JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged theft and burglary.

Just after 7p.m. June 19, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an enclosed trailer that had been stolen from a rural property near Delia, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

A Jackson County Deputy located the stolen trailer at a residence in Rossville. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and Silver Lake Police then located the suspect at a different address in the City of Rossville. 

The suspect, Tanner Joseph Allen, 27, of Rossville, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of theft, burglary and criminal damage to property.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718727037393.png" alt="Allen-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Allen-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged theft and burglary.Just after 7p.m. June 19, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an enclosed trailer that had been stolen from a rural property near Delia, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.A Jackson County Deputy located the stolen trailer at a residence in Rossville. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and Silver Lake Police then located the suspect at a different address in the City of Rossville. The suspect, Tanner Joseph Allen, 27, of Rossville, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of theft, burglary and criminal damage to property.

Sheriff: Kansas man accused of trailer theft from rural property

Jeff E. Backstrom May 18, 1960 ~ June 16, 2024

Jeff E. Backstrom, age 64, formerly of Concordia, KS, played his final round of golf and cast his last fishing line on Sunday, June 16, 2024 surrounded by his family at Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems, Beloit, KS. &nbsp;He was born on May 18, 1960 in Wakefield, NE to Dean H.L. &amp; Norma L. (Erwin) Backstrom.

Jeff graduated from Wayne High School in 1978, Wayne, NE. &nbsp;In his early years he worked for Heritage Homes in Wayne and worked in custom farming for Kenny Austin. &nbsp;On September 11, 1982, Jeff married Wanda A. Reitz in Grand Island, NE. &nbsp;They continued to live in Wayne until they moved to Concordia, KS in 1985. &nbsp;He worked for ABB Raymond, Alstom Power and Pre-Heater and then Arvos until 2016 when the plant closed. He was one of the original 26 that returned to the plant in 2017 with Concordia Technologies. &nbsp;Jeff worked in several areas throughout his career in the painting department, inventory specialist, sandblasting, inventory control/prefab and later as a supervisor and manager for the metal prefab department until an accident forced him to retire in 2023.

All throughout his life, Jeff loved to fish, hunt, play golf and drive a boat! &nbsp;In his younger years, he played slow pitch softball, ‘old man’ basketball and anything that got him out of the house. &nbsp;He was especially fond of family and friends’ trips to the mountains and snow skiing.He enjoyed playing cards, collecting coins, his Husker football and Husker sports in general.The last few years, he and Wanda enjoyed their time with family and friends at Waconda Lake.

Jeff was involved with his children’s activities from junior golf to baseball, basketball, track and field, especially pole vaulting. &nbsp;Jeff’s pride and joy was becoming a grandpa to Culver, Thomas, Palmer and Colter. &nbsp;He loved to teach them things about hunting, fishing, life lessons and just spending time with them. &nbsp;They are the reason he fought so hard in his battle after his accident and throughout his cancer journey. &nbsp;

He was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, former member of the ELKS Lodge in Concordia KS, Cloud County Ducks Unlimited and the Concordia Country Club, American Legion Golf Course and Concordia Golf &amp; Wellness.

He is survived by his wife, Wanda, Beloit, KS; son, Beau Backstrom (Ana), Big Sky, MT; daughter, Mallory Hulett, (Connor), Beloit, KS; grandchildren, Culver, Palmer &amp; Colter Hulett and Thomas Backstrom; sister, Nancy Lind (Terry), Louisville, CO; several nieces &amp; nephews and too many friends to count.

It was Jeff's wishes to be cremated but he wanted to have one last party and have “one more before we all go home” at 5 pm, Thursday, June 20, 2024 at the Concordia Golf &amp; Wellness golf course, 600 W. 13th St., Concordia, KS. &nbsp;Friends may sign the register book from 1-8 pm with a Rosary service at 6 pm and the family greeting friends from 6:30-7:30 pm, Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, Concordia, KS. &nbsp;In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Cloud County Ducks Unlimited for Lifetime Youth Hunting Licenses. Jeff also wanted it to be a casual affair, so please wear your comfortable golf attire. &nbsp;Please feel free to bring a lawn chair or drive your golf cart up to the clubhouse for your seat to his celebration! &nbsp;For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com. &nbsp;Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, 325 W. 6th St., PO Box 606, Concordia, KS 66901 is handling arrangements.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/895f950d-3e88-4389-82a0-2b0f657953a0">Salina Juneteenth celebrations this week</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718809584558.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Jeff E. Backstrom May 18, 1960 ~ June 16, 2024 Jeff E. Backstrom, age 64, formerly of Concordia, KS, played his final round of golf and cast his last fishing line on Sunday, June 16, 2024 surrounded by his family at Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems, Beloit, KS. &nbsp;He was born on May 18, 1960 in Wakefield, NE to Dean H.L. &amp; Norma L. (Erwin) Backstrom.Jeff graduated from Wayne High School in 1978, Wayne, NE. &nbsp;In his early years he worked for Heritage Homes in Wayne and worked in custom farming for Kenny Austin. &nbsp;On September 11, 1982, Jeff married Wanda A. Reitz in Grand Island, NE. &nbsp;They continued to live in Wayne until they moved to Concordia, KS in 1985. &nbsp;He worked for ABB Raymond, Alstom Power and Pre-Heater and then Arvos until 2016 when the plant closed. He was one of the original 26 that returned to the plant in 2017 with Concordia Technologies. &nbsp;Jeff worked in several areas throughout his career in the painting department, inventory specialist, sandblasting, inventory control/prefab and later as a supervisor and manager for the metal prefab department until an accident forced him to retire in 2023.All throughout his life, Jeff loved to fish, hunt, play golf and drive a boat! &nbsp;In his younger years, he played slow pitch softball, ‘old man’ basketball and anything that got him out of the house. &nbsp;He was especially fond of family and friends’ trips to the mountains and snow skiing.He enjoyed playing cards, collecting coins, his Husker football and Husker sports in general.The last few years, he and Wanda enjoyed their time with family and friends at Waconda Lake.Jeff was involved with his children’s activities from junior golf to baseball, basketball, track and field, especially pole vaulting. &nbsp;Jeff’s pride and joy was becoming a grandpa to Culver, Thomas, Palmer and Colter. &nbsp;He loved to teach them things about hunting, fishing, life lessons and just spending time with them. &nbsp;They are the reason he fought so hard in his battle after his accident and throughout his cancer journey. &nbsp;He was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, former member of the ELKS Lodge in Concordia KS, Cloud County Ducks Unlimited and the Concordia Country Club, American Legion Golf Course and Concordia Golf &amp; Wellness.He is survived by his wife, Wanda, Beloit, KS; son, Beau Backstrom (Ana), Big Sky, MT; daughter, Mallory Hulett, (Connor), Beloit, KS; grandchildren, Culver, Palmer &amp; Colter Hulett and Thomas Backstrom; sister, Nancy Lind (Terry), Louisville, CO; several nieces &amp; nephews and too many friends to count.He was preceded in death by his parents.It was Jeff's wishes to be cremated but he wanted to have one last party and have “one more before we all go home” at 5 pm, Thursday, June 20, 2024 at the Concordia Golf &amp; Wellness golf course, 600 W. 13th St., Concordia, KS. &nbsp;Friends may sign the register book from 1-8 pm with a Rosary service at 6 pm and the family greeting friends from 6:30-7:30 pm, Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, Concordia, KS. &nbsp;In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Cloud County Ducks Unlimited for Lifetime Youth Hunting Licenses. Jeff also wanted it to be a casual affair, so please wear your comfortable golf attire. &nbsp;Please feel free to bring a lawn chair or drive your golf cart up to the clubhouse for your seat to his celebration! &nbsp;For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com. &nbsp;Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, 325 W. 6th St., PO Box 606, Concordia, KS 66901 is handling arrangements.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/895f950d-3e88-4389-82a0-2b0f657953a0">Salina Juneteenth celebrations this week</a>

Jeff E. Backstrom

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is making a serious run at becoming the new home for the reigning&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">Super Bowl champions</a>&nbsp;with legislators approving a plan Tuesday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-d33d64672c1cfb8d015d29b03ccf9b4f">for luring</a>&nbsp;both the Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals away from Missouri.

Bipartisan legislative supermajorities OKed the measure to authorize state bonds to help finance new stadiums and practice facilities for both teams on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area of 2.3 million residents, which is split by the border with Missouri. Three Super Bowl victories in five years — and player Travis Kelce’s romance with pop icon Taylor Swift — have made the Chiefs perhaps the area’s most celebrated civic asset.

The plan from the Republican-controlled Legislature goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. While she stopped short of promising to sign it, she said in a statement that “Kansas now has the opportunity to become a professional sports powerhouse.”

Both the Chiefs and the Royals said they look forward to considering Kansas options. The lease on the Missouri complex with their side-by-side stadiums runs through January 2031, but both have said they already should have been planning for the future.

“We’re excited about what happened here today,” Korb Maxwell, an attorney for the Chiefs who lives on the Kansas side, said at the Statehouse after the bill cleared the Legislature. “This is incredibly real.”

The approval capped a two-month push to capitalize on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-royals-kansas-city-stadiums-e9605296b85e91699441e4ba10e83212">the refusal in April</a>&nbsp;by voters on the Missouri side to continue a local sales tax used to finance the upkeep of the teams' stadiums.

Backers of the plan brushed aside decades of research by economists concluding that government subsidies for professional sports stadiums&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-stadiums-public-funding-nfl-mlb-a81d825286530bb95f227efc99f2e9d3">are not worth the cost</a>. They also overcame criticism that lawmakers were moving too quickly.

A spokeswoman for Missouri Gov. Mike Parson did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. But in Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas promised to “lay out a good offer” to keep both teams in town.

“Today was largely, in my opinion, about leverage,” Lucas said. “And the teams are in an exceptional leverage position.”

Some Kansas officials reached the same conclusion.

“I think the Chiefs and the Royals are using us,” said state Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Kansas City-area Democrat.

The votes on the Kansas stadium-financing plan were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li_2024s/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240618140409_302207/">84-38</a>&nbsp;in the state House and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li_2024s/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240618180827_709784/">27-8</a>&nbsp;in the Senate. Lawmakers from across the state — even western Kansas, far from any new stadium — supported the measure.

It would allow state bonds to cover up to 70% of each new stadium, paying them off over 30 years with revenues from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales and new sales and alcohol taxes collected from shopping and entertainment districts around the new stadiums.

House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, a Kansas City-area Republican, said the Chiefs still are likely to spend $500 million to $700 million in private funds on a new stadium.

“There are no blank checks,” Tarwater told GOP colleagues during a briefing.

Legislators debated the plan during a one-day special session called by Kelly to have them consider reducing taxes after she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-budget-tax-cuts-veto-9ebddf96cd35b614d8e96f2d8b8939c2">vetoed three tax-cutting plans</a>&nbsp;before legislators adjourned their regular annual session May 1.

