MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The Manhattan City Commission has approved a plan to convert half of its energy use to wind power.

The Mercury reports that the commission Tuesday backed a 20-year agreement with Westar Energy for the 300-megawatt Soldier Creek Wind Farm in northeast Kansas, a project that will be complete in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The city has paid Westar about $2.6 million a year for the past five years. Officials say the agreement with Westar will save the city $50,000 a year for the next 20 years.

Kansas State University has entered the same agreement with Westar.

Scott Arthur, Barton Community College’s new Art Instructor, poses for a photo in the college’s painting studio.

BUSINESS NEWS

Story and photo by Brandon Steinert

Scott Arthur has been soaking up every moment spent influencing and impacting his pupils as Barton Community College’s new Art Instructor since he began prior to the fall semester, saying he finds purpose in teaching.

Arthur comes to Barton with more than two decades of experience and training in painting, drawing, graphic design and other artistic endeavors, a jack of all trades. However, his love for art didn’t surface until later in his education.

“No one in my family knew anything about it; it wasn’t in my upbringing,” he said. “I got drawn to it. I took a photography class, then took a painting class. I loved it.”

He said his experience so far at Barton has been rewarding, citing talented students and an environment friendly to the arts.

“I’ve never been to a school as supportive of the arts as Barton; it’s been nice,” he said.

He said in his artist statement that his work has changed over the years, but it all focuses on everyday observations of typical things throughout the day, from coffee cups and parking lots to human figures.

“I feel my work exists in the middle ground between myself and the subject I am painting,” he said in his statement. “This space is where I meet my subject. Allowing each experience to influence the choices I make while painting is essential to the conversation between the subject and myself. While I begin with observation, my hope is to capture what is essential in what I see and feel, more than simply recording the information before me.”

Ultimately, he said he is here for the students and to help them realize their potential as creators.

“I love teaching,” he said. “Some artists teach to support themselves as artists, but I really enjoy passing along what others taught me. It’s great to see students have their breakthroughs and neat to see where they start and how they progress as the semester goes on.”

Biography

Scott Arthur was born in Bushnell, IL. He graduated from Western Illinois University and studied painting with Michael Mahoney and sculpture with Don Crouch. After completing a second bachelor degree in graphic design Scott began living and working in Chicago, Ill. and later Oakland, Cali. He worked as a graphic artist and art director for the next ten years. In the fall of 2008 he was admitted to the Master of Arts painting program at Eastern Illinois University. After completing the program, Scott began teaching at Carl Sandburg College. The following year he was accepted into the Master of Fine Arts program at Louisiana State University. While at LSU Scott studied with Rick Ortner, Denyce Celentano, Ed Smith, James Beaman, and Kelli Scott Kelley.

Education

M.F.A., Louisiana State University, May 2013 – Concentration: Painting and Drawing

M.A., Art, Eastern Illinois University, May 2009 – Concentration: Painting and Drawing

B.A., Individual Studies, Western Illinois University, May 1999 – Concentration: Graphic Design

B.A., Art, Western Illinois University, July 1995 – Concentration: Painting and Drawing

Teaching Experience

Barton Community College, Missouri University of Science & Technology, MacMurray College,  Carl Sandburg College, Louisiana State University, University of Louisiana Lafayette and Eastern Illinois University.

Dr. Jeff Briggs

A more than 30-year tradition at Fort Hays State University stopped through Great Bend this month as part of the president’s tour. Dr. Jeff Briggs filled in as acting president as Tisa Mason was recovering from illness.

While speaking at the Eagle Media Center in Great Bend, Briggs noted the increase in enrollment up to 15,523 students this fall, 423 more than last year. He accredits the constant increase over the years to the investment the university made in the late 1990s into their virtual college online program.

Jeff Briggs Audio

Briggs says the university is meeting their mission of being a state-supported institution by serving 7,848 Kansans this fall, a 3.6-percent increase from last year. Along with sharing FHSU’s story, the tour is also meant to show appreciation to communities like Barton County and Barton Community College.

Jeff Briggs Audio

Briggs made stops in 12 cities during the tour to meet with media and alumni.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic and moderate Republicans lawmakers worked together last year to try to make Kansas the latest state to expand Medicaid, only to see their bipartisan effort rewarded with a veto from former conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

The election this month of a governor who supports Medicaid expansion seemed to remove the biggest hurdle for those hoping to bring health coverage to thousands of the state’s poor. But it’s not that simple.

