Steve Wehmeier (62) Passes Away

Steven Wehmeier, 71, passed away into Jesus’s arms at sunrise at his home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Sunday, November 1, 2015 after a long illness. He struggled with cancer since surgery in early 2013. 

Born April 24, 1944 in Waterville, Kansas, Steven was the youngest child of George E. Sr. and Thelma (Keefover) Wehmeier. He graduated from Rossville KS High School in 1962 where he lettered in football and basketball and was known for being fun and mischievous. Steve attended Fort Hays State University before joining the Navy where he served honorably for four years. During the Vietnam War, he attained the rank of ETR2. He served aboard the APA 213 USS Montrail and had foreign and sea service for almost 3 years. He was very proud of his service to his country, receiving the National Defense Service Medal, and was a member of the American Legion. Steve was also partially disabled in the line of duty during his service in the Navy. He later attended Washburn University and graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He was married to Nancy (Kramer) Wehmeier, the love of his life for 27 years. His career included many years as a printing industry representative, a personnel manager, and then as a safety manager in the construction industry. 

Steven loved Colorado and the outdoors, camping, fishing, hunting with family and friends, and his dogs.  For their first Valentine’s Day together, he gave Nancy a fishing pole and tackle box. 

Steve is survived by his wife Nancy; sister Donna Krische; mother-in-law Shirley Kramer; brothers-in-law Steve Kramer and John McGrath; nephews Dan (Jeanne) Krische, Bob (Debbie) Krische, Tom Krische, Craig (Darlene) Wehmeier, Brent (Charlene) Wehmeier, Terry (Trish) Kenny, Greg McGrath (Anne), Steve McGrath (Tracy); nieces Susan (Dan) Fogo, Cynthia Kenny, Jennifer (Phil) Vlositi, Andrea (Jeff) Donen, Meeka Kramer; Godchild Elienor, who shares his birthday; and his best friends Ernie Kutzley and Don Abitz. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers George Jr. and Larry; sisters Marjorie Kenney and Linda McGrath; nieces Linda Heiman (George) and Nancy Krische; nephew Joe Wehmeier; and father-in-law Jack Kramer; sister-in-law Kim Kramer; and aunt Carol Chappel.

Matt Buhler Coaching In Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii (WIBW) - It's more than 3800 miles from Rossville, Kansas to a basketball career in Honolulu. But for Matt Buhler, it's the first step on the journey to a career in coaching.

"I figured let's make a change and do something out of the ordinary," Buhler says of his decision to move so far from home.

With a couple years coaching junior varsity basketball at Washburn Rural under his belt, Buhler sent some resumes and ended up as a graduate assistant at Hawaii Pacific University, where the head coach is actually a Wichita native.

"(The Hawaiians) give you Midwestern feel. The aloha spirit welcomed me with open arms," he said.

The son of Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler and Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler, Matt is working on a graduate degree in military studies and diplomacy, while also using the skills that made him a standout in football and baseball, along with basketball. Buhler says he loved playing in a small town with his friends and for his father.

"I think by playing three sports, I've taken something from each and put it into how I coach, how I teach kids, explain things to kids," Buhler said. "You have to be well rounded."

That applies to athletics as well as life. Matt says he enjoying Hawaiian culture, especially the food, even though he still isn't accustomed to being served rice at most every meal. And while he enjoys spending time at the beaches, he has yet to try surfing.

As HPU prepares to travel to exhibitions Saturday at Wichita State and Monday at UMKC, Buhler is imparting a bit of insider knowledge.

"They have to pack heavier clothes!" he laughed.

On a more serious note, he says he simply encourages the players to compete and not let themselves be judged. Just as people might consider him a farm kid from Kansas, he says the HPU players shouldn't be looked at as just a bunch of surfers. On the court, he says, it doesn't matter where you're from.

