By KIM BALDWIN McPherson County farmer and rancher

Farm dogs hold a special place in the day-to-day operations of many family farms and ranches. For my family, our dog serves many important roles. Very quickly after our dog Rosie Bo was brought home to the farm as a tiny puppy, she assumed the role of head of farm security. Over the last few years, she has worked hard to ensure opossums avoid our porches, deer stay out of our yard, birds are made aware of a strict no fly zone near her human’s house, and all shadows of the night get a good barking.&nbsp; &nbsp; Although she has a huge, warm doghouse and a big barn full of hay, she has claimed a wicker chair on my front porch as her official post, which clearly allows her to remain on high patrol as she deems fit. I think she likes the spot because she not only can look over her territory, but she can also sit up and look into our living room to keep track of her humans. &nbsp; Our girl Rosie Bo is fierce yet also the most loving and loyal pup you will ever find. She’ll try to destroy any wild animal that enters her domain, yet she tolerates her humans like only a saint would. Many days while my kids have been home during remote learning, I will look out my kitchen window during a recess break only to see Rosie Bo donning a few yards of fancy pink ruffles around her neck while running around the yard with the kids. It’s a style like that from the Elizabethan era and it is quite becoming of Her Majesty. Rosie Bo’s fashion is usually always styled by a 5-year-old little girl who loves digging through my fabric box and clearly has graduated from dressing her baby dolls to now accessorizing the farm dog. &nbsp; More often than not this year, Rosie Bo has been allowed into the house to relax on the floor for a bit — usually in the absolute middle of any pathway traversed by her humans. I often wonder if she strategically places herself in these high-traffic areas in an attempt to trip her humans in the hopes they are carrying delicious morsels of food like Goldfish, string cheese or peanut butter sandwiches that she could help clean up. &nbsp; While her taste in human food is quite sophisticated, Rosie Bo also fancies treasures she can enjoy after finding them while on patrol throughout the farm. She’s very proficient in searching our pastures and recovering deer bones that she then brings to my yard and gnaws on while lying in the sun. She’s also impressively good at sniffing out mummified pests like squirrels, raccoons and opossums and bringing them back to her wicker porch perch for safe keeping. I often wonder what runs through the mind of the UPS delivery guy when he makes deliveries to my house — never quite knowing what he’ll find when leaving a package by our door. &nbsp; While our two kids have been home for remote school, Rosie Bo has become the third student in our learning environment. In the mornings, after she is allowed into the house, she’ll generally make a round through the kitchen to make sure there’s no cleanup work needed before she walks into one of the kids’ rooms to join a classroom Zoom meeting, listening to recitations of the alphabet by my daughter, and laying on the floor near my son as he works through his phonics lessons. Instead of gold stars, Rosie Bo generally knows she’s been a good pupil when she receives a special scratch behind her ear or on her belly and is told she’s a good dog. &nbsp; As the final days of 2020 wrap up and a new year is ushered in, my guess is that Rosie Bo will continue with her essential responsibilities on the farm with little hesitation. After all, it’ll just be another day for our farm dog doing what she does so well.

"Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;Copyright © 2020 Kansas Farm Bureau, All rights reserved.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573617414005.jpeg" alt="Kim Baldwin. Photo courtesy KFB" />
 <figcaption>Kim Baldwin. Photo courtesy KFB</figcaption>
 </figure>By KIM BALDWIN McPherson County farmer and rancherFarm dogs hold a special place in the day-to-day operations of many family farms and ranches. For my family, our dog serves many important roles. Very quickly after our dog Rosie Bo was brought home to the farm as a tiny puppy, she assumed the role of head of farm security. Over the last few years, she has worked hard to ensure opossums avoid our porches, deer stay out of our yard, birds are made aware of a strict no fly zone near her human’s house, and all shadows of the night get a good barking.&nbsp; &nbsp; Although she has a huge, warm doghouse and a big barn full of hay, she has claimed a wicker chair on my front porch as her official post, which clearly allows her to remain on high patrol as she deems fit. I think she likes the spot because she not only can look over her territory, but she can also sit up and look into our living room to keep track of her humans. &nbsp; Our girl Rosie Bo is fierce yet also the most loving and loyal pup you will ever find. She’ll try to destroy any wild animal that enters her domain, yet she tolerates her humans like only a saint would. Many days while my kids have been home during remote learning, I will look out my kitchen window during a recess break only to see Rosie Bo donning a few yards of fancy pink ruffles around her neck while running around the yard with the kids. It’s a style like that from the Elizabethan era and it is quite becoming of Her Majesty. Rosie Bo’s fashion is usually always styled by a 5-year-old little girl who loves digging through my fabric box and clearly has graduated from dressing her baby dolls to now accessorizing the farm dog. &nbsp; More often than not this year, Rosie Bo has been allowed into the house to relax on the floor for a bit — usually in the absolute middle of any pathway traversed by her humans. I often wonder if she strategically places herself in these high-traffic areas in an attempt to trip her humans in the hopes they are carrying delicious morsels of food like Goldfish, string cheese or peanut butter sandwiches that she could help clean up. &nbsp; While her taste in human food is quite sophisticated, Rosie Bo also fancies treasures she can enjoy after finding them while on patrol throughout the farm. She’s very proficient in searching our pastures and recovering deer bones that she then brings to my yard and gnaws on while lying in the sun. She’s also impressively good at sniffing out mummified pests like squirrels, raccoons and opossums and bringing them back to her wicker porch perch for safe keeping. I often wonder what runs through the mind of the UPS delivery guy when he makes deliveries to my house — never quite knowing what he’ll find when leaving a package by our door. &nbsp; While our two kids have been home for remote school, Rosie Bo has become the third student in our learning environment. In the mornings, after she is allowed into the house, she’ll generally make a round through the kitchen to make sure there’s no cleanup work needed before she walks into one of the kids’ rooms to join a classroom Zoom meeting, listening to recitations of the alphabet by my daughter, and laying on the floor near my son as he works through his phonics lessons. Instead of gold stars, Rosie Bo generally knows she’s been a good pupil when she receives a special scratch behind her ear or on her belly and is told she’s a good dog. &nbsp; As the final days of 2020 wrap up and a new year is ushered in, my guess is that Rosie Bo will continue with her essential responsibilities on the farm with little hesitation. After all, it’ll just be another day for our farm dog doing what she does so well."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;Copyright © 2020 Kansas Farm Bureau, All rights reserved.

INSIGHT: A dog's duties

KANSAS CITY (AP) — One of the Tyson Foods managers fired for betting on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at an Iowa pork plant said the office pool was spontaneous fun and intended to boost morale.

Don Merschbrock, a former night manager at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, said he was speaking in an attempt to show that the seven fired supervisors are “not the evil people” that Tyson has portrayed.

“We really want to clear our names,” he told The Associated Press. “We actually worked very hard and took care of our team members well.”

Tyson&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-lawsuits-coronavirus-pandemic-lakes-meat-processing-af173a053c5ac8b31e2bd4cb6e8ab83f">announced the terminations</a>&nbsp;of the Waterloo managers Dec. 16, weeks after the betting allegation surfaced in wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of four workers who died of COVID-19.

Tyson said an investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder found sufficient evidence to terminate those involved, saying their actions violated the company’s values of respect and integrity. The company had asked Holder’s law firm&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-tyson-plant-managers-virus-bet-law-f9a4556fdd253a7ae1787039e248879a">to investigate</a>&nbsp;the allegation after a public backlash threatened to damage its brand and demoralize its workers.

The Springdale, Arkansas-based company, one of the world’s largest meat producers, did not release Holder’s findings, and fired managers have complained that they were let go without explanation.

Merschbrock released a statement and elaborated in an interview that he was more willing to speak than the other fired managers since he isn’t a named defendant in the lawsuits.

He said managers conducted the office pool last spring within minutes following mass testing of the plant’s roughly 2,800 workers.

County officials said last May that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/590db7243e0b234b59e848ff59ba4639">more than 1,000</a>&nbsp;workers tested positive for the virus, which hospitalized several and killed at least six. They have blasted Tyson for not initially providing workers adequate protective gear and for idling the plant only after the outbreak had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6de2477c31301e779ea13d43ef0f2262">ripped through</a>&nbsp;the city.

Lawyers for the estates of four&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/780cd323a100bee5acf2bb15c0ff6d1b">dead workers</a>&nbsp;have portrayed the betting pool as indicative of the company’s callous attitude toward health and safety. They have alleged that managers downplayed the severity of the virus, at times allowing or encouraging employees to work while sick.

Tyson has said the plant, its largest for pork and able to process 20,000 hogs daily, was designated as critical infrastructure by the federal government in March and that its leaders worked to “safely continue operations to secure the national food supply.”

U.S. District Judge Linda Reade issued orders Monday moving the wrongful death lawsuits back to Iowa state court, rejecting the company’s request to change the jurisdiction. She said Tyson failed to show it was acting under the direction of federal authorities.

“No federal officer directed Tyson to keep its Waterloo facility open in a negligent manner ... or make fraudulent misrepresentations to employees at the Waterloo facility regarding the risks or severity of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 outbreak at the Waterloo facility,” she wrote.

Merschbrock, who had been with Tyson for a decade, said managers were given the “impossible task” of maintaining production while implementing virus safety precautions. They had been working 12-hour days, six or seven days per week, he said.

The office pool involved roughly $50 cash, which went to the winner who picked the correct percentage of workers testing positive for the virus, Merschbrock said. He added that those involved didn’t believe the pool violated company policy and thought the plant’s positivity rate would be lower than the community rate due to their mitigation efforts.

“It was a group of exhausted supervisors that had worked so hard and so smart to solve many unsolvable problems,” Merschbrock said. “It was simply something fun, kind of a morale boost for having put forth an incredible effort. There was never any malicious intent. It was never meant to disparage anyone.”

A Tyson spokesman declined to comment on Merschbrock’s assertions.

Mel Orchard, an attorney representing families of deceased employees, said protecting workers from the virus was not “an unsolvable problem.” He said the issue was a corporate culture where executives prioritized production and sales and treated line workers as expendable.

“Listening to the stories of those who lost a father, brother or wife, I have a hard time having sympathy for the managers who worked extra hours and were tired,” he said. “But I do understand why and how this could have happened.”

