An update on the Salina Fire Department admin time issue, a water rate study, a playground sponsorship, and the city manager's annual performance evaluation are among the items on the Salina City Commission agenda for Monday.

Study sessions and city commission meetings will take place in–person in room 107 of the City-County Building, 300 West Ash Street, and via Zoom until further notice. Meetings also can be viewed at the City of Salina YouTube channel,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/cityofSalinaKansas">https://www.youtube.com/cityofSalinaKansas</a>.

To participate via Zoom, citizens will need to use the following link:&nbsp;<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89275984587">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89275984587</a>.

The meeting also can be accessed by phone at 1-346-248-7799. Enter Meeting ID:892 7598 4587 when prompted.

If citizens wish to speak, either during the public forum or when the mayor requests public comment on an item, citizens attending via Zoom must raise their hands so that the meeting host can allow them to speak. Those who attend the in-person meeting will have the opportunity to speak at the podium.

Citizens also can send written comments or questions to city commissioners via email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:citycommission@salina.org">citycommission@salina.org</a>.

In order for the commissioners to have an opportunity to review comments in advance of the meeting, please email your comments or questions by 5 p.m. the Sunday prior to the Monday meetings.

Commissioners are scheduled to meet in a study session beginning at 2:30 p.m. Monday. The topic of the study session is 2022-2026 Water Rates Study. To see the study session packet (28 pages), <a href="http://weblink.salina.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=483255&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=Salina">click here</a>.

The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. A time for public comment is scheduled near the beginning of the meeting.

Commissioners are scheduled to hear an update from City Manager Mike Schrage about the Salina Fire Department admin time issue. Immediately following the update, commissioners are scheduled to meet in the following two executive sessions, according to the commission meeting packet.

●To discuss the subject of matters relating to and/or arising from the Salina Fire Department admin time matter which affect the privacy interests of non-elected personnel based upon the need to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel.

●To discuss with special legal counsel the subject of legal considerations relating to and/or arising from the Salina Fire Department admin time matter based upon the need for consultation with an attorney for the public body which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship.

According to Schrage's update in the commission meeting packet, the review, recommendation, and hearing process for Salina Fire Department personnel was recently completed.

"The conclusions remain personnel matters not subject to public disclosure. Three of the eight individuals referenced in the BKD report are not currently employes by the City of Salina," the update states.

The update continued, "It should be noted, that the time period reviewed spans 7 years and that staff referenced in the report, may not have been employed when the investigation was conducted, may not have been employed at the time that the report was presented, or they may have resigned or retired while this process was conducted. It is not accurate or appropriate to assume that references to employees no longer being employed by the City are an indication that they were terminated for wrongdoing. Further, as indicated in the report, it is not appropriate to assume that any wrongdoing has occurred simply based upon an individual's rank or position."

READ: <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/5023c420-c21e-48c8-8426-f030c60b0f70">Royse resigns; Schrage to provide fire dept. matter update Dec. 6</a>

According to the update, BKD's report has been amended because, "over the course of the review and hearings, additional information and details were noted necessitating numeric changes to some of BKD's estimates." A revised report from BKD, the company that conducted the forensics audit of Salina Fire Department leave time, is included in the commission meeting packet and can be <a href="http://weblink.salina.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=483293&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=Salina">accessed here</a>.

Schrage noted in his update that BKD's "original estimate of the value of admin time taken was $197,848.24 and it has been revised to $145,271.14 and their estimate of the value of vacation time bought back of $75,373.73 has been revised to $70,223.22."

Commissioners also are scheduled to consider authorizing the city to enter into a sponsorship agreement with Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc., and to purchase and install a new playground at Lakewood Park.

The playground at Lakewood Park has been recommended for replacement due to its age and condition, according to information in the commission meeting packet. "Lakewood was installed in 1995 (26 years old) and has a sand surfacing, which is not ADA compliant. Additionally, the Lakewood Park playground is next to be replaced on the playground replacement schedule due to the above stated conditions," the commission meeting packet information noted.

Because of anticipated playground funding constraints, city staff reached out to Great Plains Manufacturing in May 2021 to see whether the company would be interested in sponsoring the playground replacement. Great Plains expressed an interest in a $100,000 sponsorship toward the playground, with Great Plains' founder and former owner, Roy Applequist, donating $50,000 toward the project. The city's cost would be $85,424.