While the team will be going to his home state, Buhler, unfortunately, will not. While he'd love to back and see family, he says his job and his duties are in Honolulu, where he'll be working with the players not making the trip, helping them get better. After all, he says, that he signed up to do.

New Dawgfeed

    Here is the latest Dawgfeed video on line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wwCZlhlov0&feature=em-subs_digest-g

Vic Miller (69) Leaves Topeka Court

From the Capital-Journal

justin.wingerter@cjonline.com

Vic Miller has spent nearly four decades in government at three levels — city, county and state — in Topeka. By the mid-2000s, he was arguably the county’s most dominant political figure. Through it all, he was known for harboring a quick wit and sharp tongue.

But on Wednesday, as he was asked about his imminent retirement and future plans, Miller was quiet.

“I’m not going into that yet. I’m exploring a number of options and considering a number of options,” said Miller, administrative judge of Topeka Municipal Court.

Miller, 63, refused to rule out any future professions, including elected office. He was certain of just one detail: He would no longer hold the same position he currently holds after Dec. 18.

“I just know that I have a limited amount of time on this Earth and there are other things I would like to do,” Miller said. “I’ve done this long enough and had a good time doing it. It’s time to move on.”

He will leave Topeka Municipal Court months after an audit of the court was conducted by North Carolina-based law firm Thomas and Means. The city, which paid the firm $10,000, received a draft report in August but it hasn’t been publicly released.

“I think it will be fairly unremarkable,” Miller predicted.

“We’re an open body over here,” he added. “The audit is done to look for ways we can improve and I’m sure, as with any entity, there will be suggestions for how we can improve. But I’m very confident we run a good operation.”

Tiana McElroy, a former chief of prosecution who was fired by the city, has accused Miller of running a “debtor’s court” centered on bringing in revenue, not aiding victims or seeking justice. Miller brushed aside the allegations Wednesday, noting that McElroy has been fired.

“I’m not going to get into a tit-for-tat, but I do think the key word is ‘former,’ ” the judge said.

By the time Vic Miller graduated from Washburn University School of Law in 1979, he was already a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. A Democrat in a House controlled then, as now, by Republicans, Miller said he struggled to stand out.

“When you were a minority member of the Legislature, the principal role was just to be the squeaky wheel as opposed to actually setting out to achieve something,” Miller recalled.

Joan Wagnon, the former Topeka mayor and head of the Kansas Democratic Party, shared an office with Miller at the Statehouse.

“I considered him one of the people I would go to to find out how things worked over there,” Wagnon said. “He was a great mentor.”

Miller suffered his first electoral defeat when running for a Kansas Senate seat in 1984, losing handily to Republican Jeanne Hoferer. But by 1985, Miller was back in an elected chair, this time as a member of the Topeka City Council. Now he was one of nine representatives.

“I enjoyed the change in terms of the level of influence you can have within the group just because of the sheer number,” Miller said.

The number became even smaller when, in 1993, he won a seat on the three-member Shawnee County Commission. Sitting alongside fellow Democrat Don Cooper, Miller’s party was in the majority.

“When we were two out of three on the county commission, people expected us to be responsible for literally everything,” Miller recalled. “There was a lot more pressure that comes with it.”

During Wagnon’s stint as mayor from 1997 to 2001, the former Statehouse office mates passionately opposed each other over the issue of downtown development. Miller declined to discuss anything remotely political Wednesday, citing his role as an impartial judge, and Wagnon brushed aside their past disagreements.

“Vic and I obviously differed during my time as mayor over downtown development but that was more than 20 years ago,” Wagnon said.

Since the fall of 2011, Miller has been a lone decider as a Topeka Municipal Court judge.

“Over here you don’t debate things. You listen to the debate and then you rule,” Miller said. “You don’t have your opinion against someone else’s. It’s very different. That’s kind of why I like it. It wasn’t like what I had been doing.”

Miller “cleaned up” the municipal court, Wagnon said, and brought in a collection agency more adept at collecting revenue.

