The farmers in Uganda are meeting to discuss farm issues. The person with whom they are meeting is a young woman from a farm family halfway around the globe in rural Kansas. Like them, she and her family are working to promote local foods and local farmers.

Rosanna Bauman is the young woman meeting with Uganda farmers. Rosanna and her family own Bauman’s Cedar Valley Farms and related agribusinesses in Anderson County, Kansas. Rosanna’s dad’s family came to Kansas in the 1960s. At a church gathering, he met the woman who he ultimately married. In 2001, they bought 160 acres and moved to the farm. They had six children of whom four were boys and two were girls, Rosanna being the oldest daughter.

“We are members of the Old German Baptist Brethren,” Rosanna said. “It’s our faith that has driven our desire to work together.”

The parents and children joined in to operate the farm from scratch. “We had the handicap – and the blessing – of not being able to say, `this is the way we’ve always done it,’” Rosanna said. They were also working with limited acreage.

“We saw large farms that were having a hard time financially, so we knew we needed to do things differently,” Rosanna said. “Organic farming and direct marketing were alternative ways that could maximize income.” Each family member pitched in and eventually took responsibility for different elements of the operation as it grew and diversified.

Over time, the Baumans rented ground, grew crops and livestock, and developed related processing and services. Today they farm 1,000 acres of non-GMO crops and raise cattle, sheep and poultry.

“We take the approach that we shouldn’t gripe that something isn’t being done if it’s within our capacity to do it,” Rosanna said. This led them to start several related businesses. They also work with neighboring farms. “Everything we do has a neighbor component,” she said.

In addition to the home place, Cedar Valley Farms, they now have ANCO Processing (for poultry), Bauman’s Butcher Block in Ottawa, Bauman’s Farm Feeds, Bauman Brothers Custom Ag Services, and Bauman Pet Products which uses animal byproducts for pet food. Other than the butcher shop with its retail outlet in Ottawa, all these businesses are based on the family farm.

Bauman’s Cedar Valley Farms is located near Cedar Valley Reservoir in a rural setting between the towns of Garnett, population 3,264, and Westphalia, population 163 people. Now, that’s rural.

The Baumans deliver their self-processed non-GMO feed to feed stores in eastern Kansas. They also aggregate grains with neighbors. Their custom planting, spraying, harvesting and trucking business has grown to cover 30,000 acres. In addition to the butcher shop in Ottawa and sales on the farm, their meat products are sold through a mobile meat market which goes to farmer’s markets.

“We were brainstorming about how to sell our meat and poultry, but carrying a bunch of ice chests to lots of farmer’s markets wasn’t practical,” Rosanna said. “So we got a 20-foot enclosed trailer where we can display our vacuum packaged meats behind glass-doored freezers, and people can walk through and pick what they want,” she said. Baumans’ custom-made brats and burgers are a specialty.

“We like to be face to face with our customers,” Rosanna said. They also belong to the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s “From the Land of Kansas” program.

In 2017, USDA Rural Development awarded a grant which supported the work of K-State’s Heather Morgan to support the growth and development of local foods in southeast Kansas. Heather points to the Bauman family businesses as examples of local food production and entrepreneurship which could be emulated and encouraged.

Two years ago, Rosanna went to an international rural conference and connected with a woman from Uganda. That has led to international exchanges about agriculture.

“We believe our small family farm in Kansas can have an impact in the state, nationally, and internationally,” Rosanna said.

It’s time to leave this farm gathering in Uganda. We salute Rosanna Bauman and all the Bauman family for making a difference in agriculture, in Kansas and around the world.

For voters planning to cast a primary election ballot for governor on Tuesday, your choice is move forward and away from the Brownback era or turn back toward it. Candidates have defined this choice on the major issues of the campaign.

Most Kansans do not see abortion and guns as their chief concern, but candidates have spent an inordinate amount of time addressing voters who choose a candidate solely on one or the other of these two issues. Like Brownback, Republican candidates Jeff Colyer and Kris Kobach have aligned themselves with special interest groups demanding more restrictions on abortion or fewer restrictions on guns. In pandering for endorsements, they came to a draw, Colyer slightly favored.

Somewhat surprisingly two leading Democratic candidates, Laura Kelly and Josh Svaty, sparred at length over their legislative voting records on abortion and guns. In the end both, as well as Democratic candidate Carl Brewer, defend women’s access to reproductive health care—with Kelly earning endorsements for her long record on the issue. Svaty and Brewer spoke out more forcefully in calling for action to end gun violence.

