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

“I cannot live without books,” said Thomas Jefferson.&nbsp;

Stephen King described books as “uniquely portable magic” and “the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent.”&nbsp;

And author Jhumpa Lahiri wrote: “That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”&nbsp;

The benefits of books are now being discovered and shared in a new, independent bookstore in a rural community of Kansas. Jennifer Kassebaum is the owner of Flint Hills Books in Council Grove.&nbsp;

Kassebaum went to the University of Kansas and earned a law degree at the KU law school, where she met and married Bill Kassebaum. They now have a cow-calf operation on a ranch near the rural community of Burdick, population 62 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

Kassebaum practiced law, worked as assistant general counsel at K-State and later at Wichita State before taking early retirement. As she thought about what she would like to be involved with next, one topic kept surfacing: Books.&nbsp;

“I always enjoyed books,” Kassebaum said. She thought about opening an independent bookstore. After researching the idea, including talking to several independent booksellers, Kassebaum leased a space in a beautiful former bank building in the nearby town of Council Grove.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Other bookstore owners encouraged her to take the American Booksellers Association training, so she did. At one of the training sessions, the instructor stated that a successful bookstore should be at least 1,200 square feet in size and be located in a town of at least 10,000 population.&nbsp;

Uh oh. Kassebaum’s store met neither criterion.&nbsp;

After a lot of thought, she decided to proceed with her store in downtown Council Grove.&nbsp;&nbsp;The grand opening of the store was in April 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The bookstore’s website states: “Flint Hills Books&nbsp;is a general interest bookstore nestled in the breathtaking grandeur of the Flint Hills.”&nbsp;&nbsp;The store is “where a deep love for the majestic Flint Hills and a passion for books collide.”&nbsp;

Flint Hills Books offers a curated collection of books, puzzles, and other activities and gifts. Kassebaum has simple but high standards for selecting books:&nbsp;&nbsp;“I include books I’ve read, books I want to read, and books that I think a good bookstore should have.”&nbsp;

There are bestsellers, new books, fiction, non-fiction, young adult books and more. Her store offers book-signings and a children’s section as well as cards, puzzles and gifts. The bookstore website has a section for audio books and online shopping.&nbsp;

Julie Hower, president of the Farmers &amp; Drovers Bank in Council Grove, pointed out that there has been a resurgence of woman-owned businesses in that community’s downtown.&nbsp;

For example, an independent coffee house named Watts Coffee is right down the street from Kassebaum’s bookstore, and a new brewery named Riverbank Brewing Company is on the other side of the street. There are several more.&nbsp;

These independent businesses have found ways to work together. Kassebaum partnered with Watts Coffee to produce a co-branded espresso-flavored gourmet chocolate bar. The label of the chocolate bar, produced by Sweet Granada Chocolate Company in Emporia, bears both the Watts Coffee and Flint Hills Books logos with the saying, “Because nothing is better than a good book and a great cup of coffee.”&nbsp;

Kassebaum is also partnering with Riverbank Brewing for a monthly event called Books &amp; Brews. That includes an evening social hour at the brewery where Kassebaum speaks about upcoming book releases. “I do as much locally as I can,” she said.&nbsp;

“Cami San Romani, owner of Cami’s Cakes and The Wooden Spoon, is an amazing baker whose artful cookies make bookstore events so special,” Kassebaum said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Lindsey Patnode, owner of Flowers by Lindsey, has helped me with elegant flower arrangements for special events.”&nbsp;

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

We commend Jennifer Kassebaum for making a difference with her love of books and for sharing that with this rural community. As Garrison Keillor said, “A book is a gift you can open again and again.”&nbsp;

And there’s more. Remember the resurgence of woman-owned businesses in Council Grove? We’ll learn more about that next week.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1664974255597.png" alt="Jennifer Kassebaum" />
 <figcaption>Jennifer Kassebaum</figcaption>
 </figure>BY RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;“I cannot live without books,” said Thomas Jefferson.&nbsp;Stephen King described books as “uniquely portable magic” and “the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent.”&nbsp;And author Jhumpa Lahiri wrote: “That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”&nbsp;The benefits of books are now being discovered and shared in a new, independent bookstore in a rural community of Kansas. Jennifer Kassebaum is the owner of Flint Hills Books in Council Grove.&nbsp;Kassebaum went to the University of Kansas and earned a law degree at the KU law school, where she met and married Bill Kassebaum. They now have a cow-calf operation on a ranch near the rural community of Burdick, population 62 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;Kassebaum practiced law, worked as assistant general counsel at K-State and later at Wichita State before taking early retirement. As she thought about what she would like to be involved with next, one topic kept surfacing: Books.&nbsp;“I always enjoyed books,” Kassebaum said. She thought about opening an independent bookstore. After researching the idea, including talking to several independent booksellers, Kassebaum leased a space in a beautiful former bank building in the nearby town of Council Grove.&nbsp;&nbsp;Other bookstore owners encouraged her to take the American Booksellers Association training, so she did. At one of the training sessions, the instructor stated that a successful bookstore should be at least 1,200 square feet in size and be located in a town of at least 10,000 population.&nbsp;Uh oh. Kassebaum’s store met neither criterion.&nbsp;After a lot of thought, she decided to proceed with her store in downtown Council Grove.&nbsp;&nbsp;The grand opening of the store was in April 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;The bookstore’s website states: “Flint Hills Books&nbsp;is a general interest bookstore nestled in the breathtaking grandeur of the Flint Hills.”&nbsp;&nbsp;The store is “where a deep love for the majestic Flint Hills and a passion for books collide.”&nbsp;Flint Hills Books offers a curated collection of books, puzzles, and other activities and gifts. Kassebaum has simple but high standards for selecting books:&nbsp;&nbsp;“I include books I’ve read, books I want to read, and books that I think a good bookstore should have.”&nbsp;There are bestsellers, new books, fiction, non-fiction, young adult books and more. Her store offers book-signings and a children’s section as well as cards, puzzles and gifts. The bookstore website has a section for audio books and online shopping.&nbsp;Julie Hower, president of the Farmers &amp; Drovers Bank in Council Grove, pointed out that there has been a resurgence of woman-owned businesses in that community’s downtown.&nbsp;For example, an independent coffee house named Watts Coffee is right down the street from Kassebaum’s bookstore, and a new brewery named Riverbank Brewing Company is on the other side of the street. There are several more.&nbsp;These independent businesses have found ways to work together. Kassebaum partnered with Watts Coffee to produce a co-branded espresso-flavored gourmet chocolate bar. The label of the chocolate bar, produced by Sweet Granada Chocolate Company in Emporia, bears both the Watts Coffee and Flint Hills Books logos with the saying, “Because nothing is better than a good book and a great cup of coffee.”&nbsp;Kassebaum is also partnering with Riverbank Brewing for a monthly event called Books &amp; Brews. That includes an evening social hour at the brewery where Kassebaum speaks about upcoming book releases. “I do as much locally as I can,” she said.&nbsp;“Cami San Romani, owner of Cami’s Cakes and The Wooden Spoon, is an amazing baker whose artful cookies make bookstore events so special,” Kassebaum said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Lindsey Patnode, owner of Flowers by Lindsey, has helped me with elegant flower arrangements for special events.”&nbsp;For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.flinthillsbooks.com/">www.flinthillsbooks.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We commend Jennifer Kassebaum for making a difference with her love of books and for sharing that with this rural community. As Garrison Keillor said, “A book is a gift you can open again and again.”&nbsp;And there’s more. Remember the resurgence of woman-owned businesses in Council Grove? We’ll learn more about that next week.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Jennifer Kassebaum, Flint Hills Books 

OPEC+ nations, where Saudi Arabia is the prime mover,&nbsp;recently&nbsp;announced they would cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting in November.&nbsp;Saudi officials said the cut is motivated by the concern over the global economy.&nbsp;OPEC countries are seeking to boost their budgets to cope with rising food prices and the strong dollar.&nbsp;

The Saudis are underscoring the folly of President Biden’s limits on oil production, and his non-emergency release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.&nbsp;Last July, Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia to beg the Crown Prince for help containing surging U.S. gasoline prices.&nbsp;Biden administration officials spent days in a frantic lobbying effort to persuade Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to change course. &nbsp;

For Biden, OPEC’s decision to cut production is a blow.&nbsp;It is a personal rebuff to a president who had vowed during his election campaign to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah," only to seek to patch up relations this year in the hope of securing higher oil supplies.&nbsp;

High&nbsp;gasoline prices were a Biden administration policy choice, not an unavoidable accident.&nbsp;First a pipeline bringing oil from Canada to the U.S. was quickly canceled.&nbsp;Then, new leasing for energy development on federal acreage was stopped.&nbsp;Added to that was a batch of proposed punitive, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations on oil and gas operations.&nbsp;These actions have severely hampered American oil and gas companies’ ability to adequately supply the market.&nbsp;These short-sighted energy policies result in higher energy costs that disproportionately harm low-income groups.&nbsp;

U.S. energy policies that restrict domestic production force our country to seek relief from foreign suppliers of energy.&nbsp;The problem is that when certain foreign governments control your energy, they have the power to use it for their own purposes, not yours.&nbsp;America should not be in the position of asking for foreign energy supplies, especially when we have abundant resources produced to standards that are among the highest in the world, right here at home.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

While claiming to fight to bring energy prices down, President Biden has made the wrong move at every turn.&nbsp;Nothing less than a total reversal of his approach is necessary.&nbsp;President Biden should embrace American oil and gas exploration and production.&nbsp;Then we would not have to beg people in the Middle East or Russia to help us and Putin would not have the financial reserves to subsidize an invasion.&nbsp;

It is surprising that President Biden thought Saudi Arabia would increase oil supplies.&nbsp;The Biden administration came into office deriding Saudi Arabia and what it called “the Saudi war in&nbsp;Yemen.”&nbsp;More correctly, that war is the Iranian-fostered Houthi war in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in which Saudi cities and oil production facilities have been attacked.&nbsp;The Biden administration subsequently pulled American Patriot Missile batteries out of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and some from Jordan, leaving those countries exposed to increasingly long range and accurate missiles supplied to the Houthis by Tehran.&nbsp;In what universe would Saudi Arabia pump more oil, lower the price, and help the U.S.?&nbsp;

The most pressing risks facing the U.S. economy in the foreseeable future are unlikely to be those arising from climate change or an energy transition.&nbsp;Rather the factors to watch are more apt to be inflation, rising energy costs, and national security threats.&nbsp;The Biden administration is too focused on climate change to anticipate or deter these significant real threats.&nbsp;

President Biden and all federal and state policymakers should prioritize advancing American energy leadership with policies that encourage development of responsibly produced energy here at home.&nbsp;These policies should recognize the volatile world we live in and the long-term impacts of returning to the days of foreign energy dependency.

Edward Cross is president of the Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas Association.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665148994103.jpeg" alt="Cross " />
 <figcaption>Cross </figcaption>
 </figure>By EDWARD CROSS KIOGAOPEC+ nations, where Saudi Arabia is the prime mover,&nbsp;recently&nbsp;announced they would cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting in November.&nbsp;Saudi officials said the cut is motivated by the concern over the global economy.&nbsp;OPEC countries are seeking to boost their budgets to cope with rising food prices and the strong dollar.&nbsp;The Saudis are underscoring the folly of President Biden’s limits on oil production, and his non-emergency release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.&nbsp;Last July, Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia to beg the Crown Prince for help containing surging U.S. gasoline prices.&nbsp;Biden administration officials spent days in a frantic lobbying effort to persuade Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to change course. &nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>For Biden, OPEC’s decision to cut production is a blow.&nbsp;It is a personal rebuff to a president who had vowed during his election campaign to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah," only to seek to patch up relations this year in the hope of securing higher oil supplies.&nbsp;High&nbsp;gasoline prices were a Biden administration policy choice, not an unavoidable accident.&nbsp;First a pipeline bringing oil from Canada to the U.S. was quickly canceled.&nbsp;Then, new leasing for energy development on federal acreage was stopped.&nbsp;Added to that was a batch of proposed punitive, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations on oil and gas operations.&nbsp;These actions have severely hampered American oil and gas companies’ ability to adequately supply the market.&nbsp;These short-sighted energy policies result in higher energy costs that disproportionately harm low-income groups.&nbsp;U.S. energy policies that restrict domestic production force our country to seek relief from foreign suppliers of energy.&nbsp;The problem is that when certain foreign governments control your energy, they have the power to use it for their own purposes, not yours.&nbsp;America should not be in the position of asking for foreign energy supplies, especially when we have abundant resources produced to standards that are among the highest in the world, right here at home.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While claiming to fight to bring energy prices down, President Biden has made the wrong move at every turn.&nbsp;Nothing less than a total reversal of his approach is necessary.&nbsp;President Biden should embrace American oil and gas exploration and production.&nbsp;Then we would not have to beg people in the Middle East or Russia to help us and Putin would not have the financial reserves to subsidize an invasion.&nbsp;It is surprising that President Biden thought Saudi Arabia would increase oil supplies.&nbsp;The Biden administration came into office deriding Saudi Arabia and what it called “the Saudi war in&nbsp;Yemen.”&nbsp;More correctly, that war is the Iranian-fostered Houthi war in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in which Saudi cities and oil production facilities have been attacked.&nbsp;The Biden administration subsequently pulled American Patriot Missile batteries out of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and some from Jordan, leaving those countries exposed to increasingly long range and accurate missiles supplied to the Houthis by Tehran.&nbsp;In what universe would Saudi Arabia pump more oil, lower the price, and help the U.S.?&nbsp;The most pressing risks facing the U.S. economy in the foreseeable future are unlikely to be those arising from climate change or an energy transition.&nbsp;Rather the factors to watch are more apt to be inflation, rising energy costs, and national security threats.&nbsp;The Biden administration is too focused on climate change to anticipate or deter these significant real threats.&nbsp;President Biden and all federal and state policymakers should prioritize advancing American energy leadership with policies that encourage development of responsibly produced energy here at home.&nbsp;These policies should recognize the volatile world we live in and the long-term impacts of returning to the days of foreign energy dependency.Edward Cross is president of the Kansas Independent Oil &amp; Gas Association.

CROSS: OPEC+ snubs Biden with oil output cuts

I saw a poster the other day that caught my eye. It was a tennis-themed poster that included life lessons from a tennis perspective.&nbsp;I smiled as I thought how applicable thetennis quotes&nbsp;were to&nbsp;the practice of&nbsp;leadership. Here&nbsp;are&nbsp;a couple: &nbsp;“Foot faults happen – you get a second chance;”&nbsp;“Commit to follow through;”&nbsp;“No matter how far down you are, there’s always hope for a comeback.”&nbsp;All of&nbsp;these examples offer great advice&nbsp;that is&nbsp;applicable&nbsp;in&nbsp;so many&nbsp;situations.

