9:30-Commissioners to discuss Emergency Declaration
Justifications for Executive Session:
Personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel
Consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship
Matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative(s) of the body or agency
Confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships
Preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property
Matters relating to the security of a public body or agency, public building or facility or the information system of a public body or agency, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such public body, agency, building, facility or information system
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
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
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.
Rosie’s Cabin and Event Center is located at 563 Maple Road, Uniontown, Kansas. Submitted photo.
Kelsey and Kaley Blythe have been busy renovating Rosie’s Cabin-Wedding and Event Center, an event venue just west of Uniontown.
Kelsey and Kaley Blythe sit on the porch of the lodge of Rosie’s Cabin Wedding and Event Center. Submitted photo.
The event center is open for business, Kelsey Blythe said.
There have been updates to the large event center and also the accompanying cabin that is available.
In the large event center, with a large front porch overlooking the pond, walls have been painted, lights hung from the rafters, drapes hung and the bathroom updated, Kelsey said.
The cabin on the property will be used for guests and has seen a more extensive remodel.
“The cabin will be posted on Airbnb and will be available for hunters during hunting season,” she said. ” When there are weddings it will be used for a dressing cabin and a honeymoon suite for the couple. Our first wedding will be at the end of July. We had the Uniontown (High School) Prom on April 13th this year.”
The cabin has one bedroom and a finished attic with a futon, and in addition, the main floor has a reclining couch
The cabin price is still to be determined, she said.
“The only thing left in the cabin was the bathroom sink,” Kelsey said of the cabin remodel.
“Jeremy Hoover Construction is doing all the remodeling for Rosie’s and is in the final phase of putting it all together. Original hardwood floors were redone this month and the floor is now dry and beautiful. Light fixtures are hung and bathroom is complete with a tiled walk-in shower with a rain-style showerhead.”
“Everything from plumbing and electric to cabinets and walls are all new,” she said.
A back door was added to provide two exits.
“Up next is applying all of our beautiful walnut and cedar wood accents,” she said. ” We will have a bar in the cabin made of walnut, a countertop made of cedar and an awesome accent wall made of wood as well as the trim all of walnut. All of the wood used is from trees cut by my husband on this property and made into boards by the Amish.”
Then doors will be hung, cabinets installed, and new appliances added.
“It is very modern, minimalistic and functional,” Kelsey said.
“The usage of this venue is ultimately limitless. We are only limited by our creativity and how we wish to market the place. To start, we want to appeal to all the young ladies and gentlemen in this area that are planning for their big wedding day.”
The Blythe’s are marketing the venue in the Kansas City and Springfield, MO areas, as well as locally.
Rosie’s Cabin Event Center, 2019. A porch on the south overlooks a gazebo and pond. Submitted photo.
“Our weekend wedding price is $3,250 and that gives you everything Rosie’s has to offer for the entire weekend. The place is yours from Friday to Sunday at noon,” Kelsey said.
Graduation parties, family reunions, class reunions, anniversaries, bridal showers, baby showers are welcomed to Rosie’s Cabin, she said.
“At this time we are offering half-day events for 2019 at $200 and full day events at $400,” Kelsey said.
“We are gladly opening our doors to those events and believe we have priced them accordingly,” Kelsey said. “We are new to this type of business and have a learning curb ahead. So our pricing is subject to change.”
“We are going to host a big open house bash sometime late in the summer, with a date to be announced,” she said. “We joined the (Fort Scott)Chamber of Commerce so we are excited to have them out and do an official ribbon cutting at that time. Snacks and drinks will be served. Come-and-go-as-you-please type of party that may turn into an all evening affair with music and dancing!”
A view of the large facility with the coved porch that overlooks a gazebo and pond. In the background is the cabin that can be rented also. Submitted photo.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
Krista Postai, President & CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas headquartered at 3011 N. Michigan, Pittsburg, KS 66762.
Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas is considering its options looking to the future of the Fort Scott center. They currently have a two-year lease with Mercy Hospital.
