By TONY GUERRERO Hays Post

Fort Hays State University paid tribute to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

The memorial stair climb began Saturday at 7:46 a.m. at Lewis Field Stadium, one hour before the first plane struck the North Tower in 2001. The opening consisted of the national anthem and a moment of silence.

Participants chose to run or walk the stadium steps or complete laps around the Lewis Field turf.

Dozens of first responders, including firefighters in full gear, honored 9/11 heroes by replicating the efforts of those who climbed the World Trade Center.

20-year-old Jose Amaya, a paid-on-call firefighter with the Ellis County Fire Department, said that although he was not born before 2001, he stayed motivated by imagining himself in the shoes of those who attempted the climb.

"We don't exactly see what those first responders did on 9/11, but we kind of get a feeling of what they had to suffer through to get up to the top of the World Trade Center," Amaya said.

18-year-old Kamdem Keller, a county firefighter, said he drew motivation from remembering the first responders who ran toward danger.

"When you're out here with this gear on and you're doing it, you realize these guys were making a push that not very many people could make," Keller said.

Gear typically weighs between 45 and 75 pounds.

After the climb, Amaya said he hopes the public recognizes firefighters’ dedication to serving the community.

"I'm glad I joined the fire department. They feel like a second family to me," he said.

Keller said he hopes the public will continue to support all first responders, including fire, law enforcement and EMT.

"Support your first responders, no matter what agency they are," Keller said. "These are tough jobs. You see some really challenging things, but if you're there to support them, it helps them give a deeper push in their day-to-day life."

As participants completed their laps, footage and audio from the New York attacks were displayed on the big screen at Lewis Field Stadium.

📷Young firefighters pay tribute 9/11 victims; FHSU Memorial Stair Climb

Stroup Hall at Fort Hays State University is expanding as the allied health program moves in with the nursing program.&nbsp;

On this episode of the Hays Post Podcast, news reporter Becky Kiser talks with Crista Beiker, chair of allied health department, and Jenny Manry, nursing department chair, along with president Tisa Mason about of the growth of the two departments.&nbsp;

🎙 Post Podcast: Expansion of Stroup Hall at Fort Hays State University

By STEVE GILLILAND Explore Kansas Outdoors

Here are several changes / updates to hunting and fishing regulations that will take effect September 12, 2025.

Expanded senior license options and a longer coyote season are among key changes.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) has announced several regulation updates taking effect September 12, including new discounted licenses for Kansas seniors and an extended season for night vision coyote hunting.

Kansas residents ages 65–74 will soon have access to three new multi-year license options:

· 5-Year Combination Hunting &amp; Fishing License – $90

One-year senior licenses remain available at half the standard adult rate.

“We introduced these new options after our authority to offer the deeply discounted 10-year senior licenses—commonly known as the senior lifetime license—expired,” said KDWP Secretary Christopher Kennedy. “While we’re still working to bring back the 10-year license, these five-year options give seniors more choices right now.”

Hunters using night vision equipment will now have a longer season to pursue coyotes. The updated season runs from September 1 to March 31, excluding firearm deer seasons. Due to the timing of the regulation change, the 2025–2026 season will only include:

· Trout Permit Fee Increase: Raised from $12 to $17.50 to cover rising stocking costs.

· Mussel Fees Removed: Mussel fishing and dealer fees were eliminated because commercial mussel harvesting was banned in 2022.

· Muzzleloader Ammunition Update: Hunters may now use either lead or non-lead (nontoxic) shot when hunting big game with muzzleloaders—a type of firearm loaded from the front of the barrel.

· More whitetail antlerless deer tags will be available in southeastern and central Kansas.

· Fewer whitetail antlerless deer tags will be available in northwestern Kansas due to declining deer populations.

· Extended firearm season dates were added for southeastern deer management units.

· 2025-2026 dates for Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, and Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range were set to support military access while respecting Department of Defense operations.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism maintains a very good and informative website, so go to <a href="https://ksoutdoors.gov/">www.ksoutdoors.gov</a> to stay informed of further changes, updates and for more valuable information to help you continue to enjoy Kansas Outdoors.

