Each year in the fall Frannie Miller, Pesticide training and IPM coordinator, plans trainings and looks forward to seeing applicators from across the state as they attend these commercial recertification training programs. This year will look a lot different in terms of training opportunities. Due to the ever presence of Covid, the Kansas State Pesticide Safety Program will be hosting virtual training opportunities through zoom. This will allow the applicator to obtain pest management credits from the safety of his or her home or office. Some applicators may feel they are technologically challenged, but don’t let that keep you from trying a new way of learning. The team is here to help you every step of the way! 

The Kansas State Pesticide Safety Program is hosting training on the following dates: 

· October 20 – 21 (9:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) (1:20 p.m. -3:30 p.m.) Right-of-Way, Industrial Weed, and Noxious Weed Training (Category 6, 7C, &amp; 9A) 

· November 2 (12:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.) and November 3 (8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Stored Product Pests and Seed Treatment (Category 7B &amp; 4) 

· November 4 (9:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) Ornamental, Turf and Interiorscape (Category 3A, 3B, &amp; 3C) 

· November 9 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Ag Plant (Category 1A) 

· November 10 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Structural and Public Health (Category 7D, 7E &amp; 8) 

· November 10 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Core Hour 

· November 12 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Wood Destroying and Wood Preservation (Category 7A &amp; 7F) 

· November 12 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Core Hour 

· November 13 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Forest Pest, Ornamental, Turf and Interiorscape (Category 2, 3A, 3B &amp; 3C) 

Flyers containing the registration information can be found on the Pesticide Safety and IPM webpage at: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/pesticides-ipm/commercial-applicator.html. If you use Facebook you may want to consider liking the Kansas State Pesticide Safety and IPM program page, which can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/KSRE-Pesticide-Safety-and-Integrated-Pest-Management-Program-109039044075447. 

Other groups or associations may be hosting other training opportunities. A complete list can be found at: https://portal.kda.ks.gov/PAF/PafTraining/TrainingEventList. 

If you don’t remember how many credits you have or need, you can look up your training status at: https://portal.kda.ks.gov/paf/pafapplicator/login/ 

If you have further questions regarding how this training will be conducted contact Frannie Miller at (620)241-1523 or e-mail fmiller@ksu.edu. 

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573141354634.png" alt="Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District" />
 <figcaption>Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District</figcaption>
 </figure>Each year in the fall Frannie Miller, Pesticide training and IPM coordinator, plans trainings and looks forward to seeing applicators from across the state as they attend these commercial recertification training programs. This year will look a lot different in terms of training opportunities. Due to the ever presence of Covid, the Kansas State Pesticide Safety Program will be hosting virtual training opportunities through zoom. This will allow the applicator to obtain pest management credits from the safety of his or her home or office. Some applicators may feel they are technologically challenged, but don’t let that keep you from trying a new way of learning. The team is here to help you every step of the way! The Kansas State Pesticide Safety Program is hosting training on the following dates: · October 20 – 21 (9:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) (1:20 p.m. -3:30 p.m.) Right-of-Way, Industrial Weed, and Noxious Weed Training (Category 6, 7C, &amp; 9A) · November 2 (12:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.) and November 3 (8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Stored Product Pests and Seed Treatment (Category 7B &amp; 4) · November 4 (9:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) Ornamental, Turf and Interiorscape (Category 3A, 3B, &amp; 3C) · November 9 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Ag Plant (Category 1A) · November 10 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Structural and Public Health (Category 7D, 7E &amp; 8) · November 10 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Core Hour · November 12 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Wood Destroying and Wood Preservation (Category 7A &amp; 7F) · November 12 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Core Hour · November 13 (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Forest Pest, Ornamental, Turf and Interiorscape (Category 2, 3A, 3B &amp; 3C) Flyers containing the registration information can be found on the Pesticide Safety and IPM webpage at: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/pesticides-ipm/commercial-applicator.html. If you use Facebook you may want to consider liking the Kansas State Pesticide Safety and IPM program page, which can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/KSRE-Pesticide-Safety-and-Integrated-Pest-Management-Program-109039044075447. Other groups or associations may be hosting other training opportunities. A complete list can be found at: https://portal.kda.ks.gov/PAF/PafTraining/TrainingEventList. If you don’t remember how many credits you have or need, you can look up your training status at: https://portal.kda.ks.gov/paf/pafapplicator/login/ If you have further questions regarding how this training will be conducted contact Frannie Miller at (620)241-1523 or e-mail fmiller@ksu.edu. Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910.

BOOR: Pesticide training programs begin this month

By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher

If I were putting together a Sunday Drive Edition of a scavenger hunt, it would most certainly include the “CO-OP” emblem. You probably know what one I mean: an outline of a red circle and blue circle overlapping and the letters C-O-O-P stamped in the middle.

No matter where you go in the Midwest, you can likely spot this classic symbol. It’s in obvious places like on the side of a grain elevator, gas tank or a business sign. And in more subtle places like old feed buckets, oil drums, clocks and utensils in a grandmother’s kitchen, or on hats and jackets kept by old farmers.

The logo, which was almost universally used by agricultural cooperatives in the 1980s and earlier, has slowly faded from use as modern cooperatives have opted to use their own brands to build recognition and loyalty, which is a smart move from a business perspective.

The nostalgic side of me is a little sad to see the once unified look of cooperatives drift into obsolescence. It makes me think about all the people who are rapidly moving further away from the complex story of how American agriculture came to grow of the safest, most abundant food supply in the world.

Cooperatives played a vital role in that story, and since October is National Co-ops month, I want to share briefly about how co-ops helped build American agriculture into what it is today and how they continue to keep our rural communities strong.

Cooperatives have their roots in agriculture. A group of farmers in England who were getting a raw deal from their suppliers formed the first cooperative several centuries ago. They were paying too much for a terrible product. Eventually the farmers got so frustrated that they decided they could do much better themselves. They pooled their resources to create a business but ended up creating an new framework and guiding principles for cooperatives, which are business collectively owned and operated by their members, who then share in the benefits and profits of the organization.

A century ago, that same model started to make a lot of sense in small remote communities across the Midwest. As farmers began to grow excess grain, they needed somewhere to take it. A group of neighbors could form a cooperative, which allowed them to team up and build an elevator for storage and have an organization that could take care of selling and shipping grain to larger markets. Cooperatives helped farmers make a better living for themselves and their neighbors.

Through the decades, these small community cooperatives have grown and merged with other cooperatives to create more efficiency and adapted to provide new services for their members. However, the guiding principles of serving members and their communities have stayed the same.

The people who started those cooperatives probably were not that different from you and me. They were trying to build a business, make a living and support their families. What made them special was the willingness to do something risky. They joined their neighbors, taking a chance together in hopes it would fix their problems.

In the spirit of cooperatives and the pioneers who built them, I challenge you to look around at your community. What problems need solving? No one is going to solve them for you. You do not necessarily have to start a cooperative to fix every problem but working together with your neighbors and investing in your community are great places to start.

And if you do have a local co-op, remember support them is just like supporting your neighbors and community.

"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. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575406519723.jpeg" alt="Jackie Mundt" />
 <figcaption>Jackie Mundt</figcaption>
 </figure>By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancherIf I were putting together a Sunday Drive Edition of a scavenger hunt, it would most certainly include the “CO-OP” emblem. You probably know what one I mean: an outline of a red circle and blue circle overlapping and the letters C-O-O-P stamped in the middle.No matter where you go in the Midwest, you can likely spot this classic symbol. It’s in obvious places like on the side of a grain elevator, gas tank or a business sign. And in more subtle places like old feed buckets, oil drums, clocks and utensils in a grandmother’s kitchen, or on hats and jackets kept by old farmers.The logo, which was almost universally used by agricultural cooperatives in the 1980s and earlier, has slowly faded from use as modern cooperatives have opted to use their own brands to build recognition and loyalty, which is a smart move from a business perspective.The nostalgic side of me is a little sad to see the once unified look of cooperatives drift into obsolescence. It makes me think about all the people who are rapidly moving further away from the complex story of how American agriculture came to grow of the safest, most abundant food supply in the world.Cooperatives played a vital role in that story, and since October is National Co-ops month, I want to share briefly about how co-ops helped build American agriculture into what it is today and how they continue to keep our rural communities strong.Cooperatives have their roots in agriculture. A group of farmers in England who were getting a raw deal from their suppliers formed the first cooperative several centuries ago. They were paying too much for a terrible product. Eventually the farmers got so frustrated that they decided they could do much better themselves. They pooled their resources to create a business but ended up creating an new framework and guiding principles for cooperatives, which are business collectively owned and operated by their members, who then share in the benefits and profits of the organization.A century ago, that same model started to make a lot of sense in small remote communities across the Midwest. As farmers began to grow excess grain, they needed somewhere to take it. A group of neighbors could form a cooperative, which allowed them to team up and build an elevator for storage and have an organization that could take care of selling and shipping grain to larger markets. Cooperatives helped farmers make a better living for themselves and their neighbors.Through the decades, these small community cooperatives have grown and merged with other cooperatives to create more efficiency and adapted to provide new services for their members. However, the guiding principles of serving members and their communities have stayed the same.The people who started those cooperatives probably were not that different from you and me. They were trying to build a business, make a living and support their families. What made them special was the willingness to do something risky. They joined their neighbors, taking a chance together in hopes it would fix their problems.In the spirit of cooperatives and the pioneers who built them, I challenge you to look around at your community. What problems need solving? No one is going to solve them for you. You do not necessarily have to start a cooperative to fix every problem but working together with your neighbors and investing in your community are great places to start.And if you do have a local co-op, remember support them is just like supporting your neighbors and community."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.

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: The benefits of cooperation

Cooler nights are increasing in frequency now that we are into October. If you have tomatoes, you may have some that are approaching maturity. Leave them on the vine until mature or until a frost is forecast. 

