With the upcoming election just around the corner, I wanted to take the time to reach out with some brief responses to what I see are the most common questions and topics I am asked about. The goal of this correspondence is in no way to be definitive answers nor full explanations of these complex issues; however, I hope this can give clarity and add to the conversation around these topics.

Why is it taking so long to remove sales tax on food?

The legislature had sent the Governor two bills that would have eliminated the sales tax on food in her first three years in office. Both of these bills had the sales tax of food being removed over several cuts over several years, not all at once. Had the governor not vetoed the elimination of sales tax each time, by this January the sales tax on food would have been completely eliminated. Furthermore, if the bill was not vetoed by the governor, the sales tax cuts would have already been made up and paid for with offsets from internet sales tax at this point. 

Now that it is an election year, it is no surprise to me that the governor has finally signed legislation to eliminate sales tax on food. Starting in January 2023 sales tax collected will be adjusted by 2.5%; however it will take several years until it is fully removed since we are only starting now due to the governor’s actions.

When will we get mental health back in western Kansas for our youth?

Over three years ago the governor closed the facility and beds available for youth mental health treatment in Hays. The governor claimed at the time that the facility was in violation of CMS rules. These are the rules and regulations over such a facility, one of these regulations refers to the concept of comingled beds. At a high level it means that one section must be dedicated acute treatment and another for residential treatment and that there can be no acute treatment in residential treatment and visa versa.

This facility had comingled beds from the day the facility was opened and operated for all these years with comingled beds. When we asked for a copy of the order from CMS to close this facility it was never produced. The closing of this facility was a choice, not an order from CMS. The legislature moved quickly after the facility was closed to get a new facility opened. Money was put in the budget three years ago to reopen this facility. Currently, children in need of mental health treatment in western Kansas and their families must travel to Wichita or Kansas City, in what is often an unimaginable burden. 

Thankfully, the new youth mental health facility in Hays is scheduled to open in early 2023. What has occurred here over the past few years is clear; The current administration failed to move quickly or even react to the swift steps the legislature took to ensure and clarify that the facility should never have been closed and we even passed funding for this new facility years ago.

Is the legislature fully funding K-12 education?

The legislature and the governor are funding K-12 education according to the settlement of the K-12 lawsuit. However, special education funding has not and continues to not be funded at proper levels at both the state and federal levels. Even though there is a court-ordered formula that adds millions of additional dollars each year, the percentages of state funding for&nbsp;special education have continued to fall behind.

 Since Governor Kelly has taken office the special education funding percentage has continued to decline. Governor Kelly has had four years to add funding to her budget for special education and chose not to add any additional money above the formula. It has not been important to her. When COVID hit the governor closed our schools and test scores have fallen and in addition to that some of the students have not returned to school. As an example, due to lower enrollments over nineteen schools have had their funding reduced thus far.

How bad was the unemployment fraud in Kansas?

During the pandemic when unemployment skyrocketed the Kansas Department of Labor was a failure. Rather than take responsibility for this problem Governor Kelly blamed the fraud and fraudulent payments on the computer system the state uses to administer the program as well as the prior administration. However, the computer system Kansas has is also the same system as other states who did not have the same problems Kansas had.

Since the onset of the pandemic Kansas has lost money ranging from $450 million to $750 million because of unemployment fraud. The state was quick to pay fraudulent claims even after legislators reported about the fraud going on in their communities. It is ironic that the state paid all these fraudulent claims when it was unable to process legitimate claims from Kansas unemployed taxpayers. It was beyond sad to hear story after story of good people of Kansans becoming destitute. Some Kansans unable to get services were evicted from their homes, living in tents, cars, and sheds… others were unable to feed their families. 

Adding insult to injury, innocent Kansans who had fraudulent claims made by bad actors under their name and social security number are now being asked by the state of Kansas to pay income tax on the money which was sent to someone who stole their identity!

There are many more questions, which I will address in a later editorial.

Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, is state senator of the 40th District.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1644852447177.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, 40th Dist." />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, 40th Dist.</figcaption>
 </figure>Dear constituents and people of Kansas,With the upcoming election just around the corner, I wanted to take the time to reach out with some brief responses to what I see are the most common questions and topics I am asked about. The goal of this correspondence is in no way to be definitive answers nor full explanations of these complex issues; however, I hope this can give clarity and add to the conversation around these topics.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Why is it taking so long to remove sales tax on food?The legislature had sent the Governor two bills that would have eliminated the sales tax on food in her first three years in office. Both of these bills had the sales tax of food being removed over several cuts over several years, not all at once. Had the governor not vetoed the elimination of sales tax each time, by this January the sales tax on food would have been completely eliminated. Furthermore, if the bill was not vetoed by the governor, the sales tax cuts would have already been made up and paid for with offsets from internet sales tax at this point. Now that it is an election year, it is no surprise to me that the governor has finally signed legislation to eliminate sales tax on food. Starting in January 2023 sales tax collected will be adjusted by 2.5%; however it will take several years until it is fully removed since we are only starting now due to the governor’s actions.When will we get mental health back in western Kansas for our youth?Over three years ago the governor closed the facility and beds available for youth mental health treatment in Hays. The governor claimed at the time that the facility was in violation of CMS rules. These are the rules and regulations over such a facility, one of these regulations refers to the concept of comingled beds. At a high level it means that one section must be dedicated acute treatment and another for residential treatment and that there can be no acute treatment in residential treatment and visa versa.This facility had comingled beds from the day the facility was opened and operated for all these years with comingled beds. When we asked for a copy of the order from CMS to close this facility it was never produced. The closing of this facility was a choice, not an order from CMS. The legislature moved quickly after the facility was closed to get a new facility opened. Money was put in the budget three years ago to reopen this facility. Currently, children in need of mental health treatment in western Kansas and their families must travel to Wichita or Kansas City, in what is often an unimaginable burden. Thankfully, the new youth mental health facility in Hays is scheduled to open in early 2023. What has occurred here over the past few years is clear; The current administration failed to move quickly or even react to the swift steps the legislature took to ensure and clarify that the facility should never have been closed and we even passed funding for this new facility years ago.Is the legislature fully funding K-12 education?The legislature and the governor are funding K-12 education according to the settlement of the K-12 lawsuit. However, special education funding has not and continues to not be funded at proper levels at both the state and federal levels. Even though there is a court-ordered formula that adds millions of additional dollars each year, the percentages of state funding for&nbsp;special education have continued to fall behind. Since Governor Kelly has taken office the special education funding percentage has continued to decline. Governor Kelly has had four years to add funding to her budget for special education and chose not to add any additional money above the formula. It has not been important to her. When COVID hit the governor closed our schools and test scores have fallen and in addition to that some of the students have not returned to school. As an example, due to lower enrollments over nineteen schools have had their funding reduced thus far.How bad was the unemployment fraud in Kansas?During the pandemic when unemployment skyrocketed the Kansas Department of Labor was a failure. Rather than take responsibility for this problem Governor Kelly blamed the fraud and fraudulent payments on the computer system the state uses to administer the program as well as the prior administration. However, the computer system Kansas has is also the same system as other states who did not have the same problems Kansas had.Since the onset of the pandemic Kansas has lost money ranging from $450 million to $750 million because of unemployment fraud. The state was quick to pay fraudulent claims even after legislators reported about the fraud going on in their communities. It is ironic that the state paid all these fraudulent claims when it was unable to process legitimate claims from Kansas unemployed taxpayers. It was beyond sad to hear story after story of good people of Kansans becoming destitute. Some Kansans unable to get services were evicted from their homes, living in tents, cars, and sheds… others were unable to feed their families. Adding insult to injury, innocent Kansans who had fraudulent claims made by bad actors under their name and social security number are now being asked by the state of Kansas to pay income tax on the money which was sent to someone who stole their identity!There are many more questions, which I will address in a later editorial.Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, is state senator of the 40th District.

LETTER: Billinger critical of program delays, special ed cuts

This letter is in support of Dr. Edward H. Hammond for State Representative of the Kansas 111th&nbsp;House District.&nbsp; While I am not a resident of the 111th, I have direct knowledge of Dr. Hammond’s ability to lead as well as the relationships he forges to create organizational success.

From 2001 to 2005, I was a student at Fort Hays State University.&nbsp; During my 4 years of college I was active in the Student Government Association.&nbsp; From 2003-2005 I served as Student Body President.&nbsp; In that role I worked with Dr. Hammond very closely.&nbsp; I was always amazed at how interested he was in the student’s perspective on a myriad of issues facing the University.&nbsp; He was open to ideas and suggestions generated by students.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dr. Hammond is widely known as a great speaker.&nbsp; What he does not get sufficient credit for is being a great listener.&nbsp; Even as a student at FHSU, I always felt I had a voice with Dr. Hammond.&nbsp; That did not mean we would always agree.&nbsp; But he was always open to listening to ideas and ways to continually improve the university.&nbsp;

The Memorial Union renovation and Safe Ride are examples of student generated ideas that once presented to Dr. Hammond took shape.&nbsp; Often as students we were told by administrators and staff why our ideas would not work.&nbsp; It was Dr. Hammond learning about and promoting these initiatives that would result in positive changes happening.&nbsp; Dr. Hammond knew his primary constituency was the students at FHSU.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As President, Dr. Hammond championed the implementation of technology and had FHSU on the cutting edge.&nbsp; This was important for students going into the workforce.&nbsp; He pioneered international and online programs that not only expanded the reach of FHSU but created a level of financial security unmatched amongst the Kansas Regents Institutions.&nbsp; Part of the reason for these income generating programs was with an overall mission to keep higher education accessible and affordable to the citizens of Kansas.&nbsp; He coupled those efforts with low tuition and holding the line on student tuition and fee increases at levels regularly below any of our other Kansas Regents Institutions.&nbsp;

Through a focus on students – his constituents – Dr. Hammond found creative ways to collaborate with partners outside of FHSU to ensure growth and positive change.&nbsp; Partners were identified in the private sector, local and state governmental agencies and non-profit organizations to make FHSU, Hays and Kansas a better place.&nbsp; Many of Dr. Hammond’s ideas were non-traditional for an institution of higher education, but he never allowed himself to be constrained by the way things had always been done.&nbsp; He focused on the end goal, and he found a way to get it done.&nbsp; FHSU boasted of high demand from students and grew steadily while under Dr. Hammond’s leadership.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As I reflect about my experiences working with Dr. Hammond, and his long list of accomplishments on behalf of the University, I cannot help but believe that same kind of vision, creativity and fiscal responsibility will help him shine as a state legislator.&nbsp; He has a tremendous talent of identifying issues, seeing opportunity, creating action, and implementing a solution.&nbsp; He has shown his ability to steer an organization toward positive growth and change, while demonstrating the ability to simultaneously improve fiscal strength.

While I could go on about the positive traits Dr. Hammond embodies, his ability to problem solve, collaborate, and listen are what will make him a top shelf state legislator.&nbsp; We have seen him lead a sizeable organization with this kind of approach while at the helm of FHSU. Is that not what we all beg for in our elected officials?&nbsp; I am certain he will work to shape policy for the State of Kansas the same way he managed FHSU!&nbsp; The entire state will be indebted to the voters of the 111th&nbsp;for bringing such top-notch leadership to Topeka.&nbsp; I hope you will!

