Natural disasters have taken their toll in many areas of the U.S. lately. Wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and drought–these dramatic weather events have a profound effect on families, communities and businesses.

In these tough times, Kansans stepped up to help those in need. Kansas farmers donated hay and trucked it to fire-ravaged Montana and drought-stricken North Dakota to help feed livestock. Kansas’ food banks and their supporters sent food and cleaning supplies to Texas and Florida to aid in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, with Harvesters–The Community Food Network even lending staff members to assist food banks in the affected areas.

While Congress begins to vote on bills to fund emergency disaster relief, we are reminded of the importance of a strong farm bill.

The farm bill is a multi-year law that sets policy and funding levels for most of the agricultural and nutrition programs. This important legislation provides relief to farmers and families impacted by these disasters and many others just like them, and it provides that relief outside of the political processes involved in disaster declarations and funding. It is a critical safety net for America’s families – both urban and rural.

Crop insurance and the farm bill safety net programs are very important risk management tools farmers use to protect themselves from natural disasters and the inconsistencies of weather. When faced with drought, fire or flooding, farmers cannot wait for a disaster declaration and the funds that may follow months later. They need the certainty of a strong crop insurance program that will help them assess their financial position as quickly as possible so they can get another crop in the ground to help feed all of us.

Federal nutrition programs are the other important piece of the farm bill. They protect American families from hunger and food insecurity.

When a disaster hits a family – like a health emergency, a lost job or a natural disaster – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is there to help by providing food to those in need.

USDA also partners with food banks like the Kansas Food Bank, Second Harvest Community Food Bank and Harvesters to provide The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) commodity foods to households impacted by disasters before food retailers reopen. Disaster-SNAP (D-SNAP) is specifically designed to help people meet their immediate need for food through an electronic benefits card they can use at a local grocery store when it does reopen.

When natural or economic disasters hit in rural, suburban and urban communities, we need the stability these strong farm bill programs provide. Congress is already working on the next farm bill, which needs to be passed in 2018. It is critical to our communities that our congressional delegation support a strong farm bill that will continue to protect all American families.

-Rich Felts
President of Kansas Farm Bureau

-Valerie Nicholson-Watson
President & CEO of Harvesters

-Brian Walker
President & CEO of the Kansas Food Bank

-Chad Higdon
CEO of Second Harvest

Average Kansas per gallon price falls four cents to $2.30

TOPEKA – Gas prices in Kansas have fallen to their lowest level since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas in late August. Kansas’ $2.30 average pump price this week is four cents lower than a week ago and down 19 cents per gallon from the $2.49 registered on Sept. 5, 2017. This is the fifth consecutive Monday with a lower average gas price in the Sunflower State.

“Now that we are clear of and recovered from the storm-related impact of oil production operations, we’re really seeing our normal autumn seasonal decline in gas prices across Kansas and the country,” said AAA Kansas spokesperson Jennifer Haugh. “Once summer vacation season is over, gasoline demand and price typically decreases. That, coupled with the less expensive winter-blend gasolines being introduced into the market, and motorists are seeing very favorable prices at the pump.”

According to AAA Kansas, this week’s Kansas gas price extremes are:
HIGH: St. Francis (Cheyenne County) – $2.70
LOW: Burrton (Harvey County) and Haven (Reno County) – $2.11

AAA Kansas reports that Wichita, with $2.26/gallon pump prices ranks as the 24th lowest metro area in the nation, while Topeka ($2.28/gallon) ranks 33rd lowest. Of the 10 Kansas cities regularly highlighted by AAA Kansas (see chart below), Salina (-7 cents), Kansas City, Kan. (-6) and Topeka (-6) saw the largest price decreases, while prices in Manhattan (+2) and Hays (+1) actually rose slightly.

National Perspective
Motorists are paying on average six cents less for a gallon of gasoline on the week with all states seeing prices at the pump either drop or hold steady. Today’s national gas price average is $2.49, which is 18 cents cheaper than a month ago. With the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report measuring gasoline demand at 9.2 million b/d, down 281,000 b/d from the week prior, retail gas prices are showing steady promise of returning to pre-hurricane rates.

“Across the country, gas prices have fallen steadily for the past four weeks and now we are seeing gasoline demand drop alongside prices,” said AAA Kansas’ Haugh. “The latest demand figures show the lowest since the week Hurricane Harvey hit and can likely be the beginning of a downward demand trend indicating even cheaper gas prices to come this fall.”