The poster also prompted me to check in with&nbsp;tennis&nbsp;coach Brian Flax.&nbsp;Coach&nbsp;Flax is in his 27th year as the head tennis coach&nbsp;at FHSU.&nbsp;He&nbsp;ranks as the all-time leader in coaching victories with 205.&nbsp;Brian&nbsp;is currently the longest-tenured head coach at Fort Hays State.&nbsp;We are so grateful for his dedication to our players and&nbsp;to&nbsp;Tiger Tennis.

This season&nbsp;we returned&nbsp;the majority of the roster.&nbsp;Several of our returning players will&nbsp;bring significant experience to the fall 2022&nbsp;season.&nbsp;Among those returning as sophomores are twin sisters Heidi and Hope Lubbers.&nbsp;Hope is majoring in English, secondary education,&nbsp;while Heidi is preparing for our medical diagnostic imaging program with an emphasis on&nbsp;ultrasound.

Coach Flax shared that Heidi and Hope Lubbers come from a long line of&nbsp;tennis-playing&nbsp;family members.&nbsp;Their grandpa taught them,&nbsp;their sisters, uncles, and their mom&nbsp;the play and love the game.&nbsp;As soon as&nbsp;Heidi and Hope&nbsp;could&nbsp;hold a racquet, they&nbsp;were on the court too.&nbsp;In fact,&nbsp;their grandpa loved tennis so much&nbsp;that&nbsp;he built a court in his&nbsp;backyard.&nbsp;Older twin sisters Nicole and Natalie&nbsp;Lubbers&nbsp;played for the Tigers&nbsp;several&nbsp;years ago.&nbsp;Yup – two sets of twins; a&nbsp;double-double!

Heidi and Hope&nbsp;played for Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita,&nbsp;where they&nbsp;dominated the 5A doubles circuit,&nbsp;placing&nbsp;second&nbsp;at state their senior year.&nbsp;Their most memorable moment&nbsp;was&nbsp;winning the doubles semi-finals in the state tournament in that senior year. That match helped their team achieve enough points to win the state championship title. “I can still remember how proud our family and coach looked when we walked off that court,” shared Hope. I am sure that was&nbsp;the realization of a lot of dreams in a family where&nbsp;the passion for the game spans&nbsp;generations.&nbsp;

From my perspective, I&nbsp;love that this tennis family has such a strong legacy connection to FHSU. In fact, that connection to FHSU &nbsp;became&nbsp;even&nbsp;more apparent&nbsp;when I learned that Heidi and Hope&nbsp;made attending&nbsp;FHSU&nbsp;their first priority-above tennis. I think that is&nbsp;incredible!&nbsp;

“Having come often to visit our sisters here at Hays, Hope and I grew to love the campus,”&nbsp;shared Heidi. “From the homey feel of the town to the beautiful buildings that are all walking distance from the residential halls, this college was always our top choice.”

Heidi and Hope’s aspirations of attending FHSU slipped somewhat when they didn’t receive an offer to play tennis due to the low number of team members graduating, which would have opened spots for the duo.&nbsp;“That hit us&nbsp;hard,” Heidi said.&nbsp;“But after talking it over, we were willing to put down our rackets for good and come just as students, but not student-athletes.”

The twins’ commitment to FHSU paid off in their senior year of high school when two spots opened on the tennis team. Coach Flax knew exactly who to call.

Heidi said that she and Hope have been grateful for the opportunity the coach gave them to play. Additionally, the twins are glad that the team&nbsp;comprises young players&nbsp;they can work with throughout their undergraduate careers. “College tennis teams like ours are composed of players who play at different skill levels.&nbsp;This would seem to cause a lot of drama in a competitive sport, but during my time here,&nbsp;there has been no drama or fights&nbsp;over&nbsp;a limited number of starting spots. All the girls respect Coach’s decisions.”&nbsp;Heidi said.

I was curious&nbsp;whether the twins&nbsp;felt they had an advantage when playing doubles. The answer&nbsp;was a definitive “Yes!”

“Heidi and I were meant to be doubles partners,” Hope&nbsp;shared.”&nbsp;As fraternal twins, our older sisters, Nicole and Natalie, never really got along on the court, so it was a no-brainer that they would not be doubles partners. Heidi and I, however,&nbsp;are identical twins,&nbsp;and we think that helps us&nbsp;work very well together,”&nbsp;

The twins point out that they have a connection most of their teammates don’t have. They continue to support and coach each other without judgment or holding back.&nbsp;

Hope and Heidi also mentioned&nbsp;how tennis has helped them grow in other ways. From Hope’s&nbsp;perspective,&nbsp;being&nbsp;a part of the FHSU tennis team has allowed&nbsp;her&nbsp;to take on roles&nbsp;she&nbsp;wouldn’t have&nbsp;had&nbsp;outside of the sport.&nbsp;She&nbsp;steps&nbsp;in to play leader when&nbsp;theteam captain&nbsp;or the coaches need&nbsp;her.

“Most of the time, I&nbsp;work hard to support&nbsp;the other girls, whether before, during, or after a tough match,&nbsp;or simply during a time of struggle in their personal lives, Hope said.“Everyone on the team&nbsp;must be flexible&nbsp;and be ready to take on different&nbsp;roles&nbsp;when necessary.&nbsp;Only when all the roles are filled can a team succeed and each player become a champion.”

Heidi also&nbsp;shared&nbsp;thoughts on&nbsp;being a champion: As a sophomore,&nbsp;she has&nbsp;seen howimportant it is to be a team leader to the freshman because they&nbsp;are aware of upperclassmen’s&nbsp;attitudes&nbsp;on and off the court.

“In order to be a champion, you should want your teammates to be champions before yourself.&nbsp;If&nbsp;I am not at the top of the lineup,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I am not performing my best, as long as the rest of the team is&nbsp;ready to step in and perform, everyone can be a champion.”&nbsp;Heidi said.

From Coach Flax’s&nbsp;perspective, Heidi&nbsp;and Hope&nbsp;are a&nbsp;dream&nbsp;to coach,&nbsp;and they&nbsp;are&nbsp;among the best overall&nbsp;teammates&nbsp;he has worked with&nbsp;in&nbsp;his&nbsp;27 years&nbsp;of&nbsp;coaching.&nbsp;He believes they are&nbsp;excellent ambassadors for the sport&nbsp;and&nbsp;constantly&nbsp;remind&nbsp;him&nbsp;of the&nbsp;essential&nbsp;intersection between athletics and leadership.&nbsp;

Diving back into tennis-inspired life lessons, it is said that every&nbsp;set in tennis&nbsp;begins with “Love,”&nbsp;and each point&nbsp;offers&nbsp;a new opportunity&nbsp;to win.&nbsp;Tiger Tennis is definitely a winner thanks to the community of care modeled by the coaching staff and&nbsp;embraced by the Lubbers sisters and their Tiger Tennis teammates. &nbsp;

If you would like to support the Tiger Tennis program, please consider two new sponsorship options. The first is a court sponsorship. For a $500 donation, you can have the name of your choice posted on a sign on one or more of the six tennis courts where the Tigers compete. If you wish to make a financial donation of any kind to support Tiger Tennis, the name of your choice will be placed on a new “Tiger Advantage Backers” sign at the tennis complex. Learn&nbsp;more and make your donations on the&nbsp;<a href="https://foundation.fhsu.edu/support-fhsu-tennis/?bbeml=tp-hf8wJfoouUSxi7AQP3Blmw.joixybNBdike6WQzDWwHkbw.rxqxaxTmsAkGB2AtiBd6xGg.lb0ESIFdyAkSHPSuEclIUBg">Support Tiger Tennis web page</a>&nbsp;hosted by the FHSU Foundation.

<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 saw a poster the other day that caught my eye. It was a tennis-themed poster that included life lessons from a tennis perspective.&nbsp;I smiled as I thought how applicable thetennis quotes&nbsp;were to&nbsp;the practice of&nbsp;leadership. Here&nbsp;are&nbsp;a couple: &nbsp;“Foot faults happen – you get a second chance;”&nbsp;“Commit to follow through;”&nbsp;“No matter how far down you are, there’s always hope for a comeback.”&nbsp;All of&nbsp;these examples offer great advice&nbsp;that is&nbsp;applicable&nbsp;in&nbsp;so many&nbsp;situations.The poster also prompted me to check in with&nbsp;tennis&nbsp;coach Brian Flax.&nbsp;Coach&nbsp;Flax is in his 27th year as the head tennis coach&nbsp;at FHSU.&nbsp;He&nbsp;ranks as the all-time leader in coaching victories with 205.&nbsp;Brian&nbsp;is currently the longest-tenured head coach at Fort Hays State.&nbsp;We are so grateful for his dedication to our players and&nbsp;to&nbsp;Tiger Tennis.This season&nbsp;we returned&nbsp;the majority of the roster.&nbsp;Several of our returning players will&nbsp;bring significant experience to the fall 2022&nbsp;season.&nbsp;Among those returning as sophomores are twin sisters Heidi and Hope Lubbers.&nbsp;Hope is majoring in English, secondary education,&nbsp;while Heidi is preparing for our medical diagnostic imaging program with an emphasis on&nbsp;ultrasound.Coach Flax shared that Heidi and Hope Lubbers come from a long line of&nbsp;tennis-playing&nbsp;family members.&nbsp;Their grandpa taught them,&nbsp;their sisters, uncles, and their mom&nbsp;the play and love the game.&nbsp;As soon as&nbsp;Heidi and Hope&nbsp;could&nbsp;hold a racquet, they&nbsp;were on the court too.&nbsp;In fact,&nbsp;their grandpa loved tennis so much&nbsp;that&nbsp;he built a court in his&nbsp;backyard.&nbsp;Older twin sisters Nicole and Natalie&nbsp;Lubbers&nbsp;played for the Tigers&nbsp;several&nbsp;years ago.&nbsp;Yup – two sets of twins; a&nbsp;double-double!Heidi and Hope&nbsp;played for Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita,&nbsp;where they&nbsp;dominated the 5A doubles circuit,&nbsp;placing&nbsp;second&nbsp;at state their senior year.&nbsp;Their most memorable moment&nbsp;was&nbsp;winning the doubles semi-finals in the state tournament in that senior year. That match helped their team achieve enough points to win the state championship title. “I can still remember how proud our family and coach looked when we walked off that court,” shared Hope. I am sure that was&nbsp;the realization of a lot of dreams in a family where&nbsp;the passion for the game spans&nbsp;generations.&nbsp;From my perspective, I&nbsp;love that this tennis family has such a strong legacy connection to FHSU. In fact, that connection to FHSU &nbsp;became&nbsp;even&nbsp;more apparent&nbsp;when I learned that Heidi and Hope&nbsp;made attending&nbsp;FHSU&nbsp;their first priority-above tennis. I think that is&nbsp;incredible!&nbsp;“Having come often to visit our sisters here at Hays, Hope and I grew to love the campus,”&nbsp;shared Heidi. “From the homey feel of the town to the beautiful buildings that are all walking distance from the residential halls, this college was always our top choice.”Heidi and Hope’s aspirations of attending FHSU slipped somewhat when they didn’t receive an offer to play tennis due to the low number of team members graduating, which would have opened spots for the duo.&nbsp;“That hit us&nbsp;hard,” Heidi said.&nbsp;“But after talking it over, we were willing to put down our rackets for good and come just as students, but not student-athletes.”The twins’ commitment to FHSU paid off in their senior year of high school when two spots opened on the tennis team. Coach Flax knew exactly who to call.Heidi said that she and Hope have been grateful for the opportunity the coach gave them to play. Additionally, the twins are glad that the team&nbsp;comprises young players&nbsp;they can work with throughout their undergraduate careers. “College tennis teams like ours are composed of players who play at different skill levels.&nbsp;This would seem to cause a lot of drama in a competitive sport, but during my time here,&nbsp;there has been no drama or fights&nbsp;over&nbsp;a limited number of starting spots. All the girls respect Coach’s decisions.”&nbsp;Heidi said.I was curious&nbsp;whether the twins&nbsp;felt they had an advantage when playing doubles. The answer&nbsp;was a definitive “Yes!”“Heidi and I were meant to be doubles partners,” Hope&nbsp;shared.”&nbsp;As fraternal twins, our older sisters, Nicole and Natalie, never really got along on the court, so it was a no-brainer that they would not be doubles partners. Heidi and I, however,&nbsp;are identical twins,&nbsp;and we think that helps us&nbsp;work very well together,”&nbsp;The twins point out that they have a connection most of their teammates don’t have. They continue to support and coach each other without judgment or holding back.&nbsp;Hope and Heidi also mentioned&nbsp;how tennis has helped them grow in other ways. From Hope’s&nbsp;perspective,&nbsp;being&nbsp;a part of the FHSU tennis team has allowed&nbsp;her&nbsp;to take on roles&nbsp;she&nbsp;wouldn’t have&nbsp;had&nbsp;outside of the sport.&nbsp;She&nbsp;steps&nbsp;in to play leader when&nbsp;theteam captain&nbsp;or the coaches need&nbsp;her.“Most of the time, I&nbsp;work hard to support&nbsp;the other girls, whether before, during, or after a tough match,&nbsp;or simply during a time of struggle in their personal lives, Hope said.“Everyone on the team&nbsp;must be flexible&nbsp;and be ready to take on different&nbsp;roles&nbsp;when necessary.&nbsp;Only when all the roles are filled can a team succeed and each player become a champion.”Heidi also&nbsp;shared&nbsp;thoughts on&nbsp;being a champion: As a sophomore,&nbsp;she has&nbsp;seen howimportant it is to be a team leader to the freshman because they&nbsp;are aware of upperclassmen’s&nbsp;attitudes&nbsp;on and off the court.“In order to be a champion, you should want your teammates to be champions before yourself.&nbsp;If&nbsp;I am not at the top of the lineup,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I am not performing my best, as long as the rest of the team is&nbsp;ready to step in and perform, everyone can be a champion.”&nbsp;Heidi said.From Coach Flax’s&nbsp;perspective, Heidi&nbsp;and Hope&nbsp;are a&nbsp;dream&nbsp;to coach,&nbsp;and they&nbsp;are&nbsp;among the best overall&nbsp;teammates&nbsp;he has worked with&nbsp;in&nbsp;his&nbsp;27 years&nbsp;of&nbsp;coaching.&nbsp;He believes they are&nbsp;excellent ambassadors for the sport&nbsp;and&nbsp;constantly&nbsp;remind&nbsp;him&nbsp;of the&nbsp;essential&nbsp;intersection between athletics and leadership.&nbsp;Diving back into tennis-inspired life lessons, it is said that every&nbsp;set in tennis&nbsp;begins with “Love,”&nbsp;and each point&nbsp;offers&nbsp;a new opportunity&nbsp;to win.&nbsp;Tiger Tennis is definitely a winner thanks to the community of care modeled by the coaching staff and&nbsp;embraced by the Lubbers sisters and their Tiger Tennis teammates. &nbsp;If you would like to support the Tiger Tennis program, please consider two new sponsorship options. The first is a court sponsorship. For a $500 donation, you can have the name of your choice posted on a sign on one or more of the six tennis courts where the Tigers compete. If you wish to make a financial donation of any kind to support Tiger Tennis, the name of your choice will be placed on a new “Tiger Advantage Backers” sign at the tennis complex. Learn&nbsp;more and make your donations on the&nbsp;<a href="https://foundation.fhsu.edu/support-fhsu-tennis/?bbeml=tp-hf8wJfoouUSxi7AQP3Blmw.joixybNBdike6WQzDWwHkbw.rxqxaxTmsAkGB2AtiBd6xGg.lb0ESIFdyAkSHPSuEclIUBg">Support Tiger Tennis web page</a>&nbsp;hosted by the FHSU Foundation.

