1. science
2. weather

BLADE-EMPIRE
CONCORDIA
VOL. CVIII NO. 223 (USPS 127-880)
CONCORDIA, KANSAS 66901
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
USD 333 board hears funding report
Good Evening
Concordia Forecast
Tonight, breezy. Partly cloudy. Lows
around 43. South winds 15 to 25 mph with
gusts to around 40 mph.
Wednesday, breezy. Mostly sunny. Highs
around 67. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph
with gusts to around 35 mph becoming
northwest around 10 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday night, mostly cloudy. A 20
percent chance of rain and light snow after
midnight. Lows in the upper 30s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph
after midnight.
Thursday, cooler, cloudy. Chance of rain
and light snow in the morning, then chance
of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the upper
40s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance
of precipitation 50 percent.
Thursday night, mostly cloudy with a 20
percent chance of rain. Lows in the lower
30s.
Friday and Friday night, partly cloudy.
Highs in the mid 50s. Lows in the lower 40s.
Saturday, warmer. Partly sunny. A 30
percent chance of thunderstorms in the
afternoon. Highs in the upper 60s.
Saturday night, mostly cloudy with
chance of showers and slight chance of
thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 40s.
Chance of rain 50 percent.
Sunday, partly sunny with a 30 percent
chance of showers. Highs in the upper 60s.
Sunday night and Monday, mostly clear.
Lows in the mid 40s. Highs in the lower 70s.
A bill passed by the Kansas
Legislature to increase funding
for the poorer school districts in
the state does offer some good
news for Unified School District
333.
USD 333 superintendent of
schools Bev Mortimer outlined
the plan for the board of education during its monthly meeting
Monday night. The legislature
passed the bill following, after the
Kansas Supreme Court ruled in
March that the funding disparities between the school districts
violated the state Constitution.
Governor Sam Brownback
has not yet signed the bill.
The bill increases the base
state aid per pupil (BSAPP) by
$14 per student from $3,838 to
$3,852.
Based on the current student
enrollment of USD 333 that
would be a general fund increase
of $22,181.
Reductions in at-risk spending and non-proficient spending,
would leave the district with
$2,443 in new money for the general fund.
“I am not excited about it. I am
not happy about it, but it is the
first time in a long time it hasn’t
been negative,” Mortimer said.
The bill does provide some
property tax relief for the district
with additional Local Option
Budget (LOB) and capital outlay
funding.
“It is a mill levy reduction. It is
a property tax reduction,” Mortimer said.
The proposed property tax
relief, based on current enrollment, is $282,499.
There is also an additional
LOB classroom fund that would
provide an additional $27,000.
That is good for just two years.
The bill does give school districts the opportunity to increase
the LOB from 30 percent to 33
percent if approved by the
patrons by a mail ballot election.
“I won’t do that unless you tell
me to do that,” Mortimer told the
board members, “I don’t want to
go back to the voters and ask
them to raise their taxes again.”
Also during the meeting, the
board heard a report from Mor-
timer and librarian Lora Watson
on the opportunity for a rural
development grant to help
remodel the library at the Concordia
Junior-Senior
High
School building.
Mortimer said that she had
been informed that, based on
median household incomes, the
district would qualify for a grant
for the project.
The grant the district will
apply for is for $25,000 with the
district match of $20,000.
“I think our odds are pretty
good for that,” Mortimer said.
Mortimer said that some of the
matching money could come
from the funds received from the
sale of Lincoln School.
Watson was asked to come up
with a plan for the project. She
visited the libraries at Chapman
and Manhattan.
Included in the possible
remodel would be an electrical
overhaul of the library, new flooring, some new shelves, new furniture, some new laptops and
computers that stay in the
library, an interactive instruction
Across Kansas
Dodge City moves
forward on waterpark
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — After 14
years of discussion, plans to open a water
park in Dodge City took another step
toward reality after a joint Dodge City and
Ford County commission approved making the project eligible for funding from a
special sales tax.
The commissioners also voted Monday
to make the first $50,000 available for initial designs of a proposed $10 million
water park, The Dodge City Daily Globe
reported. The vote sends the project back
to a sales tax project committee to work
with city staff and a consultant on details
for the park.
If all goes as planned, the park could
open in May 2016, Dodge City Manager
Cherise Tieben said.
“I think it’s time to keep the dream
alive,” Ford County commissioner Danny
Gillum said.
The joint commission also extended the
city’s existing relationship with Water’s
Edge, a water park design firm based in
Lenexa, and approved paying the firm
about $750,000 during the design and
construction process.
Water’s Edge consultants have projected the park could draw about 60,000 visitors a year from a 100-mile region.
Commissioners acknowledged questions such as location, management and
whether the projections by Water’s Edge
are reliable have yet to be answered.
Kansas gets more
time on voter case
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas and Arizona will get more time to respond to the
request by federal election officials for a
stay in his ruling requiring them to
enforce state laws requiring new voters to
document their U.S. citizenship.
U.S. District Court Eric Melgren on
Monday gave the states until Friday to file
their arguments against his ruling.
In March, Melgren had ordered the
agency to immediately modify its national voter registration form to add special
instructions for Arizona and Kansas residents about those states’ proof-of-citizenship requirements.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission and voting rights groups want Melgren to stay that ruling while the case
goes to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both states contend the requirements
prevent voter fraud. Critics of such laws
view them as suppressing voter turnout.
Visit us online at www.bladeempire.com
Mowing on a chilly morning
Owen Barleen, the greenskeeper at the Concordia American Legion Golf Course, mows the
greens on a cold Tuesday morning. (Blade photo by Jay Lowell)
Voting is now open for
“Best of Concordia” survey
Cloud
County
Convention
and
Tourism, the Concordia Chamber of Commerce and The Blade-Empire are coming
together to bring residents the first annual “Best of Concordia.”
Voting will be open now through 5 p.m.,
May 16, both through the written version
that will appear in the Advertiser and
Blade-Empire and online via a link on the
Concordia, Kan., Facebook page.
Those who respond to the survey must
fill out at least 20 categories to be eligible
to win one of three Chamber Bucks prizes.
Only one entry per person, either online or
mailed, will be allowed. Multiple entries
will result in disqualification. For full
rules, see the “Best of Concordia” survey
in today’s Advertiser.
Winners will be announced in a special
publication and at the annual Concordia
Chamber of Commerce dinner June 7.
Everyone is encouraged to show their support for the community businesses and
citizens.
Andy Asch, highway administrator,
reported at Monday’s Cloud County Commission meeting that he had reviewed the
tire bids that were opened last week.
Commissioners accepted the lowest bid
for each type of tire. Low bids were Becker
Tire, $2,215.73; Kansasland, $27,689.22;
and Thompson’s OK Tire, $5,228.23.
In other highway department business,
Asch reported the actual cost of repairs for
last year’s storm damage was $292,627.69.
The report has been turned in to FEMA
which will review the information submitted.
Estimated amount the county should
receive from FEMA is $248,733.54.
Asch told the board he had received prices
for sealing oil from Vance Brothers, Kansas
City, of $2.25 per gallon and Ergon, Salina,
of $2.09 per gallon. Estimated number of
gallons needed would be 86,730 with an estimated cost of $181,161.70.
In other business, Robert Walsh, county
attorney, told the board of a conference call
he had last week and the options for payments on the Law Enforcement Center. He
discussed the possibility of passing a resolution which would limit the cost to the county
for cremation or burial fees of unclaimed
bodies. He also discussed courthouse security.
During the board’s monthly department
head meeting, Wes Rathbun, Nex-Tech Wire-
less presented information on the cell phone
services his business could provide the
county.
In other matters the board
•approved department payrolls totaling
$138,942.83.
•approved allowing the chairman to sign
the 2015 JJA grant application presented by
Ellen Anderson, JJA/Community Corrections director.
•approved allowing the chairman to sign
the 2015 Community Corrections grant
application.
•heard a report from Solid Waste director
Justin Murdock that permits have been
updated and approved with Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
These meetings were attended by commissioners last week: Gary Caspers, Cloud
County Resources Council meeting, April 9;
Gail Engle, Chemical Dependency Committee meeting April 11; Johnita Crawford, Convention and Tourism meeting, April 7, and
the JJA/Community Corrections Advisory
Board meeting, April 8.
Concordia High School government students who attended Monday’s meeting were
Monica Fellows, Meghan Cook, Sabrina
Stolzenburg, Makayla Nelson, Chelsea Martin, Marissa Workman, Juan Nava, Alyssa
Felix, Skyler Hittle, Jordan Mehl and Madeline Hoard.
County approves tire bids
area, moving the circulation desk
to the middle of the room and
reversing the entrance/exit door
at the south end so it meets fire
codes.
Mortimer said that with the
grant, and the matching funds,
the district could do the electrical, the flooring, the computers, a
large television for the interactive
instruction area and the new circulation desk.
“We will probably run out of
money on shelves,” Mortimer
said.
In action items during the
meeting, the board accepted the
resignations of Learning Cooperative of North Central Kansas
(LCNCK) interrelated teachers
Lisa
Wunderlee,
Christa
Bergmann and Carol McKenna.
The board approved the transfer of Desere Miller from fourth
grade teacher to LCNCK interrelated teacher.Also, curriculum
handbook revisions and the
Kansas Association of School
Board membership and legal
assistance fund for 2014-15 were
approved.
Supremacist
charged
with murder
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Kansas
prosecutors filed state-level murder charges
Tuesday against the white supremacist
accused in shootings that left three people
dead at two Jewish community sites in suburban Kansas City.
Frazier Glenn Cross faces one count of
capital murder for the deaths of 14-year-old
boy and his grandfather and one count of
first-degree premeditated murder for the
death of a woman, Johnson County District
Attorney Steve Howe said at a news conference.
The capital murder charge carries the
death penalty as possible punishment, Howe
said, while the first-degree murder charge
carries a life sentence with no chance for
parole for at least 25 years. Cross is being
held on $10 million bond, and was scheduled
to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in
Johnson County District Court.
Cross, a 73-year-old Vietnam War veteran
from southwest Missouri, founded the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in his native
North Carolina and later the White Patriot
Party.
He is suspected of killing 69-year-old
physician William Lewis Corporon and his
14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, outside of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City. Both were
Methodist. Moments later, Terri LaManno, a
53-year-old Catholic occupational therapist
and mother of two, was gunned down outside
Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement complex
where she was visiting her mother.
In Kansas, one of the narrow circumstances in which capital murder cases are
pursued includes the intentional killing of
more than one person in “the same act or
transaction or in two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts
of a common scheme or course of conduct.”
In this case, a single charge was applied to
the deaths of Corporon and his grandson
because the deaths occurred in a very short
period of time as part of the same act, prosecutors said. LaManno’s death doesn’t meet
the standard for capital murder, Howe said,
but he would not provide details or evidence
gathered in the case to explain why.
Federal prosecutors say there’s enough
evidence to warrant putting the case before a
grand jury as a hate crime. Moving the case
from state to federal prosecutors would likely
mean tougher punishments if Cross is convicted, but U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said
Tuesday that federal charges were likely a
week or more away. Cross’ state case would
have to be resolved before he could be moved
to a federal trial.
“Our system is more nimble, we can move
a little bit quicker than the federal system.
