Month: August 2017

UG offers explanation about Argentine flooding

The Unified Government on Tuesday afternoon responded with an explanation about the Argentine area flash flood on Sunday.

Edwin Birch, UG spokesman, said the public works department has told him that two storm water pump stations in Argentine were working properly at the time of the flood.

On Monday, Commissioner Ann Brandau Murguia questioned why the Argentine area was flooding on Sunday and in some past storms. She stated that a pump was not working on Strong Avenue, and there was a couple of feet of water in the street. Once a pump was turned on by a worker, she said the water receded quickly. The commissioner made a video of the flooding and posted it on her Facebook page. She is requesting a UG meeting with residents. Some residents said they have documented that a pump was off during the flooding.

Birch said if the pump systems were off, a system would notify the UG of it.

Those two Argentine pumps did not cover Argentine Boulevard west of 34th Street, which was not considered to be in a flood plain, the UG stated in its newsletter and on Facebook.

The UG sent a drone over the Argentine area during the flooding Sunday, according to the newsletter, and the UG has its own video of the flooding.

The UG statement today blamed the heavy rains in a short period of time. “The culprit in the recent flooding incidents is the weather,” the UG stated in its newsletter.

Former bank employee pleads guilty to embezzling more than $200,000

A Labette County woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of embezzling more than $213,000 from the bank where she worked, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Debra J. Nading, 59, Oswego, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of theft by a bank employee.

In her plea, she admitted the crime occurred while she worked as an assistant cashier and bookkeeping supervisor for the Labette Bank in Parsons, Kan. She used her access to the bank’s credit card accounts to make false entries to cover up the theft.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 17. She faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million. Beall commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.

KCKCC women’s soccer off to 2-0 start; home again Friday

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young women’s soccer team made it two wins in a row Sunday, coming from behind for an exciting 2-1 win over Dodge City.

The unbeaten Lady Blue Devils are right back in action Friday when they play host to Blue River at 5 p.m. The game will be followed by a men’s contest matching KCKCC and Blue River at 7:30 p.m.

Despite a heavy downpour of rain most of the first half, all the scoring came in the first 45 minutes. Dodge City scored first when one of the Lady Conquistadors stepped in front of an errant pass back towards goal and scored with just 15 minutes left in the half.

But the Blue Devils rebounded almost immediately, tying the game on freshman Itzel Almanza’s second goal of the season. The goal came on an assist from Bishop Ward sophomore Serena Ortiz.

The winning goal came with five minutes left in the first half on a free kick. Natalie Zink, a freshman from Leavenworth, got the goal on a pass from Ortiz, her third assist of the season.

“Natalie hit the ball low and hard on the ground and past the goalkeeper after a slight deflection,” KCKCC assistant coach Katie Kelly said.

Without more rain, the KCKCC defense pitched a shutout the second half.

“We got great work by freshman Carmen Rush of DeSoto and sophomore Bailey Zinser of Lansing in the defense to keep them from scoring and sophomore Marivel Gomez played well in the second half by keeping the ball away from Dodge City from the forward position.” she said.