The Kansas Department of Commerce has announced that applications for the Rural Opportunity Zones employer sponsorship program can now be filed online. The Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZ) program allows qualified new residents of designated counties to receive state income tax waivers for up to five years and/or student loan repayments up to $15,000.

 

The student loan repayment program is a shared cost between participating counties and the state. Employers can opt to sponsor a ROZ candidate to cover the county’s share of the cost of the student loan repayment program. Through employer sponsorship, businesses in rural counties can recruit additional workers.

 

“A growing number of ROZ applications continue to pour in, and as a result some counties have waiting lists,” said ROZ Program Manager Chris Harris. “Employer sponsorships have helped counties overcome funding challenges and bring new participants into the program. That helps the employers who are using sponsorships to recruit skilled workers, as well as their communities, which benefit from new residents.”

 

So far, six businesses have sponsored employees who are participating in the ROZ program. The application and sponsorship regulations can be found at KansasCommerce.com/ROZSponsorships.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Kansas Congressional Delegation today announced the President’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2015 designates $300 million to further advance construction on the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan. The move by the Administration signals clear support for completion of the project as a national security priority.

The entire delegation and the NBAF Task Force will continue efforts to secure this funding through the appropriations process. If appropriated, these funds would complete the federal investment and would allow the project to be finished on budget.

“The administration and the Department of Homeland Security made it clear that they share our commitment to building NBAF and creating a research epicenter in Kansas by including a $300 million DHS appropriations request in their Fiscal Year 2015 budget,” the delegation said.

“This gives Congress a blueprint to provide the final portion of funding to advance construction of the modern, world-class NBAF facility so it can protect the national security of the United States. We will continue to work to make certain NBAF remains a top priority for Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle as we work to secure the final portion of funding for construction of NBAF during the appropriations process.”

TOPEKA–The state of Kansas ranked fifth in the country for economic development projects per capita in Site Selection magazine’s 2013 rankings.

Site Selection, which has compiled annual economic development rankings since 1978, added a new Governor’s Cup Award for 2013, recognizing the states with the most qualifying new and expanded facilities per capita.

“Kansas continues to build a business environment that is one of the best in the country,” said Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George in a news release. “It’s great to see that these rankings reflect how competitive our state is for business. Companies across numerous industries are achieving success here, and I’m excited to keep working with them to make Kansas the best possible place to build a thriving business.”

Site Selection ranked Kansas second in per capita projects in the seven state West North Central region that also included Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. With 106 new facilities and expansions in 2013, Kansas had 36.6 projects for every 1 million in population.

Of the 106 economic development projects in Kansas last year, 20 were classified as new manufacturing facilities, 24 as manufacturing expansions and the remaining 62 as all other categories, including offices, headquarters, distribution centers, research and development facilities and mixed-use facilities.

TOPEKA— The Kansas Securities Commissioner is looking for creative videos that highlight the importance and value of informed, long-term investing. The winning video will be featured on the Securities Commissioner’s website and Facebook page, and students participating in the winning entry will each receive an iPad mini. The classroom teacher of the winning entry will also receive an iPad mini.

The contest will be held in coordination with Financial Literacy Month in April. Organizers and financial experts involved in the promotion of Financial Literacy Month in Kansas say that it is essential to ensure that Kansans are well prepared to manage money, credit, investments and debt, and that personal financial education among today’s youth will contribute to the financial stability of tomorrow’s workforce and to the prosperity of the Kansas economy.

New this year is a People’s Choice Award which will be held online at the Securities Commissioner’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Kansas.Securities. The public will be able to vote for a select number of student videos by “liking” their favorite ones.  Creators of the most-liked video will each receive a $200 savings bond.

Students who are working toward or who have received EverFi Financial Literacy Certification through participation in the Kansas Financial Scholars Program are invited to produce a 30 second to 2 minute video which clearly and creatively demonstrates the value of investing.

The Kansas Financial Scholars Program is a 6 hour web-based curriculum which uses the latest in new media technologies. The 9-module course is aligned to the Kansas State Standards and offers programming aimed at teaching, assessing and certifying students in a variety of financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, investments, savings, 401k’s and other critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards. Each module only takes around 30 minutes to complete.