The proposed playground, which would include a poured in place rubber safety surfacing that is 100 percent ADA accessible, "would provide an environment where children can develop skills through different challenging opportunities."

Other items on the city commission agenda for Monday include the following.

●Consider approving a resolution describing the corporate limits of the City of Salina.

●Consider approving on second reading an ordinance that would change the zoning district classification on a 34-acre tract of land located on the east side of S. Ohio Street between E. Magnolia Road and E. Schilling Road.

●Consider awarding the Fifth Street parking lot project to Vogts-Parga Construction in the amount of $445,421.56 with a five-percent construction contingency for a total project authorization not to exceed $467,692.64 and authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Vogts-Parga Construction. The project would include removal and replacement of all pavement and installation of landscaping beds and lighting.

●Consider approving an ordinance that would change the zoning classification of Artistic Nails and Spa from an R-1 (single-family residential) to a C-3 (shopping center) district.

●Consider approving a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a license agreement with Wheat State One, LLC, to allow the installation of a private sanitary sewer line and a grease interceptor.

Additionally, commissioners are scheduled to meet in executive session for the city manager's annual performance evaluation.

To see the full Salina City Commission meeting packet for Monday (210 pages), <a href="http://weblink.salina.org/WebLink/Browse.aspx?startid=177362&amp;&amp;dbid=0&amp;cr=1">click here</a>. You also can open agenda items individually.

Fire department update among city agenda items

The upcoming family event at the City of Salina Drive-thru Recycling Center has something for many.

The free Recycling Generosity Food Drive is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon Saturday at the recycling center, 125 W. North Street, and will benefit the Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank and Salina Animal Services. All unopened human or animal food donations will be greatly appreciated.

Parking for the event is available in the parking stalls and along the south fence on the outside of the recycling center.

Stop by with your human or animal food donation and say season’s greetings to Santa, grab a hot cocoa kit, pick up some SDRC swag, check out the daily operations of the local recycling center and maybe even bring home your new best friend! Animal Services will be bringing some of their adorable adoptable dogs!

According to information from the city, the family friendly event strives to encourage community togetherness through generosity and recognition of local support systems. 

Want to view the wish list and keep up to date on the event? Please visit the Recycling Generosity Food Drive’s <a href="https://fb.me/e/1utvSVFbY">event page</a> on Facebook.

The Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank, <a href="http://www.salinafood.org">click here</a>

Salina Animal Services, <a href="https://www.salinaanimalservices.com">click here&nbsp;</a>

The Salina Drive-thru Recycling Center, <a href="http://salina.ks.us/SDRC">click here</a>

Recycling center event to benefit food bank, animal services

From the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/salinapubliclibrary">Salina Public Library</a> Facebook page:

See what's new this week at the Salina Public Library at:

*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-429&amp;fbclid=IwAR0Z4Qkd2eNzWeugOIpaCAQVDfa9cfsnx7H6unpqWi4IIkkftgDVC4rQQL0" target="_blank">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-429</a> ***

There are five new bestsellers, 63 new movies, 53 new music CDs, 285 new children's books, and 128 other new books. The new bestsellers this week include "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive," "Gilded," and "You've Reached Sam: A Novel." The new movies this week include "God's Not Dead: We the People," "Dune," and "Cobra Kai: Season 3."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Check out what's new at the Salina Public Library

The Salina Post native app for iOS and Android devices is available FREE for your mobile device.

<a href="https://salinapost.com/download">Click here to download from the App Store or Google Play.</a>

Take Salina Post with you; get the free app today!

*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-428&amp;fbclid=IwAR0OfvmyIzNuySg870iHX5yAgjSh86P5nmDuf79wZ0nliogw9Rr_fwA5DPA" target="_blank">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-428</a> ***

There are four new movies and one new music CD. The new movies this week include "Ron's Gone Wrong," "Mass," and "What Lies Inside: Healing in the Face of Trauma."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Part of N. Ohio Street will be reduced to a single lane for about a month beginning next week so the City of Salina can replace a water main.

Beginning Tuesday, northbound N. Ohio Street will be limited to one lane between Johnstown Avenue and E. Elm Street. The right northbound lane will be closed so the city can replace a water main. 

Access to Poplar Street and E. Ash Street will be maintained. Work is expected to be complete by Dec. 30, weather permitting.

Motorists may encounter minor delays and are encouraged to find alternate routes.

