August 02 2024

1 Kansas Bids Big to Lure NFL Chiefs and MLB Royals from Missouri
2 New Farm Bill Unlikely as 2018 Extension Nears End
3 Former Kansas GOP Governors Split Endorsements in 2nd District Primary
4 Kansas 2nd District GOP Candidates Ramp Up TV Ad Campaigns
5 Corn Sweat: How Kansas Crops Impact Local Weather
Sports

1 Kansas Bids Big to Lure NFL Chiefs and MLB Royals from Missouri

Kansas enters high-stakes battle to attract Kansas City Chiefs and Royals with potentially record-breaking stadium subsidies.

For decades, academic research has been clear: Taxpayers almost never get their money back on subsidized sports stadiums. And yet, over and over again, U.S. cities and states find themselves locked in lopsided negotiations with beloved football, baseball and basketball teams, hoping to keep them from jumping to a new market. In the newest bidding war, Kansas aims to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lure the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs or MLB’s Royals from their side-by-side stadiums in Missouri just a few miles away. It could be one of the most expensive stadium deals yet, according to Victor Matheson, a researcher who studies stadium subsidies.

Article Source: KS Reflector

2 New Farm Bill Unlikely as 2018 Extension Nears End

Lawmakers face tight deadline and disputes over nutrition and farm support programs, making a new farm bill unlikely this year.

There likely won’t be a new farm bill this year as lawmakers run out of time to debate. The extension of the 2018 Farm Bill – which expired on Sept. 30, 2023 with the end of the crop year – ends on Sept. 30, 2024. “Even if things had been going well, the likelihood that something as complicated as the farm bill can be worked out in that stretch is highly unlikely,” said Jonathan Coppess, an agriculture policy expert at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “But things have not been going well.” Fights over nutrition assistance and farm support programs are holding up the massive legislation, which sets funding and policy for food benefits and agriculture operations.

Article Source: KCUR

3 Former Kansas GOP Governors Split Endorsements in 2nd District Primary

Derek Schmidt gains Jeff Colyer's endorsement, while Sam Brownback backs Jeff Kahrs in the competitive Republican primary.

Former Attorney General Derek Schmidt continued Thursday to consolidate support in the Republican primary for the open 2nd District congressional seat by adding the endorsement of former GOP Gov. Jeff Colyer. The support of Colyer was significant given that former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who preceded Colyer as governor in Kansas, endorsed Republican candidate Jeff Kahrs in May. Kahrs served in the Brownback administration, and both Brownback and Kahrs were appointees in the administration of President Donald Trump.

Article Source: KS Reflector

4 Kansas 2nd District GOP Candidates Ramp Up TV Ad Campaigns

Schmidt, Tiffany, and Kahrs release contrasting TV ads, highlighting experience, Trump ties, and conservative values ahead of the primary.

Republican candidates for Kansas’s 2nd District have released seven TV ads in the runup to the primary election, highlighting what separates the candidates even as they largely focus on the same handful of issues. Former Attorney General Derek Schmidt, rancher Shawn Tiffany and health and human services official Jeff Kahrs are vying to fill the seat U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kansas, will vacate at the end of the term.

Schmidt is the front-runner, according to a poll from May, and only Republican candidate in the race who has held elected office before. His two ads lean into his experience as an elected official, highlighting wins as attorney general against the Biden administration. The first ad portrays Schmidt in his garage fixing an old truck and compares it to his work in politics getting his hands dirty and getting “America running again.” The second ad is centered around “standing tall” for conservative values.

Kahrs' lone ad plays up his role as a Donald Trump appointee, with the lead of the ad stating, “President Trump chose Jeff Kahrs.” During the Trump administration, Trump appointed Kahrs as a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services.
The ad was released two weeks before Trump endorsed Schmidt in the race.

Tiffany’s four ads are the most attention-grabbing; one includes a parody of Jimmy Dean’s song “Big Bad John” and markets the candidate as “conservative cowboy Big Shawn.” He’s also produced the only attack ad in the race against Schmidt, criticizing what he characterizes as a “liberal voting record” over B-roll of manure.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

5 Corn Sweat: How Kansas Crops Impact Local Weather

Evapotranspiration from corn fields increases humidity and heat-index values, affecting local weather conditions significantly.

Corn is a popular and important crop across the Midwest and Central Plains, but did you know that it can affect the weather locally? It’s a term called “corn sweat.” Corn and other crops throughout the growing season draw up water from the soil and give off moisture through their leaves in a process called evapotranspiration. This moisture released by the corn leaves is then transported by the wind. It increases humidity levels and results in higher heat-index values, making it feel hotter around crops. Just one acre of corn can sweat about 3,000-4,000 gallons of water per day. The added moisture in the air can increase dew points anywhere from 5-10 degrees.

Article Source: KWCH

Sports

Royals 7 v Detroit 1

Tonight
Royals v Detroit

Weekend
Royals v Detroit (2x)

Sources

1. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/02/kansas-v-missouri-stadium-battle-shows-how-states-are-reigniting-border-wars/

2. https://www.kcur.org/news/2024-08-01/farm-bill-unlikely-extension

3. https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/former-kansas-gop-governors-split-in-2nd-district-colyer-for-schmidt-brownback-for-kahrs/

4. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/08/02/kansas-candidates-for-congress-agree-on-issues-differ-on-ad-strategy/74630766007

5. https://www.kwch.com/2024/07/31/how-popular-kansas-crop-can-affect-local-weather/?tbref=hp