Orchard represents the estates of Sedika Buljic, 58; Reberiano Garcia, 60; Jose Ayala Jr., 44; and Isidro Fernandez. Buljic, Garcia and Fernandez died in April, and Ayala&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c15eb40611c58487eec10b5977db1861#:~:text=IOWA%20CITY%2C%20Iowa%20(AP),who%20was%20in%20the%20room.">died May 25</a>&nbsp;after a six-week hospitalization.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1593167451853.png" alt="Photo courtesy Tyson Foods" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Tyson Foods</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — One of the Tyson Foods managers fired for betting on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at an Iowa pork plant said the office pool was spontaneous fun and intended to boost morale.Don Merschbrock, a former night manager at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, said he was speaking in an attempt to show that the seven fired supervisors are “not the evil people” that Tyson has portrayed.“We really want to clear our names,” he told The Associated Press. “We actually worked very hard and took care of our team members well.”Tyson&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-lawsuits-coronavirus-pandemic-lakes-meat-processing-af173a053c5ac8b31e2bd4cb6e8ab83f">announced the terminations</a>&nbsp;of the Waterloo managers Dec. 16, weeks after the betting allegation surfaced in wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of four workers who died of COVID-19.Tyson said an investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder found sufficient evidence to terminate those involved, saying their actions violated the company’s values of respect and integrity. The company had asked Holder’s law firm&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-tyson-plant-managers-virus-bet-law-f9a4556fdd253a7ae1787039e248879a">to investigate</a>&nbsp;the allegation after a public backlash threatened to damage its brand and demoralize its workers.The Springdale, Arkansas-based company, one of the world’s largest meat producers, did not release Holder’s findings, and fired managers have complained that they were let go without explanation.Merschbrock released a statement and elaborated in an interview that he was more willing to speak than the other fired managers since he isn’t a named defendant in the lawsuits.He said managers conducted the office pool last spring within minutes following mass testing of the plant’s roughly 2,800 workers.County officials said last May that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/590db7243e0b234b59e848ff59ba4639">more than 1,000</a>&nbsp;workers tested positive for the virus, which hospitalized several and killed at least six. They have blasted Tyson for not initially providing workers adequate protective gear and for idling the plant only after the outbreak had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6de2477c31301e779ea13d43ef0f2262">ripped through</a>&nbsp;the city.Lawyers for the estates of four&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/780cd323a100bee5acf2bb15c0ff6d1b">dead workers</a>&nbsp;have portrayed the betting pool as indicative of the company’s callous attitude toward health and safety. They have alleged that managers downplayed the severity of the virus, at times allowing or encouraging employees to work while sick.Tyson has said the plant, its largest for pork and able to process 20,000 hogs daily, was designated as critical infrastructure by the federal government in March and that its leaders worked to “safely continue operations to secure the national food supply.”U.S. District Judge Linda Reade issued orders Monday moving the wrongful death lawsuits back to Iowa state court, rejecting the company’s request to change the jurisdiction. She said Tyson failed to show it was acting under the direction of federal authorities.“No federal officer directed Tyson to keep its Waterloo facility open in a negligent manner ... or make fraudulent misrepresentations to employees at the Waterloo facility regarding the risks or severity of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 outbreak at the Waterloo facility,” she wrote.Merschbrock, who had been with Tyson for a decade, said managers were given the “impossible task” of maintaining production while implementing virus safety precautions. They had been working 12-hour days, six or seven days per week, he said.The office pool involved roughly $50 cash, which went to the winner who picked the correct percentage of workers testing positive for the virus, Merschbrock said. He added that those involved didn’t believe the pool violated company policy and thought the plant’s positivity rate would be lower than the community rate due to their mitigation efforts.“It was a group of exhausted supervisors that had worked so hard and so smart to solve many unsolvable problems,” Merschbrock said. “It was simply something fun, kind of a morale boost for having put forth an incredible effort. There was never any malicious intent. It was never meant to disparage anyone.”A Tyson spokesman declined to comment on Merschbrock’s assertions.Mel Orchard, an attorney representing families of deceased employees, said protecting workers from the virus was not “an unsolvable problem.” He said the issue was a corporate culture where executives prioritized production and sales and treated line workers as expendable.“Listening to the stories of those who lost a father, brother or wife, I have a hard time having sympathy for the managers who worked extra hours and were tired,” he said. “But I do understand why and how this could have happened.”Orchard represents the estates of Sedika Buljic, 58; Reberiano Garcia, 60; Jose Ayala Jr., 44; and Isidro Fernandez. Buljic, Garcia and Fernandez died in April, and Ayala&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c15eb40611c58487eec10b5977db1861#:~:text=IOWA%20CITY%2C%20Iowa%20(AP),who%20was%20in%20the%20room.">died May 25</a>&nbsp;after a six-week hospitalization.___

Fired Tyson boss says COVID office pool was a 'morale boost'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid reviews Sunday's game with the Falcons. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:

You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid reviews Sunday's game with the Falcons. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKansasCityChiefs%2Fvideos%2F421028145612866%2F&show_text=true&width=560" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

🎥Chiefs' Reid reviews game with Falcons, says work to be done

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas are protesting a reorganization of its diversity office that cost two employees their jobs, saying the changes were made without consulting the marginalized communities affected.

The changes for what had been the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion were announced earlier this month by Chancellor Douglas Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer.

The vice provost for diversity and equity has been assigned to another job, six programs reporting to her will be reassigned to other departments, and the jobs of two employees who developed and led social justice training were eliminated.

The university will create two new associate vice provost positions, and the office is now the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

University spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson wrote in an email that Girod and Bichelmeyer listened to hundreds of people about how to improve diversity and inclusion efforts.

But about 60 department chairs, numerous faculty staff councils and a graduate teaching assistants union, signed letters to the two administrators last week, asking them to reverse or reconsider the changes. Among other things, they said, an advisory council on diversity set up this summer was not consulted.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas are protesting a reorganization of its diversity office that cost two employees their jobs, saying the changes were made without consulting the marginalized communities affected.The changes for what had been the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion were announced earlier this month by Chancellor Douglas Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer.The vice provost for diversity and equity has been assigned to another job, six programs reporting to her will be reassigned to other departments, and the jobs of two employees who developed and led social justice training were eliminated.The university will create two new associate vice provost positions, and the office is now the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.University spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson wrote in an email that Girod and Bichelmeyer listened to hundreds of people about how to improve diversity and inclusion efforts.But about 60 department chairs, numerous faculty staff councils and a graduate teaching assistants union, signed letters to the two administrators last week, asking them to reverse or reconsider the changes. Among other things, they said, an advisory council on diversity set up this summer was not consulted.

Reorganization of KU diversity office draws criticism

I’ve been following your plan, but recently I experienced a medical emergency. I’m about halfway through Baby Step 2 and paying off my debts using the debt snowball system. Considering the circumstances, should I stop doing the debt snowball for now?

That’s exactly what you should do. But make sure you’re only pressing the pause button on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-pay-off-credit-card-debt" target="_blank">paying off debt</a>. I’m talking about&nbsp;temporarily&nbsp;stopping the debt snowball, and making only minimum payments on all non-mortgage debt for now.

Cash is your umbrella when it rains, and you never know just long the rain will last. Even if you have great health insurance, you might end up paying a chunk out of pocket. That’s why it’s important to save up and have plenty on hand.

Things like this are often just a bump in the road, so don’t get discouraged. They can be expensive, and they’re part of life, but taking care of these kinds of issues doesn’t have to mean giving up on getting control of your finances. Emergency issues, especially a medical emergency, come first. Then, go back when things are better and pick up where you left off knocking out debt using the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-the-debt-snowball-method-works" target="_blank">debt snowball</a>&nbsp;system.

My husband and I just bought a small business with cash. My sister let us live with her while we saved up the money for it, but things are starting to get a little cramped for everyone. The other day, my sister offered to co-sign on a house for us. Do you think this is a good idea?

Ok, so you just bought a business. I love your entrepreneurial spirit&nbsp;and&nbsp;the fact you saved up and paid for it with cash. But at this point, you don’t know if the business is going to be successful or not. On top of that, you told me you’d need a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/debt/co-signing-is-dumb" target="_blank">co-signer</a>&nbsp;for a home. If you need a co-signer for anything, it means you’re not financially ready for that purchase.

I know you don’t want to hear this, but you guys need to just forget about buying a house for a while. If I were in your shoes, I’d find a decent, inexpensive place to rent, and spend two or three years getting the business up and running. Pay off any debt you have, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/guides/saving-for-down-payment-guide?int_cmpgn=no_campaign&amp;int_dept=elp_bu&amp;int_lctn=Content_Hub-promo_tiles&amp;int_fmt=button&amp;int_dscpn=content_hubs_promo_tile_down_payment_guide&amp;campaign_id=&amp;lead_source=Other" target="_blank">saving</a>&nbsp;as much money as you can in the process.

I want you and your husband to have a nice house someday. But right now, it would be a burden instead of a blessing.

