TEG
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
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CHRISTMAS TREE CASH CROP
By Kerri Jackson
[email protected]
Richard Rees and his family
have been growing Christmas
trees on their operation near
Topeka for 43 years. Their operation, Pine-Apple Farm, is one of
few in Kansas providing locals
with fresh-cut pines of different
varieties and pre-cut Fraser Firs.
When there’s plenty of rain,
Rees said, the trees do quite well
in Kansas. With low capital and
input costs, he said he was unsure why there aren’t more people growing Christmas trees.
“It’s not really labor-intensive.
You’ve got to keep them mowed
and trimmed every year after
about the third year — you’ve
got to go out and trim them
and shape them,” said Rees. “It
doesn’t take a lot of time ... It’s
probably just the lead time and
everybody has to go golfing,
boating and skiing. That interferes with it a little bit. There’s
got to be a little bit of dedication
there to do it.”
Rees said he counts on a 6-foot
by 6-foot spacing, allowing him
to grow about 1,200 of the pines
in one acre with room to mow in
between.
Rees said that he buys the
seedlings for $0.30 to $0.50 each,
which will later sell for about $6$8 per foot. About 80 percent of
those he originally planted survive through harvest, he said,
assuming there were no drought
years.
“We’re in the process of eliminating our operation, but when
we were planting, we would usually plant 1,000 to 1,200 a year
would sustain us for a continuous supply of trees. We were selling around 600, 700 trees a year.
Good Evening
VVV
Write your
legislators.
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
DECKER
SENTENCED
TO FIVE YEARS
PROBATION
FOR SEX
CRIMES
AGAINST
CHILDREN
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
A Christmas tree is displayed for sale on Saturday, Nov. 28.
And so that would give us a good fore they are able to be harvested
after planting.
supply of trees to work with.”
There are currently 33 growThe trees require between six
and eight years of lead time be- ers across the state registered
with the Kansas Christmas Tree
Growers Association, none of
which are located in Lyon County.
Although many opt for the
low-maintenance artificial tree,
locals have the option of buying live trees without having to
travel out of county.
The Flint Hills Optimist Club
has trees available in the parking
lot of Guion’s Furniture at 2023
W. Sixth Ave. Trees include Canadian Balsam, Fraser Fir, White
Pine and Scotch Pines ranging
from three to nine feet in height.
The trees are sold weekday eveKENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE nings from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and
Joe Michaels holds onto a Christmas tree while carrying it to a car for a customer on Saturday, Nov. 28. Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m.
Christopher
Decker, 41, was
sentenced to
five years probation for sex
crimes against
children. The
sentence was
handed down Decker
Thursday
morning by Lyon County Administrative Judge
Merlin Wheeler.
Decker was originally charged
with three counts of aggravated
indecent liberties for incidents
that occurred in April and May of
2014. In October, Decker entered
an Alford plea, meaning he did
not admit guilt but admits that
the prosecutors could prove guilt
at trial. At the time of the Alford
plea Decker pled guilty to three
counts of aggravated incest regarding two children under the
age of 14.
During the sentencing the
mothers of the victims gave
emotional victim impact statements. They described the ongoing nightmares and fears that
plagued their children following
the abuse. Through tears that
provided descriptions of the
counseling and support the children need and the drastic steps
they have taken to help their children heal.
Wheeler explained during the
Please see Decker, Page 3
JAIL VIOLENCE INCREASING
DUE TO MENTAL ILLNESSES
By Kerri Jackson
[email protected]
Editor’s note: This is part one
of a multi-part series focused on
societal concerns resulting from
fewer mental health institutions
to provide for Kansans with mental illnesses. The lack of funding
and facilities has resulted in more
mentally ill inmates in local jails
and patients in local hospitals. It
would seem that many of the problems in the local detention center
could be mitigated by more and
improved mental health services.
The Lyon County Detention
Center has seen a gradual increase
in inmate violence this year. With
two significant detention officer
attacks from inmates as well as
violence between inmates, the
center recently was approved to
purchase over $26,000 worth of
protective vests for the officers to
wear.
“We try to prepare. We train all
of our staff in defensive tactics. We
train them in how to deal with the
people — how to recognize signs
of behavior that’s getting ready
to go bad, precursors to a violent
act,” said Lyon Couny Sheriff
Jeff Cope. “And then it’s difficult
to keep all the different inmates
apart that don’t necessarily get
along ... those are always challenges that you just have to navigate.”
VOL. 124, NO. 145
Forty officers staff the jail,
which was at 66-percent capacity
last week, the lowest the jail has
been in about 10 years, according
to Cope.
“We’ve been working with the
court on bond modifications trying to hold less people pre-trial
or before conviction, so that’s
made an impact on the amount
of inmates that we’re required to
house. We’re trying to do some
things just trying to get our numbers down,” he said.
Most inmates are local, however there are a few well-behaved
inmates that are imported from
counties like Douglas and Miami
counties, which are already at
maximum capacity.
“We try not to take inmates
from out of county that are highrisk or high