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Government, Jobs, Kansas

Ribbon Cutting For Job Program At Women’s Correctional Facility

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Women’s correctional facility to hold ribbon cutting for coding program

Students to receive special message from Jason Jones, alumni graduate of The Last Mile program

 

Topeka Correctional Facility will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, June 11, to celebrate the female offenders who have reached the halfway point in the inaugural coding class at 9 a.m.

 

Keynote Speaker, Secretary of Commerce, David Toland, will recognize the benefits of preparing more people for in-demand tech jobs, which aids business recruitment efforts. State officials and business leaders as well as business leaders from the tech industry will take part in the ceremony that will feature a tour of the classroom and facility.

 

Jason Jones is lead virtual instructor for the San Francisco-based, non-profit The Last Mile (TLM) which is partnering with the Kansas Department of Corrections and its education contractor, Greenbush, to bring the program to Topeka Correctional Facility. Jason will bring a message of inspiration, since he has been in the same situation as the students only one year ago and is now succeeding post-release.

 

The 15 women in the program’s first 12-month class are learning HTML, CCS and JavaScript to help them gain access to high-demand jobs upon release. Beyond technical skills, students also are learning business soft skills, including teamwork and communication.

 

“The Last Mile is proud to provide our coding program to the women at Topeka Correctional facility in partnership with KDOC and Greenbush,” said Chris Redlitz, TLM co-founder. “The Last Mile graduates will return to their communities with marketable skills, new opportunities and renewed hope for the future.”

WHO:        Topeka Correctional Facility staff and inmates, Acting Secretary of Corrections Charles (Chuck) Simmons, Secretary of Commerce David Toland, Greenbush Associate Executive Director Stacie Clarkson, The Last Mile (TLM) Co-founder Chris Redlitz and TLM Lead Virtual Instructor Jason Jones. State officials and business leaders from the tech industry also will take part.

 

WHAT:     Ribbon cutting ceremony for The Last Mile’s coding and technology training program at Topeka Correctional Facility

 

WHEN:     Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 9 a.m.

 

WHERE:  Topeka Correctional Facility, 815 S.E. Rice Road

 

Media are welcome to attend. Please note that all attendees will pass through a metal detector. Cash over $50, mobile phones, tobacco products and weapons are prohibited.

 

Topeka Correctional Facility, the state’s only correctional facility for women, has a population of 920.

 

About The Last Mile

The Last Mile (TLM) is a non-profit founded in 2010 at San Quentin to address the societal impact of incarceration as a drain on human and fiscal resources. TLM is the first full stack coding program inside US prisons. Its mission is to provide marketable skills that result in gainful employment and core belief is that having a job is the key to successful reentry and breaking the cycle of incarceration. TLM currently operates facilities in California, Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma.

 

The program provides computer coding training to prepare its students for release into today’s high-tech environment. There is a projected shortage of nearly 1 million software engineering jobs by 2020. TLM graduates will be well positioned to qualify for many of these technology related jobs. To learn more visit: thelastmile.org

Obituary

Obituary of Patsy Franklin

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Patsy Elaine Franklin, age 80, a resident of Gardner, Kansas, passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2019, at the St. Luke’s South Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas.  She was born June 26, 1938, in Prescott, Kansas, the daughter of Vernon Richard Carrel and Esther Alice McAlister Carrel.  Pat graduated from the Prescott High School, Ft. Scott Community College and later received her BS in Education from Pittsburg State University.  She married Gary Wayne Franklin on December 29, 1972.  After completing college, Pat taught school in both Hume and Metz, Missouri.  She worked as a habilitation supervisor for the Missouri Department of Mental Health at the Nevada State Hospital and retired January 1, 2002, after twenty-four years of employment.   In addition to working at the hospital, she also worked weekends as the night clerk at the Best Western Hotel in Ft. Scott.  After retirement, she went back to work as a special education teacher in Gardner, Kansas.  She attended the Hume Christian Church and had been a past member of the Eastern Star.  She enjoyed cooking, dancing and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Survivors include her children, Lynn Plain and wife, Kathi, of Ft. Scott, Kansas, Candy Duarte and husband, Manuel, of Spring Hill, Kansas, Tammy Locke and husband, Kevin, of Gardner, Kansas and Polly Plain and her beloved dogs Sheba and Tut, of Gardner, Kansas with whom Patsy had made her home; step-daughter, Jenny Franklin, of Nashville, Tennessee; eleven grandchildren, Deidre Hof, Jeffrey Plain (Courtney), Levi Locke (Mini), Shyan Locke, Ali Duarte, April Maxwell, Logan Maxwell, Ricky Duarte (Ashley), Elizabeth Schiller (Joe), Rachel Duarte and Nick Duarte (Amanda) and nine great-grandchildren, Olivia, Cassidy, Casen, Ella, Audrina, Oliver, Dexter, Eden and Ayla.  Also surviving are her step-mother, Anna Mae Carrel, of Nevada, Missouri, nieces, nephews and extended family members.