Part of northbound N. Ohio being reduced to 1 lane for water main work

The following is from the Salina Public Library Facebook page.

*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-427&amp;fbclid=IwAR3sYCkQU4rkJrRgUEHD3huGuGTn-5JHf3pqAbg85FCGjxJvz7G5AxWhC6s" target="_blank">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-427</a> ***

There are 25 new bestsellers, 31 new movies, one new audiobook, 24 new music CDs, and 253 other new books. The new bestsellers this week include "All American Christmas," "The Pioneer Woman Cooks―Super Easy! 120 Shortcut Recipes for Dinners, Desserts, and More," and "A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America." The new movies this week include "Future Boy Conan: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]," "The French Dispatch," and "One Night in Miami...."&nbsp;&nbsp;

UPDATE 2:30 p.m. Friday: The replacement of two cross-road drainage structures on E. Coronado Heights Road has been extended through Wednesday evening, Saline County Engineer Justin Mader announced this afternoon. Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed this evening.

The Saline County Road and Bridge Department has announced the closing of part of E. Coronado Heights Road for drainage work beginning Tuesday.

According to information released this afternoon, E. Coronado Heights Road between S. Kipp Road and S. Whitmore Road will be closed to through traffic beginning Tuesday for the replacement of two cross road drainage structures. The road is scheduled to be closed until Friday evening.  

Motorists are advised to allow a few extra minutes of travel time to reach their destinations. Local and emergency traffic will be provided access to private property within the sections of closed road at all times but only from the side upon which the property lies.

UPDATE: E. Coronado Heights Road drainage work extended

Get an update on the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project during an open house and presentation on Dec. 1.

The event is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. Dec. 1 in the Great Plains Manufacturing Convention Hall of Tony's Pizza Events Center, 800 The Midway.

Those attending can view exhibits and speak with project representatives. A formal presentation about the project is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and is estimated to last approximately 30 minutes.

The presentation also will be broadcast on the City of Salina's Facebook page and on Cox Cable Channel 20.

The update is scheduled to include the following, according to information from the City of Salina.

●United States Army Corps of Engineer - Section 1135 Smoky Hill River Renewal Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study

●City of Salina – Smoky Hill River Renewal Project

"Public input has been continuously incorporated into the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project throughout the planning process. The public is once again being asked to provide feedback, prior to the project moving into the design and construction of Phase I of the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project," the city noted in a news release.

ADA Notice: For needed accommodations, contact Community Relations at <a href="mailto:community.relations@salina.org">community.relations@salina.org</a> or (785)309-5745, (785)309-5747 (TDD) between the hours of 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Every effort will be made to offer reasonable accommodations for known disabilities.

For further information about the project, visit <a href="http://salinaks.gov/riverrenewal">salinaks.gov/riverrenewal</a>.

Smoky Hill River Renewal Project update open house Dec. 1

The Salvation Army Community Thanksgiving Dinner will once again be take out only.

In partnership with G.L. Huyett, the Salina Country Club, and Applebee's, the Salvation Army will offer its annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 25. 

For the safety of those participating, the traditional Thanksgiving dinners will be available via drive-through pick up at the south entrance of the Salvation Army Community Center, 1137 N. Santa Fe Avenue. Dinners will be limited to four per car.

Deliveries for homebound individuals will be available and must be called in by 3 p.m. on Nov. 23.    

Salvation Army plans drive-through pickup for Thanksgiving dinners

*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-426&amp;fbclid=IwAR0t2IW94OrNXRlOcOor4dJRfWzwxBMf1rBCn04skiVTrekHWQ-n6JRJhrU" target="_blank">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-426</a> ***

There are one new bestseller, 36 new movies, 23 new audiobooks, one new children's book, and 11 other new books.

The new bestseller this week is "A Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel." The new movies this week include "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Sixth Season," "The Many Saints of Newark," and "Unbroken."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lifelong Republican represented Kansas on a national stage

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN and SCOTT CANON <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-12-05/bob-dole-is-dead-at-98-he-overcame-war-wounds-nearly-became-president-championed-disability-rights">Kansas News Service</a>

Bob Dole, who overcame war wounds to dominate Kansas politics for 
much of the 20th century and nearly capture his nation’s presidency, has
 died. He was 98.

The death of the former U.S. senator and 
Republican nominee for president was announced by the Elizabeth Dole 
Foundation. The announcement did not say where he died. He died Sunday.

