BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mchilson/">MORGAN CHILSON</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

Grinnell City Administrator Jewel Maier is visibly shaken weeks later when she repeats the words her best friend said minutes after a tornado struck this western Kansas town.

“She called me, and the first question out of her mouth was ‘Are you OK?’ I immediately start complaining about my patio table that got flipped over and just demolished,” Maier said. “Then she kind of choked up and she said, ‘Everything’s gone.’ ”

It was the moment Maier, who lives on a farm south of town, understood the devastation wreaked on her friends and neighbors in Grinnell.

On May 18, an EF-3 tornado swept into the small town of just over 240 people around 6:30 p.m., leveling a west-side neighborhood with more than 28 houses and outbuildings. The elementary school and a city-owned golf course were damaged, along with a Frontier Ag grain facility.&nbsp;

The National Weather Service reported 13 tornadoes that day in Kansas, six of them rated EF-3, which means winds 136 to 175 mph.

The destruction runs to millions of dollars. But Maier and Grinnell residents tend to focus on the lack of injuries in the stories they tell.

“There were a couple of people who just got beat up,” said Tristan Bixenman, a restaurant owner in nearby Grainfield whose family all lives in the area. “But nobody got seriously injured.”

Bixenman had been closely watching the weather and canceled a planned family dinner in town when the sky darkened.

“My parents were not very smart, and they were checking ground and happened to come up behind it,” she said, shooting a look at her mother, Christy Rathgeber, who just smiled.

“I was calling them and warning them to go to the basement, because they were in the path of it,” Rathgeber said.

She said she and her husband didn’t realize the storm’s strength until they turned a corner and saw power poles collapsing on the road in front of them.

“That’s when we stopped and backed up,” she said. “There’s so much debris. My husband barely rolled the window down, and it sucked the hat off his head. We’ll never see that hat again.”

Once she realized the tornado was heading to Grinnell, Rathgeber said she contacted family members in the path.

“We called them, and they had no intentions of going to the basement,” she said. “They didn’t think it was anything. Had we not called, I don’t know as if they would have gone to the basement in their house.

“Their house was demolished, but the china hutch was still sitting, and there were still dishes in it,” Rathgeber added.

Kenny Robben also lost his home. In his 80s, Robben had knee surgery and was sitting in his recliner, Bixenman said.

“Sirens are going off, (Robben was) watching the news. Wasn’t too concerned until the last second,” she said. “He stands up with his walker and then the wind just starts coming through his windows. He sits down and literally rides it out in his recliner.”

Bixenman shook her head. Robben was uninjured.

The list of work to be done is long. The local Catholic church lost its roof. Headstones were damaged at the VFW cemetery. The elementary school won’t reopen in time for the start of school.

Contractors are difficult to find, Maier said, but are filtering in to do the work.

A missionary team from the First Baptist Church in Dighton arrived July 21 and framed and sided a house in five days, said the Rev. Ken Bowden.

“We just asked if there was anybody we could help out specifically, and the city nominated one of the families in town to get their house rebuilt,” he said.&nbsp;

The church team of 20 included a contractor, who helped teach the others, Bowden said. They put walls up the first day, trusses the second and then finished decking it.

The town found a contractor to work on the elementary school, but all classes there are being moved to the middle school when the session starts Aug. 13, Maier said.&nbsp;

“We’re such a small school, so they’re just going to move some things around and make everybody fit for the year,” she said. “And God bless our lunch lady. She’s going to make the lunches and then hot box them down the street — they have a hot box on wheels — so they get breakfast and lunch. Prior to this, the middle schoolers would come down to eat lunch at the grade school.

“It’s been amazing to see the backbone of people,” Maier added. “Grinnell has some true grit in us. I’m so proud of our little town.”

On July 23, President Donald Trump approved disaster funding for Grinnell and Gove County, along with other Kansas counties affected by the May 18 and 19 storm. Public assistance funding is a cost-sharing federal program to pay for emergency work and repair and replace facilities damaged by storms, said Ryan Lowry-Lee, FEMA Region 7 spokesman.