Heart of a Tiger: A tennis double-double

Is Ellis County losing millions of dollars each year? Proponents of&nbsp;Obamacare&nbsp;expansion have recently&nbsp;suggested that&nbsp;this is the case. However, I know that isn’t true.&nbsp;How? Because I&nbsp;expanded&nbsp;Obamacare&nbsp;in Colorado.&nbsp;

During the 2013 Colorado legislative session I worked for a Colorado trade association that represented physicians before the state legislature. I was tasked with creating arguments that supported an expansion &nbsp;of&nbsp;Obamacare.&nbsp;The arguments we made then are the same ones being used now, and they simply do not live up to scrutiny.&nbsp;

For example, one of the biggest arguments made in favor of expansion is the “federal government picks up 90% of the cost”.&nbsp;However, I&nbsp;would ask ourselves if&nbsp;ever&nbsp;increasing federal spending has been benefiting us recently? With record inflation, soaring costs, and no relief in sight to energy prices I would argue the last thing we need is hundreds of millions in new federal spending&nbsp;which will only lead to further inflation and even higher costs in our daily lives.&nbsp;

Another argument is&nbsp;“expansion” is&nbsp;actually “budget neutral”.&nbsp;In other words, Kansas should spend hundreds of millions of dollars to hopefully save a few million.&nbsp;This&nbsp;claim is based on the concept of “budget offsets”, which is a fancy lobbyist term for&nbsp;what amounts to a&nbsp;shell game.&nbsp;For example,&nbsp;proponents&nbsp;argue that one way to “offset” the cost is&nbsp;putting prisoners on government insurance. By doing this,&nbsp;the state “saves money” because the federal government is paying for a significant portion of the cost, and thus saves Kansans money.&nbsp;If that seems confusing,&nbsp;it is supposed to.&nbsp;Proponents do not want us to look behind the hood of their proposal, rather just accept their arguments at face value.&nbsp;

Let me be clear. As a person who has an ongoing illness that nearly killed me,&nbsp;and has had more surgeries than&nbsp;I can remember, I support&nbsp;affordable&nbsp;access to healthcare for&nbsp;every single person in our community. However, the idea that more government spending will fix the problem has been proven to be untrue&nbsp;every single time it has been tried. That is why I appreciate&nbsp;our local state&nbsp;Representative&nbsp;Barb Wasinger&nbsp;looking for real solutions to the cost and availability of healthcare. Simply put, we do not&nbsp;need&nbsp;special interest groups controlling healthcare in Kansas,&nbsp;we need dedicated people whose best interests&nbsp;are&nbsp;our community.&nbsp;

Is Ellis County losing millions of dollars each year? Proponents of&nbsp;Obamacare&nbsp;expansion have recently&nbsp;suggested that&nbsp;this is the case. However, I know that isn’t true.&nbsp;How? Because I&nbsp;expanded&nbsp;Obamacare&nbsp;in Colorado.&nbsp;During the 2013 Colorado legislative session I worked for a Colorado trade association that represented physicians before the state legislature. I was tasked with creating arguments that supported an expansion &nbsp;of&nbsp;Obamacare.&nbsp;The arguments we made then are the same ones being used now, and they simply do not live up to scrutiny.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>For example, one of the biggest arguments made in favor of expansion is the “federal government picks up 90% of the cost”.&nbsp;However, I&nbsp;would ask ourselves if&nbsp;ever&nbsp;increasing federal spending has been benefiting us recently? With record inflation, soaring costs, and no relief in sight to energy prices I would argue the last thing we need is hundreds of millions in new federal spending&nbsp;which will only lead to further inflation and even higher costs in our daily lives.&nbsp;Another argument is&nbsp;“expansion” is&nbsp;actually “budget neutral”.&nbsp;In other words, Kansas should spend hundreds of millions of dollars to hopefully save a few million.&nbsp;This&nbsp;claim is based on the concept of “budget offsets”, which is a fancy lobbyist term for&nbsp;what amounts to a&nbsp;shell game.&nbsp;For example,&nbsp;proponents&nbsp;argue that one way to “offset” the cost is&nbsp;putting prisoners on government insurance. By doing this,&nbsp;the state “saves money” because the federal government is paying for a significant portion of the cost, and thus saves Kansans money.&nbsp;If that seems confusing,&nbsp;it is supposed to.&nbsp;Proponents do not want us to look behind the hood of their proposal, rather just accept their arguments at face value.&nbsp;Let me be clear. As a person who has an ongoing illness that nearly killed me,&nbsp;and has had more surgeries than&nbsp;I can remember, I support&nbsp;affordable&nbsp;access to healthcare for&nbsp;every single person in our community. However, the idea that more government spending will fix the problem has been proven to be untrue&nbsp;every single time it has been tried. That is why I appreciate&nbsp;our local state&nbsp;Representative&nbsp;Barb Wasinger&nbsp;looking for real solutions to the cost and availability of healthcare. Simply put, we do not&nbsp;need&nbsp;special interest groups controlling healthcare in Kansas,&nbsp;we need dedicated people whose best interests&nbsp;are&nbsp;our community.&nbsp;Chris McGowne, Hays

LETTER: The true cost of Obamacare

Everyone has&nbsp;favorite foods that keep&nbsp;them&nbsp;coming back&nbsp;for more. One of mine is bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. A local restaurant serves 5 on a plate for a reasonable price considering the amount of work&nbsp;required&nbsp;to make them. Sometimes when we go out for supper, that’s&nbsp;all&nbsp;I order&nbsp;besides a drink. &nbsp;I love them&nbsp;so much there are no&nbsp;leftovers.&nbsp;

​Since we put in a garden this year, I planted a jalapeño&nbsp;pepper&nbsp;to see how many I’d get and to try them&nbsp;turned into poppers. Years ago,&nbsp;on our hilltop west of Ellis, I grew&nbsp;them&nbsp;but hadn’t discovered the magic that happens when you&nbsp;fill&nbsp;de-seeded&nbsp;green casings&nbsp;withcheddar/cream cheese&nbsp;mix, wrap them&nbsp;in par cooked bacon, and&nbsp;roast&nbsp;them&nbsp;in a hot oven. Once they cool,&nbsp;the feast begins. For patient&nbsp;folk,&nbsp;a quick toss on the grill&nbsp;adds&nbsp;extra pizazz. &nbsp;

​Last time we&nbsp;grew these&nbsp;culinary&nbsp;fire&nbsp;bombs, I didn’t know pepper’s capsaicin&nbsp;stays on skin for days and&nbsp;didn’t wear protective gloves when I picked or pickled them. My fingers and hands started burning&nbsp;mid-harvest. It wasn’t&nbsp;painful&nbsp;enough to stop&nbsp;so I&nbsp;continued&nbsp;and assumedsoapy handwashing would&nbsp;solve the problem.&nbsp;

​Once in the kitchen, I rinsed&nbsp;and sliced a&nbsp;mixing&nbsp;bowl&nbsp;full&nbsp;of peppers&nbsp;to pack in jars and cover with&nbsp;brine.&nbsp;The&nbsp;heat&nbsp;increased&nbsp;til&nbsp;I was uncomfortable. At that point, I&nbsp;had&nbsp;to finish, so I kept soaping and rinsing my hands&nbsp;as I completed each step in the pickling process. By the time jars cooled on the counter,&nbsp;fiery flames danced from every nerve ending. No matter how much I washed, coated with creams, or dipped&nbsp;my hands&nbsp;in baking soda water,&nbsp;neurons&nbsp;flared. To make a long story longer,&nbsp;the&nbsp;pain&nbsp;lasted three days.&nbsp;

​Did that experience make me give up on using hot peppers? No. Did it make me keepprotective gloves&nbsp;on hand. Absolutely! If you’d been at my house last week while I&nbsp;picked,sorted, graded, rinsed, and de-seeded 50 fresh&nbsp;jalapeños, you’d have noticed I wore gloves from beginning&nbsp;to&nbsp;final clean up.&nbsp;At no time did I let&nbsp;bare flesh&nbsp;contact&nbsp;peppers&nbsp;or seeds.

​In addition, I&nbsp;opened&nbsp;every kitchen and dining room window to&nbsp;dilute&nbsp;spicy scents emanating from just cleaned peppers.&nbsp;Despite&nbsp;the&nbsp;fresh air, my nose and eyes ran enough to inconvenience me, but not enough to halt operations. Nope, there’d be poppers enough to last a while.

​While we were on vacation, some of my peppers turned from green to red. I googled to see if we could eat those. Based on online advice, both red and green jalapeños produce the same amount of heat, so my finished products had a festive Christmas look.&nbsp;

​When it came time to sample them, we found red&nbsp;tasted&nbsp;hotter than green--not enough to quit eating them, but enough to limit how many we might&nbsp;sample&nbsp;in one sitting. We don’t know if that&nbsp;was imagination&nbsp;or actual sensation, but red&nbsp;isn’t&nbsp;for wimps.&nbsp;

​I don’t have&nbsp;poppers&nbsp;enough to last all winter, but this experiment guarantees jalapeños will grow in the garden next year.&nbsp;And,&nbsp;I’ll have protective gloves on hand for future popper parties.

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 MADORINEveryone has&nbsp;favorite foods that keep&nbsp;them&nbsp;coming back&nbsp;for more. One of mine is bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. A local restaurant serves 5 on a plate for a reasonable price considering the amount of work&nbsp;required&nbsp;to make them. Sometimes when we go out for supper, that’s&nbsp;all&nbsp;I order&nbsp;besides a drink. &nbsp;I love them&nbsp;so much there are no&nbsp;leftovers.&nbsp;​Since we put in a garden this year, I planted a jalapeño&nbsp;pepper&nbsp;to see how many I’d get and to try them&nbsp;turned into poppers. Years ago,&nbsp;on our hilltop west of Ellis, I grew&nbsp;them&nbsp;but hadn’t discovered the magic that happens when you&nbsp;fill&nbsp;de-seeded&nbsp;green casings&nbsp;withcheddar/cream cheese&nbsp;mix, wrap them&nbsp;in par cooked bacon, and&nbsp;roast&nbsp;them&nbsp;in a hot oven. Once they cool,&nbsp;the feast begins. For patient&nbsp;folk,&nbsp;a quick toss on the grill&nbsp;adds&nbsp;extra pizazz. &nbsp;​Last time we&nbsp;grew these&nbsp;culinary&nbsp;fire&nbsp;bombs, I didn’t know pepper’s capsaicin&nbsp;stays on skin for days and&nbsp;didn’t wear protective gloves when I picked or pickled them. My fingers and hands started burning&nbsp;mid-harvest. It wasn’t&nbsp;painful&nbsp;enough to stop&nbsp;so I&nbsp;continued&nbsp;and assumedsoapy handwashing would&nbsp;solve the problem.&nbsp;​Once in the kitchen, I rinsed&nbsp;and sliced a&nbsp;mixing&nbsp;bowl&nbsp;full&nbsp;of peppers&nbsp;to pack in jars and cover with&nbsp;brine.&nbsp;The&nbsp;heat&nbsp;increased&nbsp;til&nbsp;I was uncomfortable. At that point, I&nbsp;had&nbsp;to finish, so I kept soaping and rinsing my hands&nbsp;as I completed each step in the pickling process. By the time jars cooled on the counter,&nbsp;fiery flames danced from every nerve ending. No matter how much I washed, coated with creams, or dipped&nbsp;my hands&nbsp;in baking soda water,&nbsp;neurons&nbsp;flared. To make a long story longer,&nbsp;the&nbsp;pain&nbsp;lasted three days.&nbsp;​Did that experience make me give up on using hot peppers? No. Did it make me keepprotective gloves&nbsp;on hand. Absolutely! If you’d been at my house last week while I&nbsp;picked,sorted, graded, rinsed, and de-seeded 50 fresh&nbsp;jalapeños, you’d have noticed I wore gloves from beginning&nbsp;to&nbsp;final clean up.&nbsp;At no time did I let&nbsp;bare flesh&nbsp;contact&nbsp;peppers&nbsp;or seeds.​In addition, I&nbsp;opened&nbsp;every kitchen and dining room window to&nbsp;dilute&nbsp;spicy scents emanating from just cleaned peppers.&nbsp;Despite&nbsp;the&nbsp;fresh air, my nose and eyes ran enough to inconvenience me, but not enough to halt operations. Nope, there’d be poppers enough to last a while.​While we were on vacation, some of my peppers turned from green to red. I googled to see if we could eat those. Based on online advice, both red and green jalapeños produce the same amount of heat, so my finished products had a festive Christmas look.&nbsp;​When it came time to sample them, we found red&nbsp;tasted&nbsp;hotter than green--not enough to quit eating them, but enough to limit how many we might&nbsp;sample&nbsp;in one sitting. We don’t know if that&nbsp;was imagination&nbsp;or actual sensation, but red&nbsp;isn’t&nbsp;for wimps.&nbsp;​I don’t have&nbsp;poppers&nbsp;enough to last all winter, but this experiment guarantees jalapeños will grow in the garden next year.&nbsp;And,&nbsp;I’ll have protective gloves on hand for future popper parties.Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

