Last night, the world was shaken again by a disgusting act of violence. What makes this bombing so much worse than others was its target; a youth concert. The Manchester concert bombing was horrific, as are all terror attacks, but this one targeted teenage children out to enjoy music and celebrate life. This concert was the type of event I would send my own young daughters to. And I would expect them to laugh and sing until late and then I would gently tuck them into their beds happy with the world I have helped shape for them. Every parent has the same purpose in life: to do everything in their power to care for their children and leave them a world better than the one we were given. Today, none of us can say this. No parent should say, “I’ve done all that I could to promote peace, to teach tolerance, to unite the world rather than divide it in anger and violence.” You may want to blame one radical, you may choose to blame one religion, you may also blame one region of the world but you would be wrong.

You are not required to embrace Islam, that’s your choice. I wish you could have the same tolerance for their faith as you’d expect of them for yours. Religious freedom requires that you allow each and every faith to worship in accordance with their beliefs, as long as those beliefs do not directly harm others. Nothing in the Koran calls for this violence. Nothing. I know, I’ve read it. Just as nothing in the Bible calls for the horrific acts of the Klan, or the Crusades, or the church murders committed by Dylann Roof. These acts are committed by angry twisted souls who’ve lost all humanity. But rarely does anyone become radical in a vacuum.

Our mainstream and now alt-news media most certainly aid in the spread of terror, for the true goal of terrorism is to broadcast fear and there is no better way than wall-to-wall media coverage. Were they to abruptly stop covering them, or rather to stop sensationalizing them, terror acts would decline dramatically. Our foreign policy needs to be reviewed. All those Americans now angry at ‘outside political influence’ in our recent presidential election should be aware of just how many foreign elections we have not merely ‘influenced’ but rather staged!

But most importantly, our political choices most assuredly need to be evaluated. We must stop electing angry war-mongers who seek to use your fear as their campaign slogan. Stop giving power to angry men who are so eager to feed the Dogs of War. Feeding these dogs only makes them more powerful, it only expands the appetite for more war. What is far worse is that only a tiny few of these War Hawk politicians have ever actually served in a military campaign like the ones they so willingly will send your sons and daughters off to fight and die in. Even more rare is the politician willing to send his own sons and daughters off to serve our national defense. Why? Because they know full well it is not national defense. It is something far uglier. It is profit. It is service to donors. It is loyalty to party. I don’t care which party you identify with, both have authorized military action without authentic justification. Both have increased taxpayer burden to buy weapons systems merely because it meant campaign contributions. Both have subsidized our war machine with American dollars and far worse, with American blood.

To quote President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Commander during WWII, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Also remember, that every bomb dropped on foreign soil, every civilian casualty in the interest of American Occupation, serves as a recruitment tool to weaponize radical extremists. War never extinguishes war, only peace does that.

Alan LaPolice served as a Combat Infantryman on the front lines of the First Gulf War. He also nearly won the Republican Primary in the 2014 1st Congressional District race and ran again as an Independent in 2016.

han a visit to a cemetery on Memorial Day. Unlike a military cemetery where rows upon rows of graves give silent testimony to the human cost of war, in most Kansas cemeteries the stories of the dead – young, old, male and female – tell a story about the community.

But like their battlefield counterparts, cemeteries that dot the Kansas countryside are the resting place for veterans. Some of these graves are filled with young men who barely reached adulthood when they died. Their stories tell of dreams unfulfilled, of promises and potentials cut short.

When visiting these places, it is possible to be overcome with a sense of yearning. It is also possible to feel something larger, a sense of finality and rest, and a sense of peace.

The soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan are at rest in these cemeteries. They live on in the memory of their families and friends and, in a larger sense, in the memory and gratitude of the nation they gave their lives for. Lingering among the memories is always the nagging question: Did they die in vain?