Teachers who have not yet signed up for the Kansas Financial Scholars Program may contact the Securities Commissioner’s office for information on how to sign up and participate in the program this school year. The program is offered for free to all public, private and home school high-school aged students in the state of Kansas. Parents or grandparents who are interested in having their children participate can also contact the Securities Commissioner’s office to individually sign up their students.

Contest begins: Monday, March 3, 2014.
Contest ends: Thursday, April 17, 2014. (All videos must be received by 11:59 p.m. April 17, 2014.)
Winning videos announced on or before: Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

Complete official video contest rules can be found at: www.ksc.ks.gov/

Questions about the contest or participation in the Kansas Financial Scholars Program can be directed to Shannon Stone, Director of Investor Education at [email protected] or by phone at 913.652.9164.

TOPEKA–Governor Sam Brownback signed a proclamation Monday declaring March 23 – 29 as Kansas Agriculture Week and Mar. 25, Kansas Agriculture Day.  A cornerstone of the agriculture celebration is the Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive.

The Neighbor to Neighbor statewide food drive will help support neighbors in need and reduce hunger in Kansas communities. Harvesters, the Community Food Bank in Topeka,  hosted state leaders, including Governor Brownback and Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey, representatives of the food banks of Kansas, Dillon’s Food Stores employees and members of the Kansas agriculture community.

“It is important that we serve.  That we help our neighbor in need,” Brownback said in a news release.

The food drive is a collaborative effort by the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Dillon’s Food Stores, Harvester’s – The Community Food Network, Kansas Food Bank, Second Harvest Community Food Bank and the Kansas agriculture community.

The goal is to raise 100,000 meals for Kansas families during the food drive which begins March 3 and concludes on March 25, Kansas Agriculture Day. Kansans can contribute to the campaign at Dillon’s Food Stores statewide or at other locations in communities across the state.

Dillon’s Food Stores made an initial donation of 6,400 pounds of non-perishable food items at the kick-off event. These food items will be on display in the Kansas State Capitol March 3-25. To learn more about the Neighbor to Neighbor statewide food drive and ways to participate, visit agriculture.ks.gov/ksagday.

Salina Post

BRIDGEPORT — A car left along Interstate 135 after an accident Saturday afternoon has been stolen from the highway, Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said today.

The 1995 Honda Civic, which was being towed by a pickup when the accident occurred, was left after the pickup lost control on ice near Bridgeport in Saline County. The truck was towed away and the Civic and the towing dolly it was on were left on I-135.

When the owner, who was in the process of moving from Abilene to Tulsa, Okla., returned Sunday to pick up the car, it was gone.

Including the personal possessions packed inside the vehicle, the loss is estimated at $4,200.

Kansas Department of Transportation

HOXIE — On March 17, a pavement replacement project will begin on a 19-mile stretch of Kansas 23 from U.S. 24 in Hoxie to the U.S.83/Kansas 383 junction near Selden.

The scope of the project is to remove the existing pavement, stabilize the base of the roadway and construct a new wider pavement. The road will be closed and traffic will be detoured onto U.S 24 and U.S 83 for the duration of the project.

Venture Corp., Great Bend, is the primary contractor on the project with a total contract cost of $14.5 million.

The scheduled completion date to open the roadway to traffic is Sept. 19.

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

WICHITA – The National Bobwhite Technical Committee (NBTC) recently bestowed their Group Achievement Award to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Kansas. The award reflects achievements of groups of individuals or organizations that have had a measureable positive impact on wild bobwhite quail populations. The NBTC consists of the nation’s top bobwhite biologists, researchers, resource managers and conservation groups who are dedicated to restoring native bobwhite quail populations.