Sincerely, Mitchell D. Hall, Harper

This letter is in support of Dr. Edward H. Hammond for State Representative of the Kansas 111th&nbsp;House District.&nbsp; While I am not a resident of the 111th, I have direct knowledge of Dr. Hammond’s ability to lead as well as the relationships he forges to create organizational success.From 2001 to 2005, I was a student at Fort Hays State University.&nbsp; During my 4 years of college I was active in the Student Government Association.&nbsp; From 2003-2005 I served as Student Body President.&nbsp; In that role I worked with Dr. Hammond very closely.&nbsp; I was always amazed at how interested he was in the student’s perspective on a myriad of issues facing the University.&nbsp; He was open to ideas and suggestions generated by students.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Dr. Hammond is widely known as a great speaker.&nbsp; What he does not get sufficient credit for is being a great listener.&nbsp; Even as a student at FHSU, I always felt I had a voice with Dr. Hammond.&nbsp; That did not mean we would always agree.&nbsp; But he was always open to listening to ideas and ways to continually improve the university.&nbsp;The Memorial Union renovation and Safe Ride are examples of student generated ideas that once presented to Dr. Hammond took shape.&nbsp; Often as students we were told by administrators and staff why our ideas would not work.&nbsp; It was Dr. Hammond learning about and promoting these initiatives that would result in positive changes happening.&nbsp; Dr. Hammond knew his primary constituency was the students at FHSU.&nbsp;&nbsp;As President, Dr. Hammond championed the implementation of technology and had FHSU on the cutting edge.&nbsp; This was important for students going into the workforce.&nbsp; He pioneered international and online programs that not only expanded the reach of FHSU but created a level of financial security unmatched amongst the Kansas Regents Institutions.&nbsp; Part of the reason for these income generating programs was with an overall mission to keep higher education accessible and affordable to the citizens of Kansas.&nbsp; He coupled those efforts with low tuition and holding the line on student tuition and fee increases at levels regularly below any of our other Kansas Regents Institutions.&nbsp;Through a focus on students – his constituents – Dr. Hammond found creative ways to collaborate with partners outside of FHSU to ensure growth and positive change.&nbsp; Partners were identified in the private sector, local and state governmental agencies and non-profit organizations to make FHSU, Hays and Kansas a better place.&nbsp; Many of Dr. Hammond’s ideas were non-traditional for an institution of higher education, but he never allowed himself to be constrained by the way things had always been done.&nbsp; He focused on the end goal, and he found a way to get it done.&nbsp; FHSU boasted of high demand from students and grew steadily while under Dr. Hammond’s leadership.&nbsp;&nbsp;As I reflect about my experiences working with Dr. Hammond, and his long list of accomplishments on behalf of the University, I cannot help but believe that same kind of vision, creativity and fiscal responsibility will help him shine as a state legislator.&nbsp; He has a tremendous talent of identifying issues, seeing opportunity, creating action, and implementing a solution.&nbsp; He has shown his ability to steer an organization toward positive growth and change, while demonstrating the ability to simultaneously improve fiscal strength.While I could go on about the positive traits Dr. Hammond embodies, his ability to problem solve, collaborate, and listen are what will make him a top shelf state legislator.&nbsp; We have seen him lead a sizeable organization with this kind of approach while at the helm of FHSU. Is that not what we all beg for in our elected officials?&nbsp; I am certain he will work to shape policy for the State of Kansas the same way he managed FHSU!&nbsp; The entire state will be indebted to the voters of the 111th&nbsp;for bringing such top-notch leadership to Topeka.&nbsp; I hope you will!Sincerely, Mitchell D. Hall, Harper

LETTER: Former FHSU student supporting Hammond for 111th

The most recent letter from the incumbent representative for the 111th&nbsp;District of the Kansas House purports once again to separate fact from fiction. Once again, however, she uses&nbsp;misleading language&nbsp;and&nbsp;obfuscation&nbsp;to hide this&nbsp;fact:&nbsp;whatever interests she represents, they are not the interests of her district.

In the case of&nbsp;Medicaid&nbsp;expansion,&nbsp;almost her entire case&nbsp;is misleading.&nbsp;She begins by&nbsp;saying&nbsp;“I am not against the idea of Obamacare expansion,” which is&nbsp;a masterful exercise in misdirection but&nbsp;meaningless&nbsp;to the subject at hand.&nbsp;It confuses the issue and allows her to continue to hide her stance&nbsp;on it.

We are not talking about expanding Obamacare. We are talking about&nbsp;Medicaid expansion.&nbsp;We are also talking about a potential annual boost of $17.5 million to the district’s economy. My opponent has never – not once – talked about the economic&nbsp;aspect.&nbsp;She only talks about it costing too much.

Expansion&nbsp;would&nbsp;broaden&nbsp;Medicaid so that in Kansas, as in&nbsp;38&nbsp;other states, it is&nbsp;available to people above&nbsp;an&nbsp;extreme&nbsp;level of poverty.&nbsp;Under the current standard, an uninsured parent with two children who makes $4 an hour, or more than $8,500 a year, makes too much money to qualify.

She pretends that the only reason she has&nbsp;twice&nbsp;voted against it –&nbsp;she missed&nbsp;another vote&nbsp;– is because the measures did not meet&nbsp;her&nbsp;three conditions: a work requirement; adverse effects on the disabled; and a trigger if federal support falls below 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid&nbsp;expansion&nbsp;in the state.

Yet all&nbsp;of the proposals to expand Medicaid, which she voted against,&nbsp;met two of her three conditions. The one condition that wasn’t met? The work requirement.

The reason the work requirement was not included and has been ignored by other states that&nbsp;once&nbsp;included it, is because recent actions by U.S. Circuit Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court made work requirements useless. States that did establish&nbsp;such&nbsp;requirements have reversed course.

So the work requirement is essentially moot.&nbsp;She doesn’t know this, or doesn’t want you to know this.

Or, perhaps, it could also be the case that&nbsp;she&nbsp;just doesn’t care.&nbsp;Her&nbsp;special interest backers, such as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce,&nbsp;don’t want Medicaid expanded, so she&nbsp;won’t&nbsp;vote to expand.

The next&nbsp;issue&nbsp;is Fort Hays State University&nbsp;funding, and her supposed support for another of the largest economic engines&nbsp;in&nbsp;our district. Once again, her argument is misdirection. She cites&nbsp;a&nbsp;one-time&nbsp;expenditure of $5 million in Covid money – not state funding at all – to renovate Gross Memorial Coliseum.

What I have been talking about is basic state support for Fort Hays State University in the&nbsp;annual block grant, which&nbsp;is&nbsp;a major&nbsp;piece of the university’s budget. It is&nbsp;determined&nbsp;through a complicated formula.

My opponent misrepresents my position here just as she misrepresents&nbsp;her own.

According to the Kansas Board of Regents’ January 2022 State University Data Book,&nbsp;Fort Hays State’s FY 2020 grant was $39.43 million, after a&nbsp;calendar&nbsp;year in which&nbsp;FHSU served&nbsp;18,827 students. By contrast, Wichita State served 19,010, and its block grant was $85 million.

My position is that FHSU’s&nbsp;annual&nbsp;block grant – based on&nbsp;students served&nbsp;– should be somewhere between $20 million and $30 million more.

That would be fair and equitable,&nbsp;and that&nbsp;is what I will advocate in the&nbsp;Kansas&nbsp;Legislature.

I am not, as my opponent likes to pretend, seeking the same block grant as Wichita State, which has costs that FHSU does not, including a highly regarded aviation program and&nbsp;a number of&nbsp;doctoral programs. I&nbsp;am not&nbsp;– NOT –&nbsp;seeking to cut WSU’s grant.

Fort Hays State’s&nbsp;block grant&nbsp;should&nbsp;be funded in an amount&nbsp;commensurate with our university’s value to the state&nbsp;and its citizens. That number is somewhere in the range of $20 million to $30 million more each year.

Here’s another fact: The only advocate on the ballot&nbsp;this year&nbsp;for the 111th&nbsp;District is me.&nbsp;

Dr. Ed Hammond, candidate for 111th Kansas House District

The most recent letter from the incumbent representative for the 111th&nbsp;District of the Kansas House purports once again to separate fact from fiction. Once again, however, she uses&nbsp;misleading language&nbsp;and&nbsp;obfuscation&nbsp;to hide this&nbsp;fact:&nbsp;whatever interests she represents, they are not the interests of her district.In the case of&nbsp;Medicaid&nbsp;expansion,&nbsp;almost her entire case&nbsp;is misleading.&nbsp;She begins by&nbsp;saying&nbsp;“I am not against the idea of Obamacare expansion,” which is&nbsp;a masterful exercise in misdirection but&nbsp;meaningless&nbsp;to the subject at hand.&nbsp;It confuses the issue and allows her to continue to hide her stance&nbsp;on it.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>We are not talking about expanding Obamacare. We are talking about&nbsp;Medicaid expansion.&nbsp;We are also talking about a potential annual boost of $17.5 million to the district’s economy. My opponent has never – not once – talked about the economic&nbsp;aspect.&nbsp;She only talks about it costing too much.Expansion&nbsp;would&nbsp;broaden&nbsp;Medicaid so that in Kansas, as in&nbsp;38&nbsp;other states, it is&nbsp;available to people above&nbsp;an&nbsp;extreme&nbsp;level of poverty.&nbsp;Under the current standard, an uninsured parent with two children who makes $4 an hour, or more than $8,500 a year, makes too much money to qualify.She pretends that the only reason she has&nbsp;twice&nbsp;voted against it –&nbsp;she missed&nbsp;another vote&nbsp;– is because the measures did not meet&nbsp;her&nbsp;three conditions: a work requirement; adverse effects on the disabled; and a trigger if federal support falls below 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid&nbsp;expansion&nbsp;in the state.Yet all&nbsp;of the proposals to expand Medicaid, which she voted against,&nbsp;met two of her three conditions. The one condition that wasn’t met? The work requirement.The reason the work requirement was not included and has been ignored by other states that&nbsp;once&nbsp;included it, is because recent actions by U.S. Circuit Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court made work requirements useless. States that did establish&nbsp;such&nbsp;requirements have reversed course.So the work requirement is essentially moot.&nbsp;She doesn’t know this, or doesn’t want you to know this.Or, perhaps, it could also be the case that&nbsp;she&nbsp;just doesn’t care.&nbsp;Her&nbsp;special interest backers, such as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce,&nbsp;don’t want Medicaid expanded, so she&nbsp;won’t&nbsp;vote to expand.The next&nbsp;issue&nbsp;is Fort Hays State University&nbsp;funding, and her supposed support for another of the largest economic engines&nbsp;in&nbsp;our district. Once again, her argument is misdirection. She cites&nbsp;a&nbsp;one-time&nbsp;expenditure of $5 million in Covid money – not state funding at all – to renovate Gross Memorial Coliseum.What I have been talking about is basic state support for Fort Hays State University in the&nbsp;annual block grant, which&nbsp;is&nbsp;a major&nbsp;piece of the university’s budget. It is&nbsp;determined&nbsp;through a complicated formula.My opponent misrepresents my position here just as she misrepresents&nbsp;her own.According to the Kansas Board of Regents’ January 2022 State University Data Book,&nbsp;Fort Hays State’s FY 2020 grant was $39.43 million, after a&nbsp;calendar&nbsp;year in which&nbsp;FHSU served&nbsp;18,827 students. By contrast, Wichita State served 19,010, and its block grant was $85 million.My position is that FHSU’s&nbsp;annual&nbsp;block grant – based on&nbsp;students served&nbsp;– should be somewhere between $20 million and $30 million more.That would be fair and equitable,&nbsp;and that&nbsp;is what I will advocate in the&nbsp;Kansas&nbsp;Legislature.I am not, as my opponent likes to pretend, seeking the same block grant as Wichita State, which has costs that FHSU does not, including a highly regarded aviation program and&nbsp;a number of&nbsp;doctoral programs. I&nbsp;am not&nbsp;– NOT –&nbsp;seeking to cut WSU’s grant.Fort Hays State’s&nbsp;block grant&nbsp;should&nbsp;be funded in an amount&nbsp;commensurate with our university’s value to the state&nbsp;and its citizens. That number is somewhere in the range of $20 million to $30 million more each year.That is a fact.Here’s another fact: The only advocate on the ballot&nbsp;this year&nbsp;for the 111th&nbsp;District is me.&nbsp;On November 8, vote for Ed Hammond.Dr. Ed Hammond, candidate for 111th Kansas House District

LETTER: Truth still ugly, fiction still not fact

By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher This week in the grocery store, I was delighted to see the first fresh cranberries of the season. I bought a bag and will make cranberry bread with it soon. It might seem odd in Kansas but, for me, those cranberries are one of the surest signs of fall and a reminder of home. Where I grew up, cranberries are a big deal. My parents live in the Wisconsin county with the highest number of acres in cranberry production in the U.S., most of their neighbors grow them, and I even took cranberry science in high school. I love sharing fun facts about cranberries like they do not grow in water. The image you may be thinking of where people are in hip waders with water past their knees is actually during cranberry harvest. Since cranberries are buoyant, the beds where they grow are flooded to make removing berries from the vines with a beater and then collection at one end of the bed easier. Cranberry growers also use water to protect their crop. Harvest is typically from the end of September through October, when the nights are getting cold enough that the berries are at risk of frost damage. &nbsp;Growers have alarm systems to alert them of dangerous temperatures. When the alarms sound, they start their irrigation systems to coat the berries in water. As the water freezes a process called heat of fusion occurs and enough heat is given off to protect the crop. The cold is a necessary part of the fruit’s development as lower temperatures contribute to deepening the berry’s red color, which can bring a premium on the crop. There is something inspirational about the fact that the closer cranberries come to being destroyed, the more they increase in value. There are actually lots of plant equivalents to the saying “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Drought stressed wheat will have higher protein content. Giant Sequoia seeds can only germinate after a fire. Adversity is sometimes the most effective way for us to gain the character that we need to succeed in life. One particular memory from my childhood comes to my mind when I think about failure pushing us to be our best. When I was 11, I took tractor safety to get my permit so I could drive on public roads. Since I was a relatively inexperienced driver, my dad spent time with me practicing all the components of the test. My dad tried to be patient but to the delight of my older brothers, I was a natural at all the wrong moves, and I am sure my dad was embarrassed. Within the first 30 seconds of the test, I ran over a pole on the course, which gave me enough points that one more mistake would cause me to fail the test. However, I was determined to pass the test and prove to my brothers I could do it. I took a few breaths and proceeded through the course with as much skill and focus as an 11-year-old could muster. I didn’t make another mistake for the remainder of the test and received my certificate. That same lesson has repeated itself through my life dozens of times when I was on the verge of failure. In those moments, I learned important lessons in life and how capable I really am. We all could benefit from acting more like cranberries by realizing that the closer you get to failure, the bigger the reward will be.

