By STACY CAMPBELL Cottonwood Extension District

In drier years I get this question.&nbsp;When the soil is dry, will it be able to hold anhydrous ammonia or will some or most of the ammonia be lost shortly after application?

There are three factors that come into play when applying anhydrous ammonia to dry soils.

Chemical&nbsp;- Ammonia (NH3) needs to react with water shortly after application in order to convert into ammonium (NH4+), which is the molecule that can adhere to clay and organic matter in the soil. Ammonia is very soluble in water. After it is placed in the soil, NH3&nbsp;reacts with water in the soil to form NH4+, which is retained on the soil cation exchange capacity sites. This process takes a little time – it does not occur immediately upon contact with the soil. The main controlling factors in the conversion of NH3&nbsp;to NH4+&nbsp;are soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil&nbsp;pH.&nbsp;The higher the soil temperature and the wetter the soil, the more rapid the conversion occurs. If the ammonia does not react with water, it will remain as a gas that could escape from the soil. Also, equilibrium between NH3&nbsp;and NH4+&nbsp;is affected by soil&nbsp;pH.&nbsp;More NH3&nbsp;will remain unconverted in the soil longer at higher application rates and at higher soil pH levels.

Physical&nbsp;- Dry soils may be cloddy, with large air spaces where the soil has cracked. This can allow the gas to physically escape into the air before it has a chance to be converted into ammonium. Getting the soil sealed properly above the injection slot can also be a problem in dry soils. Loss of the ammonium gas can begin immediately&nbsp;after application continuing for several days to weeks if there is no moisture. N losses can be greater than 50%.

Application depth&nbsp;- The deeper the ammonia is applied, the more likely the ammonia will have moisture to react with, and the easier the sealing.

So, can anhydrous ammonia be applied to dry soils?

The answer is&nbsp;yes&nbsp;- as long as the ammonia is applied deep enough to get it in some moisture and the soil is well sealed above the injection slot. If the soil is dry and cloddy, there may be considerable losses of ammonia within just a few days of application if the soil is not well sealed above the injection slot and/or the injection point is too shallow.

Producers should be able to tell if anhydrous is escaping from the soil during application or if the ammonia isn’t being applied deeply enough. If ammonia can be smelled, the producer should either change the equipment setup to get better sealing or deeper injection, or wait until the soil has better moisture conditions.

In short, producers can minimize this potential loss problem by applying the anhydrous ammonia at the proper depth (at least 6 to 8 inches in 30 to&nbsp;40 inch&nbsp;spacings), and using covering disks behind the knives or sealing wings ("beaver tails") on the knives.

Stacy Campbell is a Crop Production Extension agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at scampbel@ksu.edu or by calling 785-628-9430.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658843503783.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy K-State Extension" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy K-State Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>By STACY CAMPBELL Cottonwood Extension DistrictIn drier years I get this question.&nbsp;When the soil is dry, will it be able to hold anhydrous ammonia or will some or most of the ammonia be lost shortly after application?There are three factors that come into play when applying anhydrous ammonia to dry soils.Chemical&nbsp;- Ammonia (NH3) needs to react with water shortly after application in order to convert into ammonium (NH4+), which is the molecule that can adhere to clay and organic matter in the soil. Ammonia is very soluble in water. After it is placed in the soil, NH3&nbsp;reacts with water in the soil to form NH4+, which is retained on the soil cation exchange capacity sites. This process takes a little time – it does not occur immediately upon contact with the soil. The main controlling factors in the conversion of NH3&nbsp;to NH4+&nbsp;are soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil&nbsp;pH.&nbsp;The higher the soil temperature and the wetter the soil, the more rapid the conversion occurs. If the ammonia does not react with water, it will remain as a gas that could escape from the soil. Also, equilibrium between NH3&nbsp;and NH4+&nbsp;is affected by soil&nbsp;pH.&nbsp;More NH3&nbsp;will remain unconverted in the soil longer at higher application rates and at higher soil pH levels.Physical&nbsp;- Dry soils may be cloddy, with large air spaces where the soil has cracked. This can allow the gas to physically escape into the air before it has a chance to be converted into ammonium. Getting the soil sealed properly above the injection slot can also be a problem in dry soils. Loss of the ammonium gas can begin immediately&nbsp;after application continuing for several days to weeks if there is no moisture. N losses can be greater than 50%.Application depth&nbsp;- The deeper the ammonia is applied, the more likely the ammonia will have moisture to react with, and the easier the sealing.So, can anhydrous ammonia be applied to dry soils?The answer is&nbsp;yes&nbsp;- as long as the ammonia is applied deep enough to get it in some moisture and the soil is well sealed above the injection slot. If the soil is dry and cloddy, there may be considerable losses of ammonia within just a few days of application if the soil is not well sealed above the injection slot and/or the injection point is too shallow.Producers should be able to tell if anhydrous is escaping from the soil during application or if the ammonia isn’t being applied deeply enough. If ammonia can be smelled, the producer should either change the equipment setup to get better sealing or deeper injection, or wait until the soil has better moisture conditions.In short, producers can minimize this potential loss problem by applying the anhydrous ammonia at the proper depth (at least 6 to 8 inches in 30 to&nbsp;40 inch&nbsp;spacings), and using covering disks behind the knives or sealing wings ("beaver tails") on the knives.Stacy Campbell is a Crop Production Extension agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at scampbel@ksu.edu or by calling 785-628-9430.

CAMPBELL: Can dry soils affect anhydrous applications?

By CHRISTOPHER ADAMS <a href="http://www.emporiagazette.com/sports/article_3999e6f4-0ea4-11ed-a3e2-03b7182e40fc.html">The Emporia Gazette</a>

The nearly 100-year-old baseball 
institution of American Legion is hurting. It’s a 20th century 
organization struggling against the conventions of 2022.

It
 appears the 21st century is challenging the mid-century values of 
Legion ball with the existential indifference of Generation Z and a 
brave new America.

The
 Washington Post reported in 2017 that America Legion lost 25% of its 
teams nationwide over a 10-season span, adding that the figure was close
 to 80% in some states.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Oklahoma has two Legion teams, Georgia seven, Texas eight and Arizona nine.

The beleaguered youth program is having trouble in Kansas too.

“This
 is the first year, that I know of there has not been Emporia Legion,” 
said Lebo-Waverly head baseball coach Jason Konrade via email. “It's an 
unusual summer for baseball in the Emporia area with no legion. That’s 
big news in itself.”

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/855c1d2c-633f-4a24-aaef-070615eee7b0">RELATED: Bizarre ending for Hays Eagles at Legion state tournament.</a>

There are a few reasons for Legion’s dwindling popularity in the Jayhawk state.

Foremost
 seems to be the decade-long emergence of showcase tournaments that 
promote the player, not the team. They’re basically expensive 
opportunities to display individual skill sets to college coaches.

“I
 think these showcase baseball tournaments also kind of putting a hurt 
on…Topeka and Kansas City Schools used to have tons of Legion programs,”
 said Ryan Redeker, who coached an Emporia independent team this summer.
 “Topeka has one or two Legion programs now (one, according to the 
Legion website, which appears to only have information through the 2021 
season), and I don't think there's a single one in Kansas City at all.”

He rests the blame on these tournaments, saying summer baseball has been trending in this direction.

“Everybody's
 going to these showcase baseball things where you go play in front of 
college coaches on the weekend,” Redeker said. “All the elite players 
have gone to that, so your Legion has gone down to your smaller type 
schools.”

But even the best players from smaller schools or rural communities are defecting to elite showcase teams.

Tanner
 Willhoft, who coaches the Hays America Baseball Club 18U team, said the
 reality of the situation is that Legion ball isn’t a viable option.

“We had nobody really close to 
us at the AAA level of American Legion that we could really play…So it 
was one of those things where it's like, we don't have the competition 
to play, why are we doing it?”

Willhoft
 grew up playing Legion ball but agrees that showcase tournaments have 
become the preference and de facto system of summer baseball.

“In
 the summer, (Legion baseball) gives you great structure…where you have 
something to play for at the end of the year,” Willhoft said. “Whereas 
now, everybody's playing a different tournament every weekend. So you 
win one tournament. It's like, ‘Oh, nice you won a tournament,’ but not 
every team in the state is trying to get to it anymore.”

Kansas American Legion chairman Joe Durham said the organization is experiencing a slow time right now but is on the mend.

“We’re
 down this year there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Covid hit us hard.
 We were just starting to get our feet back under us, and then we had 
some problems, and now we’re working our way through them.”

