The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday reported 18 new COVID-19 cases in Ellis County had been identified since Friday.

<a href="https://www.ellisco.net/97/Health">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for information on how to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.&nbsp;

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/c7635a1a-58e8-41d8-8900-897fecd1d3da">RELATED:&nbsp;COVID vaccine boosters available in Ellis Co.; Kennedy discusses</a>

As of Monday morning, HaysMed reported 19 COVID-19 inpatients, up from 14 on Friday.

The KDHE reported Monday 52 percent of eligible Ellis County residents are fully vaccinated, noting the vaccination rate for the eligible Kansas population (12 and older) is approximately 63 percent.

Since reporting began, there have been 4,604 cases of COVID-19 identified in Ellis County, including 76 coronavirus-related deaths.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1635786388476.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday reported 18 new COVID-19 cases in Ellis County had been identified since Friday.<a href="https://www.ellisco.net/97/Health">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for information on how to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.&nbsp;<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/c7635a1a-58e8-41d8-8900-897fecd1d3da">RELATED:&nbsp;COVID vaccine boosters available in Ellis Co.; Kennedy discusses</a>As of Monday morning, HaysMed reported 19 COVID-19 inpatients, up from 14 on Friday.The KDHE reported Monday 52 percent of eligible Ellis County residents are fully vaccinated, noting the vaccination rate for the eligible Kansas population (12 and older) is approximately 63 percent.Since reporting began, there have been 4,604 cases of COVID-19 identified in Ellis County, including 76 coronavirus-related deaths.

KDHE: 18 new COVID cases in Ellis County since Friday

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5dd2f46c897d147ad4bb104b">To find out more about The Post Podcast, or subscribe to mobile&nbsp;</a><a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5dd2f46c897d147ad4bb104b">notifications click here.</a>

James Bell &nbsp; The Imagine Ellis County committee recently benefited from a large donation from the Schmidt Foundation, Grow Hays, Executive Director, Doug Williams talks to us a little bit about that, and more on this episode of the post podcast.

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, it's a committee that was formed out of the strategic doing initiative that is kind of town meetings sponsored by the danger Hansen Foundation, where people in the community come together for kind of a town hall meeting and talk about things that they'd like to see happen in their community, whether it be parks, you know, recreational type things, business type things, all types of things. And then out of that, committees are formed. And they kind of work on these initiatives. And so one of the things that came out of this strategic doing session was imagined Ellis County, you know, what, what do we want Ellis County to look like, five years from now 10 years from now, 30 years from now. And so that's kind of what this committee has been working on. We started and then boom, the pandemic hit. And so we kind of lost our momentum for the committee. But as of late, we have, we have kind of picked up the momentum again, and we're starting to work on some things, and we've got some direction. And I think we're making good headway.

James Bell &nbsp; Excellent. Yeah, it seems like, you know, when it comes to planning, you have to think so far in advance that and I wonder if you want to speak a little bit to like, is there a lot of differing opinions? Or are we kind of seeing some consensus? And some, you know, cuz, I don't know, some general ideas moving forward.

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; I think, you know, we, we interviewed, we had all a number of business leaders come forward, you know, business owners come forward and give us a five minute presentation as to what their plans were and what their challenges are. And, obviously, they're all a little bit different. But there's certainly some recurring themes among all of their discussions and things like housing, things like child care, you know, those kinds of things continually come up workforces a huge one, which is kind of tied to childcare and housing as well. So while each organization has some specifics, the underlying themes are very much, you know, you hear the same things again, and again.

James Bell &nbsp; You know, I wonder going forward how, how do these committees or these groups, you know, after I problems have been identified, how do they affect change?

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, you know, you, you identify the problem, and then you work the problem. So it's, you know, housing is been a problem in Hays, I've, we talked about it all the time, you and I, and I talked about it with lots of people. But at some point in time, you have to quit talking and start doing and that's what we're trying to do with the project, the tall grass project out of 22nd. Wheatland with the retiree. project that we envision north at the hospital, as well as trying to help some people with some construction of apartments and that type of thing. The project analysis for the 40 lots in south Ellis, you know, those are the type of things that you have to start doing and then childcare the same way you've got to, okay, identify the problem, and what can we do about it?

James Bell &nbsp; Okay, it's feeding on the housing. No, real quick, we might have talked about this yesterday that we just had the Hays City Commission folks in with us, but they passed the RHID public meeting date was speaking of the housing piece, how does that kind of work into how this committee is getting put together? You know, if they want to help, I don't know, spread the word for that or become available, I guess you might say, for the community that wants to talk about this project. Well, that's

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; That's the type of project that this committee would support. And go to the City Commission and the commissioners individually and indicate the support for those types of projects for the city to approve, you know, those type of incentives for the developer. Because the the reality is, in some cases, the marketplace, we'd all like to think that the open market always meets a need, but it doesn't. And it doesn't always meet it in a timeframe that is that the community needs it to meet it in childcare would be a good example of that as well. So that this committee will focus on. Okay, what what type of housing do we need? How do we help get that done? How do we encourage the city to award incentives to potential developers to make it attractive for them to develop in Hays instead of someplace else? And so that's the type of work that we would do on housing initiatives. And that's what this committee will be focused on things along those lines, along with many others, you know, that could be parks, it could be retail recruitment, you know, they're just this good go a lot of different directions as we, as we try and figure out what we really want a Hays to look like one of the things we're going to do is a community survey. You know, we, while we have a broad representation of the community, we believe on our committee, and we've talked to lots of business people who have a broad understanding of what's going on in the community, at some point time, you need to go out and ask the citizens, what they would like to see. And so we've got a quote from the Docking Institute, and we're attempting to raise some funds. So we can conduct that survey and ask the public what they'd like to see in the community, what kind of community they want to do, what they want the community to look like, in 5, 10 or 20 years.

James Bell &nbsp; How do you deal with all the folks and not to disparage any particular business? I know one of the things that I hear a lot come to Hays is target. Everybody wants to target here, and it would be great. But how do you kind of temper those expectations when you have a survey like that, and and you get responses that say 60, 70 80 percent want that, but it's really not feasible for the Hays market?

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, I think you have to temper it with the understanding of what these companies requirements are in terms of population in a community, you know, they require 40,000 people in a community and we have 28, we really can't spend a lot of time talking to them. Now, yes, we want to, we would like to think we're a little bit different than we are from a trade area standpoint, we have a larger trade area, then then a lot of communities and we have pull factor that a lot of communities don't have, you know, where people come from outlying areas to shop. But these companies study very closely. Excuse me, the the market conditions that exist, the population, the amount of dollars that are spent, they know, I would guess the target knows very well what Walmart sales are here. And so they know what level of sales they would be able to attract here. And so we have to have realistic expectations and think that okay, target may not be a good fit, but who is and then we go focus on that particular company to recruit as opposed to a target, just as an example. Okay.

James Bell &nbsp; Well, the one thing that I think all of these efforts require a little bit of capital. And this donation is probably going to help you with that. I would imagine when I talk first, a little bit about the gift from the Schmidt Foundation,

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yes, well, we, the Schmidt Foundation was good enough to recognize that the this is an important initiative in the community to to get this going. And obviously, if we're going to recruit people, and figure out what we need to be doing, it does take some dollars. And the Schmidt Foundation was good enough to give imagine Ellis County a $50,000 donation to be used for the projects that we're envisioning. One would be the Community Survey. Another would be we produce some videos of our community, we've got, I think, four or five different videos are short, one minute videos about our quality of life, basically, why people live here, we've targeted different types of people in the community in terms of younger people, retired people, people who move back here, people who moved here and bought a business. And so we're trying to tell the story in a lot of different ways about why Ellis County is such a great place to live. And the next step with once you produce these videos, and they're great videos, we'll get them out there so people can see them in the very near future. But we got to get enough people in the right places to see him. So we've gotten some proposals from some marketing organizations as to, we can do these types of social media marketing and things in the eastern slope of Colorado, which is kind of a ripe area for people who are wanting to relocate.&nbsp;

James Bell &nbsp; Can't imagine why prices, you want to read one bedroom apartment, it's four or $5,000 a month, very

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Expensive to live in very, the traffic is horrible. And in a lot of people out there looking for a simpler life and a more cost effective life. And we think housing prices are high here. Just go out there. Yeah. But so we're going to be targeting those marketplaces and trying to get our story told in the right places, and you need funding to do that. It's it doesn't come for free. And so the Schmidt Foundation, which is terrific. I mean, they're wonderful organization, very supportive of our community and always have been very supportive of grow Hayes, was good enough to step forward and give this $50,000 donation. We're seeking some other grants for the same type of thing so we can expand our efforts in this marketing of Ellis County, and that's a great start with what the Schmidt Foundation was willing to step up and give us.

