Hello from Topeka! It was a busy week with lots of folks from the 110th District coming to the capital city. County treasurers, firefighters, real estate agents, bankers and tourism and others saw state government up close and personal.

One of the highlights was Governor Colyer addressing a joint session of the House and Senate. He began by outlining his new administration: a new policy team, a new communications team, and six major changes to the cabinet: Commerce Secretary, DCF Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Chief Budget Officer, Chief of Information Technology, and Lieutenant Governor. Additionally, the Governor created the position of Chief Operating Officer, in effort to foster more of a business approach, and then focused on three main points: reform, jobs, and education.

Reform—Governor Colyer revealed his intention to sign four executive orders, of which would create a safer and more transparent workplace. First, no charge for open records requests of less than 100 pages. Second, institute policies to ensure that official business is conducted on state emails only. Lastly, the implementation of performance metrics for cabinet agencies as well as a one-stop-shop website to post open meetings, locations and materials. The Governor also touched on the executive order he signed on Monday, which requires all executive branch employees, interns, and contractors to undergo mandatory annual training seminars.

Jobs—He made note that the state unemployment rate is 3.4%, the lowest in seventeen years, and that there are 48,000 unfilled jobs across the state. Instead of having people looking for jobs, jobs are looking for people. Governor Colyer unveiled his “(Re) Employment Plan”, which will provide skills assessment, resume, interview and networking assistance to the labor market, at no cost.
Education—The Governor invoked the names of the nine previous Kansas governors, and stated that under each administration, each of them had the specter of education lawsuits overshadowing the process. He also articulated that schools must stay open, a definitive school finance formula is necessary, the need to improve accountability and to strive for better outcomes for students.

Also last week, the Federal and State Affairs Committee heard SB 262. The bill authorizes the Capitol Preservation Committee to approve plans to place a permanent statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Capitol grounds. The statue will be placed in the NW quadrant of the Capitol grounds. The statue is a replica of the bronze one created by Jim Brothers that is in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. The bill also authorizes the Department of Administration to receive moneys from grants, gifts, and contributions to finance the construction of the statue and the pedestal it will sit upon. The funds have already been raised for the statue. On Thursday, I was honored to chair the committee of the whole where the House debated and voted upon the measure. SB262 was approved by the House with a vote of 123-0. The bill now awaits action by the Governor and will go into effect upon publication in the Kansas Register.

When you come to Topeka during the session, please stop by my office: it is in Room: 352-S. My phone number is 785-296-7463 and email is: [email protected], my cell number is (785) 302-8416. You can also check out kenforkansas.com.

It is my honor to be your representative.

With snow predicted and wind chills in the single digits as I write this column, it sounds a bit crazy to talk about going for a walk, but that is just what I’m going to do. Walk Kansas is a signature program for K-State Research and Extension that has been around since 2000. Each year this fitness challenge motivates people from all walks of life to get moving. The dates for the 2018 campaign are March 18th through May 12th.

To participate in Walk KS, you will need to start by recruiting a team of six people. Many times teams consist of family members, friends or co-workers. Come up with a fun name, register your team, and report the minutes that team members exercise each week, beginning March 18th. All of the registration details can be accomplished on line. There is a fee of $8 per team member or $17 per person if all team members wish to order a t-shirt. Payment by check or cash will need to be made at either the Hays or Great Bend offices. Brenda and Theresa, our office professionals in the Great Bend and Hays offices can answer specific questions you may have as you register your teams.

February 19th is the date that on-line registration will open for residents of the Cottonwood Extension District. We would like to complete team registration by Monday, March 12th if possible.

Several interesting activities that support this fitness challenge are planned for April and May. Mark your calendar for April 3rd and join me at the Hays office at noon, for the free educational program titled, “Healthy Cooking Styles.” Based on a fact sheet I wrote last year, you will learn about water sauteing, slow stewing and other healthy ways to prepare grains and vegetables. Another date to mark on your calendar is Friday, April 13th, at noon, at the Big Creek Crossing Mall. I will be leading a Walk KS halfway pep rally. Anyone who is a member of a Walk KS team will be treated to a progressive picnic at the mall. I will have a short presentation complete with door prizes as well. Folks who are not on a Walk KS team may pre-register for this event by paying $5 due by April 6th. Reminders will be sent to team captains as the date gets closer.

A wrap up celebration for the Walk KS program is scheduled for Wednesday, May 9th, at noon at the Great Bend Recreation Center. A free “Wise bucks” luncheon will be provided for any Walk KS team member. The public may pre-register by May 2nd for lunch and pay $5.

So get your walking shoes ready and your team pulled together and join the 2018 Walk KS program in your community!

Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director for the Cottonwood Extension District – Great Bend office. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]

As a good writer should, I tried hard to think of a really slick way to say this, but I struck out completely, so there’s nothing left to do but open my mouth and let it dribble out… sometimes I think about really weird stuff!

For instance, if Teflon coating is non-stick, how do they get it to stay on the skillets when they make them? Or why do doctors only “practice” medicine? Or why did God name flies, “flies” when they seem to do way more walking around than they do flying? Wouldn’t a better name have been “walks” or “crawls?” And why on God’s green earth do we have mosquitoes? If there were only two of them on the Ark as there were supposed to be, wouldn’t both frogs have quickly eaten them? Maybe Noah cheated and brought more, or maybe he just lost count.

Anyway, what sent me off on this tangent was an old email I stumbled across concerning a story about Toads I did some years back, and I thought perhaps closing your eyes after reading this would help you envision spring. In the story I mentioned a study done in Oklahoma that used the number of over-wintering cutworms consumed by toads to determine the toad’s value to agriculture in dollars and cents. In her email, the lady complained about all the toads at her home that particular year, and said that if they were that valuable she would gladly give them to anyone wanting them.

Rather odd I thought, until I read the rest of her email. She proceeded to tell me about the enormous mess they were making that summer by leaving their droppings all over her garage floor. That I understood! I remember seeing all the little black spiral shaped droppings everywhere that year but hadn’t associated them with toads. The gist of the article was the larger-than-usual number of toads seen around our homes that year because of spring flooding. It only makes sense that a larger than usual toad population will produce …you guessed it… a larger than usual amount of toad pooo!

That fact alone seemed to be all it took to ignite my weird thought generator, and off I went. First I began thinking of contacting Mike Rowe from the Discovery Network TV show “Dirty Jobs.” On his show, Mike travels all around the country personally experiencing filthy jobs that people actually perform daily. I figured the show’s producers would kill for the positive press generated by Mike’s helping that poor lady clean this year’s massive amounts of toad pooo from her garage floor and sidewalks…………or maybe not!

Next I stooped to trying to figure how I could have made a buck from the situation. Toad pooo is certainly the type of thing that some university somewhere can get a grant to study. I’m sure one of America’s seats of higher learning has plenty of interest as to what percentage of a toad’s diet is made up of mosquitoes, what percentage is flies, etc. With that in mind, if this sort of thing happens again, why not offer to provide them the raw material, for a nominal fee off course, from our vast supply………… or maybe not!

The big question that comes to mind is why do these amphibians that are born in creeks, rivers and swamps, and that live out their lives far from the light of day under plants and bushes in flower beds and gardens suddenly feel the need to use our sidewalks and driveways as their personal outhouses? I mean really, they have acre upon acre of yards, golf courses and pastures in which to relieve themselves, yet they choose our concrete! Maybe the feel of the nice warm concrete relaxes them to the point where they loose all muscle control, in which case it’s really not their fault at all!…I guess just more reasons to Explore Kansas Outdoors …………or maybe not!

Steve Gilliand, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].