After a week’s wailing and rending of garments, we’re going to find out whether Republicans can make a big enough deal out of the four line-item vetoes Gov. Laura Kelly inflicted on their third try at passing a budget to give them what they can call a political win.

Kelly’s vetoes last week are relatively low-dollar, and there’s not a lot of outcry from anyone affected by them except for legislative Republican leaders. Democrats have been largely silent on the line-item vetoes which are worth a total of about $54 million from the multibillion-dollar budget.

Only significant spending cut accomplished with a ballpoint pen is $51 million in accelerated repayment of money borrowed in earlier (Republican Govs. Sam Brownback/Jeff Colyer) era from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS).

That $51 million? It would be atop a $115 million pay-back to KPERS that lawmakers and the governor made earlier this year which most state retirees are still celebrating.

The objection to that KPERS veto? Mostly formulaic, with Republicans generally saying that Kelly is punishing the retirees, that she plans massive “grow the government” spending increases in the next years—you rarely go politically wrong by tossing money at KPERS.

For Democrats, well they are relatively quiet on their Democrat governor’s KPERS veto, mostly citing that earlier $115 million and the need for the state to hold down spending so that there is less need for tax increases in future years.

All stuff we’ve heard before from both parties. No adrenaline rush here…

The whittled-down income tax bill that Kelly vetoed? So far, hall talk puts override success as unlikely, but that’s the biggie for Republicans. Win that one, and few will notice the budget bill’s line-item vetoes. But if the GOP can’t beat Kelly on taxes, then it’s time to talk about KPERS, and those other, smaller cuts she carved into the Legislature’s budget.

And who is going to be politically excited by overriding a $705,000 cut from a Board of Pharmacy program, or $1.8 million from the Department for Aging and Disability Services or $1.2 million for Department of Education for a reading research program? Oh, they are all probably nice programs, but the majority of Kansans have never heard about them. Angering voters about those line-item vetoes would take longer than most politicians want to spend on the effort.

At this point, just a year away from the House and Senate standing for reelection, it might be politically valuable for conservative lawmakers to scratch up the paint on Kelly’s official state SUV…just to show that they’re still in the game.

It’s all about Medicaid expansion that Kelly lost this session by a handful of votes and clever parliamentary maneuvering in the Senate, and the possibility that the tax bill she vetoed might be overridden and become law.

If it comes down to a scrap over the line-item vetoes, we’ll know that the politics of the session remain up in the air. For Kelly, win on taxes, lose on Medicaid expansion. For the GOP legislature, lose on taxes, win on Medicaid expansion…or so it seems. The Medicaid battle is mostly GOP leadership with thin margins that Kelly hopes to overcome this summer.

***

Chances look good that nobody’s going to claim a real victory this session. Not the new governor, not the still-Republican (but moderating) legislature, and probably not Kansans.

Hard to consider this session just a warm-up for the real fight ahead, but at least that will make the upcoming 2020 session worth watching…

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

Having gotten a whole summer’s worth of rain in 3 weeks, Kansas reservoirs and lakes are swollen and campgrounds and boat ramps are completely submerged, meaning camping, boating and for the most part fishing too are out of the question. I was reminded this week of an interesting fishing trip to a local reservoir years ago after several inches of rain.

Our boat pitched and heaved with each “white cap” that rolled under the hull, and Marion Reservoir was littered with floating debris, remnants of the nearly 4 inches of rain just days before. We usually fished there by drifting over shallow water outside French Creek cove, using night crawlers on jigs as bait.

Suddenly my wife hauled back hard on her rod, and uttered those 3 little words every fisherman longs to hear, “I’ve got one!” She worked the fish perfectly, gaining line with each crank of the reel. As I reached for the net, the monster showed itself for the first time, and I slumped horrified into the nearest seat. It was a dreaded “stick” fish, (not to be confused with a “fish stick”) and a big one! She wrestled the 4 foot long monster next to the boat, where I gingerly removed the hook. I hated to release him to haunt another fisherman, but we had no room for him in the boat. (I’m sure it was a “him” because of certain protruding anatomical features) My wife and I stared blankly at each other, numbed by the encounter.

I’m as certain as I can be that everyone who has ever fished has had an encounter like the scene I just described, but how many of us know anything about these prehistoric creatures. Their life cycle is strange and secretive to say the least. They are born in many different forms, from “helicopter” like seeds to long bean pods. The most prevalent species found in Kansas waters are the cottonwood variety, which begin life as fluffy white seeds.

Whether blown by the wind or floating on the water, the seeds of all species eventually reach a spot of dry ground, where they burrow into the soil and soon emerge as tiny seedling-like beings. Here they spend the first part of their life cycle, which determines how large they will be. The 4 foot specimen we encountered is actually small in the stick fish world, and was probably 20 to 25 years old. I have caught brief glimpses of these monsters several times the size of our catch, which must have been over 100 years old.

Eventually, whether by storm, wind or rain, the beasts are toppled into the water where the final part of their life’s journey begins. Now they float aimlessly around their chosen lake or river, like cast-out souls searching for fulfillment. On land, they had adapted to feed on nutrients from the soil. Now in their watery world, they become opportunists, often gathering into great, twisted masses on the lake or river bottom, and feeding mostly on fishermen’s bait.