Steve can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Explore Kansas Outdoors: New wildlife regulations take effect September 12

By&nbsp;BRIAN WHEPLEY <a href="https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/campuses/wichita/about/news/news-archive/medical-student-returns-to-kansas-hometown-for-clerkship-rural-medical-training.html">KU News Service</a>

Third-year medical student Jack Thomas considered going somewhere besides his hometown of Scott City to fulfill KU School of Medicine-Wichita’s rural training requirement. But the appeal of a familiar family medicine clinic and time with his family, friends, dog and mother’s cooking won out.

“It’s interesting seeing people you know. My first day there I saw one of my neighbors and had the chance to reconnect and help them,” Thomas says of the family medicine clerkship.

“I always look to connect rural students back to their rural roots if they’re interested,” says&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kumc.edu/l152f027.html">Lynn Fisher, M.D.</a>, associate professor of family and community medicine and assistant clerkship director. “It’s like a puzzle,” he says of balancing locations and student interests that can include going back home and facets of family medicine such as obstetrics, pediatrics, surgery, emergency care and &nbsp;hospital care.

Thomas is no stranger to the Scott City Clinic, as he participated in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/premedical-programs/scholars-in-health.html">Scholars in Health</a>&nbsp;as a Kansas State University undergraduate. The program identifies Kansas residents interested in becoming primary care doctors in underserved areas and, having met academic and other requirements, guarantees medical school admission. As a scholar, he shadowed Scott City physicians.

This time around, his immersion shifted from watching to doing. That ranges from writing case notes to navigating the electronic medical record system to following a visiting general surgeon and an ear, nose and throat specialist. He’s done morning rounds and gotten to see patients on his own and with Libby Hineman, M.D., and colleagues Chris Cupp, M.D., and Matthew Lightner, M.D. – all KU School of Medicine graduates.

“It’s been different in that I’ve been going in and seeing and talking to patients and then presenting a differential diagnosis,” Thomas says. “The three doctors are really good teachers and very helpful in me gaining clinical skills like physical exams.”

And he’s gotten hands-on, from removing skin lesions to sewing stitches to what Hineman calls “a perk of coming way out here,” helping deliver a baby via C-section one week and scrubbing in for a laparoscopic procedure the next.

Family medicine, “it’s a nice rotation to do at the beginning of your third year before you get into all those specialty rotations,” says Hineman, who’s known Thomas since starting practice in Scott City in 2006.

Growing up in the town of about 4,000, where his father works in natural gas sales and mother was a radiology technician, Thomas wasn’t immersed in medicine. That changed during his junior year of high school when the distance runner – a state champion in cross-country and the 3,200 meter – tore a critical hip cartilage, the labrum, at a critical time, college recruiting season.

“It was my whole life,” he says of running, so the injury was devastating and the journey to successful treatment and recovery left an impression.

He saw different orthopedists for assessment and feels fortunate to have found a Colorado hip specialist who delivered a sobering timeframe for recovery but also provided the expertise to enable Thomas to heal and earn a spot on the K-State cross-country team. He’d run for two years in college before fully turning his attention to a new passion, medicine.

Thomas, whose first two years of medical school were in Kansas City, initially wanted to pursue orthopedics but has shifted toward dermatology, an interest furthered by a family history of skin cancer and skin issues of his own. He sees the need for rural dermatologists and can envision a practice with visits to multiple rural locations, and Hineman says they’ve discussed how a rural specialty practice is more doable now than in the past.

Still, Thomas has made no final decision on a specialty: “I want to go through all the other rotations to see if there’s something I really enjoy.”

Medical students have long had a required fourth-year, four-week rural rotation. Starting last year, though, students choosing to do the longer third-year family medicine clerkship in a rural location can use it to satisfy the fourth-year requirement.

It’s a change that allows students more time for fourth-year electives but also – as Hineman and Fisher mentioned – encourages earlier exposure to rural practice. As a result, it’s an opportunity for students to be sold on family medicine before the residency match process kicks in and makes a switch more challenging.

Fisher handles the Wichita campus’ rural placements, about 40-plus annually for third years, while the Kansas City campus coordinates those for its students and Salina’s. Volunteer preceptors – the local physician mentors – are available in almost every county with full-time family physicians.

