Two nationally recognized events will take place this week. One involves a bunch of men, who are paid entirely too much money to run, throw and kick an air-filled pig’s skin around a field. The other event revolves around a ground-dwelling varmint whose aversion to sunlight supposedly curses the land at this time each year, with six more weeks of winter. Growing up in Ohio, we had groundhogs there like we have prairie dogs in Kansas, so let me tell you a little about the star of Ground Hog Day, the groundhog.

Also known as a “woodchuck,” which comes from the Cree Indian word “wuchak,” a groundhog absolutely resembles an overstuffed prairie dog, from its large front incisor teeth, to its short stumpy tail. They are about the size of a badger, and live in deep underground burrows usually hidden it fencerows or in the edges of woodlots. They are herbivores, and are lethal to young green plants like corn and soybeans.

When I farmed, I could walk through fields of young row crops, and see row after row eaten off to the ground for several feet into the field. While not nearly as fierce as a badger, a groundhog can give a nasty bite with its big front incisor teeth, if cornered or barred from its burrow. We had one dog that was especially adept at killing groundhogs, and it was not uncommon to find old dried up groundhog carcasses around the barn during the summer. The dog would circle and maneuver itself to get them by the scruff of the neck, them shake them furiously until their neck broke.

I remember one summer day when the corn was nearly mature, we heard a horrible ruckus of growls, screams and thrashing cornstalks coming from somewhere in a cornfield near the house. By the time we found the source, that dog and a groundhog had flattened a patch of corn the size of a pickup, and once again, the groundhog had lost. I remember another time, when a neighbor’s dog named Wimpy, which was obviously not wise to woodchucks ways, ended up with one clamped onto his nose. It took several good wallops from a two-by-four to dislodge the critter. Groundhogs hibernate each winter in a special den dug just for that purpose. Research shows that during hibernation, a groundhogs body temperature falls to less than forty degrees, its breathing slows to an amazing one breath every six minutes, and its heart rate decreases to four beats per minute; the legend known as “Groundhog Day” centers around them awakening from this nearly dead state.

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania was settled and named by the Delaware Indians as a campsite halfway between the Allegheny and Susquehanna Rivers. When German settlers arrived in the 1700’s, they brought with them a tradition known as “Candlemas Day,” celebrated in Germany on Feb. 2nd, which happens to be the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, (winter and spring.) Tradition held that if Feb. 2nd were sunny, the last half of winter would be nasty and cold, and vice-versa. In Germany, for whatever reason, hedgehogs were observed to see if a shadow was cast. In Pennsylvania, given the absence of hedgehogs, groundhogs were selected to assume that role. An old German saying read: For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, So far will the snow swirl until May; For as the snow swirls on Candelmas Day, So far will the sun shine until May.

Pennsylvania’s first official celebration of Groundhog Day was in 1886, when the legendary groundhog was named Punxsutawney Phil, and the first trip to Phil’s mythical home on Gobbler’s Knob, was made the following year. Today Phil’s handler is local funeral director Bill Deely, who says that Phil currently weighs fifteen pounds, and thrives on dog food and ice cream in his climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. Each Feb. 2nd, he is carried up to Gobbler’s Knob and placed in a heated burrow beneath a simulated tree stump before being pulled out at 7:25 a.m. to make his annual prediction. Common sense says there have been several Phil’s since 1886, but no one has fessed-up.

Anyway, maybe we in Kansas can come up with our own figure-head to predict something, say a coyote for instance. We could call him Carl the Coyote and put him in a big pen in the middle of a CRP field where he’d be comfortable. We’d use his big fluffy tail to predict the weather. For example, if his tail was sticking straight out to one side, it was going to be windy; if his tail was wet, it’s raining, and if Carl was suddenly gone, there was probably a tornado and we’d just have to get another Carl. After all, we’ve got plenty of them! Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

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

There are two programs that are coming up in February I wanted to highlight this week. Registration deadlines are coming up fast, so call 620-793-1910 or email me at [email protected] if you would like to attend either program or both.

Winter Ranch Management

Kansas State University will host a series of meetings to help beef producers focus on management and profit strategies for the new year.

