Water pressure in northwest Hays is not as strong as it is south of Interstate 70.
Plans to install a second waterline under I-70 will correct the problem as well as provide better fire protection and a redundant water supply to the growing number of businesses north of I-70.
According to Jeff Crispin, director of water resources, water north of I-70 is supplied by a single 16-inch water main.
“In 1993 this line was installed as well as the half-million gallon water tower north of Hays to supply the few businesses north of I-70,” Crispin told commissioners last week. The current above-ground booster station is located near the curve of 41st Street.
“In the last 26 years we have seen growth in this area of many businesses that are vital to our economy. A failure of that single water main under I-70 would have huge consequences to be able to provide water just for use, but most importantly fire protection.”
Crispin also noted a break in the existing line cannot be easily repaired.
A typical water main break in the city takes an average of about four hours to repair.
“That’s from notification to that you have a water leak, to repair, to the service being put back in. If you look around in the industry, that’s pretty darn good timing,” Crispin said.
If the single water line under I-70 breaks, the city will not be able to dig up I-70, according to Crispin.
“You’re talking about getting approval (from state and federal agencies) to bore a new line would take time, and then to actually bore that new line, we would probably be talking weeks in order to replace that line.”
City commissioners are expected Thursday night to approve a low bid of $769,678 from Midlands Contracting, Inc., Kearney, Neb. for construction of the second waterline crossing and a booster pump station.
Authorization of the 2020 health insurance plan for city employees from Blue Cross Blue Shield. The renewal cost is about two percent less than in 2019.
Approval of up to $390,020 toward the acquisition of right-of-way and easements associated with the North Vine Street Corridor Project.
Annexation request by Mark Ottley of property at 700 W. 48th St., formerly Mid-Kansas Auto Auction. Ottley has changed
business plans for the location and has also requested from the Hays Area Planning Commission a change of zoning from C-2
(Commercial General) to A-L (Agriculture) for a portion of the property.
Presentation of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service awards to city employees.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.
PATTONSBURG, Mo. (AP) — Court documents say a woman who was convicted of a deadly 2002 drunken driving crash in Kansas was high on meth when she was caught driving on the wrong side of a Missouri highway with two children in her vehicle.
Klitzing photo Daviess-Dekalb Co.
Thirty-six-year-old Ginny Klitzing is jailed without bond on four felony and two misdemeanor charges, including driving while intoxicated as a persistent offender and child endangerment. She has pleaded not guilty.
Charging documents say she was under the influence with a 12- and 15-year-old in her car when she was stopped last month in northwest Missouri’ Daviess County. Court records say officers also found drugs in her vehicle.
Klitzing has a previous conviction for involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
BY GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher
What are your plans for Dec. 1-3? Don’t tell me it is too early to plan that far out. Hobby Lobby has its Christmas decorations on sale, and pumpkin spice is everywhere. Let’s be honest. That isn’t very far away given that we are in the middle of harvest and moving cows home for the winter. I am sure the next six weeks will slip by fast.
So why are the first three days in December so important? It is the Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Manhattan, and we will be celebrating more than 100 years of Kansas Farm Bureau. More importantly we will be looking at the next 100 years. Annual meetings are always a big event, but this year’s promises to be one of the biggest and best. You are not going to want to miss it, and that’s why we are making plans six weeks out.
If you have never attended a KFB Annual Meeting you really need to. If it has been even a couple of years since you last attended, you have missed out. Full days are planned with awards and recognition for the good work all our counties do on behalf of agriculture. You will be briefed on the latest from Topeka and Washington.
Sunday, we kick off with a townhall meeting featuring our elected officials and a banquet where we are recognizing some of our best farm families. On Monday, workshops will be offered that will appeal to all interests – I promise. General sessions will include timely topics and outstanding speakers. Tuesday is the business meeting where members finalize the policy book to guide the organization for the upcoming year. It is probably the most important day of the year in our organization. Kansas Farm Bureau packs a lot into three days.
