On April 20, the Central Kansas Extension District (CKD) 4-H BB Gun Team went to Great Bend for the Kansas State Spring Shooting Sports Match.  To participate at the state level, youth must have shot an eligible score at one of several regional qualifiers earlier in the year. 

In total, there were nearly 150 4-H’ers from 23 different Extension units.  CKD qualified 14 local youth, which was the most of any unit.

LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/08021e75-1b85-4cde-bd8f-8e837e1f7688">🎙King in the Community: Jason Graves, KSRE horticulturist</a>

Those making the trip from CKD were Landon Wisbey, Troy Wisbey and Traven Dotson of Bennington, Callan Rensink, Coy Malmberg, Tye Malmberg, Briella Pagel, and Easton Klein of Minneapolis, J.J. Riedel, Jaelyn Gates and Maryn Gates of Salina, and Andrew Knopf, Gauge Fritz and Bailey Fritz of Gypsum.

Landon, Coy, Callan, J.J., Andrew, Gauge, and Traven shot in the Senior Division with all others entered in the Junior Division.  The youth showcased their skills in several positions including Prone (laying down), Standing, Kneeling, and Sitting.  Combined scores from all four positions made up the Aggregate Score.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/505d293d-8aab-4e52-83a8-ffbc4f2080c6">CoCoRaHS 24-hour rain totals</a>

After a long day of competition, CKD had a great showing with numerous members bringing home awards.  In the Junior Division, Troy Wisbey placed 2nd in Sitting, 4th in Kneeling and was 3rd in the Aggregate.  Bailey Fritz placed 3rd in Standing, 5th in Kneeling and was 5th in the Aggregate.  Easton Klein placed 5th in Prone and was 6th in the Aggregate.  Briella Pagel won the Kneeling position.  For the Seniors, Jaelyn Gates was Runner-Up in Kneeling.  Callan Rensink placed 5th in Prone and Landon Wisbey was 5th in Sitting.

The team of Coy Malmberg, Landon Wisbey, Andrew Knopf, Troy Wisbey, and Jaelyn Gates took 6th place Overall.

To cap off the season, CKD will be traveling to Rogers, Arkansas on June 30 to represent Kansas at the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match.  Individuals earning a spot at nationals are Andrew Knopf, Gauge Fritz, Callan Rensink, J.J. Riedel, Landon Wisbey, Traven Dotson, and Troy Wisbey.  They will be joining over 400 other youth from across the country at the four-day event.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1715096917280.jpeg" alt="Central Kansas Extension District 4-H members participating at the 2024 Kansas State Spring Shooting Sports Match in Great Bend were: (Front Row L-R) Troy Wisbey, J.J. Riedel, Maryn Gates, Tye Malmberg, Bailey Fritz; (Back Row L-R) Jaelyn Gates, Landon Wisbey, Callan Rensink, Coy Malmberg, Gauge Fritz. Not pictured are: Easton Klein, Briella Pagel, Traven Dotson, and Andrew Knopf. Image Courtesy CKD" />
 <figcaption>Central Kansas Extension District 4-H members participating at the 2024 Kansas State Spring Shooting Sports Match in Great Bend were: (Front Row L-R) Troy Wisbey, J.J. Riedel, Maryn Gates, Tye Malmberg, Bailey Fritz; (Back Row L-R) Jaelyn Gates, Landon Wisbey, Callan Rensink, Coy Malmberg, Gauge Fritz. Not pictured are: Easton Klein, Briella Pagel, Traven Dotson, and Andrew Knopf. Image Courtesy CKD</figcaption>
 </figure>SubmittedOn April 20, the Central Kansas Extension District (CKD) 4-H BB Gun Team went to Great Bend for the Kansas State Spring Shooting Sports Match. To participate at the state level, youth must have shot an eligible score at one of several regional qualifiers earlier in the year. In total, there were nearly 150 4-H’ers from 23 different Extension units. CKD qualified 14 local youth, which was the most of any unit.LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/08021e75-1b85-4cde-bd8f-8e837e1f7688">🎙King in the Community: Jason Graves, KSRE horticulturist</a>Those making the trip from CKD were Landon Wisbey, Troy Wisbey and Traven Dotson of Bennington, Callan Rensink, Coy Malmberg, Tye Malmberg, Briella Pagel, and Easton Klein of Minneapolis, J.J. Riedel, Jaelyn Gates and Maryn Gates of Salina, and Andrew Knopf, Gauge Fritz and Bailey Fritz of Gypsum.Landon, Coy, Callan, J.J., Andrew, Gauge, and Traven shot in the Senior Division with all others entered in the Junior Division. The youth showcased their skills in several positions including Prone (laying down), Standing, Kneeling, and Sitting. Combined scores from all four positions made up the Aggregate Score.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/505d293d-8aab-4e52-83a8-ffbc4f2080c6">CoCoRaHS 24-hour rain totals</a>After a long day of competition, CKD had a great showing with numerous members bringing home awards. In the Junior Division, Troy Wisbey placed 2nd in Sitting, 4th in Kneeling and was 3rd in the Aggregate. Bailey Fritz placed 3rd in Standing, 5th in Kneeling and was 5th in the Aggregate. Easton Klein placed 5th in Prone and was 6th in the Aggregate. Briella Pagel won the Kneeling position. For the Seniors, Jaelyn Gates was Runner-Up in Kneeling. Callan Rensink placed 5th in Prone and Landon Wisbey was 5th in Sitting.The team of Coy Malmberg, Landon Wisbey, Andrew Knopf, Troy Wisbey, and Jaelyn Gates took 6th place Overall.To cap off the season, CKD will be traveling to Rogers, Arkansas on June 30 to represent Kansas at the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match. Individuals earning a spot at nationals are Andrew Knopf, Gauge Fritz, Callan Rensink, J.J. Riedel, Landon Wisbey, Traven Dotson, and Troy Wisbey. They will be joining over 400 other youth from across the country at the four-day event.

Local 4-H members earn top awards at state shooting sports match

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — It was the music that changed first. Or maybe that’s just when many people at the pale brick Catholic church in the quiet Wisconsin neighborhood finally began to realize what was happening.

The choir director, a fixture at St. Maria Goretti for nearly 40 years, was suddenly gone. Contemporary hymns were replaced by music rooted in medieval Europe.

So much was changing. Sermons were focusing more on sin and confession. Priests were rarely seen without cassocks. Altar girls, for a time, were banned.

At the parish elementary school, students began hearing about abortion and hell.

“It was like a step back in time,” said one former parishioner, still so dazed by the tumultuous changes that began in 2021 with a new pastor that he only spoke on condition of anonymity.

Across the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-7033b0291ddeea9d5a5facc0d53ece0e">modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II</a>&nbsp;are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of salvation replaced by casual indifference to doctrine.

The shift, molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy, has reshaped parishes across the country, leaving them&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/catholic-bishops-unity-baltimore-meeting-bb937e3e22f2034c20184954cc9df5d6">sometimes at odds</a>&nbsp;with Pope Francis and much of the Catholic world.

The changes are not happening everywhere. There are still plenty of liberal parishes, plenty that see themselves as middle-of-the-road. Despite their growing influence, conservative Catholics remain a minority.

Yet the changes they have brought are impossible to miss.

The progressive priests who dominated the U.S. church in the years after Vatican II are now in their 70s and 80s. Many are retired. Some are dead. Younger priests, surveys show, are far more conservative.

At St. Maria Goretti, once steeped in the ethos of Vatican II, many parishioners saw the changes as a requiem.

“I don’t want my daughter to be Catholic,” said Christine Hammond, whose family left the parish when the new outlook spilled into the church’s school and her daughter’s classroom. “Not if this is the Roman Catholic Church that is coming.”

But this is not a simple story. Because there are many who welcome this new, old church.

They often stand out in the pews, with the men in ties and the women sometimes with the lace head coverings that all but disappeared from American churches more than 50 years ago. Large families signal adherence to the church’s contraception ban, which most Americans have casually ignored.

Many yearn for Masses that echo with medieval traditions – more Latin, more incense, more Gregorian chants.

“We want this ethereal experience that is different from everything else in our lives,” said Ben Rouleau, who until recently led St. Maria Goretti’s young adult group, which saw membership skyrocket even as the parish shrank amid the turmoil.

If this movement emerged from anywhere, it might be a now-demolished Denver football stadium.

Some 500,000 people descended on Denver in 1993 for the Catholic festival World Youth Day.

<a href="https://apnews.com/18f1705cf56b44f199f1183fb46e6af6">Pope John Paul II</a>, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-0885152155e64cf59209d4f77b828560">beloved</a>&nbsp;both for his kindness and his sternness, confronted an American church shaped by decades of progressive change.

The church had grown increasingly liberal since Vatican II. Confession was rarely mentioned, Latin largely abandoned. Catholic social teaching on poverty suffused churches.

On some issues, John Paul II agreed with liberal-minded Catholics, speaking against capital punishment and for workers’ rights. He preached relentlessly about forgiveness.

Catholics “are in danger of losing their faith,” he said in Denver, decrying abortion, drug abuse, and what he called “sexual disorders.”

Across the nation, fervent young Catholics listened.

Yet even today, surveys show most American Catholics are far from orthodox. Most support abortion rights. The vast majority use birth control.

But increasingly, those&nbsp;<a href="https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/the-nones-us.html">Catholics</a>&nbsp;are not in church.

In 1970, more than half of America’s Catholics said they went to Mass at least once a week. By 2022, that had fallen to 17%, according to CARA, a research center affiliated with Georgetown University. Among millennials, it’s just 9%.

As a result, those who remain in the church have outsized influence.

On the national level, conservatives increasingly dominate the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference and the Catholic intellectual world. They include everyone from the philanthropist founder of Domino’s Pizza to six of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Young priests driven by liberal politics and progressive theology, so common in the 1960s and 70s, have all but vanished.