Taxing and spending issues have consumed state lawmakers for the past seven years, as well as candidates this year, with Brownback’s tax experiment framing the debate. Lt. Governor Colyer championed the experiment as unbalanced budgets, unfair taxes, and record debt piled up and service deteriorated. As governor, however, he has happily signed off on spending new revenues generated by abandonment of the experiment last year.

In dramatic contrast, Kobach embraces the Brownback experiment and wants to double down with a new round of tax and spending cuts—with little mention of where spending reductions should occur.

The remaining four candidates, including Republican Jim Barnett and all three Democrats, strongly defend lawmakers’ restoration of state finance and steps that begin to repair the damage to services. Kelly’s direct legislative experience on these matters gives her an advantage in charting a new direction away from Brownback on taxing and spending.

A similar alignment holds for two major spending issues—education and Medicaid. Kobach has condemned court interference in school finance and attacked Colyer for signing legislation that addressed court action on school funding. Both candidates voice support for a constitutional amendment that removes school funding from court review—as did Brownback.

Democrats Brewer, Kelly, and Svaty, as well Republican Barnett, champion high quality schools as crucial to economic advancement and voice support for cooperating with the courts in resolving funding issues.

In 2017, Brownback blocked extending Medicaid to 150,000 Kansans, even with 90 percent of the cost federally funded. Colyer and Kobach agree. Barnett, Brewer, Kelly, and Svaty favor Medicaid expansion.

Six leading candidates offer primary voters the choice of moving forward or turning back—between charting a new course on fiscal sanity, education, and health care or reverting to the miserable experience of the last seven years.

Colyer has made modest moves away from Brownback, but he mostly aligns with his former patron. Kobach wants to relive the discredited tax experiment even more harshly than before. Barnett offers Republican primary voters a forward-looking centrist alternative.

Democrats Brewer, Kelly, and Svaty vary in particulars, but all want to put the Brownback’s years in a rear-view mirror.

Primary voters have clear choices in empowering new leadership for the future of Kansas.

H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University and served with Kansas Governors Bennett and Hayden.

Letters to Hays Post related to the Aug. 7 primary must be submitted prior to noon Friday in order to be considered for publication.

Bill and I took a long weekend early this month to celebrate his mother’s 94^th birthday in Norfolk, Va. My mother-in-law is amazing. She still lives alone in her home and is very engaging and loving. We made a special birthday dinner complete with cake, candles, and wishes of continued good health.

But things were a bit different this year. Her best friend from childhood passed away earlier in the year, at the age of 97, leaving a definite void in the celebration. Her husband has been gone now for almost 20 years. There are very few friends left as most have passed.

My time in Virginia really got me thinking about how blessed I am to have good health and a wonderful family. It also reminded me about how proud I am to be part of a university that excels in outreach and service – or as I wrote in a previous column – serving as a steward of place.

Four Fort Hays State University programs in particular came to mind: our Senior Companion Program, the Foster Grandparent Program, the Neuromuscular Wellness Center, and our Active Aging Program. A common thread through all of these programs, and central to who we are as a university, is the focus on being a caring provider. Our faculty, staff, and students are driven by compassion, warmth and a desire to care for others.

The Senior Companion Program is a perfect example of people helping people. Volunteers age 55 and over are connected with adults who need help to remain independent. The volunteers help with chores, provide transportation, monitor medication, provide respite care and keep people in contact with the broader community. “Companions,” says the program’s statement of purpose, “help aging Americans maintain their dignity and quality of life while enriching their own lives through service.”

FHSU supports 108 Senior Companion volunteers who serve 370 frail, disabled or homebound adults in a 14-county service area of western Kansas. Sponsored by Fort Hays State University since 1974, this program was the first in the nation to be sponsored by an institution of higher education. What an incredible gift of service it provides.

Senior Companions and the next example, Foster Grandparents, are primarily funded through grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service, but funding also comes from Fort Hays State and local agencies.

Foster Grandparents provide “volunteers age 55 and over with opportunities to provide one-on-one mentoring, nurturing and support to children with special or exceptional needs, and who are at an academic, social or financial disadvantage.” The essence of the program is matching children who don’t have an adult to care about and love them with seniors who have love to spare. In 2018, FHSU’s Foster Grandparents served in schools, day care settings and Head Start Centers and were matched with 197 children.