I must be honest; the best part of annual meetings is outside of the meeting rooms and banquet halls. It’s a time for networking and seeing old friends. Often in agriculture we work long days where we don’t have much time to talk to anyone outside of family members, the guys at the parts counter or the vet. Annual meeting gives us a chance to talk to fellow farmers and ranchers from every corner of the state. It is a time to remember that we aren’t in this alone. It’s a chance to share ideas and more importantly stories with others who understand our rural lifestyle.
I hope you will take the time to make plans to attend annual meeting. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Take a minute, flip the calendar up to December and pencil in those three days. They will be here before you can say “pumpkin spice latte.” It is our time to take an active role in the life of our organization; one that has been the bedrock of agriculture for the past century and an organization poised to be the leader for the next 100 years.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
Mitch was losing his shirt at the racetrack when he noticed a priest bless the forehead of a long shot lining up for the fourth race. Lo and behold, the horse won. Just before the fifth race, the priest did the same to another horse. So, Mitch placed a small bet on it and won.
That day, Mitch raked in serious money following the priest’s lead.
Before the last race, he saw the priest bless the forehead–as well as the eyes, ears and hooves–of one of the horses. Mitch bet every cent he had, then watched the horse come in last. Dumbfounded, he hollered at the priest, “What happened? All day long, you blessed horses and they won. The last race, you blessed a horse and he lost!”
“The problem,” said the priest. “is you can’t tell the difference between a simple blessing and the last rites.”
Employees for Office Products Inc Hays location, Jim Grabbe, Ty Berry, Chad Mayfield, and Jeff Thummel pose for a picture at Office Products Inc in Hays, Kansas on October 21, 2019. (Photo: Joey Bahr, www.joeybahr.com)
The newest member of the Office Products Inc. family will open its doors in Hays at 1218 E. 27th on Nov. 1, extending the reach of the Great Bend-based, family-owned business.
OPI has been in business for six decades in Great Bend and also has stores in Larned and Russell.
Kenny and Terry Vink, who are brothers, co-own the new location; they collaborated on the venture with their brother, Craig.
“We always look for ways to grow our business,” said Kenny Vink. “Our family has served central Kansans for more than 60 years and we have a strong core business. But if a business doesn’t grow it stagnates.”
The new store in Hays will offer many of the same products and services as the locations in Great Bend and other communities. These include: sales and service for Canon, HP and Brother copiers and printers; office furniture; custom office design; and a wide variety of office supplies.
“Customers in the Hays area also will have easy access to our specialty services in Great Bend,” Vink noted. “For example, our Copy Center, printing service, computer sales and service, and a range of promotional products will be at customers’ fingertips.
“Most of these services can be handled by our in-house staff in Hays, as well as by phone and email.”
“This involves extensive continuing education, especially for our experts in computer and networking services,” he noted. “We will continue this legacy and grow for
our employees and the communities we serve. This has worked for many years and now Hays area residents can reap the benefits too.”
Vink noted that he and his brother have considered a brick-and-mortar Hays location for quite a while. They recently decided now is the time.
“In today’s market, we knew we needed growth,” Vink said. “And we will help neighboring northwest Kansas businesses prosper too because we buy locally. We know how important this is to the overall economic health of any community.
“Customers of the new store can expect the same prompt and professional service that OPI is known for,” he added.
Opening the new store is not OPI’s first venture into the Hays area; two employees have been available there for sales and service for a few years. They will serve customers in the new store, along with Ty Berry who will fill the manager position.
Berry said he is “looking forward to bringing an OPI store to Hays. I am excited be part of OPI’s growth in northwest Kansas.”
OPI employees in Hays will call on current and new customers within a 60-mile radius; the Great Bend store also reaches a 60-mile radius. The OPI website and online
catalog are always available for shopping and ordering.
OPI is located at 1204 Main in Great Bend; 516 Broadway in Larned; 724 N. Main in Russell; and soon 1218 E. 27th in Hays.
The Hays Public Library will hold a launch party on November 9 to kick off a new program to encourage parents and caregivers to read with children. The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative is a free reading challenge aimed at growing children’s literacy skills.