The assistance will pay for debris removal and emergency protective measures, as well as permanent restoration of facilities such as roads, culverts, bridges and public buildings, he said.

“It’s been a very steep learning curve of what do you do to keep a town safe,” Maier said. “We have two paved roads in town, and everything else is sand road. We might have to dig up these roads, pull up to four inches off them and re-sand them, for safety reasons. Your kids can’t ride a bike if they’re full of nails.”

Maier, who worked in the insurance industry for 13 years, worried the town wouldn’t qualify for support because it had to show $5.8 million of damage to city-owned property. But state and FEMA staff helped her assess damages, and they made the threshold.

Along with damages to the school and the golf course, Maier said 40 water meter pits were damaged or completely gone, costing $1,000 to $1,500 each to replace.

A separate city insurance policy doesn’t cover roads and major infrastructure, and Maier didn’t expect to make the $10,000 deductible.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Grinnell grain facility owned by Frontier Ag will take about $6 million to rebuild, said CEO Stan Remington. They have insurance of $3.5 million to $4 million, he added.

“We lost approximately 750,000 bushels of storage,” he said. “We’ll be lucky to be in operation a year from now. Contractors aren’t easy to find, and it takes time to build that kind of complex back.”

Remington said his company’s other facilities are too far away to be of use for the upcoming fall harvest. The storm damaged storage bins full of grain and forced the company to store wheat under white tents on the ground, a practice they’ll continue. But that drives costs up.

“Labor costs go up because it takes about two times the labor to put it on the ground,” he said.

Darrell Garner, a grain elevator supervisor at the facility, said they were shut down for about four days after the storm, but welders have been coming in to remove broken metal and make repairs.

“We’re doing pretty good,” he said.

While some residents are rebuilding their houses, others have chosen to sell their lots instead, Maier said.

“I think it’s going to change us forever,” said Lisa Bixenman, a Grinnell resident and a cousin of Tristan Bixenman. “I don’t think a lot of them are going to build back, maybe we’re up to half. I just don’t think it’s ever going to be the same.”

Dolly Theobald’s family chose not to rebuild, but they didn’t leave town. Instead, a local woman offered to sell them her home, and they moved in last week.

The night of the storm, Theobald had just gotten home when her sister-in-law messaged to ask if they were in the basement. After a second call from her mother, Theobald said she gathered her two children and the pets and went to the basement.

“It was crazy loud, and it was probably done in less than 30 seconds,” Theobald said. “You could hear the windows breaking. You could hear debris hit.”

Their house was a total loss. Theobald said she’s grateful her family photos were in a center room in the basement, where they were safe.

Pieces of family history were scattered throughout the area, hung up in trees, and wrapped around jagged edges of aluminum siding. The town set up three tables at the VFW where people put things they found so they could be returned to owners, Rathgeber said.

Concern from small communities poured in through financial donations, boots on the ground, offers of an apartment complex to house people short term and hotels donating free rooms, Maier said.

Volunteers arrived by the hundreds. The day after the tornado, an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 people arrived to clean up, said Grinnell resident Shari Burks.

“Farmers were all supposed to be planting, and they just parked their tractors for a week,” Lisa Bixenman said. “Or they brought them to town to help. I mean, literally it put everybody behind for a week or a week and a half, because they all just dropped everything to come. It’s incredible.”

The VFW, initially the hub of emergency activity and a storm shelter, transitioned to a community center for meals, organizing volunteers, collecting donations and bringing everyone together.

Volunteer Melissa Shupe said donations quickly came from across the country. A semi-truck of new clothing was delivered. People who had been through the Joplin, Missouri, tornado drove in with supplies. Rathgeber, who owns Broken Handle catering, and Tristan Bixenman, who owns Meraki Market, both served dinners.

Nearby restaurants donated hundreds of pizzas and sandwiches, Pepsi donated 400-plus cases of Gatorade and soda, and other companies donated chips and pallets of water, Tristan Bixenman said.

“It was an overwhelming blessing type of thing,” she said. “It can be really challenging to keep all that organized in the aftermath of a disaster. It just kept coming in.”

