The Concordia Blade

BLADE-EMPIRE
CONCORDIA
VOL. CIX NO. 7 (USPS 127-880)
CONCORDIA, KANSAS 66901
County approves
signing agreement
with KDOT
Good Evening
Concordia Forecast
Tonight, mostly clear. Lows around 56.
Southeast winds up to 10 mph.
Wednesday, mostly sunny. Highs around
84. South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to
around 30 mph.
Wednesday night, mostly cloudy with a
50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows
in the upper 50s. Southeast winds 5 to 10
mph shifting to the north 5 to 15 mph after
midnight.
Thursday, mostly sunny. Highs in the
mid 70s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph
with gusts to around 25 mph.
Thursday night and Friday, mostly clear.
Lows in the mid 50s. Highs around 80.
Friday night, partly cloudy. Lows in the
mid 60s.
Saturday, mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the
mid 80s.
Saturday night, thunderstorms likely.
Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 60
percent.
Sunday, partly sunny with a 30 percent
chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid
80s.
Sunday night and Monday, partly cloudy.
A 30 percent chance of thunderstorms.
Lows in the mid 60s. Highs in the upper
80s.
Many attend meeting
The Concordia city commissioners may
attend an owners’ meeting at the Cloud
County Law Enforcement Center at 10
a.m. Wednesday.
Ribbon cutting
A Concordia Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting will mark the grand
opening of Threads & Picture This at 5:30
p.m., Thursday, June 12.
Across Kansas
Mother, boyfriend
charged in girl’s death
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita mother
and her boyfriend are charged with firstdegree murder in the death of her 3-yearold daughter.
Prosecutors say the girl, Emma Krueger,
suffered beatings for up to a month before
her mother called 911 on June 2. The child
died Wednesday. Doctors told police the
girl had severe bruising on her body.
The couple was charged Monday. They
are being held on $150,000 bond each,
with preliminary hearings scheduled for
June 24.
Wolf proposing
six Senate debates
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Tea party challenger Milton Wolf is proposing six debates
with U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts between now
and the Aug. 5 Republican primary in
Kansas.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports
Wolf issued his challenge to the three-term
incumbent on Monday. Wolf, a Leawood
radiologist, wants two debates each in the
Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City-area
media markets.
Roberts spokesman Leroy Towns said
the senator has no problems with candidate forums or joint appearances.
Report: 63 percent
of wheat faring poorly
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Recent rains
across Kansas are greening up the state’s
parched pastures and helping springplanted crops.
But the improved soil moisture conditions have come too late to help most of
the state’s drought-stricken winter wheat
crop as harvest nears.
The National Agricultural Statistics
Service reported Monday that 63 percent
of the wheat in Kansas is in poor to very
poor condition. Twenty-six percent of the
crop is rate in fair condition, with 10 percent rated good and 1 percent rated
excellent.
Visit us online at www.bladeempire.com
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Tapping it in
Luke Anderson, right, and Payton Breese have a putting contest during
Junior Golf Tuesday morning at the Concordia American Legion Golf Course.
(Blade photo by Jay Lowell)
Board of education
takes action on two items
The Unified School District 333
board of education took action on
just two items during its June
meeting Monday night at the
board office.
A motion to set the July meeting for July 14 at 6 p.m. was
approved by the board.
The board also approved the
non-renewal of employee contracts with Doug Moore, a high
school English teacher, and John
Baxa, a high school math and science teacher.
Katie Struebing, Concordia Elementary School assistant principal, presented the MTSS Title I
annual report to the board.
Interim
superintendent
of
schools Quentin Breese gave the
board an update on the progress
of the project covered by the
approval of the $5.5 million bond
issue. TRANE is converting the
heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the Concordia Elementary School from a
two-pipe system to a four -pipe
system, upgrading the lighting
and HVAC system in the Technical
Education building and doing
lighting and electrical upgrades in
the junior -senior high school
building.
“It is great to work with an
organization that is so meticulous,” Breese said.
TRANE is in week three of the
projected 13 weeks project.
Included in the project is the
installation of new lighting at
Harold M. Clark Stadium.
Breese said that the crews had
been held up in Omaha because of
storms, and then equipment did
not arrive in time.
The track at the stadium, and
the football complex, will be closed
from June 16-21 for the installation of the lights.
The board adjourned the meeting following a 40 minute executive session to discuss personnel
and negotiations.
KNEA promising suit
against tenure measure
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The
largest teachers union in Kansas
promised Monday to file a statecourt lawsuit against a measure
eliminating guaranteed tenure in
public schools and perhaps other
policies attached by conservative
Republican legislators to an education funding law enacted this year.
Kansas National Education
Association leaders announced
plans for the legal challenge during
a news conference at the 23,000member union’s Topeka headquarters. David Schauner, the union’s
general legal counsel, said the lawsuit will be filed within the next two
weeks.
Schauner said the union doesn’t
yet know how much of the law will
be challenged and declined to discuss the grounds for the lawsuit in
detail.
The new law boosts aid to poor
school districts by $129 million for
the next school year to comply with
a Kansas Supreme Court decision
in March. The KNEA supports the
additional aid but has strongly
criticized other provisions.
“The clean funding bill so many
had called for was instead a policyladen attack on teachers, schools
and
students,”
said
KNEA
spokesman Marcus Baltzell.
The union strongly objects to
the tenure provision. It takes effect
in July and will eliminate the automatic right of teachers facing dismissal after three years in the
classroom to have their cases
reviewed by independent hearing
officers.
The law also will provide tax
credits to corporations bankrolling
private-school scholarships for atrisk children and permit professionals with science, math or
technology expertise to become
teachers without completing college teacher-preparation programs.
Cloud County board of
commissioners approved
signing an agreement for
the
Federal
Funds
Exchange Program with
KDOT when it met Monday.
Andy Asch highway administrator, presented the
agreement in the amount of
$351,485.42, which will be
used to offset the cost of
sealing and patching materials.
In other highway department
business,
Asch
reported employees are
working on 160th Road
north of Union Road,
repairing damage to county
roads caused by the recent
rains. He also said that
approximately 2/3 of the
spraying of county rightsof-way has been completed.
Sheriff Brian Marks
reported 42 prisoners are
now being housed in the
new jail. Twenty-seven of
those prisoners are from
Saline County. Marks also
said his department will be
contracting with Kaleb
Pounds for lawn care at the
Law Enforcement Center for
the remainder of the summer at a rate of $100 per
week.
Robert Walsh, County
Attorney, reported he and
the commissioners will travel to Salina June 18 for a 1
p.m. meeting regarding the
law enforcement project.
Troy Shepard, maintenance manager, reported
there was a break in the
cooling system waterline,
located in the north store
room and that employees
will be replacing a circulation pump for the cooling
system. He also noted that
there was an operating
problem with the floating
ball monument.
Commissioners
voted
unanimously to hire Mike
Hake
as
the
Solid
Waste/Recycling Director,
effective June 16, with an
introductory wage of $16
per hour.
Ellen
Anderson,
JJA/Community Corrections Director, reported her
department is planning to
replace the 2008 Dodge
Avenger and that bid forms
will be sent to all of the dealers in the 12th Judicial District.
Commissioners will open
bids on June 30 at 11:15
a.m.
Eric Voss and Jim
Menard, Cloud County EMS
Association,
presented
information on the training
classes provided by the
EMS
Association
and
reviewed the regulation
changes for emergency
responders, made by the
State. They also presented
their 2015 budget appropriation request, in the
amount of $4,000 which the
board will take under
advisement when preparing
the county budget.
In other matters the
board
•approved department
payrolls
totaling
$135,268.64.
•discussed the “Get in
the Cloud” application
guidelines and the application process for the Cloud
County Small Business
Grant Funds with Ashley
McMillan, CloudCorp executive director.
•heard a report from
Diana
Gering,
Health
administrator, that the
Medicare auditor will be
here June 18 to conduct the
Medicare audit and on June
19 representatives of the
Area Agency on Aging will
be here to conduct the
Senior Care Survey.
information
•received
from Robbin Cole, executive
director of Pawnee Mental
Health, on services provided
and Pawnee’s 2015 budget
appropriation request in the
amount of $68,875, which
will be taken under advisement when the county
budget is prepared.