In the same election that put Democrat Laura Kelly in the governor’s office, Kansas voters also elected a more conservative Legislature. Any bill seeking to expand Medicaid will have a tougher time getting to the governor’s desk.

“I’m still looking at every possible way that we can stop that,” said state Rep. Dan Hawkins, a conservative Republican from Wichita who is chairman of the House’s health committee.

Republicans retained their large majorities in both chambers and will appoint the leaders of the committees, who can help them bottle up or kill legislation they don’t like. In this month’s election, conservatives gained at least half a dozen seats in the House and might replace the chamber’s majority leader, a moderate, with someone who leans further to the right. Hawkins is vying for the post.

In the Senate, the health committee chairwoman is a moderate Republican who was instrumental in pushing Medicaid expansion last year but is leaving her position after being elected state insurance commissioner. Her replacement is likely to be more conservative.

With conservatives in control of the majority party, Kelly will likely have to make concessions on Medicaid expansion to get enough support to pass the Legislature. One could be a work requirement for recipients, something other Republican-leaning states have imposed.

For her part, Kelly, a veteran state senator from Topeka, has promised to have a working group create a bipartisan plan.

“I’m not exactly sure what it will look like yet,” she told The Associated Press recently. “I’m a fiscal realist, and I need to make sure whatever we present is doable.”

Medicaid provides health coverage for lower-income and disabled Americans, including 377,000 in Kansas, and is funded jointly by states and the federal government.

Thirty-five states have expanded Medicaid under the health care law signed by former President Barack Obama. Voters in Idaho, Utah and neighboring Nebraska approved expansions earlier this month.

In a 36th state, Maine, voters approved an expansion in 2017, only to see their Republican governor stymie it. But the newly elected Democratic governor promised to move ahead.

In Kansas, Brownback and departing Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer were the biggest reasons for the state not expanding the program. Both cited the cost of providing coverage to as many as 150,000 more people.

A much-disputed study for Brownback’s administration in 2015 suggested the state’s costs could reach more than $100 million a year. Some projections after that were lower: In 2018, Colyer’s budget office estimated a net cost of $22 million for the fiscal year beginning in July 2019.

The federal government paid the full cost of covering the expansion group until 2017 and will continue paying 90 percent starting in 2020.

Voters in Oregon, which approved the expansion early, approved taxes on hospitals, health insurers and managed care companies to pay for the program. In Montana, voters this month rejected a ballot measure that would have raised tobacco taxes to extend the state’s Medicaid expansion.

“We don’t want to take on something that we know is absolutely unaffordable and will require a tax increase,” said Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican.

But supporters point to the closing of a small nonprofit hospital in southeast Kansas — after a closing in another town in the region in 2015 — as a cost of not expanding Medicaid. Kelly said providing health coverage to more Kansas residents is “a moral obligation.”

Advocates also contend that expanding Medicaid in Kansas would reduce expenses associated with uncovered medical care, reduce the costs of some state programs, make it easier for some people to hold jobs and promote employment in health care.

The Kansas Hospital Association projects a net gain for the state.

“No, it’s not going to be easy, but it is easier from the standpoint that we have a governor who is going to push for it,” said Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Firefighters are preparing for their annual rescue of Santa Claus from a downtown Lawrence rooftop.

Santa is expected to “land” Friday night on the roof of Weaver’s Department Store. Firefighters then will use a ladder truck to climb up and rescue him.

Once on the ground, Santa will listen to the Christmas wishes of children and pose for pictures. Youth also can make crafts for their families.

The event coincides with the Lawrence holiday lighting ceremony.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 31-year-old woman was injured while holding onto a door of a stolen pickup truck in Wichita.

Police say the pickup was reported stolen Wednesday morning. The woman and a 30-year-old male with her apparently learned later that the pickup was seen at a Lost Sock laudromat.

Their pickup was still there when they arrived, and an argument soon broke out between them and a person sitting behind the wheel.

Police say the man fired his gun several times as the person in the truck tried to drive away. The woman grabbed onto the driver’s side door but let go when one of her legs struck a street sign.

No arrests have been reported, and it’s unclear whether the driver was struck by any of the bullets. Police haven’t released the names of those involved.