“Many children experience difficulty learning how to read. Those who are not proficient readers will have difficulty during their school years and beyond,” said Early Literacy Librarian Sara Schoenthaler. “The ability to read is THE gateway skill to learning and accessing the world. Those children who are read to and exposed to books consistently and from a young age are better prepared to read and succeed.
Parents and caregivers are the first and best teachers of their 0-5 year olds.”
Studies have shown that reading with a child provides a great opportunity for bonding. Reading together is fun and will create life-long memories for both the child and parent. Experts agree that children who learn the necessary skills early do better in school and later in life.
Participating in 1000 Books Before Kindergarten can help put children on the right track.
The Hays Public Library will provide logs to track the number of books read. Each time 100 books are read, a child gets a sticker from the children’s service desk. After completing 500 and 1000 books, a child will get to choose a free book to keep. As much fun as it is to read new stories, families are encouraged to count every time they reread a favorite book. The goal is not to read 1,000 NEW books but to read with their child 1,000 times, no matter if it is the same book over and over again.
Each November the library will host a “graduation” party for anyone that completed the program in the previous 12 months.
A launch party will be held at the library November 9 at 11:30 a.m. This event also will serve as the kickoff of Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Week.
You can find out more about this and other library programs at hayslibrary.org or by calling 785-625-9014.
Museum board president assures the city council it will reopen in the spring
By JAMES BELL Hays Post
ELLIS — In an effort to alleviate continued budget woes, the Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum Board of Directors has decided to close over the winter — but assured the Ellis City Council that the closure is temporary.
“The rumor that the house is closing is just a rumor,” Gordon Solomon, museum board president, told the council at Monday’s regular meeting. “We want to ensure everyone that it is not permanently closing. It will be open in the spring.”
The move became necessary as the museum was unable to break even and was using reserve funds to pay staff over the slower winter months.
“We have been struggling, budget-wise for a couple of years now,” Solomon said. “By doing the closure, we should be able to close out the budget this year about equal.
“Like most people, we have to learn to live within our means,” he said.
He acknowledged the council was funding the museum as much as possible, but ultimately the savings made by closing was needed to put the budget on track.
“Our goal is to just meet budget and we realize the city can’t increase what you are already doing to assist the home,” Solomon said.
During the meeting, he said attendance over the winter months is low, so the impact on tourism would be minimal.
As an example, Solomon said total admissions and sales for the museum in January and February of this year was only $82.35 — while wages and payroll taxes equaled $1,404.
With those numbers, he said, “Obviously we are not meeting budget, even with your assistance.”
While the board was actively seeking solutions to balance the budget over the summer, museum employees gave notice to the board they would be leaving on Sept. 6, spurring the board to make a decision at a special meeting on Aug. 29.
“As a board, we decided that we would stay closed through the remainder of September and then we proposed to the board to mirror the schedule of the Ellis Railroad Museum,” Solomon said. “Our intent in the future is to open in March and close at the end of September.”
In January, he said the board would begin looking for a new employee.
Even with the budget concerns alleviated, for the time being, Solomon said the board is still actively seeking ideas to bring more people to the museum, including continuing to strengthen the partnership with the Ellis Railroad Museum.
“That’s our goal. We want to try to mirror each other and support each other,” Solomon said.
This would continue the trend of the two museums operating in a similar manner to one another.
“We tried to structure them the same — hours, fees, everything,” Ellis Mayor David McDaniel said.
Solomon said the board is also looking at a discounted rated for visitors who go to both museums, or offering a discount to people visiting the Ellis Lakeside Campground.
“There is a lot of people coming to town that obviously don’t visit,” Solomon said, noting the large influx of people at the campground, even while museum attendance is low.
BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a traffic stop.
Phillips photo Barton Co.
Just after 11p.m. Monday, a police officer conducted a traffic stop in the 4300 block of 10th Street in Great Bend for an equipment violation.
Officers contacted the driver and only occupant of the vehicle identified as 32-year-old Alan D. Phillips.
While checking Phillips’ driver’s license, Barton County Sheriff’s Office K9 Maxx arrived on scene. After preforming a sniff of the outside of the vehicle, K9 Maxx indicated to the presence of illegal narcotics. A search of the vehicle was conducted and methamphetamine and paraphernalia were located.
