Source: Prairie Star:

ELK COUNTY RESULTS:
There were no surprises in the outcome of Elk County’s election on Tuesday night, with all county candidates running unopposed.

Those elected include: Elizabeth M. Hendricks of Howard, Democrat, county commissioner, Dist. 2; K.R. “Ken” Liebau, Grenola, Republican, county commissioner, Dist. 3; Donna K. Kaminska, Longton, Republican, Elk County Clerk; Deanna L. Jones, Longton, Republican, Elk County Treasurer; Neva L. Walter, Howard, Republican, Elk County Register of Deeds; Marla Foster Ware, Moline, Elk County Clerk; Doug Hanks, Howard, Elk County Sheriff.

Also winning in Elk County: David A. Ricke, Rose Hill, Republican for district judge on the Republican ticket, Dist. 13, Div. 3; Charles M. “Chuck” Hart, Andover, Republican for district judge, Dist. 14, Div. 2; and Kristin Hutchison, Howard, Republican, district magistrate judge, Dist. 1, Pos. 1.

Numerous township positions also were on the ballot.

For president, Elk Countians followed the Kansas trend of supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin with 1,035 votes to only 359 for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Sen. Pat Roberts easily won re-election and had heavy support in Elk County, as did State Sen. Derek Schmidt.

State Rep. Jeff King of Independence easily carried Elk County by a vote of 1,146 to 219 for his opponent, Sandra Frisco. King won the election district-wide.

The new officers will be sworn in on Jan. 10.

A total of 1,111 voters went to the polls on Tuesday with another 336 casting advance ballots.

Posted on the Elk County Forum:

Several months ago patrons of Elk County saw the need for an organization to try to revitalize the economy of the area and try to keep our young people interested in Elk County.  The idea was to bring the communities together as one, through better communication without losing their individual identities.

Out of this interest came Elk Konnected and out of Elk Konnected came several action committees, one being the Communication Action Team.  The goal of this group is that Elk Konnected communities and organizations will better communicate with each other.  The hope is that all events and activities will be better attended, more friendships kindled, and an overwhelming sense of pride will be initiated in Elk County.

Our suggestions are to use more aggressively the tools we now have in place.  The Prairie Star published by Taylor News (www.taylornews.org) and the Elk County Forum (www.cascity.com/howard) hosted by Teresa Heilevang.

All area libraries have computer labs and some have wireless capabilities for those who do not have high speed access.
We have also been assured by Southern Kansas Telephone Company that their cell towers will be up and running in a year to 18 month so everyone in Elk Konnected will have acces to high speed internet.

We realize that not everyone has a computer or takes a paper to keep up on the happenings of Elk County so you may have to communicate the old-fashioned way by actually talking to someone.  Whatever way to choose is no the important theing, the important thing is to communicate.

A positive change in the way you read your local newspaper is being announced today by the Taylor Newspaper Family, owners of the Flint Hills Express.

Starting next Wednesday, Sept. 3, the newspaper will be called “Prairie Star” and it will add several new features, according to Rudy Taylor, publisher.

“I think everyone knows that for many years we have published two newspapers from our Sedan office,” Taylor said. “With our new name, we are combining the news from Chautauqua and Elk counties which will result in a larger newspaper with a lot more to read. It also will double the circulation for our advertisers, and that will be a big benefit to them.”

Deadlines and production procedures will remain the same as those currently followed by the newspaper staff. Printing will continue to be done late Tuesday nights.

The telephone number, email address and website address will remain the same.

“I am fully confident that this change will be accepted by our friends in Elk County,” said Taylor.

Read full article here…

WATCH THIS VIDEO:

This from Flint Hills Express:

By Ben Allen
Effective July 1, Chautauqua and Elk County Extension Offices joined forces to become the Rolling Prairie Extension District. Prior to that date, work had begun on combining different areas of the 4-H programs of both counties. One of those areas was the shooting sports program.

This past March, Shane Signor, Brad Monday, Dave Kelly, Jason Black and Vicki Kelly all attended a three day training to become certified instructors. Instructions can now be given in shotgun, archery, pistol and rifle. Donations of money and equipment have been received and organizational and safety meetings are being held.

The Rolling Prairie Shooting Sports would like to invite interested youth to come and enjoy the program.

They would also like to thank the many donors who have helped get the program up and running: Howard State Bank, Bank of Sedan, Bank of Moline, Bank of Cedar Vale, Kimarjo’s, Caney Valley Electric, Short Stop in Cedar Vale, Diamond Bar D Ranch, Cedar Vale Lions Club, and H&H Hunting.

If you would like to support the Shooting Sports Program or have interested youth ages 7-19, call 725-5890 or 374-2174 for more information.

On our forum, we all have been discussing what to do with the old Howard Grade School Building. I have set up a poll to give you ..the people.. a chance to vote and continue to voice and discuss your opinions.

I have set this poll up so that you have only 1 vote.. BUT…..you have the option of changing your vote until the ending date - which will be  Monday August 4th.