Over the weekend, Hurricane Nate made landfall over the Gulf Coast and is now a tropical depression. Ahead of the storm, many Gulf Coast oil platforms and rigs were shut down and employees evacuated. In addition, two refineries, accounting for six percent of total Gulf Coast refining capacity, shut down. Early reports speculate that refineries did not sustain damage and operations could start up today, Monday. Overall, motorists will see minimal to no impact to gas prices in the region hit by the storm.

Great Lakes and Central States Report
At 10 cents less than last week, Michigan ($2.40) is the region’s one state to see the largest and only double-digit drop in gas prices on the week. All states are paying less on the week. Following closely behind Michigan are Indiana (-9 cents) and Ohio (-9 cents). With a two-cent decrease, North Dakota saw the region’s smallest decline.

The region’s pump price drop comes alongside a large 1.5 million bbl drop in the Great Lakes and Central states overall gasoline inventory. According to the EIA, this was the largest inventory drop of all regions in the country. At 50 million bbl, total levels are on par with inventory last year at this time.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

The Kansas Corporation Commission reports 140 new intent-to-drill notices filed across the state in September. The year-to-date and third-quarter total is 1,177. That’s still higher than the 838 intents filed through the third quarter of last year, but well below previous years. Through September of 2015, operators had filed 1,862 intents. Barton County lists three new intent-to-drill notices filed last month, while Ellis County had six. There was one new intent filed in Russell County and six in Stafford County.

Baker Hughes reports 939 active drilling rigs across the US over the last week, down two oil rigs and two gas rigs. In Canada there were 209 active drilling rigs, down four. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports fourteen active rigs in eastern Kansas, up four, and 25 west of Wichita, up one. They report drilling ahead at one site in Russell County and one in Stafford County, along with another site in Stafford County where they’re moving in completion tools.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 38 new well-completions over the last week, bringing the year-to-date total to 990. There were 16 completions in eastern Kansas and 22 west of Wichita, including three in Ellis County and four in Stafford County.

Operators filed 40 permits for drilling in new locations last week. That’s 1,093 so far this year. There were 21 east of Wichita and 19 in western Kansas, including one in Ellis County and one in Russell County.

Oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico began returning to service Monday after Hurricane Nate forced the shutdown of more than 90 percent of the crude output in the area.

The spread between WTI and London Brent is credited with a huge increase in domestic crude exports, 1.98 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Rising U.S. production has held down WTI prices, while Brent’s price is heavily influenced by policy directions from OPEC.

OPEC is due to meet in Vienna on Nov. 30, when it will discuss its pact to reduce output in order to prop up the market. The Secretary-General says consultations are underway for an extension of their production agreement beyond March, saying more producers may join that pact in November.

A Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data on Monday found that OPEC as a whole added 120,000 barrels a day in September, led by increases from the Saudi kingdom, Kuwait, Libya and Nigeria. Meanwhile, higher prices spurred new US exploration, which generated some downward pressure.

Alaska residents won’t get as much as expected, but each of them woke up $1,100 richer Thursday, thanks to the state’s oil wealth investment fund. Alaskans have gotten used to receiving double that amount, but for the second straight year, the payout was reduced to help the state pay its bills amid a recession due to continued low oil prices.

The company building the Keystone Pipeline system has scrapped plans for another system to move oil and gas from Alberta, Canada to the east coast. TransCanada noted what it called “changed circumstances” and said they would no longer proceed with the $15.7 billion Energy East pipeline and another natural gas pipe. The projects faced regulatory hurdles in Canada and stiff opposition from environmentalists. Bloomberg reports the move will force TransCanada to record an $801 million after tax charge in the fourth quarter.

An energy company is seeking federal approval to build a pipeline in eastern Montana that would transport carbon dioxide for use in enhanced oil production along the North Dakota border. Denbury Resources, based in Plano, Texas, specializes in using carbon dioxide for oil recovery with projects completed or pending in Texas, Alabama, Wyoming, Mississippi and Louisiana. The company has not released a construction timeline or specifics on the volume of carbon dioxide that would be transported.

A North Dakota jury last week returned guilty verdicts against an environmental activist who targeted an oil pipeline a year ago. The panel found Michael Foster of Seattle guilty of conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, criminal mischief and trespass. Foster was acquitted of reckless endangerment. Foster did not deny using a bolt cutter to get through a chain link fence so he could turn the pipeline’s shut-off valve. He contended his law-breaking was in the public’s interest. A co-defendant who filmed the protest was found guilty of conspiracy. Both are scheduled for sentencing in January.

