Carla Eckels news segment

We'll talk to me about this common law marriage bill, what's going on with the measure right now? Well, this afternoon, on general orders in the Senate Chamber, we passed in Bill 46, of course, the intent of that bill is to completely do away with recognizing common law marriage. Now, not those common law marriages that are currently recognized today, but any common law marriage that would be, you know, after June the 30th of 2002. At that time, no new common law marriages would be recognized. It would grandfather those common law marriages that are currently recognized, but no new common law marriages would be recognized after June the 30th of 2002. And the intent is, once again, to, you know, what brought this case before us is a case of a young lady who had been raped by a man at the age of, actually, their first encounter was when she was 19 years of age.

She had a baby by the time she was 12, and then, of course, once again, at the age of 14 or, or, I think, actually, by the age of 12, she was, well, age of 14 again. She was impregnated, had a baby again. And so that's kind of where this case arose from, that this man was then charged with rape. He went to the court system, and he appealed, or tried to defend himself on common law marriage, the case law in Kansas. Of course, they had to go through the court for stating to prove that it actually was rape, and we felt, or at least I felt, that if we would just do it with common law marriage, we would take away this tool that a pedophile or a child molester might use in a court of law. And so, as understanding Senator Umbarger, this is now, does he move to the Senate, or what takes place now? What happened? What happened now? Of course, we had general orders today.

We'll go to the Senate once again for final action, in which, on a voice vote, we will vote on those measures that passed today in general orders. I'm very confident that this will pass that we did have an amendment on the floor today that would have recognized common law marriage at the age of 18 and older. I spoke out against that amendment. I think we've got not only the problem with men having sex with children and claiming common law marriage, but we've also got a real uncertainty as to what is or is not marriage. We've got people who live together and they want to call claim marriage, and that way they can enjoy benefits as far as workers' compensation, healthcare benefits, in the employment and workforce arena, and that really puts the business industry in quite a quandary as to whether or not this is actually a marriage or if it's just a way of enjoying marriage

benefits on health insurance and workers' compensation. Fling that they had. Also, you go on to probate law in determining whether or not a marriage existed in the division of assets in case the event of the death of someone or let's say these two people had lived together and they decided to split up, and the one claims that we were married under common law, case law, and the other said, no, we were never married, and so once again we have to go to the court system to decide this argument, and so I think there's just a number of obstacles or reasons why we need to do away with common law marriage, not only because of subjecting our children to rape by older people, but also in the probate law as far as dividing up of assets and the awarding of benefits such as workers' compensation.

Sure, and as I understand it, the bill about the 18 and over, was that from the House? Okay. The bill that the House, as I understand that they passed in general today, would do away with common law marriage and would not permit a recognized common law marriage until both people involved were at least 18 years of age or over. Okay, so prevent minors from entering common law marriages, okay. And of course, in my thought in the majority and the overwhelming majority of the Senate was that that may do away with the problem with minors being at the concern of minors, but it doesn't clarify common law marriage at all. It still fits business industry in a rather difficult position as to whether or not this is actually a marriage or if somebody just comes together so they can join the benefits

of a married union. And the other thing that to really deal with once again in probate law is in the event of the death of somebody and a division of the assets, let's say a man has been married before his first wife, he or she they divorced or she passes away. He has children by his first marriage. For some reason, he takes up with another lady and she passes away and this lady claims that they were common law married and she's then entitled to his assets or what about the children that he may have had with his first legal marriage. And so it just really adds clarity. And the other thing Carla is, you know, common law marriage probably had its time, you know, back when we were settling of the Wild West and there was not a minister readily available or justice as a piece.

But in today's age, you know, ministers or justice as a piece are not that hard to find. It doesn't cost that much to get a license. And if you've got that license that really adds a lot of clarity as to whether or not you really or really whether you are you are not married. And it would just expedite the process and that's the type of clarity to that issue. And Senator Ombarger, would you again explain what takes place next so that I want to make sure that I really understand they were in our finish writing the story. So what goes on now that you so it's passed in the Senate, is that what I'm hearing you say? Okay, it's passed on general orders. What does it mean when it says when you say general orders? In general orders, that's the first process of getting a bill to either chamber, either the House of Representatives or into the Senate chamber. They have general orders in which the bill is debated on the floor and then you take a voice vote. Got it. Okay. And then the following day or even it can even happen that day, you can go into final action.

There is no debate. They just list off the bills that passed the day before or just previously in general orders in on a voice vote and this is the most important vote because that's when you're going record individually, you rise in A or NA, you know, and so that's the vote that counts. You can get a bill passed in general orders but lose it in final action. I see. Okay. And then what will happen? We'll pass it out. The Senate chamber. It goes over to the House for their consideration. That's why we're at that turnaround here in which the Senate bills go to the House. House bills come to the Senate. In this week, we've got to get that process finished. The bill that the House passed this afternoon will now come for our consideration as far as common law marriage. I mean, as soon as it passes final action tomorrow and in our bill that passes general orders and I'm confident will pass tomorrow in final action will then go to the House for their approval over the next several weeks.

I see. So it'll be a little bit down the line before the final decision is made. This would be true. Now, let's say that in the end result that the House bill, I mean, they'll take the Senate bill here. They're going to get from us and they may amend it. I mean, once again, put to provisions of recognizing common law marriage of those 18 years and older and we may take the House bill and amend it as to our liking and that is to do away with common law marriage altogether, but then that's when we will go to a conference committee. Okay. And that's what the conference committee will work out the details. The conference committee is made up of three members from the House and three members from the Senate and we set out and we try to work out the differences and then we've got to take that conference committee report and once it's approved by all six members or at least five of them and then we've got to take that back to their respective chambers and get approval once again.

Well, I cannot wait for it to go through that whole process because you've taught me a lot just listening to the background about the whole common law marriage thing and the fact that you mentioned the history of it. Not bet that's right because back then, you know, it probably wasn't really available to have ministers and justices of the piece. I mean, it was perhaps made for that purpose back then, but now, you know, as you said in today's society, you know, and Carla, marriage is a valuable thing in determining whether or not a marriage does or does not exist. If you want to enjoy the financial benefits of a marriage, you know, many of us feel you need to go ahead through the process and get a license to prove that you are legally married. To those people who want to hold themselves out in common law to be married and not get a license, they put that union in jeopardy because they've got to, I mean, there's always that question, are they or are they not really married or they just, is this a way for them to get around as far as, see, the concern is Carla, they can, with their employer,

they can try to get joint benefits, you know, like the guys working somewhere and he's got a healthcare plan, he tries to get this lady who's living with him and the children that they might have or the children she may have had from a previous marriage or something, but tried to get them so they can enjoy on the healthcare benefits or worker compensation benefits. But yet, they may still file individual income taxes, you know, and enjoy that benefit. And so, they're playing the deck both ways and so if they're married, we'll get yourself a license and be able to prove it to everybody. And if you want to just live together well, we sure can't outlaw that, but don't claim to be married and enjoy the benefits of people who are legally married. Yes, yes. And like you said, reaping the same benefits without the license.

