Remember when we were all figuring that Gov. Sam Brownback would be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador for International Religious Freedom by Thanksgiving?

Maybe even Thanksgiving week, and Brownback could spend this weekend not at the mall for Black Friday or such, but instead clearing his stuff out of his Statehouse office and maybe walking through Cedar Crest, the governor’s mansion, to make sure that he didn’t leave a magazine under the sofa cushion or that spare toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet?

Well, that’s not happening, we’re told, and there is still no hard date set for a vote by the Senate that would hand him the ambassador post and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer the new business cards with the word “governor” printed in what appears to be gold on them.

While that all is interesting, the real job of being governor—of offering a new touch-up budget for the state and leading some effort to deal with the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision that the state’s school finance law is unconstitutional—is essentially idling somewhere in the Statehouse parking garage.

That means the pressure is building on the Legislature, which at this point has no idea of just what the likely new governor of the state will propose for the session before he stands for the GOP nomination for the governor’s race next year. That’s if there is a new governor…

What happens if by Jan. 8, when the Legislature convenes for its election year session with major issues simmering, Brownback still isn’t confirmed and we don’t see his red Buick’s tail lights headed east?

Well, things go a couple ways, mostly politically.

If Brownback is still here on Jan. 8 and delivers his State of the State address, then that’s what the Legislature works from, the second-year tune-ups that Brownback proposes for the remainder of this fiscal year and next when he won’t be here.

That leaves Colyer with two choices: Either come up with his own budget that the Legislature will have little time to consider, or back the budget of the guy who has left the state.

Politically, if Colyer doesn’t make identifiable—and attractive to Republican primary election voters—changes to the budget, well, he’s just managing the state. If he can come up with just two or three differences from the outgoing Brownback budget, he has something to sell to voters, doesn’t he?

But the fewer changes he proposes, the more loudly and believably Democrats can maintain that Colyer and Brownback have virtually the same policies, and that Kansas voters don’t want four more years of Brownback-style government. That’s not a bad tack to take, is it?

What most of us were thinking would be a relatively quick confirmation, or refusal to confirm—Brownback would have little real effect on the mechanics of getting through the upcoming session of the Legislature—has now become a little less certain (either way).

If Brownback isn’t confirmed—and some, with two Senate seats possibly up in the air, are looking to Alabama’s senatorial election next month and whatever happens to Minnesota Democrat Sen. Al Franken as important to that confirmation vote—well, then everything Brownback might propose loses most of its gubernatorial-endorsed value.

The result? A legislature that doesn’t have a governor to battle in debate or a legislature that must come up with its own agenda for this election year session which is likely to be more politically attractive than workmanlike.

Makes you wonder what the chatter is going to be at Kansans’ Thanksgiving dinners—and whether the person at the head of the table can order “no political talk” during dinner.

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

With plastic bottles of Pepsi nestled in my arm, I am in the check-out line at the campus store here in China. The cashier sees me take out RMB (ren min bi, the Chinese currency) and gestures to me to go to the third line. I now realize that all students are paying with electronics in the first two lines. And in the third line, I am still the only one with cash-in-hand.

Some students pay with transponder cards. Unlike our credit cards, these are read without sliding in a credit card reader, or inserting into a chip reader. We know about these cards: when you slow down to that 20 mph as you go through the K-Tag lane, the electronic reader and your windshield transponder card communicate with each other. Several attempts have been made to introduce this technology in the U.S. for payments but it just hasn’t spread widely.

Transponder cards have been used on Chinese campuses for nearly a decade. Eight years ago at Nanjing Normal University, I stayed at the old downtown campus but lectured at their new campus south of town. A faculty bus shuttled between the campuses. The card could remain inside billfolds and purses and was just waved in front of the reader as you got on the bus. Since I was there only a week, one downtown host professor would reach in with his billfold and “beep” me into the bus with his card, and when I finished teaching at the branch campus, another professor would do the same to send me back.

Back at my campus store, I count the number of seconds for the student in front of me to check out. He has four or five items that the cashier quickly scans from regular UPC barcodes, just like here. He then waves the transponder card over a flat pad. In less than 2 seconds, the cashier sees the acceptance, and nods, and he is on his way.

But more than half of the students are now taking out their cell phones while the cashier is scanning the product barcodes. The student then holds up their phone with a big square QR code. The cashier shoots an electronic hand reader at their phone, sees the acceptance and nods. That takes about four seconds. Cellphone-based QR reader systems have spread like wildfire these last two years. It is one of many apps on Chinese cell phones. And everyone in China (with the exception of some remote rural folks far from civilization) has a cell phone. Phones and service plans are far cheaper than in the U.S.