<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Dave Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596845065840.jpeg" alt="Dave Ramsey" />
 <figcaption>Dave Ramsey</figcaption>
 </figure>Push the pause buttonDear Dave,I’ve been following your plan, but recently I experienced a medical emergency. I’m about halfway through Baby Step 2 and paying off my debts using the debt snowball system. Considering the circumstances, should I stop doing the debt snowball for now?BrookeDear Brooke,That’s exactly what you should do. But make sure you’re only pressing the pause button on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-pay-off-credit-card-debt" target="_blank">paying off debt</a>. I’m talking about&nbsp;temporarily&nbsp;stopping the debt snowball, and making only minimum payments on all non-mortgage debt for now.Cash is your umbrella when it rains, and you never know just long the rain will last. Even if you have great health insurance, you might end up paying a chunk out of pocket. That’s why it’s important to save up and have plenty on hand.Things like this are often just a bump in the road, so don’t get discouraged. They can be expensive, and they’re part of life, but taking care of these kinds of issues doesn’t have to mean giving up on getting control of your finances. Emergency issues, especially a medical emergency, come first. Then, go back when things are better and pick up where you left off knocking out debt using the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-the-debt-snowball-method-works" target="_blank">debt snowball</a>&nbsp;system.You can do this, Brooke. God bless you!DaveYou’re just not readyDear Dave,My husband and I just bought a small business with cash. My sister let us live with her while we saved up the money for it, but things are starting to get a little cramped for everyone. The other day, my sister offered to co-sign on a house for us. Do you think this is a good idea?CariDear Cari,Ok, so you just bought a business. I love your entrepreneurial spirit&nbsp;and&nbsp;the fact you saved up and paid for it with cash. But at this point, you don’t know if the business is going to be successful or not. On top of that, you told me you’d need a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/debt/co-signing-is-dumb" target="_blank">co-signer</a>&nbsp;for a home. If you need a co-signer for anything, it means you’re not financially ready for that purchase.I know you don’t want to hear this, but you guys need to just forget about buying a house for a while. If I were in your shoes, I’d find a decent, inexpensive place to rent, and spend two or three years getting the business up and running. Pay off any debt you have, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/guides/saving-for-down-payment-guide?int_cmpgn=no_campaign&amp;int_dept=elp_bu&amp;int_lctn=Content_Hub-promo_tiles&amp;int_fmt=button&amp;int_dscpn=content_hubs_promo_tile_down_payment_guide&amp;campaign_id=&amp;lead_source=Other" target="_blank">saving</a>&nbsp;as much money as you can in the process.I want you and your husband to have a nice house someday. But right now, it would be a burden instead of a blessing.Dave<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Dave Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

DAVE SAYS: Push the pause button; You’re just not ready

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs' coordinators and players Chris Jones, Mecole Hardman, and Harrison Butker fielded media questions Thursday. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs' coordinators and players Chris Jones, Mecole Hardman, and Harrison Butker fielded media questions Thursday. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKansasCityChiefs%2Fvideos%2F2784588831761067%2F&show_text=true&width=560" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

🎥 Chiefs' coordinators and players talk football Thursday

Carrol M. Casey, better known as Cabe or Cabo, passed into the arms of His Savior on the morning of Dec. 19th 2020 at the age of 89.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Cabe lived a quiet and unassuming life marked by sacrifice, loyalty, humility, and an occasional flare of Irish temper. His happiest and most treasured moments were spent in the company of his wife Joyce. Together they marveled at the beauty of the natural world surrounding them on the farm where they spent 70 years of marriage and raised their five children (Terry Wiechman, Topeka, Barry Casey, Hannibal Mo., Diana Keezer, Downs, Tedd Casey, Wichita, and Todd Casey, Hutchinson). Over their 70 years together they welcomed&nbsp;nieces, nephews, in laws, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many of their children's friends into their home.&nbsp; He said his happiest years were when his children were young.&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp; Cabe had a way with cats and among other things loved the Yankees, Gunsmoke, Sunny D, Pollyanna, fudge with popcorn, listening to his favorite song&nbsp;“Run for the Roses" and most of all hearing his children laugh.&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp; He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by his wife Joyce and their large extended family. The family is honoring his wishes for a private graveside service.

“Till we meet again, Dad, thank you for&nbsp;everything. We love you now and will love you forever.”

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;“Still waters run deep.”

Cremation has taken place &amp; graveside services will take place at a later date.

Carrol M. Casey, better known as Cabe or Cabo, passed into the arms of His Savior on the morning of Dec. 19th 2020 at the age of 89.&nbsp;&nbsp; Cabe lived a quiet and unassuming life marked by sacrifice, loyalty, humility, and an occasional flare of Irish temper. His happiest and most treasured moments were spent in the company of his wife Joyce. Together they marveled at the beauty of the natural world surrounding them on the farm where they spent 70 years of marriage and raised their five children (Terry Wiechman, Topeka, Barry Casey, Hannibal Mo., Diana Keezer, Downs, Tedd Casey, Wichita, and Todd Casey, Hutchinson). Over their 70 years together they welcomed&nbsp;nieces, nephews, in laws, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many of their children's friends into their home.&nbsp; He said his happiest years were when his children were young.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cabe had a way with cats and among other things loved the Yankees, Gunsmoke, Sunny D, Pollyanna, fudge with popcorn, listening to his favorite song&nbsp;“Run for the Roses" and most of all hearing his children laugh.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by his wife Joyce and their large extended family. The family is honoring his wishes for a private graveside service.“Till we meet again, Dad, thank you for&nbsp;everything. We love you now and will love you forever.”&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;“Still waters run deep.”Cremation has taken place &amp; graveside services will take place at a later date.

Carrol M. Casey

By LISA RODRIGUEZ <a href="https://www.kcur.org/2020-12-21/faq-answering-your-questions-about-the-coronavirus-vaccines-as-inoculations-roll-out-in-kansas-city">Kansas News Service</a>

Hospitals across the Kansas have started vaccinating frontline health care workers against COVID-19. 

Public
 health officials have said a widely available vaccine will ultimately 
control the pandemic that has killed more than 7,000 people across 
Kansas and Missouri. 

As the vaccines become available to the general public, <a href="https://www.americaamplified.org/" target="_blank">America Amplified</a> is gathering and curating answers from experts to questions on the minds of public radio listeners across the country.

There
 are different companies producing coronavirus vaccines. Will all of 
them require people to get two doses? And do they need two doses of the 
same vaccine? How will people avoid getting two different vaccines? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

The
 two current vaccines each require 2 doses. Other vaccines are being 
studied; one of them is a single dose vaccine. You do need to have two 
doses of the same vaccine. Ideally you should visit the same health 
practioner who will be keeping a record of who is vaccinated with which 
vaccine.

I am 65 and live in a 55-plus community. When do you feel I can realistically expect to be able to get the vaccine? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

The
 determining factor will be your age, not your community. You’ll be in 
the second or third group to receive a vaccine, likely by sometime this 
spring. We know healthcare providers are first, and then residents of 
long-term care facilities. We are waiting on advice from the CDC 
Advisory committee on who should go next -- essential workers, or people
 who are 65 or older.

Does your visa status affect the chances of you getting the vaccine? From
 Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, Dean of University of Missouri-Kansas City 
Medical School and a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee

There are no restrictions on vaccine provisions to anyone on a visa.

What are the logistics for actually getting it to elderly with underlying issues? From Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, Dean of UMKC Medical School and a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee

CVS
 and Walgreens will be administering vaccines in senior living 
facilities. For those who cannot consent, relatives who have power of 
attorney can do so.

[What are the] side effects [from the vaccines] for people with underlying health issues. Do they even know? From Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center.

Both
 [Pfizer and Moderna vaccines] use messenger RNA technology, a really 
novel vaccine platform. ...There still remain many questions to be 
answered as we go forward. At this juncture, we're only going to know 
about short-term side effects, but we need to know whether there are any
 potential rare, long-term side effects. Short-term side effects that we
 know of now appear in about 5% to 15% of participants. They include 
inflammation, soreness at the injection site, a low-grade fever, 
headaches, muscle aches and fatigue. These can last from 12 to 36 hours 
after vaccination.

Can I get COVID-19 from the vaccine? From Side Effects Public Media

No. The COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna ... have been in <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-are-mrna-vaccines-so-exciting-2020121021599" target="_blank">development for about three decades</a>, but are only now being used for COVID-19. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html" target="_blank">According to the CDC</a>,
 mRNA vaccines teach your cells how to make a protein – or even just a 
piece of a protein – that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
 That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects you 
from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

Do I still have to wear a mask once I have the vaccine? From Side Effects Public Media

Yes. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/12/945288710/what-you-need-to-know-as-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-heads-your-way" target="_blank">According to NPR’s Shots</a>,
 studies of the new vaccines only measured whether vaccinated people 
developed symptoms, not whether they got infected. It's possible that 
they got mild infections — not enough to make them ill, but enough to 
pass the virus on to others. The CDC is calling for those who are 
immunized to continue wearing masks and practicing safe physical 
distancing until more is learned.

Is it safe for patients with
 autoimmune disease who take immunosuppressive medications to be 
vaccinated against COVID? Is it effective? From Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center.

There's
 no doubt that we're going to have to look very carefully at data on 
both the safety and efficacy because that too can be impaired in 
immunocompromised individuals. The vaccines that are typically not 
recommended routinely for severely immunocompromised individuals are 
what we call attenuated viral vaccines, where we take the natural virus 
and make it weaker. And this is a very old way of making vaccines. But 
for example, our measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are attenuated 
viral vaccines. None of the front runners for COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 are
 that type of vaccine. So I don't anticipate problems with safety ... 
but that will need to be studied going forward.

Do any of the manufacturers know if their vaccine is safe for people with HIV? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

It
 probably won't hurt, but it could help. The second vaccine in line -- 
the Moderna vaccine -- included a small study of people with HIV 
infection and we expect to see that data shortly. But in the meantime, 
if people with HIV are offered the Pfizer vaccine they should take it.

Will I have to pay for the vaccine? From Side Effects Public Media

No.
 Vaccine providers will be able to bill insurance for a fee to 
administer the vaccine, but will not be able to charge you. They can 
seek reimbursement for uninsured patients from the Health Resources and 
Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.