The Neuromuscular Wellness Center, in our Department of Health and Human Performance, provides health-related fitness activities, functional movement, fall prevention and clinical exercise training for community members dealing with neuromuscular conditions. Individuals served may be stroke survivors or have been diagnosed with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, or a variety of similar conditions. Individuals who are at risk from falling benefit greatly from the program, which helps individuals improve balance and walking through the use of exercise as well as through the use of assistive devices.

As the website says, this is not a rehabilitation program as in a hospital, but a fitness program, a “next step” for someone who has completed physical therapy. The staff creates a customized exercise routine and provides tools and support to promote movement, improve cardiovascular health and increase stamina. The program advertises a “do it yourself” approach, with the ultimate goal of keeping people self-sufficient, independent and in their homes.

I think my mother-in-law would absolutely love our Aquacize and Active Aging programs, also sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Performance, which aim to improve the health and wellness of Hays-area community members. One can get in shape, make new friends, or add variety to an exercise routine. Regular exercise strengthens the heart and lungs, helps prevent chronic diseases, and can improve mood. These unique fitness programs, staffed by trained students supervised by faculty members, meet the needs of a range of community members. Thinking about this program made me smile. I was ready to buy my mother-in-law a really cool bathing cap for her birthday!

Our celebration with Bill’s mother was filled with fun memories and stories and much joy. My mother-in-law is a perfect example of someone whose love always outshines her losses. Her friendliness, positivity, and attention to others brings smiles to those around her. She would fit well in Hays, America, and would love, as I do, this community and this university.

Not a day goes by that we don’t hear something in the news that involves the abuse of drugs. Whether it is a crime spree with the perpetrator high on drugs or an accident caused by someone unable to drive safely while taking a prescription medication – the opioid epidemic has become a public health crisis with devastating consequences.

A couple of years ago when I broke my arm in a cycling accident I needed pain medication to get me through the rough times. I didn’t like the way I felt while taking the prescribed pain pills so worked hard to get off of them as quickly as possible. I was happy to get completely off of the pain medicine a few weeks after surgery and get back to my normal routine.

So, what exactly is an opioid? Opioids include powerful prescription pain medications and the illegal drug, heroin. The statistics show that 25% of patients prescribed opioids for pain misuse them. This misuse translates to 115 Americans who die each day from opioid overdose. Another eye-opening statistic is that 80% of heroin users first used prescription opioids.

Opioids work by binding to opioid receptors in your body to relieve pain. Prescription opioids can be an important part of treatment but carry significant risks for addiction and overdose because of the addictive euphoria they create and the tolerance that occurs after repetitive dosing. There are effective treatment options for opioid dependence, yet only 10 percent of people who need such treatment receive it. Naloxone, also called Narcan or Evzio,(both registered trademark names) can completely reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and prevent death.

To avoid opioid misuse and overdose:

Do not take more medication than what is prescribed.
Do not take other people’s prescriptions.
Do not mix opioids with alcohol, antianxiety medications, muscle relaxants, sleep aids, and other opioids.
Be proactive in addressing pain. Experts suggest exploring various methods of alleviating pain, such as over-the-counter pain medications, exercise, or alternative therapies.

There are several signs to watch out for if you think someone might be experiencing an opioid overdose.

These include:

Shallow breathing
Gasping or choking for air
Pale skin
Blue lips and/or fingertips
Small, pinpoint pupils
Unconsciousness

Erin Yellend, a specialist with K-State Research & Extension, has written an excellent educational fact sheet titled, “The Opioid Crisis: What You Need to Know”. It covers all of the information I have shared today in great detail. You can download and print a copy by visiting the KSRE bookstore and typing in publication MF3404.

Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director for the Cottonwood Extension District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]

The first months of 2018 have seen a flurry of research on human aging. Some news reports predict humans will soon be living much longer. But new science research indicates otherwise.

Birth and early childhood were a historically risky time. Tetanus, whooping cough and a range of infections took a severe toll on youngsters. Pioneer families had large numbers of children but few would survive and grow up to take care of their parents in old age. Today, half a century into the use of vaccines and antibiotics, couples average two children and they survive.

Average life expectancies have increased in the last century. A child born in America in 1900 would on average live to be 49. Today, average American life expectancy is up to 79. Worldwide, women tend to live longer and men live shorter lives. The current longest average life expectancy is 83 years in Japan.