On Memorial Day, Kansans will once again gather in cemeteries in Iola, Valley Falls, Meade, Washington, Hoisington or Grinnell to recall and reassure themselves that the lives and deaths of these young men and women had meaning.

When we think of our liberties this Memorial Day, remember that some gave all. Remember those veterans who died so we could remain free.

World War I veterans have passed on to their eternal reward. Only a handful of those who served in World War II remain. Vietnam veterans have reached their 60s, 70s and 80s. Today’s young men and women are the veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For many their story remains the same. They grew up as farm kids in the Midwest or some other region of our country. Those from the Midwest grew up with the feel of the prairie earth beneath their feet, the wide-open sky overhead and the rhythm of the seasons in their blood.

At an early age, most of the young men and women learned to cultivate the soil, plant crops and harvest the bounty with their parents. Like many farm boys and girls, they understood machinery and the use of tools. They developed self-reliance and initiative.

Soon, many found themselves in another field far from home. This field was a battlefield in Europe, the Far East, Vietnam or the Middle East. These veterans become the unsung heroes of war.

But these young men and women were not repairing a combine in a harvest field or operating a small business on Main Street. Instead, they were patching up a tank under enemy fire, threading their way through the jungles of Vietnam, avoiding anti-personnel mines in Iraq or keeping an eye peeled for snipers in Afghanistan.

This Memorial Day, mothers, fathers, families and friends will travel to cemeteries across Kansas and our country. Once on those hallowed grounds, they will pause to remember and pray for the young men and women who did not return from war. For many, visiting a cemetery on Memorial Day somehow eases the pain and loss of loved ones.

At the same time let’s give thanks and remember those veterans who are still with us. Let’s not forget those serving around the world today in the armed forces.

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

While many consumers are aware of the risks of eating undercooked poultry, fewer realize that the steps they’re taking when handling poultry in the grocery store and at home could put them at risk for foodborne illness.

Just in time for summer grilling season, the Partnership for Food Safety Education has launched “Don’t Wing It!”, a campaign for safe poultry handling.

The “Don’t Wing It!” campaign is important because contaminated food sickens nearly 48 million people in the United States every year– that’s 1 in 6 people who get sick annually from something they ate. Chicken is the food category responsible for the second-largest number of foodborne illnesses.

The two germs of most concern with raw poultry are Salmonella and Campylobacter. Salmonella is commonly associated with raw poultry and causes about one million foodborne illnesses in the United States each year, with 19,000 hospitalizations and 380 deaths.

Campylobacter is less common but more potent. Even one drop of raw poultry juice could contain enough Campylobacter bacteria to cause illness.

Some groups, such as preschoolers and senior citizens, are more susceptible to the dangers of food contaminated with bacteria. Children under age four are five-times more likely to get sick from germs that cause foodborne illness because their immune systems are less developed and less able to fight infection. After the age of 75, many adults have weakened immune systems, increasing the risk of contracting foodborne illness from germs like

Salmonella and Campylobacter. Those with chronic illnesses are also at an increased risk of foodborne infection.
Foodborne illness usually causes nausea and diarrhea, but in some cases it can lead to kidney failure or other chronic long-term health problems. It’s essential that parents and seniors pay close attention to proper food handling and hand washing when preparing poultry.

The new “Don’tWing It!” food safety campaign is based on consumer food handling research done at Kansas State University and Tennessee State University. The studies showed that consumers were taking actions at the grocery store and at home that increased their risk of foodborne illness from raw poultry. Based on this research, the Partnership for Food Safety Education created these important and easy-to-follow steps for handling poultry safely:

DON’T TOUCH – AT THE STORE
1. Disinfect Your Shopping Cart Handle. Use disinfectant wipes on surfaces, especially handlebar and child seat. Consumer research showed that 85% of shoppers touched the cart handle directly after handling raw poultry packages, and nearly half of those tested positive for poultry juice on their hands when they touched the cart.

