Thanksgiving’s&nbsp;turkey, dressing, casseroles, and pie are now leftovers, and I’ll&nbsp;soon&nbsp;traipse downstairs&nbsp;to&nbsp;decide&nbsp;what Christmas&nbsp;baubles&nbsp;make&nbsp;this year’s decorating cut. Thinking about the tree, boxes of ornaments and lights,&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;snowmen and Santas that&nbsp;create&nbsp;December’s festive mood&nbsp;triggered&nbsp;memories of&nbsp;pouring through the&nbsp;Christmas&nbsp;Catalogue. It would surprise our grandkids to learn I recollect the hours spent exploring that Sear’s Wish Book&nbsp;more than I remember&nbsp;actual gifts.&nbsp;

Our grands scope out the internet&nbsp;and&nbsp;TV&nbsp;to see what they want to add to their Christmas lists. While exciting,&nbsp;electronic devices&nbsp;can’t&nbsp;possibly&nbsp;offer&nbsp;the&nbsp;anticipation&nbsp;we felt&nbsp;racing to finish chores and&nbsp;homework&nbsp;so&nbsp;we could&nbsp;bury our noses in that&nbsp;magical&nbsp;book of dreams. It’s a good thing my family didn’t have an outhouse that&nbsp;required&nbsp;a catalogue to provide wiping paper because&nbsp;my brother and I&nbsp;wore&nbsp;our annual wish&nbsp;book’s pages&nbsp;thin. We spent&nbsp;the month before Christmas salivating over&nbsp;toy guns, Roy Rogers’&nbsp;accessories, GI Joes, Barbies, Chatty Cathys, Easy Bake ovens, and art supply boxes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Our fingers wore trails down pages&nbsp;filled with&nbsp;our&nbsp;desires.&nbsp;We looked&nbsp;so often&nbsp;that&nbsp;the catalogue fell open to our favorites. If Santa&nbsp;doubted&nbsp;what to deliver on Christmas Eve, the catalogue cleared&nbsp;up&nbsp;any&nbsp;confusion.

Simpler&nbsp;Christmases reigned&nbsp;in the 50s and 60s. First&nbsp;of all, whether&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;store or catalogue, fewer choices&nbsp;existed to confuse us.&nbsp;Our TVs&nbsp;got one or two&nbsp;channels with advertisements to reveal the&nbsp;possibilities.&nbsp;Those&nbsp;turned off at midnight and didn’t restart til 8 the next morning.&nbsp;Our parents&nbsp;had&nbsp;no&nbsp;credit cards&nbsp;so they&nbsp;bought&nbsp;one toy that Santa delivered.&nbsp;

My family’s&nbsp;Christmas Eve custom required a drive around town to&nbsp;oooh and ahhh over&nbsp;other people’s&nbsp;lights and periodically&nbsp;open a&nbsp;window to listen for Santa’s sleigh bells.&nbsp;My dad always&nbsp;required&nbsp;an emergency bathroom run right after we&nbsp;loaded&nbsp;the car so&nbsp;waiting for his return offered&nbsp;time to imagine hearing&nbsp;tinkling&nbsp;bells.&nbsp;We&nbsp;loved that&nbsp;dark drive filled with twinkling lights, but&nbsp;because of&nbsp;Dad’s long potty stop,&nbsp;we knew we’d missed catching Santa. Sure enough, we&nbsp;did every single year.&nbsp;We’d creep&nbsp;into the house&nbsp;to&nbsp;see he’d delivered our&nbsp;gifts&nbsp;and&nbsp;sampled cookies and milk left for him.&nbsp;

After&nbsp;that&nbsp;sensational build up, we opened&nbsp;our&nbsp;packages. Usually,&nbsp;I got&nbsp;a doll&nbsp;and my brother a cap&nbsp;pistol or rifle.&nbsp;Afterwards, we&nbsp;dug a&nbsp;brown paper bag filled with the prettiest hard Christmas candies,&nbsp;candy orange slices, an apple, and a handful of peanuts&nbsp;from our stockings.&nbsp;We gave our dad our peanuts,&nbsp;and we&nbsp;gobbled&nbsp;the candy.&nbsp;To this day, I&nbsp;love&nbsp;old-fashion Christmas&nbsp;sweets.

A big present&nbsp;showed up&nbsp;the years&nbsp;we each turned eight. For Christmas during third grade, Santa delivered a new bike. I learned as an adult this meant dad had sold&nbsp;a&nbsp;gun so he could buy&nbsp;those shiny Schwinns. &nbsp;

I’ve seen pictures of living rooms stacked with so many presents for each family member that gift opening takes&nbsp;hours. Looking back, I’m glad our drive around town looking at other families’&nbsp;lights and listening for&nbsp;sleigh&nbsp;bells occupied our time.&nbsp;Recollecting the&nbsp;anticipation as we&nbsp;wore out&nbsp;the&nbsp;Wish&nbsp;Book and&nbsp;tried to catch Santa delivering that&nbsp;simple gift leaves&nbsp;me&nbsp;nostalgic&nbsp;for&nbsp;that time&nbsp;when less was more.

Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658158605319.jpeg" alt="Karen Madorin" />
 <figcaption>Karen Madorin</figcaption>
 </figure>By KAREN MADORINThanksgiving’s&nbsp;turkey, dressing, casseroles, and pie are now leftovers, and I’ll&nbsp;soon&nbsp;traipse downstairs&nbsp;to&nbsp;decide&nbsp;what Christmas&nbsp;baubles&nbsp;make&nbsp;this year’s decorating cut. Thinking about the tree, boxes of ornaments and lights,&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;snowmen and Santas that&nbsp;create&nbsp;December’s festive mood&nbsp;triggered&nbsp;memories of&nbsp;pouring through the&nbsp;Christmas&nbsp;Catalogue. It would surprise our grandkids to learn I recollect the hours spent exploring that Sear’s Wish Book&nbsp;more than I remember&nbsp;actual gifts.&nbsp;Our grands scope out the internet&nbsp;and&nbsp;TV&nbsp;to see what they want to add to their Christmas lists. While exciting,&nbsp;electronic devices&nbsp;can’t&nbsp;possibly&nbsp;offer&nbsp;the&nbsp;anticipation&nbsp;we felt&nbsp;racing to finish chores and&nbsp;homework&nbsp;so&nbsp;we could&nbsp;bury our noses in that&nbsp;magical&nbsp;book of dreams. It’s a good thing my family didn’t have an outhouse that&nbsp;required&nbsp;a catalogue to provide wiping paper because&nbsp;my brother and I&nbsp;wore&nbsp;our annual wish&nbsp;book’s pages&nbsp;thin. We spent&nbsp;the month before Christmas salivating over&nbsp;toy guns, Roy Rogers’&nbsp;accessories, GI Joes, Barbies, Chatty Cathys, Easy Bake ovens, and art supply boxes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Our fingers wore trails down pages&nbsp;filled with&nbsp;our&nbsp;desires.&nbsp;We looked&nbsp;so often&nbsp;that&nbsp;the catalogue fell open to our favorites. If Santa&nbsp;doubted&nbsp;what to deliver on Christmas Eve, the catalogue cleared&nbsp;up&nbsp;any&nbsp;confusion.Simpler&nbsp;Christmases reigned&nbsp;in the 50s and 60s. First&nbsp;of all, whether&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;store or catalogue, fewer choices&nbsp;existed to confuse us.&nbsp;Our TVs&nbsp;got one or two&nbsp;channels with advertisements to reveal the&nbsp;possibilities.&nbsp;Those&nbsp;turned off at midnight and didn’t restart til 8 the next morning.&nbsp;Our parents&nbsp;had&nbsp;no&nbsp;credit cards&nbsp;so they&nbsp;bought&nbsp;one toy that Santa delivered.&nbsp;My family’s&nbsp;Christmas Eve custom required a drive around town to&nbsp;oooh and ahhh over&nbsp;other people’s&nbsp;lights and periodically&nbsp;open a&nbsp;window to listen for Santa’s sleigh bells.&nbsp;My dad always&nbsp;required&nbsp;an emergency bathroom run right after we&nbsp;loaded&nbsp;the car so&nbsp;waiting for his return offered&nbsp;time to imagine hearing&nbsp;tinkling&nbsp;bells.&nbsp;We&nbsp;loved that&nbsp;dark drive filled with twinkling lights, but&nbsp;because of&nbsp;Dad’s long potty stop,&nbsp;we knew we’d missed catching Santa. Sure enough, we&nbsp;did every single year.&nbsp;We’d creep&nbsp;into the house&nbsp;to&nbsp;see he’d delivered our&nbsp;gifts&nbsp;and&nbsp;sampled cookies and milk left for him.&nbsp;After&nbsp;that&nbsp;sensational build up, we opened&nbsp;our&nbsp;packages. Usually,&nbsp;I got&nbsp;a doll&nbsp;and my brother a cap&nbsp;pistol or rifle.&nbsp;Afterwards, we&nbsp;dug a&nbsp;brown paper bag filled with the prettiest hard Christmas candies,&nbsp;candy orange slices, an apple, and a handful of peanuts&nbsp;from our stockings.&nbsp;We gave our dad our peanuts,&nbsp;and we&nbsp;gobbled&nbsp;the candy.&nbsp;To this day, I&nbsp;love&nbsp;old-fashion Christmas&nbsp;sweets.A big present&nbsp;showed up&nbsp;the years&nbsp;we each turned eight. For Christmas during third grade, Santa delivered a new bike. I learned as an adult this meant dad had sold&nbsp;a&nbsp;gun so he could buy&nbsp;those shiny Schwinns. &nbsp;I’ve seen pictures of living rooms stacked with so many presents for each family member that gift opening takes&nbsp;hours. Looking back, I’m glad our drive around town looking at other families’&nbsp;lights and listening for&nbsp;sleigh&nbsp;bells occupied our time.&nbsp;Recollecting the&nbsp;anticipation as we&nbsp;wore out&nbsp;the&nbsp;Wish&nbsp;Book and&nbsp;tried to catch Santa delivering that&nbsp;simple gift leaves&nbsp;me&nbsp;nostalgic&nbsp;for&nbsp;that time&nbsp;when less was more.Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

MADORIN: A time when less was more

Last week was a week of reminiscing. First of all, all five of us siblings were able to get together for a few days, which rarely happens anymore since we are now located in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Secondly, my brother is selling his beautiful home and absolute whitetail-deer haven buried deep in the southern Ohio woods, and I got to spend a little time with him there.&nbsp;Thirdly, while we were there, my&nbsp;niece’s&nbsp;daughter harvested her first deer and my nephew’s daughter trapped her first raccoon.&nbsp;

Now the harvest of these two may not seem much like reminiscing, but it reminded me of how my siblings and I became hunters and trappers, and&nbsp;our&nbsp;nieces, nephews and&nbsp;their&nbsp;kids are the generations that will keep these traditions alive after we siblings have gone-on.

We began deer hunting where we grew up in central Ohio. Deer were hunted a little differently there at that time.&nbsp;We&nbsp;neighborhood deer hunters&nbsp;all had stands we sat in for the first couple days of deer gun season, then we would gather&nbsp;as a group&nbsp;to hunt in woods owned by us hunters. The only legal guns allowed for deer hunting then in Ohio were shotguns using slugs. We would drop off a couple hunters at one end of a woods, then the remainder of the group would walk in from the opposite side to push deer towards the shooters. Last week, my brother reminded me that the first time I took him along, I told him that when certain members of the group started shooting, just drop to the ground, cause when a deer was spotted, all bets were off. We often gathered in a&nbsp;neighbor’s&nbsp;kitchen early in the morning for coffee and hot chocolate, and&nbsp;inevitably, someone would spot a deer crossing the road nearby, and chairs would fly and coffee cups clatter as we headed out the door in an attempt to get ahead of the deer. As I recall, my brother harvested his first deer, on my farm no less, before me, and I believe I asked him where he thought he was going to hunt from then on. I have harvested my share of Kansas deer since moving here, but my brother&nbsp;was always&nbsp;the better deer hunter.

I started trapping in junior high after making friends with an older local trapper named&nbsp;Mr. Wolfe.&nbsp;A stream traveled the entire length of our property, continuing on for a few miles before winding its way back around to cross our land a second time. As I remember, Mr. Wolfe trapped that stream for years. When I was in my early teens, he began taking me along, and I was hooked on trapping. Mr. Wolfe drove an old 1950’s vintage dark green Ford car. I can still see him seated behind the wheel wearing hip boots and a big coat with lots of pockets, and wearing a pistol on his side. He’d pull into the drive, get out and open the trunk to show me what he had caught. The trunk would contain a mix of traps and stakes, muskrats, coons’ and an occasional mink. 

I remember feeling pretty pleased that this old man would take the time to stop and show me his catch.&nbsp;Eventually I put together a rag-tag collection of used traps and Mr. Wolfe let me begin trapping our stream.&nbsp;I caught a few muskrats and a couple coons before we moved to a larger farm my junior year of high school. We built a pond there, and when my brother stared tagging along on trap checks and got hooked on trapping himself, I gave him the pond to trap.&nbsp;Since moving to Kansas, I have harvested numerous coyotes, raccoons and a few bobcats. My brother still traps a little, and will try to catch a few coyotes at his new home in Tennessee.