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575406519723.jpeg" alt="Jackie Mundt" />
 <figcaption>Jackie Mundt</figcaption>
 </figure>By JACKIE MUNDT Pratt County farmer and rancher This week in the grocery store, I was delighted to see the first fresh cranberries of the season. I bought a bag and will make cranberry bread with it soon. It might seem odd in Kansas but, for me, those cranberries are one of the surest signs of fall and a reminder of home. Where I grew up, cranberries are a big deal. My parents live in the Wisconsin county with the highest number of acres in cranberry production in the U.S., most of their neighbors grow them, and I even took cranberry science in high school. I love sharing fun facts about cranberries like they do not grow in water. The image you may be thinking of where people are in hip waders with water past their knees is actually during cranberry harvest. Since cranberries are buoyant, the beds where they grow are flooded to make removing berries from the vines with a beater and then collection at one end of the bed easier. Cranberry growers also use water to protect their crop. Harvest is typically from the end of September through October, when the nights are getting cold enough that the berries are at risk of frost damage. &nbsp;Growers have alarm systems to alert them of dangerous temperatures. When the alarms sound, they start their irrigation systems to coat the berries in water. As the water freezes a process called heat of fusion occurs and enough heat is given off to protect the crop. The cold is a necessary part of the fruit’s development as lower temperatures contribute to deepening the berry’s red color, which can bring a premium on the crop. There is something inspirational about the fact that the closer cranberries come to being destroyed, the more they increase in value. There are actually lots of plant equivalents to the saying “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Drought stressed wheat will have higher protein content. Giant Sequoia seeds can only germinate after a fire. Adversity is sometimes the most effective way for us to gain the character that we need to succeed in life. One particular memory from my childhood comes to my mind when I think about failure pushing us to be our best. When I was 11, I took tractor safety to get my permit so I could drive on public roads. Since I was a relatively inexperienced driver, my dad spent time with me practicing all the components of the test. My dad tried to be patient but to the delight of my older brothers, I was a natural at all the wrong moves, and I am sure my dad was embarrassed. Within the first 30 seconds of the test, I ran over a pole on the course, which gave me enough points that one more mistake would cause me to fail the test. However, I was determined to pass the test and prove to my brothers I could do it. I took a few breaths and proceeded through the course with as much skill and focus as an 11-year-old could muster. I didn’t make another mistake for the remainder of the test and received my certificate. That same lesson has repeated itself through my life dozens of times when I was on the verge of failure. In those moments, I learned important lessons in life and how capable I really am. We all could benefit from acting more like cranberries by realizing that the closer you get to failure, the bigger the reward will be."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Acting like cranberries

I have learned over the years leading up to an election not to believe everything I hear. There is so much “fake news” floating around that people start to believe it as the truth.

While getting involved in the race for the 111th District House seat, I started listening to the stance of each candidate and started to realize the “smoke” Barb Wasinger’s opponent was putting out.

One of my pet peeves in an election has been a candidate never having a job where they had to generate a dime of their own money. Taking taxpayer money and spending it is not the same as having to generate business and live within their own means.&nbsp;

I feel candidate Wasinger has tried to stay within the budgets of education and Medicare. What I am hearing from Mr. Hammond is Wasinger has been “anti-” this and that, but all I have heard from his stance is spend more taxpayer money.&nbsp;

With inflation at an all-time high and fuel prices going up, I feel the last thing Kansas’s need are more taxes and, with spending, comes higher taxes because all this has to be paid for somehow.

I have learned over the years leading up to an election not to believe everything I hear. There is so much “fake news” floating around that people start to believe it as the truth.While getting involved in the race for the 111th District House seat, I started listening to the stance of each candidate and started to realize the “smoke” Barb Wasinger’s opponent was putting out.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>One of my pet peeves in an election has been a candidate never having a job where they had to generate a dime of their own money. Taking taxpayer money and spending it is not the same as having to generate business and live within their own means.&nbsp;I feel candidate Wasinger has tried to stay within the budgets of education and Medicare. What I am hearing from Mr. Hammond is Wasinger has been “anti-” this and that, but all I have heard from his stance is spend more taxpayer money.&nbsp;With inflation at an all-time high and fuel prices going up, I feel the last thing Kansas’s need are more taxes and, with spending, comes higher taxes because all this has to be paid for somehow.Keep Kansas Great. Vote Barb Wasinger.Mike Doerfler, Hays

LETTER: Spending more taxpayer money not the answer for 111th

Just today at a 90th&nbsp;birthday celebration for a member of our community, some of us sat around a table discussing our tendencies to buy “stuff” at garage sales and auctions we really don’t need&nbsp;at the time. One guy surmised we&nbsp;really&nbsp;do that so that our kids have to deal with it when they settle our estate. Anyway, it made me think about the pool ladder I constantly move around outside my shed because I have no place to put it. Here’s how the story goes.

Several years back, on a nice&nbsp;fall&nbsp;morning,&nbsp;we happened to be in town&nbsp;and&nbsp;Joyce’s radar was actively seeking garage sale signs as we headed through town.&nbsp;We followed signs to a sale&nbsp;in a nice neighborhood&nbsp;a little off the beaten path,&nbsp;and in the yard sat one of those “u” shaped ladders used to get in-and-out of a raised swimming pool. It had my attention&nbsp;even though we had no pool,&nbsp;and for the&nbsp;four-dollar&nbsp;price tag I reasoned that certainly we could use it for something (you know how that goes; you never know when you might need it!) Evidently the owner was having a difficult time getting rid of it, so when she saw my interest,&nbsp;she immediately&nbsp;made her way over to me.&nbsp;She told&nbsp;me&nbsp;“We’re&nbsp;selling it because we built a deck around our pool and have no need of that ladder now, so if you want it,just take it;” …&nbsp;our kind of deal.

Fast forward&nbsp;a few weeks to a crisp winter morning during trapping season. As I remember, weather&nbsp;conditions&nbsp;were&nbsp;far from ideal with frozen ground most mornings and mud by evening,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;still&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;to try setting a few coyote traps. One spot I had&nbsp;near town&nbsp;was&nbsp;at the far edge of a pasture/hay field and&nbsp;was&nbsp;easy to drive to.&nbsp;It appeared the coyotes were coming from&nbsp;the adjoining wheat field, still owned by the same farmer, but&nbsp;getting in there&nbsp;was going to be&nbsp;a slight problem.&nbsp;The wheat field&nbsp;was&nbsp;a couple feet higher than the hayfield and fence surroundedthe entire field. Now I encounter lots of electric fence and barbwire also for that matter, but this was four strands of&nbsp;brand-new barbwire&nbsp;stretched tighter than grandma’s&nbsp;corset&nbsp;and fastened onto new “T” posts, the top strand catching my&nbsp;six-foot-three frame across the top of my chest&nbsp;because of the height difference of the two fields. In short, I wasn’t climbing that fence!&nbsp;

As I pondered how this was ever going to work, guess what popped into my&nbsp;mind…&nbsp;the pool ladder from the garage sale.&nbsp;I hauled it out there and lifted one end over onto the other side of the fence and viola; I could now scale the fence without permanent physical damage to certain&nbsp;anatomical extremities.&nbsp;I recall the top wire on the fence&nbsp;being&nbsp;just high enough that it made&nbsp;the ladder a little tipsy,but it will still worked&nbsp;just fine.

I’m sure some of us have sheds full of stuff we cabbaged-onto because “You&nbsp;just&nbsp;never know when you might need it,” and usually it turns out that you never do. This was one time,&nbsp;however,&nbsp;that&nbsp;one of those treasures actually filled a need, and to think it was free! It just doesn’t get much better than that….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>Just today at a 90th&nbsp;birthday celebration for a member of our community, some of us sat around a table discussing our tendencies to buy “stuff” at garage sales and auctions we really don’t need&nbsp;at the time. One guy surmised we&nbsp;really&nbsp;do that so that our kids have to deal with it when they settle our estate. Anyway, it made me think about the pool ladder I constantly move around outside my shed because I have no place to put it. Here’s how the story goes.Several years back, on a nice&nbsp;fall&nbsp;morning,&nbsp;we happened to be in town&nbsp;and&nbsp;Joyce’s radar was actively seeking garage sale signs as we headed through town.&nbsp;We followed signs to a sale&nbsp;in a nice neighborhood&nbsp;a little off the beaten path,&nbsp;and in the yard sat one of those “u” shaped ladders used to get in-and-out of a raised swimming pool. It had my attention&nbsp;even though we had no pool,&nbsp;and for the&nbsp;four-dollar&nbsp;price tag I reasoned that certainly we could use it for something (you know how that goes; you never know when you might need it!) Evidently the owner was having a difficult time getting rid of it, so when she saw my interest,&nbsp;she immediately&nbsp;made her way over to me.&nbsp;She told&nbsp;me&nbsp;“We’re&nbsp;selling it because we built a deck around our pool and have no need of that ladder now, so if you want it,just take it;” …&nbsp;our kind of deal.Fast forward&nbsp;a few weeks to a crisp winter morning during trapping season. As I remember, weather&nbsp;conditions&nbsp;were&nbsp;far from ideal with frozen ground most mornings and mud by evening,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;still&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;to try setting a few coyote traps. One spot I had&nbsp;near town&nbsp;was&nbsp;at the far edge of a pasture/hay field and&nbsp;was&nbsp;easy to drive to.&nbsp;It appeared the coyotes were coming from&nbsp;the adjoining wheat field, still owned by the same farmer, but&nbsp;getting in there&nbsp;was going to be&nbsp;a slight problem.&nbsp;The wheat field&nbsp;was&nbsp;a couple feet higher than the hayfield and fence surroundedthe entire field. Now I encounter lots of electric fence and barbwire also for that matter, but this was four strands of&nbsp;brand-new barbwire&nbsp;stretched tighter than grandma’s&nbsp;corset&nbsp;and fastened onto new “T” posts, the top strand catching my&nbsp;six-foot-three frame across the top of my chest&nbsp;because of the height difference of the two fields. In short, I wasn’t climbing that fence!&nbsp;As I pondered how this was ever going to work, guess what popped into my&nbsp;mind…&nbsp;the pool ladder from the garage sale.&nbsp;I hauled it out there and lifted one end over onto the other side of the fence and viola; I could now scale the fence without permanent physical damage to certain&nbsp;anatomical extremities.&nbsp;I recall the top wire on the fence&nbsp;being&nbsp;just high enough that it made&nbsp;the ladder a little tipsy,but it will still worked&nbsp;just fine.I’m sure some of us have sheds full of stuff we cabbaged-onto because “You&nbsp;just&nbsp;never know when you might need it,” and usually it turns out that you never do. This was one time,&nbsp;however,&nbsp;that&nbsp;one of those treasures actually filled a need, and to think it was free! It just doesn’t get much better than that….Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

Exploring Kansas Outdoors: Never know when you might need it

My name is Jim Barrett. The purpose of this letter is to support Dr. Ed Hammond as the best
candidate for election to the Kansas House of Representatives from District 111. I was
employed by Fort Hays State University from the fall of 2007 until June of 2018. I taught in the
Advanced Education Programs Department for four years and served as the Chair of that
Department for my last seven years at FHSU. The last two of those years, Dr. Hammond served
as a half-time faculty member in that department.