In churches from Minnesota to California, liberal parishioners have protested changes introduced by new conservative priests. Each can seem like one more skirmish in the cultural and political battles tearing at America.

Looming above the American divide is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-birthday-trial-21da45380cf0890dd2bd5ce6c33f0fcf">Pope</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-trial-pope-critique-becciu-3cee6a7f78070e590c5e90f31d56d52d">Francis</a>, who has pushed the global church to be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212">inclusive</a>, even as he stands firm on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-women-still-cant-be-priest-3bdcad94325be16ee2993f61eb17c5a0">dogma</a>.

The orthodox movement has watched him nervously, angered by his more liberal views on issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-lgbtq-pope-bfa5b71fa79055626e362936e739d1d8">gay relationships</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-43eeaafd67e2429a8fb617e4261db5a4">divorce</a>. Some reject him entirely.

And the pope&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-cardinal-burke-conservatives-strickland-163f2d3522a80fa5f908421cc812cfc9">worries</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/catholic-us-bishops-lgbtq-women-pope-francis-81a602274dd604b7cc532425a289b00c">about</a>&nbsp;America.

The U.S. church has “a very strong reactionary attitude,” he said last year.

St. Maria Goretti is a well-kept island of Catholicism tucked into one of America’s most liberal cities.

In 2021, a new priest, the Rev. Scott Emerson, was named pastor.

Parishioners watched the changes - some pleased, some uneasily. Emerson’s sermons are not all fire-and-brimstone. He speaks often about forgiveness and compassion. But his tone shocked many longtime parishioners.

Protection is needed, he said in a 2023 service, from “the spiritual corruption of worldly vices.” He has warned against critics – “the atheists, journalists, politicians, the fallen-away Catholics” – he said were undermining the church.

But those critics, he says, will be proven wrong.

“How many have laughed at the church, announcing that she was passe, that her days were over and that they would bury her?” he said in a 2021 Mass.

“The church,” he said, “has buried every one of her undertakers.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714878214376.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM SULLIVANMADISON, Wis. (AP) — It was the music that changed first. Or maybe that’s just when many people at the pale brick Catholic church in the quiet Wisconsin neighborhood finally began to realize what was happening.The choir director, a fixture at St. Maria Goretti for nearly 40 years, was suddenly gone. Contemporary hymns were replaced by music rooted in medieval Europe.So much was changing. Sermons were focusing more on sin and confession. Priests were rarely seen without cassocks. Altar girls, for a time, were banned.At the parish elementary school, students began hearing about abortion and hell.“It was like a step back in time,” said one former parishioner, still so dazed by the tumultuous changes that began in 2021 with a new pastor that he only spoke on condition of anonymity.It’s not just St. Maria Goretti.Across the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-7033b0291ddeea9d5a5facc0d53ece0e">modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II</a>&nbsp;are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of salvation replaced by casual indifference to doctrine.The shift, molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy, has reshaped parishes across the country, leaving them&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/catholic-bishops-unity-baltimore-meeting-bb937e3e22f2034c20184954cc9df5d6">sometimes at odds</a>&nbsp;with Pope Francis and much of the Catholic world.The changes are not happening everywhere. There are still plenty of liberal parishes, plenty that see themselves as middle-of-the-road. Despite their growing influence, conservative Catholics remain a minority.Yet the changes they have brought are impossible to miss.The progressive priests who dominated the U.S. church in the years after Vatican II are now in their 70s and 80s. Many are retired. Some are dead. Younger priests, surveys show, are far more conservative.At St. Maria Goretti, once steeped in the ethos of Vatican II, many parishioners saw the changes as a requiem.“I don’t want my daughter to be Catholic,” said Christine Hammond, whose family left the parish when the new outlook spilled into the church’s school and her daughter’s classroom. “Not if this is the Roman Catholic Church that is coming.”But this is not a simple story. Because there are many who welcome this new, old church.They often stand out in the pews, with the men in ties and the women sometimes with the lace head coverings that all but disappeared from American churches more than 50 years ago. Large families signal adherence to the church’s contraception ban, which most Americans have casually ignored.Many yearn for Masses that echo with medieval traditions – more Latin, more incense, more Gregorian chants.“We want this ethereal experience that is different from everything else in our lives,” said Ben Rouleau, who until recently led St. Maria Goretti’s young adult group, which saw membership skyrocket even as the parish shrank amid the turmoil.___If this movement emerged from anywhere, it might be a now-demolished Denver football stadium.Some 500,000 people descended on Denver in 1993 for the Catholic festival World Youth Day.<a href="https://apnews.com/18f1705cf56b44f199f1183fb46e6af6">Pope John Paul II</a>, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-0885152155e64cf59209d4f77b828560">beloved</a>&nbsp;both for his kindness and his sternness, confronted an American church shaped by decades of progressive change.The church had grown increasingly liberal since Vatican II. Confession was rarely mentioned, Latin largely abandoned. Catholic social teaching on poverty suffused churches.On some issues, John Paul II agreed with liberal-minded Catholics, speaking against capital punishment and for workers’ rights. He preached relentlessly about forgiveness.But he was uncompromising on dogma.Catholics “are in danger of losing their faith,” he said in Denver, decrying abortion, drug abuse, and what he called “sexual disorders.”Across the nation, fervent young Catholics listened.Yet even today, surveys show most American Catholics are far from orthodox. Most support abortion rights. The vast majority use birth control.But increasingly, those&nbsp;<a href="https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/the-nones-us.html">Catholics</a>&nbsp;are not in church.In 1970, more than half of America’s Catholics said they went to Mass at least once a week. By 2022, that had fallen to 17%, according to CARA, a research center affiliated with Georgetown University. Among millennials, it’s just 9%.As a result, those who remain in the church have outsized influence.On the national level, conservatives increasingly dominate the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference and the Catholic intellectual world. They include everyone from the philanthropist founder of Domino’s Pizza to six of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices.Then there’s the priesthood.Young priests driven by liberal politics and progressive theology, so common in the 1960s and 70s, have all but vanished.In churches from Minnesota to California, liberal parishioners have protested changes introduced by new conservative priests. Each can seem like one more skirmish in the cultural and political battles tearing at America.Looming above the American divide is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-birthday-trial-21da45380cf0890dd2bd5ce6c33f0fcf">Pope</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-trial-pope-critique-becciu-3cee6a7f78070e590c5e90f31d56d52d">Francis</a>, who has pushed the global church to be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212">inclusive</a>, even as he stands firm on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-women-still-cant-be-priest-3bdcad94325be16ee2993f61eb17c5a0">dogma</a>.The orthodox movement has watched him nervously, angered by his more liberal views on issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-lgbtq-pope-bfa5b71fa79055626e362936e739d1d8">gay relationships</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-43eeaafd67e2429a8fb617e4261db5a4">divorce</a>. Some reject him entirely.And the pope&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-cardinal-burke-conservatives-strickland-163f2d3522a80fa5f908421cc812cfc9">worries</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/catholic-us-bishops-lgbtq-women-pope-francis-81a602274dd604b7cc532425a289b00c">about</a>&nbsp;America.The U.S. church has “a very strong reactionary attitude,” he said last year.St. Maria Goretti is a well-kept island of Catholicism tucked into one of America’s most liberal cities.In 2021, a new priest, the Rev. Scott Emerson, was named pastor.Parishioners watched the changes - some pleased, some uneasily. Emerson’s sermons are not all fire-and-brimstone. He speaks often about forgiveness and compassion. But his tone shocked many longtime parishioners.Protection is needed, he said in a 2023 service, from “the spiritual corruption of worldly vices.” He has warned against critics – “the atheists, journalists, politicians, the fallen-away Catholics” – he said were undermining the church.But those critics, he says, will be proven wrong.“How many have laughed at the church, announcing that she was passe, that her days were over and that they would bury her?” he said in a 2021 Mass.“The church,” he said, “has buried every one of her undertakers.”

Step back in time: America's Catholic Church sees shift toward the old ways

By KAY HAWES Associate Director of News and Media Relations at University of Kansas Medical Center

When we think about nurses in the late 1950s and early 1960s, we&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;usually think about someone rappelling down a cliff, leading an entire hospital on the other side of the world or advising U.S. presidents. We may think about them serving their patients with great dedication, advocating for underserved populations and balancing their domestic duties as a wife and mother with their vocation as a nurse.

Janet Hanneman McNulty, a 1958 graduate of the University of Kansas School of Nursing and a volunteer in the Peace Corps shortly after its establishment in 1961, did all those things — and more.

Although she was born during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl&nbsp;of&nbsp;rural Kansas, Janet Fern Hanneman grew up in a linguistically and culturally rich and diverse world. She was born in a small limestone cottage with neither plumbing nor electricity on her&nbsp;grandparents’&nbsp;farm near Lincoln, Kansas. Her grandmother spoke Swedish, Norwegian, German, Danish and English — all languages spoken in the surrounding Kansas communities.&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;mother taught in a one-room schoolhouse. Her&nbsp;father’s&nbsp;first language was German until the outbreak of World War I,&nbsp;following&nbsp;which he spoke English with precision and always in&nbsp;full&nbsp;sentences.

In 1941, the family moved to Washington, Kansas, where Janet, the oldest of five children, graduated from high school in 1954.&nbsp;Located in&nbsp;the&nbsp;north central&nbsp;part of the state, Washington was a cosmopolitan town of about 1,500. Farel Lobaugh, a World War I veteran of the trenches in France, had returned to Washington, where he practiced law, listened to classical music, collected art books and, along with his wife, supported young people in going to KU, including Janet.

&nbsp;Next door to the Hanneman family lived the Huntleys, a physician and a nurse who served as medical missionaries in the 1930s in Sierra Leone, and their children.&nbsp;Janet and Carolyn Huntley, classmates and best friends, both took Mr.&nbsp;Darby’s&nbsp;high school biology class, which they said made college biology seem easy as they prepared to become&nbsp;a nurse and a pediatrician, respectively.

