Average Kansas per gallon price down 5 cents in past week to $2.67

AAA TOPEKA – Kansas is among more than 80 percent of states experiencing lower gas prices this week compared to last. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Kansas is now $2.67, five cents lower than a week ago. “After several weeks of unseasonably high or rising prices, Kansans are finally finding some relief at the pumps,” said AAA Kansas spokesman Shawn Steward. “Lower gasoline demand and stable supplies have contributed to the price decrease. The price decrease trend could certainly reverse itself with upcoming geopolitical issues, but for now, motorists can enjoy this welcome change of cheaper gas.” Of the 10 Kansas cities regularly highlighted by AAA Kansas (see chart below), none saw gas prices increase this week. Prices stayed the same this week in Hays and Lawrence, while prices fell in the eight other communities. Wichita (-7 cents), Garden City (-6) and Kansas City, Kan. (-4) had the largest price declines. “When we compare our gas prices to the rest of America, Kansas can almost always claim positive news, and that is true again this week,” AAA Kansas’ Steward said. “Our $2.67 average is 18 cents less than the national average, and Kansas currently has the 13th cheapest gas in the country.” According to AAA Kansas, this week’s Kansas gas price extremes are: HIGH: Potwin (Butler County) – $3.09 LOW: Hutchinson (Reno County) – $2.45 National Perspective The national gas price average is $2.85. That is six-cents cheaper than this month’s highest price of $2.91, which was the most expensive average during the month of October since 2014. Today’s price is also four cents cheaper than last week, the same price as last month and 39- cent more than this time last year. Reduced refinery runs, due to peak maintenance season, have contributed to stable gasoline inventories amid lower demand, which is a contributing factor driving gas prices down. “Motorists across the country are seeing gas prices more than a dime cheaper than last week, with 41 states having less expensive state averages on the week,” said AAA Kansas’ Steward. “Prices are falling despite market concerns about global supply and geopolitical tensions, but that could change later this month ahead of the U.S. announcement of imposed sanctions on Iran.” Today’s national gas price extremes: High: Hawaii – $3.90 Low: Delaware – $2.56 Gas Price Trends in Select Kansas Cities Sources: https://aaa.opisnet.com/index.aspx and https://gasprices.aaa.com/ Today Last Week Last Month Last Year Change Over Last Year National $2.85 $2.89 $2.85 $2.46 16% Kansas $2.67 $2.72 $2.70 $2.33 15% Emporia $2.71 $2.74 $2.68 $2.26 20% Garden City $2.62 $2.68 $2.66 $2.29 14% Hays $2.70 $2.70 $2.69 $2.32 16% KCK $2.68 $2.72 $2.75 $2.35 14% Lawrence $2.71 $2.71 $2.75 $2.37 14% Manhattan $2.75 $2.77 $2.70 $2.41 14% Pittsburg $2.71 $2.74 $2.68 $2.25 20% Salina $2.68 $2.69 $2.68 $2.31 16% Topeka $2.67 $2.70 $2.67 $2.28 17% Wichita $2.61 $2.68 $2.66 $2.33 12%

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Another 18 Kansas drilling contractors have moved rigs from the active to the pending column. That’s a 26.8% drop in the number of “active” rigs in Kansas. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports nine rigs east of Wichita that are moving in, rigging up, drilling, or relocating, down four for the week. There were just 21 in the active column in Western Kansas, down seven. Operators are moving in rotary drilling tools at one lease in Ellis County and one in Stafford County.

At CHS in McPherson, the price for Kansas Common crude gained a quarter on Friday, to end the week at $59.25/bbl, compared to $61.50 a week ago. But current prices are still $17 a barrel higher than a year ago at this time.

Operators across the state filed for 36 permits for drilling at new locations last week, 1,454 so far this year. There were nine new drilling permits filed in eastern Kansas and 27 west of Wichita, including two in Barton County, four in Russell County and two in Stafford County.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported just ten well completions for the week, three in eastern Kansas, and seven west of Wichita, including one in Russell County. Of the seven newly completed wells in western Kansas last week, there were four dry holes (in Greeley, Pawnee, Saline and Stanton counties).

August crude output in the nation’s number-two producing state topped 40 million barrels for a record high 1.29 million barrels per day. North Dakota regulators say natural gas production and the number of producing wells also set new records.

U.S. crude inventories increased another 6.5 million barrels last week, and are now about two percent above the fire year average.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude oil production dropped last week, after setting a record the week before. We produced just shy of 10.9 million barrels per day last week. Our four-week average production is over 11 million barrels per day, compared to an average 9.2 million barrels per day a year ago.

A new report from the Energy Information Administration and the Census indicates that the U.S. trade deficit for energy products has narrowed over the last decade. From 2003 to 2007, the value of energy imports was about 10 times greater than the value of exports. By 2017, imports were only about 1.5 times greater than exports. Canada is the largest U.S. trading partner for energy products. Last year the US energy imports from Canada topped $73 billion dollars.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary says the oil market has already anticipated supply reductions due to renewed sanctions against Iran next month. Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Reuters it will be harder for countries to get waivers from these sanctions. Mnuchin said countries will have to reduce their purchases of oil from Iran by more than the roughly 20 percent level required during the Obama Administration.

Iraq surpassed Canada this year as the world’s fourth largest crude oil producer. But the war-torn country is struggling with unsteady electricity supplies and has trouble keeping the lights on. Iraq is producing a record 4.78 million barrels of oil per day, and officials tell Bloomberg that Iraqi output will rise to 5 million barrels a day in 2019 and 7.5 million by 2024. According to the report Iraq has quietly increased shipments to Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean region, to offset missing supplies from Iran.

The oil industry in North Dakota continues to fall well short of the state’s goals to reduce the flaring of natural gas at oil wells. Operators across the state captured just 82% of the natural gas produced at oil wells in August. The industry has never reached the current 85% threshold, which goes up to 88% next month. Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms says he will make a new gas-capture recommendation to the state Industrial Commission later this month.

A group in Utah wants to build a 150-mile railroad that promoters say could increase oil production in the state five-fold and create 27,000 jobs. The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition is asking for a $28 million slice of state oil royalties to help pay for an environmental impact study. They’re hoping to pay for the construction with federal grants. Previous studies have said transportation constraints are holding back development of some $30 billion worth of oil and gas over the next 30 years. The group says its new studies found practical railroad routes from Myton, Utah, to Craig or Rifle, Colorado.