Republican leaders had promised that the stadium proposal wouldn’t come up until the Legislature first approved a plan to cut income and property taxes by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-special-legislative-session-b79d213f1a904dfd7604648ea9d2c454">a total of $1.23 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next three years. Many lawmakers argued that voters would be angry if the state helped finance new stadiums without cutting taxes.

With the tax bill passed, the stadium plan gained support even from lawmakers who saw it as a handout for wealthy team owners. Some said failing to act risked pushing the teams to leave the Kansas City area, and a few said they had wanted the Chiefs in Kansas since childhood.

“It is amazing to me the speed with which we can solve problems when they're oriented around wealth, when they’re oriented around business,” said state Rep. Jason Probst, a Democrat from central Kansas.

“This is the system that we’re stuck in, so if we choose to opt out of that system, we will lose every time,” he said.

Economists who study pro sports teams have concluded in dozens of studies that a new stadium and shopping-and-entertainment area merely takes existing economic activity away from elsewhere in a community, resulting in little or no net gain.

“It could still help Kansas and maybe hurt Missouri by the same amount,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith college in central Massachusetts who has written multiple books about sports. “It’s a zero-sum game.”

A skeptical state Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Kansas City-area Republican, used a Christmas Eve metaphor to characterize supporters' excitement before she voted no.

"There are visions of sugar plums,” Baumgardner said.

By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is making a serious run at becoming the new home for the reigning&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">Super Bowl champions</a>&nbsp;with legislators approving a plan Tuesday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-d33d64672c1cfb8d015d29b03ccf9b4f">for luring</a>&nbsp;both the Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals away from Missouri.Bipartisan legislative supermajorities OKed the measure to authorize state bonds to help finance new stadiums and practice facilities for both teams on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area of 2.3 million residents, which is split by the border with Missouri. Three Super Bowl victories in five years — and player Travis Kelce’s romance with pop icon Taylor Swift — have made the Chiefs perhaps the area’s most celebrated civic asset.The plan from the Republican-controlled Legislature goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. While she stopped short of promising to sign it, she said in a statement that “Kansas now has the opportunity to become a professional sports powerhouse.”Both the Chiefs and the Royals said they look forward to considering Kansas options. The lease on the Missouri complex with their side-by-side stadiums runs through January 2031, but both have said they already should have been planning for the future.“We’re excited about what happened here today,” Korb Maxwell, an attorney for the Chiefs who lives on the Kansas side, said at the Statehouse after the bill cleared the Legislature. “This is incredibly real.”The approval capped a two-month push to capitalize on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-royals-kansas-city-stadiums-e9605296b85e91699441e4ba10e83212">the refusal in April</a>&nbsp;by voters on the Missouri side to continue a local sales tax used to finance the upkeep of the teams' stadiums.Backers of the plan brushed aside decades of research by economists concluding that government subsidies for professional sports stadiums&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-stadiums-public-funding-nfl-mlb-a81d825286530bb95f227efc99f2e9d3">are not worth the cost</a>. They also overcame criticism that lawmakers were moving too quickly.A spokeswoman for Missouri Gov. Mike Parson did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. But in Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas promised to “lay out a good offer” to keep both teams in town.“Today was largely, in my opinion, about leverage,” Lucas said. “And the teams are in an exceptional leverage position.”Some Kansas officials reached the same conclusion.“I think the Chiefs and the Royals are using us,” said state Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Kansas City-area Democrat.The votes on the Kansas stadium-financing plan were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li_2024s/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240618140409_302207/">84-38</a>&nbsp;in the state House and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li_2024s/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240618180827_709784/">27-8</a>&nbsp;in the Senate. Lawmakers from across the state — even western Kansas, far from any new stadium — supported the measure.It would allow state bonds to cover up to 70% of each new stadium, paying them off over 30 years with revenues from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales and new sales and alcohol taxes collected from shopping and entertainment districts around the new stadiums.House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, a Kansas City-area Republican, said the Chiefs still are likely to spend $500 million to $700 million in private funds on a new stadium.“There are no blank checks,” Tarwater told GOP colleagues during a briefing.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Mayor Lucas’s statement on the Kansas Legislature’s STAR bond vote: <a href="https://t.co/dRYs3KzJrk">pic.twitter.com/dRYs3KzJrk</a>&mdash; Mayor Quinton Lucas (@MayorLucasKC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorLucasKC/status/1803203120924602403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Legislators debated the plan during a one-day special session called by Kelly to have them consider reducing taxes after she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-budget-tax-cuts-veto-9ebddf96cd35b614d8e96f2d8b8939c2">vetoed three tax-cutting plans</a>&nbsp;before legislators adjourned their regular annual session May 1.Republican leaders had promised that the stadium proposal wouldn’t come up until the Legislature first approved a plan to cut income and property taxes by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-special-legislative-session-b79d213f1a904dfd7604648ea9d2c454">a total of $1.23 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next three years. Many lawmakers argued that voters would be angry if the state helped finance new stadiums without cutting taxes.With the tax bill passed, the stadium plan gained support even from lawmakers who saw it as a handout for wealthy team owners. Some said failing to act risked pushing the teams to leave the Kansas City area, and a few said they had wanted the Chiefs in Kansas since childhood.“It is amazing to me the speed with which we can solve problems when they're oriented around wealth, when they’re oriented around business,” said state Rep. Jason Probst, a Democrat from central Kansas.Yet Probst voted for the bill.“This is the system that we’re stuck in, so if we choose to opt out of that system, we will lose every time,” he said.Economists who study pro sports teams have concluded in dozens of studies that a new stadium and shopping-and-entertainment area merely takes existing economic activity away from elsewhere in a community, resulting in little or no net gain.“It could still help Kansas and maybe hurt Missouri by the same amount,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith college in central Massachusetts who has written multiple books about sports. “It’s a zero-sum game.”A skeptical state Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Kansas City-area Republican, used a Christmas Eve metaphor to characterize supporters' excitement before she voted no."There are visions of sugar plums,” Baumgardner said.

Kansas making a big run at KC's pro teams with a plan to help pay for new stadiums

NEW YORK (AP) —Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93.

Mays' family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night he had died earlier in the afternoon.

“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” son Michael Mays said in a statement released by the club. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/willie-mays-career-death-a1a52f9b19a24934ad992a346b39b2c0">The center fielder, who began his professional career in the Negro Leagues</a>&nbsp;in 1948, was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His over-the shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series is baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat.

Mays died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rickwood-field-willie-mays-14d999da5a7fb363b43dce06df8f7577">to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham</a>, Alabama.

“All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise. From coast to coast ... Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime. ... We will never forget this true Giant on and off the field.”

Few were so blessed with each of the five essential qualities for a superstar -- hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, fielding and throwing. Fewer so joyously exerted those qualities -- whether launching home runs; dashing around the bases, loose-fitting cap flying off his head; or chasing down fly balls in center field and finishing the job with his trademark basket catch.

“When I played ball, I tried to make sure everybody enjoyed what I was doing,” Mays told NPR in 2010. “I made the clubhouse guy fit me a cap that when I ran, the wind gets up in the bottom and it flies right off. People love that kind of stuff.”

Over 23 major league seasons, virtually all with the New York/San Francisco Giants but also including one in the Negro Leagues, Mays batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Glove. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.

He was voted into the Hall in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and in 1999 followed only Babe Ruth on The Sporting News’ list of the game’s top stars. (Statistician Bill James ranked him third, behind Ruth and Honus Wagner). The Giants retired his uniform number, 24, and set their AT&amp;T Park in San Francisco on Willie Mays Plaza.

For millions in the 1950s and ’60s and after, the smiling ball player with the friendly, high-pitched voice was a signature athlete and showman during an era when baseball was still the signature pastime. Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015, Mays left his fans with countless memories. But a single feat served to capture his magic -- one so untoppable it was simply called “The Catch.”

In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, the then-New York Giants hosted the Cleveland Indians, who had won 111 games in the regular season and were strong favorites in the postseason. The score was 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning. Cleveland’s Vic Wertz faced reliever Don Liddle with none out, Larry Doby on second and Al Rosen on first.

With the count 1-2, Wertz smashed a fastball to deep center field. In an average park, with an average center fielder, Wertz would have homered, or at least had an easy triple. But the center field wall in the eccentrically shaped Polo Grounds was more than 450 feet away. And there was nothing close to average about the skills of Willie Mays.

Decades of taped replays have not diminished the astonishment of watching Mays race toward the wall, his back to home plate; reach out his glove and haul in the drive. What followed was also extraordinary: Mays managed to turn around while still moving forward, heave the ball to the infield and prevent Doby from scoring even as Mays spun to the ground. Mays himself would proudly point out that “the throw” was as important as “the catch.”

“Soon as it got hit, I knew I’d catch the ball,” Mays told biographer James S. Hirsch, whose book came out in 2010.

“All the time I’m running back, I’m thinking, ‘Willie, you’ve got to get this ball back to the infield.’”

“The Catch” was seen and heard by millions through radio and the then-emerging medium of television, and Mays became one of the first Black athletes with mass media appeal. He was a guest star on “The Donna Reed Show,” “Bewitched” and other sitcoms. He inspired a handful of songs and was named first in Terry Cashman’s 1980s novelty hit, “Talkin’ Baseball (Willie, Mickey &amp; The Duke),” a tribute in part to the brief era when New York had three future Hall of Famers in center: Mays, Mantle of the Yankees and Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Giants went on to sweep the Indians, with many citing Mays’ play as the turning point. The impact was so powerful that 63 years later, in 2017, baseball named the World Series Most Valuable Player after him even though it was his only moment of postseason greatness. He appeared in three other World Series, in 1951 and 1962 for the Giants and 1973 for the Mets, batting just .239 with no home runs in the four series. (His one postseason homer was in the 1971 National League playoffs, when the Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates).

But “The Catch” and his achievements during the regular season were greatness enough. Yankees and Dodgers fans may have fiercely challenged Mays’ eminence, but Mantle and Snider did not. At a 1995 baseball writers dinner in Manhattan, with all three at the dais, Mantle raised the eternal question: Which of the three was better?

“We don’t mean being second, do we, Duke?” he added.

Between 1954 and 1966, Mays drove in 100 or more runs 10 times, scored 100 or more 12 times, hit 40 or more homers six times, more than 50 homers twice and led the league in stolen bases four times. His numbers might have been bigger. He missed most of 1952 and all of 1953 because of military service, quite possibly costing him the chance to overtake Ruth’s career home run record of 714, an honor that first went to Henry Aaron; then Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds. He likely would have won more Gold Gloves if the award had been established before 1956. He insisted he would have led the league in steals more often had he tried.