“Washington was an extraordinary community in which to grow up,”&nbsp;said&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;sister, Donna Hanneman Kerr, Ph.D. (Columbia University), professor emeritus and former academic vice provost at the University of Washington. Eight years younger than Janet, Kerr says that her big sister was her North Star:&nbsp;“This community enabled me, but for&nbsp;me&nbsp;Janet led the way, giving me a large horizon.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Janet graduated from the nursing program at KU with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958. The following year, she worked as a psychiatric nurse at Maudsley Hospital in London, England,&nbsp;and&nbsp;then studied for another year as a Rotary Fellow in New Zealand. When President Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps in 1961, it seemed&nbsp;like&nbsp;the perfect fit. Janet was&nbsp;one of&nbsp;the first nurses to serve abroad in the Peace Corps.&nbsp;

“With uncles who served in World War II and a younger brother already in the Air Force, she jumped at the opportunity to serve her country,”&nbsp;said Jim McNulty,&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;husband.

Janet received only 30&nbsp;days’&nbsp;notice that she would&nbsp;be shipping out, first&nbsp;for Peace Corps training in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.&nbsp;A photo of her rappelling down a cliff captured the high expectations and&nbsp;the&nbsp;excitement&nbsp;of the time.&nbsp;Even before she arrived in her host country&nbsp;of&nbsp;then West Pakistan, Janet was already unintentionally recruiting for the Peace Corps.

At the Government Mental Hospital in Lahore, Janet used her nursing education to improve&nbsp;basic&nbsp;conditions so quickly that she became well respected despite still being in her 20s.&nbsp;“Ultimately,&nbsp;she was put&nbsp;in charge of leading the development of care in the entire mental hospital,”&nbsp;said Kerr.

The founding director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, described Janet by name in a speech in 1963:

"Witness Janet Hanneman, a Peace Corps nurse in Pakistan. She was sent to work in a hospital for the mentally ill in Lahore.&nbsp;Her mode of transportation is a bicycle;&nbsp;three times&nbsp;she has had accidents.&nbsp;After the last accident, she carried her arm in a splint for six weeks. When&nbsp;it was healed, she suffered a brain concussion while riding in a motorcycle rickshaw that careened into a ditch; she went on to work and did not discover the concussion until later in the day. That put her to bed for a few days. She recovered. Then, three attacks of amoebic hepatitis put her in the hospital as a patient for periods of 8 days, 19 days, and 25 days. But&nbsp;'Give Up'&nbsp;is not in Janet&nbsp;Hanneman’s&nbsp;vocabulary, and she is back at work in Lahore today, the only psychiatric nurse in&nbsp;all of&nbsp;Pakistan. Not only has she returned to work — she has extended her tour of duty for another year.&nbsp;There are&nbsp;thousands of Volunteers like Janet Hanneman serving in the Peace Corps tonight.&nbsp;They have surprised the world with their patience, compassion, determination, integrity, and dedication.”

When Janet returned from her extended service in West Pakistan, she&nbsp;was featured&nbsp;in a 1965 Life magazine&nbsp;article that discussed Peace Corps volunteers re-integrating into U.S. society. That article was the first to make&nbsp;“culture shock”&nbsp;a household term in the United States.&nbsp;It also explained why Janet was so beloved&nbsp;both&nbsp;in the Peace Corps and&nbsp;in&nbsp;West Pakistan.&nbsp;

“For two and a half years in Pakistan, she almost single-handedly pushed through an astonishing number of improvements — a bed for every patient, the&nbsp;hospital’s&nbsp;first psychiatric research, even a cheerier shade of paint on the wall,”&nbsp;wrote Richard B. Stolley in the March 19, 1965, issue of Life. &nbsp;

"Volunteers like Janet Hanneman McNulty ventured into the unknown;&nbsp;and their passion and drive&nbsp;continues to be an inspiration to&nbsp;us all. Decades later, we see the transformational impact of working side by side, across&nbsp;difference, in a spirit of true partnership,"&nbsp;said Carol Spahn,&nbsp;, the current director of Peace Corps.&nbsp;

Once back in the United States, she worked in Washington, D.C., as a recruiter for the Peace Corps.&nbsp;Janet was recognized by strangers on the street because she appeared in recruiting films and was interviewed on talk shows and radio stations, speaking about everything from how nurses could benefit the Peace Corps to&nbsp;how to manage&nbsp;culture shock when volunteers returned home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When she was in Washington, a letter arrived at the Hanneman home in Junction City, Kansas, addressed to&nbsp;“Miss Janet, Kansas, USA.”&nbsp;It was from one of her patients in Pakistan.

&nbsp;“Apparently&nbsp;those in the Postal Service recognized her from the article in Life magazine.&nbsp;To&nbsp;me&nbsp;it is both touching that one of the patients reached out to her and amazing that the letter found its way to her,”&nbsp;Kerr said.

Today’s&nbsp;Peace Corps remembers the impact of those early volunteers.

“The Peace Corps Volunteers who served in the&nbsp;early years of the agency&nbsp;laid the foundation for all who came after them,”&nbsp;Spahn said.&nbsp;“Volunteers like Janet Hanneman McNulty ventured into the unknown;&nbsp;and&nbsp;their passion and drive&nbsp;continues&nbsp;to&nbsp;be an inspiration to&nbsp;us all.&nbsp;Decades later, we see the transformational impact of working side by side, across&nbsp;difference, in a spirit of true partnership. A lot has changed since then, but the core principles that the Peace Corps&nbsp;was founded&nbsp;on have not.”

When&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;recruiting efforts took her to St.&nbsp;Mary’s&nbsp;Catholic School in Tampa, Florida,&nbsp;there was&nbsp;a young businessman&nbsp;there&nbsp;on a company trip&nbsp;who&nbsp;crossed her path.&nbsp;“It was late, after midnight,”&nbsp;Jim McNulty said. Janet was setting up for a Peace Corps event the next day, and she immediately put him to work.

“When you stand before three nuns and a beautiful lady, you do whatever they need&nbsp;done,”&nbsp;said Jim McNulty. Not&nbsp;even&nbsp;knowing who she was, he asked her to join him for breakfast the next day.&nbsp;She&nbsp;declined.&nbsp;But she, along with&nbsp;other Peace Corps nurses,&nbsp;did have dinner with him — chicken and yellow rice — before she left town.&nbsp;Now 95, James McNulty&nbsp;still&nbsp;remembers taking Janet to play touch football on the beach:&nbsp;“She caught the ball like a pro!”

Janet and Jim were married in August 1965.&nbsp;At the time, Jim was the youngest-ever vice president of Sears &amp; Roebuck. He credits much of his career success to Janet, who adopted his four children and got her license to practice wherever his job took their family — Illinois, Virginia,&nbsp;California. &nbsp;

“She was the most amazing person&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;ever met,”&nbsp;Jim continued.&nbsp;“And she was always a nurse. For her, nursing was the big&nbsp;thing,&nbsp;until the day she died.”

The family ended up in California, where Janet never stopped promoting nursing and education. Like her sister, many people looked up to Janet, then and now. One of her granddaughters now manages a nursing scholarship program in her name.&nbsp;