He is survived by his wife, former U.S. Sen. and cabinet secretary Elizabeth Dole and his daughter, Robin Dole.

Dole
 grew up in the boom-and-bust oil town of Russell, watched his 
family scrape by during the Great Depression, suffered crippling wounds 
on an Italian battlefield during World War II and worked his way up from
 county politics to leadership in the U.S. Senate.

He left a 
legacy marked by both fierce partisanship and landmark lawmaking defined
 by his willingness to team with Democrats. He beat cancer in the 1990s,
 but Dole announced Feb. 18, 2021, that he had stage 4 cancer and would 
undergo treatment.

And though he became a creature of Washington —
 cashing in on decades of Capitol Hill connections by spending the last 
decades of his life as a lobbyist — he always saw himself as a Kansan.

His days in Russell, Dole once said, gave him a certain perspective.

“The first thing you learn on the prairie,” he said, “is the relative size of man compared to the lay of the land.”

<a href="http://doleinstitute.org/timeline/alternate-timeline/" target="_blank">Robert Joseph Dole</a>
 was born July 22, 1923. His father ran a small creamery and his mother 
sold Singer sewing machines door to door. They lived on Maple Street.

As a teenager, Dole washed cars and worked as a soda jerk at Dawson’s
 Drug Store. Classmates remembered Dole as a smart dresser, a 
good-looking guy who modeled in a high school fashion show and served as
 sports editor of the school paper.

The family was active in the 
Methodist Church, saw hard financial times and was battered by the 
blinding storms of the Dust Bowl years in Kansas and economic despair. 
He shared a single room, one bike and a pair of rollerskates with his 
siblings.

The farthest east he traveled in the first 20 years of his life was to Kansas City.

In
 1941, Dole entered the University of Kansas with the help of a $300 
loan from a Russell banker and became the first in his family to go 
beyond high school. He led an active life on campus, pledging a 
fraternity, working multiple jobs and playing basketball under legendary
 KU coach Phog Allen.

Three
 years into college, Dole left to join the U.S. Army Officer Candidate 
School. He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division. That took him to 
Italy — and the battle wounds that would leave his right arm all but 
useless for the next seven-plus decades of a storied life.

On 
April 14, 1945, a German shell shattered Dole’s right shoulder, 
collarbone and arm. It crushed a piece of his spine, leaving him 
temporarily paralyzed and in a full-body cast. Dole was shipped home, 
first to Kansas, then to Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, 
Michigan, for rehabilitation.

He struggled with tremors and physical coordination, and learned to 
do everything with his left hand. In the three years following his 
injury, he underwent seven surgeries, none of which improved his 
condition much.

The people of Russell chipped in to help pay 
Dole’s hospital bills, putting coins and bills into an old cigar box. 
Hometown supporters would later put $100,000 in a similar <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/campaign/dole/hand.htm" target="_blank">cigar box</a> during Dole’s presidential run in 1987. Dole kept the box in his Senate office for years.

Dole’s
 new disability had a profound impact. For the rest of his life, he 
often held a pen in his weakened right hand at public events to keep 
people from trying to shake it. In his 2005 memoir, “<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060763428/one-soldiers-story/" target="_blank">One Soldier’s Story</a>,”
 Dole wrote that seeing his wasted body in the mirror disturbed him so 
much that in the 60 years since his injury, he had scarcely looked at 
himself without a shirt on.

“I don’t need any more reminders,” Dole wrote.

During
 his recovery, he met his future first wife, occupational therapist 
Phyllis Holden. He also befriended Daniel Inouye, a fellow wounded 
soldier who would later become Hawaii’s first senator and the president 
of the U.S. Senate. And Dole grew close to an Armenian doctor, Hampar 
Kelikian, an immigrant who refused to take payment for treating American
 GIs.

“He inspired within me a new attitude,” wrote Dole about 
Kelikian in “One Soldier’s Story.” “He encouraged me to see 
possibilities where others only saw problems. It’s an attitude that has 
served me well over the years.”

The
 optimism and perseverance remained with Dole when he left the Army in 
1948. He returned to college at the University of Arizona and then 
Washburn University in Topeka, where he finished his undergraduate and 
law degrees. His wife, Phyllis, attended classes with him, taking notes 
and acting as his scribe during law exams. The Department of Veterans 
Affairs gave him a Sound Scriber, a huge, phonograph-like device that 
Dole used to record lectures and later copy them painstakingly by hand.