Dr. Hammond obviously has many leadership qualities as demonstrated through the years of his
highly successful guidance of Fort Hays State University. I observed one quality that highly
impressed me that I believe makes him the best candidate for the 111th. Dr. Hammond had two
all-campus meetings each year when he would lay out the objectives for the year and provide
feedback on the progress toward those objectives. During those meetings, Dr. Hammond would
articulate the conditions in the United States, our region and Kansas in particular and link them
to what Fort Hays State University needed to do to continue to grow and be successful. That
ability to see the big picture as a framework through which to create a vision and direction for
the University was demonstrated yearly.


I am confident that Dr. Hammond will continue to analyze information from the US, Kansas, and
111th District, and use that to create a framework of advocacy that benefits all of the 111th as
well as Kansas. He is a skilled communicator, a tactful negotiator and someone who not only
knows what is right, but has the fortitude to use those skills and beliefs to work for what is right
for those he represents.


I am going to vote for Dr. Ed Hammond as representative for the 111th District and encourage
you to vote for him as well.


Dr. Jim Barrett, Professor Emeritus, Fort Hays State University

My name is Jim Barrett. The purpose of this letter is to support Dr. Ed Hammond as the best
candidate for election to the Kansas House of Representatives from District 111. I was
employed by Fort Hays State University from the fall of 2007 until June of 2018. I taught in the
Advanced Education Programs Department for four years and served as the Chair of that
Department for my last seven years at FHSU. The last two of those years, Dr. Hammond served
as a half-time faculty member in that department.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Dr. Hammond obviously has many leadership qualities as demonstrated through the years of his
highly successful guidance of Fort Hays State University. I observed one quality that highly
impressed me that I believe makes him the best candidate for the 111th. Dr. Hammond had two
all-campus meetings each year when he would lay out the objectives for the year and provide
feedback on the progress toward those objectives. During those meetings, Dr. Hammond would
articulate the conditions in the United States, our region and Kansas in particular and link them
to what Fort Hays State University needed to do to continue to grow and be successful. That
ability to see the big picture as a framework through which to create a vision and direction for
the University was demonstrated yearly.
I am confident that Dr. Hammond will continue to analyze information from the US, Kansas, and
111th District, and use that to create a framework of advocacy that benefits all of the 111th as
well as Kansas. He is a skilled communicator, a tactful negotiator and someone who not only
knows what is right, but has the fortitude to use those skills and beliefs to work for what is right
for those he represents.
I am going to vote for Dr. Ed Hammond as representative for the 111th District and encourage
you to vote for him as well.
Dr. Jim Barrett, Professor Emeritus, Fort Hays State University

LETTER: Hammond's credentials make him best choice for 111th

A look at the annual Wild Game Feed at Cedar Bluff

Twenty-nine years ago,&nbsp;two of my husband’s hunting buddies hatched an&nbsp;idea to make room in their wild game freezers as hunting seasons&nbsp;peaked&nbsp;and enjoy family and friends&nbsp;at the same time. They called&nbsp;their brainstorm&nbsp;the Wild Game Feed and invited guests to bring wild game or side dishes to one of the cabins at Cedar Bluff on an early October Saturday. Thus began a tradition all of us look forward to every year.

Over three decades,&nbsp;some things stay the same and some change.&nbsp;We’ve said farewell to loved ones, so current game feeds offer opportunities to remember those who’ve passed and how much they loved these gatherings. To balance the losses, our kids have grown up, married, and now bring their&nbsp;spouses and&nbsp;youngsters&nbsp;who&nbsp;play&nbsp;the same made-up games their parents did as children. This year littles, some&nbsp;still in momma’s arms&nbsp;and others&nbsp;big enough to join dads and grandpas in deer stands,&nbsp;kept us on our toes watching them&nbsp;chase one another through tall grass.

The core group may have&nbsp;wrinkled and&nbsp;grayed, but their conversations still focus on the thing that brought them together in the first place—Kansas outdoors. Hunting, fishing, camping, boating, birding, metal detecting, gardening, and ranching&nbsp;topics&nbsp;weave in and out of conversations.&nbsp;Sit back,&nbsp;listen,&nbsp;and learn about reloading, choosing better camo&nbsp;and boots, preferred arrows and bows, the best bait to use at a particular fishing spot, where to see sandhill cranes or eagles, gardening techniques, who got a new metal detector and what they’re finding, and who’s the best jokester in the group.&nbsp;As stories follow one after another,&nbsp;worn out&nbsp;kids and grandkids pop onto soft&nbsp;laps&nbsp;while other&nbsp;zip&nbsp;by&nbsp;to&nbsp;remind us how glad we are that they&nbsp;happily play&nbsp;outdoors and make&nbsp;new friends.

Since it’s a wild game feed,&nbsp;methods&nbsp;to cook deer, elk, antelope, rabbit, turtle, snake, turkey, pheasant, duck, goose, dove, quail,&nbsp;and other&nbsp;critters&nbsp;turn into animated&nbsp;discussions. Over time, the cooks’&nbsp;skills &nbsp;evolved&nbsp;from basic grilling to gourmet dishes&nbsp;involving pasta, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh sage. I’ve never been fond of duck, but one of the original members has perfected his preparation and cooking&nbsp;so&nbsp;that his duck kebabs disappear as fast as he makes them. He’s also tweaked a twice baked deer steak that&nbsp;vanishes the minute he&nbsp;sets&nbsp;the serving dish on the&nbsp;crowded&nbsp;table. If you come late, you miss out. He’s secretive about his recipes but makes it clear preparing the game prior to cooking is&nbsp;key&nbsp;to his success. Several favorite cooks have mastered marinades that make&nbsp;spectacular&nbsp;dishes. A few years ago, a&nbsp;culinary magazine&nbsp;writer joined the festivities and put together an article&nbsp;featuring&nbsp;the Game Feed.&nbsp;

You can’t have dinner without dessert and this crowd makes sure those are memorable. We expect the best ever cowboy cookies, homemade pies from fresh-picked cherries, huckleberry cheese cake, huckleberry crunch, brownies, chocolate cakes,&nbsp;fruit&nbsp;cobblers, and more. The dessert table is a diabetic’s nightmare.

More than anything, this is a gathering of new and old friends who love the outdoors. They’ve found a way to celebrate their common passion that doesn’t require loved ones to dress in camo and sneak silently into a deer tree or goose blind before morning light. It’s become such a tradition that we leave saying,&nbsp;“See you next year.”&nbsp;Many thanks to Steve and Rick who started this.

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658158605319.jpeg" alt="Karen Madorin" />
 <figcaption>Karen Madorin</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>A look at the annual Wild Game Feed at Cedar Bluff</h2>By KAREN MADORINTwenty-nine years ago,&nbsp;two of my husband’s hunting buddies hatched an&nbsp;idea to make room in their wild game freezers as hunting seasons&nbsp;peaked&nbsp;and enjoy family and friends&nbsp;at the same time. They called&nbsp;their brainstorm&nbsp;the Wild Game Feed and invited guests to bring wild game or side dishes to one of the cabins at Cedar Bluff on an early October Saturday. Thus began a tradition all of us look forward to every year.Over three decades,&nbsp;some things stay the same and some change.&nbsp;We’ve said farewell to loved ones, so current game feeds offer opportunities to remember those who’ve passed and how much they loved these gatherings. To balance the losses, our kids have grown up, married, and now bring their&nbsp;spouses and&nbsp;youngsters&nbsp;who&nbsp;play&nbsp;the same made-up games their parents did as children. This year littles, some&nbsp;still in momma’s arms&nbsp;and others&nbsp;big enough to join dads and grandpas in deer stands,&nbsp;kept us on our toes watching them&nbsp;chase one another through tall grass.The core group may have&nbsp;wrinkled and&nbsp;grayed, but their conversations still focus on the thing that brought them together in the first place—Kansas outdoors. Hunting, fishing, camping, boating, birding, metal detecting, gardening, and ranching&nbsp;topics&nbsp;weave in and out of conversations.&nbsp;Sit back,&nbsp;listen,&nbsp;and learn about reloading, choosing better camo&nbsp;and boots, preferred arrows and bows, the best bait to use at a particular fishing spot, where to see sandhill cranes or eagles, gardening techniques, who got a new metal detector and what they’re finding, and who’s the best jokester in the group.&nbsp;As stories follow one after another,&nbsp;worn out&nbsp;kids and grandkids pop onto soft&nbsp;laps&nbsp;while other&nbsp;zip&nbsp;by&nbsp;to&nbsp;remind us how glad we are that they&nbsp;happily play&nbsp;outdoors and make&nbsp;new friends.Since it’s a wild game feed,&nbsp;methods&nbsp;to cook deer, elk, antelope, rabbit, turtle, snake, turkey, pheasant, duck, goose, dove, quail,&nbsp;and other&nbsp;critters&nbsp;turn into animated&nbsp;discussions. Over time, the cooks’&nbsp;skills &nbsp;evolved&nbsp;from basic grilling to gourmet dishes&nbsp;involving pasta, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh sage. I’ve never been fond of duck, but one of the original members has perfected his preparation and cooking&nbsp;so&nbsp;that his duck kebabs disappear as fast as he makes them. He’s also tweaked a twice baked deer steak that&nbsp;vanishes the minute he&nbsp;sets&nbsp;the serving dish on the&nbsp;crowded&nbsp;table. If you come late, you miss out. He’s secretive about his recipes but makes it clear preparing the game prior to cooking is&nbsp;key&nbsp;to his success. Several favorite cooks have mastered marinades that make&nbsp;spectacular&nbsp;dishes. A few years ago, a&nbsp;culinary magazine&nbsp;writer joined the festivities and put together an article&nbsp;featuring&nbsp;the Game Feed.&nbsp;You can’t have dinner without dessert and this crowd makes sure those are memorable. We expect the best ever cowboy cookies, homemade pies from fresh-picked cherries, huckleberry cheese cake, huckleberry crunch, brownies, chocolate cakes,&nbsp;fruit&nbsp;cobblers, and more. The dessert table is a diabetic’s nightmare.More than anything, this is a gathering of new and old friends who love the outdoors. They’ve found a way to celebrate their common passion that doesn’t require loved ones to dress in camo and sneak silently into a deer tree or goose blind before morning light. It’s become such a tradition that we leave saying,&nbsp;“See you next year.”&nbsp;Many thanks to Steve and Rick who started this.Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and
 sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.

MADORIN: A good idea gets better with time

When asked about K12 education in the last gubernatorial debate between Democrat Governor Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the responses zeroed in on “parents’ rights.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Schmidt announced, if elected, he would support a parents’ rights bill. Kelly opposed, having vetoed comparable legislation.

Both Schmidt and Kelly were following the lead of their national parties. Republicans made parental rights a talking point in the fall elections and introduced a Parents’ Bill of Rights in Congress. Democrats quickly voiced opposition.&nbsp;

Democrats criticize the bill as censorship and violation of civil rights. Republicans support it as information transparency and an opportunity to protect children from unsavory ideologies.&nbsp;

&nbsp;What does this mean for Kansas? Before it’s time to vote for governor, here’s a look at the national bill and the bill Kelly vetoed.

According to Peter Greene, a writer for Forbes who spent 39 years as a teacher, the national parents bill of rights lists five rights of parents—the right to know what’s being taught, the right to be heard, the right to see school budgets and spending, the right to protect their child’s privacy and the right to be updated on any violent activity at school.&nbsp;

The national bill is hard to argue with—but wait—it’s not so simple. Provisions of the bill have evolved.