With this award, the NBTC is praising the Kansas offices of NRCS and FSA for their unique implemenation of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which became part of the Farm Bill in 1985. CRP pays private landowners to take highly-erodible farmland out of production and plant it to grass. In the program’s early stages, Kansas policy makers were faced with critical decisions about the types of grasses that would be required in a state with such a wide diversity of soil types. Those policy makers determined the most beneficial cover for CRP would be mixes of warm-season, native grasses, the same grasses found in our native prairies. Looking back, it appears to have been one of those moments in time where all the stars aligned and policy was developed that would have major implications for the future of wildlife and other natural resources in Kansas.

The decision was not met with unanimous support. Other states wanted consistency across state lines and were pushing the use of Old World bluestems, which were cheap and relativity easy to establish. Native grasses were more expensive and practical experience in establishing those grasses was lacking. Many assumed the CRP program would not be around long enough to warrant the cost of expensive grass mixes only to see the land broken out again in the future. But staff in Kansas NRCS offices reasoned that establishing a mix of native grasses would provide the producer greater options for future use once the contracts expired. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism staff knew the value of native grasses to wildlife and the department’s field biologists had been working with private landowners to establish native grasses through wildlife habitat enhancement programs. A seed company in western Kansas was already selling native plant materials and had experience developing mixes for various parts of the state.

With agreement among technical staff across agency lines in Kansas and private industry ready to meet the needs of producers, administrators within NRCS and FSA strongly backed the decision to use natives, ensuring long-term benefits for many Kansas wildlife species.

During the late 1990s, KDWPT began documenting the presence of the lesser prairie chicken in portions of their historic range where they had not been seen for more than 60 years. This significant re-occupation was due to nesting cover provided by native grasses in CRP. FSA and its partners in Kansas had been targeting CRP enrollment within the historic range of the lesser prairie chicken since 1996 by establishing Conservation Priority Areas. Since that time, increases in pheasant and quail populations have also been observed in those same areas. That portion of western Kansas is one of the only places in North America where quail populations have trended upward over the last couple of decades.

In making this award to NRCS and FSA, the NBTC also wanted to recognize individuals who were instrumental in making the “first native first” policy a reality nearly 30 years ago. Those individuals include James Habiger, former NRCS state conservationist, Jess Crockford, former NRCS state range conservationist, Bob Higgins and Rich Hager, former NRCS biologists, Al Schmatter, former FSA Conservation Program Manager, Bob Wood and Charles Lee, former KDWPT agriculture liaisons and Sharp Brothers Seed Company of Healy, Kansas.

TOPEKA – U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and Special Agent in Charge Michael Kaste of the FBI’s Kansas City Office announced Friday they are asking for the public’s help in combating fraud and public corruption in Kansas.

The FBI has set up a toll-free public corruption hotline at 1-855-527-2847 (1-855-KCPCTIP) for reports throughout the state of Kansas. Reports also can be emailed to [email protected].

“Crooked public officials undermine the public’s trust in our government,” Grissom said. “They dishonor the many honest and hard-working men and women who serve the public at all levels of government. With the FBI’s hotline, everyone can have a hand in fighting public corruption.”

Kaste said that the FBI already has received many tips with valuable information from the hotline and the email address, which were rolled out first in Kansas City in November.

“In cases of public corruption the public’s help makes a significant difference, and the establishment of this hotline supplies the necessary tools to provide that help,” said SAC Kaste.

Kaste said the FBI’s top criminal priority is to address public corruption at all levels of government. Many times, these crimes are difficult to detect because of their secretive nature, and they are even more difficult to prove without the assistance of concerned citizens.

Accepting a bribe for awarding a contract, taking a kickback for providing a permit or inaction by law enforcement for payment are examples of public corruption. A violation of federal law, public corruption includes bribes, embezzlement, racketeering, kickbacks, and money laundering as well as wire, mail, bank, and tax fraud – all of which occur at the public’s expense.

The hotline number will also be featured on billboards within the Topeka area. Details regarding the various types of public corruption investigated by the FBI can be found online at:  http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/corruption.

Salina Post

SALINA — A 33-year-old Minneapolis man was arrested on several charges after driving west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 on Thursday night.