James Bell &nbsp; Yeah, that's very cool. And you know, it does really, I think, impact those that recruitment has But also, you know, the piece on this that I think maybe people don't realize is how quickly those dollars get eaten up. When you're talking about marketing, it's so expensive.

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; It really is, I mean, the production of the videos, you know, doesn't seem too bad. But then you've got, and I'm not, I'm far from an expert on these things, but geo fencing and all of these terms that come up and, and Google search engines to optimize those. So your Sir, your information comes up when a search is done, just on and on and on. It's very expensive. And, but we're looking at a combination of social marketing, even some billboards, different types of ways to reach people, because we know not everybody's walking around with a smartphone, we recognize one demographic that we think we offer a lot to our retirees, with the health care facilities we have here, as well as a safe community and a lot of the other amenities we have. And so we we have to figure out ways are our marketing people have to figure out ways to target that audience, make sure they know who we are and what we have to offer. So, but it all costs money. And that's the that's for sure.

James Bell &nbsp; Is there going to be any of it set aside to help spread the word locally? About the committee?

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, we're, we're we're doing we're hoping we're doing some of that by talking to people like you. And we have set up a Facebook page, we haven't done much with it, but we will be setting up a Facebook or a meta page, whatever he called today. And in some other efforts will be done for local marketing as well. You know, we'll try and, and spread the word locally, because you know, word of mouth is the best advertising you can have. And obviously, the people in Ellis County, if they can talk to the people they know outside of Ellis County, tell our story. Tell people where to go to watch these videos, or to see what imagine Ellis County's doing. At the Imagine Ellis County website, which will be developed it isn't there yet. But it will be. So that's that's another way where we'll reach out to people and and you bring up a good point. I mean, the best salespeople, for any community are the people that live in the community.

James Bell &nbsp; Absolutely. The Shifting gears a little bit. We always like talking about what's going on down there. aggro Hayes, we've got just a few minutes left. I want to pretend like I don't know what's going on. But you have had the Ice House series entrepreneurship class that's wrapping up next Wednesday.

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yes.

James Bell &nbsp; Cool class, because I'm in it. You know, cuz I'm in it. I'm a it's a I know, it's a cool class, because when you can get the points to graduate, we're not sure about you.&nbsp;

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, it's if I throw a real stick in the mud, I think a lot of times because I'm not the business entrepreneur, you know, I'm not out there trying to launch into a successful enterprise, you know, what might happen? Well, that's exactly the thing. And that's one of the things I really appreciate about this is it's not it's not what I was expecting going in, which was that real that you know, concrete, Do this, do this, do this. It's more about opening your eyes to possibilities, A little bit more theoretical, I think, probably and covering the, the traits of an entrepreneur and the things that an entrepreneur needs to think about. We are next week, it'll wrap up, that'll be week seven. We've got I think, 12 or 13 participants. So it's a couple online, so I you know, I've done online attendance. So I'm, I get a little fuzzy, I see the people in the room, but I forget about the ones that are online, and spent a good class different than the class we did a year and a half ago, you know, a different set of people kind of a different dynamic in the class. And that's okay, that's good. And I you know, we typically try and bring in a speaker from outside last week, we had Chris Munch come in and give his sticks presentation, which is always good and powerful. Presentation. And they've, they've talked me into giving a little talk next week, which should be interesting. It's, I'll keep it a top secret topic. But all I'll be there to wrap the whole thing up and then you guys will be graduated and we'll be on to the next one. But it's it's a really good class. I think it it makes you think, and hopefully get you thinking outside the box. And if you have some entrepreneurial, yearnings, it is an opportunity to understand what it might be all about and the things he maybe need to put in place in order to fulfill those dreams or yearnings or whatever they are. Absolutely.

James Bell &nbsp; And you know, to I think in a lot of ways, it just it also kind of opened your eyes to the realities in the marketplace now, because it's quite a bit different than for a lot of folks than it was 3040 years ago where you went on a career path and that was the expectation and that's just not necessarily the case anymore.&nbsp;

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you look at the trends and the number of job changes, people entering the workforce today will have over their career, you know, used to be you go to work for the railroad or IBM or somebody and you stay with them for life. That's just not the way it works. Now, it's people changing all the time. And I've, I've noticed that you know, another topic we talked about, we're we're currently we accepted applications for Director of Recruitment and retainment. And we cut those applications off last Friday, but if you look at some of the end, we've had 19 and all of them good people and that kind of thing. But if you look at the work history, people change a lot. It's amazing how often a lot of people change. And I'm not saying that's bad, it's just the way our world works right now is there's a lot of movement that goes on in careers.

James Bell &nbsp; Absolutely. Well, Doug, we've got just about a minute left anything else going on down there you want to share with us

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; We've got one thing I would mention, you know, advanced real estate had sold their location on East 27th street and are now full time officing out of brief space so it's cool it's kind of interesting turned down there you know, we we have always said that we believe that it can be an alternative office space and most people we have are individuals and that that come in there at certain times and off and on and on the road salespeople or what have you, but this is a case where a business has looked at our environment and said hey, you know, we can carve out this little spot for ourselves. It works for us we have access to the high speed internet to the meeting rooms and copier, scanner all of those kinds of resources and so at a fraction of the cost that it was where they were located before So that's been an interesting development down there we welcome that we welcome others and it's kind of cool to see that happen.

James Bell &nbsp; Yeah, I you know, I love about brief space down there is a you you kind of get that environment I imagine if you're working on your own you know, your sole proprietorship you know you don't get that interaction with other business professionals or you can do that it brief space, you can go in and get in amount of interaction that you want, whether it be a little bit or a lot, you hang out there all day or hang out there for 20 minutes, make your do your whatever and then go.

Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, it it's whatever. It's what you make of it really and but but there is interaction with others. I think that's an important part of it. It's just been interesting to see that kind of evolution in the facility to have somebody in there grow. Hays has always been in there but now we've got another full time scenario as well as multiple people so I have a cool trend.