Canada’s minister of natural resources tells The Canadian Press that transporting oil by pipeline is a better choice than rail cars. The federal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline is under a legal microscope as opponents argue the process was incomplete and failed to take into account the impact the pipeline could have on everything from killer whales to waterways. Minister Jim Carr said getting more oil to the West Coast so it can be loaded on tankers and sold to China will be better for the country and getting it there on pipelines rather than rail cars is better for everyone.

If one thing has become clear in the week since the Kansas Supreme Court tossed out the newly minted school finance plan for K-12 public schools, it’s that Kansas politicians have become better at talking around the problem.

So far, it’s generally Democrats saying that the Legislature short-changed schools with the new finance plan.

Generally, Republicans are saying that the finance plan is OK, and that the Kansas Supreme Court is meddling and it ought to give the program a chance to produce the better outcomes (that’s smarter students) that the state wants.

And because the high court didn’t say just how much more money it wants spent on K-12 education, there is no real target for the Legislature to aim at as it figures out a new formula based on the court’s objections to how the plan distributes money to school districts.

Democrats are basically saying spend more money but aren’t saying where that money should come from. The answer, of course, is taxes, which the Legislature increased by nearly $600 million last session; most Kansans are just now getting an idea of how much it is going to cost them.

Republicans don’t want to raise taxes again, no matter how laudable the use of that new money. They’re just saying, “No new taxes.”

So where does this Supreme Court order go?

The court objected to a handful of relatively narrow provisions in the new school finance bill. Things like adjusting state contributions toward local school boards’ Local Option Budget (locally approved property tax increases for schools) that the court said aren’t absolutely equal across the state. There is the provision that gives money to school districts for students who receive free- or reduced-price lunches under federal programs even if they don’t have at least 10 percent of pupils in that situation—a legislative hand-out to a couple Johnson County districts.

Oh, and there is that “please show your work” provision in the judgment, that the court couldn’t tell exactly what the Legislature based some of its decisions on in assembling the new school finance plan, and some relatively polite, but pointed objection to some of the research lawmakers used to produce facets of the bill that the court couldn’t double-check.

But the clearest view of the new decision is that with no dollar amount of new spending demanded by the court, well, nothing is clear.

What’s it going to come down to?

First, there will be largely Republican efforts to somehow toss aside the court decision. It’s the legislative and executive branches that are in charge of keeping the government working, they’ll maintain. Keep the courts out of it, and as long as we’re sending U.S. currency to school districts, well, that’s OK.

There will be Democratic efforts to churn through the decision, come up with the fixes the court wants, and then compute what those formula changes work out to in terms of tax dollars. It’s essentially determining the changes the court wants, putting them into state law, then either coming up with new money or redistributing available money through that reshaped formula to see what districts will get.

Then there’s the problem with a new formula—some districts getting less money under the new formula with no new money and figuring out how much new money is needed so that no district gets less next year than it did this year.

This isn’t going to be easy, won’t be pretty…and at the end of the exercise, House members who stand for re-election in 2018 will be telling their districts they did the right thing. Wonder how that’s going to be phrased…

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

In a month the Kansas fields, hills and woods will awaken to the sound of booming shotguns and barking dogs. Nov. 11 is the official opening day of upland game hunting. Hunters and their canines will once again swarm the countryside searching for pheasants, quail and prairie chicken. Duck and turkey season is already in full swing.

Farms and ranches have always been a handy, ready-to-use outlet for many urban dwellers who travel outside their city homes in search of recreational hunting. On opening day of the upland game season, the interstate and U.S. highways will be a steady stream of pickups, SUVs and cars headed for central and western Kansas.

If you plan to hunt on private land remember one key word as you embark on this season’s sojourn. That word is consideration. It means thoughtful and sympathetic regard.

In this country, wildlife belongs to the people, but landowners (farmers and ranchers) have the right to say who goes on their land. If you are interested in hunting, make arrangements before you hunt.

Don’t wait until the day you plan to hunt someone’s land and then knock on the door at 6 a.m. By now you should have already asked to hunt.

After you’ve secured permission, here are some suggestions to follow that will ensure a lasting relationship between you and the landowner.

Agree on who, and how many, will hunt on the land. Specify number and furnish names. Talk about specific times and dates you plan to hunt.

