Norman Mermis, age 80,&nbsp;of Hays, Kansas, died Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas.

He was born on August 7, 1942, in Walker, Kansas, to Alfred and Clara (Scheck). &nbsp;He married Dorothy Ann (Younger) on October 6, 1962, in Hays, Kansas. &nbsp;She preceded him in death on May 30, 2008.

Norman owned and operated Top Notch Cleaners in Hays since 1987, when he purchased for former&nbsp;owner&nbsp;Alphonse Ruder Dry Cleaning.&nbsp;During the years at Top Notch Cleaners Norman would repair&nbsp;and maintain equipment&nbsp;for area dry cleaning business.&nbsp;&nbsp; Norman and his wife Dorothy started the Hays Annual Coat Drive and now in its 27th&nbsp;year.

Prior to getting into the dry cleaning business, Norman worked at the Hadley Hospital&nbsp;operating&nbsp;the linen service department&nbsp;for 33 years. &nbsp;He attended the college&nbsp;Eastern Kentucky University receiving a degree in Laundry and Linen Care. While&nbsp;at the Hadley Hospital Norman would install ramps, railing, and hand bars for patients with&nbsp;handicap&nbsp;needs when leaving the hospital.&nbsp;

Over the years, Norman had a number of business he owned Victor Rapid Transit and U-Haul &nbsp;Service Station in Hays. &nbsp;He owned a postal mail route from Hays to Dorrance, he worked for&nbsp;Chalmer -Borton Builders installing grain elevators, worked for Bieker Construction, and had his own home repair and remodeling business for many years.&nbsp;

He grew up in Walker, attended the Walker Grade School, and was a 1960 graduate of Victoria High School.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was a member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Knights of Columbus Council # 6984.

Survivors include his children, Norman E. “Gene” Mermis and wife, Shar, Wichita, KS; Barbara Marcotte and husband, Walter, Wichita, KS; Amy Mermis-Smith, Rick Smith,&nbsp;Hays, KS; his brother, Frank Mermis, Hays, KS; his sister, Vera Galliart, Russell, KS; his grandchildren, Riann Hand (Jordan); Brier Mermis; Morgann Mermis; Charlsie Frey (Alex); Travis Marcotte (Tiffany); Anya&nbsp;Honse&nbsp;(Cory); Andrew Marcotte (Shelby); Levi Marcotte; Amber Arnold (Nathan); Graysen Smith; Cooper Smith; and 17 great grandchildren.

Norman was preceded in death by his parents, Alfred and Clara; his wife, Dorothy; his brothers, Alfred Mermis and Verlin Mermis; his brother-in-law, Gene Galliart; his sists-in-law, Dorita Mermis and Mary Mermis.

Mass of Christian Burial&nbsp;will be 10:00 A.M. Saturday, March 18, 2023, at St. Joseph Catholic Church,&nbsp;13th&nbsp;and Ash,&nbsp;Hays, Kansas&nbsp;with Father Rich Daise and Father Michael Rag Kothalamuthu HDN officiating. &nbsp;Burial will be in Saint Joseph Cemetery Hays, Kansas.

A vigil service will be at 6:30 P.M. Friday, and a Knights of Columbus rosary at 7:00 P.M. Friday, both at&nbsp;Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd&nbsp;Street,&nbsp;Hays, Kansas 67601.

Visitation is from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Friday, and from 9:00 to&nbsp;9:45&nbsp;A.M. Saturday, all at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays.

The family suggests memorials made payable to: Top Notch Cleaners for the ongoing Hays Annual Coat Drive in care of the mortuary. &nbsp;

Condolences can be sent via email to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a>&nbsp;or can be left at guestbook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com/">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679002114097.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Norman Mermis, age 80,&nbsp;of Hays, Kansas, died Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas.He was born on August 7, 1942, in Walker, Kansas, to Alfred and Clara (Scheck). &nbsp;He married Dorothy Ann (Younger) on October 6, 1962, in Hays, Kansas. &nbsp;She preceded him in death on May 30, 2008.Norman owned and operated Top Notch Cleaners in Hays since 1987, when he purchased for former&nbsp;owner&nbsp;Alphonse Ruder Dry Cleaning.&nbsp;During the years at Top Notch Cleaners Norman would repair&nbsp;and maintain equipment&nbsp;for area dry cleaning business.&nbsp;&nbsp; Norman and his wife Dorothy started the Hays Annual Coat Drive and now in its 27th&nbsp;year.Prior to getting into the dry cleaning business, Norman worked at the Hadley Hospital&nbsp;operating&nbsp;the linen service department&nbsp;for 33 years. &nbsp;He attended the college&nbsp;Eastern Kentucky University receiving a degree in Laundry and Linen Care. While&nbsp;at the Hadley Hospital Norman would install ramps, railing, and hand bars for patients with&nbsp;handicap&nbsp;needs when leaving the hospital.&nbsp;Over the years, Norman had a number of business he owned Victor Rapid Transit and U-Haul &nbsp;Service Station in Hays. &nbsp;He owned a postal mail route from Hays to Dorrance, he worked for&nbsp;Chalmer -Borton Builders installing grain elevators, worked for Bieker Construction, and had his own home repair and remodeling business for many years.&nbsp;He grew up in Walker, attended the Walker Grade School, and was a 1960 graduate of Victoria High School.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was a member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Knights of Columbus Council # 6984.Survivors include his children, Norman E. “Gene” Mermis and wife, Shar, Wichita, KS; Barbara Marcotte and husband, Walter, Wichita, KS; Amy Mermis-Smith, Rick Smith,&nbsp;Hays, KS; his brother, Frank Mermis, Hays, KS; his sister, Vera Galliart, Russell, KS; his grandchildren, Riann Hand (Jordan); Brier Mermis; Morgann Mermis; Charlsie Frey (Alex); Travis Marcotte (Tiffany); Anya&nbsp;Honse&nbsp;(Cory); Andrew Marcotte (Shelby); Levi Marcotte; Amber Arnold (Nathan); Graysen Smith; Cooper Smith; and 17 great grandchildren.Norman was preceded in death by his parents, Alfred and Clara; his wife, Dorothy; his brothers, Alfred Mermis and Verlin Mermis; his brother-in-law, Gene Galliart; his sists-in-law, Dorita Mermis and Mary Mermis.Mass of Christian Burial&nbsp;will be 10:00 A.M. Saturday, March 18, 2023, at St. Joseph Catholic Church,&nbsp;13th&nbsp;and Ash,&nbsp;Hays, Kansas&nbsp;with Father Rich Daise and Father Michael Rag Kothalamuthu HDN officiating. &nbsp;Burial will be in Saint Joseph Cemetery Hays, Kansas.A vigil service will be at 6:30 P.M. Friday, and a Knights of Columbus rosary at 7:00 P.M. Friday, both at&nbsp;Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd&nbsp;Street,&nbsp;Hays, Kansas 67601.Visitation is from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Friday, and from 9:00 to&nbsp;9:45&nbsp;A.M. Saturday, all at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays.The family suggests memorials made payable to: Top Notch Cleaners for the ongoing Hays Annual Coat Drive in care of the mortuary. &nbsp;Condolences can be sent via email to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a>&nbsp;or can be left at guestbook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com/">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>&nbsp;

Norman Mermis

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness">March Madness</a>&nbsp;— and not just because it's a regional host for the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament.

For the first time, Ohio sports fans can click on a mobile app or tap into kiosks at bars, restaurants or grocery stores and legally bet on the famed tournament.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-legislature-betting-dodge-city-3dd926041924c63c3cdbf4ba950b1d98">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-sports-betting-addiction-mobile-massachusetts-2a82643a86d6d17a42a1e52c27215854">Massachusetts</a>&nbsp;and Maryland also are new additions to the world of online sports betting since the NCAA tournament last tipped off. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia now offer at least some form of sports wagering — each scrambling for shares of a multibillion-dollar enterprise that has rapidly expanded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nv-state-wire-north-america-courts-supreme-courts-gambling-industry-f3fa1f71b8f44378a7e2c51d321b13b4">the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it</a>&nbsp;nearly five years ago.

Ohio got off to a booming start when it launched sports betting in January. In its first month, Ohio bettors&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-sports-betting-gambling-acedf48f0a29188936c9f95a16d4ca7a">wagered more than $1.1 billion</a>, generating more than $20 million in state tax revenue. That nearly tripled the revenue amount that legislative analysts had projected for the entire first six months of operation. But no one's blaming them for missing the mark.

“They couldn’t know how big of a market we were going to have on day one,” said Jessica Franks, communications director at the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Whereas some states started with limited in-person sports betting and gradually added mobile apps, Ohio began more aggressively — simultaneously launching numerous mobile options and retail locations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is now proposing to double the tax rate on sports betting.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d09a306184914ed28c402251176cec8d">New York began allowing sports betting</a>&nbsp;in 2019, but only in person at four upstate casinos, limiting the market. Betting boomed when the state began allowing people to make sports bets through cell phones and computers in January 2022. In the first month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-football-new-york-new-jersey-5dd240f1375493c5c08066ec74034890">more than $1.6 billion was wagered</a>&nbsp;through online sports betting, compared to just $15 million through in-person sports bets at casinos.

New York charges a 51% tax on revenue from mobile sports betting — a far higher rate than other states — with most revenue going to education. Budget officials originally projected that mobile sports betting would generate $357 million in state tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31. Bettors have blown that away. Through February, mobile sports betting had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gaming.ny.gov/pdf/mobile/Monthly%20Mobile%20Sports%20Wagering%20Report%20Statewide.pdf">generated $661 million of tax revenue</a>&nbsp;for education.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., who advocated for sports betting as chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said even he is amazed at the results.

“There is an appetite, certainly, to do sports betting with a mobile device," Addabbo said.

New York and Ohio both have large populations and multiple professional sports teams to help drive interest in sports betting.

Arkansas, a much smaller state without major league sports teams, began in-person sports betting at casinos in July 2019. Things really took off last year when it launched mobile sports betting. State figures show nearly $3 million was wagered on this year's Super Bowl — more than three times the annual amount before mobile betting was allowed.

State officials expect people from neighboring states to cross into Arkansas to bet on March Madness.

“We will be surprised if March doesn’t set a new monthly record for sports betting in the state,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Other states also have exceeded expectations for sports betting revenues.

Indiana's sports wagering taxes topped $31 million in the 2022 fiscal year — well more than&nbsp;<a href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1015#document-e379226d">the $12 million projection</a>&nbsp;when lawmakers authorized it in 2019. New Hampshire's tax take of nearly $24 million from sports betting easily doubled its original projection for the 2022 fiscal year.

But not every state is banking as many bucks as projected from sports betting.

Legislative analysts in Montana, which allows sports bets only from online networks inside bars and casinos, had anticipated that $79 million of bets would be cast last fiscal year, generating $4.8 million of state tax revenue. The actual results were about half that — $2.4 million of state tax revenue from about $45 million of sports bets.

Connecticut received less than $20 million in sports betting taxes in the first 16 months since wagering began in October 2021. Legislative analysts had projected $21 million in its first full fiscal year.

Nationwide, legal sports betting has generated more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing it, according to the American Gaming Association. It's producing about three-quarters of what eventually could be expected from a fully mature market.

The debate about sports betting has shifted from "`Is this something we should consider?' to 'How should we go about doing this in a way that best serves our constituencies?’” said Casey Clark, the association's senior vice president.

The prospects for sports betting to expand into more states this year appear mixed.

A bill legalizing sports betting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-wagering-kentucky-8031ecb4f4568769eb4d22b6fc1201b6">passed the Kentucky House</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-kentucky-legislature-5d51206d19c953e173c5036f92d9bb61">advanced Wednesday to the Senate</a>&nbsp;but still faces a high hurdle. Similar bills have died in the past in the Senate, and this year's version would a need three-fifths vote to pass.

Supporters also are taking another run at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sports-minnesota-state-government-business-72906b8d372a2e1b9c7da3bcfd5005e1">a sports betting bill in Minnesota</a>&nbsp;and various other states.

In Missouri, attempts to authorize sports betting have gotten bogged down in the Senate over whether to pair them with regulations on slot-machine-style games that have been popping up in convenience stores.

In Georgia,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gambling-gaming-sports-betting-georgia-51ba7da58835cf3ae47bf3dc67eb9324">sports betting bills have stalled</a>&nbsp;amid debate about whether a constitutional amendment is needed, how to spend the potential tax revenue and whether to pair sports betting with the legalization of casinos and horse racing tracks.

The three most populous states — California, Texas and Florida — all currently lack online sports betting. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which received exclusive state rights to run sports betting,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-florida-district-of-columbia-sports-betting-c1eaff80b40aeea9d243abeb5d760e01">shut down its online app</a>&nbsp;in December 2021 after federal courts ruled it violated a rule requiring people to be physically present on tribal land when wagering.

After the most expensive ballot issue battle in U.S. history, California voters last November rejected a pair of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-sports-business-california-7552c76ea151ba145e8c85ee7b277838">rival sports betting initiatives</a>&nbsp;backed by Native American tribes and the gambling industry. Supporters are likely to try again, though it's unclear when that might occur.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678989435605.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID A. LIEB&nbsp;KANSAS CITY (AP) —The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness">March Madness</a>&nbsp;— and not just because it's a regional host for the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament.For the first time, Ohio sports fans can click on a mobile app or tap into kiosks at bars, restaurants or grocery stores and legally bet on the famed tournament.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-legislature-betting-dodge-city-3dd926041924c63c3cdbf4ba950b1d98">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-sports-betting-addiction-mobile-massachusetts-2a82643a86d6d17a42a1e52c27215854">Massachusetts</a>&nbsp;and Maryland also are new additions to the world of online sports betting since the NCAA tournament last tipped off. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia now offer at least some form of sports wagering — each scrambling for shares of a multibillion-dollar enterprise that has rapidly expanded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nv-state-wire-north-america-courts-supreme-courts-gambling-industry-f3fa1f71b8f44378a7e2c51d321b13b4">the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it</a>&nbsp;nearly five years ago.Ohio got off to a booming start when it launched sports betting in January. In its first month, Ohio bettors&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-sports-betting-gambling-acedf48f0a29188936c9f95a16d4ca7a">wagered more than $1.1 billion</a>, generating more than $20 million in state tax revenue. That nearly tripled the revenue amount that legislative analysts had projected for the entire first six months of operation. But no one's blaming them for missing the mark.“They couldn’t know how big of a market we were going to have on day one,” said Jessica Franks, communications director at the Ohio Casino Control Commission.Whereas some states started with limited in-person sports betting and gradually added mobile apps, Ohio began more aggressively — simultaneously launching numerous mobile options and retail locations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is now proposing to double the tax rate on sports betting.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d09a306184914ed28c402251176cec8d">New York began allowing sports betting</a>&nbsp;in 2019, but only in person at four upstate casinos, limiting the market. Betting boomed when the state began allowing people to make sports bets through cell phones and computers in January 2022. In the first month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-football-new-york-new-jersey-5dd240f1375493c5c08066ec74034890">more than $1.6 billion was wagered</a>&nbsp;through online sports betting, compared to just $15 million through in-person sports bets at casinos.New York charges a 51% tax on revenue from mobile sports betting — a far higher rate than other states — with most revenue going to education. Budget officials originally projected that mobile sports betting would generate $357 million in state tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31. Bettors have blown that away. Through February, mobile sports betting had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gaming.ny.gov/pdf/mobile/Monthly%20Mobile%20Sports%20Wagering%20Report%20Statewide.pdf">generated $661 million of tax revenue</a>&nbsp;for education.State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., who advocated for sports betting as chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said even he is amazed at the results.“There is an appetite, certainly, to do sports betting with a mobile device," Addabbo said.New York and Ohio both have large populations and multiple professional sports teams to help drive interest in sports betting.Arkansas, a much smaller state without major league sports teams, began in-person sports betting at casinos in July 2019. Things really took off last year when it launched mobile sports betting. State figures show nearly $3 million was wagered on this year's Super Bowl — more than three times the annual amount before mobile betting was allowed.State officials expect people from neighboring states to cross into Arkansas to bet on March Madness.“We will be surprised if March doesn’t set a new monthly record for sports betting in the state,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.Other states also have exceeded expectations for sports betting revenues.Indiana's sports wagering taxes topped $31 million in the 2022 fiscal year — well more than&nbsp;<a href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1015#document-e379226d">the $12 million projection</a>&nbsp;when lawmakers authorized it in 2019. New Hampshire's tax take of nearly $24 million from sports betting easily doubled its original projection for the 2022 fiscal year.But not every state is banking as many bucks as projected from sports betting.Legislative analysts in Montana, which allows sports bets only from online networks inside bars and casinos, had anticipated that $79 million of bets would be cast last fiscal year, generating $4.8 million of state tax revenue. The actual results were about half that — $2.4 million of state tax revenue from about $45 million of sports bets.Connecticut received less than $20 million in sports betting taxes in the first 16 months since wagering began in October 2021. Legislative analysts had projected $21 million in its first full fiscal year.Nationwide, legal sports betting has generated more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing it, according to the American Gaming Association. It's producing about three-quarters of what eventually could be expected from a fully mature market.The debate about sports betting has shifted from "`Is this something we should consider?' to 'How should we go about doing this in a way that best serves our constituencies?’” said Casey Clark, the association's senior vice president.The prospects for sports betting to expand into more states this year appear mixed.A bill legalizing sports betting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-wagering-kentucky-8031ecb4f4568769eb4d22b6fc1201b6">passed the Kentucky House</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-kentucky-legislature-5d51206d19c953e173c5036f92d9bb61">advanced Wednesday to the Senate</a>&nbsp;but still faces a high hurdle. Similar bills have died in the past in the Senate, and this year's version would a need three-fifths vote to pass.Supporters also are taking another run at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sports-minnesota-state-government-business-72906b8d372a2e1b9c7da3bcfd5005e1">a sports betting bill in Minnesota</a>&nbsp;and various other states.In Missouri, attempts to authorize sports betting have gotten bogged down in the Senate over whether to pair them with regulations on slot-machine-style games that have been popping up in convenience stores.In Georgia,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gambling-gaming-sports-betting-georgia-51ba7da58835cf3ae47bf3dc67eb9324">sports betting bills have stalled</a>&nbsp;amid debate about whether a constitutional amendment is needed, how to spend the potential tax revenue and whether to pair sports betting with the legalization of casinos and horse racing tracks.The three most populous states — California, Texas and Florida — all currently lack online sports betting. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which received exclusive state rights to run sports betting,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-florida-district-of-columbia-sports-betting-c1eaff80b40aeea9d243abeb5d760e01">shut down its online app</a>&nbsp;in December 2021 after federal courts ruled it violated a rule requiring people to be physically present on tribal land when wagering.After the most expensive ballot issue battle in U.S. history, California voters last November rejected a pair of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-sports-business-california-7552c76ea151ba145e8c85ee7b277838">rival sports betting initiatives</a>&nbsp;backed by Native American tribes and the gambling industry. Supporters are likely to try again, though it's unclear when that might occur.

Mobile sports bets booming in some states as others shy away

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday released footage of what it said was a Russian aircraft pouring fuel on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone</a>&nbsp;and clipping the drone's propeller in international airspace over the Black Sea.

(click the video below to watch courtesy U.S. European Command)

The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said. Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding its optical instruments and driving it out of the area.

On a second approach, either the same jet or another Russian fighter that had been shadowing the MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging one blade, according to the U.S. military.

The U.S. military said it ditched the MQ-9 Reaper in the sea after what it described as the Russian fighter making an unsafe intercept of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

The video excerpt released by the Pentagon does not show events before or after the apparent fuel-dumping confrontation.

Russia said its warplanes didn’t strike the drone and claimed the unmanned aerial vehicle went down after making a sharp maneuver over the sea.

Asked Thursday if Russia would try to recover the drone debris, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the decision was up to the military. “If they consider it necessary to do so in the Black Sea for the benefit of our interests and our security, they will do it,” he said.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said Wednesday that Moscow would try to recover the drone fragments.

U.S. officials have expressed confidence that nothing of military value would remain from the drone even if Russia managed to retrieve the wreckage.