The Colorado Supreme Court is considering a case that could upend that state’s energy industry, and the competing oil-industry ballot questions being considered in November. The law being challenged involves a push to require energy regulators to give more weight to public health and the environment, instead of weighing those against other interests. There’s no word on when the high court might rule, but if they side with the plaintiffs, it would give local governments, and activists, more power to argue for safety measures, including setbacks, fracking bans, and other restrictions.

Coming soon to a commodity trading board near you: WTI Light. The Houston Chronicle reports producers in the Permian Basin have started selling a new stream of light crude. Sales of West Texas Intermediate Light, or WTI Light, started last month with deliveries into Midland, Texas. The sales began after the construction of enough tanks in West Texas to enable different oil grades to be separated. The newspaper reports the new grade will be shipped by pipeline out of Midland.

As all the various hunting seasons unfold here in Kansas, so do incidents involving illegal hunters, AKA poachers. As I began working on this week’s column, I stumbled across a heartfelt letter sent to me several years ago by a reader whose family are all avid hunters and conservationists, but over the years have had inumerable problems with poachers on their land. Bear in mind, this letter was penned a few years ago after an especially hot, dry summer. I felt the letter worth sharing, so here is this week’s column entitled “Dear Poacher.”

Dear Poacher,

The time is soon approaching to fill your pickup gas tank, load up your “partner in crime”, and set out to fill your freezer with venison, turkey, and pheasant. Although you may argue that all roads and right of ways belong to the public and the wildlife only belongs to the creator, let me argue a different point of view.

As a landowner and a hunter, your style of hunting violates the work we have done to keep the wildlife healthy and available for our family and friends. Let me explain.

This summer/fall particularly has been tough on the wildlife. Ponds have dried up and water sources have become scarce. Grain crops have failed to produce the usually yields. Habitat for wildlife has been destroyed by grazing and haying, leaving the animals looking for new cover and feed.

This landowner has responded to this situation by establishing fresh water resources. We hauled water twice or more a week. Salt and mineral blocks were set out and food plots were planted and replanted several times. Windmills were left pumping in vacant pastures. Cattle were fenced out of future food sources. We shared our growing crops (mostly involuntarily). We maintained current orchards and planted additional orchards for wildlife.

These things were not done to enhance your chances of success. They were done to ensure that deer, turkey, pheasant, and quail would continue to flourish and be available for our hunters, not only now, but for future generations.

Therefore, we want to make the following promises:
• When you choose to road hunt, we will identify your vehicle and report it to law enforcement. Road hunting dishonors you, your family, and the traditions of ethical hunting, and tarnishes the names of hunters in general.
• When you choose to spotlight and kill deer, law enforcement will be notified. By spotlighting, you are not only violating the law, you are putting a farmer’s property and livestock in jeopardy.
• When you choose to hunt without permission, we will press charges of criminal trespass and encourage prosecution. You are providing inappropriate role models for those who are hunting with you and those who hear about it. Is a pheasant really worth a tarnished reputation? We promise to clearly mark our land with purple markers and post sufficient signs.

All of the above are illegal. If caught, you risk losing your vehicle, your guns, your hunting privileges, and sometimes your job. A hefty fine is usually part of the package deal.

We have worked very hard to help sustain and improve the quality and quantity of the wildlife in our area. As hunting seasons continue to open, do both of us a favor; hunt legally or stay at home.

Sincerely,
Reno County Landowners

Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

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

To the world, it’s the image of the United States.

To Americans, it’s the “us” in U.S. — and the universally recognized metaphor for the president and the administration behind him.

And for at least 100 years, it’s been the prime spot for demonstrators focused on many of society’s most important issues — war and peace, abortion and gun rights, health care policies and more.

In First Amendment terms, the White House may well be the premier place we go to exercise our rights of free speech, to assemble peaceably and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

The usual space for protests is on the White House’s north side, on a sidewalk along Pennsylvania Avenue, and across the street in the park-like Lafayette Square. While the immediate streets are now closed to vehicles due to terrorist concerns, the sidewalks and green spaces still see daily protests — from a single person adorned with handmade signs to organized rallies that fill the square and beyond.

But the National Park Service has now proposed new regulations and is considering new fees that thousands fear will dissuade most demonstrators from protesting “at the White House.” Park service officials want to limit protesters to a narrow, five-foot strip on the curb side of the 25-foot sidewalk and may establish new charges for security, trash clean-up and such things as “harm to turf.”

The park service argues the changes are needed to help cover higher costs of dealing with what it says is an increasing number of demonstrations. Critics say the moves are a poorly disguised attempt by the Trump administration to thwart visible, anti-Trump protesters — and even dispute the claim of more protests than in previous years.

According to news reports, more than 10,000 people have responded to a public comment period on the new regulations that ended Monday — most in strong opposition.

What would we lose if we moved demonstrations away from the White House?

No less than a century of permitting citizens to send a direct, audible and visible message to the occupant of the Executive Mansion.

In January 1917, a dozen women met in Lafayette Square to start a protest that eventually led to a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. The women — called the “Silent Sentinels” — are credited by some historians with creating the first picket line at the White House. Rain or shine, six days a week, they quietly held signs asking, “How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty?” and “Mr. President, What Will You Do for Woman Suffrage?” They stayed on line until June 1919, when Congress sent the 19th Amendment to the states for ratification.

During WWII, crowds were reported to have gathered periodically on the sidewalks at the White House — including a huge gathering Aug. 14, 1945, to hear the news from President Harry S. Truman that the war had ended.

President Lyndon B. Johnson was taunted in the late 1960s by Vietnam War protesters outside the White House, who chanted loud enough to be heard in the White House at all hours: “Hey, hey LBJ — how many kids did you kill today?” During the Nixon administration a few years later, President Richard Nixon could hear car horns beeping — Watergate protestors would ask passing cars to “honk if you think Nixon should be impeached.”

Since Trump took office Jan. 20, 2017, Lafayette Square has been a regular stop for marches and demonstrations, though those in the massive Women’s March a day after the inauguration were prevented from entering the square because of the viewing stands and security fences that remained from the inaugural parade — obstacles that remained into March.

Yes, social media greatly expands the reach of a march anywhere in Washington, D.C. — and online campaigns potentially reach thousands if not millions more. But the unique opportunity for the physical voices of citizens to be heard across the White House grounds remains a unique feature of American democracy — for now.

Yes, there surely are expenses associated with protests and other demonstrations, at the White House and other public areas that might also be affected, but as a nation, we have in the past found ways to absorb such relatively low costs as a price of democracy.