That's true. And it's just a never increasing burden on a court system that is already overloaded with cases. And for us right now, we take it to the court and let them decide or determine whether or not this is a marriage or not. Let's just add some clarity to that and get a license and there'll be no debate. And finally, Senator Ombarger, you're pretty confident that this will pass? And on the Senate Chamber tomorrow, on final actions, I'm very confident that it will pass. And I'm confident, of course, I've not been in the House Chamber to hear the discussion, but it's dangerous to expect what might happen in the House, but I'm very confident that we're going to get our common law marriage out and bill out and the discussion will move on from there. Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you getting in touch with me. And we'll keep following the story.

We definitely want to. Do you do that? And if I hear something or know something coming on here as far as common law marriage, I'll contact you in the future. Thank you. You take care. Bye-bye. Right. So, and also, a friend of mine lost a son a year ago, and I just wanted to do something to help. Now, one of the things that I talked to a person earlier about was the panels. How do you go about? Do you have a panel? Do you have a loved one that has a panel here? Yes. Okay. Can you just tell me what that process is like? What do you have to do? Well, you can get a lot of information off the internet and it has to be a certain size, and there's certain qualifications that you have to have to put on it or that you can't have on it. Can you give me some of that? It needs to be in good taste. And a lot of them have pictures of the disease, and also a family, and people just need to come and see.

It's also personable about that person. You can, it's a story on each panel. Does it cost money? Do you want to make the panel or to, how do you submit it? What takes place? Actually, you just, it's a long process to figure out how you want to do your panel, and you can make it any way you want. Everybody has their own techniques, and we've put pictures on ours, and we've got verses on ours, and dates and things that the people loved, their hobbies, and what they loved about life, and you go and pick out the materials that you want, and you make it yourself. Okay. And then how does it get, how does it become part of the national touring? You got our day, they are going to have the presentation, World's Aid, you know, AIDS Day on December 1st, and there's going to be nine presentations of new panels that's going to be presented. The panels are given to the AIDS, I'm not going to say this, the AIDS, like organization, and they sew them together, and the ones that are, the nine that are here are probably

will be on one quilt, because I think there's, like, eight or how many I have to, there's eight on one quilt, so when they come back, we can call in a certain panel number, and we can actually get that whole quilt back here if we wanted it here next year to be able to see it again. I see, so it doesn't cost anything to submit a quilt, or not a quilt, what do you call it a panel? Yes, it has to be three foot by six foot. The side, it's considered as the size of a grave. Well this one, I know you don't want to talk about it on tape. Okay, after Cleve Jones, the way he made this, he just went and got a sheet off of his bed, and he took it outside, and he spray painted it with this, he put, spray painted it back, and he put his friend's name on the front, as a protest for people that have died of AIDS to be remembered, and soon after that all of his friends were like, hey, you know,

that's a pretty good idea, and they want their friends to be remembered too, so they all went out and got their quilts, and that's how we have all these that are around us. The quilt, when it's all together, it weighs over 40 tons, it could lay over 26 football fields put together, so that's pretty big. There are now over 44,000 blocks representing over 80,000 people who have died of AIDS here in the United States, but this disease is not just here in the US, it is all over the world, and so people are making quilts all over the world. These quilts are all one of a kind, there's no replicas of any of them, so we're going to let you guys look around them, and we're going to have you choose which one that you want to write about, we have a little sheet that we're going to pass out to you, and you're going to be able to read just some questions off of it. It's going to ask you some information that you've learned, it's going to have you write

down what you've learned from these quilts about the person that the memorial spore. It's going to ask you, who do you think made the panel, was it a mom or brother, it's going to ask you what do you think their interests were, like what they like to do and what they were interested in, and it's going to ask you how you feel when you look at the panel, what feelings do you have when you look at it, when you look at each block on there? Let's see, I'm just going to ask you what you've learned today about all these blocks and about people. Oh, do not touch, please, do not touch because they're one of a kind, so would you like it if you made this one thing, then it's a whole lot to you, and it's got around and somebody totally messed it up from touching it, so I think that's how these people would feel when they made them, so.

Oh, yeah, the single quilts, they still have to be dedicated, so we're going to have the people that have made them are going to come in and dedicate them, and then at the end of all this, they're going to get mailed in and they're going to get sewn into all one big blocks so they'll look like these, so those haven't been sewn together yet, and those are our new blocks, so be careful when you're walking around that you don't step on them. Are there any questions? How do you want to hand out the papers to have them, and then they're ready to write things about to get a pencil in the hand, when you guys are, go ahead and look around for a while, get a good look at the one at all of them, and then when you see the one that you want to write about, go ahead and come up here and we'll give you a piece of paper and we'll hand out some pencils for you. If you have any questions for your look, you just want something to wipe your, and I'll be happy to help you. I want to ask you. What was your name again? Stephanie Morton. Stephanie, you mentioned something about how the AIDS Girl started, would you explain it

again? Yes, it started by Manning Cleve Jones, and he had made one panel in memory of his friend Marvin Feldman, and then he made it as a protest to help people understand about people dying of the disease. Why are you here today? I'm here to make a contribution, you know, help out and educate others about how this disease is spread, because it's really growing rapidly in our community, among young people, especially. Do you know of anyone who has contracted HIV, or perhaps has AIDS? Yes, I do. Tell me about it. Well, recently it's weird, because I started doing teens' hope when I was in ninth grade and I found out a year later that I had a uncle that had contracted the virus AIDS, and he died and I didn't know that. So, it really touched me, because it was just kind of weird how I got involved with it, and so. So, it's a personal, for you, it's personal. It's more personal than anything, but it's also good to help educate you, and especially

among our black community too, it's growing rapidly in our African-American community on the outside. Thank you. Now again, how old are you in what school? I'm 18 and 19. I'm in Shanghai. Thank you. Very much. What do you think about what you say, I'm Carla Eccles from KMW, what do you think about what you say? What's your name? Alex. Alex what? Well, what do you think about the quilts today? It's sad to see how many people have died, and you know what AIDS is, are you familiar? No. Tell me what school you go to. Mayberry?

