Elementary school students from Russell, Wilson and Natoma are celebrating Kansas Day at the Deines Cultural Center in Russell today and Wednesday.

“Home on the Range” is sponsored by the Beta Delta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma with grants from the Russell County Area Community Foundation and Russell Drug Fund.

Retired teachers and organizers Susan Krug and Anne Coady say the 40 or so volunteers are having just as much fun as the children.

“Most of our demonstrations are hands-on, ” says Krug.  ” The children get to grind wheat and sift the flour, find out how bread is made, and even get to make the butter for it.”

And then, there’s a stop at the sampling table, filled with homemade wheat and white breads, homemade butter, and grape jelly.

“We really hope to instill a love and understanding of our Kansas heritage in our youth, ” says Coady.

Other event stations include “Wash Day,” where participants labor by hand to clean the laundry, and fish ecology and identification.

“Skins and Skulls,” is a hands-on display of native Kansas mammal pelts and skulls provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

The McCarty Family Farms, a family-owned dairy farm in western Kansas, was recognized as the 2013 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year, an award co-sponsored by the International Dairy Foods Association and Dairy Today magazine.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture nominated the McCarty Family Farms for the award, which honors active dairy farms in the United States that are improving efficiency through forward-thinking management practices, production technologies or marketing programs.

“Tom and Judy McCarty took a risk and moved from rural Pennsylvania to the plains of Kansas in 1999 to give their four sons the opportunity to fulfill their goals of being dairy farmers,” said Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman. “Thirteen years later, the McCarty Family Farms has become an innovative leader in the Kansas dairy sector and a key component in three western Kansas communities–Bird City, Rexford and Scott City–creating more than 100 steady jobs and a boost to the rural economies.”

In 2010, the McCarty family began discussions with the Dannon Company, the top selling yogurt maker in the United States, which resulted in a multi-year agreement for the McCarty’s to become the sole supplier for fresh milk at Dannon’s yogurt plant in Fort Worth, Texas.  As a result of the agreement, the McCarty’s built a milk processing plant at the Rexford dairy in 2011 that will enable them to exclusively and directly supply Dannon with condensed skim milk and pasteurized cream.

Condensing milk at the processing plant allows the McCarty’s to reclaim 39,000 gallons of water daily and has reduced the number of trucks needed to ship milk by 75 percent.

The McCarty dairies are among the fewer than 20 dairies in the country that have completed the Validus Animal Welfare Review Certification, an intensive animal welfare training program that was developed by dairy experts and is regularly reviewed by world renowned animal welfare expert Temple Grandin.

There are two more community meetings this week in WaKeeney to discuss the financial situation facing Trego County’s Lemke Memorial Hospital.

The meetings are Monday and Thursday nights at 7 o’clock at Western Electric Cooperative.

Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital is asking for $1.8 million in no-fund warrants issued by the Trego County Commission. Repayment would require a county mill levy of about eight mills for four years.

The hospital will get a larger allocation from Trego County this year, a boost from $135,000 to more than$200,000.

Hospital Administrator Harold Courtois is also asking the county to move ahead with a ballot election for  a 1% sales tax.

The hospital’s budget has a shortfall of about $600,000, due to an unexpected reduction in Medicare reimbursements.

Former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney did not attend the festivities in Washington, D-C Monday.  But Romney can take some small consolation knowing he had his own inauguration of sorts, Tuesday morning in northwest Kansas.

First State Bank in Norton houses a second-floor gallery full of those, like Romney, who have tried, but failed to become president.

Director Lee Ann Shearer welcomed guests  to “They Also Ran Gallery,” read a short tribute to Romney and then formally inducted him into the gallery by placing his picture on the wall, right next to John McCain.

Romney’s portrait joins those of 59 other presidential losers, including Kansans Bob Dole and Alf Landon.

The gallery was opened in 1965 by First State Bank owner and president William Walter Rouse after he read Irving Stone’s book, “They Also Ran.”