Bob Weaber, a K-State Research and Extension cow-calf specialist, said this year’s Winter Ranch Management series is titled “Production strategies to mitigate environmental factors impacting conception and pregnancy.”  The meetings will be held at four sites in Kansas and will feature presentations and comments by extension educators on profit-enhancing strategies.

The meetings will also feature a popular ‘town-hall’ style question-and-answer session between Kansas’ cattle producers and extension specialists. Weaber said the series has a history of being a successful stretch of meetings.

Weaber, along with other state, district and local extension staff, will take part in the series to help answer producers’ questions. The specialists will answer a wide range of questions on beef cattle issues including animal health, nutrition, management, and reproduction.

Meeting topics include forage quality and availability impacts on beef cow-nutrition during late gestation and pre-breeding and also environmental factors affecting conception rates.

There will be a meeting on February 19^th at the Township hall, 220 Union Street in Rush Center starting with registration at 5:30. Participants are asked to RSVP by either calling the Great Bend office of the Cottonwood District at 620-793-1910 or the Lacrosse office of the Walnut Creek District at 785-222-2710.

Burn Workshop

The past several years we have received a better than average amount of precipitation in the fall creating a large amount of grasses late in the season. These forages are now dry and have the ability to create the perfect storm for a wildfire. Prescribed burnings can reduce the amount of fuel that a fire has access to and help mitigate a massive wildfire.

K-State Research and Extension, the Midway District and the Cottonwood District are hosting a burn workshop on February 20th at Dole-Specter Conference Center, 1430 South Fossil in Russell, Kansas to help educate producers on burning. The program will begin with registration at 9 and will run until 2:30.

Participants will learn the basics of burning, and be able to run through scenarios to gain experience and confidence for creating their own burn plan to implement on their land. 

This workshop is designed to help with the understanding of the nature and behavior of fire. Some of the topics that will be covered are reasons for burning, wildlife and prescribed burning, local and state regulations, fire weather, safety, liability, use of burn contractors, planning and conducting a burn. The workshop is designed to either prepare the participants to begin using prescribed burning or to update their knowledge and abilities.

To enroll for this workshop or for more information, please contact either the Midway District at 785-483-3157 or email Clint Laflin at [email protected] or the Cottonwood District at 620-793-1910 or email Alicia Boor at [email protected].

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or calling 620-793-1910

Every time I return from meeting with other presidents, I feel renewed and reaffirmed in the mission, vision, and effectiveness of Fort Hays State University.

Our team is making great progress on many important initiatives. One area in which we continue to make progress is in student persistence – continuing on from one semester, or one year, to the next. Over the past five years, FHSU has improved the freshman first-year-to-second-year rate by 5 percent and, over the same time period, online student retention has improved by 27 percent! This unusually rapid rate of improvement puts us on par with the national average.

But FHSU is not about being average. We aim higher and work harder, especially when it comes to our students. Most importantly, we recognize that behind every number is a student, a real person to whom we have an obligation to guide and encourage.

And sure, not every student who leaves FHSU early is a failure. Some may be enrolled in our pre-engineering 2+2 program specifically designed to allow our students to take the first semesters of pre-engineering classes, required by all engineering schools, and then transfer to an engineering program to finish the degree. This approach provides two years to work closely with our outstanding faculty members, in small classes, receiving personal attention and gaining a strong knowledge base.

Others may complete general education requirements and then transfer to a more expensive college with different majors as a cost-saving strategy.

But there are indeed students who are not graduating and for whom we need to find more effective ways to help. That is why we continue to adopt new strategies and evaluate and refine current practices. I am so grateful for the time and energy our faculty and staff devote to getting better at supporting our students.

An aspect I admire about FHSU is that we have the courage to be introspective and innovative. I once heard a national expert on student success call on universities to think deeply and differentiate between where students fail and where the university fails students – to adopt an “It’s on us” posture rather than simply blame students for not putting forth the effort to succeed.

Researcher Robert Pace has long demonstrated that what the institution does can profoundly shape student effort and positively impact success. Even newer research by Robert Putnam indicates that students who are not as well prepared for college often do not lack in intelligence but in savvy. Our outreach and support is more critical than we sometimes realize.