Mayberry. So, what grade are you all in? Sixth. Sixth grade. So, it's a sixth grade class from Mayberry to KMW. Mm-hmm. Okay. So, you don't have any association with AIDS, you don't know about it really. Well, I know some, but, you know, not a lot. Okay. What's your name? Whitney Lambcaster. What do you think, Whitney? Well, I feel really bad for these people, and everything, because, like, they died of a disease that not everyone has, and they, like, didn't have to get it, like, I just feel really bad for them. Thank you. Are you associated with the students? Yeah, I'm a teacher. Are you a teacher? Are you responsible for bringing the students out today? One of the sponsors? You wanted a sponsor, yeah. Okay. I'm Carla Eccles from KMW. What is your name? Nikki McMillan. Nikki, what do you think about what you see? Makes me really sad to think of all the people that have died of this disease. Do you know of anyone personally? No, I do not. And what is it that you do at Mayberry?

I teach language arts. Okay. Why did you all decide to bring the students today? We think it's important that they know about diseases that are out there that they can protect themselves from, and this is a way that we can do that. Thank you. Excuse me, what's your name? Candice. Candice, I'm Carla Eccles. What's your last name? Candice. What do you see there? It's kind of cool. I like it. I like the quilts. What do you think about what they represent? They represent just about their personalities and what they were like.

Yeah, something, isn't it, to the actual cities. What's your grade? 6? So everybody's in 6th grade around here? No, we're grade you. Yeah, I'm in 6th. Yeah, we're all in 6th. Yeah, we're all in 6th grade. You forgot you were in 6th grade? Yeah. It's okay. Okay. Thank you Candice. Appreciate it. What do you think about what you see today? Are you two shy? Okay. Hi. What's your name, please? Stephanie Carson. Hi, Stephanie. Stephanie, are you one of the ones responsible for the students coming out today? Yes. Okay. And from Mayberry? Yes. What do you do there? I'm the 6th grade math teacher. Math teacher? Oh, well, what classes are these? This is math, geography, language arts, science, also from a variety. Yeah, it's our team that came out. Okay, understand.

Why did you think it was important to come out today? I don't think that the students realize what an impact aid has AIDS has had on American society, on the globe as a whole. We are a global magnet school. And just seeing just this small amount of quilts will hopefully impact them in some way shape or form. I think that it's coming to the point where everybody, every family knows somebody who has died from AIDS or they're at least in close contact with that. And I don't think they understand the impact and education, education, education. Is this your first time actually seeing some of the quilts? No, actually, this is my second time. Okay, so you saw it last year here? Yes. Was it here? Yes. I think at the end of the incident, wasn't it? It was, I don't think it was, it was somewhere. Yeah, but in Wichita. Okay. Okay. Yeah. What are your thoughts on some of the quilts you're looking at? It's heartbreaking. And you realize that even though you look at the numbers of people who are dying, those are numbers when you're looking at them on paper, but when you get up close and you see

a quilt, you realize that each person was definitely an individual, unique to everybody else in here. Each quilt is unique as an individual. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I got your title. Oh, logo. What are you two, what's your name? Mark Wilson and Antonio Hartfield. What do you all think about what you see today? I think it's really neat. You know, the people felt good about their friends and stuff and they really enjoyed them. And they missed them. How old are you, Wichita? I'm 11 and I'm in the sixth grade. And you're part of Mayberry's High School, middle school? Yes. Okay. Thanks. What about you? What do you think? I think that it's nice that they felt good and tried to make something that other people do remember them, mm-hmm, thank you. I like that rose one for you. Say it again.

I like that rose one. Why? It's pretty. What's your name? Lisa Peterson. From Mayberry? What do you think? It's alright. It's alright, what's your name? Bianca. Bianca what's your last name? Moreno. I don't know. You don't know? No. Have you ever heard of AIDS before? Yeah. What do you think about these quilts? It's alright. Does it help to have faces on some of the quilts to get you to think about those that maybe who have died from the disease? Yeah. Thank you. Hi, what's your name? ReAnon. What is it? ReAnon Heppler. ReAnon. ReAnon? ReAnon. What do you think of the quilts today? I think they're really pretty and I think it's really sad that all those people died from a bad disease and I don't think they deserved it but they're in a better place and you know, they're a lot better now. Holder you?

Almost 12. Alright. Thank you. Appreciate you. Hi, my name is Carla Eccles and I'm from KMUW. Can I talk to you about the quilts you're looking at? Would you rather talk to my wife, sheen? She put it together and everything, it's right there behind you. Yes, which one is it please? Garcia, David Garcia. Can we walk over and look at it please? My goodness, can you tell me about David? Well, he was a businessman, he always wore neckties and a suit so that's a reason we took his neckties and designed them into that. And those are two of his dogs that he had, Charlotte and Tess, they were his favorites.

And how old was David when he passed away? 41, I think, 41. Do you feel comfortable telling me about what happened, how did he contract AIDS? In 1987, he moved to California and he had ulcers and he had to have blood transfusions. And so he, at that time they weren't checking the blood yet. So that's how he contacted his AIDS for his blood transfusions in 1987. Did he move home at that point? Yes, I went to California, he was in California, Long Beach, California, and I went over there to see him and I didn't come home, I stayed there nine months with him. And then I had two daughters that went with me also. And then about the end of the nine months, he felt he was getting worse.

So he called his dad and told him he was coming home. So he came home in March of 88 and he died in August of 88. Tell me what the significance of free at last was that meeting. He suffered so much at home with pain, he was in pain constantly. That free at last is the main thing, you know, he was through with pain and he was in a place where there isn't any pain and no tears or anything. He came from a family, we had six children and he was the third from the last. And we had four girls and two boys and he was one of the boys. And he was a very, very conscientious young man, great with his parents, his family and his grandmothers, he just loved him.

Now is this your first time seeing the quilt displayed with it on? No, we've had we've seen it before. It came in fact, when I made this, we had friends help us, help us. One of his girls friends that went to school with helped design it. And then we had a real good friend that was an artist and he did the wording on it. So seeing it wasn't just myself, I made, I sewed it all together. But we had these others help us, you know, with the lettering. And then we took it to San Francisco to check it in. And then we, we saw it since then we've seen it, this is our fourth time. It came to Oklahoma one time and we went and then it came several years ago to sent it to and we were there, of course, and I always helped. And then they took the whole quilt in 88 or 89 to Washington DC and spread it out on the ground in front of the, you know, in that little part beside the White House.

And of course I've been involved, I was involved with AIDS and with hospice and so it's finally been three, four years ago that I finally stepped back. Now when you got involved with the HIV, AIDS situation, wasn't when your son was sick or were you involved before? No, I was in the involved before, I didn't know a thing about AIDS. And when we found out that he had AIDS, I started to get him myself. And then when I went to California to see him, he was in the hospital. And I called my husband and I said, I'm not going home because he's real bad. So I started investigating places where I could learn and support groups, so it referred me to support groups and from there on we just were involved. How has it changed, dude?

