Q: What did baby corn say to mama corn?
A: Where’s popcorn?
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Month: January 2018
Smith Center rancher chairs KS Beef Council; supports revamped brand ‘Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.’
TOPEKA – Farmers and ranchers in Kansas are excited about the relaunch of the iconic Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand that has captured the attention of millions of consumers and evolved as one of the top commodity food brands over the past quarter century.
The relaunch began October 3 with the unveiling of the new BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website, complete with a new look and logo. The updated website combines eight checkoff-owned websites into one digital destination about all things beef, including more than 800 beef recipes, beef cuts and cooking tips, beef nutrition information and a new section on raising beef that invites people to “Rethink the Ranch” with videos and stories about the people who help bring beef to market. Overall, the comprehensive website now provides an even more interactive experience on all things beef, from cuts and cookery to a robust collection of beef recipes.
“Our Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand has been a tremendous asset for beef farmers and ranchers and beef promotion through the years,” said Philip Weltmer, a Kansas beef industry leader from Smith Center. “We’re excited to relaunch that brand to the next generation of consumers and remind them that beef will always be what’s for dinner – and breakfast, lunch and the occasional snack.”
Weltmer, who is a cow-calf rancher and serves as chair of the Kansas Beef Council, says the relaunch features many of the brand’s valuable assets, including Aaron Copland’s famous “Hoe-down” from Rodeo music, while adding new creative elements. Recognizing that consumers today want to know more about the people who raise their food, the campaign relaunched by strengthening the story of the people behind Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. and will continue throughout 2018 to celebrate the people who raise beef, the great taste of beef and the powerful nutritional benefits beef provides.
The original Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner campaign launched in May 1992 using a broad range of marketing elements, including print and television. Today the methods of conveying information to consumers have changed dramatically, with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. going entirely digital in 2014 to reach consumers through social media and digital advertising.
Over the summer, video was gathered with beef producers from coast to coast to develop a series of videos that capture the passion and commitment to animal care of the people who raise beef. As a centerpiece of the campaign, the team developed a 90-second video that tells the beef production story, titled “Rethink the Ranch,” along with a series of five additional videos, and shared those videos through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms, including the new BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website.
“For the past 25 years, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. has helped slow a decades-long decline in per capita beef consumption,” according to Alisa Harrison, senior vice president, Global Marketing and Research for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the beef checkoff. “The brand still has tremendous equity. Using the powerful medium of digital, we have relaunched the brand to deliver what our consumers want today – transparency about their food, inspiration on how to enjoy the delicious taste of beef, and information about the unique protein benefits beef provides.”
“It’s an exciting way to refresh and enhance our beef brand,” said Kansas’ Weltmer. “Today’s beef consumers will be encouraged to purchase beef more often through this educational and inspirational beef checkoff program.”
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents of each dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
KFIX House Band For Fri 1/19: Billy Idol
Today, enjoy at least one song an hour from Billy Idol on 96.9
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New season of ‘The Kansas Legislature’ begins Jan. 26 on SHPTV
BUNKER HILL – Smoky Hills Public Television viewers have the opportunity to hear from area legislators and ask questions through the local production “The Kansas Legislature.” The first episode of the new season will air Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.
The show airs during the legislative session, which gives the legislators and viewers the opportunity to discuss up-to-date issues. For each show, legislators from the SHPTV viewing area are invited to participate in the live call-in program. Typically, a moderator and three to four legislators take part in each show.
The 2018 season of The Kansas Legislature will air Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 9 and 16, and March 30 from 7 to 8 p.m. The schedule is subject to change and additional shows may be added. Past episodes can be viewed at www.smokyhillstv.org.
SHPTV can be seen on Eagle Cable channels 9 and 609.
SCHROCK: When education moves backward
There have been a few attempts to increase the rigor of coursework and teacher training.
When the U.S.S.R. launched their Sputnik satellite ahead of us, there was a major infusion of money into retraining science teachers nationwide, recognizing that better-trained teachers would result in better teaching. However, that effort and the subsequent Eisenhower grants for science content preparation were soon diluted to cover all fields. And those veteran teachers have also long since retired.
Any thought of expanding the science curriculum was cut short in the 1980s by the announcement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science that “less science is more.” This pitiful phrase still cripples any expansion of science coursework in schools today. Blame for this motto of mediocrity lies squarely on the science community and the AAAS.
