Community food drives provide an important source of food for families trying to make ends meet. They also give neighbors the chance to help neighbors and instill the values of sharing and caring in children.

The Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive will be held on Saturday, May 12. This food drive, held annually on the second Saturday of May by the National Association of Letter Carriers, is our nation’s largest single-day food drive. Last year, the drive collected 75 million pounds of non-perishable food across the country.

The timing is important, too, with food banks, pantries and shelters running low on donations from the fall and winter holidays, and with summer looming, when most school meal programs are suspended.

“In the summer when children are home and no school meals are available, our food requests increase,” said Laurie Mortinger, director of the Community Assistance Center in Hays, who reports that the Letter Carriers food drive is their second-largest food collection of the year.

Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans. Donating to the national food drive this Saturday can help provide food for those in need in our communities.

However, don’t just clean out your cupboard and donate foods you can no longer use. Donate safe and healthful foods to help pantries avoid waste and keep their customers healthy.

Don’t donate opened or repackaged food, food in damaged containers or severely dented cans, home canned products, expired food or perishable foods that are starting to spoil or mold. Check with your local food bank to find out if it can accept fresh fruits and vegetables, baked products, and refrigerated or frozen foods.

While food pantries and the people they serve are grateful for any and all donations, you can give the gift of better health by providing safe and nutritious non-perishable food items to food drives in your community.
Before you give to your local food drive, think about filling a healthy plate. Use the food groups of the MyPlate as a guide for food drive donations with a healthier twist:

Fruit group: a variety of colorful fruits canned in juice or light syrup, 100 percent fruit juice, raisins or other dried fruit.

Vegetable group: Low sodium canned vegetables– especially dark green and deep orange varieties– tomatoes and tomato sauces, low sodium canned soups, dry potato products.

Grain group: whole-grain unsweetened breakfast cereal, whole-grain pasta and crackers, oatmeal, brown rice, popcorn, cornmeal, whole wheat flour.

Dairy group: nonfat dry milk, evaporated canned milk, shelf-stable milk boxes.

Protein group: canned or dried beans, water-packed canned tuna and salmon, canned chicken, unsalted nuts and nut butters.

For individuals with limited kitchen access, consider single-serve canned pull-tab foods such as fruits, vegetables, pastas, stews, chicken and noodles, etc. and single-serve items such as granola bars, packs of nuts or dried fruit, and individual juice packs or boxes.

Contact your local food pantry to find out what other items are needed such as infant formula, baby food, low-salt, sugar-free or gluten-free items, or other foods for special dietary concerns.

When donating food for a food drive, choose foods that provide maximum nutrition from each food group of MyPlate. Your neighbors will eat healthier when you contribute safe and nutritious foods.

Linda K. Beech is Cottonwood District Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

I love the month of May. It ushers in so many joyful celebrations of our faculty, staff and student achievements. My past two weeks have been filled with many opportunities to congratulate and thank people.

I particularly love the FHSU tradition of surprising faculty award recipients during their classes. Interim Provost Jeff Briggs, Deron O’Connor, community president of Commerce Bank, (Commerce provides a cash award), colleagues, students, friends and I, accompanied by our photographer Mitch Weber, interrupt a class in session to surprise each of three faculty members with this high distinction.

Each semester we present three awards. This year, Angela Walters, Department of Informatics, received the teaching award; Dr. Mohammad Riazi-Kermani, Department of Mathematics, received the award for research and scholarly activity; and Ken Windholz, Department of Psychology, received the service award.

The joy and appreciation of those moments were deep, and these wonderful events got me thinking about the power of encouragement and celebration.

One of my favorite stories is about a man named Don Bennett—the first amputee to reach the summit of Mount Rainier. That’s 14,410 feet on one leg and two crutches! While most of his story has to do with his own courage and vision, an important part involves his daughter, who fueled that courage and vision when the journey was getting tough.

During his climb, Bennett reached one particularly difficult stretch—an ice field that took him four hours to cross. His daughter stayed by his side the entire time he was hopping across the ice. With each hop she shouted: “You can do it, Dad!” “You’re the best Dad in the world!” This spontaneous verbal encouragement kept Bennett going, strengthening his commitment and his dream to make it to the top.

To this day, Don Bennett says there was no way he could have quit with his daughter giving him such words of encouragement.

