WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, met with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about priorities for the 114th Congress.
“The Secretary and I discussed a number of key issues, including the importance of agriculture research, and agreed to work together to encourage innovation and the development of new technologies that will benefit rural areas of our country,” Sen. Moran said. “We also discussed implementation of the Farm Bill as well as initiatives and ways to operate USDA in a more cost-effective manner so the Department is efficiently using taxpayer dollars. I look forward to working with Secretary Vilsack on issues affecting rural America.”
Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, Sen. Moran served for 14 years on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee including as chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. Throughout his time in Congress, he has been a leading advocate for protecting and preserving the special way of life Kansans enjoy. Sen. Moran continues the fight to make certain farming and ranching families have the opportunity to earn a living and pass on their agricultural heritage to the next generation of producers, all while working to eliminate wasteful spending.
Hays City Commissioners had to consult their attorney regarding parliamentary procedure when they voted 3-1-0 for a resolution provided by the Kansas League of Municipalities which opposes Kansas Senate Bill 171.
The final bill, with some amendments, was passed by the Senate 21-18 Thursday night and sends the measure to the House.
SB 171 would move city and local school board elections from spring to the fall of odd-numbered years. One amendment keeps those elections non-partisan. Another amendment requires local tax and bond issue votes to be held in primary or general elections and not in special elections.
A number of cities have already passed the resolution along with more than 194 school districts, according to the Kansas Association of School Boards.
Hays city commissioner Shaun Musil voted against the local resolution. “I don’t agree with the bill but I just don’t see where this does anything for us,” he said.
Outgoing commissioner Kent Steward abstained. “I’m not for the bill and I don’t oppose it. I see pluses and minuses in having local elections in April and I see pluses and minuses in moving them (to November.)
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done this before, but as an expression of my complete disinterest in this, I’d like for the record to show that I abstain,” Steward said.
City attorney John Bird interjected an explanation of parliamentary procedure. “You don’t need three votes to pass a resolution. All you need is a majority, and the abstention is counted with the majority,” Bird said.
Supporters of the measure argued it will increase turnout in local elections because people are used to voting in November during state and national elections. Municipal and school board elections currently are held in April, with primaries in late February or early March. Turnout is typically quite low.
Critics of the bill said there’s no compelling reason for a change and it will cause administrative problems for local officials.
Vice-Mayor Phelps, who served 16 years in the Kansas House, said “with every piece of legislation there’s a fiscal mark. It seems to me there’s no cost-savings (with this bill.)”
Friday was Turn Around Day for the state Legislature.
Gene Policinski is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center
From Sean Penn and the Oscars to Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly at their cable TV perches, and with a dash of national security issues for good measure, we’re “all atwitter” — literally.
Twitter — the 140-character social media phenom — is used by just 23% of adult Americans who are online, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center report. For teens, surveys say it’s about one-quarter of online regulars, and rising quickly.
But wherever the numbers fall, Twitter has become a free speech and free press touchstone. The once scorned-as-mere-gossip “Twittersphere” often sets the agenda for national chatter, serious discourse, press accountability and the occasional verbal-call-to-arms that once was the province of daily newspapers and, later, network television.
Most recently, ESPN’s oft-controversial commentator Keith Olbermann lost his TV chair for the rest of the week after a series of rants with and about Penn State students and the value of their education — tweets that wandered off into seeming criticism of student fundraising efforts that raised more than $13 million for pediatric cancer research.
Olbermann ultimately posted: “I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job.” ESPN management wasted no time in reacting, saying management was “aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State. It was completely inappropriate. … ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week.”
Fox provocateur-extraordinaire Bill O’Reilly used Twitter in a decidedly non-apologetic manner. On the offensive after an article in Mother Jones magazine attacked his claims to have reported from a “war zone” during the 1982 Falklands War, on Feb. 20 @oreillyfactor had this tweet: “Bill has decided to release Friday’s Talking Points Memo EARLY in order to address the Internet guttersnipes.” Two days later: “Bill calls in to Media Buzz with Howard Kurtz to address the left’s latest smear campaign against him.”