• Paul Johnson, Chair, U.S. Ag Coalition for Cuba, Chicago, Illinois
• Philip Peters, President, Cuba Research Center, Alexandria, Virginia
• Mirella Betancourt, Principal, Cuba Solutions LLC, Falls Church, Virginia
• Marsha Boswell, Director of Communications, Kansas Wheat, Manhattan, Kansas
• Marion Calmer, CEO of Calmer Corn Heads, Inc., Alpha, Illinois, and daughter Aliza
• Catalina Correa, Regional Marketing Specialist, U.S. Grains Council, Medellin, Colombia
• Hon. Rick Crawford, United States Representative, First District of Arkansas
• David Frederickson, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Richard Fritz, Managing Director, World Poultry Foundation, Huntsville, Alabama
• Tara Smith, Vice President, Michael Torrey Associates, Washington, D.C.
• Carl Hoverson, Chief Executive Officer, Hoverson Farms, Larimore, North Dakota
• Jon Mark and Marda Isbell, Zero Grade Farms, England, Arkansas
• Douglas Keesling, Keesling Farms, Past Chairman of the Kansas Wheat Commission, and Co-Chair of U.S. Ag Coalition for Cuba, Chase, Kansas
• Terry Jo Keesling, Keesling Farms, Chase, Kansas
• Chaitanya Kosaraju, Director, Industrial Trinidad Ammonia and International Feed Sales, Nutrien Ltd., Northbrook, Illinois
• Mark Mueller, Farmer and Director, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Waverly, Iowa
• Christopher Popio, Popio Stumpf Photography, Chicago, Illinois
• Joe Steinkamp, Farmer and Board of Directors, American Soybean Association, Evansville, Indiana

Chet Kuplen from Sports In Kansas guides us through the final week of high school football. A state championship edition with Chet.

By JORDAN WOLF
Associated Press

LAWRENCE (AP) — Sam Ehlinger threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score, and No. 11 Texas held off Kansas 24-17 on Friday to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game.

The Longhorns opened a 24-7 lead on Cameron Dicker’s 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, but the lowly Jayhawks responded with Peyton Bender’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Daylon Charlot and recovered the ensuing onside kick.

After Gabriel Rui made it a one-score game with a 45-yard field goal with 1:37 remaining, Kansas was unable to recover another onside kick and Texas (9-3, 7-2, No. 15 CFP) closed out its third consecutive victory.

Tre Watson finished with 79 yards on 14 carries as Texas continued its strong second season under coach Tom Herman.

Ehlinger threw two interceptions, but he made enough plays to get another win. The Longhorns had a 98-yard drive on their first possession that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Collin Johnson.

Texas’ offense struggled for much of the first half, and then got back on track in the third quarter. Watson’s 31-yard run helped set up Andrew Beck’s 5-yard touchdown reception, and Ehlinger’s 3-yard TD run made it 21-0 with 1:02 left.

Kansas (3-9, 1-8) dropped its last four games in David Beaty’s final season as Jayhawks coach.

Les Miles was hired Sunday to replace Beaty.

Pooka Williams Jr. had 18 carries for 103 yards for Kansas, including a 57-yard touchdown run in the fourth. Bender was 18 for 35 for 159 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY
Texas: It was a sweet day for the Longhorns after its 2016 loss at Memorial Stadium ended a string of 13 consecutive wins over the Jayhawks, likely sealed the fate of embattled coach Charlie Strong and ultimately led to Herman’s hiring away from Houston.

Kansas: Fails to send Beaty off with a win, capping another losing season.

UP NEXT
Texas: Will face the winner of Friday night’s showdown between No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 12 West Virginia in the Big 12 championship.

Kansas: The Miles era begins in earnest.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas man has been imprisoned for downloading child pornography from the internet.

Federal prosecutors say 31-year-old Shane Ragsdale, of Hutchinson, was given 90 months at his sentencing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Wichita.

Ragsdale had pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted to using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to download the porn.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old who was taken at gunpoint from a Topeka apartment has been found safe and two men have been arrested.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that an Amber Alert was issued for the 16-year-old after the abduction was reported around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Topeka police Lt. Manny Munoz says the assailants left after brandishing a silver handgun and “ordering everyone on the ground.”

Several hours later, police announced that the 16-year-old had been located in “good health,” along with one of the suspects. Police say that suspect and another suspect were later booked into jail on suspicion of aggravated burglary. Both of the suspects are 19.