Adjournment was at
12:20 p.m.
Commissioners
may
attend the Planning meeting
for the Broadway Plaza project at 6:30 this evening,
Tuesday, June 10, at 6:30
p.m.
Next commission meeting will be Monday, June
16.
Counties limit holds
on ICE detainees
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) —
Three Kansas counties say
they’ll stop automatically
honoring requests from federal immigration officials to
detain people, according to
the American Civil Liberties
Union Foundation of Kansas.
The ACLU of Kansas said
in a release that sheriff’s
departments in Shawnee,
Johnson and Finney counties will require probable
cause or a warrant in order
to hold people who Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials want detained
past their release dates, The
Topeka
Capital-Journal
reported.
Detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are requests that a
local jail or law enforcement
agency detain an individual
for an additional 48 hours
after his or her release date
to give ICE time to decide
whether to take the individual into federal custody and
begin deportation proceedings.
The move by the Kansas
counties comes after recent
court decisions in Oregon
and Pennsylvania found that
such ICE detainer requests
are not commands that local
jurisdictions have to honor,
and that sheriffs could be
liable for constitutional violations for holding people past
the time when they would
otherwise be released.
The ACLU Foundation of
Kansas said it recently sent
letters to county sheriffs
across Kansas explaining the
risks associated with honoring warrantless detention
requests from ICE.
Maj. Timothy Phelps,
deputy director of administrative and investigative services for the Shawnee County
Department of Corrections,
said if ICE picks a person up
and brings them to the jail,
there is an order to hold, and
the jail will honor that order.
“It is an indicator they are
going to initiate deportation,”
Phelps said.
But a request for continued hold “is not grounded in
probable cause,” he said.
OPINION
2 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, June 10, 2014
DOONESBURY® by G.B. Trudeau
Five U.S. troops
killed by friendly fire
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
– Five Americans troops were
killed in an apparent friendly
fire incident in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday, in one of
the worst such incidents involving United States or coalition troops since the start
of the nearly 14 year war.
The official insisted on anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak publicly
to journalists.
The
U.S.-led
international coalition said the service members were killed
in an apparent friendly fire
incident, which an Afghan
official said took place in
southern Zabul province. A
statement said all five soldiers died on Monday but did
not give further details on
the attack or the nationality
of the soldiers.
If confirmed, it would
be one of the most serious
cases involving coalition-oncoalition friendly fire during
the war.
“The casualties occurred
during a security operation
when their unit came into
contact with enemy forces.
Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may
have been involved. The incident is under investigation. Our thoughts are with
the families of those killed
during this difficult time,”
the coalition said in an announcement.
One of the worst came in
April 2002 when four Canadian soldiers were killed
when an American F-16 jet
fighter dropped a bomb on a
group near a night firing exercise in southern Kandahar.
A senior police official in
southern Zabul said the coalition soldiers may have
been killed when they called
for close air support.
Provincial police chief
Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rooghlawanay said there was a joint
operation by Afghan and
NATO troops in the area’s Arghandab district early Monday. After that operation was
over, the troops came under
attack from the Taliban and
called in air support, he said.
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.
6
9
8
7
1
3 4
5
Difficulty Level
8
4
1
5
6
4
3
2
8
9
7
Difficulty Level
2
9
7
8
1
5
6
3
4
8
7
1
6
5
9
4
2
3
9
6
2
3
8
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5
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1
4
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5
1
2
7
9
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7
2
9
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8
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9
3
1
5
2
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1
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6/09
By Dave Green
6
9
6 2
5
7
7
8
1
2
1
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6
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6/10
2014 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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2014 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Thank You for Reading the Blade-Empire
Born today, you are likely
to find yourself in over your
head on more than one occasion during your lifetime.
Fortunately, you have been
endowed with tremendous
courage and staying power,
and you are able to swim
out of danger even as you
are struggling to keep your
head above water. That ability, combined with remarkable talent, will surely win
you a great deal of praise
and admiration and, quite
possibly, catapult you to
the top of your chosen profession and into the annals
of greatness. You are, of
course, less interested in
any rewards and accolades
you may receive than in doing your best and satisfying
yourself that you could, in
the end, do no better.
You have an insecure
streak, and you must take
care that you don’t allow
this one seeming weakness
to get the better of you now
and then -- for if it does, you
may well be driven to behave
in erratic ways that threaten
much for which you have
worked over long periods.
You must always strive to
maintain an even keel.
Also born on this date
are: Kate Upton, model;
Judy Garland, actress and
singer; Hattie McDaniel,
actress; Elizabeth Hurley,
actress; Tara Lipinski, figure skater; Maurice Sendak, author; Jeanne Tripplehorn, actress; Leelee
Sobieski, actress; John
Edwards, politician; Gina
Gershon,
actress;
Dan
Fouts, football player and
commentator.
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, JUNE 11
GEMINI (May 21-June
20) -- You’ve been spending
a little more money that you
had thought. Today, you’ll
have the chance to rethink
your financial habits.
CANCER (June 21-July
22) -- A recent loss has you
doubting yourself, but this
Today in History
50 years ago
June 10, 1964—Mr.
and Mrs. Verlin Ryser and
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Lewis
returned from Colorado
Springs where they attended the graduation of Mr. and
Mrs. Ryser’s son, Gary, from
the United States Air Force
Academy. Gary was to enroll
in pilot training in the Fall
at Enid, Okla. . . . The Saturday Special at Duckwall’s
was fresh orange slices, 2
lbs., 37 cents.
25 years ago
June 10, 1989—Lyndra
Johnay Ukens and Thomas Alan Sextro announced
their June 3 wedding, which
took place at the First United Methodist Church in
Concordia. . . . Members
of the last graduating class
of Notre Dame High School
(1969) who gathered for a
20-year reunion were Sue
Stangel L’Ecuyer, Kathy
Charbonneau
Patterson,
Betty Gosselin Hahn, Carolyn Nobert Brzon, Diane
Chizek Nunemaker, Ann
Schmit Warner, Gary Letourneau, Joyce Bonebrake
Johnson, Mike Yaksich,
Becky Heinen Jones, Dave
Collette, Max Peltier, Edna
Cote Schmitt and Marvin
is only temporary. You can Hamel.
make up for lost ground
10 years ago
very soon.
June 10, 2004—Cloud
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -County
Commissioners and
You may react in a way that
representatives
from Cloud
surprises even you when
Ceramics
signed
a develyou are told of certain faropment
agreement
for the
off developments that affect
planned
expansion
at the
you and yours directly.
Your Birthday
By Stella Wilder
Concordia Blade-Empire
Published daily except Saturday
and Sunday by
THE BLADE-EMPIRE
PUBLISHING COMPANY
510 Washington, Box 309
Concordia, Kansas 66901
Periodical Class Postage paid at
Concordia, Kansas 66901
Subscription Rates: By mail, in trade
area, Cloud, Republic, Ottawa, Mitchell,
Washington, Jewell and Clay Counties,
$98.24 one year. Out of trade area, $118.45.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Concordia Blade-Empire, Box 309,
Concordia, Kansas 66901.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
-- That which is inevitable
may not require immediate
action; that which is less
certain, however, may have
you rushing about all day.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
-- You’re eager to see things
settled between two of your
friends who have been at
odds lately. Your contribution can, perhaps, do the
trick.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov.
21) -- You and a rival both
have much at stake right
now, but the way you are
playing the game has everyone thinking it’s more important to you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21) -- You may want
to revisit recently read instructions or guidelines. Are
you sure that you haven’t
missed a step somewhere?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) -- You’ll probably
have to go through a great
many revisions before you
land on a final version with
which you are truly satisfied.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18) -- A friendly rival has
some advice for you. If you
don’t listen to it in a reasonable fashion, there will be a
price to pay!
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20) -- Collaborative efforts
are favored, but the window
for getting something important done may be quite
small. Don’t hesitate.