Tomatoes will ripen off the vine but must have reached a certain phase of maturity called the "mature green stage." Look for full-sized tomatoes with a white, star-shaped zone on the bottom end of the green fruit.&nbsp;​

When harvesting fruit before a frost, separate tomatoes into three groups for storage: those that are mostly red, those that are just starting to turn, and those that are still green. Discard tomatoes with defects such as rots or breaks in the skin. Place the tomatoes on cardboard trays or cartons but use layers of newspaper to separate fruit if stacked. Occasionally a tomato may start to rot and leak juice. The newspaper will keep the juice from contacting nearby or underlying fruit. Store groups of tomatoes at as close to 55 degrees as possible until needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lauren Fick is the Horticulture Extension Agent for the Cottonwood Extension District. If you have questions, she can be contacted by e-mail at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:lfick@k-state.edu">lfick@k-state.edu</a>&nbsp;or by phone at 785-628-9430 or 620-793-1910. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1580750915301.jpeg" alt="Lauren Fick is the Horticulture Extension Agent for the Cottonwood Extension District." />
 <figcaption>Lauren Fick is the Horticulture Extension Agent for the Cottonwood Extension District.</figcaption>
 </figure>Cooler nights are increasing in frequency now that we are into October. If you have tomatoes, you may have some that are approaching maturity. Leave them on the vine until mature or until a frost is forecast. Tomatoes will ripen off the vine but must have reached a certain phase of maturity called the "mature green stage." Look for full-sized tomatoes with a white, star-shaped zone on the bottom end of the green fruit.&nbsp;​When harvesting fruit before a frost, separate tomatoes into three groups for storage: those that are mostly red, those that are just starting to turn, and those that are still green. Discard tomatoes with defects such as rots or breaks in the skin. Place the tomatoes on cardboard trays or cartons but use layers of newspaper to separate fruit if stacked. Occasionally a tomato may start to rot and leak juice. The newspaper will keep the juice from contacting nearby or underlying fruit. Store groups of tomatoes at as close to 55 degrees as possible until needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;Lauren Fick is the Horticulture Extension Agent for the Cottonwood Extension District. If you have questions, she can be contacted by e-mail at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:lfick@k-state.edu">lfick@k-state.edu</a>&nbsp;or by phone at 785-628-9430 or 620-793-1910. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.&nbsp;

FICK: Last tomatoes of the season 

Kansas crude prices are once again above $30, but remain more than $16 a barrel below the prices posted last year at this time. CHS in McPherson on Friday raised prices by a quarter to $30.50 per barrel.&nbsp;

AAA reports just 10 states had average gasoline prices below two dollars a gallon last week, and Kansas was one of them. The statewide average for a gallon of regular was just over $1.97 Thursday. We spotted $1.99 across Great Bend and $1.89 at several stations in Hays. The national average was a fraction over $2.19 a gallon, which is up a cent and a half from a week ago, down a penny from a month ago, and down 47 cents from a year ago.

Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports five active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, which is up one, and five in the western half of the state, which is down one. Operators are about to spud one new well in Russell County. Baker Hughes reported 261 active drilling rigs across the U.S. on Friday, four oil rigs and two rigs drilling for natural gas. The rig count in Texas was up seven, while New Mexico was down two rigs.

Regulators in Kansas approved 11 new drilling permits last week, six in eastern Kansas and five west of Wichita, including one location in Barton County. That's 315 permits statewide so far this year, compared to 741 by this point last year.

Operators completed eleven new wells last week across Kansas. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports five of those were east of Wichita and six were in Western Kansas, including one in Ellis County. The year-to-date total is 655 completions. At this time last year, the state saw over one thousand newly completed wells.

The government reported a big drawdown in U.S. crude oil supplies. The Energy Information Administration reported total inventories of just under 495 million barrels for the week ending September 18. That marks a decline of more than one and a half million barrels. EIA says inventories remain about 13% above the five-year average for this time of year.

U.S. crude-oil production was just over 10.7 million barrels per day, down 154,000 barrels per day from the week before, and down more than two million barrels per day from a year ago.

U.S. crude oil exports reached a record high in February and have since fallen each month, based on data through June. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says U.S. crude oil exports in the first half of the year are still higher than they were in the first half of last year.

Monthly crude oil imports declined sharply in April before increasing in May and June. EIA says imports were still lower than the same period last year. During that time, global demand fell by more than ten percent. Last week refineries increased imports by 160,000 barrels per day, but the four-week average is 24% below the same period a year ago.

The governor of California on Wednesday announced a timeline under which the state would ban the sale of new passenger vehicles powered by gasoline. The plan won’t stop people from owning or selling used gas-powered cars. But in 2035 it would end the sale of all new gas guzzlers in the state that accounts for more than one out of every 10 new cars sold in the U.S.

The state oil company in Libya reopened three ports for oil exports last week, as a political truce took hold. Reuters reports Shell provisionally chartered an oil tanker to load crude from one of the open ports at the end of this week. The ports have been shut down since January as part of a wider blockade. Bloomberg reports Libyan output has tripled in the week since the deal was reached.

Two huge Oklahoma-based Permian Basin producers have announced their merger. WPX Energy of Tulsa will merge with Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will keep the name Devon Energy with its headquarters in Oklahoma City.

Just a week after revealing its plan to turn itself into a clean-energy giant, BP watched its share price drop to a 25-year low. Bloomberg reports top brass spent last week making presentations to show the world they could adapt to a low-carbon future without sacrificing returns. Investors were skeptical, and on Thursday BP stock closed at its lowest level since October 1995.

The Russian budget took a $164 billion hit last year because of a two-percent drop in crude prices. The Ministry of Natural Resources announced the value of Russia's crude reserves dropped by 17% in 2019. Russia's oil reserves make up more than 70% of that country's Gross Domestic Product. Analysts expect a much larger hit this year because of the pandemic price crash.

Based solely on the number of wells drilled, 2020 is shaping up to be the worst year since the 1930s, and perhaps earlier. World Oil offers a new drilling forecast suggesting we could drill fewer than 11,000 wells this year. That's half of last year's total and one fourth the total six years ago. The last time the total was below 12,000 wells was 1933.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592847975802.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN P. TRETBARKansas crude prices are once again above $30, but remain more than $16 a barrel below the prices posted last year at this time. CHS in McPherson on Friday raised prices by a quarter to $30.50 per barrel.&nbsp;AAA reports just 10 states had average gasoline prices below two dollars a gallon last week, and Kansas was one of them. The statewide average for a gallon of regular was just over $1.97 Thursday. We spotted $1.99 across Great Bend and $1.89 at several stations in Hays. The national average was a fraction over $2.19 a gallon, which is up a cent and a half from a week ago, down a penny from a month ago, and down 47 cents from a year ago.Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports five active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, which is up one, and five in the western half of the state, which is down one. Operators are about to spud one new well in Russell County. Baker Hughes reported 261 active drilling rigs across the U.S. on Friday, four oil rigs and two rigs drilling for natural gas. The rig count in Texas was up seven, while New Mexico was down two rigs.Regulators in Kansas approved 11 new drilling permits last week, six in eastern Kansas and five west of Wichita, including one location in Barton County. That's 315 permits statewide so far this year, compared to 741 by this point last year.Operators completed eleven new wells last week across Kansas. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports five of those were east of Wichita and six were in Western Kansas, including one in Ellis County. The year-to-date total is 655 completions. At this time last year, the state saw over one thousand newly completed wells.The government reported a big drawdown in U.S. crude oil supplies. The Energy Information Administration reported total inventories of just under 495 million barrels for the week ending September 18. That marks a decline of more than one and a half million barrels. EIA says inventories remain about 13% above the five-year average for this time of year.U.S. crude-oil production was just over 10.7 million barrels per day, down 154,000 barrels per day from the week before, and down more than two million barrels per day from a year ago.U.S. crude oil exports reached a record high in February and have since fallen each month, based on data through June. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says U.S. crude oil exports in the first half of the year are still higher than they were in the first half of last year.Monthly crude oil imports declined sharply in April before increasing in May and June. EIA says imports were still lower than the same period last year. During that time, global demand fell by more than ten percent. Last week refineries increased imports by 160,000 barrels per day, but the four-week average is 24% below the same period a year ago.The governor of California on Wednesday announced a timeline under which the state would ban the sale of new passenger vehicles powered by gasoline. The plan won’t stop people from owning or selling used gas-powered cars. But in 2035 it would end the sale of all new gas guzzlers in the state that accounts for more than one out of every 10 new cars sold in the U.S.The state oil company in Libya reopened three ports for oil exports last week, as a political truce took hold. Reuters reports Shell provisionally chartered an oil tanker to load crude from one of the open ports at the end of this week. The ports have been shut down since January as part of a wider blockade. Bloomberg reports Libyan output has tripled in the week since the deal was reached.Two huge Oklahoma-based Permian Basin producers have announced their merger. WPX Energy of Tulsa will merge with Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will keep the name Devon Energy with its headquarters in Oklahoma City.Just a week after revealing its plan to turn itself into a clean-energy giant, BP watched its share price drop to a 25-year low. Bloomberg reports top brass spent last week making presentations to show the world they could adapt to a low-carbon future without sacrificing returns. Investors were skeptical, and on Thursday BP stock closed at its lowest level since October 1995.The Russian budget took a $164 billion hit last year because of a two-percent drop in crude prices. The Ministry of Natural Resources announced the value of Russia's crude reserves dropped by 17% in 2019. Russia's oil reserves make up more than 70% of that country's Gross Domestic Product. Analysts expect a much larger hit this year because of the pandemic price crash.Based solely on the number of wells drilled, 2020 is shaping up to be the worst year since the 1930s, and perhaps earlier. World Oil offers a new drilling forecast suggesting we could drill fewer than 11,000 wells this year. That's half of last year's total and one fourth the total six years ago. The last time the total was below 12,000 wells was 1933.

News From the Oil Patch: Kan. crude above $30 mark

It always comes down to the lawyers, the insurance companies and the unexpected consequences, doesn’t it?

After six days of hearings, the Legislature’s Special Committee on the Kansas Emergency Management Act –which may recommend the 2021 session of the Legislature rewrite large sections of the act under which the governor has wide-ranging power to combat a pandemic such as the COVID-19 outbreak—it became clear that it’s going to be the lawyers and the insurance companies that will be in the middle of the discussion.

Oh, sure, there’s going to be talk about whether the governor can by Executive Order demand that Kansans wear masks when they are awake, or out in public, and whether she can in the future order businesses closed to avoid spread of disease. Lots of “do we really want the governor to be able to do that to our lives” stuff.

But besides the issue of public health and life and death of Kansans there’s another issue brewing – legal liability for the spread of the pandemic. That’s where the big trials, the big judgments and the big legal fees are going to mesmerize lawmakers.

If you are exposed to the pandemic in, say, the neighborhood paint store, come down with COVID-19, and are hospitalized or die, who is responsible? If the paint store has been determined to be an “essential” business, well, then it’s up to the store to make sure that its customers and employees are safe, and don’t expose you to the disease. If they aren’t safe…well…then it’s up to the lawyers to make the case that the business is liable for damages, if there are any, that can be traced believably to a jury that the paint store owner, or his/her insurer, can be liable for damages.

A key provision in the law passed this spring is that if the business was in substantial compliance with public health directives, there’s no liability. They did what they were told with the presumption that they had made their businesses safe. But it will get more complicated when counties don’t apply all the statewide directives – such as masks or crowding – that the governor’s executive orders demand? Then is it state government or local government rules that determine whether the store has met public health requirements? Or, if the county has opted out of some state health requirements, and the store meets local requirements, is there a legal problem that can be prosecuted?