Our family’s interest in hunting, trapping, fishing and the outdoors came from our grandfather (our mother’s father) who routinely hunted deer, turkeys and elk in Texas and Wyoming, and harvested a&nbsp;moose that is in the Boone and Crocket record book. Of us five siblings, my brother and I and one sister are deer and turkey hunters&nbsp;and / or trappers, and most of my&nbsp;siblings’&nbsp;kids are hunters and&nbsp;trappers and&nbsp;have passed&nbsp;that&nbsp;interest&nbsp;on to their kids too.&nbsp;

Yes, it was a week of reminiscing, and I think our grandfather would have approved of the ways&nbsp;our family&nbsp;has&nbsp;handed down his passions. The younger generations are the ones that must keep alive the love of the outdoors, so&nbsp;take a kid with you hunting, trapping or fishing as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>Last week was a week of reminiscing. First of all, all five of us siblings were able to get together for a few days, which rarely happens anymore since we are now located in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Secondly, my brother is selling his beautiful home and absolute whitetail-deer haven buried deep in the southern Ohio woods, and I got to spend a little time with him there.&nbsp;Thirdly, while we were there, my&nbsp;niece’s&nbsp;daughter harvested her first deer and my nephew’s daughter trapped her first raccoon.&nbsp;Now the harvest of these two may not seem much like reminiscing, but it reminded me of how my siblings and I became hunters and trappers, and&nbsp;our&nbsp;nieces, nephews and&nbsp;their&nbsp;kids are the generations that will keep these traditions alive after we siblings have gone-on.We began deer hunting where we grew up in central Ohio. Deer were hunted a little differently there at that time.&nbsp;We&nbsp;neighborhood deer hunters&nbsp;all had stands we sat in for the first couple days of deer gun season, then we would gather&nbsp;as a group&nbsp;to hunt in woods owned by us hunters. The only legal guns allowed for deer hunting then in Ohio were shotguns using slugs. We would drop off a couple hunters at one end of a woods, then the remainder of the group would walk in from the opposite side to push deer towards the shooters. Last week, my brother reminded me that the first time I took him along, I told him that when certain members of the group started shooting, just drop to the ground, cause when a deer was spotted, all bets were off. We often gathered in a&nbsp;neighbor’s&nbsp;kitchen early in the morning for coffee and hot chocolate, and&nbsp;inevitably, someone would spot a deer crossing the road nearby, and chairs would fly and coffee cups clatter as we headed out the door in an attempt to get ahead of the deer. As I recall, my brother harvested his first deer, on my farm no less, before me, and I believe I asked him where he thought he was going to hunt from then on. I have harvested my share of Kansas deer since moving here, but my brother&nbsp;was always&nbsp;the better deer hunter.I started trapping in junior high after making friends with an older local trapper named&nbsp;Mr. Wolfe.&nbsp;A stream traveled the entire length of our property, continuing on for a few miles before winding its way back around to cross our land a second time. As I remember, Mr. Wolfe trapped that stream for years. When I was in my early teens, he began taking me along, and I was hooked on trapping. Mr. Wolfe drove an old 1950’s vintage dark green Ford car. I can still see him seated behind the wheel wearing hip boots and a big coat with lots of pockets, and wearing a pistol on his side. He’d pull into the drive, get out and open the trunk to show me what he had caught. The trunk would contain a mix of traps and stakes, muskrats, coons’ and an occasional mink. I remember feeling pretty pleased that this old man would take the time to stop and show me his catch.&nbsp;Eventually I put together a rag-tag collection of used traps and Mr. Wolfe let me begin trapping our stream.&nbsp;I caught a few muskrats and a couple coons before we moved to a larger farm my junior year of high school. We built a pond there, and when my brother stared tagging along on trap checks and got hooked on trapping himself, I gave him the pond to trap.&nbsp;Since moving to Kansas, I have harvested numerous coyotes, raccoons and a few bobcats. My brother still traps a little, and will try to catch a few coyotes at his new home in Tennessee.Our family’s interest in hunting, trapping, fishing and the outdoors came from our grandfather (our mother’s father) who routinely hunted deer, turkeys and elk in Texas and Wyoming, and harvested a&nbsp;moose that is in the Boone and Crocket record book. Of us five siblings, my brother and I and one sister are deer and turkey hunters&nbsp;and / or trappers, and most of my&nbsp;siblings’&nbsp;kids are hunters and&nbsp;trappers and&nbsp;have passed&nbsp;that&nbsp;interest&nbsp;on to their kids too.&nbsp;Yes, it was a week of reminiscing, and I think our grandfather would have approved of the ways&nbsp;our family&nbsp;has&nbsp;handed down his passions. The younger generations are the ones that must keep alive the love of the outdoors, so&nbsp;take a kid with you hunting, trapping or fishing as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: A week of reminiscing

Voters in neighboring Missouri just legalized recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, Kansas remains in the minority of states where neither medical nor recreational marijuana are allowed.&nbsp;&nbsp;

It’s a symptom of dysfunctional democracy in Kansas that legislators haven’t updated our marijuana laws. Polling for years has shown that Kansans support legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana. Yes, recreational. Not just medical.&nbsp;&nbsp;

For example, the 2022 FOX News Voter Analysis survey showed that 63 percent of Kansas voters supported “legalizing the recreational use of marijuana nationwide,” including almost one-third of Kansans voting Republican for governor. It’s not just Democratic voters.&nbsp;

But, legislators don’t seem to care.&nbsp;

America is a democracy, which means “rule by the people.” However, democracy doesn’t look the same everywhere.&nbsp;

Every state has a “democratic republic” form of government (often just called a “republic”). In this system, elected state legislatures supposedly represent the public will in making laws.&nbsp;

Every state also has some form of “direct democracy” where the people vote directly on laws. In many states like Missouri, citizens can bypass legislators and put potential laws on the ballot themselves. But, Kansans don’t have that right. Instead, Kansans are only allowed to vote on constitutional amendments that the Kansas legislature itself puts on the ballot. In short, the legislature gatekeeps you—tightly.&nbsp;

Kansans this year rejected two of three amendments that legislators proposed: one to facilitate an abortion ban and another to make legislators more powerful. Your disobedience probably makes most legislators afraid of what you might do if you could pass laws yourselves, so they’ll likely never support giving you that power at the expense of their own.&nbsp;

In most states that have legalized recreational marijuana, citizens passed it themselves by using direct democracy to bypass politicians. How many politicians in these states publicly opposed recreational marijuana out of misperceived fear for their own reelections, but happily voted to legalize it on the privacy of their ballots? Or, were politicians so disconnected from citizens that these votes actually shocked them?&nbsp;

Whatever the politics elsewhere, it’s unlikely that recreational marijuana will be legal in Kansas soon. Our legislators haven’t even legalized medical marijuana for the sick and dying. And voters aren’t allowed to do it.&nbsp;

If elected officials had followed public opinion on marijuana years ago, Kansas could have been a regional leader on this issue. But, they didn’t. Instead, Kansas legislators skipped a ripe opportunity for economic growth, keeping the marijuana economy in the black market and sending Kansas dollars to grow Colorado’s economy.&nbsp;

Legalization supporters in Missouri this year explicitly argued that Missouri would benefit economically from Kansans crossing the state line to buy marijuana. Unless Kansas militarizes that border, nothing will practically stop Kansans from breaking the law by bringing marijuana from Missouri back into Kansas. And it’s potentially a big market. Half of Kansans live less than an hour’s drive from Missouri. The Missouri state budget says thank you to the Kansas legislature.&nbsp;

The majority of Americans don’t use marijuana themselves, but also don’t care much if others do in private. Whatever your opinion about marijuana, the fundamental reality here, like it or not, is that many Kansans enjoy marijuana and someone is profiting from that. That someone just isn’t our schools, roads, or economic growth. If democracy in Kansas functioned better, reality would look very different.&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>Voters in neighboring Missouri just legalized recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, Kansas remains in the minority of states where neither medical nor recreational marijuana are allowed.&nbsp;&nbsp;It’s a symptom of dysfunctional democracy in Kansas that legislators haven’t updated our marijuana laws. Polling for years has shown that Kansans support legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana. Yes, recreational. Not just medical.&nbsp;&nbsp;For example, the 2022 FOX News Voter Analysis survey showed that 63 percent of Kansas voters supported “legalizing the recreational use of marijuana nationwide,” including almost one-third of Kansans voting Republican for governor. It’s not just Democratic voters.&nbsp;But, legislators don’t seem to care.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>America is a democracy, which means “rule by the people.” However, democracy doesn’t look the same everywhere.&nbsp;Every state has a “democratic republic” form of government (often just called a “republic”). In this system, elected state legislatures supposedly represent the public will in making laws.&nbsp;Every state also has some form of “direct democracy” where the people vote directly on laws. In many states like Missouri, citizens can bypass legislators and put potential laws on the ballot themselves. But, Kansans don’t have that right. Instead, Kansans are only allowed to vote on constitutional amendments that the Kansas legislature itself puts on the ballot. In short, the legislature gatekeeps you—tightly.&nbsp;Kansans this year rejected two of three amendments that legislators proposed: one to facilitate an abortion ban and another to make legislators more powerful. Your disobedience probably makes most legislators afraid of what you might do if you could pass laws yourselves, so they’ll likely never support giving you that power at the expense of their own.&nbsp;In most states that have legalized recreational marijuana, citizens passed it themselves by using direct democracy to bypass politicians. How many politicians in these states publicly opposed recreational marijuana out of misperceived fear for their own reelections, but happily voted to legalize it on the privacy of their ballots? Or, were politicians so disconnected from citizens that these votes actually shocked them?&nbsp;Whatever the politics elsewhere, it’s unlikely that recreational marijuana will be legal in Kansas soon. Our legislators haven’t even legalized medical marijuana for the sick and dying. And voters aren’t allowed to do it.&nbsp;If elected officials had followed public opinion on marijuana years ago, Kansas could have been a regional leader on this issue. But, they didn’t. Instead, Kansas legislators skipped a ripe opportunity for economic growth, keeping the marijuana economy in the black market and sending Kansas dollars to grow Colorado’s economy.&nbsp;Legalization supporters in Missouri this year explicitly argued that Missouri would benefit economically from Kansans crossing the state line to buy marijuana. Unless Kansas militarizes that border, nothing will practically stop Kansans from breaking the law by bringing marijuana from Missouri back into Kansas. And it’s potentially a big market. Half of Kansans live less than an hour’s drive from Missouri. The Missouri state budget says thank you to the Kansas legislature.&nbsp;The majority of Americans don’t use marijuana themselves, but also don’t care much if others do in private. Whatever your opinion about marijuana, the fundamental reality here, like it or not, is that many Kansans enjoy marijuana and someone is profiting from that. That someone just isn’t our schools, roads, or economic growth. If democracy in Kansas functioned better, reality would look very different.&nbsp;Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

INSIGHT KANSAS: Outdated marijuana laws = stifled democracy?

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/25/for-kansas-city-area-fans-sports-wins-feel-inevitable-lets-appreciate-them/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Last Sunday night, I sat on the couch, a cocktail in hand, watching Chiefs
 quarterback Patrick Mahomes trot onto the field. Trailing the Los 
Angeles Chargers by four, Kansas City needed to drive 75 yards in the 
final 1:46 to score a touchdown. A field goal would not be enough.

I didn’t pace the room. I didn’t check the Chiefs’ win probability. 
Like so many other fans of Kansas City-area teams through the past 
decade, I waited for my team’s preordained win.

Supporting the region’s teams the past 10 years has been like that 
old video game, Frogger — only without the splat. We have scooted across
 the road, from the joy of one team to the championships of another.

As the Royals tanked, Sporting Kansas City topped their league. As 
Sporting faded, the Chiefs surged. When the Chiefs lost in the playoffs,
 the Jayhawks won in March Madness. If you are willing to abandon your 
ardent fandom of one descending team for the rise of another, the Kansas
 City area has been the place to be a fan.

My 13-year-old boy has really never known the darkness of living in a
 sports quagmire. Liberated by a day off school in 2015, he boarded a 
bus for downtown Kansas City to get a glimpse of the Royals’ World 
Series parade.

Four years later, we watched the Chiefs board double-decker buses for
 their own celebration. Sporting KC offered us a chance to see two 
players who represented the United States in the World Cup. Kansas City 
pro sports has offered him a glimmering local team at all times.

This year, he also traced the Jayhawks men’s basketball team on his 
bracket to the championship. The University of Kansas’ streak of 
dominance in Big 12 basketball bordered on absurdity during our last 
decade, and even before. Big 12 basketball teams can earn the regular 
season title, the conference tournament title or both. The Jayhawks have
 won or shared the regular season title 20 times. The other 11 teams? 
Only 11 titles combined. In the conference tournament, a format that 
much more easily bounces out superior teams through one bad result, the 
Jayhawks have still won nearly half.

(And who would have thought the 2022 football Jayhawks would execute this screeching U-turn of a season?)

It hasn’t always been this way. The Royals and Chiefs have tested 
fans with long stretches of misery. To call the futility that flanks the
 Royals’ 2014 and 2015 seasons simply “losing seasons” understates the 
dismal nature of those teams. Since 2002, Royals fans endured six 
seasons with 100 or more losses.

Likewise, the Chiefs claim an era of sour football — especially when 
compared with the current golden age. The recent teams are 
unprecedentedly hot, winning a record six consecutive AFC West division 
titles. They are poised to win another. Over the past seven seasons (not
 including this current one), the Chiefs have won 83 games.

Here is your trivia question: How many seasons would it have taken to
 earn 83 wins if you started counting in 1972? The answer: 14 — double 
the number during the Andy Reid era.

Consider the psychic drain of living in a city that lost so often. 
And consider how invincible it makes us feel to have a winner in the 
region at all times.

It certainly can lead us to arrogance. Or, as I experienced Sunday 
while watching Mahomes rally the Chiefs, it breeds a chill confidence, a
 relaxed assurance that we fans don’t need to fret. It’s going to be OK.
 We believe that we will win.

With less than two minutes to manage, Mahomes flung one pass and then
 another to dissolve the Chargers’ defense. The touchdown to tight end 
Travis Kelce felt less like surprising fan euphoria and more like deja 
vu. Like Lorenzo Cain making a circus catch in the outfield in 2015. 
Like opening a sports app on our phones to find Sporting KC advancing in
 its tournament. Like Bill Self smirking as he climbed the ladder to cut
 down the nets.