It has changed me to be more aware of gay people. The gay people that I met in California, wonderful, wonderful young men and women. And I couldn't have asked for any, you know, better, they were just like family you might say. We had an apartment in the same apartment building that he lived in and they just treated us like family. But he was a heterosexual, heterosexual who got it from a blood transfusion? No, he was gay. He was gay. He was gay. But he didn't get it from, you know, his gay partner, in fact his gay partner has never gotten AIDS, but he, you know, but he was, it was from the blood that he got it. And though he was gay, he was from the blood. I think that's something. Don't you agree that a lot of people need to be aware of it that it doesn't have to necessarily be from sexual contact, it can be in a variety way.

It can be, we met so many in my support group, in my husbands and the ones that we attended, here in which house versus the one that started the first support group here in which house, and some of us were the first ones that attended that, in fact we attended before he died. And we met a lot of interesting, wonderful people and some of the ones we met, women especially, you know, they got it from their husbands that have been in contact with others. And that's what I really meant to say, not necessarily that, but it didn't have to be so called the gay disease, it's a bit of a, it's not a gay disease, anybody can get it. Even children, you know, women can get pregnant and carry their child, she has HIV and the child will have it, and so it isn't, it isn't just sexual. Any other comments? No. It's very true. Now who are you with? I'm sorry.

I'm my name is Carla Eccles and I'm with KMUW Public Radio here in Wichita, FM 89. So we're affiliated with National Public Radio. Thank you for talking to me. Tell me your name again please. Okay. Catherine Garcia. Okay. She's already talked to Annie. Okay. And the rabbi is here. Would you like to talk with him? Sure. Okay. By this lady Annie, she's one of the originals. Oh really? Okay. From the husband's support group. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. Carla Eccles. And in fact, I got to do it real quick because I got to get back to get it. Yeah. Thanks. Okay. I'm sure. You know what I'm going to do though, Kimmery? Before I do that, let me get some sound. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm doing this.

What else is there? Here. Down here. Down here. There. There. There. There. There. What's that one? What's that picture? What's that picture? What's that picture? What's that picture? What's it called? Five words. Actually, I think they're sleeping there. What's your name? Christopher Clark. Christopher, what do you think about what you see today? What do you think about what you're looking at today? It's a lot of stuff. A lot of people put a lot of work into it. Do you know anybody or have you had any association with HIV or AIDS? No. So, this is all new to you, huh? Yeah. First time you seeing the quilt? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

All right. Hi. What's your name? Melissa. What do you think Melissa? I think it's really sad that a lot of people died from this. Is this your first time seeing the quilt? Yeah. Like this. What do you mean? I've never seen a quilt made for someone. Really neat, huh? Yeah. Thank you. What was your name again? Melissa Gear. Melissa, hi. What's your name? My name is Cassandra. What do you think about what you're seeing, Cassandra? What's your last name? Ziner. Okay. I think it's very sad how people die a lot every year from AIDS killing them and getting it and stuff. What do you think about prevention of AIDS? I think that people could do a lot more to prevent AIDS. And that's what you all are thinking about as students, aren't you? Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. Hi. Hi. How are you? I'm Carla Eccles. It's nice to meet you. It's very true. And you're responsible for allowing the... Okay.

Yeah. She's responsible for being here. Wonderful. Okay. And again, would you tell me your name and title? Rabbi Michael Davis. And Rabbi Davis. What do you think about the AIDS quilt? And first of all, let me back up and ask you this question. Why did you decide to have it in your synagogue? Well, when the Fun Shell family approached us on it, we thought it was a wonderful resource for the community. And this is a great opportunity for us to provide this for the community. Have you seen the quilt before? No. I haven't ever had this in the first for me. And what was the impact on it for you? It's amazing. And the amazing part is not to look at a large panel or a whole series of panels, but to focus in on each little block, each part of it. And to get into the details of the individual's life that it's memorializing. Do you have... I know that some of the panels will be dedicated on Saturday. Do you have any members of your congregation that are involved in that? They're involved in making the panels, yes. We have a panel that the congregation, the brotherhood, the youth group, each did one. Why is that important?

Why did you decide to make the panel? To show that we're a part of this. There's an AIDS issue that affects everybody, and our kids especially are affected by it, even if they don't suffer from the disease, even if they don't know anyone who was suffering from the disease. They are affected by it because they're human beings. And also we have to remember that when we see the numbers of people who are killed in Africa and America and elsewhere, it's overwhelming sometimes. And let's you see that it's one plus one plus one plus one, not thousands and thousands. Each individual is a story. Thank you so much for your time, appreciate it. It's nice to meet you. Good afternoon, stations. It is time for the 315 news call. Good to have you along with us today. And oh, I've got a ton of stuff here. One, two, three, four, five.

It looks like a story is for you, so we'll get right to it. Story number one, the veterans administration must make some changes at its Topeka and Levinworth hospitals due to budget problems. Spokesman Jim Gliesberg, G-L-E-I-S-B. Okay, I see levels, but I was looking for something else, some numbers here. Let's see. Okay. Now, once again, if you could tell me your name for this deal for a second. Your name and title, please. I'm Diana Hartman, and I'm a procession organizer. Okay, Diana. First of all, can you give me a little bit of history about the Great Plains Earth Institute? Rita, why don't you talk to us about that? Okay. Great Plains Earth Institute was founded. I'm going to get you over here by the end. Okay, your name, please. I'm Rita Robel, a sister-in-law of the blood of Christ. And Great Plains Earth Institute was founded in 1997.

And we are a nonprofit educational environmental organization. And we have several things that we do. We have discussion courses in the homes or workplaces or in churches to bring awareness to the environmental problem that we have at the present time. We sponsor community gardening. We have the Earth Day celebration. And also, we have a spiritual component where we have retreats or reflection days and spiritual direction. Wow. You mentioned some of the environmental problems that are going on right now. What kind of things are you talking about when you go into the homes? Are you talking about the discussion courses that we have? Yes. We have a discussion course called Reconnecting with Nature, which brings about the connection that we have and the respect and love that we share with all of nature. And then we have a voluntary simplicity course which helps us to understand the reasons for downsizing and really needing what we have rather than just getting consumerism. Rather than always buying things that we really don't always need.

For example. Sometimes we think, oh, I need this, I go to the store and I buy it. Many times people come home with these things and never use them. And in kitchen cabinets there are appliances lined up that are hardly ever used. And why do we buy all that? So the idea is to look at the way in which we are purchasing and do it in a financially environmentally friendly way. Wow. Now see, that sounds like a story and all in itself. So I'm going to have to come back at some point. Yeah, because I would really like, I think our listeners will be very interested in finding out more about that. But of course I'm here to talk about what's going on to Saturday. I keep saying tomorrow, today is not Friday. Okay. Okay. So can you give me a bit of history about this? Is it five years old, the progression of species? A procession of species. Precession of species. That's right. This will be our fifth year. And procession of the species originated in Oregon, Olympia, Oregon, Washington, Olympia, Washington.