And look for businesses to have their own issues from the close-down order that has now been largely lifted but caused thousands of layoffs and firings when businesses were declared “non-essential” for months earlier this year and are having trouble getting re-opened.

Is shutting down a business to deter spread of the pandemic essentially taking control of the business?&nbsp; Is that a “seizure” of the business? The taking of property? If government orders your business closed for a couple months, should you have to pay rent? Pay property taxes?&nbsp; If local rules let you have just half the customers at a club, and no sitting at the bar, has the state taken your property or made it useless? Can you make a claim on your business insurance for the damage to your wallet as you would if the restaurant caught fire?

These are the sorts of issues that lawmakers are going to deal with next session, inundated with testimony and information about the pandemic and the state’s efforts to quell it in a tight-budget year.

The pandemic actually is a pandemic, having an effect on all Kansans, whether you are sick or not.

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hawvernews.com/">www.hawvernews.com</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592848178110.png" alt="Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report." />
 <figcaption>Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report.</figcaption>
 </figure>It always comes down to the lawyers, the insurance companies and the unexpected consequences, doesn’t it?After six days of hearings, the Legislature’s Special Committee on the Kansas Emergency Management Act –which may recommend the 2021 session of the Legislature rewrite large sections of the act under which the governor has wide-ranging power to combat a pandemic such as the COVID-19 outbreak—it became clear that it’s going to be the lawyers and the insurance companies that will be in the middle of the discussion.Oh, sure, there’s going to be talk about whether the governor can by Executive Order demand that Kansans wear masks when they are awake, or out in public, and whether she can in the future order businesses closed to avoid spread of disease. Lots of “do we really want the governor to be able to do that to our lives” stuff.But besides the issue of public health and life and death of Kansans there’s another issue brewing – legal liability for the spread of the pandemic. That’s where the big trials, the big judgments and the big legal fees are going to mesmerize lawmakers.If you are exposed to the pandemic in, say, the neighborhood paint store, come down with COVID-19, and are hospitalized or die, who is responsible? If the paint store has been determined to be an “essential” business, well, then it’s up to the store to make sure that its customers and employees are safe, and don’t expose you to the disease. If they aren’t safe…well…then it’s up to the lawyers to make the case that the business is liable for damages, if there are any, that can be traced believably to a jury that the paint store owner, or his/her insurer, can be liable for damages.A key provision in the law passed this spring is that if the business was in substantial compliance with public health directives, there’s no liability. They did what they were told with the presumption that they had made their businesses safe. But it will get more complicated when counties don’t apply all the statewide directives – such as masks or crowding – that the governor’s executive orders demand? Then is it state government or local government rules that determine whether the store has met public health requirements? Or, if the county has opted out of some state health requirements, and the store meets local requirements, is there a legal problem that can be prosecuted?***And look for businesses to have their own issues from the close-down order that has now been largely lifted but caused thousands of layoffs and firings when businesses were declared “non-essential” for months earlier this year and are having trouble getting re-opened.Is shutting down a business to deter spread of the pandemic essentially taking control of the business?&nbsp; Is that a “seizure” of the business? The taking of property? If government orders your business closed for a couple months, should you have to pay rent? Pay property taxes?&nbsp; If local rules let you have just half the customers at a club, and no sitting at the bar, has the state taken your property or made it useless? Can you make a claim on your business insurance for the damage to your wallet as you would if the restaurant caught fire?***These are the sorts of issues that lawmakers are going to deal with next session, inundated with testimony and information about the pandemic and the state’s efforts to quell it in a tight-budget year.The pandemic actually is a pandemic, having an effect on all Kansans, whether you are sick or not.Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hawvernews.com/">www.hawvernews.com</a>

HAWVER: Lawyers, liability and Kelly's executive order

I moved to Kansas in the late 1980s during the fall of the year and one of the first things I noticed was the extraordinary number of hawks. They especially liked perching on power poles along the railroad; back then (and still today) it was quite common to drive the 12 miles from Hutchinson to Inman and count more than one hawk per mile. That began my love for birds of prey.

Soon we will again be seeing an extraordinary number of hawks of all varieties as they migrate south toward warmer climates. The extent of our Kansas winter will largely determine whether they stay here for a spell or move on south, and our milder-than-normal winters of late have been a huge draw to migrating hawks. The vast acreages of new wheat fields will be a huge draw too, as mice, voles and insects become vulnerable to the hawk’s keen eyes in the short new wheat. A few years ago, I happened by a nearby field of soybeans being cut. What caught my eye was the enormous number of hawks all around the field; I counted to thirty-some before losing count. I rolled into the field and talked with one of the combine drivers about the hawks. He said they had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere when they started cutting and had been there since. The soybean plants were extra tall and thick that year, and as they ripened and dropped their foliage, it left several inches of duff covering the ground between the rows; perfect cover for field mice and rats looking for warm concealment. As the combines lumbered through the field, they forced all those rodents from their cozy quarters and the hawks were feasting. This week I mowed a few acres around our raised deer blind and each pass sent field mice and voles so fat they practically waddled running in every direction. “Man could the hawks be feasting,” I thought. Another plus for hawks wintering in KS is the type of air currents and thermals that blow through the plain’s states. North winds coming down from Canada are utilized by all types of hawks, saving them precious energy by being able to soar. So, in summary, the mild winters, ample prey, open fields and the beneficial wind currents all make Kansas a popular place to see hawks of many varieties this time of year.&nbsp;

One common hawk we see here every winter are Northern Harriers, known by some as marsh hawks. They are large hawks marked with a white stripe across their broad, square tail and are often seen gliding effortlessly mere feet above CRP fields and pastures. We have the privilege of watching a couple each year as they cruise the grass waterway in front of our deer blind for meals. We also get an influx of Red Tail hawks from northern states as they come here for our milder winters. Swainson hawks on their way to Argentina stop in Kansas by the thousands. Rough-Legged Hawks migrate from Canada to the western US, including Kansas. Ferruginous Hawks may be seen here as they travel from Western Kansas to parts of the South Eastern US and to Florida. All these truly make for a kaleidoscope of raptors in our fall Kansas sky. Yet another reason to continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>I moved to Kansas in the late 1980s during the fall of the year and one of the first things I noticed was the extraordinary number of hawks. They especially liked perching on power poles along the railroad; back then (and still today) it was quite common to drive the 12 miles from Hutchinson to Inman and count more than one hawk per mile. That began my love for birds of prey.Soon we will again be seeing an extraordinary number of hawks of all varieties as they migrate south toward warmer climates. The extent of our Kansas winter will largely determine whether they stay here for a spell or move on south, and our milder-than-normal winters of late have been a huge draw to migrating hawks. The vast acreages of new wheat fields will be a huge draw too, as mice, voles and insects become vulnerable to the hawk’s keen eyes in the short new wheat. A few years ago, I happened by a nearby field of soybeans being cut. What caught my eye was the enormous number of hawks all around the field; I counted to thirty-some before losing count. I rolled into the field and talked with one of the combine drivers about the hawks. He said they had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere when they started cutting and had been there since. The soybean plants were extra tall and thick that year, and as they ripened and dropped their foliage, it left several inches of duff covering the ground between the rows; perfect cover for field mice and rats looking for warm concealment. As the combines lumbered through the field, they forced all those rodents from their cozy quarters and the hawks were feasting. This week I mowed a few acres around our raised deer blind and each pass sent field mice and voles so fat they practically waddled running in every direction. “Man could the hawks be feasting,” I thought. Another plus for hawks wintering in KS is the type of air currents and thermals that blow through the plain’s states. North winds coming down from Canada are utilized by all types of hawks, saving them precious energy by being able to soar. So, in summary, the mild winters, ample prey, open fields and the beneficial wind currents all make Kansas a popular place to see hawks of many varieties this time of year.&nbsp;One common hawk we see here every winter are Northern Harriers, known by some as marsh hawks. They are large hawks marked with a white stripe across their broad, square tail and are often seen gliding effortlessly mere feet above CRP fields and pastures. We have the privilege of watching a couple each year as they cruise the grass waterway in front of our deer blind for meals. We also get an influx of Red Tail hawks from northern states as they come here for our milder winters. Swainson hawks on their way to Argentina stop in Kansas by the thousands. Rough-Legged Hawks migrate from Canada to the western US, including Kansas. Ferruginous Hawks may be seen here as they travel from Western Kansas to parts of the South Eastern US and to Florida. All these truly make for a kaleidoscope of raptors in our fall Kansas sky. Yet another reason to continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: The coming kaleidoscope of raptors

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

It all happened in a week. In early 2020, wheat flour sales were continuing a long term slump. Then COVID-19 hit.&nbsp;&nbsp;Suddenly, stay-at-home orders began to be issued across the nation. People started hoarding toilet paper, and there was a run on flour in the stores.&nbsp;

One Kansas flour miller adjusted rapidly, doubling its flour production capacity. This achievement was so remarkable that this company was recognized as an Ag Hero by the Kansas Department of Agriculture during the 2020 Ag Growth Summit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bob Morando is the CEO of this remarkable company known as Farmer Direct Foods.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bob grew up in Abilene and studied milling science at K-State. His career took him all over the country, working for businesses such as General Mills, Kraft, and Con-Agra.&nbsp;

In 2016, he came back to Abilene to care for his elderly mother. A college roommate encouraged him to apply for the CEO position that was open at Farmer Direct Foods, and Bob got the job.&nbsp;

Farmer Direct Foods had begun back in 1988 as a cooperative of white wheat growers, organized to help producers earn a premium for better quality wheat. In 2003, they built a flour mill in New Cambria, near Salina.&nbsp;

“White wheat is a milder, sweeter flavored wheat,” Bob said. “All our wheat is stone-ground here at the mill.”&nbsp;

Identity assurance is a key concept at Farmer Direct Foods. “We work with some 50 growers across the state,” Bob said. “Some are fourth or fifth generation farmers. We work with them so that we can know what farm the wheat came off of. People want to know where their food came from.”&nbsp;

Farmer Direct Foods sells to large bakers such as the King Arthur company as well as Tortilla King in Moundridge, Kansas; home bakers, local bake shops like Radinas Coffeehouse in Manhattan, and the Friendship House in Wamego, and even pizzerias in Chicago. However, flour sales nationally were in a five-year slump as of early 2020.&nbsp;

Then everything changed. As the pandemic spread and stay-at-home orders were issued, Bob suddenly started getting calls. “We’re running out of flour,” he was told. The supply chain got a jolt from the sudden surge in home baking. “It felt like things changed overnight,” Bob said.&nbsp;