“I was sorry to see he was retiring because he has done a first-rate job over there,” Wagnon said.

Dawgs Roll Past Maur Hill

From the Capital Journal:

The Bulldawgs steamrolled Maur Hill 49-0 on Tuesday at Rossville, earning their 24th straight victory, the bi-district trophy and a date with Nemaha Central on Saturday.

Rossville completely throttled the Falcons’ offense, allowing just 79 total yards from scrimmage on 41 plays. Scoring almost at will, the Bulldogs forced a running clock early in the third period.

“Defensively, last week we saw some things that we needed to work on, and tonight we made some improvement,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “At this time of the year everybody’s going to be good, so we need to keep improving every time out.”

Quarterback Tucker Horak led the Bulldogs into the playoffs with a historic 384-yard, seven-touchdown rushing game against Silver Lake last Thursday. His play against Maur Hill was nearly perfect as well.

Horak completed 12 of 14 throws for 275 yards and four touchdowns while also running for 112 yards and two scores on just nine carries.

“He is obviously a real good player for us, but he’s got good help around him,” Hammes said. “He’s got an offensive line that figured things out tonight with a lot of guys hovering around the line of scrimmage. And he’s got skill players who made plays as well who take the burden off of him. We know that he’s a special player, but we feel like we’re more than a one-man show.”

Several of Horak’s throws were into the flat where wide-open receivers broke tackles en route to long gains.

“They put a lot of guys in the box and forced us to throw the football, and once we were able to figure that out we were able to get the ball to some guys to make plays,” Hammes said.

Rossville running back Dawson Hammes helped bulldoze Maur Hill, scoring three touchdowns and rushing 12 times for 85 yards.

“We knew they were a good team. We could see it on film,” Horak said. “To come out and get this win was just a great feeling. We had a lot of different guys getting some carries and making some nice catches.”

Rossville spread the ball to eleven different skill players and rolled up 517 yards on 55 plays from scrimmage. By scoring on a 74-yard pass from Horak to Cole Schumacher on their first play of the third period, Rossville set the running clock in motion. Still, the Bulldogs used numerous reserves in the second half, saving their strength for Saturday’s game at Nemaha Central.

“It was still a physical game, but to get that type of rest probably helps a little bit,” Hammes said. “But the turnaround is so fast. We have got to get back out on the practice field and get the game plan for Saturday in tomorrow. At this point in the year, you just kind of work on adrenaline right now.”

Maur Hill (6-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0

Rossville (10-0) 21 21 7 0 — 49

RV — Horak 67 run (Nascimento kick)

RV — Hammes 5 run (kick failed)

RV — Horak 16 run (Balch pass from Horak)

RV — Balch 30 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)

RV — Hammes 13 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)

RV — Hammes 5 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)

RV — Schumaher 74 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)

GAME IN FIGURES

MH RV

First downs 4 20

Rushes-yards 23-27 39-246

Passing yards 66 275

Passes 4-16-1 12-15-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Punts-Avg. 5-33.0 none

Penalties-yards 6-40 6-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Maur Hill: Trotter 19-29, Olberding 3-(minus 4), Schrick 1-2; Rossville: Horak 9-112, Hammes 12-85, Balch 2-6, Hulbert 3-33, Gfeller 4-10, Bradshaw 1-(minus 1) Cavanaugh 5-3, Dyche 2-0, Foster 1-(minus 2).

PASSING — Maur Hill: Olberding 4-14-1 66 yards, Schrick 0-1-0 0 yards, Trotter 0-1-0 0 yards; Rossville: Horak 12-14-0 275 yards, Hulbert 0-1-0 0 yards.

RECEIVING — Maur Hill: Schrick 2-41, Ervin 1-9, Rocha 1-16; Rossville: Roduner 4-82, Hammes 3-33, Schumacher 3-95, Bradshaw 1-35, Balch 1-30.

PUNTING — Maur Hill: Rocha 5-33.0; Rossville: none.