Police arrested Phillips and booked at the Barton County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of paraphernalia, driving while suspended and no proof of insurance.
He has two previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Department of Corrrections.
EMPORIA – Hays High’s Taleia McCrae and Sophia Garrison both improved on their first round scores on day-two the 5A State Golf Tournament in Emporia. McCrae shot an 85 and Garrison a 91 on Tuesday.
McCrae finished 12th to bring home a medal. Garrison was just out of the top-20.
St. Thomas Aquinas won the team title with a two-day score of 690. St. James Academy was second with a 713.
Alison Comer of St. James Academy won the individual title with 12-over-par 156.
Faith Lochmann, human resources coordinator, presented data from that wage study.
Entry-level wages for USD 489 clerical staff ranged from $9.81 to $11.42 per hour.
Comparable school districts pay an average of $11.08, and comparable cities pay an average starting wage of $13.45. FHSU’s starting wages ranged from $12.71 to $13.98.
HaysMed indicated its lowest starting wage for clerical staff is $10.39, but it hires off a schedule that takes into account years of experience and often hires new staff at higher than the minimum based on that schedule. The average of all the comparable positions was $11.14 to $12.31 per hour for starting wages for clerical staff.
“The district is not ready to implement a full-blown wage schedule,” she said, “but we recognize a strong need to level-set our current employees based on their years of experience with us and where they are being compensated.”
To level the wages will cost the district an average of 84 cents an hour for clerical staff. However, Keith Hall, interim director of finance, said not all employees will receive the same raise. No employee’s pay will decrease. Some employees’ pay could stay the same. Others will increase based on their current pay and years of experience.
Annual cost for clerical staff raises will be $23,642.
The district also approved raises for nutrition staff, which Lochmann said was experiencing high turnover.
Documents describing the raises for the nutrition staff were presented to the board. They were not discussed, and they were not made available to the media as of time of publication. Hall and Lochmann also had not returned calls as of time of publication.
Pay for technology employees was also shown to be lower than their peers, but those wages have already been adjusted.
The total cost for the raises will be $101,000 annually.
Although the agenda item was set for discussion only Monday night, board member Greg Schwartz suggested the board vote on the plan so the raises could go into effect starting in November.
“It seems to be if this is where we think we need to go, I don’t know why we need to wait, just implement it and move forward,” he said.
Board member Paul Adams said he was not opposed to the raises, but he would like to see more time to implement the plan. He ultimately was the sole dissenting vote on the motion.
“Because we have some pending negotiations out of the same pool of money,” he said, “I would like to be able to look at the total impact on what we have available, so I think it is premature without looking at it. I support coming back to it in two weeks, but not until we run some numbers on it.”
Hall said eventually the district would like to create a pay schedule for classified staff; however, he said the finance staff is not ready to roll out a salary schedule at this time.
Oak Park Complex
The former Oak Park Medical Complex was renamed the USD 489 Early Childhood Complex at the meeting Monday.
The four-building center was recently renovated with federal grant funds. It houses Early Child Connections and other district early childhood programs. A ribbon cutting for the complex will be at 10 a.m. Thursday with an open house from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Munjor building
The early childhood program that was in Munjor has been moved to the renovated Early Childhood Complex. The district owns only a portion of the property. The Catholic Church owns the rest of the property. The board discussed turning the entire property over to the Catholic Church now the school district is no longer using the property.
Board member Lance Bickle said he wanted to make sure the district would not need the space in the future before it turned over the property.
Negotiations
The school board met in executive session Monday to discuss negotiations. Representatives from the school and teachers met with a federal mediator Thursday night, but were still unable to come to an agreement on a contract. The board is considering next steps, but took no action Monday on negotiations.
The teachers and board have said pay and health insurance have been the stumbling blocks in reaching an agreement.
P-burg plant, two others in Canada, slated to lead North American production within year
By KIRBY ROSS Phillips County Review
PHILLIPSBURG — In Canada, the legal term for it is cannabis. In Kansas, hemp. And with Canadian corporate support and Australian financing, as well as Swedish technical know-how, in Phillips County it’s now called “local industry.”