It wasn’t known where the 16-year-old was found.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Outgoing Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer has signed an executive order giving paid parental leave to more than 17,000 government employees.

The order signed Wednesday makes all state employees under the governor’s jurisdiction eligible for paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Primary caregivers will receive six weeks of paid leave, while secondary caregivers will receive three weeks. During the leave, employees will receive 100 percent of their regular salary, The Wichita Eagle reports.

“I think this is an important initiative for all Kansans” Colyer said in a statement. “It shows how important our children are to us and how much we value family here in Kansas.”

The order doesn’t apply to the Legislature or judicial branch. Agencies headed by other elected officials, such as the secretary of state’s office, also aren’t included. With the order, Kansas becomes one of 15 states, including Missouri, to provide paid parental leave to employees.

“I want state employees to have the same type of benefits that you see in private businesses across our state and nation; and I encourage all other statewide elected officials and agencies to adopt comparable policies for their employees,” Colyer said.

Colyer spokeswoman Kara Zeyer said the state’s previous policy allowed employees to use vacation or sick time when taking leave.

The Kansas City-based Women’s Foundation quickly congratulated Colyer on the move, which comes in his final months in office.

“This is great news for state employees, and all Kansans who will benefit from a healthier, stronger and more productive state workforce,” Wendy Doyle, President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation, said in a statement.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a tractor-trailer driver who rolled his rig on the Kansas Turnpike told officers he was distracted by a toothache.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority says the 49-year-old driver from Olathe wasn’t hurt. But The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that traffic was blocked for nearly two hours early Friday after the wreck in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 in Shawnee County.

The accident report says the driver became distracted by a toothache, rested his hand on his chin and drifted off the road onto the shoulder. The driver then overcorrected, crossed the highway, saw he was going to strike the wall between the turnpike’s eastbound and westbound lanes and overcorrected again. That caused the rig to fall onto its side, blocking off all three of the highway’s westbound lanes.

The Great Bend Convention Center has been renamed as the Great Bend Events Center for a couple of years now, but one of its prime objectives is to still attract conventions.

Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes says that has not been easy with a nonoperational hotel next door. The Great Bend Hotel and Convention Center to the east has been closed for years and has struggled even when it was open.

Christina Hayes Audio

The Events Center, at 3111 10^th Street, has hosted several wedding receptions, meetings, fundraiser dinners, and other events but the large convention that brings a lot of people into town has mostly eluded the City of Great Bend.

Hayes says the North American Falconers Association wants to bring their annual conference to Great Bend next November. Falconers us live falcons as hunting tools, sending the birds out to snatch up prey.

Christina Hayes Audio

Hayes noted they are still working out the details to bring NAFA to Great Bend, but Cheyenne Bottoms was a big factor in attracting them to central Kansas. Hayes expected anywhere from 150 to 275 falcon hunters and their families to show up for the week.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — When iconic Dodge City, once the home to Wild West gunslingers and buffalo hunters, faced a lawsuit before the midterm elections for moving its sole polling place outside city limits, its top elections official turned to a hired legal gun to battle charges of voter suppression.

Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox hired Bradley Schlozman, who is little-known outside the legal community but well-known for defending states and towns accused of trying to restrict voting.

“I sort of liken it to someone who is accused of arson showing up at the trial with kerosene and matches,” Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said of the hiring of Schlozman.

Schlozman was a top lawyer in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the George W. Bush administration who has been involved in some of the thorniest voting issues of the last two decades.

At the Justice Department, Schlozman in 2005 backed Georgia, among the first states to enact a voter ID law, overruling the department’s career attorneys who had argued it would reduce voting by minorities. After a court struck it down as an unconstitutional poll tax because it required voters to pay for IDs, lawmakers revised it in 2006 to make it easier to get IDs for free.

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court approved Indiana’s voter ID law and now 34 states have laws requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to The National Conference of State Legislatures.

Georgia was at the center of a voting rights storm this year when Democratic candidate for governor, Stacy Abrams, refused to concede to Republican Brian Kemp though she had fewer votes, accusing him of attempting to discourage minority voters from going to the polls with a combination of measures including voter ID.

