The Valley Falls Vindicator August 6, 2020 Page 3

SPARK. . .(Continued from page 1)

Gatzemeyer, Kraxnerrate all-league status MSCSports.net recently re-ported that Avery Gatzemeyer and Trenton Kraxner, members of Valley Falls’ 19 and Under summer baseball team, were named to the Northeast Kan-sas League all-league team for 2020. Avery got the nod for the shortstop position, while Tren-ton was one of four boys who earned a spot in the outfield. All told, 19 boys made the all-league team. The River Bandits, coached by Kelly Gatzemeyer and Caleb Gatzemeyer, finished the season with a record of 11-12. Selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player was Kamble Haverkamp, a member of the Corning squad. Marysville, which was spon-sored by American Legion Post 163, posted the best mark in the league, going 21-9.

Jefferson County Attorney Josh Ney last Dec. 17 filed a complaint charging Michelle Lynn Williams, rural Ozawkie, with 10 counts of cruelty to animals, a Class A non-person misdemeanor. Williams is accused of know-ingly failing to provide “food, po-table water, and protection from the elements” for gamebirds, exotic birds, cats, two groups of rabbits, chickens, ducks, birds, a dog and a cat. The alleged crimes are said to have taken place Dec. 11. One of the civilian witnesses

NEKLS intends to keeplevy where it’s at for ’21 The leaders of the Northeast Kansas Library System aren’t planning to alter the existing property tax levy, 1.351 mills, as they look ahead to ensuring that libraries within the 11-county service area will continue to be able to operate successfully next year, according to a public notice that appeared in last week’s is-sue of the paper. The notice indicated that NEKLS’ leaders are seeking the OK to spend as much as $3,734,076 during the course of 2021 in delivering services and financial support to the member libraries in Jefferson County, Atchison County, Brown Coun-ty, Doniphan County, Doug-las County, Franklin County, Jackson County, Leavenworth County, Miami County, Nemaha County and Osage County. That figure, which doesn’t in-clude proposed transfers total-ing $150,000, is based on 2020 ad valorem taxes in the amount of $2,175,705. Estimated exenditures for this year come to $3,416,252, which doesn’t include proposed transfers totaling $25,000. The current levy, contin-ued into next year, will en-able NEKLS’ leaders to put $2,791,828 in the General Fund and $357,670 in the Employee Benefits Fund. A required public hearing on the budget under consider-ation for 2021 is slated to be held Thursday, Aug. 13 at the NEKLS office in Lawrence. The address is 4317 W. Sixth. The hearing is set for 10 a.m.

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Lt. Poppa sent offwith radio salute Last Thursday was Lt. Rob-ert Poppa’s last day with the Jef-ferson County Sheriff ’s Office after 26 years with the agency, and veteran dispatcher Me-lissa Fialkowski with Jefferson County 911 Communications made sure the occasion didn’t go unnoticed. She took to the airways shortly before 1:30 p.m. to recognize Poppa on his forth-coming retirement by reading the following message to all of her “listening units” and anyone else who happened to be tuned in to the county’s emergency communications system at the time: “Captain ‘41 Poppa’, the Jef-ferson County Sheriff Depart-ment and the Jefferson County 911 would like to thank you for 36 years of dedicated service in law enforcement. “We will miss your pure orneriness and the stories that always made us laugh! “We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and happy retirement. “41 Captain Poppa, it is our honor to acknowledge this Code 5 to set free a man who has sac-rificed so much of his time for all of us so that he may spend the rest of his life hunting, fish-ing and exploring this beautiful country. “41 Captain Poppa, you are officially Code 5. Thank you, sir. We have it from here.” In the world of emergency communications, Code 5 basi-cally means “not to be inter-rupted.”

the road could commence on Aug. 5 as scheduled. The opportunity afforded by Domann’s report led Ledbet-ter to suggest to him that An-derson Road, which intersects 62nd Street midway between K-4 and the Jefferson County-Shawnee County line, might need some additional attention in the months to come because of the possibility that it will be seeing more and more use once 62nd has been relocated, ad-justed and widened as needed, then paved. The 62nd Street project also will involve the cutting down of a hill at Anderson Road. Domann reported that he had met with a representative of Finney & Turnipseed Civil Engineering & Transportation, Topeka, in regard to the future of the bridge along 126th Street between Wellman Road and Washington Road. He called the structure “outdated and ob-solete” and said it was “a prime candidate” for replacement by way of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Off-System Bridge Program. He said the deadline to apply for a grant that would allow the county to eventually get rid of the bridge was Aug. 30. The Public Works director updated the commissioners on the Coal Creek Road bridge project at Valley Falls, saying Road and Bridge Department crews had completed prelimi-nary repairs to almost half of the bridge’s deck and that it probably would be another two weeks before they reached the other end of the bridge. He de-scribed the work involved as “a tedious task.” Community Development Director Dustin Parks reported that his office, which represents the combining of the Planning and Zoning Department and the Economic Development De-partment, had handed out five building permits the previous week. Parks told the commission-ers that within the next month or two he would be appearing before them to present proposed changes to the county’s zoning regulations that would make it