I think about this story a lot—the difference that encouragement and celebration can make in our lives. I recall being surprised one day by a letter from a student athlete who was responding to a quick note I had sent her. This particular student had just earned recognition in her individual sport. In my note I congratulated her achievement and ended with the words, “I am proud of you.”

In her letter she thanked me for acknowledging her accomplishments, and then she wrote that no one had ever told her they were proud of her. I was astonished—how could that be? She was quite an accomplished young lady.

The memory of her words, “no one has ever told me they were proud of me,” stays in my heart as a constant reminder of the power of recognition and of my responsibility to encourage the hearts of others as authentically and frequently as possible.

Good job. Well done. I am proud of you. When these power words are combined with a supportive academic community, loving families and friends, and hometown communities who share the pride of “one of their own”—well, that is life changing. And being a part of those moments in life reminds me again of why Fort Hays State University focuses on creating a campus environment that our students, faculty, staff and alumni call home.

Still further, several pines like the Austrian, though adapted to Kansas conditions, can still suffer from environmental stresses. An example would be like the cold, dry winter we just had. Though the tree may be reacting to this stress, it will remedy itself in a few years if watered and fertilized properly.

However, many pines (and not just Austrian) are susceptible to several diseases, which can cause defoliation, dieback, and even death. One such common and serious fungal disease found here in Kansas is tip blight (Diplodia sapinea).Tip blight is a fungal disease that affects Austrian (P. nigra), Ponderosa (P. ponderosa), Scots (P. sylvestris), and Mugo (P. mugo) pines. The disease is most severe on mature trees (20 years or older). Repeated infections over many years can kill large sections of trees or even entire trees.

Tip blight infection period occurs when the buds start to expand, usually in late April. The symptoms usually start to appear in late May or early June. Wet spring weather increases disease severity. The newly developing shoots (candles) fail to grow. The shoots are stunted, and the emerging needles are stunted and turn yellow or tan. Dried sap (resin) is often found on the dead shoot tips. The damage usually starts in the lower part of the tree and works its way up over several years.

In trees that have been infected for many years, damage is distributed throughout the crown. The disease can also act as a canker, invading older tissues and causing extensive branch dieback. Severe tip blight is sometimes confused with the early stages of another pine disease called pine wilt. (Be sure to understand both diseases and consider submitting a sample for diagnosis if you are not sure which disease is affecting the tree.)

In late summer or fall, the tip blight fungus forms tiny black spore-producing structures (called pycnidia) on the scales of 2-year-old cones, as if black pepper has been shaken on them. The same black specks are also sometimes visible at the base of the infected needles later in the summer. The fungus survives from year to year in dead shoots, branches, and pine cones. The spores produced in the pycnidia are dispersed in splashing water. They require high humidity to germinate and to infect the host tissue. The fungus also can survive latently in tissue that appears to be healthy.

Mitigation:
Removal of dead branches can improve the appearance of diseased trees but will not prevent infection since many of the spores are produced on cones that remain attached to the tree. Trees with tip blight should be adequately watered and fertilized to maintain tree vigor.

The most important time for chemical management is when the new shoots (candles) are expanding in the spring. Fungicides applied at that time can prevent new disease. Fungicides need to be applied each year to protect new growth. Each year, the first application should be made when new shoots start to elongate, usually around the third week of April. The tree should be sprayed again 10 to 14 days later, and again 10 to 14 days after that if it is a wet year and the site has a history of disease. Spraying after this critical time will not be effective, as the infection has already occurred and cannot be cured.

Complete coverage is essential. A high-pressure sprayer may help in delivering the fungicide to the tops of tall trees. Homeowners should consider using a professional tree-care service, especially for large trees where getting good coverage is difficult. Several active ingredients available for control of tip blight are listed below.

Suggested fungicides include:
-Propiconazole
-Thiophanate-methyl
-Mancozeb
-Copper
-Mancozeb + copper
-Thiophanate-methyl + chlorothanlonil

Rip Winkel is the Horticulture Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District 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.

Friend,

Kansas is the largest wheat producing state in the country.

Last week nearly 100 people from across the world came to our state to meet with producers and see the crop for #WheatTour18. They took 24 vehicles, drove six routes across the state and surveyed the wheat crop.

