There were some existing populations of turkeys in Kansas, but they were primarily reintroduced in the 1970s. Turkey numbers continued to climb for the next few decades until the early 2000s.

The decline in the turkey population has several Kansas biologists concerned and wanting to take action to change the negative trend. State officials declined to make the suggested suspension of the fall turkey season, which goes from October to January.

Biologist Kent Fricke, with the Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism in Emporia, says biologists will look for other methods to increasing turkey numbers.

Kent Fricke Audio

The State of Kansas has touted that it is one of the premier hunting spots in the country for turkey. If the bird’s population continues to drop and hunters lack success, it could have a huge economic impact. Turkey hunters spend roughly $50 million a year on hunts in Kansas. Fricke says there was not discussion on the income factor when the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism Commission turned down their request to suspend the fall turkey season.

Kent Fricke Audio

There are six turkey units in Kansas. The upper ¾ of Barton County is listed in the North Central Unit, or Unit 2. Fricke says the turkey population in Unit 2 is doing well with a high turkey density but also a high hunter density. The lower quarter of Barton County is positioned in the South Central Unit, or Unit 5.

The Barton County Appraiser’s Office has to mail out certified valuation notices by March 1 to all taxpayers owning real estate. The Appraiser’s Office received a full response from companies across the country that handle bulk mailings. No business in Barton County handles such a task, so it forces the Appraiser’s Office to look elsewhere.

Barton County Appraiser Barb Esfeld says getting this job outsourced saves the department thousands of dollars.

Barb Esfeld Audio

At an international conference, Esfeld found out about a company called The Master’s Touch. Master’s Touch is a large company that handles bulk mailing and is charging Barton County $6,500 for the mailing of certificates of valuation notices.

Esfeld says this price will save the county $1,300 from last year’s mailing. The only county in Kansas using Master’s Touch is Bourbon County, but Esfeld feels that will change soon.

Barb Esfeld Audio

Barton County Commissioners approved the use of Master’s Touch for the bulk mailing. There will be nearly 18,000 real estate notices sent out in Barton County this year.

Esfeld told the Commission that taxpayers should see their notices in the mail either by March 1^st or March 2^nd.

Since Friday the Barton County Sheriff’s Office has responded to assist several fire departments in the county with structure fires. All were heating related.

The most serious of these fires occurred at about 11:30 p.m. February 10. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to 789 E. Kansas Highway 4 near Claflin. Upon arrival firefighters and deputies discovered a house fully involved. Investigation at the scene indicated that the house was not occupied at the time of the fire but, the tenants had been using wood burning equipment to keep the structure warm. The residence was a total loss.

On February 8 at 11:40 a.m. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a structure fire at 672 Barton Ave. south of Hoisington and another on February 9, 2019 at 5:05 p.m. at 11 NE 30th Road just north of the City of Great Bend. Both of these fires caused substantial damage to the residences and were heating related.

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office shares these tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to safely heat your home…

– Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet from all heat sources including fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators, space heaters or candles.
– Never use an oven to heat your home.
– Turn space heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
– Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected each year by a professional.

Farmers are encouraged to attend a “Weed Control Update for Field Crops program” featuring K-State Research & Extension Weed Control specialists Dallas Peterson & Vipan Kumar on Tuesday, February 19th in Hays.

Topics of discussion will be – weed research in Western Kansas, herbicide resistant weed management, and weed control updates for field crops. As always, there will be time for your questions & answers. Also continuing education units for Certified Crop Advisors & Commercial Applicators are available.

Plan to attend the “Weed Control Update” on Tuesday, February 19th at the Agricultural Research Center – Hays.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the program kicking off at 9 a.m. and concluding at 12 noon with a complimentary lunch.

RSVP is requested for the meal count by Friday, February 15th; call the Cottonwood Extension Office in Hays at 785-628-9430.

RICE COUNTY — Authorities are working to determine the cause of a fatal fire in Rice County and have identified the man who died.

Late Friday, fire crews responded to the fire at a home in the 400 Block of Southerland Street in Chase, according to Rice County Sheriff Bryant Evans.

Beverly G. Boatright, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene. Andrea Dry, 59, was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to Evans.

The family dog also died in the blaze. The home is considered a total loss, according to Evans.

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RICE COUNTY — Authorities are working to determine the cause of a fatal fire in Rice County.

Late Friday, fire crews responded to the fire at a home in Chase on U.S. 56 approximately 25 miles east of Great Bend, according to Rice County Sheriff Bryant Evans.

One occupant of the home died and another was transported for treatment. Authorities have not identified the victims.

Sheriff Evans  will release additional details on the fire Monday.

2/8

BOOKED: Rataevia Rideaux of Great Bend for GBMC warrant for failure to appear, bond set at $1,000.

BOOKED: Curtis Rosas of Great Bend on BTDC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Dylan Lemieux of Holyrood on BTDC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Ouray Gray of Great Ben don BTDC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Jesus Leyva of Great Bend on GBMC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Rataevia Rideaux of Great Bend on GBMC warrant for failure to appear after she posted a $1,000 surety bond.

RELEASED: Cody Elsasser of Arlington from BTDC charges to ATF.

2/9

BOOKED: Alexander Barr of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for battery DV with a bond set at $1,000 C/S or 48-hour OR.

