Month: January 2015

Raptor Days planned Jan. 24-25 at Wyandotte County Lake

Prepare to flock to the Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library 2015 Raptor Days event, Jan. 24 and 25, presented by Operation Wildlife and sponsored by The Kansas City, Kan., Board of Public Utilities.

This annual event encourages the community to celebrate birds of prey and educates the public about wildlife in Wyandotte County.

The event will take place at the Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library, and the James P. Davis Hall in Wyandotte County Lake Park over the course of two days.

Saturday’s events will be available from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., and include live bird of prey presentations by Operation Wildlife, a craft area for children and eagle and waterfowl viewings along the lake. Events and presentations will also be available on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. Take the West Road upon entering park to F.L. Schlagle Library or the East Road to Davis Hall.

In addition to BPU, the 2015 Raptor Days event is sponsored by the Wyandotte County Unified Government Parks and Recreation Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library, Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, and Operation Wildlife. To learn more about 2015 Raptor Days, call 913-299-2384 or visit www.kckpl.org.

Schedule

Jan. 24:
Location: Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library, Wyandotte County Lake Park

• 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Eagle Crafts/Eagle Viewing.
Exhibits with live owls, hawks, falcons and other raptors.
Visit with volunteers from Operation Wildlife.

• 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. – Live Birds of Prey Presentations

Location: James P. Davis Hall, Wyandotte County Lake Park

• 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Exhibits with live owls, hawks, falcons, and other raptors. Visit with volunteers from Operation Wildlife.

• 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. – Live Bird of Prey Presentations


Jan. 25:
Location: F.L. Schlagle Library, Wyandotte County Lake Park

• Noon – 4 p.m. – Eagle Crafts/Eagle Viewing
Exhibits with live owls, hawks, falcons and other raptors.
Visit with volunteers from Operation Wildlife.

• 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. – Live Bird of Prey Presentations

Location: James P. Davis Hall, Wyandotte County Lake Park

• Noon – 4 p.m. – Exhibits with live owls, hawks, falcons, and other raptors. Visit with volunteers from Operation Wildlife.

• 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. – Live Bird of Prey Presentations