Mays was fortunate in escaping serious injury and avoiding major scandal, but he endured personal and professional troubles. His first marriage, to Marghuerite Wendell, ended in divorce. He was often short of money in the pre-free agent era, and he received less for endorsements than did Mantle and other white athletes. He was subject to racist insults and his insistence that he was an entertainer, not a spokesman, led to his being chastised by Jackie Robinson and others for not contributing more to the civil rights movement. He didn’t care for some of his managers and didn’t always appreciate a fellow idol, notably Aaron, his greatest contemporary.

“When Henry began to soar up the home-run chart, Willie was loathe to give even a partial nod to Henry’s ability, choosing instead to blame his own performance on his home turf, (San Francisco’s) Candlestick Park, saying it was a lousy park in which to hit homers and this was the reason for Henry’s onrush,” Aaron biographer Howard Bryant wrote in 2010.

Admirers of Aaron, who died in 2021, would contend that only his quiet demeanor and geographical distance from major media centers -- Aaron played in Atlanta and Milwaukee -- kept him from being ranked the same as, or even better than Mays. But much of the baseball world placed Mays above all. He was the game’s highest-paid player for 11 seasons (according to the Society for American Baseball Research) and often batted first in All-Star games, because he was Willie Mays. From center field, he called pitches and positioned other fielders. He boasted that he relied on his own instincts, not those of any coach, when deciding whether to try for an extra base.

Sports writer Barney Kremenko has often been credited with nicknaming him “The Say Hey Kid,” referring to Mays’ spirited way of greeting his teammates. Moments on and off the field sealed the public’s affection. In 1965, Mays defused a horrifying brawl after teammate Juan Marichal clubbed Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat. Mays led a bloodied Roseboro away and sat with him on the clubhouse bench of the Dodgers, the Giants’ hated rivals.

Years earlier, when living in Manhattan, he endeared himself to young fans by playing in neighborhood stickball games.

“I used to have maybe 10 kids come to my window,” he said in 2011 while visiting the area of the old Polo Grounds. “Every morning, they’d come at 9 o’clock. They’d knock on my window, get me up. And I had to be out at 9:30. So they’d give me a chance to go shower. They’d give me a chance to eat breakfast. But I had to be out there at 9:30, because that’s when they wanted to play. So I played with them for about maybe an hour.”

He was born in Westfield, Alabama, in 1931, the son of a Negro League player who wanted Willie to do the same, playing catch with him and letting him sit in the dugout. Young Mays was so gifted an athlete that childhood friends swore that basketball, not baseball, was his best sport.

By high school he was playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, and late in life would receive an additional 10 hits to his career total, 3,293, when Negro League statistics were recognized in 2024 by Major League Baseball. With Robinson breaking the major league’s color barrier in 1947, Mays’ ascension became inevitable. The Giants signed him after he graduated from high school (he had to skip his senior prom) and sent him to its minor league affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey. He began the 1951 season with Minneapolis, a Triple-A club. After 35 games, he was batting a head-turning .477 and was labeled by one scout as “the best prospect in America.” Giants Manager Leo Durocher saw no reason to wait and demanded that Mays, barely 20 at the time, join his team’s starting lineup.

Durocher managed Mays from 1951-55 and became a father figure -- the surly but astute leader who nurtured and sometimes pampered the young phenom. As Durocher liked to tell it, and Mays never disputed, Mays struggled in his first few games and was ready to go back to the minors.

“In the minors I’m hitting .477, killing everybody. And I came to the majors, I couldn’t hit. I was playing the outfield very, very well, throwing out everybody, but I just couldn’t get a hit,” Mays told the Academy of Achievement, a Washington-based leadership center, in 1996. “And I started crying, and Leo came to me and he says, ‘You’re my center fielder; it doesn’t make any difference what you do. You just go home, come back and play tomorrow.’ I think that really, really turned me around.”

Mays finished 1951 batting .272 with 20 home runs, good enough to be named the league’s top rookie. He might have been a legend that first season. The Giants were 13 games behind Brooklyn on Aug. 11, but rallied and tied the Dodgers, then won a best-of-3 playoff series with one of baseball’s most storied homers: Bobby Thomson’s shot in the bottom of the ninth off Ralph Branca.

“I was concentrating on Branca, what he was throwing, what he might throw me,” Mays told The New York Times in 2010. “When he hit the home run, I didn’t even move.

“I remember all the guys running by me, running to home plate, and I’m saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ I was thinking, ‘I got to hit!‘”

His military service the next two years stalled his career, but not his development. Mays was assigned as a batting instructor for his unit’s baseball team and, at the suggestion of one pupil, began catching fly balls by holding out his glove face up, around his belly, like a basket. Mays adopted the new approach in part because it enabled him to throw more quickly.

He returned full time in 1954, hit 41 homers and a league-leading .345. He was only 34 when he hit his 500th career homer, in 1965, but managed just 160 over the next eight years. Early in the 1972 season, with Mays struggling and the Giants looking to cut costs, the team stunned Mays and others by trading its marquee player to the New York Mets, returning him to the city where he had started out in the majors.

Mays’ debut with his new team could not have been better scripted: He hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning against the visiting Giants, and helped the Mets win 5-4. But he deteriorated badly over the next two seasons, even falling down on occasion in the field. Many cited him as example of a star who stayed too long.

In retirement, he mentored Bonds and defended him against allegations of using steroids. Mays himself was in trouble when Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned him from the game, in 1979, for doing promotional work at the Bally’s Park Place Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Kuhn’s successor, Peter Ueberroth, reinstated Mays and fellow casino promoter Mantle in 1985).

But tributes were more common and they came from everywhere -- show business, sports, the White House. In the 1979 movie “Manhattan,” Woody Allen’s character cites Mays as among his reasons for living. When Obama learned he was a distant cousin of political rival and former Vice President Dick Cheney, he lamented that he wasn’t related to someone “cool,” like Mays.

Asked about career highlights, Mays inevitably mentioned “The Catch,” but also cherished hitting four home runs in a game against the Braves; falling over a canvas fence to make a catch in the minors; and running into a fence in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field while chasing a bases-loaded drive, knocking himself out, but still holding on to the ball.

Most of the time, he was happy just being on the field, especially when the sun went down.