3A Foorball Scores Nov. 3

Seneca-Nemaha Centraol (9-0) defeated Wathena-Riverside (4-5) 56-12.
Wellsville (7-2 defeated Erie (3-6 63-0
Pittsburgh-St Marys Colgan (7-2) defeated Mound Cit-Jayhawk Linn (5-4) 48-6.
Neodesha (8-1) defeated Cherryvale (8-2) 31-26
Silver Lake (9-1)  defeated Easton-Pleasant Ridge (8-1) 49-0
Sabetha (5-4) defeated Centrailia (5-4) 42-7.
Galena ((6-3 defeated Caney Valley (5-4) 41-21.
Wichita Independent (3-9)  defeated Cheney (7-2) 17-13.
Halstead ((9-0) defeated Southeast of Saline ((7-2) 46.7.
Washington Co. (9-0) defeated Beloit (7-2) 44-34.
Hoisington (9-0) defeated Cimarron (6-3) 76-19.
Wichita Collegiate (9-0) defeated Conway Springs (6-3) 63-6.
Gardem Plain (8-1) defeated Hesston Hill 22-21 in OT.
Norton (7-2) defeated Marysille (4-5) 37.0
Scott City (9-0) defeated Lyons (3-6) 54-0.

RHS Dance Team Performing

    Here is a video clip of the RHS Dance Team performing at the half time of the RHS Maur Hill game.
http://thecube.com/highlight/dance-team-333888

Dawgs Defeat Maur Hill

    The Dawgs easily handled Maur Hill on Tue night, Nov. 3, defeating them 49-0 on the Rossville field.   The Dawgs jumped out to a 42- half time lead and let the reserves play most of the second half.  
    The next game for the Dawgs will be against undefeated Nemaha Cenral Saturday evening on their field.

Computer Football Predictions

    The Capital Journal computer has made the following 3A predictions in the Nov. 3 first round of playoffs toward the state championship. The sixteen first round winners will play on Sat.,  Nov. 7.

       Favorite Point difference Underdog

84.5 Beloit 8.1 WASHINGTON COUNTY 76.4

67.7 CHENEY 16.8 Wichita Independent 50.9

67.2 Cherryvale 6.3 NEODESHA 60.9

80.5 COLGAN 54.1 Jayhawk-Linn 26.4

83.2 GALENA 17.2 Caney Valley 66

92.4 HALSTEAD 10.8 SE-Saline 81.6

91.4 HESSTON 14.5 Garden Plain 76.9

91.5 HOISINGTON 23.9 Cimarron 67.6

87.1 NEMAHA CENTRAL 17.1 Riverside 70

91.4 NORTON 33.8 Marysville 57.6

105.8 ROSSVILLE 44.6 Maur Hill-Mt. Academy 61.2

82.6 SABETHA 0.8  Centralia 81.8

106.8 SCOTT CITY 55.1 Lyons 51.7

100.3 Silver Lake 44.4 PLEASANT RIDGE 55.9

81.9 Wellsville 57 ERIE 24.9

105.1 WICHITA COLLEGIATE 28.1 Conway Springs 77

CJ 3A Football Rankings

      Team (last week) record

1. Rossville (1) 9-0

2. Halstead (2) 9-0

3. Scott City (3) 9-0

4. Wichita Collegiate (5) 9-0

5. Nemaha Central (NR) 9-0

Others — Beloit 7-2, Cheney 7-2, Cherryvale 8-1, Cimarron 6-3, Colgan 7-2, Galena 6-3, Garden Plain 8-1, Hesston 8-1, Hoisington 9-0, Maur Hill 6-2, Neodesha 8-1, Norton 7-2, Pleasant Ridge 8-1, SE-Saline 7-2, Silver Lake 8-1, Washington County 9-0, Wellsville 7-2.