Durham cited scholarships as one of the reasons kids and parents are still drawn to American Legion.

“(Showcase tournaments) try to get coaches to come and give scholarships,” he said. “Well, we’re going to offer a scholarship.”

American Legion provides scholarships to qualifying high school seniors in the amount of $500 and potentially $2,500.

Durham also said parents have tired of the steep costs of showcase baseball, where the money is pocketed by coaches.

The
 Florida Times-Union reported that one of the reasons youth baseball is 
on the decline is the showcase cost. The publication stated, “Many 
families simply do not have the financial ability to pay for their sons 
to be on a traveling showcase team. One organization in Florida costs 
$3,800 for just one summer. Others are between $2,200 and $2,500.”

Emporia High School baseball 
coach Anthony Markowitz said the cost-benefit aspect of American Legion 
doesn’t favor the teams or players either.

“I
 think the only thing I would have to say is…the cost that teams had to 
pay for registration and insurance was more than what we got in return,”
 he said in a text message. “Kansas American Legion Baseball really 
never started until the middle of July when they organized Zone 
Tournaments. So we’re paying about $2,000 and only guaranteed a spot in a
 double elimination tournament.”

He said neighboring states’ programs do a better job administratively and structurally.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626957930788.jpeg" alt="The 2021 Hays Eagles. The team dropped its affiliation with the American Legion in 2022. File photo" />
 <figcaption>The 2021 Hays Eagles. The team dropped its affiliation with the American Legion in 2022. File photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By CHRISTOPHER ADAMS <a href="http://www.emporiagazette.com/sports/article_3999e6f4-0ea4-11ed-a3e2-03b7182e40fc.html">The Emporia Gazette</a>The nearly 100-year-old baseball 
institution of American Legion is hurting. It’s a 20th century 
organization struggling against the conventions of 2022.It
 appears the 21st century is challenging the mid-century values of 
Legion ball with the existential indifference of Generation Z and a 
brave new America.The
 Washington Post reported in 2017 that America Legion lost 25% of its 
teams nationwide over a 10-season span, adding that the figure was close
 to 80% in some states.According to the Bangor Daily News, Oklahoma has two Legion teams, Georgia seven, Texas eight and Arizona nine.The beleaguered youth program is having trouble in Kansas too.“This
 is the first year, that I know of there has not been Emporia Legion,” 
said Lebo-Waverly head baseball coach Jason Konrade via email. “It's an 
unusual summer for baseball in the Emporia area with no legion. That’s 
big news in itself.”<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/855c1d2c-633f-4a24-aaef-070615eee7b0">RELATED: Bizarre ending for Hays Eagles at Legion state tournament.</a>There are a few reasons for Legion’s dwindling popularity in the Jayhawk state.Foremost
 seems to be the decade-long emergence of showcase tournaments that 
promote the player, not the team. They’re basically expensive 
opportunities to display individual skill sets to college coaches.“I
 think these showcase baseball tournaments also kind of putting a hurt 
on…Topeka and Kansas City Schools used to have tons of Legion programs,”
 said Ryan Redeker, who coached an Emporia independent team this summer.
 “Topeka has one or two Legion programs now (one, according to the 
Legion website, which appears to only have information through the 2021 
season), and I don't think there's a single one in Kansas City at all.”He rests the blame on these tournaments, saying summer baseball has been trending in this direction.“Everybody's
 going to these showcase baseball things where you go play in front of 
college coaches on the weekend,” Redeker said. “All the elite players 
have gone to that, so your Legion has gone down to your smaller type 
schools.”But even the best players from smaller schools or rural communities are defecting to elite showcase teams.Tanner
 Willhoft, who coaches the Hays America Baseball Club 18U team, said the
 reality of the situation is that Legion ball isn’t a viable option.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626961541174.png" alt="Willhoft" />
 <figcaption>Willhoft</figcaption>
 </figure>“We had nobody really close to 
us at the AAA level of American Legion that we could really play…So it 
was one of those things where it's like, we don't have the competition 
to play, why are we doing it?”Willhoft
 grew up playing Legion ball but agrees that showcase tournaments have 
become the preference and de facto system of summer baseball.“In
 the summer, (Legion baseball) gives you great structure…where you have 
something to play for at the end of the year,” Willhoft said. “Whereas 
now, everybody's playing a different tournament every weekend. So you 
win one tournament. It's like, ‘Oh, nice you won a tournament,’ but not 
every team in the state is trying to get to it anymore.”Kansas American Legion chairman Joe Durham said the organization is experiencing a slow time right now but is on the mend.“We’re
 down this year there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Covid hit us hard.
 We were just starting to get our feet back under us, and then we had 
some problems, and now we’re working our way through them.”Durham cited scholarships as one of the reasons kids and parents are still drawn to American Legion.“(Showcase tournaments) try to get coaches to come and give scholarships,” he said. “Well, we’re going to offer a scholarship.”American Legion provides scholarships to qualifying high school seniors in the amount of $500 and potentially $2,500.Durham also said parents have tired of the steep costs of showcase baseball, where the money is pocketed by coaches.The
 Florida Times-Union reported that one of the reasons youth baseball is 
on the decline is the showcase cost. The publication stated, “Many 
families simply do not have the financial ability to pay for their sons 
to be on a traveling showcase team. One organization in Florida costs 
$3,800 for just one summer. Others are between $2,200 and $2,500.”Emporia High School baseball 
coach Anthony Markowitz said the cost-benefit aspect of American Legion 
doesn’t favor the teams or players either.“I
 think the only thing I would have to say is…the cost that teams had to 
pay for registration and insurance was more than what we got in return,”
 he said in a text message. “Kansas American Legion Baseball really 
never started until the middle of July when they organized Zone 
Tournaments. So we’re paying about $2,000 and only guaranteed a spot in a
 double elimination tournament.”He said neighboring states’ programs do a better job administratively and structurally.Republished with permission

What has happened to American Legion baseball in Kansas?

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares insights from recent tours of Ellis County's largest employers.

<a href="https://postpodcast.podbean.com/">For more about the Post Podcast, including a full list of episodes and episode transcripts click here.</a>

<div><iframe title="Ellis County’s largest employers continue to help drive local economy" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=mtj5v-12870e1-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&logo_link=podcast_page&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares insights from recent tours of Ellis County's largest employers. <a href="https://postpodcast.podbean.com/">For more about the Post Podcast, including a full list of episodes and episode transcripts click here.</a>

🎙Post Podcast: Ellis County’s largest employers continue to help drive local economy

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post

Community leaders and elected officials went on a tour of the three of the newest buildings on the Fort Hays State University campus on Tuesday.

The Community Cruise, which is used to raise awareness among Ellis County leaders of community issues, had been an annual event, but this is the first Cruise since the onset of the pandemic.

The community members toured the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success, Center for Applied Technology and Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design.

The Fischli-Wills Center was opened in fall 2021 and is a one-stop shop for student services. It includes offices for advising, the student health clinic, the mental health clinic, tutoring center, student engagement space and student government offices.

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/4f942018-8f6f-443e-95b4-3adf49bb4ad5">FHSU has moved to centralized advising. Those offices are located in the Fischli-Wills Center.&nbsp; </a>

"This building as you tour around, you will see a variety of spaces that were reimagined to help students be successful and all they have to do is make it to this building," said Taylor Kriley, FHSU assistant vice president for student affairs. 

Jason Williby, FHSU Foundation president and FHSU graduate, said he didn't know where anything was until halfway through his sophomore year.

"I think the beauty of this building is its simplicity," he said. "If you think of students today, they may need more hand-holding than when we were in school. They are not quite as independent. It makes sense to put everything they need their freshman year in one place so it's easy to find."

The first floor of Fischli-Wills Center has places where students can receive job coaching or work on interviewing skills, as well as smaller offices in which students can do video interviews with potential employers.

The Tailored for Tigers program is in the Fischli-Wills Center. Students can receive free business wear and accessories through the program. The program takes donations of gently used dress clothing, suits, shoes, ties and accessories.

The tutoring center on the first floor of Fischli-Wills Center provided about 170 appointments during its first semester in its new location. 

Tutoring is offered Sunday through Thursday. Appointments are available during the day as well as drop-in tutoring that covers most of the general education courses during the evenings.&nbsp; The university also has the Smarthinking online tutoring app for online students.

Students attend their required freshmen seminar in Fischli-Wills, where they will explore careers and opportunities to join organizations on campus, as well as learn study and time-management skills.

