March 2022

Volatile chemical signals from damaged plants warn neighbors about herbivore attacks

March 16, 2022

Animals often use highly specific signals to warn their herd about approaching predators. Surprisingly, similar behaviors are also observed among plants. Shedding more light on this phenomenon, Tokyo University of Science researchers have discovered one such mechanism. Using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, the researchers have shown that herbivore-damaged plants give off volatile chemical “scents” that trigger epigenetic modifications in the defense genes of neighboring plants. These genes subsequently trigger anti-herbivore defense systems.

Stafford County Sheriff’s Report

March 16, 2022

Feb 16 – March 3, 2022 02/19/2022 Michelle Finley hit a deer on US HWY 281 at mile marker 72. No one was injured and vehicle was removed.

Miller Lawns approved for spraying contract

March 16, 2022

Draft Minutes The Stafford County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Wednesday, March 9th, 2022, in the Commission Room in the Annex. Chairman Wycoff called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.

Tiger Coffees: Taste-tested and student approved

March 16, 2022

Tiger Coffee offers hot lattes, iced and blended coffees available plain or made to order with caramel, vanilla, and mocha flavorings. The coffees are brewed from fresh espresso beans. Tiger Coffee is located in the St. John-Hudson High School FACS Room and operated as a schoolbased business. The cups and lids are environmentally friendly and made from 100% compostable materials. Sugar free syrups/flavorings and 1% milk are used to meet nutritional recommendations and healthy guidelines for students. Tiger Coffee coffees have been taste tested and are student approved.

Jolly Workers provide Core group meal

March 9, 2022

One February 28, 2022, the Jolly Workers 4-H Club worked with the Stafford County Core Group to provide a meal to Core members. Jolly Workers members planned a sloppy joe meal with brownies for dessert to serve up to 20 Core members.

March 9, 2022

The Pratt High School boys basketball team finished a solid regular season on Tuesday, February 22, beating Smoky Valley to claim a top seed in 4-A Sub-State with a record of 16-4. This awarded them the opportunity to host two sub-state games in Pratt.

March 9, 2022

Russia’s recent military advance on Ukraine seems to have thrust our nation into an ethical dilemma. Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that modern Ukraine is entirely the product of the Soviet era and has no independent legitimacy (Dickinson). Putin justifies the invasion by claiming that America’s imperialism in Europe threatens his nation’s security and brainwashed the people of the former Russian-held territory with empty words of democracy, eventually stealing the region through a fixed election (Fisher). So, when is military aggression against a sovereign nation justified, and should the United States send troops into Ukraine? Those are the questions being asked today, are they not?

Fire department raises funds for training containers

March 9, 2022

The pancakes were delicious, the sausage savory, the orange juice ever-flowing and background music pleasant at the City of Pratt Firefighters pancake and sausage feed Saturday at the municipal building in Pratt. But it was all for a much higher purpose than enjoyment.

Stars of Hope bus driver passes away in Greensburg

March 9, 2022

Friends and family of Matthew Deighton of Greensburg, Kansas, lost a shining star amongst themselves last week. Deighton, who survived the May 4, 2007 tornado in Greensburg and helped rebuild the city in many ways, took his own life in his hometown cemetery, passing away February 28, 2022 at the age of 59.

Do we have transparency and trust in Topeka?

March 9, 2022

Ordinary life in the United States today is regularly shaped by all sorts of complicated corporate, governmental, and bureaucratic systems. Few like this, but fewer still are willing or able to reject the goods which systems of specialization provide. For some, the way to hold onto the ideal of ordinary citizens truly governing themselves despite this complexity, is “transparency.”