Core freedoms should not be dissected, disassembled or denied via a balance sheet. And there’s hardly anything more un-American than finding back-door ways to mute our right to protest, with vigor and passion and at times with volume, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Gene Policinski is president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. He can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter at @genefac.

Just like Eber Phelps sending out negative attack mailers against me a few weeks ago, his latest personal negative attack mailer is just another desperate attempt by him to divert attention away from the fact that after serving as a state representative for 18 years – an entire generation – he has become a “professional politician” in Topeka. IT IS TRULY TIME FOR A CHANGE!

Let’s put the facts in their proper context. During the 8 years I served on the Hays City Commission and the 6 years I have been serving on the Ellis County Commission my attendance record is 90%. During the times when my absence was unavoidable, I did my best to coordinate in advance with my fellow Commissioners and the County Administrator to ensure business could be conducted.

I will not allow my campaign to lower itself to the level of Mr. Phelps’ campaign. I will continue a positive campaign focused on the issues, and let the voters decide whether they want a fresh new voice in Topeka or the same old voice that has been there for an entire generation – 18 years.

If missing a handful of meetings due to my recovery from open heart surgery, and if taking care of my 91-year-old mother (who lived in Chicago and now lives in Savannah, Georgia) from time to time disqualifies me from holding public office in the eyes of some voters and the local and state Democratic Party then we’ve got a real societal problem in this community.

Barbara Wasinger, R-Hays
Candidate for 111th District
Kansas State Legislature

I am proud alumnus of Fort Hays State University. I had a great experience there and made many friends that have lasted a lifetime. Recently I realized through tragedy, that some lifetime friendships don’t end with your own life, but theirs. I lost my friend Dr. Zoran Stevanov during a SCUBA trip to Santa Rosa, New Mexico over Labor Day weekend this year. There is not a moment that goes by it seems that I don’t think about him or remember something tied to Zoran. Who knew that my art history teacher my first semester at FHSU would have such a impact on my life.

I took Survey of Art history as did thousands of other students did from Zoran. As a newly married transfer sophomore I was excited to start my new life in a new city and a fresh set of classes. He may have mentioned fencing in his first class or maybe it was the poster on his door, but I had to know this man. As a farm boy who fabricated wooden swords out of sticks and lath, fencing is something I had always wanted to do. I would fence the next eight years under Zoran. I drove to Hays from Phillipsburg every Wednesday to fence for two years after graduating. I continued to fence post graduating until I moved away from Hays in 2010. Not a bad way to learn considering he qualified for the Olympic trials.

We were fast friends sharing many loves like fencing, art, adventure and travel. I looked up to him and hoped that I could accomplish the things that he had. (Although I knew I wouldn’t be an accomplished painter and photographer like he already was.) We went on road trips in his Shelby Cobra and visited art museums and galleries. When I finally became SCUBA certified in 2013 we made our first trip to the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa.

When my wife and I were expecting our first child, a girl, we were considering names and on a visit to his house he said, “You know the female version of my name is Zora.” It stuck. It was for one a perfect blend of his wife’s name Teodora and his and unique enough to stand out. Easy to spell. Later he he thought maybe it wasn’t a good idea since he was always the foreign kid growing up. I told him no one would think twice given more complex names that were in circulation.

He talked about retiring often, but never got around to it. I was trying to convince him to start painting again and to travel. We started talking to galleries in Lindsborg where I live to show some of his work. Zoran started to get excited about doing more art after a visit to an art auction in Hutchinson with me. We talked with collectors and artists and on our way back planned our next dive trip to New Mexico.

So many of my thoughts are tied to experiences with him. So many things remind me of him. And for some foolish reason I never thought I’d lose him so soon. There is a gaping hole at my Alma Mater and in Hays, Kansas. There is a void on the art community and silence in his house where is voice used to be. How can the Earth turn without Zoran Stevanov?

Yet it does.

My thoughts turn to what he has left behind. A family with big hearts and minds. A wonderful wife who is a as strong and accomplished as he was. Photos, paintings, sculptures and models that many have never seen.

Some day when we are all gone and our great-grandchildren forget why we have this painting or photo, a Stevanov will enter the art market. It’s our job to have told his story so that whoever has one of these works knows how important and special it is. Not just for how skilled Zoran was and how creative he was, but for what a tremendous person he was.

Such works should be prized for all time given how other artists leave conflict and destruction in their own lives. Zoran’s parents fled post WWII Yugoslavia when he was five to come to the United States. Zoran worked hard, had a family, earned his Ph.D., and made a comfortable life for them. He created the virtual program for the art department at FHSU and the FHSU Sabre Club. He taught thousands of students and made hundreds of works of art.

I feel it is my responsibility, as his friend to ensure that his legacy is preserved. I am working with the Director of the Sandzèn Memorial Gallery (Lindsborg), himself a student of Zoran, on a show of Dr. Stevenov’s works in the coming years. There is much work to scan and document, but these things I owe him for what he has given me. If I can give back to his memory then I think I can do our friendship justice.

Visiting Zoran usually started with a shot of slivovitz, Serbian plum brandy and a toast, “Ziveli”, to life.

Ziveli, Zoran.

After sorghum harvest, many producers want to move their cattle onto milo stalks to graze. With an early hard freeze, it is a good idea to be aware of prussic acid in sorghum, and if you are concerned, have your forage tested. A quick test now can give you peace of mind when you turn your livestock out to utilize the stalks and grain that are in the field.

Below are some key considerations: 

1.  Prussic acid (HCN) poisoning is more of a concern when grazing sorghum than when harvested for hay or silage because HCN will dissipate in harvested forages if properly ensiled/cured. For grazing it is best to wait approximately seven days after the hard freeze to graze.

2.  Sorghum silage – Most of the HCN will dissipate within 72 hours following warm weather after a hard freeze. However, if HCN levels are high at the time of harvest, wait at least four weeks before feeding the forage. The HCN will volatilize during the fermentation and feed mixing process.

3.  Hay – The curing process for hay will allow the HCN to dissipate as a gas, reducing the HCN content to safe levels.

Testing for Prussic Acid

1.  If high prussic acid concentrations are suspected prior to grazing or at harvest, forage should be tested before grazing or feeding. There are quantitative and qualitative tests available to learn more about the potential for prussic acid poisoning in a particular forage.

2.  If HCN levels exceed 200 ppm on an ‘as-is’ basis or 500 ppm on a dry basis, the forage should be considered potentially toxic and should not be fed as the only source of feed to animals.

3.  Contact the forage lab that will conduct the HCN analysis prior to sending in samples so that proper handling procedures can be followed. 

