Month: September 2021

Wildcats hold off late Sabres surge for 16-14 win

Washington quarterback Blake Mullikin scored on a short run in the first half of the Wildcats’ 16-14 victory over Sumner. Mullikin scored two touchdowns in the contest. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Washington Wildcats held off a fourth quarter charge from the Sumner Sabres to win Friday night’s football game 16-14 at Washington.

Washington’s Blake Mullikin scored two first-half rushing touchdowns to stake the Wildcats to a 14-0 halftime lead.

The first score came midway through the first half after the teams traded unproductive first drives. Washington took over on the Sumner 9-yard line after a muffed snap on a punt. Washington pounded the ball within a yard of the goal, and Mullikin finished the drive by sliding down the line to find a small crease for the score and a 6-0 lead.

Washington’s second goal capped a long drive that consumed most of the second quarter. The Wildcats converted five first downs as they marched methodically down the field. Mullikin plunged through several defenders from four yards out for the touchdown, and the Wildcats converted a two-point play for a 14-0 lead.

With under two minutes in the half, Sumner drove down inside the Washington 10-yard line, but couldn’t score before the halftime whistle sounded.

After the teams traded turnovers to start the second half, Sumner took over on a blocked punt at the Washington 22 and then unleashed running back Antonio Harrison for a 22-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 14-6.

Early in the fourth quarter, Washington drove from their 45-yard line to within two yards of Sumner’s goal. Sumner’s defense held on fourth down, but the aftermath proved costly.

On the next play, Washington sent a rush of defenders, sacking Sumner’s quarterback in the end zone and earning the two-point safety that proved to be the game’s final margin.

Sumner pulled within two points on a touchdown pass from Cam Johnson to Rickey Brown, followed by a two-point conversion to Harrison.

The door of opportunity opened wide for Sumner with four minutes remaining in the game. Washington fumbled the kickoff, and Sumner took over the ball at the Washington 17-yard line.

Penalties and a bad snap sent the Sumner offense in reverse, ending up back near the Washington 35, where the Wildcats took over on downs, needing only one first down to run out the clock.

The Sabres fall to 0-2 on the season. They are scheduled to play Lincoln Preparatory Academy on Sept. 17 at Schlagle Stadium.

The Washington Wildcats are 1-0 to start the season. They will face off against Schlagle next Friday in their homecoming game. Both games will kick off at 7 p.m.

Sumner senior receiver Rickey Brown broke multiple tackles on his way to a touchdown. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
Washington quarterback Savyon Powell threw a short pass to the left side. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
Sumner running back Antonio Harrison burst around the right side for a 22-yard touchdown run. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
Washington junior offensive lineman Jaden Selmon blocked Sumner sophomore defensive lineman Nicky Flores. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
The Washington Wildcats burst onto the field for their season opener. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
Washington sophomore defensive back Ja’Quarey Williams knocked away a Sumner pass to the end zone. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
The Washington cheerleaders celebrated the victory. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
The Sumner drum section paraded onto the field before the game. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
Sumner junior Enrique Najera stripped the football for a fumble. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Washington head coach Cam Smith addressed the team after the game. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Hospitals to receive funding for frontline nurses and care workers

Hospitals in Kansas will receive $50 million to provide premium pay or improve retention of nursing resources and support personnel, according to Gov. Laura Kelly.

The funding was approved by the SPARK Executive Committee, and will provide immediate support for Kansas hospitals to manage the current COVID-19 surge and address critical shortages in nurse staffing across the state, according to the announcement.

Qualified facilities may use the funding for either premium pay as defined in ARPA or for funding a program designed by the facility to improve the retention of nursing resources and support personnel, according to a spokesman. Premium pay may be distributed by the hospitals to frontline employees in the manner that they believe is most appropriate to ensure retention of critical resources and maintenance of staffed hospital beds.

“Many of our nurses are risking their lives every day to save Kansans from COVID-19 – and the immense strain on our hospitals is causing them to be exhausted and disheartened,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “They’re taking on extra shifts and caring for more patients than they can handle – and it’s our responsibility to give them the support they need.