Contact the landowner each time before you plan to hunt, and let the landowner know of your intentions. The landowner may have forgotten about your original conversation. It’s just common courtesy to say hello before hunting and ask again for the opportunity – or privilege, as I consider it – to hunt on someone’s property.

Determine the exact location on the land you have permission to hunt. Some areas may be off-limits because of livestock or crops.

Always, and I can’t stress this enough, leave gates the way you find them. If they are open, leave them that way. If they are closed, shut them after you pass through.

If you ever leave a gate open and a farmer’s cow herd gets out of the pasture, “Katy bar the door.” You’ll never be invited back to hunt. Don’t even ask.

Once you’ve enjoyed a successful hunt, stop by to thank the landowner for his generosity. Offer to share the game you bag.

After the season, write a note expressing your appreciation for the opportunity to hunt. Consider offering a gift as a token of your gratitude.

Leasing of land by the hunter from the landowner is becoming more popular in Kansas. Such agreements allow a hunter a guaranteed hunting site. It also provides the landowner income necessary to recoup some of the investment he needs to leave habitat suitable for wildlife to survive and prosper.

If you enter into such a lease, make sure it is written and includes all provisions both parties deem necessary. This should include a clause for the landowner and his/her family to hunt on the land.

Always remember that the hunter and landowner should discuss the terms of the hunt before hunting begins. This is extremely important. Hunters never forget, you are a guest and it is a privilege to hunt on the owner’s land.

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

This time of year when the eight letter word “football” fills many people’s thoughts, ours thoughts as deer hunters, predator hunters and trappers should dwell on another eight letter word, “scouting.” Here in the farm country of the Midwest, game movement patterns sometimes change from year to year and even from season to season because of annual crop rotation, weather extremes and habitat changes, among other things. Although many good hunting and trapping hotspots produce game and fur year after year, many do not because of these factors.

Annual crop rotations play a big part in the daily lives of wildlife. Where we used to hunt deer in southern Meade County, the terrain is rather bleak and the main crop by far is wheat. There’s always some hay around for deer to feed on, but the tender green wheat is their mainstay. Changes in wheat field locations from year to year sometimes mean changes in deer patterns, and thus in the way we hunt them. Here around McPherson County annual crop changes have only minor effects on deer patterns because there’s always an edible field crop of some sort near a deer’s chosen home range, but crop changes here do sometimes effect wildlife movement. For instance, tall crops like corn and silage offer excellent cover for deer and coyotes as they travel. Movement of those crops probably won’t change where these animals hunt, feed and bed, but it will often change the way they travel to get there.

Weather extremes, namely droughts and floods change wildlife patterns dramatically. Floods have a very temporary effect as they dictate where wildlife can and cannot travel, feed, hunt and bed during those times of high water. When the waters recede, life soon goes on again as usual. Drought on the other hand can have a long lasting effect on wildlife patterns as they are often forced to relocate nearer to the few sources of water.

Habitat changes probably have the most effect on wildlife patterns. Removing overgrown tree and fence rows, bulldozing old orchards, tearing down and cleaning up old buildings in overgrown woodlots and even building a new home on a previously empty and overgrown lot all change travel ways and hunting areas of local wildlife. This summer acres of trees were removed from the property next to our deer blind. I know deer will continue to travel through there still, but removing all those trees destroyed a major deer bedding area, so it remains to be seen how that will all affect our deer harvest.

So what to do? It’s called “mud on the boots!” Physically getting out into the areas you plan to hunt and trap before season is the only way to compensate for man and natures changes. Trail cameras are one good way to do help you with that. Hanging a couple near trails will soon show you if the trail is used, by what and how often. Another good way is scouring the area for tracks. Be it deer, raccoons or coyotes every critter has four feet and wherever you find tracks you can bet the animal belonging to those four paws was mighty close! Tonight before completing this column I drove into and walked some new property I have permission to trap. I was becoming disappointed at the few coyote tracks I was seeing…until I crossed over a brushy overgrown lane into another field and suddenly found more coyote tracks than I’d ever hoped to see. I had walked that field this summer and found nothing, proving my point about seasonal wildlife patterns.

In this age of digital trail cameras and GPS technology the best and most reliable scouting tool available to the hunter and trapper is still the farmer and land owner. If you have permission to harvest game on their land they are usually more than happy to talk with you about where and when they see that game, especially deer and coyotes.