Trish Gruber, Grinnell’s emergency operations manager, said short-term recovery after the storm is over. That included checking for injuries, removing debris and reporting what had happened to appropriate agencies, including utility companies that moved in to clean up downed power lines, she said.&nbsp;

Gruber also had to address the tornado siren in town that didn’t go off that night.&nbsp;

The two sirens were tested about 30 minutes before the storm in a regularly scheduled test that occurs every day at noon and 6 p.m., she said.

“It was just when we tried to set it off manually, it was not catching that signal,” Gruber said.

The working siren was located on the west side of town where the tornado hit, Gruber said, adding that emergency vehicles drove through town with their sirens screaming to warn residents.

Today, the siren is fixed, and the long-term recovery, expected to take two years, is underway.

Gruber said the city has applied for a grant to update its tornado shelter. Maier is looking at other grants to help homeowners and the city rebuild.

Sitting on a bench downtown, she is hopeful for Grinnell’s future.&nbsp;

“It all came together so fast and really, so smoothly,” Maier said of the recovery. “We had an amazing group of people that really stepped up to the plate. As overwhelming as it was, it was a lot of love.”

‘It’s going to change us forever’: Resilient Grinnell rebuilds with grit after tornado

&nbsp;One of the goals identified by the Ellis County Workforce Committee is to develop a collaborative system that promotes local students staying in Ellis County post-graduation. 

To help accomplish this, a community career building sub-committee has been formed, which includes: Hays High School Principal Shawn Henderson, Hays High School Assistant Principal Becky Hickert, Grow Hays Director of Recruitment and Retention David Clingan, Fort Hays State University Vice President for Economic Development Ben Schears, and The Chamber in Hays, Kansas President/CEO Sarah Wasinger.

Discussions within the ECWC have identified a need to catalyze stronger collaboration between the education and business communities, which has stimulated a groundbreaking partnership that will connect Ellis County business leaders with education administration and faculty, as well as students in high school and post-secondary. 

This will be accomplished by hosting a series of industry cluster meetings. 

During these engaging sessions, the following business will be conducted:

· Discussing enrollment numbers to track student trends and better understand employer needs in hard-to-fill positions in the next three to five years

· Sharing success stories centered around unique partnerships between businesses and individual students

· Bringing students in to share what resonates with them most when seeking employment and potentially connecting with employers for scholarship-to-work contracts

· Providing a platform for businesses to share their expectations directly with students

· Identify potential courses that need to be added into the curriculum to address future workforce needs

· Find potential opportunities for externships so faculty can shadow with employers to better understand their industry’s current and future needs

· Have students share what they are looking for from an employment perspective

Based on current clusters available within Ellis County high schools, the following industries will be grouped together for the 2025-2026 academic year:

The first meeting will feature the manufacturing, distribution, and welding cluster and will be held at the new Hays High School on September 10 from 8:15 to 9:45 a.m. in the hospitality room. 

Members of the sub-committee will be contacting businesses to register for this event. Details for future cluster meetings will be shared in future newsletters, and invitations will be extended to chamber members in each of the outlined industries.

For more information about this exciting new collaboration or to get involved in the ECWC, email sarah@hayschamber.com call the Chamber in Hays at 785-628-8201.

Forging a stronger jobs pipeline to connect Ellis County students with local careers

Fort Hays Tech | North Central is proud to announce a transformative $1 million investment from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in support of the college’s new Construction&nbsp;Innovation Center, scheduled to open in Spring 2026. This generous contribution will help fund&nbsp;the construction of the nearly 30,000-square-foot facility, designed to expand access to high demand career training in construction technology, electrical technology, plumbing/heating/AC,&nbsp;and commercial driving (CDL).

“This extraordinary gift from the Hansen Foundation demonstrates their deep commitment to&nbsp;strengthening technical education and workforce development in North Central Kansas,” said&nbsp;Eric Burks, president at Fort Hays Tech | North Central. “Their support accelerates our ability to&nbsp;train more students to meet the critical demand for skilled workers in our region and help address&nbsp;the need for more housing.”

The Construction Innovation Center will include three industry-grade workshops/labs, interactive&nbsp;classrooms, and technology-enhanced training environments that mirror real-world job sites. The&nbsp;facility will allow Fort Hays Tech | North Central to double enrollment capacity in these&nbsp;construction-related programs.

