Allen County 4-H’s best and brightest were honored Wednesday during Achievement Night festivities.
Three prominent recipients received the prestigious Key Award, given in recognition of community service, leadership and attending various 4-H events.
Caitlin Dreher, 17, is the daughter of Jerry and Cathy Dreher. She has worked on a statewide community service initiative called the Agriculture Innovators Experience. She also serves as a 4-H camp counselor and is one of 19 teen leaders selected in Kansas to conduct the Water Windmill Challenge. As one of the state’s preeminent livestock judging youths, Dreher was a member of the National Champion Livestock Quiz Bowl Team at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. She also has been chosen to represent Kansas in the first ever livestock all-star team that will judge at the National 4-H Contest in Louisville, Ky., later this month.
Jenna Wilks, 16, is the daughter of J.D. and Jill Wilks. She was chairperson of the Prairie Dell Farm-City Days float project. (The float won first place.). She also organized a Southeast Kansas Youth Rabbit show, featuring 25 youngsters showing 67 entries. She hopes to expand it in the future. Wilks also earned a top 10 showmanship recognition at the 2015 District Horse Show.
Emily McKarnin, 16, is the daughter of Robert and Karen McKarnin. She has been active each holiday season by helping with the Community Pantry and adopting a family in need of assistance. She also helps with maintenance and upkeep at the horse barn at the Riverside Park fairgrounds. She also is willing to help others with their horse and dog projects, and has served as a dog leader.
Friends of 4-H awards went to Grace Spencer of Moran, who has helped with 4-H music projects for more than 40 years; and Mary Frances White, a 50-year 4-H volunteer.
Achievement Night 4-H honorees.
(“LP” stands for Logan Pals, “CS” for City Slickers, “PD” for Prairie Dell, “SB” for Square B and “PR” for Prairie Rose.)
Membership pin — Emma B’Hymer, Jr. LP; Alyvia Brannan, Int. LP; Kynna Brannan, Jr. LP; Chloe Daniels, Int. LP; Josie Ellis, Jr. LP; Cassidy Friend, Jr. LP; Isaac Hopkins, Jr. CS; Sam Hull, Jr. LP; Raveyn Kegler, Jr. PR; Ty LaRue, Jr. PR; Kennedy Maier, Jr. LP; Payton Scharff, Jr. PR; Mason Sterling, Jr. LP; Emilia Wilkerson, Jr. PD; Cody White, Jr. LP; and Avery Works, Jr. LP.
Bronze pin — Jaiden Emmons, Jr. LP; Jarrett Herrmann, Ind. PR; Ty Johnson, Sr. PR; Abigail Meiwes, Jr. SB; Kyser Nemecek, Jr. CS; Brennon Nuessen, Jr. CS; Brigg Shannon, Jr. LP; and Shelby Shaughnessy, Jr. CS.
Clover pin — Elizabeth Baker, Int. LP; Brandon McKarnin, Jr. PD; Anna Reibel, Int. SB: Ashley Riebel, Jr. SB; Molly Schomaker, Int. PR; Lizzi White, Jr. LP; Madi White, Int. LP; and Luke Wicoff, Jr. PD.
Emerald pins — Carly Dreher, Jr. CS; Austin Gardener, Int. PR; Bailey LaRue, Int. PR; Lexy Riebel, Int. SB; Abby Rinehart, Int. LP; and Gabriella Sharp, Int. LP.
Silver pin — Zoey Rinehart, Int. PR; Casey McKarnin, Int. PD; Levi Meiwes, Int. SB; Abby Riebel, Int. SB; and Jacob Riebel, Sr. PR.
Leadership pin — Jillian Keller, Int. CS; Brody Nemecek, Int. CS; Danielle Sharp, Sr. LP; and Karlie Stephens, Int. PR.
Gold pin — Shelby Yoho, Sr. PR.
Key Award winner — Caitlin Dreher, Sr. CS; Emily McKarnin, Sr. PD; and Jenna Wilks, Sr. PD.
Cloverbud Awards — Wyatt Burnett, PR; Emmitt Carson, LP; Sophie Heim, Pr; Jase Herrmann, PR; Laney Hull, LP; Dierks Kegler, PR; Elizabeth Maier, LP; Mylee Miller, LP; Cooper Scharff, PR; Creed Shannon, LP; Ty Shaughnessy, CS; and Shelby Sprague, PR.
Other Awards:
Friends of 4-H Recognition — Mary Frances White and Grayce Spencer.
Camp Counselor — Caitlin Dreher.
Purple Seals — City Slickers, Logan Pals, Prairie Dell, Prairie Rose and Square B.