Kansas formerly required two high school science courses to graduate. However, schools were allowed to count “home ec” and “shop” as science classes! This practice was curtailed under Commissioner Andy Tompkins. However, there was considerable leeway in who could teach science classes. And the “general science” and “physical science” classes in Kansas high schools were anything but rigorous. In 2003, the “Redesign” eliminated many teaching certificates (now called licenses) including those shallow general science and physical science endorsements. This action required more depth-of-learning by students. But physical sciences was restored after pressure from Johnson County.
By 2001, the KBOR implemented a 3-sciences requirement to enter regents schools, and one had to be chemistry or physics. By 2005, the KSBE likewise raised the high school science requirement to three science courses for a high school diploma. Previously perhaps 20 percent had taken chemistry and 10 percent had physics. Now that all freshmen would have taken at least one of these courses, I asked my university colleagues if it had improved their university students’ performance? “No,” was the answer. They indicated that without more qualified teachers, raising the paper requirement did not result in more students receiving a solid genuine chemistry or physics course—a situation that continues today.
And last year, the State Board approved a bi-literacy seal in order to encourage and reward students who took high school foreign languages. That was undermined by Kansas universities that wiped out or drastically cut their foreign language teacher programs. One step forward, two steps backward.
At the higher education level, the rigor of academics is being pushed back by decades if not a century. In chasing tuition and pushing to retain and graduate every student, university data show that some students have difficulty completing college algebra. Therefore the California State University system of 23 institutions has just eliminated that requirement from all but science and math majors. A similar action is being discussed in Kansas by our Board of Regents (KBOR).
Several years ago, KBOR also allowed the minimum credit hours for a bachelor’s degree to drop from 124 to 120, leaving the decision up to faculty as to whether that was appropriate for their field. Some faculty, especially in the sciences, considered 124 necessary and in some cases no longer enough. Now KBOR, frustrated that not enough programs dropped their requirements, is set on having every bachelors degree drop to 120. A faculty could appeal to keep 124, but if any other school allowed 120, that appeal would lose. This is clear evidence of our race-to-the-bottom mentality.
For decades, the KBOR Transfer and Articulation Committee (TAAC) has been pressuring faculty at Kansas regents schools and community colleges to likewise drop course requirements to the lowest common denominator. TAAC will not recognize differences in courses based on 1) prerequisites or 2) mode of delivery. Therefore, when faculty point out that a pre-med microbiology course has 3 pre-requisite courses and real labs, and a community college offers a barely-high-school-level online microbiology for nursing assistants with no pre-requisites, TAAC demands they transfer as equal.
And finally, both the Governor and KSBE support all Kansas high school students earning 15 credit hours of college coursework, when many high school students are not yet college-able. And many of these high school instructors lack the master’s credentials to teach college level courses. This devalues the bachelor’s degree by a semester or a year.
The U.S. has dropped in rank among developed countries not just because other countries have surged ahead, but also because our educational governing bodies have made conscious and intentional decisions to decrease academic rigor for over 30 years. And they continue to do so today.
🎥 Sternberg Museum debuts new mineral collection
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is showing off a new exhibit of minerals from around the world, recently donated to the museum from a private collection.
Geologist Richard Green and his wife, Pam, of Missouri decided they wanted to share a portion of their mineral collection with the museum. The 84 minerals that were donated are estimated to be worth $100,000, Christina Byrd, Sternberg collections manager, said. The minerals come from five continents, 19 countries and nine states.
Although the Sternberg has had a mineral collection on exhibit for some time, the new minerals are higher quality than what the museum has been able to showcase in the past, Byrd said.
Some of the minerals are rare and others are unusual examples of more common minerals. Some of the more rare minerals are prehnites, zeolites and aphopholites. The exhibit also includes examples of more common minerals such as quartz, calcite and fluorite.
Some of the minerals are more colorful such as malachite, which is a deep green, and azurite, which is a royal blue.
Byrd said she hoped the exhibit will tell a story about the minerals.
“I hope visitors learn a different lesson from each case,” she said. “From one case, I hope they will learn about mineral names and what the names of these mineral groups mean, where do they come from and why do we call things the way that we do?
“I hope they will learn that minerals come in many different colors even though they are called the same thing. Quartz can be clear, purple, pink, smoky, but it is all quartz.”
