by BECKY GOFF Little Apple Post

ST. GEORGE - On Wednesday afternoon, just after 4:30 pm, fire crews were dispatched to the 500 block of Maple in St. George for the report of a residence on fire.

When crews arrived on the scene they found a mobile home with flames and smoke coming from the residence. Crews were able to get the fire under control within 30-45 minutes of the call to 911.&nbsp;

No one was home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The home is a total loss.

Firefighters from Pottawatomie County Consolidated Fire District #1, Louisville Fire Department and Wamego Fire Department responded to the fire.

Pottawatomie County EMS, St. George Police officers and Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office also responded to the incident.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1706800029157.jpeg" alt="picture by Becky Goff" />
 <figcaption>picture by Becky Goff</figcaption>
 </figure>by BECKY GOFF Little Apple PostST. GEORGE - On Wednesday afternoon, just after 4:30 pm, fire crews were dispatched to the 500 block of Maple in St. George for the report of a residence on fire.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1706800464579.jpeg" alt="St George Fire, picture by Drew Kuchera" />
 <figcaption>St George Fire, picture by Drew Kuchera</figcaption>
 </figure>When crews arrived on the scene they found a mobile home with flames and smoke coming from the residence. Crews were able to get the fire under control within 30-45 minutes of the call to 911.&nbsp;No one was home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The home is a total loss.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1706800664915.jpeg" alt="St. George fire, picture by Becky Goff" />
 <figcaption>St. George fire, picture by Becky Goff</figcaption>
 </figure>Firefighters from Pottawatomie County Consolidated Fire District #1, Louisville Fire Department and Wamego Fire Department responded to the fire.Pottawatomie County EMS, St. George Police officers and Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office also responded to the incident.

St. George residence complete loss following Wednesday fire

NICK GOSNELL Hutch Post&nbsp;

HUTCHINSON,Kan. —&nbsp;Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson is commemorating National Unclaimed Property Day on Feb. 1 with reminders for Kansans of how they can check to see if they have money they've forgotten about that is with his office.

"That's where we interact with most of our citizens," Johnson said. "A lot of the other things are intra-offices in the state government. If you go to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascash.ks.gov/">https://kansascash.ks.gov/</a>, the first icon on the&nbsp;State Treasurer's site is Search&nbsp;Unclaimed Property. Clicking on that icon will bring you to a search field, where you can put in last name, first name. If your name is as common as&nbsp;Steven Johnson, you will want to put in a city or a ZIP Code or something to narrow it a little bit. That, then will do a search to see if we are holding any property in your name."

"For something to be unclaimed, to get disconnected and not make it all the way through, there could be something like a change in name," Johnson said. "Searching maiden names are great. It could be a change in address, where a utility deposit didn't make it back to a student who moved from home to school and then again, those types of things. If you have a minute to search your name and then a few other family members, one in seven people have unclaimed property in Kansas."

It is always free to search and file claims for property through Johnson's office.

"When you see your name pop up, there's a little orange button that says, Claim," Johnson said. "You click on Claim and that will lead you into the claim process. If it's for yourself, you just click on owner and it's pretty simple."

If you're having trouble navigating the website, you can still call (785) 296-4165.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683385661997.jpeg" alt="Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson" />
 <figcaption>Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson</figcaption>
 </figure>NICK GOSNELL Hutch Post&nbsp;HUTCHINSON,Kan. —&nbsp;Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson is commemorating National Unclaimed Property Day on Feb. 1 with reminders for Kansans of how they can check to see if they have money they've forgotten about that is with his office."That's where we interact with most of our citizens," Johnson said. "A lot of the other things are intra-offices in the state government. If you go to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascash.ks.gov/">https://kansascash.ks.gov/</a>, the first icon on the&nbsp;State Treasurer's site is Search&nbsp;Unclaimed Property. Clicking on that icon will bring you to a search field, where you can put in last name, first name. If your name is as common as&nbsp;Steven Johnson, you will want to put in a city or a ZIP Code or something to narrow it a little bit. That, then will do a search to see if we are holding any property in your name."Unclaimed property is a common problem."For something to be unclaimed, to get disconnected and not make it all the way through, there could be something like a change in name," Johnson said. "Searching maiden names are great. It could be a change in address, where a utility deposit didn't make it back to a student who moved from home to school and then again, those types of things. If you have a minute to search your name and then a few other family members, one in seven people have unclaimed property in Kansas."It is always free to search and file claims for property through Johnson's office."When you see your name pop up, there's a little orange button that says, Claim," Johnson said. "You click on Claim and that will lead you into the claim process. If it's for yourself, you just click on owner and it's pretty simple."If you're having trouble navigating the website, you can still call (785) 296-4165.

National Unclaimed Property Day is good day to double check

The KANSASWORKS Virtual Statewide Job Fair is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2024 beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Employers can register for this upcoming event at <a href="https://pvapi.premiervirtual.com/s/dngwnx">https://pvapi.premiervirtual.com/s/dngwnx</a> by selecting “Organization” and it will take you to the registration page where you will click on “Register for Event."

The Virtual Statewide job fair will be split up into five workforce areas and eleven sub-categories.  When you register, PLEASE select ONLY the areas of the state that your company/business has jobs in.

There is no charge to participate, but an Employer account on <a href="http://www.kansasworks.com">www.kansasworks.com</a> is required.

A video explaining how to register for those new to the platform can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTpw84Epmc">here</a>.

  Additional training with new enhancements is available within your booth after you have logged on.

The next Virtual Statewide Job Fair will be held April 24, 2024.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706733681262.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>SubmittedThe KANSASWORKS Virtual Statewide Job Fair is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2024 beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Employers can register for this upcoming event at <a href="https://pvapi.premiervirtual.com/s/dngwnx">https://pvapi.premiervirtual.com/s/dngwnx</a> by selecting “Organization” and it will take you to the registration page where you will click on “Register for Event."The Virtual Statewide job fair will be split up into five workforce areas and eleven sub-categories. When you register, PLEASE select ONLY the areas of the state that your company/business has jobs in.There is no charge to participate, but an Employer account on <a href="http://www.kansasworks.com">www.kansasworks.com</a> is required.A video explaining how to register for those new to the platform can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTpw84Epmc">here</a>. Additional training with new enhancements is available within your booth after you have logged on.The next Virtual Statewide Job Fair will be held April 24, 2024.

KANSASWORKS virtual statewide job fair scheduled for Feb. 21

RILEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged robbery have taken two suspects into custody.

Early Tuesday, the Riley County Police Department Communication Center received several 911 calls reporting a robbery. A 29-year-old man reported two men brandished a weapon and stole a backpack from him containing various items. Within the day, detectives were able to identify the suspects, execute a search warrant and make arrests.

Just after 5p.m., police arrested Brandon Welty, 25, and Joseph Bauer, 19 both of Manhattan in the 400 block of Leavenworth Street in Manhattan.

Welty was arrested on a Riley County District Court warrant for aggravated robbery and probation violation. Bauer was arrested on a requested charge of aggravated robbery, failure to appear, and probation violation.

Welty was issued total bond of $90,000 and Bauer was issued a total bond of $82,000. Both suspects remain confined in the Riley County Jail. Welty has previous convictions for possession of marijuana and attempted obstruction, according to the Kansas Department of Corections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706723210839.png" alt="Welty-photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Welty-photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>RILEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged robbery have taken two suspects into custody.Early Tuesday, the Riley County Police Department Communication Center received several 911 calls reporting a robbery. A 29-year-old man reported two men brandished a weapon and stole a backpack from him containing various items. Within the day, detectives were able to identify the suspects, execute a search warrant and make arrests.Just after 5p.m., police arrested Brandon Welty, 25, and Joseph Bauer, 19 both of Manhattan in the 400 block of Leavenworth Street in Manhattan.Welty was arrested on a Riley County District Court warrant for aggravated robbery and probation violation. Bauer was arrested on a requested charge of aggravated robbery, failure to appear, and probation violation.Welty was issued total bond of $90,000 and Bauer was issued a total bond of $82,000. Both suspects remain confined in the Riley County Jail. Welty has previous convictions for possession of marijuana and attempted obstruction, according to the Kansas Department of Corections.