The second floor of Fischli-Wills houses the student engagement center, as well as Student Governing Association offices. Student groups have a workroom on this floor, as well as storage space. Greek organizations also have conference rooms they can use on this floor.

Fischli-Wills is open the same hours as the student union, and students often use the second floor of Fischli-Wills to study during the school year, Kriley said.

Student health and mental health are now on the third floor of the Fischli-Wills Center.

"A lot of times mental and physical — all of that blends together," Kriley said. "There is an opportunity to provide support and collaboration. This floor is helping us really change the game for students," Kriley said.

<a href="https://archive.hayspost.com/2017/10/06/%f0%9f%8e%a5-welcome-to-the-journey-fhsu-center-for-applied-technology-dedicated/">The Center for Applied Technology was opened in fall 2017. </a>

Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) class students might make paper roller coasters, work on robots, use virtual reality modeling or test concrete in the center's STEM lab.

The FHSU technical program is competing regionally with universities, including BYU and Purdue and performs very well in technical competitions, said Nathan Howard, assistant professor in STEM and construction management. The program has multiple robotics national titles and this year placed third.

"Mr. [Eric] Deneault has been drawing his dream home for the last five years on [construction modeling software] and changing it up," Howard said. 

"He uploaded that so you can actually walk in the front door and walk around his house and go out to the garage, look from the outside, look out the windows and see if you like the windows or not and see the flow of the house right there virtually."

FHSU's newest purchase for its metal manufacturing lab is a water jet, which can cut up to 3-inch thick steel using water and aggregate. 

The FHSU welding lab is used by both FHSU and NCK Tech students. FHSU has a partnership with NCK Tech that allows NCK Tech students to live on campus, buy meal plans and participate in intramurals just like the university's four-year students.

FHSU students created a charging station that uses solar and mechanical energy to create electricity. Energy is derived from solar panels on top of the station and when the swing moves. The university hopes to install the station on campus soon.

"I think it will be a great way to show community members, potential students and parents, what is possible if you apply yourself here," Williby said.

Several Center for Applied Technology instructors do undergraduate research in areas including wind energy and electric cars.

"The nice thing about us is that we are stand-alone. Our students are getting a well-rounded [education], not just what [specific companies] want, but what everybody wants" Howard said.

"Even our construction management guys are getting a little plastics, a little bit of woodworking, a little bit of metal machining if you want, and STEM. They get a taste of it all."

The technology program has a 98 percent job placement rate within a year after graduation. Howard said the only reason why the rate is only 98 percent is that some students choose to rejoin family farms after graduation.

Howard said the department can't put out enough graduates to supply the employer demand.

Susan Dumler, assistant professor, said there is especially a shortage of industrial arts teachers because the wages in private industry are so much higher than in education.

Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design

The Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design was opened in fall 2019. 

The art department had been housed in Rarick Hall, but Karrie Simpson Voth, department chairwoman, said the department had outgrown that space at least 15 years ago. The new building expanded the department's space by about 40 percent.

"We really wanted to have light and interaction," Simpson Voth said of the building's art studios. "You can actually see into the classrooms and see out. A lot of things will connect from one room to the next, so it creates a really nice flow."

The print-making lab allows students to explore working with lithography, copper plate etching and relief prints.

"It's a really great connector in all the things in art that we do from drawing to painting to graphic design," Simpson Voth said. "Everything connects right here, so it's a really nice anchor point."

A donor last fall wanted a room in McCartney Hall redone, so the university gave the task to interior design students, Williby said. 

"Students got the real-world experience of giving a presentation to a multi-millionaire who was going to tell them exactly what he thought of each of their designs," he said.

In about a year the design will be part of McCartney Hall.

"It is a sign of Fort Hays looking back into the classroom for things and saying what can our students and faculty do so we are not outsourcing that to someone else," Williby said.

FHSU is one of the few universities that still has a functioning up-to-date darkroom. The art department also has a photography/video studio complete with a green screen.