So I step up to buy my Pepsi and count the seconds after the cashier has scanned the barcodes. It is about 12 seconds before I get change back and leave. I have held up the checkout line. And if I only have big bills, it will take even more time to make change.

China did not invent money-less payment. Singapore got rid of paper money over 20 years ago using earlier electronic systems. Hong Kong has struggled to go electronic, but as a major tourist hub, they have far too many tourists who are not wired up. And China is not completely into digital money…yet. 70 million poor people remain in poverty and although many have cell phones, they do not have the bank accounts. China began using QR codes on its printed train tickets in 2010. But this major public adoption has occurred in just the last few years. Even the street vendors selling fruit outside the campus walls use QR readers.

The campus here at NW Agricultural and Forestry University is large (think Kansas State University times two)! Many ponds and gardens around campus have plants labeled with metal tags, now updated with QR codes so you can point a cell phone at the tag QR and it will provide pages of information about the tree or shrub.

The square QR code (an abbreviation for “Quick Response”) is one of three barcode formats used for airline check-in in America. The QR square holds far more information than the common UPC bar code. And sure, the U.S. has QR codes in use here and there. But its rapid adoption in China reflects the accelerating pace of modernization that is now normal here.

There is a concept called “path dependence.” Once the QWERTY typing keyboard was widely adopted, we would not re-train to use a significantly faster Dvorak keyboard design. Simply, once you proceed down a path, you will continue to go down that path without much change. While the U.S. is still swiping cards and chip-reading, China is heading down the QR path leaving paper money behind.

Meanwhile, I have less than a month left in China, too short a time to make installing a QR reader app on my cell phone worthwhile. So, I will still be that slow Westerner holding up the line buying my Pepsi with real money.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

In an attempt to refresh our memories about gun laws in Kansas, Joyce and I attended a recent gun law seminar at Treasure Chest Gun Shop in McPherson. The evening was sponsored by an organization called U.S. Law Shield (of Kansas) that provides a firearms legal defense program in the form of an insurance policy for people that become involved in self defense situations where force is used to defend people or property.

The first half of the evening was presented by an Olathe KS police officer who helped us better understand interaction between a law enforcement officer and an armed citizen. The latter half of the program was presented by a Wichita criminal defense attorney who explained to us legal ramifications of using a firearm for protection. I’ll tell you a few things we learned, and catch you up on basic gun laws in KS.

Because of what’s known as the Open Carry Law, Kansans have been legally able to carry guns for years, as long as they were fully visible and as long as they were carried in accordance with all federal, state and local ordinances, and were carried only where legally allowed. As of 2015, Kansans can now carry concealed firearms without a permit, but still in accordance with all ordinances and only where allowed. Some signs found on the doors of businesses bar all guns, and some bar only concealed carried weapons, still allowing for a weapon to be openly carried.

Even though no permit is required to carry a gun, many people choose to take the class required to get a permit so the gun can be carried in other states that recognize our KS permit. Currently 38 other states recognize the KS concealed carry permit, making it legal for a KS resident to carry a concealed gun in their states. The Kansas Attorney General’s website lists those states.

The Olathe police officer told us we are not legally required to tell a law enforcement officer if there is a gun in our vehicle unless we’re asked. However, he said officers like to have that information volunteered. He felt that officers don’t have a problem with a gun in a vehicle as long as the occupants are calm and don’t reach for the gun. For years I was under the assumption that no loaded gun could be carried in a vehicle. However, it is perfectly legal here in KS to carry any loaded firearm in a vehicle, be it handgun, hunting rifle or shotgun. I live across from a grade school, and I’m still allowed a loaded firearm in my vehicle as long as I don’t enter school property with it. Just make absolutely certain that any loaded gun transported in a vehicle has the safety on.

Both the attorney and the officer agreed that laws governing firearms use in self defense situations are not absolutely black and white, and if you use a gun in self defense, there will be an investigation whether you pull the trigger or not. So even if you are completely justified in using a gun to defend yourself you will probably still end up in court before the situation is sorted out. The court will first consider if you truly used the gun in self defense; if you were on the offense and shot an unarmed person or someone that didn’t really have the opportunity to harm you or your family, your goose is probably cooked. Then they will consider whether or not you had the means and ability to flee the confrontation; could you have all run out the back door or were you backed into a corner.