MADORIN: When the garden bites

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

“Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain ..."&nbsp;

PHILLIPSBURG — Those lines from "America the Beautiful" seem especially fitting to describe an exciting new wheat processing project in rural Kansas. Its name is Amber Wave.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

J.D. Schlieman is executive chairman and Randy Cimorelli is CEO of this company, located in Phillipsburg, Kan. Amber Wave’s parent company is Summit Ag Investors, an Iowa-based private equity firm focused on agriculture and renewable energy.&nbsp;

The savvy entrepreneurs at this company observed that U.S. food manufacturers used wheat protein products, and more than 70 percent of that was imported. Such dependence on overseas suppliers became a problem when supply chain disruptions hit.&nbsp;

“We’re a solutions-provider to the food industry,” Cimorelli said. In this case, the solution was to generate a domestic source of wheat protein.&nbsp;

The company began researching how to produce more food-grade wheat protein domestically while integrating renewable fuel production. In July 2021, Amber Wave found the site to do so when it purchased an existing corn ethanol plant in Phillipsburg.&nbsp;

The Prairie Agri-Energy ethanol plant had been operating in Phillipsburg since 2006. It will be expanded and converted for this new purpose by Amber Wave.&nbsp;

“We are building a new state-of-the-art wheat mill next to the existing ethanol plant, which will be converted to use wheat starch,” Schlieman said. “The protein from the wheat flour can be extracted for food and feed use, and the starch can be used for the ethanol.”&nbsp;

This will produce a low carbon biofuel, which is especially in high demand in heavily-populated states like California that have standards requiring low carbon fuels.&nbsp;

According to Cimorelli, the innovative and integrated approach can respond to multiple market needs. “We’re creating more value-added opportunities for wheat which ultimately benefits the farmer,” he said. “We’re also helping our food manufacturers by providing a domestic, reliable source of food protein, and our location should provide freight advantages.”&nbsp;

The new wheat flour mill will incorporate the newest technology. “We’ll be able to make better use of water and better use of energy, so the operation will be more sustainable,” Cimorelli said. “We’re bringing new technologies into old space.”&nbsp;

Many know that wheat protein products are used in baking breads, pastas and snacks, but they are also important in pet food and aquaculture. Further, this is a plant-based protein.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Kudos to Summit Ag for having the vision to convert a corn ethanol plant and broaden its scope of products in this way,” Cimorelli said.&nbsp;

The corn ethanol plant in Phillipsburg is continuing to operate while the new wheat mill is under construction. A celebration of the new facility took place in Phillipsburg in August 2022, with Gov. Laura Kelly, Sen. Jerry Moran and others in attendance. The new plant is expected to be fully operational in summer 2023.&nbsp;

Why Phillipsburg?&nbsp;&nbsp;“We looked at a number of alternatives and this achieved the best combination of factors,” Schlieman said. “We needed to be in a location with good access to lots of wheat production, and this is a high-quality working ethanol plant with good employees.”&nbsp;

Speaking of employees, this project is anticipated to add 50-60 jobs to the existing 35 or so now working in the ethanol plant. In the near term, the construction process itself is having a major positive impact on the region.&nbsp;

“We are very pleased with the cooperation we’ve found in working with the community,” Schlieman said.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

All told, this could be as much as a $300 million investment when the project is complete. It’s expected to be the largest wheat protein producer in North America.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s an impressive accomplishment to find in a rural community like Phillipsburg, population 2,337 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

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

Now amber waves of grain can produce needed protein and environmentally friendly renewable energy, in addition to a beautiful Kansas landscape. We salute J.D. Schlieman, Randy Cimorelli and all those involved with Amber Wave for making a difference with this innovative investment.&nbsp;

They are creating a whole new level of value, above the fruited plain.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1664370013775.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 Development“Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain ..."&nbsp;PHILLIPSBURG — Those lines from "America the Beautiful" seem especially fitting to describe an exciting new wheat processing project in rural Kansas. Its name is Amber Wave.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;J.D. Schlieman is executive chairman and Randy Cimorelli is CEO of this company, located in Phillipsburg, Kan. Amber Wave’s parent company is Summit Ag Investors, an Iowa-based private equity firm focused on agriculture and renewable energy.&nbsp;The savvy entrepreneurs at this company observed that U.S. food manufacturers used wheat protein products, and more than 70 percent of that was imported. Such dependence on overseas suppliers became a problem when supply chain disruptions hit.&nbsp;“We’re a solutions-provider to the food industry,” Cimorelli said. In this case, the solution was to generate a domestic source of wheat protein.&nbsp;The company began researching how to produce more food-grade wheat protein domestically while integrating renewable fuel production. In July 2021, Amber Wave found the site to do so when it purchased an existing corn ethanol plant in Phillipsburg.&nbsp;The Prairie Agri-Energy ethanol plant had been operating in Phillipsburg since 2006. It will be expanded and converted for this new purpose by Amber Wave.&nbsp;“We are building a new state-of-the-art wheat mill next to the existing ethanol plant, which will be converted to use wheat starch,” Schlieman said. “The protein from the wheat flour can be extracted for food and feed use, and the starch can be used for the ethanol.”&nbsp;This will produce a low carbon biofuel, which is especially in high demand in heavily-populated states like California that have standards requiring low carbon fuels.&nbsp;According to Cimorelli, the innovative and integrated approach can respond to multiple market needs. “We’re creating more value-added opportunities for wheat which ultimately benefits the farmer,” he said. “We’re also helping our food manufacturers by providing a domestic, reliable source of food protein, and our location should provide freight advantages.”&nbsp;The new wheat flour mill will incorporate the newest technology. “We’ll be able to make better use of water and better use of energy, so the operation will be more sustainable,” Cimorelli said. “We’re bringing new technologies into old space.”&nbsp;Many know that wheat protein products are used in baking breads, pastas and snacks, but they are also important in pet food and aquaculture. Further, this is a plant-based protein.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Kudos to Summit Ag for having the vision to convert a corn ethanol plant and broaden its scope of products in this way,” Cimorelli said.&nbsp;The corn ethanol plant in Phillipsburg is continuing to operate while the new wheat mill is under construction. A celebration of the new facility took place in Phillipsburg in August 2022, with Gov. Laura Kelly, Sen. Jerry Moran and others in attendance. The new plant is expected to be fully operational in summer 2023.&nbsp;Why Phillipsburg?&nbsp;&nbsp;“We looked at a number of alternatives and this achieved the best combination of factors,” Schlieman said. “We needed to be in a location with good access to lots of wheat production, and this is a high-quality working ethanol plant with good employees.”&nbsp;Speaking of employees, this project is anticipated to add 50-60 jobs to the existing 35 or so now working in the ethanol plant. In the near term, the construction process itself is having a major positive impact on the region.&nbsp;“We are very pleased with the cooperation we’ve found in working with the community,” Schlieman said.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;All told, this could be as much as a $300 million investment when the project is complete. It’s expected to be the largest wheat protein producer in North America.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s an impressive accomplishment to find in a rural community like Phillipsburg, population 2,337 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amberwaveusa.com/">www.amberwaveusa.com</a>.&nbsp;Now amber waves of grain can produce needed protein and environmentally friendly renewable energy, in addition to a beautiful Kansas landscape. We salute J.D. Schlieman, Randy Cimorelli and all those involved with Amber Wave for making a difference with this innovative investment.&nbsp;They are creating a whole new level of value, above the fruited plain.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: J.D. Schlieman, Randy Cimorelli, Amber Wave 

By GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher My fellow Kansas Farm Bureau members this is a call to action, a challenge, we need you to go out and vote Nov. 8. I am not going to sugarcoat it, instead I am going to hit this head on. Every one of our members need to get out and vote and your neighbors need to get out and vote — agriculture depends on it. Historically when those of us from farms and ranches and our rural communities have shown up at the ballot box, we have carried the day. But recently we have gotten lax about going to the polls. In 2020, just under 68 percent of voters in the largely rural 1st&nbsp;Congressional District cast ballots. In the compact, urban 3rd&nbsp;District, turnout topped 75 percent of eligible voters. I get it if it is fatigue from all of the haggling or wrangling. I am tired of it too. I don’t care why you might not have voted in the past, I am telling you to get out and vote in this election because it absolutely will matter. Recently we have seen elections turn on just a few votes, elections right here in our own state. Don’t tell me your single vote doesn’t matter because it does. My parents instilled in me the need to get out and vote in every election, and I can proudly say I have never missed the opportunity to cast a ballot. I believe my mother told me that you do not have the option to complain about the government if you did not vote. Rural voters might be a minority in Kansas, but we have proven time and time again that when we go to the polls, we have an impact and often sway the election our way. Am I going to tell you how to vote? No, but if you want my advice and opinion, I would be happy to share it with you. I would urge you to look at the list of candidates endorsed by KFB’s Voters Organized To Elect Farm Bureau Friends (VOTE FBF), our organization’s political action committee. VOTE FBF is a group of Farm Bureau members, elected from all 10 districts who research races, solicit feedback from county Farm Bureaus and endorse candidates friendly to agriculture. You may view endorsements at&nbsp;<a href="https://kfb.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bba928f411d21617c5eadbe&amp;id=727af882cf&amp;e=5bf0f0e5fe">www.kfb.org/votefbf</a>. We need to make sure we elect farm-friendly legislators who will make decisions in the best interest of agriculture. My message is urgent because we have to mobilize the rural vote. We each need to make sure our friends, family and neighbors are registered to vote by Oct. 18. Make sure they know how critical it is for each of us to exercise our right to cast a ballot. I cannot say it strongly enough, if we do not get out and vote, important decisions that affect our way of life will be made by voters who do not understand how those decisions impact us. So, do your homework, look at the list of Vote FBF endorsed candidates and make sure you get to the polls on Nov. 8. If you can’t make it in person, you still have the opportunity to cast a mail ballot or go to the courthouse and cast an absentee ballot. There are no excuses for not voting, our businesses and livelihoods depend on it.

"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/2019/12/1576508626397.png" alt="Glenn Brunkow" />
 <figcaption>Glenn Brunkow</figcaption>
 </figure>By GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher My fellow Kansas Farm Bureau members this is a call to action, a challenge, we need you to go out and vote Nov. 8. I am not going to sugarcoat it, instead I am going to hit this head on. Every one of our members need to get out and vote and your neighbors need to get out and vote — agriculture depends on it. Historically when those of us from farms and ranches and our rural communities have shown up at the ballot box, we have carried the day. But recently we have gotten lax about going to the polls. In 2020, just under 68 percent of voters in the largely rural 1st&nbsp;Congressional District cast ballots. In the compact, urban 3rd&nbsp;District, turnout topped 75 percent of eligible voters. I get it if it is fatigue from all of the haggling or wrangling. I am tired of it too. I don’t care why you might not have voted in the past, I am telling you to get out and vote in this election because it absolutely will matter. Recently we have seen elections turn on just a few votes, elections right here in our own state. Don’t tell me your single vote doesn’t matter because it does. My parents instilled in me the need to get out and vote in every election, and I can proudly say I have never missed the opportunity to cast a ballot. I believe my mother told me that you do not have the option to complain about the government if you did not vote. Rural voters might be a minority in Kansas, but we have proven time and time again that when we go to the polls, we have an impact and often sway the election our way. Am I going to tell you how to vote? No, but if you want my advice and opinion, I would be happy to share it with you. I would urge you to look at the list of candidates endorsed by KFB’s Voters Organized To Elect Farm Bureau Friends (VOTE FBF), our organization’s political action committee. VOTE FBF is a group of Farm Bureau members, elected from all 10 districts who research races, solicit feedback from county Farm Bureaus and endorse candidates friendly to agriculture. You may view endorsements at&nbsp;<a href="https://kfb.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bba928f411d21617c5eadbe&amp;id=727af882cf&amp;e=5bf0f0e5fe">www.kfb.org/votefbf</a>. We need to make sure we elect farm-friendly legislators who will make decisions in the best interest of agriculture. My message is urgent because we have to mobilize the rural vote. We each need to make sure our friends, family and neighbors are registered to vote by Oct. 18. Make sure they know how critical it is for each of us to exercise our right to cast a ballot. I cannot say it strongly enough, if we do not get out and vote, important decisions that affect our way of life will be made by voters who do not understand how those decisions impact us. So, do your homework, look at the list of Vote FBF endorsed candidates and make sure you get to the polls on Nov. 8. If you can’t make it in person, you still have the opportunity to cast a mail ballot or go to the courthouse and cast an absentee ballot. There are no excuses for not voting, our businesses and livelihoods depend on it."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: The rural impact

Meet the new Kris Kobach.&nbsp; Is he the same as the old Kris Kobach?	

Before Kobach narrowly won the Republican primary for Governor in 2018, an independent group supporting then-Governor Jeff Colyer ran an ad featuring the tagline, “Call Kris Kobach.&nbsp; Tell him we can’t afford his antics.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kobach is re-branding this year as the Republican nominee for Attorney General, downplaying alleged voter fraud and presenting himself as the candidate that will sue Joe Biden (meaning, the Federal Government) over a host of different issues including the U.S.-Mexico border.