 Kan. felon accused of aggravated robbery in Manhattan

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged motor vehicle theft in Riley County.

Just before 6p.m. Tuesday, officers filed a report of motor vehicle theft in the 2600 block of Farm Bureau Road, Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.&nbsp;

 Rock Hills Church reported an unknown suspect stole the church's 2003 GMC Sierra. 

Anyone with information can contact&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rileycountypolice.org/287/Crime-Stoppers">Crime Stoppers</a>. Using Crime Stoppers allows you to remain anonymous and could qualify you for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged motor vehicle theft in Riley County.Just before 6p.m. Tuesday, officers filed a report of motor vehicle theft in the 2600 block of Farm Bureau Road, Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.&nbsp; Rock Hills Church reported an unknown suspect stole the church's 2003 GMC Sierra. Anyone with information can contact&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rileycountypolice.org/287/Crime-Stoppers">Crime Stoppers</a>. Using Crime Stoppers allows you to remain anonymous and could qualify you for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

RCPD: Church pickup reported stolen

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;

MAKIA SHEIKANIYAH HARRIS, 34, Manhattan, Probation Violation; Bond $15,000

JOSEPH DONALD BAUER JR, 19, Manhattan, Aggravated robbery; Armed w/dangerous weapon; Failure to appear; Probation Violation; Bond $82,000

BRANDON LLOYD WELTY, 25, Manhattan, Aggravated robbery; Armed w/dangerous weapon; Probation violation; Bond $90,000

JAMIE LEE RAY, 29, Manhattan, Probation Violation, Bond $2,000

MIKA DANIELLE NALKER, 21, Herington, Burglary; Dwelling to commit felony, theft, domestic violence or sexually motivated crime; Criminal damage to property; Without consent value &lt;$1000; Theft of property or services; Value less than $1,500; All Other Larceny; Bond $2,000

TREVON FREDRICK JOE HALL 24, Topeka, Probation Violation; Arrested and released on bond by Topeka Police Department on 12/17/2023

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;MAKIA SHEIKANIYAH HARRIS, 34, Manhattan, Probation Violation; Bond $15,000JOSEPH DONALD BAUER JR, 19, Manhattan, Aggravated robbery; Armed w/dangerous weapon; Failure to appear; Probation Violation; Bond $82,000BRANDON LLOYD WELTY, 25, Manhattan, Aggravated robbery; Armed w/dangerous weapon; Probation violation; Bond $90,000JAMIE LEE RAY, 29, Manhattan, Probation Violation, Bond $2,000MIKA DANIELLE NALKER, 21, Herington, Burglary; Dwelling to commit felony, theft, domestic violence or sexually motivated crime; Criminal damage to property; Without consent value &lt;$1000; Theft of property or services; Value less than $1,500; All Other Larceny; Bond $2,000TREVON FREDRICK JOE HALL 24, Topeka, Probation Violation; Arrested and released on bond by Topeka Police Department on 12/17/2023

Riley County Arrest Report Jan. 31

Kstate CREDIT UNION has announced that Enterprise Credit Union in Enterprise, KS, has merged with kstate CREDIT UNION. The unified entity will operate under a single brand and continue to serve over ten thousand members. With this merger, kstate CREDIT UNION will have membership eligibility to serve residents in a ten-county area in Kansas.

1. Enhance services for more members: The merger allows for the integration of complimentary products and services, offering members an expanded range of financial solutions tailored to meet their evolving needs.

2. Increased geographic reach: The combined entity will have an extended geographic footprint, enabling them to serve more people. The eligibility for membership includes these Kansas Counties: Cloud, Clay, Dickinson, Saline, Morris, Geary, Riley, McPherson, Ottawa &amp; Pottawatomie.

3. Innovative financial technology for more Kansas counties: This merger allows for the combined entity to have access to modern technical tools to help more individuals receive the financial services they need. This includes a versatile and user-friendly mobile app, remote deposit capture, online and responsive lending solutions, and a host of expanded online services.

*press release from kstate Credit Union

Kstate CREDIT UNION has announced that Enterprise Credit Union in Enterprise, KS, has merged with kstate CREDIT UNION. The unified entity will operate under a single brand and continue to serve over ten thousand members. With this merger, kstate CREDIT UNION will have membership eligibility to serve residents in a ten-county area in Kansas.Highlights of the Merger:1. Enhance services for more members: The merger allows for the integration of complimentary products and services, offering members an expanded range of financial solutions tailored to meet their evolving needs.2. Increased geographic reach: The combined entity will have an extended geographic footprint, enabling them to serve more people. The eligibility for membership includes these Kansas Counties: Cloud, Clay, Dickinson, Saline, Morris, Geary, Riley, McPherson, Ottawa &amp; Pottawatomie.3. Innovative financial technology for more Kansas counties: This merger allows for the combined entity to have access to modern technical tools to help more individuals receive the financial services they need. This includes a versatile and user-friendly mobile app, remote deposit capture, online and responsive lending solutions, and a host of expanded online services.*press release from kstate Credit Union

Kstate CREDIT UNION announces merger with Enterprise Credit Union in Enterprise, KS

BRIAN JAMES DROGE, 43, Manhattan, Burglary; Dwelling for felony, theft, sex; Theft of property or services; Value $1,400 to $25,000; Theft from building; Bond $8,000

GERRY WAYNE PHILLIPS II, 32, Manhattan, Flee or attempt to elude LEO by engaging in reckless driving; Reckless driving; Bond $4,000

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;BRIAN JAMES DROGE, 43, Manhattan, Burglary; Dwelling for felony, theft, sex; Theft of property or services; Value $1,400 to $25,000; Theft from building; Bond $8,000GERRY WAYNE PHILLIPS II, 32, Manhattan, Flee or attempt to elude LEO by engaging in reckless driving; Reckless driving; Bond $4,000

Riley County Arrest Report Jan. 30

RILEY COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Monday in Manhattan.

A 2004 Saturn Ion driven by Erica Arnold, 21, of Wamego crashed with a 2014 Dodge Journey driven by Robert Bellinder, 61, of St. George&nbsp;in the 300 block of E. Poyntz in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.

EMS transported Bellinder to Ascension Via Christi for treatment of non life-threatening injuries. Arnold was issued a citation for improper right turn.

RILEY COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Monday in Manhattan.A 2004 Saturn Ion driven by Erica Arnold, 21, of Wamego crashed with a 2014 Dodge Journey driven by Robert Bellinder, 61, of St. George&nbsp;in the 300 block of E. Poyntz in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.EMS transported Bellinder to Ascension Via Christi for treatment of non life-threatening injuries. Arnold was issued a citation for improper right turn.

Kansas man injured after 2-vehicle crash in Manhattan

Kansas Department of Transportation

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Transportation’s I-70 asphalt improvement project in Gove County received the 2023 Sheldon G. Hayes Award – the top paving award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association.

The award was presented this week to the project’s contractor, APAC Kansas, Inc., Shears Division, of Hutchinson, at the NAPA annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

“This award acknowledges what we Kansans have always known; Kansas contractors are second to none,” said Calvin Reed, Secretary of Transportation.&nbsp; “It is the result of exceptional collaboration between Kansas-based industry partners and KDOT who completed the I-70 project with a high degree of skill and attention to detail.”

The Gove County project covered just over 9 miles of I-70 starting 4 miles east of Park and ending at the Trego County line. Nearly 76,000 tons of asphalt was used on the driving lanes and shoulders.