And we heard about it. We saw a video of what they did. We got so excited. We just did it. We did it in six weeks without all the things that go into planning. That's kind of a celebration. We just did it amongst our own participants here at Great Plains Earth Institute. And we did it in Old Town. There were probably 150 people there that first year, but it was beautiful. It was colorful and wonderful. So we've repeated it every year. Tell me exactly what people can't expect to see because this is radio. So they have no idea when I would say procession of the species. They wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about. So could you kind of give us an idea of what exactly it looks like? Okay. What we do, we start gathering about February to make paper mache animals and representations of all the species. We have a sun and a moon. You know, we have trees. We have flowers.

All kinds of animals. People across the city make things at home. Some of them three-dimensional. Some are an image cut out of cardboard and painted and carried the children love it. It's different than a parade in that everybody joins in rather than sitting on the sidelines. And we always have extra things there for people who attend and didn't bring anything. And they like to join in just at the last minute. They run and jump in it. It's wonderful. It moves along to a somba beat, which is very different and exciting. Lower church school has a 75 member somba band. And the kids are darling in their costumes. And it's very colorful, happy, zany, heartfelt day. Now you mentioned that it's different than a parade. Also you don't have any motor vehicles in this particular procession. Is that right? Right. That's one of our three simple rules. No motorized vehicles.

Say it again. You three simple rules. Say it again. No motorized vehicles. No written words on anything. And no live animals. These are all representations. We want to bring more of the natural world into our streets. And we want to engender an appreciation and love of the natural world by honoring them. Now wouldn't animals be natural? I mean, I'm not getting to explain that. Well, through art, we make these things and that's honoring them. Some schools do a study on a certain animal. He's a child and they do a report. And then in art class, they can make their image. And then they bring it to the procession. And it's just like the natural world gets to speak. I love the idea. I've never heard of this before. I think it sounds really, really exciting.

And also you had, okay, there are three rules, three things people need to know when they come. Now if they don't have any items, you say that they can still participate? If they don't come with any? Yes, we have, we'll have a critter corral. And in there will be things that we've made for people just to be able to pick up at the last minute. And then they return them at the end of the day. Now what does a parade start? Well, it's not a parade. Where does the procession start in in? It starts in Old Town at the Farm and Art Market Plaza. It'll line up at 130 in the afternoon. And it'll start out at two. It'll be over about two. And we have multicultural entertainment throughout the day. Because it's Earth Day. So the nations will gather along with all the species. So you mentioned that it starts at two and when does it in, please? The procession starts at two and it starts at two and it ends at three. Right. Approximately three will be over. So how many people are you anticipating last year? How many were there?

How many do you think we had? We had about five hundred last year. About five hundred. We were thinking we will probably have more than that this year. And 30% more. But you start this early. This isn't something that you started. Like you said, the first year was six weeks that you had to kind of gather things. But this year, you mentioned the Leuberture School being involved. Who else has participated in some of the activities to get prepared for? Well, Earhart, Environmental Magnet School, Cloud Elementary, After School Program, Hamilton Elementary, After School Program, Cooper Elementary, After School Program. We have Brownies. We have Cub Scouts. Metropolitan Ballet will be there. Is this mostly children involved in this? All kinds. We have families and single people. Adults get out there, you know, with buffalo head over them. And dance down the street. So it's about hours worth of somba music and parading. I know it's not parading, but in that sense. Right. Exactly. And then the whole event opens at 11 o'clock in the morning.

And we'll have the Asian Dragon from East High School be there to perform and then join into the procession. We have dances from India, a family group. We have a Mira's Dance Studio doing dance and India dance. Let's see. We have the I Kinga drummers and chanters from Nigeria. We have the American Indians from the Indian Center who will be there to perform and they'll all be in the procession too. We have orange level from East High School will perform at 330 and they're a rock group here in town. So this is an all day event. It's 11 to 4 and we just have all these different cultural entertainment groups. Latino rhythms from North High School. Sounds like fun.

I just came and think of them all, but that will go on all day except for the time of procession. Right now and it's where again? Old town farm and art market. Okay. So right in front. Okay. Let me see if there's anything else I want to make sure. Feel the beat, recycle it. Is there something we need? There will also be a solar oven there and they will be baking pretzels for people to purchase. It's a wonderful example of something that can happen that certainly would simplify our lives if we use things like solar ovens and things of that nature. I was going to ask about the food so there will be pretzels and what else? There will be pizza and I know that there will be drinks and ice cream and I'm not sure of all the food vendors that will be there but there will be a few. Now, is there a cost this at all? We have people are coming with, we'll have a booth and the booths actually are very, very reasonable for a nonprofit.

It's $10 and they can share whatever, you know, the educational aspects of what they're about in their organization. We have green businesses participating and they will be sharing whatever they can or you'd like to make some purchases from the green businesses. And then we have artists that will be bringing their things to sell. It's wonderful to get some of the art out into the community and people can purchase art for their homes or offices or whatever. But those that are participating in the procession can come and with no cost and get about it. Yes and we also have children's games throughout the day. Likewise. Well, we'll have our little zany fish head logo for temporary tattoos and we'll have, we'll make grain sticks out of cardboard inner rolls like from bathroom tissue and from paper towels. And they're going to do some art work on, they're going to paint pictures and what else we're going to remember.

Sounds like a, okay and that still gives me a good idea. Now, this started, you started working on this win and I'm trying to look here. I know it was a February that there was an actual workshop. That's where I got, we go down, I start working down there in January about mid-January and then people begin coming in. We have work parties twice a week where anybody can come and just use the space to work. We have artists there who can help them with what they want to do. I have resource materials, books and pictures and things for ideas. We also work by appointment if someone calls with a larger group, we'll meet them a certain day an hour. Then we have the workshops that are always listed in our brochure beforehand. Many of the things that people make are made from recycled objects. I am so glad you said that, okay. So they pick out recycled objects and put it.

And I'm trying to get a sense, are we talking about, is it like poster style or do you have any pictures maybe? I could get a sense of what she does. We do have some pictures. Okay. We have a life size owl. We have a life size head of a buffalo. So that'll be the only live mammal there though, the owl? No, they're paper mache. A fireman in Peabody made the big owl and he walks under it, it's life size wonderful. That sounds great. Do you have an article in the eagle coming up, or has it already been in? There was one in. When we had United Way Youth Day of Caring and the kids came down and a group of them are working on a big fish and that was an eagle. Here we start, these are making some things. Oh my gosh.