Just like we have to find new ways to travel around construction projects, or choose a new place to shop when our favorite grocery store closes, so wildlife must adapt to the ever changing world in which they live. So to remain successful harvesters of that wildlife, we must occasionally get “some mud on our boots” and adapt our harvesting strategies to their changes…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

To describe the recent mass murder in Las Vegas as a profound tragedy which rips at the core of our human soul is almost an understatement. In its aftermath you will read and hear all sorts of analysis – some good, some not too helpful – especially involving the question of “Why?” when the loss of innocents occurs.

What follows is an attempt to share some thoughts in a Christian context for those who are open to thinking about the problem of pain from a human perspective. Let me quickly add that these thoughts are not my own, but those of the author and converted Christian, C. S. Lewis, who wrote his book “The Problem of Pain” following his profound grief over the death of his beloved wife, whom he married late in life and lost too quickly to cancer.

At the heart of C. S. Lewis’ message is simply this: asking “Why?” in these situations is the wrong thing to do because of our incapacity as humans to understand God’s ways or plans for his children. Such a seemingly callous answer bereft of emotion, however, doesn’t help those of us here on earth trying to cope with the pain of the senseless suffering and loss of life in Las Vegas. Given the basic Christian belief in the goodness of God we nonetheless wouldn’t be human if we didn’t wonder why we all suffer pain from time to time. What then could possibly be the purpose of pain?

Of pain’s purpose C. S. Lewis tells us that we know that trial and tribulation are essential elements of the Christian experience. Therefore, God will never let it cease until He sees our world is either redeemed or no further redeemable. Human pain is one aspect of what mankind endures in this world.
Moreover, pain insists upon being attended to. What I remind myself in these moments is this gem he wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

He clarifies that suffering/pain is not good in itself. “What is good in any painful experience is for the sufferer, his submission to the will of God and for the spectators, the compassion aroused and acts of mercy to which it leads.” His point about spectators deserves special attention in light of the Las Vegas shooting.

These “acts of mercy” aroused by the compassion of those involved sparked the motivation for this letter and were exemplified and illustrated beautifully by the actions of many individuals after the shooting began. Some examples of such “spectators” gleaned from the written account of others:

A young 30-year-old man who was shot in the neck (where the bullet is still lodged and could remain lodged for the rest of his life) while trying to run back and save people in the crowd, especially his young nieces, after the gunman opened fire on the crowd.

The off-duty San Diego police offer who flagged down a pickup truck and loaded the 30-year-old and others in the back of the pickup so they could get to the hospital.

The woman who held a dying stranger in her arms for hours, and described how the young 23-year-old man wrapped his fingers on her hand, squeezed a little bit until his fingers just went loose.

An eyewitness staying with a friend who had been shot three times as bullets continued to fly into the crowd. There was no way he was going to leave his buddy because “I knew he wouldn’t have left me.” That same eyewitness was curbside transferring another young man to an ambulance when “that young man passed away, somebody’s son passed away right there. He was not by himself. He was always with somebody.”

The 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served as a sniper in Iraq and whose battlefield instincts kicked in quickly as bullets rained overhead and immediately began tending to the wounded.

A man one survivor knows only as Zach who herded people to a safe place.

A registered nurse from Tennessee who died shielding his wife.

C. S. Lewis acknowledges and understands our human desire for “settled happiness and security” in this life, but God withholds those things from us by the very nature of the world. He does “scatter broadcast” joy, pleasure and merriment. As such we are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, some joy and on occasion even ecstasy.

Why is it so? Because if we’re to attain the security in this world that we crave – that would teach us to “rest our hearts in this world” and therefore pose an obstacle to our return to God. “Our Father refreshes us on our journey with some pleasant inns; a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bath or a football match,” but He will not encourage us to mistake them for home.

Perhaps we all then can take some comfort and solace in these words: And the Lord shall deliver you from every evil and He will preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory for ever and ever. AMEN. (2 Timothy 4:18)

Thomas M. Wasinger, Hays

During four decades of living in western Kansas, our family, like most in the region, has spent time as a visitor or patient in local hospitals. Although these stays begin as necessities, such visits lead to reunions with acquaintances and former students who are now medical professionals.

Recently, Mom was a patient for 11 days in a rural hospital. That stay followed by weeks of outpatient therapy helped her rebuild strength. During that time, I ran into at least 10 former students or parents of students who work at this facility. Though it would be nice to catch up in a less stressful situation, it was wonderful to learn about their post graduate training and hear about marriages and children as well.