The winner and finalists are determined through a two-year evaluation process. To be eligible, projects must use more than 50,000 tons of asphalt and be selected for a NAPA Quality in Construction Award the previous year. Qualifying projects are then evaluated for smoothness and inspected in person by an independent pavement consultant.

This award is named for a founder of NAPA and the association’s first chairman. It has been presented annually since 1971.

Kansas Department of TransportationTOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Transportation’s I-70 asphalt improvement project in Gove County received the 2023 Sheldon G. Hayes Award – the top paving award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association.The award was presented this week to the project’s contractor, APAC Kansas, Inc., Shears Division, of Hutchinson, at the NAPA annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.“This award acknowledges what we Kansans have always known; Kansas contractors are second to none,” said Calvin Reed, Secretary of Transportation.&nbsp; “It is the result of exceptional collaboration between Kansas-based industry partners and KDOT who completed the I-70 project with a high degree of skill and attention to detail.”The Gove County project covered just over 9 miles of I-70 starting 4 miles east of Park and ending at the Trego County line. Nearly 76,000 tons of asphalt was used on the driving lanes and shoulders.The winner and finalists are determined through a two-year evaluation process. To be eligible, projects must use more than 50,000 tons of asphalt and be selected for a NAPA Quality in Construction Award the previous year. Qualifying projects are then evaluated for smoothness and inspected in person by an independent pavement consultant.This award is named for a founder of NAPA and the association’s first chairman. It has been presented annually since 1971.

APAC Kansas Shears Division wins national paving award

As the Ogallala Aquifer dwindles, rural towns try to keep their sole water source

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/allison-kite/">ALLISON KITE</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/kevinhardy/">KEVIN HARDY</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

This story, the first in an occasional series about water challenges facing the American heartland, is a partnership between Stateline and the Kansas Reflector.

MOSCOW, Kan. — Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field.

He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots as he makes his way to a decommissioned irrigation well.

He unspools a steel highway tape measure a few feet at a time and feeds it into the well until gravity takes over. He keeps a thumb on it to control the speed.

How much of the tape comes out wet lets him calculate how much water has been lost here.

Wilson crisscrosses western Kansas every January to measure wells and track the rapid decline of the Ogallala Aquifer,&nbsp;which contains&nbsp;the nation’s largest underground store of fresh water.

Last year, some wells had dropped 10 feet or more because of the severe 2022 drought. But this year, they stayed about the same or dropped a couple feet. Some of these wells have dropped more than 100 feet since Wilson started working for the agency in 2001, he said.

“Some of our issues looking forward look gargantuan,” Wilson said. “But I do think we can peck away at it and make some headway.”

The Ogallala Aquifer,&nbsp;the underground rock and sediment formation that&nbsp;spans eight states from South Dakota to the Texas panhandle, is the only reliable water source for some parts of the region. But for decades, states have allowed farmers to overpump groundwater to irrigate corn and other crops that would otherwise struggle on the arid High Plains.

Now, the disappearing water is threatening more than just agriculture. Rural communities are facing dire futures where water is no longer a certainty. Across the Ogallala, small towns and cities built around agriculture are facing a twisted threat: The very industry that made their communities might just eradicate them.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly acknowledges some communities are just a generation away from running out of water. But she said there’s still time to act.

“If they do nothing, I think they’re going to suffer the consequences,” Kelly said in an interview.

Today, the aquifer supports 20 percent of the nation’s wheat, corn, cotton and cattle production and represents 30 percent of all water used for irrigation&nbsp;in the United States.

Depletion is forcing aquifer-dependent communities across the region to dig deeper wells, purchase expensive water rights from farmers, build pipelines and recycle their water supplies in new ways to save every drop possible.

Since the mid-20th century, when large-scale irrigation began,&nbsp;water&nbsp;levels in the stretches of the Ogallala&nbsp;underlying Kansas have dropped an average 28.2 feet farther below the surface, far worse than the eight-state average of 16.8 feet.

Water levels in&nbsp;Texas,&nbsp;where the Ogallala&nbsp;runs under the state’s panhandle, have&nbsp;dropped 44 feet.&nbsp;New Mexico has seen a 19.1-foot decline.

In&nbsp;Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming, the&nbsp;water level has declined less than&nbsp;the eight-state average, while&nbsp;in&nbsp;South Dakota it has risen.

While the Ogallala Aquifer presents distinct circumstances, tensions over groundwater are growing across the country, said climate scientist and author Peter Gleick, who founded the Pacific Institute, a global water think tank.

“You’re not alone,” Gleick told Kansas irrigators and policymakers at the Governor’s Conference on Water, held in November in Manhattan, Kan.&nbsp;“A lot of the issues that you’re dealing with in Kansas, they’re dealing with in Arizona, and the Colorado [River] basin.”

Without drastic measures, some communities may not survive.

“I think, without a doubt, we will see some communities dry up,” Gleick said in an interview. “We’ve seen that historically, where communities outgrow a natural resource or lose a natural resource and people have to move to abandon their homes.”

When Micheal Shannon got his start in local government over 40 years ago, water supplies were not top of mind.

“We’re running out of water,” said Shannon, the interim city manager in Guymon, Okla. “We’re pumping our maximum. And the water levels keep coming down.”

The largest city in the Oklahoma Panhandle, Guymon relies on 18 wells to draw water from the Ogallala. But dropping water levels have forced the city of about 13,000 to explore new wells outside of town.

The city has already committed some $4.5 million to study and drill new wells, but there’s no guarantee the wells will produce a reliable water supply.

“There’s always that what if,” he said. “There could not be any water.”

The city’s largest water user and employer is a massive pork plant that slaughters and processes more than 20,000 hogs per day. The plant has voluntarily reduced water usage by nearly half during times of shortened supply.

Shannon said the city, industry and agricultural producers must work together.

“We all still want to be here the next 35, 40 years,” he said. “We know farmers are going to have to produce ag products. And the citizens of Guymon are going to have to have water.”

More than 200 miles away, several New Mexico communities are banking on more drastic measures.

A new pipeline, expected to cost more than $800 million, will bring water from the Canadian River’s Ute Reservoir to four municipalities and Cannon Air Force Base.

“This is our future, no doubt about it,” said Orlando Ortega, administrator of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority. “Without this project, none of these communities could exist for very long.”

The pipeline is being funded largely by the federal government, though four participating communities have been paying dues to the water authority for years. Officials aim to have the pipeline operational by the end of the decade.

Even so, communities will still need to get more aggressive about conserving water, said Michael Morris, who leads the water authority board and is mayor of Clovis, one of its member communities.

Morris is active in agricultural efforts to decrease pumping — such as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ogalwc.org/">conservation programs</a>&nbsp;in the region that pay producers to stop pumping. And the city is working to expand water recycling efforts.

But he said the situation is even more dire than locals realize. Few know how close Clovis has come to seeing its water demand outpace the underground supply.

“So is there another option?” he said. “No.”

In Kansas, the Ogallala Aquifer supplies 70 percent to 80 percent of the water residents use each day. But for decades, the state’s regulation of water benefited its largest user and its largest industry: agriculture.

The once-abundant water allowed farmers to grow cheap cattle feed, attracting the feedlots, and increasingly, dairy farms, that dot southwest Kansas.

But that feed is cheap, partly because — aside from the fuel costs associated with running a well — the water is free.

A report commissioned by the Kansas Legislature in 1955 warned of a future without it.

“Ground-water mining is a serious problem,” the report says.

After the grave 1955 warning, however, the state legislature only made it easier to pump the water, according to Burke Griggs, a water law professor at Washburn University in Topeka.

Griggs, formerly a water lawyer for the state, criticized Kansas lawmakers’ decadeslong posture that depletion would best be solved locally. He said it is a stance held by every governor since the 1980s.

“They want it to be voluntary. And they want it to be cooperative. They want to have local-based solutions,” Griggs said. “These are the catchwords you hear. None of them have achieved much.”

