Kansas Sampler Foundation, News Release Explorer Extra!

PHOTO CREDIT: Union Pacific. Union Pacific Steam Team members, from left, Garland Baker, Ed Dickens, Austin Barker, Kirt Clark, Bruce Kirk, Troy Plagge, Jimmy Thompson and Ted Schulte stand in front of the recently reconnected Big Boy, locomotive No. 4014. Thank you to Andrea Etzel, Kansas Magazine, for permission to reuse this photo and share their article about the steam engine found at travelks.com. UNION PACIFIC STEAM ENGINE COMING TO KANSAS! Take this fabulous opportunity to watch a steam locomotive come down the tracks. To mark the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific is sending their steam locomotive No. 4014 down the tracks. It will be in Kansas the week of November 17. Here is the schedule (though subject to change). Learn more about locations where train will stop here. Nov. 16, Coffeyville. Arrives 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 16, departs Nov. 17 at 8 a.m. Nov. 17, Neodesha. Arrives 9:30 a.m., departs 9:45 a.m. Nov. 17, Durand (Woodson County). Arrives 11:15 a.m., departs 11:45 a.m. Nov. 17, Garnett. Arrives 1:30 p.m., departs 1:45 p.m. Nov. 17, Osawatomie. Arrives 2:30 p.m., departs 3 p.m. Nov. 17, Kansas City, Mo. Arrives 6:30 p.m. and is on display at Union Station Nov. 18 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Departs Nov. 19 at 8 a.m. Nov. 19, Lawrence. Arrives 10:15 a.m., departs 10:45 a.m. Nov. 19, Topeka. Arrives 11:45 a.m. at the Great Overland Station, departs 12:30 p.m. Nov. 19, Topeka. Arrives at NW Norris and Clay at 1 p.m. Departs Nov. 20 at 8 a.m. Nov. 20, Manhattan. Arrives at S. Manhattan Avenue Crossing at 9:30 a.m., departs 10:15 a.m. Nov. 20, Junction City. Arrives 11 a.m., departs 11:15 a.m. Nov. 20, Abilene. Arrives 12:15 p.m., departs 12:35 p.m. Nov. 20, Salina. Arrives 2:15 p.m., departs Nov. 21 at 8 a.m. Nov. 21, Ellsworth. Arrives 9:30 a.m., departs 10:15 a.m. Nov. 21, Russell. Arrives 12 p.m., departs 12:15 p.m. Nov. 21, Hays. Arrives 1:45 p.m., departs Nov. 22 at 8 a.m. Nov. 22, Ellis. Arrives 8:45 a.m., departs 9 a.m. Nov. 22, Quinter. Arrives 10:30 a.m., departs 11 a.m. Nov. 22, Oakley. Arrives 12:30 p.m., departs 1 p.m. Nov. 22, Sharon Springs. Arrives 2:15 p.m. MT, departs Nov. 23 at 8 a.m. MT.

US Military FEARS Societal Collapse

Kansas News Service, Oct. 25, 2019

View this email in your browser October 25, 2019

Bigger farms, fewer townsfolk In many ways, the successes of modern agriculture are killing rural communities across the Great Plains. From GMOs to GPS precision, advances make it possible for a lone farmer to work ever-larger stretches of land. That inexorable trend of fewer and bigger farms means the small cities and towns that sprung up across vast swaths of Kansas saw their economic lifelines fade away. Many large, commodity farmers insist they must continue expansion to keep their operations solvent. Tight margins and volatile markets tell them that increasing size offers their only chance at survival. Meanwhile, some farmers see cultivating tens of thousands of acres of beans, corn or wheat as a hamster wheel existence. They’ve shifted to boutique, and often organic crops sold more directly to families rather than to large commodity traders. Those small-scale outfits offer some hope to their nearby towns. They’re a promise of more farmers per acre, more customers for the shops in town, more kids for the schools, more energy to a community. But they’re far less efficient on a food-to-acre basis. That phenomenon anchors the latest episode of the second season of our “My Fellow Kansans” podcast. It’s available from whatever app you plug into. Subscribe. Share. Review. Let us know what you think. — Scott Canon, Kansas News Service managing editor   "It bothers me ... that what we're doing on our farm is, in a way, contributing to the decline of the local community." — Don Hineman, a state representative and the operator of a large farm, in the second episode of the new season of My Fellow Kansans   Principal interest You’re not rich. Neither is your family. You don’t have credit, but you need cash pronto. Payday loans fill a need. But those storefront lenders also can charge extortionary interest fees, sucking the poor into nearly inescapable cycles of deepening debt. A coalition of nonprofit groups hopes this marks the year they convince Kansas lawmakers to impose tighter payday loan regulation. Read about it. Share Tweet Forward Kansas Compromise? The majority of the Kansas Legislature has made clear it’s ready to expand Medicaid. The conservative Republicans who dominate leadership positions in the House and Senate, on the other hand, have stopped that from happening. Lawmakers left Topeka in late spring promising to use their offseason to craft a plan that could break through the legislative bottleneck. A key Republican has crafted a plan — one that nudges more people into the job market and intertwines Medicaid with the private insurance market. Now we’ll see what moves forward. Here’s the latest. Share Tweet Forward Sparks flew Investigators concluded that it was a welding torch that sparked the fire in Holcomb, Kansas, which shut down the Tyson meatpacking plant in early August. The fire closed the western Kansas plant, which slaughters about 5% percent of the nation’s cattle, for weeks. That was followed by a temporary spike in beef prices across the country. Learn more. Share Tweet Forward