BOOKED: Jason King of Great Bend on GBMC case for serve sentence.

BOOKED: Lori Kempinski of Great Bend on GBMC warrant for contempt indirect, bond set at $1,182.68 cash only.

BOOKED: Brian Scheideman of Ellinwood on a Great Bend Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear, bond set at $1,000 C/S.

RELEASED: Alexander Barr of Great Bend on GBMC case for battery DV after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Around the Clock.

RELEASED: Brian Scheideman of Ellinwood posted a $1,000 surety bond through Ace Bail Bonding on GBMC case for failure to appear.

RELEASED: Sterling Mills of Great Bend on CKCC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Dale Byerly of Great Bend on GBMC case for disorderly conduct after receiving a 48-hour OR bond.

2/10

BOOKED: Jose Espino of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for DUI with a bond set at $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Jeremy Lamb of Ellinwood on Barton County District Court case for driving while suspended with a bond set at $1,000 C/S.

RELEASED: Jeremy Lamb of Ellinwood on BCDC case for driving while suspended after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Dyn-O-Mite.

RELEASED: Jose Espino of Great Bend on GBMC case for DUI after posting a $1,000 surety bond through Dyn-O-Mite.

RELEASED: Jason King of Great Bend on GBMC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Wade Wagner of El Dorado on BTDC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Curtis Rosas after completion of BTDC case serve sentence.

RELEASED: Dylan Lemieux after completion of BTDC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Ouray Gray after completing BTDC case for serve sentence.

RELEASED: Tyler Schwager after completing BTDC case serve sentence.

RELEASED: Jesus Leyva after completing a serve sentence.

Today ends the discussion regarding agriculture, water and the challenges face by a limited and uncertain water supply.  Irrigated crop production is a key driver in not only agricultural production but also the Kansas economy as a whole.  It is vital to not only crop production but the entire cattle industry, including the feedlot and packing industry of Western Kansas.  Many of the possible solutions benefitting dryland agriculture in last week column apply here such as planting date, crop rotation, minimizing or eliminating tillage and so on.

Several items before possible solutions.  Water rights are appropriated by the State of Kansas and this water is a resource technically owned by all the citizens of Kansas.  There is a concept, “First In Time,” meaning that older (senior) water rights take priority over newer (junior) water rights.  Simply put, senior water rights take precedence so if that right isn’t receiving its water, it can go to the state and the state can shut down junior water rights holders.  This is the situation currently involving the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and irrigators along the Rattlesnake Creek Watershed.  Second, to establish a permitted water right you had to use water and document that usage.  After establishment in the past, if you didn’t use the water, you could lose all or part of that water.  Third, if you used more than your annual allotted right, you could incur penalties and/or fines.  During the Brownback Administration several factors came together, including the drought of 2012, causing the state to make some changes to help irrigators and protect water supplies.  There isn’t time to detail them here but suffice it to say the goal was to aid irrigated crop producers and help protect and extend the life of groundwater supplies.  These changes have found some success but have been hampered by a lack of funding.  Now onto what possible solutions are out there.

• Water rights are over appropriated in Western Kansas and must be decreased. Suggestions have been made to compensate those giving up those rights but little has actually happened.
• Irrigators voluntarily coming together, or through legislation, to reduce everyone’s appropriation but allowing everyone to continue to have some water.
• This is short one – eliminate the use of end guns on pivots. Even the best ones are inefficient.
• Voluntarily or with state and/or federal cost sharing programs renozzle/repressure pivots to maximize efficiency. Using drop nozzles, LEPA systems, and other technologies can increase efficiency.
• Where practical and with possible government assistance if practical install subsurface drip irrigation. While expensive and requiring more maintenance and management, if can maintain high crop yields with much less water.
• Scheduling irrigation using sensors and/or weather data with computer programs to precisely use water.
• Exploring alternative irrigated crops able to serve the feedlot industry. Also, explore the use of lower water usage crops that are profitable such as cotton, winter canola, and forages.

There are more possibilities and opportunities but one thing is certain, the state, public, and producers must come together to find viable solutions.

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) has selected 23 projects for inclusion in its Transportation Alternatives (TA) Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2020.

Eligible projects under this federal program include facilities for pedestrians and bicycles; scenic or historical highway programs; landscaping and scenic beautification; historic preservation of transportation facilities; conversion of abandoned railway corridors to trails; control or removal of outdoor advertising; archaeological planning and research related to transportation; and the Safe Routes to School program.

KDOT received 46 applications from eligible project sponsors requesting nearly $36.9 million in federal funds. Cities and counties across the state submitted applications for the TA program, which were received during an open application period from June 14, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2018.

“We were happy to see so many quality applications from across the state this year. This proves how popular the TA program is and how important these types of projects are to Kansas communities,” said Matt Messina, Coordinator of the Transportation Alternatives Program for KDOT. “The main goals of the TA program are to help provide communities with more transportation options and to preserve or improve what they already have, and that’s what these projects will do.”

KDOT reviews and evaluates every application and makes selections based on criteria developed using input from various internal departments and external partners, such as safety and network improvements, cost estimates, project readiness, public support and other factors such as geography and funding distribution. All project sponsors are required to provide at least 20 percent of the cost as a local cash match and are 100 percent responsible for non-participating items.

• A full list of TA projects that are selected to receive an award is shown in the table below: