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Students in Hutchinson, across Kansas walk out in gun protests

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Students walk out in Hutchinson on Wednesday morning

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – With the student walkouts across the country, about 200 students walked out of class this morning to protest gun violence, one month after the deadly shooting inside a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Ray Hemman with USD 308 was at Hutchinson High School and in an email, says he was very proud of their students saying they were extremely respectful and quiet throughout the 17 minutes.

He says you could literally hear birds chirping in the quad, train whistles, and other city sounds. When it was over, they quietly returned to class.

Organizers say nearly 3,000 walkouts are set in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged following the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Students from the elementary to college level are taking up the call in a variety of ways. Some planned roadside rallies to honor shooting victims and protest violence. Others were to hold demonstrations in school gyms or on football fields. In Massachusetts and Ohio, students said they’ll head to the statehouse to lobby for new gun regulations.

The coordinated walkout was organized by Empower, the youth wing of the Women’s March, which brought thousands to Washington, D.C., last year. The group urged students to leave class at 10 a.m. local time for 17 minutes — one minute for each victim in the Florida shooting.

Although the group wanted students to shape protests on their own, it also offered them a list of demands for lawmakers, including a ban on assault weapons and mandatory background checks for all gun sales.

“Our elected officials must do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to this violence,” the group said on its website.

It’s one of several protests planned for coming weeks. The March for Our Lives rally for school safety is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to the nation’s capital on March 24, its organizers said. And another round of school walkouts is planned for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.

After the walkout Wednesday, some students in Massachusetts say they plan to rally outside the Springfield headquarters of the gun maker Smith & Wesson. Students and religious leaders are expected to speak at the rally and call on the gun maker to help curb gun violence.

At Case Elementary School in Akron, Ohio, a group of fifth-graders have organized a walkout with the help of teachers after seeing parallels in a video they watched about youth marches for civil rights in 1963. Case instructors said 150 or more students will line a sidewalk along a nearby road, carrying posters with the names of Parkland victims.

The walkouts have drawn support from companies including media conglomerate Viacom, which said it will pause programming on MTV, BET and all its other networks for 17 minutes during the walkouts, and students will temporarily take over MTV’s social media accounts.

The planned protests have drawn mixed reactions from school administrators. While some applaud students for taking a stand, others threatened discipline. Districts in Sayreville, New Jersey, and Maryland’s Harford County drew criticism this week when they said students could face punishment for leaving class.

In suburban Atlanta, one of Georgia’s largest school systems announced that students who participate might face unspecified consequences.

But some vowed to walk out anyway.

“Change never happens without backlash,” said Kara Litwin, a senior at Pope High School in the Cobb County School District.

The possibility of being suspended “is overwhelming, and I understand that it’s scary for a lot of students,” said Lian Kleinman, a junior at Pope High.

“For me personally this is something I believe in, this is something I will go to the ends of the Earth for,” Kleinman said.

Other schools sought a middle ground, offering “teach-ins” or group discussions on gun violence. Some worked with students to arrange protests in safe locations on campus. Officials at Boston Public Schools said they arranged a day of observance Wednesday with a variety of activities “to provide healthy and safe opportunities for students to express their views, feelings and concerns.” Students who don’t want to participate could bring a note from a parent to opt out.

Meanwhile, free speech advocates geared up for a battle. The American Civil Liberties Union issued advice for students who walk out, saying schools can’t legally punish them more harshly because of the political nature of their message. In Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Texas, some lawyers said they will provide free legal help to students who are punished.

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Bowercomm to run PR for Kansas State Fair

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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair has its new public relations firm to promote the great Kansas get-together.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, it was decided that local firm Bowercomm will become the new PR firm. Lori Bower of Bowercomm talked about her firm and love of the fair:

 

 

Bower says her firm will target the customer, including all Kansas residents:

 

 

Bower says with the wide diversity of people in Kansas — from the urban areas to the rural population — the target of Bowercomm is to find what hits home to the most people when it comes to the fair:

 

 

With the late start by the newly-appointed PR firm, most of what is already in place will stay, including this year’s slogan “Find Your Fun.” Bower says they will begin putting the promotion of the fair into motion starting in May:

 

 

Bowercomm has a full-time staff of three, but with outside connections, total employment runs around 10 total personnel. Bower replaces Grettemen Group, who did not submit a proposal to the fair this year.

Trump names former Kansas congressman Secretary of State

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WASHINGTON —Rex Tillerson is out as secretary of state. President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that he’s naming CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson.

Pompeo is to be replaced at CIA by Gina Haspel, Pompeo’s deputy at CIA. She would be the first woman in that role.