	What were the “antics” mentioned in that commercial?&nbsp; To answer that, a brief history of Kobach’s career is in order.&nbsp; An anti-immigration activist long before Donald Trump ever sought public office, Kobach never avoided the spotlight. &nbsp; While working as a law professor at UMKC, Kobach started his political career as an Overland Park city councilman.&nbsp; He then made two unsuccessful runs, one for state senate and one for Congress, all while filing lawsuits and assisting lawmakers in other states like Alabama and Arizona in writing anti-immigration laws.&nbsp;&nbsp;

At about this same time, Kobach chaired the Kansas Republican Party.&nbsp; His signature act was to propose a “Loyalty Committee” that would determine which Republicans truly deserved the party’s support.&nbsp; As documented in a 2012 investigative report by the Hutchinson News, Kobach left the party in disarray, with less than $5000 in its treasury and multiple FEC fines both for unpaid taxes, and acceptance of illegal contributions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kobach was elected Kansas Secretary of State in 2010 and set to work immediately remaking the office.&nbsp; Formerly known for nonpartisan coordination of elections as well as business licensing, Kobach remade the office into a clearinghouse for investigations into alleged voter fraud, particularly directed at undocumented immigrants.&nbsp; Kobach championed the SAFE Act in 2011, which made him the only state Secretary of State in the U.S. with the power to prosecute voter fraud.&nbsp; His quest proved disappointing, with only 13 individuals successfully prosecuted.&nbsp; None were undocumented immigrants.&nbsp;

	Kobach was also a stalwart defender of the SAFE Act in court.&nbsp; While this job would normally fall to the state Attorney General Derek Schmidt (now running for Governor), Kobach was more than happy to use his own time and his office’s resources to defend the law’s provision that one must prove one’s U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, typically with a birth certificate.&nbsp; This is known as a proof of citizenship law and it had already been struck down in other states by court rulings.&nbsp; Kobach defended the law personally in two cases, Fish v Kobach and Bednasek v Kobach, decided together in 2018.&nbsp; I served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs (the ones challenging the law) in Bednasek.&nbsp; Appointed to the bench by George W. Bush upon a recommendation from Sam Brownback, judge Julie Robinson not only permanently enjoined the proof of citizenship law from being enforced, she also ordered Kobach to take continuing education law classes or lose his license to practice.&nbsp; Among other things, Kobach did not follow the standard legal procedure known as discovery during the course of the trial.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	As a candidate for Governor in 2018, Kobach edged out Colyer by 343 votes in a primary election supervised by Kobach’s own office. He then lost to Governor Laura Kelly in a three-way race that included Independent Greg Orman. Perhaps Kobach’s most memorable moment of that election was when he rode in a parade on a float that featured a simulated machine gun.

	That’s a lot of history. Will Kansans really believe that Kobach has changed this year? We will find out in November.

Michael Smith is a professor at Emporia State University.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1639601062071.jpeg" alt="Michael Smith is a professor at Emporia State University." />
 <figcaption>Michael Smith is a professor at Emporia State University.</figcaption>
 </figure>Meet the new Kris Kobach.&nbsp; Is he the same as the old Kris Kobach?	Before Kobach narrowly won the Republican primary for Governor in 2018, an independent group supporting then-Governor Jeff Colyer ran an ad featuring the tagline, “Call Kris Kobach.&nbsp; Tell him we can’t afford his antics.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Kobach is re-branding this year as the Republican nominee for Attorney General, downplaying alleged voter fraud and presenting himself as the candidate that will sue Joe Biden (meaning, the Federal Government) over a host of different issues including the U.S.-Mexico border.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>	What were the “antics” mentioned in that commercial?&nbsp; To answer that, a brief history of Kobach’s career is in order.&nbsp; An anti-immigration activist long before Donald Trump ever sought public office, Kobach never avoided the spotlight. &nbsp; While working as a law professor at UMKC, Kobach started his political career as an Overland Park city councilman.&nbsp; He then made two unsuccessful runs, one for state senate and one for Congress, all while filing lawsuits and assisting lawmakers in other states like Alabama and Arizona in writing anti-immigration laws.&nbsp;&nbsp;At about this same time, Kobach chaired the Kansas Republican Party.&nbsp; His signature act was to propose a “Loyalty Committee” that would determine which Republicans truly deserved the party’s support.&nbsp; As documented in a 2012 investigative report by the Hutchinson News, Kobach left the party in disarray, with less than $5000 in its treasury and multiple FEC fines both for unpaid taxes, and acceptance of illegal contributions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Kobach was elected Kansas Secretary of State in 2010 and set to work immediately remaking the office.&nbsp; Formerly known for nonpartisan coordination of elections as well as business licensing, Kobach remade the office into a clearinghouse for investigations into alleged voter fraud, particularly directed at undocumented immigrants.&nbsp; Kobach championed the SAFE Act in 2011, which made him the only state Secretary of State in the U.S. with the power to prosecute voter fraud.&nbsp; His quest proved disappointing, with only 13 individuals successfully prosecuted.&nbsp; None were undocumented immigrants.&nbsp;	Kobach was also a stalwart defender of the SAFE Act in court.&nbsp; While this job would normally fall to the state Attorney General Derek Schmidt (now running for Governor), Kobach was more than happy to use his own time and his office’s resources to defend the law’s provision that one must prove one’s U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, typically with a birth certificate.&nbsp; This is known as a proof of citizenship law and it had already been struck down in other states by court rulings.&nbsp; Kobach defended the law personally in two cases, Fish v Kobach and Bednasek v Kobach, decided together in 2018.&nbsp; I served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs (the ones challenging the law) in Bednasek.&nbsp; Appointed to the bench by George W. Bush upon a recommendation from Sam Brownback, judge Julie Robinson not only permanently enjoined the proof of citizenship law from being enforced, she also ordered Kobach to take continuing education law classes or lose his license to practice.&nbsp; Among other things, Kobach did not follow the standard legal procedure known as discovery during the course of the trial.&nbsp;&nbsp;	As a candidate for Governor in 2018, Kobach edged out Colyer by 343 votes in a primary election supervised by Kobach’s own office. He then lost to Governor Laura Kelly in a three-way race that included Independent Greg Orman. Perhaps Kobach’s most memorable moment of that election was when he rode in a parade on a float that featured a simulated machine gun.	That’s a lot of history. Will Kansans really believe that Kobach has changed this year? We will find out in November.Michael Smith is a professor at Emporia State University.

INSIGHT KANSAS: Has Kris Kobach changed?

Anyone who reads history knows that life is&nbsp;sometimes&nbsp;hard.&nbsp;Old&nbsp;Ellis Headlight&nbsp;columns&nbsp;recordevents that&nbsp;challenged&nbsp;our region’s early development. Going through old files,&nbsp;I read accounts&nbsp;detailing Eastern&nbsp;Benevolent&nbsp;Societies&nbsp;who collected and sent emergency&nbsp;food and clothingsupplies to settlers&nbsp;living in dire straits.&nbsp;Often times, life was&nbsp;impossibly&nbsp;difficult&nbsp;due to drought, wind, fire,&nbsp;blizzards,&nbsp;economic depression,&nbsp;pests,&nbsp;and flooding. Local residents didn’t have enough&nbsp;to sustain&nbsp;themselves let alone to share. Those&nbsp;pioneers&nbsp;passed down stories about&nbsp;the goodness of&nbsp;support organizations&nbsp;that&nbsp;delivered&nbsp;train car loads of food and supplies.&nbsp;

One of those stories involves my&nbsp;pioneer&nbsp;family. My&nbsp;great-great grandfather&nbsp;was a Methodist Circuit Rider wrote a memoir&nbsp;about&nbsp;his&nbsp;pioneer&nbsp;family’s&nbsp;experiences from&nbsp;their&nbsp;arrival&nbsp;in Northwest Kansas&nbsp;in 1872 til&nbsp;he&nbsp;retired in 1912. He&nbsp;shared&nbsp;accounts about how&nbsp;more than once&nbsp;his wife scraped the bottom of the flour barrel trying to put together&nbsp;a skimpy meal&nbsp;or the kids had worn out and outgrown clothing and shoes.&nbsp;He tells&nbsp;how they rejoiced when&nbsp;missionary barrels arrived&nbsp;in&nbsp;answer to&nbsp;desperate&nbsp;prayers.

It's easy to think those hard times are over, but anyone who&nbsp;reads&nbsp;local news knows&nbsp;inflation takes a toll on everyone, especially those on fixed incomes. &nbsp;People&nbsp;who&nbsp;exist&nbsp;from paycheck to paycheck&nbsp;struggled before inflation reared&nbsp;its ugly head and now folks wonder how to pay for fuel, heat, cooling, medicine, and food. Their&nbsp;paychecks aren’t rubber,&nbsp;and they don’t stretch nearly far enough.&nbsp;

As they did in old days, aide organizations step up, but,&nbsp;too often,&nbsp;needs are greater than resources. Our local foodbank faces multiple struggles trying to&nbsp;sustain&nbsp;individuals and families.&nbsp;Each week local pastors remind&nbsp;their&nbsp;congregations&nbsp;to support this bedrock&nbsp;supply&nbsp;system.

Challenges multiply weekly. Prices the regional food bank&nbsp;once&nbsp;paid for goods they&nbsp;deliver to western Kansas towns have gone up, so donations don’t go as far. Donors’ budgets are stretched so they struggle to&nbsp;maintain or&nbsp;increase gifts. &nbsp;Prices of cans of soup and vegetables&nbsp;increasemonthly.&nbsp;People who’ve never&nbsp;utilized&nbsp;food banks now need those services,&nbsp;straining&nbsp;someshelves&nbsp;the point they’re&nbsp;empty.&nbsp;

One mom on social media&nbsp;came&nbsp;up with a way to contribute that doesn’t blow the family budget. Her toddlers shop with her, and she described how they use to&nbsp;wheel&nbsp;down every aisle&nbsp;begging for&nbsp;goodies&nbsp;that&nbsp;weren’t&nbsp;in their budget.&nbsp;One day she spied an empty&nbsp;Food Bank Donation Basket in the front of the store, which&nbsp;generated a great idea. She lets each child pick one item to buy and contribute&nbsp;every&nbsp;shopping trip. The kids are little so she explained what&nbsp;products&nbsp;people most need&nbsp;and allows&nbsp;her&nbsp;kiddoes&nbsp;to&nbsp;select&nbsp;their contributions.&nbsp;

Ironically, the youngsters&nbsp;focus so much on finding&nbsp;the perfect donation&nbsp;each store visit&nbsp;that they no longer beg her to buy&nbsp;frivolous treats. When she came up with her plan, she wanted to teach her kids generosity and didn’t expect this bonus outcome. All of us are struggling right now, but like this mom, some of us can do small things to help&nbsp;neighbors. This family’s solution is a nice start. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658158605319.jpeg" alt="Karen Madorin" />
 <figcaption>Karen Madorin</figcaption>
 </figure>Anyone who reads history knows that life is&nbsp;sometimes&nbsp;hard.&nbsp;Old&nbsp;Ellis Headlight&nbsp;columns&nbsp;recordevents that&nbsp;challenged&nbsp;our region’s early development. Going through old files,&nbsp;I read accounts&nbsp;detailing Eastern&nbsp;Benevolent&nbsp;Societies&nbsp;who collected and sent emergency&nbsp;food and clothingsupplies to settlers&nbsp;living in dire straits.&nbsp;Often times, life was&nbsp;impossibly&nbsp;difficult&nbsp;due to drought, wind, fire,&nbsp;blizzards,&nbsp;economic depression,&nbsp;pests,&nbsp;and flooding. Local residents didn’t have enough&nbsp;to sustain&nbsp;themselves let alone to share. Those&nbsp;pioneers&nbsp;passed down stories about&nbsp;the goodness of&nbsp;support organizations&nbsp;that&nbsp;delivered&nbsp;train car loads of food and supplies.&nbsp;One of those stories involves my&nbsp;pioneer&nbsp;family. My&nbsp;great-great grandfather&nbsp;was a Methodist Circuit Rider wrote a memoir&nbsp;about&nbsp;his&nbsp;pioneer&nbsp;family’s&nbsp;experiences from&nbsp;their&nbsp;arrival&nbsp;in Northwest Kansas&nbsp;in 1872 til&nbsp;he&nbsp;retired in 1912. He&nbsp;shared&nbsp;accounts about how&nbsp;more than once&nbsp;his wife scraped the bottom of the flour barrel trying to put together&nbsp;a skimpy meal&nbsp;or the kids had worn out and outgrown clothing and shoes.&nbsp;He tells&nbsp;how they rejoiced when&nbsp;missionary barrels arrived&nbsp;in&nbsp;answer to&nbsp;desperate&nbsp;prayers.It's easy to think those hard times are over, but anyone who&nbsp;reads&nbsp;local news knows&nbsp;inflation takes a toll on everyone, especially those on fixed incomes. &nbsp;People&nbsp;who&nbsp;exist&nbsp;from paycheck to paycheck&nbsp;struggled before inflation reared&nbsp;its ugly head and now folks wonder how to pay for fuel, heat, cooling, medicine, and food. Their&nbsp;paychecks aren’t rubber,&nbsp;and they don’t stretch nearly far enough.&nbsp;As they did in old days, aide organizations step up, but,&nbsp;too often,&nbsp;needs are greater than resources. Our local foodbank faces multiple struggles trying to&nbsp;sustain&nbsp;individuals and families.&nbsp;Each week local pastors remind&nbsp;their&nbsp;congregations&nbsp;to support this bedrock&nbsp;supply&nbsp;system.Challenges multiply weekly. Prices the regional food bank&nbsp;once&nbsp;paid for goods they&nbsp;deliver to western Kansas towns have gone up, so donations don’t go as far. Donors’ budgets are stretched so they struggle to&nbsp;maintain or&nbsp;increase gifts. &nbsp;Prices of cans of soup and vegetables&nbsp;increasemonthly.&nbsp;People who’ve never&nbsp;utilized&nbsp;food banks now need those services,&nbsp;straining&nbsp;someshelves&nbsp;the point they’re&nbsp;empty.&nbsp;One mom on social media&nbsp;came&nbsp;up with a way to contribute that doesn’t blow the family budget. Her toddlers shop with her, and she described how they use to&nbsp;wheel&nbsp;down every aisle&nbsp;begging for&nbsp;goodies&nbsp;that&nbsp;weren’t&nbsp;in their budget.&nbsp;One day she spied an empty&nbsp;Food Bank Donation Basket in the front of the store, which&nbsp;generated a great idea. She lets each child pick one item to buy and contribute&nbsp;every&nbsp;shopping trip. The kids are little so she explained what&nbsp;products&nbsp;people most need&nbsp;and allows&nbsp;her&nbsp;kiddoes&nbsp;to&nbsp;select&nbsp;their contributions.&nbsp;Ironically, the youngsters&nbsp;focus so much on finding&nbsp;the perfect donation&nbsp;each store visit&nbsp;that they no longer beg her to buy&nbsp;frivolous treats. When she came up with her plan, she wanted to teach her kids generosity and didn’t expect this bonus outcome. All of us are struggling right now, but like this mom, some of us can do small things to help&nbsp;neighbors. This family’s solution is a nice start. Every bit adds up.Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

MADORIN: Every bit adds up

​State Representative Barb&nbsp;Wasinger’s&nbsp;Democratic opponent in this year’s election campaign has stated&nbsp;repeatedly&nbsp;that she has failed to support funding for K-12 in Kansas schools and&nbsp;to&nbsp;advocate for Fort Hays State University.&nbsp;&nbsp;Apparently,&nbsp;he believes that if he says it enough times&nbsp;his opinion will miraculously turn&nbsp;into&nbsp;fact.