According to the Kansas Legislative Research Department, the vetoed bill required the “board of education of each school district to develop and adopt policies to guarantee parents’ rights (to include) a parent’s ability to:&nbsp;

1)&nbsp; Be informed of and inspect any materials, activities, curriculum, syllabi, surveys, questionnaires, books, magazines, handouts, professional development and training materials, and other materials provided to the parent’s child.&nbsp;

2) Inspect and review all educational and health records of the parent’s child maintained by the school district.&nbsp;

3) Object to any learning material or activity based upon harm to the child or impairment of the parent’s firmly held beliefs, values, or principles and withdraw the parent’s child from said activity; and&nbsp;

4) Challenge the material or educational benefit of any book, magazine, or other material available to students in the school library, the successful result of which is to lead to the removal of the item from the school.”&nbsp;

Educators have pointed out that, although not in any one piece of legislation,&nbsp;parents already have the right to be heard, the right to know what’s being taught, the right to protect their child’s privacy, and the right to request opt-out of classes or services.&nbsp;

There is an enormous difference between parental rights for their child and parental control of a school. Currently, no one parent or interest group has the right to veto what is taught or remove books from all children in a school.&nbsp;

Further, the Kansas bill did not include school safety—point five of the national legislation. In a state where 25 percent of the population live in rural areas, preplanned law enforcement response to each school is vital, due to the distance tactical units often must travel to confront an armed intruder.&nbsp;

School shootings across the country and student behavior issues in several Kansas schools demand a scrutinized yearly review of school safety plans—a parental right that shouldn’t be controversial.

Although there will be no more formal debates in the governor’s race, voters can still contact the candidates’ campaigns about parents’ rights.

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593719779701.jpeg" alt="Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education." />
 <figcaption>Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.</figcaption>
 </figure>When asked about K12 education in the last gubernatorial debate between Democrat Governor Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the responses zeroed in on “parents’ rights.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Schmidt announced, if elected, he would support a parents’ rights bill. Kelly opposed, having vetoed comparable legislation.Both Schmidt and Kelly were following the lead of their national parties. Republicans made parental rights a talking point in the fall elections and introduced a Parents’ Bill of Rights in Congress. Democrats quickly voiced opposition.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Democrats criticize the bill as censorship and violation of civil rights. Republicans support it as information transparency and an opportunity to protect children from unsavory ideologies.&nbsp;&nbsp;What does this mean for Kansas? Before it’s time to vote for governor, here’s a look at the national bill and the bill Kelly vetoed.According to Peter Greene, a writer for Forbes who spent 39 years as a teacher, the national parents bill of rights lists five rights of parents—the right to know what’s being taught, the right to be heard, the right to see school budgets and spending, the right to protect their child’s privacy and the right to be updated on any violent activity at school.&nbsp;The national bill is hard to argue with—but wait—it’s not so simple. Provisions of the bill have evolved.According to the Kansas Legislative Research Department, the vetoed bill required the “board of education of each school district to develop and adopt policies to guarantee parents’ rights (to include) a parent’s ability to:&nbsp;1)&nbsp; Be informed of and inspect any materials, activities, curriculum, syllabi, surveys, questionnaires, books, magazines, handouts, professional development and training materials, and other materials provided to the parent’s child.&nbsp;2) Inspect and review all educational and health records of the parent’s child maintained by the school district.&nbsp;3) Object to any learning material or activity based upon harm to the child or impairment of the parent’s firmly held beliefs, values, or principles and withdraw the parent’s child from said activity; and&nbsp;4) Challenge the material or educational benefit of any book, magazine, or other material available to students in the school library, the successful result of which is to lead to the removal of the item from the school.”&nbsp;Educators have pointed out that, although not in any one piece of legislation,&nbsp;parents already have the right to be heard, the right to know what’s being taught, the right to protect their child’s privacy, and the right to request opt-out of classes or services.&nbsp;There is an enormous difference between parental rights for their child and parental control of a school. Currently, no one parent or interest group has the right to veto what is taught or remove books from all children in a school.&nbsp;Further, the Kansas bill did not include school safety—point five of the national legislation. In a state where 25 percent of the population live in rural areas, preplanned law enforcement response to each school is vital, due to the distance tactical units often must travel to confront an armed intruder.&nbsp;School shootings across the country and student behavior issues in several Kansas schools demand a scrutinized yearly review of school safety plans—a parental right that shouldn’t be controversial.Although there will be no more formal debates in the governor’s race, voters can still contact the candidates’ campaigns about parents’ rights.Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

INSIGHT KANSAS: Parents’ Bill of Rights — right for Kansas or wrong?

Kansas farmers have always
endured - it is often one of the first things written in the story of who we
are. We built the farms, the towns, the economic power that brought the
railroads and we became stewards of this land. Kansas farmers have spent
generations knowing that we were keeping a promise to all those that came
before us and would come after us. We built Kansas and the cities sprung from
our success. 

Now though, that promise to the farm has become much harder to
keep even as our cities boom - and we can’t forget that it's the farmers that
put food on the table and over $8 billion in economic power to the state. 

We
have seen crises before in the farming community, the economic collapse that
nearly destroyed family farming, droughts, fires, and poor harvests - but we
are still here.

So now, why are we looking at our kids and the next generation
of farmers and asking ourselves if it is fair or worth it to ask them to keep
this promise? 

Market swings that drive up costs of fertilizers, fuel, equipment
and supplies, they all drive up the price of doing business - but these factors
pale in comparison to the costs facing young farmers. Crippling debt for
college when they pursue agriculture or related sciences and studies, housing
costs that are exponentially higher than what their parents faced, and a
business environment that requires infrastructure like high speed internet,
access to global markets, and understanding of global economic conditions.

 It's
hard to be a farmer but it doesn’t have to be this hard. 

It's time for the
politicians that are supposed to be representing our communities to do their
jobs. 

The solutions are simple, and some leaders in Kansas are focused on clean
simple solutions - but others are still spending way too much time telling us
who to be mad at instead of working for us, and that’s not how your government
should treat you. 

The Kansas House Democrats and Treasurer Lynn Rogers have
introduced a plan that helps fight back against the things drawing the next
generation of Kansas farmers away from the fields, by providing the family farm
with a tool to pay off the student loan debt that pushes these young farmers
away. 

One of the three provisions of the package is for a student loan
repayment program, or tuition reimbursement program. 

The family farm can now
offer to pay off the balance of student loans carried by your returning
graduate and receive a tax credit up to $5,250 from the state to balance the
burden. 

This package is a path towards financial
freedom for the folks in your family who want to learn about agricultural and related
fields in school and come back to put that learning to use on the farm or
another agribusiness position, but don’t have the capital to handle the debt
trap that student loans can create. They have to work for it, as it’s the
family business offering the relief and receiving the credit from the state,
but it’s a path where their hard work can pay off big. 

Passing the farm to the
next generation is how we keep Kansas farmers feeding the country for
generations to come, but in order to do that we have to give our families
pathways that aren’t a handout, but are just a little easier for our kids to
work their way down towards financial freedom and education. 

So let’s work
together to carry the farm to the next generation. Let’s support this tax
package and create pathways that encourage our next generation of farmers to
find their homes in Kansas

Democrat Lynn Rogers is the Kansas State Treasurer.&nbsp;He grew up on a large&nbsp;hog&nbsp;farm in rural Nebraska. Rogers&nbsp;is running for re-election in November.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665763423321.jpeg" alt="Lynn Rogers, Kansas State Treasurer" />
 <figcaption>Lynn Rogers, Kansas State Treasurer</figcaption>
 </figure>We can’t let this be how it ends. Kansas farmers have always
endured - it is often one of the first things written in the story of who we
are. We built the farms, the towns, the economic power that brought the
railroads and we became stewards of this land. Kansas farmers have spent
generations knowing that we were keeping a promise to all those that came
before us and would come after us. We built Kansas and the cities sprung from
our success. Now though, that promise to the farm has become much harder to
keep even as our cities boom - and we can’t forget that it's the farmers that
put food on the table and over $8 billion in economic power to the state. We
have seen crises before in the farming community, the economic collapse that
nearly destroyed family farming, droughts, fires, and poor harvests - but we
are still here.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>So now, why are we looking at our kids and the next generation
of farmers and asking ourselves if it is fair or worth it to ask them to keep
this promise? Market swings that drive up costs of fertilizers, fuel, equipment
and supplies, they all drive up the price of doing business - but these factors
pale in comparison to the costs facing young farmers. Crippling debt for
college when they pursue agriculture or related sciences and studies, housing
costs that are exponentially higher than what their parents faced, and a
business environment that requires infrastructure like high speed internet,
access to global markets, and understanding of global economic conditions. It's
hard to be a farmer but it doesn’t have to be this hard. It's time for the
politicians that are supposed to be representing our communities to do their
jobs. The solutions are simple, and some leaders in Kansas are focused on clean
simple solutions - but others are still spending way too much time telling us
who to be mad at instead of working for us, and that’s not how your government
should treat you. The Kansas House Democrats and Treasurer Lynn Rogers have
introduced a plan that helps fight back against the things drawing the next
generation of Kansas farmers away from the fields, by providing the family farm
with a tool to pay off the student loan debt that pushes these young farmers
away. One of the three provisions of the package is for a student loan
repayment program, or tuition reimbursement program. The family farm can now
offer to pay off the balance of student loans carried by your returning
graduate and receive a tax credit up to $5,250 from the state to balance the
burden. First, it just has to pass. This package is a path towards financial
freedom for the folks in your family who want to learn about agricultural and related
fields in school and come back to put that learning to use on the farm or
another agribusiness position, but don’t have the capital to handle the debt
trap that student loans can create. They have to work for it, as it’s the
family business offering the relief and receiving the credit from the state,
but it’s a path where their hard work can pay off big. Passing the farm to the
next generation is how we keep Kansas farmers feeding the country for
generations to come, but in order to do that we have to give our families
pathways that aren’t a handout, but are just a little easier for our kids to
work their way down towards financial freedom and education. So let’s work
together to carry the farm to the next generation. Let’s support this tax
package and create pathways that encourage our next generation of farmers to
find their homes in KansasDemocrat Lynn Rogers is the Kansas State Treasurer.&nbsp;He grew up on a large&nbsp;hog&nbsp;farm in rural Nebraska. Rogers&nbsp;is running for re-election in November.&nbsp;

ROGERS: Carrying the farm to the next generation

As it was pointed out in the Fiction vs Fact letter published in Hays Post, Sept. 30, my Democratic opponent continues to believe that if he states his opinion enough times that people will somehow believe it is fact. &nbsp;But the voters of Ellis County are smarter than that.

He says that I will not support Obamacare Expansion and he also claims that Fort Hays show receive $20 million to $30 million in additional funding per year. &nbsp;The following are my actual and stated positions on each issue.

FACT:​​ I am not against the idea of Obamacare expansion itself. But so far legislation to expand Obamacare proposed in the state House has&nbsp;not&nbsp;included&nbsp;the three things that need to be addressed in a financially responsible way:&nbsp;&nbsp;1.&nbsp;Work Requirement Issue – Obamacare expansion almost forces applicants to not work and penalizes those who make too much money; 2. &nbsp;Making sure expansion legislation doesn’t push the disabled population further down the list of applicants; and 3. include&nbsp;an automatic trigger if the federal government reimbursement rate falls below 90%.

FACT: &nbsp;​​It is absolute fact that Fort Hays gets full funding for the programs that it provides its students. It is also true that my opponent’s claim is not&nbsp;based in reality. His&nbsp;opinion is based on a comparison with Wichita State University that compares&nbsp;apples to oranges. This session Fort Hays got an additional&nbsp;$5 million to renovate Gross Memorial&nbsp;Coliseum as well as&nbsp;$500,000 for their cybersecurity&nbsp;program. &nbsp;Also in 2022, higher education received $160 million to cover revenue not received from tuition increases. &nbsp;Neither the Regents nor the governor pushed for Fort Hays,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I did. &nbsp;

The choice is clear on Nov. 8. &nbsp;Vote for someone who works for you,&nbsp;and advocates for our community. &nbsp;Vote for&nbsp;me,&nbsp;Barb Wasinger.