I was most intrigued by new research from Gallup indicating that hope is critical to student success. This makes sense when you think about it. Ever tried to lose weight and get negative feedback from the scale? Were you motivated to eat more fruits and vegetables? Did you feel like weighing in the next day? Discouragement steals hope. Encouragement fuels hope, which results in success.

When I work with my personal trainer – who gives me information, shows me what to do, monitors my progress, and continues to encourage me – I am hopeful, focused, excited, and successful. Each week I get stronger and can do more. My trainer reminds me not of what I cannot yet do but of the progress I have made and how much closer I am to accomplishing my fitness goals.

I am constantly thinking about how important it is to tell our students every day how great they are, to encourage their hopes and dreams, to instill in them the importance of persevering and refusing to accept failure. It is important to love them to success. It is a message I attempt to convey in my speeches and, more importantly, my daily interactions with students. This is how we create world-class athletes and how we should be creating world-class students.

And the best news – this quality of hope and student support – is already a characteristic alive and well at Fort Hays State University.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Drilling activity in eastern Kansas continued to slow down last week even as it picked up west of Wichita. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports just three active drilling rigs in the eastern half of the state, down two, and 31 in Western Kansas, which is up three over the week before. Drilling is underway at one well in Ellis County, and operators are about to spud new wells in Barton and Russell counties.

Baker Hughes reported an increase of ten oil rigs in its weekly nationwide drilling rig count. Texas was down four rigs, New Mexico was up four and North Dakota added three rigs over last week.

Operators filed 12 permits for drilling at new locations across the Sunflower State last week, with just one of those in eastern Kansas. Eleven were west of Wichita, including one in Barton County.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reports operators completed 66 new wells last week across Kansas. Ten of those were dry holes including one in Ellis and one in Barton County. Out of 22 wells completed in Western Kansas last week, seven were dry holes. One producing well and one service well were completed in Barton County last week.

The government said U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased 8.0 million barrels from the previous week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says current stockpiles are about nine percent above the five-year seasonal average. EIA said U.S. crude production for the week was down slightly, from the all-time high reported the week before. The total for the week ending January 18 was 11.891 million barrels per day, about two million barrels more than the same week a year ago. Imports averaged 8.2 million barrels per day last week, up more than half a million from the previous week. The four-week average is about 2.1% less than a year ago.

The Lone Star State produced 25% more crude oil last year than the year before. A report from the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association pegged the state’s production in 2018 at 1.5 billion barrels. That’s about 4.1 million barrels per day, or about 40% of total production in the United States. EIA estimates that U.S. crude oil production averaged 10.9 million barrels per day last year.

The top oil and gas regulator in Idaho has resigned amid charges he bought and sold stock in an oil and gas company doing business in his state. Governor Brad Little accepted the resignation of Conservation Commission Chairman Kevin Dickey, and said his office would work to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible.

Crude-oil production from the seven largest U.S. shale plays is forecast to climb by 62,000 barrels a day in February to 8.179 million barrels a day, with output from the Permian Basin leading the way. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday the Permian, spanning the Texas-New Mexico border, is expected to see the largest climb among the big shale plays, with a monthly increase of 23,000 barrels a day in February.

As the State of New Mexico considers raising royalty rates for oil & gas production on state lands, lawmakers are learning that the state already cllectss a greater share of revenue from the patch than eight other states, including Kansas. Lawmakers in Santa Fed heard from the New Mexico Tax Research Institute, which reported royalties and taxes in the state already return more than 20% of the so-called “production value” of oil developments on state lands. Texas was next at more than 14%. Richard Anklam of the Institute says their new study shows Kansas with the lowest combined taxes and land income as a percentage of energy production. Anklam says thats largely because Kansas has very little production on federal land, and none on state trust lands. According to the study, the states energy operators kicked in more than $201 million to state coffers in fiscal year 2017, out of slightly more than $2 billion in total production value, or a little more than 10%. That includes personal income taxes, severance taxes, ad valorem property taxes, sales and use taxes, and revenue from the feds.

Saudi Arabia plans to build an oil refinery and a petrochemicals plant in South Africa as part of $10 billion of investments in the country. According to Reuters, the Saudi Energy Minister announced Saudi oil would be used in the planned refinery. Construction will be led by state energy company Saudi Aramco. The exact location of the refinery and petrochemicals plant will be finalised in the coming weeks.