Kelly follows the same line. The second-term governor recently signed a law mandating more reporting and planning from groundwater management districts and created a new subcabinet to coordinate water issues across agencies. But she hasn’t wavered from her position that water conservation efforts are most effective when they are voluntary.

“Things are more likely to work out in the long run and succeed if there is local buy-in, and local commitment and the idea is generated locally — rather than the state wielding that heavy hammer,” Kelly said.

But even some farmers want the state to step in, water policy watchers say.

“Many families who are trying to make a living from farming, and who would like to keep farming on their own land, are just waiting for the state to step in and help them fix this. Most people agree that we need fair, enforceable and transparent rules to get this turned around,” said&nbsp;Lucas&nbsp;Bessire, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma who grew up in southwest Kansas.

For the first time since their father dug an irrigation well in the dusty sandhills of southwest Kansas more than 50 years ago, Gina and Marc Gigot’s farm isn’t growing corn.

The sibling farmers are trying to preserve the precious water below their land outside Garden City.

For decades,&nbsp;the Gigot family has benefited from drawing groundwater to the surface to grow bright green circles of crops where the sandy soil is otherwise so dusty it might blow away.

As Marc’s pickup bumps along the farm’s private roads, he and Gina point to the electric systems and water pipes laid by their father. Some of the massive center pivot systems use the same parts he installed 50 years ago.

To extend the life of the aquifer, the siblings are opting for&nbsp;fewer water-intensive crops and grazing cattle. The farm has historically been among Kansas’ largest water users, irrigating 9,000 acres, but they’ve cut their usage in recent years and committed to another 10 years of voluntary water conservation.

In exchange, they get more flexibility in how they use the water. As long as they hit their five-year goal, they can pump more water in drought years.

Beyond that, they’re partnering with Garden City, the largest city in southwest Kansas and a major agricultural hub. Garden City’s municipal water wells sit right next door to the Gigot farm, which can directly impact the city’s ability to supply drinking water.

To keep more water underground, Garden City will soon divert treated wastewater to the Gigot farm — rather than continuing to dump it into the bone-dry bed of the Arkansas River. That will allow the farm to turn off some wells.

“It’s not really a situation where either the city gets what they need or the irrigators get what they need. It is way more symbiotic,” said Fred Jones, who oversees Garden City’s water.

In northwest Kansas, a group of farmers voluntarily cut their water usage by 20 percent through a five-year conservation program with the state. They switched from corn to wheat or grain sorghum and used irrigation more strategically. Farmers in the area exceeded their goal and cut use, on average, 23.1 percent over the initial five-year period and slowed the decline of the aquifer from 2 feet per year to less than half a foot.

Still, the Gigots said the state must force other producers to cut back.

Even Kansas Farm Bureau President Joe Newland said he’s fearful that voluntary efforts aren’t enough.

Newland, a former Kansas Republican legislator, offered an amendment in 2022 that effectively sank a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/01/shooting-themselves-in-the-foot-committee-guts-kansas-bill-to-protect-water/">massive bill</a>&nbsp;designed to make the aquifer a higher priority in state government, impose more requirements on local groundwater officials, and give communities a greater voice in decisions over water.

In Kansas, the agricultural industry, led in part by Newland,&nbsp;has largely pushed back against aggressive water restrictions, instead calling for voluntary conservation measures. But Newland worries that those voluntary measures haven’t saved enough water, which could&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;push the state to hand down strict mandates.

“I’m always hopeful and prayerful that people realize just how important it is that we’re doing this on a voluntary basis and not ever have to go through a mandatory situation,” he said. “But that’s going to be determined in the near future how this works, because, as I said, we don’t have decades to fix this problem.”

Few places evoke the Old West like Dodge City, where Wyatt Earp patrolled the lawless streets rife with gambling, saloons and shootouts.

Today, the city proudly displays remnants of those days at the Boot Hill Museum, which contains a reproduction of the legendary Long Branch Saloon and an Old West photo booth for visitors.

But the former frontier outpost has embraced some of the state’s most progressive water strategies.

“We were recycling before recycling was cool,” said City Manager Nick Hernandez, who highlighted water reuse efforts that began in the 1980s.

Effluent from one of the city’s wastewater treatment plants keeps a golf course green. Another plant sends about 1.8 billion gallons of treated wastewater to irrigate 3,000 acres of crops at a nearby farm, reducing the need for aquifer pumping.

Another project aims to directly recharge the aquifer with treated wastewater. That will not only help protect the city’s quantity of water, but also prevent contamination from agricultural runoff like nitrates by keeping the hydraulic pressure up in city wells, he said.

That project is expected to cost $60 million. Dodge City, home to about 28,000 people,&nbsp;is seeking federal and state assistance for the effort. But even without grants, Hernandez said that would prove cheaper than buying water rights and digging new wells.

All those projects are building toward treating the city’s sewage directly into drinkable water — still&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://stateline.org/2023/12/12/from-flush-to-faucet-more-places-look-to-turn-sewage-into-tap-water/">an emerging idea in most parts of the country.</a>&nbsp;That would allow the city to decrease demand on groundwater by continually reusing its water.

“We all have a concern about the stability of the aquifer because that’s our lifeline,” said Ray Slattery, the city’s director of engineering services. “But I feel very good about where the city is, and what we’ve done in the past to conserve. We knew it was important and so we took steps way before it became a problem.”

Communities such as Dodge City offer a glimpse into the future of municipal water supplies in the region, said state Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican who represents part of western Kansas and leads the House Water Committee.

Minnix,&nbsp;who raises cattle and farms both dryland and irrigated crops, said cities and farms alike must adapt. Cities need to continue embracing water recycling efforts, reduce lawn watering and encourage more efficient appliances. Farmers, he said, should embrace new technologies such as more efficient irrigation systems and drought-resistant crops.

“You’d be amazed at the water quantity that’s actually being saved out there from what had been done 40, 50 years ago,” he said. “As a farmer myself, I know a lot of little things add up to something that’s really worthwhile. And to maintain our aquifer and our economy out here is absolutely worthwhile.”

But the way Connie Owen, director of the Kansas Water Office, sees it, change is coming to both agricultural and municipal water users one way or another.

“If we don’t adapt to different behaviors, it will run dry,” she said.&nbsp;“And that will cause the economic devastation that everyone fears with restrictions.”

