Week of July 30 2024
Issue 5
Local
FLASH McPherson metro area downgraded to “Abnormally Dry” by US Drought Monitor
1 Proposed 2025 McPherson City budget lowers mill levy, raises $8 million
2 McPherson County Community Foundation to hold Mastermind McPherson County summit on August 1
3 Turkey Creek Golf Course to install new irrigation system
4 McPherson to pilot “Love, Kansas” recruitment program
5 Lindsborg Old Mill and Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery win grants
State
1 KS students increasingly opt for online schooling
2 Farm income plunges
3 KS 1 of 10 states nationally that have not expanded Medicaid
Nation
1 Democratic Party on-track to back Harris as presidential nominee
2 Secret Service Director resigns in wake of Trump assassination attempt
3 Joint Russian and Chinese bombers intercepted near Alaska
This week’s column: What’s the matter with Kansas?
Contact: gregloving@protonmail.com
LOCAL
FLASH McPherson metro area downgraded to “Abnormally Dry” by US Drought Monitor
1 Proposed 2025 McPherson City budget lowers mill levy, raises $8 million
The McPherson City Council unveiled its proposed 2025 budget at the July 23 meeting. The proposed mill levy for 2025 is set at 53.238, slightly lower than the 2024 mill levy of 53.267. This adjustment is expected to generate $8 million in ad valorem tax revenue based on an overall assessed valuation of $150 million, representing a 4% increase in revenue over the 2024 tax intake of $7.7 million. Key investments include fully staffing the police department, operational costs for the new North Fire Station, upgrading parks, and addressing aging infrastructure such as streets and sanitary sewers. Public input will be sought at a hearing scheduled for August 20, 2024, at the McPherson Municipal Center.
Source: City of McPherson
2 McPherson County Community Foundation to hold Mastermind McPherson County summit on August 1
The McPherson County Community Foundation is gearing up for its second annual Mastermind McPherson County summit on August 1, 2024. Betsy Davis, representing the foundation, shared that the event will unveil results from a county-wide survey that saw a 50% increase in responses from last year. Last year’s summit attracted over 100 participants from across the county, who discussed important issues such as placemaking, leadership, economic development, community health, and childcare. Additionally, a planning meeting on August 29, 2024, will bring together various planners to foster cohesive and transparent planning efforts across the county.
Source: City of McPherson
3 Turkey Creek Golf Course to install new irrigation system
The Turkey Creek Golf Course is set to undergo an upgrade with a new irrigation system. Pearson Golf Construction, based in Baldwin City, Kansas, secured the project with a bid of $2.9 million, under the $3.3 million budget estimate. The project attracted five competitive bids, reflecting substantial interest from contractors. Slated to begin in September, the project aims for completion by January 2025. The city is arranging temporary funding to cover initial costs, which will be rolled into a larger bond issuance next year.
Source: City of McPherson
4 McPherson to pilot “Love, Kansas” recruitment program
McPherson is among 19 Kansas communities piloting the "Love Kansas" project to attract former Kansans back to live and work in the state. Kasi Morales, Executive Director of the McPherson Industrial Development Company, introduced the initiative at the McPherson Chamber of Commerce Connection meeting last Thursday. Morales highlighted the partnership's benefits, emphasizing the resources provided to help recruit people back to McPherson. The "Love Kansas" project, launched by the Kansas Department of Commerce, reflects the passion of Commerce Secretary and Lieutenant Governor David Tolan, who himself was enticed back to his native Iola by similar efforts.
Source: Ad Astra Radio Daily: McPherson Podcast News
5 Lindsborg Old Mill and Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery win grants
In McPherson County, the Kansas Arts Commission has awarded funding to he Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum and Birger Sandzen Memorial Foundation/Gallery, both in Linsborg. The Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum received $16,419 to support its cultural initiatives. Additionally, the Birger Sandzen Memorial Foundation/Gallery was granted $4,701. These funds are part of statewide grants for various creative projects across the state totaling $1.3 million. These funds aim to support and enhance local arts initiatives, benefiting both artists and communities. Projects include public art installations, educational programs, and performances.
Source: Kansas Commerce Dept
STATE
1 KS students increasingly opt for online schooling
Wichita back-to-school season weeks away, more districts are expanding online learning programs and with open enrollment starting this year, they’re expecting more online learnings. The 2024-25 school year will be the first in Kansas with open enrollment, giving students the chance to attend schools outside of the district in which they live. It’s already having an impact on online learning. “What we’re finding is we’re actually losing some students. Some students come to us because of dissatisfaction with their current district now with the option of many other districts that have open enrollment. They’ve applied there and and some of our students have chosen to go there instead of E-Academy,” said Andover eCademy Principal Mark Templin. Some school districts, like Derby, are launching online learning academies for the first time for the 2024-25 school year. United Teachers of Wichita Vice President Mike Harris said while options will continue to expand, he doesn’t expect in-person classes to be affected. “I don’t know if the public is rushing to decrease the opportunities for their kids to be involved in traditional brick-and-motor classrooms and traditional learning environments,” Harris said. Templin said despite more competition, online schools will continue to fill up. ‘The student may be involved in athletics or an activity that the school doesn’t offer, and some students just like learning virtually and not dealing with all of the things that they may have to deal with in a traditional brick-and-mortar school,” he said. “Plus, colleges are going more and more to virtual education.”