This investment represents a major milestone in the capital campaign for the Construction&nbsp;Innovation Center. The project has also received strong support from industry partners, local&nbsp;businesses and other regional foundations.

For more information about the Construction Innovation Center or to contribute to the campaign,&nbsp;please visit fhtechnc.edu or contact Mendi Anschutz, Director of Advancement at 785.738.9090.

Hansen Foundation invests $1M in construction center at Fort Hays Tech | North Central

By MICHELLE BERAN Cottonwood Extension District

Summers are often a time of busyness with sports, different schedules, county fair, and maybe a little vacation time!

When our kids were small, transitioning back from long days of farm life to the much more structured pace of school was often a challenge. While they certainly had early mornings and a multitude of responsibilities for the farm, it was much different getting up and ready for the school bus every day.

I usually tried to start a few weeks ahead of time with slowly adjusting bedtime schedules. As an off-the-farm working mom, it was often stressful and I regularly worried that I had everything prepared!

Things that helped us were a white-board calendar the size of the freezer door. Each family member had their own color of dry erase marker and it made schedules a little more manageable. We also kept a grocery list on the refrigerator door and every family member was expected to add items they needed for every day or wanted for lunches.

Speaking of lunches, we had one pretty picky eater and our plan was that the kids had to check the next day’s lunch menu and had to eat at least three items on the menu including the main dish or they had to pack their lunch! Yes, I checked their lunch to make sure it wasn’t just cookies and chips! They usually did a pretty good job of packing a mostly balanced meal that they would actually eat.

I was never very good about laying out clothes the night before – I can’t manage that for myself as an adult! While I do appreciate that this habit can definitely make mornings smoother, I am still a work in progress. 

Keeping up on laundry was always a challenge, especially with farm dirt and working full-time, so we tried to have a schedule of washing a load every day. It sure helped when the kids were old enough to help which meant 7 or 8 was helping to fold and definitely putting their own things away. By 10 or 12, they helped with hanging things up or putting them in the dryer.

Both kids are good cooks and those skills started at an early age. Knowing the basics of food preparation allowed them to get ingredients together or begin thawing meat for a meal by the time they were in middle school.

All of those things didn’t guarantee smooth evenings especially with homework. Their normal homework station was in the kitchen so we could talk about assignments and their day while I made dinner. It was a good way to practice conversation and have a small window into their fun, frustrations, and feelings. 

These days, I miss those moments but our daughter often calls on her way home from work in Kansas City and we still chat while I start dinner!

None of these ideas are rocket science but I hope you will look for ways to connect with your kids in the car or in the kitchen.

Keep learning. Keep showing grace and kindness!

Michelle Beran is the 4-H Youth Development Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. For more information on this article or other 4-H Youth Development resources, email Michelle at mberan@ksu.edu or call Cottonwood Extension District – Barton Office at 620-793-1910.

BERAN: Back to school after summer busyness

<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

First Care Clinic is excited to welcome Sydni Niernberger, Nurse Practitioner, to our dedicated medical team. With a strong background in patient-centered care and a passion for improving health outcomes, Sydni brings valuable experience and energy to the clinic. Her addition supports our continued commitment to providing accessible, high-quality healthcare for individuals and families across the region.

Sydni earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Washburn University and is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

First Care Clinic Medical Director, Dr. Christine Fisher states, “Sydni is the perfect addition to our clinic. She is from Hays and is well known in the community and by our staff. She comes with years of clinical experience. We are very fortunate to have such a kind, talented, hard-working provider join our practice!”

“We are very excited to have Sydni join our provider team at First Care Clinic.” Says Eric Flax, First Care Clinic CEO, “Sydni is an experienced provider with roots in our community. To have her back in Hays is such a positive thing for the health of our community. Having Sydni joining First Care reaffirms our commitment to our community to provide compassionate, quality care for all.”

First Care Clinic welcomes new medical patients and accepts all major insurances. A sliding fee scale discount is available to those who qualify. Patients can view our providers and request an appointment at firstcareclinic.com or by calling First Care Clinic at (785) 621-4990.