At
 Washburn, Dole met Beth Bowers, a law librarian who suggested he run 
for the Kansas Legislature in 1950, when he was 27 years old. In “One 
Soldier’s Story,” Dole wrote that he chose to run as a Republican on the
 advice of the county attorney in Russell — to appeal to the majority of
 the Kansas population.

“My entry into politics certainly wasn’t 
propelled by partisan fervor,” Dole wrote. “I became a Republican, 
pragmatically at first, and then philosophically later on.”

That 
pragmatism would develop into a dogged dedication to the party line when
 he reached Congress a decade later. Dole made $5 a day in the Kansas 
Statehouse — $7 a day during the legislative session — and made his 
living working as a private attorney in his hometown.

In 1952, he 
ran for Russell County attorney. He held the office until he won a seat 
in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1960. As part of that 
congressional campaign, his volunteers bought every can of Dole 
pineapple juice they could find and gave them to voters. Dole would 
reuse the gimmick in subsequent bids for office.

In
 his first years in Congress, Dole voted in favor of the Civil Rights 
Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. He criticized the 
policies of Democratic Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson 
and befriended Republican former Vice President Richard Nixon.

“Dole
 mentioned once that Nixon was the only one in Washington who stuck out 
his left hand to shake with Dole,” wrote political journalist Richard 
Ben Cramer in <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/33217/what-it-takes-by-richard-ben-cramer/9780679746492/" target="_blank">“What It Takes,”</a> his chronicle of the 1988 presidential election.

That
 friendship continued through 1969, when Nixon began his presidency and 
Dole began his tenure in the U.S. Senate. Dole was a staunch supporter 
of Nixon, defending the president’s choices in the Vietnam War and 
through the Watergate scandal. In an attempt to protect the reputation 
of the president and the Republican Party, the senator introduced a 
resolution that would pull the Watergate committee hearings off TV.

“The
 purpose of the hearings is to serve legislative interests. It is not to
 try, convict and sentence Richard Nixon,” Dole said in a speech on the 
Senate floor. “Lives, reputations and careers can be hopelessly 
shattered by such exposure.” Dole’s resolution failed. And those 
televised hearings sped the end of the Nixon presidency.

The 1970s
 brought changes in Dole’s personal life. He started spending more time 
at the office and away from his wife and daughter, Robin, who was born 
in 1954. Dole and Phyllis divorced in 1972, shocking his constituents in
 Kansas. Soon after, Dole met then-White House staffer Elizabeth Hanford
 and the two married in 1975.

In the political world, Dole made a 
name for himself by chairing the Republican National Committee from 1970
 to 1972, occasionally crossing party lines to support issues such as 
food stamps.

Dole’s party loyalty and Midwestern sensibility led President Gerald Ford to <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?74133-1/ford-vice-presidential-nominee-announcement" target="_blank">choose him as his running mate</a> in his bid for reelection in 1976. After a heated race, they lost the contest to Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter by three points.

It was Dole’s first bid for national office. In 1979, he made 
another. After an aggressive campaign of speeches touting the Republican
 platform across the country, Dole decided to run for president. He 
returned to his hometown, Russell, to make the announcement. His wife, 
Elizabeth Dole, quit her job at the Federal Trade Commission to support 
him.

But his campaign was rocky. The candidate spent little time 
in Iowa and New Hampshire. Several campaign staffers were fired and had 
to be replaced multiple times. Dole performed abysmally in the New 
Hampshire primary, winning only 0.4 percent of the vote, and announced 
he was dropping out.

He returned to the Senate. As chairman of the
 Senate Committee on Finance, he wrote up a milder version of President 
Ronald Reagan’s proposed tax cuts. The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
 passed both chambers and became the biggest tax cut in U.S. history.

A year later, Dole authored a bill with the opposite result, convincing Reagan that tax hikes
 were needed to close a federal deficit of $230 billion. The Tax Equity 
and Fiscal Responsibility Act raised nearly $100 billion for the federal
 government, mostly through higher taxes and closed loopholes.

Dole
 took on the mantle of Senate majority leader in 1984. The next year, he
 again worked to reduce the federal deficit through the 
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act and helped pass a farm bill.

His next bid for president came in 1987. Dole stuck it out longer 
this time, in a primary crowded with seven Republicans. Dole had a 
reputation for working hard, but micromanaging to the detriment of his 
campaign. He lost several primaries and dropped out in March 1988.