After watching these meetings between former pupils, their parents, and me, my brother who lives and doctors near a large Texas city remarked that if he needs to be hospitalized, he wants to come to our hospital. He mentioned how lucky we were to have people who know us caring for our mother.

Part of our story involved a 911 call and an ambulance. To my surprise, Mom’s primary care provider showed up with the ambulance crew who arrived swiftly, assessed the situation, and applied necessary monitors. Mom who was distressed to be not only ill but in need of EMT assistance was relieved to see that familiar face and hear his calming assurances. I second her feelings.

Once in the emergency room, nurses, physician assistants, and doctors coordinated efforts with lab and x-ray techs to identify specific patient needs. Sometimes this means staff members are on call at night or over weekends. In a scary situation, it’s a blessing to have someone you know looking after your loved one. Seeing a long-time friend’s wife, who’s also a mother of former students, smile as she collected Mom’s lab samples calmed my anxious spirit.

These little reunions occurred time after time during this hospitalization. Often times, teachers get only a glimpse of a student’s potential. How gratifying to watch people who once sat in your classroom serving as health care professionals inserting or removing IV lines, delivering breathing treatments, monitoring vitals and medications, and guiding physical therapy sessions.

Many of mom’s friends and acquaintances also work at the hospital. They made it a point to drop by regularly to encourage her progress. When it came time to check out, these staff members helped us navigate paper work and follow up services. Their expertise helped us figure out the best home health options. Everyone made it clear we could call with concerns. From doctors to support personnel, every hospital or clinic employee focused on serving patients and their families. When we returned for outpatient services, staff greeted us and asked how we were doing. It’s easy to see why my brother was so impressed.

Health scares are just that—frightening. Because we live in rural Kansas, familiar caretakers soothe some of that concern. My brother is right—such care is priceless.

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.

Friend,

This week, the House passed Micah’s Law, or the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Science tells us that children in the womb can feel pain at or before 20 weeks. The United States is one of only seven countries worldwide who allow elective abortions after 20 weeks, and a majority of Americans want to see this changed.

As I said on the Floor this week, I’ve delivered some 5,000 babies, and worked closely with both mother and child to ensure a safe, healthy delivery.

In that time, I could give countless examples of a little girl at 16 or less weeks who stirred when she heard the voice of her brother or sister, mom or dad. At around that same time, she will often move, and respond to touch.

How or why, in my hospital, we would be working to preserve the life of that little girl, while in another facility, they are decapitating, and delivering her limb by limb, is a gross and cruel misuse of medical training. A violation of her life full of God-given potential.

I urge my colleagues in the Senate to act quickly, and get this bill on the President’s desk.

Additionally, I want to offer my prayers, and those of my family to the victims of the senseless attack in Las Vegas. As we await details, I hope you will help our nation use this as a time to pull together, and show that we are truly united as one nation under God. We must not shy away from tough conversations, and the many issues that attempt to divide us, but I hope we will do so recognizing the value of each person, their rights, and our common humanity.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or know of ways my office can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us.

See the above video from this week with Congresswoman Kristi Noem of South Dakota. She is leading the effort to make sure our tax system is fair for small businesses up and down Main St.

In the House

Interview on Larry King

It was an honor to join legendary broadcaster Larry King on Ora TV.  Watch our conversation  on the 2nd Amendment, our framework for tax reform, and the need for us in Washington to work together.

National 4-H Week

This week, we celebrated National 4-H Week!

The experience of 4-H teaches young people leadership lessons, as well as the value of practical skills and hands-on learning. The example they set is high and I look forward to the positive changes they will continue to make in the world.

National Manufacturing Day

Across our country, manufacturing provides over 12 million jobs and contributes over 2 trillion dollars to our economy. In Kansas, manufacturing accounts for nearly one fifth of the state’s economy, and directly employs over 160,000 people.

I look forward to celebrating National Manufacturing Day in our district.

 

Calipari finally loses

I’m sorry KU Fans, but I couldn’t help myself!

The Members of Congress may have lost the Charity Congressional Basketball Classic, but the true champions of the day were our honorable guests, Matt Mika, and Capitol Police special agents Crystal Griner and Doug Bailey, all of whom were injured at the shooting at the Congressional baseball practice earlier this year.

Our coach was John Calipari, head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats! This was the 19th annual event, which raises money for the Hoops for Youth Foundation.

 

 

 

The rush to digital devices in American classrooms is making students dumber every day. I was
reminded of this while re-organizing my desk drawer to find a secure place for my slide rule.
Many readers would respond: “You still use a slide rule? We’ve had digital devices with ‘log’ keys
for decades!”