I see. I think as we go along we get a little further. This is the turtle. There's owl. That's great. That's the sun. That's the buffalo. Oh that's wonderful. This was a cardinal. This is a bee and her grandma was a bee hive. I love it. I love it. Wow. That is great tree. This is a tree, a maple tree. There's an alligator. That's true. There's a bee hive in the bee. I love it. Great. Here's frog. We called it free to the turtle. Free to the frog. Here's the bison. That's great. There's a moon. This was Neptune. I love it. Neptune came with, you know, those jello mold, those aluminum silver jello mold and there's one made in the shape of a fish that's curved. Yeah, right.

And she had that one of those on the top of her stick for her, for her staff. I love it. There's another buffalo. There's a horse. Here's an alligator. Did you say you walked from one point to the next or you primarily just stay in that area? We're going to just circle the old town. Got it. Yeah. Sunflowers. This year we have a whole garden. We have a huge tomato. Oh, guys. That is great. It's a crocodile too. We have a two can. Oh, this is true. And now I give this is what it looks like. Why is this important to do this? It's a way of honoring the earth. It's really celebrating and honoring the gifts that God has given us. And how else can we do that? I mean, why not give it the honor and earth day? They tell us that since earth day, the countries that have honored earth day have done things that are special to earth day. Our countries that are making a difference as far as the environment is concerned.

Here we have a 12-foot rainbow snake. I love it. I love it. That is great. This is water. You know, that's the Arkansas River. I love it. I love it. That's tremendous. How creative. So, yeah, well, that's good. Yeah. Her name is Annie. We name a lot of our theaters too. And people, you know, bring drums also. In addition to the Samba Band, one of our artists worked with a group of children and they made out of buckets, drums. And so, they can put those around their neck and be beating a drum as they mark those who are recycled wallpaper paced buckets. And you can walk along and beat on your own drummer, whistle, or whatever. Is earth day actually tomorrow?

Somebody asked me that. No, it's the 22nd. Yeah, the 22nd, okay. But we're celebrating. We have been doing it on either Saturday or Sunday. Okay. Oh, there's a cardinal? Yeah. Is there anything this year that's new that you haven't done before? Oh, we have a migration of monarch butterflies. We have 13 children from the Cloud After School program help to make those and we'll be wearing them. So, we're going to parade us into the garden this year. You know, garden is new. We have giant tomato. We have carrots. And we have radishes. And we have lilies and dandelion. Yeah. Okay. Anything else that you'd like to say? Sure. Why should people come? We just invite everybody in which it ought to come and celebrate earth day. Honor our wonderful earth that we have and love and respect it. It's really, it's to honor the diversity of life, to celebrate that diversity. You know, we have so many problems with the ecology that, you know, a lot of times we're full of guilt and we feel helpless.

And we decided we wanted to make earth day, just a celebratory occasion, guilt free. It's time to have fun and appreciate that we're here. And in doing that, it just inspires us to be careful and walk softly. Thank you. Okay. Well, good day. I'm meteorologist Keith Weber for the Kansas Information Network. Here's a look at the forecast around the sunflower state. Well, today most of the state enjoying a nice, sunshiney day, but here in the northeast part of the state. Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, cloudy, and that's holding our temperatures down. We'll start our forecast here today for Northeast and North Central Kansas. It'll be mostly cloudy, maybe partly cloudy by late this afternoon.

We'll see winds out into the northwest to 10 to 20 miles an hour. Highs in the upper 30s to around 40 degrees tonight. It will be partly cloudy. We'll see lows falling into the lower 20s and the light west. And for Friday, mostly cloudy highs into the mid 30s as those northwest winds will blow in at about 10 to 20 miles an hour. For south central and southeast Kansas today, a much better day down here, mostly sunny and cool highs in the middle 40s with northwest winds at 10 to 15. Tonight, mostly clear, lows here will be around 25 degrees with west winds at 10 to 15. And for Friday, mostly sunny highs in the lower 40s with winds becoming northerly in the afternoon. For southwest and southwest central Kansas today, it'll be partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 40s with northwest winds at 10 to 20 miles an hour. Tonight, partly cloudy with lows dropping down to the mid 20s. And for your Friday, it'll be continued partly cloudy with highs in the upper 40s. For northwest Kansas today, we'll see partly cloudy and breezy conditions. Highs in the lower mid 40s, generally the farther west you are, the warmer it will be and winds out of the northwest at 15 to 25 miles an hour.

Tonight, mostly clear and cool with the low in the upper teens may be 20 degrees. And on Friday, partly cloudy in the morning, but becoming mostly cloudy by the afternoon, we'll see highs in the mid to upper 30s. Your weekend looks cold, statewide, Saturday, expect highs in the 20s across the northern half of the state. And in the 30s in the southern half, and on Sunday, 20s for highs, state wide. So a cold weekend ahead for the final weekend of 2001. That's the weather for the sunflower state. I'm meteorologist Keith Weber for the Kansas Information Network. America doesn't stand still. And nobody knows this better than Chevrolet. For 90 years, Chevy has been there to help keep America rolling. And we're not about to stop now. That's why we're proud to offer interest-free financing on every new 2002 truck and SUV we build. From Silverado and the all-new Avalanche and Trailblazer to suburban and Tahoe,

take advantage of 0% APR financing for qualified buyers. Length of contract limited, you must take delivery by January 2, 2002. See dealer for details. It's simple. If it's a new 2002 Chevy truck, you can get it, interest-free. It's the single best way we can help keep America rolling. Dependable, long-lasting Chevy trucks. See your local Chevy dealer today. Good morning, stations at 1106 and time for the KIN news call. I've got four stories to feed down for you this morning. And we will also be refeeding the Kansas weekend for those of you who need it. The story number one, the state's unemployment figures are in for November. Christie Pencratz is with the Department of Human Resources. The cut goes there and the tag the state lost about 1,000 construction jobs and 900 manufacturing jobs during the month.

Most of which are attributed to layhouse in the aircraft industry. Story 2, Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall says the state Supreme Court will release its decision on a death penalty challenge on Friday. Stovall says she's sure the high court will uphold the conviction. She's not sure how the justices will rule in the death penalty, but does believe it will be a split decision. You insert the cut there. The tag the case involves Gary Claypus, who was convicted for the 1996 laying of Pittsburgh State University student Kerry Williams. Story 3, if you are wondering what to do during the Christmas vacation, the Kansas Cosmos, Fair and Space Center suggests a date trip to their facility, Marketing Director Karen Sebert, SIE, B-E-R-T, says one feature will be the hidden treasures of the Cosmosphere, where curator Jim Remar, M-R-E, that's R-E-M-A-R, will bring out some of the Cosmosphere space artifacts that are not currently on public display.

