By RYAN McCARTHY
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — A bill was presented in the House on Wednesday that would provide incentives to out-of-state residents to relocate to southeastern Kansas communities.

Rep. Sydney Carlin, D-Manhattan, brought House Bill 2417 to the House floor for debate, saying, “The program helps attract fine investment businesses and job growth in rural areas of the state.”

Legislators from Labette, Montgomery and Cherokee counties talked about the Rural Opportunity Zones program last week in the Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee.

The program would provide tax exemptions for five years and $15,000 student loan repayment to out-of-state residents who move to those Kansas counties. The rural opportunity bill would also provide a much-needed population boost.

Gov. Sam Brownback established the Rural Opportunity Zones program in 2011 for counties that lost 10 percent population during the previous decade. This bill would be an addition to the program.

The initial program included 40 counties in the states, but it jumped to 50 after the legislature saw the program possibilities. Last year, the program expanded to 23 more counties including Jackson and Wabaunsee counties.

Rep. Don Schroeder, R-Hesston, a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, brought up his support for the bill and its amendments.

Schroeder and other lawmakers talked about the problem of people working in Kansas but living in Oklahoma. Schroder wanted to see if these people can stay and be tax-paying citizens of Kansas.

“All of these counties that border the Oklahoma line sometimes struggle to get workers,” Schroeder said. “Let’s see if we can do something to attract people to live and work in this state.”

Rep. Jim Kelly, R-Independence, who lives in Montgomery County on the Oklahoma border, has seen the impact in his community.

“Montgomery County has 12.5 percent of its workforce that travels in to work,” Kelly said. “ $41 million a year is going out of state with wages earned in Kansas jobs in air craft and equipment manufacturing.”

Kelly also said the Kansas Department of Commerce supported the idea of Kansas workers living in Kansas rather than Oklahoma or Missouri.

Final action for this bill would be coming up later in the week.

Ryan McCarthy is a University of Kansas senior from Lenexa majoring in journalism.

TOPEKA–The Kansas Department of Transportation announced Thursday that permits will be issued to landowners wanting to harvest hay on Kansas highway right-of-way.

Those with land adjacent to the right of way will be given permit priority from Jan. 1 until March 31. After March 31, permits to harvest will be issued in the order in which they are received. The permits will expire Sept. 30.

Hay harvesting on right-of-way along state and federal highways without a permit is illegal and is trespassing, according to KDOT.

Permits can be canceled at any time by either party and all operations shall be in accord with requirements and guidelines set by KDOT. Any person, firm or corporation wanting to mow or bale hay will need to submit a permit application to the KDOT office in their area. No hay harvesting will take place along Interstates, and access to any right of way shall be determined by KDOT.

For additional information, contact your northwest Kansas local KDOT office listed below; or call the KDOT Bureau of Maintenance in Topeka at (785) 296-3576.

Northwest Kansas

Norton, (785) 877-3315

Phillipsburg, (785) 543-2163

Atwood, (785) 626-3258

Hays, (785) 625-9718

Oakley, (785) 672-3113

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt has been named Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year for his work with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a news release yesterday.

The national award from the Office of National Drug Control Policy recognizes Hunt for his work with the Midwest HIDTA on a large scale investigation of methamphetamine trafficking that resulted in the prosecution of 17 individuals.

“Tris Hunt is an outstanding prosecutor,” said U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom. “He sets a high standard and he brings out the best in his colleagues.”

The award recognizes the prosecutor who has consistently developed and utilized an innovative or unique approach. Winners must demonstrate a commitment to the cooperative spirit of the task force approach, the timely development and application of legal tools and the arrest, prosecution and conviction of individuals engaged in illegal drug activities.

The award recognizes Hunt for his work with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Kansas City, Homeland Security Investigations and the Jackson County Drug Task Force, as well as many other law enforcement agencies.

The Executive Board of the Midwest HIDTA also recognized Hunt as the region’s Outstanding Prosecutor of 2013.

David Barton, Director of the Midwest HIDTA, said Hunt’s work has involved some of the more complex issues ever undertaken by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the DEA-Investigative Technology section.

TOPEKA – A report issued by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), shows Kansas’ milk production grew at the fastest rate in the United States, growing 7.3 percent, in 2013.

Kansas posted the third largest increase in total pounds of milk production in 2013, only trailing dairy giants Wisconsin and New York.

The dairy industry in Kansas is a crucial component to the state’s agricultural industry and overall economic growth. According to Josh Roe, economist for the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the value of milk produced in Kansas totaled nearly $592 million adding approximately $131 million to the Kansas economy and 482 jobs in 2013.

“The remarkable growth we have seen in Kansas this year and in years past is an excellent testament to the quality of work Kansas dairymen and women conduct on a daily basis,” said Billy Brown, Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Agribusiness Development coordinator in a news release. “Our dairies are an economic engine for rural Kansas, and we thank our dairy farmers for their commitment to continuing to grow the industry and rural Kansas by producing a wholesome and nutritious product.”

Kansas is home to more than 300 dairy farms and 137,000 dairy cows.

For more information on Kansas’ Dairy Industry, visit www.agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/dairy-in-kansas.