“Some sites take multiple students almost every month of the year. Some sites will take a student three or four times a year. Some sites may take a student once or twice a year. It just runs the gamut,” says Fisher, noting sites might drop in and out if they lose physicians. Scott City, for example, stopped taking students when it went from five doctors to three.

“The doctors, a lot of them KU graduates, are wanting to give back to future students. Teaching helps keep you on your toes, and we know it also helps prevent burnout,” Fisher says. “I think hospital systems do it because you never know when that potentially could land you a future recruit. Sometimes students love a site so much that they may go back multiple times because they really have an interest.”

Seeing rural practice in action can be a powerful recruiting tool. Fisher notes his fourth-year med school rotation in Quinter led to his 15 years of rural practice. Scott City will soon return to a full complement of five doctors and restore obstetrics care when Morgan Gillam, M.D., and Brittany Peach, M.D., KUSM-Wichita and Via Christi family medicine graduates, join the practice. Both did rotations during residency there.

“They loved the community, but they also loved our practice and how we worked together,” Hineman says. “It gave them that peek into, ‘Hey, I might want to work there someday.’”

In addition to teaching about medicine, Hineman says, preceptors can share how a small-town physician can achieve a work-life balance – or something close to it – amid late-night deliveries, ER and vacation coverage, and raising a family. Often, the job extends beyond medical care: “The physicians play such an important role in the community, and community members look to them for leadership,” Thomas says.

While still debating a specialty, Thomas appreciates family medicine.

“They take care of the whole family and take care of people their entire lives. They know how to form relationships with patients,” Thomas says. “You’re doing a lot of procedures, filling the role of general surgeon, delivering babies, acting as an internist. You have to know a lot about everything.”

Medical student returns to hometown of Scott City for clerkship, rural medical training

PHILLIPS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 9p.m. Saturday in Phillips County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 driven by Gary L. Massey, 54,&nbsp; Phillipsburg, was northbound on E 600 Road three miles north of U.S. 36. The driver&nbsp; failed to negotiate a curve. The pickup&nbsp; entered the west ditch, traveled back onto the road, entered east ditch and rolled several times before coming to a rest on its top.

EMS transported Massey to&nbsp;Phillips County Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

NW Kansas man hospitalized after pickup rollover accident

By MARK R. JOSLYN Insight Kansas

West of Salina, on the way to Colorado, I saw them for the first time, towering over the plains, their immense blades turning in slow rhythmic circles. I was excited to see them, their sheer size awe inspiring.

My excitement, however, mixed with concern as the giant machines changed the quiet vastness of the open prairie into something commercial, even industrial.

Twenty years later, having passed by hundreds more – they’ve multiplied at a startling pace – my feelings about them haven’t settled.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cleanview.co/wind-farms/kansas">Fifty-one</a>&nbsp;utility scale windfarms are now scattered across 36 counties, most&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f37701d386824345951016dc61859057">west</a>&nbsp;of Wichita but more appearing in the northeast and southeast regions.&nbsp;

Wind developers require forty to seventy&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://todayshomeowner.com/eco-friendly/guides/how-much-space-does-a-wind-turbine-need/">acres</a>&nbsp;per turbine. &nbsp;Farms with a hundred or more turbines thus span thousands of acres.&nbsp;There are nearly&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/wind-generation-by-state/">4,500 turbines</a>&nbsp;ranging from 213 ft. tall to the hub, 323 ft. with blades 323 ft., at the state’s first wind farm in Gray County, to newer models reaching 374 ft. to the hub, 514 ft. with blades, at Prairie Queen in Allen County.&nbsp;

For reference, the Kansas State Capitol Building is 304 ft., the Statue of Liberty 305 ft.&nbsp;

Wind power accounts for&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://windexchange.energy.gov/states/ks#capacity">47 percent</a>&nbsp;of the state’s electricity, a dramatic rise from less than 20 percent a decade ago.&nbsp;More wind power means less coal and natural gas.&nbsp;It also means&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://energiesmedia.com/why-kansas-wind-farms-are-changing-the-face-of-rural-farming-2025-guide/">compensation</a>&nbsp;for landowners and employment opportunities for area residents. Plus, wind farms support local communities through taxes, supplying counties with steady income to improve infrastructure and fund schools. And compared to traditional sources, wind energy delivers cheaper electricity.