ARIES (March 21-April
19) -- You may have to revisit a place that gave you a
creepy feeling the last time
you were there. Things have
changed, however!
TAURUS (April 20-May
20) -- Now is the time for
you to accept responsibility for a few things that you
might have hoped others
hadn’t noticed -- but they
had, of course!
plant. . . . Cloud County
Health Center was awarded
a grant by the Topeka-based
Sunflower
Foundation:
Health Care for Kansans, in
its latest funding cycle targeting efforts to build the
capacity of the health care
safety in Kansas. The grant
of $20,000 would be used to
purchase computers as part
of the project to upgrade the
total computer capabilities
of CCHC.
5 years ago
June 10, 2009—Eternity Focus, a contemporary
gospel group from Lebanon,
was ministering at Trinity
United Methodist Church in
Concordia. . . . Luke Hood
of Hood Heating & Air had
passed the master’s electrical exam proctored by
Thompson Prometric. He
was promoted to vice president of operations.
1 year ago
June 10, 2013—Concordia American Legion Auxiliary officers for 2013-2014
were Lorrie Mason, president; Patti Post, vice president; Laura Christensen,
secretary; Lorene Phipps,
treasurer; Doris Hale, historian; Teresa Benson, chaplain; and Karen Driscoll,
sergeant-at-arms. . . .
Members of the Leon Gennette family raised $782.95
at their annual Big Bang
Softball Tournament. The
money would be used for
the fireworks display at the
Sports Complex.
People
Blade-Empire, Tuesday, June 10, 2014 3
Morgan crash fuels
tired truckers debate
Annie’s
Mailbox
by Kathy Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar
Dear Annie: I have two
adult daughters, both married now. "Beth" lives nearby, but "Gina" moved across
the country.
Beth was diagnosed with
ADHD and bipolar disorder
when she was in her early
20s. I think she suffered
from it during childhood,
but was undiagnosed. When
they were children, I spent
a great deal of time trying
to calm Beth down and was
aware that Gina did not get
the same degree of attention.
I tried to make up for it by
doing things with Gina outside of the house. I became
her Brownie troop leader and
went on her class field trips.
I made it my business to see
that we had calm times together.
Now that Beth is on medication, she is a different person. But it may be too late.
Gina doesn't want to come
home anymore because she
says she doesn't feel safe
here. Gina tells me that she
is being treated for PTSD due
to verbal abuse and neglect
she suffered as a child. She
says I should have done a
better job of protecting her.
She hasn't spoken to Beth in
two years. I respect her feelings, but I don't understand
why she cannot forgive Beth
knowing how ill she was.
Beth is expecting her second child, but I didn't tell
Gina, because I thought she
wouldn't care. Her grandmother spilled the beans,
and now Gina thinks Beth
was deliberately "getting
even" because Gina didn't
invite Beth to her wedding.
I feel like such a failure. I
am not getting any younger
and worry that the two of
them will air their dirty laundry at my funeral. I love both
of my girls, but I don't know
how to resolve this. — Brokenhearted Mother
Dear Mother: Please stop
beating yourself up. A child
with behavioral issues is a
tremendous challenge to
parents and siblings alike.
Even though Beth's behavior was not your fault, Gina
needs you to apologize for
not giving her the childhood
she thinks she deserved,
and more importantly, Beth
needs to reach out to her sister and ask for forgiveness.
These small things can go
a long way toward healing.
Also ask whether Gina would
seek counseling with you. Be
patient, but don't give up.
Dear Annie: Last Memorial Day, I visited the grave of a
relative to pay my respects. I
looked up and saw a group of
people walking by with their
dogs — right over the graves.
The cemetery has a sign saying no dogs are allowed. On
a holiday like Memorial Day,
the groundskeepers aren't
there to say anything. I gave
them a stern look, as I certainly didn't want their dogs
to relieve themselves on my
relative's grave. They just
looked at me and laughed.
This undoubtedly will
happen again. How can I
deal with it without losing
my cool? I find this disrespectful and disgusting. —
Anywhere USA
Dear USA: Those cemeteries that do not permit dogs
will post a sign, as yours
did. Those who bring their
dogs in spite of these signs
are trespassing and should
be reported to the cemetery
owners, as well as the police.
In cemeteries where dogs are
allowed, considerate owners
will not permit their animals
to relieve themselves on a
grave, but will direct them to
other areas within the cemetery and will clean up after
them.
Dear Annie: I would like to
respond to "Different Gods,"
the Pagan who doesn't want
to attend church with her
boyfriend's family at Christmas.
I have been a practicing
pagan for 30 years. Though
I am devoted to my religion,
I am still able to celebrate
with family and friends. Holidays are about the season,
the sharing and the joy in
being alive. "Different Gods"
should embrace the holidays
as a way to show her love for
her boyfriend and his family. Maybe then he might be
more interested in attending
some pagan festivals. — L.
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
Book discussion offered
on using Sunflower e-Library
The Frank Carlson Library
will be host for a book discussion related to using the Sunflower e-Library on Thursday,
June 12, from 7-8 p.m.
Sunflower e-Library is a
digital collection of books, audio books, movies and music,
waiting to be checked out for
free.
The discussion will include e-library experiences
shared by patrons, book and
technological recommendations for the e-library, and a
question/answer session.
Senior Citizens Menu
Wednesday, June 11—Hot pork sandwich, mashed potatoes, stewed tomatoes, pudding; 10 a.m.—Exercise; 1
p.m.—Boosters.
Thursday, June 12—Chicken and noodles, peas and
carrots, rosy applesauce; board meeting.
Friday, June 13—Lasagna, spinach, garlic bread, pears;
10 a.m.—Exercise; progressive cards. Father’s Day is Sunday.
Fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls daily, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Call 243.1872, Teddy Lineberry for questions or to make
reservations.
***
No two gardens are the same.
No two days are the same in one garden.
-Hugh Johnson
***
VIRGINIA and MYRON DeGRAFF
DeGraffs will celebrate
50th anniversary
Myron and Virginia DeGraff, rural Concordia, will
celebrate their 50th wedding
anniversary June 14. Myron and the former Virginia
Walker were married June
14, 1964, at the Wesleyan
Church in Concordia.
Their children and spouses are Doug and Amy DeGraff
and Janet and Rod Michaud,
all of rural Concordia. They
have three grandchildren,
Daegen DeGraff and Adrianna and Brendan Michaud.
The family are requesting
a card shower to honor the
couple. Cards may be sent to
1565 N. 180th Road, Concordia, KS 66901.
“My Favorite Older Person”
The winning essays in Concordia Elementary School
fourth graders’ “My Favorite Older Person” writing activity selected by Sunset Home residents are being published
as space permits in the Blade. Following is an essay by
Samantha Jeardoe.
“My Favorite Older Person”
By Samantha Jeardoe
My favorite older person is a super gentle person
who’s always loving. Her name is Susan Hine, but I call
her Nana. Her home is in Concordia, Kan.
She graceful, just as much as the Lord himself. I feel
from deep in my heart that she is like my creator. She’s
there when no one else is around.
She’s my pro from my fears and she’s my sunshine on
a rainy day. She is as beautiful as a white wise wolf. She
always says, “People who live in glass houses should not
throw stones.” That is funny because she lives in one.
We love playing softball. She says, “I am full with
pride!” She’s like my falling star, but goes around the
earth a lot of times visiting other countries.
When I don’t see her behind me patting my shoulder
saying, “Love comes once in a lifetime for each and for
every one of you, here in this diamond,” and holds up her
diamond ring.
Sometimes I read her birthday card she gave to me
and I cry.
She is very thoughtful and in the summer calls all
my family together and has a family reunion. It includes
tarp-sliding. There’s one thing she does to make me feel
special, by spoiling me cause I’m the only granddaughter
and makes survival out of it!
When her arms wrap around me, I feel safe from the
troubles hiding in the shadows. Her smile lights me up.
She is a gardener at her house too. It’s like when she
plants something, it’s love that she plants. She’s always
there for me, and when there’s bad news she explains it
to me.