This story was 
produced as part of America Amplified, a public media initiative funded 
by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.&nbsp;If you have a 
question about any of the COVID-19 vaccines, send an e-mail to 
news@kcur.org with the subject "KCUR Vaccine Question."&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608581549882.jpg" alt="Pixabay image" />
 <figcaption>Pixabay image</figcaption>
 </figure>By LISA RODRIGUEZ <a href="https://www.kcur.org/2020-12-21/faq-answering-your-questions-about-the-coronavirus-vaccines-as-inoculations-roll-out-in-kansas-city">Kansas News Service</a>Hospitals across the Kansas have started vaccinating frontline health care workers against COVID-19. Public
 health officials have said a widely available vaccine will ultimately 
control the pandemic that has killed more than 7,000 people across 
Kansas and Missouri. As the vaccines become available to the general public, <a href="https://www.americaamplified.org/" target="_blank">America Amplified</a> is gathering and curating answers from experts to questions on the minds of public radio listeners across the country.There
 are different companies producing coronavirus vaccines. Will all of 
them require people to get two doses? And do they need two doses of the 
same vaccine? How will people avoid getting two different vaccines? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.The
 two current vaccines each require 2 doses. Other vaccines are being 
studied; one of them is a single dose vaccine. You do need to have two 
doses of the same vaccine. Ideally you should visit the same health 
practioner who will be keeping a record of who is vaccinated with which 
vaccine.I am 65 and live in a 55-plus community. When do you feel I can realistically expect to be able to get the vaccine? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.The
 determining factor will be your age, not your community. You’ll be in 
the second or third group to receive a vaccine, likely by sometime this 
spring. We know healthcare providers are first, and then residents of 
long-term care facilities. We are waiting on advice from the CDC 
Advisory committee on who should go next -- essential workers, or people
 who are 65 or older.Does your visa status affect the chances of you getting the vaccine? From
 Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, Dean of University of Missouri-Kansas City 
Medical School and a member of the National Vaccine Advisory CommitteeThere are no restrictions on vaccine provisions to anyone on a visa.What are the logistics for actually getting it to elderly with underlying issues? From Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, Dean of UMKC Medical School and a member of the National Vaccine Advisory CommitteeCVS
 and Walgreens will be administering vaccines in senior living 
facilities. For those who cannot consent, relatives who have power of 
attorney can do so.[What are the] side effects [from the vaccines] for people with underlying health issues. Do they even know? From Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center.Both
 [Pfizer and Moderna vaccines] use messenger RNA technology, a really 
novel vaccine platform. ...There still remain many questions to be 
answered as we go forward. At this juncture, we're only going to know 
about short-term side effects, but we need to know whether there are any
 potential rare, long-term side effects. Short-term side effects that we
 know of now appear in about 5% to 15% of participants. They include 
inflammation, soreness at the injection site, a low-grade fever, 
headaches, muscle aches and fatigue. These can last from 12 to 36 hours 
after vaccination.Can I get COVID-19 from the vaccine? From Side Effects Public MediaNo. The COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna ... have been in <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-are-mrna-vaccines-so-exciting-2020121021599" target="_blank">development for about three decades</a>, but are only now being used for COVID-19. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html" target="_blank">According to the CDC</a>,
 mRNA vaccines teach your cells how to make a protein – or even just a 
piece of a protein – that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
 That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects you 
from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.Do I still have to wear a mask once I have the vaccine? From Side Effects Public MediaYes. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/12/945288710/what-you-need-to-know-as-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-heads-your-way" target="_blank">According to NPR’s Shots</a>,
 studies of the new vaccines only measured whether vaccinated people 
developed symptoms, not whether they got infected. It's possible that 
they got mild infections — not enough to make them ill, but enough to 
pass the virus on to others. The CDC is calling for those who are 
immunized to continue wearing masks and practicing safe physical 
distancing until more is learned. Is it safe for patients with
 autoimmune disease who take immunosuppressive medications to be 
vaccinated against COVID? Is it effective? From Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center.There's
 no doubt that we're going to have to look very carefully at data on 
both the safety and efficacy because that too can be impaired in 
immunocompromised individuals. The vaccines that are typically not 
recommended routinely for severely immunocompromised individuals are 
what we call attenuated viral vaccines, where we take the natural virus 
and make it weaker. And this is a very old way of making vaccines. But 
for example, our measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are attenuated 
viral vaccines. None of the front runners for COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 are
 that type of vaccine. So I don't anticipate problems with safety ... 
but that will need to be studied going forward.Do any of the manufacturers know if their vaccine is safe for people with HIV? From William Schaffner MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.It
 probably won't hurt, but it could help. The second vaccine in line -- 
the Moderna vaccine -- included a small study of people with HIV 
infection and we expect to see that data shortly. But in the meantime, 
if people with HIV are offered the Pfizer vaccine they should take it.Will I have to pay for the vaccine? From Side Effects Public MediaNo.
 Vaccine providers will be able to bill insurance for a fee to 
administer the vaccine, but will not be able to charge you. They can 
seek reimbursement for uninsured patients from the Health Resources and 
Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.This story was 
produced as part of America Amplified, a public media initiative funded 
by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.&nbsp;If you have a 
question about any of the COVID-19 vaccines, send an e-mail to 
news@kcur.org with the subject "KCUR Vaccine Question."&nbsp;

Q&A about COVID-19 vaccines as inoculations roll out

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach reviews the teams' game with New Orleans. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach reviews the teams' game with New Orleans. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKansasCityChiefs%2Fvideos%2F390212218966556%2F&show_text=true&width=560" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

🎥 Chiefs' Reid reviews win over Saints

Vada LoRayne (Ellis) Unrein was born August 10, 1940 at her parents’ home in Phillips County, Kansas, west of Phillipsburg to Arthur Ellis and Lucy Fern Gaines Ellis. She passed away peacefully Saturday morning, December 19, 2020 in Buhler, Kansas at Sunshine Meadows Retirement Center, which had been her home for the past 5 years.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Vada had three siblings, her two older brothers, Vincent Dean and Harold Lee, and baby sister Connie Fae.

&nbsp;&nbsp; As a child, she lived in several states with relatives when her parents divorced. She was raised by several aunts and uncles from the age of 5-15. When she moved back to Kansas to live with her father, she graduated from Gaylord Rural High School in 1958. After high school, she attended one year at Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma. She wanted to be a nurse, but didn’t get to fulfill that dream. She lived in Denver for awhile and then moved to Beloit to live near her brother Harold and his family.

&nbsp;&nbsp; On October 5, 1963, Vada married Alvin A. Unrein, Sr. in Beloit. They met while she was waiting tables at what was then the Davidson’s Café. He asked her on a date, and they married a year later. Alvin had four children when they married, and they all decided to call her “Mops”, because they called their dad “Pops”. She enjoyed helping raise her four stepchildren, Alvin Jr., Raymond, Sharon, and Velda. Together, Vada and Alvin had two daughters, Janice and Shannon. They were blessed to celebrate their 40th&nbsp;Wedding Anniversary surrounded by family and friends in 2003.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Vada waited tables and cooked at various restaurants n Beloit, and began working at the Mitchell County Hospital as a cook. They were in need of a Dietary Manager, so she took correspondence classes and became certified to work in that capacity for 26 years before retirement. She was a life member of the VFW Women’s Auxiliary and the American Legion Women, holding different offices through the years.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Along with her family, Vada also loved her dogs. Peaches, Buddy, and Scruffy were three of her favorites. She loved spending time with her family, celebrating all the life events along the way. Through the years, she was able to take some fun memorable trips with Alvin, her children, and grandchildren. The highlights of her travels included Idaho, Oregon, Florida, California, Tennessee, along with several other states. Friday night Bingo at the VFW was always on her agenda after the week was over. Her sense of humor, storytelling, and infectious laugh will always be treasured.

&nbsp;&nbsp; After Alvin passed away, Vada moved to Hutchinson in 2007, where she worked as one of the lunch ladies at Morgan Elementary School for about seven years. She really enjoyed seeing the children every day. After developing some health issues that no longer allowed her to live by herself, she moved to Sunshine Meadows Retirement Center in Buhler, Kansas to their assisted living neighborhood. About a year and a half ago, she moved to their Heartland neighborhood, where she enjoyed the group activities, crocheting, reading and listening to books, and watching game shows on TV. She crocheted and made many beautiful afghans and quilts through the years for children, grandchildren, and many other relatives and friends.

&nbsp;&nbsp; She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Alvin in 2005, brother Harold Lee Ellis, son Raymond, daughter-in-law Barbara Unrein, and son-in-law Arlen Gates.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Survivors include son Alvin A. Unrein, Jr. and wife Judy of Assaria, daughter-in-law Tamara Unrein of Wallace, daughter Sharon Otter and husband Paul of Great Bend, daughter Velda Gates of Hutchinson, daughter Janice Peters and husband Larry of Beloit, daughter Shannon Eisele and husband Michael of Cleveland, TN; 19 grandchildren, Elizabeth, Michael, Brian, Eric, Amy, Maruel, Ray Jr., Jamie, Misty, Madison, Katelyn, Miranda, Lydel, Lance, Stefanie, Matthew, Marty, Tyler, and David; 30 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great grandchildren; sister, Connie Bruning of Benton, AR; sister-in-law Rachel Ellis of Lawrence; brother Vincent Ellis of San Marcos, CA; along with many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends.

&nbsp;&nbsp; Family-only memorial services will be at 2 PM Tuesday, December 22 at the Roberts Family Funeral Home &amp; will be live-streamed, followed by public graveside services at Elmwood Cemetery in Beloit. Cremation has been chosen &amp; there will be no visitation. Memorials may be given to Sunshine Meadows Retirement Community.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608511919855.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Vada LoRayne (Ellis) Unrein was born August 10, 1940 at her parents’ home in Phillips County, Kansas, west of Phillipsburg to Arthur Ellis and Lucy Fern Gaines Ellis. She passed away peacefully Saturday morning, December 19, 2020 in Buhler, Kansas at Sunshine Meadows Retirement Center, which had been her home for the past 5 years.&nbsp;&nbsp; Vada had three siblings, her two older brothers, Vincent Dean and Harold Lee, and baby sister Connie Fae.&nbsp;&nbsp; As a child, she lived in several states with relatives when her parents divorced. She was raised by several aunts and uncles from the age of 5-15. When she moved back to Kansas to live with her father, she graduated from Gaylord Rural High School in 1958. After high school, she attended one year at Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma. She wanted to be a nurse, but didn’t get to fulfill that dream. She lived in Denver for awhile and then moved to Beloit to live near her brother Harold and his family.&nbsp;&nbsp; On October 5, 1963, Vada married Alvin A. Unrein, Sr. in Beloit. They met while she was waiting tables at what was then the Davidson’s Café. He asked her on a date, and they married a year later. Alvin had four children when they married, and they all decided to call her “Mops”, because they called their dad “Pops”. She enjoyed helping raise her four stepchildren, Alvin Jr., Raymond, Sharon, and Velda. Together, Vada and Alvin had two daughters, Janice and Shannon. They were blessed to celebrate their 40th&nbsp;Wedding Anniversary surrounded by family and friends in 2003.&nbsp;&nbsp; Vada waited tables and cooked at various restaurants n Beloit, and began working at the Mitchell County Hospital as a cook. They were in need of a Dietary Manager, so she took correspondence classes and became certified to work in that capacity for 26 years before retirement. She was a life member of the VFW Women’s Auxiliary and the American Legion Women, holding different offices through the years.&nbsp;&nbsp; Along with her family, Vada also loved her dogs. Peaches, Buddy, and Scruffy were three of her favorites. She loved spending time with her family, celebrating all the life events along the way. Through the years, she was able to take some fun memorable trips with Alvin, her children, and grandchildren. The highlights of her travels included Idaho, Oregon, Florida, California, Tennessee, along with several other states. Friday night Bingo at the VFW was always on her agenda after the week was over. Her sense of humor, storytelling, and infectious laugh will always be treasured.&nbsp;&nbsp; After Alvin passed away, Vada moved to Hutchinson in 2007, where she worked as one of the lunch ladies at Morgan Elementary School for about seven years. She really enjoyed seeing the children every day. After developing some health issues that no longer allowed her to live by herself, she moved to Sunshine Meadows Retirement Center in Buhler, Kansas to their assisted living neighborhood. About a year and a half ago, she moved to their Heartland neighborhood, where she enjoyed the group activities, crocheting, reading and listening to books, and watching game shows on TV. She crocheted and made many beautiful afghans and quilts through the years for children, grandchildren, and many other relatives and friends.&nbsp;&nbsp; She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Alvin in 2005, brother Harold Lee Ellis, son Raymond, daughter-in-law Barbara Unrein, and son-in-law Arlen Gates.&nbsp;&nbsp; Survivors include son Alvin A. Unrein, Jr. and wife Judy of Assaria, daughter-in-law Tamara Unrein of Wallace, daughter Sharon Otter and husband Paul of Great Bend, daughter Velda Gates of Hutchinson, daughter Janice Peters and husband Larry of Beloit, daughter Shannon Eisele and husband Michael of Cleveland, TN; 19 grandchildren, Elizabeth, Michael, Brian, Eric, Amy, Maruel, Ray Jr., Jamie, Misty, Madison, Katelyn, Miranda, Lydel, Lance, Stefanie, Matthew, Marty, Tyler, and David; 30 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great grandchildren; sister, Connie Bruning of Benton, AR; sister-in-law Rachel Ellis of Lawrence; brother Vincent Ellis of San Marcos, CA; along with many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends.&nbsp;&nbsp; Family-only memorial services will be at 2 PM Tuesday, December 22 at the Roberts Family Funeral Home &amp; will be live-streamed, followed by public graveside services at Elmwood Cemetery in Beloit. Cremation has been chosen &amp; there will be no visitation. Memorials may be given to Sunshine Meadows Retirement Community.