2. Place Poultry in Plastic Bag. Use plastic bags provided at meat counter to help avoid cross-contamination of the cart surfaces or other groceries in the cart. Why: 23% of chicken packages had high bacteria counts; 7% had dangerous campylobacter. Tip– cover your hand with a plastic grocery bag when grabbing raw poultry from the meat case.

3. Use Hand Sanitizer. Use hand sanitizer after touching raw and packaged poultry if soap and water are not available. Not all stores provide hand sanitizer in the meat department, so plan to bring your own if you are shopping for raw poultry.

DON’T TOUCH – AT HOME
1. Place in the Fridge or Freezer. Keep poultry in plastic bag and place on a plate on a low shelf to prevent leakage from contaminating other foods. Consumer studies revealed that more than half of shoppers stored poultry without the plastic bag. This common behavior could potentially contaminate any surface poultry touches in the home. Why: bacteria can live for days to weeks on refrigerator surfaces that are contaminated with poultry juice.

2. Wash Hands Before and after Handling Poultry. Use warm water and soap to clean hands and surfaces that have potentially come in contact with raw poultry or its juices. In the studies for “Don’t Wing It!”, 90% of consumers were observed to cross-contaminate surfaces and foods during meal preparation.

CHECK TEMPERATURES
1. Thaw in the Fridge. Bacteria grow best at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees. Keep poultry at or below 40 F when thawing.

2. Use a Food Thermometer. Cook poultry to a safe temperature of 165 degrees to kill harmful bacteria. Although this is common advice, research shows consumers are not following it well. In a nationwide survey, only 57% of consumers reported using a food thermometer for whole chickens; only 12—26% used one for smaller chicken pieces, patties or chicken sausages.

THINK BEFORE YOU RINSE
Rinsing poultry is not a food safety step and it actually increases the chances of cross contamination by splattering raw juices on your sink, faucets, counters and any utensils and food in the sink area. Remember, cooking to 165 degrees is the ONLY way to kill bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.

So, as you plan to grill, barbecue or fry chicken for summer festivities, don’t wing it. Keep these food safety tips in mind, especially if you have young children, seniors or those already ill at your meal.

You can find more information, including brochures for parents and seniors and food-safe consumer recipes at http://www.fightbac.org/food-safety-education/dont-wing-it/.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported a 16% increase in the statewide rig count last week, noting 11 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, up three, and 25 in western Kansas, up two. Baker Hughes reported 901 active oil and gas drilling rigs on Friday, that’s an increase of eight rigs drilling for oil and an increase of eight rigs targeting natural gas. Canada reported 23 active drilling rigs, up three for the week.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 24 new well completions last week, bringing the year-to-date total to 545. There were ten new completions east of Wichita, and 14 in western Kansas, including one each in Ellis, Russell and Stafford counties.

There were 29 permits filed for drilling at new locations in Kansas last week. That’s 562 new drilling permits so far this year. There were 12 filed in eastern Kansas and 17 west of Wichita. Independent Oil & Gas reported four new permits in Ellis County, but none in Barton, Russell or Stafford counties.

The Oklahoma Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on Friday, May 26, but lawmakers are making little progress toward resolving its $878 million budget-deficit impasse. Last week the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association and the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association held a press conference to announce their plan to prevent what other industry leaders called “draconian cuts.” They expressed willingness to raise what’s known as the Gross Production Tax — levied on new wells for 36 months — from two percent to three percent — and to slash the so-called “rebates on wells that are restarted after going dormant. GOP negotiators say they won’t go any higher than four percent, while Democrats are insisting on a five percent rate. The Governor is expected to call a special session to run concurrently with the orginary session, according to reporting over the weekend by the Daily Oklahoman.

As we’ve reported before, Russia may be fudging the numbers on it’s promised output cuts. George Friedman writes on the News Max Web site that Russia’s drop in production is a mirror image of the one last year at the same time, raising the question of whether this is just a monthly seasonal adjustment. Russia has technically met its obligation if the benchmark for the cuts is December 2016. But it has not met its obligations if the standard is a year-on-year comparison of cuts. Russia raised crude production in January and March of this year when compared with the previous year. The April 2017 decrease in production, when viewed year-on-year, is just over half of Russia’s commitment.