At this time.. I will give the results of this poll and all the ideas, and relevant suggestions to the members of the Howard City Council.

Please feel free to continue to  voice your opinions whatever they may be on this subject. PLEASE keep this thread on topic.

VOTE AND READ THE DISCUSSIONS HERE!

From a press release from NSSF:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kansas’s 425,000 hunters and anglers are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups, spending more than $607 million a year on hunting and fishing, according to a new report.

The new report, “Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors,” spotlights the immense impact hunters and anglers have on the economy at the national and state level.

In Kansas, spending by hunters and anglers directly supports 11,400 jobs, which puts $300 million worth of paychecks into pockets of working residents around the state. Of course, government coffers also benefit — spending by sportsmen in pursuit of these outdoor activities generates $61 million in state and local taxes. These latest figures demonstrate that season after season hunters and anglers are driving the economy from big businesses to rural towns, through booms and recessions.

“Because sportsmen enjoy hunting or fishing alone or in small groups, they are overlooked as a constituency and as a substantial economic force,” stated Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “When you compare spending by hunters and anglers to other sectors, their impact on the state’s economy becomes more tangible.”

• Sportsmen support more jobs in Kansas than Scanlon’s and Kansas State University combined (11,400 jobs vs. 9,030).
• Annual spending by Kansas sportsmen is more than the revenues of Alexander Open Systems, Crossland Construction and Enturia - the state’s fastest growing companies ($607 million vs. $603 million).
• Annual spending by Kansas sportsmen is more than the cash receipts for soybeans, one of the state’s top agricultural commodities ($607 million vs. $550 million).
• Kansas sportsmen outnumber the population of Wichita, the state’s largest city (425,000 vs. 355,000).
• Sportsmen in Kansas could fill Kansas Speedway five times (425,000 vs. 82,000).
• The economic stimulus of hunting and fishing equates to an astounding $1.6 million a day being pumped into the state’s economy.

“Spending by sportsmen benefits not only the manufacturers of hunting and fishing related products, but everything from local mom and pop businesses to wildlife conservation,” noted Doug Painter, president of National Shooting Sports Foundation. “And because most hunting and fishing takes place in rural areas, much of the spending benefits less affluent parts of the state.”

On the national level, 34 million sportsmen age 16 and older spent more than $76 billion in 2006, supporting 1.6 million jobs. If a single corporation grossed as much as hunters and anglers spend, it would be among America’s 20 largest, ahead of Target, Costco and AT&T. And if all hunters and anglers had voted during the last presidential election, they would have equaled 31 percent of all votes cast. If all hunters and anglers living in Kansas voted, they would have equaled 55 percent of all votes cast in the state.

These statistics are impressive and, if anything, they underestimate the impact of sportsmen since they do not take into account the millions of hunters and anglers under 16 years of age or people who were not able to get out and hunt or fish in 2006. When sportsmen’s spending is thought of in business terms and compared to other sectors of the economy, it is quite remarkable. From small rural towns scattered across our country’s landscape to the bottom-line of Fortune 500 companies located in major cities, if you take away hunting and fishing you take away the equivalent of a multi-billion dollar corporation.

“It is a fairly simple equation – hunters and anglers mean jobs in states and local communities that have made the effort to maintain their hunting and fishing opportunities,” said Crane. “The economic impacts that sportsmen have on state economies should be a wake-up call to state governments to welcome and encourage hunting and fishing in their state.”

The report, “Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors,” was produced by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation with support from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, National Marine Manufacturers Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation and SCI - First For Hunters. The report uses the results from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation and statistics provided by the American Sportfishing Association and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

The report: “Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors” along with STATE FACTS are available on the Web at
www.sportsmenslink.org and www.nssf.org

For more information or questions contact: Melinda Gable 202-302-4794 or at Melinda@sportsmenslink.org

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About CSF
CSF is the most respected and trusted hunting and fishing organization in the political arena. With support from every major hunting and fishing organization, CSF is the leader in promoting sportsmen’s issues with elected officials. CSF works directly with the bi-partisan, bi-cameral Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in the U.S. Congress, as well as affiliated state sportsmen’s caucuses in state legislatures around the country.

About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry whose purpose is to provide trusted leadership in addressing industry challenges. NSSF concentrates efforts on measurably advancing participation in and understanding of hunting and the shooting sports; reaffirming and strengthening their members’ commitment to the safe and responsible use of their products; and promoting a political climate supportive of America’s traditional firearms rights.

I received a question today about how to copy footage from old VHS tapes to youTube and how difficult or expensive it is. Most of us have what is called analog tapes and even old 8mm film on rolls they want to copy to DVD or any other digital formats. And most of us have computers these days.

I will just cover some of the methods in this blog post and if time allows, I will follow up later with some more details. Continued

We feel that it’s time for an update of this site. Hopefully it will be more user friendly, and one of the neat things about it is you can become a regular contributor on our news section.
Continued