“I mean, you had the lights out there and all you do is go out there, and you’re out there by yourself in center field,” he told the achievement academy. “And, I just felt that it was such a beautiful game that I just wanted to play it forever, you know.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718759616070.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93.Mays' family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night he had died earlier in the afternoon.“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” son Michael Mays said in a statement released by the club. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/willie-mays-career-death-a1a52f9b19a24934ad992a346b39b2c0">The center fielder, who began his professional career in the Negro Leagues</a>&nbsp;in 1948, was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His over-the shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series is baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat.Mays died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rickwood-field-willie-mays-14d999da5a7fb363b43dce06df8f7577">to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham</a>, Alabama.“All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise. From coast to coast ... Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime. ... We will never forget this true Giant on and off the field.”Few were so blessed with each of the five essential qualities for a superstar -- hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, fielding and throwing. Fewer so joyously exerted those qualities -- whether launching home runs; dashing around the bases, loose-fitting cap flying off his head; or chasing down fly balls in center field and finishing the job with his trademark basket catch.“When I played ball, I tried to make sure everybody enjoyed what I was doing,” Mays told NPR in 2010. “I made the clubhouse guy fit me a cap that when I ran, the wind gets up in the bottom and it flies right off. People love that kind of stuff.”Over 23 major league seasons, virtually all with the New York/San Francisco Giants but also including one in the Negro Leagues, Mays batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Glove. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.He was voted into the Hall in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and in 1999 followed only Babe Ruth on The Sporting News’ list of the game’s top stars. (Statistician Bill James ranked him third, behind Ruth and Honus Wagner). The Giants retired his uniform number, 24, and set their AT&amp;T Park in San Francisco on Willie Mays Plaza.For millions in the 1950s and ’60s and after, the smiling ball player with the friendly, high-pitched voice was a signature athlete and showman during an era when baseball was still the signature pastime. Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015, Mays left his fans with countless memories. But a single feat served to capture his magic -- one so untoppable it was simply called “The Catch.”In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, the then-New York Giants hosted the Cleveland Indians, who had won 111 games in the regular season and were strong favorites in the postseason. The score was 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning. Cleveland’s Vic Wertz faced reliever Don Liddle with none out, Larry Doby on second and Al Rosen on first.With the count 1-2, Wertz smashed a fastball to deep center field. In an average park, with an average center fielder, Wertz would have homered, or at least had an easy triple. But the center field wall in the eccentrically shaped Polo Grounds was more than 450 feet away. And there was nothing close to average about the skills of Willie Mays.Decades of taped replays have not diminished the astonishment of watching Mays race toward the wall, his back to home plate; reach out his glove and haul in the drive. What followed was also extraordinary: Mays managed to turn around while still moving forward, heave the ball to the infield and prevent Doby from scoring even as Mays spun to the ground. Mays himself would proudly point out that “the throw” was as important as “the catch.”Decades of taped replays have not diminished the astonishment of watching Mays race toward the wall, his back to home plate; reach out his glove and haul in the drive. What followed was also extraordinary: Mays managed to turn around while still moving forward, heave the ball to the infield and prevent Doby from scoring even as Mays spun to the ground. Mays himself would proudly point out that “the throw” was as important as “the catch.”“Soon as it got hit, I knew I’d catch the ball,” Mays told biographer James S. Hirsch, whose book came out in 2010.“All the time I’m running back, I’m thinking, ‘Willie, you’ve got to get this ball back to the infield.’”“The Catch” was seen and heard by millions through radio and the then-emerging medium of television, and Mays became one of the first Black athletes with mass media appeal. He was a guest star on “The Donna Reed Show,” “Bewitched” and other sitcoms. He inspired a handful of songs and was named first in Terry Cashman’s 1980s novelty hit, “Talkin’ Baseball (Willie, Mickey &amp; The Duke),” a tribute in part to the brief era when New York had three future Hall of Famers in center: Mays, Mantle of the Yankees and Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.The Giants went on to sweep the Indians, with many citing Mays’ play as the turning point. The impact was so powerful that 63 years later, in 2017, baseball named the World Series Most Valuable Player after him even though it was his only moment of postseason greatness. He appeared in three other World Series, in 1951 and 1962 for the Giants and 1973 for the Mets, batting just .239 with no home runs in the four series. (His one postseason homer was in the 1971 National League playoffs, when the Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates).But “The Catch” and his achievements during the regular season were greatness enough. Yankees and Dodgers fans may have fiercely challenged Mays’ eminence, but Mantle and Snider did not. At a 1995 baseball writers dinner in Manhattan, with all three at the dais, Mantle raised the eternal question: Which of the three was better?“We don’t mean being second, do we, Duke?” he added.Between 1954 and 1966, Mays drove in 100 or more runs 10 times, scored 100 or more 12 times, hit 40 or more homers six times, more than 50 homers twice and led the league in stolen bases four times. His numbers might have been bigger. He missed most of 1952 and all of 1953 because of military service, quite possibly costing him the chance to overtake Ruth’s career home run record of 714, an honor that first went to Henry Aaron; then Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds. He likely would have won more Gold Gloves if the award had been established before 1956. He insisted he would have led the league in steals more often had he tried.Mays was fortunate in escaping serious injury and avoiding major scandal, but he endured personal and professional troubles. His first marriage, to Marghuerite Wendell, ended in divorce. He was often short of money in the pre-free agent era, and he received less for endorsements than did Mantle and other white athletes. He was subject to racist insults and his insistence that he was an entertainer, not a spokesman, led to his being chastised by Jackie Robinson and others for not contributing more to the civil rights movement. He didn’t care for some of his managers and didn’t always appreciate a fellow idol, notably Aaron, his greatest contemporary.“When Henry began to soar up the home-run chart, Willie was loathe to give even a partial nod to Henry’s ability, choosing instead to blame his own performance on his home turf, (San Francisco’s) Candlestick Park, saying it was a lousy park in which to hit homers and this was the reason for Henry’s onrush,” Aaron biographer Howard Bryant wrote in 2010.Admirers of Aaron, who died in 2021, would contend that only his quiet demeanor and geographical distance from major media centers -- Aaron played in Atlanta and Milwaukee -- kept him from being ranked the same as, or even better than Mays. But much of the baseball world placed Mays above all. He was the game’s highest-paid player for 11 seasons (according to the Society for American Baseball Research) and often batted first in All-Star games, because he was Willie Mays. From center field, he called pitches and positioned other fielders. He boasted that he relied on his own instincts, not those of any coach, when deciding whether to try for an extra base.Sports writer Barney Kremenko has often been credited with nicknaming him “The Say Hey Kid,” referring to Mays’ spirited way of greeting his teammates. Moments on and off the field sealed the public’s affection. In 1965, Mays defused a horrifying brawl after teammate Juan Marichal clubbed Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat. Mays led a bloodied Roseboro away and sat with him on the clubhouse bench of the Dodgers, the Giants’ hated rivals.Years earlier, when living in Manhattan, he endeared himself to young fans by playing in neighborhood stickball games.“I used to have maybe 10 kids come to my window,” he said in 2011 while visiting the area of the old Polo Grounds. “Every morning, they’d come at 9 o’clock. They’d knock on my window, get me up. And I had to be out at 9:30. So they’d give me a chance to go shower. They’d give me a chance to eat breakfast. But I had to be out there at 9:30, because that’s when they wanted to play. So I played with them for about maybe an hour.”He was born in Westfield, Alabama, in 1931, the son of a Negro League player who wanted Willie to do the same, playing catch with him and letting him sit in the dugout. Young Mays was so gifted an athlete that childhood friends swore that basketball, not baseball, was his best sport.By high school he was playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, and late in life would receive an additional 10 hits to his career total, 3,293, when Negro League statistics were recognized in 2024 by Major League Baseball. With Robinson breaking the major league’s color barrier in 1947, Mays’ ascension became inevitable. The Giants signed him after he graduated from high school (he had to skip his senior prom) and sent him to its minor league affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey. He began the 1951 season with Minneapolis, a Triple-A club. After 35 games, he was batting a head-turning .477 and was labeled by one scout as “the best prospect in America.” Giants Manager Leo Durocher saw no reason to wait and demanded that Mays, barely 20 at the time, join his team’s starting lineup.Durocher managed Mays from 1951-55 and became a father figure -- the surly but astute leader who nurtured and sometimes pampered the young phenom. As Durocher liked to tell it, and Mays never disputed, Mays struggled in his first few games and was ready to go back to the minors.“In the minors I’m hitting .477, killing everybody. And I came to the majors, I couldn’t hit. I was playing the outfield very, very well, throwing out everybody, but I just couldn’t get a hit,” Mays told the Academy of Achievement, a Washington-based leadership center, in 1996. “And I started crying, and Leo came to me and he says, ‘You’re my center fielder; it doesn’t make any difference what you do. You just go home, come back and play tomorrow.’ I think that really, really turned me around.”Mays finished 1951 batting .272 with 20 home runs, good enough to be named the league’s top rookie. He might have been a legend that first season. The Giants were 13 games behind Brooklyn on Aug. 11, but rallied and tied the Dodgers, then won a best-of-3 playoff series with one of baseball’s most storied homers: Bobby Thomson’s shot in the bottom of the ninth off Ralph Branca.Mays was the on-deck batter.“I was concentrating on Branca, what he was throwing, what he might throw me,” Mays told The New York Times in 2010. “When he hit the home run, I didn’t even move.“I remember all the guys running by me, running to home plate, and I’m saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ I was thinking, ‘I got to hit!‘”His military service the next two years stalled his career, but not his development. Mays was assigned as a batting instructor for his unit’s baseball team and, at the suggestion of one pupil, began catching fly balls by holding out his glove face up, around his belly, like a basket. Mays adopted the new approach in part because it enabled him to throw more quickly.He returned full time in 1954, hit 41 homers and a league-leading .345. He was only 34 when he hit his 500th career homer, in 1965, but managed just 160 over the next eight years. Early in the 1972 season, with Mays struggling and the Giants looking to cut costs, the team stunned Mays and others by trading its marquee player to the New York Mets, returning him to the city where he had started out in the majors.Mays’ debut with his new team could not have been better scripted: He hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning against the visiting Giants, and helped the Mets win 5-4. But he deteriorated badly over the next two seasons, even falling down on occasion in the field. Many cited him as example of a star who stayed too long.In retirement, he mentored Bonds and defended him against allegations of using steroids. Mays himself was in trouble when Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned him from the game, in 1979, for doing promotional work at the Bally’s Park Place Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Kuhn’s successor, Peter Ueberroth, reinstated Mays and fellow casino promoter Mantle in 1985).But tributes were more common and they came from everywhere -- show business, sports, the White House. In the 1979 movie “Manhattan,” Woody Allen’s character cites Mays as among his reasons for living. When Obama learned he was a distant cousin of political rival and former Vice President Dick Cheney, he lamented that he wasn’t related to someone “cool,” like Mays.Asked about career highlights, Mays inevitably mentioned “The Catch,” but also cherished hitting four home runs in a game against the Braves; falling over a canvas fence to make a catch in the minors; and running into a fence in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field while chasing a bases-loaded drive, knocking himself out, but still holding on to the ball.Most of the time, he was happy just being on the field, especially when the sun went down.“I mean, you had the lights out there and all you do is go out there, and you’re out there by yourself in center field,” he told the achievement academy. “And, I just felt that it was such a beautiful game that I just wanted to play it forever, you know.”___

Baseball legend Willie Mays dead at 93

Randall K. Carlson October 21, 1957 ~ June 7, 2024

Randall K. Carlson, 66, of Wilmington, Delaware passed away Friday, June 7, 2024. He was born on October 21, 1957, in Salina to Carl L. A. (Lawrence) Carlson and Glenna (Miller) Carlson. He graduated from Salina High School Central in 1975 and obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bethany College. During this period, he was a member of several honor societies and clubs including Alpha Sigma Nu, Theta Chi Delta (chemistry honors), Math and Physics Club, and the Chemistry Club. Following his undergraduate work, he went on to advanced studies in organic chemistry at Iowa State University where he obtained his master’s degree.

Following his university studies, he has spent his 40+ year career working for a number chemical and pharmaceutical companies including Dupont, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Lab Corp. His work during the last few decades was for firms that provide statistical analyses and reporting of testing performed for pharmaceutical development. During his time at DuPont, he was listed as co-inventor on several US patents.

As a young man, Randall enjoyed participating in the world of amateur radio. He received his “Ham” license in the ‘70s but was most active when he was in Delaware. He served a term as Delaware Section Leader for the American Radio Relay League (emergency ham communications and other related activities). Randall was also a skilled photographer with wildlife being a favorite subject. He didn’t need to take exotic trips for subjects. He found them all around… birds, bees on a flower, any local creature. He spent many pleasant hours in local parks and nature preserves pursuing this hobby.

He was preceded in death by his parents and 3 infant sisters, Kay, Fay and May Carlson. Randall is survived by his brother Darvin of Shawnee, Kansas.

A graveside service will be held at Gypsum Hill Cemetery, 2020 East Iron Avenue, Salina, Kansas at Noon on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Friends and family who wish to gather and reminisce may gather at Ryan Mortuary at 11:00 a.m. prior to the procession to the cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Bethany College Endowment, in care of Ryan Mortuary, 137 North Eight Street, Salina, Kansas 67401.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718745597672.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Randall K. Carlson October 21, 1957 ~ June 7, 2024Randall K. Carlson, 66, of Wilmington, Delaware passed away Friday, June 7, 2024. He was born on October 21, 1957, in Salina to Carl L. A. (Lawrence) Carlson and Glenna (Miller) Carlson. He graduated from Salina High School Central in 1975 and obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bethany College. During this period, he was a member of several honor societies and clubs including Alpha Sigma Nu, Theta Chi Delta (chemistry honors), Math and Physics Club, and the Chemistry Club. Following his undergraduate work, he went on to advanced studies in organic chemistry at Iowa State University where he obtained his master’s degree.Following his university studies, he has spent his 40+ year career working for a number chemical and pharmaceutical companies including Dupont, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Lab Corp. His work during the last few decades was for firms that provide statistical analyses and reporting of testing performed for pharmaceutical development. During his time at DuPont, he was listed as co-inventor on several US patents.As a young man, Randall enjoyed participating in the world of amateur radio. He received his “Ham” license in the ‘70s but was most active when he was in Delaware. He served a term as Delaware Section Leader for the American Radio Relay League (emergency ham communications and other related activities). Randall was also a skilled photographer with wildlife being a favorite subject. He didn’t need to take exotic trips for subjects. He found them all around… birds, bees on a flower, any local creature. He spent many pleasant hours in local parks and nature preserves pursuing this hobby.He was preceded in death by his parents and 3 infant sisters, Kay, Fay and May Carlson. Randall is survived by his brother Darvin of Shawnee, Kansas.A graveside service will be held at Gypsum Hill Cemetery, 2020 East Iron Avenue, Salina, Kansas at Noon on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Friends and family who wish to gather and reminisce may gather at Ryan Mortuary at 11:00 a.m. prior to the procession to the cemetery.Memorials may be made to Bethany College Endowment, in care of Ryan Mortuary, 137 North Eight Street, Salina, Kansas 67401.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

Randall K. Carlson

SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (AP) — Pop star Justin Timberlake was charged early Tuesday with driving while intoxicated in a village in New York's Hamptons, after police said he ran a stop sign and veered out of his lane in the posh seaside summer retreat.