Vada LoRayne (Ellis) Unrein

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>

SALINA — As the CEO of Saint Francis Ministries, Robert Smith used company credit cards for lavish hotel stays, first class upgrades on airlines, clothing, cash withdrawals, iTunes purchases and meals at five-star restaurants while hiding increasingly dire financial problems from his board of directors.

Documents from a Saint Francis investigation show Smith invested $11 million in a friend’s business for software that crashed and destroyed the organization’s financial records. Saint Francis spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a program led by Smith’s wife to harvest a “miracle” food in El Salvador, where staff asked for and received Visa credit cards for the purpose of getting cash to bribe local officials. Smith repeatedly was warned about the financial perils of entering a contract to provide services in Nebraska, where Saint Francis is projected to lose $27 million in the current fiscal year, before Smith signed the deal.

The Salina-based foster care provider, which employs 1,600 people and serves 10,000 children and families, neared a breaking point in February after Intrust Bank refused to expand a $10 million line of credit.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/09/foster-care-providers-turned-to-ppp-loans-as-pandemic-intensified-family-stress/">A $10 million loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program</a>&nbsp;allowed for daily operations to continue.

The Saint Francis board of directors commissioned an investigation into Smith after learning from a newly hired chief financial officer in October about financial misconduct dating to 2018. The investigative report, obtained by Kansas Reflector, substantiated the CFO’s allegations&nbsp;of mismanagement, improper spending and a failure by Smith to report the organization’s true financial position to the board.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/19/foster-care-provider-removes-top-leaders-after-investigation-into-mismanagement/">organization severed ties</a>&nbsp;with Smith, general counsel David Schafer and chief operating officer Tom Blythe at the conclusion of the investigation in November. New leadership has charted a course to stabilize finances within the next six months, including&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/15/kansas-based-foster-care-providers-financial-turmoil-cubs-tickets-amplify-concerns-in-nebraska/">a new deal with Nebraska officials</a>&nbsp;to cover losses for services there.

Details of Smith’s spending stunned colleagues who knew the Episcopal priest as Father Bobby.

“I ask a lot of questions, but I was always assured that things were OK,” said Greg Meissen, chairman of the board at Saint Francis. “In hindsight, I can chain together things, but I trusted Father Bobby, and that’s all. It was pretty shocking.”

Smith didn’t respond to attempts by Kansas Reflector to reach him for comment.

Lora Winchell immediately noticed financial irregularities after she was hired as chief financial officer in September.

Fearing no one would listen to her concerns, Winchell arranged a meeting with a board member in Kansas City to reveal her findings under the pretense of a non-substantial meet-and-greet. Instead, she presented her report on the severity of financial problems at Saint Francis.

“I joined Saint Francis because of my belief in the organization’s mission,” Winchell said in a statement for this story. “That work must be supported by strong financial accountability that adheres to all ethical accounting principles. I could only, in good conscience, report the inconsistencies I was seeing.”

The board took immediate action to suspend leadership and hire an attorney to investigate Winchell’s findings.

At the time, the board had no idea that&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/04/kansas-agency-serving-3100-foster-children-accused-of-rampant-financial-mismanagement/">a different whistleblower</a>&nbsp;had raised concerns about Smith’s financial dealings in a November 2019 report to the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

Mike Deines, a spokesman for DCF, said the agency’s standard operating procedure is to work directly with executive leadership. DCF in January hired a Topeka accounting firm to audit finances at Saint Francis, but Smith didn’t disclose the audit to the board.

“Typically in those kind of cases somebody on the board might get a call,” Meissen said. “We never got a call from them. I’m not criticizing their work, but it was an absolute stunner.”

If the organization had known about the report when it was delivered to DCF, Meissen said, it would have made a big difference.

The investigation by Chris McHugh, an attorney in Kansas City, Kansas, discovered Smith made $469,000 in charges to credit cards from 2018 to 2020, rarely providing a receipt. The organization hasn’t determined how much of those charges were for legitimate business expenses, but it is clear that many of the charges violated the organization’s policy signed by Smith prohibiting the use of cards for personal items.

Smith spent $107,000 on hotels, including charges at the University Club of Chicago that ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 for each of 11 trips between January 2018 and March 2020. One of the trips included a $705 charge for Bill Whymark, whose company took over IT services for Saint Francis.

McHugh found charges totaling $60,000 for meals, $47,000 for airline tickets, an additional $14,000 for airline fees and upgrades, $36,000 for entertainment, and $45,000 for expenses at the Salina Country Club, where a membership was included with Smith’s $200,000 salary. There were $20,000 in charges for retail purchases, another $20,000 for Amazon.com purchases, $13,000 for cash withdrawals and advances, plus $4,862.85 for purchases made through Apple iTunes. Smith also spent $3,170 at Morris and Sons, a men’s clothing store that was featured in the luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report in 2019.

There were $20,000 in charitable gifts, and nearly $4,000 sent to a friend who requested the money for a trip to the Holy Land. Smith then decided he would participate in the trip and used his Saint Francis credit card to pay the travel company more than $10,000 in February 2020.

Smith explained to a staff accountant that the events and trips he charged to the credit cards were “good PR” for Saint Francis because he was attempting to develop relationships with members of the Kennedy family in Chicago in hopes of using their connections in government for future projects.

“We’re a nonprofit, and our job is to take care of children and families,” said William Clark, now the interim CEO at Saint Francis. “The funds that we receive from the states are designed to be used for that, so we need to operate within that framework.”

Smith explained to his board of directors that Saint Francis would recoup its investment in Whymark’s company because the software he&nbsp;produced eventually could be deployed for a profit in other states.

“When that was presented to us, that seemed pretty reasonable,” Meissen said. “The board never understood that it was going to be that much money.”

Saint Francis paid $11 million to Whymark for an IT system that crashed in the fall of 2019, and the loss of financial records complicated attempts to review spending. According to the investigative report, Whymark told the recovery team he wiped the hard drives on the crashed server so they could be reused.

Whymark operates&nbsp;<a href="http://wmkresearch.com/index.php">WMK Research</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://sfwtechnology.com/index.php">SFW Technologies</a>, both registered to an address in Mount Kisco, New York.

The websites for both companies are identical except for the business name and are filled with sections touting sophisticated-sounding IT jargon — predictive analytics, enterprise cloud, a proprietary data ingestion framework. One section touts the science of “machine learning,” or getting computers to learn and act like humans do “by feeding them data and information in the form of observations and real-world interactions.”

Smith hired an outside agency to provide financial oversight following the retirement of a chief financial officer in 2018. As part of the investigation into Smith’s mismanagement, one of the agency’s accountants said the minimal value and cost of Whymark’s services caused him to question “whether the circumstances rose to the level of embezzlement.”

By reviewing email timestamps, the investigator determined Smith took a few minutes or less to review invoices sent by Whymark. The invoices reflected “an improbable amount of time billed,” the investigator found. In May 2018, for instance, Whymark billed an amount that suggests he worked 10.4 hours per day for 22 days on the Saint Francis contract, while also carrying out other duties as CEO of his company.

The unnamed accountant from the outside agency registered other concerns. He nicknamed Blythe, the COO, “Chicken Little” for his refusal to stand up to Smith. Leadership at Saint Francis was “spending like they were printing money in the back,” the accountant said.

He told the investigator he was disturbed when a project manager in El Salvador asked for a Visa card so he could use cash advances to bribe government officials. The investigator determined Saint Francis sent two Visa cards to El Salvador, but they were used almost entirely for small purchases of fast food and lodging.

Smith’s wife, Angela, led the Holistic, Organic, Prosperous El Salvador operation, known as HOPES. The idea was to harvest a “miracle” food from the moringa tree, whose leaves provide vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium and potassium.

As with the software, Smith justified the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in El Salvador on the premise the operations there would someday make a profit. Dollars from the sale of the miracle food were supposed to pay for Saint Francis programs serving vulnerable single mothers.

Smith’s wife, according to the investigative report, told the accountant to change financial forecasts for the operation to show a profit in the third year.

“That was an attractive concept where there was misinformation or lack of understanding,” Meissen said. “We thought that this would actually break even in two or three years and possibly make some money. We didn’t see it as a big money losing thing.”

