Sterling Barker

Sterling C. Barker, age 87, of Moran, passed away Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, at Allen County Regional Hospital, Iola, Kansas. Sterling was born Nov. 24, 1931, in rural Sheldon, Mo., to George and Ruby (Carpenter) Barker.

Sterling attended school in rural Missouri. Sterling married Bonnie (Creason) Barker on Oct. 31, 1952.

Sterling worked for 20 years at Walton Foundry in Iola, Kansas. He was a farmer and stockman, and took great pride in raising his cattle (his girls). Sterling was always willing to help a friend or neighbor and never met a stranger.

Sterling was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; ten siblings; one daughter, Cherie Barker; one son, Sterling Barker; granddaughter Nikki Barker.

Sterling is survived by his two sons, John Barker, LaHarpe, Mark and Polly Barker, Chanute; three grandsons Christopher Barker and Amy, Manhattan, Sterling “Buzzy” Barker and Missy, Iola, Justin Barker and Marcia, Blue Mound; three granddaughters, Brandie Barker, Lindsborg, Randi Ranes and Scott, Mapleton, Casey Barker and Charlie Ball, Prescott; 15 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews; and a special friend Elda Lee Fewins, Iola.

A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Venue, 1883 US-Hwy 54, Iola. A funeral service for Sterling will be at 10 a.m. Friday  at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel. Interment will follow immediately at Highland Cemetery, Iola.

In lieu of flowers the family request a memorial contribution be made to Allen County Animal Rescue Facility of Iola.

Condolences for the family may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.

Wyvona Cahill

Wyvona May Cahill, age 98, of Chanute, died Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, at Diversicare in Chanute. She was born on Sept. 24, 1920, to Manus Clyde Reeder and Nellie Mae (Pelton) Reeder.

She married David Arland Fugitt in March 1940, in Carthage, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son, Raymond Clyde Smith; a daughter, Patricia Gail Flaugher; a stepson, Gilbert Arland Fugitt; and other relatives.

Survivors include a step-daughter, Joan Colvin, Humboldt, and many other relatives.

A private family memorial service will be held at a later date. Inurnment will follow in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Humboldt.

Herbert Hoff

Herbert A. Hoff, Claflin, died Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, at Clara Barton Hospital.

He was born Jan. 16, 1937, in Hays to Herbert W. and Rose Marie (Leiker) Hoff.

He married Rhoda Marie Selness in Claflin; she preceded him in death. He married Mary Schawo; they divorced. He married Jane C. Weber on June 28, 1975, in Coldwater; she preceded him in death.

He also was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Alexandra Marie Hoff.

Survivors include a daughter, Kim Traum, Arvada, Colo.; and other relatives.

Memorials may be made to the Claflin Community Scholarship or Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington KS 67544.

US wants access to former Marine accused of spying

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the U.S. hopes to gain access soon to a former Marine who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges and that “if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return.”

Paul Whelan, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, was arrested on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught “during an espionage operation,” but it gave no details.

Whelan, 48, was in Moscow to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his brother David Whelan said Tuesday.

Pompeo, speaking in Brazil, said the U.S. is “hopeful within the next hours we’ll get consular access to see him and get a chance to learn more.”

The U.S. has “made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he’s been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return,” Pompeo said.

Whelan’s family said in a statement David Whelan posted on Twitter, “We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected.”

The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

David Whelan said in an interview that his brother had been to Russia several times previously, so when a fellow former Marine was planning a wedding in Moscow with a Russian woman he was asked to go along to help out.

The morning of his arrest, he had taken a group of wedding guests on a tour of the Kremlin museums. The last time anyone heard from him was at about 5 p.m. and then he failed to show up that evening for the wedding, his brother said.

“It was extraordinarily out of character,” he said.

The family feared he had been mugged or was in a car accident, David Whelan said, and it was when searching the internet on Monday that he learned of the arrest.

“I was looking for any stories about dead Americans in Moscow, so in a way it was better than finding out that he had died,” he said.

The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. David Whelan said the family was told by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow they have not been able to speak to Paul Whelan.

David Whelan said he has no idea why his brother was targeted by the Russian security services. Paul Whelan had traveled to Russia in the past for work and to visit friends he had met on social networks, his brother said.

“I don’t think there’s any chance that he’s a spy,” David Whelan told CNN on Wednesday.

Paul Whelan did multiple tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps, his brother said. He now lives in Novi, Michigan, and is director of global security for BorgWarner, where he has worked since early 2017.

“He is responsible for overseeing security at our facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan and at other company locations around the world,” company spokeswoman Kathy Graham said in a statement.

She said BorgWarner does not have any facilities in Russia.

Paul Whelan previously worked for Kelly Services, which does maintain offices in Russia, his brother said.