This is my grandmother no matter the price, it is true
she likes to eat rice! She is an angel from the sky, her big
dream is to fly! She is my shining star. She will not go too
far! She is in my heart 24-7!
Student
luminaries
Clay Boley, 2014 Concordia High School graduate,
was one of nine students
awarded scholarships totaling $3,100 at the Solomon
Valley and North Central
Kansas-State Day event in
Beloit June 2. The scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year at KSU were
awarded by Solomon Valley Alumni Club, the North
Central
Kansas
Alumni
Club, the Col. Gayle Foster
Endowed Scholarship Fund,
the K-State Alumni Association and the K-State President’s office.
WASHINGTON (AP) – A
New Jersey highway crash
that severely injured Tracy
Morgan and killed another
comedian is drawing attention to the dangers of
tired truckers just as the
industry and its allies in
Congress are poised to roll
back safety rules on drivers’ work schedules.
A proposed change to
federal regulations backed
by the trucking industry
and opposed by safety advocates and the Obama
administration would effectively let drivers put
in as many as 82 hours a
week behind the wheel. The
current limit is either 60
hours or 70 hours a week,
depending on the kind of
company employing the
driver.
The change was added to
a transportation spending
bill by a Senate committee
last week.
Nearly 4,000 people die
in large truck crashes each
year, and driver fatigue is a
leading factor, according to
the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety administration. The
rate of fatal crashes involving large trucks rose from
1.03 per 100 million vehicle
miles traveled in 2009 to
1.29 in 2012.
The
trucking
industry has been sparring
with safety advocates and
unions over driver hours
for two decades, including several trips to federal
court. Safety advocates,
while extending their sympathies to Morgan and the
family of comedian James
“Jimmy Mack” McNair, who
was killed in the crash, said
they hope that because a
celebrity was involved in
the accident it will boost
their cause.
“This is a major moment
really to stop the trucking
industry,” Joan Claybrook,
a former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told reporters in a conference call.
“It seems no matter what
we do in terms of pushing
to get safer trucks on highways, the trucking industry uses its clout to either
undo those improvements
that we do get or stops any
that we’re trying to push.”
Noting that truck safety
was suddenly “at the forefront of the national conversation,” Bill Graves,
president of the American
Trucking
Associations,
cautioned that “no rule can
address what a driver does
in his or her off-duty time. “
The industry “strongly
believes that drivers must
take advantage of their offduty periods for rest, and
that drivers should not
drive if they are fatigued,”
he said in a statement.
Wal-Mart truck driver
Kevin Roper had had no
sleep for more than 24
hours before he plowed into
the back of Morgan’s limo
bus about 1 a.m. on Saturday, according to local
authorities. Roper, 35, of
Jonesboro, Georgia, apparently failed to slow for traffic ahead on the New Jersey Turnpike in Cranbury
Township and swerved at
the last minute to avoid a
crash. Instead, his big rig
smashed into the back of
Morgan’s chauffeured Mercedes limo bus, authorities
said.
McNair was killed and
Morgan, 45, a former “Saturday Night Live” and “30
Rock” cast member, and
two other companions were
hospitalized in critical condition. Roper has been
charged with death by auto
and four counts of assault
by auto.
Scientists say sleep deprivation affects behavior
much like alcohol, eroding
judgment and slowing reflexes. In several accidents
investigated by the National Transportation Safety
Board, commercial drivers suffering from lack of
sleep have driven straight
into vehicles clearly visible
to them without applying
brakes or applying them
too late because they failed
to grasp what they were
seeing.
Accidents involving tired
truckers also tend to have
larger numbers of deaths
and severe injuries because
of the damaged inflicted
by trucks weighing tens of
thousands of pounds, according to investigators.
The provision added to
the transportation spending bill by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and supported by the trucking industry,
rolls back regulations governing driver hours that
were put in place last summer by the motor carrier
administration.
Before the regulations
were put in place, longhaul truck drivers could
start each work week after 34 hours off duty. After
the regulations were put
in place, drivers could still
start a new work week after 34 hours off, but they
can no longer do that every
week.
The rules essentially
force them to take a longer
weekend every other week.
The regulations also added
a requirement that any 34hour rest period include
two nights during which
drivers have the opportunity to sleep between 1 a.m.
and 5 a.m., the hours when
people most crave sleep because of their bodies’ circadian rhythms cause them
to naturally slow down
while it is dark outside.
Those same rhythms often
make it difficult for people
to sleep during the day, or
to get restful sleep if they
do doze off.
Under Collins’ provision,
truckers could go back to
taking 34 hours off between
every work week with no requirement for two nighttime
periods during their time
off. The senator and trucking industry officials said it
is safer for truckers to drive
at night when there is less
traffic and that the current
regulations increase truck
traffic on roads during
morning rush hours. Safety
advocates and administration officials said there is
no evidence that’s the case.
4 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, June 10, 2014
MUTTS® by Patrick McDonnell
ZITS® by Scott and Borgman
Upcoming
events
Saturday, June 14—Doggie Dash 5k fundraiser for
Concordia Dog Park. start/
finish line
at high school
Postponed
football field, 8 a.m. for all
runners, 8:10 for all walkers. Call 243.2670 or www.
active.com to sign up.
Saturday,
June
21—
Teens for Christ Rally, David
Carter, Christian music recording artist, 7 p.m., Brown
Grand Theatre, Concordia.
Sales Calendar
NANCY® by Guy & Brad Gilchrist
BARNEY GOOGLE AND SNUFFY SMITH® by John Rose
•Saturday, June 7, 2014–
Estate Auction at 9:00 a.m.
located at the Kearn Auction House, 220 West 5th
Street, Concordia, Kansas.
Vehicles, Antiques, Collectibles, Large Coke Collection,
Antique Furniture, Dolls and
Tools. Betty Brown Esate,
Seller. Dannie Kearn Auction.
•Saturday,
June
21,
2014– Public Auction at
10:00 a.m. located at the
Cloud County Fairgrounds
Commercial Bldg., East edge
of Concordia, Kansas on Industrial Road. Antiques and
Collectibles. Alvena Swenson, Seller. Larry Lagasse
Auction.
•Tuesday, June 24, 2014
– Nursing Home Auction at
1:00 p.m. located at at the facility across from the American Legion at 310 Strand
Street in Clifton, Kansas.
Real Estate and Nursing
Home Supplies. Greg Kretz
Auction.
HAGER THE HORRIBLE® by Chris Browne
No words in the English language rhyme with orange,
silver or purple.
More than 100
Kansas vets were
on VA waiting list
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – More
than 100 Kansas veterans
were on a waiting list for appointments at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics
for 90 days or more, an audit of the government’s beleaguered medical network
showed Monday.
An additional 977 veterans
in Kansas who have enrolled
in the VA health care system
during the past 10 years had
never had an appointment
scheduled.
According to the audit
based on a snapshot of VA
data from May 15, the average wait time for new patients seeking primary care
was about 35 days at the
VA center in Wichita and 41
days at the other two Kansas
VA facilities.
The report showed 104 patients were on the electronic
waiting list at the Robert J.
Dole VA Medical Center in
Wichita. Six were awaiting
care through the VA Eastern
Kansas Health Care System,
which includes the Dwight D.
Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth and the
Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical
Center in Topeka.
The federal department
also reported that 636 veterans who enrolled for care
at the VA center in Wichita
during the past decade had
never had an appointment.
Another 341 who enrolled
in VA facilities in Topeka or
Leavenworth had not been
scheduled yet for an appointment.
Nationally, more than
57,000 veterans have been
waiting 90 days or more for
their first VA medical appointments, and an additional 64,000 appear to have
fallen through the cracks,
never getting appointments
after enrolling and requesting
them, according to the audit.
Officials at the Dole VA
Medical Center in Wichita
declined to comment on the
report.
But Jim Gleisberg, spokesman for the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, said
the large number of veterans
who have enrolled in the system – but who never had an
appointment – reflects efforts
to get members of the Kansas
National Guard to enroll even
if they’re not likely to use VA
doctors or hospitals for years.
The eastern Kansas system will have to examine the
VA data further, he said.