<div><iframe title="Foundation donation to benefit Imagine Ellis County" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=wmu5b-111ce45-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5dd2f46c897d147ad4bb104b">To find out more about The Post Podcast, or subscribe to mobile&nbsp;</a><a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5dd2f46c897d147ad4bb104b">notifications click here.</a>TRANSCRIPTJames Bell &nbsp; The Imagine Ellis County committee recently benefited from a large donation from the Schmidt Foundation, Grow Hays, Executive Director, Doug Williams talks to us a little bit about that, and more on this episode of the post podcast.Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, it's a committee that was formed out of the strategic doing initiative that is kind of town meetings sponsored by the danger Hansen Foundation, where people in the community come together for kind of a town hall meeting and talk about things that they'd like to see happen in their community, whether it be parks, you know, recreational type things, business type things, all types of things. And then out of that, committees are formed. And they kind of work on these initiatives. And so one of the things that came out of this strategic doing session was imagined Ellis County, you know, what, what do we want Ellis County to look like, five years from now 10 years from now, 30 years from now. And so that's kind of what this committee has been working on. We started and then boom, the pandemic hit. And so we kind of lost our momentum for the committee. But as of late, we have, we have kind of picked up the momentum again, and we're starting to work on some things, and we've got some direction. And I think we're making good headway.James Bell &nbsp; Excellent. Yeah, it seems like, you know, when it comes to planning, you have to think so far in advance that and I wonder if you want to speak a little bit to like, is there a lot of differing opinions? Or are we kind of seeing some consensus? And some, you know, cuz, I don't know, some general ideas moving forward.Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; I think, you know, we, we interviewed, we had all a number of business leaders come forward, you know, business owners come forward and give us a five minute presentation as to what their plans were and what their challenges are. And, obviously, they're all a little bit different. But there's certainly some recurring themes among all of their discussions and things like housing, things like child care, you know, those kinds of things continually come up workforces a huge one, which is kind of tied to childcare and housing as well. So while each organization has some specifics, the underlying themes are very much, you know, you hear the same things again, and again.James Bell &nbsp; You know, I wonder going forward how, how do these committees or these groups, you know, after I problems have been identified, how do they affect change?Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, you know, you, you identify the problem, and then you work the problem. So it's, you know, housing is been a problem in Hays, I've, we talked about it all the time, you and I, and I talked about it with lots of people. But at some point in time, you have to quit talking and start doing and that's what we're trying to do with the project, the tall grass project out of 22nd. Wheatland with the retiree. project that we envision north at the hospital, as well as trying to help some people with some construction of apartments and that type of thing. The project analysis for the 40 lots in south Ellis, you know, those are the type of things that you have to start doing and then childcare the same way you've got to, okay, identify the problem, and what can we do about it?James Bell &nbsp; Okay, it's feeding on the housing. No, real quick, we might have talked about this yesterday that we just had the Hays City Commission folks in with us, but they passed the RHID public meeting date was speaking of the housing piece, how does that kind of work into how this committee is getting put together? You know, if they want to help, I don't know, spread the word for that or become available, I guess you might say, for the community that wants to talk about this project. Well, that'sGrow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; That's the type of project that this committee would support. And go to the City Commission and the commissioners individually and indicate the support for those types of projects for the city to approve, you know, those type of incentives for the developer. Because the the reality is, in some cases, the marketplace, we'd all like to think that the open market always meets a need, but it doesn't. And it doesn't always meet it in a timeframe that is that the community needs it to meet it in childcare would be a good example of that as well. So that this committee will focus on. Okay, what what type of housing do we need? How do we help get that done? How do we encourage the city to award incentives to potential developers to make it attractive for them to develop in Hays instead of someplace else? And so that's the type of work that we would do on housing initiatives. And that's what this committee will be focused on things along those lines, along with many others, you know, that could be parks, it could be retail recruitment, you know, they're just this good go a lot of different directions as we, as we try and figure out what we really want a Hays to look like one of the things we're going to do is a community survey. You know, we, while we have a broad representation of the community, we believe on our committee, and we've talked to lots of business people who have a broad understanding of what's going on in the community, at some point time, you need to go out and ask the citizens, what they would like to see. And so we've got a quote from the Docking Institute, and we're attempting to raise some funds. So we can conduct that survey and ask the public what they'd like to see in the community, what kind of community they want to do, what they want the community to look like, in 5, 10 or 20 years.James Bell &nbsp; How do you deal with all the folks and not to disparage any particular business? I know one of the things that I hear a lot come to Hays is target. Everybody wants to target here, and it would be great. But how do you kind of temper those expectations when you have a survey like that, and and you get responses that say 60, 70 80 percent want that, but it's really not feasible for the Hays market?Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Well, I think you have to temper it with the understanding of what these companies requirements are in terms of population in a community, you know, they require 40,000 people in a community and we have 28, we really can't spend a lot of time talking to them. Now, yes, we want to, we would like to think we're a little bit different than we are from a trade area standpoint, we have a larger trade area, then then a lot of communities and we have pull factor that a lot of communities don't have, you know, where people come from outlying areas to shop. But these companies study very closely. Excuse me, the the market conditions that exist, the population, the amount of dollars that are spent, they know, I would guess the target knows very well what Walmart sales are here. And so they know what level of sales they would be able to attract here. And so we have to have realistic expectations and think that okay, target may not be a good fit, but who is and then we go focus on that particular company to recruit as opposed to a target, just as an example. Okay.James Bell &nbsp; Well, the one thing that I think all of these efforts require a little bit of capital. And this donation is probably going to help you with that. I would imagine when I talk first, a little bit about the gift from the Schmidt Foundation,Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yes, well, we, the Schmidt Foundation was good enough to recognize that the this is an important initiative in the community to to get this going. And obviously, if we're going to recruit people, and figure out what we need to be doing, it does take some dollars. And the Schmidt Foundation was good enough to give imagine Ellis County a $50,000 donation to be used for the projects that we're envisioning. One would be the Community Survey. Another would be we produce some videos of our community, we've got, I think, four or five different videos are short, one minute videos about our quality of life, basically, why people live here, we've targeted different types of people in the community in terms of younger people, retired people, people who move back here, people who moved here and bought a business. And so we're trying to tell the story in a lot of different ways about why Ellis County is such a great place to live. And the next step with once you produce these videos, and they're great videos, we'll get them out there so people can see them in the very near future. But we got to get enough people in the right places to see him. So we've gotten some proposals from some marketing organizations as to, we can do these types of social media marketing and things in the eastern slope of Colorado, which is kind of a ripe area for people who are wanting to relocate.&nbsp;James Bell &nbsp; Can't imagine why prices, you want to read one bedroom apartment, it's four or $5,000 a month, veryGrow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Expensive to live in very, the traffic is horrible. And in a lot of people out there looking for a simpler life and a more cost effective life. And we think housing prices are high here. Just go out there. Yeah. But so we're going to be targeting those marketplaces and trying to get our story told in the right places, and you need funding to do that. It's it doesn't come for free. And so the Schmidt Foundation, which is terrific. I mean, they're wonderful organization, very supportive of our community and always have been very supportive of grow Hayes, was good enough to step forward and give this $50,000 donation. We're seeking some other grants for the same type of thing so we can expand our efforts in this marketing of Ellis County, and that's a great start with what the Schmidt Foundation was willing to step up and give us.James Bell &nbsp; Yeah, that's very cool. And you know, it does really, I think, impact those that recruitment has But also, you know, the piece on this that I think maybe people don't realize is how quickly those dollars get eaten up. When you're talking about marketing, it's so expensive.Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; It really is, I mean, the production of the videos, you know, doesn't seem too bad. But then you've got, and I'm not, I'm far from an expert on these things, but geo fencing and all of these terms that come up and, and Google search engines to optimize those. So your Sir, your information comes up when a search is done, just on and on and on. It's very expensive. And, but we're looking at a combination of social marketing, even some billboards, different types of ways to reach people, because we know not everybody's walking around with a smartphone, we recognize one demographic that we think we offer a lot to our retirees, with the health care facilities we have here, as well as a safe community and a lot of the other amenities we have. And so we we have to figure out ways are our marketing people have to figure out ways to target that audience, make sure they know who we are and what we have to offer. So, but it all costs money. And that's the that's for sure.James Bell &nbsp; Is there going to be any of it set aside to help spread the word locally? About the committee?Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, we're, we're we're doing we're hoping we're doing some of that by talking to people like you. And we have set up a Facebook page, we haven't done much with it, but we will be setting up a Facebook or a meta page, whatever he called today. And in some other efforts will be done for local marketing as well. You know, we'll try and, and spread the word locally, because you know, word of mouth is the best advertising you can have. And obviously, the people in Ellis County, if they can talk to the people they know outside of Ellis County, tell our story. Tell people where to go to watch these videos, or to see what imagine Ellis County's doing. At the Imagine Ellis County website, which will be developed it isn't there yet. But it will be. So that's that's another way where we'll reach out to people and and you bring up a good point. I mean, the best salespeople, for any community are the people that live in the community.James Bell &nbsp; Absolutely. The Shifting gears a little bit. We always like talking about what's going on down there. aggro Hayes, we've got just a few minutes left. I want to pretend like I don't know what's going on. But you have had the Ice House series entrepreneurship class that's wrapping up next Wednesday.Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yes.James Bell &nbsp; Cool class, because I'm in it. You know, cuz I'm in it. I'm a it's a I know, it's a cool class, because when you can get the points to graduate, we're not sure about you.&nbsp;Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, it's if I throw a real stick in the mud, I think a lot of times because I'm not the business entrepreneur, you know, I'm not out there trying to launch into a successful enterprise, you know, what might happen? Well, that's exactly the thing. And that's one of the things I really appreciate about this is it's not it's not what I was expecting going in, which was that real that you know, concrete, Do this, do this, do this. It's more about opening your eyes to possibilities, A little bit more theoretical, I think, probably and covering the, the traits of an entrepreneur and the things that an entrepreneur needs to think about. We are next week, it'll wrap up, that'll be week seven. We've got I think, 12 or 13 participants. So it's a couple online, so I you know, I've done online attendance. So I'm, I get a little fuzzy, I see the people in the room, but I forget about the ones that are online, and spent a good class different than the class we did a year and a half ago, you know, a different set of people kind of a different dynamic in the class. And that's okay, that's good. And I you know, we typically try and bring in a speaker from outside last week, we had Chris Munch come in and give his sticks presentation, which is always good and powerful. Presentation. And they've, they've talked me into giving a little talk next week, which should be interesting. It's, I'll keep it a top secret topic. But all I'll be there to wrap the whole thing up and then you guys will be graduated and we'll be on to the next one. But it's it's a really good class. I think it it makes you think, and hopefully get you thinking outside the box. And if you have some entrepreneurial, yearnings, it is an opportunity to understand what it might be all about and the things he maybe need to put in place in order to fulfill those dreams or yearnings or whatever they are. Absolutely.James Bell &nbsp; And you know, to I think in a lot of ways, it just it also kind of opened your eyes to the realities in the marketplace now, because it's quite a bit different than for a lot of folks than it was 3040 years ago where you went on a career path and that was the expectation and that's just not necessarily the case anymore.&nbsp;Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you look at the trends and the number of job changes, people entering the workforce today will have over their career, you know, used to be you go to work for the railroad or IBM or somebody and you stay with them for life. That's just not the way it works. Now, it's people changing all the time. And I've, I've noticed that you know, another topic we talked about, we're we're currently we accepted applications for Director of Recruitment and retainment. And we cut those applications off last Friday, but if you look at some of the end, we've had 19 and all of them good people and that kind of thing. But if you look at the work history, people change a lot. It's amazing how often a lot of people change. And I'm not saying that's bad, it's just the way our world works right now is there's a lot of movement that goes on in careers.James Bell &nbsp; Absolutely. Well, Doug, we've got just about a minute left anything else going on down there you want to share with usGrow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; We've got one thing I would mention, you know, advanced real estate had sold their location on East 27th street and are now full time officing out of brief space so it's cool it's kind of interesting turned down there you know, we we have always said that we believe that it can be an alternative office space and most people we have are individuals and that that come in there at certain times and off and on and on the road salespeople or what have you, but this is a case where a business has looked at our environment and said hey, you know, we can carve out this little spot for ourselves. It works for us we have access to the high speed internet to the meeting rooms and copier, scanner all of those kinds of resources and so at a fraction of the cost that it was where they were located before So that's been an interesting development down there we welcome that we welcome others and it's kind of cool to see that happen.James Bell &nbsp; Yeah, I you know, I love about brief space down there is a you you kind of get that environment I imagine if you're working on your own you know, your sole proprietorship you know you don't get that interaction with other business professionals or you can do that it brief space, you can go in and get in amount of interaction that you want, whether it be a little bit or a lot, you hang out there all day or hang out there for 20 minutes, make your do your whatever and then go.Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams &nbsp; Yeah, it it's whatever. It's what you make of it really and but but there is interaction with others. I think that's an important part of it. It's just been interesting to see that kind of evolution in the facility to have somebody in there grow. Hays has always been in there but now we've got another full time scenario as well as multiple people so I have a cool trend.