Another granddaughter is in practice with a doctorate in nursing. Kerr said,&nbsp;“I&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;know how many young people she has encouraged to become a nurse, but&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;at least&nbsp;hundreds,&nbsp;in this and other countries."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714759666255.jpeg" alt="Janet Hanneman McNulty, shown here at work in Pakistan, became the face of the Peace Corps in the early 1960s. This story about an extraordinary alumna is the first in a series celebrating the 50th anniversary of KU School of Nursing, which began as a nurse training program in 1906 and became its own school in 1974. Image Courtesy KU Medical Center" />
 <figcaption>Janet Hanneman McNulty, shown here at work in Pakistan, became the face of the Peace Corps in the early 1960s. This story about an extraordinary alumna is the first in a series celebrating the 50th anniversary of KU School of Nursing, which began as a nurse training program in 1906 and became its own school in 1974. Image Courtesy KU Medical Center</figcaption>
 </figure>By KAY HAWES Associate Director of News and Media Relations at University of Kansas Medical Center When we think about nurses in the late 1950s and early 1960s, we&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;usually think about someone rappelling down a cliff, leading an entire hospital on the other side of the world or advising U.S. presidents. We may think about them serving their patients with great dedication, advocating for underserved populations and balancing their domestic duties as a wife and mother with their vocation as a nurse.Janet Hanneman McNulty, a 1958 graduate of the University of Kansas School of Nursing and a volunteer in the Peace Corps shortly after its establishment in 1961, did all those things — and more.<h2>Extraordinary beginnings</h2>Although she was born during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl&nbsp;of&nbsp;rural Kansas, Janet Fern Hanneman grew up in a linguistically and culturally rich and diverse world. She was born in a small limestone cottage with neither plumbing nor electricity on her&nbsp;grandparents’&nbsp;farm near Lincoln, Kansas. Her grandmother spoke Swedish, Norwegian, German, Danish and English — all languages spoken in the surrounding Kansas communities.&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;mother taught in a one-room schoolhouse. Her&nbsp;father’s&nbsp;first language was German until the outbreak of World War I,&nbsp;following&nbsp;which he spoke English with precision and always in&nbsp;full&nbsp;sentences.In 1941, the family moved to Washington, Kansas, where Janet, the oldest of five children, graduated from high school in 1954.&nbsp;Located in&nbsp;the&nbsp;north central&nbsp;part of the state, Washington was a cosmopolitan town of about 1,500. Farel Lobaugh, a World War I veteran of the trenches in France, had returned to Washington, where he practiced law, listened to classical music, collected art books and, along with his wife, supported young people in going to KU, including Janet.&nbsp;Next door to the Hanneman family lived the Huntleys, a physician and a nurse who served as medical missionaries in the 1930s in Sierra Leone, and their children.&nbsp;Janet and Carolyn Huntley, classmates and best friends, both took Mr.&nbsp;Darby’s&nbsp;high school biology class, which they said made college biology seem easy as they prepared to become&nbsp;a nurse and a pediatrician, respectively.“Washington was an extraordinary community in which to grow up,”&nbsp;said&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;sister, Donna Hanneman Kerr, Ph.D. (Columbia University), professor emeritus and former academic vice provost at the University of Washington. Eight years younger than Janet, Kerr says that her big sister was her North Star:&nbsp;“This community enabled me, but for&nbsp;me&nbsp;Janet led the way, giving me a large horizon.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714759645452.jpeg" alt="Janet Hanneman McNulty, a 1958 graduate of KU School of Nursing, as among the first volunteers in the Peace Corps. Image Courtesy&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Janet Hanneman McNulty, a 1958 graduate of KU School of Nursing, as among the first volunteers in the Peace Corps. Image Courtesy&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Faraway places, unusual responsibilities</h2>Janet graduated from the nursing program at KU with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958. The following year, she worked as a psychiatric nurse at Maudsley Hospital in London, England,&nbsp;and&nbsp;then studied for another year as a Rotary Fellow in New Zealand. When President Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps in 1961, it seemed&nbsp;like&nbsp;the perfect fit. Janet was&nbsp;one of&nbsp;the first nurses to serve abroad in the Peace Corps.&nbsp;“With uncles who served in World War II and a younger brother already in the Air Force, she jumped at the opportunity to serve her country,”&nbsp;said Jim McNulty,&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;husband.Janet received only 30&nbsp;days’&nbsp;notice that she would&nbsp;be shipping out, first&nbsp;for Peace Corps training in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.&nbsp;A photo of her rappelling down a cliff captured the high expectations and&nbsp;the&nbsp;excitement&nbsp;of the time.&nbsp;Even before she arrived in her host country&nbsp;of&nbsp;then West Pakistan, Janet was already unintentionally recruiting for the Peace Corps.At the Government Mental Hospital in Lahore, Janet used her nursing education to improve&nbsp;basic&nbsp;conditions so quickly that she became well respected despite still being in her 20s.&nbsp;“Ultimately,&nbsp;she was put&nbsp;in charge of leading the development of care in the entire mental hospital,”&nbsp;said Kerr.The founding director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, described Janet by name in a speech in 1963:"Witness Janet Hanneman, a Peace Corps nurse in Pakistan. She was sent to work in a hospital for the mentally ill in Lahore.&nbsp;Her mode of transportation is a bicycle;&nbsp;three times&nbsp;she has had accidents.&nbsp;After the last accident, she carried her arm in a splint for six weeks. When&nbsp;it was healed, she suffered a brain concussion while riding in a motorcycle rickshaw that careened into a ditch; she went on to work and did not discover the concussion until later in the day. That put her to bed for a few days. She recovered. Then, three attacks of amoebic hepatitis put her in the hospital as a patient for periods of 8 days, 19 days, and 25 days. But&nbsp;'Give Up'&nbsp;is not in Janet&nbsp;Hanneman’s&nbsp;vocabulary, and she is back at work in Lahore today, the only psychiatric nurse in&nbsp;all of&nbsp;Pakistan. Not only has she returned to work — she has extended her tour of duty for another year.&nbsp;There are&nbsp;thousands of Volunteers like Janet Hanneman serving in the Peace Corps tonight.&nbsp;They have surprised the world with their patience, compassion, determination, integrity, and dedication.”<h2>Face&nbsp;of the Peace Corps</h2>When Janet returned from her extended service in West Pakistan, she&nbsp;was featured&nbsp;in a 1965 Life magazine&nbsp;article that discussed Peace Corps volunteers re-integrating into U.S. society. That article was the first to make&nbsp;“culture shock”&nbsp;a household term in the United States.&nbsp;It also explained why Janet was so beloved&nbsp;both&nbsp;in the Peace Corps and&nbsp;in&nbsp;West Pakistan.&nbsp;“For two and a half years in Pakistan, she almost single-handedly pushed through an astonishing number of improvements — a bed for every patient, the&nbsp;hospital’s&nbsp;first psychiatric research, even a cheerier shade of paint on the wall,”&nbsp;wrote Richard B. Stolley in the March 19, 1965, issue of Life. &nbsp;"Volunteers like Janet Hanneman McNulty ventured into the unknown;&nbsp;and their passion and drive&nbsp;continues to be an inspiration to&nbsp;us all. Decades later, we see the transformational impact of working side by side, across&nbsp;difference, in a spirit of true partnership,"&nbsp;said Carol Spahn,&nbsp;, the current director of Peace Corps.&nbsp;Once back in the United States, she worked in Washington, D.C., as a recruiter for the Peace Corps.&nbsp;Janet was recognized by strangers on the street because she appeared in recruiting films and was interviewed on talk shows and radio stations, speaking about everything from how nurses could benefit the Peace Corps to&nbsp;how to manage&nbsp;culture shock when volunteers returned home.&nbsp;&nbsp;When she was in Washington, a letter arrived at the Hanneman home in Junction City, Kansas, addressed to&nbsp;“Miss Janet, Kansas, USA.”&nbsp;It was from one of her patients in Pakistan.&nbsp;“Apparently&nbsp;those in the Postal Service recognized her from the article in Life magazine.&nbsp;To&nbsp;me&nbsp;it is both touching that one of the patients reached out to her and amazing that the letter found its way to her,”&nbsp;Kerr said.Today’s&nbsp;Peace Corps remembers the impact of those early volunteers.“The Peace Corps Volunteers who served in the&nbsp;early years of the agency&nbsp;laid the foundation for all who came after them,”&nbsp;Spahn said.&nbsp;“Volunteers like Janet Hanneman McNulty ventured into the unknown;&nbsp;and&nbsp;their passion and drive&nbsp;continues&nbsp;to&nbsp;be an inspiration to&nbsp;us all.&nbsp;Decades later, we see the transformational impact of working side by side, across&nbsp;difference, in a spirit of true partnership. A lot has changed since then, but the core principles that the Peace Corps&nbsp;was founded&nbsp;on have not.”<h2>Always a nurse</h2>When&nbsp;Janet’s&nbsp;recruiting efforts took her to St.&nbsp;Mary’s&nbsp;Catholic School in Tampa, Florida,&nbsp;there was&nbsp;a young businessman&nbsp;there&nbsp;on a company trip&nbsp;who&nbsp;crossed her path.&nbsp;“It was late, after midnight,”&nbsp;Jim McNulty said. Janet was setting up for a Peace Corps event the next day, and she immediately put him to work.“When you stand before three nuns and a beautiful lady, you do whatever they need&nbsp;done,”&nbsp;said Jim McNulty. Not&nbsp;even&nbsp;knowing who she was, he asked her to join him for breakfast the next day.&nbsp;She&nbsp;declined.&nbsp;But she, along with&nbsp;other Peace Corps nurses,&nbsp;did have dinner with him — chicken and yellow rice — before she left town.&nbsp;Now 95, James McNulty&nbsp;still&nbsp;remembers taking Janet to play touch football on the beach:&nbsp;“She caught the ball like a pro!”Janet and Jim were married in August 1965.&nbsp;At the time, Jim was the youngest-ever vice president of Sears &amp; Roebuck. He credits much of his career success to Janet, who adopted his four children and got her license to practice wherever his job took their family — Illinois, Virginia,&nbsp;California. &nbsp;“She was the most amazing person&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;ever met,”&nbsp;Jim continued.&nbsp;“And she was always a nurse. For her, nursing was the big&nbsp;thing,&nbsp;until the day she died.”The family ended up in California, where Janet never stopped promoting nursing and education. Like her sister, many people looked up to Janet, then and now. One of her granddaughters now manages a nursing scholarship program in her name.&nbsp;Another granddaughter is in practice with a doctorate in nursing. Kerr said,&nbsp;“I&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;know how many young people she has encouraged to become a nurse, but&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;at least&nbsp;hundreds,&nbsp;in this and other countries."

Janet Hanneman McNulty — KU School of Nursing alumna and Peace Corps legend

Join 910KINA's Saturday Morning Show hosts Dave Foor and Nate King this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.910kina.com/">910AM 107.5 FM.</a>

Hear highlights about community events, public affairs, and all things happening in Salina. Their approach is friendly, informative, and entertaining. To listen to past 910KINA Saturday Morning Shows head on over to the KINA podcast homepage&nbsp;<a href="https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/KINA&amp;embedOpened=true&amp;embedOpenedApp=song&amp;embedOpenedSong=910683and6831076845683KINA&amp;embedOpenedArtist=&amp;embedOpenedAlbum=">here.</a>&nbsp;

9:05-9:30 a.m. Jason Graves, horticulturist with K-State Research Extension Central District to talk about spring planting, summer lawn care and the upcoming 2024 Garden Tour set to take place on June 8.

