On Friday while most news media were watching to see who is filing for whatever state office, the Kansas Department of Revenue released a near-shocking report on receipts into the State General Fund (SGF)—the checking account for state government.

That little-read document shows that last year’s income tax increase is working to put the state back into budget balance. And that builds on the previous year’s sales tax increase that is finally kicking in and making state government more economically stable than Kansans have seen in the past seven years (yes, you can go ahead and call it the Gov. Sam Brownback/now-Gov. Jeff Colyer era).

What was the report? It was May revenues from all sources, and it showed that in May, the state received $542.9 million in taxes, $101 million more than predicted, and a dramatic $92.5 million of that unexpected cash was from personal income taxes.

Last year, recall, and who doesn’t, there was that massive income tax increase, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017, six months before lawmakers overrode Brownback’s veto of the measure designed to raise $1.2 billion over two years.

It was that measure that eliminated the income tax exemption for so-called “non-wage income” (often LLC or self-employment income) that some 330,000 Kansans had enjoyed for four years.

Well, there’s one month—June—remaining in this fiscal year, and the income tax increase appears in the first 11 months of its life to have raised individual income tax receipts by about $1.077 billion. That’s not the $1.2 billion estimate, but there’s a month left, and, well, the tax law has been in effect long enough for some to have probably found a kink or two in it that can be exploited to save a few bucks.

So, what’s the good news…that the tax increase has apparently worked in boosting state revenues?

It’s early yet, but it appears that the state may, probably not in the upcoming fiscal year but at least the year starting July 1, 2019, have enough money to finance a new highway plan, and, probably under court order, increase the funding for public schools.

That revenue report—strange what sorts of behavior you can track when different taxes are split out by specific levy—also shows, for example, that Kansans probably spent a fair amount of time on the porch smoking. Yep, in May Kansans paid $11.9 million in taxes ($1.29 a pack) on cigarettes, about $2 million or 19 percent more than predicted. Now that’s more money for the state, but you gotta figure that long-term, Kansans would be better off if they hadn’t smoked more than predicted in May. Best nuance from the Revenue Department’s report on cigarettes probably was that Kansans smoked less this May than they did last May…

Another of those nuances from the report was that Kansans increasingly like to buy stuff over the Internet or in other states to bring home. While sales tax revenues in May were a sizable $189 million, about what was expected, Kansans spent more on “compensating use” taxes. Those are essentially sales taxes paid on purchases out of state, or over the Internet, where just a portion of those purchases by Kansans carried the state’s sales tax. The news there? While it’s nice that some of those out-of-state and Internet taxes were collected (about $32.3 million in May and $372 million since last July), it’s still revenue that didn’t go through Kansas merchants’ cash registers, which keeps stores open and increases retail sales jobs.

So, Kansas is apparently moving back toward a budget that won’t call for year-after-year cuts in spending. Or…lawmakers might start the tax-cut era again…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

The next time you take a few minutes out of the sun, dust off one of those old family albums. You know the ones that date back to the ‘30s, ‘40s and even the late ‘50s.

If your family farmed, you’ll see photos of your relatives attired in wide-brimmed hats. Look at their shirts. They wore loose-fitting, long-sleeved, light-colored garments.

Now fast-forward to the photographs of the mid – ‘60s. Clothing styles changed. You don’t see too many long-sleeved shirts any longer. Broad-brimmed hats have been replaced with baseball caps proclaiming seed, feed, tractors, and organizations – just about any company logo under the sun.

Today’s farmer no longer wears the clothing of yesteryear – clothing that afforded protection from the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. Instead he or she wears a smaller, softer, snug-fitting cap that will not blow off and bump into machinery. Farmers prefer their hats to be inexpensive or free, and they like them colorful.

While the ball cap is comfortable and affordable, it does not protect the temples, the tender, delicate ear tips and the back of the neck. The baseball cap doesn’t extend far enough to offer protection needed to guard against the sun.

Health specialists in the agricultural field have been tracking skin cancer and the sun’s harmful impact on farmers and other segments of society since 1983. While reports of deaths from skin cancer remains small, the number of tumors has increased significantly according to family physicians that treat farmers in rural communities.

Ultra-violet rays are one of the leading causes of cancer on farms today, researchers say. But with early diagnosis, treatment is possible. Farmers and ranchers should insist on inspection for skin cancer as part of their regular check-up.

Without protective measures, sun will eventually result in skin cancer. Dermatologists recommend that anyone working or playing in the sunshine protect their skin completely by wearing clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.

The American Cancer Society will tell you there is a skin cancer epidemic. The number of cases is rising faster than any other tumor being studied today.

One reason skin cancer may be on the rise is due to more leisure time and more exposure to the sun. If anyone wanted evidence of this, they need only look at the thousands who attend the “Country Stampede” in Manhattan in late June. Ball caps, shirtless guys and gals wearing two-piece bathing suits parade everywhere.

How can we stem the tide?

Youngsters and young adults must be aware of possible skin cancer. If they learn about the sun’s dangerous rays at an early age and practice prevention, skin cancer can be avoided in later years.