The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor was driving a 2025 BMW in Sag Harbor around 12:30 a.m. when an officer stopped him and determined he was intoxicated, according to a court document.

“His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” the court papers said.

Timberlake, 43, was released without bond later Tuesday morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor. He was charged with a DWI misdemeanor, and his next court date was scheduled for July 26, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.

Timberlake’s lawyer and representatives did not immediately return requests for comment from The Associated Press.

A young Timberlake began performing as a Disney Mouseketeer, where his castmates included future girlfriend Britney Spears. He rose to fame in the behemoth boy band NSYNC, embarked on a solo recording career in 2002 and was one of pop’s most influential figures in the early 2000s.

Fluent in the inflections of pop and R&amp;B, he has won 10 Grammy awards for such hits as “Cry Me A River,” “Sexy Back,” “What Goes Around...Comes Around” and “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” He has performed at Super Bowl halftime shows multiple times, including the infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” moment when he ripped off a piece of Janet Jackson’s clothing and revealed her bare nipple.

The episode led to Jackson’s exclusion from the Grammy telecast a week later. She&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/janet-jackson-breaks-silence-on-justin-timberlake-super-bowl/">said in a 2022 documentary</a>&nbsp;that what happened was an accident and that she and Timberlake remained good friends.

Timberlake also built an acting career, garnering acclaim in movies including "The Social Network” and “Friends With Benefits” and winning four Primetime Emmy Awards.

Last year, Timberlake was in the headlines when Spears released her memoir, “The Woman in Me.” Several chapters were devoted to their relationship, including deeply&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/britney-spears-justin-timberlake-memoir-b67f8514d72acb0b2ecc7c0c9b6984cc">personal details about a pregnancy, abortion</a>&nbsp;and painful breakup. In March, he released his first new album in six years, the nostalgic “Everything I Thought It Was,” a return to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justin-timberlake-everything-i-thought-it-was-album-review-5acb24c2bbc93b115302be676b47e51a">familiar future funk sound</a>.

Timberlake has two upcoming shows in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, then is scheduled for New York's Madison Square Garden next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.&nbsp;He is scheduled to perform at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita on December 8 and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City Dec. 20, according to online ticket retailer Ticketmaster.

Sag Harbor, a onetime whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick,” is nestled amid the Hamptons, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.

Located on a bay, Sag Harbor for years cultivated a more down-to-earth, “un-Hampton” reputation than its oceanfront neighbors — a place where people gathered not at a country club but at a corner bar called the Corner Bar. There is still a five-and-dime store, and the fanciest place in town is the quaint, cozy mid-19th-century American Hotel.

The village has long had its share of prominent homeowners and residents, including singer-songwriter Billy Joel, Nobel Prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck, feminist writer Betty Friedan, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead and playwright Lanford Wilson. Whitehead’s “Sag Harbor” is set there, particularly in a beachfront enclave where generations of Black families have spent summers.

In recent decades, Sag Harbor has increasingly become a destination for celebrities, wannabes and even cruise ships. Its evolving nature has prompted grumbles from some longtime residents about traffic, crowds and a changing character.

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Timberlake was arrested early Tuesday on allegations that the singer was driving while intoxicated on New York’s Long Island, authorities said.

Timberlake was released from custody later in the morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor, on the eastern end of Long Island. He was charged with one DWI count, with his next court date scheduled for July 26, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.

Sag Harbor is a coastal village in the Hamptons, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) from New York City. In the summer, it is a hot spot for wealthy visitors.

A young Timberlake was a Disney Mouseketeer, where his castmates included future girlfriend Britney Spears. He rose to fame in the boy band NSYNC and embarked on a solo recording career in 2002. As an actor, Timberlake has won acclaim in movies including "The Social Network” and “Friends With Benefits.”

He has won 10 Grammy awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards.

Timberlake has two upcoming shows in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, then is scheduled for New York's Madison Square Garden next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He is scheduled to perform at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita on December 8 and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City Dec. 20, according to online ticket retailer Ticketmaster.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718753572416.png" alt="Timberlake-Booking photo Sag Harbor Village Police Department" />
 <figcaption>Timberlake-Booking photo Sag Harbor Village Police Department</figcaption>
 </figure>SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (AP) — Pop star Justin Timberlake was charged early Tuesday with driving while intoxicated in a village in New York's Hamptons, after police said he ran a stop sign and veered out of his lane in the posh seaside summer retreat.The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor was driving a 2025 BMW in Sag Harbor around 12:30 a.m. when an officer stopped him and determined he was intoxicated, according to a court document.“His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” the court papers said.Timberlake, 43, was released without bond later Tuesday morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor. He was charged with a DWI misdemeanor, and his next court date was scheduled for July 26, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.Timberlake’s lawyer and representatives did not immediately return requests for comment from The Associated Press.A young Timberlake began performing as a Disney Mouseketeer, where his castmates included future girlfriend Britney Spears. He rose to fame in the behemoth boy band NSYNC, embarked on a solo recording career in 2002 and was one of pop’s most influential figures in the early 2000s.Fluent in the inflections of pop and R&amp;B, he has won 10 Grammy awards for such hits as “Cry Me A River,” “Sexy Back,” “What Goes Around...Comes Around” and “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” He has performed at Super Bowl halftime shows multiple times, including the infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” moment when he ripped off a piece of Janet Jackson’s clothing and revealed her bare nipple.The episode led to Jackson’s exclusion from the Grammy telecast a week later. She&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/janet-jackson-breaks-silence-on-justin-timberlake-super-bowl/">said in a 2022 documentary</a>&nbsp;that what happened was an accident and that she and Timberlake remained good friends.Timberlake also built an acting career, garnering acclaim in movies including "The Social Network” and “Friends With Benefits” and winning four Primetime Emmy Awards.Last year, Timberlake was in the headlines when Spears released her memoir, “The Woman in Me.” Several chapters were devoted to their relationship, including deeply&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/britney-spears-justin-timberlake-memoir-b67f8514d72acb0b2ecc7c0c9b6984cc">personal details about a pregnancy, abortion</a>&nbsp;and painful breakup. In March, he released his first new album in six years, the nostalgic “Everything I Thought It Was,” a return to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justin-timberlake-everything-i-thought-it-was-album-review-5acb24c2bbc93b115302be676b47e51a">familiar future funk sound</a>.Timberlake has two upcoming shows in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, then is scheduled for New York's Madison Square Garden next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.&nbsp;He is scheduled to perform at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita on December 8 and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City Dec. 20, according to online ticket retailer Ticketmaster.Sag Harbor, a onetime whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick,” is nestled amid the Hamptons, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.Located on a bay, Sag Harbor for years cultivated a more down-to-earth, “un-Hampton” reputation than its oceanfront neighbors — a place where people gathered not at a country club but at a corner bar called the Corner Bar. There is still a five-and-dime store, and the fanciest place in town is the quaint, cozy mid-19th-century American Hotel.The village has long had its share of prominent homeowners and residents, including singer-songwriter Billy Joel, Nobel Prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck, feminist writer Betty Friedan, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead and playwright Lanford Wilson. Whitehead’s “Sag Harbor” is set there, particularly in a beachfront enclave where generations of Black families have spent summers.In recent decades, Sag Harbor has increasingly become a destination for celebrities, wannabes and even cruise ships. Its evolving nature has prompted grumbles from some longtime residents about traffic, crowds and a changing character.___NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Timberlake was arrested early Tuesday on allegations that the singer was driving while intoxicated on New York’s Long Island, authorities said.Timberlake was released from custody later in the morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor, on the eastern end of Long Island. He was charged with one DWI count, with his next court date scheduled for July 26, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.Timberlake’s lawyer and representatives did not immediately return requests for comment from The Associated Press.Sag Harbor is a coastal village in the Hamptons, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) from New York City. In the summer, it is a hot spot for wealthy visitors.A young Timberlake was a Disney Mouseketeer, where his castmates included future girlfriend Britney Spears. He rose to fame in the boy band NSYNC and embarked on a solo recording career in 2002. As an actor, Timberlake has won acclaim in movies including "The Social Network” and “Friends With Benefits.”He has won 10 Grammy awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards.Last year, Timberlake was in the headlines when Spears released her memoir, “The Woman in Me.” Several chapters were devoted to their relationship, including deeply&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/britney-spears-justin-timberlake-memoir-b67f8514d72acb0b2ecc7c0c9b6984cc">personal details about a pregnancy, abortion</a>&nbsp;and painful breakup. In March, he released his first new album in six years, the nostalgic “Everything I Thought It Was,” a return to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justin-timberlake-everything-i-thought-it-was-album-review-5acb24c2bbc93b115302be676b47e51a">familiar future funk sound</a>.Timberlake has two upcoming shows in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, then is scheduled for New York's Madison Square Garden next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.He is scheduled to perform at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita on December 8 and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City Dec. 20, according to online ticket retailer Ticketmaster.

Justin Timberlake charged with DWI in the Hamptons

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators cleared the way Tuesday for a debate on trying to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-d33d64672c1cfb8d015d29b03ccf9b4f">lure the Kansas City Chiefs</a>&nbsp;from Missouri by approving broad tax cuts that many lawmakers said they needed to see before considering a plan to help&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">the Super Bowl champions</a>&nbsp;finance a new stadium.

The Legislature took up the stadium proposal during a special session that convened Tuesday amid heavy lobbying for the plan. The measure would allow the state to issue bonds to help the Chiefs and Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals finance new stadiums on the Kansas side of their metropolitan area, which is split by the border with Missouri.

But top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature promised that the stadium proposal wouldn't be debated until the Legislature approved a plan that would cut income and property taxes by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-special-legislative-session-b79d213f1a904dfd7604648ea9d2c454">a total of $1.23 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next three years. Many lawmakers argued that voters would be angry if the state helped finance new stadiums without cutting taxes.

“We definitely need to demonstrate that we’re getting relief to our citizens,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican who backed the stadium-financing plan.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly called the special session to have lawmakers consider reducing taxes after she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-budget-tax-cuts-veto-9ebddf96cd35b614d8e96f2d8b8939c2">vetoed three tax-cutting plans</a>&nbsp;before legislators adjourned their regular annual session May 1. The plan lawmakers approved was a compromise between her and Republican leaders.

Legislators made no changes in the plan before passing it, 34-4 in the Senate and 121-2 in the House. Kelly pledged to sign the measure into law.

Once legislators convened the special session, Kelly couldn't control what they considered, and that created an opening to consider the stadium-financing plan. That measure would use revenues from sports betting, the state lottery and new taxes raised from the area around each new stadium to pay off the state's bonds over 30 years.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-royals-new-stadiums-kansas-dd5a0b8509738ed5ad53e2c3da9cf730">The first version</a>&nbsp;of the stadium-financing plan emerged in late April, but lawmakers didn't vote on it before adjourning. It would have allowed state bonds to finance all stadium construction costs, but the version to be considered by lawmakers Tuesday would cap the amount at 70% and require legislative leaders and the governor to sign off on any bonding plan.