To monitor the freeze conditions in Kansas, go to the Kansas Mesonet Freeze Monitor tool:  https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/freeze/

For more information on how to use the Freeze Monitor, please read the recent eUpdate article, “Fall has arrived and the Mesonet freeze monitor returns”, in Issue 712.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, you can contact me by calling 620-793-1910, by email at [email protected] or just drop by the office located at 1800 12^th street in Great Bend. This is Alicia Boor, one of the Agriculture and Natural Resources agents for the Cottonwood District which includes Barton and Ellis counties. Have a good week!

Why do you think your mom made a grocery list and stuck to it?

From the time you enter the supermarket parking lot until you reach the checkout counter, every part of a supermarket is designed to make you spend more money than you need to.

Look at your own shopping habits. How often do you dash to the store for milk and walk out with a box of donuts (they’ll taste so good for breakfast), a big bag of chips and salsa (for fun), ice cream (it was on sale), a fresh baguette (it smelled so good) and a magazine (what has The Donald done with his hair now?).
The first thing most of us do when we walk through the doors is reach for a shopping cart. While you probably don’t know, this 1938 invention was designed to let customers make larger purchases more easily. Heck it’s got wheels and plenty of room.

And in case you hadn’t noticed, you can buy happiness at your local supermarket.

Most supermarkets put high-margin departments like floral and fresh-baked goods near the front door. They’re located on your right and most people shop from right to left – just like driving your car. That way you’ll run into such items when your cart is empty and you’re in high spirits.

Another reason to start with flowers and baked goods is the smell. You can’t help but follow your nose as you begin salivating and increase your speed toward the apple fritters. In less than two minutes, you’ve purchased a dozen tasty treats. Yum.

It’s almost unfair and you’re well on your way to impulse buying – grocery list be damned. These siren departments make sure you’re in a good mood and make you more willing to spend.

Where’s my moo-cow milk? You know what I came here to buy in the first place?

Supermarkets stock dairy products and other essentials on the back wall so you must fight your way through, aisles of chips, candy, cookies and other snack food – the entire store – to find them.

Once customers buy their first item, for many shopping becomes a quest. They walk up and down every aisle without deviating.

Supermarkets stack items they most want you to buy at eye level. For example, in the cereal aisle bulk items are placed at the bottom. Healthy cereal is stocked at the top while expensive, brand-name cereal is situated at eye level usually at the end of aisles.

Sugary, highly advertised kids’ cereal is placed a bit lower, so youngsters can look these items straight in the eyes while begging parents to buy them.

Sample stations slow you down while exposing you to new products. If you’re shopping while you’re hungry, chances are good you may grab a couple of these new products to snack on while you head home after shopping.

Store size matters. People tend to spend less time shopping in crowded stores. They purchase fewer items, do less impulse buying, don’t visit as much and oftentimes are anxious to get out the door.

Music impacts supermarket shopping too. Consumer studies show slow music allows people to take their time and spend more money. Loud music moves shoppers through the store quickly without affecting sales. And believe it or not, classical music entices people to buy more expensive merchandise.

The checkout line remains the most profitable area of the supermarket. It’s here that after a few minutes of waiting in line, buyers treat themselves to their favorite chocolate bar in the candy rack or a magazine they’ve been thumbing through.

Hallelujah.

But wait, it’s time to present your “Valued Shopper Card.” Occasionally you receive a deal, but more importantly this card keeps you coming back so the store can collect valuable marketing data.

You swipe your card. Pay your bill and finally you’re able to get the devil out of supermarket hell.

“You come back again now,” the clerk smiles.

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

This week I have received a number of calls about what to do with those bulbs that cannot over-winter here in Kansas.  The cold season is approaching, in fact has already zapped many of our garden plants with the first freeze of the fall just this last past weekend. Now would be a time to start thinking about storing those bulbs that will not survive Kansas winters if you have not done so already. Bulbs, such as gladiolus, caladium, dahlia, tuberous begonia, calla lily, and canna lily, need to be dug-up and stored in a protected area so they can be re-planted again next year.

The bulbs you plan on keeping should be dug-up after frost has at least partially browned the foliage. Allow them to dry for about a week in a shady, well-ventilated site such as a garage.  Freezing temperatures should be avoided.  Remove excess soil and pack them in peat moss, vermiculite, or perlite. It is important that the bulbs don’t touch one another so that if one decays, the rot does not spread. Dusting them with fungicide before storage will help prevent rotting.                          

 Caladium should be stored between 50⁰ and 60⁰ F. The other bulbs mentioned should be stored as near 40⁰ F as possible. Finding a good spot to store the bulbs may be difficult. Some people place them against a basement wall farthest from the furnace and insulate them so the wall keeps them cool.

Did you know, however, the “bulbs” or the plants mentioned in the list above are not true bulbs. A true bulb is an underground stem with fleshy, scale-like layers surrounding a center bud. Think of the layers when you peel an onion. The scales are food storing leaf bases and they are attached to what is called a basil plate. It’s actually the bottom of the bulb from which the roots grow out.

Canna and calla lilies, however, have root like structures called rhizomes. These are horizontal, underground plant stems that produce new shoots and root systems. Rhizomes are used to store starches and proteins, enabling these plants to survive underground in unfavorable seasons. Other rhizomes are irises, bamboo, and lily of the valley.

Caladium, and many begonias have tubers. Tubers are yet another type of swollen stem. There is no basil plate like that of a true bulb, and the outside skin tends to be leathery. Tubers have eyes, or growth nodes, from which the new plants grow. Examples of tubers are anemones, cyclamens, peonies and of course, potatoes.

Gladiolus is a corm. Corms are also stems generally round in shape, where the plant grows out of an indention at the top of the structure. Roots develop out from the top of the corm into the ground. And just like the rhizome and tuber, this structure stores nutrients and water for use in future need. 

The dahlia is a tuberous rooted plant. Unlike the three root-like structures above, tuberous roots are a true root, thickened to store nutrients. The fibrous roots absorb water and nutrients, to be stored in the swollen parts. Tuberous roots grow in a cluster, with the tuberous portions radiating out from a central point. Day lilies also have tuberous roots.

Rip Winkel is the Horticulture agent in the Cottonwood District (Barton and Ellis Counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at [email protected] or calling either 785-682-9430, or 620-793-1910.

Now, nearly everyone cares, or at least wants to know, whom their governor is, but state treasurer and insurance commissioner?

It’s largely because there is a handful of state senators who are in those races, and if they get elected, there’s going to be back-filling to do, to replace those senators with new senators who will get two years on the job before they stand for election.

