Collin Bielser has been appointed as the new assistant city manager for the City of Hays, City Manager Toby Dougherty announced in a news release Wednesday.

Bielser was selected for the position out of 100 candidates after a lengthy and extensive national search. He will assume his duties Jan. 6.

Bielser comes to the City of Hays from Fairbury, Neb., where he has served as the city administrator since July 2015. Prior to Fairbury, Bielser worked for the City of Baldwin City and the City of Eudora. He is a native Kansan, growing up in Colby.

Bielser graduated from the University of Kansas with a master’s degree in public administration and a master’s urban planning.

(Read more: Hays Post)

A mid-August kayak trip down the Arkansas River in south-central Kansas took a fascinating turn for sisters Ashley and Erin Watt when they happened upon a massive skull protruding from a sandbar. It was partially buried nose down, but they immediately knew the shape was unique. When they pulled it from the sand and saw the large teeth of a carnivore, they knew they had something special.

With a little research, Ashley and Erin determined they had likely found a bear skull. They shared their exciting discovery in a Facebook post, which caught the eyes of local Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) game warden Chris Stout. Stout shared the photos with colleagues, and they eventually reached Sternberg Museum of Natural History paleontologists Dr. Reese Barrick and Mike Everhart who provided insight into the significance of the finding.

While Barrick and Everhart quickly verified the sisters’ suspicions that this was a bear skull, the large size – approximately 16 inches long by 8.5 inches wide – and fossilized appearance left them questioning whether this was a modern grizzly or a more primitive species from the past. The skull is believed to have been deposited into the Ark River sands – an excellent substrate for preservation – and maintained there until it was displaced by this year’s historic floods.

(Read more: Hays Post)

After serving as the Ellis County administrator for more than three years and helping to guide the county through several major projects, Phillip Smith-Hanes has been named the Saline County administrator.

Smith-Hanes, who was hired in December 2015 and began working in Ellis County in March 2016, said Tuesday he is excited for the opportunity.

“It’s a larger community closer to where I grew up, but I’m sad to be leaving Ellis County,” said Smith-Hanes, who grew up in Marion County. “Ellis County’s been very good to me.

“I wasn’t out there looking for a new job,” he added. “This is just something that popped up that was kind of the right opportunity at the right time.”

(Read more: Hays Post)