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays PostCommunity leaders and elected officials went on a tour of the three of the newest buildings on the Fort Hays State University campus on Tuesday. The Community Cruise, which is used to raise awareness among Ellis County leaders of community issues, had been an annual event, but this is the first Cruise since the onset of the pandemic.The community members toured the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success, Center for Applied Technology and Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658952502876.jpeg" alt="The FHSU freshmen seminar classroom in the new Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. All freshmen are required to take the seminar, which FHSU officials say helps with student retention. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The FHSU freshmen seminar classroom in the new Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. All freshmen are required to take the seminar, which FHSU officials say helps with student retention. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Fischli-Wills Center</h2>The Fischli-Wills Center was opened in fall 2021 and is a one-stop shop for student services. It includes offices for advising, the student health clinic, the mental health clinic, tutoring center, student engagement space and student government offices.<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/4f942018-8f6f-443e-95b4-3adf49bb4ad5">FHSU has moved to centralized advising. Those offices are located in the Fischli-Wills Center.&nbsp; </a>"This building as you tour around, you will see a variety of spaces that were reimagined to help students be successful and all they have to do is make it to this building," said Taylor Kriley, FHSU assistant vice president for student affairs. Jason Williby, FHSU Foundation president and FHSU graduate, said he didn't know where anything was until halfway through his sophomore year."I think the beauty of this building is its simplicity," he said. "If you think of students today, they may need more hand-holding than when we were in school. They are not quite as independent. It makes sense to put everything they need their freshman year in one place so it's easy to find."The first floor of Fischli-Wills Center has places where students can receive job coaching or work on interviewing skills, as well as smaller offices in which students can do video interviews with potential employers.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658952867220.jpeg" alt="The Tailored for Tigers program offers free business wear to FHSU students. The program is provided through clothing donations. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>The Tailored for Tigers program offers free business wear to FHSU students. The program is provided through clothing donations. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The Tailored for Tigers program is in the Fischli-Wills Center. Students can receive free business wear and accessories through the program. The program takes donations of gently used dress clothing, suits, shoes, ties and accessories.The tutoring center on the first floor of Fischli-Wills Center provided about 170 appointments during its first semester in its new location. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658953736820.jpeg" alt="FHSU tutoring center is new in the Fischli-Wills Center. It offers tutoring both by appointment during the day and drop-in tutoring during the evenings. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>FHSU tutoring center is new in the Fischli-Wills Center. It offers tutoring both by appointment during the day and drop-in tutoring during the evenings. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>Tutoring is offered Sunday through Thursday. Appointments are available during the day as well as drop-in tutoring that covers most of the general education courses during the evenings.&nbsp; The university also has the Smarthinking online tutoring app for online students.Students attend their required freshmen seminar in Fischli-Wills, where they will explore careers and opportunities to join organizations on campus, as well as learn study and time-management skills.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658954410044.jpeg" alt="The student engagement office and workroom and student government offices share the second floor of the Fischli-Wills Center. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The student engagement office and workroom and student government offices share the second floor of the Fischli-Wills Center. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>The second floor of Fischli-Wills houses the student engagement center, as well as Student Governing Association offices. Student groups have a workroom on this floor, as well as storage space. Greek organizations also have conference rooms they can use on this floor.Fischli-Wills is open the same hours as the student union, and students often use the second floor of Fischli-Wills to study during the school year, Kriley said. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658954962152.jpeg" alt="Exam room on the third floor of Fischli-Wills Center in the student health center. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>Exam room on the third floor of Fischli-Wills Center in the student health center. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>Student health and mental health are now on the third floor of the Fischli-Wills Center."A lot of times mental and physical — all of that blends together," Kriley said. "There is an opportunity to provide support and collaboration. This floor is helping us really change the game for students," Kriley said. <h2>Center for Applied Technology</h2><a href="https://archive.hayspost.com/2017/10/06/%f0%9f%8e%a5-welcome-to-the-journey-fhsu-center-for-applied-technology-dedicated/">The Center for Applied Technology was opened in fall 2017. </a>Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) class students might make paper roller coasters, work on robots, use virtual reality modeling or test concrete in the center's STEM lab. The FHSU technical program is competing regionally with universities, including BYU and Purdue and performs very well in technical competitions, said Nathan Howard, assistant professor in STEM and construction management. The program has multiple robotics national titles and this year placed third. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658957555847.jpeg" alt="The FHSU STEM lab in the Center for Applied Technology. At the center of the room is virtual reality goggles that are used with 3-D modeling programs. To the right is the FHSU robot that took third at the national robotics competition this year. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The FHSU STEM lab in the Center for Applied Technology. At the center of the room is virtual reality goggles that are used with 3-D modeling programs. To the right is the FHSU robot that took third at the national robotics competition this year. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>"Mr. [Eric] Deneault has been drawing his dream home for the last five years on [construction modeling software] and changing it up," Howard said. "He uploaded that so you can actually walk in the front door and walk around his house and go out to the garage, look from the outside, look out the windows and see if you like the windows or not and see the flow of the house right there virtually." <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658958208010.jpeg" alt="Metal manufacturing lab in the Center for Applied Technology. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>Metal manufacturing lab in the Center for Applied Technology. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>FHSU's newest purchase for its metal manufacturing lab is a water jet, which can cut up to 3-inch thick steel using water and aggregate. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658958953282.jpeg" alt="FHSU welding lab. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>FHSU welding lab. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>The FHSU welding lab is used by both FHSU and NCK Tech students. FHSU has a partnership with NCK Tech that allows NCK Tech students to live on campus, buy meal plans and participate in intramurals just like the university's four-year students. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658959368431.jpeg" alt="FHSU created this charging station as a research project. Electricity is generated through solar energy from panels on top of the station, as well as from mechanical energy when the swing is in motion. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>FHSU created this charging station as a research project. Electricity is generated through solar energy from panels on top of the station, as well as from mechanical energy when the swing is in motion. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>FHSU students created a charging station that uses solar and mechanical energy to create electricity. Energy is derived from solar panels on top of the station and when the swing moves. The university hopes to install the station on campus soon."I think it will be a great way to show community members, potential students and parents, what is possible if you apply yourself here," Williby said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658960083481.jpeg" alt="FHSU plastics lab in the Center for Applied Technology. This includes injection molding machinery. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>FHSU plastics lab in the Center for Applied Technology. This includes injection molding machinery. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>Several Center for Applied Technology instructors do undergraduate research in areas including wind energy and electric cars.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658960815383.jpeg" alt="The graphic design lab in the Center for Applied Technology includes a screen printer and a vinyl printer. Students learn how to create logos, print T-shirts and edit videos. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The graphic design lab in the Center for Applied Technology includes a screen printer and a vinyl printer. Students learn how to create logos, print T-shirts and edit videos. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>"The nice thing about us is that we are stand-alone. Our students are getting a well-rounded [education], not just what [specific companies] want, but what everybody wants" Howard said."Even our construction management guys are getting a little plastics, a little bit of woodworking, a little bit of metal machining if you want, and STEM. They get a taste of it all."The technology program has a 98 percent job placement rate within a year after graduation. Howard said the only reason why the rate is only 98 percent is that some students choose to rejoin family farms after graduation.Howard said the department can't put out enough graduates to supply the employer demand.Susan Dumler, assistant professor, said there is especially a shortage of industrial arts teachers because the wages in private industry are so much higher than in education. <h2>Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design</h2>The Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design was opened in fall 2019. The art department had been housed in Rarick Hall, but Karrie Simpson Voth, department chairwoman, said the department had outgrown that space at least 15 years ago. The new building expanded the department's space by about 40 percent."We really wanted to have light and interaction," Simpson Voth said of the building's art studios. "You can actually see into the classrooms and see out. A lot of things will connect from one room to the next, so it creates a really nice flow."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659051978196.jpeg" alt="Students Tuesday fire ceramics in a wood-fire kiln at FHSU. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>Students Tuesday fire ceramics in a wood-fire kiln at FHSU. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>The print-making lab allows students to explore working with lithography, copper plate etching and relief prints."It's a really great connector in all the things in art that we do from drawing to painting to graphic design," Simpson Voth said. "Everything connects right here, so it's a really nice anchor point."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659052493510.jpeg" alt="The FHSU printmaking lab in Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design on the FHSU campus. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The FHSU printmaking lab in Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design on the FHSU campus. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659052853554.jpeg" alt="This demonstration kitchen allows interior design students to see examples of kitchen cabinets and fixtures. The samples were a donation to the program, which is the second largest within the art department. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>This demonstration kitchen allows interior design students to see examples of kitchen cabinets and fixtures. The samples were a donation to the program, which is the second largest within the art department. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>A donor last fall wanted a room in McCartney Hall redone, so the university gave the task to interior design students, Williby said. "Students got the real-world experience of giving a presentation to a multi-millionaire who was going to tell them exactly what he thought of each of their designs," he said.In about a year the design will be part of McCartney Hall."It is a sign of Fort Hays looking back into the classroom for things and saying what can our students and faculty do so we are not outsourcing that to someone else," Williby said.FHSU is one of the few universities that still has a functioning up-to-date darkroom. The art department also has a photography/video studio complete with a green screen.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659053960073.jpeg" alt="The FHSU painting lab is an open space that can easily be reconfigured for whatever class is using it. The lab also hosts the department's figure drawing course. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post " />
 <figcaption>The FHSU painting lab is an open space that can easily be reconfigured for whatever class is using it. The lab also hosts the department's figure drawing course. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post </figcaption>
 </figure>

Community Cruise highlights latest FHSU tech, buildings

The Hays Salvation Army has fans to give away thanks to a donation from Westlake Ace Hardware in Hays and their customers.

During the month of June, Ace offered a purchase round-up to help raise money to buy fans for the Salvation Army.

Ace was able to purchase 48 fans with the proceeds from the fundraiser. 

In addition, two local boys saved their money to purchase two fans to donate to the project.

The fans are for low-income families and individuals in Ellis County. You can receive one of the box fans every three years.

If you are in need of a fan, contact Julie Smith at the Salvation Army at 785-621-2794 to set an appointment. Please leave a message if Smith does not answer. She is available Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The fans are available now until they are gone.

The annual fan giveaway has been very popular. This is the fourth year Smith has headed the program, and every year she gives out all the donated fans, she said.

"Sometimes moving air keeps you cool if you just get that breeze," she said.

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays PostThe Hays Salvation Army has fans to give away thanks to a donation from Westlake Ace Hardware in Hays and their customers.During the month of June, Ace offered a purchase round-up to help raise money to buy fans for the Salvation Army.Ace was able to purchase 48 fans with the proceeds from the fundraiser. In addition, two local boys saved their money to purchase two fans to donate to the project.The fans are for low-income families and individuals in Ellis County. You can receive one of the box fans every three years. If you are in need of a fan, contact Julie Smith at the Salvation Army at 785-621-2794 to set an appointment. Please leave a message if Smith does not answer. She is available Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. You will need to bring proof of income.The fans are available now until they are gone. The annual fan giveaway has been very popular. This is the fourth year Smith has headed the program, and every year she gives out all the donated fans, she said. "Sometimes moving air keeps you cool if you just get that breeze," she said. Smith thanked Ace for its donation.

Salvation Army offers free fans to those in need thanks to Ace donation

Life and health exemptions to abortion bans are complex. With the legality of abortion effectively on the Aug. 2 ballot, Kansans should understand how looming government regulations might affect women’s health.&nbsp;

If the abortion amendment passes, the Kansas legislature will likely ban all or most abortions soon. Conservatives have generally avoided talking about abortion bans during this campaign, instead opting for emotional arguments that often mislead voters about threats to current abortion regulations and what types of abortions are actually occurring here.&nbsp;

But recently, conservatives have started going off script. Most notably, the&nbsp;Kansas Reflector&nbsp;reported on comments from conservative legislators and an activist group staffer about House Bill (HB) 2746.&nbsp;

HB 2746 was introduced in the Kansas legislature this year. It banned abortion except in limited circumstances, with no exception for rape, incest, or many threats to a woman’s life or health.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Let’s focus on life and health. Should something like HB 2746 pass, states that have newly banned abortion are giving Kansas hints of its future.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Most state abortion bans offer some vague exception for a woman’s life, though sometimes not her health in non-fatal situations. Doctors and hospitals in many states are voicing concerns in media reports that they are unsure how to navigate the intentionally vague language of these exceptions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Specifically, doctors are often unsure if they can legally provide emergency abortions in many cases, even when they feel women have clear health needs. Violating these new abortion bans carries penalties up to life in prison in some states, so it’s understandable that doctors who fear prosecution are denying or delaying medical care to women.&nbsp;

Let’s identify some scenarios where it’s often uncertain whether abortion is allowed under vague life or health exceptions:&nbsp;

If a woman develops a serious condition where her chance of dying is under fifty percent or not quantifiable, is that “life-threatening” enough?&nbsp;