The exhibit has two examples of azurite. One has fine crystals and is a royal blue. The other has much larger crystals and looks almost black in the case. Byrd said the second example is more rare and, in the right light, exhibits a brilliant blue color.
Byrd said there are seven different ways minerals get their colors. If you know your elements, the chemical makeup of the minerals will often give you clues about where the color of the mineral came from, Byrd said. Copper is often responsible for the blue in minerals or iron for a red hue.
Another case will talk about how minerals can have different shapes and sizes. Yet another case will talk about the practical uses for minerals.
“Some minerals are very important in our day-to-day lives,” Byrd said, “be it in the devices that we’re using —cars, cell phones are full of different minerals — be they quartz, which is in glass or the metals that make up our phones. Those metals are all minerals. So I hope people walk away with a greater appreciation for what minerals are and how they impact our daily lives.”
The exhibit has an example of fluorite, which contains fluoride, which is also found in toothpaste. Rutile is used as a whitening agent in products such as liquid paper correction fluid and very small amounts in the filling in sandwich cookies. Other minerals in the exhibit are used in makeup.
The heaviest mineral in the collection is galena, which is a lead sulfide. The specimen is smaller than a soccer ball, but weighs over 100 pounds.
The museum is working with a mineralogist at Fort Hays State University on cards that will further tell the story of the minerals, but the minerals are currently in cases and available for viewing by the public. Currently, each mineral is displayed with a card that contains its name, the chemical composition of the mineral and the place were the specimen was collected.
The full exhibit should be completed in the next two to three weeks.
Kansas man dead, woman hospitalized after car overturns
CLAY COUNTY— A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4p.m. Thursday in Clay County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Ford Mustang driven by John Robert Linn, 49, Clay Center, was westbound on Broughton Road just east of Clay Center.
As the vehicle came upon slower traffic, the driver swerved to avoid and lost control. The Ford entered the north ditch, overturned and came to rest in the culvert.
Linn was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Neill-Schwenson-Rook Funeral Home
A passenger Melissa Juleen Haas-Menard, 41, Marysville, was transported to Clay County Medical Center. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
Exporter of the Year nominations being accepted
KDC
TOPEKA – Jan. 26 is the final day to submit nominations to the Kansas Department of Commerce for the 2018 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award. The award is presented to a single Kansas business each year for excellence in international trade and marketing. The winner of the 30th annual installment of the award will be announced during a special ceremony on June 5, 2018.
Nominated companies will be evaluated on the totality of their international efforts. Qualifications include:
- Number and/or percentage increase in jobs due to international activities.
- Innovations in global marketing.
- Number of countries exported to.
- Effective use of international distributors.
- Long-range international strategies and prospects for future growth.
- Commitment to the state and local community.
- Foreign language promotional materials and general promotional activities.
- Trade shows and/or international expositions.
The Governor’s Exporter of the Year receives:
- An invitation to attend the Team Kansas awards banquet on June 5, 2018, where top businesses from across the state are recognized
- A site visit from the Governor to honor the company’s management team and employees
- Statewide recognition of your business excellence
- Use of the award to market your products
- Membership in the Kansas International Trade Coordinating Council (KITCC)
- Increased networking opportunities
Businesses can nominate themselves or be nominated by any other organization or individual. Visit KansasCommerce.gov/Exporter to learn more about the Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award and to download nomination forms. The nomination deadline is 5:00 p.m. on January 26, 2018.
Nominations can be emailed to April Chiang at [email protected] or mailed or faxed to:
Kansas International Trade Coordinating Council
c/o Kansas Department of Commerce, April Chiang
1000 S.W. Jackson St., Suite 100
Topeka, KS 66612-1354
Fax: (785) 296-3490
Kansas woman hospitalized after pickup overturns
OSBORNE COUNTY— A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 10p.m. Thursday in Osborne County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Chevy Silverado driven by Laurie A Schmitt, 52, Osborne, was north bound on U.S. 281 at 230 Drive. The pickup crossed the highway, entered the west ditch, overturned, rolled and came to rest on its top.
Schmitt was transported to the hospital in Osborne. She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Brownback another step closer to working for Trump administration
WASHINGTON —
Following another round of testimony, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday approved Governor Sam Brownback to be the Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.
The nomination will now go to the full Senate. There is no timeline on when they will schedule a vote.