Trooper Ben Gardner of the Kansas Highway Patrol said at approximately 10 p.m., an attempt to locate a possible drunk driver on Interstate 135 was broadcast by Salina Police dispatch.

A few minutes later, a KHP trooper found a car matching a description of the suspect car in a ditch near Halstead Road.

As the trooper turned on his emergency lights for a traffic stop, the driver, Raymond C. Mack, reportedly drove out of the ditch and went westbound in the east lanes of I-70 for about 3 miles, and then pulled into the median.

The trooper reportedly used a taser while taking Mack into custody.

Mack was booked into the Saline County jail on allegations of of driving under the influence, reckless driving, flee or attempt to elude, transporting an open container, improper crossover on divided highway, and obstruction.

Salina Post

SALINA — Two all-terrain vehicles, accessories and the trailers they were in have been stolen from the NRCS office parking lot, 760 S. Broadway in Salina.

The theft occurred between 8a.m. Monday and 11a.m. Thursday.

One ATV was a green 2003 Suzuki , and the other was a camo 2011 Kawasaki.

Both were in white horse trailers secured to pickups in the southwest corner of the parking lot. Locks on the hitches were cut.

Loss and damage has been estimated at $18,995.

Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz announced in a news release Friday the Jack Vanier family has made a gift of $60 million — the largest private donation in the history of K-State. The gift provides $40 million to benefit students, faculty, programs and facilities on both the Manhattan and Salina campuses, and $20 million for Phase III of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium master plan.

“The entire K-State family joins me in thanking Jack and Donna, and their children — Marty, John and Mary — for this transformational gift that will benefit the students of Kansas State for generations to come,” Schulz said. “This is a historic day in our progress toward our K-State 2025 vision of moving Kansas State University into the ranks of the Top 50 public research universities in the U.S.”

“Kansas State has always been a very important part of our lives,” the Vanier family said. “We feel very fortunate and are honored to be able to make this gift to the university. More importantly, we are thrilled to see so many other K-Staters from across the country investing in the lives of young people in Manhattan and Salina. The confidence we have in President Schulz and his leadership team, and the transparency with which they guide the university made the decision to make this gift an easy one. Our hope is that this will inspire others to make their investments in this great university.”

On K-State’s Manhattan and Salina campuses, the gift provides $40 million for students, faculty, programs and facilities.

Student scholarships and fellowships have been established in the College of Technology and Aviation at K-State Salina, the College of Business Administration and the Biosecurity Research Institute. Additional support for students across both campuses includes Presidential Scholarships and a gift for the K-State Proud Student Opportunity Awards.

Faculty professorships and fellowships have been established in the College of Human Ecology and at the Biosecurity Research Institute, as well as several professorships that may be awarded in any college.

Excellence funds have been established for the Biosecurity Research Institute and at K-State Salina. These funds provide flexible funding to allow university leaders to respond to urgent needs and emerging opportunities. Additionally, a research fellows program will be established at the Biosecurity Research Institute.

Facility support on the Manhattan campus has been provided for the K-State Welcome Center. This unique facility will be one of the first in the country to provide a central location for students and families to connect with new student services, admissions, financial assistance, housing and dining services, and career and employment services. The east side of Memorial Stadium will be renovated and revitalized to house the Welcome Center.

For K-State Athletics, the gift provides $20 million to support Phase III of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium master plan.

Phase III of the master plan includes dramatic upgrades for student-athlete needs spanning the entire 16-sport department. These include a new academic learning center, new football operations offices, new sports medicine operations and new strength and conditioning spaces. Basic fan amenities in the north end zone will also be enhanced as the end zone seating and services are upgraded.

“From the moment we arrived in 1989, members of the Vanier family have been faithful friends to the football program and, more importantly, to Sharon and me and our family,” said head football coach Bill Snyder. “We are deeply grateful for this wonderful commitment which will have a tremendous impact not just in our program, but on all student-athletes at Kansas State University.”
The Vanier gift comes at a time in which K-State is benefiting from record philanthropic giving. The KSU Foundation has reached record marks of $99 million, $110 million and $152 million in the past three fiscal years.