Exactly one year ago on Thursday of last week, the possession, use, and sale of dry leaf form cannabis became legal in Canada, both for recreational purposes and medicinal.
Then on that one year anniversary other forms of Canadian cannabis — edibles — also became legal there, including cannabis cookies, pizza and soda pop, along with baking products, such cannabis flour, cooking oil, and butter.
Dovetailing into those developments in Canada, in April of last year Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer signed into law the “Alternative Crop Research Act” which allows the Kansas Department of Agriculture to oversee the cultivation of hemp for purposes of research.
Bruce Dawson-Scully, CEO Embark Health
A month later Gov. Colyer signed a related bill into law referred to as the “Updating Substances of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.” That bill exempted cannabinoidiol, aka CBD oil, from the definition of marijuana, effectively legalizing it. CBD oil had earlier begun being used in food and beverage products in the United States in 2017.
And, according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, in 2018 the U.S. Farm Bill–
“…removed federal restrictions on the establishment of commercial hemp programs and allows individual states to develop a plan to license the commercial production of hemp and further directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a plan for states that do not do so.
“In order to establish a program for the commercial production of industrial hemp, Kansas must develop a plan through KDA, in consultation with the Governor and Attorney General. Any such plan must be submitted to USDA for approval.”
The Kansas Department of Agriculture further notes–
“The opportunity to grow a new specialty oilseed crop in Kansas offers potential for diversification for Kansas farmers looking for an alternative crop, or for new farming enterprises interested in cultivating industrial hemp.
“The Kansas agriculture industry has developed a statewide strategic growth plan in recent years, and is committed to pursuing new and innovative opportunities to grow agriculture.
“The research generated by participants of this new industrial hemp program will be valuable data in identifying the growth potential offered in this sector.”
Enter Phillips County into the story. On the one year anniversary of widespread legalization in Canada, and on the occasion of the expansion of legalized byproducts of cannabis/hemp in Canada and Kansas, MMJ Group Holdings Ltd of Nedlands, Australia, revealed it has partnered with Canada-based Embark Health Inc. in expanding its multi-million dollar cannabis extraction plant right here in rural Phillipsburg, Kansas.
In support of the project, Embark, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, has received a $10 million infusion of new capital from investors, including $3.6 million from MMJ.
With Canada legalizing the adult use of cannabis, Embark, a privately held company helmed by Bruce Dawson-Scully, of Delta, British Columbia, has been taking a leading worldwide role in providing cannabis and derivative products utilizing cannabis extracts for the marketplace.
Toward the purpose of manufacturing those extracts, Embark has been doing business in Phillips County since April 29, 2019, with, according to sources, the support of Canadian and Swedish nationals.
MMJ Group’s newest investment with Embark, to be finalized no later than October 31, 2019, will raise MMJ’s 12 percent holdings in Embark up to a total of $9.8 million, almost triple its book value.
MMJ’s infusion of funding in the project is part of the $10 million capital mobilization conducted by Embark to finance the build-out of its cannabis extraction facility south of Phillipsburg, as well as two Canadian sister-facilities in Delta, British Columbia, and Woodstock, Ontario.
Regarding MMJ’s investment in the Phillips County and Canadian extraction plants, MMJ Chairman Peter Wall says, “This is another example of MMJ’s strong market and financial discipline identifying opportunities and bottlenecks in the cannabis value-chain in markets and acting quickly.”
The company further notes that when the Phillipsburg cannabis production facility and the two others are operational, “Embark Health will be a significant cannabis extraction producer servicing the Canadian and global medical and recreational markets.”
Regarding the processing of cannabis, Chairman Wall foresees Phillipsburg, Woodstock and Delta as playing a dominant role across the entire continent within a year.
Says Wall, “Embark Health has executed its business plan and is well positioned to become one of the largest cannabis extraction businesses in North America within twelve months. The investment demonstrates MMJ’s expertise to secure a private negotiated investment in listed and unlisted cannabis businesses.”