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WASHINGTON — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is back in Washington for a second U.S. Senate committee confirmation hearing on his nomination for ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Testimony was to begin early Thursday afternoon, according to the Foreign Relations Committee web site.
President Donald Trump nominated the two-term Republican governor for the ambassadorship in late July.
However, Brownback wasn’t among dozens of nominees given final approval by the end of the year. There is no word on how long the process will take.
Indictment: 2 Kan. police officers, retired KHP trooper obstructed justice
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are accusing two former Wichita police officers and a gambling operator of obstructing justice, saying they revealed the identity of an undercover officer who was investigating illegal gambling, an indictment unsealed Thursday says.
The indictment charges police officers Michael Zajkowski, 50, of Wichita and Bruce Mackey, 45, of Goddard with obstruction of law enforcement along with gambling operator Brock Wedman, 48, of St. Marys. Wedman also is charged with lying to the FBI.
Also separately charged Thursday in a related criminal complaint is retired Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Frederikson, 52, of Derby. He is charged with two counts of lying to the FBI about his participation in an illegal cash poker game and contacts with the man running the illegal gambling business.
Court records do not indicate whether the men have attorneys. The Wichita Police Department referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office, but said Chief Gordon Ramsay will attend Friday’s regular media briefing.
Investigators have been looking into an illegal gambling business with ties to public corruption in Wichita since November 2011, according to an FBI affidavit. Investigators learned of more than five different business establishments throughout Wichita and identified numerous individuals involved with the illegal live poker games.
A member of the Wichita Police Department’s undercover narcotics section developed an unwitting informant who offered to introduce an undercover officer into the game, according to the affidavit.
Thursday’s charges against the four men follow two Wichita men’s guilty pleas last week to federal gambling and income tax charges related to operating an illegal gambling business in the Wichita area. One of those men, Danny Chapman, pleaded guilty last Friday to one count of operating an illegal gambling business and one count of tax evasion. The other, Daven Flax, pleaded guilty to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business and one count of making a false statement on a tax return. Flax admitted he managed illegal games at numerous locations in Wichita.
The latest charges, which include those against the police officers, stem from a Feb. 12, 2014, poker game during which Zajkowski and Mackey allegedly used Police Department resources to determine the ownership of a vehicle driven by the person who they suspected was an undercover investigator. Prosecutors say they revealed the identity of the officer to Wedman and other co-conspirators and that Frederiksen, while still a Highway Patrol trooper, was a player in that game.
The undercover investigator posing as a gambler tried to use his phone to snap photographs, and the men running the game took him aside and told him he was making other players nervous by taking photos, according to the FBI affidavit.
The government alleges Zajkowski and Mackey made a series of phone calls and sent texts, using police resources to learn the ownership of the vehicle the suspected undercover officer drove to the game in an effort to learn his identity. The calls were allegedly made at the request of Wedman and other co-conspirators.
Zajkowski and Mackey then provided the undercover officer’s identity and the vehicle information to Wedman and others, according to the indictment. The vehicle was registered to the city of Wichita and was in service to the Police Department.
Man in debt over DUI pleads guilty to robbing Kansas bank
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City, Missouri, man who was thousands of dollars in debt from a drunken driving case has pleaded guilty to a Kansas bank robbery that netted just $615.
Prosecutors say 41-year-old Ryan Michael Cothern pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a U.S. Bank in Overland Park in October 2017.
Investigators say Cothern handed a teller his cellphone with a message demanding she put money into a bag. The teller placed $615 and a GPS locator in the bag and pulled the alarm. Cothern was arrested about 7 miles from the bank.
Johnson County records show Cothern was released from jail four days before the robbery. He was under court order to pay back more than $14,000 he owed in an earlier DUI case.
Sunny, mild Friday
Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. South southwest wind 7 to 14 mph.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 26. South wind 5 to 8 mph.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 53. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.
Saturday NightMostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
SundayA chance of rain showers, snow showers, freezing rain, and sleet before 2pm, then a chance of rain showers between 2pm and 5pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. North wind 7 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday NightA chance of rain and snow showers before 8pm, then a chance of snow showers and freezing rain between 8pm and 9pm, then a chance of snow showers after 9pm. Patchy blowing snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Blustery. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
MondayMostly sunny, with a high near 44. Breezy.