During long, hot summers, when water levels dwindle, the brutes can rest for months in large tangled groups along back water shorelines. Storms and high water seem to bring them forth like night crawlers after a rain, and suddenly again they are everywhere. This is when most encounters seem to occur. When suddenly surprised by a lurking stick fish, give it plenty of space. They are usually docile, but can do considerable damage to fishing tackle or boats if run into or hooked.

I don’t mean to paint “stickies” as trash fish, because they do have some noteworthy uses. While resting in their large summer groups, they are excellent sun bathing decks for turtles, and make fine dry docks for herons and egrets. Beavers like to “borrow” them as temporary reinforcements for dams and lodges. The “cane” variety, a long, slender species, makes fine walking sticks if harvested and dried, and their tales can be formed into circular handles when fresh from the water and still pliable. Dead ones, if pulled ashore and dried in the sun, produce lots of BTU’s when burned for campfires and barbecues. The immense under water groups become choice fish habitat, and are prime “honey-holes” if found and fished over. But be forewarned, as this type of fishing does seem to provoke a large number of stick fish bites.

We escaped our stick fish encounter fairly unscathed; happy, yet awed at having been so close to such a prehistoric, secretive creature right here in the waters of central Kansas…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

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

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Crude futures prices held fairly steady Friday after a big sell-off Thursday. Cash crude on the Nymex went for $57.87 per barrel Thursday, down $3.53 per barrel. The near month contract for light sweet crude was going for $57.92at mid-day Friday. London Brent was up 18 cents at $67.94 per barrel.

The world’s insurers are getting skittish about underwriting oil tankers heading to or from the Persian Gulf, as tensions build in the region. A new report from Bloomberg notes that the “Joint War Committee” of the Lloyd’s Market Association in London will expand it’s so-called “listed areas” to include the Persian Gulf. That means the group believes the region poses a greater risk for shipping, and potentially warrants higher insurance costs. The last time the entire region held that designation was a period that ended in June 2005 and encompassed the most recent Iraq War. The classification comes after the committee met to discuss the sabotage of four tankers at a port in the United Arab Emirates.

Wednesday’s government reports showed domestic weekly production up slightly to of 12.177 Million barrels per day. EIA said crude oil inventories were up 4.7 million barrels from the previous week. Imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day last week, down by 669,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

In the words of one market analyst, imports of Russian crude oil by refineries in the U.S. is “on steroids.” In reporting published on the Web site “seeking alpha dot com,” Russ Dallen of Caracas Capital Markets said Russian exports to the U.S. are set to triple. According to the report, those numbers directly negate a Saudi strategy to reduce U.S. stockpiles. The report suggests that members of the so-called “OPEC plus” agreement face a major crossroads at their meeting next month, as they try to prop up prices by cutting production and inventories.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported three active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, up two for the week, and 23 west of Wichita, which is down three. Operators were drilling at one site each in Barton, Ellis and Stafford counties. Baker Hughes reported 983 active rigs for the week nationwide, down five oil rigs and up one searching for natural gas. New Mexico reported a drop of four rigs.

Operators received 19 permits for drilling at new locations across Kansas last week, nine of them east of Wichita, and ten in Western Kansas, including one in Barton County, two in Ellis County and one in Stafford County. Regulators have approved 358 new drilling permits so far this year.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 46 newly-completed wells across Kansas for the week, including two in Barton County and one in Ellis County. There were 30 new completions east of Wichita, and 16 in Western Kansas.

Colorado officials say they have no plans to stop energy companies from drilling for oil and gas while regulators overhaul state rules to prioritize health, safety and the environment. Some environmentalists and community activists have demanded the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission stop issuing permits until those new rules are complete. The commission is part of the state’s Department of Natural Resources, and the chief executive of the DNR said it was never the intent of the Legislature to pause their work. The newly reconstituted Commission held its first meeting Tuesday as the agency starts a massive rewrite of regulations in the patch. After a series of court rulings and ballot initiatives, a new law requires the commission to emphasize public safety and the environment ahead of energy production. The new law gives local governments some authority over the location of wells and changes the commission makeup to dilute industry influence.

Just about 4,000 years ago, Chinese writings explained the medicinal powers of what is now called cannabis or marijuana, describing its properties to help arthritis, gout, malaria, nausea and psychological stress. In the 1500 and 1600s the Spanish and English brought cannabis to the new world for medical purposes and it became a huge commercial crop for making rope. In the 1920s cannabis emerged in jazz clubs as a recreational drug. At the time, it was thought of as a better alternative to alcohol since cannabis users didn’t seem as disruptive to the community.

During the prohibition era of the 1930s, the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics considered cannabis as addictive and they made it illegal along with alcohol. Further, the U.S. Controlled Substance Act of 1970 defined cannabis as a ‘Schedule 1’ drug putting it in the same category as heroin and LSD, claiming there was a high abuse potential and no medicinal use. Although these claims have changed, the U.S. law remains on the books. During the Obama administration, the Department of Justice was directed to relax prosecution of cannabis rule-breakers while allowing state rules to supersede the U.S. law. The Trump administration has made very little change since.