Unfortunately, many of their findings met expectations of a crop that has been weather-stressed from the start. The group found that the crop was significantly behind normal development and short, due to the severe drought that’s been ongoing since October. The final projections show this year’s crop may be the smallest that Kansas has seen since 1989.

While in the district, I made a couple stops to check out our Kansas yields. I saw the same struggling crop that many on the tour did. While I can’t change Mother Nature’s course, I can promise you that I am working hard to provide support to our producers during these hard times. That relief starts with passing a 2018 Farm Bill that provides crop insurance to help our producers protect themselves against these drought conditions.

Last week we celebrated the 30 million small businesses across the nation for #SmallBusinessWeek. Recent studies have shown that small business optimism is at an all-time high. As a member on the Small Business Committee, I’ve seen that optimism first-hand in our hearings, as well as with the businesses I’ve visited throughout the Big First. I addressed the House floor to recognize the hard work and perseverance our small business owners have and acknowledged their critical role in our local communities.

Fort Riley

Last week, I had the honor of accompanying Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper and his wife Leah, on a visit to Fort Riley. The Secretary has jurisdiction over the recruitment, training and care of all 1.4 million active duty, National Guard, and Reserve Soldiers.

The day included a breakfast with soldiers, observing a Devil Prowl training exercise,a lunch and roundtable discussion with senior spouses. While there, the Secretary shared his vision for the Army’s future and his top priorities, including soldier readiness and modernization of the Army. I was thrilled to welcome the Secretary and his wife to Fort Riley and show them first-hand all the installation has to offer.

Trade War

I represent the largest sorghum-producing district in the country. So last week I met with a group of Kansas Sorghum producers to discuss the impact of Chinese tariffs and the need for new market access and opportunities. There was no disagreement in the room that we must address China’s predatory industrial policies, but our producers can’t be expected to bear the brunt of this trade war. The producers discussed their concerns, but they also had a great deal of optimism that the result of this back and forth would lead to better agreements.

I have worked tirelessly on trade and the farm bill to try and help our producers get certainty and more opportunities for their crops. I’ve met with the administration urging them to preserve NAFTA and to lessen the impact tariffs are having on our farmers and ranchers.

I have said time and time again; our agriculture industry is always the tip of the spear for retaliatory actions. Trade wars hurt our farmers, and I am in Washington fighting for new markets and better deals.

Farm Bill Impact

My work on the House Agriculture Committee and the new farm bill legislation not only helps farmers and ranchers but provides certainty for those industries that support the producers. Throughout the Big First are manufacturing companies that build equipment farmers use every day.

I had the opportunity to tour three agriculture manufacturing facilities last week and to meet the men and women who build tillage equipment, skid steers, and grain dryers. When agriculture thrives, so too do these manufacturers, which makes it important we work to improve prices and pass legislation that will protect our farmers and those that support the agriculture industry.

Local Pharmacy and Medical Center Visits

Local pharmacy owners play a vital role in many communities across the district, providing access to prescriptions and healthcare equipment. There are more than 90 independent community pharmacies in my district that account for more than 900 jobs and millions in local economic impact.

I discussed my efforts to lessen the financial burden on both the community pharmacy owners and their patients with Robb and Meredith Rosenbaum, owners of Funk Pharmacy in Concordia. As a physician, I understand the financial strain prescription drug costs can have on an individual or family and have continued to look for solutions to lowering the cost of medications, including the streamlining of the regulatory system to allow drugs to enter the market faster.

While in Clay County last week, I also stopped by the Clay County Medical Center. I want to give a big shout out to this center, as they just opened a new 28,000 square-foot expansion. With this expansion, they will be able to take in more patients and provide additional quality care and testing.

Rural healthcare is essential to the continued success of communities in the district and Clay County is a great example of a community hospital finding success and delivering quality healthcare.

Sponsored by Glassman, Bird and Powell LLP — a full-service law firm serving Hays and northwest Kansas.

You can also watch the Legislative Updates on Eagle Community TV Channels 14 and 614.

Last week was the last week of the 2018 legislative session. Sine Die, the ceremonial end to the legislative session was Friday, May 4th.

We celebrated the National Day of Prayer at the statehouse on Thursday. State officials led prayers for those in Kansas government, military and National Guard, first responders, family, agriculture, health care, schools, businesses, and others.