Tillerson had just returned from a shortened trip to Africa hours before Trump’s announcement. Trump offered no explanation for the change.

Pompeo was elected to the 4th District congressional seat in Kansas during the tea party wave of 2010. He is now fourth in line of presidential succession behind the vice president, speaker of the house and president pro temper of the senate.

2 hospitalized after deputies, suspects crash during chase

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RICE COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident during a high speed chase just before 1a.m. Tuesday in Rice County.

Best-photo KDOC

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Sonoma pickup driven by Zackery J. Best, 34, Lyons, was southbound on 21st four miles northeast of Lyons.

Law enforcement including a 2016 Nissan Rogue SUV driven by Rice County Deputy Marcos K. Guerrero, 48, Hutchinson, and 2014 Ford Taurus driven by Patrol deputy Casey J. Schrag, 48, Nickerson were chasing the Sonoma. The driver did not stop after traffic a violation, according to Schrag.

All three Vehicles went through the tee intersection at Avenue L and struck several trees.

Best and a passenger in the Sonoma Andrea F. McAllaster, 32, Lyons, were transported to Lyons County District Hospital. The deputies were not injured.

After treatment for minor injuries, deputies took them into custody, according to Schrag.

Best has previous convictions for drugs, flee and attempt to flee and elude law enforcement and trafficking contraband into a correctional facility, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

New Boss Promising Kan. Child Protection Agency Will Change For The Better

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By JIM MCLEAN

The new head of Kansas’ troubled child welfare agency got a unanimous vote of confidence from a legislative committee Friday.

Almost no one doubts Gina Meier-Hummel will be confirmed as head of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, or that she’s got a tough job in reforming the agency.
JIM MCLEAN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

Even the agency’s staunchest critics think Gina Meier-Hummel will sail through a confirmation vote from the full Senate to head the Department for Children and Families.

The agency that Meier-Hummel inherited from Gilmore in December had lost the trust of lawmakers over its handling of high-profile child-abuse death cases and a series of breakdowns in the foster care system. The problems generated headlines about missing children and kids sleeping on office couches while awaiting placement.

Lawmakers credit Meier-Hummel, a social worker, for pressing on multiple fronts to reform the agency’s internal processes, its culture and its public image.

“You name it, we’re working on it,” Meier-Hummel told members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee before they voted to recommend her confirmation.

Some in the legislature want her to push even more aggressively and say a bill backed by DCF that would make its actions more transparent doesn’t go far enough. Yet, most lawmakers see progress.

“If anybody can reform DCF and put it back on the right track Secretary Meier-Hummel is the person,” Kelly said. “This agency has nowhere to go but up.”

With backing from Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer, Meier-Hummel has asked lawmakers to increase the agency’s budget by $16.5 million over the next two years. The money is needed, she said, to beef up the agency’s family preservation and child-abuse prevention programs.

The 2017 case of a 3-year-old Wichita boy found dead and encased in concreate in the home his mother shared with her live-in boyfriend illustrates both the challenges Meier-Hummel confronts and the reform steps she is taking.

Records recently released to news organizations, months after they were requested, showed that multiple calls were made to an abuse hotline before the boy died. They also revealed that DCF staff altered documents to conceal that information from at least one of those hotline calls wasn’t relayed to the social worker on the case.

In response to that case and others, Meier-Hummel is urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would require DCF to make some information public when a child dies from abuse or neglect. Among other things, the agency would have to disclose whether it received reports of abuse and what it did in response.

Testifying this week to the House Judiciary Committee, which is working on the bill, Meier-Hummel promised there will be no more altering and destruction of documents.

“We will not tolerate anything that is dishonest in any way,” she said, indicating that her investigation into the practice had led to the dismissal of some top staff.

Rep. Blaine Finch, an Ottawa Republican and chair of the committee, said he expects the panel to send some version of the bill to the full House late next week.

“This is a step in the right direction,” Finch said. “There are many more to take.”

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. 

Higher Ed Cuts In Kansas Shifting Cost Onto Student Tuition

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By By STEPHAN BISAHA

Students in Kansas are bearing more than two-thirds of the cost of their education at public universities in the state.

That’s a sharp increase over the last 16 years. In 2001, revenue from tuition was little more than a third of the cost of education — about 35 percent. Today it’s just over 71 percent.

The main reason students — rather than the state — are paying a majority of the cost is years of state funding cuts. Funding for

higher education has faced multiple cuts over the past decade. Adjusted for inflation, Kansas universities lost more than a quarter of their state funding since 2001.

That has caused universities to turn to tuition hikes. Since 2001, revenue from tuition for state universities increased more than 2.5 times (also adjusted for inflation).