OPEC and other producers, including Russia, meet this week, and could extend their deal to cut supplies for another six or nine months. According to Reuters, the possibility of deepening the cuts was also being discussed ahead of the meeting May 25.

An official with the International Energy Agency said Tuesday that the international oil market has “essentially reached a balance,” and says that will continue to accelerate in the near term. According to reporting by CNBC, global oil markets are on course to reach a supply-demand balance this year and supply deficits are expected to pick up speed in the near term.

The bankruptcy of SemGroup nine years ago continues to make headlines. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court sided against the bankruptcy trustee. The justices refused to review a circuit court decision allowing Barclays to keep a $143 million fee the bank received for taking on SemGroup’s commodities positions at the New York Mercantile Exchange a week before its 2008 bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy filing reverberated across the Kansas patch. Kansas producers had to settle about $130 million in SemGroup debts for about 40 cents on the dollar in a mediated settlement in 2009. Producers and lawyers also discovered that Kansas law did not, as intended, give oil producers a “secured interest,” with priority over banks and other creditors, in the event their customers declared bankruptcy.

Halliburton Co. said Wednesday that Jeff Miller, a board member and president of the oil-field-services company, will be its new chief executive officer.

A dispute in Colorado over whether regulators could and should put more weight on public health and the environment when they draw up rules for oil and gas could be decided by the state Supreme Court. The Attorney General says a lower court ruling rewrites state law and contradicts prior Supreme Court rulings. She is appealing on behalf of the regulators, which the governor says don’t have the authority to appeal. So, there are more than one legal issue for the high court to decide, although they’ve given no indication whether they’ll hear the case.

Remember last November, when 56.6 percent of Kansans who had a little spare time on Nov. 8 voted for President Donald Trump, then down lower on the ballot voted for legislators who vowed to be moderate, work across-the-aisle, and fix Kansas?

The newspapers were filled for weeks with stories about the apparent change in the previously staunchly conservative Legislature that would be led by staunchly conservative Gov. Sam Brownback during his final two years in office.

Well, we’re about to see in the next week, or two, or three, or whatever…just how that worked out.

So far, the relatively more moderate Republicans who were elected in dozens of districts statewide have had one pretty-close shot at liberalizing the state. That was when those fresh-faced GOP lawmakers voted with Democrats in the House to expand health-care services to more than 150,000 Kansans by taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) provisions.

Well, it worked, and the Senate passed that Medicaid expansion, too. And then Brownback vetoed the bill and the newly moderated lawmakers couldn’t come up with the votes to override the veto. Close — three votes short in the House — but the plan for the state to spend $70 million more on care for the poor to generate more than $1 billion in new federal assistance failed.

And, there was that three-bracket Kansas income tax plan, virtually erasing the governor’s 2012 tax cut program (which was, of course, stripped by lawmakers back then of the governor’s pay-backs that would have stabilized state revenues), which was passed to the governor, vetoed, and again, not overridden.

And, yes, there are more tax plans, all of which would eliminate the Kansas income tax exemption for non-wage income from those LLCs and sole proprietorships. The key to that repeal for those 330,000 Kansans who are on a long state income tax holiday is still stuck.

Everyone, probably except Brownback and maybe 40 or so legislators, wants that LLC provision eliminated.

That newly centrist legislature elected last November? They want that LLC provision erased—and it was often the top headline on their campaign flyers. But it’s starting to look like they don’t have the numbers to do that over the governor’s veto and at the same time raise enough money to pay for more state aid to schools.

And if that isn’t enough, well, there has been some splintering among those new moderate Republicans. They apparently don’t have the votes to do what they told their voters they would do.

So where does it go from here?