On Friday, the annual Law Enforcement Memorial was held at the Statehouse. Thankfully no Kansas law enforcement officers lost their lives in the line of duty over the past year but four officers from previous years were inducted into the memorial. National Law Enforcement Memorial Week is May 13-19.

Budget-After 3 full days of negotiation the Senate conference committee agreed to a final budget for fiscal year 2018 & 2019. The Kansas Legislature voted on the budget bill, late Thursday night. The bill would appropriate $380 million more in the current fiscal year, $700 million more than was expended in the previous fiscal year. The legislation includes a 5% raise for employees who were not included in the 2017 pay adjustment law and a 2.5% raise for employees who received a pay increase last year. The budget also includes a 5% adjustment for correctional staff and a 2% raise for judges. The bill excludes state university staff, Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the Kansas Legislature.

Below are highlights included within the budget:

FY 2018-The conference committee recommends expenditures of $16.3 billion, including $6.7 billion from the State General Fund. House Sub for SB109 also includes $15 million to replace funds cut from state universities and other priorities that have been neglected such as water projects and state hospitals. Add $31.1 million, including $40.5 million from the State General Fund, to fund the spring human services consensus caseload estimate. Department of Health and Environment-Add $3 million for the Medicaid regular medical program for the teaching hospitals associated with the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education program. Add $1 million for the tiny-k program. Add $1.4 million for information technology modernization. Add $1 million from the Problem Gambling and Addictions Grant Fund for additional substance abuse treatment services. FY 2019-The Conference Committee Recommends expenditures of $16.8 billion, including $7 billion from the State General Fund. Add $68.6 million, including $76.9 million from the State General Fund to fund human services consensus caseload estimate. Board of Regents and Institutions-Add $15 million to restore approximately 64% of the 4% remaining FY 2017 allotment. Department of Education-Add $7 million, including $8.4 million from the State General fund to adopt the spring 2018 education consensus estimate. Add $5.2 million from the Children’s Initiatives Fund for early childhood programs. This includes Pre-K Pilot ($4.2 million) and Parents as Teachers ($1 million). Add $1.4 million for disaster relief. Add $2.7 million for information technology modernization. Add $22.1 million for an increase in nursing facility reimbursement rates. Add $1 million from the Problem Gambling and Addictions Grant Fund for additional substance abuse treatment services.

Senate Sub for HB 2028-Would establish the Kansas Telemedicine Act. The bill also provides for coverage of speech-language pathologist and audiologist services via telehealth under the Kansas Medical Assistance Program, if such services would be covered under KMAP when delivered via in-person contact.

S Sub for 2228-This is our mega tax bill for the year not only changes to itemized deductions and language regarding the tax treatment of repatriation, global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI). This tax bill would decouple Kansas from the Federal tax code. Currently Kansas taxpayers that itemize at the Federal level may also itemize on their Kansas tax return. With the changes at the Federal level and standard deductions being increased many Kansans who currently itemize will choose to use the standard deduction. Without changes to Kansas law they will no longer be able to itemize on their Kansas return. This will be devastating to the middle class and to small businesses in Kansas. They will not be able to expense or depreciate on their Kansas tax return, including deduction of mortgage interest, charitable contributions and medical expenses. We must look at decoupling from the Federal tax return and might need a special session or a retroactive bill next year. If changes are not made this will be a large tax increase to the middle class and small businesses.

Local Sales Tax Provision-Unfortunately, the Thomas County local sales tax provision was included in S Sub 2228 which would increase the maximum local sales tax rate that could be imposed by Thomas County from 1.5% to 1.75%, provided that all taxes levied more than 1% remain earmarked for financing a courthouse, jail, law enforcement center or other county administrative facility. An election would be required to increase the current Thomas County sales tax. This bill failed to pass in the House 59 to 59.

KPERS-one of the items we were successful in negotiating in the budget was a partial payment on a missed KPERs payment. We added $82 million all from state general fund in FY 2019 and an additional $56 million from receipt estimates over $56 million in the months of April, May and June, 2018 and an additional payment of $56 million in fiscal year 2020 if receipts come in $56 million over in April, May and June fiscal year 2019.

Now, “reform,” well that’s just gotta be good. Who doesn’t want reform of nearly everything from being trapped in the check-out line while the customer ahead fishes coupons out of his pocket/her purse or when the other table’s salads at the restaurant look better than the ones you got?

Reform on taxes, though, is one of those things that everyone sees a little differently.