Officer Awards (top ratings) — Clara Wicoff, PD, secretary book; Zoi Yoho, PR, and Taylyn Wells, LP, treasurer book; Shelby Yoho, LP, reporter book; and Kaysha Elmenhorst, PR, historian book.
Overall Achievement Pin — Shelby Yoho.
Champion Seniors — Danielle Sharp, beef, dog care and training and meat goat; Delaney Umholtz, clothing and textiles; Jenna Wilks, rabbit; and Shelby Yoho, foods and nutrition, leadership and photography.
Senior Awards — Hesston Murrow, Tilar Wells and Seth Yowell, beef; Jessica Sharp and Shelby Yoho, clothing and textiles; Emily Smart and Jackson Wilks, foods and nutrition; Jonathan Rodewald, leadership; and Klair Vogel, photography.
Intermediate Awards — Gabriella Sharp and Brody Nemecek, beef; Jenni Armstrong, Abby Rinehart and Zoey Rinehart, clothing and textiles; Gabriella Sharp and Zoi Yoho, dog care; Brody Nemecek, entomology; Gracie Yoho, Fiber Arts, Jenni Armstrong, Carly Dreher, Austin Gardner and Zoey Rinehart, foods and nutrition; Brody Nemecek and Alyvia Brannon, goats (meat); Jenni Armstrong, home environment; Lane Roloff and Kahlan Roloff, horse; Zoi Yoho, leadership; Tori White, Austin Gardner, Josh Hull and Kaylan Roloff, photography; Kahlan Roloff, plant science; Abby Rinehart, Lizzi White and Zoi Yoho, rabbit; Jenni Armstrong, reading; Tori White and Madi White, self-determined; Carly Dreher and Brody Nemecek, sheep; Carly Dreher, Cooper Jaro, Zoey Rinehart and Brody Nemecek, swine; Jenni Armstrong, Carly Dreher and Gracie Yoho, visual arts and crafts; and Josh Hull, woodworking.
Junior awards — Kyser Nemecek, beef; Josie Ellis and Carly Kramer, bucket calf; Emilia Wilkerson and Carly Kramer, clothing and textiles; Brigg Shannon, entomology; Cody White, Josie Ellis, Sam Hull and Kyser Nemecek, foods and nutrition; Kyser Nemecek and Kynna Brannon, goats (meat); Katelyn Hicks and Cassidy Friend, horse; Emilia Wilkerson, performing arts; Carly Kramer, photography; Emilia Wilkerson and Carly Kramer, reading; Cody White and Brigg Shannon, self-determined; Carson Keller and Kyser Nemecek, sheep; Kyser Nemecek and Isaac Hopkins, space tech; Isaac Hopkins, shooting sports; Kyser Nemecek, Josie Ellis, Teghen Jaro and Isaac Hopkins, swine; Brigg Shannon, visual arts and crafts; and Sam Hull, woodworking.
Iola man sentenced for Medicaid Fraud
Iolan Kim Alan Laymon was ordered Wednesday to repay $7,000 to the Kansas Medicaid Program after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud-related charges.
Laymon, 53, pleaded guilty in September in Neosho County District Court to one count of theft, according to a press release from Attorney General Derek Schimdt’s office.
Judge Daryl Ahlquist Wednesday ordered Laymon to repay the $7,000, and sentenced him to seven months in prison. The prison sentence was suspended for 12 months probation.
Convictions such as this one also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.
An investigation revealed that Laymon billed Medicaid for personal care attendant services for a consumer in Iola while working at another job in Chanute, the press release said. The consumer did not receive the services. The crime occurred between March and December 2013.
The case was part of “Operation No Show,” a cooperative effort between the attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Inspector General to investigate fraudulent billing to Medicaid for personal care services provided in Medicaid beneficiaries’ homes.
Wednesday’s sentencing brings to a close the ninth case in this joint effort to crack down on those who take advantage of these federal and state administered healthcare programs, Schmidt said. More than $342,000 in restitution payable to the Kansas Medicaid program has been ordered as a result of these efforts.
Other joint investigations are ongoing.
National Guard commander to speak
Brig. Gen. Roy Windham, commander and assistant adjutant general of the Kansas Army National Guard, will deliver the keynote address Saturday as part of Iola’s salute to the nation’s veterans.
“Every Hero Has a Story” is the theme for the 2015 Veterans Day Celebration, which kicks off at 11 a.m. near the Veterans Wall on the courthouse square.
In addition to Windham’s comments, Iolan Becky French will sing the national anthem; Iolan Phil Honeycutt will provide the invocation and benediction; the Moran American Legion firing squad will volley a 21-gun salute; and Iolan Andy Dunlap will play “Taps.”