If a woman discovers cancer but it won’t immediately kill her, should government require her to delay chemotherapy?&nbsp;

Since many states explicitly require health threats to be physical, what about women experiencing severe mental health crises?&nbsp;

If a pregnancy will likely result in stillbirth or a quick death for the fetus, should government require women to endure the mental and physical effects of continuing with that pregnancy?&nbsp;&nbsp;

What about high risk of cardiac failure but symptoms haven’t yet manifested? Pre-eclampsia? Placenta accreta?&nbsp;

Responding to confusion among doctors, President Biden recently issued Executive Order 14076. It reminds medical providers of their obligation to provide emergency care—including emergency abortions—under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986. Texas has filed a lawsuit challenging that emergency care obligation, and federal courts have yet to rule.&nbsp;

Kansas already bans abortion after 22 weeks. If conservatives ban abortion before that point and if they allow health or life exemptions, then like any new government regulation, it takes time and—ultimately—testing the law to learn how government is implementing it.&nbsp;

Under a ban, if Kansas doctors perform emergency abortions under a life or health exemption and if the government does not prosecute them or their female patients, then doctors may get comfortable performing emergency abortions they feel are warranted. But as that process evolves, women can expect delayed or denied care—and likely riskier pregnancies—while doctors navigate the new regulations.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575644168170.png" alt="Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas. " />
 <figcaption>Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas. </figcaption>
 </figure>Life and health exemptions to abortion bans are complex. With the legality of abortion effectively on the Aug. 2 ballot, Kansans should understand how looming government regulations might affect women’s health.&nbsp;If the abortion amendment passes, the Kansas legislature will likely ban all or most abortions soon. Conservatives have generally avoided talking about abortion bans during this campaign, instead opting for emotional arguments that often mislead voters about threats to current abortion regulations and what types of abortions are actually occurring here.&nbsp;But recently, conservatives have started going off script. Most notably, the&nbsp;Kansas Reflector&nbsp;reported on comments from conservative legislators and an activist group staffer about House Bill (HB) 2746.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HB 2746 was introduced in the Kansas legislature this year. It banned abortion except in limited circumstances, with no exception for rape, incest, or many threats to a woman’s life or health.&nbsp;&nbsp;Let’s focus on life and health. Should something like HB 2746 pass, states that have newly banned abortion are giving Kansas hints of its future.&nbsp;&nbsp;Most state abortion bans offer some vague exception for a woman’s life, though sometimes not her health in non-fatal situations. Doctors and hospitals in many states are voicing concerns in media reports that they are unsure how to navigate the intentionally vague language of these exceptions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Specifically, doctors are often unsure if they can legally provide emergency abortions in many cases, even when they feel women have clear health needs. Violating these new abortion bans carries penalties up to life in prison in some states, so it’s understandable that doctors who fear prosecution are denying or delaying medical care to women.&nbsp;Let’s identify some scenarios where it’s often uncertain whether abortion is allowed under vague life or health exceptions:&nbsp;If a woman develops a serious condition where her chance of dying is under fifty percent or not quantifiable, is that “life-threatening” enough?&nbsp;If a woman discovers cancer but it won’t immediately kill her, should government require her to delay chemotherapy?&nbsp;Since many states explicitly require health threats to be physical, what about women experiencing severe mental health crises?&nbsp;If a pregnancy will likely result in stillbirth or a quick death for the fetus, should government require women to endure the mental and physical effects of continuing with that pregnancy?&nbsp;&nbsp;What about high risk of cardiac failure but symptoms haven’t yet manifested? Pre-eclampsia? Placenta accreta?&nbsp;Responding to confusion among doctors, President Biden recently issued Executive Order 14076. It reminds medical providers of their obligation to provide emergency care—including emergency abortions—under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986. Texas has filed a lawsuit challenging that emergency care obligation, and federal courts have yet to rule.&nbsp;Kansas already bans abortion after 22 weeks. If conservatives ban abortion before that point and if they allow health or life exemptions, then like any new government regulation, it takes time and—ultimately—testing the law to learn how government is implementing it.&nbsp;Under a ban, if Kansas doctors perform emergency abortions under a life or health exemption and if the government does not prosecute them or their female patients, then doctors may get comfortable performing emergency abortions they feel are warranted. But as that process evolves, women can expect delayed or denied care—and likely riskier pregnancies—while doctors navigate the new regulations.&nbsp;&nbsp;Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

INSIGHT KANSAS: Complexity of life, health exemptions to abortion bans 

🎥 Green & Growing: Area gardens

<a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast click here.</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659130232400.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast click here.</a>

Three-day weather outlook

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;

Do those events sound like items on the calendar at your local grocery store? They might not be what one would expect, but those are examples of creative events that one rural grocery store is using to expand and engage its customer base.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Marilyn Logan is general manager of The Marmaton Market in Moran, a rural Allen County community of 466 people – but there’s more. Marilyn grew up in the Crawford County community of Walnut, Kansas, population 187 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

“My dad taught us a good work ethic,” Logan said. She earned a degree in business with a minor in accounting and worked for years as an accountant and auditor. She raised four sons and is now widowed. She has 15 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.&nbsp;

Marilyn moved back to southeast Kansas in 2016. “I like little towns,” Logan said. She serves on several local volunteer boards such as the Iola Public Library, Iola Housing Authority, Allen County GROW and SEKCAP.&nbsp;

In Moran, the local grocery store owners were wanting to retire. In 2018, the store was purchased by a group of citizens who formed what Logan called a for-profit semi-cooperative. She served on the board. They named the store The Marmaton Market.&nbsp;

“The first thing we did was take everything down to the bare walls,” Logan said. They added LED lighting, remodeled and restocked the store. By December 2019, the store was struggling financially again. Logan took over as general manager.&nbsp;

“I don’t know anything about groceries but I do know something about business,” she said. “I try to think of innovative ways to bring customers in and keep them happy. I have a wonderful Board of Directors that has been very supportive of the ideas I bring to them.”&nbsp;

Today, The Marmaton Market is a full-line grocery store that also offers health, beauty and cleaning items. Logan seeks local meat and produce as much as possible. “In my store, you can get everything you need to prepare a full, healthy meal,” she said.&nbsp;

She launched several creative ideas to grow business in the store. One was a more aggressive use of social media, specifically Facebook.&nbsp;

“I post each day,” Logan said. Each week she does what she calls Trivia Tuesday when she posts fun and educational trivia questions in addition to ads and sale items. She started holding contests for kids’ coloring pages and offering member-only sales plus drawings for holiday gifts.&nbsp;

Customers have the option to sign up to get sale ads emailed to them in advance.&nbsp;&nbsp;Supplies are provided to local food pantries at a discount.&nbsp;

On the Second Saturday of each month, craft vendors are invited to display products inside the store. Lunches are prepared using in-store products and hoagie sandwiches are made up to go. When the school district stopped offering summer meals, Logan said, “We can do that.” A farmers market operates at the store twice a month.&nbsp;

“I like to think outside the box,” Logan said. “Or, maybe I don’t have a box. I try to learn something new every day.”&nbsp;

In 2022, she wrote a grant proposal with input from K-State’s Rural Grocery Initiative staff&nbsp;for a Healthy Food Financing Initiative grant that will enable installation of a commercial kitchen for use by local food entrepreneurs.&nbsp;

During 2021 and 2022, she also wrote grants to various programs that allowed for the purchase of coolers, freezers, and a new HVAC system. Almost $250,000 has been generated through grants to upgrade The Marmaton Market and better serve customers.&nbsp;

“The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative and Rural Grocery Initiative have been a blessing to us,” Logan said.&nbsp;

For more information on the store, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.themarmatonmarketinc.com/">www.themarmatonmarketinc.com</a>.&nbsp;

Second Saturday. Trivia Tuesday. These are examples of creative ideas resulting from outside-the-box thinking by owners and managers of this store in rural Kansas. We salute Marilyn Logan and all those involved with The Marmaton Market for making a difference with commitment to their community and creativity in marketing.&nbsp;