Farmer Direct Foods moved quickly to respond to the market. “Fortunately, we had just placed a big order for flour bags, so we had supplies to meet the demand,” Bob said.&nbsp;

K-State cancelled in-person classes due to the pandemic, so Bob called his old friends in the milling science department. “If all the kids are freed up, could a couple of them come work for me?” he asked. Bob also located a couple of recently-retired flour millers who were willing to come back onto a payroll.&nbsp;

“Five days later, we had doubled our production capacity,” Bob said.&nbsp;

The mill was now running two shifts, six days a week. Since then, the company has been going full speed to respond to the demand. “We have not let off the gas pedal since March,” Bob said.&nbsp;

“We went from 18 trucks a month to 45 trucks a month. Normally we make 12 million pounds of flour a year. This year, we’re on pace to make 20 million.”&nbsp;

The working relationship with K-State milling science students went so well that Bob has decided to make the internships with the department an ongoing program.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We have set up two internships there now,” he said.&nbsp;

White wheat is still the staple product that goes into every bag of flour at Farmer Direct Foods. “People tell me, `Your flour is the best product,’” Bob said.&nbsp;

That’s good to hear for a business located in the rural community of New Cambria, population 126 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

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

It happened in a week. The surge in flour demand due to the pandemic caused Bob Morando and Farmer Direct Foods to make a difference with rapid changes in response to the marketplace. That was a strong week.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600866568978.png" alt="Bob Morando" />
 <figcaption>Bob Morando</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural DevelopmentIt all happened in a week. In early 2020, wheat flour sales were continuing a long term slump. Then COVID-19 hit.&nbsp;&nbsp;Suddenly, stay-at-home orders began to be issued across the nation. People started hoarding toilet paper, and there was a run on flour in the stores.&nbsp;How did the industry respond?&nbsp;One Kansas flour miller adjusted rapidly, doubling its flour production capacity. This achievement was so remarkable that this company was recognized as an Ag Hero by the Kansas Department of Agriculture during the 2020 Ag Growth Summit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bob Morando is the CEO of this remarkable company known as Farmer Direct Foods.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bob grew up in Abilene and studied milling science at K-State. His career took him all over the country, working for businesses such as General Mills, Kraft, and Con-Agra.&nbsp;In 2016, he came back to Abilene to care for his elderly mother. A college roommate encouraged him to apply for the CEO position that was open at Farmer Direct Foods, and Bob got the job.&nbsp;Farmer Direct Foods had begun back in 1988 as a cooperative of white wheat growers, organized to help producers earn a premium for better quality wheat. In 2003, they built a flour mill in New Cambria, near Salina.&nbsp;“White wheat is a milder, sweeter flavored wheat,” Bob said. “All our wheat is stone-ground here at the mill.”&nbsp;Identity assurance is a key concept at Farmer Direct Foods. “We work with some 50 growers across the state,” Bob said. “Some are fourth or fifth generation farmers. We work with them so that we can know what farm the wheat came off of. People want to know where their food came from.”&nbsp;Farmer Direct Foods sells to large bakers such as the King Arthur company as well as Tortilla King in Moundridge, Kansas; home bakers, local bake shops like Radinas Coffeehouse in Manhattan, and the Friendship House in Wamego, and even pizzerias in Chicago. However, flour sales nationally were in a five-year slump as of early 2020.&nbsp;Then everything changed. As the pandemic spread and stay-at-home orders were issued, Bob suddenly started getting calls. “We’re running out of flour,” he was told. The supply chain got a jolt from the sudden surge in home baking. “It felt like things changed overnight,” Bob said.&nbsp;Farmer Direct Foods moved quickly to respond to the market. “Fortunately, we had just placed a big order for flour bags, so we had supplies to meet the demand,” Bob said.&nbsp;K-State cancelled in-person classes due to the pandemic, so Bob called his old friends in the milling science department. “If all the kids are freed up, could a couple of them come work for me?” he asked. Bob also located a couple of recently-retired flour millers who were willing to come back onto a payroll.&nbsp;“Five days later, we had doubled our production capacity,” Bob said.&nbsp;The mill was now running two shifts, six days a week. Since then, the company has been going full speed to respond to the demand. “We have not let off the gas pedal since March,” Bob said.&nbsp;“We went from 18 trucks a month to 45 trucks a month. Normally we make 12 million pounds of flour a year. This year, we’re on pace to make 20 million.”&nbsp;The working relationship with K-State milling science students went so well that Bob has decided to make the internships with the department an ongoing program.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We have set up two internships there now,” he said.&nbsp;White wheat is still the staple product that goes into every bag of flour at Farmer Direct Foods. “People tell me, `Your flour is the best product,’” Bob said.&nbsp;That’s good to hear for a business located in the rural community of New Cambria, population 126 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;For more information, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.farmerdirectfoods.com/">www.farmerdirectfoods.com</a>.&nbsp;It happened in a week. The surge in flour demand due to the pandemic caused Bob Morando and Farmer Direct Foods to make a difference with rapid changes in response to the marketplace. That was a strong week.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural:  Bob Morando, Farmer Direct Foods

The 21st KSU Beef Stocker Field Day will be hosted virtually on Thursday, Oct. 1. The day will start at 9:30 a.m. with a welcome and conclude by noon. The tentative schedule is as follows:

&nbsp;9:30 am Welcome and Overview of the KSU Beef Stocker Unit – Mike Day, ASI Department Head, and Dale Blasi, KSU Extension Beef Specialist

&nbsp;Moderator – Wes Ishmael, Cattle Current

&nbsp;9:45 am Beef Cattle Market Outlook - Glynn Tonsor, KSU Agricultural Economist

10:15 am Making Alternative Ration Ingredient Changes Work – Justin Waggoner, KSU Extension Beef Specialist

&nbsp;10:45 am Nutrition and Management - Limit Feeding – Dale Blasi, KSU Extension Beef Specialist

&nbsp;11:15 am Economic Aspects - Limit Feeding – Glynn Tonsor, KSU Agricultural Economist

&nbsp;11:45 am Closing Remarks and Questions

Click <a href="https://ASI.KSU.EDU/StockerFieldDay">HERE</a> to learn more about the schedule and program. To register, click <a href="http://bit.ly/2020StockerFieldDay">HERE</a>. For more information, contact Dale Blasi at dblasi@ksu.edu or 785-532-5427.

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592579538317.png" alt="Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District." />
 <figcaption>Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District.</figcaption>
 </figure>The 21st KSU Beef Stocker Field Day will be hosted virtually on Thursday, Oct. 1. The day will start at 9:30 a.m. with a welcome and conclude by noon. The tentative schedule is as follows:&nbsp;9:30 am Welcome and Overview of the KSU Beef Stocker Unit – Mike Day, ASI Department Head, and Dale Blasi, KSU Extension Beef Specialist&nbsp;Moderator – Wes Ishmael, Cattle Current&nbsp;9:45 am Beef Cattle Market Outlook - Glynn Tonsor, KSU Agricultural Economist10:15 am Making Alternative Ration Ingredient Changes Work – Justin Waggoner, KSU Extension Beef Specialist&nbsp;10:45 am Nutrition and Management - Limit Feeding – Dale Blasi, KSU Extension Beef Specialist&nbsp;11:15 am Economic Aspects - Limit Feeding – Glynn Tonsor, KSU Agricultural Economist&nbsp;11:45 am Closing Remarks and QuestionsClick <a href="https://ASI.KSU.EDU/StockerFieldDay">HERE</a> to learn more about the schedule and program. To register, click <a href="http://bit.ly/2020StockerFieldDay">HERE</a>. For more information, contact Dale Blasi at dblasi@ksu.edu or 785-532-5427.Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910.

BOOR: 21st KSU Beef Stocker Field Day

Forty-six years ago, at the 1974 Kansas state fair U.S. Senate debate, Bob Dole altered the path of politics for both state and nation.

Down in the polls to Democratic Representative Bill Roy, Dole had struggled through the debate, nominally focused on agriculture.&nbsp; He faced the real possibility of losing his seat.

Flailing, Dole concluded by attacking Roy, a gynecologist, with this question: “I want to know how many abortions you’ve done, and where you stand on abortion?” Bill Roy subsequently recounted, “Ninety percent of that arena booed, whistled… [and] thought it was a terribly mean, ugly and wrong thing… But he’s playing to a very small audience…who would vote on the abortion issue only.”

In the wake of the historic 1973&nbsp;Roe v. Wade&nbsp;Supreme Court decision, Bob Dole became, in a desperate moment, the first national politician to open the Pandora’s box of abortion politics.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The consensus explanation of Dole’s 1974 victory emphasizes (1) his campaign shake-up in September that led to a set of effective, hard-hitting television advertisements and (2) the senator’s strong performance in several heavily Catholic, traditionally Democratic communities.

Dole prevailed by 13,000 votes, by far the slimmest margin of his career and the closest Senate race since the 1930s.&nbsp;&nbsp; He never seriously revisited abortion as a core policy concern.&nbsp; Rather, as a fierce competitor, Dole reached out for an issue to use for his immediate advantage. He was ultimately rewarded with 22 more years in the Senate, 15 years in top leadership roles, and a run at the presidency in 1996.

Abortion issues became central to American politics in the 1980s and 1990s, but Dole largely ignored the issue; it had served its purpose.&nbsp;

Fast forward to Kansas, 2020, with abortion surfacing as a highly visible issue in the Senate race between two physicians, one an obstetrician/gynecologist.&nbsp; That candidate, First District Representative Roger Marshall, has adopted a radical anti-abortion position that permits no exceptions.&nbsp;

His opponent, state senator Dr. Barbara Bollier, an anesthesiologist, has compiled a steady pro-choice record over her medical and political career.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Unlike 1974, when abortion represented a new, uncertain subject, it has become a well-developed issue, to the point of calcification.&nbsp; Overall, most Kansans (and Americans) want abortion to remain legal, albeit with various restrictions.&nbsp; There are virtually no undecideds, and nationally just nine percent favor a “no exceptions” policy.

Remarkably, Marshall has painted Bollier on this and other issues as an “extremist,” wrongly accusing her, for example, of endorsing late-term abortions and supporting the Green New Deal.

In truth, Roger Marshall is the extremist. His hardline, no-exceptions anti-abortion policy locates him far outside the mainstream.&nbsp; Likewise, his opposition to Medicaid expansion, his cavalier attitude toward wearing masks, and his total support for Donald Trump’s anti-scientific pandemic pronouncements place him well beyond the s views of most Kansans.&nbsp;

Marshall even followed Trump’s lead in taking&nbsp;hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus, a risky, unscientific, and highly problematic act that Bollier immediately opposed.