The annual parade will kick off at noon, featuring soldiers from the Kansas Army National Guard’s 891st Engineer Battalion.
The guardsmen also will carry a giant United States flag and drive various military vehicles.
Other veterans are invited to partake in the parade as well. A float will be available to carry any veteran who would prefer to ride in the parade. The float will be set up in front of the Allen County Historical Society Museum.
In between the ceremony and parade, the Iola Elks Lodge will serve up a bean feed.
And for the second consecutive year, an empty chair will be placed in honor of the late Alfred Link, one of the primary organizers for local Veterans Day celebrations until his death in March 2014.
WINDHAM brings with him a number of accomplishments.
He earned a bronze star medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with 2nd oak leaf cluster and the 1st Cavalry Division Order of the Combat Spur.
His assignments include serving as assistant division commander with the 35th Infantry Division; commander of the 235th Regiment, deputy chief of staff for logistics; and as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he served as commander of Task Force Hurricane; deputy commander of the 130th Field Artillery Brigade; and deputy commander of Task Force Tornado.
He has also served in various command positions at the battalion and battery level.
Windham is a 1986 graduate of Officer Candidate School at the Kansas Military Academy.
In his civilian job, Windham works for the Army as a regional director of Network Enterprise Centers.
He lives in Junction City.
ACC women’s basketball survives
NEVADA, Mo. — The Allen Community College women’s basketball team picked up its second win of the season Monday night after defeating Cottey College 65-56.
The Lady Red Devils fought their way out of an early 14-7 deficit behind another balanced offensive attack.
Coach Todd Buchanan’s team finished the night with a total of 18 assists.
Ashley Washington led Allen with 22 points and was lights out from beyond the three-point arc, finishing the night 5-of-7.
She also added five assists. Haley Wilson complemented Washington on the scoring front, racking up 20 points.
Allen will play tonight against Crowder College on the road.
ACC men’s basketball wins
PARSONS — The Allen Community College men’s basketball team defeated Labette 105-89 on Tuesday night.
In one of the uglier games in the early season, the Red Devils and the Cardinals combined to rack up 68 fouls — 26 belonging to Allen.
Down 51-43 at half, the Red Devils stormed back after the break behind their collective 17-of-34 shooting performance.
Jermaine Long once again led Allen in scoring, finishing the contest with 20 points. Half of his points came from the free-throw line, from which he shot 83.3 percent on the night.
Coach Andy Shaw’s squad had five players, including Long, reach double-digit scoring figures en route to Allen’s victory.
The Red Devils are now 2-0 on the season and return home for their next game on Friday against Oklahoma Wesleyan JV at 7 p.m.
Letter to the editor — November 4, 2015
Dear editor,
I thought I had made monumental contributions as a USAF master sergeant with over 21 years of honorable service upon my February 1978 retirement. I received the normal good luck messages from the Out Processing Center, fellow unit members and friends.
I grew up in upstate New York prior to my USAF enlistment and ended up back in the area 13 months before my retirement. I spent the next eight months in Maine, got married, and then left for a job in Kansas.
The point I am trying to make is that I had not been thanked for my service until I had arrived in Iola. That did not happen just once but several times as I opened up business accounts and met my neighbors. I felt I received more cordial treatment from the Iola community than I did where I grew up. I am proud now to be a part of that community.
Dave Mathewson, MSgt USAF Retired,
Iola, Kan.
Save the lecture, give us the cash
Sometimes, you just want the money.
It’s all the vogue these days for wealthy donors to give large sums in efforts to improve the education of our youth.
Trouble is, the strings attached are enough to strangle the giant Gulliver.
Mark Zuckerberg, Bill and Melinda Gates, the Walmart Foundation, are just a few (corporations are people, too, you know) who have gone beyond generous to improve K-12 education. Some purport charter schools as the answer while others tout enhanced curriculums.
Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and his wife, Priscella Chan, a pediatrician, are planning a school in the San Francisco area geared toward low-income students that also provides free health care and an on-site clinic.
This is the second experimental school the young couple have founded. Their first was a school where students were enrolled not by age, but by ability.
NOT TO DIMINISH the importance of inspiring curriculums, but in Kansas, specifically Iola, Kansas, we could do with some cold, hard cash to put toward crumbling infrastructure.
This year, for instance, it rained on the first day of school. At Lincoln Elementary, students found buckets spread around classrooms to catch the drips.
In his farewell piece in the New York Times, longtime columnist Joe No-cera, who’s written extensively on education, noted that broken down buildings do send the powerful, and tragic, message to students that society doesn’t put a priority on their education.
A well-kept facility, on the other hand, boosts morale not only among students, but also teachers and administrators.
