March 2024

Kansas House tries to fix constitutional flaw to shield agriculture from animal-rights activists

TOPEKA — The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in 2018 challenging on First Amendment grounds Kansas’ quarter-century-old law thwarting covert investigations into the treatment of animals and workers at feedlots, slaughterhouses and crop production zones.Ramifications of that legal action continue to vex the animal agriculture industry in Kansas, farm lobbying organizations and rural legislators.In 2021, the 10th Circuit of the U.S.

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Another View: The Book of Mormon and remembering God

In the aftermath of the great wars of 60 to 75 B.C., Alma(1) who had left the office of Chief Judge to go among the Nephites(1) to remind them of God because of growing wickedness which was spreading among them, joyfully recounts his labors for the Lord, and the repentance of so many of the people, and the labors of his brethren(2) who had gone among their enemies the Lamanites(1) and helped so many of them turn back to God.“And behold,” Alma writes, “when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me…and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know…that the Lord…did deliver them out of bondage.”(3)“And now” Alma continues, “may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the Kingdom of God…that they may go no more out, but that they may praise Him forever.”(4)We too live in a time of peace following the two great wars of 1914-1918 with its 16 million dead, and of 1939-1945 with its 80 million(5) dead.

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Groundwater measurement results mixed in western, south-central Kansas

LAWRENCE — Preliminary groundwater level measurements compiled by the Kansas Geological Survey show mixed results for western and south-central Kansas in 2023, with some areas in the northwest and west-central part of the state experiencing increases for the first time in three or more years.“In the Ogallala portion of the High Plains aquifer, the aquifer had a chance to ‘reset’ in 2023, given some timely rains in the summer months,” said Brownie Wilson, KGS water-data manager.Measurements in those areas reflect a rebound from lower-than-normal groundwater levels caused by the extreme drought conditions seen in 2022.“Unfortunately, south-central Kansas missed out on those rains, and the dry conditions persist today,” Wilson said.The KGS, based at the University of Kansas, and the Division of Water Resources (DWR) of the Kansas Department of Agriculture measure water levels in about 1,400 wells every year to monitor the health of the High Plains aquifer and other aquifers in western and south-central Kansas.Those measurements showed an overall average decline of 0.17 feet last year, marking the fourth straight year of overall declines.

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