It makes for a Compelling Calendar at a Successful Store.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658925682503.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;Second Saturday. Trivia Tuesday.&nbsp;Do those events sound like items on the calendar at your local grocery store? They might not be what one would expect, but those are examples of creative events that one rural grocery store is using to expand and engage its customer base.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Marilyn Logan is general manager of The Marmaton Market in Moran, a rural Allen County community of 466 people – but there’s more. Marilyn grew up in the Crawford County community of Walnut, Kansas, population 187 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;“My dad taught us a good work ethic,” Logan said. She earned a degree in business with a minor in accounting and worked for years as an accountant and auditor. She raised four sons and is now widowed. She has 15 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.&nbsp;Marilyn moved back to southeast Kansas in 2016. “I like little towns,” Logan said. She serves on several local volunteer boards such as the Iola Public Library, Iola Housing Authority, Allen County GROW and SEKCAP.&nbsp;In Moran, the local grocery store owners were wanting to retire. In 2018, the store was purchased by a group of citizens who formed what Logan called a for-profit semi-cooperative. She served on the board. They named the store The Marmaton Market.&nbsp;“The first thing we did was take everything down to the bare walls,” Logan said. They added LED lighting, remodeled and restocked the store. By December 2019, the store was struggling financially again. Logan took over as general manager.&nbsp;“I don’t know anything about groceries but I do know something about business,” she said. “I try to think of innovative ways to bring customers in and keep them happy. I have a wonderful Board of Directors that has been very supportive of the ideas I bring to them.”&nbsp;Today, The Marmaton Market is a full-line grocery store that also offers health, beauty and cleaning items. Logan seeks local meat and produce as much as possible. “In my store, you can get everything you need to prepare a full, healthy meal,” she said.&nbsp;She launched several creative ideas to grow business in the store. One was a more aggressive use of social media, specifically Facebook.&nbsp;“I post each day,” Logan said. Each week she does what she calls Trivia Tuesday when she posts fun and educational trivia questions in addition to ads and sale items. She started holding contests for kids’ coloring pages and offering member-only sales plus drawings for holiday gifts.&nbsp;Customers have the option to sign up to get sale ads emailed to them in advance.&nbsp;&nbsp;Supplies are provided to local food pantries at a discount.&nbsp;On the Second Saturday of each month, craft vendors are invited to display products inside the store. Lunches are prepared using in-store products and hoagie sandwiches are made up to go. When the school district stopped offering summer meals, Logan said, “We can do that.” A farmers market operates at the store twice a month.&nbsp;“I like to think outside the box,” Logan said. “Or, maybe I don’t have a box. I try to learn something new every day.”&nbsp;In 2022, she wrote a grant proposal with input from K-State’s Rural Grocery Initiative staff&nbsp;for a Healthy Food Financing Initiative grant that will enable installation of a commercial kitchen for use by local food entrepreneurs.&nbsp;During 2021 and 2022, she also wrote grants to various programs that allowed for the purchase of coolers, freezers, and a new HVAC system. Almost $250,000 has been generated through grants to upgrade The Marmaton Market and better serve customers.&nbsp;“The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative and Rural Grocery Initiative have been a blessing to us,” Logan said.&nbsp;For more information on the store, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.themarmatonmarketinc.com/">www.themarmatonmarketinc.com</a>.&nbsp;Second Saturday. Trivia Tuesday. These are examples of creative ideas resulting from outside-the-box thinking by owners and managers of this store in rural Kansas. We salute Marilyn Logan and all those involved with The Marmaton Market for making a difference with commitment to their community and creativity in marketing.&nbsp;It makes for a Compelling Calendar at a Successful Store.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Marilyn Logan, Marmaton Market 

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Fire Department Deputy Chief Shane Preston stops by to share safety tips for the school year.

<div><iframe title="Help keep school age children safe with these tips" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=9wncy-12870d2-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&logo_link=podcast_page&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Fire Department Deputy Chief Shane Preston stops by to share safety tips for the school year. <a href="https://postpodcast.podbean.com/">For more about the Post Podcast, including a full list of episodes and episode transcripts click here.</a>

🎙Post Podcast: Help keep school age children safe with these tips

By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2022-07-08/how-an-increasingly-brutal-kansas-climate-threatens-cattles-health-and-ranchers-livelihoods">Kansas News Service</a>

As Kansans prepare to vote on the future of abortion, rural western Kansas offers a preview of what life with an abortion ban might eventually look like for the rest of the state.

HAYS, Kansas —&nbsp;The westernmost abortion provider in Kansas sits in the eastern half of the state — in Wichita. So for someone in Hays or Dodge City, it takes more than two and a half hours to drive to the nearest clinic.

For Kansans who live farther west, the closest place to get an abortion is hundreds of miles away in another state.

A clinic near Denver is the nearest option for people in Colby and Oberlin. For those in Leoti and Syracuse, it’s one in Colorado Springs. The town of Elkhart in southwest Kansas is just about as far from a clinic in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as it is from the one in Wichita.

“There are people in western Kansas who are sort of already living in this post-Roe reality,” said Jack Teter, regional director of governmental affairs for Planned Parenthood in Colorado. “Abortion might be legal in Kansas, but that doesn't mean it’s accessible.”

Even before Kansans decide the future of the state’s abortion rights with Tuesday’s constitutional amendment vote, tens of thousands of western Kansans already live in a world that pro-abortion rights advocates in eastern Kansas fear might be their future. And that far-from-a-clinic reality might offer a glimpse into how the vote could change life in places like Kansas City or Lawrence.

<a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-rocky-mountains" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains</a>, which operates those locations in Colorado Springs and Denver, already treats patients who travel there from Kansas — 33 of them came last year — even though abortion is legal in both states.

Based on the recent surge of patients coming to Colorado from other states with abortion bans, such as Texas and Oklahoma, he expects that number to increase dramatically if Kansas follows those states’ lead.

“We’re not imagining what could happen,” Teter said. “We’re seeing it happen.”

For example, Planned Parenthood’s Colorado clinics saw roughly 400 patients from Texas in all of 2021. Now they’re getting 400 appointment requests from people in Texas every two weeks.

In total, the Colorado clinics had about 1,500 patients travel from other states last year. Over the past two weeks, however, roughly 500 out-of-state patients have scheduled appointments.

That puts the clinics on pace to receive requests from 13,000 out-of-state patients a year. That would be nearly nine times the number of out-of-state patients they saw last year.

Teter said the wait time to get an appointment with one of Planned Parenthood’s Colorado clinics has historically been two or three days. Now it’s three weeks.

“It’s not sustainable,” Teter said. “It becomes even less sustainable if Kansas votes yes on this ballot measure.”

Kansas abortion providers have recently seen their own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-07-07/the-end-of-roe-has-yet-to-draw-even-more-women-to-kansas-for-abortions" target="_blank">flood of patients</a>&nbsp;from other states, such as Oklahoma and Texas. So if abortion becomes illegal in Kansas — even if the amendment passes, lawmakers would still need to pass new restrictions — more of those patients from neighboring areas will turn to Colorado.

The Colorado clinics plan to meet that increasing need, Teter said, whether that means hiring more staff or having staff work longer hours. He said Planned Parenthood will also continue to help pay for gas, hotels and appointment costs for out-of-state patients who can’t afford to travel.

But as more and more states in the middle of the country ban abortion, it creates a domino effect that compounds the barriers people in places like western Kansas already face, according to Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/" target="_blank">Guttmacher Institute</a>, a research group that supports abortion rights.

“It's a big ripple effect … every time a state bans abortion,” Nash said. “It increases the distance and it shrinks the number of clinics, which increases delay.”

If Kansas makes abortion illegal, the next closest providers for people in Kansas City and Topeka would be in Nebraska and Iowa.

But Nash doesn’t consider those states long-term abortion refuges. She said both could implement their own bans in the coming months, perhaps even before the time a potential Kansas ban might go into effect.

That means someone in Lawrence could face a longer drive to get an abortion than someone in Colby or Leoti — the nearest clinic to Lawrence would be more than four hours away in Illinois.

For someone in Wichita, the closest option would be a six-and-a-half-hour drive to that same Illinois clinic.

And based on what Nash has seen in other states, that’s what she anticipates will happen in Kansas if the amendment passes.

Alabama&nbsp;<a href="https://www.al.com/news/2018/11/alabama-passes-anti-abortion-amendment.html" target="_blank">approved</a>&nbsp;a similar constitutional amendment in 2018 and passed an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/05/14/723312937/alabama-lawmakers-passes-abortion-ban" target="_blank">abortion ban</a>&nbsp;the following year. In Tennessee, an amendment that&nbsp;<a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/05/04/in-tennessee-roots-of-expected-ban-on-abortion-date-20-years-back/" target="_blank">passed in 2014</a>&nbsp;set the stage for the state’s abortion ban that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2022/07/26/tennessee-abortion-trigger-law-ban-2022-expected-august/10061093002/" target="_blank">goes into effect</a>&nbsp;in a few weeks.