Wind farms divide communities, separating those who profit from those that do not. They cause heated disputes over zoning laws, especially setback requirements, noise levels, and environmental compliance. Other concerns include light pollution, property values, shadow flicker, transmission lines, and rural aesthetics.&nbsp;

I get it, renewable energy takes on a different meaning with a turbine whirling nearby. To paraphrase a Douglas County&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp1xzMt5vOM">resident</a>: “I’m for clean power projects, just put them somewhere else.”&nbsp;

NIMBYism (not in my backyard) is a real barrier to wind expansion, especially in the populated eastern counties. 

In response to a permit request, Franklin County enacted a temporary moratorium on wind development. Douglas County residents successfully&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kaninfo.com/news/tougher-proposed-wind-farm-regs-but-douglas-county-opponents-say-deck-still-stacked-against-them/">lobbied</a>&nbsp;for more stringent regulations that stalled a windfarm proposal. Shawnee, Harvey, and Linn counties have recently banned wind projects. About a fifth of Kansas&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-01-13/ku-research-suggests-wind-power-isnt-a-red-vs-blue-issue-in-kansas">counties</a>&nbsp;prohibit new wind installations, many in sensitive areas of the Flint Hills. Governors from both parties have issued executive orders to protect Flint Hills from wind developers.

The Trump administration’s recent efforts to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/16/interior-requires-burgum-sign-off-for-solar-wind-projects-00458999">slow</a>&nbsp;wind power introduces further complications, likely politicizing what had been a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lawrencekstimes.com/2025/01/15/ku-research-wind-divide/">nonpartisan</a>&nbsp;issue in Kansas.

Currently, the fragmented system of local regulations enables developers to capitalize on the financial vulnerabilities of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.khi.org/articles/how-rural-counties-can-shape-wind-energy-and-emerging-role-of-public-health/">counties</a>&nbsp;and landowners.

Perhaps statewide standards could lead to a more equitable distribution of wind power’s impacts. Yet limiting local control raises its own set of thorny issues. 

I am still awed by the turbines and still unsettled. I wonder how many is enough. How tall will they get? Where will they go? Chances are development stays west, and in places Kansans rarely visit but where in fact the burdens of wind energy are felt the most.

Dr. Mark R. Joslyn is a professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

Insight Kansas: Mixed emotions about wind turbines?  You’re not alone 

<a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

Three-day weather outlook

Family Worship: Revival and Riot in Ephesus - Acts 19:18-20

By ALICIA BOOR Cottonwood Extension District

Navigating the unknown for the stocker operator and fueling performance from the inside out are among topics planned for the 2025 Kansas State University Beef Stocker Field Day on Thursday, Sept. 25. The conference will take place at the K-State Beef Stocker Unit, Manhattan.

Registration is $25 and due Sept. 11. Walk-in registration is available for $35. To register, go to <a href="https://www.asi.k-state.edu/events/stockerfieldday/">asi.ksu.edu/stockerfieldday</a>. For more information, contact Katie Smith at 785-532-1267 or&nbsp;<a href="mailto:katiesmith@ksu.edu">katiesmith@ksu.edu</a>.

“The 26th&nbsp;annual K-State Beef Stocker Field Day is geared towards providing the most updated information to beef producers as possible” said Dale Blasi, K-State professor of animal sciences and industry, and beef cattle extension specialist. “The morning session will dive deep into the current beef market and what might be coming down the road. Attendees will learn more about K-State’s work devoted to growing beef cattle and beef x dairy calves.”

The day will start with a welcome at 10:30 a.m. and will conclude around 5 p.m. This year’s event is sponsored by Kemin.

BOOR: Beef Stocker Field Day is Sept. 25

Kanas Department of Agriculture

MANHATTAN — Grain growers in central Kansas who plan to campaign for a seat on one of the state’s five grain commodity commissions — corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat or sunflowers — should be gathering petition signatures now to meet the November 30, 2025, filing deadline. Voting will take place in January-February 2026. The 2026 election will cover districts IV, V, VI — or the central third of Kansas.

District IV:&nbsp;Clay, Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Smith, and Washington counties. District V:&nbsp;Barton, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Rice, Rush, Russell, and Saline counties. District VI:&nbsp;Barber, Comanche, Edwards, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Sedgwick, Stafford, and Sumner counties.