Nothing looks very certain, and time is running out. That 100-day session that was approved as a sign they are serious about reshaping Kansas? Clearly not enough.

Now, as we recall, none of those campaign brochures promised to get everything done in one year…so there’s still another session ahead which comes with elections of statewide officers and the Kansas House of Representatives. And, the big issue there: Whether the current necessity of having enough votes not just to pass, but also enough votes to override a veto, will be necessary.

The governor, recall, is worth six Senate votes and 21 House votes, the difference between passing a bill and overriding a veto.

So, do we get a budget, do we get a tax increase, do we finance K-12 education to the adequacy requirements of the Kansas Supreme Court in the next few weeks? Probably, except, of course, for the court review of the new school finance formula, which could go either way.

That brings the whole issue of Kansas government, as it always has, to voters, and whether they are willing to hold their breath for that “new Kansas” to arrive Nov. 6, 2018.

We’ll see, won’t we?

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.

Ever since I moved to Kansas I’ve heard fishermen talk about lakes, reservoirs and ponds “turning,” sometimes involving a fish kill, but always resulting in that body of water becoming murky and stirred-up for awhile.

Sunday at church, a friend who has a nice pond told me he’d just had a bad fish kill in his pond. He said that this spring the pond had become completely covered with algae. Last week one morning he noticed the algae had totally disappeared overnight and the next morning lots of fish were jumping and sucking on the surface of the water, feeding on insects he’d hoped.

That afternoon however his wife called to tell him there were lots of dead and dying fish. It then became apparent that the jumping fish were not feeding but attempting to get oxygen which was somehow being depleted from the water. Now that all is said and done, he figures he’s lost 300 to 400 fish of multiple species, including channel cats in the twenty inch range and grass carp that were over four feet long. I figured it was now time to research and find out exactly what happens when a pond or lake “turns.”

I spoke with David Breth, Fisheries Program Specialist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to glean from his wisdom. Breth says most bodies of water turn in the fall, and even though spring events are still called turning, what happens in the spring is most often a little different occurrence. On the bottom of any body of water, especially farm ponds is a layer of decaying matter composed of dead plants and animals. Normally the bottom layer of water containing that matter is colder than the rest and remains at the bottom, and is very low in oxygen because it has used the oxygen to decompose all that dead matter.

In the spring, however water coming into the pond in the form of rain and drainage runoff is just as cold as the bottom layer of water and thus stirs up that bottom layer and mixes it with the rest of the water in the pond. The sudden release of nutrients from that decomposed matter fuels an intense algae growth and bloom. When the algae growth becomes more than the pond can healthily support, if begins to die and all the oxygen in the water is used to decompose that dead and dying algae, thus depleting the water of oxygen for the fish which in turn die too. Since this is a natural occurrence, there is no way to stop it from happening, but aerating the pond by pumping air into the water as soon as possible may stop or halt a fish kill. The only other solution to save the fish is to remove them immediately to fresh water until the decomposition process in the pond has stopped using all the oxygen, which can be from a few days to a couple weeks.

During the summer, all bodies of water heat up and “stratify,” or divide into three basic layers of water. The top layer naturally becomes warm, lighter and less dense, the bottom layer stays cold, heavy and low in oxygen, and the middle layer called a “phermocline” is sort of a combination or the other two; colder at the bottom and warmer at the top. Breth says in the summer, fish are often found in this middle layer of water because it contains the most oxygen. In the fall, the top layer of water becomes colder and starts to sink, stirring up the bottom layer and forcing it to the top with all the dead and decaying matter, and suddenly the lake has “turned” or “flipped” as it is also known.

Breth told me our Kansas lakes and reservoirs turn almost every year, resulting in stirred-up and cloudy water, but rarely causing a major fish kill. He says 90% of all fish kills are caused by an intense algae bloom that dies and sucks the oxygen from the water as it decays; just what happened to my friend’s pond. Major fish kills because of algae blooms rarely happen on bigger lakes and reservoirs because there are always areas of the lake not affected to where fish can retreat and still find oxygen. Most large lakes are also stream and river fed, which constantly brings in fresh oxygenated water.