And that is the point. For two decades now, most students come to college without the least idea
what a logarithmic scale does. They just punch the ‘log’ key on a calculator and accept the answer.

Only if students hold in their hands a logarithmic scale, where the distance from 1-to-10 equals the
next distance from 10-to-100 and the next from 100-to-1000 can they begin to understand logarithms.
Only by manipulating a slide rule can they come to understand that you can multiply by adding and
divide by subtracting. That learning comes as much by “feeling” the manipulations you make with the
slide rule as it does by any abstract words or text.

For a time in the 1990s, it appeared that we would lose another important experience: the circular
clockface with hands. Many time pieces on our wrists and on our walls are now digital, flashing their
square-block numbers. But enough analog clocks remain in our children’s environment that they still get
to learn the big hand is minutes and the little hand is for hours. It can help understand base 12. But the most important lesson is that the clock hands move “clockwise.”

Take away the analog clockface and we take away our students’ only definition of clockwise.
Tornadoes rotate counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in Australia. But that
statement becomes absolutely meaningless if all of the clocks in a student’s experience are digital.
Then there is the lever. We may pry up a lid on a paint can or use a screwdriver to pry up a nail. But
for a real thought-filled understanding of a lever, the best example is the teeter-totter. Older generations

of students learned to adjust the board across the pivot point (fulcrum) to balance a heavier playmate
with a lighter one. And we learned that when the fulcrum was off-center, the lighter playmate went
higher. That valuable educational experience is now gone from our playgrounds. Perhaps someday we
will enclose every student in a protective bubble—and they will learn nothing.

The counterargument is that the concepts of logarithms, clockwise, and leverage can all be learned on
those everpresent square-cornered devices in students’ hands. But those are abstractions and pictures of
abstractions. Every minute a student spends with neck bent at 60 degrees immersed in their digital
devices is a minute they are no longer experiencing the real world. And it was the real multi-sensory
experiences with the real world that built meaning. But today our students are desperately falling behind
in these very skills based on experiences—hands on, genuinely interactive, real consequence, test-truthful experiences—that digital devices do not provide.

Schools in China do not make this mistake. For the most part, they do not allow calculators and other
digital devices into the classroom until middle school. And then, the use of these devices is strictly
limited. Students can take square roots and do log equations without ever hitting a key on the calculator.

The result is that today the majority of terminal degrees in engineering and physics at U.S. universities go to foreign born and educated students who were kept away from digital devices when young.

Teckies agonize that there are still regions of rural America that do not have broadband access and
they fret over the “digital divide,” the haves and have-nots in digital technology. Ironically, it is those rural students who grow up with a hunting knife or multipurpose tool on their belt, rather than a
smartphone, who are making up the backbone of our organismic biology students who will work for fish
and game divisions and in conservation fields. In these areas, the advantage to the “digital divide” lies
with those who are not constantly distracted by videogames, virtual unreality, and hyper-society.

It is past time to put slide rules and analog clocks back into our classrooms, and teeter-totters back on
the playground. —And shelve the expensive digital toys.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

This summer, I was sworn in as a member of Kansas House of Representatives to complete the term of the late Rep. Patsy Terrell. It is a solemn duty to speak on behalf of my neighbors and friends who live in Hutchinson, and I plan to do all I can to serve you well in Topeka in the coming years.

I’ve lived in Reno County for most of my life, and the 102nd District in Hutchinson has been my home for more than 20 years. It’s where I raised my family and where my grown children, Erica and Mitchell, and my granddaughter, Lila, call home. I have a long and deep connection to our community, and I want to do all I can to make a real difference in our neighborhoods.

Becoming your representative was not planned. Until I was sworn in, the highest political office I’ve ever held was as president of the PTA at my kids’ school, many years ago. I was 20 years old when my daughter was born, and I earned less than $1,000 a month. I worked for seven years as a machinist at Mega Manufacturing, while attending HCC in the evenings. When money got tight, I took a second job at Home Depot. In 2002, I began working for The Hutchinson News as a copy editor, eventually becoming a reporter, and later, an editor. Through the years, there were few times I didn’t worry about how to pay my bills, or how to make sure my kids had what they needed. I know firsthand how tough it can be for working families.