While intercept attempts are not uncommon, the incident amid the war in Ukraine has raised concerns it could bring the United States and Russia closer to a direct conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern about U.S. intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and illegally annexed.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">top U.S. and Russian defense and military leaders</a>&nbsp;spoke Wednesday about the encounter over the Black Sea, underscoring its seriousness.

The calls between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russian General Staff, were the first since October.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its report of the call with Austin that Shoigu accused the U.S. of provoking the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed because of its military operations in Ukraine.

The Kremlin argues that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the U.S. and its allies have effectively become engaged in the war, which is now in its 13th month.

Russia also blamed “the intensification of intelligence activities against the interests of the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said.

Such U.S. actions “are fraught with escalation of the situation in the Black Sea area,” the ministry said, warning that Moscow “will respond in kind to all provocations.”

Sergei Aksenov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, said he thinks Russia should act even more forcefully to put an end the U.S. surveillance flights in the area.

“I personally think that our response in such situations should be tougher,” Aksenov said on his messaging app channel. “We realize that attempted attacks on Crimea have been launched with Americans’ guidance. In fact, they are a warring party.”

The MQ-9, which has a 66-foot (20-meter) wingspan, includes a ground control station and satellite equipment. It is capable of carrying munitions, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, would not say whether the ditched drone had been armed.

Ryder said the incident occurred at 7:03 a.m. Central European time (0603 GMT; 2:03 a.m. EST) over international waters, and well clear of Ukraine, after the Russian jets had flown in the vicinity of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes.

There did not appear to be any communications between the aircraft before the collision, Ryder added.

The U.S. has not recovered the crashed drone, U.S. Air Forces-Europe said in a statement, and neither has Russia, Ryder said. Russian officials said Wednesday that they would try to salvage fragments of the MQ-9 from the Black Sea.

U.S. officials have left open the possibility of trying to recover portions of the downed $32 million drone, which they said crashed into waters that were 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 meters) deep.

Other U.S. officials said the U.S. does not have military ships in the region likely won't attempt to recover the wreckage.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678968513854.png" alt="This photo taken from video released on Thursday, March 16, 2023, shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, over the Black Sea, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon has released footage of what it says is a Russian aircraft conducting an unsafe intercept of a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone in international airspace over the Black Sea. (US Department of Defense via AP)" />
 <figcaption>This photo taken from video released on Thursday, March 16, 2023, shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, over the Black Sea, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon has released footage of what it says is a Russian aircraft conducting an unsafe intercept of a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone in international airspace over the Black Sea. (US Department of Defense via AP)</figcaption>
 </figure>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday released footage of what it said was a Russian aircraft pouring fuel on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone</a>&nbsp;and clipping the drone's propeller in international airspace over the Black Sea.(click the video below to watch courtesy U.S. European Command)<div><iframe src="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/embed/876667" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" allowtransparency allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said. Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding its optical instruments and driving it out of the area.On a second approach, either the same jet or another Russian fighter that had been shadowing the MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging one blade, according to the U.S. military.The U.S. military said it ditched the MQ-9 Reaper in the sea after what it described as the Russian fighter making an unsafe intercept of the unmanned aerial vehicle.The video excerpt released by the Pentagon does not show events before or after the apparent fuel-dumping confrontation.Russia said its warplanes didn’t strike the drone and claimed the unmanned aerial vehicle went down after making a sharp maneuver over the sea.Asked Thursday if Russia would try to recover the drone debris, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the decision was up to the military. “If they consider it necessary to do so in the Black Sea for the benefit of our interests and our security, they will do it,” he said.Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said Wednesday that Moscow would try to recover the drone fragments.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> Austin: &quot;I just got off the phone with my Russian counterpart, Minister Shoigu. As I&#39;ve said repeatedly, it&#39;s important that great powers be models of transparency and communication.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/LPqwdCiPnP">pic.twitter.com/LPqwdCiPnP</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1636073165540544512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>U.S. officials have expressed confidence that nothing of military value would remain from the drone even if Russia managed to retrieve the wreckage.While intercept attempts are not uncommon, the incident amid the war in Ukraine has raised concerns it could bring the United States and Russia closer to a direct conflict.Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern about U.S. intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and illegally annexed.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">top U.S. and Russian defense and military leaders</a>&nbsp;spoke Wednesday about the encounter over the Black Sea, underscoring its seriousness.The calls between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russian General Staff, were the first since October.The Russian Defense Ministry said in its report of the call with Austin that Shoigu accused the U.S. of provoking the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed because of its military operations in Ukraine.The Kremlin argues that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the U.S. and its allies have effectively become engaged in the war, which is now in its 13th month.Russia also blamed “the intensification of intelligence activities against the interests of the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said.Such U.S. actions “are fraught with escalation of the situation in the Black Sea area,” the ministry said, warning that Moscow “will respond in kind to all provocations.”Sergei Aksenov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, said he thinks Russia should act even more forcefully to put an end the U.S. surveillance flights in the area.“I personally think that our response in such situations should be tougher,” Aksenov said on his messaging app channel. “We realize that attempted attacks on Crimea have been launched with Americans’ guidance. In fact, they are a warring party.”The MQ-9, which has a 66-foot (20-meter) wingspan, includes a ground control station and satellite equipment. It is capable of carrying munitions, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, would not say whether the ditched drone had been armed.Ryder said the incident occurred at 7:03 a.m. Central European time (0603 GMT; 2:03 a.m. EST) over international waters, and well clear of Ukraine, after the Russian jets had flown in the vicinity of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes.There did not appear to be any communications between the aircraft before the collision, Ryder added.The U.S. has not recovered the crashed drone, U.S. Air Forces-Europe said in a statement, and neither has Russia, Ryder said. Russian officials said Wednesday that they would try to salvage fragments of the MQ-9 from the Black Sea.U.S. officials have left open the possibility of trying to recover portions of the downed $32 million drone, which they said crashed into waters that were 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 meters) deep.Other U.S. officials said the U.S. does not have military ships in the region likely won't attempt to recover the wreckage.___

🎥 Video shows Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on U.S. drone

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia wants to recover the fragments of a U.S. surveillance drone that American forces brought down in the Black Sea after an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">encounter with a Russian fighter jet</a>, a Russian security official said Wednesday.&nbsp;

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, claimed in televised remarks that Tuesday's incident was “another confirmation” of direct U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. He said Russia planned to search for the drone's debris.

“I don’t know if we can recover them or not, but we will certainly have to do that, and we will deal with it,” Patrushev said. “I certainly hope for success.”&nbsp;The downed $32 million U.S. drone, which contains sensitive technology, has not been recovered. However, U.S. officials said Russia has already sent ships to the area and attempted to recover pieces of the drone.

&nbsp;Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday about the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">destruction of a U.S. drone</a>&nbsp;over the Black Sea, which had brought the two countries closest to direct conflict since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. It was the first call between Austin and Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu since October.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the drone was flying in international airspace and over international waters when a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of the MQ-Reaper drone.&nbsp;Each Reaper costs about $32 million.

U.S. officials accused Russia of attempting to intercept the unmanned aerial vehicle, although its presence over the Black Sea was not an uncommon occurrence.

“It is also not uncommon for the Russians to try to intercept them,” Kirby said, adding that such an encounter “does increase the risk of miscalculations, misunderstandings.”

Kirby said the drone had not yet been recovered and it was unclear whether it would be, but the U.S. “took steps to protect the information and to protect, to minimize any effort by anybody else to exploit that drone for useful content.”

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said Russia has the technological capability to recover the drone’s fragments from deep in the Black Sea.

Earlier Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement that Russian jets didn’t use their weapons or impact the U.S. drone.

Peskov described U.S.-Russia relations as being at their lowest point but added that “Russia has never rejected a constructive dialogue, and it’s not rejecting it now.”

At the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the intercept by the Russian jet was part of a “pattern of aggressive, risky and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace.” He said Russia must operate its aircraft in a safe manner.

“Make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” Austin said in opening remarks before a virtual meeting of a U.S.-led effort to coordinate Western military support for Ukraine.

While encounters between Russian and NATO aircraft are not unusual — before the invasion of Ukraine, NATO planes were involved in an annual average of 400 intercepts with Russian planes — the war has heightened the significance and potential hazards of such incidents.

“The last thing that we want, certainly the last thing that anybody should want, is for this war in Ukraine to escalate to become something between the United States and Russia, to have this actually ... expand beyond that,” Kirby said, speaking Wednesday on CNN.

The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, tweeted Wednesday that the drone incident was "a signal from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that he is ready to expand the conflict zone, with drawing other parties in.”

Separately, the U.K. defense ministry said British and German air force fighter jets were scrambled Tuesday to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace. The U.K. and Germany are conducting joint air policing missions in Estonia as part of NATO’s bolstering of its eastern flank.

The defense ministry said the Typhoon jets responded after a Russian air-to-air refueling aircraft failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control. The Russian plane did not enter the airspace of Estonia, a NATO member.

On the ground in Ukraine, the fighting ground on. At least three civilians were killed and another 23 wounded in the country by Russian strikes over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine's presidential office said Wednesday morning.

In eastern Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk province, where much of the heaviest fighting has been concentrated, Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said a total of 14 cities and villages were shelled. That included Kramatorsk, a city where some of Ukraine's military forces are based.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-advance-stalls-ukraine-war-bakhmut-4fc52f849e404265a74509e7e14795f8">In embattled Bakhmut</a>, where Russian forces have pressed a months-long assault to capture the city, Ukrainian forces have successfully fought for northern parts of the city, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.

“There are certain and significant successes of the armed forces of Ukraine who were able to achieve something in the north of the city,” Maliar told Ukrainian television. “Bakhmut is the epicenter (of fighting in the Donestk region), the Russian occupiers are tryng to encircle and seize the city.”

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, one person was killed and another was wounded in Vovchansk, a city near the border with Russia that is regularly shelled. Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces also hit a civilian area of Kharkiv itself, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

“There is no military or infrastructure facility in the vicinity of the place of the strike,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. “Only residential buildings and urban infrastructure.”

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Terekhov said a boarding school, where only employees were present, had been damaged, as well as an apartment building. No casualties were immediately reported.