Next considered will be whether or not you used appropriate force in the situation; did you shoot a little old lady armed with only a box cutter that you probably could have subdued, or was the attacker a hulking man backing you into a corner with a hunting knife or a gun of his own. To decide if you truly acted in self defense, the court will look for evidence, like surveillance camera footage for instance, and then try to determine if you truly had reason to fear for your life. The other determining factor will be whether or not the court believes any other reasonable human being would have done the same thing in that situation, and if yours was the appropriate response.

I’m all for being able to carry a gun, but I’m from the old school and feel that everyone doing so should have some certified training, even now that no permit is required. And I feel a gun should only be carried for hunting or for defense of you, your family and your home, not just because you now can with no permit. Seminars like this and firearms training classes do more than teach marksmanship and gun safety; they also expose the student to all the above information that has to be considered and that comes into play when pulling the trigger on a firearm aimed at another person. Please carry responsively as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

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

This year’s Veterans’ Day–a reflective time since so many family members have served our country—has passed. This one was more poignant than usual after I listened to a former student and current soldier speaking in honor of the occasion. He reminded me I’m blessed to know him and other young people who answered our nation’s duty call.

In his opening, he shared what he most values and loves, which is family–including fellow warriors. His respect and fondness for those he trained and served with in the 388th rang clear and true, making me think of Shakespeare’s lines in King Henry V, “From now until the end of the world, we and it shall be remembered. We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”

At the time he enlisted, so did many other western Kansans. A number of Ellis students in that four-year period joined the military, uniting to protect country and loved ones. Many trained together and later deployed to the Middle East. Almost all still serve America in some fashion. When I see their FB posts, I think about their shared childhoods and history in the military. These new pictures of mature men and women make it difficult to recall them as youngsters who procrastinated endlessly over giving speeches or writing papers.

Several years ago, one former Ellis grad spoke at a political function in Phillips County. Like many students in public school, English and speech weren’t his favorite subjects. Imagine my pleasure while observing him present an enthusiastic, poised, well-organized presentation. I talked to him afterward and asked what he’d been doing post high school and active duty. At the time, he worked as a political advisor where public writing and speaking were keys to success. He shared a story about a classmate and fellow soldier who majored in English. That individual ended up ranking above him in their unit and insisted this former classmate rework reports until they met specifications, skills contributing to the speaker’s current employment. I chuckled to myself that some of the blood this band of brothers shed might resemble blue or black ink.

Many members of the 388th Medical Battalion Reserve Unit have earned advanced degrees or certifications. Several are authors and professors. Not only did they back each other in combat zones, they encourage one another’s home front success. I have no stats, but I’d guess this group has earned more than the average number of degrees or advanced accreditations. This explains how the gentleman giving the FHSU Veteran’s Day speech crossed my radar. He’s in school accomplishing a goal.

These soldiers have done more than serve their country. They’ve brought out the best in one another and modeled the meaning of strength. While bravery during battle is part of the that definition, sometimes it means standing before an audience, telling them how much you love your wife and how her commitment has allowed you to perform your duties well. I’m proud to know many of the brothers and sisters in this particular band. Western Kansans have much to celebrate.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

I like to read in the morning before I get serious about my workday but I have to be careful about what I read. I try not to read inflammatory or political news, for fear it will set a bad mood for the day.

Others go even further and choose not to be aware of current events. More distressing is when folks rely on headlines or blurbs to allow them to form their opinions.

I try to stay out of the political area when it comes to this column, but I do feel compelled to say something when it so directly affects my clients and their families.

Before the US Congress is a tax bill that provides sweeping changes to our taxing system. One provision in the House bill eliminates the deductibility of medical costs. I hope that change does not pass.

I have many clients that are either in long-term care, or are heading in the direction of long-term care. A nursing home right now costs about $6,000 a month. Many of my clients are paying much more than that.

In order to pay for that cost, many are starting to cash out resources. Some common resources include tapping into retirement plans or selling appreciated assets, both of which cause tax liabilities. Under current law, that tax impact can be offset by the deductibility of high medical expenses. In other words, my clients may be paying a lot of personal income tax as a result of taking money out of an IRA, but they can offset that because of the large expenses associated with long-term care. In addition, the tax laws favor purchasing long-term care insurance, because those premiums can be treated as a deductible medical expense.

Under the new proposed tax law changes, those medical expenses will not be deductible to offset the income tax liability.

Spending $70,000 to $100,000 a year on long-term care, plus incurring the tax liability, plus liquidating retirement plans and appreciated assets, will send most middle-class families into poverty, if not bankruptcy. Frankly, it will push more and more families into Medicaid, overburdening the current Medicaid system.

I will continue to try to read positive writings in the morning, but I know that this is a topic that we need to speak out about. My personal feeling is that the elimination of the medical deduction is bad for the middle-class family. I urge you to contact your representatives and senators.

Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Did your mother tell you that? If so, she was right. First impressions are important, for communities as well as people. Today we’ll learn about a program which can help Kansas towns create their community’s best possible first impression for visitors and prospective residents, while setting the stage for community action.

Nancy Daniels and Nadine Sigle are community vitality specialists with K-State Research and Extension. They use a program called First Impressions to provide helpful feedback for community improvement initiatives across the state.

The First Impressions program was created by the Extension service in Wisconsin and used in other states, including Kansas. In 2015, with support from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the program was relaunched by K-State Research and Extension in a new and improved format.

The central goal is community assessment and improvement, starting with feedback about the community from outside sources. The program offers a way to identify strengths and weaknesses of a community through the eyes of a first time visitor.

Kansas communities can apply to the K-State Office of Community Vitality to participate in the First Impressions program. The community will then be matched with another town of similar size about 90 miles or so away. Each town provides at least three volunteers to make unannounced visits to the other community. “Participants become `secret shoppers’ for a day to discover what they can about their sister community,” the program guide stated.

The visitors are trained to follow a process to observe and assess various elements of the community they visit. Before visiting, they check the online presence of the community. During their in-person visit, they assess community entrances, housing, education and social services, local economy, public services, recreation, friendliness, and more. Their comments and photos are compiled and presented to the community at a public meeting.

Of course, their sister community is conducting a similar assessment on them. “I think that’s key,” Nancy Daniels said. “The participants not only give feedback to the other town, but they come back with lots of ideas for their own community.”

After the visits, the results are presented at a town meeting, where Extension specialists then lead community residents through a process of identifying the town’s strengths and weaknesses. In approximately six months, a follow up meeting is held to track progress.

These assessments are not statistical measurements. They are literally first impressions, which often become lasting impressions. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage community action.

First Impressions reports can be a “wake-up call” to a community. “There was a business owner who hadn’t paid much attention to the outside appearance of his building (until he saw the pictures at a First Impressions meeting),” Nancy said. “No one was criticizing him, but he didn’t like how his entrance looked. He brought some painters in and it looked totally different by the time the community meeting occurred.”

Communities in northwest Kansas are using the results to help shape a strategic doing process with support from the Hansen Foundation.

Since 2015, 64 communities have participated in the program. These include larger towns as well as rural communities such as Arlington, population 452; Robinson, population 212; and Olsburg, population 189 people. Now, that’s rural.

How does a community participate in First Impressions? There is no charge, but the community must commit to provide volunteers to make an exchange visit and to host the public meeting. The application must also be signed by the town mayor so that public officials are aware of the process. The First Impressions program provides sample news releases and flyers to help the community promote public engagement in the town meeting.

For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Mom was right. One never gets a second chance to make a first impression. Those impressions from outsiders can help a community identify areas where progress is needed. We commend the many volunteers who are participating in this program across Kansas. They are making a difference with their evaluations and commitment to improvement. Such actions are important, because first impressions count.

The Kansas Supreme Court has again ruled the state’s school funding system unconstitutional. So, how much money will the Legislature have to throw at the problem to get the Court to go away?

The above question, commonly asked by legislators and journalists alike, is the wrong way to frame the issue—and that is part of the problem.

In its fifth — yes, fifth — decision in Gannon v. Kansas, the Kansas Supreme Court has set a deadline of June 30, 2018 to find solutions.

Legislators would get a lot further if they asked the questions posed in the rulings themselves: How much funding is required to achieve both adequacy, and equity, in public education throughout Kansas?

In determining the answer, the Court relied on a 2002 report commissioned by the Legislature from the firm Augenblick & Myers. In the study, researchers used two years of standardized-test data to identify successful schools in Kansas. They then identified the amount of money per pupil need to achieve this level of success, adjusting those totals for the higher costs of providing opportunities for students whose families have lower incomes, as measured by the percentage of free and reduced-price school lunches.

This time, the state proposed a new approach to the Court, but it was weak—no, make that pathetic. The state’s attorneys had the Kansas Legislative Research Department prepare a four-page memo in which the common statistical tool called regression analysis was used to measure the impact of certain independent variables on the dependent variable (student performance). School districts performing better than predicted by the model were then identified and those were put forth as the new benchmarks for success.

Regression is fine as a statistical tool—it is also used in the A & M report– but state’s proposal was sketchy and poorly labeled. It did not list all school districts measured, nor was it specific regarding what exactly constitutes student performance. Furthermore, as noted by the Court, many of the districts proposed as benchmarks in fact have high percentages of students performing below grade level on reading and math. Apparently, the Kansas Legislature decided to just phone it in this time. The judges were unimpressed.