“Our goal here is to give
the patient, the veteran,
quality care as quickly as we
can,” Gleisberg said.
Gleisberg also confirmed
Monday that the top two doctors in the Eastern Kansas
system would transfer to other positions within the VA by
the end of the month. But he
declined to elaborate on the
departures of medical Chief
of Staff Rajeev Trehan and
Deputy Chief of Staff Sandeep Chhahira, calling them
personnel matters.
The Colmery-O’Neil center in Topeka faced physician shortages that diverted
patients to other hospital
emergency rooms for months
last year. The staffing issues
prompted the VA to close
the Topeka medical center’s
emergency room in January.
Gleisberg said while staffing for the emergency room
has increased, he doesn’t
know when the VA will reopen it.
U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp,
a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said
Monday the official electronic
waiting list cited in the latest audit is different from the
385 names the VA center in
Wichita acknowledged to him
last week that it had on an
unauthorized waiting list.
“I don’t think anyone in
the VA today knows how big
the problem is,” he said.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback issued a statement after
the VA released the data calling for immediate action by
the federal government.
“It is unacceptable that
any veteran who has served
the nation, and who qualifies for treatment at a Veterans’ Affairs medical facility, is
forced to wait for an extended
period before receiving services,” the governor said.
Charles Yunker, state adjutant for the Kansas American Legion, said he has not
experienced any problems
getting appointments at VA
facilities in Leavenworth or
Topeka, but had to wait six
weeks before the VA center
in Kansas City, Missouri,
called him back to schedule
his appointment. But in the
wake of widespread reports
of unauthorized wait lists
nationwide, the VA has since
offered to pay for him to see
a civilian doctor. He declined
and has since been given an
expedited appointment later
this month with a VA doctor.
Blade-Empire Tuesday, June 10, 2014 5
Sports
Pinehurst No. 2 anything but perfect
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP)
— Pinehurst No. 2 is anything but perfect for the
U.S. Open, at least in the
traditional sense of major
championships in America.
USGA executive director
Mike Davis could not be
any more thrilled.
“It’s awesome,” Davis
said Monday as he gazed
out at a golf course that
looks like a yard that hasn’t been watered in a
month.
Sandy
areas
have
replaced thick rough off
the fairways. They are partially covered with that
Pinehurst Resort officials
refer to as “natural vegetation,” but what most anyone else would simply call
weeds.
The
edges
of
the
bunkers are ragged. The
turf is uneven just off some
of the greens, with patches
of no grass.
Instead of verdant fairways from tee-to-green, the
fairways are a blend of
green, yellow and brown.
That was the plan all
along.
Shortly after this Donald
Ross gem was awarded its
third U.S. Open in 15
years, the fabled No. 2
course went through a
gutsy project to restore it to
its natural look from yesteryear, before this notion
that the condition of a
course had to be perfect.
Ernie Els, a two-time
U.S. Open champion, was
amazed when he walked off
the 18th green.
“I wouldn’t call this an
inland links, but it’s got
that character,” he said. “I
was a bit nervous when I
heard of the redo. But this
looks like it’s been here for
a long time.”
Els has been playing the
U.S. Open for two decades.
He never imagined the
“toughest test in golf” without any rough. Nor does he
think that will make it easier.
“You don’t need it,” he
said. “When I played it in
‘99, I didn’t like it. You hit it
in the rough, you’re just
trying to get it out. It was
one-dimensional.
Now,
you’re going to have an
unbelievable
championship.
“If you miss the fairway,
you’re not just going to
wedge it out. You’ve got a
chance to hit a miraculous
shot. And then you could
really be (in trouble). This
is the way it used to be.”
Els said the look of Pinehurst No. 2 reminded him
of Royal Melbourne, and a
guy who actually grew up
next to Royal Melbourne
agreed.
“These are Melbourne
fairways,” Geoff Ogilvy said
as he walked down the first
fairway, where the grass
was green for the first 200
turning
before
yards
brown, and then going
back to greener grass
toward the green.
“This is kind of the way
grass is supposed to be. In
the summer it browns up,
and in the winter it’s green.
Sports in Brief
The Associated Press
HOCKEY
NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles
Kings are close to finishing off the New York Rangers in a big
hurry.
The All-Star goalie had his best game of the finals by far,
making 32 saves to put the Kings on the cusp of another coronation with a 3-0 victory over New York in Game 3.
Los Angeles escaped with two overtime wins at home and
then took complete command inside Madison Square Garden
to take a 3-0 series edge. The Kings are a win away from winning their second Stanley Cup in three years.
New York will face elimination at home Wednesday night in
Game 4.
PRO BASKETBALL
MIAMI (AP) — The flop is having an impact on the playoffs,
and it’s being caught much more than it was in the regular
season.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade became the latest recipient of
a postseason flopping fine when the NBA ordered him to give
up $5,000 after a review showed he over-exaggerated a foul
during Game 2 of the finals that was charged to San Antonio’s
Manu Ginobili.
And there’s an ironic twist — Ginobili is often considered a
master flopper, but he wasn’t even warned once about it this
season.
It was the fifth flopping violation of the playoffs, which
works out to one in every 17.2 games. The NBA said 35 flops
were caught in the regular season, or one in every 35.1
games.
COLLEGE SPORTS
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The battle to give top football and
basketball players a cut of the billions of dollars flowing into
college athletics began in earnest with former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon taking the stand in federal court to
describe how he spent long hours working on his game and
as few as possible on his grades.
The lead plaintiff in a landmark antitrust suit against the
NCAA said his goal at UCLA wasn’t to get a degree, but to get
two years of college experience before being drafted into the
NBA.
O’Bannon portrayed himself as a dedicated athlete who
would stay after games to work on his shot if he played poorly, but an indifferent student at best. His job at UCLA, he
said, was to play basketball and took up so much time that
just making it to class a few hours a day was difficult.
SWIMMING
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken severed her spinal cord in an
all-terrain vehicle accident over the weekend, and she told
emergency workers she could not move her toes or feel anything touching her legs.
The 41-year-old swimmer, who goes by her married name
Amy Van Dyken Rouen, was injured Friday. She was airlifted
to a hospital and had surgery to stabilize her spine.
Hospital spokeswoman Alice Giedraitis didn’t provide
details on Rouen’s injuries. She said the swimmer was in
good condition.
A letter from the Van Dyken and Rouen families said she
severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebrae and that the broken vertebrae came within millimeters of rupturing her aorta.
HORSE RACING
NEW YORK (AP) — California Chrome co-owner Steve
Coburn apologized for his bitter remarks after his horse failed
to win the Triple Crown.
Coburn said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” he was
“very ashamed of myself. Very ashamed. I need to apologize to
a lot of people, including my wife, Carolyn.”
To my eye, this is what golf
courses are supposed to
look like.”
Ogilvy
understand
architecture better than
most players. He was looking at photos as Bill Coore
and Ben Crenshaw worked
on the restoration. He had
heard stories. And it still
managed to exceed his
expectations.
As for the idea of a U.S.
Open without rough? He
pointed to clumps of grass
in the sandy areas, and
some of the wiregrass
bushes. And yes, the
weeds.
“Look, the reality is
there is rough there,” he
said. “It’s probably what
rough used to be like before
we had crazy irrigation.”
The past two U.S. Open
champions finished over
par — Webb Simpson at
Olympic Club, Justin Rose
at Merion, both at 1-over. A
third straight U.S. Open
champion over par would
be the longest streak in
nearly 60 years.
Not many were willing to
bet against that.
“I’ve never played anything like it,” Jordan Spieth said. “And it’s already
— right now, with the pins
in the middle of the greens
— hard enough for even
par to win. It’s going to be
extremely challenging. But
at the same time, it’s a
great test.”
More than a great test,
Davis is hopeful it sends a
great message.
The USGA has been
preaching in recent years
to get away from the idea
that golf courses have to be
perfectly manicured to be
great.
Pinehurst No. 2, and
perhaps Chambers Bay
next year outside Seattle,
allows a chance to show
the golfing public what it
means.
The restoration project
involved removing some 35
acres of sod and keeping
only 450 of the 1,150
sprinkler heads. Water use
is down an estimated 40
percent.