As it was pointed out in the Fiction vs Fact letter published in Hays Post, Sept. 30, my Democratic opponent continues to believe that if he states his opinion enough times that people will somehow believe it is fact. &nbsp;But the voters of Ellis County are smarter than that.He says that I will not support Obamacare Expansion and he also claims that Fort Hays show receive $20 million to $30 million in additional funding per year. &nbsp;The following are my actual and stated positions on each issue.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FACT:​​ I am not against the idea of Obamacare expansion itself. But so far legislation to expand Obamacare proposed in the state House has&nbsp;not&nbsp;included&nbsp;the three things that need to be addressed in a financially responsible way:&nbsp;&nbsp;1.&nbsp;Work Requirement Issue – Obamacare expansion almost forces applicants to not work and penalizes those who make too much money; 2. &nbsp;Making sure expansion legislation doesn’t push the disabled population further down the list of applicants; and 3. include&nbsp;an automatic trigger if the federal government reimbursement rate falls below 90%.FACT: &nbsp;​​It is absolute fact that Fort Hays gets full funding for the programs that it provides its students. It is also true that my opponent’s claim is not&nbsp;based in reality. His&nbsp;opinion is based on a comparison with Wichita State University that compares&nbsp;apples to oranges. This session Fort Hays got an additional&nbsp;$5 million to renovate Gross Memorial&nbsp;Coliseum as well as&nbsp;$500,000 for their cybersecurity&nbsp;program. &nbsp;Also in 2022, higher education received $160 million to cover revenue not received from tuition increases. &nbsp;Neither the Regents nor the governor pushed for Fort Hays,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I did. &nbsp;The choice is clear on Nov. 8. &nbsp;Vote for someone who works for you,&nbsp;and advocates for our community. &nbsp;Vote for&nbsp;me,&nbsp;Barb Wasinger.State Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays

LETTER: Fact versus fiction, part II

Simply put, I created this column so that I could write stories about remarkable people like the reigning Miss Kansas, Ayanna Hensley. Life for Ayanna was a&nbsp;challenge&nbsp;from the start. She grew up in Dodge City, the child of two parents whose substance abuse issues led to related criminal activity.&nbsp;She never knew what would happen when she got up each day or what awaited her after the school day.&nbsp;

“My parents were young, and truthfully neither one of them&nbsp;was&nbsp;anticipating a child. I was the result of a teen pregnancy. Although there have been highs and lows in my relationships with my parents, I am grateful they sacrificed what they could in order to help support me in my endeavors today,” said Ayanna.

While other children her age enjoyed birthday parties, sleepovers,&nbsp;and family dinners, she was subject to abuse, neglect, and poverty. Trauma was something the young Ayanna simply had to learn to live with&nbsp;to&nbsp;survive. That was until she entered the second grade. Then, Ayanna encountered one of the first adults who recognized her as a traumatized child and did something to help.&nbsp;

Her teacher, Karen Bartholomay, noticed that Ayanna often fell asleep in class, tended to wear the same clothes every day, and couldn’t handle even the slightest disruption or conflict. Karen created a “book club” for her and select classmates. This fed her natural love of reading and helped her develop social skills and relationships with classmates. She also&nbsp;allowed&nbsp;Ayanna to nap when she needed it&nbsp;and provided her&nbsp;with a snack drawer&nbsp;in the classroom she&nbsp;could go to on the days when she had nothing at home to eat. She didn’t know it at the time, but the kindness of Karen Bartholomy instilled in&nbsp;a&nbsp;very young Ayanna a glimmer of hope that life for her didn’t&nbsp;always&nbsp;have to be&nbsp;a struggle.&nbsp;

Still, it wasn’t until middle school that Ayanna realized that the dynamics&nbsp;of&nbsp;her life differed from other students. Fortunately for Ayanna, the transition from middle to high school would also serve as a transformative experience for Ayanna. Cross country would be the catalyst for her transformation. She found a “tribe” in athletic competition that welcomed, respected, and supported her. She won her share of races but also learned to become a good teammate and leader. Competitive team sports also created structure and stability she had never known.&nbsp;

“Sports instilled consistency and accountability when I needed it most. I found an escape in activities that pushed me to be a better athlete and overall leader,” said Ayanna.

As a high school senior, Ayanna earned a prestigious Rudd Scholarship. The Rudd Scholarship is a Kansas program for Kansas residents who qualify for a Pell Grant and have the grit and determination to achieve their long-term goals. She arrived on&nbsp;the FHSU&nbsp;campus in the fall of 2019 with the intention of&nbsp;pursuing her&nbsp;love of dance&nbsp;as a member of&nbsp;the Tiger Debs Dance Team.&nbsp;

Entering FHSU, she also decided to make the most of the opportunity.&nbsp;During her freshman year of college, she decided to compete for the title of Miss Kansas.&nbsp;

“I finally had&nbsp;the&nbsp;money&nbsp;I needed&nbsp;to pursue the things I wanted to do, so I made a promise to myself to try new things. One of my high school friends had competed, and I saw her confidence grow through her involvement, so I figured,&nbsp;why not?” said Ayanna.

She took a bold leap and entered the world of competitive scholarship pageants, winning the Dodge City/Cowboy Capital/Boot Hill Scholarship Competition in her hometown of Dodge City. She parleyed that success into the opportunity to compete for the title of Miss Kansas. She finished second in the 2021 competition.&nbsp;

She re-entered the Miss Kansas competition in 2022, winning the title of Miss Kiowa County and again qualifying for the statewide competition. She won that competition in June of this year, and you might think that might be the culmination of a dream, but it was just the start for Ayanna.&nbsp;

Ayanna’s decision to compete for the Miss Kansas title was not a pursuit of personal fame and glory; it was always going to be about using the platform to make a difference in the lives of children who, like her, are stuck in a cycle of abuse, neglect, and poverty. Each Miss Kansas is required to create a social impact initiative. ACE’s Low: Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences is the title of Ayanna’s initiative. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes “ACEs” as adverse childhood experiences that can tremendously impact future violence victimization, perpetration, lifelong health, and opportunity. ACEs include all types of abuse and neglect, such as parental substance use, incarceration, and domestic violence.

As the newly crowned Miss Kansas, Ayanna immediately dove into the vital work of advancing her ACE’s&nbsp;low initiative, crisscrossing the state and taking advantage of every opportunity to share the story of her experiences and how her faith has changed her life. She credits her faith with bringing people into her life who helped her reach her potential. She further credits her faith with providing her with a sense of consistency in new and often foreign environments, like scholarship pageants and public speaking tours.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Now four months into her service as Miss Kansas, Ayanna has made frequent appearances in Hays and&nbsp;on the FHSU&nbsp;campus. She was in Hays on September 15 to participate in the FHSU Language and Literacy Institute’s family literacy night at the Hays Masonic Lodge 195. The following day, she was on campus to promote a new FHSU scholarship program for Miss Kansas scholarship competition participants. She returned to campus on September 20 to join K12 education, mental health, and social work professionals for a live-streamed panel discussion on students and trauma.&nbsp;

I had the opportunity to meet Ayanna a few weeks ago, and I was struck by her seemingly boundless energy and her clear-eyed and complete dedication to using her opportunity as Miss&nbsp;Kansas 2022 to do good work and make a difference. That work includes childhood literacy and mentorship through a partnership with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters network in Kansas. But her principal focus will be on bringing awareness to the issue of childhood trauma.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This amazing young woman endured and ultimately overcame years of childhood trauma that could have led to despair and getting sucked into the cycle of addiction, abuse, and neglect that had taken so much from her family. Ayanna Hensley personifies the characteristics of the wonderful people I speak about all the time in this column. She is persistent when the going gets tough and finds innovative ways to turn her Miss Kansas opportunity into a catalyst to make impactful change in our communities. And Ayanna does it all with an ethic of care in service to others, demonstrating&nbsp;what it means to approach life with the “heart of a tiger.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575301942236.jpeg" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>Simply put, I created this column so that I could write stories about remarkable people like the reigning Miss Kansas, Ayanna Hensley. Life for Ayanna was a&nbsp;challenge&nbsp;from the start. She grew up in Dodge City, the child of two parents whose substance abuse issues led to related criminal activity.&nbsp;She never knew what would happen when she got up each day or what awaited her after the school day.&nbsp;“My parents were young, and truthfully neither one of them&nbsp;was&nbsp;anticipating a child. I was the result of a teen pregnancy. Although there have been highs and lows in my relationships with my parents, I am grateful they sacrificed what they could in order to help support me in my endeavors today,” said Ayanna.While other children her age enjoyed birthday parties, sleepovers,&nbsp;and family dinners, she was subject to abuse, neglect, and poverty. Trauma was something the young Ayanna simply had to learn to live with&nbsp;to&nbsp;survive. That was until she entered the second grade. Then, Ayanna encountered one of the first adults who recognized her as a traumatized child and did something to help.&nbsp;Her teacher, Karen Bartholomay, noticed that Ayanna often fell asleep in class, tended to wear the same clothes every day, and couldn’t handle even the slightest disruption or conflict. Karen created a “book club” for her and select classmates. This fed her natural love of reading and helped her develop social skills and relationships with classmates. She also&nbsp;allowed&nbsp;Ayanna to nap when she needed it&nbsp;and provided her&nbsp;with a snack drawer&nbsp;in the classroom she&nbsp;could go to on the days when she had nothing at home to eat. She didn’t know it at the time, but the kindness of Karen Bartholomy instilled in&nbsp;a&nbsp;very young Ayanna a glimmer of hope that life for her didn’t&nbsp;always&nbsp;have to be&nbsp;a struggle.&nbsp;Still, it wasn’t until middle school that Ayanna realized that the dynamics&nbsp;of&nbsp;her life differed from other students. Fortunately for Ayanna, the transition from middle to high school would also serve as a transformative experience for Ayanna. Cross country would be the catalyst for her transformation. She found a “tribe” in athletic competition that welcomed, respected, and supported her. She won her share of races but also learned to become a good teammate and leader. Competitive team sports also created structure and stability she had never known.&nbsp;“Sports instilled consistency and accountability when I needed it most. I found an escape in activities that pushed me to be a better athlete and overall leader,” said Ayanna.As a high school senior, Ayanna earned a prestigious Rudd Scholarship. The Rudd Scholarship is a Kansas program for Kansas residents who qualify for a Pell Grant and have the grit and determination to achieve their long-term goals. She arrived on&nbsp;the FHSU&nbsp;campus in the fall of 2019 with the intention of&nbsp;pursuing her&nbsp;love of dance&nbsp;as a member of&nbsp;the Tiger Debs Dance Team.&nbsp;Entering FHSU, she also decided to make the most of the opportunity.&nbsp;During her freshman year of college, she decided to compete for the title of Miss Kansas.&nbsp;“I finally had&nbsp;the&nbsp;money&nbsp;I needed&nbsp;to pursue the things I wanted to do, so I made a promise to myself to try new things. One of my high school friends had competed, and I saw her confidence grow through her involvement, so I figured,&nbsp;why not?” said Ayanna.She took a bold leap and entered the world of competitive scholarship pageants, winning the Dodge City/Cowboy Capital/Boot Hill Scholarship Competition in her hometown of Dodge City. She parleyed that success into the opportunity to compete for the title of Miss Kansas. She finished second in the 2021 competition.&nbsp;She re-entered the Miss Kansas competition in 2022, winning the title of Miss Kiowa County and again qualifying for the statewide competition. She won that competition in June of this year, and you might think that might be the culmination of a dream, but it was just the start for Ayanna.&nbsp;Ayanna’s decision to compete for the Miss Kansas title was not a pursuit of personal fame and glory; it was always going to be about using the platform to make a difference in the lives of children who, like her, are stuck in a cycle of abuse, neglect, and poverty. Each Miss Kansas is required to create a social impact initiative. ACE’s Low: Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences is the title of Ayanna’s initiative. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes “ACEs” as adverse childhood experiences that can tremendously impact future violence victimization, perpetration, lifelong health, and opportunity. ACEs include all types of abuse and neglect, such as parental substance use, incarceration, and domestic violence.As the newly crowned Miss Kansas, Ayanna immediately dove into the vital work of advancing her ACE’s&nbsp;low initiative, crisscrossing the state and taking advantage of every opportunity to share the story of her experiences and how her faith has changed her life. She credits her faith with bringing people into her life who helped her reach her potential. She further credits her faith with providing her with a sense of consistency in new and often foreign environments, like scholarship pageants and public speaking tours.&nbsp;&nbsp;Now four months into her service as Miss Kansas, Ayanna has made frequent appearances in Hays and&nbsp;on the FHSU&nbsp;campus. She was in Hays on September 15 to participate in the FHSU Language and Literacy Institute’s family literacy night at the Hays Masonic Lodge 195. The following day, she was on campus to promote a new FHSU scholarship program for Miss Kansas scholarship competition participants. She returned to campus on September 20 to join K12 education, mental health, and social work professionals for a live-streamed panel discussion on students and trauma.&nbsp;I had the opportunity to meet Ayanna a few weeks ago, and I was struck by her seemingly boundless energy and her clear-eyed and complete dedication to using her opportunity as Miss&nbsp;Kansas 2022 to do good work and make a difference. That work includes childhood literacy and mentorship through a partnership with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters network in Kansas. But her principal focus will be on bringing awareness to the issue of childhood trauma.&nbsp;&nbsp;This amazing young woman endured and ultimately overcame years of childhood trauma that could have led to despair and getting sucked into the cycle of addiction, abuse, and neglect that had taken so much from her family. Ayanna Hensley personifies the characteristics of the wonderful people I speak about all the time in this column. She is persistent when the going gets tough and finds innovative ways to turn her Miss Kansas opportunity into a catalyst to make impactful change in our communities. And Ayanna does it all with an ethic of care in service to others, demonstrating&nbsp;what it means to approach life with the “heart of a tiger.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Heart of a Tiger: Meet Ayanna Hensley