But today’s increase in older populations is not an extension of maximum human longevity. Back in Greek and Roman days, a few people lived into their eighties and nineties. Today, many more folks are living to that age. But the maximum life expectancy has remained about the same.

In 1997, Jeanne Calment died in a nursing home in France at the age of 122, the oldest person with a confirmed birth date. However, the likely maximum old age for most people is 115, according to research by Vijg and colleagues (“Evidence for a limit to human lifespan” in the journal Nature 538: 257–259).
In the early 1800s, Benjamin Gompertz in Britain examined extensive death records and did the math. After age 30, a person’s risk of dying doubles about every 8 years. This formula, called the Gompertz law, applies to other adult mammals as well. For individuals who make it to 100 years, their chances of having a birthday at 101 drop to about 60 percent.

But then a strange turn occurs at age 105. In this June 28 issue of the journal Science, Italian researcher Elisabetta Barbi and colleagues examined an extensive Italian database and found that the risk of dying no longer increases after 105. They do not know the cause for this “risk plateau.”
Long ago, Leonard Hayflick had described our decline into old age as our inability to completely repair the cell damage we accumulate. So perhaps, at age 105, our body lives at a slower rate and produces less cell damage. This would then allow us to repair more of our cells, a theory that will require further research.

However, turtles—that are not active mammals and therefore live at a much slower rate—do live for much longer times without any reduction in physical abilities. This is where science makes a careful distinction. “Aging” is merely the passage of time. “Senescence” is a decrease in ability over time. Therefore turtles “age” without “senescence.”

Yet, even if we retained all of our youthful strength and vigor in old age, there would still be a limit on our lifespan. This is the “broken test tube hypothesis.” Glass test tubes do not weaken over time. But some can be broken each year, just as some living organisms die due to diseases or predators each year. So we can take a set of perhaps 10 test tubes and randomly break three each year. We then replace them with three new ones (reproduction). As years go by, although there is no difference in each test tube’s strength, this random breakage of test tubes will produce an average “age limit.” The chances of any test tube avoiding the random one-in-four breakage year-after-year will make it unlikely any test tube survives more than 12 years. This may explain why slow-living turtles eventually die.

But high-energy mammals such as humans must have been selected to have a limited life span.

A famous scientist once remarked that new ideas in science do not get accepted because of the force of their arguments, but because the old scientists with old ideas die off. Or to put it into an everyday setting, if you are over 60 and trying to work that new smartphone, you probably have to ask for help from a youngster. In a changing world, there is natural selection for re-starting the learning process. And whether we decline in ability with age, or are random broken test tubes, death is good for the species.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

Gasoline demand jumps as supply declines,
pushing Kansas average price up 4 cents to $2.68

AAA TOPEKA – The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Kansas jumped 4 cents in the past week, tied for the fifth largest increase in America. Today’s Kansas average is $2.68, which is 51 cents higher than one year ago. “As we’ve expected and predicted, ‘volatility’ is the name of the game with this summer’s gas prices,” said Jennifer Haugh, AAA Kansas spokeswoman. “Steady demand and a relatively low gasoline inventory level in our region are the reasons we’ve seen this most recent increase in retail prices, after seeing some declines in recent weeks. We are still pretty fortunate here in the Sunflower State to have the nation’s 12th cheapest average gas prices, 18 cents less than the national average.” Of the 10 Kansas cities regularly highlighted by AAA Kansas (see chart below), only Manhattan (-1 cent) experienced a gas price decline this week, while Pittsburg remained flat. Garden City and Salina saw 7-cent increases, and Kansas City, Kan. and Wichita prices rose 6 cents. According to AAA Kansas, this week’s Kansas gas price extremes are: HIGH: Howard (Elk County) – $2.90 LOW: Montezuma (Gray County) – $2.43 National Perspective As U.S. gasoline demand strengthened and supply declined, the national gas price average jumped two-cents on the week to land at $2.86. According to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, total crude inventories fell on the week and now register at 405 million bbl, which is 80 million bbl lower than levels at the same time last year. “As crude and gasoline inventories tighten, motorists can expect gas prices to trend higher and remain volatile,” said AAA Kansas’ Haugh. “On the week, pump prices increased as much as 11-cents for some states with others seeing decreases of up to four-cents.” While today’s gas price average is one-cent less than last month, it is 55-cents more than a year ago and crude oil prices are up $20/bbl compared to this time last year. Today’s national gas price extremes: High: Hawaii – $3.78 Low: Alabama – $2.55

In 2016, the average American household spent approximately $600 a month on food, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly 44 percent of that was spent in bars and restaurants.