easier for someone to add living quarters to a detached acces-sory structure for a member of their extended family (e.g., a mother-in-law). He said he first needed to take the proposal to the Regional Planning Commis-sion to get some input from it. Finally, the Community De-velopment director told the board that the next meeting of the RPC would take place Monday, Aug. 24 at Oskaloosa City Hall and that the equip-ment needed to enhance the experience for members of the general public had come in and would be utilized that evening. Voting 3-0, the board autho-rized County Treasurer Lisa Buerman to place an advertise-ment in the official county news-paper letting it be known that the county intends to sell three lots at Lake Ridge Estates. The county is making available to bidders Lots 40, 41 and 42 in Block S of the subdivision, which is located on the west side of Perry Lake. The motion approved by the commissioners called for the minimum acceptable bid on each lot to be $300.

Executive Session At the request of Health De-partment Administrator Crys-tal VanHoutan, R.N., the com-missioners met privately with her for 10 minutes for the stated purpose of discussing personnel matters relating to non-elected personnel. “Recruitment and retention” was identified as be-ing the subject that was to be discussed. When the meeting reopened to the public, Luck an-nounced that no binding action was taken behind closed doors. The commissioners met pri-vately with County Counselor Josh Ney for 13 minutes, citing as justification for the need for privacy the attorney-client privilege recognized in the Kan-sas Open Meetings Act. “Legal advice” was to be dispensed at that time, Ney said. Afterward, Luck announced that no bind-ing action was taken. The commissioners met pri-vately with Chris Schmeissner, the county’s Geographic Infor-mation Systems/Information Technology director, for a total of 21 minutes to evaluate his on-the-job efforts over the past year or so. Afterward, Luck an-nounced that no binding action was taken. The meeting adjourned at 2:25.

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identified in the complaint is Lakeside Village resident Jerry White. According to Jefferson Coun-ty District Court records, Wil-liams was served a summons March 12 and a first appearance scheduled for June 15 and an arraignment/status proceed-ing scheduled for July 14 were continued. She is now slated to be ar-raigned Sept. 1 at 10 a.m. The defendant is being rep-resented by Topeka attorney Stacy Bond, according to court records.

by Pat MelgaresKSU Extension

Kansas State University has received a green light to imple-ment a program that will help feed the state’s citizens’ appar-ent interest in walking their way to good health. Sharolyn Jackson, the north-east area family and consumer sciences specialist, said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment awarded K-State Research and Extension a grant to introduce the program, Walk with Ease, in the state’s communities. Intended as a six-week pro-gram, Walk with Ease is a na-tional program developed by the Arthritis Foundation to encourage Americans to keep active and to improve overall health. “For those with arthritis or who have issues with pain, walking is a way to help manage the pain,” Jackson said. “But it’s also a program that can be applicable to anybody who just wants to be more active, particu-larly those who have been more sedentary.” Jackson is the coordinator of the statewide Walk Kan-sas program, which just com-pleted its 20th year in early May. More than 7,000 Kansans participated in that eight-week program, which encourages teams of eight to accumulate miles equivalent to the distance across the state. Walk with Ease is designed as a six-week program that can be adapted to the needs and abilities of participants because they can make their own walk-ing plan, tailor exercises and walking times to their needs, and go at their own pace. “Over six weeks, participants will work up to walking at least three times a week,” Jackson said. “The idea is to start at a

KSHSAA fall activities permitted to begin By action of the Kansas State High School Activities Associa-tion executive board last week, all fall activities will begin as scheduled for the 2020-21 school year. This includes practice and competition. Local school districts retain the right to modify the start dates for practice or competition based on their local and county health recommendations. The KSHSAA recommends all schools evaluate these con-siderations and formulate plans to best mitigate virus trans-mission risk in their activity programs.