In 1974, Bob Dole desperately grabbed the abortion issue; it was the cynical, but understandable, act of a career politician who saw his career in danger.&nbsp;

Conversely, as an ideologue, Roger Marshall has adopted far-right positions on abortion, health care, and other issues.&nbsp; In short, these politically questionable positions make him the radical in the 2020 U.S. Senate race.

Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574348610067.jpeg" alt="Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>Forty-six years ago, at the 1974 Kansas state fair U.S. Senate debate, Bob Dole altered the path of politics for both state and nation.Down in the polls to Democratic Representative Bill Roy, Dole had struggled through the debate, nominally focused on agriculture.&nbsp; He faced the real possibility of losing his seat.Flailing, Dole concluded by attacking Roy, a gynecologist, with this question: “I want to know how many abortions you’ve done, and where you stand on abortion?” Bill Roy subsequently recounted, “Ninety percent of that arena booed, whistled… [and] thought it was a terribly mean, ugly and wrong thing… But he’s playing to a very small audience…who would vote on the abortion issue only.”In the wake of the historic 1973&nbsp;Roe v. Wade&nbsp;Supreme Court decision, Bob Dole became, in a desperate moment, the first national politician to open the Pandora’s box of abortion politics.&nbsp;&nbsp;The consensus explanation of Dole’s 1974 victory emphasizes (1) his campaign shake-up in September that led to a set of effective, hard-hitting television advertisements and (2) the senator’s strong performance in several heavily Catholic, traditionally Democratic communities.Dole prevailed by 13,000 votes, by far the slimmest margin of his career and the closest Senate race since the 1930s.&nbsp;&nbsp; He never seriously revisited abortion as a core policy concern.&nbsp; Rather, as a fierce competitor, Dole reached out for an issue to use for his immediate advantage. He was ultimately rewarded with 22 more years in the Senate, 15 years in top leadership roles, and a run at the presidency in 1996.Abortion issues became central to American politics in the 1980s and 1990s, but Dole largely ignored the issue; it had served its purpose.&nbsp;Fast forward to Kansas, 2020, with abortion surfacing as a highly visible issue in the Senate race between two physicians, one an obstetrician/gynecologist.&nbsp; That candidate, First District Representative Roger Marshall, has adopted a radical anti-abortion position that permits no exceptions.&nbsp;His opponent, state senator Dr. Barbara Bollier, an anesthesiologist, has compiled a steady pro-choice record over her medical and political career.&nbsp;&nbsp;Unlike 1974, when abortion represented a new, uncertain subject, it has become a well-developed issue, to the point of calcification.&nbsp; Overall, most Kansans (and Americans) want abortion to remain legal, albeit with various restrictions.&nbsp; There are virtually no undecideds, and nationally just nine percent favor a “no exceptions” policy.Remarkably, Marshall has painted Bollier on this and other issues as an “extremist,” wrongly accusing her, for example, of endorsing late-term abortions and supporting the Green New Deal.In truth, Roger Marshall is the extremist. His hardline, no-exceptions anti-abortion policy locates him far outside the mainstream.&nbsp; Likewise, his opposition to Medicaid expansion, his cavalier attitude toward wearing masks, and his total support for Donald Trump’s anti-scientific pandemic pronouncements place him well beyond the s views of most Kansans.&nbsp;Marshall even followed Trump’s lead in taking&nbsp;hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus, a risky, unscientific, and highly problematic act that Bollier immediately opposed.In 1974, Bob Dole desperately grabbed the abortion issue; it was the cynical, but understandable, act of a career politician who saw his career in danger.&nbsp;Conversely, as an ideologue, Roger Marshall has adopted far-right positions on abortion, health care, and other issues.&nbsp; In short, these politically questionable positions make him the radical in the 2020 U.S. Senate race.Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

INSIGHT KANSAS: Abortion and Senate campaigns — then and now

Like many universities across the nation, the Fort Hays State University on-campus academic experience changed considerably this year. This fall, our students were offered three types of classes: on-campus, face-to-face courses, offered in a condensed, eight-week format (the first half of the semester); hybrid courses – classes offered through both face-to-face and online; and online courses offered completely online.

Every semester, I talk to students about their classes. Many share stories about how much they are thriving in an environment rich with challenges. Others tell me they have figured it all out. And some tell me about their struggles. The college journey is about all of those experiences. The key to success is, I believe, how our faculty embrace those very different realities and create supportive learning cultures that both challenge and support students. In the midst of this atypical year, I find our faculty working even harder to do just that – creatively challenging and supporting our students.&nbsp;

Dr. Betsy Crawford, assistant professor of teacher education, has daily “morning meetings” with students at the beginning of each class to find out how the students are doing. In the first two class periods, they researched and discussed the use of morning meetings in K-12 settings. “Each of my hybrid classes chose how we would use the best practices of morning meetings in our class. Not only does this allow my students to practice a sound classroom management system now, but it also allows me to gather information about them and how they are doing. I find out if they are worried about COVID-19, don’t understand an assignment, or want to tell me something exciting that is happening in their life. Also, the students get to hear from each other. They are thus building relationships between students.”

Another strategy Dr. Crawford utilizes is the old-fashioned art of note writing (I, too, am a fan of notes!) Betsy shared, “I love to send (and get) handwritten cards. This semester, I have set a goal to hand write a postcard to every one of my students, advisees, and the students in the Learning Communities. As someone who teaches future teachers, this is an excellent opportunity for me to reach out to the students and also a model for them how they can reach out to their future students.”

Managing the physical space is also a great technique. For example, Dr. Cheryl Hofstetter Duffy, professor of English, takes advantage of her smaller classes, by moving chairs into a circle – maintaining a 6-foot distance – so that the class discussion can be more conversational, more person-to-person. Dr. Duffy says, “This also makes it easy for students in this configuration to ‘pair off’ for discussion simply by turning toward the person sitting next to them (well, ‘next to them’ at a 6-foot distance).”&nbsp;

In her larger class, when students are on their laptops participating in a peer-response group with two other classmates, Dr. Duffy has students move their chairs so that each group of three forms a triangle – again, maintaining a 6-foot distance.

“So while they are not sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and exchanging printouts of their essays as we used to do, they can still see one another and ask direct questions as they read and responded to essay drafts in the online discussion board. Some groups of three involve one or more classmates who join class via Zoom (because of quarantine and other reasons). In this way, they can see one another and still visit/discuss through the “chat” feature in Zoom.”

Fun is also a great connector. Dr. Duffy said, “During one Zoom class session for my Advanced Composition class, I was Zooming from my campus office. Since students don’t have a chance now to visit my office in person, I gave them a “squirrel tour” of my office’s many squirrel features – everything from a squirrel pillow to a reading squirrel figurine to a singing squirrel.”

Several professors, as well as other leaders, talk about the importance of vulnerability. For example, Dr. Crawford shared, “I am transparent with my students on the struggles I am having with adjusting to teaching students face-to-face and on Zoom at the same time. We are all learning the best way to make it work, and the students feel comfortable providing feedback so I can improve my processes. They have great ideas that I can use to improve my teaching.”&nbsp;

Faculty are also using technology to facilitate one-on-one connections. “Students have always had access to an app that syncs with my calendar.&nbsp; They can schedule a meeting with me at a time that is convenient for them. This practice saves countless emails back and forth to establish a mutual time to talk,” Dr. Crawford said.&nbsp;

Last weekend, I met with a group of students. They talked about how impressed and grateful they were for the many ways in which faculty were connecting and working with them. Our students embrace technology and therefore really appreciate our faculty who are using calendar apps and a variety of other technologies to help connect with students and track assignments and due dates. The students describe, with great appreciation, how their professors have “bent over backwards” to ensure students in isolation and quarantine were not being left behind. They described FHSU professors as flexible and caring and shared how truly impressed they were with how faculty are embracing creativity to amplify teaching and learning at Fort Hays State University.&nbsp;

I join these students in expressing my deep gratitude and admiration for the Fort Hays State faculty who continue to embrace excellence in teaching – no matter what challenge is placed in our path.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575302014229.png" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>Like many universities across the nation, the Fort Hays State University on-campus academic experience changed considerably this year. This fall, our students were offered three types of classes: on-campus, face-to-face courses, offered in a condensed, eight-week format (the first half of the semester); hybrid courses – classes offered through both face-to-face and online; and online courses offered completely online.Every semester, I talk to students about their classes. Many share stories about how much they are thriving in an environment rich with challenges. Others tell me they have figured it all out. And some tell me about their struggles. The college journey is about all of those experiences. The key to success is, I believe, how our faculty embrace those very different realities and create supportive learning cultures that both challenge and support students. In the midst of this atypical year, I find our faculty working even harder to do just that – creatively challenging and supporting our students.&nbsp;Dr. Betsy Crawford, assistant professor of teacher education, has daily “morning meetings” with students at the beginning of each class to find out how the students are doing. In the first two class periods, they researched and discussed the use of morning meetings in K-12 settings. “Each of my hybrid classes chose how we would use the best practices of morning meetings in our class. Not only does this allow my students to practice a sound classroom management system now, but it also allows me to gather information about them and how they are doing. I find out if they are worried about COVID-19, don’t understand an assignment, or want to tell me something exciting that is happening in their life. Also, the students get to hear from each other. They are thus building relationships between students.”Another strategy Dr. Crawford utilizes is the old-fashioned art of note writing (I, too, am a fan of notes!) Betsy shared, “I love to send (and get) handwritten cards. This semester, I have set a goal to hand write a postcard to every one of my students, advisees, and the students in the Learning Communities. As someone who teaches future teachers, this is an excellent opportunity for me to reach out to the students and also a model for them how they can reach out to their future students.”Managing the physical space is also a great technique. For example, Dr. Cheryl Hofstetter Duffy, professor of English, takes advantage of her smaller classes, by moving chairs into a circle – maintaining a 6-foot distance – so that the class discussion can be more conversational, more person-to-person. Dr. Duffy says, “This also makes it easy for students in this configuration to ‘pair off’ for discussion simply by turning toward the person sitting next to them (well, ‘next to them’ at a 6-foot distance).”&nbsp;In her larger class, when students are on their laptops participating in a peer-response group with two other classmates, Dr. Duffy has students move their chairs so that each group of three forms a triangle – again, maintaining a 6-foot distance.“So while they are not sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and exchanging printouts of their essays as we used to do, they can still see one another and ask direct questions as they read and responded to essay drafts in the online discussion board. Some groups of three involve one or more classmates who join class via Zoom (because of quarantine and other reasons). In this way, they can see one another and still visit/discuss through the “chat” feature in Zoom.”Fun is also a great connector. Dr. Duffy said, “During one Zoom class session for my Advanced Composition class, I was Zooming from my campus office. Since students don’t have a chance now to visit my office in person, I gave them a “squirrel tour” of my office’s many squirrel features – everything from a squirrel pillow to a reading squirrel figurine to a singing squirrel.”Several professors, as well as other leaders, talk about the importance of vulnerability. For example, Dr. Crawford shared, “I am transparent with my students on the struggles I am having with adjusting to teaching students face-to-face and on Zoom at the same time. We are all learning the best way to make it work, and the students feel comfortable providing feedback so I can improve my processes. They have great ideas that I can use to improve my teaching.”&nbsp;Faculty are also using technology to facilitate one-on-one connections. “Students have always had access to an app that syncs with my calendar.&nbsp; They can schedule a meeting with me at a time that is convenient for them. This practice saves countless emails back and forth to establish a mutual time to talk,” Dr. Crawford said.&nbsp;Last weekend, I met with a group of students. They talked about how impressed and grateful they were for the many ways in which faculty were connecting and working with them. Our students embrace technology and therefore really appreciate our faculty who are using calendar apps and a variety of other technologies to help connect with students and track assignments and due dates. The students describe, with great appreciation, how their professors have “bent over backwards” to ensure students in isolation and quarantine were not being left behind. They described FHSU professors as flexible and caring and shared how truly impressed they were with how faculty are embracing creativity to amplify teaching and learning at Fort Hays State University.&nbsp;I join these students in expressing my deep gratitude and admiration for the Fort Hays State faculty who continue to embrace excellence in teaching – no matter what challenge is placed in our path.

