no charge for the event. To find out more about the Migratory Bird Day at Quivira, please call Quivira at (620)-486-2393.
Roger Ward went before the Great Bend City Council on April 2 asking for a vehicle to drag the field at Al Burns Field this summer.