9:30-10 a.m.&nbsp;Lisa McDowell, marketing consultant for Eagle Communications talks about the upcoming Women's Fair scheduled to take place on May 9 at Tony's Pizza Event Center.&nbsp;

10:00-10:30 a.m. Leslie Bishop, executive director for Salina Downtown Inc. will call into the studio to give a first hand look at 2024 SculptureTour Salina unwrap event taking place in Downtown Salina.&nbsp;

10:30-11:00 Dean Atteburry, Project Salina board member gives information on how community members can give back and help non-profits with empty food shelves.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1591971280271.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By SALINA POSTJoin 910KINA's Saturday Morning Show hosts Dave Foor and Nate King this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.910kina.com/">910AM 107.5 FM.</a>Hear highlights about community events, public affairs, and all things happening in Salina. Their approach is friendly, informative, and entertaining. To listen to past 910KINA Saturday Morning Shows head on over to the KINA podcast homepage&nbsp;<a href="https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/KINA&amp;embedOpened=true&amp;embedOpenedApp=song&amp;embedOpenedSong=910683and6831076845683KINA&amp;embedOpenedArtist=&amp;embedOpenedAlbum=">here.</a>&nbsp;9:05-9:30 a.m. Jason Graves, horticulturist with K-State Research Extension Central District to talk about spring planting, summer lawn care and the upcoming 2024 Garden Tour set to take place on June 8.9:30-10 a.m.&nbsp;Lisa McDowell, marketing consultant for Eagle Communications talks about the upcoming Women's Fair scheduled to take place on May 9 at Tony's Pizza Event Center.&nbsp;10:00-10:30 a.m. Leslie Bishop, executive director for Salina Downtown Inc. will call into the studio to give a first hand look at 2024 SculptureTour Salina unwrap event taking place in Downtown Salina.&nbsp;10:30-11:00 Dean Atteburry, Project Salina board member gives information on how community members can give back and help non-profits with empty food shelves.&nbsp;

910 KINA Saturday Morning Show lineup

Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.smokyhillmuseum.org/">Smoky Hill Museum</a>. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."&nbsp;&nbsp;

"I have a genuine interest in the education of our young people," said Irene Carlson, the first woman president of Brown Mackie School and one of the first Kansans to serve on the&nbsp; State Board of Education of Kansas.&nbsp;

Throughout the 20th century, male professors outnumbered women at the college level. Nevertheless, the number of women students and professors increased steadily. However, white men chiefly held leadership roles such as provost, vice president and president.&nbsp;

Women in academia faced many challenges. Negative views about assertive women forced them to conform to meek stereotypes. An attitude that women were inadequate also permeated universities. 

Even with societal changes such as the equal rights movement, the Civil Rights Act and Title IX, opportunities for women remained limited. In the late 1960s and 1970s, it was nationally newsworthy if a woman rose to a position of power.

Irene J. Carlson preferred a career outside the home. Carlson proudly identified as a 'liberated woman' accustomed to navigating a 'man's world.'&nbsp;This&nbsp;began in the 1930s at the University of Kansas Business School, where she was one of the few female students in the field.&nbsp;

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/9d726f9a-c065-4baf-ae6a-e3261df3f20a">📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Cora Walker Shelton - Vol. 39</a>

In 1938, the KU Business School director recommended Carlson to A.B. Mackie, President of Brown Mackie School of Business. Mackie hired Carlson as a secretary. For decades, she actively weighed in on the strategic development of curriculum and the recruitment of students.&nbsp;

After years of dedication, Carlson reached the noteworthy position of college president in 1964.&nbsp;A&nbsp;role seldom occupied by women during that era.&nbsp;This breakthrough paved the way for other women.

Beyond the college doors, Carlson remained steadfastly dedicated to her community. She eagerly sought ways to serve. Despite facing obstacles,&nbsp;she&nbsp;spent 12 years on USD 305's Board of Education&nbsp;starting&nbsp;in the 1950s. 

She played a pivotal role in&nbsp;the establishment of&nbsp;Salina Central High School, South Junior High School, several elementary schools and a&nbsp;special&nbsp;education center.&nbsp;

Although offered the&nbsp;presidency of the board, she declined.&nbsp;Carlson bowed to societal norms that frowned upon women in leadership roles.&nbsp;

However,&nbsp;Carlson's voice was never silenced. She paved her&nbsp;own&nbsp;way into the local Men's Coffee Club, which met weekly at Neely's Café, where&nbsp;local issues were solved.

In 1969, Carlson ran for the Kansas State Board of Education. At the time, this board oversaw business schools, junior colleges and vocational schools, and secondary and elementary education. Carlson was non-partisan and backed by students, alums and their families statewide. She won by an overwhelming vote, representing 19 counties.

Under Carlson's leadership,&nbsp;around 22,000 students received a quality education. 

In the 1970s, President Carlson brought a significant course change to Brown Mackie College. She phased out a gender-focused curriculum and implemented the Irene Carlson Finishing Course.

Before this, women were encouraged to enroll in the Nancy Taylor Finishing School. These classes focused on manners and etiquette. Men, on the other hand, took the Mr. Executive Management Course. The new course covered business management practices for both men and women.

LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/a4ae1628-a59c-4277-9c43-642e9d31c303">🎙King in the Community: Susan Hawksworth, Smoky Hill Museum director</a>

Find out more about Carlson's story and the legacies of other remarkable Salina women at the Smoky Hill Museum's newest exhibit titled,&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/e1b0971b-8be5-4964-89a2-426f265584aa" target="_blank">"Step up to the Task"</a>&nbsp;running from April 12 - Oct. 5

All exhibits at the Smoky Hill Museum are free to the public.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691164615840.png" alt="Flashback Friday Logo" />
 <figcaption>Flashback Friday Logo</figcaption>
 </figure>Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.smokyhillmuseum.org/">Smoky Hill Museum</a>. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712951451743.png" alt="Step up to the Task" />
 <figcaption>Step up to the Task</figcaption>
 </figure>"I have a genuine interest in the education of our young people," said Irene Carlson, the first woman president of Brown Mackie School and one of the first Kansans to serve on the&nbsp; State Board of Education of Kansas.&nbsp;<h2>Women in Academia</h2>Throughout the 20th century, male professors outnumbered women at the college level. Nevertheless, the number of women students and professors increased steadily. However, white men chiefly held leadership roles such as provost, vice president and president.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714768332145.jpeg" alt="Irene Nelson Carlson" />
 <figcaption>Irene Nelson Carlson</figcaption>
 </figure>Women in academia faced many challenges. Negative views about assertive women forced them to conform to meek stereotypes. An attitude that women were inadequate also permeated universities. Even with societal changes such as the equal rights movement, the Civil Rights Act and Title IX, opportunities for women remained limited. In the late 1960s and 1970s, it was nationally newsworthy if a woman rose to a position of power.<h2>In Command</h2>Irene J. Carlson preferred a career outside the home. Carlson proudly identified as a 'liberated woman' accustomed to navigating a 'man's world.'&nbsp;This&nbsp;began in the 1930s at the University of Kansas Business School, where she was one of the few female students in the field.&nbsp;READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/9d726f9a-c065-4baf-ae6a-e3261df3f20a">📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Cora Walker Shelton - Vol. 39</a>In 1938, the KU Business School director recommended Carlson to A.B. Mackie, President of Brown Mackie School of Business. Mackie hired Carlson as a secretary. For decades, she actively weighed in on the strategic development of curriculum and the recruitment of students.&nbsp;After years of dedication, Carlson reached the noteworthy position of college president in 1964.&nbsp;A&nbsp;role seldom occupied by women during that era.&nbsp;This breakthrough paved the way for other women.<h2>Civic&nbsp;Minded</h2>Beyond the college doors, Carlson remained steadfastly dedicated to her community. She eagerly sought ways to serve. Despite facing obstacles,&nbsp;she&nbsp;spent 12 years on USD 305's Board of Education&nbsp;starting&nbsp;in the 1950s. She played a pivotal role in&nbsp;the establishment of&nbsp;Salina Central High School, South Junior High School, several elementary schools and a&nbsp;special&nbsp;education center.&nbsp;Although offered the&nbsp;presidency of the board, she declined.&nbsp;Carlson bowed to societal norms that frowned upon women in leadership roles.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;Carlson's voice was never silenced. She paved her&nbsp;own&nbsp;way into the local Men's Coffee Club, which met weekly at Neely's Café, where&nbsp;local issues were solved.In 1969, Carlson ran for the Kansas State Board of Education. At the time, this board oversaw business schools, junior colleges and vocational schools, and secondary and elementary education. Carlson was non-partisan and backed by students, alums and their families statewide. She won by an overwhelming vote, representing 19 counties.<h2>Equal Offerings</h2>Under Carlson's leadership,&nbsp;around 22,000 students received a quality education. In the 1970s, President Carlson brought a significant course change to Brown Mackie College. She phased out a gender-focused curriculum and implemented the Irene Carlson Finishing Course.Before this, women were encouraged to enroll in the Nancy Taylor Finishing School. These classes focused on manners and etiquette. Men, on the other hand, took the Mr. Executive Management Course. The new course covered business management practices for both men and women.LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/a4ae1628-a59c-4277-9c43-642e9d31c303">🎙King in the Community: Susan Hawksworth, Smoky Hill Museum director</a>Find out more about Carlson's story and the legacies of other remarkable Salina women at the Smoky Hill Museum's newest exhibit titled,&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/e1b0971b-8be5-4964-89a2-426f265584aa" target="_blank">"Step up to the Task"</a>&nbsp;running from April 12 - Oct. 5All exhibits at the Smoky Hill Museum are free to the public.&nbsp;

📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Irene Nelson Carlson - Vol. 40

<a target="_blank" href="http://salina.ksu.edu/">Kansas State University Salina's</a>&nbsp;student-led chapter of Pilots For Kids, an international nonprofit organization, brought joy and gifts to hospitalized youth in Wichita.

The students recently traveled to Wesley Medical Center to visit more than 40 hospitalized children, ranging from infants to teenagers. They brought gift bags that included toys and&nbsp;special&nbsp;K-State Salina pilot shirts for the kids.

The K-State Salina Pilots For Kids chapter collected more than $2,000 in donations to provide gifts to the children in this project.

LISTEN:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/2a3112e7-837c-4f7e-a311-df8dc6cf0aba">🎙King in the Community: K-State Salina Dean and CEO Alysia Starkey</a>

"Whenever you begin to use your passion in the service of other people, then it becomes a purpose," said Jack Byrne, senior in professional pilot,&nbsp;Wichita, and lead organizer of the effort. "This is a&nbsp;really&nbsp;incredible way for our students&nbsp;to not just develop&nbsp;the academic skills of becoming a pilot, which is what&nbsp;a lot&nbsp;of them are here for, but to go outside into the community and use that passion for the good of others."