If the Legislature scrapes together all the couch-cushion money it can find to just satisfy the Court again next year, look for a Gannon 6 decision in our near future, with the usual outcome.

Time for a reboot. The Augenblick & Myers report is so old that plaintiffs and the state could not even agree on how to account for inflation since it was issued. The Legislature should commission a comprehensive new study to set benchmarks, based on documented best practices and truly successful Kansas schools, educating students at all income and skill levels. In the meantime, the new Gannon raises immediate concerns about the fate of students on free/reduced lunches and those with special needs.

Justices also castigated the state for shifting school funding back to local sources, which worsens inequality, since some districts are much wealthier than others. These concerns can and should be addressed immediately, while awaiting the results of a comprehensive new study.

As for that new study, this is no time for political wrangling. There only need to be five criteria: a proven track record doing studies like this, adherence to best practices in the field, no conflict of interest, a promise of timely results, and a competitive bid. The study should be guided by goals articulated in the landmark Rose decision from Kentucky, which the court relied upon in Gannon: “substantial uniformity, substantial equality of financial resources and substantial equal educational opportunity for all students.”

Kansas still is not doing this.

After five Gannon rulings, what do we have to lose by trying something new?

Michael A. Smith is a Professor of Political Science at Emporia State University.

Electric pressure cookers are a hot item!  Are you considering asking for– or giving– one as a holiday gift?

Sales of pressure cookers, both traditional stovetop models and the new electric “multi-cookers,” are up more than 25 percent in the last year, according to Consumer Reports magazine.  The first electric pressure cooker to hit the market now has more than 630,000 followers of its official Facebook page. And websites devoted to pressure cooking are another indication these cookers are gaining a new audience.

The main draw of pressure cooking is faster meal preparation, according to Consumer Reports, but the versatility of the electric cookers is enhancing their popularity.  Here are three reasons why an electric pressure cooker might be a consideration for your kitchen:

Options, options, options.  Electric pressure cookers are built with a number of cooking options.  Some brands can serve as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, saute pan and warmer.  But beyond what the electric pressure cooker can do is the short time it takes to do it.  Pressure cooking with pressurized steam raises temperatures above the boiling point of water and makes the cooking time much faster.  The versatility allows the cooker to be used for every course of the meal from appetizers and main dishes to side dishes and desserts.

Set it, then step away.  Traditional stovetop pressure cookers like the one my mom used when I was growing up have always given fast, tender, delicious results.  But they require more attention in the kitchen to regulate.  With the new electric models, the guesswork and monitoring is gone.  A variety of built-in safety features– ranging from locking devices to digital timers to pop-up indicators– allows the cooker to do its work while the cook can do something else.

Quick clean up.  Many of the meals prepared in the electric pressure cookers are one- pot meals which greatly reduce clean up time.  Even if using accessories like a steamer basket or small liner pan, clean up is limited if much of the meal is prepared in one appliance.  Be aware, however, that the electric parts of the cooker cannot be submerged in water and must be cleaned by hand.

Are you interested in knowing more about pressure cooking and the new electric pressure cookers?  Find the Consumer Reports article at www.consumerreports.org/kitchen-appliances/electric-vs-stovetop-pressure-cooker/.

Utah State University Extension has also published a brand comparison of electric pressure cookers that might be helpful.  Go to www.extension.usu.edu/publications and use the search function to search for publication “FN/FoodPreparation/2015-01pr”.

Our Extension pressure cooker demonstration next week is already full.  If you would like handouts from the program, contact the Hays Office of the Cottonwood Extension District at 601 Main, Suite A, in Hays or call 785-628-9430.

If you were not able to attend the Hays program, or if you’re surprised with an electric pressure cooker for Christmas and need the information later, the Cottonwood Extension District will repeat this program on the evening of February 6^th in Barton County.  Watch for more information about the repeat session from the Cottonwood Extension District offices in Hays and Great Bend.

Linda K. Beech is Cottonwood District Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Baker Hughes reported 907 active drilling rigs across the US, an increase of nine oil rigs. Canada notes an increase of 11 rigs to a total of 203. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 13 active rigs in eastern Kansas, which is unchanged, and 38 west of Wichita, up two for the week. They’re drilling at sites in Ellis and Stafford counties, they’re reporting drilling ahead at sites in Russell and Stafford counties, and they’re moving in completion tools at leases in Barton, Ellis, Russell, and Stafford counties.