If your budget is tight, eating at home can be a great way to save some extra cash. Buying groceries, instead of eating out can present the average consumer with a lot more flexibility than fixed costs like rent, fuel, electricity, etc.

Almost every shopper has compiled a list of cost-cutting ideas of his or her own. The following list is by no means complete but contains effective ways to save at the supermarket.

Begin saving money by planning meals one week at a time.

Shoppers should know what they are buying. With thousands of items in the modern supermarket, product information is essential in selecting the best buy.

Like all education, this requires some reading, listening and studying. For example, the product label is a source of information on nutrition, menu use, quantity and quality of the food item.

Next, cost-conscious shoppers must buy when and where the price is right. There are many times to buy on special, buy store or generic brands or to buy in quantity. They key is keeping abreast of the price practices of our highly competitive supermarkets.

Shopping regularly at two different stores is an informative practice and leads to savings because different stores usually specialize in different items.

Accurate record keeping has become an important part of a smart shopping routine. Money-saving ideas take time but result in time well spent. One-half hour of planning before each weekly shopping trip can result in savings.

If you’re not already using coupons, consider doing so. By collecting coupons for an hour each week, shoppers can save as much as $200 a week.

Cost-conscious shoppers influence the entire food industry. If shoppers do not check prices, retailers may display items that sell by saturation advertising or gimmick packaging. Both add to food costs.
Smart shopping can result in satisfaction instead of frustration. Initially this satisfaction results from actual savings in the family’s food budget. Secondly, the wise shopper realizes intelligent buying keeps our food industry the best in the world.

Securing the most for your food dollar is significant to every consumer in this country. It is also well worth the effort.

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

That’s the basic, very simple message most of us grew up with, and it is probably still good advice now that we’re old enough that we’re not sizing up potential school friends by the type of bicycle they ride or the group they huddle with in front of the hallway lockers.

Well, as a person who once wandered into a tavern one hot summer day and quickly discovered I was the only guy there without a do-rag on his head, and everyone else was wearing a black leather jacket…it can be the crowd that someone runs with and identifies with that gives us some sense of just how good a friend they are going to be.

Now…it’s just a dab different in the Legislature. The Republicans tend to hang out with Republicans, Democrats tend to hang out with Democrats, and there are those who just hang out with everyone, trading jokes, talking about bills, suggesting amendments.

We can’t go on the floor of the House where all 125 representatives stand for election or re-election this fall, but we can take a look at who those candidates’ friends and supporters are…

That “behind the scenes” look at legislative candidates may just begin with a peek at their campaign finance reports…which this week become public record for state office seekers. The reports are on-line at the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission website under the “Campaign Finance heading” and the subhead “View Submitted Forms & Reports.” (Here’s the link: https://ethics.kansas.gov/campaign-finance/view-submitted-forms-and-reports/ ) Some reports, due July 30, came in early; some will trickle in over a few days.

You just go to that list and can look at statewide election campaign finance reports plus reports for House and Senate and State Board of Education races—and yes, down a couple lines, the finance reports of PACs and other contributors.

So…what do you find?

Well, you find a list of everyone who has made a $25 or more contribution to a campaign. And that’s where you find out who a candidate’s friends are, and just how much money each of those friends chipped in toward the yard signs and bumper stickers and campaign flyers that sprout in the days before the Aug. 7 primary election.

Find your legislative district’s candidates, click on the last item on the line with their names and you’ll see just who their friends are. Just like Mom said to do.

What do you folks with enough time to scour the list of campaign contributors look for? Well, it depends on what you want to learn.

First, of course, is how much money the candidate has for his/her campaign. And then you find out where it came from.

Individual contributions? A lot of them probably mean that the candidate has a lot of friends, which is generally good. Small contributions from neighbors? Probably means that the candidate is the one who will rush to the store for ice during a neighborhood cookout. Or that the candidate keeps his/her yard tidy and buys scout cookies from the neighborhood children.

Or…it could mean none of the above and that the neighbors would be willing to contribute, or even vote, for a candidate just to get him/her out of the neighborhood and into the Statehouse for 90 days a year.

Those business and political action committee contributions? Well, they probably mean that a candidate is on board with the issues that the PACs represent. Is that good or bad? Some of both, but it will tell you something about how the candidate is likely to vote on legislation.