🎙Post Podcast: Foundation donation to benefit Imagine Ellis County committee

The National Weather Service in Dodge City said that a cold air mass moving into western Kansas will bring unseasonably cold temperatures Tuesday — with much of the day spent in the 30s.

The high temperature in Hays is projected to be just 40 degrees on Tuesday.

The front will bring with a chance for precipitation, as well. There is a 30 to 50 percent chance of rain or snow in Ellis County from Monday night through Wednesday afternoon.

Check Hays Post or tun into your Eagle Radio of Hays stations for the latest on cancellations and severe weather.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1635781677366.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The National Weather Service in Dodge City said that a cold air mass moving into western Kansas will bring unseasonably cold temperatures Tuesday — with much of the day spent in the 30s.The high temperature in Hays is projected to be just 40 degrees on Tuesday.The front will bring with a chance for precipitation, as well. There is a 30 to 50 percent chance of rain or snow in Ellis County from Monday night through Wednesday afternoon.Check Hays Post or tun into your Eagle Radio of Hays stations for the latest on cancellations and severe weather.

NWS: Bundle up, colder air is on the way to western Kan.

As October draws to an end, so does family history month.

But Susan Schlichting, Cottonwood Extension District agent, said as the holidays approach, now is a perfect time to consider learning and recording those histories as families gather together.

"Now is the time to kind of be thinking about how you lay that groundwork for getting together and making purposeful conversations around family history as you gather with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and to learn more about that history of your family," she said.

And with cellphones, she said documenting those histories is easier than ever.

"Hopefully people take time to write down the stories or record the stories," Schlichting said. "We all carry phones with us. They all have recording devices in them. You could record those stories and share them on digitally if writing it down is not your thing."

And while it may not seem a pressing issue, she said as time passes, treasured family memories and stories can be lost forever if care is not taken to document them.

"Get it documented, because those stories get lost over time if you don't," Schlichting said. "It happens so often in families and, and no one seems to have the interest in taking it on and running with it after they're gone. And so it does just go away."

While she said studying family history can help bring families closer together, evidence shows tangible benefits for youth.

"There's a group out of Emory University that's been doing a bunch of research about family stories and how important they are to teen development and helping kids to learn," she said. "Not only just the good stories about your family, but the challenges your family faced in the past, or maybe how they went through some up and down times and how they came through those in a good way.

"It helps the teens to become more resilient themselves because they've heard the stories of their great grandparents and the struggles they had along the way. ... If you can help instill those kinds of things in kids, they can learn that they have that strength in them as well."

Schlichting said from her past, she has seen first-hand how powerful learning family histories can be.

"I think about that as I grew up, just down the road from the family farm where we started in this country and always heard those stories about how great-great-grandma came over here with two small children by herself because she had no place to be over in the old country," she said. "Her husband had died and they were living in a house owned by a collective farm. And so he passed away and she and the kids were out on the out on the road.

"So they had to find someplace to be and they came to this country and started and formed a farm and went forward from there and in a good way, you know, so our family still has that farm in the family to this day. And (with) those kinds of stories, if you can help instill those kinds of things in kids, they can learn that they have that strength in them as well."

Along with various internet resources to document family histories available, Schlichting said 4-H could also be an asset.

"There are several 4-H project books that are out there that help kids to learn that process of telling the stories, documenting the stories and researching their family history," she said. "And they can get those through your local extension office."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635533106495.jpg" alt="Photo courtesy Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure><div><iframe title="Holidays present a perfect time to document family histories" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=x5uxw-111ab7b-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>By JAMES BELL Hays PostAs October draws to an end, so does family history month.But Susan Schlichting, Cottonwood Extension District agent, said as the holidays approach, now is a perfect time to consider learning and recording those histories as families gather together."Now is the time to kind of be thinking about how you lay that groundwork for getting together and making purposeful conversations around family history as you gather with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and to learn more about that history of your family," she said.And with cellphones, she said documenting those histories is easier than ever."Hopefully people take time to write down the stories or record the stories," Schlichting said. "We all carry phones with us. They all have recording devices in them. You could record those stories and share them on digitally if writing it down is not your thing."And while it may not seem a pressing issue, she said as time passes, treasured family memories and stories can be lost forever if care is not taken to document them."Get it documented, because those stories get lost over time if you don't," Schlichting said. "It happens so often in families and, and no one seems to have the interest in taking it on and running with it after they're gone. And so it does just go away."While she said studying family history can help bring families closer together, evidence shows tangible benefits for youth."There's a group out of Emory University that's been doing a bunch of research about family stories and how important they are to teen development and helping kids to learn," she said. "Not only just the good stories about your family, but the challenges your family faced in the past, or maybe how they went through some up and down times and how they came through those in a good way."It helps the teens to become more resilient themselves because they've heard the stories of their great grandparents and the struggles they had along the way. ... If you can help instill those kinds of things in kids, they can learn that they have that strength in them as well."Schlichting said from her past, she has seen first-hand how powerful learning family histories can be."I think about that as I grew up, just down the road from the family farm where we started in this country and always heard those stories about how great-great-grandma came over here with two small children by herself because she had no place to be over in the old country," she said. "Her husband had died and they were living in a house owned by a collective farm. And so he passed away and she and the kids were out on the out on the road."So they had to find someplace to be and they came to this country and started and formed a farm and went forward from there and in a good way, you know, so our family still has that farm in the family to this day. And (with) those kinds of stories, if you can help instill those kinds of things in kids, they can learn that they have that strength in them as well."Along with various internet resources to document family histories available, Schlichting said 4-H could also be an asset."There are several 4-H project books that are out there that help kids to learn that process of telling the stories, documenting the stories and researching their family history," she said. "And they can get those through your local extension office."