One of the most creative — and nonpartisan — Twitter comments on the controversy came from @lybr3: “I think they should have replaced O’Reilly about 10-12 years ago when he turned into angry grandpa. Mother Jones is a joke though.”
Actor Sean Penn caused one of the larger Twitter-spasms late Sunday when at the end of a long Academy Awards program, in announcing Best Picture winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, Penn said, “Who gave this son-of-a-bitch a green card?” Penn and others insisted it was dark humor between friends, and a self-deprecating joke aimed at fellow U.S. directors.
Backstage and later online, Iñárritu said he found the remark “… hilarious. Sean and I have that kind of brutal relationship.” But on Twitter, critics said the comment was offensive to immigrants regardless, and many chose to attack Penn by tweets referencing accounts of domestic abuse and violence in public from the actor’s past.
In fact, recent 87th Academy Awards show prompted a larger Twitter campaign — one aimed at the overall lack of diversity in the competition. In January, when nominations were announced, social media guru April Reign created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, which quickly gained a sizeable following. Reign moderated a live-tweet session during the Feb. 22 telecast, asking Twitter followers to “do anything” other than watch the Oscar show.
For those who did watch, there was another “Twitter” moment. “Citizenfour,” a film about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, took the “Best Documentary” award. Host Neil Patrick Harris remarked that “… Snowden could not be here tonight for some ‘treason’.” The pun drew tweets from many who consider the still-on-the-run Snowden to be a national hero for leaking secrets about government surveillance programs. One Twitter post said Harris “is now dead to me.” But @EricBoehm87 posted: “I laughed at the ‘treason’ joke. Snowden’s no traitor, but that was funny. And NPH also made fun of Meryl Streep. Nothing off limits.”
All of this is worth noting because of what we might call the “atmospherics” around the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech. None of the tweets noted — even those regarding Snowden — were likely to bring down government’s heavy hand of censorship. But such exchanges by thousands on a myriad of topics is a new kind of national dialogue, where uncomfortable issues are held up for comment, where public figures are held accountable and where millions can talk to each other in what are online Town Hall meetings.
A new kind of “marketplace of ideas” to be sure. But a valuable one. Even at a sentence or two at a time.
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. He can be reached at [email protected].
Two staples of the Christian music scene over the past decade will be touring together for the first time this spring. Combined, The Afters and Hawk Nelson have sold over a million SoundScan albums and have garnered a dozen No. 1 radio singles.
Concert-goers to the Here For You Tour will not find it hard to be extremely familiar with many of the songs that will be performed. The Afters have topped the charts with such classics as “Every Good Thing”, “Lift Me Up”, “Light Up The Sky”, “Never Going Back To OK”, and “Beautiful Love”. While Hawk Nelson has reached #1 status with favorites like “Crazy Love”, “Everything You Ever Wanted”, “Alive”, “Let’s Dance”, “Things We Go Through”, “The Show” and “Words”.
In addition to sharing success at radio, both The Afters and Hawk Nelson have secured significant mainstream exposure through high profile film and television licenses. Hawk Nelson’s music has been heard on NBC’s Sunday Night Football promotions, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals broadcast, 2004 Summer Olympic broadcast, Smallville, and Laguna Beach; while the music of The Afters has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, The Biggest Loser, and So You Think You Can Dance?
Solo artists Dan Bremnes and Justin McRoberts will be also be joining the Here For You Tour on separate individual dates. For a complete updated listing of all dates for the Here For You Tour, please visit theafters.com or hawknelson.com.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association released the 2015 high school basketball sub-state brackets for upper division schools on Saturday. TMP boys and girls both received number one seeds in the 4A, Division II Colby Sub-State. Hays High hosts one of the eight 4A, Division I Sub-State Tournaments. The Indian boys are the number two seed and the Indian girls are the number four seed.
Click on the following links to view the brackets:
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Bryan Noone, Director of the Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Institute at HaysMed, by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is making the switch from interviewee to interviewer.
The president questioned a Maryland high school senior in the My Brother’s Keeper program. The interview for the StoryCorps oral history project was airing Friday on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”
Noah McQueen discussed going from being in trouble with the law to being an award-winning student.