So now you know what happens when your pond turns on you. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the body of water, the less likely it will result in a fish kill, whether in the spring or in the fall. And if you see it suddenly happening in your pond, the only way to save your fish will be to somehow pump air into the pond, adding oxygen to the water, or to temporarily remove the fish; a pain in the neck for sure, but well worth it when the grandkids start haulin’ in jumbo bluegills or fat catfish one after another…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

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

Talk to most women today, and they don’t remember not wearing pants or slacks to work or school. Visit with ladies past a certain age, and they’ll tell about a time when schools required little girls to wear dresses or skirts to class and employers mandated females do the same at work. Moms even cleaned house in a dress. Most mothers didn’t go so far as TV stars who wore pearls and heels to vacuum, but they made certain they could answer the door without causing the neighbors to gossip about manly apparel. Granted, such fashions weren’t the cumbersome Mother Hubbard gowns or flowing long skirts pioneers wore, but they complicated daily life unnecessarily.

Some would say mid-century housewives and schoolgirls didn’t have it so bad. Unlike travelers across emigrant trails, they didn’t have to worry about their hems catching fire while they cooked outdoors or tripping on them, crossing uneven surfaces. Gals of the 30s – 60s revealed ankles and calves and enjoyed freedom of movement their grandmas never knew.

What folks don’t think about is getting to work or school during frigid temperatures and snowstorms. Some families solved the problem the way pedestrians in large cities do today. Individuals wore slacks under or over their dresses on the way to their destination and changed after arriving.

What no one took into account was the playground dilemma little girls faced. As public schools added more recess equipment that involved climbing and twirling, females struggled to prevent others from seeing their bloomers and singing risqué songs involving London, France, and underpants. Learning to read, write, and do arithmetic was hard enough without worrying about peers knowing the color and condition of personal garments.

Keep in mind, these were days either before or soon after WW II when most families couldn’t afford a week’s supply of lacy undies for their daughters. Frequently, one sibling handed clean but pre-worn clothing to the next in line, causing more than one playground confrontation resulting in a bloody nose or black eye.

With the advent of monkey bars, girls who wanted go head to head in acrobatic challenges wore summer shorts under dresses. This added to mom’s laundry, but youngsters trying to perform a flip while tucking hems under or between knees meant re-stitching seams or patching fabric on a daily basis or worse, a broken arm. It was easier to wash extra clothing.

Certainly, women who grew up wearing dresses learned decorum regarding sitting with knees and ankles pressed together. Today’s females frequently discover the necessity of such postures the first time they publicly wear a short dress. More than one teacher or boss has observed lack of awareness concerning this detail.

No doubt, about it, females and pants go together from infancy to old age. Who needs to worry about a skirt rising in a breeze or during a cartwheel, offering a peek at undergarments. Too bad pioneer women never got to find out how much easier their lives would have been if they had worn trousers.

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.

It’s the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. As the beautiful thoroughbreds race down in the track in the historic run for the roses, owners and fans cheer from the stands. In 2017, one of those owners was from rural Kansas. In fact, her Derby horse bears the name of a rural Kansas town.

Janis Whitham is the owner of this wonderful Kentucky Derby horse. Janis’s son Clay Whitham told us this remarkable story.

Janis grew up at Scott City. She met and married Frank Whitham who worked in farming, cattle feeding, and banking. The Whithams moved to Leoti and had five children.

In 1993, Frank Whitham was tragically killed in a private plane crash in western Kansas. Janis continued the family’s interest in horses.

“My mom is a horse lover,” Clay said. “My parents owned quarter horses in the 1960s, when a lot of county fairs had quarter horse races.” Their interest in racing led them to become interested in thoroughbreds. In the 1970s, the Whithams bought their first thoroughbreds, and they have developed their line of racehorses over time.