Testing Confirms Koi Herpes Virus as Cause of Recent Carp Mortalities Following a series of small-to-large scale fish die-offs that occurred throughout Kansas in June—die-offs that appeared to only affect common carp—fish-eries biologists with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism suspected Koi Herpes Virus as the culprit. KDWPT Fisheries biologists collected samples from Hills-dale Reservoir, Kansas’ hardest hit waterbody, and sent them to the Aquaculture and Fisheries Center at the University of Ar-kansas at Pine Bluff for testing. On July 24, test results arrived confirming the presence of Koi Herpes Virus. The first sightings of dead common carp were reported in mid-to-late May at Clin-ton, Hillsdale, and Pomona reservoirs. Die-offs continued through the month of June before fully ceasing in early July. Though the total number of common carp affected is un-known, KDWPT fisheries biolo-gists estimate that number to be in excess of 5,000. “These die-off events largely occurred during the species’ spawning season, which is al-ready a very stressful time for fish,” KDWPT aquatic nuisance species coordinator Chris Stef-fen said. “Add to that a cool spring quickly shifting to hot summer weather, and it’s likely these fish were more stressed than normal, making them more susceptible to disease.” Koi Herpes Virus is a DNA-based virus that stays with the infected fish for the duration of its life. Physical symptoms that can manifest in infected fish include patches of red, white, or pale discoloration, bleeding gills, sunken eyes, or blistering. Koi Herpes Virus has no docu-mented effect on humans.

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Thanks so much to all those individuals and businesses that supported the 2nd Annual Hornet Gentry Golf Tournament by playing in the tournament, sponsoring a hole or making a donation. Special thanks to family and friends for helping make this tournament possible. Mark your calendar for July 24, 2021 for the next one!

Thanks again!! Lorraine, Brian, Michele and Families

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K-State plans to launch ‘Walkwith Ease’ program statewide

reasonable amount of time and at a reasonable pace so that they build up to 30 minutes or more of walking each day you walk.” In addition to encourage walking, Jackson said Walk with Ease provides three other components: •Health information. •Stretching and strengthen-ing exercises. •Motivational t ips and tools. Jackson said that K-State Research and Extension is pro-viding statewide training to agents who are interested in offering Walk with Ease in their communities. “Some extension agents are in partnership with their local health department to deliver Walk with Ease, or have plans

to do that,” she said. For those who have par-ticipated in the past in Walk Kansas, Jackson said Walk with Ease can be a companion program. “This program is a little different from Walk Kan-sas,” she notes. “Walk with Ease targets those that have arthritis and pain issues and encourages them to be more active in order to reduce pain.” Jackson said K-State Re-search and Extension agents should be trained by the time pandemic restrictions are lifted, when group classes can be held. The program is also being posi-tioned to provide online instruc-tion, she noted. More information about Walk with Ease is available online from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The Washburn University marching band will not perform live in the fall of 2020. The university made the decision due to the evolving nature of the COVID virus, findings from recent research as it pertains to marching band music perfor-mance, and Washburn Univer-sity’s commitment to the safety and health of all students, fac-ulty and staff. “I personally will miss watch-ing the Washburn University marching band coming across the lawn toward Yager Stadium before a home football game this fall,” said Dr. Jerry Farley, presi-dent of Washburn University. “I know that the marching band is as much part of the experience as the football game for many of our students and alumni.” “However, the safety of our marching band students is paramount and it is with that in mind that the decision was made to move to a virtual marching band experience this year.” Washburn University is com-mitted to creating this experi-ence for students and will pro-vide marching band members with a virtual learning teaching and learning environment for fall 2020, ensuring these stu-dents will interact in an online platform for this particular class. “The university has been preparing holistically for a changed learning environment

Washburn University marching band to perform virtually

this fall, including organizing all spaces for social distanc-ing and installing additional technology,” said “Dr. JuliAnn Mazachek, vice president of academic affairs. “We have a robust online learning platform that allows for learning flex-ibility and innovative solutions that will allow our marching band students to interact and perform together virtually.” The director of bands for Washburn University, Dr. Tom Seddon, and chair of the Wash-burn University music depart-ment, Dr. Craig Treinen, are wanting to put the marching band on the big screen in Moore Bowl at Yager Stadium, with virtual half-time and pre-game shows for football games. “We believe this course of ac-tion is in the best interest of our students and the entire univer-sity community,” said Treinen. “Although our marching band students will miss serving the university in more traditional ways this fall, we will work together in new ways to create great virtual shows. And, we will be well-prepared to come back even stronger in 2021.”

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