“It’s look back in the
past, but it’s really looking
forward to the future,”
Davis said. “Owners, operators and superintendents
won’t give you this until the
golfers think it’s OK.
“At private clubs, unless
the greens committee says,
‘This is what we want,’ the
superintendent won’t do it.
It’s people thinking, ‘This
looks fine.’”
Pinehurst No. 2 effectively presents the opposite
perception of Augusta
National. For years, superintendents have complained that too many
courses wanted to be just
like the home of the Masters in the quality — near
perfection — of the conditions.
“Hopefully, this sets a
precedent,” Ogilvy said. “If
Augusta has been the
model everyone followed,
hopefully this shows that it
doesn’t have to be that way
to be great.”
Sterling pulls support
for sale of Clippers
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Los Angeles Clippers owner
Donald Sterling has pulled
his support from a deal to
sell the team to former
Microsoft
CEO
Steve
Ballmer and will pursue his
$1 billion federal lawsuit
against the NBA, his attorney said Monday.
“We have been instructed
to prosecute the lawsuit,”
said
attorney
Maxwell
Blecher. He said co-owner
Donald Sterling would not
be signing off on the deal to
sell.
Donald Sterling issued a
one-page statement dated
Monday titled “The Team is
not for Sale” and said that
“from the onset, I did not
want to sell the Los Angeles
Clippers.”
The $2 billion sale was
negotiated by his wife Shelly
Sterling after Donald Sterling’s racist remarks to a
girlfriend were publicized
and the NBA moved to oust
him as owner.
The lawsuit alleges the
league violated his constitutional rights by relying on
information from an “illegal”
recording that publicized
racist remarks he made to a
girlfriend. It also said the
league committed a breach
of contract by fining Sterling
$2.5 million and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale.
“I have decided that I
must fight to protect my
rights,” Donald Sterling
said. “While my position
may not be popular, I
believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of
my rights to due process
should not be trampled. I
love the team and have dedicated 33 years of my life to
the organization. I intend to
fight to keep the team.”
Donald Sterling had
agreed to ink the deal and
drop the suit last week
assuming “all their differences had been resolved,”
his attorneys said. But individuals close to the negotiations
who
weren’t
authorized to speak publicly
said he decided to not sign
the papers after learning
the NBA won’t revoke its
lifetime ban and fine.
“There was never a discussion involving the NBA
in which we would modify
Mr. Sterling’s penalty in any
way whatsoever. Any suggestion otherwise is complete fabrication,” NBA
spokesman Mike Bass said.
Shelly Sterling and her
attorney Pierce O’Donnell
declined
to
comment
through representatives.
Shelly Sterling utilized
her authority as sole trustee
of The Sterling Family
Trust, which owns the Clippers, to take bids for the
team and ultimately negotiate a deal with Ballmer. The
deal would be record-breaking if approved by the NBA’s
owners.
An individual familiar
with the negotiations who
wasn’t authorized to speak
publicly said Monday that
there were two options for
Donald Sterling — to either
sign or go to court. But even
if he wins in court, he’s ultimately winning a judgment
against himself because his
wife Shelly Sterling has
agreed to indemnify the
NBA against all lawsuits,
including by her husband,
the individual said.
Donald Sterling’s comments to V. Stiviano included telling her to not bring
black people to Clippers
games, specifically mentioning Hall of Famer Magic
Johnson. They resulted in a
storm of outrage from the
public and players and even
prompted President Barack
Obama to comment on what
he called Sterling’s “incredibly offensive racist statements.”
Donald Sterling said in
his statement that he was
“extremely sorry for the
hurtful statements” he
made privately but said
them out of anger and jealousy and didn’t intend for
them to be public.
Kitchener elected to
KVAHall of Fame
TOPEKA — Former Concordia High School coach
Laureli
Kitchener
was
inducted into the Kansas
Volleyball Association Hall
of Fame.
The first volleyball coach
at Concordia High School,
Kitchener guided the Panthers to 10 state championships. She compiled a
710-86
(89.2
percent)
record in 26 years, 23 of
those years at Concordia.
Concordia qualified for
state 17 times in Kitchener’s career. The Panthers
had three undefeated seasons, and put together an
84 match winning streak.
Kitchener led Concordia
to 20 North Central Kansas
League championships, and
23 straight Concordia Invitational titles. She was
voted the Class 4A coach of
the year eight times and
was inducted into the
Kansas State High School
Activities Association Hall of
Fame in 2010.
Others inducted into the
Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame include
Caitlyn Donahue, player;
Leslie
McGinnis,
official/former coach; Julie
Slater, coach; Kim W. Tennal, retired coach; and
Sarah E. Wamsley, player.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Before
they see their teams battle
on the fields, soccer fans
arriving in Brazil will first
have to fight their way past
airport scaffolding, terminal
flooding and two-hour taxi
lines.
The World Cup opens
Thursday and airports are
bracing to welcome the
crush of international travelers flying in for soccer’s premier
event.
Brazilian
authorities insist they’re
ready, but passengers may
find themselves in for a
rough landing.
For example, officials had
nearly seven years to prepare Brazil’s largest airport,
Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos, yet
only a quarter of the new
$1.3 billion international
terminal is operational.
Many weary travelers will
deplane into a dim terminal
with severe concrete architecture dating from the military dictatorship of three
decades ago.
On Monday, the wait time
for a taxi at Guarulhos was
more than two hours and
nearby traffic was at a
standstill due to a crippling
strike by subway workers.
“Let’s just put it this way:
We are not showing the
world the best we could,”
said Luiz Gustavo Fraxino,
an airport infrastructure
consultant in Curitiba, one
of the cities hosting World
Cup games.
Experts blame poor planning and excessive government control for the airport
problems. A long-delayed
privatization drive began too
late for most upgrades to be
ready.
President Dilma Rousseff
has dismissed complaints
that Brazil isn’t ready. The
overstrained infrastructure,
she says, is a sign of a nation
on the move, as the middle
class expands and previously poor Brazilians take to the
air for the first time.
“We aren’t building airports just for the World Cup,
just for FIFA,” she recently
said. “We are building for
Brazilians.”
For most travel in Brazil,
flying is the only practical
choice. The country is the
size of a continent and there
are no passenger rail connections, not even for the
260-mile
(418-kilometer)
stretch between its two
largest cities, Rio de Janeiro
and Sao Paulo. To top it off,
resources were stretched
thin because Brazil insisted
on preparing 12 cities to host
the games, rather than the
eight preferred by FIFA. Last
week, even Rio Mayor
Eduardo Paes acknowledged
that decision was a mistake.
Travelers arriving in Rio
will be lucky if they don’t
instantly break out in a
sweat. Even though it’s
Brazil’s cool season, temper-
atures are hovering close to
80 degrees Fahrenheit (26
degrees Celsius) this week
and humidity is near 70 percent. And, when it’s warm,
the air conditioning tends to
fail.
In Brasilia, a recent 20minute tropical cloudburst
was all it took to flood the
linoleum floors of its spanking-new airport, forcing travelers to splash through the
terminal. In other host cities,
passengers have to walk
underneath scaffolding or
see brand new facilities from
afar because they weren’t
finished in time to be tested.
In general, comforts common to other airports, like
power outlets or functional
Wi-Fi, are difficult to come
by. Travelers who lack Portuguese skills may have a
hard time understanding
local authorities, airport
announcements or signage.
There can be more serious
problems, too. A consumer
protection agency audit at
Rio’s airport earlier this year
found irregularities such as
blocked emergency exits,
out-of-date fire extinguishers and plugged-up urinals.
Alex Lima, a safety officer
on offshore oil platforms,
said Rio’s airport is stretched
to the max even when there’s
not a major international
event taking place.
“I’m here twice a month
for work, so I’m immune to
all the craziness,” Lima said
as he waited for a flight to
Sao Paulo. “But for people
who’ve never been here
before and are used to ‘normal’ airports, this has to be
pretty shocking.”
If travelers expect problems to be smoothed over by
the warm hospitality Brazilians are known for, think
again.
