THE HAYS DAILYNEWS Market An elderly man's car careens through a market. Page A7. Royals revival K.C enters the second half of the season atop the AL Central. Page Bl. Thursday July 17,2003 Hays, Kansas JEFF COOPER Hays Daily News Kasandra Huser and Jenna Braun, both of Victoria Vikings 4-H Club work on their heifer, Lollipop, in the team fitting competition at the Ellis County Fair.
The girls' team won the competition. Animals 'pop' in teamwork event JL JL By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN HAYS DAILY NEWS Lollipop was missing her pasture mate, Lucy, Wednesday afternoon. So Lollipop, a 114-year-old heifer owned by 4-H'er Shannon White, was none too enthused about standing still for arid her teammates to fuss over heir That was understandable, sidering the stifling heat on the 100-plus degree afternoon in the livestock arena of the Ellis County Fairgrounds. Nonetheless, the judge for the annual team fitting contest of the Ellis County Fair was impressed enough with the job the three girls did to award them grand championship honors. Shannon, a member of the Trailblazers 4-H Club, joined Kasandra Huser and Jenna Braun of the Victoria Vikings to edge out the team of Nathan Staab and Garet Dinkel of Buckeye Junior Farmers and Kyle Zimmerman of the Good Hope club.
Judge John Stannard, Extension agriculture agent for Russell County, watched carefully as the teams went about spiffing up their animals in the allotted 30- minute time frame. The scoring system consisted of 40 percent for both teamwork and final appearance and 10 percent for how the team members answered questions by the judge and another 10 percent on controlled attitude during the contest. When it was all said and done, Stannard said he had a hard time choosing the top team. "They didn't miss very many Garet Dinkel, left, of Buckeye Junior Farmers and Kyle Zimmerman of Good Hope 4-H Club comb and blow dry their steer in the team fitting competition at the Ellis County Fair. questions," Stannard said, explaining the different styles of teamwork between the boys' and girls' teams.
"The heifer went from the start and just fell into being a class act," Stannard said of Lollipop. "That's no different from my wife. Half an hour in front of a mirror, she looks a lot better than I do." Stannard pointed out the differences between the girls working on the Angus heifer and the boys making the crossbred steer presentable. Although the teams used different approaches, they both achieved the same goal. From combing and clipping and conditioning the animals' hair to painting hooves and trimming and fluffing tails, the teams worked in unison from the time their animals were led into their blocking chutes.
All three girls were in the junior division and all have similar showmanship experience. But the boys relied on a veteran, 19-year-old Nathan, to help them. Nathan will be a sophom*ore at Fort Hays State University, majoring in agriculture business, and he has the most experience in showmanship on the boys' team. So Kyle asked Nathan several questions as the boys worked on John, the steer. "I admire the teamwork," Stannard told the audience.
"The boys really made the steer pop. But this time, I'm going to have to go with the girls." While Shannon, Kasandra and Jenna received belt buckles for their efforts, the other member of the winning team, Lollipop, didn't seem to care. And she let everyone know about it as she started to bawl often during the awards presentation. "They're always together," Tricia White, Shannon's mother, said of Lollipop and Lucy. "They're buds.
I think (Lollipop) just wants to get back there with Lucy." FAMILY FRIENDLY NIGHT Tonight is "Family Friendly Night" at the Ellis County Fair. There will-be no alcohol sales at the Ellis County Fairgrounds, and all activities are family oriented: Beginning at 6 p.m»}i full" slate of family -are scheduled, beginning with a root beer, social, sponsored by the Ellis County Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Financial Services, and an ice cream social, sponsored by Midwest Energy Inc. Also beginning at 6 p.m. will be the carnival rides by Moore's Greater Shows. In keeping with the family theme, Moore's has agreed to feature armband night in addition to its original armband night Wednesday.
For $15, people can ride rides from 7 to 10 p.m. At 7 p.m. will be the Eagle Radio kids' pedal tractor pull, and there also will be games in the kids' arena in the Commercial Building. On the midway will be chainsaw artist Pat Doyle from Iowa, and entertainment in the amphitheater at 8 p.m. will be the monster trucks.
The free concert on the midway stage will be provided by Code Blue, also beginning at 8 p.m. 4-H events are the bucket calf show at 5 p.m. and the beef show at 6 p.m. DOC changes prison work crew policies By PHYLLIS J. ZORN HAYS DAILY NEWS The Kansas Department of Corrections has changed its policies on prison work crews after an inmate allegedly broke into a Hays home near a cleanup project.
DOC spokesman Bill Miskell confirmed the state prison system has made statewide policy change in the aftermath of the Hays break-in. Inmate Gordon D. Chaffin, 40, was charged Thursday in Ellis County District Court with aggravated burglary and aggravated escape from custody. Chaffin is scheduled to make his first appearance on the charges Friday afternoon. He was a member of a work crew from the Stockton Correctional Facility helping to clean up Chetolah Creek near 27th and Barclay on July 8.
Chaffin apparently left the detail and walked underneath a bridge on 27th to the residential neighborhood on the north side, Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees said. Shortly after 11 a.m., Chaffin allegedly kicked open the door of the house at 2702 Barclay but fled saw there were children insideT An older child was babysitting two younger children. Chaffin, who was in minimum security when he was assigned to the work detail, is serving a 37- month sentence for burglary, theft and criminal damage to property in Johnson and Shawnee counties. Miskell said Deputy Secretary Chuck Simmons issued orders last week that inmates on work details in residential areas will be kept under direct visual supervision at all times. "The order provides that the supervisor be in a position to maintain visual contact with an inmate, that the supervisor must remain in the immediate area where the inmates are working so that visual contact with all inmates could be established on an immediate basis," Miskell said.
