Kansas Klips

City to locate new police station, municipal court in downtown Hays

ELLIS COUNTY—The City of Hays will locate its new police station and municipal courts downtown at 1100 Fort, the site of Astra Bank.The building has 23,000 square feet of space with room for expansion. An agreement was formalized by the Hays City Commission with Astra Bank/ AIS, which plans to build a new facility on city-owned land at 27th and Main. The agreement specifies that the City will pay Astra/AIS $1.8 million for its building and transfer a two-acre parcel of land from its five-acre property at 27th and Main to the bank. In addition to a banking facility, Astra will also construct a headquarters building and potential retail space on the property. The estimated cost of new construction is about $13 million, and remodeling the existing Astra Bank facility will cost approximately $8 million. Astra Bank plans to vacate its downtown location by July 1st, 2025. The City has money budgeted in the capital improvement plan this year for a remodel design of the bank building, which has a full basement and open floor plan. Construction of the new police and municipal court facility is budgeted for 2025. (Hays Post)

Floyd donates aircraft to the Air Museum

LIBERAL—Long time Liberal Agricultural Aviator, Jim Floyd, has donated his airplane, a 1971 Grumman Ag Cat, to the Mid America Air Museum. An official donation ceremony was held on Wednesday, May 1st. Jim was joined by his longtime friend and Virginia Tech classmate, Homer Hickam. Mr. Hickam was the featured main character in his memoir, “Rocket Boys,” which was adapted into the popular movie, “October Sky.” In the movie, Mr. Hickham was played by teenage actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Homer has a long and productive career as a NASA scientist/engineer training American and Japanese astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts. (kscbnews.net)

Train derailment in Kansas City under investigation

KANSAS CITY—At 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, April 28th, deputies were dispatched to the derailment involving a Union Pacific train on 87th Street, near Colbern, according to Sheriff Daryl Forte. The engine car pulling the train derailed. There were no hazardous materials in the boxcars. The engineer and conductor sustained minor injuries. Special agents from Union Pacific are investigating. (Hays Post)

Kansas veterinarian reports another case of rabies

RENO COUNTY—On Friday, Afternoon, April 26th, Ninnescah Veterinary Service LLC, 13408 South Mohawk Road, Hutchinson, shared on social media it had just diagnosed a positive case of rabies in a farm cat. A previous case in December resulted in a human being bitten. The clinic said the two cases are unrelated. (Hays Post)

Northwest Kansas CPA, creator of “Middle Finger Ranch,” accused of bank fraud

WICHITA—According to court documents, Quintin Flanagin (43) of Colby, is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, two counts of false statements, and six counts of money laundering. Flanagin, a certified public accountant (CPA), is part owner of the accounting firm, Williams Consulting. The owners of Diamond M Farms in Thomas County contracted the firm to perform CPA duties for the company. Flanagin acted as signatory for Diamond M Farms bank accounts and prepared payroll. Flanagin created a fictitious business called Middle Finger Ranch, and added the company name to his personal bank account. Between December 2021 and August 2022, the defendant allegedly wrote multiple checks and initiated wire transfers totaling approximately $409,710.00 from Diamond M Farms to Middle Finger Ranch under the guise of being payments for farm operations. In 2021, Flanagin hired a construction company to build him a new house. The transaction records indicate he paid the contractor from the Middle Finger Ranch bank account within days of the funds being transferred from Diamond M Farms. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case. (Hays Post)

Ellis fears loss of library in move to keep more taxpayers' library funds in Ellis County

ELLIS COUNTY—Recently in Ellis, a meeting to discuss a potential Ellis County Library brought together more than 30 public leaders and sometimes featured heated exchanges. Several Ellis representatives shared their concerns about changes they believe could lead to a loss of services and local representation. The Ellis County Commission has taken steps to designate an Ellis County Library. The hope is that money going out of the county to a regional library system could be kept in Ellis County and distributed to the county's public and school libraries. The change would also result in the creation of a local library board, which potentially could result in more local control of the funds. In March, the Ellis County Commission voted to put the question of establishing and maintaining a county library before the rural voters of Ellis County on the August 6th primary election ballot.