K-State Salina's&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.salina.k-state.edu/academic-success-student-affairs/housing/learning-community/">Professional Pilot Living Learning Community</a>,&nbsp;which consists of 25 students in the professional pilot program, have all become members of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pilotsforkids.org/">Pilots For Kids</a>&nbsp;to help bring joy to hospitalized children and share their passion for aviation with them.

The Pilots For Kids operation&nbsp;is dedicated&nbsp;to helping hospitalized children by visiting the youth in hospitals and bringing toys and other needed items to each child.&nbsp;The organization includes&nbsp;major, national and regional airline crewmembers; corporate, military and private pilots; and aviation enthusiasts.

"Through this program, students are learning the process of making the project come to fruition, where they're learning about getting transportation solidified and working on things like budgets to be able to buy the kids all the amazing things that we want to support them with," said Alyssa Wendel, director of K-State Salina student affairs. "Our students are learning to see the whole process come to life from start to finish."

K-State Salina plans to continue its Pilots For Kids program in the coming months. Planning and fundraising processes have already begun for a future visit. Visit the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.salina.k-state.edu/academic-success-student-affairs/clubs-organizations/pilots-for-kids/">Pilots For Kids website</a>&nbsp;to learn more and to donate.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714743805852.jpeg" alt="K-State Salina aviation students in the Pilots For Kids organization recently visited hospitalized children at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita." />
 <figcaption>K-State Salina aviation students in the Pilots For Kids organization recently visited hospitalized children at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.</figcaption>
 </figure>Submitted<a target="_blank" href="http://salina.ksu.edu/">Kansas State University Salina's</a>&nbsp;student-led chapter of Pilots For Kids, an international nonprofit organization, brought joy and gifts to hospitalized youth in Wichita.The students recently traveled to Wesley Medical Center to visit more than 40 hospitalized children, ranging from infants to teenagers. They brought gift bags that included toys and&nbsp;special&nbsp;K-State Salina pilot shirts for the kids.The K-State Salina Pilots For Kids chapter collected more than $2,000 in donations to provide gifts to the children in this project.LISTEN:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/2a3112e7-837c-4f7e-a311-df8dc6cf0aba">🎙King in the Community: K-State Salina Dean and CEO Alysia Starkey</a>"Whenever you begin to use your passion in the service of other people, then it becomes a purpose," said Jack Byrne, senior in professional pilot,&nbsp;Wichita, and lead organizer of the effort. "This is a&nbsp;really&nbsp;incredible way for our students&nbsp;to not just develop&nbsp;the academic skills of becoming a pilot, which is what&nbsp;a lot&nbsp;of them are here for, but to go outside into the community and use that passion for the good of others."K-State Salina's&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.salina.k-state.edu/academic-success-student-affairs/housing/learning-community/">Professional Pilot Living Learning Community</a>,&nbsp;which consists of 25 students in the professional pilot program, have all become members of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pilotsforkids.org/">Pilots For Kids</a>&nbsp;to help bring joy to hospitalized children and share their passion for aviation with them. The Pilots For Kids operation&nbsp;is dedicated&nbsp;to helping hospitalized children by visiting the youth in hospitals and bringing toys and other needed items to each child.&nbsp;The organization includes&nbsp;major, national and regional airline crewmembers; corporate, military and private pilots; and aviation enthusiasts."Through this program, students are learning the process of making the project come to fruition, where they're learning about getting transportation solidified and working on things like budgets to be able to buy the kids all the amazing things that we want to support them with," said Alyssa Wendel, director of K-State Salina student affairs. "Our students are learning to see the whole process come to life from start to finish."K-State Salina plans to continue its Pilots For Kids program in the coming months. Planning and fundraising processes have already begun for a future visit. Visit the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.salina.k-state.edu/academic-success-student-affairs/clubs-organizations/pilots-for-kids/">Pilots For Kids website</a>&nbsp;to learn more and to donate.

K-State Salina aviation student project raises donations for hospitalized children

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching” — part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination’s longstanding disapproval of LGBTQ activity.

The historic vote came as delegates also approved a new definition of marriage as a covenant between “two people of faith” while recognizing the couple may or may not involve a man and a woman. That replaces an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage and followed a debate that exposed tensions between some U.S. and international delegates.

The 523-161 vote to approve a section of the church's Revised Social Principles took place at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in the penultimate day of their 11-day legislative gathering in Charlotte.

It came a day after the General Conference&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-methodist-lgbtq-clergy-general-conference-acabe18fe22b6838e3005ad8895534fa">removed its longstanding ban</a>&nbsp;on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Step by step, delegates have been removing anti-LGBTQ language throughout their official documents.

But the marriage definition was approved only after debate and a compromise amendment — one of the few instances of open debate during this otherwise overwhelmingly progressive conference.

“God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman,” said Nimia Peralta from the Northwest Philippines. While the conference earlier approved a regionalization plan enabling different parts of the global church to adapt rules to their local contexts, “God’s Word can never be regionalized,” she said.

But the Rev. James Howell of Western North Carolina applauded the new language.

“Cynics and young adults will not listen to us talk about Jesus if we say we do not condone people they love and care about,” Howell said. “Friends, it’s time.”

The Rev. Kalaba Chali, based in Kansas, said the principles are general enough without forcing people in different cultural contexts “to do things the same way.”

The approval came only after an amendment offered by lay delegate Molly Mwayera of East Zimbabwe, who noted that many African countries do not allow for same-sex marriage. After extended wordsmithing, the assembly settled on an amendment with a parenthetical clause that affirmed marriage as a sacred covenant bringing “two people of faith (adult man and woman of consenting age or two adult persons of consenting age) into union."

It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that features its most progressive slate of delegates in memory due to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congregations-leaving-united-methodist-church-lgbtq-bans-70b8c89ea49174597f4548c249bab24f">departure of many conservatives</a>&nbsp;from the denomination. More than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States — one quarter of the denomination's American total — disaffiliated because the UMC essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

A temporary window enabled American churches to leave with their properties, normally held by the denomination, under more favorable than normal terms. While the conference voted against extending that window to international churches, the conference votes could still prompt departures of some international churches through different means — particularly in Africa, where conservative sexual values prevail and where same-sex activity is criminalized in some countries.

After the vote, contrasting gatherings were held nearby outside the Charlotte Convention Center — a celebratory gathering of LGBTQ people and their allies at one end of a long courtyard, a defiant gathering of prayer and song by dozens of African delegates who opposed the changes.

“We are deeply devastated now to be part of a denomination that will contradict the Bible ’s teaching on marriage and sexual morality,” said the Rev. Jerry Kulah, of the conservative advocacy group Africa Initiative. He said African conferences will have to decide their future, but he contended the denomination was “willing to lose Africans and Africa to fulfill this progressive agenda.”

Some African delegates have spoken in support of the regionalization proposal, which can allow church regions to maintain their bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination even as American churches go without them.

The progressive momentum of the General Conference was evident from the vote Thursday. They voted on the last of a series of approvals of a wholesale rewrite of the denomination’s Social Principles — a non-binding but influential compendium of the denomination’s social stances on everything from war and peace to the environment and family relations.

The new version no longer includes the clause: “The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching." It had also urged members not to condemn gays and lesbians.

The old version said sexual relations are "affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage."

The new version omits this phrase and describes “human sexuality as a sacred gift” and a “healthy and natural part of life that is expressed in wonderfully diverse ways.” It doesn't say anything about restricting sexual activity to marriage. It does say people have the right to consent to sex and condemns sexual harassment and exploitation and opposes pornography as “destructive.”

The new version calls for human rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and other racial, ethnic and gender categories.

Thursday’s change is particularly significant because the “incompatible” clause dates back to the beginning of the 52-year-old debate on LGBTQ issues within one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations. The phrasing was adopted on the floor of the 1972 General Conference via an amendment proposed by a delegate, added to the original draft statement that had said “persons of homosexual orientation are persons of sacred worth.”

The denomination had been revising and adding to the Social Principles for decades; this amounts to the first wholesale rewrite in many years. Other revisions were approved earlier this week.