<h2>As the Ogallala Aquifer dwindles, rural towns try to keep their sole water source</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706560795592.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Brownie Wilson kneels next to a decommissioned irrigation well outside Moscow, Kan., as part of the Kansas Geological Survey’s efforts to measure the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. Groundwater has been declining for decades because of irrigation in the eight states that rely on the aquifer. (Kevin Hardy/Stateline)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Brownie Wilson kneels next to a decommissioned irrigation well outside Moscow, Kan., as part of the Kansas Geological Survey’s efforts to measure the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. Groundwater has been declining for decades because of irrigation in the eight states that rely on the aquifer. (Kevin Hardy/Stateline)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/allison-kite/">ALLISON KITE</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/kevinhardy/">KEVIN HARDY</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>This story, the first in an occasional series about water challenges facing the American heartland, is a partnership between Stateline and the Kansas Reflector.MOSCOW, Kan. — Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field.He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots as he makes his way to a decommissioned irrigation well.He unspools a steel highway tape measure a few feet at a time and feeds it into the well until gravity takes over. He keeps a thumb on it to control the speed.How much of the tape comes out wet lets him calculate how much water has been lost here.Wilson crisscrosses western Kansas every January to measure wells and track the rapid decline of the Ogallala Aquifer,&nbsp;which contains&nbsp;the nation’s largest underground store of fresh water.Last year, some wells had dropped 10 feet or more because of the severe 2022 drought. But this year, they stayed about the same or dropped a couple feet. Some of these wells have dropped more than 100 feet since Wilson started working for the agency in 2001, he said.“Some of our issues looking forward look gargantuan,” Wilson said. “But I do think we can peck away at it and make some headway.”The Ogallala Aquifer,&nbsp;the underground rock and sediment formation that&nbsp;spans eight states from South Dakota to the Texas panhandle, is the only reliable water source for some parts of the region. But for decades, states have allowed farmers to overpump groundwater to irrigate corn and other crops that would otherwise struggle on the arid High Plains.Now, the disappearing water is threatening more than just agriculture. Rural communities are facing dire futures where water is no longer a certainty. Across the Ogallala, small towns and cities built around agriculture are facing a twisted threat: The very industry that made their communities might just eradicate them.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly acknowledges some communities are just a generation away from running out of water. But she said there’s still time to act.“If they do nothing, I think they’re going to suffer the consequences,” Kelly said in an interview.Today, the aquifer supports 20 percent of the nation’s wheat, corn, cotton and cattle production and represents 30 percent of all water used for irrigation&nbsp;in the United States.Depletion is forcing aquifer-dependent communities across the region to dig deeper wells, purchase expensive water rights from farmers, build pipelines and recycle their water supplies in new ways to save every drop possible.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706560868265.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Since the mid-20th century, when large-scale irrigation began,&nbsp;water&nbsp;levels in the stretches of the Ogallala&nbsp;underlying Kansas have dropped an average 28.2 feet farther below the surface, far worse than the eight-state average of 16.8 feet.Water levels in&nbsp;Texas,&nbsp;where the Ogallala&nbsp;runs under the state’s panhandle, have&nbsp;dropped 44 feet.&nbsp;New Mexico has seen a 19.1-foot decline.In&nbsp;Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming, the&nbsp;water level has declined less than&nbsp;the eight-state average, while&nbsp;in&nbsp;South Dakota it has risen.While the Ogallala Aquifer presents distinct circumstances, tensions over groundwater are growing across the country, said climate scientist and author Peter Gleick, who founded the Pacific Institute, a global water think tank.“You’re not alone,” Gleick told Kansas irrigators and policymakers at the Governor’s Conference on Water, held in November in Manhattan, Kan.&nbsp;“A lot of the issues that you’re dealing with in Kansas, they’re dealing with in Arizona, and the Colorado [River] basin.”Without drastic measures, some communities may not survive.“I think, without a doubt, we will see some communities dry up,” Gleick said in an interview. “We’ve seen that historically, where communities outgrow a natural resource or lose a natural resource and people have to move to abandon their homes.”<h2>‘We’re running out of water’</h2>When Micheal Shannon got his start in local government over 40 years ago, water supplies were not top of mind.Those days are gone.“We’re running out of water,” said Shannon, the interim city manager in Guymon, Okla. “We’re pumping our maximum. And the water levels keep coming down.”The largest city in the Oklahoma Panhandle, Guymon relies on 18 wells to draw water from the Ogallala. But dropping water levels have forced the city of about 13,000 to explore new wells outside of town.The city has already committed some $4.5 million to study and drill new wells, but there’s no guarantee the wells will produce a reliable water supply.“There’s always that what if,” he said. “There could not be any water.”The city’s largest water user and employer is a massive pork plant that slaughters and processes more than 20,000 hogs per day. The plant has voluntarily reduced water usage by nearly half during times of shortened supply.Shannon said the city, industry and agricultural producers must work together.“We all still want to be here the next 35, 40 years,” he said. “We know farmers are going to have to produce ag products. And the citizens of Guymon are going to have to have water.”More than 200 miles away, several New Mexico communities are banking on more drastic measures.A new pipeline, expected to cost more than $800 million, will bring water from the Canadian River’s Ute Reservoir to four municipalities and Cannon Air Force Base.“This is our future, no doubt about it,” said Orlando Ortega, administrator of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority. “Without this project, none of these communities could exist for very long.”The pipeline is being funded largely by the federal government, though four participating communities have been paying dues to the water authority for years. Officials aim to have the pipeline operational by the end of the decade.Even so, communities will still need to get more aggressive about conserving water, said Michael Morris, who leads the water authority board and is mayor of Clovis, one of its member communities.Morris is active in agricultural efforts to decrease pumping — such as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ogalwc.org/">conservation programs</a>&nbsp;in the region that pay producers to stop pumping. And the city is working to expand water recycling efforts.But he said the situation is even more dire than locals realize. Few know how close Clovis has come to seeing its water demand outpace the underground supply.“So is there another option?” he said. “No.”<h2>Decades of state inaction</h2>In Kansas, the Ogallala Aquifer supplies 70 percent to 80 percent of the water residents use each day. But for decades, the state’s regulation of water benefited its largest user and its largest industry: agriculture.The once-abundant water allowed farmers to grow cheap cattle feed, attracting the feedlots, and increasingly, dairy farms, that dot southwest Kansas.But that feed is cheap, partly because — aside from the fuel costs associated with running a well — the water is free.A report commissioned by the Kansas Legislature in 1955 warned of a future without it.“Ground-water mining is a serious problem,” the report says.After the grave 1955 warning, however, the state legislature only made it easier to pump the water, according to Burke Griggs, a water law professor at Washburn University in Topeka.Griggs, formerly a water lawyer for the state, criticized Kansas lawmakers’ decadeslong posture that depletion would best be solved locally. He said it is a stance held by every governor since the 1980s.“They want it to be voluntary. And they want it to be cooperative. They want to have local-based solutions,” Griggs said. “These are the catchwords you hear. None of them have achieved much.”Kelly follows the same line. The second-term governor recently signed a law mandating more reporting and planning from groundwater management districts and created a new subcabinet to coordinate water issues across agencies. But she hasn’t wavered from her position that water conservation efforts are most effective when they are voluntary.“Things are more likely to work out in the long run and succeed if there is local buy-in, and local commitment and the idea is generated locally — rather than the state wielding that heavy hammer,” Kelly said.But even some farmers want the state to step in, water policy watchers say.“Many families who are trying to make a living from farming, and who would like to keep farming on their own land, are just waiting for the state to step in and help them fix this. Most people agree that we need fair, enforceable and transparent rules to get this turned around,” said&nbsp;Lucas&nbsp;Bessire, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma who grew up in southwest Kansas.<h2>Voluntary efforts in action</h2>For the first time since their father dug an irrigation well in the dusty sandhills of southwest Kansas more than 50 years ago, Gina and Marc Gigot’s farm isn’t growing corn.The sibling farmers are trying to preserve the precious water below their land outside Garden City.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706560914560.jpeg" alt="Gina and Marc Gigot stand in front of a center pivot irrigation system on their farm outside of Garden City, Kansas. The farm has historically been among the largest water users in Kansas, but it has cut usage in recent years as part of voluntary conservation measures aimed at slowing the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. (Kevin Hardy/Stateline)" />
 <figcaption>Gina and Marc Gigot stand in front of a center pivot irrigation system on their farm outside of Garden City, Kansas. The farm has historically been among the largest water users in Kansas, but it has cut usage in recent years as part of voluntary conservation measures aimed at slowing the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. (Kevin Hardy/Stateline)</figcaption>
 </figure>For decades,&nbsp;the Gigot family has benefited from drawing groundwater to the surface to grow bright green circles of crops where the sandy soil is otherwise so dusty it might blow away.As Marc’s pickup bumps along the farm’s private roads, he and Gina point to the electric systems and water pipes laid by their father. Some of the massive center pivot systems use the same parts he installed 50 years ago.To extend the life of the aquifer, the siblings are opting for&nbsp;fewer water-intensive crops and grazing cattle. The farm has historically been among Kansas’ largest water users, irrigating 9,000 acres, but they’ve cut their usage in recent years and committed to another 10 years of voluntary water conservation.In exchange, they get more flexibility in how they use the water. As long as they hit their five-year goal, they can pump more water in drought years.Beyond that, they’re partnering with Garden City, the largest city in southwest Kansas and a major agricultural hub. Garden City’s municipal water wells sit right next door to the Gigot farm, which can directly impact the city’s ability to supply drinking water.To keep more water underground, Garden City will soon divert treated wastewater to the Gigot farm — rather than continuing to dump it into the bone-dry bed of the Arkansas River. That will allow the farm to turn off some wells.“It’s not really a situation where either the city gets what they need or the irrigators get what they need. It is way more symbiotic,” said Fred Jones, who oversees Garden City’s water.In northwest Kansas, a group of farmers voluntarily cut their water usage by 20 percent through a five-year conservation program with the state. They switched from corn to wheat or grain sorghum and used irrigation more strategically. Farmers in the area exceeded their goal and cut use, on average, 23.1 percent over the initial five-year period and slowed the decline of the aquifer from 2 feet per year to less than half a foot.Still, the Gigots said the state must force other producers to cut back.Even Kansas Farm Bureau President Joe Newland said he’s fearful that voluntary efforts aren’t enough.Newland, a former Kansas Republican legislator, offered an amendment in 2022 that effectively sank a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/01/shooting-themselves-in-the-foot-committee-guts-kansas-bill-to-protect-water/">massive bill</a>&nbsp;designed to make the aquifer a higher priority in state government, impose more requirements on local groundwater officials, and give communities a greater voice in decisions over water.In Kansas, the agricultural industry, led in part by Newland,&nbsp;has largely pushed back against aggressive water restrictions, instead calling for voluntary conservation measures. But Newland worries that those voluntary measures haven’t saved enough water, which could&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;push the state to hand down strict mandates.“I’m always hopeful and prayerful that people realize just how important it is that we’re doing this on a voluntary basis and not ever have to go through a mandatory situation,” he said. “But that’s going to be determined in the near future how this works, because, as I said, we don’t have decades to fix this problem.”<h2>Kansas towns take the lead</h2>Few places evoke the Old West like Dodge City, where Wyatt Earp patrolled the lawless streets rife with gambling, saloons and shootouts.Today, the city proudly displays remnants of those days at the Boot Hill Museum, which contains a reproduction of the legendary Long Branch Saloon and an Old West photo booth for visitors.But the former frontier outpost has embraced some of the state’s most progressive water strategies.“We were recycling before recycling was cool,” said City Manager Nick Hernandez, who highlighted water reuse efforts that began in the 1980s.Effluent from one of the city’s wastewater treatment plants keeps a golf course green. Another plant sends about 1.8 billion gallons of treated wastewater to irrigate 3,000 acres of crops at a nearby farm, reducing the need for aquifer pumping.Another project aims to directly recharge the aquifer with treated wastewater. That will not only help protect the city’s quantity of water, but also prevent contamination from agricultural runoff like nitrates by keeping the hydraulic pressure up in city wells, he said.That project is expected to cost $60 million. Dodge City, home to about 28,000 people,&nbsp;is seeking federal and state assistance for the effort. But even without grants, Hernandez said that would prove cheaper than buying water rights and digging new wells.All those projects are building toward treating the city’s sewage directly into drinkable water — still&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://stateline.org/2023/12/12/from-flush-to-faucet-more-places-look-to-turn-sewage-into-tap-water/">an emerging idea in most parts of the country.</a>&nbsp;That would allow the city to decrease demand on groundwater by continually reusing its water.“We all have a concern about the stability of the aquifer because that’s our lifeline,” said Ray Slattery, the city’s director of engineering services. “But I feel very good about where the city is, and what we’ve done in the past to conserve. We knew it was important and so we took steps way before it became a problem.”Communities such as Dodge City offer a glimpse into the future of municipal water supplies in the region, said state Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican who represents part of western Kansas and leads the House Water Committee.Minnix,&nbsp;who raises cattle and farms both dryland and irrigated crops, said cities and farms alike must adapt. Cities need to continue embracing water recycling efforts, reduce lawn watering and encourage more efficient appliances. Farmers, he said, should embrace new technologies such as more efficient irrigation systems and drought-resistant crops.“You’d be amazed at the water quantity that’s actually being saved out there from what had been done 40, 50 years ago,” he said. “As a farmer myself, I know a lot of little things add up to something that’s really worthwhile. And to maintain our aquifer and our economy out here is absolutely worthwhile.”But the way Connie Owen, director of the Kansas Water Office, sees it, change is coming to both agricultural and municipal water users one way or another.“If we don’t adapt to different behaviors, it will run dry,” she said.&nbsp;“And that will cause the economic devastation that everyone fears with restrictions.”