Oil tankers exporting crude from ports in the Black Sea are contending with spiraling delays when navigating Turkey’s key shipping straits, stalling the delivery of millions of barrels rom Kazakhstan and Russia to refineries on the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. According to a report from Bloomberg, the long lines are blamed on rule changes requiring more vessels be escorted by tugboats. A local port agent estimates tankers holding about 39 million barrels of oil are being held up.

After 45 years covering agriculture in Kansas and Missouri, I will “pull the pin” (retire) from Kansas Farm Bureau Jan. 31. I’ll put my pen in the desk drawer, close my computer, hang up my camera and turn off the phone. Don’t worry, Insight will continue.

But I will not forget this vocation of agriculture and more importantly the men, women and children who call this vocation their own.

Who knows?

After a few months, I may put pen to paper and write about this most honorable profession once more.

The opportunity to advocate on behalf of agriculture for 45 years has given me a reason to believe. No other career I could have embarked on would have fulfilled my inner need to remain connected to a life I was born into 70 years ago in northwestern Kansas.

My family and four others literally carved the community of Angelus out of the prairie during the waning years of the 19th Century. Before settling in northwestern Kansas, they’d settled in up-state New York by way of Germany in the early 1830s. From there they moved to a small farm near Milwaukee, Wis. A decade later, on to Wein, Mo. and finally the short-grass prairie on the great High Plains.

Growing up in a family of hard working, dedicated German and French immigrants, I was destined to “tell the story of agriculture.” I will carry a place in my heart for the farmers and ranchers who remain a part of this vocation as long as I inhabit this old world.

After four decades of writing a weekly column, starting “Kansas Living” magazine, producing “Insight” on the radio, “Voice of Ag” radio spots, writing speeches for three Kansas Farm Bureau presidents, video production and managing KFB’s print media department, far too many events occurred to mention them all. Here are a few highlights:

Droughts, killing freezes, brutal winters with blizzards and loss of livestock, farm bills including the Freedom to Farm spearheaded by Kansas’s own Sen. Roberts, Russia’s Boris Yeltsin cutting wheat at the Rau farm in Sedgwick County followed by a visit from the white combine.

The advent of animal welfare including PETA and HSUS, Waters of the U.S. in a semi-arid western Kansas, the over appropriation of irrigation out of the Ogallala Aquifer, yearly Governor’s tours, Farm Bureau members lobbying congress in D.C. led by KFB President John Junior Armstrong in ’78.

So much history, so much fun and so many wonderful farm families. The opportunity to visit farms and ranches in all 105 counties. The chance to visit with members – in their pickups, combines or drive through a pasture filled with fleshy momma cow-calf pairs – as they proudly showed me their farms and shared the intimate details of their lives and livelihood.

I also witnessed the sorrow and pained hurt in the eyes of a wheat farmer a few minutes after a hailstorm hammered his crop into the ground. Followed by his vision and hope for the next great year. I’ll never forget and always cherish these moments.

I will remember always the friendships forged with farmers and ranchers throughout Kansas. We all share a love of this business of agriculture, each other and our Farm Bureau organization.

This continues to make Farm Bureau the best. We care on a personal level. Our families and lives became intertwined.

We share common concerns. Kansas agriculture remains a moving target, always changing. What’s right for you, may be wrong for me. Still, in Farm Bureau, we work together to find solutions for our shared industry.

At the end of the day, week, month or year, we love our great organization. We’re unafraid to tilt at windmills like the brave Don Quixote. We toil behind the scenes “to finish the task,” driven by dedicated farm and ranch leaders and dedicated staff, we make a difference in the agricultural vocation.

While it may seem like a long, hard road, it’s been an exhilarating ride. One I wouldn’t change for anything. I’m truly honored and humbled to have served with each one of you.

God bless.

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.

Hello from Topeka!

This past week saw mostly bill introductions and the beginning of committee work. The Higher Education Budget committee met for the first time and received an overview of education in Kansas and setting the course for the session work. It will be another couple of weeks before we are presented with the baseline numbers and begin hearing from our higher education institutions.