The danger of a run like this is forgetting to savor it. Just ask the
 fans in Detroit, with four major sports teams, most of them failing to 
post winning records much less advance meaningfully in the playoffs.

Cincinnati, despite three Super Bowl appearances, doesn’t have a 
single trophy. Add this to Cincinnati’s suffering: the hapless Reds who 
haven’t won their division in the past 10 years.

I ask this of you as fellow fans. Deploy all of your superstitions to
 keep this streak going. Don’t wash the lucky socks. Drive the same way 
to the stadium every week. Eat the same pregame meal of sauerkraut and 
bratwursts.

But whatever you do, don’t close your eyes. This is too rare — and fun — to miss.

Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669408667473.png" alt="A red-clad crowd packs Arrowhead Stadium to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play (Eric Thomas/Kansas Reflector)." />
 <figcaption>A red-clad crowd packs Arrowhead Stadium to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play (Eric Thomas/Kansas Reflector).</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/25/for-kansas-city-area-fans-sports-wins-feel-inevitable-lets-appreciate-them/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Last Sunday night, I sat on the couch, a cocktail in hand, watching Chiefs
 quarterback Patrick Mahomes trot onto the field. Trailing the Los 
Angeles Chargers by four, Kansas City needed to drive 75 yards in the 
final 1:46 to score a touchdown. A field goal would not be enough.And yet, there I reclined on the sofa.I didn’t pace the room. I didn’t check the Chiefs’ win probability. 
Like so many other fans of Kansas City-area teams through the past 
decade, I waited for my team’s preordained win.Supporting the region’s teams the past 10 years has been like that 
old video game, Frogger — only without the splat. We have scooted across
 the road, from the joy of one team to the championships of another.As the Royals tanked, Sporting Kansas City topped their league. As 
Sporting faded, the Chiefs surged. When the Chiefs lost in the playoffs,
 the Jayhawks won in March Madness. If you are willing to abandon your 
ardent fandom of one descending team for the rise of another, the Kansas
 City area has been the place to be a fan.My 13-year-old boy has really never known the darkness of living in a
 sports quagmire. Liberated by a day off school in 2015, he boarded a 
bus for downtown Kansas City to get a glimpse of the Royals’ World 
Series parade.Four years later, we watched the Chiefs board double-decker buses for
 their own celebration. Sporting KC offered us a chance to see two 
players who represented the United States in the World Cup. Kansas City 
pro sports has offered him a glimmering local team at all times.This year, he also traced the Jayhawks men’s basketball team on his 
bracket to the championship. The University of Kansas’ streak of 
dominance in Big 12 basketball bordered on absurdity during our last 
decade, and even before. Big 12 basketball teams can earn the regular 
season title, the conference tournament title or both. The Jayhawks have
 won or shared the regular season title 20 times. The other 11 teams? 
Only 11 titles combined. In the conference tournament, a format that 
much more easily bounces out superior teams through one bad result, the 
Jayhawks have still won nearly half.(And who would have thought the 2022 football Jayhawks would execute this screeching U-turn of a season?)It hasn’t always been this way. The Royals and Chiefs have tested 
fans with long stretches of misery. To call the futility that flanks the
 Royals’ 2014 and 2015 seasons simply “losing seasons” understates the 
dismal nature of those teams. Since 2002, Royals fans endured six 
seasons with 100 or more losses.Likewise, the Chiefs claim an era of sour football — especially when 
compared with the current golden age. The recent teams are 
unprecedentedly hot, winning a record six consecutive AFC West division 
titles. They are poised to win another. Over the past seven seasons (not
 including this current one), the Chiefs have won 83 games.Here is your trivia question: How many seasons would it have taken to
 earn 83 wins if you started counting in 1972? The answer: 14 — double 
the number during the Andy Reid era.Consider the psychic drain of living in a city that lost so often. 
And consider how invincible it makes us feel to have a winner in the 
region at all times.It certainly can lead us to arrogance. Or, as I experienced Sunday 
while watching Mahomes rally the Chiefs, it breeds a chill confidence, a
 relaxed assurance that we fans don’t need to fret. It’s going to be OK.
 We believe that we will win.With less than two minutes to manage, Mahomes flung one pass and then
 another to dissolve the Chargers’ defense. The touchdown to tight end 
Travis Kelce felt less like surprising fan euphoria and more like deja 
vu. Like Lorenzo Cain making a circus catch in the outfield in 2015. 
Like opening a sports app on our phones to find Sporting KC advancing in
 its tournament. Like Bill Self smirking as he climbed the ladder to cut
 down the nets.The danger of a run like this is forgetting to savor it. Just ask the
 fans in Detroit, with four major sports teams, most of them failing to 
post winning records much less advance meaningfully in the playoffs.Cincinnati, despite three Super Bowl appearances, doesn’t have a 
single trophy. Add this to Cincinnati’s suffering: the hapless Reds who 
haven’t won their division in the past 10 years.I ask this of you as fellow fans. Deploy all of your superstitions to
 keep this streak going. Don’t wash the lucky socks. Drive the same way 
to the stadium every week. Eat the same pregame meal of sauerkraut and 
bratwursts.But whatever you do, don’t close your eyes. This is too rare — and fun — to miss.Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

OPINION: For KC fans, sports wins feel inevitable. Let’s appreciate them

​“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now,”&nbsp;declares&nbsp;an old Chinese proverb&nbsp;that makes regular rounds&nbsp;on social media. I can’t think of amore apt&nbsp;statement for our times.&nbsp;

​In&nbsp;the last few years, I’ve heard more and more people&nbsp;comment the&nbsp;world rages out of control and that scares them.&nbsp;If lack of control frightens even heroes,&nbsp;then&nbsp;it really frightens&nbsp;youngsters&nbsp;who haven’t survived the natural, societal, and familial cycles that older folks&nbsp;slogged through.&nbsp;Boomers born to Depression and WW II&nbsp;survivors&nbsp;grew up living lessons of how to&nbsp;outlast&nbsp;hard times, but our kids and grandkids know a different world.&nbsp;So, what can we&nbsp;manage while&nbsp;the list of what we can’t grows longer?

​We can plant trees.&nbsp;Performing this simple action adds beauty, increases shade in the yard, creates humus to&nbsp;nurture&nbsp;soil&nbsp;and pollinators,&nbsp;and&nbsp;invites birds&nbsp;into&nbsp;the&nbsp;neighborhood.&nbsp;Best of all, nothing so simple does a better job converting carbon dioxide to oxygen&nbsp;than a tree.&nbsp;

While a drought cycle dominates&nbsp;western Kansas&nbsp;weather,&nbsp;we can use&nbsp;ingenuity&nbsp;and rain barrels&nbsp;to&nbsp;offer&nbsp;newly established&nbsp;saplings a decent start.&nbsp;Such a simple action&nbsp;shows&nbsp;our little ones we&nbsp;believe in&nbsp;their&nbsp;future and that&nbsp;one&nbsp;person can improve&nbsp;the world.

​One&nbsp;reason we&nbsp;considered this&nbsp;house before we bought it was the fact&nbsp;someone decades ago planted&nbsp;five pines, an ash, an elm, and a mulberry tree out back. That&nbsp;ash shades&nbsp;us&nbsp;from morning&nbsp;sun. It and the other trees offer nesting sites&nbsp;and performance venues&nbsp;when&nbsp;birds&nbsp;feel like singing&nbsp;or fussing&nbsp;up a storm.&nbsp;

When&nbsp;we&nbsp;purchased&nbsp;the house,&nbsp;a sapling&nbsp;silver maple&nbsp;and&nbsp;two&nbsp;small&nbsp;lindens&nbsp;stood&nbsp;out front&nbsp;along with a mature&nbsp;locust&nbsp;that&nbsp;shades&nbsp;our neighbor’s house in the late afternoon. Although we water it, it&nbsp;doesn’t offer us a reprieve from&nbsp;late day&nbsp;heat.&nbsp;

​To solve that dilemma,&nbsp;we&nbsp;strategically planted&nbsp;two oaks trees&nbsp;that&nbsp;in time will block sun rays from hitting&nbsp;our living area and front bedroom&nbsp;on&nbsp;scorching afternoons.&nbsp;Currently our&nbsp;acorn producers&nbsp;stand about 6&nbsp;feet tall,&nbsp;so&nbsp;they have some growing to do before they offer&nbsp;effective shade. &nbsp;

Because we&nbsp;live by&nbsp;a&nbsp;highway,&nbsp;we wanted&nbsp;to muffle&nbsp;passing vehicles&nbsp;and create a privacy fence that looks nice. &nbsp;For help,&nbsp;we visited Ponderosa Nursery west of Ellis to&nbsp;get suggestions for something that&nbsp;would grow big enough to screen&nbsp;traffic&nbsp;noise&nbsp;and still&nbsp;look nice from&nbsp;both the front window and the highway. They understood exactly what we needed and returned&nbsp;from a buying trip up north with&nbsp;blue-eyed spruce trees that&nbsp;while still&nbsp;small&nbsp;have&nbsp;already grown.

​When we talk tree planting,&nbsp;the&nbsp;realist&nbsp;lurking in our brains&nbsp;reminds&nbsp;us&nbsp;we won’t live long enough to see&nbsp;our&nbsp;recent&nbsp;transplants&nbsp;reach&nbsp;maturity. That voice&nbsp;speaks truth.&nbsp;Then we consider&nbsp;expense and physical labor.&nbsp;Planting hope for the future requires&nbsp;budgeting money and energy.&nbsp;Despite the negatives,&nbsp;we know&nbsp;a&nbsp;future&nbsp;family&nbsp;will&nbsp;enjoy&nbsp;shade we planted&nbsp;as we&nbsp;rest under&nbsp;the ash and pines out back.&nbsp;I’m grateful to that&nbsp;soul who planted those trees decades ago. I don’t know if that person&nbsp;saw&nbsp;their efforts reach&nbsp;full growth, but&nbsp;he or she&nbsp;made our lives better.&nbsp;

If you didn’t&nbsp;do it&nbsp;20 years ago, now is the best time to&nbsp;plant a tree.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668787977534.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>​“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now,”&nbsp;declares&nbsp;an old Chinese proverb&nbsp;that makes regular rounds&nbsp;on social media. I can’t think of amore apt&nbsp;statement for our times.&nbsp;​In&nbsp;the last few years, I’ve heard more and more people&nbsp;comment the&nbsp;world rages out of control and that scares them.&nbsp;If lack of control frightens even heroes,&nbsp;then&nbsp;it really frightens&nbsp;youngsters&nbsp;who haven’t survived the natural, societal, and familial cycles that older folks&nbsp;slogged through.&nbsp;Boomers born to Depression and WW II&nbsp;survivors&nbsp;grew up living lessons of how to&nbsp;outlast&nbsp;hard times, but our kids and grandkids know a different world.&nbsp;So, what can we&nbsp;manage while&nbsp;the list of what we can’t grows longer?​We can plant trees.&nbsp;Performing this simple action adds beauty, increases shade in the yard, creates humus to&nbsp;nurture&nbsp;soil&nbsp;and pollinators,&nbsp;and&nbsp;invites birds&nbsp;into&nbsp;the&nbsp;neighborhood.&nbsp;Best of all, nothing so simple does a better job converting carbon dioxide to oxygen&nbsp;than a tree.&nbsp;While a drought cycle dominates&nbsp;western Kansas&nbsp;weather,&nbsp;we can use&nbsp;ingenuity&nbsp;and rain barrels&nbsp;to&nbsp;offer&nbsp;newly established&nbsp;saplings a decent start.&nbsp;Such a simple action&nbsp;shows&nbsp;our little ones we&nbsp;believe in&nbsp;their&nbsp;future and that&nbsp;one&nbsp;person can improve&nbsp;the world.​One&nbsp;reason we&nbsp;considered this&nbsp;house before we bought it was the fact&nbsp;someone decades ago planted&nbsp;five pines, an ash, an elm, and a mulberry tree out back. That&nbsp;ash shades&nbsp;us&nbsp;from morning&nbsp;sun. It and the other trees offer nesting sites&nbsp;and performance venues&nbsp;when&nbsp;birds&nbsp;feel like singing&nbsp;or fussing&nbsp;up a storm.&nbsp;When&nbsp;we&nbsp;purchased&nbsp;the house,&nbsp;a sapling&nbsp;silver maple&nbsp;and&nbsp;two&nbsp;small&nbsp;lindens&nbsp;stood&nbsp;out front&nbsp;along with a mature&nbsp;locust&nbsp;that&nbsp;shades&nbsp;our neighbor’s house in the late afternoon. Although we water it, it&nbsp;doesn’t offer us a reprieve from&nbsp;late day&nbsp;heat.&nbsp;​To solve that dilemma,&nbsp;we&nbsp;strategically planted&nbsp;two oaks trees&nbsp;that&nbsp;in time will block sun rays from hitting&nbsp;our living area and front bedroom&nbsp;on&nbsp;scorching afternoons.&nbsp;Currently our&nbsp;acorn producers&nbsp;stand about 6&nbsp;feet tall,&nbsp;so&nbsp;they have some growing to do before they offer&nbsp;effective shade. &nbsp;Because we&nbsp;live by&nbsp;a&nbsp;highway,&nbsp;we wanted&nbsp;to muffle&nbsp;passing vehicles&nbsp;and create a privacy fence that looks nice. &nbsp;For help,&nbsp;we visited Ponderosa Nursery west of Ellis to&nbsp;get suggestions for something that&nbsp;would grow big enough to screen&nbsp;traffic&nbsp;noise&nbsp;and still&nbsp;look nice from&nbsp;both the front window and the highway. They understood exactly what we needed and returned&nbsp;from a buying trip up north with&nbsp;blue-eyed spruce trees that&nbsp;while still&nbsp;small&nbsp;have&nbsp;already grown.​When we talk tree planting,&nbsp;the&nbsp;realist&nbsp;lurking in our brains&nbsp;reminds&nbsp;us&nbsp;we won’t live long enough to see&nbsp;our&nbsp;recent&nbsp;transplants&nbsp;reach&nbsp;maturity. That voice&nbsp;speaks truth.&nbsp;Then we consider&nbsp;expense and physical labor.&nbsp;Planting hope for the future requires&nbsp;budgeting money and energy.&nbsp;Despite the negatives,&nbsp;we know&nbsp;a&nbsp;future&nbsp;family&nbsp;will&nbsp;enjoy&nbsp;shade we planted&nbsp;as we&nbsp;rest under&nbsp;the ash and pines out back.&nbsp;I’m grateful to that&nbsp;soul who planted those trees decades ago. I don’t know if that person&nbsp;saw&nbsp;their efforts reach&nbsp;full growth, but&nbsp;he or she&nbsp;made our lives better.&nbsp;If you didn’t&nbsp;do it&nbsp;20 years ago, now is the best time to&nbsp;plant a tree.Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