Those fill-in senators will be selected by Republican and Democrat party officials—precinct committeemen and committeewomen—and if the right candidates win the governorship or state treasurer or insurance commissioner, they give up their Senate seats for better-paying fulltime jobs.

And relatively quietly, there are already some Republicans and Democrats who are chatting with those precinct committee officials to see whether they can take those Senate seats abandoned by the statewide office winners.

Take the governor’s race.

If Democrat Sens. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, and Lynn Rogers, of Wichita, are elected as governor and lieutenant governor, they will leave two Senate seats to be filled by their districts’ Kansas Democrat Party officials. The seats stay within the party, so Democrats will continue to have nine senators, just two new faces.

If Secretary of State Kris Kobach and his runningmate Wink Hartman are elected, well, they just get new jobs. Kobach abandoned his secretary of state office for the governor’s race.

If independent Greg Orman is elected governor, his lieutenant governor runningmate John Doll, who used to be a Republican, will leave his Senate seat for a replacement, presumably as Republicans which was what Doll was before dropping the party membership.

If Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, is elected treasurer, there’s going to be a new face in the Senate for the next two years.

If Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, is elected insurance commissioner, the remaining two years of her four-year Senate term will be filled by those party officials.

Those replacements? For Democrats it probably isn’t going to shift votes on the Senate floor. Oh, and Democrat representatives are being quiet about their aspiration to the Senate. They need to be reelected first, and they all appear to have the common sense not to talk out loud about giving up the House seats they are campaigning for now. That wouldn’t sound good on the doorstep, would it?

It’s the insurance commissioner race where there is likely to be more political consequence. Republicans now have 30 Senate seats and depending on whether Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena, who was appointed to the seat after now-State Treasurer Jake LaTurner left the chamber, wins over Democrat Bryan Hoffman, of Mulberry, the number will not change.

But…already there are some House members and political groupies quietly looking at the seat Schmidt will give up if elected. Nobody’s talking yet, but there are very conservative Republicans looking at taking Schmidt’s chair, and there are moderate Republicans looking, too.

Why the interest in the Schmidt seat? It’s because she is a moderate Republican who often votes with Democrats on tax, school finance and social issues.

That means, for Senate leadership purposes, she might just as well be a Democrat, and if she is gone and replaced with a conservative, well, it means that vetoes can be overridden, and that there is a solid conservative majority in the chamber. For the Senate’s conservative leadership, it doesn’t get much better than that. A majority to pass bills and a super-majority to knock down vetoes.

Nov. 6? The election will be important, but depending on the winners, it may get even more interesting…

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

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson gained a quarter on Friday to start the week at $61.50 a barrel.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported a nearly 15% drop in the number of active oil and gas drilling rigs across Kansas last week. Seven rigs statewide went from active status to “pending their next location assignment.” There were 13 active rigs east of Wichita, down two, and 28 in the western half of the state, which is down five for the week. The totals in Kansas are 14.6% lower than a week ago, nearly seven percent below the total from a month ago, but still nearly eight percent higher than a year ago at this time.

Operators report drilling underway at one site in Ellis County, they’re about to spud a new well in Barton County, and they’re moving in completions tools at two sites in Ellis County and one in Stafford County.

Kansas operators filed just 19 new drilling permits last week, 1,418 so far this year. There are 11 new permits in eastern Kansas and eight west of Wichita, including one in Barton County.

Out of 28 new well completions last week, nine were dry holes, including seven of the ten wells completed west of Wichita. Independent Oil and Gas Service reports three completions in Ellis County, with one dry hole. So far this year, operators across the state have completed 1,208 wells, compared to 1,006 at this time last year. By October of 2014 we reported more than 45,000 new completions.

The government said imports were down more than half a million barrels per day, but remain more than five percent higher than a year ago. EIA reported a 104,000-barrel increase in U.S. crude production last week to nearly 11.2 million barrels per day.

The government this week reported that gasoline inventories increased another million barrels last week, and are about seven percent above the average for this time of year. Triple-A reported the national average price for a gallon of regular was down slightly to $2.893, about two cents cheaper than a week ago, but four cents more than a month ago and 42-cents more expensive than a year ago. The average across Kansas Monday was $2.716. We spotted $2.64 at several outlets in Hays and $2.73 in Great Bend.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the third consecutive weekly increase in domestic crude oil supplies. U.S. inventories were up six million barrels but are holding steady at the five-year average for this time of year.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined a coalition of 11 state attorneys general to fight a climate-change lawsuit filed in Seattle against the energy industry. A friend-of-the-court brief asserts that King County, Washington’s objections to fossil fuel are based in public policy, not law, and are thus inappropriate for resolution in the courts.

As the sanctions deadline draws nearer, Iran appears to be dumping oil into storage in China, just as it did the last time around. Reuters reports a vessel carrying two million barrels from Iran off-loaded crude into a storage tank in northeastern China on Monday. Iran held oil in storage there during the last round of sanctions in 2014, and later sold it to to buyers in South Korea and India.

The Association of American Railroads reports another increase in US oil-by-rail for the week ending September 29: 12,140 rail cars, up 30.5% compared to a year ago. In Canada that number is up 34%. For the month of September, petroleum & petroleum products were up 14,750 carloads or 41.5 percent. AAR said the cumulative total so far this year was 423,085 carloads across the U.S. (10,848/week), an increase of 14.7% over last year at this time. That comparison in Canada is up 17.7%.

ConocoPhillips announced the first production from its first drill site within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The NPRA was created in 1923 as a petroleum reserve for the Navy, and lies about 100 miles west of the more controversial ANWR wilderness area. The company announced its first production at the Greater Mooses Tooth No. 1 drill site. Peak gross production is estimated at 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The site has a nearly 12-acre drilling pad with plans for anywhere from nine to 33 more wells.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released its third quarter energy survey last week, reporting the highest energy drilling and business activity since early 2017. The report says total revenues and employee hours were slightly lower, as were employment, wages and benefits. Operators in Kansas, Oklahoma, northern New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and western Missouri were asked what oil and natural gas prices were needed for drilling to be profitable. The average reported oil price needed was $55 per barrel, with a range of $35 to $85.

It is tax season, the busiest time of the year at the Treasury. In addition to that, I also feel it prudent to address the political drama that has been perpetuated by two separate entities over the week of October 8. The Clerk, the County Administrator, and the Commissioners have all come together to unite against me, the Treasurer. In the interest of transparency and factuality, I will address, in a series of three articles, the security cameras, the break space for my staff, and Clerk’s and commissioners’ commentary. The articles will be posted on the Treasury website and will appear in whole on Hays Post and in three sections of the Hays Daily News.