We’ve alleged he came into the community
I’ve been elected to protect. ... This isn’t about
retribution, this is about seeking justice,”
Howe said.
Cross shouted “Heil Hitler” at television
cameras as he was arrested after Sunday’s
killings, which shocked the city on the eve of
Passover and refocused attention on the
nation’s problem with race-related violence.
OPINION
DOONESBURY® by G.B. Trudeau
Concordia Blade-Empire
Published daily except Saturday
and Sunday by
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PUBLISHING COMPANY
510 Washington, Box 309
Concordia, Kansas 66901
Periodical Class Postage paid at
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Subscription Rates: By mail, in trade
area, Cloud, Republic, Ottawa, Mitchell,
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$98.24 one year. Out of trade area, $118.45.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Concordia Blade-Empire, Box 309,
Concordia, Kansas 66901.
Today in History U.S. retail sales rise
25 years ago
April 15, 1989—Cloud
County Community College
sophomore Steven Palmquist
ran a personal best of 50.62
in the 400-meter dash on his
way to scoring 3,167 points
during the first day of the KU
Relays Decathlon competition in Lawrence. . . . The
Bon Marché advertised its
fur storage pickup for Stevens Furs in their modern
storage vault.
10 years ago
April 15, 2004—Jacob
Lee Phillips and Amanda Mi-
chelle Long announced their
Jan. 2 wedding, which took
place at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Clifton. . . . Trisha Fraser-Champlin announced her candidacy for
the Republican nomination
for Cloud County Clerk.
5 years ago
April 15, 2009—Kody
Halfhide finished second
in number two singles at
the Republic County tennis quadrangular. . . . Prom
Couples Special at the Tumbleweed Steakhaus was 2-6
oz. sirloins, each served with
a garlic lime shrimp skewer
over a bed of rice pilaf and
Asian vegetables and one additional side for $23.99.
1 year ago
April 15, 2013—Great
Society alumni in the crowd
at the final Great Society
Concert directed by Everett
Miller joined in singing “The
Music Never Ends.” . . . Stacey Crum, City Clerk of Concordia, was elected to the
City Clerks and Municipal
Finance Officers Association
at its Spring Conference.
Your Birthday
By Stella Wilder
Born today, you are always eager to see what is
coming next. You very much
enjoy looking into the distance, around the corner, at
what the future may hold.
You understand perfectly
that nothing is certain, and
that when you have been afforded a look at the future, it
may look very different when
it is actually upon you in the
present. Still, you like playing the “what if” game of determining your fate according
to what you think might happen, and when. You are likely
to get an early start at a long
and lucrative career. What is
most important, however, is
that you maintain personal
control over your destiny.
You don’t want to follow another’s course and find yourself unhappy in the end!
You’re likely to be chased
-- and often -- by those who
are eager to engage you in
matters of the heart, for there
is something about you that
attracts all manner of romantic attention. You have
a healthy attitude about this
aspect of your life, and you’re
in no hurry; when it’s right,
it’s right.
Also born on this date
are: Emma Watson, actress;
Leonardo da Vinci, artist;
Seth Rogen, actor; Emma
Thompson, actress and
screenwriter; Roy Clark, TV
host and musician; Elizabeth Montgomery, actress;
Bessie Smith, singer; Claudia Cardinale, actress; Henry James, author.
To see what is in store
for you tomorrow, find your
birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let
your birthday star be your
daily guide.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16
ARIES (March 21-April
19) -- You’re going to have to
express yourself openly, honestly and effectively, and in
only a very few words when
all is said and done.
TAURUS (April 20-May
20) -- You’re following the
rules, but you may not feel
fully satisfied. Perhaps it’s
time for you to consider making a subtle but significant
change.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
-- You can keep busy even
while you tend to something
that requires a bit more attention than usual. Routine
things must get done!
CANCER (June 21-July
22) -- A rival may have beaten
you to the punch and gotten
permission to do what you’ve
wanted to do, but his performance is likely to be subpar.
LEO (July 23-Dec. 22) -You may find a kind of perverse satisfaction in someone
else’s failure, but take care
that it doesn’t get out! Keep it
to yourself.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
-- Once you decide to get
started, you can get things
done quickly and tend to
everything on the docket according to schedule.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
-- You’ll find yourself moving
closer and closer to someone
who, in the past, rubbed you
the wrong way. He or she has
changed -- and so have you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov.
21) -- You have much to be
thankful for, and you know
just whom you have to thank
for it! Don’t hold back; share
your feelings.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21) -- You may be attracting the wrong kind of attention, but you can turn it
to your advantage when all is
said and done.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) -- Take care that
you don’t say something in
the heat of the moment that,
when made public, can and
will come back to haunt you.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18) -- You may not be able to
join others in a certain group
endeavor, but what you do on
your own can certainly shine.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20) -- You’re in the mood for
something more, but you
may not know quite how to
get it -- just yet. Watch how
another goes about it.
Thank You for Reading the Blade-Empire !
by strong 1.1 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S.
retail sales in March rose
by the largest amount in 18
months, led by strong gains
in sales of autos, furniture
and a number of other products.
The 1.1 percent jump reported by the Commerce Department on Monday was the
best showing since September 2012. The government
also revised February to a
0.7 percent gain, more than
double its previous estimate.
Sales had fallen in January and December.
Sales of autos climbed 3.1
percent while sales at general merchandise stores, a
category that covers retailers
such as Wal-Mart and Target and department stores,
increased 1.9 percent, the
strongest one-month gain
since March 2007, before the
country fell into recession.
The strong March gain
provides more evidence that
the economy is emerging
from a harsh winter with
some momentum.
Economists believe that
warmer weather will encourage people to make purchases that they had not during a
wave of winter storms. Consumers account for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, so spending on that front
is critical in fueling a stronger recovery.
“Rising wealth, shrinking
debt burdens and improving
labor markets are helping
American shoppers shake off
the winter blahs,” said Sal
Guatieri, senior economist at
BMO Capital Markets.
Guatieri said he believed
overall economic growth
slowed to a 1.2 percent annual rate in the January-March
quarter but will rebound to
growth of 3.3 percent in the
second quarter.
Many analysts believe a
strong rebound in the current quarter will last through
the rest of the year with
growth averaging around 3
percent in the second half of
2014.
For March, sales in a core
category of products that
feed into the government’s
calculations of overall growth
rose by 0.9 percent, more
than double the 0.5 percent
gain in February.
In addition to the strong
showing for auto dealers and
general merchandise stores,
sales increased by solid
amounts at furniture stores,
hardware stores and clothing
stores.
Stronger growth is expected to translate into more hiring and an improving labor
market.
In March, the economy
reached a milestone that
was a long time coming. All
of the private-sector jobs lost
during the recession were recovered. Private businesses
shed 8.8 million jobs during the 2007-2009 economic
downturn. With the March
gains, they have now hired
8.9 million workers. Government jobs are still below prerecession levels.
In March, employers added 192,000 jobs, just below
February’s gain of 1972,000
jobs. Going forward, some
economists believe the stronger economy will lift average
monthly job gains to around
225,000. That will mean
more income earners and
more consumer spending.
A more optimistic outlook for this year in which
the economy gains momentum is the reason that the
Federal Reserve has been
trimming its monthly bond
purchases and is expected
to keep doing so throughout
2014. The bond purchases
were designed to keep longterm interest rates low to
give the economy a boost.
But with the economy gaining strength, Fed officials
have come to believe that the
level of government support
should be removed gradually.
***
A good friend is a connection to life—a tie to the past, a road to the
future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.
—Lois Wyse
***
SUDOKU
Sudoku is a number-placing
puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9
in the empty squares so that each
row, each column and each 3x3
box contain the same number
only once. The difficulty level of
the Conceptis Sudoku increases
from Monday to Friday.
7
8
1
2
4
3
9
6
7
5
Difficulty Level
3
6
3
9
8
7
1
4
5
6
2
5
2
6
9
8
3
7
1
4
1
7
4
6
5
2
8
9
3
2 9 3 8
6
1
9
2
6
9
3
4
5
1
8
7
7
3
5
8
9
1
2
4
6
4
8
1
2
7
6
3
5
9
4/14
6
4
2
5
8
6 9
4 9 3 1
Difficulty Level
6
4
7
5
2
8
9
3
1
By Dave Green
7 6
5
7
9
2
3
9
5
3
1
6
7
4
2
8
2014 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
50 years ago
April 15, 1963—Sp4 Gary
L. Miller, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Lawrence Miller of Jamestown, who was stationed in
Fürth, Germany, was commended by his company’s
commander for outstanding performance of duties in
the company’s maintenance
section. . . . Michael Hess,
8-year-old son of Mr. and
Mrs. Harley Hess, was taken
to St. Joseph Hospital after
being shot in the left eye with
a BB-gun by a neighbor boy.
5
4/15
2014 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
2 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, March 15, 2014
PEOPLE
Postcards and pictures tell
story of Jewell County
Annie’s
Mailbox
The Jewell County Historical Society is sponsoring a
program, “Jewell County in
Postcards and Pictures,” on
Saturday, April 26, at 7:00
p.m. in the Little Theater
at Rock Hills Jr.-Sr. High
School in Mankato.
Presenter is Curtis Rafferty, a native of Jewell County
and 1962 graduate of Mankato High School. Rafferty has
by Kathy Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar
Dear Annie: I am 27 and
am engaged to my 26-yearold fiancee. However, she
recently told me about her
college days, which included
a lot of sex with both men
and women, sometimes in
groups. She said she really
enjoyed it, but it is in the
past.
I find it difficult to understand why she didn't tell me
this long ago, and I wonder
where her head is now. How
can I trust her to be honest
with me and not fall back
into her old ways? I mean, if
you had a great time at Disneyland, wouldn't you want
to go back? — Dismayed
Dear Dismayed: Not necessarily. Your fiancee didn't
tell you this earlier because
she didn't think your relationship was solid enough
to withstand her confession. Frankly, we don't believe couples need to tell
each other every detail about
prior relationships. It can
poison the well. Partners
should know about previous
engagements, marriages and
children, but other romantic
entanglements don't need
to be confessed unless they
will have an impact down the
line.
By telling you that she
had sex with women and in
groups, you are now wondering whether your fiancee
is bisexual and will want
group sex again. But it's not
like Disneyland. A lot of college kids engage in rather
adventurous sexual escapades because they are experimenting and sampling
everything. It doesn't mean
she is still interested in any
of this, and you aren't giving
her the opportunity to prove
she has outgrown it.
Nonetheless, such concerns merit further discussion. Please get into premarital counseling to see whether
you can work through this.
But we caution you: If her
prior life means you will never trust her, we don't recommend marriage.
Dear Annie: Every month
I take many medications. In
the past, when I've finished
one, I tear the label off of the
container and throw it into
the recycling bag.
I think that throwing
these out is such a waste.
I called the pharmacy and
asked whether the containers are returnable, and they
told me no.
Do you have any idea why
they do not reuse these containers? — Anonymous
Dear Anonymous: We
contacted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
and here is what we were
told: Reuse of this sort of
container is complicated,
due to the remaining residues from different medications and the facilities that
pharmacies would need to
have onsite to be able to
safely reuse the containers. Plastic medicine bottles
can be recycled, but collection varies greatly throughout the country. Some residential recycling programs
collect medicine bottles for
recycling, as do some pharmacies and stores. (For example, Whole Foods encourages consumers to bring all
No. 5 plastics to their store,
which generally includes
medicine bottles.) A helpful
resource for finding recycling
outlets for specific materials
is Earth911.com.