Holidays present a perfect time to document family histories

VICTORIA — After a community gathering last month that explored ideas for the former Rest Home facility in Victoria, owner Jeff Pfeifer last week appeared before the city council to share how some of those ideas would work in the nearly&nbsp;42,000-square-foot facility.

"Overall, there was a lot of interest in (the) historical society using space, a lot of interest in the Rec Center using the space, a lot of interest in a daycare, for children to daycare for adults, and then senior housing," Pfeifer said.

He said after the meeting he started looking at how the ideas could come together and worked to put potential concepts for the facility together.

One of the most pressing issues, he said, could be implemented is the creation of a child care facility.

"I have focused on the child care trying to get that open within the year." Pfeifer said. "I would love to have some kids in there in 2022."

The potential plan also includes room for the Ellis County Historical Society and the Victoria Recreation Commission.

"In this scheme, the Ellis County Historical Society could take space, they've expressed an interest in some space, possibly storage and maybe a satellite campus," Pfeifer said. "They've always also expressed interest in more than that."

He also noted that as the city has been contemplating finding a larger meeting space and the former chapel in the building could be an option for the city.&nbsp;

"And I think that could be a multi-use space for the long term," Pfeifer said. "Whoever gets it, I would hope that they would allow other people to use it including City Hall, or the City Hall can rent it and allow other people to use it for whatever for their city council meetings.

"We also have an outdoor play area for the daycare, we've got some outdoor display area for the museum. And then the draw area would be just permanent open space."

A secondary plan, presented would include space that could be used for housing, or some sort of treatment facility, and space for the Rec Center.

"I'm not going to speak for them," Pfeifer said. "But I will say they saw the drawings and they are all right with them. We also had a discussion that this might not be the ideal site for them, that they haven't got there yet.

"They were all right with the Greenway plan, the park plan and the rec plan as shown," Pfeifer said. "But they weren't convinced that this was the best site because they just hadn't studied that far yet."

The Greenway plan, as presented, would connect parks and facilities together in the city and take advantage of the large amount of open space around the building.

"This got me excited," Pfeifer said. "This is land that's there. This is land that is ready, open space in the city of Victoria. I have done rec plans in many states in the United States and, and they have to acquire land, they have to find it, and weed through parts. But this plan shows all the open spaces already there.

The trail, he said would be about a 2-mile loop.

"The other part about the Greenway is this connection," Pfeifer said.&nbsp;

"It connects the community uses the pool the playground and basketball and tennis," he said. "And we talked about this in the rec commission meeting just the other night about where a logical spot for the Rec Center could be. I think it was you agree that it should be somewhere on the Greenway trail, maybe in a central location."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635537165180.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JAMES BELL Hays PostVICTORIA — After a community gathering last month that explored ideas for the former Rest Home facility in Victoria, owner Jeff Pfeifer last week appeared before the city council to share how some of those ideas would work in the nearly&nbsp;42,000-square-foot facility."Overall, there was a lot of interest in (the) historical society using space, a lot of interest in the Rec Center using the space, a lot of interest in a daycare, for children to daycare for adults, and then senior housing," Pfeifer said.He said after the meeting he started looking at how the ideas could come together and worked to put potential concepts for the facility together.One of the most pressing issues, he said, could be implemented is the creation of a child care facility."I have focused on the child care trying to get that open within the year." Pfeifer said. "I would love to have some kids in there in 2022."The potential plan also includes room for the Ellis County Historical Society and the Victoria Recreation Commission.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635703040419.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>"In this scheme, the Ellis County Historical Society could take space, they've expressed an interest in some space, possibly storage and maybe a satellite campus," Pfeifer said. "They've always also expressed interest in more than that."He also noted that as the city has been contemplating finding a larger meeting space and the former chapel in the building could be an option for the city.&nbsp;"And I think that could be a multi-use space for the long term," Pfeifer said. "Whoever gets it, I would hope that they would allow other people to use it including City Hall, or the City Hall can rent it and allow other people to use it for whatever for their city council meetings."We also have an outdoor play area for the daycare, we've got some outdoor display area for the museum. And then the draw area would be just permanent open space."A secondary plan, presented would include space that could be used for housing, or some sort of treatment facility, and space for the Rec Center.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635703073174.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>"I'm not going to speak for them," Pfeifer said. "But I will say they saw the drawings and they are all right with them. We also had a discussion that this might not be the ideal site for them, that they haven't got there yet."They were all right with the Greenway plan, the park plan and the rec plan as shown," Pfeifer said. "But they weren't convinced that this was the best site because they just hadn't studied that far yet."The Greenway plan, as presented, would connect parks and facilities together in the city and take advantage of the large amount of open space around the building.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635703115612.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>"This got me excited," Pfeifer said. "This is land that's there. This is land that is ready, open space in the city of Victoria. I have done rec plans in many states in the United States and, and they have to acquire land, they have to find it, and weed through parts. But this plan shows all the open spaces already there.The trail, he said would be about a 2-mile loop."The other part about the Greenway is this connection," Pfeifer said.&nbsp;"It connects the community uses the pool the playground and basketball and tennis," he said. "And we talked about this in the rec commission meeting just the other night about where a logical spot for the Rec Center could be. I think it was you agree that it should be somewhere on the Greenway trail, maybe in a central location."

Victoria rest home building owner presents ideas to city council

For the second time in two years, Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas held its awards ceremony as a virtual event on Oct. 19.&nbsp; The event was made virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp; Staff, individuals served by DSNWK and community people were given recognition through a live stream presentation and a special video that both appear on the DSNWK website <a href="http://www.dsnwk.org">www.dsnwk.org</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Those staff recognized and listed by location, were:

Atwood - April Dunker, Denni Rehmer

Hays -&nbsp; Greg Askins, Sara Biggs, Deb Braun, Carrie Brungardt, Leanna Carrier, Tanner Flinn, Courtney Gumtau, Dan Hecker, John Kreutzer, Amanda Lawson, Jerry Michaud, Paige Niernberger, Jake Reynolds, Michelle Seib, Sue Stephens, Christopher Stricker, Les Wilson, Lance VanKooten, Nathan Young

Special recognition was also paid to four staff members for their outstanding work with persons with disabilities.&nbsp; Brandy Bell, Hays, Kayla Kuntzsch and Herb Shumaker, Russell and Denni Rehmer, Atwood will be presented with the Employee of the Year Award.&nbsp;

Two $100 scholarship awards will be presented to Destiny Bergstresser and Anyela Valenzuela-Rosales of Hays.&nbsp; This award was given from the Jerelyn Becker Memorial Scholarship Fund for employees studying in higher education in a field related to serving people with developmental disabilities.

Several awards will be given to individuals served by DSNWK for achievement through employment.&nbsp; Those receiving awards and listed by location were:&nbsp;

Hays - Taylor Barrett, Michail Bird, Treyshawn Blackman, Tim, Brier, Preston Browning, William Dornon, Michael Fawcett, Don Furrey, LaVerne Gitchel, Duane Gross, Wesley Higdon, Tyler F. Jones, Tyler S. Jones, Neil Kuhn, Brittany Molnar, Derrick Morton, Jennifer Paramore, Brian Rietcheck, Alan Roberts, Ed Rybeck, Ramona Schmitt, Avon Smith, Kurtis Steckline, Trenton Uhl, Garrett Williams

Hill City -&nbsp; Jenny Cronn, Rebecca Rohr

DSNWK will be presenting two Individual Achievement Awards to individuals served by DSNWK. Darrell Trail of Atwood and Jeremy Pugh of Hays were presented these awards which go each year to one youth and one adult who have shown tremendous individual progress throughout the year. &nbsp;

DSNWK plans to recognize several members of area communities with special awards.&nbsp; Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Hays will receive DSNWK's Employer of the Year Award for their outstanding support of people with disabilities in the workforce.&nbsp; The Community Support Award will be presented to the Ellis County Health Department for their outstanding support to DSNWK during the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp; Recognition will be made to a Hoxie community member with DSNWK’s Good Neighbor Award.&nbsp; Tom and Leanna Sloan will be recognized for their personal support of the people served by DSNWK.