Firstly, many people have expressed disappointment at the way the commissioners have attempted to smear my name. I want to thank them, my supporters, for rallying behind me. They have also expressed pity at the county officials’ refusal to acknowledge any of my accomplishments and lie about me on top of that. I seek no pity, for this drama finds people, unavoidably, in political positions, especially those who don’t compromise their duty. It is however, my hope we can have a peace-filled county, and by extension, world. Did I expect our small county to have such blind partisanship and corruption? I didn’t. It has reared its ugly head at me, but I will not be bullied or intimidated, and these attacks and the people who made them will be answered. I want those attackers, bullies to know that at the end of the day they can wash their hands as much as the want, but it will not remove what haunts their conscience.

For the last several months I have been targeted by Ellis County’s group of what I call “political elites.” Frankly, I am flattered they have already seen that I am an uncompromising threat to those who do not have the best interest of the citizens at heart, but instead enact their political positions from a place of bruised-ego and greed, with goals of power, popularity and self interest.

To illustrate the work I do as your Treasurer, I write newsletters on a semi-annual basis, which are published on the Treasury website and available in our office. I work; I enjoy it; I do it well by every standard of measure I apply to myself. The work itself is the reward. I earn a nice salary, and I am honored the voters trust me to uphold the duties of Treasurer. I am proud of all I have accomplished in my first year. The investments and changes I have made have already more than paid for my four years’ salary several times over.

It is you the voter who decides if I am the kind of person you want as your Treasurer; that power lies in your hands. I like it that way. You will not hear me speak as I have heard others say “no one cares; no one votes.” That is what these “political elites” bank on. And when they speak to the voters it is by way of baseless and false statements aimed to create a cloud of suspicion, working to distract you from what is really going on.

I am here to bring a value for voters, and work together with others to keep our county strong and make it stronger. I find the single most important quality a person needs as a Treasurer (and there are many qualities) is the ability to stand steady under immense pressure and manipulation, and to keep focused on working for the people. You do not want a person in this office that will succumb. It is a huge responsibility, not limited to supervising a staff of 9, accounting for county money, and most importantly, maintaining the State-sanctioned autonomy the Treasury was designed to have, many decades ago, when the Kansas constitution was written.

Managing my own office, maintaining that state-sanctioned autonomy, is not “uncooperative,” as the commissioners paint it to be. It is not “prickly” or untrustworthy to keep a healthy distance between Treasurers and Commissioners. It is not required, furthermore, or standard to have Treasurers attend commission meetings. Many times there is tension among three big county entities: Commissioners, Treasurers, and County Administrators (CA). Commissioners and the CA have taken issue with me, in the attempt, not to seek answers as they innocently said, but to create suspicion, stating concerns and accusations that they fully understand and know the answers to, citing false information and intentionally omitting information that would elucidate their concerns. Even going so low as to insinuate a lack of cooperation and transparency about these concerns on my part. This will all be explained, the details of their “concerns” and the why behind it all, in articles to come.

In the meantime, here are the big reasons. It comes down to Commissioners wanting to control and micromanage me, the treasurer, while at the same time taking the focus off their failed duty to uphold the Kansas Constitution for the past 5 years. In addition, the Democratic Party, embittered by the end of a 40 year run in the Treasurers office, did what this party does best, create a “situation” that doesn’t exist with the hopes that a panicked commissioner would reprimand the Treasurer, distancing themselves from their accountability over this elected office. Thereby driving home their, the commissioners, selfish, perceived necessity for an appointed treasurer. Ah politics. Stranger than fiction.

As voters it is in your best interest to examine and demand to know more about the people you elect, and run for office yourself if you have the stomach for it and the right motives. That is why I have spent so much time writing to you from the beginning, so you can know more about me, the person and me, the Treasurer. State Treasurer, Jake LaTurner said in an interview on October 11, 2018: “The primary reason people should care about the treasurer’s office is to be a check on the administration. You should want someone independent of them looking at the books.” He was addressing the State Treasury position, and it carries over similarly to county government. It is in this hopeful frame of mind I share my perspective and hope you take the time to read between the lines and see what is really happening here in Ellis County.

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In their meeting the commissioners and county administrator (CA) addressed “security cameras” in the Treasury. Almost a year ago, yes, almost one year ago, Commissioner Wasinger invited me to lunch with her and the (CA) where they asked about office cameras. I explained my examination of varying procurement contracts in the Treasury, and that the first contract due for renewal was for our camera system. I explained how I selected a 14-channel (versus a 21 channel) system of cameras. It is a better cost-value, frees up server storage space, and covers all cash-handling sites in the Treasury. It is fully under Treasury purveyance, and is more than sufficient to protect all county interests.

During this meeting with Wasinger, The Deputy Treasurer and I invited Wasinger to come in to the office to take a look at our cameras’ locations at any time. Wasinger communicated to both of us she was satisfied with what we explained and has since never asked me about the cameras. Since that time none of the commissioners have expressed any security issue with our cameras. That is because there is no issue.

Now that I have explained that, I have a question. Why is this topic bought up now, especially since Commissioner Haselhorst has declined several invitations to meet with me and to tour my office? Nor has he ever asked me about the cameras. When McClelland did come into the office, she didn’t ask for or look at the cameras. It is because this is not about cameras.

I invited Haselhorst to the office and to have coffee on at least four occasions during my first year in office, and he either said he did not have the time or in two cases, did not respond at all to my invitations. One of my three main goals upon taking office was to have a good relationship with the Commissioners, but it is true that for that to work, both parties must share that desire. It is not I that is avoiding dialogue, and I find it disturbing he describes me as refusing to meet when it is he that has not once taken time to meet with me.

Furthermore, when I asked to talk with Commissioner Wasinger, she gave me an ultimatum that if I did not meet her on a certain day at a certain time, that it was then or never… “your choice,” she demanded. This is not how you communicate with a fellow elected official. I am frankly befuddled by the odd behavior from all three of them from the beginning. From the first month I started working at the Treasury, I have been spoken to in this disrespectful way by Commissioner Wasinger, and either ignored or put-off by Commissioner Haselhorst. The only Commissioner to take up my invitation to come tour the Treasury and talk with my staff was McClelland, who under the guises of accepting my invitation instead spent that time yelling at me for “attacking” Clerk Maskus. I have never attacked anyone, not then or now.