Embark Chief Executive Officer Bruce Dawson-Scully is founder of WeedMD of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada, which he notes is a “pharma-grade medical cannabis production facility.” Dawson-Scully has also served as a healthcare consultant to the Chinese government.
In a public statement MMJ states it believes there to be “A much larger market for cannabis products as consumption methods like vapes, edibles, and drinkables will drive most of the adoption and consumption in the mainstream.” Currently the most common method of cannabis consumption is through rolling papers and water pipes.
MMJ states “Embark intends to have two state-of-the-art THC, CBD, and CBG extraction facilities to service Canada’s medical and recreational markets in Delta, British Columbia and Woodstock, Ontario, in addition to optimising a C1-D1 hempseed extraction facility in Phillipsburg, Kansas.”
According to MMJ, in Phillipsburg, “This facility, to be operational in late 2020, will extract hemp seeds and produce hemp protein isolates and cooking oil in addition to CBD isolate. This facility will process 5,000 pounds of biomass per day.”
In order to process that amount per day by this time next year, the cannabis to be used will soon be in full production.
Embark’s website, which has a dedicated page on its Phillipsburg operations (seen at the right), lists the nature of the hemp protein isolates the facility will be creating–
“Delicious, nutritious and nutty in flavour, our hemp seed isolate powder and baking flour are both naturally white and will not change the colour of your baked goods. Paced with 21g of protein per serving, it is vegan, non-gmo, gluten-free, soy-free, lactose-free, kosher, keto and paleo.”
Regarding the hemp seed cooking oil, Embark says it is “Unlike any hemp seed oil available today, Embark’s golden oil has a high cooking point — you can cook with this nutritious oil up to a flash point of 400 degrees.”
Stockopedia provides a business profile of the multi-million dollar investor in Phillips County business operations, MMJ Group Holdings–
“MMJ Group Holdings Limited, formerly MMJ PhytoTech Limited, focuses on developing and commercializing medical cannabis (MC) and MC-based therapeutics.
“Its principal activities include production and distribution of cannabinoid-based food supplements across the Europe, and Pharmaceutical research and development of delivery technologies for administration of cannabinoids.
“Its segments include Cultivation; Processing and Distribution; and Clinical Research.
“The Cultivation segment’s activities include the various applications for cultivation and distribution licenses under the marijuana for medical purposes regulations (MMPR) by Health Canada.
“The Processing and Distribution segment’s activities include processing, manufacturing and distribution of cannabis-based, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics product across the European market.
“The Clinical Research segment’s activities include clinical research of delivery systems and devices.”
“The company’s portfolio includes Harvest One, PhytoTech Therapeutics, WeedMe, Fire and Flower, Bien, BevCanna, and others.”
Article reprinted from the Phillips County Review, with permission. The Phillips County Review has been named by the Kansas Press Association as being the state’s top newspaper in its circulation class for 2019, beating out over 180 other publications.
Editor and writer Kirby Ross, has also personally won over 20 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence for his newspaper work over the past three years, including first place recognition for news reporting, news and writing excellence, feature writing, political and government reporting, investigative reporting, editorial writing and news photography. He can be reached at [email protected].
Education: BS Industrial Technology Education and Elementary Education, Masters in Education Administration
Do you have a student currently attending USD 489 schools?
Yes, my son is a junior at Hays High School.
Qualifications? 35 years in education and served USD 489 for 31 years. Worked as a paraprofessional, K-12 teacher, coach, migrant director, transition coordinator, and 25 years of that was the elementary principal.
Do you support USD 489 trying for another bond issue? What do you think that bond should include? If you don’t support a bond issue, how do you think the school district should address its infrastructure needs?
The next board will need to use all avenues including a bond issue to raise funds to provide the necessary improvements needed to meet the current and future needs of the district. If a bond issue is to be attempted again, much work in involving and informing our community in all stages will be necessary. Our district needs to repair trust in our community. It must start in action steps that our community can see.
All K-12 levels need improvement in facilities, but our K-5 schools have been the most affected by recent board decisions. Their environment needs to be addressed soon. I was part of two successful bond elections in USD 489 and that experience could help in this process.