“Frontline nurses need this funding to continue battling the COVID-19 surge here at home. I sincerely thank all Kansas frontline nurses and health care workers for all they do to protect our communities from the threat of COVID-19. I encourage all Kansans to do their part and get vaccinated immediately – for our health care workers, for our businesses, and for our families.”

The funding can provide frontline nurses and care workers with premium pay by increasing their hourly wages up to $13 per hour. Hospitals can apply for these state fiscal recovery funds and receive funding based on their number of nursing resources, and will have discretion over how to distribute premium pay.

Additionally, hospitals will be allowed to use the funding for alternative purposes to retain staff if it meets compliance with ARPA guidance. Funding in retention programs must be spent on pay and associated benefits of qualified employees. There are several reporting rules that will apply to the program.

COVID-19 cases continue to rise across Kansas with a daily average of 1,331 new cases from Aug. 30 to Sept. 7 – levels not seen since January 2021. On Sept. 10, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported 4,302 new COVID-19 cases since the last update two days prior. Hospitalizations continue to rise, with 612 hospitalized COVID patients as of September 10. This poses a challenge for hospitals to be able to provide surge support staffing and incentivize nurses to stay at their current pay rates.


More information will be provided to eligible Kansas hospitals in the coming days about how to access and properly allocate this funding to their nurses and frontline care workers.

Vaccines, tests available

A special vaccine event is planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Area Agency on Aging community room, 849 B N. 47th, (Indian Springs area), Kansas City, Kansas. The Unified Government Health Department is presenting the event with the Area Agency on Aging. Free COVID-19 vaccines, $50 gift cards for Wyandotte County residents who get vaccinated, while supplies last, and a free lunch will be available. For a free ride to the event, call 913-262-5190, with the code VACS, or contact UG transit at 913-573-8351.

Soccer Nation, 550 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will sponsor COVID testing and vaccinations from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Appointments are not required. Pfizer vaccines will be available for ages 12 and up, with parents or guardians required for 12-18. Johnson and Johnson vaccine is available for those ages 18 and older. Also, PCR saliva testing kits will be available. Vibrant Health will be conducting the vaccinations.

The former Kmart building at 7836 State Ave., a Unified Government Health Department vaccination site, will be open for testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and for free COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. There are incentives being offered for Wyandotte County residents, while supplies last. See WycoVaccines.org.

COVID-19 testing from WellHealth will be available beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th. The site is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.

Mobile vaccines can be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311). For more information on the Unified Government Health Department’s vaccine schedule, see WycoVaccines.org.

COVID-19 vaccines and tests are available at other locations in Wyandotte County, including some pharmacies. For locations and availability, visit www.vaccines.gov.

Free vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public, and appointments are required. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.

Case numbers reported

The University of Kansas Health System reported 92 total COVID-19 patients on Friday, Sept. 10, a decrease of eight since Thursday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Forty-six patients with the active virus were inpatients on Friday, a decrease of four since Thursday. Seven of the 46 were vaccinated. Eighteen patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of two since Thursday, and three of those were vaccinated. Nine patients were on ventilators, the same as Thursday. Forty-six other patients were still hospitalized from COVID, but were out of the acute infection phase, a decrease of four since Thursday.

Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 23,144 cases on Friday, Sept. 10, an increase of 68 cases since Thursday, Sept. 9, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total of 341 deaths on Friday, an increase of one from Thursday.
On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 47.37 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled about 40.52 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 58.3 percent.

The Mid-America Regional Council reported 204,916 cases on Friday in Greater Kansas City, a nine-county area. There were a total of 2,773 deaths. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 138.

.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 387,152 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Friday, Sept. 10, an increase of 4,302 since Wednesday, Sept. 8. There was a total of 5,766 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 73 since Sept. 8.

The KDHE reported 71,739 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on Sept. 10, an increase of 515 since Sept. 8. Leavenworth County had 9,465 cases on Sept. 10, an increase of 92 since Sept. 8. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 70,832 cases on Sept. 10, an increase of 1,076 since Sept. 8.

On Friday, the KHDE reported 10,953 cumulative cases in Douglas County (the Lawrence area), an increase of 133 since Sept. 8. Riley County (the Manhattan area) had 7,304 cumulative cases, an increase of 68 since Sept. 8. Shawnee County (the Topeka area) had 23,218 cumulative cases, an increase of 342 cases since Sept. 8.