Her husband, Gary, preceded her in death on October 2, 2009.  She was also preceded in death by her brother Lawrence Carrel and a great-granddaughter, Alex.

Rev. Chuck Russell will conduct funeral services at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, June 11th at the Cheney Witt Chapel.  Burial will follow in the U. S. National Cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 P.M. Monday at the Cheney Witt Chapel.  Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701.  Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

 

Government, Kansas

Correctional Facilities Overcrowding

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Overcrowding issues to continue at state correctional facilities

 

The State Finance Council voted today to deny funding for space and programming for overcrowded female prisoners and full funding for outsourcing male beds throughout the Kansas prison system.

 

The Kansas Department of Corrections requested a total of $30 million of which the State Finance Council approved $4.5 million for Hepatitis C treatment, $9.1 million for correctional officer pay increases and $11 million for contract beds. The council approved only $4.38 million of the $11 million requested for outsourcing beds and denied funding to address Topeka Correctional Facility overcrowding.

 

“The decision to reduce funding for outsourcing beds forces officers at El Dorado Correctional Facility to continue working 16-hour shifts,” said Acting Corrections Secretary Charles Simmons. “Failure to fully address overcrowding issues unnecessarily increases danger to staff, offenders and the public.”

 

The council voted to deny $3 million erroneously appropriated by the state legislature for renovations to a building on the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex campus in Topeka. Funding was actually requested by the KDOC for staff to supervise 120 adult female inmates and provide substance abuse treatment.

 

The action to deny funding for this project leaves the KDOC without its primary option to address overcrowding among female inmates. Currently, the state’s only correctional facility for women has a capacity for 903 inmates though the facility has a population of 930. Population projections from the Kansas Sentencing Commission estimate the population to burgeon to 1,018 in Fiscal Year 2020.

 

“The council agreed we need to raise the pay for our correctional staff and increased funding for Hepatitis C treatment for inmates, but we are disappointed in the decision that will continue overcrowding for both male and female offenders,” Simmons said.

 

“This was the council’s opportunity to take a significant first step toward addressing the state’s inmate population problem,” he said. “I am concerned that these decisions will result in the state passing its prison overcrowding problems onto county jails.”

Government, Kansas

Rural Prosperity Listening Tour

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Governor, Lt. Governor announce Office of Rural Prosperity Listening Tour Details

 

Governor Laura Kelly and Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers announced at a press conference today details on the upcoming Office of Rural Prosperity Listening Tour.

 

The tour is intended to foster new ways to help rural Kansas communities by hearing from the residents themselves.

 

“Rural Kansas has been overlooked and unheard for far too long,” Governor Kelly said. “Our small towns have been neglected. Today we’re taking an important step toward changing this serious problem.”

 

This upcoming series of events serves as the first phase of the new Office of Rural Prosperity, which has been approved for a $2 million allocation in the newly approved FY 2020 budget. Each location will partner with local hosts in order to set up locations and events.

 

The Office of Rural Prosperity is dedicated to improving life in rural Kansas. The office is guided by the blueprint created by Governor Kelly, Lt. Governor Rogers and Secretary of Commerce David Toland, which includes:

 

  • Developing rural housing
  • Revitalizing Main Street corridors
  • Investing in rural infrastructure
  • Supporting rural hospitals and medical professional recruitment
  • Making state government work for rural Kansas
  • Incentivizing active tourism
  • Supporting agribusiness

 

The tour is intended to travel to the following towns across the state:

 

  • Nickerson – June 17
  • Atchison – June 20
  • Colby – June 24
  • Phillipsburg – June 25
  • Ulysses – July 8
  • Dodge City – July 9
  • Garnett – July 22
  • Independence – July 23
  • Concordia – July 31
  • Sabetha – August 1
  • Lindsborg – August 7
  • Winfield – August 8

 

The tour will cover a wide area of the state in order to learn specific challenges and opportunities for the many different rural communities across Kansas.

 

“The governor and I recognize the needs of our rural communities are unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach,” Lt. Governor Rogers said. “We must look at a variety of multifaceted policies and programs that will empower local leaders by helping them access the resources they need. In other words, we must help Kansas communities and local leaders carve out their own route to prosperity.”