You put the cut there. The tag in addition, Sebert says children and adults will be able to construct and launch paper rockets with the Cosmosphere's Space Science Educators, the special events run through Monday. And story 4, the controversy over payment of temporary employees at the Shawnee County Treasurer's Office is leading some to question. Okay, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Oh, good. I can hear you fine. If you would give me a please your full name and title. Okay, my full name is Lieutenant Allen Stecline of the Kansas Highway Patrol. Great, and are you a trooper then? No, I'm a lieutenant. Wonderful, okay. Now, what, of course, I'm asking about, especially with those that may be out on the roads and perhaps some who are going to be attending parties and so forth, there may be some people who may have had a little bit too much to drink and get on roads, you know, trying to maybe get to their destinations.

If you could just speak to that too, please. Okay, well, first of all, anytime you're traveling during any holiday periods, you need to allow yourself enough time. There's going to be extra traffic out, so you can get your destination in plenty of time. Second of all, if, during this holiday season, as any other time, if you choose to drink any type of alcoholic beverage, you need to find some other means of transportation. If you're going to leave that party or where you're having those drinks at, the best thing to do is have a designated driver to make sure they stay sober and drive the car and all the occupants home or to their destination. Or another alternative is to make plans to stay at the location that you're going to be at the party that night and that way you don't even have to worry about getting on the road after you've had any alcohol drink. Lieutenant Secline, that was great. I just noticed that there was, it sounded like a bit of a buzz. That second point, if you would give it again in terms of what they need to do on the road, that was great. The second one you were talking about, if you are on the road, what they need to be reminded of, as well as you were saying that they may want to stay at the place that they are at.

You may just go basically through the part about having a designated driver. Yes. Okay, thanks. Okay, if you are going to drink any alcohol this holiday season, as any other time during the year, the best thing to do is make sure you have a designated driver that will be able to drive the vehicle after the party and get all occupants to their destination safely. And even a better thing to do is if you are going to choose to go to a party somewhere, it might be wise just to make arrangements ahead of time to stay at that location, and then you don't have to worry about being out on the highway late at night on all the traffic and other drivers that may have also been drinking. Our news director said he really liked being over there. Is that Mr. Henry? Yes. Oh, did you? Yeah, just got off with him and picked up your call. Really? Well, I know he's been working with his catch, you know, trying to make sure that they were there well taking care of.

He's another animal lover around here. But let me double check the levels one moment. Give me your full name and title, please. William, William Scare, DVM. Okay, my first question to you is again, when should we think about bringing our pets and doors in terms of when it's really cold weather? Well, a lot of it is common sense, but it depends on the weather conditions in the chill factor like this morning. It was minus eight or minus 10 chill factor outside. Dr. Scare? Yeah, I'm sorry. I want you to say it again if you don't mind because this air is in the morning so if you could say yesterday, it was okay. Yeah, it all depends on a lot of common sense, but like Tuesday yesterday, the chill factor was minus eight or something like that outside. It all depends on the weather conditions in the chill factor.

It's not too cold for pets that aren't accustomed to cold weather that have short hair coats or have soiled hair coats or have any medical conditions to really be outside. If they're old and have kidney disease or heart disease, if they're not accustomed to being out in the weather. And if they don't have proper shelter, that's much too cold for them to stay outside. Now, if it's a husky that is healthy young and healthy and has a clean hair coat, it's used to be out in the weather and has shelter, it's usually not a problem. But a lot of it is common sense and depends on the weather. Now, you mentioned something about a soil coat. What does that mean? Oh, a soiled S-O-I-L-E-D coat. If their coat is matted and dirty, that's not going to protect them from the cold as much as if they have a clean brushed out hair coat. The traps, the traps, the body heat, you know, that'll let it escape so readily. I see. What about in terms of dog houses and those kinds of things, some people have kind of that hard plastic igloo style and others have, you know, the regular perhaps just lumber style, if you will.

Dog houses, should we be concerned about what kind of protection we do have out there? I think the most important thing is that the dog house be located where it can be kept dry and out of the wind. The opening should probably always face south and the bedding material in the dog house should be kept dry and clean and replaced if it's getting wet or soiled. Whether that's cedar chips or straw or what, the type of house I don't think is as important as where it's located and how it's situated and how clean the dry and the bedding is kept. Is there anything in terms of this season that you're seeing more or less regularly than you have been in the past, for example, are you finding out I don't even know if there's such a thing like if a lot more dogs have arthritis now or you know anything like that in terms of does the weather make a difference as to the type of pets that come into your office during this winter season. Well yes, we always see dogs that have existing arthritis or degenerative joint disease will flare up when it gets cold just like you might expect for a person to do and you know people will complain that dogs have more trouble getting up or getting around or going up the stairs or limping more on the affected leg.

And that's something we always see when it really gets cold that we haven't had any unusual incidents we haven't had any frostbite or anything like that so far. Yes, that is true and that's good. So it almost is like you say like humans in the sense that during this kind of season we find that arthritis is a big problem. I'm trying to think there's anything else is there is there in terms of cats most obviously people have cats indoors but is there something that we need to think about in terms of that type of pet. Well, the same sorts of things even though cats normally use a doghouse outdoors they need to have a shelter available. They need to have a door left open to an outhouse out building or the garage or something so they can get in out of the elements and people need to be careful in this kind of weather.

If the cats do have access to the car whether it's outdoors or in the garage that they check for their cats under the hood of the car before they start it up they seem like several times a year we get a cat that gets under there where it's warm they're attracted to the warmth you know under the engine and then the people get in and start the car and the fan blades will cut them and tear them up so if the cat has access to the car they need people need to check and make sure there isn't a cat sleeping under the. I was looking for the date Saturday state. Am I just really blind from the front no wonder. I was looking over here because I was seeing a woman okay down there okay that's fine because obviously it says procession of the species on the cover most people look at the cover they don't see anything else. And down here is it opens at 11.

We're going to have multicultural entertainment. I'm going to ask you all that on that I'm going to ask you all that other day okay first of all if you could give me your full name and title please. And let me get closer if you don't mind we can do that. My name is Diana Hartmatz and I'm. Hold on Diane I'll let you. Good afternoon stations at its time for the fun filled action pack 315 news call on the Kansas Information Network nice to have you along with us. And we are going to hear more about shanti counties treasurer who would like to be the state treasurer in next year's election. A couple of stories on that also a little something on court furloughs and. We're going to hear more about that. The three temporary employees who worked in the shanti county treasurer's office will get paid.

County attorney Rich Eckert E C K E RT says that part of the issue was says that that part of the issue was never in question. Learn to read Steve put the cut there the tag Eckert says the biggest problem is that county treasurer Rita Klein did not follow proper procedure in hiring the employees. And no job applications were ever filled out. Story number two same topic the three temporary employees who worked in the shanti county treasurer's office will get their paychecks. County attorney Rich Eckert says the bigger problem is that county treasurer Rita Klein isn't following proper procedure in hiring these people. Put the cut there the tag Eckert says because the employees are paid with county money. The human resources department has to be accountable for who the county departments hire. And if you wish to again get that statewide interest you can tag it by mentioning that Klein is a candidate for the state treasurer's job. Story number three there have been reports that district courts plan to close for five days in March to offset state budget problems.