– Story from David Mehlhaff, BPU chief communications officer

Piper results

Piper High School – basketball at Turner

– Girls sweep
– Varsity won 71-17, JV won 49-9, and 9th won 63-6
– Boys sweep
– Varsity won 70-54, JV won 67-40, and 9th won 70-54
Piper High School – wrestling at Louisburg
120 – Zach King (0-3) placed 7th and scored 2.00 team points.
Round 1 – Kyle Allen (Louisburg High School) 1-3 won by fall over Zach King (Piper High School) 0-3 (Fall 3:56)
Round 2 – Zach King (Piper High School) 0-3 received a bye () (Bye)
Round 3 – Cameron Valdiviez (Rockhurst High School) 15-2 won by fall over Zach King (Piper High School) 0-3 (Fall 1:01)
Consolation Bracket – Jacob Lillich (Lansing High School) 2-17 won by fall over Zach King (Piper High School) 0-3 (Fall 4:24)
7th Place Match – Zach King (Piper High School) 0-3 received a bye () (Bye)
126 – Jacob Sharp (0-4) placed 8th and scored 1.00 team points.
Round 2 – Ben Morgenstern (Baldwin High School) 14-7 won by fall over Jacob Sharp (Piper High School) 0-4 (Fall 0:31)
Round 3 – Carson Meek (Rockhurst High School) 14-7 won by fall over Jacob Sharp (Piper High School) 0-4 (Fall 0:17)
Round 4 – Jacob Sharp (Piper High School) 0-4 received a bye () (Bye)
Round 5 – Jeffery Molina (Olathe South High School) 8-13 won by decision over Jacob Sharp (Piper High School) 0-4 (Dec 5-2)
7th Place Match – Sean Wright (Raymore-Peculiar High School) 7-4 won by fall over Jacob Sharp (Piper High School) 0-4 (Fall 0:57)
145 – Weston Gardner (1-3) placed 10th and scored 4.00 team points.
Round 1 – Logan Raney (Leavenworth High School) 5-13 won by fall over Weston Gardner (Piper High School) 1-3 (Fall 0:32)
Round 2 – Jordan Girard (Lansing High School) 15-2 won by fall over Weston Gardner (Piper High School) 1-3 (Fall 1:43)
Round 4 – Weston Gardner (Piper High School) 1-3 received a bye () (Bye)
Round 5 – Connor Green (Louisburg High School) 4-8 won by fall over Weston Gardner (Piper High School) 1-3 (Fall 2:57)
Round 6 – Weston Gardner (Piper High School) 1-3 won by fall over Lonell Rucker (Wyandotte High School) 3-9 (Fall 0:33)
152 – Jacob Lee (0-5) placed 12th and scored 0.00 team points.
Round 1 – Gavin Merriman (Joplin High School) 9-9 won by fall over Jacob Lee (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:09)
Round 2 – Will Gerring (Lansing High School) 7-4 won by fall over Jacob Lee (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:32)
Round 4 – Greg Gamble (Rockhurst High School) 8-12 won by major decision over Jacob Lee (Piper High School) 0-5 (MD 8-0)
Round 5 – Tyler Metcalf (Parsons High School) 7-8 won by fall over Jacob Lee (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 2:29)
Round 6 – Jake Steiner (Blue Valley West High School) 8-5 won by fall over Jacob Lee (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:00)
160 – Ian Stewart (2-3) placed 7th and scored 8.00 team points.
Round 1 – Jake Schram (Blue Valley West High School) 5-4 won by decision over Ian Stewart (Piper High School) 2-3 (Dec 14-8)
Round 2 – Dylan Misener (Parsons High School) 10-4 won by fall over Ian Stewart (Piper High School) 2-3 (Fall 0:46)
Round 3 – Ian Stewart (Piper High School) 2-3 won by fall over Dillin Roberts (Louisburg High School) 4-5 (Fall 2:26)
Consolation Bracket – Joey Stalone (Raymore-Peculiar High School) 8-12 won by decision over Ian Stewart (Piper High School) 2-3 (Dec 13-11)
7th Place Match – Ian Stewart (Piper High School) 2-3 won by fall over Ben Ogle (Baldwin High School) 2-6 (Fall 1:26)
170 – Nic Morris (0-5) placed 10th and scored 0.00 team points.
Round 2 – Rogelio Crisostomo (Wyandotte High School) 7-6 won by injury default over Nic Morris (Piper High School) 0-5 (Inj. 0:00)
Round 3 – Ben McCausland (Rockhurst High School) 17-6 won by injury default over Nic Morris (Piper High School) 0-5 (Inj. 0:00)
Round 4 – Wyatt Slavin (Baldwin High School) 3-2 won by injury default over Nic Morris (Piper High School) 0-5 (Inj. 0:00)
Round 5 – Jordan Crowder (Louisburg High School) 4-10 won by injury default over Nic Morris (Piper High School) 0-5 (Inj. 0:00)
9th Place Match – Alex Meissen (Raymore-Peculiar High School) 1-9 won by forfeit over Nic Morris (Piper High School) 0-5 (For.)
182 – Kalin Fergus (0-5) placed 10th and scored 0.00 team points.
Round 1 – Tyler Jouret (Olathe South High School) 15-12 won by fall over Kalin Fergus (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:47)
Round 3 – Max Borja (Raymore-Peculiar High School) 3-8 won by fall over Kalin Fergus (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:58)
Round 4 – Joel Katzer (Baldwin High School) 16-1 won by fall over Kalin Fergus (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:40)
Round 5 – Andrew Redden (Lansing High School) 6-9 won by fall over Kalin Fergus (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:12)
9th Place Match – Jake Shrout (Rockhurst High School) 4-8 won by fall over Kalin Fergus (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:26)
285 – Thomas Barnes (0-5) placed 8th and scored 0.00 team points.
Round 1 – Phillip Reitz (Joplin High School) 17-5 won by fall over Thomas Barnes (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:19)
Round 2 – Bradley Trageser (Louisburg High School) 2-3 won by fall over Thomas Barnes (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:54)
Round 3 – Dallas Germany (Wyandotte High School) 5-6 won by fall over Thomas Barnes (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:59)
Consolation Bracket – Alex Cigard (Baldwin High School) 7-3 won by fall over Thomas Barnes (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 0:16)
7th Place Match – Bailey Carlson (Raymore-Peculiar High School) 5-7 won by fall over Thomas Barnes (Piper High School) 0-5 (Fall 1:43)
Piper High School – novice state debate
– Jessica Hutchings and Michael Gentry ended with a winning record of 3-2 at the tournament
– from Doug Key, Piper High School activities director

Poll shows public support for lowering sales tax on ‘healthy’ foods

by Jim McLean, KHI News Service

A Kansas City-based nonprofit organization says a recent poll shows widespread support for exempting some foods from the Kansas sales tax.

Ashley Jones-Wisner, state policy manager for KC Healthy Kids, says a poll conducted for the Kansas Health Foundation showed that 86.6 percent of Kansans supported exempting fruits and vegetables from the state sales tax.

The Wichita-based foundation is the primary funder of the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service. The foundation also helps to fund KC Healthy Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing obesity among children.

The poll was designed by RTI International, a North Carolina-based research firm, and conducted last summer by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University.

Jones-Wisner says KC Healthy Kids will lead an effort in the legislative session to fully or partially repeal the state sales tax on groceries. If Kansas lawmakers balk at the estimated $390 million cost of exempting groceries, she said the group will attempt to win passage of a sales tax repeal on fruits and vegetables.

“We plan to engage with lawmakers about both proposals during the session,” she said, noting that the group has not yet calculated the cost of a partial repeal.

Kansas has the nation’s second highest sales tax on food, trailing only Mississippi’s 7 percent levy. In some Kansas communities, the combination of state and local sales taxes can add as much as 10 percent to grocery bills.

High sales taxes “limit people’s access to healthy food,” Jones-Wisner said.

Kansas’ obesity rate has risen steadily in recent years, increasing to 30 percent from 13.5 percent in 1995, according to a brief produced by the health foundation. Getting more Kansans to substitute fresh fruits and vegetables for high-calorie processed foods would help lower rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

A 5 percent reduction in the state’s obesity rate could lower health care costs by as much as $2 billion over 10 years, according to a Trust for America’s Health report cited in the brief.

Public support and potential health benefits aside, the state’s growing budget problems likely will make any sales tax exemption a tough sell. State income tax cuts enacted at Gov. Sam Brownback’s urging have slowed revenue collections and created a $280 million hole in the current year’s budget.

The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute. It is supported in part by a variety of underwriters. The News Service is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy-making environment. All News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution, including a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online. More about the News Service at khi.org/newsservice or contact at 785-233-5443.
www.khi.org/newsservice