March 2, 2018
Friday
Ark City
www.acdailybytes.com
Bogner striking out on his own to start Done Right Plumbing By JENI McGEE jeni@acdailybytes.com A local plumber is striking out on his own, following in the footsteps of his mentor. James Bogner, who has been a practicing plumber in Arkansas City for 12 years, has created his own company, Done Right Plumbing. Bogner started his career in the industry with Kuhn Mechanical and bounced around a few times while he was being educated. However, one man in particular stands out to him. He worked with the late Lonnie Weakly for almost three years. Weakly was the master plumber Bogner credits with the majority of his practical education.
“We became great friends. When he passed away, he actually left me all his tools. Most of the tools I have were provided by him,” Bogner said. “I could compare the knowledge he gave me with what my dad gave me growing up on the farm.” Weakly died in 2015, but Bogner sees his relationship with the other man as “quite the blessing.” “He was a great friend,” Bogner said. Bogner family values Bogner’s family has been nothing short of supportive during his transition. He and his wife, Darci, have two children, a boy who is in the seventh grade and a girl who is in prekindergarten.
“When my wife married me, I can’t help but think she agreed to marry a greater person than what I really was,” Bogner said. “I feel I have to live up to those expectations. Not only hers, but mine. Darci isn’t a person (who) wants a lot of fancy things. But I want to be able to give her whatever it is that she wants.” “We have some goals,” he added, speaking of his family. One of those is building a home on the family property. “Don’t get me wrong — I’m never going to pay someone to build a house totally,” Bogner said. “I’m going to do as much of it as I can. “I’m not going to build the Marland Mansion, but I’m going to do my best.”
More than 200 turn out for Water Treatment Facility dedication, plant tours By JENI McGEE jeni@acdailybytes.com The official dedication of Arkansas City’s new Water Treatment Facility took place Thursday and was attended by more than 200 people. The ceremony was postponed last week due to inclement weather, but the weather this week was sunny and mild. Festivities began at 11:30 a.m. with a spe-
cial Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce chamber coffee, held in the new facility’s classroom. The chamber coffee was attended by more than 50 local business people, current and former commissioners, and representatives from the construction team that made the new facility a reality. City Manager Nick Hernandez spoke briefly, providing some background on the pro-
cess by which the plant came to fruition and addressing how much longer it would be before the city’s water could be produced solely by the new facility. “We have to run both (plants together) for 60 days,” he said. “With any system that is (this complex), it takes some time to get started.” Dedication ceremony Immediately after the coffee, the facil-
ity was opened to the public with a dedication ceremony that took place in front of the main entrance. All of the involved parties were recognized at this juncture. Hernandez thanked all of the city commissioners who were involved with the project, some of whom served on the City Commission as far back as 2006.
Direct Primary Care provider Bahm settling in to Arkansas City By JENI McGEE jeni@acdailybytes.com Cowley HealthWoRX might be the new kid on the block in the local medical scene, but the nurse practitioner running the health center is very familiar with Arkansas City. Cherie Bahm, an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), has more than 15 years of experience
in health care. This experience includes both men’s and women’s health care, labor and delivery, urgent care, rural hospital settings, and clinic management. While she originally is from Nebraska, Bahm has been a resident of Kansas for more than 20 years. Now she is a resident of Arkansas City, where she lives with
her two children, Nicholas and Wyatt. Bahm background Bahm’s educational track began in 1999, when she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Southwestern College in Winfield. From there, she went to Baker University in Wichita and graduated with a bachelor of science
degree in nursing in 2002. In 2017, she completed the Walden University master of science in nursing program. Bahm is licensed by the Kansas Board of Nursing as an APRN and registered nurse, and board-certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Board sets public hearing to discuss transferring three parks to Land Bank By ANDREW LAWSON City of Arkansas City The Beautification and Tree Advisory Board has scheduled a public hearing to discuss spring cleanup plans and the status of three city parks. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. March 15 in the commission room at City Hall, located at 118 W. Central Ave. The three parks to be discussed for possible transfer into the City of Arkansas City’s Land
Bank program are: • Brock Park (0.76 acre) — located at 501 S. Sixth St. in southwest Arkansas City; • Mills Park (4.77 acres) — located at 614 Highland Drive in northeast Arkansas City; • Robert Cox Memorial Park (1.7 acres) — located at 1201 N. Fifth St. in west-central Ark City. This hearing is for informational purposes only and no action will be taken. Anyone with objections to any
of the proposed actions is encouraged to attend and state his or her opinions for the public record. These three parks were selected for consideration based on observations of low utilization by the public, close alternative park locations and/or high maintenance and mowing costs. Another factor is that all three parks potentially could be attractive locations for future housing construction, if sold or donated.