Dodge City also became an unlikely flashpoint in the recent fight over voting rights. The city of 27,000 people in remote western Kansas has been transformed by immigrants drawn to its two massive meatpacking plants and Hispanics now comprise 60 percent of the population. Cox cited upcoming construction in moving the only polling location in Dodge City , which services 13,000 voters, a mile outside city limits. Democrats and the ACLU said the location was inconvenient for Hispanics because it was a mile from the nearest bus stop.

The ACLU lost its bid for an emergency order to open another voting location just days before the election, but its lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort to force Cox to open additional polling sites in Dodge City for future elections.

In the end, turnout in Dodge City was up 3.25 percent compared to the 2014 midterm election, which the Kansas Democratic Party credits to its get-out-the-vote effort and the national spotlight on the city after the polling site move. Donations poured in to advertise the new polling location and hundreds of volunteers turned up to drive people to vote and to canvass neighborhoods. Early voting in Dodge City nearly doubled to 52.7 percent this election — making Ford County the number one county in Kansas for advance ballots as a share of the total vote.

Schlozman declined to be interviewed for this story, saying in an email that it is his practice to litigate cases in the courtroom, not the media. He pointed to the robust turnout as evidence that the polling location had little impact.

“My client is very pleased that Election Day appeared to run incredibly smoothly and that the voting process was virtually seamless. Indeed, this year saw record turnout numbers for a non-presidential election,” Schlozman said.

Many Americans are familiar with groups such as ACLU that push to make it easier to vote. They oppose many measures such as voter ID laws, purges of voting lists and closing or relocating polling stations. Less familiar are a small group of conservative lawyers, including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who champion what they call “voter integrity” laws aimed at preventing voter fraud and misconduct in administrating elections. Their issues erupted this year when some Florida Republicans accused Democratic-leaning county election managers of incompetence and misconduct in the tight governor and U.S. Senate races there, even though the GOP won both.

Schlozman has repeatedly dived into such fights since leaving the Justice Department in 2007. On his Wichita law practice website, Schlozman touts his representation of various states and cities and others sued over voting rights issues.

When Kobach introduced a requirement in Kansas that voters prove their U.S. citizenship, Schlozman wrote two legal briefs in 2016 supporting the Kansas law on behalf of the Indiana-based Public Interest Legal Foundation. A federal judge found the Kansas law unconstitutional, but the cases are still under appeal.

“On the right, I wouldn’t say that there is necessarily a single counterweight to a group like the ACLU if you are talking about the breadth of its reach or national recognition. But there are some groups that do engage in litigation work in this area. One of the ones that comes to mind immediately is the Public Interest Legal Foundation,” said Jason Snead, policy analyst in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

Schlozman also signed on to a brief filed in 2017 supporting Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s efforts to remove inactive voters from the rolls. A federal appeals court last month ordered Ohio to allow voters who had been purged from the rolls for not voting over a six-year period to participate in this year’s election.

“Mr. Schlozman representing the interests of the clerk (in Dodge City) shouldn’t surprise anyone — given his history of the lack of enforcement of voting rights cases when he was head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division,” said Barry Grissom, the former U.S. attorney in Kansas appointed by President Barack Obama.

Members of the Barton Dance Theatre, Barton’s dance company, pose for a photo in the woods.

BUSINESS NEWS

Students of the History of Dance class at Barton Community College invite the public to enjoy a free presentation titled Dancing Around the World at 7:30 p.m. November 28 in Studio 34, which is in the old housing units on the far southeast corner of campus. Students will be assisted by other students from the Barton Performing Arts Dance Department. Refreshments will be served.

The presentation will last about an hour, and will include background on cultural dances followed by demonstrations. Dances represented include West African, Jamaican, Russian, Persian, Hula, Columbian and Salsa.

“This event is meant to show how movement and dance is universal, connecting people across cultural boundaries,” Dance Instructor Danika Bielek said. The students used learning these dances as a way to increase cultural and historical awareness. Even though the students only just started learning these dances, they have gained a glimpse into the lives of others. The famous modern dance pioneer, Martha Graham, said ‘Movement never lies.’ You can learn so much about people by how they move!”

For more information, contact Bielek at (620) 792-9253 or bielekd@bartonccc.edu.

James Potter, representing Sunflower Diversified Services, helps run the concession stand at the Job Olympics at the Celebration Center in Lyons. Potter attended this year’s Disability Mentoring Day conference.