MADORIN: Now is better than never

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

“We deliver the male.” No, I’m not referring to the U.S. Postal Service.&nbsp;

In this case, it refers to a business that delivers selected male genetics to pork production operations across the Midwest. This same innovative farm family is also pursuing blockchain and bitcoin mining from its location in rural Kansas.&nbsp;

Lannin Zoltenko is president and managing partner at Zoltenko Farms and Wildcat Blockchain. His family’s farm is in Jewell County, just one mile from the Nebraska state line. Five generations of the family have lived here. The farm became a century farm in 2017.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Zoltenko’s folks are James and Sherryl Zoltenko. Lannin and his wife Melanie have two boys: Chandler, who is farming, and Taran who is at Kansas State University, which is also her father’s alma mater.&nbsp;

For decades, the Zoltenkos had a traditional diversified livestock farm raising cattle, crops and pigs. The hog operation was farrow-to-finish, meaning that the males (boars) were bred to the females (sows), which gave birth to piglets that were then raised to market weight.&nbsp;

In 1997, Zoltenko was considering whether to come back to the farm. His parents were trying to decide whether to retire or expand.&nbsp;

That year in December, they received an inquiry from a business named Pig Improvement Company, or PIC, which was looking for a location for a 50-head boar stud farm in north central Kansas. This would be like a racehorse stud farm, only with swine.&nbsp;&nbsp;This company was seeking a place where selected male hogs could be raised to collect semen for artificial insemination of sows by other hog producers.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Zoltenkos decided to give it a try. “It was a real faith walk,” Lannin Zoltenko said.&nbsp;&nbsp;He credits veterinarians Steve Henry and Lisa Tokach at Abilene Veterinary Hospital for providing key help in starting the operation.&nbsp;

“By February 1998, the sows were gone, and by May the boars were here,” Zoltenko said. They developed a process for collecting semen and distributing to other producers, and adopted the slogan, ‘We deliver the male.’&nbsp;

Today, Zoltenko Farms has 1,382 boars, most of those in Kansas. Since herd health and biosecurity are so important, their rural location is an advantage. The farm is located 17 miles north of the rural community of Courtland, population 294 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

For producers seeking maternal traits of good litter size and high milking ability, the Large White and Landrace breeds are preferred. For those producers who are raising hogs for harvest, Duroc and Berkshire hogs are the breeds of choice.&nbsp;

The semen collected from the Zoltenko’s high quality boars can serve some 300,000 sows annually. The farm operates 11 delivery routes to hog producers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota and Illinois.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Our drivers will put on a million miles a year,” Zoltenko said.&nbsp;

In 2020, the Zoltenkos started to pursue an additional enterprise as they looked at the direction of the national economy. “I was looking for sound money,” Zoltenko said. They decided to focus on bitcoin and bitcoin mining.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency or digital money. According to Investopedia, bitcoin is created, distributed, traded and stored using a decentralized ledger system called a blockchain. In February 2021, the Zoltenkos set up a business known as Wildcat Blockchain.&nbsp;

Bitcoin mining is the process of creating new bitcoins by solving extremely complicated math problems that verify transactions in the currency. This requires high level computer capacity. “We look for sub-stations that have unused electrical capacity and set up bitcoin data centers there,” Zoltenko said.&nbsp;

As these computers solve the math problems, bitcoin is generated for the discoverers.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We have clients from California to Florida,” he said.&nbsp;

“Our greatest success is to positively impact the lives of our team members, our partners, and our community.”&nbsp;

For more information about the stud farm, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.zfistud.com/">www.zfistud.com</a>.&nbsp;

We deliver the male – in this case, male genetics for leading pork producer operations across the Midwest. We commend Lannin Zoltenko and all those involved with Zoltenko Farms and Wildcat Blockchain for their innovation and entrepreneurship.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669214992365.png" alt="Melanie and Lannin Zoltenko" />
 <figcaption>Melanie and Lannin Zoltenko</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;“We deliver the male.” No, I’m not referring to the U.S. Postal Service.&nbsp;In this case, it refers to a business that delivers selected male genetics to pork production operations across the Midwest. This same innovative farm family is also pursuing blockchain and bitcoin mining from its location in rural Kansas.&nbsp;Lannin Zoltenko is president and managing partner at Zoltenko Farms and Wildcat Blockchain. His family’s farm is in Jewell County, just one mile from the Nebraska state line. Five generations of the family have lived here. The farm became a century farm in 2017.&nbsp;&nbsp;Zoltenko’s folks are James and Sherryl Zoltenko. Lannin and his wife Melanie have two boys: Chandler, who is farming, and Taran who is at Kansas State University, which is also her father’s alma mater.&nbsp;For decades, the Zoltenkos had a traditional diversified livestock farm raising cattle, crops and pigs. The hog operation was farrow-to-finish, meaning that the males (boars) were bred to the females (sows), which gave birth to piglets that were then raised to market weight.&nbsp;In 1997, Zoltenko was considering whether to come back to the farm. His parents were trying to decide whether to retire or expand.&nbsp;That year in December, they received an inquiry from a business named Pig Improvement Company, or PIC, which was looking for a location for a 50-head boar stud farm in north central Kansas. This would be like a racehorse stud farm, only with swine.&nbsp;&nbsp;This company was seeking a place where selected male hogs could be raised to collect semen for artificial insemination of sows by other hog producers.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Zoltenkos decided to give it a try. “It was a real faith walk,” Lannin Zoltenko said.&nbsp;&nbsp;He credits veterinarians Steve Henry and Lisa Tokach at Abilene Veterinary Hospital for providing key help in starting the operation.&nbsp;“By February 1998, the sows were gone, and by May the boars were here,” Zoltenko said. They developed a process for collecting semen and distributing to other producers, and adopted the slogan, ‘We deliver the male.’&nbsp;Today, Zoltenko Farms has 1,382 boars, most of those in Kansas. Since herd health and biosecurity are so important, their rural location is an advantage. The farm is located 17 miles north of the rural community of Courtland, population 294 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;For producers seeking maternal traits of good litter size and high milking ability, the Large White and Landrace breeds are preferred. For those producers who are raising hogs for harvest, Duroc and Berkshire hogs are the breeds of choice.&nbsp;The semen collected from the Zoltenko’s high quality boars can serve some 300,000 sows annually. The farm operates 11 delivery routes to hog producers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota and Illinois.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Our drivers will put on a million miles a year,” Zoltenko said.&nbsp;In 2020, the Zoltenkos started to pursue an additional enterprise as they looked at the direction of the national economy. “I was looking for sound money,” Zoltenko said. They decided to focus on bitcoin and bitcoin mining.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency or digital money. According to Investopedia, bitcoin is created, distributed, traded and stored using a decentralized ledger system called a blockchain. In February 2021, the Zoltenkos set up a business known as Wildcat Blockchain.&nbsp;Bitcoin mining is the process of creating new bitcoins by solving extremely complicated math problems that verify transactions in the currency. This requires high level computer capacity. “We look for sub-stations that have unused electrical capacity and set up bitcoin data centers there,” Zoltenko said.&nbsp;As these computers solve the math problems, bitcoin is generated for the discoverers.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We have clients from California to Florida,” he said.&nbsp;“Our greatest success is to positively impact the lives of our team members, our partners, and our community.”&nbsp;For more information about the stud farm, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.zfistud.com/">www.zfistud.com</a>.&nbsp;We deliver the male – in this case, male genetics for leading pork producer operations across the Midwest. We commend Lannin Zoltenko and all those involved with Zoltenko Farms and Wildcat Blockchain for their innovation and entrepreneurship.&nbsp;They definitely deliver.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Zoltenko Farms and Wildcat Blockchain 

I often smile when I think about the Winston Churchill quote,&nbsp;“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Fort&nbsp;Hays State University continues to be abundantly blessed by the generosity of so many philanthropists. Those gifts are&nbsp;game-changers. They help us provide state-of-the-art facilities, honor and inspire faculty and open doors of opportunity to many students.

I have a deeply grateful heart for our philanthropists. Because their imprint on our university is so profound, I often find myself searching for the right words and the right ways to say&nbsp;“thank you.”&nbsp;That is why I soaked up every word expressed by graduate student Tanner Callis, who is completing his master’s degree in English.&nbsp;

I’d like to share Tanner’s story in his own words.&nbsp;The following&nbsp;is&nbsp;his beautiful expression&nbsp;of impact:

Every scholarship carries with it a story. The gift of an alumna or alumnus. The goodwill of a loved one. The charity of a friend. And as scholarships are given and received by students, the stories attached to them become intertwined with our own personal experiences&nbsp;in&nbsp;academia.&nbsp;I believe the endowing of an educational scholarship is a reflection of our shared trust in one another across generations.

Today, I am pleased to share a bit about my story of scholarship.&nbsp;

Growing up in Hays, I was one of a blooming batch of annual Hays High School seniors who had to&nbsp;decide whether&nbsp;to pursue higher education either abroad—as in daring outside the comfort zone and finding a new school in a foreign city or state—or attend here at Fort Hays, my local college and the home of that familiar Tiger Gold.&nbsp;

Of course, I chose the latter, not only because Fort Hays offers&nbsp;a&nbsp;quality education at a student-friendly price&nbsp;but also because I had earned a scholarship that was transferable only&nbsp;to&nbsp;a handful of&nbsp;Midwest colleges. (And if I was going to go and do this college thing, I was convinced at the time that it had to either be&nbsp;here&nbsp;or somewhere along the coast.&nbsp;My decision-making process at the time was based on what I would call&nbsp;dreaming high-schooler logic.&nbsp;Ultimately, I went where the scholarship took me.&nbsp;

And I’m not alone in my decision. Many of us—hundreds of us, perhaps thousands, even—choose Fort Hays because this school offers attainable scholarships where many others do not. We’re here on basketball, soccer,&nbsp;and&nbsp;volleyball scholarships. We’re here on scholarships for painting, ceramics, graphic design.&nbsp;band, orchestra,&nbsp;and&nbsp;choir.&nbsp;Many of us are here on&nbsp;English, history, philosophy. Biology, chemistry, mathematics,&nbsp;business, communication, nursing,&nbsp;or&nbsp;teaching&nbsp;scholarships.&nbsp;I’ve talked to fellow students from all across campus, and&nbsp;many&nbsp;of them are here on scholarship for one craft or another.

So,&nbsp;there I am, standing amidst a handful of other psychology scholarship recipients my freshman year, none of us having formally met a single faculty member before the department had already considered us worthy of scholarships&nbsp;more than&nbsp;five months prior. And that’s because the committees involved in selecting these recipients read our resumes, report cards, and recommendation letters. They decided to invest in us before we even&nbsp;decided&nbsp;to invest in this school. It sounds like a risky environment, and it kind of is. But the risks, more often than not,&nbsp;are&nbsp;worth taking.&nbsp;

Thanks to scholarships from the Department of Psychology and the Department of Music (I play cello in the Hays Symphony), I did not have to disproportionately pay out of pocket for textbooks for&nbsp;any&nbsp;of my classes that first year. Not only that, there was runoff. Looking back, those departmental&nbsp;scholarships probably paid for the majority of the materials I needed for any of my amazing psych courses. Combined with my community scholarship, which covered fees and tuition, I didn’t drop a penny on Fort Hays classes. It’s almost ridiculous. Here in the 2020s, and no fees. Incredible. And it’s all thanks to scholarships.

Perhaps my hard work and&nbsp;resulting&nbsp;good fortune&nbsp;helped me&nbsp;decide&nbsp;to arrange&nbsp;for&nbsp;another investment in Fort Hays State University. In the fall of 2021, I enrolled in the English department’s program for a Master of Arts. Here again, I was presented with—you guessed it—a scholarship-the Eleanor Bogart scholarship. This scholarship bought me expert-approved copies of&nbsp;Le Morte D'arthur,&nbsp;The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano&nbsp;(with letters of critical review),&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Norton Anthology of English Literature&nbsp;covering The Middle Ages. There’s&nbsp;a lot&nbsp;to be excited about here—take my word for it. &nbsp;

The jump from psychology undergrad to English M.A. questions many, sometimes even myself. As an undergraduate, I continuously&nbsp;tacked&nbsp;on an English course every semester. World Fiction. Survey of American History. Advanced Composition. There was no pressing need to complete Gen Ed credits, so I know it had become a conscious decision at some point. Twenty-one credit hours later, I walked across the&nbsp;commencement&nbsp;stage with my B.S. in psychology, an English minor, and a cumulative 4.0 GPA, along with the confidence to start a new chapter in my life.&nbsp;

This chapter will just so happen to come to a close this spring. As I near the end of my M.A. degree, I look back on a six-year academic career at FHSU. “So many people got me to where I am today.” It’s a thought that often comes to mind when we begin to see the light at the end of a long tunnel. Family, teachers, colleagues, coworkers—even the retired neighbors on my block who see me getting in and out of my car five times a day. These people were all integral to&nbsp;my ability to&nbsp;complete&nbsp;my degree. But the&nbsp;failure&nbsp;to include scholarships in bolstering my academic and financial situation would be most erroneous.&nbsp;

Currently, I am using my writing and editing strengths as the publicity writer for the Hays Symphony here in town. I’ve been a cello player in the orchestra for almost a decade now, so it’s nice to be able to give back and&nbsp;get involved&nbsp;in a new way.&nbsp;As a publicity intern, I gained experience writing copy for posters and other promotional materials, generating content for our website, and managing content for our social media platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram.&nbsp;Plus, I get to help out my longtime mentor Cathy Drabkin, the brilliant baker behind Cathy’s Breads, who was also once an English M.A. student herself. Maybe the similarities add up to why we get along so well.