Dear Annie: Sorry, but
your answer to "Grinch in
Arizona" could have been
better. She said she and her
husband say in advance that
they are giving donations to
an animal shelter instead
of presents, but her stepdaughter keeps giving them
gifts. You said they should
bring a card from the animal shelter saying the donation had been made in their
honor.
Giving a donation to
"Grinch's" favorite charity
is not a gift to the family.
It would be much better to
tell the family you are giving
donations and ask whether
they have a favorite charity. If not, then Grinch could
suggest their animal shelter.
— Cheryl
Dear Cheryl: Since this
couple made it clear in advance that this was their
holiday policy and they
wanted no gifts in return, we
thought it was acceptable.
But many readers agree with
you.
Annie's Snippet for Income Tax Day (credit William
Simon): The nation should
have a tax system that looks
like someone designed it on
purpose.
Annie's Mailbox is written
by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy
Sugar, longtime editors of
the Ann Landers column.
Please email your questions
to anniesmailbox@comcast.
net, or write to: Annie's
Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. To
find out more about Annie's
Mailbox and read features
by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit
the Creators Syndicate Web
page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM
***
Too many people overvalue what they are not and
undervalue what they are.
—Malcolm S. Forbes
***
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Concordia, Kansas
785-243-1520
Blade-Empire, Tuesday, April 15, 2014 3
CLAY BOLEY
BROOKE JENSEN
JEFFREY HADACHEK
KRISTEN McGATLIN
Area seniors
receive scholarships
Four area seniors were
selected to receive $400
scholarships to attend Kansas State University. They
are Clay Boley, Jeffrey Hadachek, Brooke Jensen and
Kristen McGatlin.
Boley, son of Mark and
Connie Boley, Concordia,
will graduate from Concordia
High School and plans to major in Engineering.
Hadachek, son of Merle
and Deb Hadachek, Cuba,
will complete his high school
education at Republic County High School.
He was
awarded the Col. Gayle Foster Scholarship.
Jensen will complete her
high school career at Pike
Valley High School. The
daughter of Kevin and Sheila
Jensen, Courtland, she plans
to major in Agribusiness.
McGatlin, daughter of
Mike and Sheri McGatlin,
Linn, will graduate from Linn
High School. She plans to
major in Biology, Premed.
been collecting postcards
and pictures featuring Jewell County for many years.
This presentation will be an
opportunity for current residents to take a look at the
past. A special feature of the
evening will be the showing of
Rafferty’s collection of Jewell
County souvenir dishes. The
public is invited to attend
this program, free of charge.
Club notes
VFW Auxiliary 588 met
April 10 at the American Legion Hall with eleven members present. The following
officers were selected for
next year. President will be
Gertrude Breault; Senior
Vice President, Ruth Bombardier; Junior Vice President, Deborah Hubert; Treasurer, Mary Jane Hurley;
Chaplain, Lois Stone; Conductress, Edith Uri; Guard,
Rita Sorell; Trustee#3 Ruth
Bombardier;
Trustee#2
Vicki Roberts; and Trustee#1, Betrty Saunders.
A letter was read from
Janice Criswell, Department
Secretary, about the rules
for reorganizing and redistricting from nine to seven
districts.
Members agreed to present a flag to an Inman, Kan.
nursing home as requested
by a 588 Auxiliary member
now living there. Americanism chairman Vicki Roberts took a flag to Marquis
Place. Bombardier reported
on Veterans and Family
Support and she continues
to collect Campbell Soup
labels to send to National
Home. Hurley reported on
cancer premiums still due
and she has tickets to sell
on the cancer aid quilt.
Motions were
made and
carried to give $150 to the
American Legion Post, $150
to the American Legion Auxiliary and $100 to the Food
Bank.
Hurley reported on the
District Convention in Russell and the awards received
by VFW Auxiliary 588
programs,
Americanism;
Membership; Cancer Aid/
Research; Scholarship; Veterans and Family Support
and Youth.
Members plan to plant
the prizes of flower seeds at
the memorial flower planters around the Courthouse
veterans memorial. Delegates and alternates for the
National Convention in St.
Louis were named and approved.
Next meeting will be May
8 at the American Legion
Home and will include a memorial service and Installation of Officers.
FAL Club began their
Monday afternoon meeting with lunch at the Senior
Center followed by cards at
the home of Neva Demanett.
Winners were Odella
Yaksich, first; Demanett,
second; and Charlene Lesperance, third.
Next meeting will be May
12 with Nina Sheely.
Public invited to Rimovsky gives T-9 report
Wesleyan service
The public is invited to
“The Bread and the Cup,”
a service of contemplation,
Thursday, April 17th, at 6
p.m. at the Concordia Wesleyan Church.
People will gather together on the night that Jesus
shared the Passover meal
with his disciples and gave
new meaning to the bread
and the cup.
Everyone is invited to
contemplate
the great love
Receives scholarships
and
sacrifice
that this meal
Ryan Vignery has received
represents.
a $300 Concurrent Scholar-
ship and a $400 Thunderbird
Scholarship from Cloud County Community College for the
2014-2015 academic year.
Vignery, son of Bill and Traci
Vignery, will graduate in May
from Concordia High School.
He plans to study Biology at
CCCC.
Paul Rimovsky gave a
report on T-9 at the Monday evening meeting of POW
Camp Concordia Preservation Society at the Cloud
County Museum Annex.
Rimovsky reported the electrical wiring is 95 percent
completed in the museum
portion; more sealant has
been put on the roof seams;
trash and debris have been
picked up from the southeast corner of the building;
the old walk-in door on the
southwest has been covered
with tin; the heating and AC
unit will be picked up this
week; the 4-H Club will start
planting flowers and shrubs
this weekend; the paint for
the floor has been purchased
from Sherwin-Williams.
Another work day was
scheduled for May 3 and
members were encouraged
to attend.
Everett Miller turned in
the March visitors log from
the guard tower. During that
month 27 visitors came from
Kansas, Wyoming, Arkansas, Colorado and Ohio.
Next meeting will be at 7
p.m., May 12 at the same location. All members and interested persons are encouraged to attend.
Correction
Because of incorrect information submitted, the location of the Cloud County
Genealogical Society meeting in Monday’s Blade was
incorrect.
The Society will meet at
7:30 this evening, April 15,
at the Cloud County Courthouse meeting room.
Lori Halfhide will present
the program, “Concordia,
Kansas: Then and Now.”
The meeting at the Presbyterian Church will be in
May.
Senior Citizens Menu
Wednesday, April 16—
Taco burger, tater wedges,
vegetable blend, tropical
fruit; 10 a.m.—Exercise;
Hearing Aid Services; 12:30
P.M.—BINGO.
Thursday, April 17—
Creamed chicken, biscuit,
mixed vegetables, sherbet.
Denim Days donation
Family Health Mart Pharmacy employees are pictured with Concordia Park Project organizers
with their $500 check generated from Denim Days begun Dec. 13, 2013, and ending April 1,
2014. Each employee of the pharmacy donates $5 and can wear jeans on Fridays. All of the
employees actively participated in the contribution project and have since decided to continue
donating to chosen charities throughout the year. This is not mandatory. If an employee does
not want to wear jeans, they do not have to. No donation, no denim. Everyone at Family Health
Mart believes in helping others and wants to do their part. Pictured are (l-r): Park Project organizers Janet Lowell, Ashley McMillan; pharmacy employees: Kim Hubert, Anna Dorman, Jo
Hamel, Diane Bieker, Val Davis. (Blade photo by Jay Lowell)
4 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Extension Extra
Robin Reid, DEA, Animal Sciences
River Valley Extension District
Livestock Quality Assurance
Important for All Ages
As I am writing this news column, the free Beef Quality Assurance training sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim through
K-State’s Beef Cattle Institute is just coming to a close. I hope
many of you out there took advantage of this opportunity!
What I wanted to talk about today though, is Quality Assurance for our youth; the producers of tomorrow. Not long ago
I finished up 3 different Livestock Quality Assurance trainings here in the River Valley Extension District for 4-H and
FFA members 7-18 years of age. In total I had over 130 kids
attend these trainings, which are now required to show beef,
sheep, goats, or hogs at our county fairs. The RVED extension board, county fair boards, and I feel very strongly about
the importance of these to educate youth (and their parents)
to ensure food safety and animal husbandry for our county
fair animals.
The importance of this education goes further than that
however. In the media today we are bombarded with so much
information, and misinformation, about how our food is produced. The agriculture industry has come under fire for some
of the bad apples that have made us, as responsible producers, have to defend what we do at the farm or ranch. New
technologies are increasingly scrutinized as well, where in reality the only way we can possibly feed a growing world population is to produce more with fewer inputs. Hence technology
will HAVE to keep involving. And let’s face it, the industry is
changing. Fewer and larger farms have been the trend for
many years and I’m afraid we are only going to see that continue. More and more people will have very distant connections or no connection whatsoever to the farm. They will be
more easily influenced by the media by not understanding
the basics of animal agriculture, and producers are going to
have to work even harder to tell their story and defend their
production practices.
This doesn’t paint a very rosy picture for our future producers does it? Still, livestock production will go on. I’ve often
thought as I was preparing this year’s LQA trainings, what
other job in existence would you be passionate enough for
that you would be willing to get up every two hours at night
like producers do to check heifers that are calving (and work
a full day besides)? You certainly couldn’t pay me enough to
do that sort of thing for any other job! Yet, we care about our
animals so much that we don’t even think twice about putting
in those hours to make sure they are taken care of. Where is
that in the media? I digress…
The important point I want to get across is that we need to
start at educating our young people now about animal husbandry, quality assurance, and making the right decisions for
this industry. Even though they may be too young to administer that vaccination, mix that feed ration, or load animals
into a trailer, they will understand the right and wrong ways
of doing it. By going through a youth quality assurance program, they will be exposed to the correct procedures that have
been endorsed by the industry. Even if they don’t become
farmers or ranchers later on in their career, they can be a
voice to other consumers of how animals are raised here on
our farms and ranches.
There are different opportunities to do this. Like I mentioned earlier, here in the River Valley Extension District
we offer LQA classes every spring and early summer for our
youth. Three have already passed, but five more will be coming up. You can find the schedule at www.rivervalley.ksu.
edu. Even if you are not a 4-H or FFA member, you are welcome to attend. Other K-State Research and Extension districts and counties may have trainings as well, so check with
your local office. Another opportunity is K-State’s Beef Cattle
Institute’s Youth Animal Care Training program, www.animalcaretraining.org/youth. These online modules are available at all times FREE of charge! There are programs for Beef
Quality Assurance, Beef Industry Food Safety, Dairy Animal
Care and Quality Assurance, and Humane Equine Management. Youth can do these at their own pace and when completed they will receive a certificate.
Please encourage youth to take advantage of these opportunities, not just for their own knowledge, but for the future
of our industry. Also, as adults, please do your part to be a
responsible producer and teach the younger generations the
right way to care for animals and produce a quality and safe
food product.