James Potter, a Sunflower Diversified Services client, spoke for himself and his peers when he said “we loved the whole thing.” Potter was referring to the recent Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) mini-conference in Great Bend where local groups shared information about community-employment resources for people with developmental disabilities and delays. But Potter and his peers were not the only ones who were impressed with the event, said Cody Harris, Sunflower’s community employment specialist.

“We have heard a lot of positive feedback – locally and statewide – because local entities worked so well together on our comprehensive agenda,” Harris said. “Since word has circulated about this quality event, we have already gained additional sponsorships for the 2019 DMD.”

Several local businesses and other entities joined the three Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) in sponsoring the conference. The MCOs are Aetna Better Health of Kansas, UnitedHealthcare and Sunflower Health Plan. They help people with special needs have access to medical care.

Statewide accolades came from Martha Gabehart, executive director of the Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns, who congratulated Harris and his team.

“I had no idea how far our first news release would travel,” Harris commented.

In addition to Sunflower individuals, people who rely on Rosewood Services and The Center for Counseling & Consultation participated in the DMD conference. Barton Community College helped organize the event and supplied facilitators for breakout sessions; Harris was the event coordinator.

“In our breakout sessions, we talked about topics such as job readiness and personal hygiene,” Harris noted. “Applicants have to get out there and demonstrate they are willing and able to work. We supplied information to help them do that.

“We did not use a lecture format,” he added. “Instead, each of the sessions was interactive. We talked with the people in the audience, not at them. I hope we opened some eyes about community-employment possibilities.”

Harris said Tami Allen, keynote speaker, did a great job when she talked about “Charting a Trajectory Toward a Good Life.” Allen is program director at Families Together in Garden City.

Allen said her keynote discussion was “an interactive presentation designed to help participants understand what they want and what they don’t want for a good life. We discussed what steps to take as they aim their trajectories toward the things they want out of life.

“Participants mentioned good health, employment and happiness as ingredients for a good life,” she continued. “Things to avoid included loneliness and bullying.”

Allen also noted that event organizers “came together for a meaningful conference. It was a pleasure to work with Cody Harris and his committee. He was enthusiastic and energetic about the opportunity to provide this unique event to people with disabilities.

“And he is already extremely excited to make it even bigger and better next year. I was impressed with the energy and encouragement throughout the conference. I was honored to be a part of it.”

USD 428 Director of Teaching and Learning Tricia Reiser says the Great Bend school district has between 80 and 85 students considered migrants. A migrant family moves from one place to another, oftentimes for work.

If a parent has to move a lot because of work, taking their children around from school to school can be difficult. USD 428 has a migrant program to help with those challenges. Reiser says the migrant program and its families meet once a month in the evening at the different school buildings throughout town.

Tricia Reiser Audio

The state audited USD 428’s migrant program in October and determined the district has exceeded expectations.

Reiser added there is not as much movement with their students and migrant families, but methods of tracking migrant students when they do leave has improved over the years.

Giving Tuesday rolls around once again November 27 as a challenge to support local charities. In Barton County, that means Golden Belt Community Foundation will be posted up in Great Bend and Hoisington accepting donations to your charitable organization of choice.

The Kansas Oil & Gas Museum in Great Bend will be participating in Giving Tuesday with an open house. Museum Curator Danielle Feist says there will also be an “unselfie challenge.”

Danielle Feist Audio

The open house happy hour at the museum will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Patrons can view the renovations that are taking place at the facility at 5944 10^th Street to upgrade the building’s flooring, walls, ceiling, and lighting.

Danielle Feist Audio

Giving Tuesday locations include the Golden Belt Community Foundation in Great Bend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Hoisington Chamber of Commerce, Larned Chamber, Golden Valley in Rozel, E-Z Mart in La Crosse, White’s Foodliner in St. John, and Paul’s Grocery in Stafford will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to receive donations.

BUSINESS NEWS

The Great Bend Recreation Commission will be hosting a free Stop ‘N Learn Session titled “Secrets of a Good Lawn” on Wednesday, November 28^th, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm at the Great Bend Activity Center (2715 18^th).  The mower may be put away for the winter, but that doesn’t mean you need to forget about your lawn.  Join us and learn about the biology, ecology and culture of good lawn management year-round during this educational program.  Alicia Boor, Cottonwood Extension District Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, will be the presenter for this program.  For more information about this program and other programs the Great Bend Rec offers, please go to our web site at www.greatbendrec.com or call the Recreation Commission office at 793-3755 ext. 110.