On Friday night, there were a cumulative 40,863,822 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a cumulative 658,992 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Links


Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more testing sites.

Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.

For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

To view details about the extension of the mask order in KCK until Nov. 18, visit https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/ug_extendsmaskmandate_nr_09102021.pdf.

To view the resolution extending the mask order, visit https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/r-62-21.pdf.

Kansas Republicans raise objections to Biden’s expansive vaccine mandate

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — State and federal Republican lawmakers from Kansas reinforced opposition to government-issued COVID-19 vaccination mandates in wake of President Joe Biden’s plan to confront a surge in coronavirus illness and death by increasing pressure on millions of people to get shots.

Biden said the U.S. Department of Labor would issue an emergency rule requiring all businesses with more than 100 employees to compel their workers to be fully vaccinated or test negative at least once a week. That edict would apply to about 80 million workers.

In addition, the Democratic president said Thursday he would issue an executive order requiring all executive branch employees and federal contractors to be vaccinated. Nearly 300,000 educators at federally run school programs must be vaccinated. He also intends to broaden a vaccination requirement for health care workers treating patients on Medicaid and Medicare in nursing homes, hospitals and at-home care settings.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a COVID-19 vaccinated Republican, said there was no doubt vaccines produced through the ingenuity of medical laboratories delivered the best opportunity for the United States to help draw the pandemic to a close.

He said he would continue to urge Kansans to be vaccinated, but mandates issued by government officials for vaccinations went too far.

“These decisions should be left to each individual, and that decision should be guided by conversations with trusted doctors and not dictated by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.,” Moran said. “Furthermore, this government overreach comes at the expense of small business owners who are trying to strike a balance between keeping their businesses safe and open, and respecting their employees’ personal health decisions.”

He said Biden risked deepening public division regarding vaccines. He expects some employees to drop out of the work force in protest.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a physician who has been vaccinated for COVID-19, said Biden’s directives were likely to be struck down by the courts. He claimed Biden’s response to the surge in infections, hospitalizations and fatalities exacerbated by the delta variant of the virus was a “terrifying glimpse of the new marxist Dem Party.”

“POTUS’ vaccination decree is an all-out assault on private business, our civil liberties and our entire constitutional system of limited government,” Marshall said.

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson and Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman, who both contracted COVID-19 in 2020, joined with their GOP leadership colleagues in the Legislature to criticize Biden’s plan.

“Tyranny through executive order is not how we govern in a free society,” Masterson said.

Ryckman said Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican candidate for governor, should take action to block the president’s “egregious abuse of power” and shield Kansans from “this type of executive overreach from becoming the new normal.”

Schmidt, who has been vaccinated and endorsed it as a preventative measure against the coronvairus, said Biden didn’t have authority to decree a national vaccine mandate or to “punish private businesses that refuse to discriminate against employees based on their health status.”

“If the president’s overreaching rhetoric becomes federal action, then rest assured we will vigorously challenge it,” Schmidt said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, the 4th District congressman from Wichita, said Biden deployed “bully tactics” in a bid to turn the tide against COVID-19. In the past, the GOP lawmaker declined to reveal his vaccination status.

“Congress and the Supreme Court must take immediate action to make clear that this mandate will not stand. Individuals and parents should make the decisions regarding the medicines they receive. President Biden has willfully overstepped his authority,” Estes said.

U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican who contracted COVID-19 in January, said Biden’s vaccination mandate was “dictatorial behavior” harmful to businesses struggling to navigate with a labor shortage. The 2nd District congressman also said rural Kansas hospitals were stretched thin and couldn’t afford to lose employees opposed to the vaccine.

Biden’s mandate conflicts with well-established ideas of religious freedom and personal liberty, said U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, who represents the rural 1st District and has been vaccinated.

“It fails to include exemptions for those who would decline vaccination based on religious or medical concerns, or even for those willing to produce negative COVID-19 tests in lieu of getting vaccinated,” he said.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-republicans-raise-objections-to-bidens-expansive-vaccine-mandate/.