In this report I wanted to share some of the things going on in other committees:

Mental Health Issues in Schools – On Thursday, the Kansas State Board of Education Report on Mental Health Issues in Schools and similar information on children’s mental health were presented to the House Education Committee. The board’s report identifies that 20% of children and youth have an identified need for mental health services, but only one-third of those children have received services. In addition, for those children who did receive services, more than 70% received services from their school. The presentation also stressed the need to prevent suicide, and the board’s prime recommendation included suicide awareness and prevention training. Specifically, the board recommended required staff training on signs of abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse, and would also like to see school districts revisit or revise policies related to mandating reporting of signs of abuse.

Essential Federal Employees in Kansas – On Friday, Representative Adam Smith from Weskan introduced a bill in the Rural Revitalization Committee to address concerns of Federal employees furloughed in Kansas due to the government shutdown. Some employees are working without pay and are not allowed to collect unemployment. Friday marked the second pay period these employees have been going to work without a paycheck. Under Representative Smith’s proposal, these employees would be able to collect unemployment and then be required to pay it back once an employee receives backpay from the Federal government. While this problem stems from D.C., we believe it is important for Kansans to take care of our own in the meantime.

Itemized Deduction Briefing – Also on Thursday, the tax committee heard from The Department of Revenue, the Kansas Society of CPAs, and the Kansas Realtors Association. Due to recent changes in federal law, Kansas taxpayers must take the standard deduction on their state income tax return if they take the standard deduction on federal return. In the same token, Kansans cannot itemize on their state returns if they do not itemize on their federal return. The federal standard deduction was nearly doubled, increasing from: 1) Federal Standard Deduction 2) Tax Year 2017: $6,350 for single filers, $12,700 married filing jointly 3) Tax Year 2018: $12,000 for single filers, $24,000 married filing jointly. 4) Kansas Standard Deduction and 5) $3,000 for single filers, $7,500 or married filing jointly. This eliminates the opportunity for Kansans with itemized deductions below the federal standard deduction, to itemize on their state return. Amending the state tax code, or decoupling from the federal tax code, will allow taxpayers the freedom to itemize or take the standard deduction on their state returns regardless of which route they take when filing their federal return.

Tax Foundation Testifies about Kansas Tax Climate – Nicole Keading, Director of Federal and Special Projects for the Tax Foundation, presented to the House Taxation Committee. She gave an overview of Kansas tax rates, state business tax climate index, the Wayfair decision, and conformity. She noted that literature shows that some taxes burden economic growth more than others. Those are gross receipts taxes, corporate income taxes, and individual income taxes. In speaking about state tax policy, she divided her discussion into four large categories: tax rates; tax collections; tax burdens; and tax structure.

In looking at tax rates, Kansas is in the middle of rankings on individual income tax rate for 2018 with a 5.7% rate. Individual income tax rates for neighboring states are: Colorado (4.63%), Nebraska (6.84%), Missouri (5.9%), and Oklahoma (5.0%). Kansas ranks higher than other states on the corporate tax rate at 7.0%. Neighboring states: CO (4.63%), NE (7.81%), MO (6.25%), and OK (6.0%). On sales tax, Kansas has the 8th highest combined sales tax rate (state/local), with 8.68%. Neighboring state rates are: CO (7.52%), NE (6.89%, no tax on food), MO (8.08%), and OK (8.93%). The Tax Foundation also calculates the tax burden for states. Tax burden reflects the portion of income that goes to taxes. The Tax Foundation found that Kansas’ burden is 9.5, which is the 23rd highest tax burden in the nation.

This past week there were several folks from the district in Topeka: Phillips County Commissioner Max Dibble; Phillipsburg City Council Chair Mike James; Norton County Commissioner Bud Posson; Stockton Mayor Kim Thomas; Ellis Mayor Dave McDaniel; Phillips County Register of Deeds Robert Keessee and several folks from our community hospitals, but due to the weather we were not able to catch up. I had a great time Sunday night at the Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet, Diana Crouch and crew always put on a great event. Congratulations to the award winners.

If you come to Topeka during the session, my office is in Room: 149-S. My phone number is 785-296-7463 and email is: [email protected] and you can always try my cell number is 785-302-8416.

I look forward to seeing you around the 110th District. It is my honor to by your representative.