Obama asked McQueen how he softened after being a “knucklehead.” McQueen says he became accountable for his actions. He says as a black man, he feels pressure to always make the right decisions or be judged.
The president told McQueen he’ll probably make more mistakes since he’s only 18. But Obama said he’s proud of McQueen.
The interview marks the first anniversary of Obama’s initiative to help young minority men.
Hays USD 489 Kindergarten Round-Up will begin with a parents-only informational meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 3 at the Hays High School cafeteria.
Parents of any child who will be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31 are invited to begin preparing their child for kindergarten.
At the meeting, parents will be able to complete an enrollment form and sign up for the school of choice. All forms must be returned to the school of attendance no later than Friday, March 13. Class sizes will be limited. Once a school has filled its classrooms, parents will be asked to select another school.
For more information, call any Hays USD 489 elementary school.
• Lincoln: (785) 623-2500
• O’Loughlin: (785) 623-2510
• Roosevelt: (785) 623-2520
• Washington: (785) 623-2540
• Wilson: (785) 623-2550
This will be the only Kindergarten Round-Up for the upcoming year. No child care will be provided.
The K-State Research & Extension – Agricultural Economics department is hosting a final update to the Agricultural Act of 2014 or more commonly known as the Farm Bill.
It will be a one hour webinar March 11 at the K-State Agriculture Research Center in Hays, to update farmers and others on the decision between selecting the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) vs. Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC). This update will highlight some of the new resources available and also the Marketing Year Average (MYA) price estimates after the January prices are released.
Presenters will be K-State Ag Economists Art Barnaby and Mykel Taylor. Questions from the audience can be addressed by the speakers at this webinar, and Ellis County Extension agent Stacy Campbell and Ellis County FSA Director Greg Kerr will be available to facilitate and to also help answer questions.
The Ellis County Extension Office and Ellis County Farm Service Agency are partnering to offer this webinar at the Agriculture Research Center in Hays, 1232 240th Avenue on Wednesday, March 11. The webinar will begin at 11:00 a.m. It is free to attend and no RSVP is necessary.
For more information call the Ellis County Extension Office at (785) 628-9430.
HUTCHINSON — A Missouri man convicted for 19 local burglaries in Hutchinson was sentenced Friday afternoon to a total of five years and eight months in prison.
Joseph Paul Jones Jr. was found guilty on all counts involving the crimes that occurred in the late night hours of May 13 and the early morning hours of May 14, 2014.
He was convicted for breaking into the local businesses by prying open doors or breaking the glass windows with a crow bar. The state says Jones cut the telephone lines at several businesses before making entry.
Jones, Jr. is responsible for restitution. The pre-sentence investigation had suggested the amount of about $11,215.00, but the state believes it may be more, so a hearing over restitution will be held on March 12.
He also faces charges in Sedgwick and Lyon Counties.
Ongoing snow this morning will be tapering off to flurries from west to east by mid morning to early afternoon. Snow may cause slick roads. Temperatures will be climbing into the upper 20s this afternoon.
A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for all of southwest and south central Kansas through 6pm Saturday. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible for the Hays area.
Today: Snow likely, mainly after 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 27. Wind chill values as low as 1. South southeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Tonight: A slight chance of flurries before 7pm, then a slight chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 21. South southeast wind 6 to 13 mph becoming east after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 33. North northeast wind 6 to 11 mph.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow after 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. North northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable.
Monday: A slight chance of snow before 2pm, then a slight chance of drizzle and sleet between 2pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of drizzle after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. South southeast wind 6 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Hays City Commissioners approved four bids Thursday night for various projects in the 2015 Street Maintenance Program. The project total is $584,178 to be funded out of Special Highway monies.
Bids were awarded to B&H Paving for chip seal operations; JCorp for reconstruction of 12th Street east of Canterbury; Sweeney Pavement Maintenance for polypatch operations; and Stripe and Seal for curb and brick repair on Ash from 14th to 17th Street.
The projects include the chip seal of approximately 5.6 miles of asphalt streets, and polypatch of asphalt streets in various locations.
The work will be done at various locations and various times through the year.
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, met with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about priorities for the 114th Congress.
