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LEADER&TIMES
THURSDAY May 12, 2016

PAGE 10

this summer

LIBERAL HAS A LIBRARY

L&T staff report

The Leader & Times is looking for High Plains

Unsung Heroes people who arent in the limelight,
yet make positive differences in the lives of others or
in their community.
If you know someone who should be recognized
as a High Plains Unsung Hero, send your
nomination to the Leader & Times at 16 S. Kansas
Ave. or e-mail it to news@hpleader.com. Please try
to keep the nominations at 500 words or less, and be
sure to include your name and provide a contact
number. Anonymous nominations will not be
considered.
Once all submissions are received, the
department heads at the L&T will vote to narrow it
down to five recipients who will be honored at a
reception later this month.
The reception will also honor the 2016 Leader &
Times Citizen of the Year and the Lifetime
Achievement Award winners.
The deadline for nominations for Unsung Heroes
will be at 5 p.m. today.

Three Redskins
to play with
Southern
Nazarene this
season

U.S. wont appeal lesser prairie chicken ruling PAGE 3

Forget video games

Seeking nominations
for 2016 High Plains
Unsung Hero awards

MOVING ON

By ELLY GRIMM
Leader & Times
This summer, the staff at Liberal Memorial
Library will be looking for people to get ready, get
set, read, and get their head in the game.
The annual summer reading program will be
back from May 23 to July 22, and is currently
taking sign-ups in all age groups. People interested in taking part in the fun can sign up at
lmlibrary.org or fill out a paper form in person at
the library.
We want everyone to come in and enjoy our
air conditioning, enjoy our movies, and relax,
Liberal Memorial Library Assistant Director
Tammy Garrison said. Its not supposed to be a
super tense activity, its supposed to be fun and
what the participants want to do. Its not
supposed to be because its on your reading
schedule, or because you have to read it for work,
or because you have to read it for school. You can
get the trashiest novels you can find, or read
young adult novels you havent read in a long
time. Its whatever will make you happy over the
summer.
Were going to have a lot of fun activities, and
were going to have a lot of fun presenters,
added Childrens Librarian Elizabeth Rankin.
Its just a way to keep your mind engaged over
the summer, but in a playful way.
And if the success of last years program is any
indication, those who participate in this years
summer reading will be in for a great time. There

will be some returning acts, such as Mad Science

and Rattlesnake Andy, and there will also be
some new acts, including a visit from representatives of the Kansas Cosmosphere and other
guests.

N See LIBRARY/Page 3

Joint police work

leads to meth arrest
in Hooker, Okla.
By ROBERT PIERCE
Leader &Times
A
joint
operation
conducted by deputy sheriffs
in Texas County, Okla., and
police officers in Hooker,
Okla., led to the arrest of a
Guymon,
Okla.,
male
recently.
Texas County Sheriff Matt
Boley said on May 4, law
enforcement performed an
operation involving the undercover purchase of approximately one ounce of crystal
methamphetamine
in
Hooker.
A confidential source was
utilized to purchase the
methamphetamine from an
individual identified as 36year-old Elier Sarmiento
Hernandez of Guymon,
Oklahoma, the sheriff said
Wednesday afternoon in a
press release. The confidential source, under police
surveillance,
met
with
Sarmiento in the Loves
Convenience Store parking
lot where a transfer of money
took place.
Boley then said Sarmiento
then left the parking lot and
drove
to
the

HERNANDEZ
Oklahoma/Kansas state line
under
surveillance
of
Oklahoma law enforcement
authorities, and upon crossing
into Kansas, he was kept
under surveillance of Kansas
law enforcement authorities.
A short time later,
Sarmiento was observed
crossing back into Oklahoma
from Kansas and was once
again under the surveillance
Oklahoma
law
of
enforcement authorities,
Boley said. Sarmiento drove
to the Loves Convenience
Store parking lot in Hooker
Oklahoma, where he met a

N See

ARREST/Page 3

Kansas court
questions latest
school aid changes
By JOHN HANNA
AP PoliticalWriter

TOPEKA With Kansas enmeshed in

education funding lawsuits for nearly two decades,
a skeptical state Supreme Court on Tuesday
questioned whether recent changes make the distribution of dollars fairer to poor public schools.
The justices heard arguments from attorneys on a
school finance law enacted by the Republicandominated Legislature enacted earlier this year, the
third in as many years. The law revised parts of the
funding formula but resulted in no change in total
funds for most of the states 286 school districts.
The court in February ordered lawmakers to
improve aid to poor districts and gave them until
June 30 or face having schools shut down. But
lawmakers faced a budget crunch that followed
massive personal income tax cuts and strong
political opposition to redistributing funds from
wealthy districts.
The states lawyers contend legislators made a
good-faith effort to address the courts concerns.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the justices
have no reason to shut down schools.
But Justice Dan Biles, in peppering attorneys
with questions, showed some impatience. The court
is pondering what happens to funding for the 201617 school year, and Biles said the system has
operated unconstitutionally since 2010, when
four school districts filed the lawsuit before the
court.
How many years do we operate unconstitutionally before we say, you know, the musics got to
stop, and weve got to stop dancing? Biles said.
The court is expected to rule quickly. Legislators
arent scheduled to meet again this year except for
a brief June 1 adjournment ceremony but could
reconvene if the court rejects this years fix.
The lawsuit pursued by the Dodge City,
Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas,
districts followed up on one in 1999 that forced
lawmakers to promise big increases in annual
spending on public schools, which now tops $4
billion. Legislators kept their promises at first but
backed off during the Great Recession.
The courts past rulings have made conservative
Republicans who lead the Legislature increasingly
hostile and suspicious of the justices. Six of the
seven were appointed by Democratic or moderate
Republican governors and only one by conservative
GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.
The court has repeatedly said the Kansas Constitution requires lawmakers to finance a suitable

Message to Class of 2016: You can do all things

N See AID CHANGES/Page 4

Vol. 130 Iss. 334 10 Pa ges

TOP PHOTO: MIchael Miller, pastor of Friends Church, shares a message with
the students during Baccalaureate ceremonies Wednesday in James Maskus
Auditorium.

ABOVE: A group of AVID students peers up to the balcony before

Baccalaureate ceremonies begin Wednesday in James Maskus Auditorium.

LEFT: Senior Dane Friederich shares a Bible verse with the senior class during
Baccalaureate ceremonies Wednesday in Jmaes Maskus Auditorium. L&T
photos/Earl Watt

Miller: What do you have in common

with NBA MVP Stephen Curry?
By EARL WATT
Leader &Times

James Maskus Auditorium became a

place for a holy moment Wednesday
when seniors from the Class of 2016
gathered for a special moment of
reflection and inspiration.
Friends Church Pastor Michael Miller
shared a message around Philippians
4:13 which includes the passage, I can
do all things through Christ who

strengthens me.
Miller shared how NBA MVP Stephen
Curry has a clothing line that features the
phrase, and he broke down the 10 words
and their meanings for the graduating
seniors.
Miller shared how the NBA All-Star
was willing to use his platform as an
athlete to exhibit his faith even when
Nike refused to put the phrase on his
shoes. Curry then went to Under Armor,
and the shoes now display the phrase.

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