MASON: The importance of staying connected

Tuesday was <a href="https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Day</a> — an election-year effort since 2012 to encourage all of us to vote.

Ironically, the idea of voter registration started with the opposite 
idea in mind: Creation of a system to deny voting to certain people, 
such as recent immigrants, Blacks and even those just deemed low-income.

The registration system — actually “systems,” since each state 
controls how its voters register — also has been used to spur 
participation: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 voided a number of Southern
 states’ Jim Crow discriminatory practices, such as requiring 
prospective Black voters to state exactly, “How many bubbles are there 
in a bar of soap?” or to name obscure federal office holders.

Mail-in and “motor-voter” provisions made it easier to register, or 
extensions of the time period to qualify overwhelmed occasional attempts
 to exclude groups of poorer working people who often were not at home 
when registrars visited.

In 1993, President Clinton signed the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/about-national-voter-registration-act" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Act</a>,
 which mandated that states allow citizens to register to vote by mail, 
at motor vehicle/licensing branches or local public offices. More than 9
 million new voters registered once the act took effect in 1995, 
according to Alexander Keyssar’s in “The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States,” published in 2000.

If you need information on where to register for the upcoming elections on Nov. 3, <a href="http://www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org" target="_blank">www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org</a>
 provides a list of events and resources nationwide and online that can 
help. The organization says nearly 3 million Americans in the last eight
 years have used the day to register and it expects to exceed the record
 participation of 2018, when more than 800,000 signed up on National 
Voter Registration Day.

Voting and being able to register to vote seem obvious extensions of 
First Amendment rights. Of what ultimate good are the rights to freely 
think, speak and write, gather and seek change in our government if we 
are unable to participate in the actual decision about the people who 
carry out its policies?

Still, as my colleague Lata Nott <a href="https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/2020/02/27/the-first-amendment-protects-activities-adjacent-to-voting-but-stops-short-of-voting-itself/" target="_blank">observed in a First Five column</a>
 in February, “The First Amendment protects so many activities that are 
adjacent to voting — spending money to influence voters, expressing 
political views near polling stations, signing petitions to put 
initiatives on a ballot — but stops short of voting itself.”

At the time the column was written, courts were deep into battles 
over gerrymandered districts aimed at splitting certain voter groups 
into differing districts to dilute those groups’ influence. It also was 
clear that voter registration would be another contentious issue during a
 primary season extended, due to COVID-19 delays and measures, well into
 summer. Now, mail-in voting is the subject of presidential attacks, as 
largely Republican state leaders defend limits on certain registration 
efforts seen as more favorable to likely Democratic voters.

To the disappointment of some, the U.S. Supreme Court has not risen 
as the champion of registration and voter rights, either directly under 
the First Amendment or through the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of due process for all. (The 15th Amendment does make it clear that racial discrimination in registration and voting is illegal.)

The high court generally uses a doctrine called “strict scrutiny” in 
deciding most election-related amendment cases such as restrictions on 
campaign finance and even the wearing of election-related T-shirts in 
polling places. But it has used a lesser standard in direct registration
 and voting cases, allowing authorities to offer so-called “compelling 
public interest” arguments — sometimes accepting unsupported claims of 
potential registration and/or voter fraud — in deferring to those 
officials on restrictive state laws.

Writing on the Pacific Standard blog, author Noah Berlatsky notes “in 2013, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/qa-voting-rights-five-years-after-supreme-courts-shelby-county-decision" target="_blank">invalidated key sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965</a>,
 making it possible for Southern states to pass restrictive voter ID 
laws and erect other barriers … In 2016, Wisconsin’s strict voter ID law
 prevented many poor and marginalized people from voting … (and) just 
before 2018 mid-terms, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/supreme-court-voting-rights-735696/" target="_blank">upheld a law in North Dakota</a>
 that required voters to provide a residential street address — 
effectively disenfranchising many Native American voters on 
reservations, who often don’t have street addresses.”

Still, efforts like National Voter Registration Day are buttressed by
 dozens of national state and local “get-out-the-vote” campaigns, 
ranging from ongoing work by the League of Women Voters and the NAACP to
 more partisan efforts by both major parties to independent groups such 
as Rock the Vote and ServiceVote Challenge. Most are available online.

The inherent values of voting and being registered to vote have been hailed since the nation’s early days. Alexis de Tocqueville’s “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm" target="_blank">Democracy in America</a>,” first
 published in 1835, had great hopes for American democracy to succeed, 
based on a principle of constitutionally protected independent thinking 
and actions and what he called “the reconciliation of personal interests
 and the public good.”

Starting with our First Amendment freedoms, the nation’s founders 
devised a system on the free exchange of views to create an informed 
body of citizens, who then could exercise self-governance through the 
process of elections.

Registering to vote is the first step in that reconciliation of 
measuring our individual views and needs against the overall needs of 
our society. Voting on Nov. 3 is the next step — the ultimate expression
 of our First Amendment right “of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

So don’t let Tocqueville — or your fellow citizens and democracy — down. Register. Vote.

Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the
 Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom
 Forum Institute. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:gpolicinski@freedomforum.org" target="_blank">gpolicinski@freedomforum.org</a>, or follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/@genefac" target="_blank">@genefac</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593729871227.png" alt="Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. " />
 <figcaption>Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. </figcaption>
 </figure>Tuesday was <a href="https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Day</a> — an election-year effort since 2012 to encourage all of us to vote.Ironically, the idea of voter registration started with the opposite 
idea in mind: Creation of a system to deny voting to certain people, 
such as recent immigrants, Blacks and even those just deemed low-income.The registration system — actually “systems,” since each state 
controls how its voters register — also has been used to spur 
participation: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 voided a number of Southern
 states’ Jim Crow discriminatory practices, such as requiring 
prospective Black voters to state exactly, “How many bubbles are there 
in a bar of soap?” or to name obscure federal office holders.Mail-in and “motor-voter” provisions made it easier to register, or 
extensions of the time period to qualify overwhelmed occasional attempts
 to exclude groups of poorer working people who often were not at home 
when registrars visited.In 1993, President Clinton signed the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/about-national-voter-registration-act" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Act</a>,
 which mandated that states allow citizens to register to vote by mail, 
at motor vehicle/licensing branches or local public offices. More than 9
 million new voters registered once the act took effect in 1995, 
according to Alexander Keyssar’s in “The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States,” published in 2000.If you need information on where to register for the upcoming elections on Nov. 3, <a href="http://www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org" target="_blank">www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org</a>
 provides a list of events and resources nationwide and online that can 
help. The organization says nearly 3 million Americans in the last eight
 years have used the day to register and it expects to exceed the record
 participation of 2018, when more than 800,000 signed up on National 
Voter Registration Day.Voting and being able to register to vote seem obvious extensions of 
First Amendment rights. Of what ultimate good are the rights to freely 
think, speak and write, gather and seek change in our government if we 
are unable to participate in the actual decision about the people who 
carry out its policies?Still, as my colleague Lata Nott <a href="https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/2020/02/27/the-first-amendment-protects-activities-adjacent-to-voting-but-stops-short-of-voting-itself/" target="_blank">observed in a First Five column</a>
 in February, “The First Amendment protects so many activities that are 
adjacent to voting — spending money to influence voters, expressing 
political views near polling stations, signing petitions to put 
initiatives on a ballot — but stops short of voting itself.”At the time the column was written, courts were deep into battles 
over gerrymandered districts aimed at splitting certain voter groups 
into differing districts to dilute those groups’ influence. It also was 
clear that voter registration would be another contentious issue during a
 primary season extended, due to COVID-19 delays and measures, well into
 summer. Now, mail-in voting is the subject of presidential attacks, as 
largely Republican state leaders defend limits on certain registration 
efforts seen as more favorable to likely Democratic voters.To the disappointment of some, the U.S. Supreme Court has not risen 
as the champion of registration and voter rights, either directly under 
the First Amendment or through the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of due process for all. (The 15th Amendment does make it clear that racial discrimination in registration and voting is illegal.)The high court generally uses a doctrine called “strict scrutiny” in 
deciding most election-related amendment cases such as restrictions on 
campaign finance and even the wearing of election-related T-shirts in 
polling places. But it has used a lesser standard in direct registration
 and voting cases, allowing authorities to offer so-called “compelling 
public interest” arguments — sometimes accepting unsupported claims of 
potential registration and/or voter fraud — in deferring to those 
officials on restrictive state laws.Writing on the Pacific Standard blog, author Noah Berlatsky notes “in 2013, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/qa-voting-rights-five-years-after-supreme-courts-shelby-county-decision" target="_blank">invalidated key sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965</a>,
 making it possible for Southern states to pass restrictive voter ID 
laws and erect other barriers … In 2016, Wisconsin’s strict voter ID law
 prevented many poor and marginalized people from voting … (and) just 
before 2018 mid-terms, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/supreme-court-voting-rights-735696/" target="_blank">upheld a law in North Dakota</a>
 that required voters to provide a residential street address — 
effectively disenfranchising many Native American voters on 
reservations, who often don’t have street addresses.”Still, efforts like National Voter Registration Day are buttressed by
 dozens of national state and local “get-out-the-vote” campaigns, 
ranging from ongoing work by the League of Women Voters and the NAACP to
 more partisan efforts by both major parties to independent groups such 
as Rock the Vote and ServiceVote Challenge. Most are available online.The inherent values of voting and being registered to vote have been hailed since the nation’s early days. Alexis de Tocqueville’s “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm" target="_blank">Democracy in America</a>,” first
 published in 1835, had great hopes for American democracy to succeed, 
based on a principle of constitutionally protected independent thinking 
and actions and what he called “the reconciliation of personal interests
 and the public good.”Starting with our First Amendment freedoms, the nation’s founders 
devised a system on the free exchange of views to create an informed 
body of citizens, who then could exercise self-governance through the 
process of elections.Registering to vote is the first step in that reconciliation of 
measuring our individual views and needs against the overall needs of 
our society. Voting on Nov. 3 is the next step — the ultimate expression
 of our First Amendment right “of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”So don’t let Tocqueville — or your fellow citizens and democracy — down. Register. Vote.Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the
 Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom
 Forum Institute. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:gpolicinski@freedomforum.org" target="_blank">gpolicinski@freedomforum.org</a>, or follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/@genefac" target="_blank">@genefac</a>.