​But that’s not how it works in the real world. &nbsp;Fiction doesn’t become fact just because Barb’s Democratic opponent and his state and local allies&nbsp;with&nbsp;the Kansas National Education Association wish it were so.

​We serve as Chairwoman&nbsp;of the K-12 Budget in the Kansas House of Representatives and Vice Chairwoman of Education&nbsp;and Chair of Commerce&nbsp;in the Kansas&nbsp;Senate&nbsp;and we want to set the record straight based on facts.

K-12 Education: &nbsp;Barb has voted for full Constitutional funding for all K-12 students. &nbsp;She has also worked for improved student achievement and more transparency in the Parent’s Bill of Rights. &nbsp;In fact, she voted in favor of an education budget that included an additional$365.2 million in total funds in 2022 and an additional$402.6 million for 2024--all above and beyond our Constitutional commitment.Some of those additions included more money for mental health, career and technical education and school safety and security grants.

Special Education: &nbsp;Barb has consistently supported the Gannon Supreme Court decision which increased special education funding in the first year by $44 million and added $7.5 million in each subsequent years. &nbsp;In addition to this, she has supported annual per pupil funding increases that help finance the diverse needs of all of our students including those of special education.

Fort Hays State University: As Vice-Chair of Higher Education Budget Committee, Barb has consistently and vigorously advocated for Fort Hays’ interests. Ft. Hays has been granted funding for everything it has requested of the State Legislature.Barb has also advocated for $500,000.00for a cybersecurity initiative program and $1.5 million from COVID funds to upgrade Gross Memorial Coliseum. Fort Hays benefited from a State General Fund increase of over $3.4 million in the last two years.

If the 111th District wants to stay on the right track, the wise choice is a vote for Barb Wasinger. She’s the only candidate with the record of funding priorities&nbsp;while&nbsp;simultaneously demanding commonsense accountability and transparency&nbsp;to our taxpayers.&nbsp;

In&nbsp;addition to her pro-education and pro-taxpayer voting record, she’s best capable of representing the&nbsp;111th District because of her personal and business background. Rep. Wasinger has spent years operating&nbsp;and managing her own small businesses, unlike her opponent who is enjoying his&nbsp;plush ivory-tower retirement package with little experience in the real&nbsp;world.&nbsp;

​With&nbsp;her&nbsp;business background, Representative Wasinger has the best&nbsp;vantage point to take seriously every dollar appropriated for every important&nbsp;purpose. Like you, she works hard&nbsp;for every dollar she earns, even in the most&nbsp;down economies, and will remain accountable to you on how every dollar is&nbsp;spent.

Support&nbsp;Barb&nbsp;Wasinger and know that she shares your values of hard work,&nbsp;compassion for others, and supports&nbsp;education as one of the cornerstones of&nbsp;our great State!

Sen. Renee Erickson,&nbsp;Chair of Commerce and Vice-Chair Education, R-Wichita, and&nbsp;Rep. Kristey Williams,&nbsp;​K-12 Education Budget Chair, R- Augusta

​State Representative Barb&nbsp;Wasinger’s&nbsp;Democratic opponent in this year’s election campaign has stated&nbsp;repeatedly&nbsp;that she has failed to support funding for K-12 in Kansas schools and&nbsp;to&nbsp;advocate for Fort Hays State University.&nbsp;&nbsp;Apparently,&nbsp;he believes that if he says it enough times&nbsp;his opinion will miraculously turn&nbsp;into&nbsp;fact.​But that’s not how it works in the real world. &nbsp;Fiction doesn’t become fact just because Barb’s Democratic opponent and his state and local allies&nbsp;with&nbsp;the Kansas National Education Association wish it were so.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>​We serve as Chairwoman&nbsp;of the K-12 Budget in the Kansas House of Representatives and Vice Chairwoman of Education&nbsp;and Chair of Commerce&nbsp;in the Kansas&nbsp;Senate&nbsp;and we want to set the record straight based on facts.K-12 Education: &nbsp;Barb has voted for full Constitutional funding for all K-12 students. &nbsp;She has also worked for improved student achievement and more transparency in the Parent’s Bill of Rights. &nbsp;In fact, she voted in favor of an education budget that included an additional$365.2 million in total funds in 2022 and an additional$402.6 million for 2024--all above and beyond our Constitutional commitment.Some of those additions included more money for mental health, career and technical education and school safety and security grants.Special Education: &nbsp;Barb has consistently supported the Gannon Supreme Court decision which increased special education funding in the first year by $44 million and added $7.5 million in each subsequent years. &nbsp;In addition to this, she has supported annual per pupil funding increases that help finance the diverse needs of all of our students including those of special education.Fort Hays State University: As Vice-Chair of Higher Education Budget Committee, Barb has consistently and vigorously advocated for Fort Hays’ interests. Ft. Hays has been granted funding for everything it has requested of the State Legislature.Barb has also advocated for $500,000.00for a cybersecurity initiative program and $1.5 million from COVID funds to upgrade Gross Memorial Coliseum. Fort Hays benefited from a State General Fund increase of over $3.4 million in the last two years.If the 111th District wants to stay on the right track, the wise choice is a vote for Barb Wasinger. She’s the only candidate with the record of funding priorities&nbsp;while&nbsp;simultaneously demanding commonsense accountability and transparency&nbsp;to our taxpayers.&nbsp;In&nbsp;addition to her pro-education and pro-taxpayer voting record, she’s best capable of representing the&nbsp;111th District because of her personal and business background. Rep. Wasinger has spent years operating&nbsp;and managing her own small businesses, unlike her opponent who is enjoying his&nbsp;plush ivory-tower retirement package with little experience in the real&nbsp;world.&nbsp;​With&nbsp;her&nbsp;business background, Representative Wasinger has the best&nbsp;vantage point to take seriously every dollar appropriated for every important&nbsp;purpose. Like you, she works hard&nbsp;for every dollar she earns, even in the most&nbsp;down economies, and will remain accountable to you on how every dollar is&nbsp;spent.Support&nbsp;Barb&nbsp;Wasinger and know that she shares your values of hard work,&nbsp;compassion for others, and supports&nbsp;education as one of the cornerstones of&nbsp;our great State!Sen. Renee Erickson,&nbsp;Chair of Commerce and Vice-Chair Education, R-Wichita, and&nbsp;Rep. Kristey Williams,&nbsp;​K-12 Education Budget Chair, R- Augusta

LETTER: Fiction versus fact in 111th House race

By GREG DOERING Kansas Farm Bureau Osage orange trees are still common throughout much of the United States, though not many people appreciate just how much the thorny, dense trees have shaped our country. Before Christopher Columbus’ arrival, Osage orange had a limited range in the Red River basin in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Like the droves of Europeans who followed, the tree eventually spread to all corners of our country, so long as you don’t count Alaska and Hawaii. The thorny, dense trees go by a number of names, including hedge trees, prairie hedge, hedge apple, horse apple, bowwood or yellow wood for the hue of the heartwood. Whatever moniker you choose, the trees were the original barbed wire. After sprouting, the hedge trees were aggressively pruned to promote thick growth that was woven into a living fence considered to be “horse high, bull strong and hog tight." Even after the widespread adoption of barbed wire, wood from the hedge tree is still highly prized for fence posts based on its ability to withstand the elements. Termites and other insects don’t bother the wood. Water doesn’t penetrate the dense grain either. Today, a post made from Osage orange is likely to outlast the strands of barbed wire attached to it. In fact, the posts can be difficult if not impossible to work with if they’re left to season too long after cutting. Hedge posts don’t decay, rather they almost petrify into something between wood and stone. Osage orange’s qualities extend well beyond corralling cattle and other livestock. Its tight grain makes the wood extraordinarily flexible, enough so that a bow made from the tree was worth a horse and blanket in the 1800s. Osage orange also offers the highest heat value of any species when burned as firewood. Osage orange is probably the most popular and widely distributed plant that isn’t a food source for either humans or animals. Its fruit is a softball-sized green ball with folded contours that surround a cluster of seeds. We called them brain blobs growing up because the outer shell consisted of folded contours. They were dense and would make a satisfying sound when flung into a tree trunk. They’ll start falling off trees any day this time of year. Rumor has it the fruits keep all sorts of creepy-crawlies away, from boxelder bugs and crickets to spiders and other pests, especially when placed in basements or near the foundation of a home. Research has yet to find any evidence to support those claims, yet the legends endure. &nbsp;Steel T-posts and pipe braces are gaining favor, but some still prefer to use hedge posts for fencing. Composite compound bows can launch an arrow with a much greater force than the traditional longbow, yet Osage orange bow staves are still readily available. The living fencerows are long gone, but hedge trees planted during the Great Depression as windbreaks still mark the edges of fields. There’s no one quality that has seeded the Osage orange across the countryside, rather versality is its main attribute. From hedge to post or bow to kindling, mankind has found it useful for centuries. While modern materials will eventually win out, they won’t ever have a history quite like hedge.

<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 Osage orange trees are still common throughout much of the United States, though not many people appreciate just how much the thorny, dense trees have shaped our country. Before Christopher Columbus’ arrival, Osage orange had a limited range in the Red River basin in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Like the droves of Europeans who followed, the tree eventually spread to all corners of our country, so long as you don’t count Alaska and Hawaii. The thorny, dense trees go by a number of names, including hedge trees, prairie hedge, hedge apple, horse apple, bowwood or yellow wood for the hue of the heartwood. Whatever moniker you choose, the trees were the original barbed wire. After sprouting, the hedge trees were aggressively pruned to promote thick growth that was woven into a living fence considered to be “horse high, bull strong and hog tight." Even after the widespread adoption of barbed wire, wood from the hedge tree is still highly prized for fence posts based on its ability to withstand the elements. Termites and other insects don’t bother the wood. Water doesn’t penetrate the dense grain either. Today, a post made from Osage orange is likely to outlast the strands of barbed wire attached to it. In fact, the posts can be difficult if not impossible to work with if they’re left to season too long after cutting. Hedge posts don’t decay, rather they almost petrify into something between wood and stone. Osage orange’s qualities extend well beyond corralling cattle and other livestock. Its tight grain makes the wood extraordinarily flexible, enough so that a bow made from the tree was worth a horse and blanket in the 1800s. Osage orange also offers the highest heat value of any species when burned as firewood. Osage orange is probably the most popular and widely distributed plant that isn’t a food source for either humans or animals. Its fruit is a softball-sized green ball with folded contours that surround a cluster of seeds. We called them brain blobs growing up because the outer shell consisted of folded contours. They were dense and would make a satisfying sound when flung into a tree trunk. They’ll start falling off trees any day this time of year. Rumor has it the fruits keep all sorts of creepy-crawlies away, from boxelder bugs and crickets to spiders and other pests, especially when placed in basements or near the foundation of a home. Research has yet to find any evidence to support those claims, yet the legends endure. &nbsp;Steel T-posts and pipe braces are gaining favor, but some still prefer to use hedge posts for fencing. Composite compound bows can launch an arrow with a much greater force than the traditional longbow, yet Osage orange bow staves are still readily available. The living fencerows are long gone, but hedge trees planted during the Great Depression as windbreaks still mark the edges of fields. There’s no one quality that has seeded the Osage orange across the countryside, rather versality is its main attribute. From hedge to post or bow to kindling, mankind has found it useful for centuries. While modern materials will eventually win out, they won’t ever have a history quite like hedge."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: History of hedge

Chronic&nbsp;wasting&nbsp;disease is a debilitating, fatal disease that attacks the central nervous system of whitetail deer, mule deer, moose, caribou&nbsp;and&nbsp;elk, actually resulting in small holes developing in their brains.&nbsp;CWD was first diagnosed in captive animals in Colorado and Wyoming in the late&nbsp;1960s and 1970s, and&nbsp;was&nbsp;seen in free ranging animals in the early 1980s.&nbsp;

Kansas’s fish and game officials have been testing hunter-harvested Kansas deer since 1996, and&nbsp;during the 2005 firearms season, the first documented case was discovered in a whitetail doe taken near the Cheyenne Co. town of St. Francis, in the northwestern corner of the state.&nbsp;Later that year&nbsp;KDWP staff harvested 50&nbsp;deer, 29 mule deer and 21 whitetails within a 15-mile radius of where the infected doe was shot. Tissue samples from each deer were collected at a field lab and sent to KSU for analysis, and all 50&nbsp;dear tested negative for CWD&nbsp;at the time.&nbsp;

Many thousands of&nbsp;both&nbsp;wild&nbsp;and captive&nbsp;mule deer and whitetail deer&nbsp;have been tested for CWD since testing first began in KS in 1996, and the disease continues to spread.&nbsp;Last year, during the 2021&nbsp;–&nbsp;2022&nbsp;deer season, 190 new positive tests were confirmed, bring the total&nbsp;to 738 positive tests for Chronic Wasting Disease in our state, with the number of positive tests growing each year. With the exception of a half-dozen counties, the entire western half of the state&nbsp;has produced deer&nbsp;or elk&nbsp;testing positive for CWD. The disease continues to spread&nbsp;eastward,&nbsp;and as of the end of the 2021-2022&nbsp;deer&nbsp;season,&nbsp;CWD&nbsp;has been detected in 59 Kansas&nbsp;counties. There&nbsp;is currently no&nbsp;known&nbsp;cure for CWD, and experts advise there is no way of administering a cure if there was one.

CWD appears to target animals older than I year, and it can be several months before outward symptoms become apparent. Animals in advanced stages of the disease will seem listless, may walk in repetitive patterns with their head lowered, will probably exhibit excessive salivation and a blank expression, and will appear to be in very poor overall health.&nbsp;Many infected animals are&nbsp;killed and consumed by predators before humans even seen them.&nbsp;If you witness deer or elk with any of these symptoms, report it to a conservation officer immediately!

Extensive research shows no risk of&nbsp;humans contracting this&nbsp;disease;&nbsp;however, health officials urge common sense, and recommend that contact with CWD infected animals be avoided. Researchers are still uncertain how the disease is transmitted, but cattle and other domestic livestock appear to&nbsp;be naturally resistant.&nbsp;

Common sense should dictate not to consume any part of a known infected&nbsp;animal. Special precautions are also urged for hunters harvesting deer or elk from an area known to have produced an infected animal.&nbsp;Kansas Dept of Wildlife and Parks recommends all meat from these carcasses should be boned-out, and none of the brain, spinal cord tissue, eyes, spleen or lymph nodes&nbsp;should be consumed.&nbsp;The carcass of the infected animal should remain there where it was harvested,&nbsp;buried,&nbsp;if possible,&nbsp;to avoid further spreading the disease.&nbsp;Extra care should also be taken to thoroughly wash and disinfect hands and butchering equipment.