“We did formally request land from Mercy behind the existing hospital facing Horton Street and they have tentatively agreed to provide us space for a new 25,000 sq. ft. building,” Postai said. “Nothing formal has been signed but I understand the Mercy attorneys are working on it. This news has been shared with staff and we’ll start working on the design late in June.”
“We hope to fund it with a USDA low-interest loan they make available for rural communities like Ft. Scott,” she said. “It will have space for medical, dental, behavioral health services and a pharmacy. We hope to have it completed by January 2021.”
Recruitment is ongoing for the health center, she said.
“We do continue to work on staff recruitment for another physician and a psychologist or LSCSW, so if anyone has a relative that wants to move home we have a good opportunity for them,” Postai said.
K-State Research and Extension Southwind District Family and Consumer Science Agent, Joy Miller, 620-223-3720 or [email protected]
Be an Active Family with StoryWalk®
Physical activity is important for children and adults of all ages. Being active as a family can benefit everyone. Add StoryWalk® to your family summer activity list this year. StoryWalk® was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT. Her idea was to laminate the pages from a children’s story book and place them on stakes along a walking path for children and adults to read together. As you stroll down the path reading, you and your family can get multiple benefits from this activity.
Reading out loud. Whether you read to your child, your child reads to you, or you take turns, it expands a child’s interest in books. It also increases vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and attention span. Communication and listening skills are also developed when discussing pictures in the book, what is going on in the story, and predicting what might happen next.
Relationship building. Besides being educational, reading books together can strengthen the bond between the child and parent, grandparent, or caregiver. Spending frequent, brief amounts of time involved in child-preferred activities is one of the most powerful things parents can do to connect with their children.
Spending time outdoors in nature. Studies have shown cognitive function and mood improvement occurs when children and adults spend time in nature. Time in nature increases creativity and imagination, stimulates to your 5 senses, gets you up and moving, helps you think better, improves your attention span, and reduces stress and fatigue.
Built in movement. Adults need 30 minutes of physical activity each day while children need 60 minutes. Beyond the number of minutes of physical activity needed, we all need more movement throughout our day. One of Anne Ferguson’s goals was to create an activity where parents had to be as active as the children and not sit on the sidelines. Children are more likely to be physically active if their parents are.
Storyline of the Book. The last benefit is expanding on the storyline for learning, experiences, and application. Some of the StoryWalk® books in our Extension Office promote financial literacy, helping children learn about the many sides of money management.
Families have busy schedules, StoryWalk® ‘s are accessible when you are ready and take as much or as little time as you want. K-State Research and Extension is partnering with libraries, schools, and recreation centers to bring StoryWalk to your community this summer. For dates and locations, visit southwind.ksu.edu.
1 minute Radio Spot
Be an active family this summer. Being active as a family can benefit everyone. Physical activity is important for children and adults of all ages. I’m Joy Miller, Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent with K-State Research and Extension Southwind District. Adults need two and a half hours a week of physical activity and children need sixty minutes a day. K-State is partnering with agencies to bring Storywalk to your community. StoryWalk® is a program for families to read and be active together. Pages from children’s story books are laminated, attached to a board, and placed along a path children and adults can walk. As you stroll down the path reading, families also build reading skills and p strengthen family relationships. Add StoryWalk to your summer activity list. For storywalk locations, story books, or parent discussion guides, contact me at 620-223-3720 or visit our website at www.southwind.ksu.edu.
Humboldt Union Newspaper
Be an active family this year. Physical activity is important for children and adults of all ages. Adults need two and a half hours a week of physical activity and children need 60 minutes a day. K-State Research and Extension Southwind District and Humboldt Library are partnering to bring StoryWalk to Humboldt this summer. StoryWalk® is a program for families to read and be active together. Pages from children’s story books are laminated, attached to a board, and placed along a path children and adults can walk. In Humboldt, many of the story boards will be located in business windows around the downtown square. The first page of StoryWalk® will begin at the Humboldt library, then to the Humboldt Union, page 3 will begin on the east side of the square and flow clockwise around the square. Add StoryWalk® to your family summer activity list this year. StoryWalk® will begin Wednesday, June 12th and stories will change every two weeks. Discussion guides are available at the Humboldt Library or at southwind.ksu.edu.