Utah mom told police she killed six babies
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah
(AP) – Megan Huntsman
was clear about what she
did with six of her newborn
babies.
Huntsman, 39, told police she either strangled or
suffocated them immediately after they were born.
She wrapped their bodies in
a towel or a shirt, put them
in plastic bags and then
packed them inside boxes
in the garage of her home
south of Salt Lake City.
What’s not clear is why.
A day after her arrest on
charges of killing her six
babies, investigators and
her neighbors puzzled over
the grisly discovery, including how she could have
concealed
a
half-dozen
pregnancies over a 10-year
period.
“How can you have a
baby and not have evidence
and other people know?”
asked neighbor SanDee
Wall. “You can’t plan when
a baby is going to come.
Just the thought of somebody putting a baby into a
box is a heartbreaker.”
Huntsman, who was arrested Sunday on six counts
of murder, was ordered held
on $6 million bail – $1 million for each baby. The remains of a seventh baby police found appears to have
been stillborn, authorities
said.
According to a probable
cause statement released
by police Monday, Huntsman said she gave birth to
at least seven babies between 1996 and 2006 at her
former home in Pleasant
Grove, a leafy, sleepy town
about 35 miles south of Salt
Lake City.
All but one of the babies
was born alive, she said.
During the interview with
police, she was unemotional and matter of fact, according to Pleasant Grove
police Lt. Britt Smith.
Her estranged husband,
Darren West, made the discovery Saturday with fellow family members while
cleaning out the garage of
the house, which is owned
by his parents. He called
Huntsman, who admitted
to him it was her baby, according to court documents.
West called police, who
then found the bodies in the
garage.
Investigators
believe
Huntsman is the mother
of them all based on what
she has told them but have
ordered DNA tests to make
sure that’s the case. They
don’t know who the babies’
fathers are. It could take
weeks to get the results,
Utah County Attorney Jeff
Buhman said.
Huntsman’s three daughters – one teenager and two
young adults – also lived in
the house.
Investigators
believe
West and Huntsman were
together when the babies
were born, but don’t believe
he was aware of the killings.
Buhman said Huntsman is
the principal suspect, but
didn’t rule out more arrests
as the investigation continues.
Police have talked with
West as they investigate
his level of knowledge and
involvement in the deaths,
Smith said. He was living
in the house during the
decade that authorities believe Huntsman had killed
the babies, Smith said.
He’s been cooperative,
and was devastated by the
discovery, he said.
Smith said the three
daughters have been interviewed, but he declined to
discuss what they said.
West pleaded guilty in
federal court in 2005 to two
counts of possessing chemicals intended to be used in
manufacturing
methamphetamine, according to
court records. In August
2006, he was sentenced to
9 years in prison, but appealed three times.
West was released from
a federal prison in California in January and transferred to a halfway house in
Salt Lake City, said Chris
Burke, spokesman for the
Federal Bureau of Prisons.
During the Drug Enforcement Administration investigation in 2005, agents
stopped by the house,
spoke with Huntsman and
looked around but it’s unknown how extensive the
search was.
As he maintained his innocence, Huntsman wrote a
letter asking a federal judge
to consider leniency at sentencing.
“Darren is a remarkable
man, husband, brother,
son, son-in-law, friend and
father of our three beautiful daughters,” she wrote,
continuing, “Please we need
this guy to keep our family
together.”
Neighbor Sharon Chipman said the couple married young, and Huntsman
never worked except for
a short stint at a grocery
store.
The three daughters who
were living in the house
were good young women
who have turned out remarkably well considering
their father has been in
prison, Chipman and Wall
said.
West’s
parents
have
played an influential role in
their upbringing, especially
the youngest, who is still in
junior high.
Wall said she’s puzzled
about
why
Huntsman
would have killed the babies, especially considering
her youngest daughter, now
a young teen, was born during the decade Huntsman
told authorities she killed
the other babies.
“Why was one of them
saved?” Wall said.
Neighbors said they no-
ticed Huntsman’s weight
fluctuated over the years,
with her toggling between
baggy and tight clothes, but
they didn’t realize she was
pregnant.
Cheryl Meyer, a psychology professor at Ohio’s
Wright State University,
said some women who kill
their children hide or deny
her pregnancy and then
dispose of the baby after it’s
born. Meyer said “concealers” are typically teenagers
who do not repeat the act.
“These are usually girls
who are 17, get pregnant,
become scared to death and
don’t want to tell their parents,” said Meyer, who has
written about mothers who
kill their children. “They’re
not 30-year-old women who
can go have an abortion.”
To combat this, states,
including Utah, have safe
haven laws that allow women to drop off unwanted
newborns to authorities
with no questions asked.
The mother can remain
anonymous as long as the
child has not been subject
to abuse or neglect.
In coming days, defense
attorneys for Huntsman are
likely to closely examine her
background to search for
any evidence of mental illness or a family history that
would help explain the alleged killings, said George
Parnham, who represented
Andrea Yates, the Texas
woman who drowned her
five children in her bathtub
in 2001.
Defense attorneys also
will try to determine whether Huntsman sought an
abortion and if she told anyone about her pregnancies –
all in hopes of understanding actions that otherwise
appear incomprehensible,
Parnham said.
“You start off with the
very nature of what happened. Is there a rational
motive?” he said.
Storm barrels through Mississippi Gulf Coast
GAUTIER, Miss. (AP) – A
storm barreled through Mississippi Gulf Coast communities, damaging or destroying about a dozen RV
trailers at one campground,
downing trees and power
lines and cutting electricity
in some areas.
The storm blew through
the Santa Maria RV Park in
Gautier at around 8 p.m.
Monday, knocking some
trailers off their blocks and
overturning or destroying
others.
The roads leading up to
the RV park were littered
with debris, and none of the
street lights were working.
Despite the widespread destruction in the park, only
two people were injured, neither seriously, television station WLOX reported.
Park resident Harrold
Robbins said he and his
girlfriend Debbie Dales were
getting ready for bed and he
was at the front end of the
camper they share when the
wind hit.
“The front end flipped,” he
said after returning from a
hospital where he was treated for bumps and bruises
and Dales got stitches to her
head. “It launched me back
into the back end. Then it
flipped over on the other side
and came back up in the air
and landed on our car.”
Jessica Cook said she
looked out her window af-
ter getting the alert that the
storm was approaching and
said to herself, “Well, that
looks a little bad.” She said
that when the debris hitting the trailer got bad, she
grabbed her son and they
huddled together with his
father.
“We were just holding
each other and telling each
other we loved each other
because it was that bad,”
she said.
Cook said her home was
knocked off its blocks, but
her
next-door-neighbor’s
was completely destroyed
and he was pinned under it.
She said the fire department
managed to free him and he
was taken to a hospital.
The National Weather
Service doesn’t think it was
a tornado, meteorologist
Robert Ricks told the Sun
Herald.
“It was straight-line winds
of about 50 mph and none
of the RVs were tied down,”
Ricks told the paper. “In talking with emergency management personnel, there were
no power lines down. It appears to be because of the
straight-line winds in an RV
park configuration without
tie-downs.”
Jay Huffstatler, a Red
Cross official, told WLOX
that all of the displaced RV
park residents apparently had somewhere else to
spend the night.
Keith Davis, the police
chief in nearby Moss Point,
said there were downed power lines and trees there. He
said one power line caught
fire but it was quickly extinguished.
A severe thunderstorm
warning had been in effect
in advance of a strong cold
front moving into the region.
Hints from
Heloise
OLD NECKTIES
Dear Heloise: My husband rarely wears ties now,
so I have a box of beautiful
ties from his business days.
The fabrics, colors and designs make the ties worth
saving for special projects.
I have made a tote bag covered in ties sewn together.
The thin ends of the ties
form the handles. A friend
asked me to make a bag
for her using her late husband’s ties. I enjoyed doing
this for her, and she found
that using the tote comforted her. -- Fran Miller, Deerfield, N.H.
Some ties from the old
days could bring back happy and funny memories. -Heloise
Blade-Empire Tuesday, April 15, 2014 5
Sports
CCCC’s Van Zyl Heat fall, Pacers clinch top seed
sets javelin record
WICHITA
—
Cloud
County Community College
freshman Reinhard Van Zyl
established a new school
record on his way to winning the javelin at the KT
Woodman Classic this
weekend.
Van Zyl uncorked a winning toss of 234-11 to
break the Cloud County
record. It is the best throw
in NJCAA this season.
Cloud County had three
competitors pick up firstplace finishes.
Benard Keter ran 9:21 to
win
the
3,000-meter
steeple chase. The time is
second in NJCAA, and
qualifies Keter for the outdoor national championships.
Taylor Swanson won the
women’s pole vault by
clearing 12-8 1/4.
Cloud County’s Rashell
Reid placed in two events,
and qualified for the outdoor championships in
both. She was fourth in the
discus with a toss of 144-8
and seventh in the shot put
with a best of 42-1 1/4.
Anna Linton threw 441/2 to finish fourth in the
shot put.
Cloud County’s 4x100
relay team of Anika Ricks,
Jane Ohanta, Alexis Logan
and Raven Davis placed
fifth in 47.49.
Davis finished sixth in
the 200 dash in 24.84. She
ran 12.04 to qualify for
national in the 100.
Tameca Wallace placed
seventh in the triple jump
with a leap of 38-6 1/2.
Ohanta, Tangie Hileman, Brianna Blackwell
and Davida Holley finished
eighth in the 4x400 relay in
4:07.14.
Blackwell ran 1:07.66 to
qualify for nationals in the
400-meter hurdles.
The Cloud County men
had Dakota Webber place
fourth in the discus with a
throw of 164-5.
Damar Robinson cleared
6-8 to place fifth in the high
jump.
Wrestlers compete
for Team Kansas
Kids
The
Concordia
Wrestling Club had six
wrestlers compete for Team
Kansas this past weekend.
At the USA Heartland
Elementary Duals in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Hunter
Schroeder, 95 pounds,
competed for Kansas Team
2. He was 3-4 and placed
third in his pool on Saturday, and then finished first
in the Platinum Bracket on
Sunday.
105
Trost,
Wyatt
pounds,
wrestled
for
Kansas Team 1. He was 44, and placed second in his
pool. He placed first in the
Silver Bracket.
Shelby Giersch, 105
pounds,
competed
for
Kansas Team 5. He was 2-6
and placed sixth in his pool,
and finished first in the
Copper Bracket.
At the AAU National Middle School Duals in Des
Moines, Iowa, Blake Leiszler, 85 pounds competed
for Kansas Team 4. He had
a record of 4-4. Team 4 was
4-4 and placed fourth in its
pool and then finished second in the Bronze Bracket.
Zachary
Strait,
100
for
pounds,
wrestled
Kansas Team 2. He had a 44 record.
Kansas Team 2 was 4-4,
and placed second in its
pool and then finished
eighth in the Gold Bracket.
Brent Beaumont, 189
pounds,
competed
for
Kansas Team 1. He had a 44 record.
Kansas Team 1 was 7-1
and placed first in its pool
and finished fifth in the
Gold Bracket.
The Gold Bracket is for
the
national
placers.
Kansas Team 1 was fifth at
nationals and Kansas Team
2 was eighth.
Sports in Brief
The Associated Press
NBA
PHOENIX (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies are back in the
playoffs and the upstart Phoenix Suns are staying home.