In all likelihood, Iola will not see a new school for many years. With the overwhelming defeat of the 2014 bond issue, we also lost our chance for significant state funding to go toward construction of a new school and retirement of the bonds. At the time of the election we could expect a 51 percent state match. If a school bond issue were passed today the state’s contribution — which is figured by a district’s relative wealth — would be 36 percent.
On that specific bond issue, the 51 percent match would have equated to $41 million of which $25 million would have gone toward construction and $16 million applied to the bonds.
Under today’s formula, we would receive almost $29 million for the same package; a difference of about $12 million.
For local taxpayers who thought the tax burden would have been too great to support new schools in 2014, the prospect for their support becomes an even greater challenge.
Meanwhile, the needs of the district’s aging buildings continue to outpace resources.
“We’re not meeting our needs now, much less hope to have funds for a rainy day,” said Jack Koehn, USD 257 superintendent of schools.
An ongoing fear? That more than one school’s heating and cooling system — all past their expiration dates — calls it quits at the same time.
Their modus operandi? Deferred maintenance.
For our kids, that translates to a diminished educational experience.
— Susan Lynn
Rose Katzer
Rose E. Katzer, age 93, Garnett, formerly of Kincaid, died Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, at Golden Heights in Garnett.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Holy Angels Catholic Church, Garnett. Burial will follow in the Holy Angels Cemetery, Garnett. The family will greet friends following a Rosary at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel, Garnett.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Rose School. Condolences may be sent to www.feuerbornfuneral.com.
Ladybugs make presence known
It was almost as if Carla Nemecek were expecting the phone call from a resident curious about the swarms of ladybugs that started cropping up over the weekend.
“You mean the Asian lady beetle?” asked Nemecek, Southwind Extension agent for agriculture. “Yes, we know all about them.”
The ladybugs — also known as harmonia axyridis or multicolored Asian lady beetles — have grown more populous in recent falls, to the point that a walk outside Sunday revealed dozens of the little critters fluttering about.
Nemecek provided information about the lady beetles, and how homeowners can protect their interiors.
Among the highlights:
The large and colorful ladybugs are easily identified by the large, black “W” on the thorax behind the head.
The background coloration of the wings varies greatly, from yellowish to pale orange to bright red, depending on the type of food consumed in the larval stage.
Spots vary in number and intensity, and typically are genetically determined.
While lady beetles are generally recognized as beneficial insects for their ability to consume large numbers of garden pests such as aphids, the Asian lady beetle is another story.
That’s because this particular species has displaced many less competitive native lady beetles from particular habitats. It has since reached the point that it poses a threat to the biodiversity in some ecosystems.
The Asian lady beetle also causes problems in fruit crops such as pears and peaches because of its habit of nibbling on ripe fruit. When abundant in vineyards, it can affect the flavor in certain types of wine production.
But for Kansans, the biggest source of irritation is how the beetles try to make it indoors as the weather cools.
As the days shorten, the lady bugs tend to gather in clusters and seek to enter protected sites for overwintering, such as barns, sheds and houses.
The beetles are most active on warm fall or winter days, such as what eastern Kansas has experienced this week.
They tend to be attracted to pale-colored or white buildings with good exposure to sunlight.
Not only can large numbers of the Asian lady beetles create an offensive smell and foul living quarters, they can cause allergic reactions in some people and have been known to nip the human skin with their mandibles.
PREVENTION
The best means of preventing infestations is to keep the pests outside, Nemecek noted.
Homeowners should seal all gaps around windows, door frames, eaves and soffits with caulk, silicone or other suitable compounds.
Pesticide barrier sprays applied along cracks and other points of entry can help, but only if done by a certified applicator.
Removing the lady bugs is best done with a broom and dust pan, or with a vacuum cleaner.
The vacuuming process will kill almost all of the lady beetles, so homeowners needn’t worry about the insects crawling back out.
Removal is best accomplished in cool weather, such as evenings, when the beetles are unable to fly.
NEMECEK welcomes calls from folks curious about Asian lady beetles or other entomological questions.
She can be reached at 365-2242.
Crest in action tonight
The Crest High School football team will host Caldwell tonight at 6 o’clock in the opening round of the Kansas Eight-Man Division II playoffs.
Crest finished the regular season with a 5-3 record and a perfect 4-0 mark in district play.
Caldwell, which is from the South Central Border League, finished its regular-season slate with a 4-5 overall record and a 3-2 record in its district matchups.
The Lancers are riding into tonight’s contest with a four-game winning streak in which they have scored at least 48 points in each of those victories.
Crest kicked off the 2015 season with a 1-3 record that included a three-game losing skid. But coach Chuck Mahon and company have since turned it around and look for success in the playoffs.