Kansas operators filed 37 drilling permits for new locations across the state last week, which brings the year-to-date total to just 1,227 permits. There were 18 new permits filed east of Wichita, and 19 in western Kansas, including one in Barton County.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 39 new well completions across Kansas last week, 1,156 so far this year. There were 15 completions filed in eastern Kansas, and 24 west of Wichita, half of which were dry holes. Operators reported one completion each in Barton, Ellis and Stafford counties.

After the Oklahoma House failed to pass a funding bill that included an increase in the Gross Production Tax on oil and gas wells, Governor Mary Fallin threatened to keep lawmakers in special session until Christmas. House Bill 1054 fell five votes short of the 75% super-majority vote needed for a tax bill under the state Constitution.

Two huge oil patch information services are joining forces. Drillinginfo of Austin, Texas has acquired Oklahoma City-based Oil-Law Records, a 62-year-old firm and one of the first oil and gas industry information providers in the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed. OLR’s CEO J. Brad McPherson told the Daily Oklahoman he and the other 11 Oil-Law Records employees will keep their jobs, and the Oklahoma City office will continue to operate as normal.

An appraisal expert told lawmakers the “honor system” isn’t working amid New Mexico’s record oil production. The state relies on self reporting for oil and gas machinery for taxation purposes. But Jerry Wisdom of Total Assessment Solutions told the state legislature they are losing out on millions of dollars in revenue because drilling rigs and other gear are not on the tax rolls.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced a bill that would open up the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. Congressional analysts estimate the ANWR legislation would raise nearly $1.1 billion over the next 10 years from the sale of leasing rights. The bill would require Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to approve at least two lease sales of at least 400,000 acres. The first sale would be within four years, and the second would have to be finalized within seven years. The bill allows for 2,000 acres of the coastal plain to be developed with wells and support facilities.

A huge new oil-by-rail terminal proposed for the Port of Vancouver, Washington appears to be dead in its tracks. Unofficial results show a big majority of voters picked a critic of the project as their new Port Commissioner. Don Orange plans to cancel the Vancouver Energy lease. Orange and his opponent combined raised around $1 million, a large bulk of it from outside companies and oil interests. All that money in the race prompted some local lawmakers to start crafting legislation that would limit contributions for future port races.

The Bureau of Land Management’s lengthy permitting process has cost North Dakota an estimated 1,000 jobs in lost oil and gas opportunities and as much as $250 million in royalties and state taxes. That was the testimony of the state’s Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms before a House subcommittee in Washington Wednesday. Lawmakers are considering changes that would let states manage oil and gas permitting in situations where the federal government doesn’t own surface rights.

Despite a lot of rain in North Dakota and some hurricane-related curtailments farther south, Oklahoma City based Continental Resources reported some record third-quarter numbers: $10.6 million in profits producing more than 242,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The profits come a year after 3rd-quarter losses of $175 million last year. Production was up nearly 35,000 barrels a day compared to a year earlier, and the company expects significant growth in the fourth quarter.

BP CEO Bob Dudley told CNBC the biggest risk for the global oil industry is Venezuela, “the real wild card,” which Dudley said is “defying economic gravity.”

Venezuela was to meet with its creditors Monday, seeking to restructure an estimated $150 billion in debt, much of it issued by the state oil company and now held by Russia and China. Late Sunday President Maduro said the oil-rich but cash-starved nation would never default. The US and EU have stepped up sanctions against the regime, adding an arms embargo this week.

Beijing has finished building the world’s largest oil platform in order to tap what China calls the ‘energy of the future’. The self-propelled drilling rig, called ‘Blue Whale II’, can reach sea depths of 50,000 feet. The enormous semi-submersible structure is expected to help China mine flammable ice, a kind of natural gas hydrate which has been discovered deep under the South China Sea. According to The Daily Mail, the vessel is 37 stories tall and weighs roughly the same as 195 Statues of Liberty.

OPEC reduced its estimate of the number of cars expected on the road in the next twenty years. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries still expects more than two billion passenger vehicles on the road by 2040. But the new estimate is six percent less, down 137 million cars, from its prediction two years ago.

What seemed like a wild idea last legislative session might — just might — seem a little less wild next session if the state is forced to spend more money on K-12 education by the Kansas Supreme Court.

That wild idea passed by the House but frozen in the Senate was to impose the state sales tax on services, not just the stuff you walk out of the store with in your hand.

Remember that bill, which would have put the sales tax on services ranging from vehicle towing to security services, haircuts and manicures, pet care, even dating services for Kansans with apparently not good social skills or who wear too many plaids?

The House, remember, passed the bill, tying it to an into-the-future cut in sales tax on groceries, the Senate, well, it just sort of got lost over there on the east (that’s the Senate side) of the Statehouse.