Finally, DSNWK will be recognizing Jim and Rose Blume, Aurora, CO and Jim and Sally Stansbury, Hays with the Vision of Hope Award.&nbsp; This award was created to recognize those individuals who have been the guiding light along DSNWK’s 50 year history creating long lasting opportunities in services and support for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

DSNWK is a 501c3 nonprofit serving 18 counties in northwest Kansas with a mission to advocate for persons with disabilities and those who care about them by planning and supporting a life of dignity, interdependence, and personal satisfaction in the community.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602261742827.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>DSNWKFor the second time in two years, Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas held its awards ceremony as a virtual event on Oct. 19.&nbsp; The event was made virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp; Staff, individuals served by DSNWK and community people were given recognition through a live stream presentation and a special video that both appear on the DSNWK website <a href="http://www.dsnwk.org">www.dsnwk.org</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;Those staff recognized and listed by location, were:Atwood - April Dunker, Denni RehmerHays -&nbsp; Greg Askins, Sara Biggs, Deb Braun, Carrie Brungardt, Leanna Carrier, Tanner Flinn, Courtney Gumtau, Dan Hecker, John Kreutzer, Amanda Lawson, Jerry Michaud, Paige Niernberger, Jake Reynolds, Michelle Seib, Sue Stephens, Christopher Stricker, Les Wilson, Lance VanKooten, Nathan YoungHill City - Connie YakishHoxie - Linda PopeRussell - Randy HousenStockton - Michelle StorzSpecial recognition was also paid to four staff members for their outstanding work with persons with disabilities.&nbsp; Brandy Bell, Hays, Kayla Kuntzsch and Herb Shumaker, Russell and Denni Rehmer, Atwood will be presented with the Employee of the Year Award.&nbsp;Two $100 scholarship awards will be presented to Destiny Bergstresser and Anyela Valenzuela-Rosales of Hays.&nbsp; This award was given from the Jerelyn Becker Memorial Scholarship Fund for employees studying in higher education in a field related to serving people with developmental disabilities.Several awards will be given to individuals served by DSNWK for achievement through employment.&nbsp; Those receiving awards and listed by location were:&nbsp;Hays - Taylor Barrett, Michail Bird, Treyshawn Blackman, Tim, Brier, Preston Browning, William Dornon, Michael Fawcett, Don Furrey, LaVerne Gitchel, Duane Gross, Wesley Higdon, Tyler F. Jones, Tyler S. Jones, Neil Kuhn, Brittany Molnar, Derrick Morton, Jennifer Paramore, Brian Rietcheck, Alan Roberts, Ed Rybeck, Ramona Schmitt, Avon Smith, Kurtis Steckline, Trenton Uhl, Garrett WilliamsHill City -&nbsp; Jenny Cronn, Rebecca RohrNorton - Justin BainterDSNWK will be presenting two Individual Achievement Awards to individuals served by DSNWK. Darrell Trail of Atwood and Jeremy Pugh of Hays were presented these awards which go each year to one youth and one adult who have shown tremendous individual progress throughout the year. &nbsp;DSNWK plans to recognize several members of area communities with special awards.&nbsp; Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Hays will receive DSNWK's Employer of the Year Award for their outstanding support of people with disabilities in the workforce.&nbsp; The Community Support Award will be presented to the Ellis County Health Department for their outstanding support to DSNWK during the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp; Recognition will be made to a Hoxie community member with DSNWK’s Good Neighbor Award.&nbsp; Tom and Leanna Sloan will be recognized for their personal support of the people served by DSNWK.Finally, DSNWK will be recognizing Jim and Rose Blume, Aurora, CO and Jim and Sally Stansbury, Hays with the Vision of Hope Award.&nbsp; This award was created to recognize those individuals who have been the guiding light along DSNWK’s 50 year history creating long lasting opportunities in services and support for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.DSNWK is a 501c3 nonprofit serving 18 counties in northwest Kansas with a mission to advocate for persons with disabilities and those who care about them by planning and supporting a life of dignity, interdependence, and personal satisfaction in the community.

DSNWK celebrates achievement in virtual ceremony

Riedel Garden Center Halloween Photo Contest

<div> <script src="https://embed-845324.secondstreetapp.com/Scripts/dist/embed.js" data-ss-embed="promotion" data-opguid="6fe2ffdb-de4b-455b-9d3a-79520046a483" data-routing="hash">/**/</script></div>Riedel Garden Center Halloween Photo Contest

Riedel Garden Center Halloween Photo Contest

Fort Hays State University’s chapter of the American
Democracy Project is partnering with the Fort Hays State University Foundation
to host a Times Talk regarding elder abuse.

&nbsp;This event will be
held on Nov. 16 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s
Stouffer Lounge. 

Elder abuse experts Jennifer Walters, attorney and partner,
and Aimee Kroeger, care coordinator, from Clinkscales Law Office of Hays, will
present information regarding the nature of elder abuse and methods of
combating it. Light refreshments will be served. 

The American Democracy Project and political science department
would like to thank the Fort Hays State University Foundation, Clinkscales Law
Office and the New York Times for their assistance and support of this event. 

For more information, contact the FHSU political science
department at (785) 628-4425 or ekburrows@mail.fhsu.edu.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635283798981.jpeg" alt="(Photo by Pixabay)" />
 <figcaption>(Photo by Pixabay)</figcaption>
 </figure>SubmittedFort Hays State University’s chapter of the American
Democracy Project is partnering with the Fort Hays State University Foundation
to host a Times Talk regarding elder abuse.&nbsp;This event will be
held on Nov. 16 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s
Stouffer Lounge. Elder abuse experts Jennifer Walters, attorney and partner,
and Aimee Kroeger, care coordinator, from Clinkscales Law Office of Hays, will
present information regarding the nature of elder abuse and methods of
combating it. Light refreshments will be served. The American Democracy Project and political science department
would like to thank the Fort Hays State University Foundation, Clinkscales Law
Office and the New York Times for their assistance and support of this event. For more information, contact the FHSU political science
department at (785) 628-4425 or ekburrows@mail.fhsu.edu.

Elder abuse is topic of Nov. 16 Times Talk 

Three-day weather outlook

By STACY CAMPBELL Cottonwood Extension District

Cropland can be quite susceptible to wind erosion under some conditions. Winter wheat and other fall-planted crop fields also may be susceptible during periods of low cover in the winter and early spring. Recent wind conditions have been conducive to erosion given the peak wind gusts that have been recorded in Kansas over the last few days. On Thursday, the maximum wind speed recorded at the Agricultural Research Center – Hays was 45 mph. <a href="https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/maxmin/">https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/maxmin/</a>&nbsp;

For information on emergency measures to control wind erosion in cropland <a href="https://bit.ly/3Cu0nd9">https://bit.ly/3Cu0nd9</a> or do a search for KSU eupdate, issue 823

Stacy Campbell is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at scampbel@ksu.edu or calling 785-628-9430.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635523431160.jpeg" alt="Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>By STACY CAMPBELL Cottonwood Extension DistrictCropland can be quite susceptible to wind erosion under some conditions. Winter wheat and other fall-planted crop fields also may be susceptible during periods of low cover in the winter and early spring. Recent wind conditions have been conducive to erosion given the peak wind gusts that have been recorded in Kansas over the last few days. On Thursday, the maximum wind speed recorded at the Agricultural Research Center – Hays was 45 mph. <a href="https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/maxmin/">https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/maxmin/</a>&nbsp;For information on emergency measures to control wind erosion in cropland <a href="https://bit.ly/3Cu0nd9">https://bit.ly/3Cu0nd9</a> or do a search for KSU eupdate, issue 823<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635523519859.png" alt="Blowing soil in Colby on Oct. 11, 2020. Photo by Lucas Haag, K-State Research and Extension" />
 <figcaption>Blowing soil in Colby on Oct. 11, 2020. Photo by Lucas Haag, K-State Research and Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>Stacy Campbell is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at scampbel@ksu.edu or calling 785-628-9430.