The tax bill the House killed would have reapportioned among many classes of Kansas taxpayers their Kansas income tax liability next year. Not evenly among Kansans, but selectively.

Remember that last December’s federal tax law changed the federal standard deduction, from about $6,000 to $12,000 for single taxpayers and from $12,700 to $24,000 for marrieds filing a joint return.

Now, that’s a pretty good bump, and it will likely cut the federal income tax bill of about 80 percent of Kansans. And because the Legislature last week didn’t pass tax “reform,” that boosted federal standard deduction leaves more money for the state to levy income taxes against.

That reduction in federal income taxes provides the boost in state taxable income that creates the majority of the “windfall” that lawmakers were trying to use up with its now-deceased tax bill.

The Legislature never got a reliable, firm figure on just how much the lower federal taxes would increase the amount of Kansas taxable income—and therefore, Kansas tax receipts.

That’s a little like not knowing how thick the ice is before wandering out onto the lake in winter. Nice, thick ice: Have a good time; thin ice, stay on the dirt.

Next year, lawmakers will know how thick that ice is and can make informed decisions on whether they can walk on it without risk.

That risk is the one all—or, rather, some—lawmakers fear, that they would give away too much income tax revenue they need to operate the state and fund schools and highways and pension systems and social service programs without raising taxes again, as they did last year.

Oh, and that “reform” bill didn’t increase the standard deduction for Kansas taxpayers, that baseline for computing just how much money you will send to Topeka from the money freed up by sending less to Washington. It favored those with middle-range or higher incomes, probably more Republicans than Democrats, though we recall that you don’t have to check off political affiliation on your tax forms.

Yes, lawmakers could have passed a tax cut bill, and it would sure look nice on a House member’s campaign literature this summer and fall. But we’re doubting that there would have been a footnote saying who got the tax cut.

And members of the Senate, well, only one is running for retention this year, the other 39 won’t be printing up campaign literature for another two years, and they can just sigh and say, “wait until next year,” we’ll get you that tax break we tried for this year.

So, how’s this balance out? Legislators didn’t take a risk this year if the federal trickle-down doesn’t produce as much benefit for Kansas as had been guessed, and they won’t have to back up and trim a tax bill they didn’t pass.

If it turns out the federal tax cuts produce more revenue than expected? Bigger tax cuts, next year.

And nobody doesn’t want that…

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

National Bike Month includes an ever-expanding diversity of events in communities nationwide – but the biggest day of the month is Bike to Work Day. In 2018, Bike to Work Week will be May 14-18, with Bike to Work Day on May 18.

40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it is not surprising that, from 2000 to 2013, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more than 62 percent.

I started bike commuting a number of years ago when there was street construction downtown and parking spaces were limited. I found that if I rode to work in the morning, home for lunch and home again at the end of the day I would log a total of 7 miles. Now I’m hooked on bike commuting. Unless it is below 15 degrees or icy underfoot, you are likely to see me in my hi-vis green jacket pedaling to or from work.

Bike commuting is a great way to squeeze regular exercise into a busy schedule. Commuting time can be used to stay in shape instead of sitting frustrated in traffic. Statistics also show that bicycle commuters are happier and more productive at work. The mild temperatures we have been enjoying the past few days give us few excuses to not get out there and go for a ride. Whether you are an occasional or everyday rider please keep the following bicycle safety tips in mind.

• Consider a helmet a necessity. Without a helmet, riders who sustain an injury are 14 times more likely to become a fatality. Choose a helmet that meets or exceeds safety standards established by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Make sure the helmet fits, rather than one a child will grow into. Replace the helmet if an accident occurs or if the helmet is badly jarred or cracked.
• Ride with traffic, rather than facing the traffic. Consider adding a rear view mirror to your bicycle gear. I have one that attaches to my helmet so I can constantly monitor the traffic behind me.
• Obey traffic signals. Use hand signals to let others know your intentions.
• Stay alert and keep your mind on your riding. This should be the same advice for many people in cars. Too many times we have been in close calls with drivers who are on cell phones or just inattentive to the traffic around them.

Many parents ask at what age a child is old enough to ride in the street rather than on the sidewalk. There is not a one-size-fits-all age. A child’s maturity level is the main factor. Other factors are the size of the community, traffic patterns and congestion, and whether it is a residential area or a business district. A smaller community can seem peaceful and safe, but may have periods when safety is compromised – for example, after a ball game, during a community festival, or at harvest time.