By KIM BALDWIN McPherson County farmer and rancher The morning air has turned crisp, the temperatures have begun to drop, and the sun noticeably rises a little bit later every morning. It is definitely beginning to feel like fall on the farm. Most evenings are also filled with a layer of dust in the atmosphere stirred up by the steady movement of the combines and tractors in the surrounding fields.&nbsp; While we continue to bring the grain out of the fields during fall harvest, we have also turned our attention to the fields that will soon have green shoots growing. It’s time to start sowing wheat. After missing rain showers practically all summer, we recently received some much-needed moisture. The slow, steady rain provided us assurance that it does, in fact, still rain on occasion.&nbsp; But it also provided our soil with enough moisture to ensure a good start for most of our wheat. The hard red winter wheat we place into the ground every fall has proven time and time again it can handle a lot of extreme weather conditions throughout the year. From arctic blasts in the winter, late freezes and hailstorms in the late spring, we know this crop is hardy.&nbsp; But one thing the wheat absolutely needs to ensure a good start is moisture in the ground. For many months we’ve waited for it to rain. We’ve looked really hard for signs that a rain could be coming.&nbsp; We’ve been teased with chances of precipitation all summer to only see those chances dissipate to nothing within 10-day forecasts.

We’ve prayed for it to rain.&nbsp; And we breathed a sigh of relief and gave thanks when the small rain finally came. It’s amazing how something like a rain shower can completely alter our outlook. It’s as if a rain can wash away any doubt that might have settled in our minds.&nbsp; It’s cleansing and provides the rejuvenation of faith we all need to begin a new season. It encourages us to firmly believe many seeds can and will be produced from one tiny seed planted into the ground. As primarily dryland farmers, a rain shower is life-giving for our present and future crops alike. As we continue to sow the wheat into the soil this month, we know that we’ll need more rain to get to a successful harvest. And while the forecast doesn’t show any chance of precipitation in the near future, we’ll sow anyway.&nbsp; We’ll continue the tasks on the farm this fall and plan for a successful wheat crop this summer — all while patiently waiting on a rain.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573617414005.jpeg" alt="Kim Baldwin" />
 <figcaption>Kim Baldwin</figcaption>
 </figure>By KIM BALDWIN McPherson County farmer and rancher The morning air has turned crisp, the temperatures have begun to drop, and the sun noticeably rises a little bit later every morning. It is definitely beginning to feel like fall on the farm. Most evenings are also filled with a layer of dust in the atmosphere stirred up by the steady movement of the combines and tractors in the surrounding fields.&nbsp; While we continue to bring the grain out of the fields during fall harvest, we have also turned our attention to the fields that will soon have green shoots growing. It’s time to start sowing wheat. After missing rain showers practically all summer, we recently received some much-needed moisture. The slow, steady rain provided us assurance that it does, in fact, still rain on occasion.&nbsp; But it also provided our soil with enough moisture to ensure a good start for most of our wheat. The hard red winter wheat we place into the ground every fall has proven time and time again it can handle a lot of extreme weather conditions throughout the year. From arctic blasts in the winter, late freezes and hailstorms in the late spring, we know this crop is hardy.&nbsp; But one thing the wheat absolutely needs to ensure a good start is moisture in the ground. For many months we’ve waited for it to rain. We’ve looked really hard for signs that a rain could be coming.&nbsp; We’ve been teased with chances of precipitation all summer to only see those chances dissipate to nothing within 10-day forecasts. We’ve prayed for it to rain.&nbsp; And we breathed a sigh of relief and gave thanks when the small rain finally came. It’s amazing how something like a rain shower can completely alter our outlook. It’s as if a rain can wash away any doubt that might have settled in our minds.&nbsp; It’s cleansing and provides the rejuvenation of faith we all need to begin a new season. It encourages us to firmly believe many seeds can and will be produced from one tiny seed planted into the ground. As primarily dryland farmers, a rain shower is life-giving for our present and future crops alike. As we continue to sow the wheat into the soil this month, we know that we’ll need more rain to get to a successful harvest. And while the forecast doesn’t show any chance of precipitation in the near future, we’ll sow anyway.&nbsp; We’ll continue the tasks on the farm this fall and plan for a successful wheat crop this summer — all while patiently waiting on a rain."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Waiting for rain

​I am concerned about the election for Kansas State Board of Education, District 5.

​What if the person who represented you in an office was someone that you knew had “skin in the game”? &nbsp;What if they spoke up for folks who don’t have a voice? &nbsp;What if they had demonstrated their commitment to healthy families and communities?&nbsp; Wouldn’t&nbsp;you really like to have someone like that in the office of the Fifth District of the Kansas State Board of Education?&nbsp;

<a></a>Write in Jean&nbsp;Clifford for District 5, Kansas State Board of education on &nbsp;your ballot on Nov. 8. &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>​I am concerned about the election for Kansas State Board of Education, District 5.​What if the person who represented you in an office was someone that you knew had “skin in the game”? &nbsp;What if they spoke up for folks who don’t have a voice? &nbsp;What if they had demonstrated their commitment to healthy families and communities?&nbsp; Wouldn’t&nbsp;you really like to have someone like that in the office of the Fifth District of the Kansas State Board of Education?&nbsp;You can do this. &nbsp; &nbsp;<a></a>Write in Jean&nbsp;Clifford for District 5, Kansas State Board of education on &nbsp;your ballot on Nov. 8. &nbsp;I know Jean. I trust Jean. &nbsp;Verna Rundell, Syracuse

LETTER: Write-in candidate best choice for state school board

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/09/cameras-in-hand-parents-proudly-document-everything-is-that-whats-best-for-our-kids/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Seventeen years ago, I pointed a 
gleaming silver camcorder at my newborn daughter as she alternated 
breathing and screaming during her first moments of life. She lay, eyes 
clenched in struggle, on a neonatal warming bed in an Overland Park 
hospital. When I glanced away from the LCD screen of the video camera, I
 could tell that her first gasps were healthy because the delivery nurse
 was smiling at Ella while checking her vitals.

My right finger looped around the top
 of the camera, toggling the lens of the camera to zoom in and capture a
 close-up. The image through the viewfinder blurred before the pixels 
snapped back into focus. Ella’s face filled the frame. I remember my 
wife’s voice — fatigued and faint — asking from across the hospital room
 if Ella was OK.

“She,” I said, my voice high-pitched 
and cracking with happiness. “She … is beautiful.” The last syllable 
trailed off on the video footage, my grip on the camera wavering with 
fatherly joy.

Since that moment, Ella’s life has 
been a seamless series of visuals. We are assembling the same visual 
timeline for her brother, born four years later.

The images follow, one after another.
 Yearbook portraits posed in school cafeterias converted for a day into 
photo studios. Videos from the sidelines. Selfies studded with the glint
 of middle-school braces. Snapchats sent from the backseat of a friend’s
 car on the way to the homecoming dance.

We have been here, whether with a 
cellphone camera or a digital SLR, in response to nearly every modestly 
significant twitch in her life arc. We stand poised with our iPhones. I 
crouch low with my camera, my SD card reformatted, to ensure that not 
even one digital image gets mangled. We preserve every moment we can.&nbsp;

The size of our image archive became 
clear this fall when a rite of high school senior year — the senior 
yearbook ad — forced me to narrow my catalog of nine bazillion images 
down to a handful. Which of the 3,587 photos of her with the dog should I
 choose? Which of the 7,962 photos of her at the barn should I choose?&nbsp;

Curating those photos — the daily 
chronicling of my daughter’s life — made me realize how thoroughly 
documented her life is. Along with so many others in her generation who 
stare back at the lens’ gaze, my daughter will not wonder what her life 
looked like. Her clothes in 2010. Her hair in 2014. Her boyfriend in 
2022. Her young life is one without gaps. We have it all archived.

My wife and I are a little jealous of
 that. Even though I loved photography at the time, some of my best 
friends from high school in the 1990s exist almost completely in my 
memory. I remember my buddy Aaron painting my chest blue before a 
football game. No photos exist.

If we were teens in 2022, my high 
school best friend Jeff and I would have made endless videos of our 
backyard fireworks stunts. The kinds of moments that Ella is 
photographing exhaustively these days are missing from my high school 
photo albums.

I still hold these happy pockets of 
memories, even without photos. But I can’t help but wonder how just a 
few images might teleport me back to those moments of school spirit and 
youthful pyromania.

With that said, omnipresent cameras 
create costs. With cameras so present at every occasion (and 
non-occasion), our sons and daughters preen and perform for the 
attention of the lens. Would the occasion be more joyful, we parents ask
 as we watch from the outskirts, if they simply celebrated for the fun 
of it, rather than for the camera?

Our daughters bear an outsized 
burden. Social media constantly deceives them about the allure of being 
impossibly thin, glossy and happy — giddy mannequins wrapped in luxury 
clothing.

When I told Ella about my column idea
 for today, she provided another anecdote to illustrate how much our 
relationship with cameras has changed. One of her favorite podcasts, <a target="_blank" href="https://serialpodcast.org/">a true-crime investigation of a murder in 1999</a>,
 tracked the life of a teenage boy who was a suspect in the crime. When 
police asked him to provide an alibi, he wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly
 where he had been on the day of the murder.

Ella holds her alibi in her hand: her
 phone. The Snapchat messages from friends beg for an immediate 
response. Her camera roll is an hourly collection of silly dogs, friends
 in class and selfies at stoplights. The lens of her camera phone knows 
more than we do as parents.

When our children were younger, I 
worried about posting too many images of them on my social media. What 
if, I wondered, my son, then three years old, didn’t want his photo on 
Instagram with spaghetti and marinara cascading down his belly as he 
reclined in a high chair? Even if I asked my daughter, who was 8 at the 
time, if I could post her photo, did she really understand what “public”
 meant? Did she understand that the goofy image would be online 
essentially forever?

So, I retreated from posting online. Instead, I sent dispatches of images to grandma and grandpa.

The irony is that my kids could care 
less about me sharing those images now that they are older. They’re busy
 watching their friends casually post their most personal moments.

Their photographic lives seem 
obligatorily online, constantly shooting pixels up into the cloud. The 
photos are vital, so we must save them. And if we must save them, we 
must use archives hosted by Apple, Amazon and Google (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/you-have-until-sept-24-to-claim-part-of-100m-google-photos-privacy-settlement">who needs to be sued to stop surveilling us</a>).

Perhaps that bond between our photos 
and how we so often share them with huge data corporations is even a 
bigger change for our children’s lives lived in front of the camera — 
more significant still than how often we photograph them. The fact that 
the images are online changes everything. (Yes, Mr. McLuhan, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message">the medium is the message</a>. I get it.)

That first video of my newborn 
daughter is not on YouTube or online. She was born at just the 
technological moment when sharing videos meant saving the movie files to
 DVDs. In our living room cabinet, there is a portfolio of disks with 
all of those movies, starting with the tearful moment where my voice 
cracks in the delivery room. While I worry that we might have gone a bit
 overboard — both as a culture and as a family — in recording every 
semi-significant moment, I know one thing.