Farmers, ranchers – just about anyone who works or plays in the sun should avoid direct exposure during the midday sun. This period is roughly from 10 a.m. until about 4 p.m. in the Midwest.

If you can’t wear a wide-brimmed hat and protective clothing, apply at least a Number 30 sun protective lotion. Today’s farmers and ranchers would be well-advised to take a page out of their family albums – to return to those days of floppy, wide-brimmed straw hats and long-sleeved, baggie cotton shirts.

Who knows, maybe they could start a new fashion craze as well as protect their skin from the damaging rays of the sun.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

I have received many calls recently from individuals worried about their juniper trees. The trees appear to be turning brown at the tips of the branches, sometimes throughout the tree. This gives the tree an unhealthy look, and people are concerned about the overall health of their evergreens. The trees that I have looked at have all had the same disease in common, which is Kabatina tip blight.

Kabatina tip blight is a fungal disease that infects the trees in the autumn, mainly in windbreaks or ornamental plantings. Visible symptoms are not apparent until late winter or early spring. The terminal 2 to 6 inches of the diseased branches first turn dull green, then red or yellow. The tips fall off the tree in late May or Early June. Blighting is restricted to the branch tips and is often associated with small wounds on branch tips caused by insect feeding or mechanical damage.

There are no fungicides labeled for control of the fungus, but the good news is that rarely will the disease kill the tree. However, there are some cultural practices that you can implement to help reduce the severity of Kabitina tip blight. Proper spacing of plants to help with airflow is important when planting new trees. Avoid wounding plants in the spring or fall will also help reduce infection. It is also recommended to practice good watering techniques such as watering in the early morning so that the foliage will dry quickly, reducing the time the fungus can spread.

Overall, Kabatina tip blight is more of an aesthetic issue, and should not harm your tree. Keep them well watered and practice a few good techniques to lessen the spread, and your tree will be fine.

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or calling 620-793-1910

Science, technology and engineering in America is now dependent on foreign students. Data from a Pew Research Center analysis of ICE data secured through a Freedom of Information Act request found that between 2004 and 2016, almost one and a half million foreign students graduating from U.S. universities were authorized to remain in the U.S. for employment in science. More than half were from Asia. While some citizens know of the H1B visa program for hiring highly skilled foreign workers, these students work under the federal Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Between 2008 and 2016, new foreign student enrollments on F-1 visas doubled and OPT employments went up fourfold!

Compared to all other developed countries, the American public and American students not majoring in a science field, are simply science illiterate. What could turn this around?

-The American public school curriculum must increase science coursework from five percent to 20 percent of the K–12 curriculum.
-External testing that drives rote teaching-to-the-test must end. Teachers in science fields must pose questions and lead students in problem solving, a strategy that has been reduced by external testing.
-Elementary students beginning in first grade should have substantial class time with elementary science teacher specialists. Youngsters become hooked on science in these early years, but current elementary teachers are mostly science-ignorant and cannot build on students’ natural questions and enthusiasm.
-Science must return to hands-on classwork. Multisensory experiences are the basis for understanding natural phenomena and grasping the meaning of science concepts. No experience, no meaning. Distractions, especially computers and social media, do not belong in the science classroom. -“Technology” in science consists of microscopes and chemicals and physics equipment. Real well-equipped labs must be re-established. Explanations require experiences. Again, science technology has little to do with computers and cellphones.
-Field trips must be restored. As fewer students come from rural backgrounds or have field experiences, the school must provide more experiences with nature.
-Forty states and the District of Columbia only train shallow one-size-fits-all secondary “science” teachers who take only one to three college courses in each discipline. Only eleven states train high school biology or chemistry or physics or earth science teachers in-depth. Those specific field endorsements require from 30 to 45 credit hours of college coursework and labs in a field. All states should move immediately to educating secondary science teachers in-depth in specific science disciplines.
-Secondary science teacher programs should be housed and managed in the biology, chemistry, physics and earth science departments at U.S. universities. This is the case in many foreign countries, where science teachers are trained alongside science researchers. Science education programs operated by Schools of Education waste time on teaching fads and provide the most minimal science requirements.

U.S. science literacy began to decline in the 1970s and has resulted in the most science illiterate population among developed countries. We currently do not have enough well-educated science teachers to teach our current anemic curriculum. It will take decades to scale up science teacher production by nearly five times. It will take increased salaries for science teachers. -And more respect for teachers.

But one last item is a key indicator. The U.S. must go metric, and go metric now! Metric is the language of physics and chemistry and much of biology. And our students never learn to speak this language of science.

Going metric is easy. But if we cannot even get off of the barleycorn system (three barleycorns laid end-to-end equal an inch), we have little chance of making these other substantial changes in science education that are vital to eventually producing a science literate society.

The flow of foreign students into American universities began a decline this last year. Journal metrics show a dramatic rise in Asian authors and a slow decline from America. If we do not bolster science in K–12 schools immediately, the U.S. will gradually lose first-world status in science.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.