In the south, Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson seven times in the last 24 hours, hitting an infrastructure facility and residential buildings and wounding four people. In Dnipropetrovsk province, Russian forces shelled Nikopol and Marhanets, towns located across a river from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678906088937.png" alt="During a news conference Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley said the U.S. knows where the drone landed in the Black Sea" />
 <figcaption>During a news conference Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley said the U.S. knows where the drone landed in the Black Sea</figcaption>
 </figure>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia wants to recover the fragments of a U.S. surveillance drone that American forces brought down in the Black Sea after an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">encounter with a Russian fighter jet</a>, a Russian security official said Wednesday.&nbsp;<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> Austin: &quot;I just got off the phone with my Russian counterpart, Minister Shoigu. As I&#39;ve said repeatedly, it&#39;s important that great powers be models of transparency and communication.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/LPqwdCiPnP">pic.twitter.com/LPqwdCiPnP</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1636073165540544512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, claimed in televised remarks that Tuesday's incident was “another confirmation” of direct U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. He said Russia planned to search for the drone's debris.“I don’t know if we can recover them or not, but we will certainly have to do that, and we will deal with it,” Patrushev said. “I certainly hope for success.”&nbsp;The downed $32 million U.S. drone, which contains sensitive technology, has not been recovered. However, U.S. officials said Russia has already sent ships to the area and attempted to recover pieces of the drone.&nbsp;Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday about the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">destruction of a U.S. drone</a>&nbsp;over the Black Sea, which had brought the two countries closest to direct conflict since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. It was the first call between Austin and Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu since October.U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the drone was flying in international airspace and over international waters when a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of the MQ-Reaper drone.&nbsp;Each Reaper costs about $32 million.U.S. officials accused Russia of attempting to intercept the unmanned aerial vehicle, although its presence over the Black Sea was not an uncommon occurrence.“It is also not uncommon for the Russians to try to intercept them,” Kirby said, adding that such an encounter “does increase the risk of miscalculations, misunderstandings.”Kirby said the drone had not yet been recovered and it was unclear whether it would be, but the U.S. “took steps to protect the information and to protect, to minimize any effort by anybody else to exploit that drone for useful content.”Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said Russia has the technological capability to recover the drone’s fragments from deep in the Black Sea.Earlier Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement that Russian jets didn’t use their weapons or impact the U.S. drone.Peskov described U.S.-Russia relations as being at their lowest point but added that “Russia has never rejected a constructive dialogue, and it’s not rejecting it now.”At the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the intercept by the Russian jet was part of a “pattern of aggressive, risky and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace.” He said Russia must operate its aircraft in a safe manner.“Make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” Austin said in opening remarks before a virtual meeting of a U.S.-led effort to coordinate Western military support for Ukraine.While encounters between Russian and NATO aircraft are not unusual — before the invasion of Ukraine, NATO planes were involved in an annual average of 400 intercepts with Russian planes — the war has heightened the significance and potential hazards of such incidents.“The last thing that we want, certainly the last thing that anybody should want, is for this war in Ukraine to escalate to become something between the United States and Russia, to have this actually ... expand beyond that,” Kirby said, speaking Wednesday on CNN.The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, tweeted Wednesday that the drone incident was "a signal from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that he is ready to expand the conflict zone, with drawing other parties in.”Separately, the U.K. defense ministry said British and German air force fighter jets were scrambled Tuesday to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace. The U.K. and Germany are conducting joint air policing missions in Estonia as part of NATO’s bolstering of its eastern flank.The defense ministry said the Typhoon jets responded after a Russian air-to-air refueling aircraft failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control. The Russian plane did not enter the airspace of Estonia, a NATO member.On the ground in Ukraine, the fighting ground on. At least three civilians were killed and another 23 wounded in the country by Russian strikes over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine's presidential office said Wednesday morning.In eastern Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk province, where much of the heaviest fighting has been concentrated, Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said a total of 14 cities and villages were shelled. That included Kramatorsk, a city where some of Ukraine's military forces are based.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-advance-stalls-ukraine-war-bakhmut-4fc52f849e404265a74509e7e14795f8">In embattled Bakhmut</a>, where Russian forces have pressed a months-long assault to capture the city, Ukrainian forces have successfully fought for northern parts of the city, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.“There are certain and significant successes of the armed forces of Ukraine who were able to achieve something in the north of the city,” Maliar told Ukrainian television. “Bakhmut is the epicenter (of fighting in the Donestk region), the Russian occupiers are tryng to encircle and seize the city.”In the northeastern Kharkiv region, one person was killed and another was wounded in Vovchansk, a city near the border with Russia that is regularly shelled. Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces also hit a civilian area of Kharkiv itself, Ukraine’s second-largest city.“There is no military or infrastructure facility in the vicinity of the place of the strike,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. “Only residential buildings and urban infrastructure.”Speaking on Ukrainian television, Terekhov said a boarding school, where only employees were present, had been damaged, as well as an apartment building. No casualties were immediately reported.In the south, Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson seven times in the last 24 hours, hitting an infrastructure facility and residential buildings and wounding four people. In Dnipropetrovsk province, Russian forces shelled Nikopol and Marhanets, towns located across a river from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

🎥Russia wants debris from $32M U.S. drone it forced down

Cecelia&nbsp;Charollette&nbsp;Bird was born on June 24, 1940, in Grainfield, KS, to John C and Myrtle M. (Bartop) Schmidt, she passed away on March 6, 2023, at Gove County Medical Center at the age of 82.&nbsp;

Cecelia was united in marriage to Eldon Bird on December 9, 1957, in Salina, KS. and enjoyed 62 of marriage up until Eldon passed away on October 20, 2020. To this union, they had two sons, Gregory and Mitchell Bird.

Cecelia liked to cook, bake, sew, crochet, read books, embroidery, and collect antiques. For 25 years Cecelia helped own and operate the grocery store "Quinter Superette" in Quinter, KS.&nbsp;

She is survived by two sons, Gregory and Mitchell Bird, Quinter, KS; and sister Ruth Goff, Ulysses, KS.

Cecelia was preceded in death by her parents, husband, sisters Gloria&nbsp;Fellhoelter&nbsp;and Leona Tuttle.&nbsp;

Memorial contributions are suggested to Gove County Medical Center Long Term Care. Donations may be sent to Schmitt Funeral Home, 901 S. Main, Quinter, KS&nbsp; 67752.

No services are planned at this time.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678901353256.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Cecelia&nbsp;Charollette&nbsp;Bird was born on June 24, 1940, in Grainfield, KS, to John C and Myrtle M. (Bartop) Schmidt, she passed away on March 6, 2023, at Gove County Medical Center at the age of 82.&nbsp;Cecelia was united in marriage to Eldon Bird on December 9, 1957, in Salina, KS. and enjoyed 62 of marriage up until Eldon passed away on October 20, 2020. To this union, they had two sons, Gregory and Mitchell Bird.Cecelia liked to cook, bake, sew, crochet, read books, embroidery, and collect antiques. For 25 years Cecelia helped own and operate the grocery store "Quinter Superette" in Quinter, KS.&nbsp;She is survived by two sons, Gregory and Mitchell Bird, Quinter, KS; and sister Ruth Goff, Ulysses, KS.Cecelia was preceded in death by her parents, husband, sisters Gloria&nbsp;Fellhoelter&nbsp;and Leona Tuttle.&nbsp;Memorial contributions are suggested to Gove County Medical Center Long Term Care. Donations may be sent to Schmitt Funeral Home, 901 S. Main, Quinter, KS&nbsp; 67752.No services are planned at this time.&nbsp;

Cecelia Charollette Bird

Edith Ethel (Bertschy) Lewallen, age 94, passed away on March 6, 2023, at Citizens Medical Center, in Colby, KS. 
She was born on July 30, 1928, to William and Emma Bertschy in Buena Vista, Colorado. 
Edith grew up in Buena Vista, attending school and graduating from BVHS.
 In 1947, she met Jack Lewallen while working at Wright’s Lodge in Chalk 
Creek Canyon. They were married on Jack’s birthday, October 1, 1948, at 
Wright’s Lodge. They raised their two sons, Danny and Harley in Buena 
Vista. 
Edith’s two loves were family and cooking. She was an excellent cook and
 loved to feed people. She worked in the school cafeteria until both 
sons had graduated and then began cooking at Spring Canyon Lodge, where 
she cooked for people from across the country. It was often said she 
could cook for four and feed eight. She had a knack for feeding the 
masses without notice. 
After Jack and Edith retired, they spent several years fishing at Blue 
Mesa Reservoir, near Gunnison, CO. During that time Edith perfected her 
smoked salmon recipe and was generous in sharing the bounty. 
In 2006, Jack and Edith moved to Winona, KS, while still spending the summer months at their home in the Chalk Creek Canyon. 
Edith is survived by her two sons, Danny (Ellen) of Winona, KS and 
Harley (Mary) of Nathrop, CO and Lebanon, KS; and many, many nieces and 
nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack, her parents, 
four brothers and three sisters. 
A memorial service will be held in Buena Vista, Colorado over Memorial 
Day Weekend. Friends wishing to honor Edith are welcome to donate to the
 Logan County EMS, 710 West 2nd St, Oakley, KS 67748. For information or
 condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678825070514.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Edith Ethel (Bertschy) Lewallen, age 94, passed away on March 6, 2023, at Citizens Medical Center, in Colby, KS. 
She was born on July 30, 1928, to William and Emma Bertschy in Buena Vista, Colorado. 
Edith grew up in Buena Vista, attending school and graduating from BVHS.
 In 1947, she met Jack Lewallen while working at Wright’s Lodge in Chalk 
Creek Canyon. They were married on Jack’s birthday, October 1, 1948, at 
Wright’s Lodge. They raised their two sons, Danny and Harley in Buena 
Vista. 
Edith’s two loves were family and cooking. She was an excellent cook and
 loved to feed people. She worked in the school cafeteria until both 
sons had graduated and then began cooking at Spring Canyon Lodge, where 
she cooked for people from across the country. It was often said she 
could cook for four and feed eight. She had a knack for feeding the 
masses without notice. 
After Jack and Edith retired, they spent several years fishing at Blue 
Mesa Reservoir, near Gunnison, CO. During that time Edith perfected her 
smoked salmon recipe and was generous in sharing the bounty. 
In 2006, Jack and Edith moved to Winona, KS, while still spending the summer months at their home in the Chalk Creek Canyon. 
Edith is survived by her two sons, Danny (Ellen) of Winona, KS and 
Harley (Mary) of Nathrop, CO and Lebanon, KS; and many, many nieces and 
nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack, her parents, 
four brothers and three sisters. 
A memorial service will be held in Buena Vista, Colorado over Memorial 
Day Weekend. Friends wishing to honor Edith are welcome to donate to the
 Logan County EMS, 710 West 2nd St, Oakley, KS 67748. For information or
 condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Edith Ethel (Bertschy) Lewallen

SYRIA—Authorities are investigating an attack U.S. Forces in Syria. Just before 8:30p.m. Monday, two rockets landed near coalition forces at Mission Support site Green Village in Northeast Syria, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

No U.S. or Coalition troops were killed or injured. There was no damage to coalition infrastructure or equipment.