Where does all this effort lead? What’s the goal after this?” Those are the big questions. After graduation, I hope to attend the Denver Publishing Institute. There, I will be able to&nbsp;leverage&nbsp;my&nbsp;reading, writing, and editing experiences and become a more skilled professional. But also, the publishing&nbsp;world&nbsp;demands&nbsp;an&nbsp;understanding of different viewpoints, negotiation skills, presentation formality, business instinct, and a good eye for appealing content. I want to work with writers who articulate thoughts, feelings, and&nbsp;emotions through character, plot, and setting. I also want to try my hand at technical writing someday. And I think I’d like to work in writing and editing&nbsp;textbooks instead of solely reading them. Academia is, for many people, a circular journey.&nbsp;

And so,&nbsp;in this next chapter&nbsp;of my life,&nbsp;I will continue to experiment, explore, and acquire new knowledge. Fort Hays State University met me at a time&nbsp;when&nbsp;I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,&nbsp;and through challenge, helped me figure that out. Now, I plan to put my cumulative experience to the test. Tough times await, no doubt, but as I’ve been told before numerous times—and reinforced through being a scholarship recipient—I&nbsp;am&nbsp;a person who can meet these demands head-on.&nbsp;(Callis, 2022)

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575301942236.jpeg" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>I often smile when I think about the Winston Churchill quote,&nbsp;“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Fort&nbsp;Hays State University continues to be abundantly blessed by the generosity of so many philanthropists. Those gifts are&nbsp;game-changers. They help us provide state-of-the-art facilities, honor and inspire faculty and open doors of opportunity to many students.I have a deeply grateful heart for our philanthropists. Because their imprint on our university is so profound, I often find myself searching for the right words and the right ways to say&nbsp;“thank you.”&nbsp;That is why I soaked up every word expressed by graduate student Tanner Callis, who is completing his master’s degree in English.&nbsp;I’d like to share Tanner’s story in his own words.&nbsp;The following&nbsp;is&nbsp;his beautiful expression&nbsp;of impact:Every scholarship carries with it a story. The gift of an alumna or alumnus. The goodwill of a loved one. The charity of a friend. And as scholarships are given and received by students, the stories attached to them become intertwined with our own personal experiences&nbsp;in&nbsp;academia.&nbsp;I believe the endowing of an educational scholarship is a reflection of our shared trust in one another across generations.Today, I am pleased to share a bit about my story of scholarship.&nbsp;Growing up in Hays, I was one of a blooming batch of annual Hays High School seniors who had to&nbsp;decide whether&nbsp;to pursue higher education either abroad—as in daring outside the comfort zone and finding a new school in a foreign city or state—or attend here at Fort Hays, my local college and the home of that familiar Tiger Gold.&nbsp;Of course, I chose the latter, not only because Fort Hays offers&nbsp;a&nbsp;quality education at a student-friendly price&nbsp;but also because I had earned a scholarship that was transferable only&nbsp;to&nbsp;a handful of&nbsp;Midwest colleges. (And if I was going to go and do this college thing, I was convinced at the time that it had to either be&nbsp;here&nbsp;or somewhere along the coast.&nbsp;My decision-making process at the time was based on what I would call&nbsp;dreaming high-schooler logic.&nbsp;Ultimately, I went where the scholarship took me.&nbsp;And I’m not alone in my decision. Many of us—hundreds of us, perhaps thousands, even—choose Fort Hays because this school offers attainable scholarships where many others do not. We’re here on basketball, soccer,&nbsp;and&nbsp;volleyball scholarships. We’re here on scholarships for painting, ceramics, graphic design.&nbsp;band, orchestra,&nbsp;and&nbsp;choir.&nbsp;Many of us are here on&nbsp;English, history, philosophy. Biology, chemistry, mathematics,&nbsp;business, communication, nursing,&nbsp;or&nbsp;teaching&nbsp;scholarships.&nbsp;I’ve talked to fellow students from all across campus, and&nbsp;many&nbsp;of them are here on scholarship for one craft or another.So,&nbsp;there I am, standing amidst a handful of other psychology scholarship recipients my freshman year, none of us having formally met a single faculty member before the department had already considered us worthy of scholarships&nbsp;more than&nbsp;five months prior. And that’s because the committees involved in selecting these recipients read our resumes, report cards, and recommendation letters. They decided to invest in us before we even&nbsp;decided&nbsp;to invest in this school. It sounds like a risky environment, and it kind of is. But the risks, more often than not,&nbsp;are&nbsp;worth taking.&nbsp;Thanks to scholarships from the Department of Psychology and the Department of Music (I play cello in the Hays Symphony), I did not have to disproportionately pay out of pocket for textbooks for&nbsp;any&nbsp;of my classes that first year. Not only that, there was runoff. Looking back, those departmental&nbsp;scholarships probably paid for the majority of the materials I needed for any of my amazing psych courses. Combined with my community scholarship, which covered fees and tuition, I didn’t drop a penny on Fort Hays classes. It’s almost ridiculous. Here in the 2020s, and no fees. Incredible. And it’s all thanks to scholarships.Perhaps my hard work and&nbsp;resulting&nbsp;good fortune&nbsp;helped me&nbsp;decide&nbsp;to arrange&nbsp;for&nbsp;another investment in Fort Hays State University. In the fall of 2021, I enrolled in the English department’s program for a Master of Arts. Here again, I was presented with—you guessed it—a scholarship-the Eleanor Bogart scholarship. This scholarship bought me expert-approved copies of&nbsp;Le Morte D'arthur,&nbsp;The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano&nbsp;(with letters of critical review),&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Norton Anthology of English Literature&nbsp;covering The Middle Ages. There’s&nbsp;a lot&nbsp;to be excited about here—take my word for it. &nbsp;The jump from psychology undergrad to English M.A. questions many, sometimes even myself. As an undergraduate, I continuously&nbsp;tacked&nbsp;on an English course every semester. World Fiction. Survey of American History. Advanced Composition. There was no pressing need to complete Gen Ed credits, so I know it had become a conscious decision at some point. Twenty-one credit hours later, I walked across the&nbsp;commencement&nbsp;stage with my B.S. in psychology, an English minor, and a cumulative 4.0 GPA, along with the confidence to start a new chapter in my life.&nbsp;This chapter will just so happen to come to a close this spring. As I near the end of my M.A. degree, I look back on a six-year academic career at FHSU. “So many people got me to where I am today.” It’s a thought that often comes to mind when we begin to see the light at the end of a long tunnel. Family, teachers, colleagues, coworkers—even the retired neighbors on my block who see me getting in and out of my car five times a day. These people were all integral to&nbsp;my ability to&nbsp;complete&nbsp;my degree. But the&nbsp;failure&nbsp;to include scholarships in bolstering my academic and financial situation would be most erroneous.&nbsp;Currently, I am using my writing and editing strengths as the publicity writer for the Hays Symphony here in town. I’ve been a cello player in the orchestra for almost a decade now, so it’s nice to be able to give back and&nbsp;get involved&nbsp;in a new way.&nbsp;As a publicity intern, I gained experience writing copy for posters and other promotional materials, generating content for our website, and managing content for our social media platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram.&nbsp;Plus, I get to help out my longtime mentor Cathy Drabkin, the brilliant baker behind Cathy’s Breads, who was also once an English M.A. student herself. Maybe the similarities add up to why we get along so well.Where does all this effort lead? What’s the goal after this?” Those are the big questions. After graduation, I hope to attend the Denver Publishing Institute. There, I will be able to&nbsp;leverage&nbsp;my&nbsp;reading, writing, and editing experiences and become a more skilled professional. But also, the publishing&nbsp;world&nbsp;demands&nbsp;an&nbsp;understanding of different viewpoints, negotiation skills, presentation formality, business instinct, and a good eye for appealing content. I want to work with writers who articulate thoughts, feelings, and&nbsp;emotions through character, plot, and setting. I also want to try my hand at technical writing someday. And I think I’d like to work in writing and editing&nbsp;textbooks instead of solely reading them. Academia is, for many people, a circular journey.&nbsp;And so,&nbsp;in this next chapter&nbsp;of my life,&nbsp;I will continue to experiment, explore, and acquire new knowledge. Fort Hays State University met me at a time&nbsp;when&nbsp;I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,&nbsp;and through challenge, helped me figure that out. Now, I plan to put my cumulative experience to the test. Tough times await, no doubt, but as I’ve been told before numerous times—and reinforced through being a scholarship recipient—I&nbsp;am&nbsp;a person who can meet these demands head-on.&nbsp;(Callis, 2022)

Heart of a Tiger: FHSU student discusses the power of scholarships 

By GREG DOERING Kansas Farm Bureau Even as Thanksgiving draws near, it’s easy have a pessimistic perspective about the current state of the world. If you’re feeding a gathering of 10 people, a traditional turkey dinner will cost 20 percent more this year, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation survey. To be fair, wages are rising but at a much slower pace so while the survey’s results are real, 20 percent is a bit of an overstatement. Nonetheless, that pinch in your pocketbook is real, and it’s easy to let it spoil Thanksgiving. Our inclination to self-centeredness is partly to blame. We know exactly which rung on the ladder we occupy, and it’s all too easy to look up, see everyone a step or two higher and think we’re at the bottom. Our aspirations for tomorrow can easily lead to resentment today if we spend too much time looking up. We avoid looking down, not out of a feeling of superiority, but fear. Fear our footing isn’t solid enough to prevent slipping down a rung. Angst our only assets are material in nature. Worry our worth is based on ascending. These are universal causes of anxiety and alarm even if they’re only true in our minds. Just as our value isn’t set by a bank account, a meal’s quality isn’t dependent on its price. While accounting can make things look simple and tidy, it’s a poor approach to confine one’s life to a spreadsheet or the balance of a retirement account, especially this year. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on just how much we take gratitude for granted and how skewed our perspective can become. A day reserved for family and feast is surely a reason to be grateful, but it’s worth acknowledging there’s value in recognizing the obvious and near rather than waiting for some special, unexpected good luck to express appreciation. Is it not worth celebrating the mere fact we’re alive right now? When counting blessings isn’t that the logical place to begin? While not everyone has the opportunity to give thanks for the laughter of cousins playing while the adults cook or have those close conversations around the table after the meal is finished, the fact we’re here at all is notable. The funny thing about recognizing the incredibly simple aspects of life is it has a way of changing your outlook. A week or two from now, no one will recall if the turkey was dry, the mashed potatoes were a little lumpy, who brought what pie or even what everything cost. That’s the hope at least. It’s possible a curmudgeon or two will find their way to a few dinner tables, bringing with them dour assessments of the world and wanting to talk about unseemly topics like politics. Being thankful for life doesn’t mean we’re free from challenges. However, we get to choose how we approach those challenges. Thanksgiving is a good time to focus on all the things big and small we’re grateful for. It should also serve as a reminder to take stock of our gratitude throughout the year. If you start with the simple fact you’re grateful to be alive, you can probably continue counting your blessings until your family’s next feast.

"Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574694551876.png" alt="Greg Doering&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Greg Doering&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By GREG DOERING Kansas Farm Bureau Even as Thanksgiving draws near, it’s easy have a pessimistic perspective about the current state of the world. If you’re feeding a gathering of 10 people, a traditional turkey dinner will cost 20 percent more this year, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation survey. To be fair, wages are rising but at a much slower pace so while the survey’s results are real, 20 percent is a bit of an overstatement. Nonetheless, that pinch in your pocketbook is real, and it’s easy to let it spoil Thanksgiving. Our inclination to self-centeredness is partly to blame. We know exactly which rung on the ladder we occupy, and it’s all too easy to look up, see everyone a step or two higher and think we’re at the bottom. Our aspirations for tomorrow can easily lead to resentment today if we spend too much time looking up. We avoid looking down, not out of a feeling of superiority, but fear. Fear our footing isn’t solid enough to prevent slipping down a rung. Angst our only assets are material in nature. Worry our worth is based on ascending. These are universal causes of anxiety and alarm even if they’re only true in our minds. Just as our value isn’t set by a bank account, a meal’s quality isn’t dependent on its price. While accounting can make things look simple and tidy, it’s a poor approach to confine one’s life to a spreadsheet or the balance of a retirement account, especially this year. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on just how much we take gratitude for granted and how skewed our perspective can become. A day reserved for family and feast is surely a reason to be grateful, but it’s worth acknowledging there’s value in recognizing the obvious and near rather than waiting for some special, unexpected good luck to express appreciation. Is it not worth celebrating the mere fact we’re alive right now? When counting blessings isn’t that the logical place to begin? While not everyone has the opportunity to give thanks for the laughter of cousins playing while the adults cook or have those close conversations around the table after the meal is finished, the fact we’re here at all is notable. The funny thing about recognizing the incredibly simple aspects of life is it has a way of changing your outlook. A week or two from now, no one will recall if the turkey was dry, the mashed potatoes were a little lumpy, who brought what pie or even what everything cost. That’s the hope at least. It’s possible a curmudgeon or two will find their way to a few dinner tables, bringing with them dour assessments of the world and wanting to talk about unseemly topics like politics. Being thankful for life doesn’t mean we’re free from challenges. However, we get to choose how we approach those challenges. Thanksgiving is a good time to focus on all the things big and small we’re grateful for. It should also serve as a reminder to take stock of our gratitude throughout the year. If you start with the simple fact you’re grateful to be alive, you can probably continue counting your blessings until your family’s next feast."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Family and feast

By MAX KAUTSCH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/20/dear-kris-kobach-please-read-this-open-letter-about-open-government-in-kansas/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Congratulations on your election as our state’s next attorney general.