Last year’s bill wasn’t a big money-maker for the state, maybe $50 million or more, but the idea of Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, pointed at the hard line between physical goods and services, though she chose a pretty narrow bunch of services to subject to the sales tax.

Now…should it cost the Legislature hundreds of millions of new dollars to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court and avoid the shutdown of Kansas public schools, there may be another look at those sales tax exemptions.

Key in Kansas is that we don’t tax component parts or ingredients of what later becomes an item for retail sale. If the car company buys seats for that new vehicle, it doesn’t pay sales tax on those seats, but collects for the state the sales tax on the entire car once the dealer sells it. Pretty strong idea: You pay sales tax on the car, not the parts that later become a car and then again on the car you drive off in.

Now, services are a different deal, of course, and lawmakers note that those services are the final product. Whether it’s a new haircut, day-care-for-dogs, towing that car, or providing the burglar alarms at your house, those are final services, end of the deal.

The biggies, of course, are service-providers such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, which have considerable Statehouse clout. Tax all the services, and it could be $600 million or more in state revenue enough to solve the school finance deal, probably getting back into the business of building roads, and maybe taking care of prisoners, maybe taking the sales tax off groceries.

Is that possible? In an election year in which the entire Kansas House stands for re-election and statewide officers are on the ballot?

It would probably take some pretty careful parsing-out of just what services would be subject to a sales tax and which wouldn’t. Walking dogs? Probably OK, but you don’t want to mess with cats, their owners being…well…cat people.

Nope, nobody wants higher taxes on anything, but this may be another year of a tax increase on something.

Practically, the sales tax rate is about as high as it is going to get if legislators want to still be able to buy fire insurance on their homes.

And income taxes? Well, we don’t know yet whether last year they were raised enough to pay for whatever the court decides is needed for public schools.

Property taxes? Probably the most sensitive of all taxes, unless lawmakers can come up with a way to point at those who don’t pay them and focus attention of everyone who does pay property taxes on those who don’t.

Looks like a year of hunting for the least politically and socially powerful registered voters, doesn’t it?

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

Without question, the most important resource in Phillipsburg, Dodge City, Pittsburg, Salina or any community in Kansas, is human resources. If you look up the definition of human resources, you will find it as: “the individuals who make up the community and their learned skills that create the ability to lead teams of people, manage systems and produce goods and services.”

Rural communities thrive and prosper when farmers, ranchers and small community businesses work together for the common good. The single greatest roadblock for success and growth in any community is lack of organized leadership with vision. Fortunately, Kansans have been an active bunch. Citizens of this state have always believed they can get the job done.

Kansans continue to build on a long and proud heritage and self-responsibility by investing in new businesses, communities and those they employ. Kansas communities believe they can continue to be part of a livable frontier – a state of mind where there is always room to grow and prosper.

Farmers, ranchers and businesses in this state all have similar goals and philosophies. They have always believed there is too much government intrusion into their lives and businesses. For years, they have worked hard to reverse this trend and control their destiny.

Some people still have the mistaken belief that government can control the economy and provide a better life for its citizens. That is unrealistic. Both for theoretical and practical reasons, governments are unable to control the economy and create jobs.

Kansans know this. Our communities have never stood idly by and waited for government to take care of them. Instead they have formed alliances to tackle community issues, foster business development and ensure an environment where they will continue to grow.

It is not enough for Kansas communities to have and follow a strategic plan for economic development. Rural communities must not forget they need institutions that bring farmers into the communities on a regular basis.

This means restaurants and other gathering places where rural and townsfolk can gather. This means a place where they can talk about mutual issues and interests – children, the high school basketball team, the remodeled community center – just about anything that relates to the welfare and wellbeing of the area.

Grocery stores, a church – with committed leaders willing to live and become a part of the community – active participation in the school system and involvement in farm and community organizations are all ways to rekindle interest.

Strong communities survive and prosper when farmers retire in their towns, or become actively involved in local and regional affairs. Farmers, ranchers and businesses remain the key to growth and vitality in any rural area. Working together, both rural and urban, with progressive community leadership, we can improve our standard of living and our quality of life in Kansas.

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

Australia has the best trade agreement in wheat imaginable. It is with the United States and the kicker is, they didn’t have to lift a finger to get it, we gave it to them. We should do our best to hire those trade negotiators away from Australia to work on our behalf, but it is not possible to do so, for they don’t exist. There is no written agreement on paper; we have decided as a country not to compete with them in most wheat markets in the world pertaining to Hard White wheat.