U.S. Forces found rocket debris at the point of impact. There were no claims of responsibility late Monday, according to the U.S. Central Command.&nbsp; &nbsp;The U.S. reported similar attacks in October, November and February.

SYRIA—Authorities are investigating an attack U.S. Forces in Syria. Just before 8:30p.m. Monday, two rockets landed near coalition forces at Mission Support site Green Village in Northeast Syria, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.No U.S. or Coalition troops were killed or injured. There was no damage to coalition infrastructure or equipment.U.S. Forces found rocket debris at the point of impact. There were no claims of responsibility late Monday, according to the U.S. Central Command.&nbsp; &nbsp;The U.S. reported similar attacks in October, November and February.

Another rocket attack targets US base in Syria

By DAVID BAUDER AP Entertainment Writer

NEW
 YORK — In reimagining 40 of their best-known songs, U2 recognized 
that many fans would experience them through earphones connected to a 
device in their pockets — rather than being belted out onstage.

That was one thought behind <a href="https://www.u2.com/">“Songs of Surrender,”</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/u2-ted-lasso-streaming-watch-week-211eb0a5b4f8606f313c523c790f49d1">coming out this week</a>.
 The four men of U2, now either 61 or 62 years old, revisit material 
written in some cases when they were little more than kids out of 
Dublin.

Particularly in those days, U2 songs were written 
primarily with concerts in mind. The Edge told The Associated Press in 
an interview that U2 wanted to catch the attention of people seeing the 
band for the first time, perhaps in a festival or as an opening act.

“There's
 a sort of gladiatorial aspect to live performances when you're in that 
situation,” he said. “The material has got to be pretty bold and even 
strident at times. With this reimagining, we thought it would be fun to 
see intimacy as a new approach, that intimacy would be the new punk 
rock, as it were.”

The Edge was the driving force behind “Songs of Surrender,” using pandemic down time to record much of the music at home.

Given
 that his electric guitar and Bono's voice are the musical signature of 
U2, there's a certain irony in the absence of that guitar being the most
 immediately noticeable feature of the new versions. He sticks primarily
 to keyboards, acoustic guitar and dulcimer.

The process began without a roadmap or commitment to see it through if it wasn't working.

“As
 we got into it and got into a groove, we really started to enjoy what 
was happening,” he said. “There was a lot of freedom in the process, it 
was joyful and fun to take these songs and sort of reimagine them and I 
think that comes across. It doesn't sound like there was a lot of hard 
work involved because it wasn't.”

Much of the intimacy comes 
through Bono's voice. There's no need to shout, so he sometimes uses 
lower registers or slips into falsetto.

Lyrics are often rewritten, sometimes extensively in even a recent song like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwZEIHTne58">“The Miracle of Joey Ramone.”</a>
 Some changes are more subtle but still noticeable: replacing the line 
“one man betrayed with a kiss” with “one boy never will be kissed” takes
 Jesus out of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY">“Pride (In the Name of Love).”</a>

At the same time, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is rearranged to end with a question: “where is the victory Jesus won?”

Cellos replace the driving guitar of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98W9QuMq-2k">“Vertigo.”</a> Keyboards give <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZWSrr5wFI">“Where the Streets Have No Name”</a> an ambient sound. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQiFSPboKAM">"Two Hearts Beat as One,"</a>
 the original a high-octane rock dance song, now has a slinkier, sexy 
vibe and is one of four songs where The Edge takes lead vocal.

The
 band is fairly democratic in taking songs from throughout its catalog, 
although 1981's “October” album and 2009's “No Line on the Horizon” are 
not represented. “New Year's Day,” “Angel of Harlem” and “Even Better 
Than the Real Thing” are among the songs left alone.

“We’re one of
 the only acts that has this body of work where a project like this 
would be possible, with the distance of time and experience where it 
would be interesting to revisit early songs,” The Edge said.

Throughout
 music history, bands have occasionally re-recorded material for 
contractual reasons. Taylor Swift is the most famous example, putting 
out new versions of her older songs in order to control their use. 
Squeeze's “Spot the Difference” makes sport of how they tried to make 
new recordings indistinguishable from the originals.

Live 
recordings and archive-cleaning projects like Bob Dylan's “bootleg” 
series gives fans the chance to hear familiar songs differently.

Many
 older artists don't see the point of making new music, since there's 
little opportunity to be heard and fans are partial to the familiar 
stuff, anyway, said Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone contributing editor.

“Revisiting
 your body of work in a creative way is a means of sustaining interest 
in your career,” DeCurtis said. “Older fans might not be interested in 
another collection of your hits, but reworking them in a meaningful way 
could prove enticing. Younger fans don't have the same investment in 
your classics, so these new versions offer a route into your catalog.”

The Edge encourages fans to give the new versions a try, suggesting they may even grow to prefer some of them.

“I
 don't think there's a competition between these and the original 
versions,” he said. "It's more of an additive thing than a substitution.
 If you like the new arrangements, great. If you prefer the originals, 
keep listening.

“It's no problem either way,” he said. “They're both valid.”

The Edge said he's working on new music for U2, “and we've got some great stuff in the pipeline.”

The
 quartet that met in drummer Larry Mullen Jr.'s kitchen when they 
answered an ad placed on a high school bulletin board is a remarkable 
story in longevity. A passage toward the end of Bono's book “Surrender,”
 where he talked about looking around onstage at the end of their most 
recent tour in 2019 and wondering if it was the end, raised natural 
questions about how long U2 would continue.

“There are many 
reasons why U2 has stayed together for so long, but one of the main 
reasons is that it works so well for us as individuals,” The Edge said. 
“I think we all shine the brightest as part of this collective. I 
certainly would not like to hang up the guitar.”

This year will 
provide a test for a band that can count on one hand the number of times
 it has performed without all four members. U2 has committed to a run of
 shows in Las Vegas without Mullen, who is recuperating from surgery.

Would U2 continue if one of the original quartet decides it's time to hang it up?

“I
 wouldn't rule out the possibility that we could go forward with 
different members,” The Edge said. “But also, equally, I could imagine 
us deciding not to. It would be a big challenge. But I think at the time
 we would know what felt right.”

By DAVID BAUDER AP Entertainment WriterNEW
 YORK — In reimagining 40 of their best-known songs, U2 recognized 
that many fans would experience them through earphones connected to a 
device in their pockets — rather than being belted out onstage.That was one thought behind <a href="https://www.u2.com/">“Songs of Surrender,”</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/u2-ted-lasso-streaming-watch-week-211eb0a5b4f8606f313c523c790f49d1">coming out this week</a>.
 The four men of U2, now either 61 or 62 years old, revisit material 
written in some cases when they were little more than kids out of 
Dublin.Particularly in those days, U2 songs were written 
primarily with concerts in mind. The Edge told The Associated Press in 
an interview that U2 wanted to catch the attention of people seeing the 
band for the first time, perhaps in a festival or as an opening act.“There's
 a sort of gladiatorial aspect to live performances when you're in that 
situation,” he said. “The material has got to be pretty bold and even 
strident at times. With this reimagining, we thought it would be fun to 
see intimacy as a new approach, that intimacy would be the new punk 
rock, as it were.”The Edge was the driving force behind “Songs of Surrender,” using pandemic down time to record much of the music at home.Given
 that his electric guitar and Bono's voice are the musical signature of 
U2, there's a certain irony in the absence of that guitar being the most
 immediately noticeable feature of the new versions. He sticks primarily
 to keyboards, acoustic guitar and dulcimer.The process began without a roadmap or commitment to see it through if it wasn't working.“As
 we got into it and got into a groove, we really started to enjoy what 
was happening,” he said. “There was a lot of freedom in the process, it 
was joyful and fun to take these songs and sort of reimagine them and I 
think that comes across. It doesn't sound like there was a lot of hard 
work involved because it wasn't.”Much of the intimacy comes 
through Bono's voice. There's no need to shout, so he sometimes uses 
lower registers or slips into falsetto.Lyrics are often rewritten, sometimes extensively in even a recent song like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwZEIHTne58">“The Miracle of Joey Ramone.”</a>
 Some changes are more subtle but still noticeable: replacing the line 
“one man betrayed with a kiss” with “one boy never will be kissed” takes
 Jesus out of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY">“Pride (In the Name of Love).”</a>At the same time, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is rearranged to end with a question: “where is the victory Jesus won?”Cellos replace the driving guitar of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98W9QuMq-2k">“Vertigo.”</a> Keyboards give <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZWSrr5wFI">“Where the Streets Have No Name”</a> an ambient sound. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQiFSPboKAM">"Two Hearts Beat as One,"</a>
 the original a high-octane rock dance song, now has a slinkier, sexy 
vibe and is one of four songs where The Edge takes lead vocal.The
 band is fairly democratic in taking songs from throughout its catalog, 
although 1981's “October” album and 2009's “No Line on the Horizon” are 
not represented. “New Year's Day,” “Angel of Harlem” and “Even Better 
Than the Real Thing” are among the songs left alone.“We’re one of
 the only acts that has this body of work where a project like this 
would be possible, with the distance of time and experience where it 
would be interesting to revisit early songs,” The Edge said.Throughout
 music history, bands have occasionally re-recorded material for 
contractual reasons. Taylor Swift is the most famous example, putting 
out new versions of her older songs in order to control their use. 
Squeeze's “Spot the Difference” makes sport of how they tried to make 
new recordings indistinguishable from the originals.Live 
recordings and archive-cleaning projects like Bob Dylan's “bootleg” 
series gives fans the chance to hear familiar songs differently.Many
 older artists don't see the point of making new music, since there's 
little opportunity to be heard and fans are partial to the familiar 
stuff, anyway, said Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone contributing editor.“Revisiting
 your body of work in a creative way is a means of sustaining interest 
in your career,” DeCurtis said. “Older fans might not be interested in 
another collection of your hits, but reworking them in a meaningful way 
could prove enticing. Younger fans don't have the same investment in 
your classics, so these new versions offer a route into your catalog.”The Edge encourages fans to give the new versions a try, suggesting they may even grow to prefer some of them.“I
 don't think there's a competition between these and the original 
versions,” he said. "It's more of an additive thing than a substitution.
 If you like the new arrangements, great. If you prefer the originals, 
keep listening.“It's no problem either way,” he said. “They're both valid.”The Edge said he's working on new music for U2, “and we've got some great stuff in the pipeline.”The
 quartet that met in drummer Larry Mullen Jr.'s kitchen when they 
answered an ad placed on a high school bulletin board is a remarkable 
story in longevity. A passage toward the end of Bono's book “Surrender,”
 where he talked about looking around onstage at the end of their most 
recent tour in 2019 and wondering if it was the end, raised natural 
questions about how long U2 would continue.“There are many 
reasons why U2 has stayed together for so long, but one of the main 
reasons is that it works so well for us as individuals,” The Edge said. 
“I think we all shine the brightest as part of this collective. I 
certainly would not like to hang up the guitar.”This year will 
provide a test for a band that can count on one hand the number of times
 it has performed without all four members. U2 has committed to a run of
 shows in Las Vegas without Mullen, who is recuperating from surgery.Would U2 continue if one of the original quartet decides it's time to hang it up?“I
 wouldn't rule out the possibility that we could go forward with 
different members,” The Edge said. “But also, equally, I could imagine 
us deciding not to. It would be a big challenge. But I think at the time
 we would know what felt right.”