I write this open letter in my capacity as the president of the <a target="_blank" href="https://kcog.us/">Kansas Coalition for Open Government</a>.
 My purpose is to express my hope for establishing a working 
relationship between the coalition and your administration to achieve 
what I believe to be a shared goal: educating the public about the 
importance of transparency at all levels of Kansas government.

Transparency is vital. For example, it is how<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/23/overland-park-police-shooting-investigation/"> family members of crime victims learn</a> about what happened to their loved ones. A lack of transparency is why there was such an uproar over <a target="_blank" href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/shocking-kansas-secures-no-jobs-100000436.html">unknowns about how taxpayer dollars were leveraged during the Panasonic plant negotiations</a>. Transparency is, at its heart, the ability of members of a democracy to challenge or verify what the government tells us.

As you know, the Attorney General’s Office plays a critical role in 
promoting transparency in the state. Under Kansas law, the office is 
afforded more authority than any other entity to investigate and act on 
complaints made by members of the public that a public agency has 
violated the <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0051_section/045_002_0051_k/">Kansas Open Records Act</a> or the <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/075_000_0000_chapter/075_043_0000_article/075_043_0020b_section/075_043_0020b_k/">Kansas Open Meetings Act</a>,
 such as when an agency denies access to a record that should have been 
available or a has a meeting behind closed doors that should have been 
open.

Although county and district attorneys, as well as members of the public, have <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0022_section/045_002_0022_k/">authority to bring civil lawsuits</a> to enforce <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/075_000_0000_chapter/075_043_0000_article/075_043_0020a_section/075_043_0020a_k/">open government laws</a>,
 only the Attorney General’s Office has authority to enter into a 
“consent decree” with the offending agency or issue a “finding of 
violation” against such agency to resolve the complaint.

Your predecessor, who <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/committees/ctte_s_jud_1/documents/testimony/20150218_08.pdf">worked with legislators</a> to <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/measures/hb2256/">pass the bill</a> conferring these additional powers on the office in 2015, <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/media-center/news-releases/2016/02/01/ag-s-office-reorganizes-to-boost-open-government-enforcement">established an Open Government Enforcement Unit</a> within his office that was effectively the <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/03/16/kansas-attorney-general-derek-schmidt-falls-short-on-enforcing-open-records-law/">sole arbiter of open government law in this state</a> for the latter half of his tenure.

Now, Kansans have given you the responsibility to serve as the 
state’s primary enforcer of open government laws. With that 
responsibility comes broad investigatory and enforcement authority, 
including the ability to issue subpoenas to public agencies to enforce 
open meetings laws.

But I think we can agree that the most important component of effective open government law enforcement is education.

Your predecessor routinely offered open government <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/open-government/training">training sessions</a>
 for public employees and officials, the news media, and members of the 
public. Not only do such sessions help prevent public agencies from 
violating open government laws, but they also serve as a constructive 
way to resolve complaints because the office can order officials to 
remedy certain violations by attending.

To whatever extent the Attorney General’s Office under your 
leadership welcomes assistance in offering and developing such 
education, the coalition is happy to help. Our organization, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.guidestar.org/profile/48-1224557">501(c)(3) nonprofit</a>&nbsp;formed in 1999, has provided open government training sessions, <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/media-center/news-releases/2018/08/01/ag-derek-schmidt-sunshine-coalition-to-offer-free-training-on-open-government-laws">sometimes in partnership with the office</a>, for more than two decades.

We offer a wide variety of open government education <a target="_blank" href="https://kcog.us/resources/">resources on our website</a>, including <a target="_blank" href="https://kautschlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/open-govt-crash-course-2022.pdf">KORA and KOMA training slides</a> based largely on outlines of open government laws written by your predecessor.

Finally, for many years, the Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas
 Coalition for Open Government worked together to offer KORA and KOMA 
training. But that practice was suspended for a variety of reasons, not 
the least of which was your predecessor’s <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/15/kansas-ags-office-enforces-open-records-law-while-overlooking-key-piece/">selective application of the plain language</a>
 of KORA. It is my hope, despite past differences, that your 
administration recognizes the benefit of our shared history and would be
 willing to discuss how we might resume working together to serve the 
public interest during your term.

I can be reached at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:president@kcog.us">president@kcog.us</a>. I wish you the best of luck as you prepare to take office, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Max Kautsch, licensed to practice law in both Kansas and Nebraska, focuses his practice on First Amendment rights and open government law. He helps news media and members of the public assert rights of access to court proceedings, court records, and government agency documents. He serves as the legal hotline attorney for the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, is president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government, and is an adjunct professor at the University Kansas School of Law. Kautsch is also hotline counsel to both the Nebraska Press Association and the Nebraska Broadcasters Association.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1663086493444.jpeg" alt="Kautsch" />
 <figcaption>Kautsch</figcaption>
 </figure>By MAX KAUTSCH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/20/dear-kris-kobach-please-read-this-open-letter-about-open-government-in-kansas/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Dear attorney general-elect Kris Kobach:Congratulations on your election as our state’s next attorney general.I write this open letter in my capacity as the president of the <a target="_blank" href="https://kcog.us/">Kansas Coalition for Open Government</a>.
 My purpose is to express my hope for establishing a working 
relationship between the coalition and your administration to achieve 
what I believe to be a shared goal: educating the public about the 
importance of transparency at all levels of Kansas government.Transparency is vital. For example, it is how<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/23/overland-park-police-shooting-investigation/"> family members of crime victims learn</a> about what happened to their loved ones. A lack of transparency is why there was such an uproar over <a target="_blank" href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/shocking-kansas-secures-no-jobs-100000436.html">unknowns about how taxpayer dollars were leveraged during the Panasonic plant negotiations</a>. Transparency is, at its heart, the ability of members of a democracy to challenge or verify what the government tells us.As you know, the Attorney General’s Office plays a critical role in 
promoting transparency in the state. Under Kansas law, the office is 
afforded more authority than any other entity to investigate and act on 
complaints made by members of the public that a public agency has 
violated the <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0051_section/045_002_0051_k/">Kansas Open Records Act</a> or the <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/075_000_0000_chapter/075_043_0000_article/075_043_0020b_section/075_043_0020b_k/">Kansas Open Meetings Act</a>,
 such as when an agency denies access to a record that should have been 
available or a has a meeting behind closed doors that should have been 
open.Although county and district attorneys, as well as members of the public, have <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0022_section/045_002_0022_k/">authority to bring civil lawsuits</a> to enforce <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/075_000_0000_chapter/075_043_0000_article/075_043_0020a_section/075_043_0020a_k/">open government laws</a>,
 only the Attorney General’s Office has authority to enter into a 
“consent decree” with the offending agency or issue a “finding of 
violation” against such agency to resolve the complaint.Your predecessor, who <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/committees/ctte_s_jud_1/documents/testimony/20150218_08.pdf">worked with legislators</a> to <a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/measures/hb2256/">pass the bill</a> conferring these additional powers on the office in 2015, <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/media-center/news-releases/2016/02/01/ag-s-office-reorganizes-to-boost-open-government-enforcement">established an Open Government Enforcement Unit</a> within his office that was effectively the <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/03/16/kansas-attorney-general-derek-schmidt-falls-short-on-enforcing-open-records-law/">sole arbiter of open government law in this state</a> for the latter half of his tenure.Now, Kansans have given you the responsibility to serve as the 
state’s primary enforcer of open government laws. With that 
responsibility comes broad investigatory and enforcement authority, 
including the ability to issue subpoenas to public agencies to enforce 
open meetings laws.But I think we can agree that the most important component of effective open government law enforcement is education.Your predecessor routinely offered open government <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/open-government/training">training sessions</a>
 for public employees and officials, the news media, and members of the 
public. Not only do such sessions help prevent public agencies from 
violating open government laws, but they also serve as a constructive 
way to resolve complaints because the office can order officials to 
remedy certain violations by attending.To whatever extent the Attorney General’s Office under your 
leadership welcomes assistance in offering and developing such 
education, the coalition is happy to help. Our organization, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.guidestar.org/profile/48-1224557">501(c)(3) nonprofit</a>&nbsp;formed in 1999, has provided open government training sessions, <a target="_blank" href="https://ag.ks.gov/media-center/news-releases/2018/08/01/ag-derek-schmidt-sunshine-coalition-to-offer-free-training-on-open-government-laws">sometimes in partnership with the office</a>, for more than two decades.We offer a wide variety of open government education <a target="_blank" href="https://kcog.us/resources/">resources on our website</a>, including <a target="_blank" href="https://kautschlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/open-govt-crash-course-2022.pdf">KORA and KOMA training slides</a> based largely on outlines of open government laws written by your predecessor.Finally, for many years, the Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas
 Coalition for Open Government worked together to offer KORA and KOMA 
training. But that practice was suspended for a variety of reasons, not 
the least of which was your predecessor’s <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/15/kansas-ags-office-enforces-open-records-law-while-overlooking-key-piece/">selective application of the plain language</a>
 of KORA. It is my hope, despite past differences, that your 
administration recognizes the benefit of our shared history and would be
 willing to discuss how we might resume working together to serve the 
public interest during your term.I can be reached at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:president@kcog.us">president@kcog.us</a>. I wish you the best of luck as you prepare to take office, and I hope to hear from you soon.Max Kautsch, licensed to practice law in both Kansas and Nebraska, focuses his practice on First Amendment rights and open government law. He helps news media and members of the public assert rights of access to court proceedings, court records, and government agency documents. He serves as the legal hotline attorney for the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, is president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government, and is an adjunct professor at the University Kansas School of Law. Kautsch is also hotline counsel to both the Nebraska Press Association and the Nebraska Broadcasters Association.

Dear Kris Kobach: Please read this open letter about open government in Kansas

Can the three newly elected Kansas State Board of Education members move the agenda to the far right? &nbsp;We’ll soon find out.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While the much-hyped red wave didn’t materialize at the national level, Republicans took all five open seats in the Nov. 8 state board elections, gaining a seven to three advantage over Democrats.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The new board majority may move to advance more, and more rigorous, conservative positions. During the campaign, the three conservative Republican candidates’ views focused consistently on limiting discussion of gender, sexuality and race; banning books; and requiring all curriculum and materials to receive the parents’ approval before being given to students.

&nbsp;The three conservatives also supported “school choice,” a term that means allowing parents to claim the portion of state tax dollars going to their child’s education and use it for private schools or other not assessed nor audited learning expenses.&nbsp;

&nbsp;According to a report by KCUR the National Public Radio Kansas City affiliate, the conservative candidates’ campaign websites used similar language projecting a unified front on these issues.&nbsp;

In the past, KSDE board members have worked across party lines to support a moderate agenda, even though Republicans outnumbered Democrats on the board.&nbsp;

It’s not yet clear just how much the three new conservative board members can shift Kansas education agendas by moving the party that holds voting control toward national right-wing policies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In general, the Kansas Legislature makes the laws governing K-12 education and it’s&nbsp;the responsibility of KSDE to carry out these laws including how curriculum is implemented.&nbsp;

November election results pushed the Legislature farther right and allowed Republicans to maintain a two-thirds supermajority. Nevertheless, Republicans, even with a supermajority in the Legislature last year, could not override a Parents’ Rights Bill or a bill prohibiting transgender students from athletic competition. Both bills were vetoed by Democrat Laura Kelly who will return for a second term as governor.&nbsp;

The November failure of an amendment giving the Legislature&nbsp;veto power to suspend rules and regulations written by executive branch agencies under control of the governor, also will make it difficult for&nbsp;a Republican controlled Legislature and KSDE board to make ultra-conservative changes in policies governed by state law.&nbsp;

Yet, the state board has considerable power to shape the way education laws are put into practice such as how subjects are taught, teacher licensure and graduation requirements.&nbsp;

Despite three of the open board seats going unopposed to Republicans, Kansans spoke through the election and the signal is clear. It’s time, within the legal framework of state and federal equity laws, to pump-the-breaks on school issues many in the public find unhelpful, such as explicit gender/sexuality education in Kindergarten to grade three classes.