Interim Russell City Manager Jon Quinday is no longer interim.  Russell City Council members voted last week to offer Quinday a two-year contract as Russell City Manager,

Quinday, the Russell Police Chief, was named interim city manager last September after previous Russell City Manager Ralph Wise resigned in August.  Quinday has resigned as police chief, a position he’s held since July 2009.

Captain Dale Weimaster has been appointed Interim Russell Police Chief.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) is now accepting applications for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) through March 29, 2013.

LIEAP provides an annual benefit to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. Individuals with disabilities, elderly persons, and families with children are the primary groups assisted.

To qualify, applicants must be responsible for direct payment of their heating bills. Income eligibility guidelines are set at 130 percent of the federal poverty level. The level of benefit varies according to household income, number of persons living at the address, type of dwelling, type of heating fuel, and utility rates. Applicants must demonstrate they have made payments on their heating utility bill two out of the last three months.

LIEAP applications are available at local DCF offices or can be requested by calling toll-free 1-800-432-0043. Visit www.dcf.ks.gov to apply online.

The wealth of material available in Kansas periodicals is now available at www.libris.ca/kpi, through a subscription purchased by the State Library of Kansas.

The Kansas Periodical Index is a reference source that lists articles from Kansas related periodicals and other material. Magazines currently being published which are indexed include Kansas!, Kansas History, Kansas Government Journal, Kansas Wildlife & Parks, Southeast Kansas Living, The Territorial, and Topeka Magazine.  Other magazines indexed, although no longer published, include Kanhistique, Kansas Heritage, Kansas Traveler, Kansas Sports and many others.

Current coverage in the Kansas Periodical Index is from 2002 to 2012.  2006 and 2012 are partially completed to date. Indexing of 2013 issues should begin by spring.

This is an index only (no abstracts or full text). The print edition has been discontinued.

Users can also access the Kansas Periodical Index by visiting the State Library’s Collection & Resource page at www.kslib.info/collections-and-resources.html.

State of Kansas offices will be closed Monday, January 21, in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

All federal offices will also close.

Officials in Finney County say plans are moving forward to renovate the historic Windsor Hotel in downtown Garden City.

The Garden City Telegram reports that Don Harness, president of the Finney County Preservation Alliance, said at a meeting Wednesday that the process of renovating the 93-room hotel continues. Harness also says there will likely be more activity this year.

The Windsor was built in 1887. The $12 million renovation includes senior living apartments, retail shops and offices, as well as a restaurant and banquet facilities.

The project will use both state and federal historic tax credits, as well as a bond through the city of Garden City.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Friday they will ask the Kansas Legislature to strengthen the state’s human trafficking statutes, with an emphasis on protecting children from commercial sexual exploitation.

The bill establishes a Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Fund to provide support for those victimized by human trafficking. The fund will be paid for through mandatory fines on people convicted of human trafficking and related sex crimes.

The bill also provides for special Child in Need of Care procedures for children who have been subjected to human trafficking and expedites expungement procedures for those convicted of selling sexual relations if they were subject to coercion.

A new crime of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of a Child is created in the bill, increasing the penalties of the existing crimes of patronizing a prostitute and promoting prostitution of persons under the age of 18. Increased penalties and sentencing enhancements are included for a number of other related crimes.

The bill also includes additional training and tools for law enforcement to combat human trafficking. It will be introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

A 28-year-old Dodge City man has been arrested in the 2008 death of his girlfriend’s daughter.

The Dodge City Globe reports that Brock W. Cunningham was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the death of 3-year-old Natalie Pickle. The child was severely injured in Dodge City on Nov. 19, 2008, and died the next day at a Wichita hospital.

The case has remained open since authorities ruled the child’s death a homicide in 2008.

Dan Monnat, Cunningham’s lawyer, said Friday that Cunningham is innocent of the charges and “had nothing to do with causing her death.” He says Cunningham tried to save the child’s life that night and has cooperated with law enforcement during the investigation.

Cunningham was released on $75,000 bond Thursday.