FIRST FIVE: Speak, assemble, petition — and register to vote

Fall is in the air and that is exciting. For many families it means the start of a new school year with a schedule of extra-curricular activities that could make your head spin. For others it is a time of slowing down, and preparing your home and garden for cooler weather. For the Cottonwood Extension District, fall is a time when educational programs abound.&nbsp;

Are you a life-long learner? Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas are never too old to learn something new. I don’t mean you have to enroll in a formal class, complete with a syllabus and a final exam. I am talking about the many educational programs offered by the Cottonwood Extension District. Whether you are a farmer interested in controlling honey locust trees in your pastures, or you have youngsters who are ready to join the 4-H and youth program, Extension has something for everyone. One program I am excited to share in the month ahead is about fermented foods. (Next weeks’ column will provide all of the details) &nbsp;

The year 2020 has created challenges for many. In Extension, our Administrative team has encouraged us to turn these challenges into opportunities. When our face-to-face meetings were restricted for a few months, our use of technology kicked into high gear. While Zoom meetings and webinars became the norm, our Cottonwood Extension Educators found ways to stay connected.

And just a reminder that our offices in both Great Bend and Hays are open and ready to serve you. We do ask that you wear a mask when entering our offices. If your questions can be answered through an e-mail or phone call we encourage that.

I would also like to encourage you to check out our Cottonwood website and like our Facebook page. Then you will see first hand the many learning opportunities that are highlighted. We are currently working on our fall quarterly on-line newsletter which will be posted to the web site in early October. I hope you will make time in your schedule to learn something new!&nbsp;

Donna Krug is the District Director and Family &amp; Consumer Science Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or <a href="mailto:dkrug@ksu.edu">dkrug@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp; K-State Research &amp; Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573141404420.png" alt="Donna Krug is the District Director and Family &amp; Consumer Science Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. " />
 <figcaption>Donna Krug is the District Director and Family &amp; Consumer Science Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. </figcaption>
 </figure>Fall is in the air and that is exciting. For many families it means the start of a new school year with a schedule of extra-curricular activities that could make your head spin. For others it is a time of slowing down, and preparing your home and garden for cooler weather. For the Cottonwood Extension District, fall is a time when educational programs abound.&nbsp;Are you a life-long learner? Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas are never too old to learn something new. I don’t mean you have to enroll in a formal class, complete with a syllabus and a final exam. I am talking about the many educational programs offered by the Cottonwood Extension District. Whether you are a farmer interested in controlling honey locust trees in your pastures, or you have youngsters who are ready to join the 4-H and youth program, Extension has something for everyone. One program I am excited to share in the month ahead is about fermented foods. (Next weeks’ column will provide all of the details) &nbsp;The year 2020 has created challenges for many. In Extension, our Administrative team has encouraged us to turn these challenges into opportunities. When our face-to-face meetings were restricted for a few months, our use of technology kicked into high gear. While Zoom meetings and webinars became the norm, our Cottonwood Extension Educators found ways to stay connected.And just a reminder that our offices in both Great Bend and Hays are open and ready to serve you. We do ask that you wear a mask when entering our offices. If your questions can be answered through an e-mail or phone call we encourage that.I would also like to encourage you to check out our Cottonwood website and like our Facebook page. Then you will see first hand the many learning opportunities that are highlighted. We are currently working on our fall quarterly on-line newsletter which will be posted to the web site in early October. I hope you will make time in your schedule to learn something new!&nbsp;Donna Krug is the District Director and Family &amp; Consumer Science Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or <a href="mailto:dkrug@ksu.edu">dkrug@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp; K-State Research &amp; Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.&nbsp;

KRUG: Be a lifelong learner

By GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher

We are clearly in the middle of fall and that means harvest. Harvest is one of the most thrilling, rewarding, happiest time of the year. Of course, that is when things go right. It can also be the most maddening, frustrating, disappointing times of the year when they do not. If you are in agriculture and you do not look forward to this time of the year you might be in the wrong business. Fall is our Super Bowl.

Good or bad, harvest is all about the rush, time crunch and stress. We are always in a hurry, and it must be done yesterday. I know we do not have any free time during this time of the year, but I want you to take just a moment. Think about what you are a part of. In just a few short weeks we will harvest enough food to feed most of the world. You are part of a well-oiled machine that feeds more people, with fewer resources and less of an impact to our environment than any where else in this world.

As a Kansas Farmer you utilize the best technology along with the latest research and techniques to produce more grain from a single acre than our grandfathers could have ever imagined 50 years ago. I am pretty sure we are all on the run so much that we don’t ever take a minute to just sit back and think about what we are doing, much less do we share what amazing work we are doing.

Look out across those acres of the best hybrid technology in your fields be it corn or soybeans. How many bushels would those same acres have produced 20 years ago or even 10. What farming methods are you using? It is stunning to think about how far our business has come in just a few short years, and I guarantee you that we will be stunned again 10 years from now. We are part of one of the most innovative, progressive industries, and we have to be.

In the next 50 years we must find a way to produce more food than we have ever produced. You know what — I have no doubt we will do it. Those of us in agriculture have always risen to the challenge and we always will. No one is more productive than the American farmer, we are without a doubt the best in the business. We do not often acknowledge it because that is the kind of people we are. We have our nose the grindstone, do our job and wake up the next day and do it all over again.

I challenge you to take a moment and think about the work we all do, go ahead, and stick your chest out, you deserve it. While you are at it, tell others about it. Take pride in it. The last few months have proven just how important agriculture is. After the moment is over, get back to work, you have a lot to get done.

"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.

<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 We are clearly in the middle of fall and that means harvest. Harvest is one of the most thrilling, rewarding, happiest time of the year. Of course, that is when things go right. It can also be the most maddening, frustrating, disappointing times of the year when they do not. If you are in agriculture and you do not look forward to this time of the year you might be in the wrong business. Fall is our Super Bowl.Good or bad, harvest is all about the rush, time crunch and stress. We are always in a hurry, and it must be done yesterday. I know we do not have any free time during this time of the year, but I want you to take just a moment. Think about what you are a part of. In just a few short weeks we will harvest enough food to feed most of the world. You are part of a well-oiled machine that feeds more people, with fewer resources and less of an impact to our environment than any where else in this world.As a Kansas Farmer you utilize the best technology along with the latest research and techniques to produce more grain from a single acre than our grandfathers could have ever imagined 50 years ago. I am pretty sure we are all on the run so much that we don’t ever take a minute to just sit back and think about what we are doing, much less do we share what amazing work we are doing.Look out across those acres of the best hybrid technology in your fields be it corn or soybeans. How many bushels would those same acres have produced 20 years ago or even 10. What farming methods are you using? It is stunning to think about how far our business has come in just a few short years, and I guarantee you that we will be stunned again 10 years from now. We are part of one of the most innovative, progressive industries, and we have to be.In the next 50 years we must find a way to produce more food than we have ever produced. You know what — I have no doubt we will do it. Those of us in agriculture have always risen to the challenge and we always will. No one is more productive than the American farmer, we are without a doubt the best in the business. We do not often acknowledge it because that is the kind of people we are. We have our nose the grindstone, do our job and wake up the next day and do it all over again.I challenge you to take a moment and think about the work we all do, go ahead, and stick your chest out, you deserve it. While you are at it, tell others about it. Take pride in it. The last few months have proven just how important agriculture is. After the moment is over, get back to work, you have a lot to get done."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.

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Taking pride in agriculture

This is a modified version of a letter I sent to a school board member expressing concerns about how an outbreak of coronavirus has been handled at our son’s elementary school. There were two confirmed cases in his class. Sunday morning, we found out he was the third positive case in the class. Incidentally as of this writing, we have yet to be informed from the school or teacher that there is a third confirmed case. I suspect now that the class has gone to online learning, parents will not know about this third case, or the others that I am afraid are inevitable. It is this concern that forces me to write.

Wednesday night, we received a call from a health official with the school district informing us of the first positive case. Expecting to hear that the class would be canceled immediately, we were surprised to learn that, upon consultation with the Ellis County Health department, the determination was made that there were not close enough contacts to justify closing the classroom. We went back and looked at the protocols the school had distributed before school started and concluded this action was not consistent with those protocols. We decided to hold our son out of school on Thursday, even though we called the school principal, nurse and teacher and received mostly nervous assurance and were told that if our son was not symptomatic he should return to school. On Thursday, our son developed a cough, head congestion, a slight fever and a sore throat. He went to the doctor Friday morning and he was tested for COVID. We found out Sunday morning the test was positive. 

Saturday afternoon, we were told the decision had been made to send the class to remote learning for two weeks, which we were happy about, but wished that decision had been made two days earlier. Let me be clear, we do not blame the school for our son getting COVID. We knew this was a possibility when we sent him back to school in August. We thought the school had a good plan and were reassured by the mask wearing and some of the other protocols that were put in place. Unfortunately, they were not all followed.

Our concerns are the decision to continue class, and most specifically the decision to rely on the Ellis County Health Department in making this decision, and the communication and transparency, or lack thereof from the school and district. The reason I am concerned with the school’s reliance on the county is that instead of giving health advice, the Ellis County Public Health director has appeared at public meetings of both the county and city commissions and said that while masks help, a mandate would not work and should not be implemented because people do not follow direction when they are dictated to. This is not medical advice. 

Given how flippant and dismissive Ellis County commissioners have been about mask mandates, shutdown orders, testing and all other related issues, it is not surprising county staff would likewise downplay the virus and the response thereto. To be clear, I know USD 489 cannot control who the county commissioners or the county health officer is or how they perform their duties. I do think the district can be more proactive and listen to others when it has become clear Ellis County has no desire to act transparently or with a clear intent to protect the public. 

