White buffalo were part of the herd grazing in the wildlife area at Lake Scott State Park on Sunday
32 Pages • Four Sections
Volume 23 • Number 35
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Published in Scott City, Ks.
$1 single copy
Kansas ed commissioner here Monday The future of public education in Kansas will be among the topics discussed by Dr. Randy Watson when the Kansas Commissioner of Education makes a brief stop in Scott City on Monday, April 11. Dr. Watson will address education issues and field questions at the Scott Community High School auditorium from 4:15-5:15 p.m. Jamie Rumford, superintendent of USD 466 (Scott County), said he had originally invited Sally Cauble, Dodge City, to speak at a board meeting and she extended that invitation to Dr. Watson. He will talk about the “vision of education” which will include topics such as state assessments, common core and what is being done to prepare students for post-graduation success. Rumford says there will also be discussion about the five indicators of K-12 academic success which include: •Kindergarten readiness. •Individual plans of study. •Increasing high school graduation rates. •Completion of post-secondary education. •Social and emotional growth. “This is important information for everyone, not just for those who have kids in school,” says Rumford. “The success of K-12 education affects all of us. “We’re encouraging people from surrounding communities and schools to attend so we can show how important education and our schools are to us,” Rumford adds.
SC woman again disputes claim of neglect A Scott City woman is disputing allegations by the Scott County Health Department regarding injuries that her mother received while at home. It was because of those incidents, and the lack of 24-hour care at the home, that Scott County Health Director Dana Shapland said her department would no longer provide housekeeping and personal care services for the individual. Lila Sager, whose mother is being refused services, met with Scott County Commissioners on Tuesday to again discuss the situation. Most of the meeting was spent behind closed doors since it involved discussion about a county employee. Following the meeting with commissioners, Sager said she wanted comments that had previously appeared in The Record (March 17) to be “recanted since things were said that are not true.” Sager says that the commission was told her mother had broken an arm in a fall at her home on Dec. 20 when it was her wrist. In addition, she says her mother was able (See DISPUTE on page two)
06 Main, St. Scott City • 620-872-2090 www.scottcountyrecord.com
on the road
WKCAC’s mobile unit success is getting attention throughout nation When the Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center began answering the need for victims of child abuse 12 years ago, they understood there would be challenges. Not the least of those is living in a rural area where their offices might be located an hour or two from the young people needing their services. “It was never an easy process getting youngsters to our office so they could be interviewed by our staff to determine if and what had occurred,” notes David Fyler, program director and a co-founder of WKCAC. “And it was even more difficult to do the follow-up therapy. You have children whose families didn’t have the financial means to take time off from work two or three times a month and drive for an hour or more to one of our locations.” So the WKCAC flipped the tables. Starting in 2007, they put their first mobile unit on the road and began, literally, going to the front door of their young victims. Their innovative approach to making sure that youngsters don’t go without the help they need has not gone unnoticed. Kelly Robbins, WKCAC executive director and co-founder, along with Fyler have attended national workshops where their approach to assisting young abuse victims has received widespread attention. Today, with five mobile vans, WKCAC is a national model for extending services throughout their 32-county service area that covers the western onethird of Kansas. They have been contacted by agencies from as far as British Columbia, Canada, and Bogota, Columbia, regarding their mobile program. They have also had representatives from child advocacy centers (CACs) from around the nation visit Scott City to gain a better understanding of their mobile services and the renovations they have made to their mobile fleet that has grown to five vans.
SCHS media students bring home top honors in broadcasting Page 9
The two 38-foot vans have been adapted for interviews and counseling with the youngsters. Three other vans are used to provide mental health services. They loved the idea, W K C A C but they’d never seen staff have a grant for anything a t t e n d e d like this in Alabama. In national events our area, the idea of where they’ve putting a mobile unit given presen- on the road is way out tations and are of the box. also scheduled John Roper executive director to explain their Lighthouse Counseling program at the AG/Governor’s Child Abuse Conference next week in Topeka. “We’ve done presentations nationally on our mobile delivery system,” says Fyler. “Earlier this year, we had some people from Oklahoma look at what we were doing. They even brought a bus and we showed them how it could be renovated for their needs. “It’s not just about seeing how we’ve adapted our mobile units. We’re also
able to give them advice on what works, what doesn’t work and what they should be prepared for.” They’ve also had representatives on site from West Virginia and CACs in Michigan have modeled their mobile delivery system after the local program. This week, they hosted John Roper, executive director with the Lighthouse Counseling Center, Montgomery, Ala. Lighthouse is the umbrella for other agencies and services, including Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), which was Roper’s reason for visiting Scott City. STAR is an outreach program for children and adults in a five-county area that’s largely rural and many of the residents live in poverty. While STAR will see between 100150 sexual assault victims annually, those represent only those individuals with the means of making the trip to their office in Montgomery. (See WKCAC on page eight)
(Top) Kelly Robbins and Dave Fyler (center) of WKCAC discuss renovations that were made to one of their mobile interview units with John Roper, executive director of Lighthouse Counseling Center, Montgomery, Ala. (Above) Roper asks questions about one of the interview rooms in the mobile unit. (Record Photos)
406 Main, St. Scott City • 620-872-2090 www.scottcountyrecord.com Opinion • Pages 4-6 Calendar • Page 7 Youth/education • Page 9 LEC report • Page 10 Deaths • Page 12 Church services • Page 13
Health care • Pages 14-15 Sports • Pages 17-24 Farm section • Pages 26-27 Classified ads • Pages 29-31 Lawn/garden • Page 32
Kough powers her way to a 3A state championship Page 17