The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

A Russian gun rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.

Self-defense pushes Wichita’s homicide totals past last year

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita amassed more homicides in 2018 than in any year since 1995, in part because of an increase in self-defense killings.

At least 43 people died by homicide in Wichita over the past year, up five from 2017, The Wichita Eagle reported. Police said the five-person increase can in part be attributed to self-defense killings, which increased by five, from three to eight.

Kansas is among numerous states where citizens have no legal obligation to retreat from an attacker if they are lawfully present in a place. Before the stand-your-ground law was approved in Kansas in 2007, a person couldn’t use force before trying, if there was a chance, to escape violence or retreat.

A homicide is justifiable in Kansas when a person “reasonably believes” that the use of deadly force is “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm” to that person or a third party.

In the past three years, Wichita police have worked five times as many justifiable homicides as during the first six and a half years of the stand-your-ground law, according to numbers provided by police. From 2006 to the middle of 2012, Wichita police worked three justifiable homicide cases, police said at the time. From 2016 to 2018, there were 15.

Nationally, police shootings account for the majority of justifiable homicides.

Prosecutors can’t file charges against someone in Kansas in a self-defense killing unless the state can establish — beyond a reasonable doubt — that a person didn’t act in self-defense, said Marc Bennett, Sedgwick County’s district attorney.

Prosecutors must first decide whether a person believed he or she had to act when using deadly force. Then, prosecutors consider if that person’s belief was sensible under the facts known to that person at the time of the killing.

Bennett said charges can be dropped if evidence doesn’t show beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted in self-defense.

Kansas judge rules telemedicine abortions can continue

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge ruled Monday that Kansas cannot stop telemedicine abortions, thwarting the latest attempt by state lawmakers to prevent doctors from providing pregnancy-ending pills to women they see by remote video conferences.

District Judge Franklin Theis ruled that a law barring telemedicine abortions and set to take effect in January has no legal force. During an earlier hearing, Theis derided the law as an “air ball” because of how lawmakers wrote it.

That law was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Trust Women Wichita, which operates a clinic that performs abortions and provides other health care services.

Theis also ruled that other, older parts of the state’s abortion laws that could ban telemedicine abortions are on hold indefinitely because of a separate lawsuit challenging them that’s still pending.

The Wichita clinic began offering telemedicine abortions in October because its doctors live outside Kansas and could be on site only two days a week. It also hopes to provide the pills to women in rural areas and have them confer by teleconference with doctors.

The center argues that banning telemedicine abortions violates the state constitution by placing an undue burden on women seeking abortions and singling out abortion for special treatment when state policies intend to encourage telemedicine. Kansas has no clinics that provide abortions outside Wichita and the Kansas City area.

“That procedure by telemedicine is going to be legal after midnight (Monday), and the clinic will continue to offer it,” said Bob Eye, one of the attorneys for Trust Women. “This is a good outcome.”

The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, influential with the Republican-controlled Legislature, contends telemedicine abortions are dangerous. But a study of abortions in California, published in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ journal in 2015, said less than one-third of 1 percent of medication abortions resulted in major complications.

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, called Theis’ ruling “infuriating.”

“This judge has a long history of taking laws designed by the Legislature to protect unborn babies and women and turning them into laws that instead protect the abortion industry,” Culp said.

Seventeen other states have telemedicine abortion bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a group that advocates for abortion rights.

The 2018 law says that in policies promoting telemedicine, “nothing” authorizes “any abortion procedure via telemedicine.” Theis concluded that it’s toothless because it does not give prosecutors a way to bring a criminal case over a violation. He said in his order Monday that it “has no anchor for operation” — essentially rendering the clinic’s lawsuit moot.

The Kansas health department has reported that in 2017, the latest data available, nearly 4,000 medication abortions were reported, or 58 percent of the state’s total, all in the first trimester. It’s not clear how many of them were telemedicine abortions.

While abortion opponents have a long list of legislative victories over the past decade, they’ve fared less well in the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal of lower federal court orders barring Kansas from stripping Medicaid funds for non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood.

High school winter sports resume this week

With the holiday season in the rear-view mirror, and school set to resume in the next day or three, high school sports are ready to get back underway.

For Iola, the Mustangs and Fillies hit the road Friday to travel to Osawatomie. The squads then get another week off until returning home Jan. 11 to take on Wellsville.

The Mustang varsity wrestlers travel to Burlington Saturday, while the junior varsity grapplers will go to Independence. The full squad then travels to Labette County Jan. 10.

As for other area high schools, Humboldt’s basketball teams don’t resume action until next Tuesday at home against Fredonia. The Cub wrestlers will be in Burlington Saturday.

Marmaton Valley hits the basketball court Friday at home, hosting Crest. The Lancers have another road game Jan. 9 at Northeast-Arma before returning home Jan. 11 vs. Altoona-Midway.