Ark City Public Library offering variety of youth activities Staff Report The Arkansas City Public Library has many activities planned for all ages this month. Children’s activities range from a weekly story time at 10 a.m. every Wednesday to a special “no school” movie day at 1 p.m. March 19. The movie to be shown is “Ferdinand.” The movie day can be attended by all ages. Children aged 6 or older can attend without an adult, but an adult’s contact information must be given when the child is dropped off. At 4 p.m. today, a birthday party will be held for Dr. Seuss. “Let’s celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest children’s authors that lived,” said Jordan
Self, outreach and programming librarian. “We will have treats and play party games.” Other kids classes In addition to these activities, the following also will take place: • 4 p.m. Monday — In the STEAM program, kids will learn about science, technology, engineering, art and math. • 4 p.m. Tuesday — Kids get to come and make their own butter in this cooking class. • 10 a.m. March 20 — Kids game day will feature board games and bingo. • 4 p.m. March 27 — Kids will make their own Tic-Tac-Toe game with glass pebbles and burlap bags.
Teen, adult classes Teens and adults have their own activities scheduled for this month, starting with a crafting time dedicated to creating a rustic candle holder. This class starts at 6 p.m. March 15. A1 Carpet and Restoration will be host to a “home hack” class. “We are very excited to have professionals come in and help us with hacks for our home,” Self said. “Come learn from professionals how to identify dangerous mold, (what to do) if you have a flood in your house ... and carpet cleaning tricks.”
ACRC to sponsor Daddy-Daughter Dance; tickets still on sale Press Release The Arkansas City Recreation Center will be host to its annual Daddy-Daughter Dance on today. There is no age limit to the event, which
will feature dancing and a social hour. Tickets can be purchased at the Rec Center until the close of business Friday for $20. Each additional child is $5.
ACRC is located at 225 E. Fifth Ave. Tickets also can be purchased at the door for $25. The dance will begin at 6 p.m. at the Agri-Business Building, located at 712 W.
Washington Ave. More than 400 people already have purchased tickets, according to the Rec Center. The theme of this year’s event is “Flower Power.”
SCKMC finishes 2017 at a loss, while Senior Health falters By JENI McGEE jeni@acdailybytes.com South Central Kansas Medical Center has released its financial update for January, in concert with a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. Until Thursday, no financials had yet been provided to Ark City Daily Bytes for 2018. They were not included in a packet that was sent to the SCKMC Board of Trustees and the media Feb. 19, prior to the Feb. 22 meeting that was postponed one week due to icy weather. SCKMC finished 2017 with an overall pretax loss of $2.5 million across all of its operations, while the final loss was $177,715 after $2.33 million in sales tax revenues was added to the equation. Although this was an improvement over 2016’s final loss of $1.552 million, it still was a disappointment to city officials who hoped to end 2017 in the black after a promising start that included the launch of the profitable Senior Health Unit and a lab outreach program that initially was poised to generate more than $1 million in revenue — only to see most of that paid back to insurers who refused to support the program. It is still very early in the year,
but early trends indicate that SCKMC could possibly be in for more of the same disappointing news in 2018. January losses The January numbers indicate SCKMC, the Senior Health Unit and Winfield Medical Arts (WMA) all are losing money one month into this year. SCKMC showed an overall loss of $89,669 in January, although that amount is down from January 2017, when the hospital reported a loss of $192,431. January tax revenues of $179,790, which are down $15,000 from this time last year, brought the hospital into the black, at $90,121. Comparing the numbers year over year shows an increase across the board in operating expenses. The other main difference is the loss of the lab outreach income. The report also shows that the Senior Health Unit lost more than $7,000 in January. Since its inception, this department only has showed a loss one other time, in the third quarter of 2017. In a year-overyear comparison, the same unit generated $84,488 in the first month of 2017. Finally, WMA showed a loss of $123,143 in January. This follows its end-of-year loss of
$174,747 at the conclusion of 2017. The Winfield clinic was purchased by SCKMC midway through 2017, so there is no year-to-year comparison. However, WMA has not shown a profit on the books since it was purchased, despite assurances to the City Commission that it would be profitable. The January loss was “adjusted” down by about $20,000 to account for a $9,569 payment from South Central Kansas Clinic (SCKC) to WMA, as well as projected increased reimbursement down the line as the Winfield clinic completes the process of becoming a Rural Health Clinic. SCKC finally breaks even There is one positive in the January financials, however. The only major unit making money for SCKMC in January was SCKC, which cleared $70,178 in profit. Even after the $9,569 payment to WMA, SCKC generated $60,609 in adjusted income. This represents a marked improvement over 2017, when the clinic only managed to make $6,817 and generally posted a loss most months.