Agriculture built these High Plains towns. Now, it might run them dry

MANHATTAN — As with people, animals can also suffer from different types of pain. Help is on the way, though, thanks to a newly patented formula developed by a team consisting of three researchers from Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and a research partner previously from Vanderbilt University.

Butch KuKanich, professor of pharmacology, Kate KuKanich, professor of small animal internal medicine, David Rankin, clinical professor and head of veterinary anesthesiology, and Charles Locuson, who currently serves as a director of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, or DMPK, at Agios Pharmaceuticals, received notice of their patent toward the end of 2023.The formula combines the opioid methadone and another drug to enhance the effect and duration of pain relief, Butch KuKanich said. 

Another ingredient is naltrexone, which helps deter opioid abuse, misuse or diversion by humans."This is also the first oral opioid formulation to demonstrate consistent clinical analgesia in postoperative dogs with effects occurring within an hour," Butch KuKanich said. 

"Another huge advantage of our patented formulation is that it is effective with just two doses a day."Locuson, who was formerly a DMPK scientist in the Fesik Lab at Vanderbilt University, said it is uncommon to develop a drug combination where the sole purpose of one drug is to improve the duration of the other.

"When you deliver two drugs together, one plus one does not always equal two," he said. "You have to work through every aspect of pharmacotherapy — dosing and disposition, but also pharmacology and safety. We started with a known analgesic we believe has untapped potential in veterinary medicine, so that simplified things somewhat. 

Then we improved its utility in a novel formulation."Based on successful clinical trials, the researchers believe the formula could see widespread use for dogs who undergo surgical procedures, both in inpatient and outpatient settings, Butch KuKanich said. Separately, the team developed a long-acting injectable version of the formula that could be used when oral administration isn't possible or in combination with the oral version.

"There's a real need for efficacious oral pain medication," Rankin, a board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist said. "The development of this formulation of methadone is going to help a lot of dogs, and I'm pleased to have played a role in getting it ready for patients.

"Up until now, the options for treating moderate to severe pain in dogs outside of a clinic have been very limited, according to Butch KuKanich."Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, have limited efficacy for mild to moderate pain in dogs,” Butch KuKanich said. 

"There can be adverse effects ranging from mild to severe, including gastrointestinal injury, but less commonly, NSAIDs can even cause renal failure and death.""The ability to provide effective pain control for our canine patients is of utmost importance in companion animal medicine," Kate KuKanich said. 