First Care Clinic is a federally qualified health center, with over ninety employees across their three locations in Hays, providing services for people of all ages, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. They provide family medicine, express care, pharmaceutical, behavioral health, and family dentistry services.

First Care Clinic welcomes all patients and accepts all major insurances. A sliding fee scale discount is also available to those who qualify. Patients can request an appointment at firstcareclinic.com or by calling First Care Clinic at (785) 621-4990. Patients can also schedule same-day Express Care visits on our website. Book a time and skip the line!

“The region’s premier medical home, dedicated to providing access to compassionate, quality care for all.”

For more information, contact Danielle Windholz, Director of Operations, at First Care Clinic (785-621-4990).

Main break causes road closure in Hays; County Commission mtgs. moved

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://hayspost.com/category/obituaries">HERE</a>&nbsp;to view the most recent obituaries and service times from our funeral home partners.

<a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/corrections-about-us">Click HERE for the Hays Post obituary policy.&nbsp;</a>

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/45c326ac-a856-480a-b491-0312e5d43c5c">Find our obituary posting policy by clicking here.</a>

Recent obituaries and service times

SHERMAN COUNTY —The city of Goodland will honor first responders who worked the multi-vehicle crash that killed 8 people last winter.

On March 14, a devastating 71-vehicle accident along Interstate 70 unfolded during a sudden and blinding dust storm, a tragic day that tested the strength of our first responders like never before, the Goodland Police Department shared on their social media page.

"At significant personal risk, law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs, and dispatchers responded without hesitation, navigating chaos, debris, and limited visibility to save lives, render aid, and bring order to unimaginable devastation."

"On August 23, at 7:00 PM, we will gather at the High School Auditorium 1209 Cherry in Goodland, for the First Responder Awards Ceremony, a moment to honor the courage and professionalism shown that day, and to recognize the profound emotional burden experienced by those who answered the call."

"Their heroism reminds us of the deep humanity behind the badge and the profound courage it takes to serve when everything else is falling apart. The public is welcome and encouraged to join us."

First responders to deadly I-70 multi-vehicle crash will be honored

Beginning Tuesday, 13th Street east of Canterbury Drive in Hays will return to one-way traffic - westbound ONLY - for a mill and overlay of roadway until further notice. 

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the Public Works office at 785-628-7350.

13th St. east of Canterbury in Hays returns to 1-way traffic Tuesday

Reporter Cristina Janney speaks with Doug Williams of Grow Hays about the Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center, which will be opening soon in Hays, on this episode of the Hays Post Podcast.

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post

The Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center is set to open this month.

Grow Hays received its occupancy permit last week.&nbsp;

Bright Minds will be opening its child care facility on the north side of the building, and the senior center will be moving into south side of the building before the end of the month.

The center area of the building is a community room that will be available to rent through Grow Hays. Call 785-628-3102&nbsp;for more information.

Grow Hays will host an official ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. Friday,&nbsp; Aug 29.

Please submit your questions for Doug Williams for future interviews to&nbsp;hayspost@eaglemedia.com.

🎙 Schmidt Community Center complete, ribbon cutting set for Aug. 29

&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

HOXIE – The Main Street Arts Council is excited to announce the final performances of the 2025 Main Street Summer Theater Festival, which will take place in Oakley on August 8 and 9. 

These performances of Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr. will bring the festival’s incredible run to a close after an amazing summer of inspiring youth theater across northwest Kansas.

The Main Street Summer Theater Festival has been a celebration of local talent, with performances in six different towns, all showcasing the creativity and hard work of young performers. Oakley will host the last two performances, giving attendees one final chance to experience this magical production of Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr., featuring beloved songs from Encanto, Frozen II, Coco, and more.

Friday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. Oakley High School Auditorium, 118 W 7th St., Oakley

In addition to the festival’s final performances, we are also thrilled to announce a special Broadway guest performance by Desi Oakley, a Wichita native and renowned Broadway performer. Desi will be performing live in Hoxie on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, as part of the festival’s 10th-anniversary celebration.