CAMPBELL: Emergency measures to control wind erosion

GOVE COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after noon Sunday in Gove County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Honda motorcycle driven by Isaac Anthony Derosier, 38, Colorado Springs, was westbound on Interstate 70. 

The driver lost control as he attempted to exit the interstate at Grainfield/Gove exit. The motorcycle overturned in the north ditch.

EMS transported Derosier to the Gove County Medical Center. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

GOVE COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after noon Sunday in Gove County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Honda motorcycle driven by Isaac Anthony Derosier, 38, Colorado Springs, was westbound on Interstate 70. The driver lost control as he attempted to exit the interstate at Grainfield/Gove exit. The motorcycle overturned in the north ditch.EMS transported Derosier to the Gove County Medical Center. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

Man hospitalized after I-70 motorcycle accident

The second free hearing screening of the semester to be held by Fort Hays State University graduate students will be offered in Nickerson.

The screening will be hosted by the Nickerson Masonic Lodge #43 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5, at the Nickerson Community Center, 11 Nickerson St.

The hearing screenings are sponsored by a grant from the Kansas Masonic Foundation. The grant will provide numerous opportunities for older adults in western Kansas to receive important health screening services that are currently scarce or difficult to access.

Appointments may be scheduled ahead of time, but walk-ins will be welcomed on a first-come, first-served basis. Each site will have four stations, with each screening lasting approximately 15-20 minutes. Information about hearing loss and follow-up services available will be shared during the screenings.&nbsp;

Free educational materials and earplugs will be provided by the Kansas Masons. The screening is provided by graduate students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders under the supervision of an FHSU Herndon Clinic instructor. &nbsp; “The students are gaining excellent clinical experience as well as mandatory clinical hours from each screening,” said Marcy Beougher, speech-language pathologist and an instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. “We are grateful to the Kansas Masons for their support of this quality program.” The final free hearing screening will be offered this fall in Lewis on Nov. 19. Three more screenings will be set in communities with active Masonic Lodges in the Spring of 2022.

To schedule an appointment for the Nickerson screening, contact Thomas Bowen at (620) 889-9118 or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:thomas.bowen201428@hotmail.com">thomas.bowen201428@hotmail.com</a> &nbsp; For more information, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=AzU7JuM9gNoo13mIpsUPJMVEavxJ1Ig2BeI9r00Gz4Vbi0GQxT-2F5eRzs2OxejjckRT0I_r-2BDMsuWuYVmb7-2F1Mu1QL1I-2FJ8-2BHR91nNNNGTTc38Ah0CWayiZL-2BkhdmA3sx0XGnG-2FN1jk6rVQRO9vN7U5rFC-2BcXi909IOPAdkr3SvXFdyn3Ag1h6-2F-2B6atf0vMUKxRgZ-2B5-2BAVoDFI-2BVuEsHPky5Z35x4v2mTrA-2Bg-2BXIzR-2FVg6IehWNkdrLWSedkEZbezOtxtEq85K-2BHItUgfZeVzSk8DzN-2BBQUzkDuyWQ64cfBms6NClHqe-2FlZUYEIfOAy-2B-2BXO7Ar-2FOIzUgcdqbgb-2FcjV19Q8VXEtxKxa7Al3oVezMvrBWPLFurJWMugZ55t3CxcfzogqHYqce0saevieRymiBdJQJ-2FW-2B0TkfjqgIYY8V1ZnKpJzVVJrGSI0A3REdq9VuuFuf">fhsu.edu/herndon-clinic/</a>&nbsp;or contact the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at 785-628-5366.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635356605303.jpeg" alt="Former CSD graduate student, Carmen Hill screening the hearing of Dr. Glen McNeil, former dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences." />
 <figcaption>Former CSD graduate student, Carmen Hill screening the hearing of Dr. Glen McNeil, former dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences.</figcaption>
 </figure>FHSU University RelationsThe second free hearing screening of the semester to be held by Fort Hays State University graduate students will be offered in Nickerson.The screening will be hosted by the Nickerson Masonic Lodge #43 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5, at the Nickerson Community Center, 11 Nickerson St.The hearing screenings are sponsored by a grant from the Kansas Masonic Foundation. The grant will provide numerous opportunities for older adults in western Kansas to receive important health screening services that are currently scarce or difficult to access.Appointments may be scheduled ahead of time, but walk-ins will be welcomed on a first-come, first-served basis. Each site will have four stations, with each screening lasting approximately 15-20 minutes. Information about hearing loss and follow-up services available will be shared during the screenings.&nbsp;Free educational materials and earplugs will be provided by the Kansas Masons. The screening is provided by graduate students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders under the supervision of an FHSU Herndon Clinic instructor. &nbsp; “The students are gaining excellent clinical experience as well as mandatory clinical hours from each screening,” said Marcy Beougher, speech-language pathologist and an instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. “We are grateful to the Kansas Masons for their support of this quality program.” The final free hearing screening will be offered this fall in Lewis on Nov. 19. Three more screenings will be set in communities with active Masonic Lodges in the Spring of 2022.To schedule an appointment for the Nickerson screening, contact Thomas Bowen at (620) 889-9118 or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:thomas.bowen201428@hotmail.com">thomas.bowen201428@hotmail.com</a> &nbsp; For more information, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=AzU7JuM9gNoo13mIpsUPJMVEavxJ1Ig2BeI9r00Gz4Vbi0GQxT-2F5eRzs2OxejjckRT0I_r-2BDMsuWuYVmb7-2F1Mu1QL1I-2FJ8-2BHR91nNNNGTTc38Ah0CWayiZL-2BkhdmA3sx0XGnG-2FN1jk6rVQRO9vN7U5rFC-2BcXi909IOPAdkr3SvXFdyn3Ag1h6-2F-2B6atf0vMUKxRgZ-2B5-2BAVoDFI-2BVuEsHPky5Z35x4v2mTrA-2Bg-2BXIzR-2FVg6IehWNkdrLWSedkEZbezOtxtEq85K-2BHItUgfZeVzSk8DzN-2BBQUzkDuyWQ64cfBms6NClHqe-2FlZUYEIfOAy-2B-2BXO7Ar-2FOIzUgcdqbgb-2FcjV19Q8VXEtxKxa7Al3oVezMvrBWPLFurJWMugZ55t3CxcfzogqHYqce0saevieRymiBdJQJ-2FW-2B0TkfjqgIYY8V1ZnKpJzVVJrGSI0A3REdq9VuuFuf">fhsu.edu/herndon-clinic/</a>&nbsp;or contact the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at 785-628-5366.

FHSU's Herndon Clinic will offer hearing screenings in Reno Co.

By BECKY KISER Hays Post

The five candidates vying for three open seats on the Hays city commission all say they appreciate their community and want to give back to it.

Those running are Sam Allen, Reese Barrick, Mason Hickel, Sandy Jacobs, and Shaun Musil.

This is the first foray into politics for Allen, Barrick and Hickel. Jacobs and Musil are incumbents. Ron Mellick, after serving several times as a city commissioner for a combined 11 and half years, decided against running again.

All the candidates support population growth in Hays. They each see a need for economic development, more housing, and more childcare providers. Ideas for reaching those goals differ.

Allen, 20, is the youngest candidate and knows he has a lot to learn about city operations. He's willing to do that and has been regularly attending commission meetings for several months. Allen was also recently appointed a member of the CARE Council.&nbsp;

Allen has been a volunteer for the political state campaigns of Eber Phelps, Hays, and his mother, Laura Allen, who was a write-in candidate for Ellis County Clerk.&nbsp;&nbsp;

His ancestors settled in Catherine in 1875.&nbsp;

"While I may not have quite as much experience as others, I do have a sense of responsibility and accountability to the community we serve," Allen said. "I believe that we must honor our past, but sometimes we have to be willing to make changes if we are to build a better future."