I’m glad I have that moment. But I’m glad it’s an unshared moment. A moving image forever and only for our family.

Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He lives in Leawood with his wife and two children.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665329858143.png" alt="Columnist Eric Thomas has documented the life of his daughter, Ella, in a seamless series of visuals. (Eric Thomas for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Columnist Eric Thomas has documented the life of his daughter, Ella, in a seamless series of visuals. (Eric Thomas for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/09/cameras-in-hand-parents-proudly-document-everything-is-that-whats-best-for-our-kids/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Seventeen years ago, I pointed a 
gleaming silver camcorder at my newborn daughter as she alternated 
breathing and screaming during her first moments of life. She lay, eyes 
clenched in struggle, on a neonatal warming bed in an Overland Park 
hospital. When I glanced away from the LCD screen of the video camera, I
 could tell that her first gasps were healthy because the delivery nurse
 was smiling at Ella while checking her vitals.My right finger looped around the top
 of the camera, toggling the lens of the camera to zoom in and capture a
 close-up. The image through the viewfinder blurred before the pixels 
snapped back into focus. Ella’s face filled the frame. I remember my 
wife’s voice — fatigued and faint — asking from across the hospital room
 if Ella was OK.“She,” I said, my voice high-pitched 
and cracking with happiness. “She … is beautiful.” The last syllable 
trailed off on the video footage, my grip on the camera wavering with 
fatherly joy.Since that moment, Ella’s life has 
been a seamless series of visuals. We are assembling the same visual 
timeline for her brother, born four years later.The images follow, one after another.
 Yearbook portraits posed in school cafeterias converted for a day into 
photo studios. Videos from the sidelines. Selfies studded with the glint
 of middle-school braces. Snapchats sent from the backseat of a friend’s
 car on the way to the homecoming dance.And always, photos by her mother and me.We have been here, whether with a 
cellphone camera or a digital SLR, in response to nearly every modestly 
significant twitch in her life arc. We stand poised with our iPhones. I 
crouch low with my camera, my SD card reformatted, to ensure that not 
even one digital image gets mangled. We preserve every moment we can.&nbsp;The size of our image archive became 
clear this fall when a rite of high school senior year — the senior 
yearbook ad — forced me to narrow my catalog of nine bazillion images 
down to a handful. Which of the 3,587 photos of her with the dog should I
 choose? Which of the 7,962 photos of her at the barn should I choose?&nbsp;Curating those photos — the daily 
chronicling of my daughter’s life — made me realize how thoroughly 
documented her life is. Along with so many others in her generation who 
stare back at the lens’ gaze, my daughter will not wonder what her life 
looked like. Her clothes in 2010. Her hair in 2014. Her boyfriend in 
2022. Her young life is one without gaps. We have it all archived.My wife and I are a little jealous of
 that. Even though I loved photography at the time, some of my best 
friends from high school in the 1990s exist almost completely in my 
memory. I remember my buddy Aaron painting my chest blue before a 
football game. No photos exist.If we were teens in 2022, my high 
school best friend Jeff and I would have made endless videos of our 
backyard fireworks stunts. The kinds of moments that Ella is 
photographing exhaustively these days are missing from my high school 
photo albums.I still hold these happy pockets of 
memories, even without photos. But I can’t help but wonder how just a 
few images might teleport me back to those moments of school spirit and 
youthful pyromania.With that said, omnipresent cameras 
create costs. With cameras so present at every occasion (and 
non-occasion), our sons and daughters preen and perform for the 
attention of the lens. Would the occasion be more joyful, we parents ask
 as we watch from the outskirts, if they simply celebrated for the fun 
of it, rather than for the camera?Our daughters bear an outsized 
burden. Social media constantly deceives them about the allure of being 
impossibly thin, glossy and happy — giddy mannequins wrapped in luxury 
clothing.When I told Ella about my column idea
 for today, she provided another anecdote to illustrate how much our 
relationship with cameras has changed. One of her favorite podcasts, <a target="_blank" href="https://serialpodcast.org/">a true-crime investigation of a murder in 1999</a>,
 tracked the life of a teenage boy who was a suspect in the crime. When 
police asked him to provide an alibi, he wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly
 where he had been on the day of the murder.Ella holds her alibi in her hand: her
 phone. The Snapchat messages from friends beg for an immediate 
response. Her camera roll is an hourly collection of silly dogs, friends
 in class and selfies at stoplights. The lens of her camera phone knows 
more than we do as parents.When our children were younger, I 
worried about posting too many images of them on my social media. What 
if, I wondered, my son, then three years old, didn’t want his photo on 
Instagram with spaghetti and marinara cascading down his belly as he 
reclined in a high chair? Even if I asked my daughter, who was 8 at the 
time, if I could post her photo, did she really understand what “public”
 meant? Did she understand that the goofy image would be online 
essentially forever?So, I retreated from posting online. Instead, I sent dispatches of images to grandma and grandpa.The irony is that my kids could care 
less about me sharing those images now that they are older. They’re busy
 watching their friends casually post their most personal moments.Their photographic lives seem 
obligatorily online, constantly shooting pixels up into the cloud. The 
photos are vital, so we must save them. And if we must save them, we 
must use archives hosted by Apple, Amazon and Google (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/you-have-until-sept-24-to-claim-part-of-100m-google-photos-privacy-settlement">who needs to be sued to stop surveilling us</a>).Perhaps that bond between our photos 
and how we so often share them with huge data corporations is even a 
bigger change for our children’s lives lived in front of the camera — 
more significant still than how often we photograph them. The fact that 
the images are online changes everything. (Yes, Mr. McLuhan, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message">the medium is the message</a>. I get it.)That first video of my newborn 
daughter is not on YouTube or online. She was born at just the 
technological moment when sharing videos meant saving the movie files to
 DVDs. In our living room cabinet, there is a portfolio of disks with 
all of those movies, starting with the tearful moment where my voice 
cracks in the delivery room. While I worry that we might have gone a bit
 overboard — both as a culture and as a family — in recording every 
semi-significant moment, I know one thing.I’m glad I have that moment. But I’m glad it’s an unshared moment. A moving image forever and only for our family.Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He lives in Leawood with his wife and two children.

OPINION: Is documenting their lives what’s best for our kids?

Kansans will soon vote on Constitutional Amendment 1 (also called HCR 5014), which creates a “legislative veto.” At stake is an important but dull topic to most — checks and balances.&nbsp;

Legislatures make laws, often using vague language. Governors and the state agencies they direct (the “executive branch”) create concrete rules and regulations to implement those vague laws. Government agencies are the “bureaucracy,” and most government workers (e.g., police, child welfare workers, food inspectors, teachers, or soldiers) are “bureaucrats.”&nbsp;

You probably remember checks and balances. Governors can veto bills that the legislature passes, but a supermajority of legislators can override that veto and make that bill law. And, if the executive branch develops rules or regulations that the legislature dislikes, then the legislature can pass a bill overturning those and override a governor’s veto of that bill.&nbsp;

That’s how Kansas works now.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Amendment 1 changes that process to give the legislature relatively more power over a governor, altering traditional checks and balances. It allows the legislature to “veto” executive branch rules or regulations by a simple majority vote. No supermajority required. No gubernatorial veto.&nbsp;

Kansas adopted a legislative veto in 1939. However, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1984 as a violation of separation of powers and checks and balances. Amendment 1 overturns that ruling.&nbsp;

There isn’t much campaigning around Amendment 1. One pro-amendment special interest group is targeting voters with emotional mailers about “red tape” and unchecked bureaucrats, plus some questionably honest arguments about the Kansas legislature’s actual power. That’s sadly standard practice in the politics industry, especially in political advertising.&nbsp;

A legislative veto sounds harmless, but there are some real concerns.&nbsp;

First, it upends traditional checks and balances. The legislature currently has the power to stop rules and regulations by passing a law. However, if you prefer the legislature to have more power than it does now, then you might like a change.&nbsp;

Second, it might become another tool for partisan and ideological warfare. In Kansas, that realistically means a very conservative Republican legislature vetoing actions by a Democratic governor like Laura Kelly. Partisan readers probably see the stakes here for their party teams.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Third, the legislature could cripple the ability of a governor to implement laws. Legislatures cannot implement laws themselves. If the legislature becomes super activist in using a legislative veto, then how much will laws actually get enforced?&nbsp;

Fourth, it puts more burden on the part-time legislature to solve problems. Legislatures are often better at saying “no” than saying “yes” to difficult policy solutions. Think of all the problems that fester while legislatures don’t act. If a legislature vetoes executive branch action to address problems, then who in government is solving problems?&nbsp;

Fifth, it might empower special interests that dominate the legislature. For example, if interests that are strongly opposed to environmental regulation have a stranglehold over the legislature, then they have an easier path to stopping government regulations around things like clean drinking water or ground contaminants.&nbsp;

Ultimately, Amendment 1 is about how much you trust the Kansas legislature. If you want a more powerful legislature, then voting “yes” on the amendment may be for you. However, if you trust the legislature less and prefer more traditional checks and balances, then voting “no” might suit you better. It’s your choice, Kansas.&nbsp;

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575644168170.png" alt="Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>Kansans will soon vote on Constitutional Amendment 1 (also called HCR 5014), which creates a “legislative veto.” At stake is an important but dull topic to most — checks and balances.&nbsp;Civics 101 time.&nbsp;Legislatures make laws, often using vague language. Governors and the state agencies they direct (the “executive branch”) create concrete rules and regulations to implement those vague laws. Government agencies are the “bureaucracy,” and most government workers (e.g., police, child welfare workers, food inspectors, teachers, or soldiers) are “bureaucrats.”&nbsp;You probably remember checks and balances. Governors can veto bills that the legislature passes, but a supermajority of legislators can override that veto and make that bill law. And, if the executive branch develops rules or regulations that the legislature dislikes, then the legislature can pass a bill overturning those and override a governor’s veto of that bill.&nbsp;That’s how Kansas works now.&nbsp;&nbsp;Amendment 1 changes that process to give the legislature relatively more power over a governor, altering traditional checks and balances. It allows the legislature to “veto” executive branch rules or regulations by a simple majority vote. No supermajority required. No gubernatorial veto.&nbsp;Kansas adopted a legislative veto in 1939. However, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1984 as a violation of separation of powers and checks and balances. Amendment 1 overturns that ruling.&nbsp;There isn’t much campaigning around Amendment 1. One pro-amendment special interest group is targeting voters with emotional mailers about “red tape” and unchecked bureaucrats, plus some questionably honest arguments about the Kansas legislature’s actual power. That’s sadly standard practice in the politics industry, especially in political advertising.&nbsp;A legislative veto sounds harmless, but there are some real concerns.&nbsp;First, it upends traditional checks and balances. The legislature currently has the power to stop rules and regulations by passing a law. However, if you prefer the legislature to have more power than it does now, then you might like a change.&nbsp;Second, it might become another tool for partisan and ideological warfare. In Kansas, that realistically means a very conservative Republican legislature vetoing actions by a Democratic governor like Laura Kelly. Partisan readers probably see the stakes here for their party teams.&nbsp;&nbsp;Third, the legislature could cripple the ability of a governor to implement laws. Legislatures cannot implement laws themselves. If the legislature becomes super activist in using a legislative veto, then how much will laws actually get enforced?&nbsp;Fourth, it puts more burden on the part-time legislature to solve problems. Legislatures are often better at saying “no” than saying “yes” to difficult policy solutions. Think of all the problems that fester while legislatures don’t act. If a legislature vetoes executive branch action to address problems, then who in government is solving problems?&nbsp;Fifth, it might empower special interests that dominate the legislature. For example, if interests that are strongly opposed to environmental regulation have a stranglehold over the legislature, then they have an easier path to stopping government regulations around things like clean drinking water or ground contaminants.&nbsp;Ultimately, Amendment 1 is about how much you trust the Kansas legislature. If you want a more powerful legislature, then voting “yes” on the amendment may be for you. However, if you trust the legislature less and prefer more traditional checks and balances, then voting “no” might suit you better. It’s your choice, Kansas.&nbsp;Patrick R. Miller is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.&nbsp;

Opinion