To be eligible to run, candidates must have been actively engaged in growing that commodity (corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat or sunflowers) within the preceding five years and must reside in and represent the district where they maintain their primary residence. To be included on the 2026 ballot, candidates must gather 20 signatures from eligible growers, with no more than five signatures from any one county.&nbsp;Eligible growers are Kansas residents who will be at least 18 years old by January 1, 2026, and who have actively grown corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers or wheat for the last three years.&nbsp;

Candidates may choose to collect signatures either on paper or online, or by using a combination of both. The online petition portal is available at:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fportal.kda.ks.gov%2Fenrollment%2FCommoditiesCandidatePetition%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/0100019905a74353-ec5af454-d3bb-42d7-b320-f147aca725f8-000000/ltbTL_9mNMdn8VlNsCFhGK5qMJZ_JHVfzl10QT4lmOg=420">https://portal.kda.ks.gov/enrollment/CommoditiesCandidatePetition</a>.&nbsp;After creating an account, candidates will receive a unique URL to share with eligible signors, who can then provide their contact information and sign the petition electronically. Paper candidate registration packets are also available from the Kansas Department of Agriculture or the grain commodity commissions.&nbsp;

Commodity commissions are grower-led organizations committed to supporting the economic viability of their industries and fostering continuous improvement in their respective commodities. Commissioners serve three-year terms, which will begin on April 1, 2026. They oversee how check-off funds are invested in areas of market development, education, promotion, and research.

For more information on Kansas commodity commissions, including voter registration, please visit the Kansas Department of Agriculture website at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/http:%2F%2Fwww.agriculture.ks.gov%2FCommodityCommissions%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/0100019905a74353-ec5af454-d3bb-42d7-b320-f147aca725f8-000000/2QiKKWMoiTlzVbSkL5yJ4n405ApUxq3gCcrfX-SmTVs=420">www.agriculture.ks.gov/CommodityCommissions</a>.

Ellis County grain growers eligible to run for commodity commission seat

Reporter Cristina Janney speaks with Hays USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson about progress on the bond projects during the summer on this episode of the Hays Post Podcast.

🎙 Post Podcast: USD 489 summer bond projects update

Us 4 U, a student organization at Fort Hays State University, will host a “Prayer Service for Peace” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Methodist Campus Center, 507 Elm St.

Led by local religious leaders, the service will include reflections, scripture readings, prayers, and silent meditation. Together, we will light candles and pray for peace, justice, and unity around the world. 

Everyone is welcome to join this time of hope and reflection.

‘Prayer Service for Peace’ to be held at Methodist Campus Center

&nbsp;Submit events to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:admin@hayspost.com">admin@hayspost.com</a>. Cover photo courtesy Pixabay

Special thanks to <a href="https://www.visithays.com/183/Events">The Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau</a> and<a href="https://www.fhsu.edu/"> Fort Hays State University</a> for their contributions to the community calendar.

Community Calendar

By&nbsp; LINN ANN HUNTINGTON Special to Hays Post

The Healing Hearts Grief Support Group will have a special guest speaker at its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18. 

The meeting will be in the new Hays Senior Center location inside the Schmidt Community Center, 2510 Canterbury Dr. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. Attendees are asked to use the south entrance. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Kenneth Windholz, a clinical psychotherapist, will speak on the topic “Visitation Dreams.” Windholz teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the Psychology Department at Fort Hays State University. He has authored book chapters and articles on neuropsychology. He has served as the president of the Kansas Association of Masters in Psychology, is the current president of the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Kansas Board of Directors, and serves as the faculty sponsor for NAMI on the FHSU campus.

Dr. Kate McGonigal, the Healing Hearts group facilitator, said Windholz’s appearance is a celebration of the “new beginning” for Healing Hearts. It did not meet while the Senior Center was relocating to its new home. The group will continue meeting at 6:30 the third Thursday night of each month in its new home, she said.

Healing Hearts is a grief support group for adults who have lost a loved one. McGonigal said, “We want anyone who is experiencing grief to join us for one meeting, or for however meetings they wish, as they navigate the road to coping with the death of someone they loved. We focus on healing and coping from close personal losses.”