In unusual step, U2 reinterprets 40 of its best-known songs

Dennis Francis Flax, age 57, died on March 11, 2023, at his home in 
Ransom, Kansas.&nbsp; He was born on October 27, 1965, in Ransom, the son of 
Joseph and Mary Frances (Friess) Flax.

Dennis was a member of the St. Aloysius Church and the Knights of 
Columbus of Ransom.&nbsp; He worked as a parts manager for many years and 
also worked for South Fork Meat Processing. Dennis was an avid sports 
fan and loved cheering on his Michigan Wolverines.

Being an uncle was Dennis’ highlight in life.&nbsp; He is survived by his 
25 nieces and nephews and many great nieces and nephews; he took pride 
in each and every one of them.&nbsp; He is also survived by his mother, Mary 
Frances Flax, of Ransom, five brothers, Raymond (Sondra) Simon of 
Rantoul, Robert (Deborah) Simon of Garden City, Stephen (Debra) Simon of
 Goodland, Lewis (Crystal) Flax of Dodge City, Peter (Janetta) Flax of 
Ransom and two sisers, Rose Marie (Steve) Amerine of Rush Center and 
Catherine (John ) Blair of Hays.

Rosary and Parish Vigil will be held at St. Aloysius Church, Ransom 
on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be
 held at the church on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. followed 
by burial in the St. Aloysius Cemetery, Ransom.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be given to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or St. Aloysius Church.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678726232729.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Dennis Francis Flax, age 57, died on March 11, 2023, at his home in 
Ransom, Kansas.&nbsp; He was born on October 27, 1965, in Ransom, the son of 
Joseph and Mary Frances (Friess) Flax.Dennis was a member of the St. Aloysius Church and the Knights of 
Columbus of Ransom.&nbsp; He worked as a parts manager for many years and 
also worked for South Fork Meat Processing. Dennis was an avid sports 
fan and loved cheering on his Michigan Wolverines.Being an uncle was Dennis’ highlight in life.&nbsp; He is survived by his 
25 nieces and nephews and many great nieces and nephews; he took pride 
in each and every one of them.&nbsp; He is also survived by his mother, Mary 
Frances Flax, of Ransom, five brothers, Raymond (Sondra) Simon of 
Rantoul, Robert (Deborah) Simon of Garden City, Stephen (Debra) Simon of
 Goodland, Lewis (Crystal) Flax of Dodge City, Peter (Janetta) Flax of 
Ransom and two sisers, Rose Marie (Steve) Amerine of Rush Center and 
Catherine (John ) Blair of Hays.Rosary and Parish Vigil will be held at St. Aloysius Church, Ransom 
on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be
 held at the church on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. followed 
by burial in the St. Aloysius Cemetery, Ransom.In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be given to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or St. Aloysius Church.

Dennis Francis Flax

Decades&nbsp;ago, we bought a little bungalow on two acres outside of Ellis. This starter home had many charms,&nbsp;but&nbsp;my favorite&nbsp;was&nbsp;the&nbsp;fenced&nbsp;garden spot behind the old barn.&nbsp;It&nbsp;planted&nbsp;a lifelong&nbsp;love for growing food&nbsp;and flowers&nbsp;in yours truly. Since&nbsp;then,&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;learned a thing or two, including what I wish I’d known then—horseradish&nbsp;is a top-shelf&nbsp;condiment&nbsp;with the added bonus of&nbsp;clearing&nbsp;sinuses better than&nbsp;a&nbsp;saline rinse.&nbsp;You can also companion plant&nbsp;its&nbsp;interesting leaves&nbsp;near fruiting trees and&nbsp;bushes&nbsp;to&nbsp;deter&nbsp;pests.

​That&nbsp;home&nbsp;had long&nbsp;stood&nbsp;empty&nbsp;before&nbsp;we&nbsp;took possession&nbsp;in October.&nbsp;Not surprisingly, chest-high&nbsp;weeds&nbsp;had overtaken&nbsp;the garden. I spent weeks&nbsp;pulling deep-rooted pigweed and other noxious&nbsp;growth&nbsp;from the barb-wire enclosed&nbsp;site.&nbsp;As I filled&nbsp;towering burn piles with my efforts, I&nbsp;spied a corner filled with&nbsp;large,&nbsp;wrinkly, saw-tooth leaves&nbsp;surrounding a fence post. Tangled roots&nbsp;delayed&nbsp;removal,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I noted&nbsp;a pungent odor. &nbsp;I asked an experienced green thumb to identify this mystery plant before I&nbsp;dug into the mess. She called it horseradish and told me to leave it.&nbsp;At that time, I’d only smelled horseradish&nbsp;but&nbsp;never tasted it, and since&nbsp;those plants occupied such&nbsp;a small portion of our big garden, I&nbsp;followed her advice.

​Our cottage sat near Big Creek&nbsp;on&nbsp;flood plain-enriched soil. Year after year, we grew&nbsp;an&nbsp;abundance of&nbsp;tomatoes, peppers, melons, corn, cucumbers, okra, potatoes, onions, spinach, and other veggies.&nbsp;Planting&nbsp;a seed or tucking&nbsp;a tomato&nbsp;or pepper&nbsp;plant in that rich, dark&nbsp;loam guaranteed rooting. Our toughest job&nbsp;required&nbsp;pick off&nbsp;horn worms&nbsp;and&nbsp;beetles&nbsp;before the&nbsp;bugs destroyed our plants.&nbsp;

​As predictable as the calendar, that corner of horseradish returned&nbsp;every year. Oddly,&nbsp;I never thought&nbsp;to&nbsp;learn&nbsp;how to use it. Keep in mind,&nbsp;I&nbsp;couldn’t look something up on&nbsp;a&nbsp;phone with the click of a button,&nbsp;I saw no fruit&nbsp;on the plant,&nbsp;and&nbsp;no one I knew&nbsp;used these roots.

​Fast forward 42 years. We went to&nbsp;a&nbsp;restaurant that served prime beef with&nbsp;a&nbsp;side-dollop of&nbsp;freshly grated horseradish. Despite its spicy-hot scent, my husband and I&nbsp;curiously&nbsp;dabbed some&nbsp;on a bite of meat.&nbsp;Oh,&nbsp;my goodness, what had&nbsp;we&nbsp;missed out on all those years!&nbsp;That little dip of grated root added intense flavor&nbsp;and a sinus cleaning at the same time.&nbsp;Not long afterward,&nbsp;a foodie friend gave us a jar of Porubsky&nbsp;pickles&nbsp;processed&nbsp;with horseradish.&nbsp;What a rush of&nbsp;sensory overload&nbsp;followed by unstuffed nasal passages!

​Several decades and houses later, we will plant our first horseradish roots&nbsp;this spring.&nbsp;I found several&nbsp;internet&nbsp;sites offering guidance&nbsp;for&nbsp;first growing and then&nbsp;grinding this spicy mustard-family root.&nbsp;These experienced horseradish users recommend&nbsp;processing&nbsp;in&nbsp;a well-ventilated area&nbsp;while&nbsp;wearing&nbsp;protective&nbsp;gloves&nbsp;and eye gear.&nbsp;After&nbsp;irritating&nbsp;my fingers processing jalapeños, I’ll follow their&nbsp;directions.&nbsp;The stunner with horseradish is that once you grate or grind peeled roots, you&nbsp;simply&nbsp;add vinegar to preserve it.&nbsp;