"This novel opioid strategy shows great promise in helping us to treat our patients' pain, but also addresses the larger public health concerns of minimizing opportunities for opioid abuse potential in our communities."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706622889464.png" alt="-A team including three K-State College of Veterinary Medicine faculty has patented a new formula to more effectively treat moderate to severe pain in dogs. From left:&nbsp; David Rankin, clinical professor and head of veterinary anesthesiology, Kate KuKanich, professor of small animal internal medicine, and Butch KuKanich, professor of pharmacology. Not pictured: Charles Locuson, a director of drug metabolism at Agios Pharmaceuticals. " />
 <figcaption>-A team including three K-State College of Veterinary Medicine faculty has patented a new formula to more effectively treat moderate to severe pain in dogs. From left:&nbsp; David Rankin, clinical professor and head of veterinary anesthesiology, Kate KuKanich, professor of small animal internal medicine, and Butch KuKanich, professor of pharmacology. Not pictured: Charles Locuson, a director of drug metabolism at Agios Pharmaceuticals. </figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;Joe MontgomeryMANHATTAN — As with people, animals can also suffer from different types of pain. Help is on the way, though, thanks to a newly patented formula developed by a team consisting of three researchers from Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and a research partner previously from Vanderbilt University.Butch KuKanich, professor of pharmacology, Kate KuKanich, professor of small animal internal medicine, David Rankin, clinical professor and head of veterinary anesthesiology, and Charles Locuson, who currently serves as a director of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, or DMPK, at Agios Pharmaceuticals, received notice of their patent toward the end of 2023.The formula combines the opioid methadone and another drug to enhance the effect and duration of pain relief, Butch KuKanich said. Another ingredient is naltrexone, which helps deter opioid abuse, misuse or diversion by humans."This is also the first oral opioid formulation to demonstrate consistent clinical analgesia in postoperative dogs with effects occurring within an hour," Butch KuKanich said. "Another huge advantage of our patented formulation is that it is effective with just two doses a day."Locuson, who was formerly a DMPK scientist in the Fesik Lab at Vanderbilt University, said it is uncommon to develop a drug combination where the sole purpose of one drug is to improve the duration of the other."When you deliver two drugs together, one plus one does not always equal two," he said. "You have to work through every aspect of pharmacotherapy — dosing and disposition, but also pharmacology and safety. We started with a known analgesic we believe has untapped potential in veterinary medicine, so that simplified things somewhat. Then we improved its utility in a novel formulation."Based on successful clinical trials, the researchers believe the formula could see widespread use for dogs who undergo surgical procedures, both in inpatient and outpatient settings, Butch KuKanich said. Separately, the team developed a long-acting injectable version of the formula that could be used when oral administration isn't possible or in combination with the oral version."There's a real need for efficacious oral pain medication," Rankin, a board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist said. "The development of this formulation of methadone is going to help a lot of dogs, and I'm pleased to have played a role in getting it ready for patients."Up until now, the options for treating moderate to severe pain in dogs outside of a clinic have been very limited, according to Butch KuKanich."Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, have limited efficacy for mild to moderate pain in dogs,” Butch KuKanich said. "There can be adverse effects ranging from mild to severe, including gastrointestinal injury, but less commonly, NSAIDs can even cause renal failure and death.""The ability to provide effective pain control for our canine patients is of utmost importance in companion animal medicine," Kate KuKanich said. "This novel opioid strategy shows great promise in helping us to treat our patients' pain, but also addresses the larger public health concerns of minimizing opportunities for opioid abuse potential in our communities."

Dogs need effective pain relief, too — and a new medicine created by K-State researchers is set to help

JAYLEN DESHAWN FURES, 25, Ogden, Domestic battery; Knowing or reckless bodily harm to family/person in dating relationship; Criminal damage to property; Without consent value &lt;$1000; Bond $4,000

MELVIN LASHAWN TOLIVER, 38, Manhattan, Failure to appear; Bond $1,000

JALIL MARQUIS PULLEN, 28, Manhattan, Interference with LEO; knowingly flee by means other than motor vehicle for misdemeanor case; Theft of property or services; Value less than $1,500; Shoplifting; Bond $500

JOHN ROBERT MARTIN, 43, Manhattan, Violation protection order; Abuse order per KSA 63105, 63106, 63107; Bond $6,000

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;JAYLEN DESHAWN FURES, 25, Ogden, Domestic battery; Knowing or reckless bodily harm to family/person in dating relationship; Criminal damage to property; Without consent value &lt;$1000; Bond $4,000MELVIN LASHAWN TOLIVER, 38, Manhattan, Failure to appear; Bond $1,000JALIL MARQUIS PULLEN, 28, Manhattan, Interference with LEO; knowingly flee by means other than motor vehicle for misdemeanor case; Theft of property or services; Value less than $1,500; Shoplifting; Bond $500JOHN ROBERT MARTIN, 43, Manhattan, Violation protection order; Abuse order per KSA 63105, 63106, 63107; Bond $6,000

Riley County Arrest Report Jan. 29

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged sex crime and have reported an arrest.

Just after 4a.m. Friday, police arrested 26-year-old Jacob Thompson of Ogden in the 200 block of E. 9th Street in Junction City, Kansas, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.

 Thompson was arrested on a requested charge of rape. He is being held on a issued a total bond of $250,000, according to the RCPD.

Thompson has two previous convictions for burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706542446842.png" alt="Thompson photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Thompson photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged sex crime and have reported an arrest.Just after 4a.m. Friday, police arrested 26-year-old Jacob Thompson of Ogden in the 200 block of E. 9th Street in Junction City, Kansas, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report. Thompson was arrested on a requested charge of rape. He is being held on a issued a total bond of $250,000, according to the RCPD.Thompson has two previous convictions for burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Kan. felon arrested in Junction City for alleged sex crime

SARA MARIE BENNETT, 28, Manhattan, Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $5,000

GLENN KRISS BENNETT, 27, Manhattan, Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Bond $5,000

JONATHAN PAUL WHITE, 32, Manhattan,&nbsp;Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $5,000

LACIE ANN BROWN, 21, Manhattan, Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $750

SALAYA LORENE LEWIS, 21, Junction City; Battery on LEO; Physical contact with county or city officer on duty; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $4,000

HOWARD ANDREW WELLS, 28, Junction City, Battery on LEO; Physcial contact with county or city officer on duty; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $6,000

TYSON PIERCE MARTINEZ, 25, Overland Park, Battery on LEO; Physical contact with county or city officer on duty; Bond $2,000

WILLIAM LYNN WINDLE, 60, Manhattan, Domestic battery; Knowing or reckless bodily harm to family/person in dating relationship; Bond $2,000

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;SARA MARIE BENNETT, 28, Manhattan, Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $5,000GLENN KRISS BENNETT, 27, Manhattan, Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Bond $5,000JONATHAN PAUL WHITE, 32, Manhattan,&nbsp;Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $5,000LACIE ANN BROWN, 21, Manhattan, Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $750SALAYA LORENE LEWIS, 21, Junction City; Battery on LEO; Physical contact with county or city officer on duty; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $4,000HOWARD ANDREW WELLS, 28, Junction City, Battery on LEO; Physcial contact with county or city officer on duty; Interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting; Bond $6,000TYSON PIERCE MARTINEZ, 25, Overland Park, Battery on LEO; Physical contact with county or city officer on duty; Bond $2,000WILLIAM LYNN WINDLE, 60, Manhattan, Domestic battery; Knowing or reckless bodily harm to family/person in dating relationship; Bond $2,000

Riley County Arrest Report Jan. 28

LOUISCEL TIMOTHE, 24, Fort Riley, Failure to appear; Bond $500

KAIDEN MICHAEL BURTON, 21, Wamego, Battery; Knowing/recklessly causing bodily harm; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $3,250

CORNEAL ARNEZ JOHNSON, 34, Manhattan, Probation violation x2; Bond $8,000

JACOB JOSEPH THOMPSON, 26, Ogden, Rape; Sexual intercourse without consent and use of force; Bond $250,000

The following is a summary of arrests, citations by the Riley County Police Department. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.&nbsp;LOUISCEL TIMOTHE, 24, Fort Riley, Failure to appear; Bond $500KAIDEN MICHAEL BURTON, 21, Wamego, Battery; Knowing/recklessly causing bodily harm; Disorderly conduct; Brawling or fighting interference with LEO; obstruct/resist/oppose misdemeanor warrant service or execution; Bond $3,250CORNEAL ARNEZ JOHNSON, 34, Manhattan, Probation violation x2; Bond $8,000JACOB JOSEPH THOMPSON, 26, Ogden, Rape; Sexual intercourse without consent and use of force; Bond $250,000

Riley County Arrest Report Jan. 27

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>&nbsp;

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan U.S. senators are sounding the alarm on cost, workforce shortages and dangerous incidents at assisted living facilities across the country as the needs of aging Americans are&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.prb.org/resources/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20Americans%20ages,from%2017%25%20to%2023%25.&amp;text=The%20U.S%20population%20is%20older%20today%20than%20it%20has%20ever%20been.">forecast</a>&nbsp;to sharply increase.