Smith and Blythe knew their proposed agreement to provide foster care services in the Omaha, Nebraska, region would be a money loser.

Smith’s response: “God will provide.”

The unexpected decision last year by Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services to move the state’s only privatized foster care contract from PromiseShip to Saint Francis prompted immediate and ongoing criticism from Nebraska lawmakers. Saint Francis provided a bid of $197 million for the five-year deal, undercutting the $341 million offer from PromiseShip.

The actual cost of services threatened the financial stability of Saint Francis, which has failed to meet its obligations to children in Nebraska. Saint Francis lost $7.4 million on the Nebraska deal in the first six months of 2020. Projections for the current fiscal year indicate a $27 million loss.

Clark said Nebraska officials have “agreed to cover” the projected losses moving forward and to reimburse Saint Francis for earlier losses.

“We have worked with the state of Nebraska on how we move forward with that because obviously that would be a large cash drain on the organization,” Clark said.

Nebraska state Sen. Sara Howard, a Democrat who represents an Omaha district and served as chairwoman on a foster care oversight panel, said everyone outside of HHS and Saint Francis knew the bid was too low to be realistic.

“People knew that they were walking into a situation where it was either going to be an enormous loss to Saint Francis, or we were going to see them take on the contract and then either ask for more money or eventually get out,” Howard said.

Smith didn’t reveal to the board the real costs of the Nebraska contract, removing information about the projected losses from PowerPoint slides that were prepared for a board meeting in September of this year.

“I had no idea of the severity,” Meissen said. “We knew there were things to work through, but we had no idea, and when I read that part, that was really troubling that information was withheld from us.”

The reckoning that followed Winchell’s disclosure of financial problems has placed Saint Francis in position to be cash neutral by July 2021, Clark said.

That includes divesting from Whymark’s company and the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/03/facing-financial-strain-saint-francis-ministries-shuts-down-services-for-refugees/">elimination of international programs</a>.

“There has been a significant challenge, as you know about, but there’s been even more significant effort to stabilize the organization, move it forward, be truthful and transparent with partners, and we think we’ve done that,” Clark said.

That includes the creation of a new compliance office at Saint Francis designed to handle concerns about misconduct. Those concerns will go directly to the CEO or, if they involve the CEO, directly to the board. Meissen said the board is looking to implement its own accountability measures to prevent another financial scandal.

GuideStar, which gathers documentation about nonprofits, shows the Saint Francis board of directors did not provide a written assessment of Smith or require senior staff to review conflict of interest policies.

The nonprofit’s&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/sfm2018.pdf">most recent 990 tax filing</a>, which reflects the 12-month period that ended in the middle of 2018, shows Smith’s total compensation exceeded $323,000. Blythe received $197,000 in total compensation.

Before he was hired at Saint Francis in 2014, Smith worked as a vice president for the Illinois Valley Community Hospital, where he oversaw an annual operations budget of $125 million. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012.

Rebecca Wilson, partner at a PR firm that handles inquiries for the Diocese of Chicago, said the bishop there was unaware of allegations of financial misconduct against Smith. She said such matters are handled under a disciplinary process outlined in canons of the Episcopal Church.

Among unsettled business with Smith and Blythe are loans they received from Saint Francis to buy their homes in Salina. Smith received $59,000, and Blythe received $50,000. Clark said those loans have not been paid back and are still owed to Saint Francis.

Clark said any decision to bring criminal charges against Smith would be outside of his purview.

“The state has to make those type of decisions,” he said.

Meissen said the organization would cooperate with an investigation by authorities.

“We would be thrilled if we could figure out a way to recoup some of those dollars,” Meissen said.

The above story is reprinted with permission from <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>.

Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608474342040.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy Kansas Reflector" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Kansas Reflector</figcaption>
 </figure>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>SALINA — As the CEO of Saint Francis Ministries, Robert Smith used company credit cards for lavish hotel stays, first class upgrades on airlines, clothing, cash withdrawals, iTunes purchases and meals at five-star restaurants while hiding increasingly dire financial problems from his board of directors.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608474220984.jpeg" alt="Saint Francis Ministries hired Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, as president and CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012. (Saint Francis Ministries)" />
 <figcaption>Saint Francis Ministries hired Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, as president and CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012. (Saint Francis Ministries)</figcaption>
 </figure>Documents from a Saint Francis investigation show Smith invested $11 million in a friend’s business for software that crashed and destroyed the organization’s financial records. Saint Francis spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a program led by Smith’s wife to harvest a “miracle” food in El Salvador, where staff asked for and received Visa credit cards for the purpose of getting cash to bribe local officials. Smith repeatedly was warned about the financial perils of entering a contract to provide services in Nebraska, where Saint Francis is projected to lose $27 million in the current fiscal year, before Smith signed the deal.The Salina-based foster care provider, which employs 1,600 people and serves 10,000 children and families, neared a breaking point in February after Intrust Bank refused to expand a $10 million line of credit.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/09/foster-care-providers-turned-to-ppp-loans-as-pandemic-intensified-family-stress/">A $10 million loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program</a>&nbsp;allowed for daily operations to continue.The Saint Francis board of directors commissioned an investigation into Smith after learning from a newly hired chief financial officer in October about financial misconduct dating to 2018. The investigative report, obtained by Kansas Reflector, substantiated the CFO’s allegations&nbsp;of mismanagement, improper spending and a failure by Smith to report the organization’s true financial position to the board.The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/19/foster-care-provider-removes-top-leaders-after-investigation-into-mismanagement/">organization severed ties</a>&nbsp;with Smith, general counsel David Schafer and chief operating officer Tom Blythe at the conclusion of the investigation in November. New leadership has charted a course to stabilize finances within the next six months, including&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/15/kansas-based-foster-care-providers-financial-turmoil-cubs-tickets-amplify-concerns-in-nebraska/">a new deal with Nebraska officials</a>&nbsp;to cover losses for services there.Details of Smith’s spending stunned colleagues who knew the Episcopal priest as Father Bobby.“I ask a lot of questions, but I was always assured that things were OK,” said Greg Meissen, chairman of the board at Saint Francis. “In hindsight, I can chain together things, but I trusted Father Bobby, and that’s all. It was pretty shocking.”Smith didn’t respond to attempts by Kansas Reflector to reach him for comment.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608473411780.jpeg" alt="Greg Meissen, chairman of the Saint Francis Ministries board of directors, said he trusted Father Bobby, as former CEO Robert Smith was known to his colleagues. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Greg Meissen, chairman of the Saint Francis Ministries board of directors, said he trusted Father Bobby, as former CEO Robert Smith was known to his colleagues. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘An absolute stunner’</h2>Lora Winchell immediately noticed financial irregularities after she was hired as chief financial officer in September.Fearing no one would listen to her concerns, Winchell arranged a meeting with a board member in Kansas City to reveal her findings under the pretense of a non-substantial meet-and-greet. Instead, she presented her report on the severity of financial problems at Saint Francis.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608473644483.jpeg" alt="Lora Winchell was hired as chief financial officer in September. She delivered a whistleblower report to a board member the following month. (Saint Francis Ministries)" />
 <figcaption>Lora Winchell was hired as chief financial officer in September. She delivered a whistleblower report to a board member the following month. (Saint Francis Ministries)</figcaption>
 </figure>“I joined Saint Francis because of my belief in the organization’s mission,” Winchell said in a statement for this story. “That work must be supported by strong financial accountability that adheres to all ethical accounting principles. I could only, in good conscience, report the inconsistencies I was seeing.”The board took immediate action to suspend leadership and hire an attorney to investigate Winchell’s findings.At the time, the board had no idea that&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/04/kansas-agency-serving-3100-foster-children-accused-of-rampant-financial-mismanagement/">a different whistleblower</a>&nbsp;had raised concerns about Smith’s financial dealings in a November 2019 report to the Kansas Department for Children and Families.Mike Deines, a spokesman for DCF, said the agency’s standard operating procedure is to work directly with executive leadership. DCF in January hired a Topeka accounting firm to audit finances at Saint Francis, but Smith didn’t disclose the audit to the board.“Typically in those kind of cases somebody on the board might get a call,” Meissen said. “We never got a call from them. I’m not criticizing their work, but it was an absolute stunner.”If the organization had known about the report when it was delivered to DCF, Meissen said, it would have made a big difference.The investigation by Chris McHugh, an attorney in Kansas City, Kansas, discovered Smith made $469,000 in charges to credit cards from 2018 to 2020, rarely providing a receipt. The organization hasn’t determined how much of those charges were for legitimate business expenses, but it is clear that many of the charges violated the organization’s policy signed by Smith prohibiting the use of cards for personal items.Smith spent $107,000 on hotels, including charges at the University Club of Chicago that ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 for each of 11 trips between January 2018 and March 2020. One of the trips included a $705 charge for Bill Whymark, whose company took over IT services for Saint Francis.McHugh found charges totaling $60,000 for meals, $47,000 for airline tickets, an additional $14,000 for airline fees and upgrades, $36,000 for entertainment, and $45,000 for expenses at the Salina Country Club, where a membership was included with Smith’s $200,000 salary. There were $20,000 in charges for retail purchases, another $20,000 for Amazon.com purchases, $13,000 for cash withdrawals and advances, plus $4,862.85 for purchases made through Apple iTunes. Smith also spent $3,170 at Morris and Sons, a men’s clothing store that was featured in the luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report in 2019.There were $20,000 in charitable gifts, and nearly $4,000 sent to a friend who requested the money for a trip to the Holy Land. Smith then decided he would participate in the trip and used his Saint Francis credit card to pay the travel company more than $10,000 in February 2020.Smith explained to a staff accountant that the events and trips he charged to the credit cards were “good PR” for Saint Francis because he was attempting to develop relationships with members of the Kennedy family in Chicago in hopes of using their connections in government for future projects.The strategy didn’t work.“We’re a nonprofit, and our job is to take care of children and families,” said William Clark, now the interim CEO at Saint Francis. “The funds that we receive from the states are designed to be used for that, so we need to operate within that framework.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608473792899.jpeg" alt="William Clark, interim CEO at Saint Francis Ministries, says substantial progress has been made in the past two months to restore the organization’s financial footing. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>William Clark, interim CEO at Saint Francis Ministries, says substantial progress has been made in the past two months to restore the organization’s financial footing. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘Level of embezzlement’</h2>Smith explained to his board of directors that Saint Francis would recoup its investment in Whymark’s company because the software he&nbsp;produced eventually could be deployed for a profit in other states.“When that was presented to us, that seemed pretty reasonable,” Meissen said. “The board never understood that it was going to be that much money.”Saint Francis paid $11 million to Whymark for an IT system that crashed in the fall of 2019, and the loss of financial records complicated attempts to review spending. According to the investigative report, Whymark told the recovery team he wiped the hard drives on the crashed server so they could be reused.Whymark operates&nbsp;<a href="http://wmkresearch.com/index.php">WMK Research</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://sfwtechnology.com/index.php">SFW Technologies</a>, both registered to an address in Mount Kisco, New York.The websites for both companies are identical except for the business name and are filled with sections touting sophisticated-sounding IT jargon — predictive analytics, enterprise cloud, a proprietary data ingestion framework. One section touts the science of “machine learning,” or getting computers to learn and act like humans do “by feeding them data and information in the form of observations and real-world interactions.”Smith hired an outside agency to provide financial oversight following the retirement of a chief financial officer in 2018. As part of the investigation into Smith’s mismanagement, one of the agency’s accountants said the minimal value and cost of Whymark’s services caused him to question “whether the circumstances rose to the level of embezzlement.”By reviewing email timestamps, the investigator determined Smith took a few minutes or less to review invoices sent by Whymark. The invoices reflected “an improbable amount of time billed,” the investigator found. In May 2018, for instance, Whymark billed an amount that suggests he worked 10.4 hours per day for 22 days on the Saint Francis contract, while also carrying out other duties as CEO of his company.The unnamed accountant from the outside agency registered other concerns. He nicknamed Blythe, the COO, “Chicken Little” for his refusal to stand up to Smith. Leadership at Saint Francis was “spending like they were printing money in the back,” the accountant said.He told the investigator he was disturbed when a project manager in El Salvador asked for a Visa card so he could use cash advances to bribe government officials. The investigator determined Saint Francis sent two Visa cards to El Salvador, but they were used almost entirely for small purchases of fast food and lodging.Smith’s wife, Angela, led the Holistic, Organic, Prosperous El Salvador operation, known as HOPES. The idea was to harvest a “miracle” food from the moringa tree, whose leaves provide vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium and potassium.As with the software, Smith justified the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in El Salvador on the premise the operations there would someday make a profit. Dollars from the sale of the miracle food were supposed to pay for Saint Francis programs serving vulnerable single mothers.Smith’s wife, according to the investigative report, told the accountant to change financial forecasts for the operation to show a profit in the third year.“That was an attractive concept where there was misinformation or lack of understanding,” Meissen said. “We thought that this would actually break even in two or three years and possibly make some money. We didn’t see it as a big money losing thing.”<h2>‘God will provide’</h2>Smith and Blythe knew their proposed agreement to provide foster care services in the Omaha, Nebraska, region would be a money loser.Smith’s response: “God will provide.”The unexpected decision last year by Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services to move the state’s only privatized foster care contract from PromiseShip to Saint Francis prompted immediate and ongoing criticism from Nebraska lawmakers. Saint Francis provided a bid of $197 million for the five-year deal, undercutting the $341 million offer from PromiseShip.The actual cost of services threatened the financial stability of Saint Francis, which has failed to meet its obligations to children in Nebraska. Saint Francis lost $7.4 million on the Nebraska deal in the first six months of 2020. Projections for the current fiscal year indicate a $27 million loss.Clark said Nebraska officials have “agreed to cover” the projected losses moving forward and to reimburse Saint Francis for earlier losses.“We have worked with the state of Nebraska on how we move forward with that because obviously that would be a large cash drain on the organization,” Clark said.Nebraska state Sen. Sara Howard, a Democrat who represents an Omaha district and served as chairwoman on a foster care oversight panel, said everyone outside of HHS and Saint Francis knew the bid was too low to be realistic.“People knew that they were walking into a situation where it was either going to be an enormous loss to Saint Francis, or we were going to see them take on the contract and then either ask for more money or eventually get out,” Howard said.Smith didn’t reveal to the board the real costs of the Nebraska contract, removing information about the projected losses from PowerPoint slides that were prepared for a board meeting in September of this year.“I had no idea of the severity,” Meissen said. “We knew there were things to work through, but we had no idea, and when I read that part, that was really troubling that information was withheld from us.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608473962973.jpeg" alt="Current leadership at Saint Francis Ministries says the dedication of employees to providing services for foster children and families has never wavered. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Current leadership at Saint Francis Ministries says the dedication of employees to providing services for foster children and families has never wavered. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘A significant challenge’</h2>The reckoning that followed Winchell’s disclosure of financial problems has placed Saint Francis in position to be cash neutral by July 2021, Clark said.That includes divesting from Whymark’s company and the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/03/facing-financial-strain-saint-francis-ministries-shuts-down-services-for-refugees/">elimination of international programs</a>.“There has been a significant challenge, as you know about, but there’s been even more significant effort to stabilize the organization, move it forward, be truthful and transparent with partners, and we think we’ve done that,” Clark said.That includes the creation of a new compliance office at Saint Francis designed to handle concerns about misconduct. Those concerns will go directly to the CEO or, if they involve the CEO, directly to the board. Meissen said the board is looking to implement its own accountability measures to prevent another financial scandal.GuideStar, which gathers documentation about nonprofits, shows the Saint Francis board of directors did not provide a written assessment of Smith or require senior staff to review conflict of interest policies.The nonprofit’s&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/sfm2018.pdf">most recent 990 tax filing</a>, which reflects the 12-month period that ended in the middle of 2018, shows Smith’s total compensation exceeded $323,000. Blythe received $197,000 in total compensation.Before he was hired at Saint Francis in 2014, Smith worked as a vice president for the Illinois Valley Community Hospital, where he oversaw an annual operations budget of $125 million. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012.Rebecca Wilson, partner at a PR firm that handles inquiries for the Diocese of Chicago, said the bishop there was unaware of allegations of financial misconduct against Smith. She said such matters are handled under a disciplinary process outlined in canons of the Episcopal Church.Among unsettled business with Smith and Blythe are loans they received from Saint Francis to buy their homes in Salina. Smith received $59,000, and Blythe received $50,000. Clark said those loans have not been paid back and are still owed to Saint Francis.Clark said any decision to bring criminal charges against Smith would be outside of his purview.“The state has to make those type of decisions,” he said.Meissen said the organization would cooperate with an investigation by authorities.“We would be thrilled if we could figure out a way to recoup some of those dollars,” Meissen said.The above story is reprinted with permission from <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse.