Mike Conley and Zach Randolph made the critical plays in
the final 68 seconds and the Grizzlies pulled out a 97-91 victory over Phoenix that clinched the last playoff spot in the West
and eliminated the Suns from postseason competition.
Randolph scored 32 points to lead the inside power game
that was just enough for Memphis to beat the Suns for the
fourth time in four games this season and send the Grizzlies
to the playofs for the fourth straight year.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Pacers’ biggest win so far this
season came off the court.
One day after breaking out of a slump by beating Oklahoma
City and hours before Miami rested its star players, essentially ceding the top seed in the East, the city’s Capital Improvement Board approved a new deal that would help the Pacers
stay financially competitive in one of the NBA’s smallest markets.
In exchange for providing $164 million to pay for operating
costs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse over the next 10 years, the
Pacers agreed to extend a lease agreement that will keep them
in Indy for up to 13 more seasons. Board members voted 8-0
in favor of the deal.
BASEBALL
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres think so much of
second baseman Jedd Gyorko that they gave him a hefty raise
and he’s only 13 games into his second full big league season.
Gyorko’s agreement is a six-year deal that adds $35 million
over five seasons through 2019.
It replaces a one-year deal agreed to last month and
includes a team option for 2020. San Diego essentially buys
out one year of free agency and possibly two.
Gyorko proved himself with a big rookie season, hitting
.249 with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs.
HOCKEY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —General manager David Poile
hopes he sent the strongest message possible by making the
first coaching change in Nashville’s history: missing the playoffs is not acceptable for the Predators.
Poile announced that Barry Trotz, the NHL’s longest
tenured head coach with one team, would not be back for a
16th season after the Predators missed the postseason for a
second straight year. A few hours later, Poile said at a news
conference that won’t get it done.
WASHINGTON (AP) —
The Miami Heat opted for
rest for LeBron James and
Chris Bosh over the pursuit
of the Eastern Conference’s
top seed, and the Washington Wizards capitalized in a
114-93 breeze of a game
Monday night that clinched
the No. 1 seed for the Indiana Pacers.
Trevor Ariza scored 25
points for the Wizards, who
shot 59 percent and made
14 3-pointers and remained
one game ahead of the
Charlotte Bobcats in the
race for the East’s No. 6
seed. Washington is trying
to avoid dropping to seventh so that it can avoid the
Heat in the first round of
the playoffs — when LeBron
and Co. will be back.
Michael Beasley scored
18 points for the Heat, who
will be the No. 2 seed when
the playoffs begin this
weekend.
The Heat began the day
still in contention for the
top spot, but they would
have needed to win their
last two games and have
Indiana lose to Orlando on
Wednesday because the
Pacers hold the head-tohead tiebreaker. Figuring it
would be better to be fresh
for the postseason, Heat
coach Erik Spoelstra sat
James and Bosh, saying
they were dealing with “the
residual of a long season.”
Bobcats 95,
Hawks 93
ATLANTA (AP) — Chris
Douglas-Roberts dribbled
into the lane and sank a
short jumper as time
expired, and the Charlotte
Bobcats overcame a 15point deficit in the final
period to beat the Atlanta
Hawks.
Al Jefferson had 27
points and 15 rebounds for
Charlotte, which remained
one game behind Washington in the race for the sixth
spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Gary Neal
had 17. Jefferson’s turnaround jumper gave the
Bobcats a 93-91 lead before
Lou Williams answered with
a tying jumper for Atlanta
with 2.6 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout,
Douglas-Roberts penetrated and lobbed the soft
jumper as the buzzer
sounded.
The
Hawks
rested
starters Kyle Korver, Paul
Millsap and DeMarre Carroll. Mike Scott led Atlanta
with 20 points.
Raptors 110,
Bucks 100
TORONTO (AP) — Greivis
Vasquez scored 25 points,
Kyle Lowry had 24 and the
Toronto Raptors set a franchise record with their 48th
win, beating the Milwaukee
Bucks.
Jonas Valanciunas had
14 points and 13 rebounds
and Tyler Hansbrough had
12 points and 11 rebounds
as the Raptors won for the
sixth time in seven games
and completed the first season sweep of Milwaukee in
franchise history.
Toronto had dropped 11
consecutive games against
the Bucks coming into this
season, but has since won
four straight.
Ramon Sessions scored
21 points, Jeff Adrien had
19 points and Brandon
Knight 18 as the Bucks lost
their 14th straight road
game, matching a record for
futility set in the 2004-05
season. Milwaukee has not
won away from home since
beating Philadelphia on
Feb. 24.
76ers 113,
Celtics 108
PHILADELPHIA (AP) —
Michael Carter-Williams
had 21 points and 14
rebounds, Tony Wroten
scored 20 points, and the
Philadelphia 76ers beat the
Boston Celtics.
Chris Johnson appeared
to hit the tying 3-pointer
with 0.9 seconds remaining, but stepped out of
bounds before attempting
the
desperation
shot.
James Anderson made two
free throws a half-second
later to seal Philadelphia’s
win.
Kelly Olynyk scored 28
points to lead the Celtics.
Jeff Green had 27 points
and Avery Bradley added
23. Rajon Rondo finished
with eight points, 14 assists
and 11 rebounds.
Bulls 108,
Magic 95
CHICAGO (AP) — Joakim
Noah had 18 points and 10
rebounds and eight assists,
Mike Dunleavy scored 22
points and the Chicago
Bulls pulled away late for a
victory over the Orlando
Magic.
With one game left in the
regular season, the Bulls
are fourth in the Eastern
Conference playoff race and
looking at a first-round
matchup with Brooklyn. To
catch Toronto and finish
third, the Bulls would need
to win the season finale at
Charlotte on Wednesday
and have the Raptors lose
at New York
Kyle O’Quinn led Orlando with 20 points on 9-for11 shooting, and Andrew
Nicholson added 19. Rookie
Victor Oladipo was limited
to 10 points after scoring a
career-high
35
points
against the Bulls earlier
this season.
Rockets 104,
Spurs 98
HOUSTON (AP) — Chandler Parsons scored 21
points and Dwight Howard
and Terrence Jones added
20 apiece to lift the Houston
Rockets to a win over the
San Antonio Spurs.
The victory gave No. 4
seed Houston home-court
advantage in their firstround playoff series with
Portland.
San Antonio used a big
run at the beginning of the
fourth quarter to go on top
and was up by three later in
the period when Houston
scored eight straight to
regain the lead, 95-90.
A layup by Jeff Ayres got
the Spurs within four
points before James Harden knocked down a long 2pointer with less than a
minute left to make it 10094.
Marco Belinelli had 17
points to lead the Spurs,
who limited the minutes of
stars Tim Duncan, Tony
Parker and Manu Ginobili
with their top seed in the
Western Conference playoffs already secure.
Pelicans 101,
Thunder 89
NEW ORLEANS (AP) —
Tyreke Evans scored a
career-high 41 points to go
with nine rebounds, eight
assists and three steals,
and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped an eightgame skid by shocking the
playoff-bound Thunder.
New Orleans beat the
Thunder for the first time in
11 meetings, dating to Jan.
24, 2011.
Evans made 14 of 26
shots while scoring mostly
on quick, powerful bursts
to the hoop. He also scored
12 points at the foul line
and made a 3 that put the
Pelicans ahead 90-82 with
4:21 left.
Kevin Durant scored 25
for the Thunder, who have
lost two straight and won’t
lock up the No. 2 seed in the
Western Conference playoffs without at least one
more win or a Los Angeles
Clippers loss.
Oklahoma City played
without Russell Westbrook,
who was given the night off
to rest.
Grizzlies 97,
Suns 91
PHOENIX (AP) — Zach
Randolph scored 32 points
and the Memphis Grizzlies
clinched the final playoff
berth in the Western Conference with a victory over
Phoenix that eliminated the
Suns from postseason contention.
The Grizzlies scored the
last six points of an intense
fourth quarter.
Mike Conley sank a 3pointer to put Memphis
ahead for good 93-91 with
1:08 to play. Goran Dragic
threw the ball away on the
Suns’ next possession and
Randolph scored inside to
make it 95-91 with 47.1
seconds left.
Jaso’s homer gives A’s win over Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) —
Pinch-hitter John Jaso
came through with a tworun homer off closer
Ernesto Frieri in the ninth
inning, sending the Oakland Athletics to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles
Angels on Monday night.
Yoenis Cespedes also
went deep for the A’s, offsetting Albert Pujols’ 496th
home run.
Frieri (0-1) was trying to
preserve a 2-1 lead for
starter Hector Santiago
when Josh Donaldson led
off the ninth with a single.
One out later, Jaso drove a
1-2 pitch deep into the
right-field seats for his first
homer of the season and
the first by an A’s pinch-hitter.
Jaso has six homers and
21 RBIs at Angel Stadium
along with a .424 average,
the highest by any player
with at least 75 plate
appearances at the “Big A.”
Jim Johnson (1-2) got
the victory with a scoreless
eighth, and Luke Gregerson
earned his second save.
Pujols also had an RBI
single.
Orioles 7,
Rays 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — WeiYin Chen took a four-hitter
into the seventh inning and
Baltimore got its offense
back on track against Chris
Archer in a victory over
Tampa Bay.
Matt Wieters and J.J.
Hardy each had three hits,
scored twice and drove in a
run for the Orioles, who
were coming off a threegame series against Toronto
in which they scored only
five runs in 30 innings.
In this one, Baltimore
built a 6-0 lead over the
first three innings and
coasted to the finish. The
Orioles had 13 hits, including five doubles.
It was by far the worst of
Archer’s 30 big league
starts. The seven runs and
12 hits allowed by Archer
(1-1) were both career
highs, and his ERA jumped
from 1.38 to 4.50.
Chen (2-1) retired his
first 10 batters and didn’t
allow a hit until James
Loney doubled with one out
in the fifth. The left-hander
gave up one run, five hits
and two walks in 6 1-3
innings.
Mariners 7,
Rangers 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)
— Mike Zunino homered an
inning before adding an RBI
single in Seattle’s strange
six-run
outburst
that
included
three
Texas
Rangers errors and a replay
reversal that gave the
Mariners a run.
Roenis Elias (1-1) worked
into the seventh inning with
five strikeouts for his first
major league victory in his
third career start.
The Mariners went ahead
to stay in the fifth on Zunino’s solo homer off Colby
Lewis (0-1), who made his
first big league start in 21
months after elbow and hip
operations.
Rangers manager Ron
Washington was ejected
during Seattle’s six-run
sixth for arguing a call that
was overturned on instant
replay in favor of the
Mariners.
Seattle had gone 21
innings without a run
before
Zunino’s
third
homer.
Don’t expect the same
Michael Phelps in his return
to swimming after a nearly
two-year retirement.
Even if Phelps’ comeback
is a success, it will be different this time around.
No more swimming seven
or eight events at the
Olympics or world championships. No more grueling
individual medleys.
This time, it’s about taking on fewer and shorter
races than the 22-time
Olympic medalist did in his
prime.
At 28, Phelps is far from
being too old to dive into the
pool. In recent years, swimmers have successfully
competed into their 30s and
in the case of Dara Torres,
who was 41 at her last
Olympics in 2008, won
medals.