In a reflection of the country’s dour mood, a recent
Pew Research Poll said six of
10 Brazilians feel it was a
bad idea to host the World
Cup because it has diverted
money from health care and
education.
That may explain why the
only evidence of festivity in
Rio’s airport are a few banners that appear to have
come straight from a copy
center and a giant plush
Fuleco, the tournament’s
armadillo mascot. There are,
however, plenty of porters in
maroon uniforms hoping to
persuade gullible tourists to
illegally exchange dollars
and euros for reals.
On a recent day at Sao
Paolo’s airport, three young
men ran around frenetically
trying to find anyone who
could point them to their
connecting flight to Rio. A
soccer fan from the Netherlands was confused when
immigration officers took her
passport for additional
review without any explanation in English.
World Cup fans face
bumpy ride in Brazil
6 Blade-Empire, Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Obituaries
BERTHA “PEGGY” MURDOCK
Bertha (Peggy) Murdock
went peacefully home to be
with her heavenly Father
and the loving arms of her
husband Roy, early Sunday
morning, June 8, 2014, at
the Sunset Home in Concordia, Kan.
Bertha (Peggy), one of
eight children of Owen and
Elsie Thorp, was born Feb.
12, 1914, on the family
farm near Norway, Kan. She
spent her childhood and attended schools in the Norway community. On July
12, 1932, she was united
in marriage to the love of
her life, Roy Elza Murdock
in Plattsburg, Mo. To this
union two children, Michael
and Elsie, were born. Roy
and Peggy lived and farmed
in Cloud and Republic
counties in Kansas and also
lived in Idaho and Washington states during the 59
years of their marriage. Peggy was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. She enjoyed
sewing, cooking, canning
and working in her flower
and vegetable gardens. She
loved playing the piano or
organ and singing hymns.
She loved God and always
stressed the importance of
having God in your life.
Survivors: daughter, Elsie (Edward) Brummett of
Concordia; son, Michael
Murdock of the Philippines;
grandchildren, Sheila (Paul)
LaBarge, Derby; Theresa
Brummett (friend Thomas),
California; Deborah (Rick)
Parrish, Missouri; Jennifer
(Jay) Pokorny, Topeka; Hope
(Arnold) Lopaz, Oregon; Angela Murdock, Washington;
Denise Robbins, Colorado;
great-grandchildren, Garrett, Jordan, Joshua, Justin, Elizabeth, Madison,
Mallory, Clinton, Rene, Rachel, Kiara, Justin, Ashley,
and nieces and nephews.
Peggy was preceded in
death by her parents, husband, brothers, Vincent,
Oren, Ebert, sisters Vuta,
Edith, Fern and an infant
sister, grandson Scott Lee
Murdock, and great-grandson Travis Wayne Robbins.
Family will greet friends
from noon until 2 p.m.
Friday, June 13, 2014, at
the Chaput-Buoy Funeral
Home in Concordia, Kan.
Graveside services and interment will follow at 2:30
p.m. at the Pleasant Ridge
Cemetery in rural Norway.
Memorials may be made
to Sunset Home, Concordia.
Arrangements:
TibbettsFischer Funeral Home, Belleville. Online condolences
at
www.tibbettsfischerfuneralhome.com.
Obama acts to
ease student debt
WASHINGTON
(AP)
–
Up to 5 million Americans
struggling to make their
monthly student loan payments could find relief under a program President
Barack Obama expanded
Monday, part of an electionyear push by Democrats to
paint Republicans as blocking common-sense steps
that could help the middle
class.
Dubbing it a “no-brainer,”
Obama also threw his support behind legislation to
let some of those same borrowers refinance their student loans at lower rates, in
a move the administration
said could save 25 million
borrowers up to $2,000 over
the life of their loans.
“I’m only here because
this country gave me a
chance
through
education,” Obama said. “We are
here today because we believe that in America, no
hard-working young person
should be priced out of a
higher education.”
With a group of student
loan borrowers looking on,
Obama put his pen to a
presidential memorandum
that will allow those who
borrowed through the federal government before 2007
to pay no more than 10
percent of their income in
monthly payments. Existing
programs created by Con-
gress and Obama already
offer that benefit to recent
borrowers; Obama’s memo
will make it fully retroactive.
How much borrowers
could save under Obama’s
expansion depends on an
array of factors, including
income and the size of the
loan. But under one possible scenario, an unmarried
individual who borrowed
$100,000 to pay for college
and makes $30,000 a year
could see the monthly payment drop from more than
$1,000 a month to just a few
hundred dollars.
Paying less each month
means it takes longer to pay
off the loan, but the program
is geared toward low-income
workers who can’t afford to
pay off their loans under
the standard 10-year term.
Under Obama’s “Pay as You
Earn Plan,” any remaining
balance is forgiven after 20
years of making payments.
But while Obama’s most
recent budget request listed the cost of expanding
the program at $7.6 billion
for the first year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan
couldn’t way what the price
tag would be for taxpayers
who support the federal loan
program.
“We actually don’t know
the costs yet,” Duncan said.
“We’ll figure that out on the
back end.”
Conjoined twins
celebrate 18th birthday Tyson wins battle to
HOUSTON (AP) – For a set
of Texas twins, being joined
at the hip is not just a cliche
– that was basically the first
10 months of their life.
On Tuesday, Emily and
Caitlin Copeland, who were
born conjoined at the liver,
are celebrating their 18th
birthday by enjoying the success of a separation surgery
that has allowed them to lead
normal lives and graduate as
co-valedictorians from Lutheran High North in Houston.
“I think for anyone it’s exciting to get to 18, but in particular for us I think it’s just a
really big blessing that we got
to 18, considering what could
have happened,” Caitlin said.
Crystal Copeland, the
twins’ mother, nods. She
will never forget the day she
learned she was pregnant
with conjoined twins, a phenomenon that occurs once in
every 200,000 live births. Between 40 percent and 60 percent are stillborn, and some
35 percent survive one day.
And in late 1996, surgery
and imaging were not as advanced.
“At the time, if you Googled
conjoined twins all you got
was circus acts and babies
that died,” Copeland said.
It was a Friday when Copeland first spoke to Dr.
Kevin Lally, surgeon in chief
at Hermann Memorial Children’s Hospital in Houston.
He promised to provide an
honest assessment of the
chances for survival.
The babies were kicking.
Copeland had seen them in
an ultrasound. To her, they
were alive and well. That
weekend, she said, was the
hardest in her life.
On Monday, the Copelands got the best news they
could have hoped for.
“They were joined at the
liver, not at the heart, which
would have been, you know,
fatal,” Copeland said. “He
thought there were good opportunities for separation
where they would both be
able to live basically normal
lives,” she added.
The complications after
the twins were born were
worrisome. One was born
with a blocked intestine, and
surgery had to be conducted
when they were just 2 days
old. Lally wanted to separate them at that point, but
when the surgery began doctors discovered they were not
only conjoined at the liver but
the organs were discharging through only one twin.
So doctors decided to wait
for them to get bigger for the
separation surgery.
Meanwhile,
Copeland
watched Caitlin, bigger and
chubbier than Emily, try to
roll over on her sister, who
would scream, arms flailing
to the sides. Then Caitlin got
on all fours and tried to crawl,
but Emily was too heavy for
her to drag.
Faced now with two smiling teenagers, rather than
screaming toddlers who had
to raise their shirts so he
could inspect their scars, Lally smiles.
“You don’t always see the
long-term results of what we
do, and it’s nice when you get
to see a good one,” he said.
Markets
NEW YORK (AP) – The
stock market drifted lower
Tuesday after major indexes
reached another record high
the day before. Shares of RadioShack are sliding as the
retailer’s losses mount.
KEEPING SCORE: The
Standard & Poor’s 500 index
is down two points, or 0.1
percent, to 1,949 as of 11:40
a.m. Eastern. The S&P 500,
the most widely used benchmark for mutual funds,
crept to another record high
on Monday and has ended
higher the last four days.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell seven points, less
than 0.1 percent, to 16,936,
while the Nasdaq gave up
three points, also less than
0.1 percent, to 4,333.