Mom was right. It does come down to whom his/ her friends are…

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

The total Kansas rig count is up 30% from last year at this time. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 14 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, down five, and 33 west of Wichita, which is up three for the week. Drilling is underway at two leases in Ellis County, and three in Russell County. Operators report drilling ahead at sites in Ellis and Stafford counties. They’re moving in completion tools at three wells in Barton County and six in Ellis County.

Last week’s national rig counts from Baker Hughes showed 1,048 active drilling rigs nationwide, down one gas rig but an increase of three rigs searching for oil. The count in Louisiana was down four and in Oklahoma the total dropped by one. Totals in New Mexico and Texas were each up one. Canada reports 223 active rigs, up 12.

Kansas operators filed 49 new drilling permits last week, 23 east of Wichita and 26 in western Kansas, including three new permits in Barton County, eight in Ellis County, and one in Stafford County. That’s 955 permits for drilling at new locations across the state so far this year, compared to 741 at this time last year.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 45 newly-completed wells for the week. That’s 898 so far this year, nearly 100 ahead of last year at this time. Operators completed 31 wells in eastern Kansas and 14 west of Wichita, including one in Barton County.

The government’s weekly inventory reports have gone from the biggest draw-down in years to an unexpected increase to another big draw-down. The government reported inventories of 404.9 million barrels for the week ending July 20, which is down 6.1 million barrels for the week and about 3% below the five-year average. U.S. crude oil imports dropped by more than 16%. Gasoline inventories dropped 2.3 million barrels last week but remain about 4% above the five year average for this time of year

For the second week in a row, U.S. producers pumped record amounts of crude oil last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports 11 million barrels per day for the week ending July 20. (The totals are rounded to the nearest 100,000 barrels)

A jury verdict in a Texas court against an oilfield services company may have set the record for the largest civil penalty ever handed down in an accident involving a truck. The jury awarded a Texas man an eye-popping $101 million in damages from a 2013 DWI crash involving the illegal driver of a truck hauling fracking sand. The verdict against FTS international is believed to be the first-ever nine-figure, truck-related, personal injury award. Of the $101 million, about $75 million were punitive damages levied against FTS, which, according to the plaintiff, had plenty of chances to pull the driver off the road but never did.

The sale of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline will be finalized with the Canadian government as the new owner, after a deadline passed that would have allowed them to flip it prior to closing. Bloomberg reports Canada will seek a new buyer without Kinder Morgan’s help, amid fears of legal and political delays. The government’s $3.4 billion purchase gave it until Sunday to co-market the pipeline with an eye to selling it to a third party. About a dozen parties have signed on as potential buyers, and the project could wind up being bought by a Canadian-led consortium, as opposed to a single buyer. The pipeline would move oil from Alberta to Canada’s west coast, an effort by Canada to tap markets in east Asia.

There were no injuries or oil spills, but attacks on two tankers in a key shipping lane in the Red Sea prompted Saudi Arabia to temporarily halt oil shipments along the route. Two vessels belonging to the Saudi National Shipping Company were attacked by militias from Yemen.

The Wall Street Journal reports the five largest Western oil companies are set to generate about $90 billion a year in excess cash in 2018 and 2019, exceeding records set in 2008 when oil sold for nearly $150 a barrel. Exxon Mobil said second-quarter net income rose to $4 billion, up 18% compared to the same period a year ago. Profits at Chevron more than doubled to $3.4 billion and the company announced plans to begin buying back about $3 billion in shares of stock per year. French oil major Total said its net profit nearly doubled in the second quarter on higher prices and production to $3.72 billion, compared with $2.04 billion a year earlier. Royal Dutch Shell said its profits nearly tripled to $5.2 billion, and announced an anticipated $25 billion stock buyback. Norway’s Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, lagged behind expectations because of maintenance costs, but the company has already raised its dividend this year.

Kansans need an experienced advocate in the Insurance Department working to protect consumers. Clark Shultz has the experience and expertise to step right into the job. Clark has served consumers for the past three and a half years in the Kansas Insurance Department as the Assistant Insurance Commissioner. Prior to the working for the department Clark served in Kansas Senate and House of Representatives, serving as Chairman of the House Insurance Committee for nine years. I served with Clark in the House and sat behind him on the House floor. Clark was a thoughtful, principled legislator that held the respect of legislators across the ideological spectrum. Clark was also a licensed insurance agent and spent over a decade as an auditor, making sure insurance companies follow both state and federal law.