Accepting
 that his shot at president had probably come and gone, Dole threw his 
support behind Reagan’s Republican successor, then-Vice President George
 H.W. Bush.

“It’s probably finished for me, but you never know,” Dole told biographer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bob-Dole-Republicans-Man-Seasons/dp/1556114214" target="_blank">Jake H. Thompson</a>. “My role now is to make George Bush a good president. I’m certainly not trying to keep anything alive.”

During
 the first Bush presidency, Dole traveled on diplomatic missions to 
Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, notably visiting Saddam
 Hussein in a failed attempt to stop Iraq from trying to build nuclear 
weapons. The senator played central roles in the <a href="https://www.ada.gov/" target="_blank">Americans with Disabilities Act</a> and the Clear Air Act, both passed in 1990.

In 1991, Elizabeth Dole was named the president of the American Red Cross and Bob Dole underwent surgery for prostate cancer.

Four
 years later, Dole announced he was running for president again. This 
time, he won the Republican nomination. He swept the primaries and chose
 former New York Rep. Jack Kemp — a politician whose supply-side 
economics clashed with Dole’s budget-hawk ways — as his running mate.

Dole left the Senate on June 11, 1996, to focus on the general election campaign. In his <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?72875-1/senator-dole-farewell-speech" target="_blank">farewell speech</a> on the Senate floor, he asked his colleagues to work together across party lines.

“I’m
 not here to make a partisan speech,” he said. “I would hope that we 
would keep in mind that there are still threats around the world. And 
also keep in mind that we’re the envy of the world.”

Dole ultimately lost to incumbent President Bill Clinton by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1996" target="_blank">eight points in the popular vote</a> and received fewer than half of Clinton’s electoral votes.

In his <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?76579-1/bob-dole-concession-speech" target="_blank">concession speech</a>, Dole pledged his support to Clinton and joked about his own retirement.

“I
 was thinking on the way down the elevator, ‘Tomorrow will be the first 
time in my life I don't have anything to do.’ … I'm going to sit back 
for a few days, and then I'm going to start standing up for what I think
 is right for America.”

In
 his last two decades, Dole dedicated himself to advocacy. He chaired 
the WWII Memorial Commission, raising nearly $200 million for the 
memorial. At a 1997 ceremony revealing the design for the memorial, 
Clinton <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?78062-1/medal-freedom-presentation" target="_blank">awarded</a> the former senator the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The late 1990s also marked the beginning of a brief television career. Dole famously starred in an early <a href="https://youtu.be/nBdgpjnKInA?t=46" target="_blank">commercial for Viagra</a>, later parodied in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7oh1so-2M8" target="_blank">commercial for Pepsi</a>.
 He shilled for Visa and Dunkin Donuts and appeared on Comedy Central's 
“The Daily Show” as a commentator for the 2000 election.

In the 2000s, Dole continued to advocate for war veterans and the 
disabled, often appearing at events to give speeches and shake hands 
with fellow veterans.

He returned to the Senate floor in 2012, asking legislators to vote 
in favor of ratifying the United Nations-backed Convention on the Rights
 of Persons with Disabilities. Democratic senators <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/us/despite-doles-wish-gop-rejects-disabilities-treaty.html?_r=0" target="_blank">stayed seated</a>
 in solidarity with Dole, a wheelchair user, as they cast their votes in
 favor. But the controlling majority of Republicans opposed the treaty, 
citing concerns about states’ rights and U.S. sovereignty. Two years 
later, despite another visit from Dole, the Republican-led Senate again 
rejected the treaty, <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/218040-senate-gop-block-un-treaty-on-disability-rights" target="_blank">refusing</a> to bring it to a full vote.

In the last years of his life, Dole worked for Alston and Bird, helping the firm lobby for a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/world/europe/oleg-deripaska-russia-oligarch-sanctions.html" target="_blank">Russian oligarch</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-sen-bob-dole-s-influence-helped-lead-call-between-n692661" target="_blank">policies favorable to Taiwan</a>.

Ever the GOP loyalist, Dole endorsed candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. 

“I like Donald Trump because he's a strong leader and he is someone who can work with Congress,” Dole <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wDh8J_3v4c&amp;ab_channel=PBSNewsHour" target="_blank">told NPR</a>
 at the Republican National Convention that year. “There are a lot of 
similarities between my days in the Senate and what Donald is 
proposing.”