Yes, spread of this disease will&nbsp;hurt Kansas’ deer populations and our deer hunting industry. An even bigger fear, for now, is that people&nbsp;will “throw the baby out with the bath water,” so to speak, and immediately stop hunting deer all across the state, causing deer populations to explode out of control, thus compounding existing problems while creating new ones. 

Let’s not overreact; our wildlife officials are hunters, trappers, fishermen and outdoorsmen just like us, so trust them to stay on top of this threat! In the meantime, stay informed by visiting the KDWP website,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/">www.kdwp.state.ks.us</a>. They are very good about keeping this website updated. Oh, and keep Exploring Kansas Outdoors!&nbsp;

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted&nbsp;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>Chronic&nbsp;wasting&nbsp;disease is a debilitating, fatal disease that attacks the central nervous system of whitetail deer, mule deer, moose, caribou&nbsp;and&nbsp;elk, actually resulting in small holes developing in their brains.&nbsp;CWD was first diagnosed in captive animals in Colorado and Wyoming in the late&nbsp;1960s and 1970s, and&nbsp;was&nbsp;seen in free ranging animals in the early 1980s.&nbsp;Kansas’s fish and game officials have been testing hunter-harvested Kansas deer since 1996, and&nbsp;during the 2005 firearms season, the first documented case was discovered in a whitetail doe taken near the Cheyenne Co. town of St. Francis, in the northwestern corner of the state.&nbsp;Later that year&nbsp;KDWP staff harvested 50&nbsp;deer, 29 mule deer and 21 whitetails within a 15-mile radius of where the infected doe was shot. Tissue samples from each deer were collected at a field lab and sent to KSU for analysis, and all 50&nbsp;dear tested negative for CWD&nbsp;at the time.&nbsp;Many thousands of&nbsp;both&nbsp;wild&nbsp;and captive&nbsp;mule deer and whitetail deer&nbsp;have been tested for CWD since testing first began in KS in 1996, and the disease continues to spread.&nbsp;Last year, during the 2021&nbsp;–&nbsp;2022&nbsp;deer season, 190 new positive tests were confirmed, bring the total&nbsp;to 738 positive tests for Chronic Wasting Disease in our state, with the number of positive tests growing each year. With the exception of a half-dozen counties, the entire western half of the state&nbsp;has produced deer&nbsp;or elk&nbsp;testing positive for CWD. The disease continues to spread&nbsp;eastward,&nbsp;and as of the end of the 2021-2022&nbsp;deer&nbsp;season,&nbsp;CWD&nbsp;has been detected in 59 Kansas&nbsp;counties. There&nbsp;is currently no&nbsp;known&nbsp;cure for CWD, and experts advise there is no way of administering a cure if there was one.CWD appears to target animals older than I year, and it can be several months before outward symptoms become apparent. Animals in advanced stages of the disease will seem listless, may walk in repetitive patterns with their head lowered, will probably exhibit excessive salivation and a blank expression, and will appear to be in very poor overall health.&nbsp;Many infected animals are&nbsp;killed and consumed by predators before humans even seen them.&nbsp;If you witness deer or elk with any of these symptoms, report it to a conservation officer immediately!Extensive research shows no risk of&nbsp;humans contracting this&nbsp;disease;&nbsp;however, health officials urge common sense, and recommend that contact with CWD infected animals be avoided. Researchers are still uncertain how the disease is transmitted, but cattle and other domestic livestock appear to&nbsp;be naturally resistant.&nbsp;Common sense should dictate not to consume any part of a known infected&nbsp;animal. Special precautions are also urged for hunters harvesting deer or elk from an area known to have produced an infected animal.&nbsp;Kansas Dept of Wildlife and Parks recommends all meat from these carcasses should be boned-out, and none of the brain, spinal cord tissue, eyes, spleen or lymph nodes&nbsp;should be consumed.&nbsp;The carcass of the infected animal should remain there where it was harvested,&nbsp;buried,&nbsp;if possible,&nbsp;to avoid further spreading the disease.&nbsp;Extra care should also be taken to thoroughly wash and disinfect hands and butchering equipment.Yes, spread of this disease will&nbsp;hurt Kansas’ deer populations and our deer hunting industry. An even bigger fear, for now, is that people&nbsp;will “throw the baby out with the bath water,” so to speak, and immediately stop hunting deer all across the state, causing deer populations to explode out of control, thus compounding existing problems while creating new ones. Let’s not overreact; our wildlife officials are hunters, trappers, fishermen and outdoorsmen just like us, so trust them to stay on top of this threat! In the meantime, stay informed by visiting the KDWP website,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/">www.kdwp.state.ks.us</a>. They are very good about keeping this website updated. Oh, and keep Exploring Kansas Outdoors!&nbsp;Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted&nbsp;by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Chronic wasting disease in deer

By DALE YOUNKER Jetmore NRCS Office

You don’t have to travel very far down a country road to see that a lot of famers are struggling to control herbicide resistant weeds. A good number wheat stubble and fallow fields have been overrun by Palmer Amaranth. This pigweed species also known as “Careless Weed” because it can care less what you do to try to kill it, it will still come back, and most of the time with vengeance. Many herbicides are no longer effective in controlling it and that list seems to grow longer every year.

In wet years tillage seems to be just about as ineffective. If there is any part a of a plant’s root still attached to any soil with any moisture it comes right back. And even if you get them killed, there are millions and millions of seeds just waiting to germinate and grow with just the slightest amount of moisture.

It is obvious that weed management strategies in dryland cropping systems are becoming less effective as time goes by and something different needs to happen to get a handle on these difficult to control weeds. Using cover crops, during the fallow periods, could be at least part of the answer.

Cover crops provide weed management benefits in several different ways. Many small-seeded weed species, like kochia, palmer amaranth and other pigweed species need sunlight for seedlings to emerge. Living cover crops, or the residue that is left after it is terminated, reduces the sunlight reaching the soil surface thus reducing the number of weeds that come up. Cover crops also compete with weeds for moisture, nutrients and sunlight keeping the weeds in a weak, easier to kill condition, or preventing them from coming up at all. Some cover crop species, like rye and some brassicas, control weeds through a process called allelopathy. This is where decaying residue release chemicals that inhibit the germination of weed seeds.

Here are a few things to think about when considering cover crops for weed suppression.

· Know what your problem weeds are and get the cover crops well established before those weeds come up. Most of the time in western Kansas, those weeds are going to be kochia and palmer amaranth. Kochia comes up early in the spring, so to get ahead of this weed a cover crop needs to be planted in late summer or early fall on fallow fields. If planting behind a fall crop and there is time and moisture is available to get the cover crop established, a fall seeding could be used. But if it gets too late, or moisture is limited, delay the planting to early spring in mid to late February.

· Select species that grow aggressively, shade the ground quickly and provide a mat of residue on the soil surface once the cover crop is terminated. For a late fall or early spring planting cereal grains like rye, triticale, barley, oats, and wheat work well. For a summer mix that is planted after wheat harvest, forage sorghums, sorghum sudans, and millets are good species to use. Brassicas like turnips and radishes can also provide a fair amount of biomass if planted early enough in late summer.

· Take advantage of the allelopathy effect some species, like rye provide. This process works like using a preemergent herbicide. Once the cover crop is terminated, chemicals are released from the decomposing plant residue that inhibit weeds seeds from germinating. This works well in controlling palmer amaranth when terminating a cereal grain cover crop right around the time it is heading in early to mid-May. A word of caution using rye. Termination in the spring needs to be very timely to timely prior to viable seed development to prevent it from being a weed in following wheat crops. If that is a concern, I would use other fall cereal grains like, triticale, wheat, or barley.

· Terminate the cover crop early if there is a persistent dry period and the long-term weather forecast is not favorable for adequate moisture to replenish the soil profile. The key to making cover crops work in these dryland fallow systems is for the cover crop to utilize the moisture we would lose through evaporation, runoff, and transpiration through weeds, but still leave adequate soil moisture for the next cash crop.

· Always look at the economic side of things and compare your current weed control cost and what it will cost to incorporate cover crops into your system. Herbicide applications can get pricey, and many times don’t work well. Multiple tillage operations can also add up to a substantial amount of money.

Cover crops are not a “silver bullet” when it comes to weed control and may not fit into everybody’s cropping system. They are just another tool in the toolbox, that can help in controlling weeds more effectively.

For more information about this or other soil health practices you can contact me at dale.younker@ks.usda.gov or any local NRCS office.

Dale Younker is a soil health specialist with the National Resources&nbsp;Conservation Service&nbsp; in Jetmore.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1628525048992.jpeg" alt="Dale Younker&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Dale Younker&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By DALE YOUNKER Jetmore NRCS OfficeYou don’t have to travel very far down a country road to see that a lot of famers are struggling to control herbicide resistant weeds. A good number wheat stubble and fallow fields have been overrun by Palmer Amaranth. This pigweed species also known as “Careless Weed” because it can care less what you do to try to kill it, it will still come back, and most of the time with vengeance. Many herbicides are no longer effective in controlling it and that list seems to grow longer every year.In wet years tillage seems to be just about as ineffective. If there is any part a of a plant’s root still attached to any soil with any moisture it comes right back. And even if you get them killed, there are millions and millions of seeds just waiting to germinate and grow with just the slightest amount of moisture.It is obvious that weed management strategies in dryland cropping systems are becoming less effective as time goes by and something different needs to happen to get a handle on these difficult to control weeds. Using cover crops, during the fallow periods, could be at least part of the answer.Cover crops provide weed management benefits in several different ways. Many small-seeded weed species, like kochia, palmer amaranth and other pigweed species need sunlight for seedlings to emerge. Living cover crops, or the residue that is left after it is terminated, reduces the sunlight reaching the soil surface thus reducing the number of weeds that come up. Cover crops also compete with weeds for moisture, nutrients and sunlight keeping the weeds in a weak, easier to kill condition, or preventing them from coming up at all. Some cover crop species, like rye and some brassicas, control weeds through a process called allelopathy. This is where decaying residue release chemicals that inhibit the germination of weed seeds.Here are a few things to think about when considering cover crops for weed suppression.· Know what your problem weeds are and get the cover crops well established before those weeds come up. Most of the time in western Kansas, those weeds are going to be kochia and palmer amaranth. Kochia comes up early in the spring, so to get ahead of this weed a cover crop needs to be planted in late summer or early fall on fallow fields. If planting behind a fall crop and there is time and moisture is available to get the cover crop established, a fall seeding could be used. But if it gets too late, or moisture is limited, delay the planting to early spring in mid to late February.· Select species that grow aggressively, shade the ground quickly and provide a mat of residue on the soil surface once the cover crop is terminated. For a late fall or early spring planting cereal grains like rye, triticale, barley, oats, and wheat work well. For a summer mix that is planted after wheat harvest, forage sorghums, sorghum sudans, and millets are good species to use. Brassicas like turnips and radishes can also provide a fair amount of biomass if planted early enough in late summer.· Take advantage of the allelopathy effect some species, like rye provide. This process works like using a preemergent herbicide. Once the cover crop is terminated, chemicals are released from the decomposing plant residue that inhibit weeds seeds from germinating. This works well in controlling palmer amaranth when terminating a cereal grain cover crop right around the time it is heading in early to mid-May. A word of caution using rye. Termination in the spring needs to be very timely to timely prior to viable seed development to prevent it from being a weed in following wheat crops. If that is a concern, I would use other fall cereal grains like, triticale, wheat, or barley.· Terminate the cover crop early if there is a persistent dry period and the long-term weather forecast is not favorable for adequate moisture to replenish the soil profile. The key to making cover crops work in these dryland fallow systems is for the cover crop to utilize the moisture we would lose through evaporation, runoff, and transpiration through weeds, but still leave adequate soil moisture for the next cash crop.· Always look at the economic side of things and compare your current weed control cost and what it will cost to incorporate cover crops into your system. Herbicide applications can get pricey, and many times don’t work well. Multiple tillage operations can also add up to a substantial amount of money.Cover crops are not a “silver bullet” when it comes to weed control and may not fit into everybody’s cropping system. They are just another tool in the toolbox, that can help in controlling weeds more effectively.For more information about this or other soil health practices you can contact me at dale.younker@ks.usda.gov or any local NRCS office.Dale Younker is a soil health specialist with the National Resources&nbsp;Conservation Service&nbsp; in Jetmore.&nbsp;

YOUNKER: Using cover crops to manage weeds

By PATRICIA E. WEEMS GASTON <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/25/at-nicodemus-reunion-familial-and-kansas-history-converge/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Nicodemus has been calling my name for as long as I can remember.

Maybe it was the piece that my 
University of Kansas classmate wrote more than 40 years ago about the 
first Black settlement west of the Mississippi. Maybe a ride on the 
highways and byways of western Kansas would help me better appreciate 
the diversity of my home state. Maybe it was my hunger for history, 
whetted during myriad chats with my father while cooped up during the 
COVID-19 pandemic.

Or maybe I couldn’t imagine not 
talking about the past, despite recent efforts to stymie the study of 
history in schools. Isn’t our future built on the foundations of the 
past?

The road trip was a go when another 
classmate wanted to attend the town’s annual homecoming to see if there 
was any appetite for resuming a mobile health clinic that her late 
internist sister ran for years.

We joined in Nicodemus’ celebration — its 144th
 homecoming — in late July on an uncharacteristically cool morning. It 
was a family reunion in every sense, and I felt one with the crowd 
lining Main Street for the late morning parade.

This town, which was settled in 1877 
by 300 pioneers from Kentucky in search of freedom, now has fewer than 
25 residents. But you wouldn’t have known it as hundreds of descendants 
from across the country returned to their ancestral home.

The Buffalo Soldiers in full regalia 
marched to the cheers of a grateful and proud crowd. We talked with 
families, some of them decked out in blue and green or purple and gold. 
The sense of family was palpable, whether they were clumped together 
watching the parade, trying to snag a piece of candy thrown from 
participants for one of their little ones or bounding into the visitor’s
 center in Township Hall in search of a souvenir to mark the day’s 
events.

While my people are not descendants, 
the Weemses have a tie that binds us to Nicodemus. My late grandfather 
Robert R. Weems and his friends used to hunt pheasant here during the 
late 1940s and early 1950s.

My grandfather enjoyed hunting and 
fishing, using his skills to help feed his family of five, with my 
father, Charles, being the youngest.