House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, a Kansas City-area Republican, said the Chiefs are likely to spend between $500 million and $700 million in private funds on a new stadium.

“There are no blank checks,” Tarwater told GOP colleagues during a briefing on the plan before the House began debating it.

A new nonprofit group,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-proposal-49fbfcc162dfbcf3790aa14c2763fd97">Scoop and Score,</a>&nbsp;formed last month to push for bringing the Chiefs to Kansas, and that group and the Royals together hired more than 30 lobbyists for the special session. But the national free-market, small-government group Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Policy Institute, a free-market think tank, oppose the measure, and both have been influential with conservative Republicans.

Free-market conservatives have long opposed state and local subsidies for specific businesses or projects. And economists who’ve studied pro sports teams have concluded in dozens of studies over decades that subsidizing their stadiums&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-stadiums-public-funding-nfl-mlb-a81d825286530bb95f227efc99f2e9d3">isn’t worth the cost.</a>

“Most of the money that gets spent on the Chiefs is money that would otherwise be spent on other entertainment projects,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in central Massachusetts who has written multiple books about sports.

Kansas legislators consider the Chiefs and Royals in play because in April, voters on the Missouri side of the metro area&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-royals-kansas-city-stadiums-e9605296b85e91699441e4ba10e83212">refused to continue</a>&nbsp;a local sales tax for the upkeep of the complex with their side-by-side stadiums. Missouri officials have said they'll do whatever it takes to keep the teams but haven't outlined any proposals.

The two teams' lease on their stadium complex runs through January 2031, but Korb Maxwell, an attorney for the Chiefs who lives on the Kansas side, said renovations on the team's Arrowhead Stadium should be planned seven or eight years in advance.

“There is an urgency to this,” added David Frantz, the Royals’ general counsel.

Supporters of the stadium plan argued that economists' past research doesn't apply to the Chiefs and Royals. They said the bonds will be paid off with tax revenues that aren't being generated now and would never be without the stadiums or the development around them. Masterson said it's wrong to call the bonds a subsidy.

And Maxwell said: “For a town to be major league, they need major league teams.”

But economists who've studied pro sports said similar arguments have been a staple of past debates over paying for new stadiums. Development around a new stadium lessens development elsewhere, where the tax dollars generated would go to fund services or schools, they said.

“It could still help Kansas and maybe hurt Missouri by the same amount,” Zimbalist said. "It’s a zero-sum game.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718739574390.jpeg" alt="Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, left, R-Wichita, confers with House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, R-Stillwell, ahead of a meeting of GOP lawmakers on a proposal to help the Kansas City Chiefs build a new stadium in Kansas, Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The plan would allow the state to issue bonds to help pay for a new stadium for the Chiefs and professional baseball's Kansas City Royals. (AP Photo/John Hanna)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, left, R-Wichita, confers with House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, R-Stillwell, ahead of a meeting of GOP lawmakers on a proposal to help the Kansas City Chiefs build a new stadium in Kansas, Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The plan would allow the state to issue bonds to help pay for a new stadium for the Chiefs and professional baseball's Kansas City Royals. (AP Photo/John Hanna)</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators cleared the way Tuesday for a debate on trying to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-d33d64672c1cfb8d015d29b03ccf9b4f">lure the Kansas City Chiefs</a>&nbsp;from Missouri by approving broad tax cuts that many lawmakers said they needed to see before considering a plan to help&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">the Super Bowl champions</a>&nbsp;finance a new stadium.The Legislature took up the stadium proposal during a special session that convened Tuesday amid heavy lobbying for the plan. The measure would allow the state to issue bonds to help the Chiefs and Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals finance new stadiums on the Kansas side of their metropolitan area, which is split by the border with Missouri.But top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature promised that the stadium proposal wouldn't be debated until the Legislature approved a plan that would cut income and property taxes by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-special-legislative-session-b79d213f1a904dfd7604648ea9d2c454">a total of $1.23 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next three years. Many lawmakers argued that voters would be angry if the state helped finance new stadiums without cutting taxes.“We definitely need to demonstrate that we’re getting relief to our citizens,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican who backed the stadium-financing plan.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly called the special session to have lawmakers consider reducing taxes after she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-budget-tax-cuts-veto-9ebddf96cd35b614d8e96f2d8b8939c2">vetoed three tax-cutting plans</a>&nbsp;before legislators adjourned their regular annual session May 1. The plan lawmakers approved was a compromise between her and Republican leaders.Legislators made no changes in the plan before passing it, 34-4 in the Senate and 121-2 in the House. Kelly pledged to sign the measure into law.Once legislators convened the special session, Kelly couldn't control what they considered, and that created an opening to consider the stadium-financing plan. That measure would use revenues from sports betting, the state lottery and new taxes raised from the area around each new stadium to pay off the state's bonds over 30 years.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-royals-new-stadiums-kansas-dd5a0b8509738ed5ad53e2c3da9cf730">The first version</a>&nbsp;of the stadium-financing plan emerged in late April, but lawmakers didn't vote on it before adjourning. It would have allowed state bonds to finance all stadium construction costs, but the version to be considered by lawmakers Tuesday would cap the amount at 70% and require legislative leaders and the governor to sign off on any bonding plan.House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, a Kansas City-area Republican, said the Chiefs are likely to spend between $500 million and $700 million in private funds on a new stadium.“There are no blank checks,” Tarwater told GOP colleagues during a briefing on the plan before the House began debating it.A new nonprofit group,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-new-stadium-proposal-49fbfcc162dfbcf3790aa14c2763fd97">Scoop and Score,</a>&nbsp;formed last month to push for bringing the Chiefs to Kansas, and that group and the Royals together hired more than 30 lobbyists for the special session. But the national free-market, small-government group Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Policy Institute, a free-market think tank, oppose the measure, and both have been influential with conservative Republicans.Free-market conservatives have long opposed state and local subsidies for specific businesses or projects. And economists who’ve studied pro sports teams have concluded in dozens of studies over decades that subsidizing their stadiums&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-stadiums-public-funding-nfl-mlb-a81d825286530bb95f227efc99f2e9d3">isn’t worth the cost.</a>“Most of the money that gets spent on the Chiefs is money that would otherwise be spent on other entertainment projects,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in central Massachusetts who has written multiple books about sports.Kansas legislators consider the Chiefs and Royals in play because in April, voters on the Missouri side of the metro area&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-royals-kansas-city-stadiums-e9605296b85e91699441e4ba10e83212">refused to continue</a>&nbsp;a local sales tax for the upkeep of the complex with their side-by-side stadiums. Missouri officials have said they'll do whatever it takes to keep the teams but haven't outlined any proposals.The two teams' lease on their stadium complex runs through January 2031, but Korb Maxwell, an attorney for the Chiefs who lives on the Kansas side, said renovations on the team's Arrowhead Stadium should be planned seven or eight years in advance.“There is an urgency to this,” added David Frantz, the Royals’ general counsel.Supporters of the stadium plan argued that economists' past research doesn't apply to the Chiefs and Royals. They said the bonds will be paid off with tax revenues that aren't being generated now and would never be without the stadiums or the development around them. Masterson said it's wrong to call the bonds a subsidy.And Maxwell said: “For a town to be major league, they need major league teams.”But economists who've studied pro sports said similar arguments have been a staple of past debates over paying for new stadiums. Development around a new stadium lessens development elsewhere, where the tax dollars generated would go to fund services or schools, they said.“It could still help Kansas and maybe hurt Missouri by the same amount,” Zimbalist said. "It’s a zero-sum game.”

Kansas lawmakers pass tax cuts to clear the way for a plan to lure the Chiefs

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A suspect accused in a deadly gunfight on Father's Day in Wichita is awaiting a court appearance.

Eric Gonzales-Gutierrez, 33, Wichita, is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail in connection with the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Aron Lara, according to jail booking records.

Just after 8:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to a shooting incident in the 1900 block of N. Jackson Street in Wichita, according to Police spokesman Andrew Ford.

While working to gather further information, the 911 dispatcher could hear gunfire in the background, prompting an immediate upgraded dispatch of officers to the scene.

First responders discovered Lara suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Sedgwick County EMS provided initial critical care at the scene before transporting him to a nearby hospital. Despite efforts, Lara succumbed to his injuries during surgery and was pronounced deceased at 10:26p.m., according to Ford.

Another victim, a 22-year-old Hispanic man, sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot to the arm and was privately transported to St. Francis Hospital, where he remains in stable condition on Monday morning.

The incident occurred during a neighborhood barbecue in observance of Father's Day. According to preliminary reports, Lara, was involved in a verbal altercation with the assailant earlier in the evening. The suspect later identified as&nbsp;Eric Gonzales-Gutierrez allegedly returned home, retrieved a rifle, and fired upon the victim, who was unarmed at the time of the shooting.

It is believed that two men accompanying Lara returned fire, resulting in injuries to the second victim. The identities of these individuals are currently under investigation as police seek their information on involvement.

The Wichita Police Department arrested Gonzales-Gutierrez on requested charges of first-degree murder, according to Ford.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718711572362.png" alt="Gonzales-Gutierrez- photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Gonzales-Gutierrez- photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A suspect accused in a deadly gunfight on Father's Day in Wichita is awaiting a court appearance.Eric Gonzales-Gutierrez, 33, Wichita, is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail in connection with the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Aron Lara, according to jail booking records.Just after 8:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to a shooting incident in the 1900 block of N. Jackson Street in Wichita, according to Police spokesman Andrew Ford.While working to gather further information, the 911 dispatcher could hear gunfire in the background, prompting an immediate upgraded dispatch of officers to the scene.First responders discovered Lara suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Sedgwick County EMS provided initial critical care at the scene before transporting him to a nearby hospital. Despite efforts, Lara succumbed to his injuries during surgery and was pronounced deceased at 10:26p.m., according to Ford.Another victim, a 22-year-old Hispanic man, sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot to the arm and was privately transported to St. Francis Hospital, where he remains in stable condition on Monday morning.The incident occurred during a neighborhood barbecue in observance of Father's Day. According to preliminary reports, Lara, was involved in a verbal altercation with the assailant earlier in the evening. The suspect later identified as&nbsp;Eric Gonzales-Gutierrez allegedly returned home, retrieved a rifle, and fired upon the victim, who was unarmed at the time of the shooting.It is believed that two men accompanying Lara returned fire, resulting in injuries to the second victim. The identities of these individuals are currently under investigation as police seek their information on involvement.The Wichita Police Department arrested Gonzales-Gutierrez on requested charges of first-degree murder, according to Ford.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kan. suspect in deadly BBQ gunfight awaits court appearance

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged animal cruelty.