Desi Oakley has an extensive Broadway career, having starred in productions such as Wicked, Waitress, and Chicago. Her concert will offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the talent of this Broadway star in a local, intimate setting.

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. Hoxie High School Auditorium, 1625 Queen Ave., Hoxie

We invite everyone to attend both the final festival performances in Oakley and Desi Oakley’s Broadway concert to celebrate the culmination of this incredible summer of youth theater and professional talent.

For more information about the festival, tickets for the remaining performances, or to reserve your seat for Desi Oakley’s concert, visit <a href="https://www.mainstreetartscouncil.com/msstf2025">www.mainstreetartscouncil.com/msstf2025</a>.

Final summer theater performances in Oakley, Broadway guest Desi Oakley in Hoxie

Aug. 9-10 Shady Bend 2-Day Golf Tournament;&nbsp;Shady Bend Golf Course, Osborne;&nbsp;9:00 a.m. 4-Man Scramble. To enter call or text Eric Mans at 785-346-4654

Aug. 12 Mommy &amp; Me Tea;&nbsp;Second Street Café, 715 N. 2nd St, Natoma; 6:00 p.m.; Come on in for an elegant, fun and fanciful tea party; Call 785-346-4772

Aug. 16 See You at the Library;&nbsp;Osborne Public Library, 325 W. Main St., Osborne; BRAVE Books See You at the Library Story Hour 11:00 a.m.

Families will gather in libraries across the country for this nationwide event to celebrate faith, freedom, and the power of storytelling. Together, we’ll rediscover what libraries are meant to be: places that spark imagination, shape character, and speak truth to the next generation. We’ll read books that inspire faith and conviction Spark meaningful conversations And build community with families who care about what really matters Bring your kids. Invite your friends. Let’s fill the library with stories and values that matter.

Aug. 20 Dinner Club at the Second Street Café;&nbsp;Second Street Café, 715 N. 2nd St., Natoma;&nbsp;Enjoy a 7-course meal every third Wednesday at 7:00 at the Second Street Cafe Dinner Club; For more information call 785-346-4772

A super fun day for the whole family in Alton. Starting at 7:00 a.m. at the Front Porch Event Center for coffee and rolls followed by a full day – car and bike shows, cake and pie contests, parade, free watermelon, money dig, food stands, Bull City Olympics, water balloon volleyball, bouncy houses, jam sessions, drawings, Jamie Campbell, comedian, Bull City Newlywed Game, cornhole tournament…it all ends with a free street dance featuring Kill Creek Rising! For more information, check out the Alton Jubilee Facebook page.

Aug. 24 Community Church Service in the Park;&nbsp;10:30 a.m. at the Alton City Park; Sponsored by Mt. Ayr Friends Church and Alton United Methodist Church

Aug. 24 2-Person Golf Tournament;&nbsp;Downs Golf Course, KS-181, Downs;&nbsp;9:00 a.m.; Hosted by Knights of Columbus; Contact Brady Cline at 785-545-6183

Aug. 30 Natoma City Wide Garage Sale, Natoma

August events for Osborne County

2025 Alton Jubilee set for Aug. 23-24

COLBY — The Colby Community College men's basketball team will host their 27th annual Golf Tournament and Sponsor Appreciation event on Friday, August 29 at Meadow Lake Golf Course. All proceeds will be used to support the program.

Registration for the four-person scramble begins at 8 a.m., with a tee time of 9 a.m. Participants are asked to make their own cart arrangements. The entry fee is $300 per team and includes a sack lunch on the course. After golfing, participants and season sponsors will have dinner and an opportunity to meet the 2025-26 men's basketball team.

For more information on being a season sponsor or to register for the golf tournament, scan the QR code or contact Coach Jerrod Stanford at 620-385-0273.

Colby Community College men's basketball team hosts golf tourney Aug. 29

 3rd-annual women's self-defense workshop set in Hays

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center (KWEC) invites the public to join its staff for a free, family-friendly meteor shower watch party on Tuesday, Aug. 12, from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

This annual event celebrates the end of summer as the Earth passes through the dust and debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet, creating a spectacular display of meteors or “shooting stars” in the night sky. This year, our event will coincide with peak viewing dates, and stargazers may be able to spot 60-100 meteors per hour.