​Come late fall, we’ll&nbsp;enjoy&nbsp;a&nbsp;batch&nbsp;of&nbsp;freshly&nbsp;ground horseradish and the clearest sinuses in town.&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;guessing I’ll add a little to a jar of okra pickles just for kicks.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678468053000.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>​By KAREN MADORINDecades&nbsp;ago, we bought a little bungalow on two acres outside of Ellis. This starter home had many charms,&nbsp;but&nbsp;my favorite&nbsp;was&nbsp;the&nbsp;fenced&nbsp;garden spot behind the old barn.&nbsp;It&nbsp;planted&nbsp;a lifelong&nbsp;love for growing food&nbsp;and flowers&nbsp;in yours truly. Since&nbsp;then,&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;learned a thing or two, including what I wish I’d known then—horseradish&nbsp;is a top-shelf&nbsp;condiment&nbsp;with the added bonus of&nbsp;clearing&nbsp;sinuses better than&nbsp;a&nbsp;saline rinse.&nbsp;You can also companion plant&nbsp;its&nbsp;interesting leaves&nbsp;near fruiting trees and&nbsp;bushes&nbsp;to&nbsp;deter&nbsp;pests.​That&nbsp;home&nbsp;had long&nbsp;stood&nbsp;empty&nbsp;before&nbsp;we&nbsp;took possession&nbsp;in October.&nbsp;Not surprisingly, chest-high&nbsp;weeds&nbsp;had overtaken&nbsp;the garden. I spent weeks&nbsp;pulling deep-rooted pigweed and other noxious&nbsp;growth&nbsp;from the barb-wire enclosed&nbsp;site.&nbsp;As I filled&nbsp;towering burn piles with my efforts, I&nbsp;spied a corner filled with&nbsp;large,&nbsp;wrinkly, saw-tooth leaves&nbsp;surrounding a fence post. Tangled roots&nbsp;delayed&nbsp;removal,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I noted&nbsp;a pungent odor. &nbsp;I asked an experienced green thumb to identify this mystery plant before I&nbsp;dug into the mess. She called it horseradish and told me to leave it.&nbsp;At that time, I’d only smelled horseradish&nbsp;but&nbsp;never tasted it, and since&nbsp;those plants occupied such&nbsp;a small portion of our big garden, I&nbsp;followed her advice.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658158605319.jpeg" alt="Karen Madorin" />
 <figcaption>Karen Madorin</figcaption>
 </figure>​Our cottage sat near Big Creek&nbsp;on&nbsp;flood plain-enriched soil. Year after year, we grew&nbsp;an&nbsp;abundance of&nbsp;tomatoes, peppers, melons, corn, cucumbers, okra, potatoes, onions, spinach, and other veggies.&nbsp;Planting&nbsp;a seed or tucking&nbsp;a tomato&nbsp;or pepper&nbsp;plant in that rich, dark&nbsp;loam guaranteed rooting. Our toughest job&nbsp;required&nbsp;pick off&nbsp;horn worms&nbsp;and&nbsp;beetles&nbsp;before the&nbsp;bugs destroyed our plants.&nbsp;​As predictable as the calendar, that corner of horseradish returned&nbsp;every year. Oddly,&nbsp;I never thought&nbsp;to&nbsp;learn&nbsp;how to use it. Keep in mind,&nbsp;I&nbsp;couldn’t look something up on&nbsp;a&nbsp;phone with the click of a button,&nbsp;I saw no fruit&nbsp;on the plant,&nbsp;and&nbsp;no one I knew&nbsp;used these roots.​Fast forward 42 years. We went to&nbsp;a&nbsp;restaurant that served prime beef with&nbsp;a&nbsp;side-dollop of&nbsp;freshly grated horseradish. Despite its spicy-hot scent, my husband and I&nbsp;curiously&nbsp;dabbed some&nbsp;on a bite of meat.&nbsp;Oh,&nbsp;my goodness, what had&nbsp;we&nbsp;missed out on all those years!&nbsp;That little dip of grated root added intense flavor&nbsp;and a sinus cleaning at the same time.&nbsp;Not long afterward,&nbsp;a foodie friend gave us a jar of Porubsky&nbsp;pickles&nbsp;processed&nbsp;with horseradish.&nbsp;What a rush of&nbsp;sensory overload&nbsp;followed by unstuffed nasal passages!​Several decades and houses later, we will plant our first horseradish roots&nbsp;this spring.&nbsp;I found several&nbsp;internet&nbsp;sites offering guidance&nbsp;for&nbsp;first growing and then&nbsp;grinding this spicy mustard-family root.&nbsp;These experienced horseradish users recommend&nbsp;processing&nbsp;in&nbsp;a well-ventilated area&nbsp;while&nbsp;wearing&nbsp;protective&nbsp;gloves&nbsp;and eye gear.&nbsp;After&nbsp;irritating&nbsp;my fingers processing jalapeños, I’ll follow their&nbsp;directions.&nbsp;The stunner with horseradish is that once you grate or grind peeled roots, you&nbsp;simply&nbsp;add vinegar to preserve it.&nbsp;​Come late fall, we’ll&nbsp;enjoy&nbsp;a&nbsp;batch&nbsp;of&nbsp;freshly&nbsp;ground horseradish and the clearest sinuses in town.&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;guessing I’ll add a little to a jar of okra pickles just for kicks.

MADORIN: Clearest sinuses in town

Allen A. Windholz, age 81, of Victoria, Kansas, passed away on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at the Good Samaritan Society of Hays Care Center.

He was born May 10, 1941, in Hays, Kansas, to Anton and Philomena Hilda (Hammerschmidt) Windholz. &nbsp;He married Eileen C. (Wagner)&nbsp;on October 24, 1964, at Emmeram, Kansas.

Allen was a custodian at the Victoria Grade School and Victoria High School for 24 years. &nbsp;He also was a bus driver for the USD #432&nbsp;School&nbsp;District. &nbsp;He grew up on the family farm at Emmeram, attended grade school at Emmeram, and was a 1960 graduate of Victoria High School. &nbsp;In his earlier years Allen was a farm hand and worked on area farms. &nbsp;He always enjoyed his farm animals of pigs, fainting goats, guineas, peacocks, and some cattle. &nbsp;

He was&nbsp;US Army veteran,&nbsp;a member of The Basilica of St. Fidelis, the Catharine Knights of Columbus, the Hays American&nbsp;Legion, and a former member of the Sunflower Polka Club.&nbsp;

His survivors include his wife, Eileen Windholz, of the home; his children, Mark Windholz and wife, Brenda, Hays, KS; Theresa Meis and husband, Paul, Catharine, KS; Matthew Windholz and wife, Michelle, Ellis, KS; his sister, Altarena&nbsp;Basgall and husband, Leon, Yocemento, KS; his grandchildren, Michael Windholz (Nicole); Karl Meis, Kathleen Windholz&nbsp;and Coady Morris; Jacob Meis; his great grandchildren, Brooklynn and Mason Windholz.

Allen was preceded in &nbsp;death by his parents, Anton and&nbsp;Philomena Windholz; and his granddaughter, Julie Windholz.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 A.M. Thursday, March 16, 2023, at The Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria, Kansas with Father James Moster O.F.M. Cap. officiating. &nbsp;

Burial will be in the St. Fidelis Cemetery, Victoria Kansas with military honors conducted by the Victoria V.F.W. Post #1751.

A Catharine Knights of Columbus rosary will be at 6:30 P.M. Wednesday, followed by a vigil service at 7:00 P.M. Wednesday, both at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary, 412 Main Street, Victoria, Kansas 67671. &nbsp;

Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary, Victoria, Kansas, and from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Thursday, at The Basilica of St. Fidelis

The family suggests memorials made payable to: St. Fidelis Cemetery or Hospice of Hays Medical Center in care of the mortuary.&nbsp;

Condolences can be sent via e-mail to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a>&nbsp;or can be left at guestbook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com/">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678663872441.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Allen A. Windholz, age 81, of Victoria, Kansas, passed away on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at the Good Samaritan Society of Hays Care Center.He was born May 10, 1941, in Hays, Kansas, to Anton and Philomena Hilda (Hammerschmidt) Windholz. &nbsp;He married Eileen C. (Wagner)&nbsp;on October 24, 1964, at Emmeram, Kansas.Allen was a custodian at the Victoria Grade School and Victoria High School for 24 years. &nbsp;He also was a bus driver for the USD #432&nbsp;School&nbsp;District. &nbsp;He grew up on the family farm at Emmeram, attended grade school at Emmeram, and was a 1960 graduate of Victoria High School. &nbsp;In his earlier years Allen was a farm hand and worked on area farms. &nbsp;He always enjoyed his farm animals of pigs, fainting goats, guineas, peacocks, and some cattle. &nbsp;He was&nbsp;US Army veteran,&nbsp;a member of The Basilica of St. Fidelis, the Catharine Knights of Columbus, the Hays American&nbsp;Legion, and a former member of the Sunflower Polka Club.&nbsp;His survivors include his wife, Eileen Windholz, of the home; his children, Mark Windholz and wife, Brenda, Hays, KS; Theresa Meis and husband, Paul, Catharine, KS; Matthew Windholz and wife, Michelle, Ellis, KS; his sister, Altarena&nbsp;Basgall and husband, Leon, Yocemento, KS; his grandchildren, Michael Windholz (Nicole); Karl Meis, Kathleen Windholz&nbsp;and Coady Morris; Jacob Meis; his great grandchildren, Brooklynn and Mason Windholz.Allen was preceded in &nbsp;death by his parents, Anton and&nbsp;Philomena Windholz; and his granddaughter, Julie Windholz.Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 A.M. Thursday, March 16, 2023, at The Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria, Kansas with Father James Moster O.F.M. Cap. officiating. &nbsp;Burial will be in the St. Fidelis Cemetery, Victoria Kansas with military honors conducted by the Victoria V.F.W. Post #1751.A Catharine Knights of Columbus rosary will be at 6:30 P.M. Wednesday, followed by a vigil service at 7:00 P.M. Wednesday, both at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary, 412 Main Street, Victoria, Kansas 67671. &nbsp;Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary, Victoria, Kansas, and from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Thursday, at The Basilica of St. FidelisThe family suggests memorials made payable to: St. Fidelis Cemetery or Hospice of Hays Medical Center in care of the mortuary.&nbsp;Condolences can be sent via e-mail to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a>&nbsp;or can be left at guestbook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com/">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>&nbsp;

Allen A. Windholz

VATICAN CITY (AP) — So much for a short pontificate.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;celebrates the 10th anniversary of his election Monday, far outpacing the “two or three” years he once envisioned for his papacy and showing no signs of slowing down.

On the contrary, with an agenda full of problems and plans and no longer encumbered by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-retirement-papacy-dcca464e7c1fd910568d07d6bf4d9994">the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI</a>, Francis, 86, has backed off from talking about retiring and recently described the papacy as a job for life.