Just after 8a.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies responded to a home in the 9800 Block of SE Croco Road in rural Shawnee County after multiple reports of unknown people and vehicles on the property, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

Deputies found illegal paraphernalia associated with cock fighting.&nbsp; Deputies then arrested 66-year-old Clinton E. Dick and booked him into the Shawnee County jail on requested charges of felony animal cruelty, unlawful conduct related to cockfighting and unlawful possession of cockfighting paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718571385119.png" alt="Dick-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Dick-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged animal cruelty.Just after 8a.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies responded to a home in the 9800 Block of SE Croco Road in rural Shawnee County after multiple reports of unknown people and vehicles on the property, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.Deputies found illegal paraphernalia associated with cock fighting.&nbsp; Deputies then arrested 66-year-old Clinton E. Dick and booked him into the Shawnee County jail on requested charges of felony animal cruelty, unlawful conduct related to cockfighting and unlawful possession of cockfighting paraphernalia.

Deputies discover cockfighting ring in Kansas

William Gilbert Burton September 4, 1938 ~ June 9, 2024

William (Bill) Gilbert Burton, age 85, of Marion, Kansas, passed away on June 9, 2024.&nbsp;

Bill was born on September 4, 1938 to Annie (Patterson) and Gilbert Burton in Rumley Township, Harrison County, Scio, Ohio. He was the second born of five children.&nbsp;

Bill grew up in Scio with his siblings. They lived and worked on a family farm, which Bill enjoyed. He attended high school in Scio, where he was a part of FFA and 4-H. Bill graduated from Scio High School in 1957.&nbsp;

On March 2, 1958, Bill joined the United States Air force. He was stationed at Schilling Air force Base in Salina, Kansas, then was sent to Guam and stationed there.&nbsp;

Bill met Marilyn (Scheuerman) while based at Schilling and married her on July 17, 1959. They welcomed a daughter, Kimberly Kay on March 30, 1960. On March 15, 1963 they welcomed a son, Randy William. On February 13, 1965 they welcomed another son, Rusty Wayne. They later divorced.&nbsp;

Bill moved his family to Perrysville, Ohio in the early sixties. Bill worked hard to support his family while living in Perrysville and enjoyed that his children were able to spend time with their cousins. After a few years of living in Ohio, Bill and his family returned to La Crosse, Kansas and he started working at Marlette Mobile Homes in Great Bend in the late sixties. Once the La Crosse Furniture Factory was built and open, Bill went to work for them as a fabric cutter.&nbsp;

On January 23, 1976, Bill married the love of his life, Charlotte (Miller) Burton. Bill and Charlotte met while working together at the La Crosse Furniture Factory. Charlotte had three children from a previous marriage: Julie Scheideman, Robin Scheideman and Patsy Kline. Bill loved them like they were his own.&nbsp;

Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Marion, Kansas. While living in Marion, Bill started working at Branson Truck Lines, hauling cattle. In the summer of 1982, Bill and Charlotte moved to Ohio to begin their careers of owning and operating a dairy farm. Bill enjoyed owning a farm where his children, nieces and nephews could learn valuable skills.&nbsp;

In the winter of 1985, Bill suffered a massive cerebral brain hemorrhage, while out getting firewood. He relied heavily on his faith to get him through this challenging time. When Bill came home from the hospital, he opened his bible and the verse that stood out to him was Mark 5:19. “Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.” From this point forward, Bill did not take for granted the life the Lord had given him back.&nbsp;

While living in Ohio, Bill and Charlotte made the decision to open their home for children in the foster care system. In 1988, they decided to adopt Carol Benavidez and Bobby Burton.

In 1990, Bill and Charlotte made the decision to leave the dairy farm and move back to Marion, Kansas. The two continued to foster children upon arriving in Kansas. During this time, Bill opened a bait shop and was loyal to his customers, even when they needed bait in the middle of the night.&nbsp;

In 2002, Bill and Charlotte moved to Newton Kansas. Bill went to work as a maintenance man at Norcraft. He continued to work until shortly after he turned 80 (2018) then he retired.&nbsp;

In his spare time, Bill enjoyed spending time with friends and family, going to church, singing, playing instruments, fishing, collecting, gardening and going on drives with Charlotte.&nbsp;

Bill was loving and supportive. He enjoyed making others laugh and teasing his grandchildren.&nbsp;

Bill is preceded in death by: His parents Annie (Patterson) and Gilbert Burton, Charlotte Burton (Wife), Robin Scheideman (Step-Daughter), Robert Burton (Brother), Donna Leggett (Sister) and Madison Baylor Spears (Great Grand Daughter).&nbsp;

Bill is survived by his siblings Edward Burton, Judy and Wayne Rogers . Children: Kim and Artie Herrman, Randy and Cindy Burton, Rusty and Tonya Burton, Julie Scheideman, Patsy and Mike Kline, Carol Benavidez, Bobby and Crystal Burton. Fifteen grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren, along with many foster children also survive Bill.

William’s family will gather with friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2024, at Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Marion. Funeral Service for William will be held 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Marion. Burial will follow at Marion Cemetery. Memorial contributions in William’s name may be directed to the American Parkinson Disease Association . Please sign his online guestbook and leave a memory of William at www.yazelmeglifh.com.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718659148787.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>William Gilbert Burton September 4, 1938 ~ June 9, 2024 William (Bill) Gilbert Burton, age 85, of Marion, Kansas, passed away on June 9, 2024.&nbsp;Bill was born on September 4, 1938 to Annie (Patterson) and Gilbert Burton in Rumley Township, Harrison County, Scio, Ohio. He was the second born of five children.&nbsp;Bill grew up in Scio with his siblings. They lived and worked on a family farm, which Bill enjoyed. He attended high school in Scio, where he was a part of FFA and 4-H. Bill graduated from Scio High School in 1957.&nbsp;On March 2, 1958, Bill joined the United States Air force. He was stationed at Schilling Air force Base in Salina, Kansas, then was sent to Guam and stationed there.&nbsp;Bill met Marilyn (Scheuerman) while based at Schilling and married her on July 17, 1959. They welcomed a daughter, Kimberly Kay on March 30, 1960. On March 15, 1963 they welcomed a son, Randy William. On February 13, 1965 they welcomed another son, Rusty Wayne. They later divorced.&nbsp;Bill moved his family to Perrysville, Ohio in the early sixties. Bill worked hard to support his family while living in Perrysville and enjoyed that his children were able to spend time with their cousins. After a few years of living in Ohio, Bill and his family returned to La Crosse, Kansas and he started working at Marlette Mobile Homes in Great Bend in the late sixties. Once the La Crosse Furniture Factory was built and open, Bill went to work for them as a fabric cutter.&nbsp;On January 23, 1976, Bill married the love of his life, Charlotte (Miller) Burton. Bill and Charlotte met while working together at the La Crosse Furniture Factory. Charlotte had three children from a previous marriage: Julie Scheideman, Robin Scheideman and Patsy Kline. Bill loved them like they were his own.&nbsp;Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Marion, Kansas. While living in Marion, Bill started working at Branson Truck Lines, hauling cattle. In the summer of 1982, Bill and Charlotte moved to Ohio to begin their careers of owning and operating a dairy farm. Bill enjoyed owning a farm where his children, nieces and nephews could learn valuable skills.&nbsp;In the winter of 1985, Bill suffered a massive cerebral brain hemorrhage, while out getting firewood. He relied heavily on his faith to get him through this challenging time. When Bill came home from the hospital, he opened his bible and the verse that stood out to him was Mark 5:19. “Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.” From this point forward, Bill did not take for granted the life the Lord had given him back.&nbsp;While living in Ohio, Bill and Charlotte made the decision to open their home for children in the foster care system. In 1988, they decided to adopt Carol Benavidez and Bobby Burton.In 1990, Bill and Charlotte made the decision to leave the dairy farm and move back to Marion, Kansas. The two continued to foster children upon arriving in Kansas. During this time, Bill opened a bait shop and was loyal to his customers, even when they needed bait in the middle of the night.&nbsp;In 2002, Bill and Charlotte moved to Newton Kansas. Bill went to work as a maintenance man at Norcraft. He continued to work until shortly after he turned 80 (2018) then he retired.&nbsp;In his spare time, Bill enjoyed spending time with friends and family, going to church, singing, playing instruments, fishing, collecting, gardening and going on drives with Charlotte.&nbsp;Bill was loving and supportive. He enjoyed making others laugh and teasing his grandchildren.&nbsp;Bill is preceded in death by: His parents Annie (Patterson) and Gilbert Burton, Charlotte Burton (Wife), Robin Scheideman (Step-Daughter), Robert Burton (Brother), Donna Leggett (Sister) and Madison Baylor Spears (Great Grand Daughter).&nbsp;Bill is survived by his siblings Edward Burton, Judy and Wayne Rogers . Children: Kim and Artie Herrman, Randy and Cindy Burton, Rusty and Tonya Burton, Julie Scheideman, Patsy and Mike Kline, Carol Benavidez, Bobby and Crystal Burton. Fifteen grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren, along with many foster children also survive Bill.William’s family will gather with friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2024, at Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Marion. Funeral Service for William will be held 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Marion. Burial will follow at Marion Cemetery. Memorial contributions in William’s name may be directed to the American Parkinson Disease Association . Please sign his online guestbook and leave a memory of William at www.yazelmeglifh.com.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