“Mom never wavered,” Clay said. “She has kept our horse activity going through the years.”

Clay got a double major from K-State in accounting and finance, and later got a master’s degree from K-State. He worked in business and in banking, and is now president of Frontier Bank in Lamar, Colorado.

“Mom still manages the horse breeding,” Clay said. “She looks at the pedigrees, looks at the traits, and picks the breeding lines we want.” The Whithams constantly work to improve their bloodlines. The horses are boarded in the heart of racehorse country in Kentucky.

“I think Mom gets as much enjoyment in raising the mares and foals as she does in racing them,” Clay said. “It is always fun to see the new foals and then to see how they grow.”

Another part of Janis’ job was to name the horses. In honor of her state, she has chosen to use Kansas place names. For example, a few years ago, the Whithams raised an excellent bay horse they named Fort Larned. That horse won three races, including the prestigious Breeders Cup in 2012.

In 2013, another outstanding foal surfaced among the high quality colts produced by the Whithams. Janis chose to name this colt McCracken after a rural town in Rush County. McCracken is a community of 209 people. Now, that’s rural.

However, a typo occurred somewhere in the process of submitting the horse name to the Jockey Club online and the last letter “c” was dropped from the name. As a result, the official name assigned to the horse was McCraken – M-C-C-R-A-K-E-N.

Whatever the name, this was one amazing horse. The Whithams used the same trainer and jockey they had used to win the Breeders Cup, and the horse developed quickly. He was described as a “closer,” because he tended to finish strong. The bay horse had four starts as a racehorse and won every race. His record was so successful that he qualified for the Kentucky Derby.

In the 20-horse field of the 2017 Kentucky Derby, McCraken finished eighth. Muddy conditions on the rain-soaked track probably did not help his performance, but he ran well.

“It was a neat experience,” Clay Whitham said. “The Kentucky Derby is the one event in horse racing that everybody knows. With grandkids and everybody, we had about 50 people there. Having a horse in there made you nervous, but it was enjoyable just to soak it in.”

It must have been especially rewarding to know that this was a home-bred horse. In other words, rather than simply buying a top horse at an auction somewhere, the Whithams bred and raised McCraken themselves.

It’s time to leave the Kentucky Derby, where a horse owner from rural Kansas saw her horse finish in the upper half of the world’s most famous horse race. We commend Janis, Clay and all the Whitham family for making a difference with homegrown equine entrepreneurship. By selecting names from her home state, Janis is making rural Kansas a winner.

An open letter to the Kansas congressional delegation:

Dear Representatives Marshall, Jenkins, Yoder, and Estes, and Senators Roberts and Moran,

A moment of truth for each of you is at hand. President Trump has proposed a tax plan that looks and sounds remarkably like the Brownback experiment now playing out in Kansas. Trump will be asking for your vote, but consider the experience of your home state before you cast it!

Just like the Brownback tax cuts, the Trump plan makes dramatic changes to tax policy by consolidating income tax rates and reworking deductions. But most notably, the Trump plan offers an enormous tax break to individuals who receive “business pass through income.” In Kansas this feature has become known derogatorily as the LLC loophole, allowing business income to be sheltered from income tax while people who earn a paycheck must pay tax.

Given that the same economists who advised Brownback now advise Trump, it’s unsurprising that the Trump administration uses similar arguments to sell its plan: the tax cuts will grow the economy and create millions of jobs; the tax cuts will pay for themselves; everyone will benefit. Brownback said all that, too.

But after five years of the Brownback experiment in Kansas, we know the real result. Kansas has an anemic economy and one of the lowest rates of job growth in the nation. A dramatic drop in revenue broke the state budget, wiped out reserves, significantly boosted state debt, and put public education at risk. And that part about everyone benefitting—well, it turns out that the bulk of the tax cut benefits went to the wealthiest Kansans while the tax bill to low-income Kansans actually went up.