It is I who am being attacked in an orchestrated political stunt by Deputy Clerk Dreiling, Clerk Maskus, all three commissioners, and the county administrator. After several months of intimidation, veiled threats, and open hostility from commissioners and from the county counselor who told me “things can go downhill really fast” if I don’t go along to get along, I am not surprised to see these “concerns” used as a diversion tactic obscured beneath the mists of outright lies, lies by omission, twisted facts, and rumors.

To clarify, Mr. Haselhorst, these cameras that you framed as “a public safety issue, an employee issue, a staff issue” as you stated Monday, still remain unseen by you, by choice. Why have you never addressed your concerns to me? Why have these “concerns” been allowed by you to “slip through the cracks” as you said it, for a whole year? The answer is that this is not about “concern.” It is about creating drama and attempting to discredit me. Weak attempt. Why?

To address the next issue of the “structure” that was “going up” in the Treasury. During a period of two days in April, three tall, wooden cubicle walls were sat onto the floor in place of furniture I sold for $1000 to another county department, in November of 2017. There was no “construction.” I sought a break space, and had two offers in November and December, one man who said the project was too small to be worth the time, and another bid that was, in my opinion, prohibitively expensive. So in January, with no offers on the table, an offer from “a contractor with the last name of Schlegel” was accepted. He offered to do the best job for the best price, and the offer was gladly accepted. The break space was brought in and paid for 6 months ago for $1089, with a check signed by all three commissioners. My budget for office furniture was thousands of dollars “in the black”, so I felt $89 was a great deal in exchange for another department to get a desk that retailed currently for $1800, for $1000.

So to Commissioners, why sign a check for something you do not approve of and then pretend not to know about it, and then publicly tout disapproval of it? Why did County Administrator, Phil Smith-Hanes, ask the Register of Deeds last Friday, October 5, how much she “…bought the desk for from Lisa about a year ago?” On camera, in a recorded commission meeting just three days later, why did you pretend not to know where that furniture went, Phil? Why make an effort to make something innocent and prudent look suspicious, Phil? When Dean Haselhorst expressed not knowing where that furniture went you sat silent, but you knew full well that a $1000 operational transfer from the Deed’s office to the Treasury occurred in November 2017. Becky Herzog told you that, then notified me on Friday afternoon of your inquiries before I left work after 5 pm. But I bet Councelor Jeter loves the billable hours he’ll earn by “attempting to look into micromanagement of the Treasury, which as Haselhorst said, is not permissible by statue anyway. Over a matter of $89? I don’t think so.

As a taxpayer and as your Treasurer, I do not endorse using taxpayer dollars to pay a lawyer to look into issues commissioners already know the answer to. I’d be curious to see, (as the one elected to see where money is going), how much money Jeter has gotten for digging up this information over the last year for the purpose of a political smear campaign, and a weak attempt at that. Perhaps this is where the $130,000 in Capital Outlay Funds are going that you took from the Treasury, Phil? Well, Commissioners, and CA, Phil Smith Hanes? Imagine, in Ellis County, tax dollars are being wielded by politicians to instigate a smear campaign. Do we get to know how much money, Commissioners? Or is that going to be saved and used against me several years from now as though it’s my fault you used money to investigate things you already knew the answers to? A lot of tax dollars are going to lawyers lately, and I am not okay with that. More billable hours, please, since now the county is finally out of the lawsuit that was kept as “quiet” as possible. Not going to be so easy to quiet the Treasurer though. But you all already know that, hence, your different approach: a smear campaign. The Hays Daily titled an article that interviewed the Clerk “Treasurer Scolds Clerk”—I never did scold Donna, but in this case commissioners, if you were standing in front of me today I would say “Shame on you.”

So to recap the reason you all are giving more billable hours to Jeter Law Firm: Another department saved money by buying the Treasury’s furniture; I was able to get rid of items the Treasury didn’t use and get some money to buy something useful; and my 9 employees got a space to take a break. Again, I guess it doesn’t sound too bad when you put it that way, when you tell the truth.

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In my final response article to the Commissioners, I want to address why they were so concerned, so “worried” that none of them asked me about cameras since last November. They signed a check for a break space with no inquiry as to what it was for. They kept this all close to the vest as they quietly hinted to me that at any time they could reveal “things” about me if I did not keep silent about my concerns with the Clerk. Why did they spin, omit, and outright lie about these issues they came up with to discuss in their meeting all about me? About my communications with them, the cameras, the break space? Why create a cloud of suspicion (though baseless and full of generalizations) around the Treasury and me? Why feign concern in your public forum? In a planned commission meeting/ “gang-smear campaign” they knew I could not attend, that they did not even invite me to until less than 24 hours before it occurred. 2 simple reasons: Tax Deadline and a threatened “political elite.” As Confucius said: “Life is simple, but we insist on complicating it.” Why complicate things? Deceitful people like to complicate. I like to keep things simple. I like facts. We currently have 3 commissioners and a county administrator that like spinning, strategizing, omitting facts, and frankly, manipulating information to make things appear in a certain way. Why do they do these things? How do they have the time?

I will address reason one, “Tax Deadline” briefly, since that dead horse lies ready for examination in my article, published on 10/10, which I wrote on 10/7 (and notified the commissioners about via email before the Commission meeting occurred on 10/8). In it I notified citizens of a lack of action on the part of the Commission to address the failure of the Clerk to comply with state statute. To be clear, this was never me “ratting” anyone out, not in 2017, not now. In fact, for months in 2017, I talked with the Clerk, waiting patiently until she turned her numbers over 3 weeks late on November 21. I waited, and trusted her excuses were valid until I found out she had lied when our software programmer informed me a step she said she was “waiting on” had in fact been completed a week-and-a-half earlier. When that programmer informed me of this, 3 of my staff were in the room listening on speakerphone, two of whom went immediately after the phone call with me to tell the Clerk what we had found out. From that point, once she refused to admit to the lie, Clerk Maskus and Deputy Dreiling used the elections as an excuse, the new Cottonwood Extension district, and more. When one excuse was overcome, another arose, and so on. So I sought advice from Treasurers who mentored me before I took office. They said that though I was in a “lose-lose” situation, I needed to make this information public since it would ultimately be the 5th year in a row that the Ellis County Commission would pressure the Treasury about why tax statements were mailed out so late. An elected official answers to the people, both of them said, and since the Clerk was uncooperative, the best choice was clear. I felt similarly, and so I informed the public. The County Administrator was aware of the situation for over a month by that time, and had implied the commission knew of the delinquency but had never addressed it since they have no power “over an elected official,” a phrase I have heard scores of times this past year. A phrase that is clearly misleading since look at what they are doing to me, though I have violated no statutes whatsoever. Why create a cloud of suspicion when there is no legitimate cause to do so around the Treasury when my office has broken no statutes? Why say nothing, not in 2013 or every year thereafter, when the Clerk constantly breaks the laws of the State of Kansas? Marcy McClelland said as she stormed out the door, at the end of her visit to my office last year, that I should sue Donna if I want things sooner. I said that was ridiculous and asked her to come back in and talk with me if she wanted the full story. She said she knew the full story and refused to speak to me, and has not spoken to me since. I do not even have access to her current email address. So much for collaboration and communication.