Our district needs to be creative. In past years teachers and administrators were encouraged and supported to help with facilities through substantial grants and donations. That culture has diminished and has not been encouraged or realized as often in our K-12 levels in recent years.
In the meantime, we cannot not wait for a bond issue. The past decade we have heard the board say we need a 10-year plan and no plan is available. A systematic approach of preserving the resources we have and building for the future needs to start now.
What would you do to secure the financial health of the school district?
My plan would be to work collaboratively together with the other board members to review all budgetary items as presented by the administration. Upon the review ask questions and make suggestions when appropriate. The Hays school board is at impasse with its teachers for the second year in a row. What would you do to improve relations with teachers?
It is unusual for school boards and teachers not agreeing on a contract two years in a row. Positive communication and a willingness to negotiate is necessary from both sides of the table. This process takes a commitment to invest many hours and allow the process to work.
Fair and equitable pay and fostering a culture of teamwork and respect for the work that teachers do would go a long way toward improved morale. If teachers have confidence and trust in the board, employees have less stress and higher energy for their daily tasks. Quality teachers and other employees are recruited and retained by competitive salaries and benefits.
Do you support the district’s current one-to-one technology policy? If not, what would you propose?
It is important to continue to provide the latest technology for our students and staff. By the time we purchase equipment it is often one or two years behind. We cannot afford to miss an update. Because technology is ever-changing, we need to provide inservice that is appropriate and valuable to the staff. Staff and administration spend many hours evaluating the latest technology that is appropriate for what they need. We need to listen and act accordingly.
How would you support the district in its work to improve student performance?
Research shows that one of the best ways to ensure students’ performance is an experienced and qualified teacher. We need to support all staff members and provide the tools they need to perform the task we ask them to do. Another way the board can help, is to be familiar with and show a strong support of (KESA) the Kansas plan for district improvement and provide inservice and time for teachers to implement the changes. The board plays a major role in creating a culture that fosters a positive learning and working environment.
Is there anything else you would like to add about you or your campaign?
“Kids and Families First” is the belief I will refer to on all decisions if I have the honor to serve on the USD 489 school board. My experience as an educator at all levels is to ask the question, “Is it best for kids?” If the answer is yes, correct decisions will follow.
Our district has a long history of being leaders in the state and on the cutting edge of new trends and practices. We are now seeing many changes and opportunities to advance our district and provide all our students with the best education possible. I want to be part of that movement, and together we can make a difference.
DIGHTON, Kansas — A billboard along Interstate 70 boasting about the productivity of Kansas farmers may say more about what’s happening in agriculture than those who put it there realize.
The message seems simple and straightforward: “1 Kansas Farmer Feeds 155 People + You!”
A closer look reveals it’s been crudely updated — an indication that the tally changes with some frequency.
The steady escalation of the number of people fed by a single Kansas farmer — from 73 in the 1970s to 155 today — reveals how lots of small farmers have been replaced by large farmers intent on getting even bigger.
That trend threatens scores of small towns that sprouted on the prairie in a different time, when larger numbers of small farmers depended on them.
Many of Kansas’ small towns look weathered, worn and neglected after more than a century of exodus. Most rose up more than a century ago, to meet the basic needs of farmers. They established banks and churches. Grocery stores and implement dealers prospered.
This sign stands along Interstate 70 between Topeka and Manhattan. Credit Jim McLean / Kansas News Service
Consider Atwood, the childhood home of former Gov. Mike Hayden.
The Atwood that Hayden knew growing up during the 1950s was a bustling town of about 2,000 people tucked into the northwest corner of the state. Well-kept shops lined Main Street. Hayden recalls six grocery stores, five car dealers, at least one pharmacy and a thriving local newspaper.
“It was,” he said, “Norman Rockwell’s America.”
Since then, the town lost nearly half its population. Most of those foundational businesses, Hayden said, “eroded away” and took the community’s core of civic leaders with them.
As governor in the late 1980s, Hayden spoke defensively about the decline of rural Kansas. A pair of East Coast academics — Frank and Deborah Popper — proposed returning expanses of rural Kansas and other Great Plains states to the buffalo as part of a massive nature preserve.
Hayden ridiculed the idea.
