July 2022

HAYS — Many of the cattle killed by heat stress last month in southwest Kansas went into a landfill. But that sudden extreme weather event, coupled with limited disposal options, meant that livestock owners might not have had much of a choice.

I heard a story about a young man, traveling by train from the Western USA to attend Princeton University, many years ago. When he arrived in Trenton, NJ, he was told that his best connection would be to walk a couple blocks from the railroad station to take a streetcar. He thought he could find his way without asking for information from anyone, so he hopped on the one marked “Princeton”. He paid his fare immediately and then a second fare when the conductor came through the car. He paid a third time at the next zone of travel as well. At this time, he noticed they were coming to the end of the line because the conductor was turning the seats around to face the other direction. The student asked, “Which way is Princeton’s campus?” The conductor was dumbfounded and told him he should have taken the streetcar in the other direction as he had traveled a good distance the opposite direction, all the way to Hamilton Square.

By Blaise Mesa Kansas News Service TOPEKA — A new study gives fuel to arguments that the state could significantly spare children from landing in foster care if the state spent more on things like food benefits for struggling families. A University of Kansas study estimated foster care caseloads could drop by 14% if taxpayers spent more heavily on family food benefits.