 

More information is available at http://www.ruralkanprosper.ks.gov.

 

You can follow along with the tour with the Lt. Governor on Twitter @LtGovRogers and use the hashtag #LynnListens.

 

“I’m excited to begin this tour and have meaningful conversations about rural Kansas.,” Lt. Governor Rogers said. “It’s time for elected leaders to be sincere about listening to people in rural communities who’ve been overlooked and taken for granted far too long. We can and will do better.”

 

Bourbon County, Business, Fort Scott

Listening Sessions For Employers

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KANSASWORKS in partnership with Wichita State University will host
Listening Sessions for Employers
on Wednesday, June 12th
Learn resources, strategies, and tools that may attract more people into the labor force
Wichita State University in partnership with Southeast KANSASWORKS will host
Listening Sessions for Employers
on Wednesday, June 12th.
The sessions will be at Ellis Fine Art Center at Fort Scott Community College. Employers can choose to attend one session at the following times:
8:00 am- Breakfast
11:30 am- Lunch
4:00 pm- Refreshments
The goal of the session will be to listen to employers on trends they are seeing when hiring, learn about successes or challenges they face, and discuss resources, strategies, and tools that may attract more people into the labor force.
To learn more or to sign up,
click HERE.
You may also contact
Katie Givens, PHR, SHRM-CP
316-295-0923 / [email protected]
Obituary

Obituary of Audrey Frantz

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Audrey E. Frantz, 97, of Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, passed away on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at her home.

She was the wife of the late Franklin A. “Buck” Frantz who passed away in 2001.

Born September 3, 1921, in Arcadia, Kansas, she was a daughter of the late James Herbert and Francis Elizabeth (Horn) McDaniel.

Audrey was a 1939 graduate of Fort Scott High School in Fort Scott, Kansas, and a 1941 graduate of Woodrow Wilson Junior College. She worked in the accounting department of the Continental Insurance Co. in Chicago, Illinois for forty years.

She was a member of Christ Hamilton United Lutheran Church and she loved to write poetry.

Audrey is survived by a nephew, Wayne Winterberg of Midlothian, Illinois, and by her “adopted granddaughter”, Olga Schillinger.

Following services in Pennsylvania on Friday, May 31, 2019, at the Kresge Funeral Home, Audrey will be entombed next to her husband Buck in Rosebank Cemetery in Mulberry, Kansas under the direction of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home in Fort Scott, Kansas. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.

Obituary

Obituary of Dean Ellis

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Dean M. Ellis, 65, a resident of Eugene, Oregon, died June 1, 2019, in Fort Scott, Kansas. He was born to Mark and Barbara Ellis April 3, 1954, in San Francisco, California, where he grew up and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School.

He moved to Eugene, Oregon in the early 1980’s. He worked in a number of restaurants in San Francisco, Santa Maria, and Eugene, Oregon.

Dean is survived by his brothers, Richard Ellis and wife Judith Nishimori, of Santa Maria, California, and Carl Ellis and wife Sandra, of Fort Scott, Kansas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mark and Barbara Ellis.

Private services will be held in in San Rafael, California. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Alliance on Mental illness, www.nami.org, or the San Francisco Zoo. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, Fort Scott, Kansas. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.

Obituary

Obituary of Marilyn Gibson Blincoe

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Marilyn Gibson Blincoe passed away on Saturday, April 27 at her home in Lodi, CA. She was taken up into the arms of God her Heavenly Father.


Marilyn Louise Gibson was born to Carl and Nina Gibson on September 20, 1929, in LaCrosse, Kansas. She grew up in Dighton, Hays, and Lawrence. She was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at the University of Kansas. She met her husband, Robert Melville Blincoe, at the university. They were married January 27, 1950, in the First Christian Church of Lawrence.

Marilyn began taking care of foster babies in Seattle in 1958. She dedicated herself to providing a loving home for more than 250 babies. This was her life mission for more than five decades, first in Seattle and then in Burlingame, Atherton, and Lodi, CA.

Marilyn is survived by her loving husband of 69 years and her children Robert Alan (Jan), Carl (Susan), Mark (Cyndi), Kris and Nicole, as well as 20 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Daughter Patricia Louise Jones preceded Marilyn in death. Now Marilyn is reunited with her parents, her brothers Robert Desmond, Carl Dean and Daniel Gibson, and other loved ones who went before her.

There will be a private memorial service at Fort Scott National Cemetery. Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.