Phelps will compete for
the first time since the 2012
London Games at a meet in
Mesa, Ariz., on April 24-26.
Bob Bowman, the swimmer’s longtime coach, told
The Associated Press on
Monday that Phelps is
entered in three events —
the 50- and 100-meter
freestyles and the 100 butterfly.
“I think he’s just going to
test the waters a little bit
and see how it goes,” Bowman said. “I wouldn’t say
it’s a full-fledged comeback.”
Phelps’ camp is downplaying his return, which
had been rumored ever
since the most decorated
Olympian
in
history
returned to training last fall
and re-entered the U.S.
drug-testing program. His
six-month waiting period to
be eligible for competition
ended in March.
“Since 2004, there’s been
an extraordinary amount of
pressure for him to perform
a certain way,” Torres told
the AP. “That’s a great move
that they’re downplaying it
a little bit. For him, it’s
probably just a training
meet. He’s probably just
trying to get his feel back for
races.”
In Mesa, Phelps will swim
100 free and 100 fly preliminaries on the first day.
Then, if he qualifies, he’ll
decide which race to swim
for the evening finals, Bowman said. He’ll swim the 50
free on the second day and
might swim the 50 fly “just
for fun,” the coach added.
Olympic great Phelps will return to pool
6 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, April 15, 2014
MUTTS® by Patrick McDonnell
ZITS® by Scott and Borgman
NANCY® by Guy & Brad Gilchrist
Upcoming
events
Saturday, April 19, 7
p.m.–Teens for Christ, Scenic Roots, Brown Grand
Theatre.
Saturday, April 26, 8
a.m.–CCHC Benefit Four
Person Golf Scramble at
Concordia American Legion
Golf Course. Continental
breakfast, 8 a.m. Tee times
8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Call
Lori Lowell, 243.1234 or email [email protected] for
questions or to register.
Sunday, May 4, 2-4 p.m.–
Open House at Brown Grand
Theatre.
Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m.–
Green Spirit Band Reunion
Concert with Linda Chubbuck, Max Pruitt, Mattson
and Weaver, Brown Grand
Theatre.
Saturday, May 10, 7
p.m.–Joseph Hall’s Rock ‘n’
Remember Tribute to Elvis,
Brown Grand Theatre.
Saturday, May 17, 7 p.m.–
Film, “Encounter,” Teens for
Christ, Brown Grand Theatre.
Sales Calendar
BARNEY GOOGLE AND SNUFFY SMITH® by John Rose
HAGER THE HORRIBLE® by Chris Browne
•Tuesday, April 15, 2014–
Public Auction at 5:00 p.m.
located at the 4-H Building at the Republic County
Fairgrounds in Belleville,
Kansas. Jewelry, Household
and Collectables. Loren and
Judy Blazek Estate, Sellers. Thummel Auction.
•Saturday,
April
19,
2014– Public Auction at
10:00 a.m. located at 836
Argyie Ave., Minneapolis,
Kansas. Misc., Collectibles
and Tools. D. Phillipson,
Seller. Dannie Kearn Auction.
***
Everyone who’s ever taken a
shower has an idea. It’s the
person who gets out of the
shower, dries off and does
something about it who
makes the difference.
—Nolan Bushnell
***
First women move
into Army platoon
artillery jobs
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP)
– Under a canopy of trees on
the edge of a large field, soldiers from Bravo Battery are
lying in a circle as they pore
over targeting charts. Nearby, others are preparing the
howitzer cannons as helicopters swoop overhead. At the
edge of the circle, the platoon
leader watches as the field
artillerymen go through their
training exercise.
No one seems to notice the
small knot of hair at the base
of the lieutenant’s helmet, or
that 1st Lt. Kelly Requa is
the only woman on the field
at Campbell’s Crossroads on
the sprawling grounds of Fort
Bragg.
By January 2016, the U.S.
military must open all combat jobs to women or explain
why any must remain closed.
The Army in November officially began assigning female
officers to lead the cannon
platoons and plans to open
other jobs, including those
of crew members within the
field artillery units.
The integration comes as
the military struggles with an
increase in reports of sexual
harassment and assault and
as Congress battles with the
Pentagon over how those cases are prosecuted.
Some of those concerns
were reflected in how senior
commanders are preparing the men as women arrive – and what the men say
concerns them, from whether women can keep up to
whether the men’s salty language will be too offensive.
At the base near Fayetteville, Requa is one of a at
least eight female lieutenants who were brought into
the 3rd Battalion of the 321st
Field Artillery Regiment beginning late last year to lead
the field artillery units. For
now, she’s the only woman
in her platoon. Later this
spring, women will begin
serving as crew members –
soldiers who actually position the 4,000-pound cannons, zero in on targets and
fire the rounds.
For the women, the integration means more pressure
and scrutiny. For the men, it
means more training in sexual-assault awareness and
prevention, and more lectures on respect, team building and moral character.
“From a leadership perspective the biggest concern
that we discussed was possible misconduct,” said Lt. Col.
Christopher Valeriano, the
3rd Battalion’s commander.
“Introducing females into an
all-male unit, at least for the
initial piece of it, could lead to
a spike in misconduct.”
Commanders, he said,
were worried about sexual
harassment and assault incidents as well as inappropriate consensual relationships
as they moved women into
the small artillery units. He
said platoon members on deployment can be on duty for
24 hours straight, crowded
together in the cab of a rocket launcher the size of a large
truck cab.
So far, he hasn’t seen any
problems. It’s been “pretty
impressive to see the women coming in and running
circles around the men,” he
said. “Most of my female lieutenants outrun my male lieutenants. On overall strength,
the males are stronger. But
the females – endurance-wise
and running – really made
these guys take their game
up a notch.”
Valeriano and other commanders met with the platoons before the women
arrived to talk about team
building and good moral
character and let the men air
any concerns.
“We had to sit them down
as a pre-emptive strike to
make sure they were prepared for this,” Valeriano
said. “They knew it was coming. It was just new to the
overall artillery community.
Some hadn’t had women in
their units ... so at the tactical level where these guys
are operating and conducting fire missions, they don’t
see women normally. Now
they’re being led by a bunch
of women.”
Col. Trevor Bredenkamp,
commander of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade
Combat Team, said he had
lunch to discuss the situation
with his battalion commanders and talked to other officers across the 4,400-member brigade.
He met with all the unit’s
female soldiers to make sure
they heard directly from him
that he will not tolerate sexual harassment. And he said
he routinely gets together
with new soldiers in the brigade to talk about the importance of being a team and
treating others with dignity
and respect.
“When I jump out of an
airplane in the middle of
the night and I land next
to somebody else, I’ve got
to trust them,” he said. “It
doesn’t matter what gender
they are.”
While men largely said
they were unconcerned about
the integration of women
into their unit, commanders
said some initially weren’t
too thrilled. So Army leaders
are watching to see whether
Requa and the other women
can fit in, keep up and lead.
Capt. Fred Janoe is in
charge of Bravo Battery,
roughly 100 people including
two platoons – Requa’s and
one other – and some support personnel. Before Requa
joined the unit, there was a
lot of talk about “is she going
to be able to keep up? She
doesn’t know anything about
cannons. But when she got
there, she was very impressive. So none of that was really talked about anymore,”
Janoe said.
Men also worried about
job standards being lowered
to allow women to qualify.
They wondered about favoritism and whether the
men would automatically
help the women, who might
be smaller. And they fretted
about swearing in front of the
women.
“For us it’s been a pretty
OK transition. A lot of combat soldiers use a lot of foul
language, especially with
young soldiers. And that’s
changed, for now,” Sgt. Antuan Campbell said with a
laugh. “I wouldn’t say ‘don’t
swear,’ just ‘watch what you
say.’”
Commanders also said
younger soldiers, particularly
those who fought in Iraq and
Afghanistan, are more accustomed to working with women. The greater adjustment
may be among older enlisted
and non-commissioned officers who have long served in
men-only artillery, infantry
and armor units.
Requa, who just returned
from Afghanistan, says there
haven’t been any problems
so far.
“They’re bigger than me,”
she said of the men. “My
main goal is just keeping up –
meeting the standards. So, in
PT (physical training), I keep
up with the guys no problem.
It seems to work out.”
She started out working
with bigger rocket launcher
systems, where jobs had already opened for women,
but was eager to move to
the cannon platoon. “When
people think of artillery, the
first thing they think of is
the cannons,” said Requa
of Edmonds, Wash. “The
crews have to work seamlessly together. There’s a lot
of moving – move location,
shoot, move location, shoot.
It’s fast-paced and you get to
shoot and blow things up.”
Army leaders play down
suggestions that they have
chosen top female candidates
to ensure that the early experiences are good.
Suspected killers wore GPS devices Norway News
Blade-Empire, Tuesday, April 15, 2014 7
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) –
Two convicted sex offenders dutifully checked in
with police every month
and wore their GPS trackers around the clock – the
rules of parole that are designed to tip off authorities
if a freed felon backslides.
Yet for at least two
months last fall, authorities claim, Franc Cano and
Steven Dean Gordon were
raping and killing at least
four women – and probably
a fifth – in the seedy prostitution hangouts of Orange
County.
It was data from their
GPS trackers – along with
cellphone records from the
victims and other evidence
– that helped investigators
link them to the killings,
police said.
“That was one of the investigative tools we used
to put the case together,”
Anaheim Police Chief Raul
Quezada said at a news
conference Monday.
Cano, 27, and Gordon,
45, were arrested by investigators on Friday. Each
was charged Monday with
four felony counts of special circumstances murder
and four felony counts of
rape.
If convicted, they could
face a minimum sentence
of life without parole or the
death penalty. They were
being held without bail and
expected to be arraigned
Tuesday.
The men had known
each other at least since
2012, when they cut off
their GPS trackers and, using fake names, fled to Las
Vegas, where they stayed
at the Circus Circus Hotel
& Casino for two weeks before they were rearrested,
according to documents
filed in U.S. District Court
in Nevada.
While out on parole, police believe the men killed
three women in Santa Ana
last October and November
and an another woman in
Anaheim earlier this year.
All had histories of prostitution.
Quezada said authorities were confident that
there was at least a fifth
victim and perhaps more.
Investigators “put a stop
to a serial killing that would
likely have continued beyond this point,” District
Attorney Tony Rackauckas
said.
The department has
contacted
other
places
with missing-persons cases across the country.
Kianna Jackson, 20, of
Las Vegas, arrived in Santa
Ana the first week of October for a court hearing on
four misdemeanor charges
of prostitution and loitering to commit prostitution. Her mother said she
stopped responding to her
text messages soon after
she arrived in Santa Ana.
She checked in to a Costa Mesa hotel but never
paid the bill nor checked
out, and her belongings
were found there.
Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, was last seen Oct.
24 after leaving a family birthday party in Santa
Ana to go to a store.
Martha Anaya, 28, asked
her boyfriend to pick up
their 5-year-old daughter
so she could work on Nov.
12, then stopped responding to his messages later
that night. She had been
planning a birthday party
for her daughter.
Santa Ana investigators didn’t realize that they
were looking for murder
victims at first, Police Chief
Carlos Rojas said.
Instead, police considered them missing persons.