There are serious issues to be addressed—teacher shortages; funding of special education; academic improvement, especially in math and reading in the lower grades—culture wars aside.&nbsp;

The hope is that relations on the state board don’t deteriorate, calm will prevail and special interests will give way to working through common concerns.&nbsp;

It really doesn’t matter which political party holds the majority of votes on the KSDE board as long as each of the members put the best interests of Kansas schools above party loyalties. &nbsp;

Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593719779701.jpeg" alt="Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education." />
 <figcaption>Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.</figcaption>
 </figure>Can the three newly elected Kansas State Board of Education members move the agenda to the far right? &nbsp;We’ll soon find out.&nbsp;&nbsp;While the much-hyped red wave didn’t materialize at the national level, Republicans took all five open seats in the Nov. 8 state board elections, gaining a seven to three advantage over Democrats.&nbsp;&nbsp;The new board majority may move to advance more, and more rigorous, conservative positions. During the campaign, the three conservative Republican candidates’ views focused consistently on limiting discussion of gender, sexuality and race; banning books; and requiring all curriculum and materials to receive the parents’ approval before being given to students.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;The three conservatives also supported “school choice,” a term that means allowing parents to claim the portion of state tax dollars going to their child’s education and use it for private schools or other not assessed nor audited learning expenses.&nbsp;&nbsp;According to a report by KCUR the National Public Radio Kansas City affiliate, the conservative candidates’ campaign websites used similar language projecting a unified front on these issues.&nbsp;In the past, KSDE board members have worked across party lines to support a moderate agenda, even though Republicans outnumbered Democrats on the board.&nbsp;It’s not yet clear just how much the three new conservative board members can shift Kansas education agendas by moving the party that holds voting control toward national right-wing policies.&nbsp;&nbsp;In general, the Kansas Legislature makes the laws governing K-12 education and it’s&nbsp;the responsibility of KSDE to carry out these laws including how curriculum is implemented.&nbsp;November election results pushed the Legislature farther right and allowed Republicans to maintain a two-thirds supermajority. Nevertheless, Republicans, even with a supermajority in the Legislature last year, could not override a Parents’ Rights Bill or a bill prohibiting transgender students from athletic competition. Both bills were vetoed by Democrat Laura Kelly who will return for a second term as governor.&nbsp;The November failure of an amendment giving the Legislature&nbsp;veto power to suspend rules and regulations written by executive branch agencies under control of the governor, also will make it difficult for&nbsp;a Republican controlled Legislature and KSDE board to make ultra-conservative changes in policies governed by state law.&nbsp;Yet, the state board has considerable power to shape the way education laws are put into practice such as how subjects are taught, teacher licensure and graduation requirements.&nbsp;Despite three of the open board seats going unopposed to Republicans, Kansans spoke through the election and the signal is clear. It’s time, within the legal framework of state and federal equity laws, to pump-the-breaks on school issues many in the public find unhelpful, such as explicit gender/sexuality education in Kindergarten to grade three classes.There are serious issues to be addressed—teacher shortages; funding of special education; academic improvement, especially in math and reading in the lower grades—culture wars aside.&nbsp;The hope is that relations on the state board don’t deteriorate, calm will prevail and special interests will give way to working through common concerns.&nbsp;It really doesn’t matter which political party holds the majority of votes on the KSDE board as long as each of the members put the best interests of Kansas schools above party loyalties. &nbsp;Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

INSIGHT KANSAS: Will conservatives control state school board?

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Patent pending. We frequently see those words on a label but may not think about the process required to gain such a designation.&nbsp;

Today we’ll meet a small town Kansas law firm that specializes in helping clients across the nation protect their intellectual property.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Attorney Daniel Coughlin is founder and principal of the Coughlin Law Office LLC in Sabetha.&nbsp; Stuart Aller is the patent agent in the law firm.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Coughlin is a Michigan native.&nbsp;While earning a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Michigan, he researched a product that was thought to be patentable.&nbsp;“I was intrigued by the patent process,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Coughlin earned a law degree at the University of Toledo.&nbsp;Through a church youth group, he met and later married Tamra who was born in Sabetha.&nbsp;While working his way through law school, Coughlin built and programmed control panels at a Sabetha manufacturing company.&nbsp; He recognized that patents help encourage inventors by protecting their innovative ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2012, he opened the Coughlin Law Office in Sabetha.&nbsp;Over time, he found a niche in developing and filing patents for his clients.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2020, Hiawatha native Stuart Aller joined the firm.&nbsp;Aller graduated from K-State with life science degrees and worked as a scientist for the State of Kansas before moving back to his hometown to teach.&nbsp;Aller met Coughlin and started doing technical writing for the firm during the summers. Aller became interested in the patent work that supports innovation. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“I’ve always been interested in science and technology,” Aller said.&nbsp;He sat for the patent bar exam, which is a specialized form of legal certification.&nbsp;“There’s something like a 40% pass rate,” he said.&nbsp;“It was definitely the hardest exam I’ve ever taken.”&nbsp;

Aller passed and, in 2020, became certified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a registered patent agent. He joined the Coughlin firm in offering their KanPat® intellectual property services.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“An inventor will come in with some idea and we will work though it to identify the key factors that make it new and unique,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;Then they develop a proposed filing complete with technical drawings and explanations. Ultimately this is filed with the U.S. Patent Office.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It is not necessarily a quick process,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;Filings are subject to in-depth review by patent examiners.&nbsp; “Depending on various factors, it can take 2-3 years at the fastest or up to 5-6 years for a patent to issue. However, ‘patent pending’ can usually be achieved in just a few days or weeks.”&nbsp;

“(Working with clients) is one of the best parts of the job,” he said.&nbsp;

Coughlin Law Office recently worked with a K-State student to patent an improved hitch pin.&nbsp;In another case, they worked with an inventor who had been turned away by a big city law firm, but Coughlin and Aller ultimately obtained a patent for him.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sabetha is a fruitful home base for the company due to the multiple innovative manufacturers found in the community.&nbsp;However, the firm’s reputation has grown far beyond the region.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Coughlin Law Office has done patent work for clients across the nation, from Florida to Washington state.&nbsp;They have also done international work on intellectual property protection in such places as Japan, Brazil, Australia and South Africa.&nbsp;

That’s remarkable for a law firm located in a rural community such as Sabetha, population 2,545 people.&nbsp;Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“We get lots of referrals through our loyal clients who appreciate a rural small town law practice with this capability,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;As the law firm’s website states:&nbsp; “We strive to provide professional services with small town warmth and integrity.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kanpat.com/">www.kanpat.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Patent pending.&nbsp;Those simple words reflect a complex process, led in this case by a law office in rural Kansas.&nbsp;We commend Daniel Coughlin and Stuart Aller of the Coughlin Law Office for making a difference by encouraging innovation and protecting intellectual property in a small town setting.&nbsp; 

The benefit to rural Kansas should be patently obvious.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668700700329.png" alt="Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural DevelopmentPatent pending. We frequently see those words on a label but may not think about the process required to gain such a designation.&nbsp;Today we’ll meet a small town Kansas law firm that specializes in helping clients across the nation protect their intellectual property.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Attorney Daniel Coughlin is founder and principal of the Coughlin Law Office LLC in Sabetha.&nbsp; Stuart Aller is the patent agent in the law firm.&nbsp;&nbsp;Coughlin is a Michigan native.&nbsp;While earning a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Michigan, he researched a product that was thought to be patentable.&nbsp;“I was intrigued by the patent process,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;Coughlin earned a law degree at the University of Toledo.&nbsp;Through a church youth group, he met and later married Tamra who was born in Sabetha.&nbsp;While working his way through law school, Coughlin built and programmed control panels at a Sabetha manufacturing company.&nbsp; He recognized that patents help encourage inventors by protecting their innovative ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2012, he opened the Coughlin Law Office in Sabetha.&nbsp;Over time, he found a niche in developing and filing patents for his clients.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2020, Hiawatha native Stuart Aller joined the firm.&nbsp;Aller graduated from K-State with life science degrees and worked as a scientist for the State of Kansas before moving back to his hometown to teach.&nbsp;Aller met Coughlin and started doing technical writing for the firm during the summers. Aller became interested in the patent work that supports innovation. &nbsp;&nbsp;“I’ve always been interested in science and technology,” Aller said.&nbsp;He sat for the patent bar exam, which is a specialized form of legal certification.&nbsp;“There’s something like a 40% pass rate,” he said.&nbsp;“It was definitely the hardest exam I’ve ever taken.”&nbsp;Aller passed and, in 2020, became certified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a registered patent agent. He joined the Coughlin firm in offering their KanPat® intellectual property services.&nbsp;&nbsp;“An inventor will come in with some idea and we will work though it to identify the key factors that make it new and unique,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;Then they develop a proposed filing complete with technical drawings and explanations. Ultimately this is filed with the U.S. Patent Office.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It is not necessarily a quick process,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;Filings are subject to in-depth review by patent examiners.&nbsp; “Depending on various factors, it can take 2-3 years at the fastest or up to 5-6 years for a patent to issue. However, ‘patent pending’ can usually be achieved in just a few days or weeks.”&nbsp;“(Working with clients) is one of the best parts of the job,” he said.&nbsp;Coughlin Law Office recently worked with a K-State student to patent an improved hitch pin.&nbsp;In another case, they worked with an inventor who had been turned away by a big city law firm, but Coughlin and Aller ultimately obtained a patent for him.&nbsp;&nbsp;Sabetha is a fruitful home base for the company due to the multiple innovative manufacturers found in the community.&nbsp;However, the firm’s reputation has grown far beyond the region.&nbsp;&nbsp;Coughlin Law Office has done patent work for clients across the nation, from Florida to Washington state.&nbsp;They have also done international work on intellectual property protection in such places as Japan, Brazil, Australia and South Africa.&nbsp;That’s remarkable for a law firm located in a rural community such as Sabetha, population 2,545 people.&nbsp;Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We get lots of referrals through our loyal clients who appreciate a rural small town law practice with this capability,” Coughlin said.&nbsp;As the law firm’s website states:&nbsp; “We strive to provide professional services with small town warmth and integrity.”&nbsp;&nbsp;For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kanpat.com/">www.kanpat.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Patent pending.&nbsp;Those simple words reflect a complex process, led in this case by a law office in rural Kansas.&nbsp;We commend Daniel Coughlin and Stuart Aller of the Coughlin Law Office for making a difference by encouraging innovation and protecting intellectual property in a small town setting.&nbsp; The benefit to rural Kansas should be patently obvious.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Daniel Coughlin, Coughlin Law Firm 

I first learned to hunt deer with a group of neighbors where I grew-up in Ohio. 

We all had our&nbsp;favorite&nbsp;stands or places to sit for the first couple days of deer season, then if we hadn’t yet harvested a deer, we would get together as a group to move deer&nbsp;through a wood-lot&nbsp;somewhere&nbsp;towards waiting hunters. 

Here in Kansas, I have harvested several deer from stands or blinds strategically placed along travel routes or at&nbsp;natural&nbsp;feeding spots. When we built our raised blind years ago, we hung a corn feeder in a draw in front of the blind. Squirrels chewed a hole in the bottom of the feeder, so we tried another.&nbsp;Unhappy with that feeder, we began&nbsp;simply&nbsp;scattering buckets of shelled corn, ear corn, apples or pears&nbsp;on the ground&nbsp;over an area the size of a couple houses, which we still do today.&nbsp;

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a very infectious and deadly disease that was first discovered in our KS wild deer in 2005 in the northwestern part of the state, and has steadily spread south and eastward&nbsp;across Kansas. While&nbsp;conservation professionals are not certain of all the ways in which CWD spreads, they agree that the most prevalent seems to be from direct deer-to-deer contact, through saliva, urine, feces etc.

A friend frequently attends the open meetings held around the state where the public is invited to listen to, and to comment on topics such as proposed hunting season dates, etc. and topics of concern such as CWD. He told me that a topic of discussion at the last meeting he attended this summer was whether or not feeding and baiting deer&nbsp;aids in the transmission of CWD, and the possibility of making that practice illegal here in KS arose. A brochure about Chronic Wasting Disease available from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) states that “Concentrating deer and elk by artificial feeding or baiting probably increases the likelihood of both direct and indirect transmission between individuals” (meaning deer and elk.) A&nbsp;recent post on the KDWP Facebook page urges hunters not to feed or bait deer, and a topic at the early September open-meeting at Kansas City was a proposal to disallow bait&nbsp;for deer&nbsp;to be placed on KDWP managed lands and on all land enrolled in the popular walk-in hunting program.

As one would expect, the KDWP Facebook post urging people not to bait or feed deer&nbsp;as a way to help slow the spread of CWD&nbsp;drew a multitude of comments, with those in support of feeding deer far outnumbering those against it. Comments supporting banning the practice offered little factual information, most merely stating their opposition to feeding&nbsp;and&nbsp;baiting deer, and that deer should be hunted “the old-fashioned way.”&nbsp;Comments supporting&nbsp;feeding and baiting deer often mentioned the fact that many deer naturally feed on the same alfalfa, corn stubble, soybean stubble and new wheat fields, making the commentor wonder how deer feeders are a problem.&nbsp;

We feed deer mostly to get them comfortable with browsing in front of our blind. Last season, I was seeing the same five does and fawns every morning. My sister on who’s property our blind&nbsp;stands, had never spent time with us in the blind during hunting season, so I took her with me one morning. I had prayed that God would at least allow us to see the same five deer that morning, but to our amazement, He brought us fourteen! For forty-five minutes, she got to watch fawns run and play like lambs, and young bucks spar with each other, none of which would have happened had the scattered corn not invited them to&nbsp;pause and&nbsp;browse on&nbsp;their&nbsp;way through to a nearby bedding area.&nbsp;