In the 2018 midterms, Dole threw his support behind Republican congressional candidates <a href="http://www.yoderforcongress.com/senator_bob_dole_endorses_congressman_yoder_for_re_election" target="_blank">Kevin Yoder</a>, a Republican incumbent in eastern Kansas, and <a href="https://twitter.com/senatordole/status/1050027506814869505" target="_blank">Steve Watkins</a>, a newcomer who had few ties to Dole’s home state. The former senator endorsed incumbent <a href="https://twitter.com/senatordole/status/1026559962963734528" target="_blank">Gov. Jeff Colyer</a>
 in the GOP primaries, and later stayed silent when then-Secretary of 
State Kris Kobach won the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

In 2019, Congress unanimously passed a <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article228436774.html" target="_blank">bill</a> to promote Dole to the rank of colonel in the Army.

In 2020, Dole did not publicly endorse a candidate, but maintained his support of Trump, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bob-dole-donald-trump-presidential-debate-commission-elections-2020-10" target="_blank">accusing</a>
 the bipartisan Committee on Presidential Debates of being biased 
against the candidate ahead of the election. Dole endorsed Republican 
Roger Marshall, a candidate cast more in the mold of Trump than the 
politics of Dole's career.

Dole later said he <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/article247926270.html" target="_blank">believed</a> Joe Biden had won the election over Trump. He told The Kansas City Star that he considered Biden a friend.

“He
 did a good job,” Dole said. “Proud to be a liberal — hopefully not too 
liberal — but he knows how the government works and the Congress works 
and all this will be a benefit to Joe.”

Dole’s health began to decline in early 2021, when he announced he had been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-dole-stage-4-lung-cancer-480b81fe3e01fa53263c2f817c4eb768" target="_blank">diagnosed</a> with stage four lung cancer and would soon begin treatment.

Dole saw his political career, like his personal battle with a physical disability, as one of perseverance.

“In
 the final analysis, that’s what great leaders do, not just in the 
Senate but also in daily life,” he wrote in his 2005 memoir. “They face 
life without flinching. They make the tough decisions. They live with 
the consequences whether good or bad. They make the most of what they 
have. That’s the kind of leader I have always tried to be.”

Throughout his career, Dole was a staunch supporter of disability rights and some social welfare programs.

Nomin
 Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for the Kansas
 News Service. You can email her at nomin@kcur.org and follow
 her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/nominuj" target="_blank">@NominUJ</a>.&nbsp;Scott
 Canon is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service. You can reach 
him at scott@kcur.org, 816-235-8023 or on Twitter @ScottCanon.

🎥 Western Kansas icon: Bob Dole's legacy as a statesman and leader

By EMILY HALSTEAD K-State Research and Extension news&nbsp;

MANHATTAN – The holiday season can get busy, and being able to prepare yeast bread dough ahead of time and freeze it for later use could save time, said Kansas State University food scientist Karen Blakeslee.&nbsp;

Blakeslee said preparing and freezing yeast bread dough must go hand-in-hand with proper food safety practices. &nbsp;

“When making any kind of baked good, remember to wash your hands before and after handling flour and the dough,” said Blakeslee, who is coordinator of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rrc.k-state.edu/" target="_blank">K-State’s Rapid Response Center</a>. “Raw flour has been linked to several foodborne illness outbreaks, so it is important to keep hands clean.”&nbsp;

“To save time during the holidays, or any time of the year, prepare yeast bread dough ahead of time and freeze into dough balls for rolls to bake later,” Blakeslee said. “The trick is using a dough with extra yeast because slow freezing can damage yeast.” &nbsp;

Blakeslee’s advice for safely freezing yeast bread dough includes:&nbsp;

●Increase the yeast by ¼ to ½ teaspoon per 3 cups of flour to your favorite bread recipe. Dough that has extra yeast can compensate for potential freeze damage.

●Consider recipes high in yeast and sugar, and low in salt, which are best for freezing.

●After kneading the dough, place it in a freezer-safe package and freeze. Dough can be frozen up to four weeks.

●Thaw frozen dough at room temperature, shape, let rise and bake as directed.&nbsp;

Cookie dough also can be prepared and frozen to save time when baking for the holidays. Some tips for freezing cookie dough include:&nbsp;

●Drop cookie dough can be prepared, scooped onto a cookie sheet then frozen.