For instance, I have tracked testing and results numbers through the state’s website that publishes information counties report. Here are the statistics dating back to August:

Week of 8/9: 13 positive tests; 3.16% positive rate; 412 total tests

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/16: 86 positive tests; 13.83% positive rate; 622 total tests

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/23: 196 positive tests; 28.12% positive rate; 697 total tests

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/30: 195 positive tests; 17.15% positive rate; 1,137 total tests

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9/6:&nbsp;&nbsp; 72 positive tests, 12.44% positive rate; 579 total tests

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9/13: 55 positive tests, 22.18%; 248 total tests.

When you read the county’s much-touted pandemic plan you learn that transitioning to Phase 1 requires an upward trajectory of documented cases over a 14-day period. That certainly occurred between Aug. 9 and Aug. 23. The threshold for entering Phase 2, where a mask mandate would be recommended, is an upward trajectory of documented cases for at least 14 days after entering Phase 1. Ellis County was two cases away from having an upward trajectory on August 30, and then there was a drastic decrease in the number of positives and tests for the week of 9/6 and then another approximately 50 percent reduction in tests last week. 

Is the number of tests that are conducted based on the percentage rate of positive tests, understanding that more testing does indeed reveal more positive cases? Was testing stopped after the 1,137th test in the week of 8/30 so that there would not be a third straight week of upward trajectory of positive results or were positives for that week reported in the following week? Is there any public health explanation for having 1,100 tests, 550 tests, and then 250 tests in consecutive weeks? These are questions that I think should be answered.

Again, I realize the school district is a separate entity from the county and its health department. But given how the county has consistently downplayed the virus, it concerned us the district and its schools are relying on the county. Out of parents of schoolchildren alone I’m sure a panel of knowledgeable and well-intentioned health professionals can be assembled across the district to study this matter and make recommendations. If by law the district must consult with the county, then at least I would suggest that consultation be taken “with a grain of salt."

My other concern is communication and transparency. I understand HIPAA, but that shouldn’t be used to allow people to get hurt, and it has exceptions for public health emergencies. We were “told," after the consultation between the school and the county that our child did not have sufficient contacts with the first positive case to require him to quarantine. After speaking with our son, we concluded that information was incorrect and we decided to keep him home from school, against the advice of the “experts."

I fear the response to the virus is not being managed in order to keep people safe; it is being managed to protect elected officials and to keep people from complaining. That is not the job of the Ellis County Health Department or USD 489. Parents and community members should be given information necessary to protect themselves and their families. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>This is a modified version of a letter I sent to a school board member expressing concerns about how an outbreak of coronavirus has been handled at our son’s elementary school. There were two confirmed cases in his class. Sunday morning, we found out he was the third positive case in the class. Incidentally as of this writing, we have yet to be informed from the school or teacher that there is a third confirmed case. I suspect now that the class has gone to online learning, parents will not know about this third case, or the others that I am afraid are inevitable. It is this concern that forces me to write.Wednesday night, we received a call from a health official with the school district informing us of the first positive case. Expecting to hear that the class would be canceled immediately, we were surprised to learn that, upon consultation with the Ellis County Health department, the determination was made that there were not close enough contacts to justify closing the classroom. We went back and looked at the protocols the school had distributed before school started and concluded this action was not consistent with those protocols. We decided to hold our son out of school on Thursday, even though we called the school principal, nurse and teacher and received mostly nervous assurance and were told that if our son was not symptomatic he should return to school. On Thursday, our son developed a cough, head congestion, a slight fever and a sore throat. He went to the doctor Friday morning and he was tested for COVID. We found out Sunday morning the test was positive. Saturday afternoon, we were told the decision had been made to send the class to remote learning for two weeks, which we were happy about, but wished that decision had been made two days earlier. Let me be clear, we do not blame the school for our son getting COVID. We knew this was a possibility when we sent him back to school in August. We thought the school had a good plan and were reassured by the mask wearing and some of the other protocols that were put in place. Unfortunately, they were not all followed.Our concerns are the decision to continue class, and most specifically the decision to rely on the Ellis County Health Department in making this decision, and the communication and transparency, or lack thereof from the school and district. The reason I am concerned with the school’s reliance on the county is that instead of giving health advice, the Ellis County Public Health director has appeared at public meetings of both the county and city commissions and said that while masks help, a mandate would not work and should not be implemented because people do not follow direction when they are dictated to. This is not medical advice. Given how flippant and dismissive Ellis County commissioners have been about mask mandates, shutdown orders, testing and all other related issues, it is not surprising county staff would likewise downplay the virus and the response thereto. To be clear, I know USD 489 cannot control who the county commissioners or the county health officer is or how they perform their duties. I do think the district can be more proactive and listen to others when it has become clear Ellis County has no desire to act transparently or with a clear intent to protect the public. For instance, I have tracked testing and results numbers through the state’s website that publishes information counties report. Here are the statistics dating back to August:Week of 8/9: 13 positive tests; 3.16% positive rate; 412 total tests&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/16: 86 positive tests; 13.83% positive rate; 622 total tests&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/23: 196 positive tests; 28.12% positive rate; 697 total tests&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8/30: 195 positive tests; 17.15% positive rate; 1,137 total tests&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9/6:&nbsp;&nbsp; 72 positive tests, 12.44% positive rate; 579 total tests&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9/13: 55 positive tests, 22.18%; 248 total tests.When you read the county’s much-touted pandemic plan you learn that transitioning to Phase 1 requires an upward trajectory of documented cases over a 14-day period. That certainly occurred between Aug. 9 and Aug. 23. The threshold for entering Phase 2, where a mask mandate would be recommended, is an upward trajectory of documented cases for at least 14 days after entering Phase 1. Ellis County was two cases away from having an upward trajectory on August 30, and then there was a drastic decrease in the number of positives and tests for the week of 9/6 and then another approximately 50 percent reduction in tests last week. Is the number of tests that are conducted based on the percentage rate of positive tests, understanding that more testing does indeed reveal more positive cases? Was testing stopped after the 1,137th test in the week of 8/30 so that there would not be a third straight week of upward trajectory of positive results or were positives for that week reported in the following week? Is there any public health explanation for having 1,100 tests, 550 tests, and then 250 tests in consecutive weeks? These are questions that I think should be answered.Again, I realize the school district is a separate entity from the county and its health department. But given how the county has consistently downplayed the virus, it concerned us the district and its schools are relying on the county. Out of parents of schoolchildren alone I’m sure a panel of knowledgeable and well-intentioned health professionals can be assembled across the district to study this matter and make recommendations. If by law the district must consult with the county, then at least I would suggest that consultation be taken “with a grain of salt."My other concern is communication and transparency. I understand HIPAA, but that shouldn’t be used to allow people to get hurt, and it has exceptions for public health emergencies. We were “told," after the consultation between the school and the county that our child did not have sufficient contacts with the first positive case to require him to quarantine. After speaking with our son, we concluded that information was incorrect and we decided to keep him home from school, against the advice of the “experts."I fear the response to the virus is not being managed in order to keep people safe; it is being managed to protect elected officials and to keep people from complaining. That is not the job of the Ellis County Health Department or USD 489. Parents and community members should be given information necessary to protect themselves and their families. Todd Powell, Hays

LETTER: Virus must be managed to protect health, not officials

In the next few weeks, we’re going to see the start of dramatic expansion of access to the Internet from border to border in Kansas.

And surprisingly -- or disappointingly -- it is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and about $1 billion in federal funds from which more than $100 million will be spent by Dec. 30 on connectivity, getting fast and reliable Internet access to everyone in Kansas that should have taken place years ago.

Now, that’s probably not what most of us were thinking about when the pandemic struck the nation this spring. We were drawn first to the hundreds of Kansans who are dying of COVID-19, and the thousands who lost their jobs and their access to food and shelter, and the concern about how children would spend their time away from school and how parents would care for them from home while trying to maintain their&nbsp; paychecks remotely.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573141234707.png" alt="Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report." />
 <figcaption>Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report.</figcaption>
 </figure>In the next few weeks, we’re going to see the start of dramatic expansion of access to the Internet from border to border in Kansas.And surprisingly -- or disappointingly -- it is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and about $1 billion in federal funds from which more than $100 million will be spent by Dec. 30 on connectivity, getting fast and reliable Internet access to everyone in Kansas that should have taken place years ago.Now, that’s probably not what most of us were thinking about when the pandemic struck the nation this spring. We were drawn first to the hundreds of Kansans who are dying of COVID-19, and the thousands who lost their jobs and their access to food and shelter, and the concern about how children would spend their time away from school and how parents would care for them from home while trying to maintain their&nbsp; paychecks remotely.The first instinct was to help those Kansans. To make sure that our first-responders would be safely masked- and gloved-up to find those ill citizens, get them to health-care facilities, and to boost the supplies at those hospitals so that care-givers could save more lives.But we also started to take a unified, statewide look at just what communications, and we’re talking Internet, services would be available to allow parents to work from home, for businesses to expand their reach, for the economy to grow so that we have the facilities to care for ill Kansans.It quickly became apparent that increased Internet access and speed and volume were going to be keys to not only dealing with the current health problems but the economic crises that they spawned.With issues ranging from how to educate children at schools where conventional teacher-student contact suddenly became dangerous to providing tele-health services so that rural Kansans don’t have to drive for hours to get simple check-ups or have illnesses defined and treatment started, Internet connectivity quickly became essential to every town and every suburb and even every city where crowded living conditions and tall office buildings stymie the new age of communication.Look for millions of dollars of contracts to be made in the upcoming weeks, largely through the governor’s Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) task force which is dispersing that $1 billion-plus in federal pandemic assistance.&nbsp;The connectivity assistance will range from subsidized Internet connections for the poor and their children to high-speed and high-volume connections that will allow rural Kansas to become part of the international economy and the intellectual marketplace to tap Kansans with technical skills that will provide high-paying and sought-after industries and jobs.Nope, that’s not what most of us were thinking about back in the spring, when the pandemic opened. But that’s the way for Kansans to not only get health care to those who need it, to track where COVID-19 cases are being detected, but to allow Kansans to keep their jobs when crowding tech-savvy workers in offices isn’t safe anymore.Expect, of course, that the Legislature is going to be reading those contracts, considering whether the expenditures are actually going to increase Kansas’ ability to respond to catastrophes and make the state less likely to see the spread of health dangers and prepare for whatever arises next.Strange that a pandemic that has cost hundreds of lives and thousands of illnesses will likely see an expansion of Internet services that for many is just a frill. But it clearly isn’t a frill in this economy, and the health aspects of that communication ability is likely to be also an economic boost for the state.Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hawvernews.com/">www.hawvernews.com</a>

Opinion