Investigators
searched
a canyon, examined the
women’s
cellphone
records, alerted hospitals,
put the word out on social
media and even checked
motels they were known to
frequent but without success in finding them.
Then, on March 14, the
naked body of Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 21, was found
March 14 on a conveyor
belt at an Anaheim trashsorting plant.
That was the key that
broke the case, authorities
said.
In the weeks before the
discovery, Estepp had become a regular on a strip
of Beach Boulevard in Anaheim long known for prostitution.
Estepp had “a similar
profile to our victims; we
were able to ... move forward,” Rojas said.
Investigators planned to
search for the bodies of the
three Santa Ana victims,
he said.
Cano and Gordon each
served time after being
convicted in separate cases
of lewd and lascivious acts
with a child under 14.
Gordon was convicted
in 1992 and has a 2002
kidnapping
conviction,
according to the Orange
County district attorney’s
office. Cano’s conviction
dates to 2008, prosecutors
said.
After their Las Vegas escapade, Cano and Gordon
pleaded guilty to failure to
register as a sex offender.
They were ordered to provide DNA samples and have
their computers monitored
by federal agents, according to the federal documents, which were first obtained by the Los Angeles
Times.
The men also checked in
with Anaheim police every
30 days, as required, and
provided updated photos,
fingerprints and addresses, Anaheim police Lt. Bob
Dunn said.
In
fact,
both
men
checked in earlier this
month, Dunn said.
Cano was wearing a
state-issued ankle monitor
and Gordon was wearing a
federal GPS device, he said.
Drivers in California crash had clean records
ORLAND, Calif. (AP) –
Both drivers in the fiery
Northern California crash
involving a FedEx truck
and bus full of students
had clean driving records.
FedEx driver Tim Evans and the driver of the
chartered bus, Talalelei
Lealao-Taiao, were killed
along with eight passengers
Thursday when the truck
veered across the median of
Interstate 5 and smashed
into the bus.
California’s Department
of Motor Vehicles said neither driver had a moving
violation, although LealaoTaiao’s license was briefly
suspended in 2004, The
Sacramento Bee reported.
The reason for the suspension was not immediately
clear.
The Glenn County coroner has not released official
identifications, but the Bee
spoke with a member of Evans’ extended family, and
Lealao-Taiao’s
employer,
Silverado Stages Inc., confirmed her name.
Other than an expression of grief, the company
declined to comment, citing
the ongoing investigation.
The bus was carrying 44
students from Southern
California for a free tour
of Humboldt State University on the state’s far north
coast. Many were hoping to
be the first in their families
to attend college. Five students and three adult chaperones died, along with the
drivers.
Federal and state investigators expect to take
months to determine what
caused Evans to lose control of his truck, which
sideswiped a sedan and collided with the bus. Dozens
of injured students escaped
through windows before
the vehicles exploded into
towering flames and billowing smoke in Orland, 100
miles north of Sacramento.
The sedan driver told investigators the truck was
in flames before the crash,
but the National Transportation Safety Board has
said investigators found
no physical evidence of a
pre-impact fire or other witnesses to confirm that account.
A preliminary NTSB report is expected within 30
days; the entire investigation can last more than a
year.
The bus’s black-boxstyle
electronic
control
module was recovered, and
investigators will use other tools to reconstruct the
truck’s speed and maneuvers. Blood tests can tell
whether either driver was
impaired. The investigation
will also review maintenance records and the drivers’ medical histories.
Suspect in Kansas shootings faces murder charges
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.
(AP) – Kansas prosecutors filed state-level murder
charges Tuesday against the
white supremacist accused
in shootings that left three
people dead at two Jewish
community sites in suburban Kansas City.
Frazier Glenn Cross has
been charged with one count
of capital murder for the
deaths of 14-year-old boy
and his grandfather outside
the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City,
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said at a
news conference. Cross also
faces one count of first-degree, premeditated murder
for the death of a woman
who was gunned down while
visiting her mother at a
nearby retirement complex.
The capital murder charge
carries the death penalty as
possible punishment, Howe
said. Cross is being held
on $10 million bond, and
is scheduled to appear in
court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday
in Johnson County District
Court.
Cross,
a
73-year-old
Vietnam War veteran from
southwest Missouri, founded the Carolina Knights of
the Ku Klux Klan in his native North Carolina and later
the White Patriot Party. His
activities have long drawn
the attention of hate-group
monitors, and federal prosecutors say there’s enough
evidence to warrant putting the case before a grand
jury as a hate crime. Moving
the case from state to federal prosecutors would likely
mean tougher punishments
if Cross is convicted.
He’s suspected of killing
69-year-old physician William Lewis Corporon and his
14-year-old grandson, Reat
Griffin Underwood, outside
the community center of
Greater Kansas City. Both
were Methodist.
Moments later, Terri LaManno, a 53-year-old Catholic occupational therapist
and mother of two, was
gunned down outside a
Jewish retirement complex
where she was visiting her
mother.
Cross shouted “Heil Hitler” at television cameras as
he was arrested. Sunday’s
killings shocked the city on
the eve of Passover and refocused attention on the
nation’s problem with racerelated violence.
By Marilyn Sorenson
Monday, April 14, 2014
Robert and Emily Carlgren, Ed Carlgren, Elaine
Sedlacek & Aileen Carlgren
attended the funeral of a
cousin, Bill Lovendahl of
Clyde, Saturday afternoon.
On April 1st, Jerry &
Marilyn Sorenson headed
south for Jerry’s annual trip
to his eye doctor in Dallas,
Texas. After dropping Colby off at the boarding kennel in Salina they headed
to daughter & son-in-law
Jodi & Larry Gawith’s home
where we loaded the van &
headed south. Thankfully
Larry is willing to drive us
through the horrible traffic.
My Google map took us right
to the great LaQuinta for
our stay in Dallas. We were
ready to kiss the ground
when we arrived. The 2 ¬Ω
hour trip from Gainesville
was very nerve wracking;
even Larry said he is not
sure if he wants to do this
again. In our exploring that
evening to find a place to
eat we found out the road I
had used in the past to get
out of town easy was very
close by. The next morning we took the two-block
journey to Texas Retina for
Jerry’s check up. Dr. Anand
gave him a great report (his
eye has been cancer free
for seven years) & said see
you next year. We headed to
my secret road and headed
north. It was a beautiful
drive; everything is green
and in bloom. We stopped
at two antique stores, two
roadside furniture and metal stores, and a rest area
and arrived in Gainesville in
2 ¬Ω hours. No more Interstate for us ever again!!
We would have continued north on my secret
passage but Jodi wanted
to stop at the world’s largest casino. After a brief stop,
we headed back home with
a little more money than we
went in with. We spent the
night with son David & Sharon Spain in Wichita. We
managed to get our luggage
in the house just before the
rain started there. We had
a great visit & wonderful
breakfast at David & Sharon’s before heading out. I
had a bit of business to do
while in Wichita, I had been
informed that my old phone
would not be supported any
more, so I had to go to the
AT&T store to get my new
phone.
Brother-in-law George
Ash stopped by the store &
visited while I was getting
my phone. My sister Sharon Damon met us & we
all went out to lunch before
heading on home. We transferred luggage, picked Colby
up & got home to the cold
temperatures & snow, wondering why we left the 89
degree temperature behind.
On the 5th, Jerry & Marilyn Sorenson attended the
Scandia Lions 50th Anniversary celebration. District
Governor Al Urich was the
featured speaker. Everyone
had a great time celebrating
the Club’s 50 years of community service.
On the 12th, Jerry &
Marilyn Sorenson & Al Urich
headed to Topeka for the
new Lions District A Constitutional Convention. Marilyn had the duty of recording secretary. It was good to
visit with old Lions friends,
deliver candy for the Manhattan club’s candy day &
pick up used eyeglasses. We
arrived home just in time to
deliver Al to his club’s celebration. Jerry & Marilyn
met Gary & Carol Nelson for
supper in Belleville before
heading home. The conclusion to yet another trip
where we were in beautiful
warm temperatures & came
home to cold & snow.
Mitch & Mary Tanner,
Blaine spent Sunday afternoon visiting Jerry & Marilyn Sorenson.
In addition to the Franklin stove, Benjamin Franklin is said to have
invented a rocking chair with a fan, an early version of swim fins and
the armonica, a type of musical instrument made of glass bowls.
8 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Obituaries
RICHARD LEROY ELLISON
Richard Leroy Ellison, 87,
Freeburg, Ill., born April 2,
1927, in Jamestown, Kan.,
died Saturday, April 12,
2014, at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Belleville, Ill.
Mr. Ellison retired as a
reservation service agent with
TWA Airlines. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in New Athens, Ill. He also was a former
member and past president of
the Freeburg School District
70 School board. A U.S. Navy
veteran, Richard was a life
member of Freeburg American Legion Locklar-Smith
Post 550 and the Donald
M. Meisenheimer VFW Post
7074.
He was preceded in death
by his parents, Eugene and
Lucille, née Hinson, Ellison;
and two brothers, Eugene
and Raymond Ellison.
Surviving are his wife of
59 years, Dorothy A., née
Brown, Ellison; two sons, Steven L. Ellison of Waterloo, Ill.;
Edward Dean (Lisa) Ellison of
Belleville, Ill.; a daughter, Susan Joy (Ralph) Joest of Shiloh, Ill.; and eight grandchildren, Jennifer (Davor) Copic,
Katye Ellison, Nick (Danielle)
Joest, Sarah Ellison, PFC
Andrew (Rebecca) Joest, Brianna Rose Ellison, Jacob
Eugene Ellison and Elijah Ellison.
Richard Leroy Ellison
Memorials may made
to First United Methodist
Church, New Athens, Ill., to
American Legion Post 550,
or to VFW Post 7074. Condolences may be expressed
to the family online at www.
rennerfh.com.
Visitation: Friends may
call from 4-8 p.m., Thursday, April 17, 2014, at George
Renner & Sons Funeral
Home, Freeburg, Ill.
Funeral: Funeral services
will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, April 18, 2014, at the
funeral home with Ron Chase
officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Elmwood Cemetery, Freeburg, Ill.
Arrangements by George
Renner & Sons Funeral
Home, Freeburg, Ill.
People with old
Social Security debt
getting a reprieve
WASHINGTON (AP) – People with old Social Security
debts are getting a reprieve
– for now.
The Social Security Administration had been participating in a program in
which thousands of people
were having their tax refunds seized to recoup overpayments that happened
more than a decade ago.
On Monday, Acting Social Security Commissioner
Carolyn W. Colvin said she
was suspending the program while the agency conducts a review.
Social Security recipients
and members of Congress
complained that people
were being forced to repay
overpayments that were
sometimes paid to their
parents or guardians when
they were children.
The Social Security Administration says it has
identified about 400,000
people with old debts. They
owe a total of $714 million.
So far, the agency says
it has collected $55 million,
mainly by having the Treasury Department seize tax
refunds.
Colvin said she was suspending the program “pending a thorough review of our
responsibility and discretion under the current law
to refer debt to the Treasury
Department.”
“If any Social Security or
Supplemental Security Income beneficiary believes
they have been incorrectly
assessed with an overpayment under this program, I
encourage them to request
an explanation or seek options to resolve the overpayment,” Colvin said.
The program was authorized by a 2008 change in
the law that allows Social
Security and other federal
agencies, through the Treasury, to seize federal payments to recoup debts that
are more than 10 years old.