“This, of course, doesn’t take into account expenses that they have for books or student fees,” said Elaine Frisbie, the vice president for finance and administration for the Kansas Board of Regents.

Those fees have also jumped, at least in part as a reaction to lower state funding.

CREDIT STEPHAN BISAHA / SOURCE: KANSAS BOARD OF REGENTS

The future of state funding and tuition is uncertain. While the Kansas Board of Regents is pushing the Legislature to restore $24 million from recent cuts, lawmakers have hinted at the possibility of more cuts to pay for K-12 funding.

Frisbie says the Board of Regents will review possible tuition increases for 2019 this summer, though she suspects the board is concerned about how tuition increases would further block Kansans’ access to higher education.

“Whether they are willing and interested in having the universities continue to increase tuition is going to be an interesting discussion,” Frisbie said.

There’s a third factor that goes into the cost of tuition: the actual cost of education. And that cost has grown over the last 16 years, outpacing inflation.

Some of the rise in education spending is out of the universities’ hands. State university faculty, for example, have a state employee health plan. As premiums go up, so does the cost of education.

“We are looking at ways of how do we reduce our costs and be more efficient,” said Ethan Erickson, the assistant vice president for budget planning at Kansas State University.

“But, at the end of the day, there are going to be some areas where if we want to continue to maintain and provide an excellent educational opportunity we have to able to increase and adjust for those operational costs,” he said.

Despite the increases to tuition, Erickson argues that K-State is worth the cost.

“Kansas State University is an exceptional bargain for our citizens,” he said. “We still provide a great value for our customers.”

Stephan Bisaha is an education reporter for the Kansas News Service.  Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha.

Authorities locate missing Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmate

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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after a Hutchinson Correction Facility Inmate was reported missing late Friday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Lewis-photo KDOC

Just after 10:30 p.m. Friday, authorities reported 38-year-old inmate Germaine Cordell Lewis was missing from the correctional facility.

Just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday, authorities reported they located Lewis within the secure perimeter of the Hutchinson Correctional Facility Central Unit.

Lewis has convictions for aggravated battery, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, theft, burglary, criminal theft, and attempted contraband — a firearm. These convictions were from Wyandotte and Butler counties. His scheduled release was Sept. 7, 2018.

State Fair bill moving on to the Senate

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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The bill that would allow the Kansas State Fair to collect all sales tax generated at the fairgrounds is on its way to the Senate Majority Leader. The bill got committee recommendation Thursday on an 8-1 vote.

The revenue, which could be as much as $500,000, would be deposited in the fair’s capital improvements fund.

The money would replace what is a $300,000 a year infusion of cash that the state is supposed to put into the fair’s capital improvement fund — but rarely does. The state is about $1.6 million behind in that fund.

How the bill moves through the senate floor remains to be seen, but sources say the bill might be attached to the session-ending omnibus spending package and could see some amending before passage.

Body found near Haven identified

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RENO COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have identified the remains found in rural Reno County.

On Saturday, March 3, Deputies from the Reno County Sheriff’s Office and an Investigator from the Reno County Coroner’s Office responded to rural farm property North of Haven, Kansas on a report from the landowner that the remains of a human had been found while working his land, according to a media release.

The remains and other items at the scene appeared to be that of a female. The remains were transported to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center for identification.

On Monday, Dr. Kipper, a Pathologist with the Forensic Science Center, advised Reno County Authorities say the remains had been positively identified by dental records as Laura Lee Dorey, 17 years of age of Haven.

Laura had been reported as a missing person by her family on June 13.

The cause of death is still under investigation and any information should be forwarded to the Reno County Sheriff’s Office.

Reno Co. crews battled several fires, high wind Tuesday

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RENO COUNTY — (As of 3 p.m.) Things are still quiet, but the winds continue to blow with gusts of 59 mph coming in from the Hutchinson Airport. Rural Fire District 3 responded to a house fire in Nickerson in the past hour. No word on damage or injuries. Westar has restored service to about 65 customers in South Hutchinson who were without power for part of the afternoon. Only minor outages are being reported at this time. Some of the outages are fire-related, but most are due to the wind.

(As of 2 p.m.) Hutchinson and rural fire crews have been battling several fires throughout the day Tuesday. Fires were reported near the Sylvia and Medora communities.

Several other fires were also reported near Haven and just north of Cheney State Park in the 8200 block of Pleasant Valley Road.

Wind gusts have been reported as high as 59 mph during the day and similar gusts are expected throughout the day. As of 2 p.m., the fires had been brought under control.

Westar is also reporting about 75 customers without service due to high wind.

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