Notes — For a half, the War on 24 showdown between Rossville and Silver Lake was a back-and-forth affair, each team trading blows. Then Bulldawg QB Tucker Horak took over. The senior ran for 292 of his 384 yards in the second half, busting three touchdown runs of 70-plus yards and finishing with a combined 518 rushing and passing yards and eight total touchdowns.

KPreps 3A Football Rankings

#1 ROSSVILLE (9-0)

Last: beat rival Silver Lake 56-35 in the "War on 24"Rossville quarterback Tucker Horak rushed for 384 yards and seven touchdowns as his team broke open a close game at halftime to beat Silver Lake, 56-35. Horak also passed for 134 yards; including a touchdown pass to Jacob Bradshaw just before halftime that gave the Bulldawgs a 21-17 lead at the intermission. Rossville and Silver Lake began the second half by trading a pair of touchdowns. Hunter Howerton pulled the Eagles within 35-29 in the third quarter before Horak broke consecutive touchdown runs of 75, 76, and 43 yards. Dawson Hammes added 100 yards on the ground for Rossville.
Next: Tuesday vs. Maur Hill-Mount Academy (6-2) in first round of 3A playoffs

#2 WICHITA COLLEGIATE (9-0)

Last: won at Douglass 67-0Collegiate cruised to a district championship with a 67-0 win over Douglass. Nathan Burgoyne rushed for 138 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Spartans. Collegiate has shut out five opponents and scored at least 60 points in five of their games this season.
Next: Tuesday vs. Conway Springs (6-3) in first round of 3A playoffs

#3 SCOTT CITY (9-0)

Last: beat Cimarron 48-6Scott City scored 21 points in the first quarter to jump on Cimarron in a 48-6 victory. Cooper Griffith rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries to lead the Beavers. Quarterback Bo Hess tossed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Justin Faurot.
Next: Tuesday vs. Lyons (3-6) in first round of 3A playoffs

#4 HALSTEAD (9-0)

Last: beat Hutchinson Trinity 34-8Halstead scored in each quarter in beating Hutchinson Trinity 34-8. Eli McKee threw a pair of short touchdowns passes and added 68 yards on the ground. Tony Morris, Daniel Fulgham and Chase VanSteenburg each rushed for a touchdown. VanSteenburg also caught one of McKee's touchdown passes.
Next: Tuesday vs. Southeast of Saline (7-2) in first round of 3A playoffs

#5 SILVER LAKE (8-1)

Last: lost 56-35 to No. 1 Rossville

Silver Lake trailed Rossville 21-17 at halftime, but the Bulldawgs eventually pulled away for a 56-35 win. Rossville quarterback Tucker Horak rushed for 384 yards and 7 touchdowns in the game. Hunter Howerton pulled the Eagles within 35-29 in the third quarter before Horak broke consecutive touchdown runs of 75, 76, and 43 yards. Silver Lake quarterback Dalton Dultmeier passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns. Keenan Baird had 121 receiving yards and three touchdown catches for the Eagles.
Next: Tuesday vs. Pleasant Ridge (8-1) in first round of 3A playoffs

Others Considered: Garden Plain (8-1), Hesston (8-1), Hoisington (9-0), Nemaha Central (9-0), Norton (7-2), St. Mary's Colgan (7-2), Washington County (9-0)

Taylor Bittner At 3A State CC

RHS junior Taylor Bittner competed in her first state cross country meet on Sat.. She placed 52nd out of 106 runners finishing the 5K race in 22.52.8.

No TIGER Funding For Bridge

    When the Federal Govt handed out the $500 million in TIGER grants,  the Willard Bridge was not on the list.  However,  the County Commissioners still have the bridge as a priority.  See video about the bridge funding at:
http://ksnt.com/2015/10/29/federal-money-for-willard-bridge-replacement-not-included-in-tiger-grant/

Adrienne Olejnik To Run For House

After a recent appointment to the Rossville City Council, community library director Adrienne Olejnik announced her candidacy for the Kansas House this week.