The drafters chose general language because the denomination spans countries and cultures, said John Hill, interim general secretary at the Board of Church and Society, at a news conference earlier this week.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714692325534.png" alt="Kaleigh Corbett and Thomas Lank of the Greater New Jersey Conference embrace after General Conference delegates voted on May 2 to eliminate the longtime assertion in the denomination’s Social Principles that “the practice of homosexuality… is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The legislative assembly is meeting in Charlotte, N.C., through May 3. Photo by Larry McCormack, courtesy UM News." />
 <figcaption>Kaleigh Corbett and Thomas Lank of the Greater New Jersey Conference embrace after General Conference delegates voted on May 2 to eliminate the longtime assertion in the denomination’s Social Principles that “the practice of homosexuality… is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The legislative assembly is meeting in Charlotte, N.C., through May 3. Photo by Larry McCormack, courtesy UM News.</figcaption>
 </figure>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching” — part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination’s longstanding disapproval of LGBTQ activity.The historic vote came as delegates also approved a new definition of marriage as a covenant between “two people of faith” while recognizing the couple may or may not involve a man and a woman. That replaces an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage and followed a debate that exposed tensions between some U.S. and international delegates.The 523-161 vote to approve a section of the church's Revised Social Principles took place at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in the penultimate day of their 11-day legislative gathering in Charlotte.It came a day after the General Conference&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-methodist-lgbtq-clergy-general-conference-acabe18fe22b6838e3005ad8895534fa">removed its longstanding ban</a>&nbsp;on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Step by step, delegates have been removing anti-LGBTQ language throughout their official documents.But the marriage definition was approved only after debate and a compromise amendment — one of the few instances of open debate during this otherwise overwhelmingly progressive conference.“God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman,” said Nimia Peralta from the Northwest Philippines. While the conference earlier approved a regionalization plan enabling different parts of the global church to adapt rules to their local contexts, “God’s Word can never be regionalized,” she said.But the Rev. James Howell of Western North Carolina applauded the new language.“Cynics and young adults will not listen to us talk about Jesus if we say we do not condone people they love and care about,” Howell said. “Friends, it’s time.”The Rev. Kalaba Chali, based in Kansas, said the principles are general enough without forcing people in different cultural contexts “to do things the same way.”The approval came only after an amendment offered by lay delegate Molly Mwayera of East Zimbabwe, who noted that many African countries do not allow for same-sex marriage. After extended wordsmithing, the assembly settled on an amendment with a parenthetical clause that affirmed marriage as a sacred covenant bringing “two people of faith (adult man and woman of consenting age or two adult persons of consenting age) into union."It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that features its most progressive slate of delegates in memory due to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congregations-leaving-united-methodist-church-lgbtq-bans-70b8c89ea49174597f4548c249bab24f">departure of many conservatives</a>&nbsp;from the denomination. More than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States — one quarter of the denomination's American total — disaffiliated because the UMC essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.A temporary window enabled American churches to leave with their properties, normally held by the denomination, under more favorable than normal terms. While the conference voted against extending that window to international churches, the conference votes could still prompt departures of some international churches through different means — particularly in Africa, where conservative sexual values prevail and where same-sex activity is criminalized in some countries.After the vote, contrasting gatherings were held nearby outside the Charlotte Convention Center — a celebratory gathering of LGBTQ people and their allies at one end of a long courtyard, a defiant gathering of prayer and song by dozens of African delegates who opposed the changes.“We are deeply devastated now to be part of a denomination that will contradict the Bible ’s teaching on marriage and sexual morality,” said the Rev. Jerry Kulah, of the conservative advocacy group Africa Initiative. He said African conferences will have to decide their future, but he contended the denomination was “willing to lose Africans and Africa to fulfill this progressive agenda.”Some African delegates have spoken in support of the regionalization proposal, which can allow church regions to maintain their bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination even as American churches go without them.The progressive momentum of the General Conference was evident from the vote Thursday. They voted on the last of a series of approvals of a wholesale rewrite of the denomination’s Social Principles — a non-binding but influential compendium of the denomination’s social stances on everything from war and peace to the environment and family relations.The new version no longer includes the clause: “The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching." It had also urged members not to condemn gays and lesbians.The old version said sexual relations are "affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage."The new version omits this phrase and describes “human sexuality as a sacred gift” and a “healthy and natural part of life that is expressed in wonderfully diverse ways.” It doesn't say anything about restricting sexual activity to marriage. It does say people have the right to consent to sex and condemns sexual harassment and exploitation and opposes pornography as “destructive.”The new version calls for human rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and other racial, ethnic and gender categories.Thursday’s change is particularly significant because the “incompatible” clause dates back to the beginning of the 52-year-old debate on LGBTQ issues within one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations. The phrasing was adopted on the floor of the 1972 General Conference via an amendment proposed by a delegate, added to the original draft statement that had said “persons of homosexual orientation are persons of sacred worth.”The denomination had been revising and adding to the Social Principles for decades; this amounts to the first wholesale rewrite in many years. Other revisions were approved earlier this week.The drafters chose general language because the denomination spans countries and cultures, said John Hill, interim general secretary at the Board of Church and Society, at a news conference earlier this week.

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

Seventy-five years after the end of WWII, Mildred Schindler Janzen, 95 of Ellsworth, Kansas, finally decided to tell her story. Janzen was a teenager when Russian soldiers invaded their peaceful family farm in the German countryside and changed the course of her life forever.

Janzen’s memoir, published in late 2020 by Sunbury Press, recounts her experiences as a refugee including separating from her family, coming to America alone as a teenager, finding love, and living the good life. The secret to her abundant joy is revealed in Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin: One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany.

LISTEN:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/aaca2ed1-857d-4744-b012-194270a75e26">🎙King in the Community — Michelle Weis, Saline County Emergency Management Director</a>

Janzen will make an appearance at Presbyterian Manor to meet with the residents who have read her memoir, answer questions about her experiences in WWII, and sign copies of her book. The program will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7.

“I wish to leave a testimony for the younger American generation that is coming of age at this present time. Do not ever take the legacy of your birthright for granted. Oppose evil at every opportunity. Speak out against injustice. Most importantly, pay attention in your history class. History can repeat itself; many of my generation bear witness to that fact,” Janzen said.

Mississippi writer, Sherye Green, partnered with Janzen to write her riveting memoir. Along with Mildred, Green was named the winner of the 2021 Mississippi Library Association Author Award-Nonfiction for the memoir.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/4927f8af-f0b2-43da-930b-9aaedc34154a">Saline County Commission approves new pretrial software, RFD Three land purchase</a>

“What a privilege it has been to get to know and to work with Mildred,” Green says. “Her story, set against the backdrop of a little-known period of World War II, is an eyewitness testimony to history you will not want to miss.”

Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin won the 2020 and 2021 “Sunny Award” from Sunbury Press in for the book in each imprint that “had the biggest impact or the greatest reach.” 

Janzen received the National Medal of Honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), their highest national award, and another DAR medal for Women in History. 

The memoir was named a 2021 American Book Fest – Best Book Award Finalist for Autobiographies &amp; Memoirs and won a silver medal in the 2022 Illumination Book Awards: Biography/Memoir-Inspiration. A short documentary, Mildred’s Escape, has also won ten awards in film festivals worldwide.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714675400811.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By SALINA POSTSeventy-five years after the end of WWII, Mildred Schindler Janzen, 95 of Ellsworth, Kansas, finally decided to tell her story. Janzen was a teenager when Russian soldiers invaded their peaceful family farm in the German countryside and changed the course of her life forever.Janzen’s memoir, published in late 2020 by Sunbury Press, recounts her experiences as a refugee including separating from her family, coming to America alone as a teenager, finding love, and living the good life. The secret to her abundant joy is revealed in Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin: One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany.LISTEN:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/aaca2ed1-857d-4744-b012-194270a75e26">🎙King in the Community — Michelle Weis, Saline County Emergency Management Director</a>Janzen will make an appearance at Presbyterian Manor to meet with the residents who have read her memoir, answer questions about her experiences in WWII, and sign copies of her book. The program will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7.“I wish to leave a testimony for the younger American generation that is coming of age at this present time. Do not ever take the legacy of your birthright for granted. Oppose evil at every opportunity. Speak out against injustice. Most importantly, pay attention in your history class. History can repeat itself; many of my generation bear witness to that fact,” Janzen said.Mississippi writer, Sherye Green, partnered with Janzen to write her riveting memoir. Along with Mildred, Green was named the winner of the 2021 Mississippi Library Association Author Award-Nonfiction for the memoir.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/4927f8af-f0b2-43da-930b-9aaedc34154a">Saline County Commission approves new pretrial software, RFD Three land purchase</a>“What a privilege it has been to get to know and to work with Mildred,” Green says. “Her story, set against the backdrop of a little-known period of World War II, is an eyewitness testimony to history you will not want to miss.”Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin won the 2020 and 2021 “Sunny Award” from Sunbury Press in for the book in each imprint that “had the biggest impact or the greatest reach.” Janzen received the National Medal of Honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), their highest national award, and another DAR medal for Women in History. The memoir was named a 2021 American Book Fest – Best Book Award Finalist for Autobiographies &amp; Memoirs and won a silver medal in the 2022 Illumination Book Awards: Biography/Memoir-Inspiration. A short documentary, Mildred’s Escape, has also won ten awards in film festivals worldwide.

World War II survivor to visit residents at Presbyterian Manor

By OLIVIA BERGMEIER Lead Reporter - Salina Post

After a week's break for the Saline County Commission, all five commissioners tackled a lengthy agenda on Tuesday, April 23, not in action items but rather in information and budget requests.

Board of County Commissioners present on Tuesday, April 23: District One — Monte Shadwick District Two — Robert Vidricksen District Three — Rodger Sparks District Four — James Weese District Five — Chairman Joe Hay Jr.

Before the commission's regular consent agenda consideration, the county celebrated seven students as the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=373s">Oliver Haag Scholarship</a> recipients.

Two Southeast of Saline students, two Ell-Saline Junior/Senior High School students, two Salina South High School students and a Salina Central High School student received the scholarship, representing each public school in the county.

"Very proud of these students. I know that Oliver Haag would be very, very proud that they're carrying on his wishes," Hay said. "So again, congratulations and apply next year."

The Oliver Haag scholarship is a renewing scholarship for students, so each year, students can reapply to continue funding their college educations.

Commissioners unanimously passed the consent agenda with approval for regular payroll and tax adjustments, alongside approving multiple contract agreements.

Some of those contracts included an agreement with ARD Mowing, LLC, for lawn care at the Saline County Court Services, another for Design Nine's Broadband Community Assessment and two community corrections agreements.

The first of only two action items for the day was considering a new court systems software titled Catalis Pretrial Software. Saline County Community Corrections Director Michelle Callam presented the software to commissioners.

Callam provided the history of the young Community Corrections Pretrial Program, with the department first utilizing another pretrial information software system that did not suit the office's needs.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/b2e10a55-53f6-4da6-88f1-364adf170d59">Meet Crenshaw — 28th Judicial District's newest employee</a>

"We had a software program that we tried out, but it didn't work out for us," Callam said. "When we got rid of that, we had to go back to the old way of gathering data and documenting what was going on with our clients,&nbsp;which is&nbsp;a series of about 15 Excel spreadsheets."

After several meetings between the Pretrial Program Director Cory Ward, Callam, the IT staff and staff from Catalis, Community Corrections decided to pursue the software and ask for the Commissioners' approval.

The software engineers behind Catalis built a program specifically for pretrial information, and Callam said it would allow the program to do more with the data it already collects.

Callam said the software's total cost would be $12,000 per year, and the&nbsp;remainder of the office's Justice Assistance Grant will fund the new software, but past the end of the Federal fiscal year, the county would continue paying the bill.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=972s">Commissioners deliberated the subject </a>but ultimately passed Callam's request 4-1, with Weis voting against it.