McGonigal is an associate professor of sociology at Fort Hays State University, where she has taught since 2004. She teaches the Death &amp; Dying class at FHSU, with an emphasis on caregivers and caregiving.&nbsp;

More information about the Healing Hearts group is available by contacting her at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:klmcgonigal@fhsu.edu">klmcgonigal@fhsu.edu</a>.

Grief support group to have guest speaker Sept. 18

To celebrate the beautiful brand new Hays High Auditorium, all former HHS music students are invited to join in performing in an alumni choir, band, and orchestra concert on September 27. 

Previous directors Matt Rome, Johnny Matlock, Elise Peterson, and Joan Crull will join our current directors to conduct in this concert. 

Alumni sought for reunion concert to celebrate new Hays High auditorium

The Ellis County Ministerial Alliance will hold its first meeting of the fall at noon Wednesday, Sept. 10, at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, 2901 E. 13th, Hays.

Ellis County Ministerial Alliance to meet Sept 10

By LINN ANN HUNTINGTON Special to Hays Post

Kansans for Life is bringing a traveling memorial exhibit to Hays on Monday, Sept. 22, and is seeking volunteers to help with the event that day.

Father Andy Hammeke, chaplain at Comeau Catholic Campus Center in Hays, said in a news release that about 50 volunteers are needed. The exhibit, called “Aftermath,” will have 19,467 models of babies on display.

This was the number of babies aborted in Kansas in 2023, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Vital Statistics Report, which was published in December 2024, the most recent report available. This number represents a 58 percent increase from 2022 and a 148 percent increase from 2021, according to the report.

The exhibit will be on display at the Hays Downtown Pavilion, 117 E. 10th St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22.

“Sometimes when we hear how many abortions have taken place, the&nbsp;number is hard to comprehend.&nbsp; But a good image can help make the numbers strike&nbsp;closer to home,” Hammeke said.&nbsp;“These won't be bloody images or images of dead babies.&nbsp; Simply lots and lots of baby&nbsp;models.”&nbsp;The exhibit is suitable for fifth graders and older, he said.

The exhibit will also provide pro-life information, including resources for women who have had an abortion. In addition to Hays, the exhibit will be traveling to 11 other Kansas cities.

According to the website, volunteers are needed to help set up and take down the exhibit, greet visitors, and staff the information table. Volunteers may get more information and sign up at <a href="https://aftermathks.com/">aftermathks.com</a>.

Kansans for Life seeks volunteers for event coming to Hays

Fort Hays State University Communications

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center’s (KWEC) 12th annual Butterfly Festival will be held on Saturday, September 20, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Each year, millions of monarch butterflies undertake their annual fall flight to Mexico. Nets and tags will be available during the event for those who want to capture and tag monarch butterflies.

Participants head out into the flower-filled fields and shelter belt around KWEC to capture monarchs, with tagging leaders stationed along the trail to help with the tagging process. For the past several years, monarchs tagged at the event were recovered at three Mexico roost sites.

On the way to Mexico, data collected from tagged monarchs helps support the research of Monarch Watch. Tagging helps answer questions about the origins of monarchs that reach Mexico, the timing and pace of migration, mortality during the migration, and changes in geographic distribution.

Egg. Larva. Pupa. Butterfly. That's magic!&nbsp;Steve Craig will have a butterfly magic show that makes learning this basic science fun using magic, puppets, and humor. The Butterfly Magic show is designed for family audiences - enjoy the metamorphosis at shows at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:15 a.m. Make sure to claim free tickets on your arrival at the festival.

Larned-based Kellie Honey Farm will be present with a demonstration hive on display in the exhibit hall to educate about the importance of honeybees.

Grassland Groupies, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring the conservation of grassland ecosystems, will be at the festival. Depending on the availability of insects, they may have their Bumblebutt Petting Station, an all-male (so they won't sting), bumble bee interaction display, or a walk-in butterfly tent.

KWEC will also feature an invertebrate zoo, with giant walking stick insects, butterflies, caterpillars, chrysalises, fluorescing scorpions, a tarantula, and more.

Kids can make a butterfly tealight lantern at the craft station and a monarch butterfly rest stop to assist the butterflies migrating through your own backyard. Race through a pollinator obstacle course and earn a temporary butterfly tattoo. Use a sling shot to shoot seed bombs full of potential pollinator blooms out into our prairie and take home your own packet of seeds.