Those years of worry and struggle have shaped my ideals about what government can, and should, do for the residents of Hutchinson. Too often the voices of the average person aren’t heard. Their work isn’t seen, and their problems aren’t taken seriously by those entrusted with the responsibility to represent them in goverment. My primary goal in Topeka is to serve as a direct link to you, and work to find ways to create more opportunities for more people.

To do that, however, I need your help and involvement to know more of those things that stand in the way of your family’s progress, and I need to hear your vision for the future of Hutchinson. Please reach out to me – write, call, email, text, social media – and tell me your story. Tell me how I might better serve you and your family, how we can elevate your voice in Topeka, and how we can create policy that helps enrich the lives of you and your family.

Your servant,
Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson, District 102

For more information visit probstforprogress.com and follow @thatguyinhutch

The need for a second activity space at Hays Middle School is REAL. Our current gym seems large with plenty of space for Physical Education classes. However, three classes share the space which makes teaching and explaining new concepts challenging. Noise levels get very high, making it ineffective for structured lessons while teaching a new game or activity.

Our largest concern is safety of the students. Currently, we have as many as 90 students in the gym at one time. In the past, we’ve had as many as 120 and predictions show our numbers are headed there again. The students are crowded and often running very close to brick walls, bleachers, and stairwells. There are some games we simply cannot play because we don’t want students injured.

Another major concern is lack of actual activity time This space is our largest in the school and is used for class-meetings, school-wide presentations, and assemblies. According to the American Heart Association, one in every three children is overweight and doesn’t get enough exercise each week. We want our students moving and active for the 45-minute PE class time, but with the limited gym space kids have to wait their turn to play and sometimes cannot be in the gym at all. If kids don’t get the recommended amount of exercise, we cannot improve or maintain their health.

A second activity space at Hays Middle School would allow for less down-time and provide space for the safety of each child. Classes would no longer be limited to half of a gym or the hallway during conflicts and many more games and activities could be played during the full class period. This additional space would provide options and opportunities that are limitless for our students.

Jessica Dale, Physical Education Teacher
Justin Hejny, Physical Education Teacher
Bruce Rupp, Weights & Conditioning Teacher

Kansans, we have been riding an income tax roller coaster! In 2012 the “Kansas experiment” brought lowered income tax rates and a full tax exemption for business income. Last June those policies were rescinded. Income taxes went down, then up.

Some have been calling the June tax changes the biggest tax increase in Kansas history, completely ignoring what has happened in Kansas over the last 5 years. True, people with business income must now pay tax, but that just brings things back to the way they were before the experiment. Yes, income tax rates have moved higher, but they still remain below 2012 levels.

When a bipartisan supermajority of legislators overrode Gov. Brownback’s tax bill veto in June, they did not have a realistic alternative. Kansas was broke. For the whole period of the tax cuts, Kansas lacked enough revenue to pay bills. A promise of economic prosperity created by tax cuts had instead turned into a lingering budget disaster.

Think about what might have been possible these last 5 years if lawmakers had not put Kansas into that tax roller coaster car, if income tax policy had just been left alone in 2012.

Our political energy could have focused on future progress rather than crisis management. Public education could have been adequately funded rather than put at risk. Instead of cancelling highway projects, new jobs could have been created to maintain roads and bridges. Kansas could have moved confidently forward to expand Medicaid eligibility, attracting billions in federal matching dollars and providing health insurance to thousands.

And the onerous sales tax increase of 2015 which pushed the Kansas sales tax on food to the highest in the nation, would not have occurred. A temporary increase in the sales tax which helped Kansas through the Great Recession was set to expire in 2014. Instead, Gov. Brownback and his legislative allies made the temporary rate permanent and added yet another increase on top, all to offset a small piece of the income tax cuts.

The lawmakers who overrode Brownback were courageous and acted in the best interests of Kansas, but they have a lot more to do. Ending the tax experiment stabilized Kansas financially and started to turn things around. But during the experiment, Kansas spent all its reserves, and now the state needs to build back a rainy day fund. Lawmakers also ran up the state debt, and now will have to make payments. The budgets of state agencies, hospitals, and prisons were squeezed hard, and the results of that—a decertified hospital and prison riots—need to be remedied.

Kansas has endured a load of financial trouble and national shame. The most positive thing that can be said about our experience is that we acquired some education. We learned that our experiment in trickle-down economics did not work.

Kansas tax policy should have stayed practical, realistic, and flat like our geography. But that’s not what happened. So now we must repair the damage and resolve not to get on the roller coaster again.

Duane Goossen formerly served 12 years as Kansas Budget Director.