Yates Center travels to West Elk Friday before returning home Jan. 11 against Jayhawk-Linn.

Southern Coffey County travels to Hartford Friday and hosts Madison Tuesday.

Allen Community College’s women will host Conners State at 2 p.m. Thursday. The Red Devil women and men will host Hutchinson at 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday, respectively.

Ohio State, Texas ring in new year with wins

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Dwayne Haskins passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and Urban Meyer finished his coaching career at Ohio State with a 28-23 victory after the Buckeyes held off Washington’s thrilling fourth-quarter comeback in the 105th Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon and Rashod Berry caught TD passes in the first half for the fifth-ranked Buckeyes (13-1), who took a 25-point lead into the fourth.

But Myles Gaskin threw a touchdown pass and rushed for two more scores for the No. 9 Huskies (10-4), scoring from 2 yards out with 42 seconds left.

The Buckeyes intercepted Jake Browning’s pass on the 2-point conversion attempt and then recovered the Huskies’ onside kick to wrap up the final game of Meyer’s seven-year tenure.

The 54-year-old coach is walking away after going 83-9 at Ohio State with one national championship, three Big Ten titles and this Rose Bowl victory, the Buckeyes’ eighth overall in the Granddaddy of Them All.

SUGAR BOWL

NO. 14 TEXAS 28, NO. 6 GEORGIA 21

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sam Ehlinger ran for three touchdowns, the Texas defense largely held Georgia’s offense in check, and the Longhorns earned their first 10-win season since 2009 with the win in the Sugar Bowl.

Ehlinger was the star of a gritty win, running for a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter, a 9-yard score in the second, and a 1-yard TD in the fourth. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore finished with 64 yards rushing on 21 carries and also threw for 169 yards.

Georgia (11-3) was a 12½-point favorite, but was sloppy at the outset.

Texas jumped out to a 17-0 lead by early in the second quarter, largely because of Georgia’s mistakes on special teams and offense.

Georgia got back into the game with a methodical 12-play drive that ended with Jake Fromm finding Brian Herrien for a 17-yard touchdown, but Texas still took a 20-7 advantage into halftime.

Fromm completed 20 of 34 passes for 212 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left to pull within 28-21 but Texas recovered the ensuing onside kick.

FIESTA BOWL

NO. 11 LSU 40, NO. 7 UCF 32

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Joe Burrow shook off a vicious early hit to throw for 394 yards and four touchdowns, helping LSU end Central Florida’s 25-game winning streak in the Fiesta Bowl.

LSU (10-3) started its first Fiesta Bowl without several key players on defense and fell into an early 11-point hole against the high-scoring Knights (12-1).

The Tigers clawed back behind Burrow and a defensive front that made life difficult for UCF quarterback Darriel Mack Jr.

Burrow was slow getting up after being blindsided by 313-pound defensive lineman Joey Connors on an interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter. LSU’s junior quarterback returned to the game and picked apart UCF’s secondary, hitting 21 of 34 of passes, including two touchdowns to Justin Jefferson.

LSU sacked Mack five times and made him rush numerous throws, holding the nation’s third-best offense to 250 total yards — 295 below its average — while spoiling the Knights’ bid for a second-straight self-proclaimed national title.

OUTBACK BOWL

IOWA 27, NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE 22

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Safety Jake Gervase made an interception in the end zone to help preserve a late lead, and ball-hawking Iowa Hawkeyes beat Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl.

Gervase also batted down an errant fourth-down pass to end the Bulldogs’ final drive at the Iowa 32 with 25 seconds left. Two earlier Mississippi State threats in the fourth quarter led to only three points.

The Hawkeyes totaled just 199 yards, with 75 coming on a touchdown pass from Nathan Stanley to Nick Easley, but they converted three takeaways into 17 points.

Stanley threw for 214 yards and three scores. The Hawkeyes won despite netting minus 15 yards rushing, and their three running backs totaled 4 yards in 15 carries.

Iowa (9-4) earned its biggest postseason victory since an Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech to cap the 2009 season.

Mississippi State (8-5) lost to a team outside the top 15 for the first time.

CITRUS BOWL

NO. 16 KENTUCKY 27, NO. 13 PENN STATE 24

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Benny Snell Jr. ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns to become Kentucky’s career rushing leader and help the Wildcats wrap up their best season in more than four decades with a victory over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.

Snell scored on runs of 2 and 12 yards in the second half, then carried for a couple of crucial first downs to help Kentucky (10-3) run out the clock after Trace McSorley of Penn State (9-4) trimmed a 27-7 deficit to three points despite playing with a foot injury.