William G. Burton

Janet Mayes September 18, 1963 ~ June 7, 2024

Janet’s life began on September 18, 1963, in Wichita. She was the daughter of Paul and Pauline (Weins) Seidel. Janet was a graduate of Waconda East High School and a graduate of the Colorado Institute of Art. She was united in marriage to Nick Mayes on June 4, 1983, in Denver where she loved to snow ski and enjoy nature’s beauty. As a young couple, they enjoyed riding motorcycles and dirt bikes. Janet had fond memories of riding her horse Cisco, fishing, and swimming at Waconda Lake as a girl. She was a creative artist and expressed her creativity in drawing and in her free-spirited approach to life. Janet was very intelligent and had a strong faith in God and His promises. She loved nature and especially her dog Duke. Janet is survived by Nick of Wichita; her children Braden (Kacey) Mayes of Andover, and Blaise (Kiara) Mayes of Wichita; grandchildren Caroline, Luke, and Nevaeh Mayes. Janet passed away at Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice in Wichita. She is preceded in death by her parents, son Blake Mayes, and granddaughter Mikayla Mayes. Her family will gather with friends on Saturday June 15, 2024, at 10 a.m. at Glenwood Cemetery in Glen Elder, KS for her graveside service. Lamb Funeral Home, Whitewater is serving the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Janet’s name may be directed to Braden Mayes, Nick Mayes, or Blaise Mayes in care of Lamb Funeral Home, P.O. Box 358, Whitewater, KS 67154. The family asks you to please sign her online guestbook and leave a memory of Janet at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yazelmeglifh.com/">www.yazelmeglifh.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718658753066.jpeg" alt="" />
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 </figure>Janet Mayes September 18, 1963 ~ June 7, 2024Janet’s life began on September 18, 1963, in Wichita. She was the daughter of Paul and Pauline (Weins) Seidel. Janet was a graduate of Waconda East High School and a graduate of the Colorado Institute of Art. She was united in marriage to Nick Mayes on June 4, 1983, in Denver where she loved to snow ski and enjoy nature’s beauty. As a young couple, they enjoyed riding motorcycles and dirt bikes. Janet had fond memories of riding her horse Cisco, fishing, and swimming at Waconda Lake as a girl. She was a creative artist and expressed her creativity in drawing and in her free-spirited approach to life. Janet was very intelligent and had a strong faith in God and His promises. She loved nature and especially her dog Duke. Janet is survived by Nick of Wichita; her children Braden (Kacey) Mayes of Andover, and Blaise (Kiara) Mayes of Wichita; grandchildren Caroline, Luke, and Nevaeh Mayes. Janet passed away at Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice in Wichita. She is preceded in death by her parents, son Blake Mayes, and granddaughter Mikayla Mayes. Her family will gather with friends on Saturday June 15, 2024, at 10 a.m. at Glenwood Cemetery in Glen Elder, KS for her graveside service. Lamb Funeral Home, Whitewater is serving the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Janet’s name may be directed to Braden Mayes, Nick Mayes, or Blaise Mayes in care of Lamb Funeral Home, P.O. Box 358, Whitewater, KS 67154. The family asks you to please sign her online guestbook and leave a memory of Janet at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yazelmeglifh.com/">www.yazelmeglifh.com</a>.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

Janet Mayes

Debby Lee Anne Christensen December 15, 1969 ~ May 31, 2024

Debby’s life began on December 15, 1969, in El Paso, Texas. She is the daughter of Michael and Sharen (Sullivan) White. Debby graduated from high school in 1988 in Waynesville Missouri. She then went on to attend Cloud County Community College. Debby was a very hard worker and enjoyed working at The Family Dollar in Herington. Debby’s coworkers soon became like family. Debby also worked at Kay’s Pharmacy, Clark Lumber, and Barnes’ Grocery. &nbsp;When Debby wasn’t hard at work, she loved sitting outside and watching the animals. Debby loved all animals, but especially enjoyed the squirrels and buzzards. She also enjoyed watching the Red Birds visit. Debby could also be found listening to Harry Styles music.

Debby, at the age of 54, passed away on May 31, 2024, at her home in Herington. She is preceded in death by her father, Michael; and fur babies Wyatt and Riley. Debby is survived by her mother Sharen (Bruce Ballard) White; daughter, Hannah (Trevor Williams) Oswald; and fur baby Oliver.

Services for Debby will be held at a later date. Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Herington, is serving the family. Memorial contributions in Debby’s name may be directed to an Animal Related charity, as animals were a passion of Debby’s. Please sign her online guestbook and leave a memory of Debby at www.yazelmeglifh.com.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718658675097.jpeg" alt="" />
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 </figure>Debby Lee Anne Christensen December 15, 1969 ~ May 31, 2024 Debby’s life began on December 15, 1969, in El Paso, Texas. She is the daughter of Michael and Sharen (Sullivan) White. Debby graduated from high school in 1988 in Waynesville Missouri. She then went on to attend Cloud County Community College. Debby was a very hard worker and enjoyed working at The Family Dollar in Herington. Debby’s coworkers soon became like family. Debby also worked at Kay’s Pharmacy, Clark Lumber, and Barnes’ Grocery. &nbsp;When Debby wasn’t hard at work, she loved sitting outside and watching the animals. Debby loved all animals, but especially enjoyed the squirrels and buzzards. She also enjoyed watching the Red Birds visit. Debby could also be found listening to Harry Styles music.Debby, at the age of 54, passed away on May 31, 2024, at her home in Herington. She is preceded in death by her father, Michael; and fur babies Wyatt and Riley. Debby is survived by her mother Sharen (Bruce Ballard) White; daughter, Hannah (Trevor Williams) Oswald; and fur baby Oliver.Services for Debby will be held at a later date. Yazel Megli Funeral Home, Herington, is serving the family. Memorial contributions in Debby’s name may be directed to an Animal Related charity, as animals were a passion of Debby’s. Please sign her online guestbook and leave a memory of Debby at www.yazelmeglifh.com.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

 Debby Lee Anne Christensen

Patricia "Trisha" Ann Marietta May 13, 1949 ~ June 11, 2024

Patricia "Trisha" Ann Marietta, 75, of Salina, KS, passed away peacefully on June 11th, 2024 in her home.

Trisha was born on May 13, 1949 to Robert Louis Marietta and Betty Lee Carson in Salina, KS. Trisha graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in 1971 where she was a member of the Delta Kappa Chi sorority, receiving her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Biomedical Sciences. Trisha was a lifelong Methodist, performing in the choir and other service areas for various congregations. She was a bookkeeper and clerk for her father’s law firm for many years in addition to managing business affairs for the family farmland. Trisha was a certified massage therapist for over 30 years who loved to help others through her practice of healing the body and the mind. She viewed all of her clients as wonderful friends. Trisha enjoyed gardening, especially flowers and trees. She loved to be outdoors camping and at family property. Trisha enjoyed traveling near and far and spending time with her family.

Trisha is survived by her brother James (Lisa) Marietta of Oskaloosa, KS, her son Chris (Becky) Kellogg of Leavenworth, KS, her two grandchildren Lena (John) Hopkins of Fayetteville, AR and Carson Kellogg of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, many dear friends who were by her side faithfully, and her cat Izzy.

Trisha’s celebration of life will take place at Martinelli’s Little Italy from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 22, 2024.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Trisha’s honor to The Riordan Clinic General Fund at 3100 N Hillside Street, Wichita, KS or to The Kansas Wesleyan University Roach Scholarship. Online donation platforms are available.

<figure>
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 </figure>Patricia "Trisha" Ann Marietta May 13, 1949 ~ June 11, 2024Patricia "Trisha" Ann Marietta, 75, of Salina, KS, passed away peacefully on June 11th, 2024 in her home.Trisha was born on May 13, 1949 to Robert Louis Marietta and Betty Lee Carson in Salina, KS. Trisha graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in 1971 where she was a member of the Delta Kappa Chi sorority, receiving her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Biomedical Sciences. Trisha was a lifelong Methodist, performing in the choir and other service areas for various congregations. She was a bookkeeper and clerk for her father’s law firm for many years in addition to managing business affairs for the family farmland. Trisha was a certified massage therapist for over 30 years who loved to help others through her practice of healing the body and the mind. She viewed all of her clients as wonderful friends. Trisha enjoyed gardening, especially flowers and trees. She loved to be outdoors camping and at family property. Trisha enjoyed traveling near and far and spending time with her family.Trisha is survived by her brother James (Lisa) Marietta of Oskaloosa, KS, her son Chris (Becky) Kellogg of Leavenworth, KS, her two grandchildren Lena (John) Hopkins of Fayetteville, AR and Carson Kellogg of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, many dear friends who were by her side faithfully, and her cat Izzy.Trisha’s celebration of life will take place at Martinelli’s Little Italy from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 22, 2024.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Trisha’s honor to The Riordan Clinic General Fund at 3100 N Hillside Street, Wichita, KS or to The Kansas Wesleyan University Roach Scholarship. Online donation platforms are available.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>

Patricia "Trisha" A. Marietta

Charles “Chuck” Gregory Monroe March 6, 1954 ~ June 9, 2024

Charles “Chuck” Gregory Monroe, born on March 6, 1954, in Wichita, Kansas, passed away on June 9, 2024, in Salina, Kansas, after a long illness.

Chuck was the beloved son of Herb and Ima Jean Monroe (Prather).

Chuck, known to his friends and family as a vibrant and colorful soul, leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, and creativity. He touched the hearts of some and will be deeply missed by the few who knew him.

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 </figure>Charles “Chuck” Gregory Monroe March 6, 1954 ~ June 9, 2024Charles “Chuck” Gregory Monroe, born on March 6, 1954, in Wichita, Kansas, passed away on June 9, 2024, in Salina, Kansas, after a long illness.Chuck was the beloved son of Herb and Ima Jean Monroe (Prather).Chuck, known to his friends and family as a vibrant and colorful soul, leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, and creativity. He touched the hearts of some and will be deeply missed by the few who knew him.Graduating from Emporia State University, Chuck embarked on a journey that led him through various roles within the cable television industry. His travels took him far and wide, but it was in Louisiana that he found a special place in his heart for the South. After retiring, he continued to explore the region, drawn to its charm and hospitality.Before his retirement, Chuck owned and operated Vita Villa in Abilene and Salina, a colorful oasis that reflected his zest for life. His love for colors, textures, and patterns extended beyond his business to his home, the cabin at Red Bud Lake and his wardrobe, always seeking the unique and unconventional. Chuck's passion for the arts was evident in his frequent attendance at the Smoky Hill River Festival and various art shows across Wichita, Kansas City, and Santa Fe.A devoted sports fan, Chuck enjoyed watching baseball and Kansas Cagerz basketball games with his dad, Herb. Always finding joy in the thrill of the game. He also had a fondness for gardening, nurturing his plants with care and dedication. An avid listener of audiobooks, Chuck's thirst for knowledge and simple curiosity accompanied him on his many adventures.Chuck's love for animals was unwavering, and his companions Gepetto and later Murphy, his beloved golden retrievers, held a special place in his heart. His compassionate nature extended to supporting the Saline County Humane Society.Chuck is preceded in death by his parents, Herb and Ima Jean Monroe, and his sister Cathy. He is survived by his niece, Amy Ankrum of Salina, as well as sons: Josh (Beth) Wineland, Chauncey (Brooke) Kuhl and Kelly (Megan) Kuhl . Grandchildren: Sawyer, Whitney, Cali and Fin Wineland, Tillie Kuhl and soon to be, Maxxwel Kuhl.A celebration of Chuck's life will be held at Ryan Mortuary &amp; Crematory on 137 North 8th Street in Salina, KS, on June 21, 2024, from 9:00-11:00 AM.In lieu of flowers, donations in Chuck’s memory can be made to the Saline County Humane Society.Chuck Monroe's private and quiet life, led to many walks with his dogs, with Amy accompanying him occasionally. He enjoyed his solitude and his travels, sometimes chatting up the errant passerby.May you continue on your journey, Chuck.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/7e26158f-be6a-4c99-91b4-2ee353cbaafe">Red Fern Booksellers hosting author talk and book signing event next week</a>