The reason Australia has a so-called “corner on the market” is because they grow Hard White wheat primarily for the international market. We, as a country, also grow Hard White wheat, with even better qualities than Australian Hard White, but we have for some reason or reasons decided to produce only enough for our domestic market, thus leaving the international market basically untouched by our grain.

In doing so we have, in a sense, provided an unwritten agreement to other countries – such as Australia and Canada – that we will not really interfere with the world market in Hard White wheat. The HW wheat market is growing, as evidenced in Nigeria where Australia has taken a portion of the U.S. Hard Red wheat market and replaced it with white wheat.

There are countries such as Nigeria, Taiwan, Korea and many South American countries that are looking for Hard White wheat for its whole grain qualities, but we are allowing them to look elsewhere, rather than growing it here in this country. We are content to compete with Russia, the Ukraine, and other countries on a bulk commodity low value product. It is a competition in which the way to make the sale is to be the low price producer.

There is no reason to compete as a low price producer when we – as Kansas farmers – have an option. That option is also available to other Hard Red Winter wheat states. If Kansas, along with several other Hard Red Winter wheat producers, would commit at least a third of our red wheat production to white wheat production, we would show our international buyers that we are not only serious about producing Hard White wheat, but that we would be a reliable supplier.

In doing this, we could eliminate over 70 percent of our wheat competitors, as only Australia and Canada currently grow Hard White. We would be able to move our product, rather than store it sometimes for over a year at a time. It is time for our farmers to let the grain industry know that we would like to make a change.

Ron Suppes, Dighton

Over many trips to China, I am sometimes given a formal dinner on my last day. And it is usually attended by a party secretary at the chair, dean or even university level. It is a unique feature of Chinese institutions that there are two persons in many administrative positions: one who manages the position and another who oversees the position to make sure it does not wander away from the ideals of the Party.

It is at this time at universities that train teachers that I am not particularly polite. “What is this university doing to get good teachers to go back and teach in the countryside?” I ask.

“There are full-ride scholarships, free university tuition, to students who will go back,” is the answer.

“I know,” I reply. “But when I spoke to graduating teachers at Yunnan Normal, there were over 50 who had come from the countryside and only five took the scholarships. I asked the other rural students. Their parents scraped together and borrowed money to send them to school rather than have them come back to poverty.”

“Okay. Well we have this Westward Expansion Programme where we send college students to teach in the countryside,” was the comeback.

“I have talked with some of them, and they appreciate the experience. But they are not trained teachers and their numbers are far too low.” I continue, “You need over a million trained science teachers alone in countryside schools. This did not touch the problem.”

“Well, we really have not solved this problem,” is the ultimate reply.

I mention that prior Premier Zhu Rongji (1998—2003) said that providing equity in education is the most important problem for China to solve. And then that “Zhou En-lai would not be happy,” a real heavy political statement since Zhou En-lai is greatly respected in China.

So far, China has still not succeeded in getting highly qualified teachers to the countryside schools. Instead, the countryside is coming to the cities. In some cases, young parents bring their child with them. But lacking a city birth document (hu kou), the child must attend a migrant school. And those schools pay poorly and have problems similar to countryside schools.

One secretary stated that they intended to rotate the best teachers from the regular schools through the migrant schools and thus even out this inequity. But the few public school teachers I have had the opportunity to talk with have said that there is no way they can be forced to rotate out of their Number One school. So the good intentions of the Party face an insoluble problem.

Not all of the adult couples that move to the city take their children with them (many rural couples have had more than one child for some time). In China, there are over 6 million “left-behind” children living with grandparents. They attend the poor rural schools where a high school teacher may not have more than a high school education.

In China, divorce remains rare. Parental support of a child’s academics at home is normal and expected. Having Mom or Dad help you every night with the heavy homework load is an important part of a student keeping up in school. But when a child comes home to a less-educated, retired grandparent, it is hard for that grandparent to give them academic help when, on average, a rural Chinese farmer has less than an 8th grade education.

Due to their longstanding birth control policy, their school population across China has been coming down for a decade. Massive numbers of citizens have moved from rural to urban areas. Rules on students returning to their birth home for the graduation test (gao kao) are being eased, so that migrant students can remain and take the test in big cities where their parents migrated.

These hard-working migrant parents are sacrificing to make a better life for their child. And all grandparents across China, rural and urban, are very much involved in their grandchildren as well. But this difference in educational opportunity remains unfair.

Chinese university campuses post signs showing the face of a rural student looking up from struggling with his or her homework, and the billboard asks “Do you have the time to help?”

Six million rural Chinese children—equal to twice the total population of Kansas—are “left behind.”

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.