"A BUSY LAST FEW DAYS" @ Abbie Hodgson for Congress

Dear Michael, The opportunity to travel throughout the 2nd Congressional District and connect with voters is without a doubt, the best part of the campaign. This weekend, I traveled over 200 miles in Northeast Kansas, hitting events in Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, and Leavenworth Counties. Saturday was overcast, and there were a few raindrops, but there was a lot to see along the road. I saw corn harvest beginning, soybeans maturing, and cattle grazing. I saw old stone churches, old brick schools, and old wooden barns. But it wasn’t what I saw, so much as who I talked to and what I learned that made the day so special. I spoke with local residents in Atchison about issues of concern to the community. Top of the list was healthcare and education. In Brown County, I went to the Hiawatha Maple Leaf Festival, where I enjoyed meeting local residents like the cuties below and eating kettle corn. In Jefferson County, I attended the Ozawkie Heritage Festival where I learned about the Delaware Indian Reserve, the Border War, and the building of Perry Lake at an oral history event. And in Leavenworth County, I celebrated the accomplishments of the local Democratic Party at their annual picnic. Your donations fund our campaign's ability to go to these critical community events and have conversations with voters that build trust and lay the groundwork for victory next year. So with our end-of-quarter deadline just one week away, I'm asking for your help. Please pitch in $10 (or more, if you can!) before our fundraising numbers go public. We need to raise $12,000 more by September 30. DONATE NOW » Thank you, Abbie P.S. On the road I enjoyed listening to The Homecomers, a podcast by Kansan Sarah Smarsh. Conversations focus not on the familiar narratives about the decline of small towns and rural areas, but on preserving and strengthening local communities. Abbie Hodgson is a fifth-generation Kansan, a teacher, and a policy expert and advocate. She’s a problem solver who will be a strong voice for Kansas’ 2nd District on education, agriculture, and affordable healthcare. Will you pitch in to help elect her to Congress? CONTRIBUTE Paid for by Abbie Hodgson for Congress Abbie Hodgson for Congress P.O. Box 126 Lawrence, KS 66044 United States If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe.

Rural Electric: POWER TO THE PEOPLE

NEW RESOURCE EMPOWERS AMERICA’S 40 MILLION+ ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE MEMBER-OWNERS   We shouldn’t take our power for granted.  At the start of the Great Depression, 90% of rural households lacked access to electricity. For most private companies there wasn’t “enough” money to be made supplying electricity to remote places. GET THE TOOLKIT Enter: Rural Electric Cooperatives (REC). Thanks to public investment and New Deal programs like the Rural Utilities Service, electric cooperatives sprung up all over rural America. Today there are more than 850 cooperatives in 47 states providing service to 56 percent of the nation’s landmass, from the bustling suburbs in Austin to rural farming communities in Eastern Kentucky. Founded on the cooperative principle of democratic member control, REC customers are also member-owners of the business. This innovative structure is a huge strength. By replacing private shareholders with cooperative members, the need for massive profits takes a back seat to the needs of the community (and the planet). At the same time, RECs aren’t perfect and that’s part of the story too. Many RECs have excluded black and indigenous communities they served and perpetuated leadership that doesn’t represent or engage their membership. However, by giving members a voice in how the business is run, RECs have the potential to transcend their historical roots, meet their community’s needs and be more than just energy companies. They can be leaders in renewable energy development. They can be internet service providers. They can mobilize investment as part of a Green New Deal just as they did during the New Deal era. They can invest in revitalization and infrastructure projects, and anything else their members decide they need. Here are some examples of what's possible and happening right now: Roanoke Electric Cooperative in North Carolina: Nearly 50 years of active engagement and organizing by majority Black membership has resulted in one of the most inclusive and impactful RECs in the country, one that is explicitly committed to creating a customer-centric utility of the future. Pedernales Cooperative in Texas: member-owners of the largest REC in the US overturned corruption and reformed their co-op; which still faces attacks against fossil-fuel-backed interests. Ouachita Electric Cooperative in Camden, Arkansas: Success at this REC includes offering broadband, energy efficiency, and solar. Quote from Mark Cayce, CEO: It seems counterproductive; why would any utility supplier want to sell energy at a lower price and decrease their profit? “Well,” says Cayce, “We’re in the business of serving our members, not selling electricity.” Today we’re launching the Rural Electric Cooperative Toolkit, a resource for the over 40 million electric cooperative members in America. Created by a group of organizations convened by the New Economy Coalition, the toolkit aims to support co-op members who want to get more involved in their RECs. The toolkit is arranged in four different sections and includes beginner resources for those brand new to RECs, success stories and case studies, as well as mapping and popular education tools for those ready to get to work and organize their REC. It’s a living and breathing resource, so please email Liz@WeOwn.It to add or update to it! We’re not taking our power for granted. We’re getting organized. Check out the Rural Electric Cooperative Toolkit and spread the word to bring #PowertothePeople! New Economy Coalition PS. Special shout out to the NEC members who made this toolkit happen: Clean Energy Works, We Own It, MACED, CURE and the entire dedicated team! PPS. Want to spread the word? Amplify this tweet and share across your social networks! Get the toolkit »