Now go out and enjoy this beautiful spring weather with a family bike ride!

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

Part cultural icon and part invasive nuisance, tumbleweeds have an intriguing and tangled history. You know, tumbleweeds — those twisted balls of dead foliage rolling across the open range and roads.

If you’re driving any distance this spring, you’ll see them rolling across the highways. Traveling on Highway 24 last weekend I nailed a two-footer while bumping a few others out of my path.

Tumbleweeds first gained notoriety when the Sons of the Pioneers romanticized them in song back in the late ‘30s. I remember seeing my first ones in the early ‘50s. In the early spring, summer and fall when winds howled across roads in my native Sheridan County, tumbleweeds raced across the flatland. Incidentally, I recall singing along with the Pioneers and I still remember the song well.

This plant is as much a symbol of the old Wild West as Wyatt Earp, cattle rustlers, the coyote and the rattlesnake. The image of the lonely rider and the ghostly shape of the tumbleweed bounding in silence across the endless plains has inspired a certain misty-eyed nostalgia even in folks who have never journeyed west of Kansas City – except to travel through our state to ski in Colorado.

In truth, this weed is a blasted nuisance. Even its Latin name (Salsola pestifer) identifies it as a menace.
The tumbleweed is also known as the Russian thistle. This plant was brought to the continent in the 1870s as a contaminant in shipments of flax seed imported to western Canada. By the turn of the century, the weed had a foothold from coast to coast.

The tumbleweed can survive and grow almost anywhere. It remains one of the hardiest plants in the United States. Unfortunately, no one has found a good use for this thorny weed.

The tumbleweed can cause problems for farmers and ranchers. This nuisance weed clogs irrigation ditches, catches and accumulates litter, disrupts traffic, causes fires, poses a health threat to some livestock and even breaks down fences on windy days.

In Kansas and other western states, thousands of man hours are spent each year clearing tumbleweeds from irrigation ditches and railroad tracks. In the spring the weeds are fought with herbicides and in the fall the dried plants are sometimes burned.

Fighting tumbleweeds is a constant battle. Nearly every breezy day they bound across the prairie and every spring they sprout by the millions.

Although tumbleweeds have been in this country for nearly 150 years, no one has found a reason to cultivate this plant. One thing is certain; this nuisance weed is here to stay unless our plant scientists can find a use or method to eradicate the tumbling, tumbling tumbleweed.

So why not romanticize ‘em?

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

Ten journalists were killed in a series of attacks Monday in Afghanistan. The week prior, 14 journalists from Turkey’s leading opposition newspaper, Cumhuriyet, were given lengthy jail terms after a show trial based on trumped-up charges. Nine Turkish journalists who worked for Zaman, Turkey’s most widely-read newspaper until it was shuttered by the government, now face life sentences simply for writing columns critical of the government.

And already this year, at least 26 journalists worldwide have been killed — some in conflict areas but many targeted for murder — according to tallies by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.

For Americans, that ought to bring sobering perspective — and a refocusing — after the recent burst of media and presidential handwringing over a barbed routine by comedian Michelle Wolf at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, where such remarks are as predictable as they are forgettable.

President Trump jumped to Twitter to decry Wolf’s jokes, calling her performance a “very big, boring bust.” He had refused to attend the dinner for the second consecutive year.

In a tweet defending Wolf, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel did the best job of putting to rest the tempest in a D.C. teapot: “Dear ‘the media’ — @michelleisawolf was FUNNY. Hire a juggler next year.”

With the media and White House’s attention hovering on the flap over the White House Correspondents Dinner, it was left to newly-minted Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to respond to the deadly attack on journalists in Afghanistan. He called the free press “the cornerstone of democracy” and delivered a reminder of threats to journalists worldwide. He also said that the “vibrant media landscape that has developed in Afghanistan will endure, in large part due to those journalists and media professionals who tragically died in today’s attack.”

Nine journalists were killed and at least five more were wounded April 30 in suicide bombings in Kabul, the capital, and one was killed in a shooting in a rural province. Multiple reports noted that the Kabul attack was the deadliest targeting journalists since January 2015, when terrorists opened fire at the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, eight of whom were staff members.