Rep. Ken Rahjes (R-Agra), is the 110th state representative and chairman of the Higher Education Budget Committee. House District 110
includes Norton and Phillips counties as well as portions of Ellis, Graham, and Rooks counties.

Before this year’s session started I agreed to sponsor a bill, SB 9, which would make a postponed KPERS payment from 2016 that the legislature had promised to pay with interest in 2018. In 2018, the legislature opted to postpone the payment, to see what future revenues produced. Kansas’s revenues ended FY18 with $317 million more than expected. This left the approved ending balance at $905 million. Eighteen Republican senators, including myself, have signed on to sponsor SB 9. Some Democratic senators want to stall this payment. We made a promise to make this payment with interest and believe we should not build our ending balances by breaking promises.

Last Tuesday, the Senate Ways & Means Committee heard testimony on SB 9, which would transfer $115 million from the state general fund to the KPERS system. One hundred percent of the payment would be applied to the public-school group, a group that carries the largest unfunded liability. Ways & Means heard from Executive Director of KPERS, Alan Conroy, who explained to the committee that not making the payment would cause an increase of $630,000 to the unfunded liability/interest expense monthly. Making the payment would result in meeting the actuarial required payment for the first time in 25 years.

Thank you for those hundreds of people who gathered at the Statehouse, Tuesday, January 22, in freezing rain to participate in the annual Kansas March for Life. In particular I would like to thank people from the 40th Senate District who braved bad roads to attend this rally, including people as far away as St. Francis, KS. Many gathered due to the anticipated ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that would say the constitution provides a right to an abortion. The march and rally took place on the 46th anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision. In light of the New York Legislature adopting the Reproductive Health Act, allowing abortions up until the point of birth, it is more important than ever that we continue to fight for the unborn.

Hard Facts: Aviation in Kansas has a $20.6 billion economic impact and is responsible for 91,300 jobs. According to the Kansas Department of Labor, Kansas’ December unemployment rate was 3.3% compared to the 3.9% national rate.

Middle School and High School students (12 years of age or older) are invited to come to our Kansas State Capitol, in order to be my sponsored Senate Page for a day. The dates available are February 11th, 18th, 25th and March 11th. Please contact my office, if you know a student who may have an interest in being a Senate Page.

I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District in Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact or call me with your questions and concerns, my office number is 785 296-7399 or my cell is 785 899-4700. If you are in Topeka stop by my office at 236-E.

Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, is the Kansas state senator for the 40th District, which includes Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Trego and Wallace counties as well as portions of Phillips county.

Friends,

Friday a short-term funding agreement was made to reopen the government and pay federal employees. The president announced that he would reopen the government for three weeks, with hopes that by February 15th we will pass a border security agreement that includes funding for the wall. I find myself both relieved but also increasingly frustrated with this Congress and its dysfunction. I feel for those who have been struggling during this time, and I worry that once this temporary deal expires in three weeks, they will be faced with the same uncertainty if Democrats are not willing to negotiate.

I remain firm in my belief that we must secure our southern border and put an end to this decades-old crisis once and for all. It is unfathomable that some of my colleagues continue to ignore the reality of the lives lost due to criminals and drugs flowing into the United States.

There is absolutely a solution out there where both parties would receive clear victories. It is time for everyone in Washington – Republican and Democrats alike –to quit with the partisan games, provide the funds needed to secure our southern border adequately.

Continuing My Work On The House Agriculture Committee

I am proud to say that I will be again serving the Big First and our Ag industry on the House Agriculture committee. In the 115th Congress, the House Ag team was able to achieve many monumental accomplishments like passing a five-year Farm Bill, that will provide certainty to so many people across Kansas. I am eager to be back with this great team and represent our farmers and ranchers as well as agribusinesses and so many other vital parts of our Ag industry. We have a great deal of work to do for farm country, including advocating for new trade deals, protecting and implementing the 2018 Farm Bill and expanding rural broadband access and reducing the regulatory burden on our farmers. I will also be staying on the Science Space and Technology committee.

President Trump will Veto Anti-Life Legislation

I will always serve to protect the most vulnerable and guard the innocent, unborn children. Life begins at conception, and as a physician for 25 years that delivered 10,000 babies, I will always choose life.