Located northeast of Great Bend on K-156 Highway, the KWEC offers an ideal location for comfortable sky-watching. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to relax on the KWEC lawn while enjoying the celestial show.

In addition to meteor watching, the evening will feature s’mores making and eating, and several space-themed learning stations inside the KWEC. Activities include a magnetic meteor hunt, spectroscope building, a space lander challenge, an asteroid belt art project, and using a blender bike to make galaxy smoothies. Planetarium shows will be offered in the inflatable planetarium, and we will have real meteorites on loan from the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

The event will proceed rain or shine, but clear skies are necessary for optimal meteor shower viewing.

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center, affiliated with FHSU’s Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, is located 10 miles northeast of Great Bend along Kansas Highway 156 at Cheyenne Bottoms, 592 NE K-156 Hwy., Great Bend.

For more information, visit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.7LNxDHQVpzCjONIZ4OYIqiohrCVEzT-2Bu22yVklcaqOvmZGt05-2BeOL3r-2Flc3NH2OV__SK_1ix3pnygukYWZfKiCJpm8BsHsayWXlw0ucteiDEo46fRc0p9DVWJmv2prlqkbHR6S2dsrJiXPEopagJAn55fgrGOya21Ubchf288oY8AFP4iYaBJwhylwdd5l9F7UOfO9ovZePPueXoOYjqeKnABTqUprH1DWoHlNK6oTYNLIL3frrCD5Zg5SitaprItwmilgdkg5kTH2cnJHgTyIuGyaV55gXhnyd-2FCFT3UrSdSD-2FcMxcM2kdsRqnH-2BkYbAmtZFiEJ6vonVmM14WEb2q9YBjTV4-2F7BYHmfKaFspyhE1VKi04Pm3qE62wIGxnR71QrpNrNgwI0flpx9OW6CuX7sLAbSEkWvVzUzZLE1VJ8uFAGyAGE-2FgTubSuTlgLxMGVnTr">wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu</a>&nbsp;or call 1-877-243-9268.

Kansas Wetlands Education Center hosts Perseid meteor shower watch party

Kansas Interscholastic Cycling League mountain bike racing team forming in Hays

Become an instant finalist in the Miller Lite UTV Giveaway from A&amp;A Coors-Miller and Briney Motorsports of Hays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Discount Smokes,&nbsp;2504 Vine St., Hays.

Register for a 4-seat CF-Moto U-Force 1000 valued at $20,000.&nbsp;

Additional thanks to Advantage Glass Plus and Commercial Sign of Hays.

Keep listening and reading the Hays Post all summer long for your chance to become a finalist.

The UTV will be given away at a Fort Hays State University football game on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Become Miller Lite UTV giveaway finalist today at Discount Smokes in Hays!

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 200 decomposing bodies in a room-temperature building admitted in federal court Monday that she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/colorado-funeral-home-fake-ashes-29d6bc5531097b2c2e2c6d29077b4278">cheated customers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/funeral-home-decomposing-rotting-bodies-fraud-colorado-58a45f6abb2d7b4d1514a473ca3c8e49">defrauded the federal government</a>&nbsp;out of nearly $900,000.

Carie Hallford, who ran Return to Nature Funeral Home with her husband Jon Hallford, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Carie Hallford faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, though federal prosecutors agreed to ask for 15 years at a December sentencing hearing.

Hallford already pleaded guilty once in federal court, but a judge last year rejected the agreement with prosecutors and still has to approve this one.

Crystina Page’s son David died in 2019, and his body was left in an inoperable refrigerator for four years. Standing outside the federal courthouse Monday, Page said she's disappointed about the possibility that neither Hallford goes on trial, something she hoped would have brought answers about what happened to her son and others entrusted to their care.

“We still don’t know the truth of what they’ve done to us,” she said.

The federal case brought against both Hallfords focused on two schemes: falsifying documents to siphon nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 pandemic-era financial aid from the U.S. Small Business Administration and deceiving customers by taking payments for cremations the Hallfords never did.

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