Month: October 2019

Reid, Sanders win WyCo Senior Golf championships

Jerry Reid (Photo from Alan Hoskins)
Bill Sanders (Photo from Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins

A veteran and a relative newcomer swept the top honors in the 36th Annual Wyandotte County Senior Golf Championship at Sunflower Hills Golf Course Friday.

Jerry Reid had the day’s best round, a sizzling 3-under par 69, while Bill Sanders took low net honors with a 60 in the tourney that drew 111 seniors 55 years of age and older. The seniors competed in six age flights.

Reid’s low gross championship was his third and was fashioned on a half dozen birdies set up by precision iron play and an accurate putter. Four of the birdies came on a bogey-free front nine.

“I had six putts through the first six holes,” Reid said. “I got close on No. 2, chipped in on No. 3, made a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 7 and a 4-footer on No. 9.”

Ironically, he 3-putted Nos. 12 and 15 and failed to get up and down on No. 16 while birdieing No. 14 with a 15-foot putt and hitting a 90-yard pitching wedge to within a foot on the par 5 17th.

“Drove the ball well, kept almost everything in the fairway and my irons and putting were excellent,” Reid said.

Retired 15 years after a 17-year career as business manager at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Reid has been Sunflower Hills’ Player of the Year several times. He currently carries a 2 handicap.

At 56, Bill Sanders was playing in only the second WyCo Senior tourney that he was eligible.

“I got started off playing well and then started falling apart so I was glad to get to the last hole,” said Sanders, who shot a gross 89 with a 29 handicap.

Retired from the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, Sanders is a regular in Sunflower Hills’ Wednesday Senior League. A lifelong KCK resident, he attended St. Peter’s Elementary School and Bishop Ward High School.

Bill Palmer came closest to shooting his age with a 74 while 93-year-old Frank Payne bettered his age with an 89. Flight winners were Ritch Nigh, Ed McFadden, Joe Carillo, Rick Richardson, Chris Blum and Palmer. Taking low net honors were Bob McNellis, Phil Jones, Steve Bock, Keith Johnson, Phil Stines and Joe Dercher.

36th WyCo Senior Flight Results

Senior Kids (ages 55-81) – 1. Ritch Nigh, 74; 2. Brad Burton, 75; 3. Chris Faddis, 76; 4. Ray Loya, 81. Net – 1. Bob McNellis, 64; 2. (tie) Todd Milberger, James Philpot, Greg Schmidt, 70.

Freshmen (62-65) – 1. Ed McFadden, 76; 2. Rick Egnatic, 78; 3. Wilson Winn, 80; 4. (tie) Craig McKinley, Scott Ramsey, 83. Net – 1. Phil Jones, 63; Tom Kanatzar, 67; 3. (tie) Bob Norris, Dave VanDerwell, Jerry Verbeck.

Sophomores (66-68) – 1. Joe Carillo, 79; 2. Randy Kancel, 82’ 3. Jim Christoph, 83; 4. Jerry Lamb, 84. Net – 1. Steve Bock, 69; 2. Dan Schmidt, 70; 3. Dave Pierce, 71; 4. Tim Cavlovic, 73.

Juniors (69-71) – 1. Rick Richardson, 77; 2. (tie) Bob Chatterton, Ray Gelser, Bob Janesko, 79. Net – 1. Keith Johnson, 66; 2. Scott Murphy, 70’ 3. Don McCann, 72; Doug Winkelbauer, 73.

Adults (72-75) – 1. Chris Blum, 79; 2. Roger DeLong, 80; 3. Bob Ulmer, 84; 4. Wayne Johnson, 88. Net – 1. Phil Stines, 70 (won scorecard playoff); 2. Tom Butler, 70; 3. Bud Thurston, 71; 4. (tie) Herschel Hendrix, Dan Sexton, 75.

Seniors (76 and over) – 1. Bill Palmer, 74; Dave Klein, 82; 3. Dale Moore, 85; 4. (tie) Richard Johnson, Dennis McWilliams, 88. Net – 1.Joe Dercher, 62; 2. Frank Payne, 70; 3. Tom Cooley, 71; 4. Kirk Witt, 73.

Proximity winners – Closest to the hole: Dale Moore, No. 4; Carl Roach, No. 8; Joe Sachan, No. 13; Ray Loya,. No. 16. Closest second shot – Rick Egnatic, No. 10; Tom Butler, No. 18.

Former Wyandotte County official sentenced to anger management, probation for battering employee

by Andrea Tudhope, Kansas News Service

A former high-ranking official of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced Wednesday for misdemeanor battery against a female employee.

Former General Services Director Tib Laughlin faces 12 months of probation, and must attend anger management classes and continued mental health counseling.

Last year, Laughlin grabbed Maddie Waldeck by the shirt and pushed her against a wall. In July, a Wyandotte County jury found Laughlin guilty of misdemeanor battery; Laughlin, who spent two decades at the UG, resigned almost immediately.

After Laughlin’s conviction, UG Public Relations Director Mike Taylor told KCUR that UG officials were surprised by the jury’s verdict, because they had conducted an internal investigation of the incident, and “came to a different conclusion than the jury.”

Waldeck, however, felt that the UG condoned the harassment and physical assault she faced. In August, she sued the Unified Government, saying Laughlin engaged in a pattern and practice of gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and that the UG “failed to discipline” Laughlin, despite Waldeck’s repeated complaints.

Waldeck told KCUR the two years she worked with Laughlin were the “most stressful and heartbreaking of her professional life.” But in her victim impact statement Wednesday, Waldeck said it wasn’t entirely Laughlin’s fault.

“When an animal that hasn’t been trained properly repeatedly has an accident on the carpet, you don’t blame the animal. You blame the owner who didn’t take the time to show the animal there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things,” she said. “The Unified Government failed me. It failed Mr. Laughlin. It failed my family. And it failed our community.”

For his part, Laughlin said in his statement Wednesday that it had become “painfully clear” to him that pushing his employee against a wall was wrong. He made eye contact with and apologized directly to Waldeck, who he called a “valued colleague,” until the judge told him to turn around and address the court.

He called his behavior “stupid, impulsive and obviously wrong.”

“I let down friends, colleagues and myself. They all, especially Maddie, deserve better,” he said.

Waldeck told KCUR after the hearing that she appreciated Laughlin’s apology and that he accepted responsibility for his actions.

“I would like to hope what he said was true,” Waldeck said.

Andrea Tudhope is a reporter at KCUR 89.3. Email her at [email protected], and follow her on Twitter @andreatudhope. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
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