A potential ban in Kansas, Nash said, would also disproportionately harm Black women — who are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-23/u-s-black-maternal-mortality-rate-triple-that-of-white-hispanic-women-in-2020" target="_blank">three times</a>&nbsp;more likely to die during pregnancy than white women — and people living in poverty. Roughly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/infographic/2016/abortion-patients-are-disproportionately-poor-and-low-income" target="_blank">three of every four</a>&nbsp;Americans who seek an abortion are considered low-income.

“What happens is that in states that have abortion bans,” Nash said, “those who are wealthier and whiter and have more resources go to another state, even if it's three states away.”

On a sweltering July Saturday, dozens of abortion rights advocates line the busiest intersection in Hays holding homemade signs. Between the group’s chants, the sounds of encouraging honks — and of engines revving in disapproval — illustrate the sharp divide on this issue.

Hays resident Tracie Baalman sits behind the main line of protestors next to the sidewalk. In one hand, she holds an umbrella to shade herself from the sun. In the other, she grasps a piece of cardboard painted with the words “Keep your laws off my uterus.”

The amendment vote is a life-or-death matter for her, she said, since spinal and blood clotting disorders could make pregnancy fatal.

“If it got to the point where it was me or the baby, I would have to choose myself,” Baalman said. “If abortion was illegal, how could I do that?”

Like everyone else in western Kansas, she would already need to travel hours to the nearest Kansas clinic. If abortion becomes illegal statewide, she’s afraid of what that could mean, especially for women without much money.

“I make less than $400 a month. There's no way I could travel (out of state) to get a legal abortion,” Baalman said. “I couldn’t afford to travel. So I would die.”

Western Kansans advocating against the amendment, however, face an uphill battle.

Western Kansas is a predominantly conservative region — 70% of voters in Ellis County, where Hays is located, chose Donald Trump in 2020. And the influence of the local Catholic church — the region’s two&nbsp;<a href="https://salinadiocese.org/news-and-updates/value-them-both-message-from-bishop-vincke/" target="_blank">dioceses</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dcdiocese.org/bulletin-corner/56392-value-them-both-amendment" target="_blank">endorsed</a>&nbsp;the amendment — is strong both among the descendants of Volga German immigrants in northwest Kansas and Latino communities in southwest Kansas.

And proponents of the constitutional amendment, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://valuethemboth.com/" target="_blank">Value Them Both</a>&nbsp;coalition, contend that it’s needed to restore limits on abortion that were struck down by the Kansas Supreme Court when it ruled in 2019 that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/2019-04-26/kansas-supreme-court-rules-state-constitution-protects-right-to-abortion" target="_blank">the state constitution includes abortion rights</a>.

Without the amendment, the coalition’s website warns Kansas could “become like New York or California” and use tax dollars to fund late-term abortions.

Current Kansas laws, however, do&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2022-07-22/faq-getting-the-facts-right-on-the-kansas-abortion-vote" target="_blank">regulate abortions</a>&nbsp;in a number of ways. Abortions are prohibited in Kansas after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless the patient’s health is in danger. Patients must receive an ultrasound and pre-procedure counseling followed by a 24-hour waiting period. No public funding goes to abortions except in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening emergencies.

A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://coefficient.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/KS-VTB-Amendment-7.18.pdf" target="_blank">statewide poll</a>&nbsp;indicates that the amendment vote will be close, with 47% of Kansans saying they plan to vote to remove abortion rights from the state constitution and 43% saying they plan to vote against it.

But the part of the state with the most support for the amendment is western Kansas — 52% of respondents from the region’s congressional district said they plan to vote in favor of it.

Even so, abortion rights advocates in this part of the state vow to do what they can to help rural patients who want to access those services.

<a href="https://help4abuse.org/" target="_blank">Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services</a>, for example, is the only organization that provides around-the-clock sexual violence care for an 18-county region in northwest Kansas that’s roughly the size of Maryland and New Jersey combined. So, many of its patients face long travel times just to get a medical exam after a sexual assault, let alone an abortion.

Executive director Jennifer Hecker said the amendment would open the door to legislation that criminalizes abortions even in cases of rape and incest.

“That’s unconscionable,” Hecker said. “And that’s the reality that we’re facing.”

She said Options plans to continue helping patients get any health care services they request — including emergency contraception and abortion — regardless of whether or not they have the money to travel.

Even if that means driving a patient more than two hours to Wichita or five hours to Denver.

Options doesn’t keep track of how many patients it connects with emergency contraception or abortion services, she said, because the staff purposefully doesn’t ask patients why they need to go to a pharmacy or clinic. And she’s worried that additional state abortion restrictions could end up forcing women to answer those types of questions as a way of gatekeeping health care.

But regardless of the outcome of the Aug. 2 vote, she said Options doesn’t plan to stop offering to drive patients to health care appointments — no matter which state they’re in — anytime soon.