Saint Francis leader charged $469K to credit cards, hid financial losses

By PEGGY LOWE <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-12-17/hard-working-fierce-mother-of-nine-from-kansas-city-kansas-didnt-play">Kansas News Service</a>

Iola Mae Herviey loved her nine children with such a fierce protectiveness her kids felt sorry for anyone who got in their way.

Herviey
 was strict, determined to make them into good kids. Her youngest, 
Darryll Fortune, had heard all the stories, of course. But something 
dawned on him about three-quarters into the April funeral for “Moma,” as
 he and 20 others watched her Zoom service from their respective homes, 
spread around the country.

“Wait a minute! Why is everybody 
talking about my Moma whooping ass?” he said. “I mean, everybody talked 
about her spanking and cussing folks out and it's like, wait! And we 
just all bust up laughing.”

“They said, ‘Well, your Moma didn't play.”

Iola
 Mae (Robinson) Herviey graduated from high school during World War II 
and raised nine children in Kansas City, Kansas, on her wages as a 
domestic worker. A life-long Christian, she buried four sons, three 
husbands and two siblings. She smoked unfiltered Pall Malls for years, 
telling her kids to eat their greens and drink water and they’d be fine.
 She never even had a surgery until she was in her mid-80s.

“It took corona to take her out,” Fortune said.

Herviey
 died April 5 at Providence Medical Center after contracting the 
coronavirus at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation, the Kansas City, 
Kansas, facility where 36 others died, the most of any nursing home in 
the state. She was 93 years old.

Like many in Kansas City, 
Kansas, Herviey was part of a family who had moved north from Arkansas 
during the Great Migration, the decades after Reconstruction when 
millions were lured away from racist Southern life in hopes of good jobs
 in northern cities. She was born in 1926 and grew up in a proud 
African-American community, attending Sumner High School, the 
then-segregated all-Black school, Class of 1944.

Visiting his 
mother at Riverbend, Fortune said he would walk down the halls and see 
nameplates on the doors of folks he remembered as a superintendent or a 
teacher at a school, local business people, names that stood for 
something in a town everyone called KCK.

There “was a whole community there of people who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas,” Fortune said. “And
 because they were… didn't have great economics or, poor, I'll put it 
that way, Riverbend and other similar places was their only option.”

Herviey
 was such a hard-worker her son would fight anyone who said otherwise. 
Her first job as a teenager was at the Monarch Egg Plant. She spent the 
next decades as a “day keeper,” Fortune said, cleaning house and raising
 children for two prominent families, including the Cosentino’s, who own
 grocery store chains in Kansas City.

At her service, the Saturday
 before Easter Sunday, as Herviey lay in a casket of her favorite pink 
color, her children remembered the woman they called Moma. She was 
old-school: tough and tender, strict and selfless – all from a 
three-bedroom home in the projects.

“I watched this lady raise 
nine kids – eight boys, one girl -- on the income she had getting paid 
daily. Not weekly, not bi-weekly, not monthly. Daily. Scrubbing people’s
 toilets,” said her son, Rene Andre Fortune.

“I had no idea what 
domestic work was until I was almost grown. When I found out what she 
was doing, it humbled me so much as a person to find out what my mother 
was doing to put clothes on our backs, to put food on the table. To 
provide the right thing and the right way.”

When the kids were done with their chores around the house, Moma had 
to inspect the job before they were allowed to go out and play. But 
weekends? Weekends were great at Moma’s house, with Friday night 
starting out with a dinner of fish, white bread and spaghetti. Then 
friends and family came over to play cards, drink Hamm’s beer and dance 
to Motown records. On Saturday morning, the treat was donuts from the 
Cake Box Bakery, and Sunday was always church.