One change Allen advocates is more use of social media by the city commission and individual commissioners, "bringing [them] into the 21st century technology-wise."

Allen believes utilizing several social media outlets, which he is used to doing, will appeal to younger Hays residents, educating them on city issues and encouraging them to be more involved in the community.

"They're a great tool when used correctly."

He believes the city needs to cooperate with other entities in ways to help keep students living in Hays after they graduate from Fort Hays State University, NCK Tech college or Hays Academy of Hair Design.&nbsp;

"We need to find ways to attract more retail businesses for shopping. That'll help them even get a job. It'll bring more money into our community which helps fund the city (through the city sales tax) and help grow the city of Hays."&nbsp;

Allen also wants to focus on more housing, especially at the lower income level for those just starting out.&nbsp;

Although he's single and has no kids of his own, Allen has heard often from other residents about the need for more childcare in Hays for working parents.

Although the city is not directly involved, a possible school bond issue for safety upgrades to aging buildings is something Allen says city commissioners should somehow support.

"If we don't have good schools, no one is going to want to live here. ... They're going to move somewhere else, spend money somewhere else, get a job somewhere else. ... That's why I think a [school] bond is a very important issue for the city."

Allen, who works as a customer service representative in the surgical unit at HaysMed, received a heart transplant at the age of 15. He wants Hays residents know that.&nbsp;

"Without it, I wouldn't be here today. And it tells people I'm an open book. If you want to know something, just ask, and I will answer it to the best of my ability."

Allen is currently a culinary student at NCK Tech, and a third-generation graduate of Thomas More Prep-Marian High School. He also will soon become a state board member for Kansas Legal Services which has an office in Hays.

Reese Barrick, 57, is director of the Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History. He's lived in Hays for 12 years.

"I feel it's time for me to give back some service to Hays and help with guiding its future," Barrick said.

The future of Hays, he believes, must include growth.

"The population of the area and in western Kansas is not growing. Hays counts a lot on people from smaller communities in the western part of the state to come to Hays for shopping&nbsp; and as a center for events. If we're going to lose population in this part of the state then Hays needs to grow.

"We need to bring in people which means we need housing. In order to recruit people ... we need really good schools."&nbsp;

Barrick acknowledges a potential school bond issue for USD 489 "is not in the city commission's purview, but advancing a school bond so we can get new schools and keep the best teachers will really advance the city of Hays."

He doesn't think the city needs to donate money towards a school bond issue. Instead, "I think the city needs to work with the school board and really push via the city commission to help promote publicity and get everybody in the city to vote for it."

Barrick serves as a member of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) advisory board which promotes Hays across the state and region. He understands the tourism impact on the city.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"One thing you find out very quickly is how many people come through Hays and stay in our hotels. The transient guest tax brings in a lot of money for Hays. ... You also get an idea of how many events are going on in Hays. ... That brings in a lot of people that are eating in our restaurants, staying in our hotels and shopping. That brings in a lot of [local] sales tax which is really what makes Hays go."&nbsp;&nbsp;

The city's general fund is primarily funded by local sales tax proceeds.&nbsp;

The Hays mill levy has remained the same the past 12 years.&nbsp;

"That means to this point the city has done a really good job of maintaining infrastructure and things that are necessary to keep the city running without having to raise it.

"Part of that is because real estate value has kept going up. So even with a constant mill levy, the money coming into the city has been increasing."

Raising the mill levy is "definitely a option when there are large infrastructure changes or things that need to be paid for, or will be necessary to advance the city."&nbsp;

Barrick, who also has attended many recent city commission meetings, sees a benefit in potentially increasing funding to Grow Hays for more housing. He wants to further study the possibility. Grow Hays is the city's economic development program.&nbsp;

More daycare is "very important" to grow the city, Barrick says, "especially is you want more young families."

He also sees a need to address the financial inequities in Hays, similar to the rest of the country.&nbsp;

"We have a poverty level in Hays that is at something like 17 percent, whereas our unemployment is at two percent. So it's not because there's lots of people that are choosing not to work or are unemployed."&nbsp;

Barrick believes his experience in managing the Sternberg Museum would translate well if he's elected as a Hays city commissioner.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"You work with the city manager and [employees] that are doing a really fine job. You find out what they need to do their job even better or the best they can, and then support them by giving them the funding that they need to do their job."

Barrick, an Eagle Scout, lives in a house purchased with his partner Nicole Frank, faculty development coordinator for FHSU&nbsp;Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies, and her twins who are freshmen at Hays High School.&nbsp;

Mason Hickel, 31, is a write-in candidate for the Hays city commission contest.

He has high hopes Tuesday's local election will result in a good turnout of voters not distracted by national or state races.&nbsp;

Hickel is primarily utilizing social media to get his name out in front of the public as well as yard signs for those not internet savvy. He's also spoken in person to some groups.

"I don't really have a specific platform or issue," Hickel says. "I just want to bring a different ear to the city commission."

He noted that 2020 was the first time he voted in a presidential election. In prior elections "it kind of put me off a little bit. Last year I kind of got into it a little bit more."

Hickel admits "I was not very level-headed with some" (discussion of election issues).

"I kind of want to get back to where I was before. Not really a politics guy but I'm very open to listening to both sides."&nbsp;

Hickel works in Claflin, driving from Hays to his job in the oil field as a service technician.

Hickel and his wife, Cassie Hickel, (winner of the 2017 Mrs. Kansas title) moved from Claflin to Hays when they found themselves in the larger town three and four times a week.

It's been an opportunity for the family, including daughters Lydia, 10, Aubrey, 8, and Eleanor, 6, to grow. The girls are each involved in dancing and tumbling, and now, sports offered by the Hays Recreation Commission.&nbsp;

"I just want to continue to help Hays continue to grow along with my family," Hickel said.&nbsp;

In addition to helping run her husband's campaign, Cassie Hickel works in the front office of Potter Plastics Surgery and MedSpa.&nbsp;

Hickel has worked for 11 years alongside his dad at their oil pump and supply store in Claflin. "My dad has built a pretty successful business there and it's hard for me to leave."

Hickel has survived the ups and downs of the oil industry and understands its economic impact on Ellis County, the largest oil producing county in Kansas, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.&nbsp;

"I think the biggest effect we've seen is when the oil prices went down last year (related to the coronavirus pandemic) and a lot of houses went up for sale," Hickel said. "A lot of people were losing their houses. It's just rough. The oil business is a tough business to be in."

Although he's not sure what role the city might play in a potential school bond issue, Hickel says "if I was running for school board, obviously I'd be pushing for it."&nbsp;He previously coached boys and girls tennis at Hays High School.

Hickel sees some difficulties in keeping city employees in Hays.

"You see ads all the time for police officers," he pointed out. 

"Maybe talking to them to see what we can do to help our law enforcement, and the fire department.&nbsp;They went through a strenuous year. All our first responders did last year.

"We can talk to all our city employees. Is there anything we can be doing to help them out?"

Hickel says he will make a time commitment to perform the duties of a city commissioner if elected.&nbsp;

To familiarize himself with city issues, he's watched the live meetings online the past year and reviews the work sessions archived on the city website.&nbsp;

One of those issues he wants to learn more about is Hays' long-term water supply at the R-9 Ranch in Edwards County.&nbsp;

"I want to see what else we can do to move approval along. ... We need the water in Hays."

In order to help grow Hays, Hickel says more housing is needed, particularly in the low-income category.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Many new residents to the city, and the college students, they're not looking to buy a $200,000 house. They're looking for $100,000 to $150,000 dollar houses. So what can we do to help those families out?"

Along with Grow Hays, Hickel wants to work with other entities that can help with housing needs, especially for lower-income families.&nbsp;

Childcare is another issue that concerns Hickel.

Even though his family only had to use daycare a couple months, he understands that's not the norm for many people.&nbsp;

"I'm not real knowledgeable about it, so I need to talk to people who know more. We could also reach out to other communities and find out what they're doing about the need for more childcare providers."

Cassie also monitors her husband's Facebook account to ensure timely answers to questions from constituents.

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