Explore the Melody Marsh, an interactive play area in the KWEC Pollinator Garden. The garden provides wildflower planting ideas to use at home and features a variety of native and adaptable plants that serve as hosts for different species of caterpillars and provide nectar sources for pollinators, including butterflies, birds, beetles, and more.

Pollinator seed packets will be available for free until they run out.

Partnering with the Kansas Wetlands Education Center and the annual Butterfly Festival, the Central Kansas Partnership's Suicide Prevention Task Force Walk and Remembrance Ceremony will occur early in the morning at 7:15 a.m. to ensure it is completed by the time the festival is set to begin.

Each individual will be able to write the loved one's name on a painted butterfly to stake in the ground during the festival for attendees to see. The task force will also have a booth during the festival, sharing information on suicide prevention.

For more information, contact KWEC at 1-877-243-9268 or visit: <a href="https://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/">wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu</a>.

Annual Butterfly Festival set for Sept. 20 at Kansas Wetlands Education Center 

Catch all of the live action of Hays High and TMP Marian sports this school year on <a href="https://team1sports.com/eagleradio/">HaysPost.com</a>.

To purchase your season-long or single game pass, go to <a href="https://team1sports.com/eagleradio/">HaysPost.com</a> today.

Purchase your pass for live action Hays High, TMP sports on Hays Post this season 

 City crews will be working to repair a water main break in the 500 block of West 17th Street on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Please use caution and consider alternate routes if you're traveling through the area. We appreciate your patience as we work to get this repaired quickly.

The City of Hays Water Resources Department apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

Water main break repair today in 500 block of W. 17th, Hays

Girl Scout sign-up event set for Thursday in Hays

SEDGWICK COUNTY –Law enforcement investigating a fatal gunfight at a liquor store in on Labor Day in Wichita announced an arrest on Tuesday.

Just after 2p.m. Monday, officers were called to a liquor store on North Broadway in Wichita, according to a media release. First responders found three men with gunshot wounds including&nbsp;19-year-old Mario Gustavo. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect identified from Sedgwick County booking records as 23-year-old Jaime Medina and another man were taken to a hospital for treatment of critical injuries.

Investigators learned that&nbsp;a disturbance in the parking lot led to gunfire.

A retired Wichita police lieutenant saw a vehicle flee the scene and followed it. Officers stopped the car, driven by a woman, near the 800 block of North Main Street. A male passenger, identified as an associate of Gustavo, had a gunshot wound to the hand and was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition. Investigators believe he was shot at the exact location as the other three men.&nbsp; Medina remains jailed on a&nbsp;$1,000,000 bond on requested charges of first degree murder and battery, according to online jail records.

Kansas liquor store gunfight suspect jailed on $1,000,000 bond

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mike-stobbe">MIKE STOBBE</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials have agreed to restore&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/health">health-</a>&nbsp;and science-related webpages and data under to a lawsuit settlement with doctors groups and other organizations who sued.

The settlement was announced this week by the lead plaintiffs in the case, the Washington State Medical Association.

Soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, federal health officials&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-gender-ideology-sex-pronouns-order-transgender-2d7e54837f5d0651ed0cefa5ea0d6301">deleted or removed information</a>&nbsp;on a range of topics including pregnancy risks, opioid-use disorder and the AIDS epidemic. The move was made in reaction to a Trump executive order that told agencies to stop using the term “gender” in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-dei-businesses-diversity-05fb71a91cab7e3bbe8729f6bdeb4983">federal policies and documents</a>.

The administration saw it as a move to end the promotion of “gender ideology.” Doctors, scientists and public health advocates saw it as an “egregious example of government overreach,” says Dr. John Bramhall, the organization’s president, said in a statement.

“This was trusted health information that vanished in a blink of an eye — resources that, among other things, physicians rely on to manage patients’ health conditions and overall care,” Bramhall said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to restore more than 100 websites and resources to the state they were in, said Graham Short, a spokesperson for the Washington State doctors’ group.

“We expect the sites will be restored in the coming weeks,” Short said in an email.

The case was filed in federal court in Seattle. The plaintiffs include, among others, the Vermont Medical Society, the Washington State Nurses Association and the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care.