<figure>
 <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5e1df8c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3881x2842+0+0/resize/880x644!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0f%2F63%2F20ec23034641bfa27f3e8318a405%2Fimg-4557-crop.jpg" alt="Dozens of people gather in the northwest Kansas town of Hays to protest against the amendment that would remove abortion rights protections from the state constitution-David Condos/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Dozens of people gather in the northwest Kansas town of Hays to protest against the amendment that would remove abortion rights protections from the state constitution-David Condos/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2022-07-08/how-an-increasingly-brutal-kansas-climate-threatens-cattles-health-and-ranchers-livelihoods">Kansas News Service</a><h2>As Kansans prepare to vote on the future of abortion, rural western Kansas offers a preview of what life with an abortion ban might eventually look like for the rest of the state.</h2>HAYS, Kansas —&nbsp;The westernmost abortion provider in Kansas sits in the eastern half of the state — in Wichita. So for someone in Hays or Dodge City, it takes more than two and a half hours to drive to the nearest clinic.For Kansans who live farther west, the closest place to get an abortion is hundreds of miles away in another state.A clinic near Denver is the nearest option for people in Colby and Oberlin. For those in Leoti and Syracuse, it’s one in Colorado Springs. The town of Elkhart in southwest Kansas is just about as far from a clinic in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as it is from the one in Wichita.“There are people in western Kansas who are sort of already living in this post-Roe reality,” said Jack Teter, regional director of governmental affairs for Planned Parenthood in Colorado. “Abortion might be legal in Kansas, but that doesn't mean it’s accessible.”Even before Kansans decide the future of the state’s abortion rights with Tuesday’s constitutional amendment vote, tens of thousands of western Kansans already live in a world that pro-abortion rights advocates in eastern Kansas fear might be their future. And that far-from-a-clinic reality might offer a glimpse into how the vote could change life in places like Kansas City or Lawrence.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1659139116792.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-rocky-mountains" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains</a>, which operates those locations in Colorado Springs and Denver, already treats patients who travel there from Kansas — 33 of them came last year — even though abortion is legal in both states.Based on the recent surge of patients coming to Colorado from other states with abortion bans, such as Texas and Oklahoma, he expects that number to increase dramatically if Kansas follows those states’ lead.“We’re not imagining what could happen,” Teter said. “We’re seeing it happen.”For example, Planned Parenthood’s Colorado clinics saw roughly 400 patients from Texas in all of 2021. Now they’re getting 400 appointment requests from people in Texas every two weeks.In total, the Colorado clinics had about 1,500 patients travel from other states last year. Over the past two weeks, however, roughly 500 out-of-state patients have scheduled appointments.That puts the clinics on pace to receive requests from 13,000 out-of-state patients a year. That would be nearly nine times the number of out-of-state patients they saw last year.Teter said the wait time to get an appointment with one of Planned Parenthood’s Colorado clinics has historically been two or three days. Now it’s three weeks.“It’s not sustainable,” Teter said. “It becomes even less sustainable if Kansas votes yes on this ballot measure.”The domino effectKansas abortion providers have recently seen their own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-07-07/the-end-of-roe-has-yet-to-draw-even-more-women-to-kansas-for-abortions" target="_blank">flood of patients</a>&nbsp;from other states, such as Oklahoma and Texas. So if abortion becomes illegal in Kansas — even if the amendment passes, lawmakers would still need to pass new restrictions — more of those patients from neighboring areas will turn to Colorado.The Colorado clinics plan to meet that increasing need, Teter said, whether that means hiring more staff or having staff work longer hours. He said Planned Parenthood will also continue to help pay for gas, hotels and appointment costs for out-of-state patients who can’t afford to travel.But as more and more states in the middle of the country ban abortion, it creates a domino effect that compounds the barriers people in places like western Kansas already face, according to Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/" target="_blank">Guttmacher Institute</a>, a research group that supports abortion rights.“It's a big ripple effect … every time a state bans abortion,” Nash said. “It increases the distance and it shrinks the number of clinics, which increases delay.”<figure>
 <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/67b0602/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc7%2Fd0%2F68ba957b4b2ab048a1a535c8d26f%2Fimg-4580-crop.jpg" alt="A sign painted to protest the constitutional amendment that would remove abortion protections from the constitution sits in a yard in Hays-David Condos/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>A sign painted to protest the constitutional amendment that would remove abortion protections from the constitution sits in a yard in Hays-David Condos/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>If Kansas makes abortion illegal, the next closest providers for people in Kansas City and Topeka would be in Nebraska and Iowa.But Nash doesn’t consider those states long-term abortion refuges. She said both could implement their own bans in the coming months, perhaps even before the time a potential Kansas ban might go into effect.That means someone in Lawrence could face a longer drive to get an abortion than someone in Colby or Leoti — the nearest clinic to Lawrence would be more than four hours away in Illinois.For someone in Wichita, the closest option would be a six-and-a-half-hour drive to that same Illinois clinic.And based on what Nash has seen in other states, that’s what she anticipates will happen in Kansas if the amendment passes.Alabama&nbsp;<a href="https://www.al.com/news/2018/11/alabama-passes-anti-abortion-amendment.html" target="_blank">approved</a>&nbsp;a similar constitutional amendment in 2018 and passed an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/05/14/723312937/alabama-lawmakers-passes-abortion-ban" target="_blank">abortion ban</a>&nbsp;the following year. In Tennessee, an amendment that&nbsp;<a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/05/04/in-tennessee-roots-of-expected-ban-on-abortion-date-20-years-back/" target="_blank">passed in 2014</a>&nbsp;set the stage for the state’s abortion ban that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2022/07/26/tennessee-abortion-trigger-law-ban-2022-expected-august/10061093002/" target="_blank">goes into effect</a>&nbsp;in a few weeks.A potential ban in Kansas, Nash said, would also disproportionately harm Black women — who are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-23/u-s-black-maternal-mortality-rate-triple-that-of-white-hispanic-women-in-2020" target="_blank">three times</a>&nbsp;more likely to die during pregnancy than white women — and people living in poverty. Roughly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/infographic/2016/abortion-patients-are-disproportionately-poor-and-low-income" target="_blank">three of every four</a>&nbsp;Americans who seek an abortion are considered low-income.“What happens is that in states that have abortion bans,” Nash said, “those who are wealthier and whiter and have more resources go to another state, even if it's three states away.”<figure>
 <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ec1a7b7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F31%2F27d4961b4d398025c4b3c479c7d9%2Fimg-4508-crop.jpg" alt="Tracie Baalman said she's afraid of what an abortion ban might mean for women with serious health risks and low incomes. “I couldn’t afford to travel," she said. "So I would die.”-David Condos/Kansas News" />
 <figcaption>Tracie Baalman said she's afraid of what an abortion ban might mean for women with serious health risks and low incomes. “I couldn’t afford to travel," she said. "So I would die.”-David Condos/Kansas News</figcaption>
 </figure>‘Not going to buckle’On a sweltering July Saturday, dozens of abortion rights advocates line the busiest intersection in Hays holding homemade signs. Between the group’s chants, the sounds of encouraging honks — and of engines revving in disapproval — illustrate the sharp divide on this issue.Hays resident Tracie Baalman sits behind the main line of protestors next to the sidewalk. In one hand, she holds an umbrella to shade herself from the sun. In the other, she grasps a piece of cardboard painted with the words “Keep your laws off my uterus.”The amendment vote is a life-or-death matter for her, she said, since spinal and blood clotting disorders could make pregnancy fatal.“If it got to the point where it was me or the baby, I would have to choose myself,” Baalman said. “If abortion was illegal, how could I do that?”Like everyone else in western Kansas, she would already need to travel hours to the nearest Kansas clinic. If abortion becomes illegal statewide, she’s afraid of what that could mean, especially for women without much money.“I make less than $400 a month. There's no way I could travel (out of state) to get a legal abortion,” Baalman said. “I couldn’t afford to travel. So I would die.”Western Kansans advocating against the amendment, however, face an uphill battle.Western Kansas is a predominantly conservative region — 70% of voters in Ellis County, where Hays is located, chose Donald Trump in 2020. And the influence of the local Catholic church — the region’s two&nbsp;<a href="https://salinadiocese.org/news-and-updates/value-them-both-message-from-bishop-vincke/" target="_blank">dioceses</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dcdiocese.org/bulletin-corner/56392-value-them-both-amendment" target="_blank">endorsed</a>&nbsp;the amendment — is strong both among the descendants of Volga German immigrants in northwest Kansas and Latino communities in southwest Kansas.<figure>
 <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d0eec61/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fea%2F6a%2Fdcb0e0dc4bd68ab0206a4ce5b7bb%2Fimg-4667-2.JPG" alt="A permanent sign along K-156 in Hodgeman County is one of many along rural western Kansas highways that call for an end to abortion.-David Condos/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>A permanent sign along K-156 in Hodgeman County is one of many along rural western Kansas highways that call for an end to abortion.-David Condos/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>And proponents of the constitutional amendment, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://valuethemboth.com/" target="_blank">Value Them Both</a>&nbsp;coalition, contend that it’s needed to restore limits on abortion that were struck down by the Kansas Supreme Court when it ruled in 2019 that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/2019-04-26/kansas-supreme-court-rules-state-constitution-protects-right-to-abortion" target="_blank">the state constitution includes abortion rights</a>.Without the amendment, the coalition’s website warns Kansas could “become like New York or California” and use tax dollars to fund late-term abortions.Current Kansas laws, however, do&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2022-07-22/faq-getting-the-facts-right-on-the-kansas-abortion-vote" target="_blank">regulate abortions</a>&nbsp;in a number of ways. Abortions are prohibited in Kansas after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless the patient’s health is in danger. Patients must receive an ultrasound and pre-procedure counseling followed by a 24-hour waiting period. No public funding goes to abortions except in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening emergencies.A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://coefficient.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/KS-VTB-Amendment-7.18.pdf" target="_blank">statewide poll</a>&nbsp;indicates that the amendment vote will be close, with 47% of Kansans saying they plan to vote to remove abortion rights from the state constitution and 43% saying they plan to vote against it.But the part of the state with the most support for the amendment is western Kansas — 52% of respondents from the region’s congressional district said they plan to vote in favor of it.<figure>
 <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7dbe97a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3608x2528+0+0/resize/880x617!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2Fec%2F08697a384147ad7669b22fade665%2Fimg-4452.jpg" alt="Proponents of the constitutional amendment walk along a parade route in Hays.-David Condos/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Proponents of the constitutional amendment walk along a parade route in Hays.-David Condos/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Even so, abortion rights advocates in this part of the state vow to do what they can to help rural patients who want to access those services.<a href="https://help4abuse.org/" target="_blank">Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services</a>, for example, is the only organization that provides around-the-clock sexual violence care for an 18-county region in northwest Kansas that’s roughly the size of Maryland and New Jersey combined. So, many of its patients face long travel times just to get a medical exam after a sexual assault, let alone an abortion.Executive director Jennifer Hecker said the amendment would open the door to legislation that criminalizes abortions even in cases of rape and incest.“That’s unconscionable,” Hecker said. “And that’s the reality that we’re facing.”She said Options plans to continue helping patients get any health care services they request — including emergency contraception and abortion — regardless of whether or not they have the money to travel.Even if that means driving a patient more than two hours to Wichita or five hours to Denver.Options doesn’t keep track of how many patients it connects with emergency contraception or abortion services, she said, because the staff purposefully doesn’t ask patients why they need to go to a pharmacy or clinic. And she’s worried that additional state abortion restrictions could end up forcing women to answer those types of questions as a way of gatekeeping health care.But regardless of the outcome of the Aug. 2 vote, she said Options doesn’t plan to stop offering to drive patients to health care appointments — no matter which state they’re in — anytime soon.“There would be pressure to,” Hecker said, “but I'm not going to buckle to it.”David Condos covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter<a href="http://twitter.com/davidcondos" target="_blank">&nbsp;@davidcondos</a>.

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