As for the two articles the Clerk wrote this week, firstly, I have never “blasted” that office. I am always calm and respectful. Ms. Maskus, your staff are cooperative, however your Deputy, Bobbi Dreiling is volatile and provoked me just this week when she sent an email on 10/10/18 that said “Funny,” after pacing past the windows in my office twice while staring at me. Considering the big news all this drama is around the County, is that the temperament of a next-in-line elected official? Is it professional? Cooperative? Dreiling has never sent me an email regarding anything other than work-related documentation, until that day. It is in such poor taste, and totally undeserved. If anything I try to constantly diffuse negative interactions, while your top officer inflames them.

Secondly, (if you are not bored to death hearing about something so simple as a statutory deadline not being met), the Commission meeting on 10/8/18 is an attack first and foremost on the autonomy of the Office of the Treasury. The Clerk drama is something the CA and the Commissioners have strategically linked together, which is why their huge “concerns” have fallen “through the cracks” for 11 months.

I believe citizens should elect the Treasurer, and that that person should be the one aware of all financial accounting. The “appointment” system, where Commissioners appoint an otherwise elected official, is a dangerous game, and hampers the checks and balances the Kansas Constitution affords. A county administrator (CA) is the commissioners’ answer to an “appointed Treasurer.”

Ellis County’s 29,000 residents don’t need a (CA). Riley County has over 70,000 residents yet has no CA. To put it plainly, the CA does the commissioners jobs for them. And our CA, in the face of a catastrophic budget situation, as the commission keeps describing it, just got a multi-year contract renewal with a nearly 20% raise. That is insane, to use a millennial term. The CA now makes far over $100,000 annually. The three commissioners, for knowing a criminally small amount about how things are done at the county, considering their tenure, and doing even less, for which they absolve themselves unabashedly, make 19,000 annually plus full health benefits, plus over $50,000 in discretionary funds for attending conferences. From what I have learned statewide about other counties with CAs, and from what I have experienced, I have to ask you the voters: Do we need a CA in Ellis County? We don’t. The Commissioner salary is more than sufficient for commissioners to actually do the work of communicating with department heads. I am not okay with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest income I have earned as Treasurer going to pay someone who clearly has no interest in transparency as evidenced by the information he, the CA, kept hidden in that commission meeting. I also find it disturbing how he keeps from me financial information about funds he manages outside Treasury knowledge. These Commissioners don’t want to work; they just want the power, money, and health benefits. The CA works for the Commissioners, he says. Bill Jeter, the County Counselor, works for the commissioners, he says. No, Phil and Bill, you work for the taxpayers. And Commissioners, so do you. You do not work here to perpetuate your own existence, or to invite your best friends to be appointed by your fellow commissioners to your vacant seats when you predict you will win a seat in State government.

The office of the Treasurer is by far the highest preference nationwide among polled citizens to be “elected” versus “appointed,” I recently learned. Almost 70% of people said we want to elect our Treasurer. The next highest was the Sheriff. Other offices were in the 20s and 30s. Why? Because if you the people are not watching and holding your money manager and your law enforcement directly accountable by observing the results of their work, you are not absorbing the power you have, and social stability is at risk.

This is why I communicate with you regularly via newsletters on the Treasury website, letters to the editor, and a newsletter in my tax mailings, so that you see factual proof of why you elected me. I have to make my case to you. I present to you what I am doing and you pick. It was intentionally designed that I be evaluated by you, not that I capitulate to pressures from commissioners to keep quiet so that they don’t look bad for not sharing with the public such consistent violation of state statute by a long-standing elected official.

And so I write today of the events of late, to tell you “the rest of the story,” as the late great Paul Harvey said. What is both freeing and uncertain, simultaneously, to me, is that it is all in your hands to figure out what is really going on here. It is my hope the majority of voters sees my intent, my results, and is proud of all I have done for the county. I conversely hope you all see through the baseless distractions meant to keep you from the truth. I also hope you elect new commissioners that want to work, and will not continue to employ a CA who takes a large piece of county pie without contributing, but who also detracts from, county wealth.

One of the biggest issues in society is lack of respect. Respect for common sense. Respect for job duties. Respect for law enforcement. Respect for the President. Respect for human life. Respect for animals. Pretty soon people get by with so much they feel totally unaccountable and further, even unashamed of their own ignorance. The truth becomes some idealistic theory lost in utopian clouds. Truth is replaced by what is practical, i.e. what’s best for them. I implore people who have the desire for the best interests of the county in their hearts: Run for office. It is the TYPE of person you are that matters more than popularity or wealth, or even experience to some degree. The time for those being the criterion is soon ending, and I see why that is scary for the political elite.

I honor the oath I took a year ago when I took office, the oath all elected officials take upon swearing in, to uphold and defend the laws of the state of Kansas, and perform my duties according to the law. I have and will continue to do so.

Can Haselhorst, Wasinger, McClelland, or Maskus say they have upheld their oath? At this point, no, they cannot. If you do not follow the law, you are breaking it. If you knowingly obscure and downplay that a law is being broken to your constituents for five years in a row, you also break your oath by not supporting the constitution.

In the meantime, I love this job. I entered local government because I love this Country. I love this County. The USA is the best country in the world and it can be better. In all the arenas in which I have been employed, when I look for answers, the situation is clarified when I hint to myself: “Follow the money.” And so I am your Treasurer. I account for your tax dollars. I manage and invest them. I enjoy making investments with idle funds and increasing interest earnings. I have also saved over $250,000 by re-assigning job duties, examining our procurement contracts, restructuring and cross-training my staff, among other things. It is just good business, and it utilizes my Leadership education. I believe in the system of checks and balances that prevents commissioners from being able to have too much power. Heck, even the challenge of political games and pressure is not enough to make me doubt I have found a place I can share my talents and do good work I enjoy. Until next time, still be proud of our county for it is strong, and with the right leadership, I think it can grow even stronger. I choose to hope. If I didn’t have hope, if I didn’t care, I would not explain what is happening. I believe in myself; I believe in the county; and I believe in you.