The defendants included U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and federal health agencies and officials who work under him.

Federal officials responded to questions about the settlement with this statement: “HHS remains committed to its mission of removing radical gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people.”

The case is similar to one filed in Washington, D.C., by Doctors for America and others against the government. That lawsuit also sought to force the government to restore health information to the public, and the two cases overlapped somewhat in the websites they targeted, Short said.

In July, a judge in the Doctors for America case ordered restoration of websites. As of last week, 167 of the websites at issue had been restored and 33 were still under review, according to a court filing.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Trump administration agrees to restore health websites and data

KANSAS CITY (AP) —Lawmakers in Missouri are the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-gerrymander-missouri-trump-620f1fbd9bccb4dfa2f3840e03fbb4c6">latest to try to draw</a>&nbsp;a new U.S. House map for the 2026 election that could improve the Republican Party's numbers in Congress.

It's a trend that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-governor-redistricting-trump-33bfdc8790cdf8201d80c8c89258df3d">began in Texas</a>, at the behest of President Donald Trump, to try to keep GOP control of the House next year. California Democrats responded with their own map to help their party, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-texas-redistricting-congressional-map-4c22e21d5d4022d33a257045693b6fd4">it still requires voter approval.</a>

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-election-2026-texas-california-trump-1e23e2b3f8e09031cf1eee8979ff3559">Redistricting typically occurs</a>&nbsp;once a decade, immediately after a census. But in some states, there is no prohibition on a mid-cycle map makeover. The U.S. Supreme Court also has said there is no federal prohibition on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gerrymandering-texas-congress-redistricting-0c751f48a7757fc11214472944670413">political gerrymandering</a>, in which districts are intentionally drawn to one party’s advantage.

Nationally, Democrats need to gain three seats next year to take control of the House. The party of the president typically loses seats in the midterm congressional elections.

Here is a rundown of what states are doing:

Missouri lawmakers hold a special session

A special session called by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe began Wednesday and will run at least a week.

Missouri is represented in the U.S House by six Republicans and two Democrats.

A revised map proposed by Kehoe would give Republicans a better chance at winning the seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by stretching the Kansas City-based district into rural Republican-leaning areas.

Although Democrats could filibuster in the Senate, Republicans could use procedural maneuvers to shut that down and pass the new map.

Kansas Republicans haven’t ruled out redistricting

Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson didn’t rule out trying to redraw the state’s four congressional districts, one of which is held by the state’s sole Democratic representative. The Legislature’s GOP supermajority could do so early next year.

Texas Democrats walked out but Republicans prevailed

Democratic state House members&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-legislature-quorum-break-redistricting-trump-743e616c14903deb7f264b2734422a09">left Texas</a>&nbsp;for two weeks to scuttle a special session on redistricting by preventing a quorum needed to do business. But after that session ended, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott quickly called another one — and Democrats returned, satisfied that they had made their point and that California was proceeding with a counter plan.

Republicans hold 25 of the 38 congressional seats in Texas. A revised map passed Aug. 23 is intended to give Republicans a shot at picking up five additional seats in next year’s elections. Abbott’s signature made the map final.

California Democrats seek to counter Texas

Democrats already hold 43 of the 52 congressional seats in California. The Legislature passed a revised map passed Aug. 21 aimed at giving Democrats a chance to gain five additional seats in the 2026 elections.

Unlike Texas, California has an independent citizens’ commission that handles redistricting after the census, so any changes to the map need approval from voters.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-redistricting-trump-newsom-congress-election-bca9ed4451a65497500b1756b52a6d94">A referendum</a>&nbsp;is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Indiana Republicans meet with Trump about redistricting

Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders met privately with Trump to discuss&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/redistricting">redistricting</a>&nbsp;while in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 26. Some also met with Vice President JD Vance.

Several Indiana legislators came out in support of a mid-cycle map change following the meetings. But others have expressed hesitation. It remains unclear if Indiana lawmakers will hold a special session on redistricting.

Republicans hold a 7-2 edge over Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation.

Louisiana Republicans looking at times for a special session

Louisiana lawmakers are being told to keep their calendars open between Oct. 23 and Nov. 13. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 15 over a challenge to the state’s congressional map.

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