Article Source: KWCH
2 Farm income plunges
Net farm income is on track to plummet more than 25%, or $43 billion, the largest single-year decline on record, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The expected drop in income is coming after a 19% decline from 2022 to 2023, underscoring the significant pressures that farmers face across the country. According to the latest Beige Book, a summary of economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve districts, agricultural conditions have been mixed so far this year. Livestock and poultry farmers are capitalizing on lower feed costs amid strong demand, while row crop, fruit and vegetable growers struggle. Ultimately though, lenders expect farm incomes to continue deteriorating. “I have never known a worse time in my 40 years of farming,” David Dunlow, farmer and chairman of the American Cotton Producers, told the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday as part of a hearing on farm income. “Some of these expenses have nearly doubled, and my margins have narrowed over the last several years. Things have gotten so bad that these days a bumper crop is required just to break even.” Corn growers, for example, would have to produce 27% more bushels per acre compared to the past 10-year average just to break even, Allen-Tulley said. For soybeans, farmers would need a 12% increase in yields. The same sentiment is true for wheat, sorghum, peanuts, rice, cotton and other commodities, she said.
Article Source: Agriculture Dive
3 KS 1 of 10 states nationally that have not expanded Medicaid
Nearly 1 of every 5 uninsured working-age adults across the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are, according to a new analysis, stuck in a health care limbo known as a “coverage gap.” That means they earn too much money to receive Medicaid but not enough to qualify for financial help to purchase their own plan on the marketplace. In Alabama and Mississippi, more than a quarter of uninsured working-age adults are left with no affordable pathways to health coverage, according to the analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank that researches federal and state budget policies. Overall, 1.6 million adults between the ages of 19 and 64 face the situation in the non-expansion states. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was enacted in 2010, but 10 states have not expanded Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care for low-income people. They are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Article Source: KS Reflector
NATION
1 Democratic Party on-track to back Harris as presidential nominee
Future Forward, the flagship super PAC blessed by President JOE BIDEN, received $150 million in new commitments from major Democratic donors in the 24 hours since the president announced he would step aside from the race, Elena Schneider reports. The fundraising boon — described by a senior Future Forward aide and shared first with POLITICO — gives VP KAMALA HARRIS, Biden’s endorsed successor, an enormous boost as the Democratic Party reorients to a new nominee. Future Forward already had $122 million in cash on hand as of the end of June, according to Federal Elections Commission filings. Before Biden dropped out, several major Democratic donors threatened to withhold their donations after the president’s feeble performance in the June debate. The senior aide described these donors, who had pledged $150 million, as having been stalled but now doubling down. HARRIS’ RUNWAY IS CLEAR — It’s been less than 24 hours since Biden’s historic announcement that he would step aside as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate and endorse Harris as his successor. And at this moment, her runway to the nomination is unobstructed. After a flurry of reports that Sen. JOE MANCHIN (I-W.Va.) was on the receiving end of interest from donors eager to see the centrist make a run for the nomination, Manchin told CBS News’ Gayle King that he was “not running for office,” Andrew Howard reports. (Roughly one hour earlier, he told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that “people are pushing in that direction” when asked about a potential campaign.) Almost every major potential Democratic contender has endorsed Harris, including statements today from Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER, Maryland Gov. WES MOORE and Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday she had secured enough verbal commitments from delegates to the Democratic National Convention to clinch the party’s presidential nomination — with her home state of California putting her over the threshold less than two days into her presidential bid.
Ed note: Harris’s odds of being the Dem nominee have increased to 97% in betting markets
Article Source: Politico, Polymarket
2 Secret Service Director resigns in wake of Trump assassination attempt
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is stepping down after taking responsibility for security failures at a campaign rally where former President Donald Trump was shot. A political firestorm engulfed the agency after the July 13 shooting with Republican and Democratic lawmakers calling for Cheatle to resign. The attack, which left Trump wounded and one person dead, marked the closest anyone had come to assassinating a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. The agency and Cheatle herself faced a barrage of criticism from lawmakers, former homeland security officials, and others about why the perimeter of Trump’s rally was left vulnerable to the attack. US officials have said that the assailant fired from the roof of a nearby building.
Article Source: Bloomberg
3 Joint Russian and Chinese bombers intercepted near Alaska
Russian and Chinese warplanes were intercepted off the coast of Alaska by U.S. and Canadian fighters Wednesday, marking the first time strategic bombers from the two U.S. adversaries have operated together near North America, a U.S. official said. Two Russian TU-95 Bear and two Chinese H-6 bombers flew into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a buffer zone in international airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. The flights, which came as close as 200 miles off the Alaskan coast, were the most recent sign of growing military and security cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
Article Source: WSJ
Sources
2. https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMcPhersonLocalGovernment/videos/770397341701270
3. https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMcPhersonLocalGovernment/videos/770397341701270
4. https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMcPhersonLocalGovernment/videos/770397341701270
5. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ad-astra-radio-daily/id1694025121?i=1000663423614
6. https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/kcaic/grant-recipients-2024-2025/
7. https://www.kwch.com/2024/07/24/more-districts-expanding-online-learning-programs-open-enrollment-begins/
8. https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/farmer-income-declines-farm-bill-congress/722284/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202024-07-24%20Agriculture%20Dive%20%5Bissue:64232%5D&utm_term=Agriculture%20Dive
9. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/07/21/in-the-10-states-that-didnt-expand-medicaid-1-6m-cant-afford-health-insurance/
10. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm/2024/07/22/scoop-harris-big-donor-money-bomb-00132333; https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/22/kamala-harris-has-enough-verbal-commitments-to-secure-democratic-nomination-00170535; https://polymarket.com/event/democratic-nominee-2024?tid=1721733425821
11. https://www.bloomberg.com/en/news/thp/2024-07-23/ap-newsalert-secret-service-director-kimberly-cheatle-resigns-after-assassination-attempt-against-former-president-trump-at
12. https://www.wsj.com/world/u-s-intercepts-russian-and-chinese-bombers-on-first-joint-mission-off-alaska-4d3e4927?st=fjecdi2qacevnmz&reflink=article_copyURL_share