Ron Kefover K E E F O V E R is with the office of judicial administration and he wants to correct the record. You place the cut right there Kefover says they are waiting for the legislature to convene and see if there are supplemental funding possibilities. And story number four the two thousand census presented a snapshot snapshot of Kansas. And we'll have a voicer for you on that. And now we go to the cuts cut number one is Rich Eckert at run 16 seconds has to follow is the out cue and it comes down in three to one. Their payment was never an issue they they worked for Shiny County they were going to get paid. The question was whether or not the treasurer was going to follow the rules and regulations of Shiny County just like every other department had and every other elected official Shiny County has to follow.

Cut number two is again Rich Eckert 14 seconds got hired the out cue in three to one. A form came through to the human resources director about getting these people paid apparently they were already working and when our human resources director went to the file they never had a job application or any other document showing how they got hired. And cut number three is Ron Kefover and it goes 21 seconds non judicial employees the out cue in three to one. No one has issued any direct use to close any courts for five days in March as has been reported by some of the media. What the court has discussed now for a year is a way to meet a two million dollar budget deficit and among those options are furloughs of non judicial employees. And now the voicer hopefully we can get this right in three to one.

The biggest surprise was that the Hispanic population doubled to more than 188,000 people or more than 7% of the population much of that growth was around the packing plant towns of Dodge City Garden City and Liberal. Asians jumped almost 47,000 people of 47% increase many of that was also from those packing plant towns. Whites accounted for 86% of all canzans. The census also showed that rural areas became more open as people move to urban areas where the jobs are. The dozen rural counties mainly in Western cancels lost 10% or more of their population. The biggest percentage gain was in Johnson County with a 27% increase. Steve Foreman cancels information network to Peaca. And there you have it stations the three 15 news call we would love to have your contributions on the next edition early tomorrow morning. You can get those into us by calling 1 800 to 32607 you have a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

Farm news on the cans of sangria concert network. Hi everybody. I'm John Jenkins and scab disease and small grains has become a bigger problem in North Dakota this year. It may have been a problem in Eastern North Dakota, but this year it migrated farther west cutting into the Durham wheat yields by nearly one third. Scab disease costs the state's economy more than $5 billion between 1993 in the year 2000. Cattle ranchers also saw slump in the beef industry this year caused by plummeting cash and futures prices with the uncertainty in the stock market. In North Dakota's potato production was estimated around 26.4 million hundred weight. That's down 2% from a year ago. A seven state program that offers rural families help in paying for mental health care is looking at its focus and funding in Nebraska. Nebraska official office of the rule health coordinator Dennis barons says a recent seven state meeting in Minneapolis demonstrated a need to help farmers control stress before it reaches crisis levels.

A lot of the stress is financial brought on by low commodity prices and uncertainty and agriculture. Baron says the willingness of counselors to leave their clinics for a church setting or some other low or profile meeting place often makes the difference in a client showing up for help. He says rural people won't park in front of a mental health clinic because of the stigma because people know their pickup sides Nebraska seeds of hope operates in Iowa. Kansas Minnesota Wisconsin North and South Dakota and Mississippi cotton growers had a so-so year in 2001. Well McCarthy a Mississippi State University farm economist says the state produced 2.47 million bales in 2001 the second largest crop on record. The only bigger one was 2.69 billion bales in 1937. That is a check of farm news. I'm John Jenkins and on the Kansas agriculture network.

Hey you know what you're doing right this moment you're using our product the radio easy isn't it? No pile of publications and magazines to dig through no pages to turn no finding stuff plus the radio doesn't take time away from other things like your family for instance. You can work it into your day most anytime no problem and there's another thing we're sure you've noticed radio is now on the other hand print is history but the time you get to it you pretty much already know what it brings you if you read it at all research shows that most folks just kind of skim when they read and sell them get to the meat of a print message and who would blame us anyway cheese were busy what doesn't fit our life doesn't fly it's not like we don't have other things to do. We'll wrap this up by saying we are the national association of farm broadcasters who just wanted to remind you that what isn't read isn't reaching anyone that's why radio towers. Good day I meteorologist Keith Weber for the Kansas agriculture network here's look at forecast and conditions around the state of Kansas we continue to have pretty dry conditions statewide but unfortunately no appreciable moisture is going to benefit us through at least the end of this week.

Here's how the forecast stacks up through north central northeast Kansas today it's going to be mostly cloudy a few scattered morning flurry still can't be ruled out by this afternoon those will have been coming to an end partly cloudy skies this afternoon highs will be around 40 degrees tonight it will be partly cloudy with lows in the low 20s and a light west wind and for Friday it will be mostly cloudy highs in the mid 30s as northwest winds kick up to 10 to 25 miles an hour. For southeast and south central Kansas today mostly sunny day although cool we'll see highs in the mid 40s with the brisk northwest wind at 10 to 15 tonight mostly clear with lows around 25 degrees and west winds continuing at about 10 to 15. And for Friday a mostly sunny day highs in the lower 40s and winds will become northerly by the afternoon for southwest and west central Kansas today we're looking at partly cloudy skies here highs into the upper 40s maybe even 50 degrees and extreme southwest Kansas will see northwest winds at 10 to 20 miles an hour tonight partly cloudy skies continuing with lows falling back to the mid 20s and we'll see northwest winds under 10 miles an hour and for Friday continued partly cloudy with highs in the upper 40s. For northwest Kansas today we're looking at a partly cloudy breezy day highs in the low to mid 40s with northwest winds pretty stiff at 10 to 25 miles an hour tonight mostly clear and cool with lows into the upper teens and for Friday partly cloudy in the morning becoming mostly cloudy by the afternoon we're looking for highs in the mid to upper 30s as for the weekend it looks like we're going to send out 2001 on a cold note Arctic air taken over the state with highs on both days in the 20s.

That's the weather I meteorologist Keith Weber for the Kansas agriculture network. I never thought my daughter and I would ever think the same thing is cool and how my boys are like a wrecking ball but when they volunteer they're actually shaping things up. Hey they kind of trees the local park clean the place up she makes new friends she has a great time. Some love to use contributing. These are nice kids. The are you into a volunteer program is a great way for you and your kids to make a difference in the community while making friends so if you're into it or you think your kid might be call 4-8-toe-free at 1-888-77-U or visit our website at www.areointoit.com. We can't get in the plane as room but he loves volunteering.

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