If corn is being fed to deer by dumping it in a&nbsp;big&nbsp;pile on the ground where every critter from miles around can come and eat from that same pile, I can see how that could&nbsp;concentrate&nbsp;saliva, urine and feces there. But&nbsp;I’m not convinced&nbsp;at all&nbsp;that scattering corn and apples in a large area like we do, or using a battery-powered corn feeder that flings a small amount of corn at&nbsp;a&nbsp;time over a broad area will contribute to the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.&nbsp;I understand the argument, but color me skeptical. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>I first learned to hunt deer with a group of neighbors where I grew-up in Ohio. We all had our&nbsp;favorite&nbsp;stands or places to sit for the first couple days of deer season, then if we hadn’t yet harvested a deer, we would get together as a group to move deer&nbsp;through a wood-lot&nbsp;somewhere&nbsp;towards waiting hunters. Here in Kansas, I have harvested several deer from stands or blinds strategically placed along travel routes or at&nbsp;natural&nbsp;feeding spots. When we built our raised blind years ago, we hung a corn feeder in a draw in front of the blind. Squirrels chewed a hole in the bottom of the feeder, so we tried another.&nbsp;Unhappy with that feeder, we began&nbsp;simply&nbsp;scattering buckets of shelled corn, ear corn, apples or pears&nbsp;on the ground&nbsp;over an area the size of a couple houses, which we still do today.&nbsp;Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a very infectious and deadly disease that was first discovered in our KS wild deer in 2005 in the northwestern part of the state, and has steadily spread south and eastward&nbsp;across Kansas. While&nbsp;conservation professionals are not certain of all the ways in which CWD spreads, they agree that the most prevalent seems to be from direct deer-to-deer contact, through saliva, urine, feces etc.A friend frequently attends the open meetings held around the state where the public is invited to listen to, and to comment on topics such as proposed hunting season dates, etc. and topics of concern such as CWD. He told me that a topic of discussion at the last meeting he attended this summer was whether or not feeding and baiting deer&nbsp;aids in the transmission of CWD, and the possibility of making that practice illegal here in KS arose. A brochure about Chronic Wasting Disease available from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) states that “Concentrating deer and elk by artificial feeding or baiting probably increases the likelihood of both direct and indirect transmission between individuals” (meaning deer and elk.) A&nbsp;recent post on the KDWP Facebook page urges hunters not to feed or bait deer, and a topic at the early September open-meeting at Kansas City was a proposal to disallow bait&nbsp;for deer&nbsp;to be placed on KDWP managed lands and on all land enrolled in the popular walk-in hunting program.As one would expect, the KDWP Facebook post urging people not to bait or feed deer&nbsp;as a way to help slow the spread of CWD&nbsp;drew a multitude of comments, with those in support of feeding deer far outnumbering those against it. Comments supporting banning the practice offered little factual information, most merely stating their opposition to feeding&nbsp;and&nbsp;baiting deer, and that deer should be hunted “the old-fashioned way.”&nbsp;Comments supporting&nbsp;feeding and baiting deer often mentioned the fact that many deer naturally feed on the same alfalfa, corn stubble, soybean stubble and new wheat fields, making the commentor wonder how deer feeders are a problem.&nbsp;We feed deer mostly to get them comfortable with browsing in front of our blind. Last season, I was seeing the same five does and fawns every morning. My sister on who’s property our blind&nbsp;stands, had never spent time with us in the blind during hunting season, so I took her with me one morning. I had prayed that God would at least allow us to see the same five deer that morning, but to our amazement, He brought us fourteen! For forty-five minutes, she got to watch fawns run and play like lambs, and young bucks spar with each other, none of which would have happened had the scattered corn not invited them to&nbsp;pause and&nbsp;browse on&nbsp;their&nbsp;way through to a nearby bedding area.&nbsp;If corn is being fed to deer by dumping it in a&nbsp;big&nbsp;pile on the ground where every critter from miles around can come and eat from that same pile, I can see how that could&nbsp;concentrate&nbsp;saliva, urine and feces there. But&nbsp;I’m not convinced&nbsp;at all&nbsp;that scattering corn and apples in a large area like we do, or using a battery-powered corn feeder that flings a small amount of corn at&nbsp;a&nbsp;time over a broad area will contribute to the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.&nbsp;I understand the argument, but color me skeptical. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Does it, or doesn’t it?

By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher There are two kinds of people in the world: people who hate snow and those of us who love it. If you think I am crazy, consider I grew up in Wisconsin. In my world, snow means picturesque landscapes coated in white, the fun of sledding, tubing, downhill skiing and snowmobile rides, and if you are lucky — a snow day. My farm friends might roll their eyes and say, what about chores. On my family’s dairy farm our cows were safe and warm in the barn, and we didn’t have to break ice or dig them out of the snow. We only had issues if temperatures were extremely low for a long enough time that the barn cleaner froze up. Those were not fun days. Since snow is a much rarer treat in Kansas, helping with livestock and navigating drifts on snowy days doesn’t really bother me. Plus, the snow never seems to last longer than a day or two so it melts before my excitement wears off. You might think it is too early to be wishing for snow but there are chances in the forecast, and I am filled with anticipation. I dream of fluffy floating flakes that fall peacefully as the sound is absorbed and the countryside is blanketed in white. That may be a bit of wishful thinking since Kansas snow often seems like it is right out of the blizzard from the Claymation classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” The drier, drifting snow that whips across the Kansas plains is exactly where I imagine the Abominable Snowman. Even if it isn’t the picture perfectness of my dreams, snow is needed. This year’s drought conditions have ensured that pretty much all farmers are excited about any precipitation regardless of form. The unexpected break from our busy lives can be a blessing too as we pause our daily routines and postpone plans. Snow days are a special kind of boost to moral because they often include spending time with our loved ones and doing all the little things that we never have time for otherwise. On days when the world shut down, my family often had a blast and made lasting memories. In my younger years, snow days were spent making forts with my brothers. As I grew older, my dad would take us out for a snowmobile ride. Mom was ready with snacks to warm us up while watching movies as a family. Snow days have brought me so much joy because they are almost always spent with family. In the aftermath of the pandemic there has been debate about whether or not remote work and school means the end of snow days. I have been heartened to see that many educators fighting to keep snow days. There is great value in disrupted schedules making time for joy and togetherness. Today when I end up canceling plans because of snow, it usually allows me to spend more time helping on the farm. Checking on livestock and making the rounds on the farm don’t seem like work when you are with your favorite people and have nowhere else to be. Quality time working is just as fulfilling as play. If we are lucky enough and get great snowfalls this winter, remember not to spend too much time worrying about canceled plans or the work that is looming. Instead, I hope you will join me in embracing snow for the beauty, the moisture and the moments of togetherness.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575406519723.jpeg" alt="Jackie Mundt" />
 <figcaption>Jackie Mundt</figcaption>
 </figure>By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher There are two kinds of people in the world: people who hate snow and those of us who love it. If you think I am crazy, consider I grew up in Wisconsin. In my world, snow means picturesque landscapes coated in white, the fun of sledding, tubing, downhill skiing and snowmobile rides, and if you are lucky — a snow day. My farm friends might roll their eyes and say, what about chores. On my family’s dairy farm our cows were safe and warm in the barn, and we didn’t have to break ice or dig them out of the snow. We only had issues if temperatures were extremely low for a long enough time that the barn cleaner froze up. Those were not fun days. Since snow is a much rarer treat in Kansas, helping with livestock and navigating drifts on snowy days doesn’t really bother me. Plus, the snow never seems to last longer than a day or two so it melts before my excitement wears off. You might think it is too early to be wishing for snow but there are chances in the forecast, and I am filled with anticipation. I dream of fluffy floating flakes that fall peacefully as the sound is absorbed and the countryside is blanketed in white. That may be a bit of wishful thinking since Kansas snow often seems like it is right out of the blizzard from the Claymation classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” The drier, drifting snow that whips across the Kansas plains is exactly where I imagine the Abominable Snowman. Even if it isn’t the picture perfectness of my dreams, snow is needed. This year’s drought conditions have ensured that pretty much all farmers are excited about any precipitation regardless of form. The unexpected break from our busy lives can be a blessing too as we pause our daily routines and postpone plans. Snow days are a special kind of boost to moral because they often include spending time with our loved ones and doing all the little things that we never have time for otherwise. On days when the world shut down, my family often had a blast and made lasting memories. In my younger years, snow days were spent making forts with my brothers. As I grew older, my dad would take us out for a snowmobile ride. Mom was ready with snacks to warm us up while watching movies as a family. Snow days have brought me so much joy because they are almost always spent with family. In the aftermath of the pandemic there has been debate about whether or not remote work and school means the end of snow days. I have been heartened to see that many educators fighting to keep snow days. There is great value in disrupted schedules making time for joy and togetherness. Today when I end up canceling plans because of snow, it usually allows me to spend more time helping on the farm. Checking on livestock and making the rounds on the farm don’t seem like work when you are with your favorite people and have nowhere else to be. Quality time working is just as fulfilling as play. If we are lucky enough and get great snowfalls this winter, remember not to spend too much time worrying about canceled plans or the work that is looming. Instead, I hope you will join me in embracing snow for the beauty, the moisture and the moments of togetherness."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Dreaming of snow days

Over the past several years public opinion polls have gotten a lot of heat — some of it deserved, some of it not — for not accurately predicting election results.

Public opinion is only as accurate as the sample&nbsp;of voters polled&nbsp;and what&nbsp;those voters&nbsp;are willing to tell pollsters.&nbsp;As such, election outcomes will always be the best gauge of public opinion.

But this year, the Kansas polls were mostly correct.

What insights&nbsp;do this year’s&nbsp;results&nbsp;and exit polls&nbsp;give us about&nbsp;political&nbsp;trends in Kansas?

First, moderate Democratic candidates can be competitive in, and even win, statewide races. We knew this already, but now we know that this can hold true even with an unpopular Democratic president in office.

This year the polls told us that some statewide races would be close.&nbsp;They were right. Once all the votes are counted, Laura Kelly will narrowly win re-election.&nbsp;

The Attorney General race was also close.&nbsp;

Both Democrats in those races outperformed Joe Biden’s 2020 vote share.&nbsp;Even before the election,&nbsp;Kelly’s approval rating was much higher than Biden’s, which boded well for the governor.

Exit polling conducted&nbsp;in Kansas&nbsp;by Fox News&nbsp;tell&nbsp;an intriguing&nbsp;story&nbsp;about Kansas voters.

Most of the negative campaign ads against Kelly — and other Democratic candidates — tried to use the president as a liability, and the exit polling shows Biden has a 63% disapproval rating in the state.

But&nbsp;a&nbsp;majority of&nbsp;Kelly&nbsp;voters said their opinion of President Biden had nothing to do with their vote.&nbsp;And interestingly enough, 11%&nbsp;of Kelly voters said they used their vote to express opposition to Biden.

Even among&nbsp;voters who expressed moderate disapproval of the president, 57% voted for Laura Kelly.

This suggests that the so called “Kansas Democrat playbook” — where statewide Democratic candidates distance themselves from national Democrats, especially unpopular ones — still works&nbsp;and&nbsp;we’ll likely see it used in years to come.

Second, Kansans seem to like the status quo in Topeka… at least when it comes to how the branches of government interact with each other.

While Republicans will decisively control the state legislature, and Laura Kelly held on to the governorship, Amendment 1 failed.&nbsp;This amendment, also known as the “legislative veto” would have dramatically shifted the balance of power had it passed. It would have changed our system of checks and balances as we know it.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1633377761670.jpeg" alt="Alexandra Middlewood, PhD&nbsp;is an Assistant&nbsp;Professor of Political Science at&nbsp;Wichita State&nbsp;University." />
 <figcaption>Alexandra Middlewood, PhD&nbsp;is an Assistant&nbsp;Professor of Political Science at&nbsp;Wichita State&nbsp;University.</figcaption>
 </figure>Over the past several years public opinion polls have gotten a lot of heat — some of it deserved, some of it not — for not accurately predicting election results.Public opinion is only as accurate as the sample&nbsp;of voters polled&nbsp;and what&nbsp;those voters&nbsp;are willing to tell pollsters.&nbsp;As such, election outcomes will always be the best gauge of public opinion.But this year, the Kansas polls were mostly correct.What insights&nbsp;do this year’s&nbsp;results&nbsp;and exit polls&nbsp;give us about&nbsp;political&nbsp;trends in Kansas?<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>First, moderate Democratic candidates can be competitive in, and even win, statewide races. We knew this already, but now we know that this can hold true even with an unpopular Democratic president in office.This year the polls told us that some statewide races would be close.&nbsp;They were right. Once all the votes are counted, Laura Kelly will narrowly win re-election.&nbsp;The Attorney General race was also close.&nbsp;Both Democrats in those races outperformed Joe Biden’s 2020 vote share.&nbsp;Even before the election,&nbsp;Kelly’s approval rating was much higher than Biden’s, which boded well for the governor.Exit polling conducted&nbsp;in Kansas&nbsp;by Fox News&nbsp;tell&nbsp;an intriguing&nbsp;story&nbsp;about Kansas voters.Most of the negative campaign ads against Kelly — and other Democratic candidates — tried to use the president as a liability, and the exit polling shows Biden has a 63% disapproval rating in the state.But&nbsp;a&nbsp;majority of&nbsp;Kelly&nbsp;voters said their opinion of President Biden had nothing to do with their vote.&nbsp;And interestingly enough, 11%&nbsp;of Kelly voters said they used their vote to express opposition to Biden.Even among&nbsp;voters who expressed moderate disapproval of the president, 57% voted for Laura Kelly.This suggests that the so called “Kansas Democrat playbook” — where statewide Democratic candidates distance themselves from national Democrats, especially unpopular ones — still works&nbsp;and&nbsp;we’ll likely see it used in years to come.Second, Kansans seem to like the status quo in Topeka… at least when it comes to how the branches of government interact with each other.While Republicans will decisively control the state legislature, and Laura Kelly held on to the governorship, Amendment 1 failed.&nbsp;This amendment, also known as the “legislative veto” would have dramatically shifted the balance of power had it passed. It would have changed our system of checks and balances as we know it.While the vote was close, it looks like the amendment will&nbsp;fail by a narrow margin.I suspect this outcome was somewhat motivated by confusing ballot language,&nbsp;but also by an&nbsp;age-old&nbsp;reluctance to give any branch of government more power than they currently have.The state house races certainly seem to maintain the status quo. Democrats flipped one House seat in Johnson County, but still fell two seats short of blocking the Republican supermajority in the chamber.The retention of all seven Supreme Court justices is another testament to the status quo. Generally, justices are retained but this was a different year&nbsp;where those races could have been much more politicized than usual due to&nbsp;conservative backlash to&nbsp;the&nbsp;Hodes&nbsp;decision which established abortion as a right protected by the state constitution.Kansans certainly gave us some nail biters this year&nbsp;with several races too close to call as Election Day&nbsp;came to a close.&nbsp;We’ll&nbsp;probably continue to&nbsp;see close races&nbsp;in the years to come&nbsp;as&nbsp;Kansans&nbsp;grapple with a rapidly changing political environment.Alexandra Middlewood, PhD&nbsp;is an Assistant&nbsp;Professor of Political Science at&nbsp;Wichita State&nbsp;University.

Opinion