Clark has worked tirelessly for the people of Kansas and has made sure the Insurance Department’s top priority is to ensure that consumers are protected. He worked to increase transparency and efficiency in the department and provide Kansans with the highest quality service at the best cost.

Clark is not only the experienced choice in the race for Kansas Insurance Commissioner; he is also the conservative choice. Clark is 100% pro-life and has been endorsed by Kansans for Life. He is also endorsed by the KSRA and the NRA and earned the NRA’s coveted, “A+” rating. He was even awarded the KSRA “Legislator of the Year” award for his work shepherding an important carry bill through the legislature. Meanwhile his opponent, Vicki Schmidt, has a lifetime “F” rating. She has opposed every important gun issue for over a decade going back to repeatedly voting against concealed carry in 2006. What do gun rights and pro life issues have to do with the Insurance Commissioner? Recently the department investigated and fined an insurance company $70,000 for breaking a pro-life insurance law. Concerning guns, while the anti-gun crowd has failed repeatedly to push gun control by democratic means they have moved on to other ways to hurt law abiding gun owners. Recently they have pushed banks to stop processing gun sales and stop loaning money to gun related businesses. But the next big attack on gun rights could be from insurance companies.

Writing for TTAG John Dingell III writes, “Insurance is one of the most regulated industries in America, but its regulation is almost entirely at the state level. That regulation extends to the risk profiling of insureds, due to the various mechanisms to buy and sell risk amongst insurers. The most important mechanism governing the risk profiling of insureds is the acceptance of policies by risk pools. Thus, insurance companies don’t revise risk profiling standards at will; it’s a glacial process unless state regulators issue a diktat. This is probably why insurance companies haven’t already hit gun owners. But the idea for assessing the risk of gun ownership when pricing insurance policies is gaining traction.” We need an insurance commissioner who will push back on these attempts to circumvent Kansans’ right to self defense by pricing them out of being able to do so.

I hope you will join me in voting for Clark Shultz for Kansas Insurance Commissioner on August 7th.

Former State Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady

One of my nieces raises hogs, and just this week my sister (her mom) brought to my attention that the hog show at our county fair is Sunday if we want to go. That reminded me of the following story from our youth. So make yourself a sausage sandwich and sit back and enjoy “Charlie and the Salesman.”

We were about ten miles from the nearest large town, and our farm set at the end of a gravel lane nearly one-tenth of a mile long. Though we weren’t quite in the middle of nowhere, we could see it from our front porch. There was always livestock of some variety around because we five kids were all active in 4-H and FFA.

One of the resident animals was a big red Duroc boar hog named Charlie. Even though Charlie, at over four hundred pounds, was just a big pussycat, that’s still a lot of pussycat, so Charlie came and went pretty much as he pleased. This was before the days of one-piece fence panels, and woven wire fence was barely a challenge to him. We soon learned that the rule of thumb was, if Charlie could get his nose through something, the rest of him would soon follow! We had tried electric fence with equal results. If he got as much as a snout hair under the electric wire before he felt the jolt, it just incited him to continue forward taking several feet of the electric fence with him. The bottom line here is that Charlie pretty much had the run of the place and ruled the roost.

As I remember, the reason we put up with him was because he didn’t root or tear things up like you’d expect a four-hundred pound hog to do, and since our place sat so far from the road, and Charlie being a hog and all, he evidently didn’t have the ambition or drive to navigate his big carcass clear to the road and get into any trouble there either. He’d get out in the morning, graze around the barnyard and loll in the shade all day, then find his way back in again at night; quite unusual to say the least. All he seemed to require of us was his feed at night and a good belly scratch each time we passed him.

Mom had an upholstery shop built onto our house, and did a goodly amount of business, so there was a lot of traffic in and out of our long lane. Evidently, enough of her customers were from surrounding farming communities that if Charlie happened to be wandering about, they paid him no mind. Even the UPS drivers had learned to ignore Charlie when he greeted them from the middle of the drive. Occasionally, however, she’d get a visiting salesman from one of her fabric companies out of state, and these guys usually came straight from the “big city.”

One particular day, while working away in her shop, she suddenly heard a vehicle horn blaring from the driveway. Looking out the window, she saw one of the big city salesmen sitting in his van in front of her shop, one hand smashing the horn button as he peered frightfully out the driver’s side window. “Odd,” she thought. But even stranger was the fact that the whole van was rocking and wobbling as if being shaken by an earthquake.