LOCAL MARKETS -EAST
Wheat ...........................$7.04
Milo ......(per bushel) ....$4.16
Corn .............................$4.26
Soybeans ...................$14.02
Oats ..............................$4.50
AGMARK
LOADING FACILITY
LOCAL MARKETS - WEST
Wheat ..........................$7.04
Milo .....(per bushel) .....$4.16
JAMESTOWN MARKETS
Wheat ...........................$6.99
Milo ...(per bushel) ........$4.16
Soybeans ...................$13.97
Nusun .........................$16.40
gobble up Hillshire
NEW YORK (AP) – Tyson
Foods Inc. has won a bidding war to gobble up Hillshire Brands, the maker of
Jimmy Dean sausages and
Ball Park hot dogs.
Tyson had been vying
with rival poultry producer
Pilgrim’s Pride to acquire
Hillshire, which wrapped up
its bidding process Sunday.
Tyson’s final offer ended up
at $63 per share, about two
weeks after Pilgrim’s Pride
made an initial bid of $45
per share.
Pilgrim’s Pride, which is
owned by Brazilian meat giant JBS, said Monday that it
was bowing out of the competition.
Still, the deal is not sealed
yet. It is contingent on Hillshire not going through with
its offer to acquire Pinnacle
Foods Inc., which makes
Birds Eye frozen vegetables
and Wish-Bone salad dressings. Pinnacle could allow
Hillshire to do its deal with
Tyson, leaving Pinnacle with
a $163 million breakup
fee. Or it could force Hillshire shareholders to vote
on whether they’d prefer a
merger with Pinnacle.
A Pinnacle representative
didn’t return a call for comment.
In a conference call with
reporters, Tyson CEO Donnie Smith said he was confident the $63 offer would
end up being worthwhile for
Tyson shareholders, despite
how high the price went.
“Great brands like Jimmy Dean and Ball Park just
don’t become available very
often,” Smith said.
Hillshire’s stock closed
at $36.95 on May 9, the
day before the company announced the Pinnacle deal.
On Monday it closed up 5.3
percent at $62.06.
Tyson,
like
Pilgrim’s
Pride, has been looking to
boost its presence in brandname, prepared foods like
Jimmy
Dean
breakfast
sandwiches. Those types of
products are more profitable than fresh meat, such
as chicken breasts, where
there isn’t as much wiggle
room to pad prices.
While Tyson and Pilgrim’s
Pride already sell some
brand-name products, their
businesses have been more
focused on supplying supermarkets and restaurant
chains.
In particular, Tyson said
it was drawn by Hillshire’s
stable of breakfast foods,
which would better position
it in the fast-growing category.
Norway News
By Marilyn Sorenson
Monday, June 9, 2014
Eric Herrman left this
week to go on to the Atlanta, Georgia, area. He spent
almost two weeks visiting
with his dad, Eugene Herrman and family.
Jerry & Marilyn Sorenson
and Al Urich, Belleville, attended the Lions Club meeting in Morganville, Monday
evening. After a wonderful potluck supper, District
Governor Al installed the
officers in the Club for next
year. Then, it was time for
the wildly popular pound
auction. This year, Al ended up with the ever present
ugly ceramic statue. I wonder who will be the proud
recipient next year!
Jerry & Marilyn Sorenson and Al Urich attended
the Lions State Convention in Manhattan over the
weekend. Of course, there
were all the usual foundation meetings to attend as
well as a whole hog roast,
jazz band concert & ice
cream social on Friday evening. Saturday morning
was the Lions State Band
Concert. The afternoon was
taken up with very interesting seminars & the Convention meeting. The hospitality room was busy with Lions
catching up with old friends
from across the state.
International President
Barry Palmer, Australia,
here with his wife Anne, was
the featured speaker during
the convention.
Saturday evening was
the formal banquet. Past
District Governor Marilyn
was awarded the International Leadership Medal by
President Palmer. This is
the second highest award
given by Lions Clubs International.
Weather
Today’s weather artwork by
Ambriana Snavely,
a 2nd grader in
Mrs. Taddiken’s class
People having photos
taken of everyday life
When
Anzalee
and
Kristain Rhodes look back
at their daughter’s first year
of life, they won’t be examining blurry, red-eyed camera
phone photos. They’ll have
crisp, finely detailed professional shots of a baby growing up before their eyes.
Each month, a team of
professional photographers
shoots them as they go about
their daily lives at home and
around New York City.
“As a baby, she changes
every month. There’s something new. Her hair changes,
everything changes within
a month and we wanted
to be able to capture all
those things,” said Anzalee
Rhodes, a 35-year-old statistician who lives on Long
Island, New York
The Rhodes are part of
a trend of folks hiring professional
photographers
to document not just big
events like weddings and
bar mitzvahs, but everyday
activities. Sometimes they
want a milestone recorded
– a child’s birthday party
or family get-together. But
often they’re hiring pros
to photograph things they
might otherwise have shot
with their own cellphones or
point-and-shoot cameras: a
weekend outing, a vacation,
or a portrait of a beloved pet.
Those photos are then
shared, just like their own
cell pictures would be, on
social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“We’re in a digital-media
focused world now. I mean,
you kind of live your life
through Facebook, looking
at photos of peoples’ lives.
There’s a lot more sharing in
general, so that is expanding
the footprint of what people
will consider to have professionally documented,” said
Tim Beckford, a photographer known as Tim Co. with
I Heart New York, the New
York City-based company
that shoots the Rhodes family each month.
“Why have blurry cell
phone photos with just one
of you actually in the photo?” reads I Heart New York’s
website pitch. “Visiting (or
living) in New York City is a
big deal and we want your
Facebook friends to be VERY
jealous.” People from as far
away as Australia have responded by hiring I Heart
New York to document their
trips to the Big Apple.
And just like with a selfie that you post from your
phone, the company’s work
can be seen right away online. I Heart New York will
photograph a proposal and
provide a near-instantaneous shot so clients can
post it to social media sites
– and change their relationship status at the same time,
Beckford said.
The Rhodes treasure their
ongoing photographic record
of their daughter’s childhood, and believe it’s an
accurate representation of
their family in everyday situations.
But is it possible to present a realistic view of ordinary experiences if a photographer is staging and
enhancing each shot? Catalina Toma, a University of
Wisconsin-Madison professor whose research includes
examining emotional wellbeing and social media, says
people tend to construct
very flattering images of
themselves online.
“The importance of selfpresentation on social media is really high,” she said.
And when people look on
Facebook and see their
friend’s best self – whether
it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip
to Greece, a new job or a
flawless family photograph –
they get depressed thinking
they are missing out.
“They don’t realize that
everybody is doing the same
thing, engaging in the same
strategy
as
themselves,
which is to sort of ignore the
negative or the trivial or the
banal, and posting only the
best stuff, the exciting stuff.”
And that’s true whether they
are taking selfies or hiring
someone to do it for them.
Liz Bowling, a 33-yearold account executive, first
hired a professional photographer to shoot her wedding and then her newborn
daughter, Ashlyn. Since
then, she’s had the same
photographer travel from
Boulder, Colorado, to her
home in Lake Tahoe to capture her family a handful of
times. The photographer,
Julie Afflerbaugh, has even
stayed with the family in
order to capture them in a
candid way, Bowling said.
“It’s not just a staged photograph. She captures very
authentic moments,” Bowling said. “I really want images that are going to show
who I was when, and she
does that.”
The photos are framed
and displayed on a wall in
the family home, Bowling
said, as well as used for
Christmas cards and shared
via social media sites.
“It’s me. That’s who I am
and it’s kind of fun to share
what I’m doing with really
beautiful photos,” Bowling
said.
For the Record
Police Dept. Report
Damage to property—
Corinna Hood, Concordia,
reported Damage to Property at 8 a.m., Saturday, June
7. Damage occurred in the
900 block of 3rd Ave.
Marsha Doyenne, Concordia, reported at 11:45
a.m., June 8, that someone
had struck and Damaged
her Vehicle while it was
parked in the 500 block of
West 8th Street.
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