August 26 2024

1 K-State Researchers Developing Autonomous Irrigation System
2 Kansas Private Colleges See Enrollment Growth
3 Kansas Joins Texas-Led Lawsuit Against Immigration Program
4 Kansas Sees Significant Improvement in Mental Health Care Access
5 How Boeing Manufacturing Errors Led to Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 Incident
Sports

1 K-State Researchers Developing Autonomous Irrigation System

MOUNDRIDGE, Kan. (KSNW) — Researchers at K-State are using innovative ways to make farming more efficient. Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti is the director of the Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics. “Our main concept is to be more precise on how you use resources,” Dr. Ciampitti said. “So think about very, very simple. So when you are thinking about applying water to the field, if you are applying water to the entire field, there are many sections of the field. Most likely they’re going to need different water needs, mainly based on the size of the plants.” An autonomous irrigation system is precise in how much water and nutrients are placed in one spot. “This machine, what it’s basically doing in the field right now is helping to be better at using this limited resource, because water is a very limited resource,” Dr. Ciampitti said. “Trying to be as efficient as possible to make sure the water gets closer to the roots and minimize, basically, any losses.”

Article Source: KSN

2 Kansas Private Colleges See Enrollment Growth

McPherson College and Kansas Wesleyan University have both been around over 135 years, but that’s not the only thing the two schools have in common. They’re both private schools that have recently grown in size and experienced some big changes on campus.  Class is back in session and as Kansas colleges settle into the flow of the school year, we get a peek into how and why these institutions seem to grow each year.  “This is a campus that as you can see in the background we’re on the move, we’re growing and I think that’s something families are looking for,” said Amanda Gutierrez, vice president automotive restoration McPherson College.  Gutierrez says the school has seen large building improvements recently, like a newly redone sports center, new grab and go lunch spot, and a soon to be completed campus center for students.  She says their student debt project that was started in 2018 has also potentially increased enrollment. “We’re building a campus community that’s a place students want to be,” said Gutierrez.  Some students say it's the small school atmosphere that brings an increase in enrollment.  “You really get to connect 1 on 1 with the faculty and the staff, so that’s nice,” said Tate Ornelas, McPherson College junior who’s studying psychology and sociology.  This year McPherson College welcomed its largest ever freshman class (319 students) while also bolstering a retention rate of 75%. It's freshman class grew 35% with total enrollment up 5%. The Kansas Board of Regents publishes colleges across Kansas’s enrollment numbers after the 20th day of classes so these are just preliminary enrollment numbers, but both Hesston College and Fort Hays State University also say they have seen an increase in this year’s student enrollment. Is this a trend throughout Kansas? We’ll find out after the 20th day of classes.

Article Source: KAKE

3 Kansas Joins Texas-Led Lawsuit Against Immigration Program

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has joined a Texas-led lawsuit against President Joe Biden's administration over a program protecting undocumented immigrant spouses and stepchildren of American citizens from having to leave the country. The lawsuit challenges the so-called "parole in place" program, which is intended to keep families together by allowing noncitizen spouses and children to apply for permanent residency without being required to leave the United States, as was previously required. The Biden administration announced the policy change, formally known as Keeping Families Together, on June 18. It was implemented Aug. 19. The federal lawsuit was filed Friday by 16 states in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

4 Kansas Sees Significant Improvement in Mental Health Care Access

Mental health care can be hard to access in Kansas. One study’s findings suggest things could be looking up. The 2024 State of Mental Health in America report shows a big improvement in Kansas’ ranking. Kansas jumped from being the state with the worst mental health care access to number 22 in rank.

Article Source: KSN

5 How Boeing Manufacturing Errors Led to Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 Incident

The near-catastrophic midair blowout of a door-sized fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January was caused by two distinct manufacturing errors by different crews on successive days last fall in Boeing’s assembly plant in Renton, Washington. The first manufacturing lapse occurred within a four-hour window early Sept. 18. On the evening of the next day, in the space of about an hour, the second error was made by a different crew of mechanics, untrained to work on that fuselage panel, known as a door plug, according to federal investigative and internal Boeing records. Boeing’s quality control system failed to catch the faulty work performed within those two windows.

Article Source: Wichita Eagle

Sports

The Kansas City Royals dropped two games to the Phillies over the weekend but bounced back with a 4-3 win against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians in the first game of Monday's doubleheader. The Royals, now 73-58 and 2nd in the AL Central, trail Cleveland by two games. They play the second game of the doubleheader tonight at 6:40 p.m., with another matchup scheduled for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sporting KC secured a 3-0 victory over Orlando Saturday night.

Sources

1. https://www.ksn.com/news/kansas-farmers-looking-at-innovative-technology-to-improve-efficiency/

2. https://www.kake.com/community/the-tale-of-2-private-colleges-enrollment-numbers-up-at-kansas-colleges/article_9512741e-61a5-11ef-9119-f70f46707d27.html

3. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2024/08/26/kansas-joins-texas-immigration-lawsuit-against-parole-in-place-program/74952212007/

4. https://www.ksn.com/news/health/kansas-sees-increase-in-mental-healthcare-access/

5. https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article291483340.html