I signed a letter to the president, with 168 of my colleagues, requesting that he commit to vetoing any legislation that weakens the protections for the unborn. I am proud that he answered our call to action and subsequently sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promising to veto any legislation that House Democrats might pass that would violate the sanctity of life and change or weaken the protections for human life.

I commend our president for his steadfast position on this critical issue and his quit action to defend of the most vulnerable.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Last week the nation celebrated the life of a Civil Rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We took a moment to reflect on the progress we have made as a country and all the work the Reverend did to unify a nation that was broken.

Lately, I have been thinking about what Dr. King would say if he were alive today to see the diverse partisanship in Congress. His message would be clear – we must unify to make change. We must keep working together on civilly finding common ground. We must look even beyond the rules of civility. We must begin accepting when two or more minds work together with different opinions because there is always a common goal to be found.

Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

“We’re number 1!” That cry goes up in sports arenas across the country. Today, around Kansas Day, the state of Kansas can point to many Kansas firsts. These are accomplishments in addition to sports where our state was number one in historic developments.

Marci Penner is executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, author, and passionate advocate for rural Kansas. Her organization’s website, www.kansassampler.org, plus Kansapedia and other online sources list numerous cases where Kansas was number 1.

For example, the first U.S. patent for a helicopter was issued to Kansans William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland. They invented the helicopter in 1909. A replica of their original helicopter can be viewed at the High Plains Museum in Goodland.

In addition to helicopters, other Kansans made their mark in aviation. The booming airplane production in Wichita led to that city being called the “air capital of the world.”

In the 1920s, Clyde Cessna of Kingman, Lloyd Stearman of Wellsford, and Walter Beech worked on one of those pioneering airplane companies in Wichita. Walter Beech and his wife Olive Ann from Waverly started their own business, Beech Aircraft Company, in 1932. When Walter became ill, Olive Ann Beech took over the company. Olive Ann was the first woman to receive the National Aeronautic Association’s Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.

Of all women in aviation, Amelia Earhart was the most famous. Earhart, from Atchison, was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She was preceded by the first man to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. His name was Charles Lindbergh. When Lindbergh was barnstorming as a young pilot, he lived near Bird City.

On a more down to earth note, the world’s first bulldozer was invented by J. Earl McLeod and Jim Cummings in Morrowville.

There are many, many other Kansas firsts. Several involve women in politics. Susanna Salter of Argonia was the first woman elected mayor in the U.S. in 1887. She was a member of the Prohibition Party, which reminds me that Kansas was the first state to pass a law to prohibit all alcoholic beverages (that one didn’t work out so well.)

In 1949, banker Georgia Neese Clark of Richland was appointed by President Harry Truman as the first woman Treasurer of the United States. That meant her signature was printed on millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. currency.

In 1978, Nancy Landon Kassebaum was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first woman elected to a full term in the Senate without being preceded by a husband. She would later retire to the family ranch near Burdick.

Kansas women and minorities made their mark in other fields also. Hattie McDaniel of Wichita was the first African-American woman and, for that matter, the first African-American of any gender, to win an Academy Award for her role in “Gone with the Wind.” Another woman founded the first black women’s academy in New England. She came to Kansas and is buried at the rural community of Elk Falls, population 107 people. Now, that’s rural.

In sports, Lynette Woodard of Wichita was the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. In politics, Charles Curtis of Topeka was the first Native American to become U.S. vice president.

Some firsts are less prominent. The nation’s first chain restaurant was the Harvey House restaurants which served Kansas railroad travelers. A Harvey House Museum is in Florence. Decades later, the country’s first national hamburger chain was founded when White Castle opened in Wichita.

The world’s first synthetic diamond was made by Dr. Willard Hersey on the McPherson College Campus in 1926. Also in McPherson was an amateur athletic basketball team sponsored by the local oil refinery. In 1936, the first year that basketball was an Olympic sport, the Globe Refiners from Kansas became the first basketball team to win a gold medal in the Olympics.

“We’re number 1!” These are some of the Kansas firsts which we find in our history. We salute Marci Penner and others who are making a difference by finding and sharing these Kansas accomplishments. I appreciate the way that they have helped put Kansas first.