Sen. Bob Casey, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, led a hearing Thursday to highlight the panel’s fact finding mission. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living care is largely unregulated at the federal level.

“It is long past time for Congress to re-examine this model and ensure that it’s meeting our nation’s needs,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said in his opening remarks.

Citing a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncoa.org/article/80-percent-of-older-americans-cannot-pay-for-long-term-care-or-withstand-a-financial-shock-new-study-shows">recent survey</a>&nbsp;that found 80% of adults would not be able to afford four years in an assisted living facility, Casey appealed directly to the public to share their experiences.

“I want to hear from you about the true cost of assisted living,” Casey said, holding a sign that urged people to submit stories to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aging.senate.gov/assistedlivingbills">aging.senate.gov/assistedlivingbills</a>.

“I think it’s very important that we hear from people — hear from people about their own experience as family members, as people who are paying the bill and also expecting the promises that are made when someone becomes a resident of an assisted living facility,” Casey said.

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>&nbsp;WASHINGTON — Bipartisan U.S. senators are sounding the alarm on cost, workforce shortages and dangerous incidents at assisted living facilities across the country as the needs of aging Americans are&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.prb.org/resources/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20Americans%20ages,from%2017%25%20to%2023%25.&amp;text=The%20U.S%20population%20is%20older%20today%20than%20it%20has%20ever%20been.">forecast</a>&nbsp;to sharply increase.Sen. Bob Casey, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, led a hearing Thursday to highlight the panel’s fact finding mission. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living care is largely unregulated at the federal level.“It is long past time for Congress to re-examine this model and ensure that it’s meeting our nation’s needs,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said in his opening remarks.Citing a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncoa.org/article/80-percent-of-older-americans-cannot-pay-for-long-term-care-or-withstand-a-financial-shock-new-study-shows">recent survey</a>&nbsp;that found 80% of adults would not be able to afford four years in an assisted living facility, Casey appealed directly to the public to share their experiences.“I want to hear from you about the true cost of assisted living,” Casey said, holding a sign that urged people to submit stories to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aging.senate.gov/assistedlivingbills">aging.senate.gov/assistedlivingbills</a>.“I think it’s very important that we hear from people — hear from people about their own experience as family members, as people who are paying the bill and also expecting the promises that are made when someone becomes a resident of an assisted living facility,” Casey said.“It is only by hearing those stories, only by hearing about those experiences, can we bring the needed change that I know we all agree has to come.”<h2>Residents and family members recall poor care</h2>Among those who testified was a Virginia woman who said she witnessed alarming situations due to short staffing and poor training in a facility where her husband lived with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/lewy-body-dementia/what-lewy-body-dementia-causes-symptoms-and-treatments#:~:text=Lewy%20body%20dementia%20(LBD)%20is,movement%2C%20behavior%2C%20and%20mood.">Lewy Body Dementia</a>.Patty Vessenmeyer, of Gainesville, Virginia, described an “extremely loud” central group room at the facility and finding a resident “bloody and staggering down a hallway” after she tripped on a raised area of the floor covered by a rug.“A company knowledgeable about dementia care would not design a facility this way,” she said.She also told lawmakers about having to break up a physical altercation when one resident was beating another with his cane, and of finding her husband had soiled himself when staff was not around to help him reach the bathroom.Without identifying the Warrenton, Virginia, facility, Vessenmeyer told the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Mike Braun, that the base cost for her husband’s room was $7,900 a month, but that her monthly bill eventually totaled $13,000.“That sounds unaffordable,” Braun, an Indiana Republican, said.“If he hadn’t passed away rather quickly … it would have used up all of my nest egg,” Vessenmeyer said.“That’s the kind of stuff I’ve been appalled by,” Braun responded.Jennifer Craft Morgan, director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Georgia, told the panel that assisted living costs across the nation average $4,500 a month, making it “inaccessible to most Americans.”In addition to breaking down cost barriers, Morgan recommended the industry consistently educate and train workers, reward companies that deliver high-quality care, and standardize monitoring and resources to increase state-based oversight and transparency.<h2>Cost and care vary by state</h2>But care is not as costly in all states, and operators can choose to go beyond state requirements, Julie Simpkins, co-president of Gardant Management Solutions, told the lawmakers.The Illinois-based company is the fifth largest assisted living care provider in the U.S. Gardant operates services aimed at low-income seniors in Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.Simpkins told Braun that in states like Illinois and Indiana, low-income families see limited out-of-pocket expenses because of the states’ arrangements with federal Medicaid waiver programs.When asked if that situation stretches across the country for low- and middle-income families, Simpkins told Braun: “Nationally, there needs to be programs in each state to provide access to affordable assisted living. They’re not all there yet.”Simpkins also testified that Gardant’s facilities exceed state requirements “when we believe it is in the best interest of our residents.”Those instances include immediately reporting to the state when residents wander out of the facilities, a situation the industry calls “elopement.”“Even something as technical as a resident walking out the door and instantly returning with a staff member — we know they didn’t leave our community and our staff immediately addressed the situation, but we still report it,” Simpkins said.Another example, Simpkins said, is that every employee at Gardant’s memory care facilities trains beyond the required levels to become certified dementia practitioners.<h2>Debate over national standards&nbsp;</h2>Still, “it’s important to note that every state, every community, and every resident is different,” Simpkins said in her testimony.“Efforts to standardize all assisted living communities would be both unworkable and irresponsible for resident care,” she said.Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition in New York City, disagreed.As needs of aging adults have evolved since assisted living dawned in the 1980s, Mollot advocates for national standards and a national database of assisted living caregivers and companies.“The absence of any federal quality or safety standards, coupled with a virtual absence of reliable public information on the quality, safety and cost of assisted living, have made assisted living a sector ripe for investment by sophisticated private enterprises who can shuffle around resources and take profits with little regard to the promises made to seniors and their family,” Mollot said in his opening statement.Later, during questioning, Mollot told Casey: “Essentially, there’s no independent validated information on assisted living for the consumers, for policymakers, or for the general public. So families, as you noted, have to rely on facilities and facility marketing materials.”Casey responded to Mollot, saying he thinks it’s “pretty fundamental that people should have the opportunity to place reliance upon a source that is objective and, to use your word, independent.”Braun also criticized Simpkins’ argument against standardization, particularly when it comes to transparency.“I don’t know how you could say that wouldn’t be good,” he said to Simpkins.“I’ve been the most vocal senator that our health care system is broken,” Braun later continued. “We do not have transparency. We do not have competition.“It’s kind of almost like an unregulated utility and you get your bill after you had a significant health care scrape or a bad accident. You gotta hold your breath to see how much it’s gonna cost or if you can afford it,” he said.<h2>Looking ahead</h2>The hearing did not focus on pushing a particular piece of legislation forward. Rather, the senators said they will be gathering information to assess the industry.Casey touted the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letters_to_assisted_living_facility_companies.pdf">letters</a>&nbsp;he penned in mid-January to the three largest corporate assisted living care operators, including Atria Senior Living based in Louisville, Kentucky; Brookdale Senior Living in Brentwood, Tennessee; and Sunrise Senior Living in McLean, Virginia.The Pennsylvania lawmaker also announced he was joining colleagues in requesting that the Government Accountability Office study how much federal money is spent on assisted living facilities, what those facilities are charging families and whether or not they make their charges easily known.Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia co-signed the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_gao_re_assisted_living.pdf">letter</a>&nbsp;to GAO.

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