Herviey
 was a great cook with an infectious laugh, said the Rev. Ronald King, 
Herviey’s nephew and pastor of Mason Memorial Methodist Church in Kansas
 City, Kansas. She was friendly, he said, but didn’t mind telling anyone
 if they were wrong, they were wrong.

“She also had a profound 
belief in karma, or whatever it is the world deals you back when you 
don’t do what you’re supposed to do and you don’t listen to the wisdom 
of the ages,” King said.

“I remember once she told (sons) Reggie 
and Jerry not to do something,” King said. “And then they thought they 
was grown and they went ahead and started to do it anyway and Auntie 
looked at me and said, ‘You see, Ronnie, that boy don’t believe fat 
meat’s greasy.”

Another son, Ricky Herviey, remembered one of his 
mother’s friends bugging him at their home when he was about 
15-years-old. She sent her son out of the house, but Ricky Herviey 
listened from outside.

“I could hear her going off on the lady and
 it wasn’t pretty,” he said. "Mom was very nice in her own way, but when
 you start messing with her kids, it was a whole different ball game.”

After
 her kids were raised and she retired, Herviey loved to travel, visiting
 family in California and taking the occasional cruise. When she wanted 
to work again, she got a volunteer job at Grant Elementary School as a 
grandparent helper, but her discipline was too strong for the school 
district, Darryll Fortune said.

“She wouldn't say she got fired, 
but she got fired,” Fortune said with a laugh. “She was telling the 
kids, ‘Hey boy, get over here. You can't do that now, sit your ass 
down.’ (Administrators said,) ‘Miss Fortune, you can't talk to the kids 
that way.’ And she said, ‘What? That's the problem. Now the parents just
 let them run around here.’”

She also scoffed at the term “single mother.”

“Her
 thing was, ‘What the hell does that mean?” Fortune said. “’You're a 
mom, you know, whether there there's a man in your life or not, and once
 your baby comes out of you, you're a mom.’”

Darryll Fortune said 
he often asked his Moma why her family moved up from Arkansas, and she 
would say, “Oh, hell, boy. Why are you even asking me about that?” She 
simply said that her family wanted a better life, he said.

Which is what she wanted for her kids, too.

“She'd
 say, you know, I only had a high school education, but you all should 
do better. Go to the military or go to college, but do better than I 
did,” Fortune recalled.

Her kids wondered why Moma didn’t want a better house or cars or a 401K, but she told them she was happy.

“Her response is: I got my kids. I got my health,” Fortune said. “I got my family.”

Iola
 Mae Herviey left behind a large family. In addition to her nine 
children and two nephews, she has dozens of grandchildren, great 
grandchildren and several great-great grandchildren.

Peggy Lowe is a veteran investigative reporter based at KCUR, NPR’s member station in Kansas City. She also serves as a correspondent for Marketplace, public media’s national business show.&nbsp;Kansas News Service's Celia Llopis-Jepsen contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608309355018.png" alt="Iola Mae Herviey poses with the youngest of her children, Darryll Fortune, believed to be five-years-old in this photograph. Courtesy image" />
 <figcaption>Iola Mae Herviey poses with the youngest of her children, Darryll Fortune, believed to be five-years-old in this photograph. Courtesy image</figcaption>
 </figure>By PEGGY LOWE <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-12-17/hard-working-fierce-mother-of-nine-from-kansas-city-kansas-didnt-play">Kansas News Service</a>Iola Mae Herviey loved her nine children with such a fierce protectiveness her kids felt sorry for anyone who got in their way.Herviey
 was strict, determined to make them into good kids. Her youngest, 
Darryll Fortune, had heard all the stories, of course. But something 
dawned on him about three-quarters into the April funeral for “Moma,” as
 he and 20 others watched her Zoom service from their respective homes, 
spread around the country.“Wait a minute! Why is everybody 
talking about my Moma whooping ass?” he said. “I mean, everybody talked 
about her spanking and cussing folks out and it's like, wait! And we 
just all bust up laughing.”“They said, ‘Well, your Moma didn't play.”Iola
 Mae (Robinson) Herviey graduated from high school during World War II 
and raised nine children in Kansas City, Kansas, on her wages as a 
domestic worker. A life-long Christian, she buried four sons, three 
husbands and two siblings. She smoked unfiltered Pall Malls for years, 
telling her kids to eat their greens and drink water and they’d be fine.
 She never even had a surgery until she was in her mid-80s.“It took corona to take her out,” Fortune said.Herviey
 died April 5 at Providence Medical Center after contracting the 
coronavirus at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation, the Kansas City, 
Kansas, facility where 36 others died, the most of any nursing home in 
the state. She was 93 years old.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608309448376.png" alt="Iola Mae Herviey's casket rests beneath a monitor prior to her funeral, which was conducted via Zoom." />
 <figcaption>Iola Mae Herviey's casket rests beneath a monitor prior to her funeral, which was conducted via Zoom.</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Part of the Great Migration</h2>Like many in Kansas City, 
Kansas, Herviey was part of a family who had moved north from Arkansas 
during the Great Migration, the decades after Reconstruction when 
millions were lured away from racist Southern life in hopes of good jobs
 in northern cities. She was born in 1926 and grew up in a proud 
African-American community, attending Sumner High School, the 
then-segregated all-Black school, Class of 1944.Visiting his 
mother at Riverbend, Fortune said he would walk down the halls and see 
nameplates on the doors of folks he remembered as a superintendent or a 
teacher at a school, local business people, names that stood for 
something in a town everyone called KCK.There “was a whole community there of people who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas,” Fortune said. “And
 because they were… didn't have great economics or, poor, I'll put it 
that way, Riverbend and other similar places was their only option.”<h2>Hard-working, on a daily wage</h2>Herviey
 was such a hard-worker her son would fight anyone who said otherwise. 
Her first job as a teenager was at the Monarch Egg Plant. She spent the 
next decades as a “day keeper,” Fortune said, cleaning house and raising
 children for two prominent families, including the Cosentino’s, who own
 grocery store chains in Kansas City.At her service, the Saturday
 before Easter Sunday, as Herviey lay in a casket of her favorite pink 
color, her children remembered the woman they called Moma. She was 
old-school: tough and tender, strict and selfless – all from a 
three-bedroom home in the projects.“I watched this lady raise 
nine kids – eight boys, one girl -- on the income she had getting paid 
daily. Not weekly, not bi-weekly, not monthly. Daily. Scrubbing people’s
 toilets,” said her son, Rene Andre Fortune.“I had no idea what 
domestic work was until I was almost grown. When I found out what she 
was doing, it humbled me so much as a person to find out what my mother 
was doing to put clothes on our backs, to put food on the table. To 
provide the right thing and the right way.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608309480003.png" alt="Kansas City, Kansas native Iola Mae Herviey poses in 2010 with her sons, Donald, Jerry, Darryll and Rene. In all, Herviey had nine children, eight boys and one girl." />
 <figcaption>Kansas City, Kansas native Iola Mae Herviey poses in 2010 with her sons, Donald, Jerry, Darryll and Rene. In all, Herviey had nine children, eight boys and one girl.</figcaption>
 </figure>When the kids were done with their chores around the house, Moma had 
to inspect the job before they were allowed to go out and play. But 
weekends? Weekends were great at Moma’s house, with Friday night 
starting out with a dinner of fish, white bread and spaghetti. Then 
friends and family came over to play cards, drink Hamm’s beer and dance 
to Motown records. On Saturday morning, the treat was donuts from the 
Cake Box Bakery, and Sunday was always church.<h2>If you were wrong, she told you so</h2>Herviey
 was a great cook with an infectious laugh, said the Rev. Ronald King, 
Herviey’s nephew and pastor of Mason Memorial Methodist Church in Kansas
 City, Kansas. She was friendly, he said, but didn’t mind telling anyone
 if they were wrong, they were wrong.“She also had a profound 
belief in karma, or whatever it is the world deals you back when you 
don’t do what you’re supposed to do and you don’t listen to the wisdom 
of the ages,” King said.“I remember once she told (sons) Reggie 
and Jerry not to do something,” King said. “And then they thought they 
was grown and they went ahead and started to do it anyway and Auntie 
looked at me and said, ‘You see, Ronnie, that boy don’t believe fat 
meat’s greasy.”Another son, Ricky Herviey, remembered one of his 
mother’s friends bugging him at their home when he was about 
15-years-old. She sent her son out of the house, but Ricky Herviey 
listened from outside.“I could hear her going off on the lady and
 it wasn’t pretty,” he said. "Mom was very nice in her own way, but when
 you start messing with her kids, it was a whole different ball game.”<h2>Don’t call her a single mom</h2>After
 her kids were raised and she retired, Herviey loved to travel, visiting
 family in California and taking the occasional cruise. When she wanted 
to work again, she got a volunteer job at Grant Elementary School as a 
grandparent helper, but her discipline was too strong for the school 
district, Darryll Fortune said.“She wouldn't say she got fired, 
but she got fired,” Fortune said with a laugh. “She was telling the 
kids, ‘Hey boy, get over here. You can't do that now, sit your ass 
down.’ (Administrators said,) ‘Miss Fortune, you can't talk to the kids 
that way.’ And she said, ‘What? That's the problem. Now the parents just
 let them run around here.’”She also scoffed at the term “single mother.”“Her
 thing was, ‘What the hell does that mean?” Fortune said. “’You're a 
mom, you know, whether there there's a man in your life or not, and once
 your baby comes out of you, you're a mom.’”Darryll Fortune said 
he often asked his Moma why her family moved up from Arkansas, and she 
would say, “Oh, hell, boy. Why are you even asking me about that?” She 
simply said that her family wanted a better life, he said.Which is what she wanted for her kids, too.“She'd
 say, you know, I only had a high school education, but you all should 
do better. Go to the military or go to college, but do better than I 
did,” Fortune recalled.Her kids wondered why Moma didn’t want a better house or cars or a 401K, but she told them she was happy.“Her response is: I got my kids. I got my health,” Fortune said. “I got my family.”Iola
 Mae Herviey left behind a large family. In addition to her nine 
children and two nephews, she has dozens of grandchildren, great 
grandchildren and several great-great grandchildren.Peggy Lowe is a veteran investigative reporter based at KCUR, NPR’s member station in Kansas City. She also serves as a correspondent for Marketplace, public media’s national business show.&nbsp;Kansas News Service's Celia Llopis-Jepsen contributed to this report.