The King Kat Tournament Trail stops at Milford Lake on Saturday with a regional qualifying event. Catfish anglers from multiple states will vie for cash, prizes and opportunity for the winner to compete at the 2019 King Kat Classic national tournament.

Milford Lake is known for big catfish. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism have been stocking Milford with blue catfish since the early 1990s.

Rick Dykstra, with Geary County CVB, expects 60-80 boats with two team members per boat. The tournament will begin at 7 a.m. with the weigh-in at 4 p.m. at the Farnum Creek Boat Ramp at Acorns Resort.

There will also be a free Kids Fishing Rodeo on Saturday in conjunction with the tournament. Registration is from 8-9 a.m. in the foyer at the Milford Lake Conference Center.  The free event is open to all youth 12 years old and younger, and all participating children must be accompanied by an adult. Fishing will occur from 9-11 a.m. Youth must bring their own rods, reels and bait. Prizes will be awarded in age groups, and everyone entered will be entered  into a drawing at the national championships for one of six scholarships. The scholarships are awarded annually at the Cabela’s King Kat Classic, which this year will be held November 1-2 on the Tennessee River ( Wheeler Lake ) in Decatur, Alabama.

Dewey Terrill

JC Post

MAC Advisory Council Chair Phyllis Fitzgerald is preparing a barn quilt painting that will be sold at each of the Military Affairs Council breakfasts.

Fitzgerald said they can be disbursed through either a silent auction or via the use of tickets for a drawing. “I absolutely agreed to paint the barn quilts because what we’re going to do with that money at the end of the year is to support veterans organizations locally or on Fort Riley, such as Operation Santa Claus or AUSA with some memberships.” Also, part of the money will be used to establish a scholarship for a graduating high school senior.

One painting was unveiled at the Military Affairs Council breakfast this week. “The background of it was red and blue with the Big Red One, obviously a Big Red One with a patch itself.” She provided photos of that painting plus the next two paintings to be sold.

SALINA — On Aug. 14, 2018, the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report was released. The report exposed a great scandal within the Church and incited Catholics, lay and clergy alike, to demand greater transparency and accountability from the leaders of the Catholic faith. On Sept. 18, 2018, the Diocese of Salina informed the Attorney General’s office that newly appointed Bishop Gerald Vincke would be retaining the independent outside counsel of Cottonwood Law LLC. of Hillsboro to conduct a thorough review of clergy personnel files and identify any potential cases of clergy misconduct with minors. Bishop Vincke had been serving in his new role as the Bishop of Salina for less than a month when he opened the investigation of the clergy files.

Clergy with allegations of abuse 

Click here for this complete issue of the Register.

From September 2018 to January 2019, Courtney Boehm from Cottonwood Law conducted an audit of the diocesan clergy files. Boehm was selected for her expertise in criminal law and her independence from the Salina Diocese. At the time of the audit, Boehm was the Marion County Attorney and has since been appointed a district court judge in the 8th Judicial District which consists of Dickinson, Geary, Marion and Morris counties. Boehm reviewed 109 clergy files, ranging from clergy serving in the late 1800s to present day. The files reviewed consisted of any member of the clergy with allegations of misconduct against them. Upon the completion of the review, Cottonwood Law submitted a comprehensive report to Bishop Vincke. The report summarized the contents of each clergy misconduct file and the allegations that were made against each priest. The entirety of this comprehensive report was immediately turned over to the Attorney General’s office, who then forwarded it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).

Within the report, the auditor recommended which cases needed to be reviewed by the Lay Review Board. The Lay Review Board, formed in February 2000, is a group that reviews any allegation made against a member of the clergy and includes mental and medical health professionals, social service providers, civil and canon law professionals, law enforcement officials and two priests. In order to be as thorough and transparent as possible, Bishop Vincke asked that files recommended by Boehm be reviewed, including those that were previously reviewed. During the month of February 2019, the Lay Review Board met and discussed the cases recommended by Cottonwood Law. Upon the completion of the Lay Review Board’s review of the Cottonwood Law report, 14 cases of diocesan clergy abuse of a minor were found to be substantiated.

The Diocese of Concordia was founded in 1887. The Diocese of Concordia then became the Diocese of Salina in 1944. During a span of 132 years, with approximately 300 diocesan priests having served in the Diocese of Salina, 14 diocesan priests were identified to have substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor. A substantiated allegation is one that has been corroborated with witness statements, documents, emails, photos, texts, or by another source, such as law enforcement. None of the 14 priests are in active ministry today. Of the 14 priests, 12 are deceased and the remaining two are laicized. At this time, the Diocese of Salina is only releasing the names of clerics with substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor. Any cleric with an allegation of abuse of a minor that is unsubstantiated has been excluded from the list. If new information is provided that leads to the substantiation of a case, the Diocese of Salina will update the list of clergy abuse of minors accordingly.

Just as the Salina Diocese conducted an internal audit, so did the Order of Franciscan Minors Capuchin Province of St. Conrad, headquartered in Denver. The Capuchins are a religious order who have had a strong presence within the Salina Diocese, particularly in the Hays and Victoria area. Father Christopher Popravak, Provincial of the Denver Province of Capuchins, shared the results of the Capuchin internal audit with the Salina Diocese. Of the approximate 300 Capuchins who have served in the Salina Diocese, 13 priests/brothers were found to have credible allegations of abuse of a minor. The names of these priests/brothers have been included within this edition of The Register, along with additional information provided to the Diocese of Salina by the Capuchins for release.

Read Bishop Vincke’s full statement here.

“This is a difficult time for the Church,” said Bishop Vincke in a letter entitled Why I Said Yes, released to the public in September 2018, “This purification of the Church by God is painful, but much needed. We need the eyes of faith as we suffer through this. ‘Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey (Lumen Fidei #57).’ Jesus is with us as light in the midst of darkness.”

The annual District Art Show and SIlent Auction in USD 475 will be held Friday and Saturday at the C.L.Hoover Opera House.

There will be a reception for participants, parents and USD 475 staff on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. The show will be open to the public on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

Proceeds from the auction will fund the USD 475 Art Scholarship for one Junction City High School graduating senior who plans to pursue a career in Visual Arts or Design.

Eagle Communications radio stations including in the Junction City – Manhattan area 107.9 FM, 1420 KJCK, Power Hits 97.5 and Q Country 103.5 have been encouraging donations for Nebraska Flood Relief.

There was an announcement this week that the Hays-based Schmidt Foundation will match those donations up to $25,000. Donations are being accepted through April 4th.

A seclusion room will be built at Geary Community Hospital. CEO Joe Stratton said the project should be completed by the beginning of July. “Trinium Construction of Manhattan won the bid for $50,000. That was approved at the Board ( of Trustees ) meeting.”

Stratton stated the room is needed for mental health patients who are in fragile condition when they get to the emergency room. ” So we will start construction on that in about a month and we’ll be done at the beginning of July.”

MANHATTAN — The Wednesday fire at a Manhattan apartment complex is being blamed on the improper disposal of smoking materials, according to the Manhattan Fire Department.

Just after 2p.m. firefighters responded to the 12-unit complex at 3128 Lundin Drive and it was contained with 25 minutes, according to media release.

Estimated damage is approximately $40,000 to the building and approximately $5,000 to its contents. There were no injuries.

The Manhattan Fire Department has reported that firefighters responded to an apartment fire at 3128 Lundin Drive on Wednesday. It was contained with 25 minutes.

There were early reports that occupants will still inside the building, but all the searches proved that was not the case. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.