Less visible to Americans is the collapse of the free press in Turkey, following an attempted 2016 government coup. A Turkish court on April 24 sentenced 14 staff members of Cumhuriyet to up to seven years in prison on vague and unsupported charges of terrorism — a verdict that international press and human rights advocates decry as retaliation for the paper’s ongoing criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Border’s 2018 press freedom index, released just weeks ago. The NATO member nation has now jailed more journalists than any other country in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Lest we forget amidst the reports of carnage and corrupted justice systems, the battle for a free press also involves widespread efforts to promulgate “fake news” — either in a direct attempt to fool news consumers, or to discredit real journalism. My colleagues at NewseumED offer lesson plans and tools to fight “flawed” news at www.newseumed.org, and on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, they participated in a panel on media literacy hosted by the U.S. State Department.

On June 4, we invite you to join us — either in person or via live stream — for the annual rededication of the Newseum’s Journalists Memorial. This year, the names of 18 journalists who died in 2017 in the pursuit of news will be engraved on a soaring glass-plated wall. They represent more than 60 reporters killed last year.

As the attacks in Afghanistan, and the murders of journalists from Mexico to Malta, India to Iraq, and many more countries around the world demonstrate all too well, journalists continue to be seen as a threat to political power and to controlled narratives promulgated by dictators, drug lords and terrorists.

Let’s spend much less time fretting about a few moments of dinner commentary and more on condemning those who work relentlessly to kill truth by murdering, jailing or punishing the truth-tellers.

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.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

The Kansas Corporation Commission reports operators in Kansas filed 141 new intent-to-drill notices last month. That’s down from 163 the month before. The year-to-date total of 563 marks an improvement over totals through April of the last two years, but it’s still well short of the 873 intents filed through April of 2015. Initial reports show five new intents in Barton County, and three in Ellis County.

Drilling rig counts are up across the US and across the state of Kansas. Baker Hughes reports 1,032 active rigs, an increase of nine oil rigs. The count in Canada was up one to 86 rigs. Independent Oil & Gas Service’s weekly report notes 15 active rigs in eastern Kansas, up two, and 28 west of Wichita, which is up one. Drilling is underway on one lease in Ellis County. Operators are moving in completion tools at two sites in Barton County and five in Ellis County.

Operators filed 32 permits for drilling at new locations across Kansas last week, 16 east of Wichita and 16 in the western half of the state, for a year-to-date total of 535 new permits. There’s one new permit each in Barton, Ellis, Russell and Stafford counties.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 37 new well completions for the week, 530 so far this year. There were 23 east of Wichita and 14 in western Kansas, including one newly completed well in Ellis County and two in Stafford County.

Federal regulators have removed pressure restrictions on the Keystone oil pipeline that were put in place in November after a large spill in South Dakota. Reduced flows on the pipeline helped draw down inventories at Cushing, and created a bottleneck in Alberta, where increased output has run up against a shortage of pipeline and rail capacity. Since that time, US prices have gone up, as Canadian prices dropped.

The Army Corps of Engineers will meet June 1 with the four Native American tribes suing to shut down the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The environmental study ordered by a federal judge last summer is likely to continue into this summer, as each side complained about input from the other. U.S. Judge James Boasberg has given the Corps until June 8 to set a date for completion of the work that initially was expected to wrap up in early April.

A new pipeline project in North Dakota should help that state reduce flaring of natural gas in the oil patch. The Bismarck Tribune reports ONEOK Rockies Midstream plans to convert existing gathering pipelines into a single transmission line, to transfer up to 50,000 barrels of natural gas liquids to the existing Bakken Pipeline. Utility regulators signed off on the Cherry Creek Pipeline project last week.

Texas oil production jumped to it’s highest level in nearly four decades in February, 4.01 million barrels a day. That’s nearly 21 percent higher than a year earlier, and roughly 40% of the nation’s output, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Total U.S. crude production in February set a new record, up 2.6 percent to 10.3 million barrels per day. The weekly numbers are even better. The government reported production of 10.62 million barrels per day for the week ending April 27. Only Russia produces more crude.

In West Texas, rising oil prices are fueling a sharp economic upswing. Reuters reports the boom is reducing unemployment and raising payroll dollar amounts to record highs. The downside of that is that it’s making it harder for anyone to find qualified workers. It’s also driving up spending at hotels, restaurants, and car dealerships, and raising the cost of housing and other essentials.