McSorley threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, and the Nittany Lions’ career passing and wins leader also rushed for a team-high 75 yards on 19 attempts.

Lynn Bowden Jr. scored on a 58-yard punt return for Kentucky, and Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year Josh Allen had three of the Wildcats’ six sacks.

Kentucky finished with its first 10-win season since 1977, when the Wildcats went 10-1.

Snell broke Sonny Collins’ career rushing record on his 12-yard TD run that made it 27-7 late in the third quarter. Collins rushed for 3,835 yards from 1972-75.

Federer tops Serena

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Roger Federer won the bragging rights over fellow tennis great Serena Williams as they faced each other on court for the first time on Tuesday, with Federer spearheading Switzerland’s 4-2, 4-3 (3) victory over the United States in a mixed doubles decider at the Hopman Cup.

“I was nervous returning (Williams’ serve). People talk about her serve so much and I see why it is such a wonderful serve because you just can’t read it,” Federer said. “It was great fun. You see how determined and focused she is, and I love that about her.”

Federer and playing partner Belinda Bencic overcame Williams and Frances Tiafoe in the Fast4 format as Switzerland beat the U.S. 2-1 in front of a 14,000 capacity crowd.

Federer and Williams shared a good-natured interview afterward and then engaged in a selfie.

“It was so fun. This is super cool that we get to do it at such a pinnacle point of our careers,” Williams said. “I was so excited, and literally it was the match of my career. Just playing someone so great, and someone you admire so much, and a match that actually means something.”

Federer and Williams, both 37, have won 43 Grand Slam singles titles between them.

Defending champion Switzerland will qualify for Saturday’s final if it beats Greece on Thursday in Group B. The United States, which lost to Greece on Monday, can’t now advance.

The much-hyped contest quickly lived up to its billing with Federer almost running down Williams’ smash into the open court. Williams and Federer served strongly and were unable to return any of each other’s serves in the first set.

Federer’s sublime touch at the net proved decisive as he moved closer to a record third Hopman Cup title.

Williams grabbed at her right shoulder on several occasions late in the second set but played down any injury concern.

“It was such a quick turnaround, I didn’t have enough time to reload the cannon. It’s totally normal,” she said.

Earlier, Federer beat Tiafoe 6-4, 6-1 in the men’s singles before Williams’ 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Bencic.

Williams started fast in the women’s singles against Bencic — with an early break to storm to a 3-0 lead — before an error-strewn performance ensued as Bencic recovered to win the opener.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion fought back in a tight second set and captured the pivotal break in the 10th game. A flustered Bencic slammed her racket on the court as the match leveled and she never seriously threatened in the decider.

Federer was made to work during a tough first set before overwhelming the 20-year-old Tiafoe and taking control by winning seven straight games.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion needed just 57 minutes to claim his fourth straight victory over the rising American player.

Switzerland swept Britain in its opener when Federer had a masterclass win over British player Cameron Norrie in his opening match. Federer has lost just seven games in his first two matches of the round-robin tournament.

Federer’s appearances at the past two Hopman Cups laid the groundwork for successful Australian Open campaigns.

Famed ‘super fan’ dies of cancer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyler Trent, a former Purdue University student and college football super fan who inspired many with his battle against cancer, died Tuesday. He was 20.

His family confirmed the death to The Indianapolis Star.

Trent wanted to be a sportswriter and was determined to attend Purdue despite suffering three bouts with a rare bone cancer, first diagnosed at age 15. He entered Purdue in the fall of 2017 while undergoing chemotherapy. He camped out with another student to get good seats to a Purdue-Michigan football game, just hours after chemotherapy.

He gained national attention in 2018 by becoming the adopted captain of the Boilermakers football team. He was in a wheelchair for Purdue’s upset win over Ohio State, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time.

He became a social media star with his positive attitude and determination to live every day to the fullest despite the illness.

“Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make: to make that day the best it can be,” Trent wrote in a guest column for the newspaper in December.

Trent earned an associate degree from Purdue in computer information technology.

The Purdue athletic department offered condolences to Trent’s family and friends in a statement posted on its website.

“While there are no words to ease the hurt at times like this, we hope some comfort can be found in knowing what an inspiration Tyler is to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans,” the statement said. “The entire Purdue Athletics family has been touched by his courageous battle, positive spirit and unwavering faith. Tyler was the embodiment of a true Boilermaker who will live on in each of us. We will forever be #TylerStrong.”

Last year, Purdue created a scholarship, the Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award , for an undergraduate who has encountered adversity while pursuing a college degree.

The Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment also was set up to support cancer research at Purdue and received more than $100,000 in donations.

In December, Trent won Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award, given annually to college football’s most inspirational individual or team.

“Tyler Trent was among the biggest, strongest and wisest people you could ever meet,” said Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. “He reminded us what being good is all about.”