●After freezing, cookie dough can be removed from the cookie sheet and stored in freezer packaging to be baked later.

●Always remember to wash your hands after handling raw cookie dough.

Blakeslee cautioned against the urge to snack on raw cookie dough, “because of the foodborne illness risks due to eating raw flour and eggs.” Instead, she said, wait until cookies are fully cooked and cooled before enjoying. &nbsp;

Another holiday option: Instead of freezing dough, bake the products first, allow them to cool completely then tightly wrap them and freeze. Let them thaw in the wrapping before using.&nbsp;

“Rewarm baked goods with a quick zap in the microwave for that just out of the oven taste,” Blakeslee said. &nbsp;

Blakeslee publishes a monthly newsletter called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rrc.k-state.edu/newsletter" target="_blank">You Asked It!</a>&nbsp;that provides numerous tips on food safety. More information is also available from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/about/statewide-locations.html" target="_blank">local extension offices</a>&nbsp;in Kansas.&nbsp;

Holiday tips: Save time by freezing dough for yeast bread, cookies

Nineteen Kansas Wesleyan students were recently inducted into the Alpha Chi national honor society.

Alpha Chi invites only those who rank within the top ten percent of their junior and senior classes. Each year, a select group is inducted.

Alpha Chi is a collegiate honor society that has been in operation since 1922. KWU has been among its ranks since 1978. In that timeframe, KWU members of Alpha Chi have been to numerous annual conferences organized by the society, including virtual attendance at a conference in Spring 2021.

The 2021-22 inductees to Alpha Chi include the following.

KWU inducts 19 into Alpha Chi Honor Society

Following is recent booking activity for the Saline County Jail, as provided by law enforcement. Photos, if provided, are courtesy of Saline County Jail.

All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

NAME:&nbsp;Ashcraft, Shirley Evyln; 54; Salina

NAME:&nbsp;Gallegos, Jose Manuel; 28; Salina

CHARGES REQUESTED:&nbsp;Probation Violation

NAME:&nbsp;Hathaway, Kelsey Jade; 36; Salina

CHARGES REQUESTED:&nbsp;Criminal trespass; Remain in defiance of order by owner

NAME:&nbsp;Svendblad-Valladares, Napoleon; 41; Salina

NAME:&nbsp;Wagner, George Jess; 44; Salina

Fleeing a LEO; fail/refuse to stop; 1st conviction	

Poss of opiate, narcotic, or certain stimulant	

Theft of prop/services:Value less than $1,500	

Unlawful acts: vehicle registration violation

Saline County Jail Booking Activity, Dec. 5

ABILENE - Memorial Health System employees set a record in November during their Jeans Day fundraiser to help a Solomon boy who is battling leukemia.

Employees who made a donation of at least $5 were allowed to wear blue jeans on Fridays in November. According to information from Memorial Health System, a total donation of $1,015 was presented to Hayden Ballou, who is currently fighting against his second round of leukemia.

 To date, this is the largest donation made for Jeans Day by Memorial Health System employees. The Jeans Day was organized by the Memorial Health System Employer of Choice (EOC) committee.&nbsp;

MHS employees set record in effort to help Solomon boy, family

The city has announced a crack sealing project in central Salina for Monday.

APAC Shears of Salina will seal cracks on E. Crawford Street from Lewis Avenue to Briarcliff Road, weather permitting.

The work will take place generally between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Access to properties within work zones will be maintained at all times. “Road Work Ahead” signs will be placed in advance of work zones, and temporary single-lane closures are to be expected. Motorists are asked to proceed with caution when approaching work zones for the safety of the crews performing the work.

The annual crack and joint sealing program is an important and cost-effective preventive maintenance component of the City of Salina’s annual street repair program. Crack sealing the pavement helps prevent water from penetrating into the pavement structure or sub-base material and aids in reducing a number of pavement problems which include: crack spreading; formation of voids under pavement; swelling and shrinking of sub-base materials; freeze-thaw action; alligator cracking; potholing; and complete failure. Because of its importance and cost- effectiveness, the Department of Public Works strives to seal each asphalt street in Salina no less often than every seven years. Approximately 31 centerline miles of streets will be sealed in 2021.

The $460,000 project is a major component of the City of Salina’s $4.7 million 2021 maintenance capital improvement program.

Crack sealing work set for E. Crawford on Monday

Today is Sunday, Dec. 5, the 339th day of 2021. There are 26 days left in the year. 

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