“I came out guns blazing,” Hayden said. “I thought the Poppers were off base and that they should perhaps go back east and we’d be just fine out here.”
He now says he was wrong.
“They were right about the out-migration they observed,” Hayden said. “In fact, it’s happening faster than they predicted.”
Several factors are responsible for the decline, Hayden said, including consolidation in the ag economy. He cited his family farm as an example.
In 1960, Hayden said, that farm supported 17 people. Most of them lived in and around Atwood. Today, it supports only three.
Today, that farm is bigger and churns out more grain than ever. But only one of the three people tending the land works at it full-time.
“My brother can do it all by himself,” Hayden said.
A report issued last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that as recently as 1987, mid-sized farms between 100 and 1,000 acres covered nearly 60% of the nation’s cropland. By 2012, those midsize farms had lost about half their acreage to large farms — those of 2,000 acres or more.
Don Hineman’s western Kansas farm — located just south of Dighton — covered 3,000 acres when he returned from college in 1973 to help manage it.
It’s now 14,000 acres, or nearly 22 square miles, and still growing.
State representative and farmer Don Hineman has continually expanded the scale of his operation to keep pace with agriculture trends. Credit Chris Neal / For the Kansas News Service
“When you have opportunities for growth you’d better grab them,” said Hineman, a state representative who chairs the House Committee on Rural Revitalization.
Getting bigger, Hineman said, made him a more efficient farmer and a better steward of the land. He can afford the sophisticated equipment needed for the latest precision agriculture.
Those systems map fields in great detail and analyze nutrient levels in different patches of soil so satellite-guided planters and sprayers can deliver the smallest amount of seed and fertilizer to grow the most bountiful crops.
“It bothers me to some extent that what we’re doing on our farm is, in a way, contributing to the decline of the local community,” Hineman said. “But it’s a matter of self-preservation. You either get bigger or you get out.”
Gail Fuller contends that’s simply not true.
“We’ve been sold a bill of goods,” Fuller said.
He owns a small farm near Emporia and challenges the notion underlying much of U.S. agriculture policy that American farmers need to feed the world with commodity crops.
“We’re doing it at the expense of the climate, the environment,” Fuller said.
Large-scale commodity farming, he argues, puts farmers at the mercy of markets that often fail to return breakeven prices and saddles them with debt.
Fuller shrank his farm dramatically several years ago after a lengthy dispute over a crop insurance payment pushed him to the brink of bankruptcy.
“We’re a very diverse operation,” Fuller said, explaining that he grazes cattle on perennial grasses and grows only enough grain to feed his pigs and chickens.
Fuller markets pricey grass-fed beef and other products directly to consumers and said he’s just starting to turn a profit after years of being buried in debt.
Gail Fuller has turned away from commodity farming. Credit Jim McLean / Kansas News Service
“Most people hate paying income taxes,” he said. “I actually look forward to it after being beat up for 10 or 15 years.”
Even with farm bankruptcies on the rise, most ag economists say it’s unlikely that a significant number of Kansas commodity farmers will follow Fuller’s lead despite evidence that sticking with the status quo means the continued hollowing out of rural communities.
“We have seen these trends of population and economic decline going on for just about a century now,” said John Leatherman, a Kansas State University agricultural economist.
Those trends, Leatherman said, are being driven by major economic forces beyond the control of Kansas farmers, community leaders — or state policymakers.
Given that trajectory, Hineman, the state lawmaker and large-scale farmer, said he hopes that taxpayers in Kansas’ urban and suburban centers won’t tire of subsidizing rural communities as they fight for survival.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “It’s unrealistic and unthinkable that urban Kansas would say, ‘Solve your own problems rural Kansas. We’re done with you.’”
This is the second in a series of stories investigating the decline in rural Kansas and efforts to reverse it. The next story looks at how communities can either shrink and whither, our find ways to thrive with a smaller population.
Support for this season of “My Fellow Kansans” was provided by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, working to improve the health and wholeness of Kansans since 1986 through funding innovative ideas and sparking conversations in the health community. Learn more at healthfund.org.
Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks or email [email protected].