The new rule doesn't apply to inmates working on the prison grounds at facilities adjacent to residential areas, Miskell said. Other institutions that share grounds with prisons, such as Osawatomie, Winfield and Lamed hospitals, are not considered residential areas. Inmates on work detail at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson only are required to be in line-of- sight supervision when working at a part of the fairgrounds immediately next to a residential area. CREWS SEE PAGE A6 sm Iraq face 'guerrilla war' WASHINGTON (AP) Sad- dam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, the commander of U.S.
forces in Iraq says. Highlighting the danger, American forces found a cache of about 4 tons of military explosives in central Iraq today, a senior official at the Pentagon said. Troops found the stash of C4 explosives about 30 miles southwest of Baghdad after being tipped by Iraqis, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity A statement from U.S. Central Command said troops from the 4th Infantry Division found 54 crates of C4, as well as 250,000 blasting caps. U.S.
soldiers are holding 543 Iraqis captured during Operation Soda Mountain, the latest sweep for anti-American fighters, the state- Abizaid ment said. Those arrested include 48 identified as Saddam Hussein loyalist leaders, the statement said. Gen. John Abizaid said the threat was nothing that the troops couldn't handle. "They're not driving us out of anywhere," the four-star general said Wednesday.
Still, Abizaid's use of the term "guerrilla warfare" was a striking departure for a top military leader. As recently as last week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials refused to use the term, saying attacks on U.S. forces were too sporadic and disorganized to qualify as a guerrilla campaign. Abizaid credited attackers with improved organization, tactics and financing as he suggested American soldiers might face deployments of a length seldom seen since the Vietnam War.
However, he pledged that soldiers in the Army's longest-serving unit in Iraq, the 3rd Infantry Division, would be on their way home by the end of September. Other U.S. troops will be given a firm homecoming date. Rancher, investor embroiled in complicated conflict Investor loses money due to missed lease payment By PHYLLIS J. ZORN HAYS DAILY NEWS Richard Augustine has spent five years trying to get what he believes is justice, and as far as he can tell, it's nowhere in sight.
The conflict between Augustine and Hays rancher Maurice Rohr began when he invested in a cattle lease program. Along the way, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Ellis County attorney and the Kansas Securities Commission became involved. Rohr has been arrested and told he would be fined, and twice Augustine has sued to try to collect what he believes Rohr owes him. Augustine, a teacher, invested $20,000 in a cattle lease program offered by Rohr's Smoky Hill Charolais farm in 1997. Under the program, an investor would buy cattle.
Rohr then would lease the cattle for five years, breed them each year, keep all but one of the offspring and pay $400 per cow per year to the investor in Augustine's case, $4,000 for 10 cows. After five years, the cows would revert to the investor and be leased again or sold. Augustine said he thought the person he was making the deal with was Maurice Rohr, but when the 'contract was written, the lessee was Mark Rohr, Maurice Rohr's son. Maurice Rohr disputes the notion that Augustine didn't realize Mark was the one leasing the cows. Augustine lost money on the deal when a May 6,1998, payment wasn't made.
Three months later, Augustine sent Maurice Rohr a letter saying he wanted his $20,000 back along with the overdue $4,000 lease payment. A month after sending the letter, he sued Rohr in Ellis County District Court in September 1998. Augustine also complained to the Kansas Securities Commission, which in January 2000 ordered Rohr to stop marketing unregistered lease agreements. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent later that year made a visit to Maurice Rohr, saying he wanted to invest in a cattle lease. Allegedly, Rohr agreed to sell the agent a lease.
INVESTOR SEE PAGE A6 Rancher says situation costs money, reputation By PHYLLIS J. ZORN HAYS DAILY NEWS Maurice Rohr is a man tired of being pursued, and he wants to clear his name. Rohr was arrested more than three years ago on suspicion of violating an order earlier issued by the Kansas Securities Commission not to unregistered securities, The next day, Rohr paid a bondsman $2,500 to get out of jail as he awaited the filing of charges. No charges were filed, and it appears no charges will be. Meanwhile, Rohr is out the bondsman's fee as well as attor- 2 sections, 14 pages To subscribe call (785) 628-1081 Of (800) 657-6017 Inside today Kansas.
A3 Financial A6 Opinion A4 Sports Bl Classifieds B4 Obituaries A6 Comics B6 Local forecast Tonight, mostly clear. Low in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Friday, mostly sunny with a 20-percent chance of thunder- ney fees and other expenses. "I've lost, so far in this whole deal, about half a million dollars, and I'll never see it again," he said.
His arrest came about after an unhappy investor in a cattle lease deal sued him and made a complaint to the securities commission. The ordeal has lasted more than four years, Rohr said. More than a year ago, the state notified Rohr it intended to fine him for his alleged violation of the securities act. Rohr appealed that decision and said he wanted a hearing. All that's happened in the time since Rohr asked for a hearing is conversation between Rohr, his attorney and the securities commission.
What has not happened is the setting of a hearing date. "I think they're just sitting there thinking everything is going to just disappear," Rohr said. Meanwhile, the situation has cost both reputation and money, Rohr said. Rohr said the chain of events raises questions about how the state operates. He believes if the state actually had credible evidence he'd done something wrong, it would have held a hearing and been done with it before now.
"To me it's ridiculous, because they should have done their homework before doing anything," Rohr said. All of Rohr's cattle records were seized by the state, Rohr said. That has continued to cost him money because in order to get top dollar for his cattle, he has to document its pedigree. RANCHER SEE PAGE As storms. High around 105.
West winds 5 to 15 mph shifting to the east. Friday night, lows in the upper 60s. Weather map, page A2. HDN Online Find us on the Internet at www.HDNews.net for local news and a host of links to other sites and services..