History’s first Latin American pope already has made his mark and could have even more impact in the years to come. Yet a decade ago, the Argentine Jesuit was so convinced he wouldn’t be elected as pope that he nearly missed the final vote as he chatted with a fellow cardinal outside the Sistine Chapel.

“The master of ceremonies came out and said ‘Are you going in or not?’” Francis recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I realized afterward that it was my unconscious resistance to going in.”

He was elected the 266th pope on the next ballot.

Francis had a big learning curve on clergy sex abuse, initially downplaying the problem in ways that made survivors question whether he “got it.” He had his wake-up call five years into his pontificate after a problematic visit to Chile.

During the trip, he discovered a serious disconnect between&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2018-the-year-in-review-pope-francis-ap-top-news-chile-international-news-1d175bccdb364e5387956fc0e0672bf2">what Chilean bishops had told him</a>&nbsp;about a notorious case and the reality: Hundreds or thousands of Chilean faithful had been raped and molested by Catholic priests over decades.

“That was my conversion,” he told the AP. “That’s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this.”

Francis has passed a series of measures since then aimed at holding the church hierarchy accountable, but the results have been mixed. Benedict removed some 800 priests, but Francis seems far less eager to defrock abusers, reflecting resistance within the hierarchy to efforts to permanently remove predators from the priesthood.

The next frontier in the crisis has already reared its head: the sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of adults by clergy. Francis is aware of the problem — a new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-736fadac67811722f2a33ef94d1e789a">case concerns one of his fellow Jesuits</a>&nbsp;— but there seems to be no will to take firm action

When the history of the Francis pontificate is written, entire chapters might well be devoted to his emphasis on “synodality,” a term that has little meaning outside Catholic circles but could go down as one of Francis’ most important church contributions.

A synod is a gathering of bishops, and Francis’ philosophy that bishops must listen to one another and the laity has come to define his vision for the Catholic Church: He wants it to be a place where the faithful are welcomed, accompanied and heard.

The synods held during his first 10 years produced some of the most significant, and controversial, moments of his papacy.

After listening to the plight of divorced Catholics during a 2014-2015 synod on the family, for instance, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b67e0b339b9d46fab29cb0ef642d5ed7">opened the door</a>&nbsp;to letting divorced and civilly remarried couples receive Communion. Calls to allow married priests marked his 2019 synod on the Amazon, although Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-pope-francis-latin-america-europe-c7f3dd10f458cb02fa9fa725c096d7db">ultimately rejected the idea</a>.

His October synod has involved an unprecedented canvassing of the Catholic faithful about their hopes for the church and problems they have encountered, eliciting demands from women for greater leadership roles, including ordination.

Catholic traditionalists were wary when Francis emerged as pope for the first time on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica without the red cape that his predecessors had worn for formal events. Yet they never expected him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/latin-mass-pope-francis-restrictions-benedict-6f50b9bc219d423f99267fddcdf23cf6">reverse one of Benedict’s signature decisions</a>&nbsp;by reimposing restrictions on the old Latin Mass, including where and who can celebrate it,.

While the decision directly affected only a fraction of Catholic Mass-goers, his crackdown on the Tridentine Rite became the call to arms for the anti-Francis conservative opposition.

Francis justified his move by saying Benedict’s decision to liberalize the celebration of the old Mass had become a source of division in parishes. But traditionalists took the renewed restrictions as an attack on orthodoxy, one that they saw as contradicting Francis’ “all are welcome” mantra.

“Instead of integrating them into parish life, the restriction on the use of parish churches will marginalize and push to the peripheries faithful Catholics who wish only to worship,” lamented Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society’s U.K. branch.

While the short-term prospects for Francis relenting are not great, the traditionalists do have time on their side, knowing that in a 2,000-year-old institution, another pope might come along who is more friendly to the old rite.

Francis’ quips about the “female genius” have long made women cringe. Women theologians are the “strawberries on the cake,” he once said. Nuns shouldn’t be “old maids,” he said. Europe shouldn’t be a barren, infertile “grandmother,” he told European Union lawmakers — a remark that got him an angry phone call from then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But, it’s also true that Francis has done more to promote women in the church than any pope before him, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-voting-rights-pope-francis-f89395f9d9a5e721d6b56af7b7f6116b">naming several women to high-profile positions in the Vatican</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603292366279.png" alt="Pope Francis image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Pope Francis image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>VATICAN CITY (AP) — So much for a short pontificate.<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;celebrates the 10th anniversary of his election Monday, far outpacing the “two or three” years he once envisioned for his papacy and showing no signs of slowing down.On the contrary, with an agenda full of problems and plans and no longer encumbered by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-retirement-papacy-dcca464e7c1fd910568d07d6bf4d9994">the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI</a>, Francis, 86, has backed off from talking about retiring and recently described the papacy as a job for life.History’s first Latin American pope already has made his mark and could have even more impact in the years to come. Yet a decade ago, the Argentine Jesuit was so convinced he wouldn’t be elected as pope that he nearly missed the final vote as he chatted with a fellow cardinal outside the Sistine Chapel.“The master of ceremonies came out and said ‘Are you going in or not?’” Francis recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I realized afterward that it was my unconscious resistance to going in.”He was elected the 266th pope on the next ballot.SEX ABUSEFrancis had a big learning curve on clergy sex abuse, initially downplaying the problem in ways that made survivors question whether he “got it.” He had his wake-up call five years into his pontificate after a problematic visit to Chile.During the trip, he discovered a serious disconnect between&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2018-the-year-in-review-pope-francis-ap-top-news-chile-international-news-1d175bccdb364e5387956fc0e0672bf2">what Chilean bishops had told him</a>&nbsp;about a notorious case and the reality: Hundreds or thousands of Chilean faithful had been raped and molested by Catholic priests over decades.“That was my conversion,” he told the AP. “That’s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this.”Francis has passed a series of measures since then aimed at holding the church hierarchy accountable, but the results have been mixed. Benedict removed some 800 priests, but Francis seems far less eager to defrock abusers, reflecting resistance within the hierarchy to efforts to permanently remove predators from the priesthood.The next frontier in the crisis has already reared its head: the sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of adults by clergy. Francis is aware of the problem — a new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-736fadac67811722f2a33ef94d1e789a">case concerns one of his fellow Jesuits</a>&nbsp;— but there seems to be no will to take firm actionSIGNIFICANCE OF SYNODSWhen the history of the Francis pontificate is written, entire chapters might well be devoted to his emphasis on “synodality,” a term that has little meaning outside Catholic circles but could go down as one of Francis’ most important church contributions.A synod is a gathering of bishops, and Francis’ philosophy that bishops must listen to one another and the laity has come to define his vision for the Catholic Church: He wants it to be a place where the faithful are welcomed, accompanied and heard.The synods held during his first 10 years produced some of the most significant, and controversial, moments of his papacy.After listening to the plight of divorced Catholics during a 2014-2015 synod on the family, for instance, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b67e0b339b9d46fab29cb0ef642d5ed7">opened the door</a>&nbsp;to letting divorced and civilly remarried couples receive Communion. Calls to allow married priests marked his 2019 synod on the Amazon, although Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-pope-francis-latin-america-europe-c7f3dd10f458cb02fa9fa725c096d7db">ultimately rejected the idea</a>.His October synod has involved an unprecedented canvassing of the Catholic faithful about their hopes for the church and problems they have encountered, eliciting demands from women for greater leadership roles, including ordination.LATIN MASSCatholic traditionalists were wary when Francis emerged as pope for the first time on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica without the red cape that his predecessors had worn for formal events. Yet they never expected him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/latin-mass-pope-francis-restrictions-benedict-6f50b9bc219d423f99267fddcdf23cf6">reverse one of Benedict’s signature decisions</a>&nbsp;by reimposing restrictions on the old Latin Mass, including where and who can celebrate it,.While the decision directly affected only a fraction of Catholic Mass-goers, his crackdown on the Tridentine Rite became the call to arms for the anti-Francis conservative opposition.Francis justified his move by saying Benedict’s decision to liberalize the celebration of the old Mass had become a source of division in parishes. But traditionalists took the renewed restrictions as an attack on orthodoxy, one that they saw as contradicting Francis’ “all are welcome” mantra.“Instead of integrating them into parish life, the restriction on the use of parish churches will marginalize and push to the peripheries faithful Catholics who wish only to worship,” lamented Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society’s U.K. branch.While the short-term prospects for Francis relenting are not great, the traditionalists do have time on their side, knowing that in a 2,000-year-old institution, another pope might come along who is more friendly to the old rite.ROLE OF WOMENFrancis’ quips about the “female genius” have long made women cringe. Women theologians are the “strawberries on the cake,” he once said. Nuns shouldn’t be “old maids,” he said. Europe shouldn’t be a barren, infertile “grandmother,” he told European Union lawmakers — a remark that got him an angry phone call from then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.But, it’s also true that Francis has done more to promote women in the church than any pope before him, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-voting-rights-pope-francis-f89395f9d9a5e721d6b56af7b7f6116b">naming several women to high-profile positions in the Vatican</a>.That’s not saying much given only one in four Holy See employees is female, no woman heads a dicastery, or department, and Francis has upheld church doctrine forbidding women from the priesthood.But the trend is there and “there is no possibility of going back,” said María Lía Zervino, one of the first three women named to the Vatican office that helps the pope select bishops around the world.LGBTQ FAITHFULFrancis' insistence that long-marginalized LGBTQ Catholics can find a welcome home in the church can be summed up by two pronouncements that have book-ended his papacy to date:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/archive-pope-benedict-xvi-pope-francis-7b465b60945f40deb3a68b3de742f84a">“Who am I to judge?”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212">“Being homosexual is not a crime.”</a>In between making those historic statements, Francis made outreach to LGBTQ people a hallmark of his papacy more than any pope before him.He ministers to members of a transgender community in Rome. He has counseled gay couples seeking to raise their children Catholic. During a 2015 visit to the U.S., he publicized a private meeting with a gay former student and the man's partner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f27eb8dd7bf744aa9fb11572c15748f4">to counter the conservative narrative</a>&nbsp;that he had received an anti-same-sex marriage activist.“The pope is reminding the church that the way people treat one another in the social world is of much greater moral importance that what people may possibly do in the privacy of a bedroom,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of LGBTQ Catholics.