This is probably as good a place as any to stop the story and tell you a little bit about our mom. Mom was about as big around as a minute and weighted about as much. She was a small spitfire of a lady who always had a cup of coal-black coffee in her hand (probably explaining her feistiness.) She loved nothing more than creating elegant pieces of furniture for people in her upholstery shop, but all the while remained as common as a dandelion. She loved to laugh and joke and would rather listen to the rock and roll songs my buddies and I played than anything. In fact she once told me she wanted a certain song by the rock band Three Dog Night played at her funeral.

So there sat the big-city salesman with an expression on his face like his whole life was passing before him, his eyes as big as hubcaps, in his van that was rocking and reeling like one of those old coin operated kiddy rides in front of the grocery store. Mom walked into the yard to unravel the mystery, and as she rounded the front of the van, there were all four hundred pounds of Charlie gleefully scratching himself on the front bumper! I’d love to have heard the conversation around the water cooler the first day that salesman was back at his company. “Come on guys, I’m serious! I really was trapped in my van in the middle of nowhere by Hogzilla! It was a huge, beastly red thing that weighed fifteen hundred pounds and could look through the windshield right into my eyes! If you don’t believe me go look at the red hair on the bumper.”

Now, knowing my mother, that salesman sat there for a while longer; not on purpose mind you, but it would be tough to chase away a four hundred pound hog and roll with laughter at the same time.

So goes the story of Charlie and the salesman. I don’t remember what ever happened to Charlie, but he probably died of old age as he may have even been too tough for sausage. And no, probably much to mom’s chagrin, we did not play Three Dog Night at her funeral. I hope this story gives you a chuckle or two, and thank you for allowing me to stray slightly from the usual outdoor shenanigans I try to bring you here in Outrageously Outdoors.

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

When public pools were first built during the WPA years, I am sure naysayers complained about wasting water and effort. However, during days of summer temperatures registering in the 90s or better, cool town water parks draw young and old like a magnet draws iron filings. On our hilltop, we’ve created the equivalent of the public pool for our resident birds.

As heat builds, wicking away moisture and leaving dusty creek beds, we place pans of water under nearby trees and bushes for our chickens. I expected local birds would visit, but the crowds approach Disney tourist proportions. These are especially a haven for adult birds parenting just-fledged adolescents. Their crazy behaviors lead to funny scenes at the local “pool.”

Young robins with mottled coloring and spindly bodies remind me of 6th and 7th graders who’ve reached adult height but haven’t yet filled out. Their parents come to drink and groom circumspectly. Their offspring come to quench their thirst and end up splashing half the water out of the container.

Orioles behave more cautiously regardless of age. Mature birds and adolescents come to the water alert and prepared to flee at the least disturbance. When juvenile robins join them, the bright orioles leave immediately. House finches and sparrows also tend, like their kin the orioles, to be businesslike in their drinking habits, focusing on function and skipping frivolity.

A flicker youngster and its mother refreshed themselves yesterday and discovered tasty insects in a nearby elm. Watching mom teach her baby to crawl up the coarse bark and pick out insects consumed at least 15 minutes of my morning.

Mom successfully pecked gourmet delights out of the rough texture. However, her offspring hunted without victory until the mother regurgitated insect chunks into its wide-open beak. I imagine she’ll be glad when that full-size child finds its own dinner.

To add to the entertainment, raucous blue jays are a rowdy bunch at the waterhole. They never come one or two at a time. A gang soon follows the first jay landing on the dish’s edge. It’s the equivalent of neighborhood kids agreeing to meet at the pool at the same time. Once these troublemakers arrive, even the chickens back off.

These pretty but noisy birds are the equivalent of bullies who push and dunk everyone else. By the time they finish splashing around, I have to rinse feathers out of the remaining water and refill the container.

Ironically, one little visitor challenges the blue jays to the water. We have a juvenile squirrel who sunbathes by the water pans. He doesn’t mind the other creatures who come to drink as long as the family dog is secured inside the house.

No matter how wild and crazy the robins and jays splash, that little squirrel lays outside the dish, preening like he’s in the shower. Between feathered visitors, he pulls himself up on the pan’s lip to slurp his fill.

While these water dishes aren’t permanent like a WPA pool, they serve the same purpose of providing refreshing breaks from summer heat. The lady watching from inside an air-conditioned house enjoys plenty of entertainment as well.

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