Previously, there was a 10year limit on using the program.
In most cases, the seizures are tax refunds.
The Washington Post first
reported on the program.
Democratic Sens. Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Barbara Mikul-
ski of Maryland complained
about the program in a letter to Colvin.
“While this policy of seizing tax refunds to repay
decades-old Social Security
overpayments might be allowed under the law, it is
entirely unjust,” the senators wrote.
After Colvin’s announcement, Boxer said in a statement, “I am grateful that the
Social Security Administration has chosen not to penalize innocent Americans
while the agency determines
a fair path forward on how
to handle past errors.”
There are several scenarios in which people may
have received overpayments
as children. For example,
when a parent of a minor
child dies, the child may be
eligible for survivor’s benefits, which are often sent
to the surviving parent or
guardian.
If there was an overpayment made on behalf of the
child, that child could be
held liable years later, as an
adult.
Also, if a child is disabled, he or she may receive
overpayments. Those overpayments would typically
be taken out of current payments, once they are discovered.
But if disability payments were discontinued
because the child’s condition improved, Social Security could try to recoup the
overpayments years later.
“We want to assure the
public that we do not seek
restitution through tax refund offset in cases when
the debt in question was established prior to the debtor
turning 18 years of age,”
Social Security spokesman
Mark Hinkle said in an
email. “Also, we do not use
tax refund offset to collect
the debt of a person’s relative. We only use it to collect
the overpaid benefits the
person received for himself
or herself.”
Hinkle said the debt collection could be waived if
the person was without
fault and repayment would
“deprive the person of income needed for ordinary
living expenses or would be
unfair for another reason.”
Post, Guardian
win Pulitzers for
NSA revelations
NEW YORK (AP) – The
Washington Post and The
Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service
Monday for revealing the
U.S. government’s sweeping
surveillance programs in a
blockbuster series of stories
based on secret documents
supplied by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
The Pulitzer for breaking news was awarded to
The Boston Globe for its
“exhaustive and empathetic” coverage of the Boston
Marathon bombing and the
manhunt that followed.
Two of the nation’s biggest and most distinguished
newspapers, The Post and
The New York Times, won
two Pulitzers each, while the
other awards were scattered
among a variety of publications large and small.
The stories about the National Security Agency’s spy
programs revealed that the
government has systematically collected information
about millions of Americans’
phone calls and emails in
its effort to head off terrorist attacks. The resulting
furor led President Barack
Obama to impose limits on
the surveillance.
The reporting “helped
stimulate the very important
discussion about the balance between privacy and
security, and that discussion is still going on,” said
Sig Gissler, administrator of
the Pulitzer Prizes.
The NSA stories were
written by Barton Gellman
at The Washington Post and
Glenn Greenwald, Laura
Poitras and Ewen MacAskill,
whose work was published
by The Guardian US, the
British newspaper’s American operation, based in New
York.
“I think this is amazing
news,” Poitras said. “It’s
a testament to Snowden’s
courage, a vindication of his
courage and his desire to let
the public know what the
government is doing.”
Snowden, a former contract employee at the NSA,
has been charged with espionage and other offenses
in the U.S. and could get 30
years in prison if convicted.
He has received asylum in
Russia.
In a statement issued by
the Freedom of the Press
Foundation, Snowden saluted “the brave reporters
and their colleagues who
kept working in the face
of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced
destruction of journalistic
materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws,
and so many other means
of pressure to get them to
stop.”
Snowden’s
supporters
have likened his disclosures to the release of the
Pentagon Papers, the secret
Vietnam War history whose
publication by The New
York Times in 1971 won the
newspaper a Pulitzer. His
critics have branded him a
criminal.
“To be rewarding illegal
conduct, to be enabling a
traitor like Snowden, to me
is not something that should
be rewarded with a Pulitzer
Prize,” said Rep. Peter King,
R-N.Y. “Snowden has violated his oath. He has put
American lives at risk.”
At The Boston Globe, the
newsroom was closed off to
outsiders, and staff members marked the announcement of the breaking-news
award – coming just a day
before the anniversary of the
bombing – with a moment of
silence for the victims.
“There’s nobody in this
room who wanted to cover
this story. Each and every
one of us hopes that nothing
like it ever happens again
on our watch,” Globe Editor Brian McGrory told the
newsroom.
The bombing last April
15 that killed three people
and wounded more than
260 also led to a Pulitzer
in the feature photography
category for Josh Haner of
The New York Times, for his
photo essay on a blast victim who lost his legs.
Weather
Today’s weather artwork by
Kyler Kindel,
a 3rd grader in
Mrs. Stensaas’ class
Today’s weather artwork by
Megan Barr,
a 2nd grader in
Mrs. Zimmerman’s class
April 15 not much
of a deadline for
most taxpayers
WASHINGTON (AP) – The
Some of these people
calendar shows April 15, weren’t required to file reand you haven’t even started turns because they didn’t
on your federal tax return? make enough money. But
Chances are, you don’t need they still may have had taxes
to fret.
withheld from their pay. The
If you’re due a refund – 2010 returns were due on
and about three-fourths of April 15, 2011, so those taxfilers get refunds – April 15 payers have until Tuesday to
isn’t much of a deadline at claim their refunds.
all.
As part of the agency’s efThe Internal Revenue Ser- fort to encourage these taxvice doesn’t like to talk about payers to come forward, the
it, but penalties for filing IRS reassured in its news
late federal tax returns ap- release: “There is no penalty
ply only to people who owe for filing a late return qualimoney. The penalty is a per- fying for a refund.”
centage of what you owe. If
___
you owe nothing, 5 percent
The IRS expected to reof nothing is ...nothing!
ceive about 35 million reBut it doesn’t make much turns in the last week before
sense to file late. If you are the deadline. Most come with
owed a refund, why wouldn’t payments instead of refund
you want it as soon as pos- requests.
sible? And if you have unSome other numbers,
paid taxes, the late fees add through April 4:
up quickly.
– Individual returns filed:
“Most people with refunds 99.9 million.
are filing early in January,
– Refunds issued: 78.8
February and March be- million.
cause they’d like the refund
– Share of taxpayers getearly,” IRS Commissioner ting refunds: 79 percent.
John Koskinen said. “So we
– Total amount of refunds:
don’t see an incentive and we $220 billion.
don’t see much experience of
– Average refund: $2,792.
Stocks remained on a Tuesday, the market opened people waiting later for us to
– Where’s my refund? Visdownward tack in afternoon on track to extend the prior keep the money longer.”
its to IRS.gov: 236 million.
trading Tuesday, shedding day’s modest gains.
The failure-to-file pen– The rise of computers:
“We’ve seen this kind of alty is generally 5 percent 90 percent of returns have
modest gains from a day earlier. A survey on the home- action over the past week of your unpaid tax bill for been filed electronically.
building industry appeared or so, where we started off a every month, or part of a
– Not bothered by tax
to weigh on the market, little better and sold as the month, you are late. It kicks forms: 58 percent of Ameridragging down homebuild- market got on,” said Brad in on April 16. In general, the cans say it is very easy or
ing stocks. A decline in Face- Sorensen, director of market maximum penalty is 25 per- somewhat easy to complete
book, Google, Apple and oth- and sector analysis at the cent of your original tax bill.
a federal return, according
er tech stocks contributed to Schwab Center for Financial
There also is a penalty for to an Associated Press-GfK
Research. “The impetus to- failing to pay your tax bill, poll.
the market slide.
KEEPING SCORE: The day does seem to be around separate from the penalty
– But some people are
Standard & Poor’s 500 in- the housing number.”
for failing to file at all, but bothered: 11 percent say it is
TECH SLUMP: Seven of the it’s much smaller. That’s be- very hard to complete a feddex fell nine points, or 0.5
percent, to 1,821 as of 1:24 10 sectors in the S&P 500 in- cause the IRS wants you to eral return.
p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow dex fell. Apple, Google, eBay file a return even if you don’t
– These people are really
Jones industrial average and Hewlett-Packard were have enough money to pay bothered: 7 percent say they
shed 62 points, or 0.4 per- among the stocks weighing what you owe.
would be willing to pay more
cent, to 16,111. The Nasdaq down the index. Facebook
The failure-to-pay penalty in federal taxes if filing were
dropped 61 points, or 1.5 shed $2.32, or 4 percent, to is 0.5 percent of your un- easier.
$56.57.
percent, to 3,960.
paid taxes for every month,
___
BIG DECLINERS: Among or part of a month, you don’t
HOUSING HO-HUM: A
Who pays federal taxes?
key gauge of U.S. homebuild- the stocks posting the big- pay.
Last year, the federal govers’ confidence in the hous- gest declines in the S&P 500
About 12 million taxpay- ernment collected $2.8 triling market rose modestly in index were First Solar, which ers are expected to request lion in taxes and fees. Here is
April but remained low for fell $3.56 or about 5.2 per- extensions, giving them an where the money came from:
the third straight month. The cent, to $64.73. TV stream- additional six month to file
– Individual income tax:
National Association of Home ing service Netflix slumped their returns, according to 47 percent.
Builders/Wells Fargo builder $15.70, or about 4.7 percent, the IRS. However, these tax– Payroll taxes: 32 persentiment index edged up to $316.10. Wynn Resorts payers still must pay at least cent.
to 47 this month from 46 plunged $14.03, or 6.7 per- 90 percent of their tax bill by
– Corporate income tax:
in March. Readings below cent, to $196.50.
Tuesday to avoid the failure- 10 percent.
50 mean builders view sales LOCAL MARKETS -EAST
to-pay penalty.
– Excise taxes: 3 percent.
conditions as poor. Builders Wheat ...........................$7.33
___
– Unemployment insurexpect sales to improve over
What if you wait years to ance: 2 percent
Milo ......(per bushel) ....$4.53
the spring and summer. The
– Estate and gift taxes: 1
Corn .............................$4.63 file your tax return?
survey results sent homeIf you’re really late, the percent.
Soybeans ...................$14.43
builders lower. Hovnanian
IRS will take your refund
– Customs duties: 1 perEnterprises was among the Oats ..............................$4.50 after three years, turning it cent.
biggest decliners. Hovnanian
over to the Treasury.
– Miscellaneous: 4 perfell 18 cents, or 3.9 percent, AGMARK
Last month, the IRS said cent.
LOADING FACILITY
to $4.37.
it had $760 million waiting
Sources: IRS, AP-GfK Poll
UP AND DOWN: The mar- LOCAL MARKETS - WEST
to be claimed by an estimat- conducted March 20-24,
ket appears to be decidedly Wheat ..........................$7.33 ed 918,600 taxpayers who Treasury report on budget
undecided of late, often rack- Milo .....(per bushel) .....$453 did not file returns for 2010. year 2013.
ing up small gains early in
the day and then giving them JAMESTOWN MARKETS
***
back in the afternoon. The Wheat ...........................$7.29
Victory
is
not
won
in
miles,
but
in inches. Win a little now, hold
market nearly lost its gains Milo ...(per bushel) ........$4.53
your
ground,
and
later
win a little more.
in the last hour of trading on Soybeans ...................$14.38
—Louis
L’Amour
Monday. Until midmorning Nusun .........................$17.15
Markets
***