The idea that tax cuts will “pay for themselves” or that tax cuts for the wealthy will “trickle down” to the middle class should be added to the list of discredited ideas that sound good but don’t work. The sell job at the beginning was oh-so-seductive, but Kansans now have the raw experience to grasp that the experiment carried out on us was a complete failure.

Do you understand how hard Kansas legislators must labor now to fix the financial disaster? Are you catching on that general fund revenue has fallen $1 billion below expenses? Can you see how all political energy goes into crisis management rather than building our future? Is that what you want for the entire country?

Based on your public statements so far, it’s hard to feel confident that any of you will acknowledge the tax policy failure in Kansas and fight off the Trump plan. If you support it, you betray all who have endured the troubles resulting from the Brownback plan, and the Kansas legislators who have been struggling in overtime this legislative session to reverse course. And a yes vote would be a willful betrayal, because after everything that has happened in Kansas, you will never be able to say “I didn’t know.”

Duane Goossen formerly served 12 years as Kansas Budget Director.

Sometimes it feels like being healthy is just a list of things we shouldn’t do. Don’t eat this, don’t drink that, don’t do this or that. The don’ts and shouldn’ts can steal the joy right out of everyday life. What if we told ourselves “yes” instead?

National Women’s Health Week, May 14-20, 2017, is all about shouting a resounding Yes! instead. Yes! to taking care of ourselves. Yes! to making better choices. Yes! to preparing for a long and healthier future.

The purpose of National Women’s Health Week is to empower women to make their health a priority and take steps to improve their health. The theme for the event this year is “Your Health at Every Age.” At any age, the basics to improve health include well-woman checkups; preventive health screenings; being physically active; eating a healthful diet; being mindful of mental health; and avoiding unhealthy behaviors.

Here are five ways to say YES! to a healthier you this National Women’s Health Week from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health:

1. Eat healthier following the MyPlate pattern. You’ve heard this time and time again. So what’s stopping you? There are tons of recipes, cooking tips, and meal plans with shopping lists to choose from. You can even get the kids on board. At each meal, fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, choose whole grains and lowfat meat and dairy products. Now’s the time to get in the habit of healthy eating.

2. Get active, no matter where you are. You know you need to exercise, but it doesn’t have to be in a gym. Spend a little more time doing the things you love. For example, walk the dog a little bit faster, for a little bit longer every day. If you love dancing, take a dance class. Little steps can lead to big changes. It’s not too late to fit exercise into your life and develop a routine. The exercise will help with stress, too.

3. Pay attention to your mental health. This one can be tough, especially for women who juggle work and family or caregiving. After all, if it was easy to reduce stress, wouldn’t we all be mellow and relaxed all the time? When you’re feeling stressed, try stretching, deep breathing, a warm bath, walking or talking it out with a friend. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night. As we age, health conditions and medications might affect our moods and sleep. Talk to your doctor about how to deal with your symptoms.

4. Get regular checkups and preventive screenings. One of the best ways to reduce your risk for illness and disease is to see your health care provider regularly — before you get sick. Ask your doctor about which health screenings you need and how often.

5. Use smart judgement. Every time you text while driving or ride a bike without a helmet, you’re making a dangerous choice that can have a big impact. Choose healthier options instead! Buckle your seatbelt before every trip and avoid distractions like texting or eating behind the wheel. Grab your bike helmet when going on a ride and enjoy knowing you will get to your destination safely. Limit alcohol consumption to one drink or less per day and don’t smoke or get help to quit. Your decisions can help keep you healthy.

Every woman’s health is slightly different. Some activities, tests and medicines are not recommended for all women after a certain age. Talk with your doctor to decide what’s right for you.

Say Yes! to a healthier future. Visit the National Women’s Health Week website at www.womenshealth.gov/nwhw to take the health styles quiz and find decade by decade steps for a healthier you.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.