“Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony hushers, ‘Even if you are not ready for day, It can not always be night.’ You will be right. For that is the hard home-run.

“Live not for battles won. Live not for the end-of-the-song. Live in the along.”

– Gwendolyn Brooks, Selected Poems

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AccuWeather Vice President Mike Smith went storm chasing with two partners today and tracked the storm that developed a tornado south of town. In his blog post about the event, he says Wichita narrowly avoided catastrophe. It’s worth a read.

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A fast-moving storm produced heavy rain, hail and at least one tornado in the Wichita area on Sunday, damaging homes, knocking out power and disrupting graduation ceremonies.

There were more than 10,500 customers without power in the Wichita area as of 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Westar Energy spokesman Nick Bundy said. A majority of those were expected to have power by 10:30 p.m., but all of the outages probably won’t be fixed until late Monday night, he added. About 600 residents in Butler County and 1,600 in Greenwood County also were without power.

A large portion of the outages were in southwest Wichita, where 37 power poles were down in the area of 135th Street West and 55th Street South, Bundy said.

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WICHITA — All Things Barbecue is expanding in Delano — again.

"The heart of what we're doing is moving into 818 W. Douglas," says owner Don Cary. "Kind of the big deal is it's going to give us more room for retail."

He and his wife, Kathy, opened the business in 1,700 square feet at 615 W. Douglas, west of the Delano clock tower, in July 2009 and then doubled their space in 2010 by taking another 1,700 square feet at 617 W. Douglas. They also have another building at 121 N. Oak for a teaching kitchen.

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By MICHAEL STRAND Salina Journal GYPSUM -- One person who watched Southeast of Saline High School's class of 2013 grow up for the past 13 years gave the students a send-off at Sunday afternoon's graduation. Ray Everhart, who retired as ...

Should the Wichita school board expand and improve Southeast High School, build a new school in the far southeast quadrant of the district or both? Tuesday evening will mark another chance to share your input.

A communitywide meeting will be held at Southeast High, Lincoln and Edgemoor, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. At that meeting, residents will hear an update on bond construction as it relates to Southeast and then break into small discussion groups to share thoughts and opinions, officials said.

Child care will be provided, and Spanish and Vietnamese translators will be available.

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On Monday, two years and 20 days after Vashti Forrest Seacat’s body was found in the charred remains of her Kingman home, attorneys will start picking jurors who will be asked to decide between two arguments already raised in court:

That the 34-year-old woman’s husband, Brett Seacat, a law enforcement trainer and former Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy, shot and killed her and set fire to their home, or that she started the blaze and then shot herself.

Felicia Ryder, who organized a candlelight vigil to remember Vashti Seacat soon after the tragedy, said that Brett Seacat’s first-degree murder trial will offer closure for the town. The case has been weighing on people, and the big old house where it all happened – now vacant and boarded up – is part of that weight, Ryder said.

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Due to impending stormy weather, Wichita Ribfest closed at 9 p.m. Saturday, two hours shy of the scheduled end of the three-day barbecue event.

Last year Mother Nature also affected the final day of the festival, forcing Intrust Bank Arena officials, who put on the event, to cancel the night’s activities because of storms and wind.

Ribfest was set up just east of Intrust Bank Arena in Lot D, the city-managed parking lot at 777 E. Waterman. It featured barbecue served by national vendors, live music and other activities.

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Kansas lawmakers began the year by turning away the chief justice of the state Supreme Court from his traditional speech to the Legislature.

As the legislative session nears an end, that justice is charging a leading senator with political coercion. Meanwhile, efforts are picking up steam to force appellate judges into retirement and to build separate civil and criminal appeals courts.

“Tensions are high between the court system and the Legislature,” said state Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Tornado sirens have sounded in downtown Wichita. The sky has turned black in downtown Wichita.

Quarter size hail is falling.

Radar has indicated possible funnel clouds near Viola. A confirmed tornado was located near Clearwater. And a funnel was spotted near the Mid-Continent Airport.

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Wichita police are searching for a 23-year-old man who they say threatened a 21-year-old woman in the 3300 block of East Roseberry.

Police were called to the area after the woman called 911 reporting a domestic violence incident.

When police arrived, they learned the man was still inside the house and had pulled a gun during the disturbance and fired a round off.

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The state has given Sedgwick County permission to reduce staffing ratios at its juvenile detention center, which could save the county money and eliminate some mandatory overtime for employees.

The waiver from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is good through April 2, 2014.

KDHE’s regulations require one staff member per seven juveniles during the day and one staff member per 11 residents at night. The waiver will allow the county to have one staff member per eight residents during the day and one staff member per 14 juveniles during sleeping hours.

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Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600million, making it the largest prize in the game’s history and the world’s second largest lottery prize.

Lottery officials say the prize grew quickly Friday because so many people have been purchasing the $2 tickets. The jackpot has grown by an estimated $236 million since the last drawing on Wednesday.

The last jackpot was won on March 30, so it’s been growing for about six weeks. The next drawing is Saturday night.

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Due to technical difficulties, the Salina Journal will be delayed until 11AM in all areas.

Unlike some, these guys don’t mind working on a Saturday.

Buddy was even howling, so eager was he to get to it at Andover Central Park.

He joined fellow members of the Sedgwick County Emergency Management K9 Search Team for weekly training to keep skills sharp.

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Terry Dutton, hanging around with his friend David Yoder and watching the Kansas State baseball team celebrate its Big 12 championship after Friday’s victory over Oklahoma, had a fashion problem.

His cap commemorated the Wildcats’ 2012 Big 12 football championship. Since he bought it, K-State brought home league trophies in men’s basketball and baseball.

“You could put basketball here, and baseball here,” Dutton said, pointing to the cap.

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Although he liked all the sculptures lining Santa Fe Avenue, Timothy Adamson preferred the "human" statues. "I like the boy feeding the geese and ducks and the little girl with the baseball and bat," said Timothy, 7. The sculptures T ...

By JUDY SHERARD jsherard@dailynews.net Storms blew through Hays on Saturday evening and toppled a large evergreen tree more than 50 years old. Betty Calvert, 2700 Willow, was talking on the phone to her daughter and getting ready to go ...

The defected Syrian general whom the United States has tapped as its conduit for aid to the rebels has acknowledged in an interview with McClatchy that his movement is badly fragmented and lacks the military skill needed to topple the government of President Bashar Assad.

Gen. Salim Idriss, who leads what’s known as the Supreme Military Command, also admitted that he faces difficulty in creating a chain of command in Syria’s highly localized rebellion, a shortcoming he blamed on the presence within the rebel movement of large numbers of civilians without military experience.

“It is difficult to unify the (rebels) because they are civilians and only a few of them had military service,” Idriss said.

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By JUDY SHERARD jsherard@dailynews.net Jennifer Rogers has taken a longer route than some other graduates to get where she always wanted to go. But she accomplished her goal Saturday when she received her bachelor of science degree in nursing at F ...