Seemingly every fall, Papa, and some 
of his friends — Van Taylor, George Johnson and Fred Whitaker — would 
jump into Mr. Whitaker’s panel truck on a Sunday morning and strike out 
on highways 24 and 40 for Nicodemus, which is in northwest Kansas near 
the Nebraska border. They would be hosted by a local family (they didn’t
 go to Hill City because it was a sundown town), hunt all day Monday 
through Thursday (Dad says they hunted on the Switzer family’s land) and
 then head home with their birds.

“If it was a poor hunting season, there was no pheasant for holiday meals,” Charles Weems recalled.

The men would drive straight through 
back to Kansas City because Black people were not allowed to stay in 
hotels along the way, and the men apparently had no access to the Green 
Book, which identified businesses that would have accepted Black 
customers during segregation.

Once Papa returned home, Dad recalls,
 my grandmother Flora Belle’s work began. She skinned the pheasant and 
took particular care with the breast because it was the prime cut and 
most sought after for holiday dinners. She often would take the 
red-green-black-white feathers and stick them in her favorite hats, Dad 
says.

Descendants of Nicodemus keep the 
story of this sometimes-forgotten prairie town alive through word, deed,
 song. After the parade, there were activities for everyone — live 
entertainment, a fashion and talent show, a baseball game, watermelon 
feed, a church service on Sunday morning.

Families shared, shared and shared stories of how their relatives came here in search of freedom after slavery.

That is the only way for us to 
continue sharing our history. Yes, we learned in school about the big 
events — revolutions, slavery, wars, migrations of people, moon 
landings, medical breakthroughs. While these big events influenced our 
lives, it is the everyday that makes us who we are.

I got my love for history in the 
plethora of volumes that lined our bookshelves, in the dinner table 
conversations about Dr. King and other events of the day, in the Black 
History Month classes that my Aunt Christine took us to, in the stories 
that my grandparents shared with us about growing up in the South and in
 the Midwest. Who learned how to spell Mississippi: M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-humpback-humpback-i?

And who on vacation insisted that 
their two children do “history and culture” before they went to the 
amusement park or ballgame, or saw the Empire State Building or Statue 
of Liberty?

I did, and that is because history 
has always been valued in my family, in school, in church, in my 
community. One must know from where they have come. How else would we 
know where to take your place in life?

That is why traveling to Nicodemus and hearing about my grandfather’s hunting trips warmed my heart.

It is hard to fathom the times we are
 in because of a need to revise history, grossly downplaying the role of
 slavery in the development of this country, or banning of books that 
may talk about people who look different or think different. History is 
very much alive and present today.

As Kansas historian Angela Bates, who is a descendant of Nicodemus, remarks <a target="_blank" href="https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/meet-angela-bates">on the Humanities Kansas website</a>: “Kansas history is not over, we are all still evolving.”

Patricia E. Weems Gaston is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the Lacy C. Haynes Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Gaston graduated from KU in 1981; she has a master's degree in sports management from The George Washington University. Before joining The Washington Post in 1997, she worked at the Dallas Morning News, where she was an assistant foreign editor and was co-editor of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on violence against women.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1664123606812.png" alt="What would a Nicodemus parade be without the pageantry of the Buffalo Soldiers, an ode to a day gone by? They marched in the town’s 144th homecoming in late July. (Patricia E. Weems Gaston)" />
 <figcaption>What would a Nicodemus parade be without the pageantry of the Buffalo Soldiers, an ode to a day gone by? They marched in the town’s 144th homecoming in late July. (Patricia E. Weems Gaston)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PATRICIA E. WEEMS GASTON <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/25/at-nicodemus-reunion-familial-and-kansas-history-converge/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Nicodemus has been calling my name for as long as I can remember.Maybe it was the piece that my 
University of Kansas classmate wrote more than 40 years ago about the 
first Black settlement west of the Mississippi. Maybe a ride on the 
highways and byways of western Kansas would help me better appreciate 
the diversity of my home state. Maybe it was my hunger for history, 
whetted during myriad chats with my father while cooped up during the 
COVID-19 pandemic.Or maybe I couldn’t imagine not 
talking about the past, despite recent efforts to stymie the study of 
history in schools. Isn’t our future built on the foundations of the 
past?<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1664123677647.jpeg" alt="NAACP branches from across the state of Kansas marched in the Nicodemus parade this summer. (Patricia E. Weems Gaston)" />
 <figcaption>NAACP branches from across the state of Kansas marched in the Nicodemus parade this summer. (Patricia E. Weems Gaston)</figcaption>
 </figure>The road trip was a go when another 
classmate wanted to attend the town’s annual homecoming to see if there 
was any appetite for resuming a mobile health clinic that her late 
internist sister ran for years.We joined in Nicodemus’ celebration — its 144th
 homecoming — in late July on an uncharacteristically cool morning. It 
was a family reunion in every sense, and I felt one with the crowd 
lining Main Street for the late morning parade.This town, which was settled in 1877 
by 300 pioneers from Kentucky in search of freedom, now has fewer than 
25 residents. But you wouldn’t have known it as hundreds of descendants 
from across the country returned to their ancestral home.The Buffalo Soldiers in full regalia 
marched to the cheers of a grateful and proud crowd. We talked with 
families, some of them decked out in blue and green or purple and gold. 
The sense of family was palpable, whether they were clumped together 
watching the parade, trying to snag a piece of candy thrown from 
participants for one of their little ones or bounding into the visitor’s
 center in Township Hall in search of a souvenir to mark the day’s 
events.While my people are not descendants, 
the Weemses have a tie that binds us to Nicodemus. My late grandfather 
Robert R. Weems and his friends used to hunt pheasant here during the 
late 1940s and early 1950s.<h2>One with the land</h2>My grandfather enjoyed hunting and 
fishing, using his skills to help feed his family of five, with my 
father, Charles, being the youngest.Seemingly every fall, Papa, and some 
of his friends — Van Taylor, George Johnson and Fred Whitaker — would 
jump into Mr. Whitaker’s panel truck on a Sunday morning and strike out 
on highways 24 and 40 for Nicodemus, which is in northwest Kansas near 
the Nebraska border. They would be hosted by a local family (they didn’t
 go to Hill City because it was a sundown town), hunt all day Monday 
through Thursday (Dad says they hunted on the Switzer family’s land) and
 then head home with their birds.“If it was a poor hunting season, there was no pheasant for holiday meals,” Charles Weems recalled.The men would drive straight through 
back to Kansas City because Black people were not allowed to stay in 
hotels along the way, and the men apparently had no access to the Green 
Book, which identified businesses that would have accepted Black 
customers during segregation.Once Papa returned home, Dad recalls,
 my grandmother Flora Belle’s work began. She skinned the pheasant and 
took particular care with the breast because it was the prime cut and 
most sought after for holiday dinners. She often would take the 
red-green-black-white feathers and stick them in her favorite hats, Dad 
says.<h2>Remembering our roots</h2>Descendants of Nicodemus keep the 
story of this sometimes-forgotten prairie town alive through word, deed,
 song. After the parade, there were activities for everyone — live 
entertainment, a fashion and talent show, a baseball game, watermelon 
feed, a church service on Sunday morning.Families shared, shared and shared stories of how their relatives came here in search of freedom after slavery.That is the only way for us to 
continue sharing our history. Yes, we learned in school about the big 
events — revolutions, slavery, wars, migrations of people, moon 
landings, medical breakthroughs. While these big events influenced our 
lives, it is the everyday that makes us who we are.I got my love for history in the 
plethora of volumes that lined our bookshelves, in the dinner table 
conversations about Dr. King and other events of the day, in the Black 
History Month classes that my Aunt Christine took us to, in the stories 
that my grandparents shared with us about growing up in the South and in
 the Midwest. Who learned how to spell Mississippi: M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-humpback-humpback-i?And who on vacation insisted that 
their two children do “history and culture” before they went to the 
amusement park or ballgame, or saw the Empire State Building or Statue 
of Liberty?I did, and that is because history 
has always been valued in my family, in school, in church, in my 
community. One must know from where they have come. How else would we 
know where to take your place in life?That is why traveling to Nicodemus and hearing about my grandfather’s hunting trips warmed my heart.It is hard to fathom the times we are
 in because of a need to revise history, grossly downplaying the role of
 slavery in the development of this country, or banning of books that 
may talk about people who look different or think different. History is 
very much alive and present today.As Kansas historian Angela Bates, who is a descendant of Nicodemus, remarks <a target="_blank" href="https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/meet-angela-bates">on the Humanities Kansas website</a>: “Kansas history is not over, we are all still evolving.”Patricia E. Weems Gaston is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the Lacy C. Haynes Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Gaston graduated from KU in 1981; she has a master's degree in sports management from The George Washington University. Before joining The Washington Post in 1997, she worked at the Dallas Morning News, where she was an assistant foreign editor and was co-editor of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on violence against women.

At Nicodemus reunion, familial and Kansas history converge

The news coming out of Emporia last week, with at least 30 members of the faculty of Emporia State University fired on one day, was terribly sad. Not just because the firings were a blow to the education of hundreds of ESU students, but also because it reflects a failure to understand just what, realistically speaking, higher education in Kansas should be all about.

The population of Kansas overall is growing at a slow pace, relative to the rest of the country—and our rural areas are mostly shrinking in population, sometimes dramatically. This is the reality which all the universities and community colleges operating under the Kansas Board of Regents umbrella, and all the different independent colleges and universities across Kansas, have to deal with. Add to the decline of potential college students the burden of tuition costs, the plenitude of educational alternatives, and the many re-evaluations which the pandemic brought on, and it is obvious that Kansas’s colleges and universities must rethink how they do business.

Which they have done, and continue to do. It is wrong to suppose that the faculty who teach classes, run workshops, administer internships, and provide training are removed from the kind of experimental strategies which the aforementioned pressures make necessary. On the contrary, it is those faculty who do the legwork in figuring out how to combine old programs or innovate new ones, and reconstruct majors and courses to reflect diverse student needs. This has happened multiple times at my institution over the years that I’ve taught here, and almost all the faculty I know at different institutions here in Kansas have gone through the same.

Why do all that work? There are cynical answers, to be sure. But mostly, it’s because teachers at those schools have committed themselves to passing on their knowledge to Kansas’s students, and that means meeting students where they are: in those various cities and towns, large and small, in all those distinct regions, and developing educational approaches to serve those differing needs. It means making our colleges and universities “native to their place,” to quote Kansan Wes Jackson—and long-term job support to Kansas’s faculty helps make that possible.

Which is exactly what President Ken Hush has undermined at Emporia State, by getting permission from KBOR to fire tenured faculty without any particular explanation. He sold it as grand plan in “workforce management,” dismissing incremental approaches to re-developing ESU as insufficient. Perhaps Hush sees this as an ideological win over a bunch of supposed radicals, but in practice tenure—which varies greatly from one institution to another—doesn’t promise faculty any kind of lifetime intellectual isolation. Rather, by providing limited job protections (like due process guarantees that they will not be hurriedly or arbitrarily terminated), tenure enables those with the necessary expertise to take the time to build creative, lasting connections in the midst of students’ ever-changing educational needs and situations. A building which Hush’s decision has now made harder at ESU, crossing a line which Kansas higher education really can’t afford to break.

In our state, tenure is best understood as a protection which encourages faculty to root themselves in and develop a real understanding of the particular, sometimes shrinking, communities they serve. Emporia State does that, just as Fort Hays, Pittsburg State, Friends University, and many others do. ESU will no doubt continue to provide some of that unique service to those Kansas students who need it—but there will be less of it now in Emporia, and that’s a shame.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dr. Russell Arben Fox teaches politics in Wichita.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1583339056495.jpeg" alt="Dr. Russell Arben Fox teaches politics in Wichita." />
 <figcaption>Dr. Russell Arben Fox teaches politics in Wichita.</figcaption>
 </figure>The news coming out of Emporia last week, with at least 30 members of the faculty of Emporia State University fired on one day, was terribly sad. Not just because the firings were a blow to the education of hundreds of ESU students, but also because it reflects a failure to understand just what, realistically speaking, higher education in Kansas should be all about.The population of Kansas overall is growing at a slow pace, relative to the rest of the country—and our rural areas are mostly shrinking in population, sometimes dramatically. This is the reality which all the universities and community colleges operating under the Kansas Board of Regents umbrella, and all the different independent colleges and universities across Kansas, have to deal with. Add to the decline of potential college students the burden of tuition costs, the plenitude of educational alternatives, and the many re-evaluations which the pandemic brought on, and it is obvious that Kansas’s colleges and universities must rethink how they do business.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Which they have done, and continue to do. It is wrong to suppose that the faculty who teach classes, run workshops, administer internships, and provide training are removed from the kind of experimental strategies which the aforementioned pressures make necessary. On the contrary, it is those faculty who do the legwork in figuring out how to combine old programs or innovate new ones, and reconstruct majors and courses to reflect diverse student needs. This has happened multiple times at my institution over the years that I’ve taught here, and almost all the faculty I know at different institutions here in Kansas have gone through the same.Why do all that work? There are cynical answers, to be sure. But mostly, it’s because teachers at those schools have committed themselves to passing on their knowledge to Kansas’s students, and that means meeting students where they are: in those various cities and towns, large and small, in all those distinct regions, and developing educational approaches to serve those differing needs. It means making our colleges and universities “native to their place,” to quote Kansan Wes Jackson—and long-term job support to Kansas’s faculty helps make that possible.Which is exactly what President Ken Hush has undermined at Emporia State, by getting permission from KBOR to fire tenured faculty without any particular explanation. He sold it as grand plan in “workforce management,” dismissing incremental approaches to re-developing ESU as insufficient. Perhaps Hush sees this as an ideological win over a bunch of supposed radicals, but in practice tenure—which varies greatly from one institution to another—doesn’t promise faculty any kind of lifetime intellectual isolation. Rather, by providing limited job protections (like due process guarantees that they will not be hurriedly or arbitrarily terminated), tenure enables those with the necessary expertise to take the time to build creative, lasting connections in the midst of students’ ever-changing educational needs and situations. A building which Hush’s decision has now made harder at ESU, crossing a line which Kansas higher education really can’t afford to break.In our state, tenure is best understood as a protection which encourages faculty to root themselves in and develop a real understanding of the particular, sometimes shrinking, communities they serve. Emporia State does that, just as Fort Hays, Pittsburg State, Friends University, and many others do. ESU will no doubt continue to provide some of that unique service to those Kansas students who need it—but there will be less of it now in Emporia, and that’s a shame.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dr. Russell Arben Fox teaches politics in Wichita.

Opinion