Questions about cannabis remain since scientific experimentation for medicinal use has been limited due to legal restrictions. However, strong evidence points to legitimate medical uses for cannabis. Cannabidiol or CBD, one of the chemicals derived from hemp, helps those with chronic pain syndrome, children with uncontrolled seizures, those with glaucoma and finally enhances appetite stimulation and reduces nausea and malaise in cancer patients.

We know there is abuse potential with cannabis, just like with alcohol. Driving intoxicated with cannabis increases crashes, even if only half as much as alcohol. Also, we know excess cannabis has potential to dull and injure young and undeveloped minds. Some suggest that legalizing cannabis would allow better laws and enhanced regulation, lessening underage use.

Consider the tragedy of 70,000 deaths per year (and rising) from the overdose of legal and illegal opioids while there are almost no reported deaths from cannabis use, despite quite extensive consumption in the U.S. Most opioid abuse seems to stem initially from efforts to reduce chronic pain syndrome, and this condition seems to be potentially helped with medicinal doses of cannabis.

It is time to allow medicinal use of cannabis. It might help us reduce the deaths from opioids.

For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www.prairiedoc.org and follow The Prairie Doc® on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.

Election season is upon us. Not here in the United States, where we haven’t even begun winnowing the massive field of presidential contenders, but over on the other side of the world, where India just wrapped up its national elections after six weeks of voting. It takes a while when you’ve got 900 million people participating. Closer to home, European Union (E.U.) parliamentary elections run May 23-26.

Both of these elections showcase the new and prominent role social media plays in the democratic process. It’s a crucial source of political news and information for voters — and a potential vehicle for misinformation that can be used to influence their votes.

The E.U.’s elections have only just begun, but a report from online activist group Avaaz indicates that networks of fake Facebook pages and groups have been extensively spreading divisive, white-nationalist, and anti-immigrant content and have amassed three times as many followers as the pages of the main European far-right and anti-E.U. parties. Another study from the University of Oxford analyzing recent tweets and Facebook posts related to the E.U. parliamentary elections found that anti-immigration and Islamaphobic stories from “junk news” sites received more engagement than stories from professional media sources.

Some E.U. officials suspect that Russia is behind the spread of this type of content, but as Giles Portman, head of the taskforce dedicated to exposing these attempts said, “From what we’ve seen of the European election campaign so far, it looks at the moment less sensational than some of the attempts we’ve seen [in the past]. What we can see at the moment is this continuation of a message that Europe is collapsing, that the elites aren’t paying attention to ordinary people and that Europe’s values and identities are under threat.”

Messages about threatened identity were prevalent during the Indian election as well, with much of the misinformation targeting religious minorities, but the way that it spread was fundamentally different. Whatsapp reigns supreme in India, with 230 million users. The platform consists of private group chats, making it notoriously difficult to fact-check the content that’s shared on it. WhatsApp attempted to stem the tide of misinformation by capping the size of its groups, limiting how many times messages could be forwarded and making it harder to forward images, audio clips and videos.

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has a huge presence in India in its own right and partnered with Indian fact-checking sites to debunk fake news stories on its platform and to shut down fraudulent pages and accounts. But India presents special challenges to aspiring fact-checkers: as Bloomberg reports, social media platforms “are discovering the harsh reality that disinformation and hate speech are even more challenging in emerging markets than in places like the U.S. or Europe. A new category of users, recently digital, believe almost whatever they receive — especially if it comes from family or friends. Hundreds of millions read in languages the American tech giants haven’t even begun to monitor.” India has 23 official languages; Facebook hired contractors to verify content in 10 of them.

Pallavi Mishra has seen the scale of the challenge first-hand. The manager at Vishvas News, Facebook’s largest Indian-language fact-checking contractor, spent two weeks recently talking with internet users in small cities. She found most people are so new to social media they have no clue about bogus content. They share stories indiscriminately, with stupefying speed. “Being the ‘first’ to share things in their circles gave them a rush,” she says.

“Disinformation is spreading like wildfire in these parallel digital universes,” said Bharat Gupta, chief executive officer of Jagran New Media, which runs Vishvas News. “It’s a dark space that nobody talks about.”

Unlike in the U.S. and E.U., where much of the focus has been on misinformation being disseminated by foreign actors, the fake news surrounding Indian elections was home grown, driven by the political parties themselves. According to a report from the University of Oxford, a quarter of the content shared by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was junk news, as was one-fifth of the content shared by the main opposition party, Indian National Congress. The parties were also very effective at spreading this content, particularly the BJP, which created an app for Prime Minister Narendra Modi called NaMo, preloaded it in free Android phones and used it to promote posts from fake-news accounts users didn’t have the option of unfollowing.

All of this should drive home that there’s no single “best” way to combat misinformation, because the very nature of misinformation varies widely depending on where you are. Each country and region of the world has its own prejudices, fears and favored platforms. Like some hellish version of “It’s A Small World” during election season, we get to see them all.

Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. Contact her via email at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.