ConocoPhillips has frozen some of the Venezuela’s Caribbean assets to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award over the nationalization of assets ten years ago. Reuters reports the U.S. firm is targeting facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that account for about a quarter of Venezuela’s oil exports. Unnamed sources said the company could move to sell those facilities.

Rows of round bales lined this side of the patch, split into two groups by a driveway left for a tractor. The turkeys got there by way of a field drive through the thick, overgrown fencerow behind the bales, continuing down the tractor drive and onto the stalks. Once before, some days ago, we were set up here amongst the bales. The turkeys streamed past, well within gun range, but none would stop or raise their head to offer Joyce a clean shot.

We were close enough she could have nailed several turkeys on-the-run with one shot, but besides being slightly illegal since she only had one tag, the prized breast meat would have been so full of pellets it would’ve been like sand blasting the insides of our mouths with each bite. Today we had tried to solve that problem by adding a couple decoys in the drive just before it entered the stalks, in hopes the turkeys would slow down and mill around long enough for a good standing head shot.

What was meant to fix one problem ultimately created another. This was a small lot of just a few acres, so the cattle were never far away, forcing extra caution when shooting. After all, the last thing we needed was to pepper one of the land owner’s heifers in the butt with lead shot.

Our county game warden may have been young and a wee bit naïve, but I think he’d still have caught on when I tried explaining the dandy T-Bones we got from this turkey. So the party was about to begin, and here we sat awaiting the guests of honor, when a half dozen of the cattle began to take a shine to our plastic birds. They gathered just inside the electric fence, exactly where Joyce would need to shoot, and stood there like dumbstruck junior high boys at the Christmas dance! You could almost sense their thoughts.

“They look like turkeys,” Clara thought, “But they sure don’t move much.” “But they don’t smell like turkeys,” Elsie added. “Turkeys stink and these things smell like rubber or something.” “Girls, I have an idea,” Bessie chimed in, “I’ll turn around and try to pee on one and see if it moves like they usually do.”

“This won’t last long,” I told myself… Fifteen minutes later I was fuming! I stuck my arm out the blind window, and waved it franticly, but barely drew stares from our bovine spectators. “Rocks,” I mumbled. “Rocks should do the trick.” I slunk out the back of the blind and scoured the ground.

Rats! Nothing but sand and weeds; not a rock to be found! (By now, I think my wife had fast-forwarded through this whole scenario, and already seen the ending.) I tugged on one of the weeds that were as thick as my wrist, and it tore from the ground sporting a wad of dirt around its roots the size of volleyball. Eureka! Just what I needed! I swung the thing over my head like an Olympic hammer thrower and let fly, only to watch it dribble to a halt at the feet of the nearest cow, which looked down at it with disgust. “Stupid cows,” I mumbled. Still hidden behind the bales, I jumped up and down and waved my arms frantically like a first time auction goer trying to bid; still no response.

I’m sure the cows were thinking something like “Will you look at that stupid turkey hunter jumping up and down like a first time auction goer trying to bid.” “That does it,” I thought! Turkeys or not, I WILL walk over there and those cows WILL move! (By now it had become a matter of principle.) I had only taken a few steps when I heard something behind me. Was it turkeys after all this? A dozen scenarios flashed through my mind; What if I spooked the turkeys, causing them to fly everywhere and my wife accidentally shot a cow in the butt in the melee; What if she accidentally shot me in the butt in the melee; What if she PURPOSELY shot me in the butt just to get me out of the way? I stopped to listen, but the sound I heard was not turkeys.

No, it was raucous laughter coming from the blind! I squinted to peer inside from where I stood, and saw my wife bent over, howling hysterically. “Who’s the blockhead now,” I wondered. “Cows enamored with plastic turkeys or yours truly?”

We packed up and headed home, once again conceding defeat. “They’re all in cahoots,” I muttered. “Those cows and turkeys have a pack of some sort, I’m sure of it!” “Whatever you say honey,” Joyce replied with a smirk. As we drove away, I imagined that little patch of feed stalks now filled with turkeys celebrating our defeat, however cows and turkeys celebrate. I was sure that off to one side, a group of turkeys had Bessie cornered; the spokesman for the group was asking her “Soooooo, all those times you were really TRYING to pee on us?

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