The next action item included a land purchase from the City of Brookville for Rural Fire District (RFD) Three in town. RFD Three Chief Scott Abker presented the approval request to commissioners.

Abker said the City of Brookville agreed to sell 42,989 square feet of property in the northeast corner of Anderson and Meier streets to the RFD for $10,750.

LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/0e853368-4ed4-4804-a343-83affd806ce2">🎙King in the Community: Rebecca Seeman, Saline County Registrar of Deeds</a>

The first question on the topic came from Hay. He asked when construction might begin for the project after the purchase, which remains undetermined while RFD Three continues to plan.

"We've had three meetings with the architect already, and we're in the process of trying to finalize our building so we can determine what our costs will be," Abker said.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=1742s">Vidricksen commented next</a>, referencing an earlier statement that the county's spending has increased about 35% since he began his seat on the commission board.

"I wanted to continue to emphasize that the cost through the Rural Fire Districts does not cost the county any money," Vidricksen said. "The tax money is from the district&nbsp;that they&nbsp;live in&nbsp;and&nbsp;that's where that money comes from. Although it was ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] money that we granted to you, I think it's a pretty good expenditure of that money."

The pool of cash that RFD Three will use is from a $95,000 allocation of ARPA dollars, and with the added cost of title insurance and deed recording fees, that cost jumps to a maximum of about $30,000 total.

Vidricksen pointed out that about $60,000 will not be enough to build a new fire station. Still, Abker reported that his office is currently working on grant applications and communicating with future donors to help fund the new building.

Commissioners approved the purchase request 5-0.

The first informational item commissioners tackled was a quarterly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2162s">update from Saline County Senior Services</a>. Rosie Walter, the department director, provided the update.

Walter reported a few accomplishments, including the total number of meals the department served senior residents from January to March 2024, 28,501.&nbsp;

In 2022, the department served 25,503 meals in that same period.

After Walter's update, multiple organizations visited the podium to ask for budget allocations, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2556s">including the City of Salina</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2768s">Community Corrections</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=3556s">Kansas Horse Council</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=4289s">Salina Area Chamber of Commerce with the Military Affairs Council</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=4761s">Tri-Rivers Fair Board</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=5257s">North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging</a>.

Once each organization presented the various programs for which they sought funding, Saline County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes presented the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=5731s">First Quarter Budget Update</a> to commissioners.

Smith-Hanes reported that the first quarter of the 2024 budget compared similarly to the 2023 budget.

The commissioners then held a concept <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=6099s">discussion of elected officials' pay</a> and moved into executive session for a meeting with non-elected personnel.

The April 23 meeting marked the fourth County Commission meeting for the month, so the next Saline County meeting will be Tuesday, May 7, at its regular time.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/10/1697467290838.jpeg" alt="The Saline County and Salina City building at 300 West Ash Street in Salina. Photo by Olivia Bergmeier" />
 <figcaption>The Saline County and Salina City building at 300 West Ash Street in Salina. Photo by Olivia Bergmeier</figcaption>
 </figure>By OLIVIA BERGMEIER Lead Reporter - Salina PostAfter a week's break for the Saline County Commission, all five commissioners tackled a lengthy agenda on Tuesday, April 23, not in action items but rather in information and budget requests.Board of County Commissioners present on Tuesday, April 23: District One — Monte Shadwick District Two — Robert Vidricksen District Three — Rodger Sparks District Four — James Weese District Five — Chairman Joe Hay Jr.Before the commission's regular consent agenda consideration, the county celebrated seven students as the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=373s">Oliver Haag Scholarship</a> recipients.Two Southeast of Saline students, two Ell-Saline Junior/Senior High School students, two Salina South High School students and a Salina Central High School student received the scholarship, representing each public school in the county."Very proud of these students. I know that Oliver Haag would be very, very proud that they're carrying on his wishes," Hay said. "So again, congratulations and apply next year."The Oliver Haag scholarship is a renewing scholarship for students, so each year, students can reapply to continue funding their college educations.Commissioners unanimously passed the consent agenda with approval for regular payroll and tax adjustments, alongside approving multiple contract agreements.Some of those contracts included an agreement with ARD Mowing, LLC, for lawn care at the Saline County Court Services, another for Design Nine's Broadband Community Assessment and two community corrections agreements.<h2>Catalis Pretrial Software</h2>The first of only two action items for the day was considering a new court systems software titled Catalis Pretrial Software. Saline County Community Corrections Director Michelle Callam presented the software to commissioners.Callam provided the history of the young Community Corrections Pretrial Program, with the department first utilizing another pretrial information software system that did not suit the office's needs.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/b2e10a55-53f6-4da6-88f1-364adf170d59">Meet Crenshaw — 28th Judicial District's newest employee</a>"We had a software program that we tried out, but it didn't work out for us," Callam said. "When we got rid of that, we had to go back to the old way of gathering data and documenting what was going on with our clients,&nbsp;which is&nbsp;a series of about 15 Excel spreadsheets."After several meetings between the Pretrial Program Director Cory Ward, Callam, the IT staff and staff from Catalis, Community Corrections decided to pursue the software and ask for the Commissioners' approval.The software engineers behind Catalis built a program specifically for pretrial information, and Callam said it would allow the program to do more with the data it already collects.Callam said the software's total cost would be $12,000 per year, and the&nbsp;remainder of the office's Justice Assistance Grant will fund the new software, but past the end of the Federal fiscal year, the county would continue paying the bill.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=972s">Commissioners deliberated the subject </a>but ultimately passed Callam's request 4-1, with Weis voting against it.<h2>Rural Fire District Three Land Purchase</h2>The next action item included a land purchase from the City of Brookville for Rural Fire District (RFD) Three in town. RFD Three Chief Scott Abker presented the approval request to commissioners.Abker said the City of Brookville agreed to sell 42,989 square feet of property in the northeast corner of Anderson and Meier streets to the RFD for $10,750.LISTEN MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/0e853368-4ed4-4804-a343-83affd806ce2">🎙King in the Community: Rebecca Seeman, Saline County Registrar of Deeds</a>The first question on the topic came from Hay. He asked when construction might begin for the project after the purchase, which remains undetermined while RFD Three continues to plan."We've had three meetings with the architect already, and we're in the process of trying to finalize our building so we can determine what our costs will be," Abker said.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=1742s">Vidricksen commented next</a>, referencing an earlier statement that the county's spending has increased about 35% since he began his seat on the commission board."I wanted to continue to emphasize that the cost through the Rural Fire Districts does not cost the county any money," Vidricksen said. "The tax money is from the district&nbsp;that they&nbsp;live in&nbsp;and&nbsp;that's where that money comes from. Although it was ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] money that we granted to you, I think it's a pretty good expenditure of that money."The pool of cash that RFD Three will use is from a $95,000 allocation of ARPA dollars, and with the added cost of title insurance and deed recording fees, that cost jumps to a maximum of about $30,000 total.Vidricksen pointed out that about $60,000 will not be enough to build a new fire station. Still, Abker reported that his office is currently working on grant applications and communicating with future donors to help fund the new building.Commissioners approved the purchase request 5-0.<h2>Informational items</h2>The first informational item commissioners tackled was a quarterly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2162s">update from Saline County Senior Services</a>. Rosie Walter, the department director, provided the update.Walter reported a few accomplishments, including the total number of meals the department served senior residents from January to March 2024, 28,501.&nbsp;In 2022, the department served 25,503 meals in that same period.After Walter's update, multiple organizations visited the podium to ask for budget allocations, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2556s">including the City of Salina</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=2768s">Community Corrections</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=3556s">Kansas Horse Council</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=4289s">Salina Area Chamber of Commerce with the Military Affairs Council</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=4761s">Tri-Rivers Fair Board</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=5257s">North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging</a>.Once each organization presented the various programs for which they sought funding, Saline County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes presented the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=5731s">First Quarter Budget Update</a> to commissioners.Smith-Hanes reported that the first quarter of the 2024 budget compared similarly to the 2023 budget.The commissioners then held a concept <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0LkEZ-Q84&amp;t=6099s">discussion of elected officials' pay</a> and moved into executive session for a meeting with non-elected personnel.The April 23 meeting marked the fourth County Commission meeting for the month, so the next Saline County meeting will be Tuesday, May 7, at its regular time.<h2>05/07/2024 Meeting Agenda</h2><ol>
 <li>Agency Budget Request Presentations</li><li>Road and Bridge Update</li><li>Audit Presentation</li><li>HMA Overlay Bid Award</li><li>Forestry Mulcher Attachment Bid Award</li><li>2024 Pipe Lining Bid Award</li>
 </ol>

Saline County Commission approves new pretrial software, RFD Three land purchase

<a href="mailto:lmoser@ksu.edu">By LISA MOSER </a>K-State Research and Extension news service

Depending on the job, some people may have to complete a fitness test to prove that they can complete what will be required of them to be successful.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714569477275.jpeg" alt="K-State veterinarians offer recommendations about how to manage a bull if he doesn’t pass his breeding soundness exam." />
 <figcaption>K-State veterinarians offer recommendations about how to manage a bull if he doesn’t pass his breeding soundness exam.</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="mailto:lmoser@ksu.edu">By LISA MOSER </a>K-State Research and Extension news serviceDepending on the job, some people may have to complete a fitness test to prove that they can complete what will be required of them to be successful.For bulls whose job it is to breed cows, the fitness test often comes in the form of a breeding soundness exam completed by a veterinarian in the weeks ahead of pasture turnout, say the experts at the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Institute.Speaking on a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://ksre-learn.com/cattle-chat-bulls-fail-breeding-exam">Cattle Chat</a>&nbsp;podcast, K-State veterinarian Bob Larson said there are several components to a breeding soundness exam.“With that exam, we make sure the bull is in good body condition and that his feet and legs are sound. We also palpate the scrotum and observe his penis to be sure it moves freely. And then we test a semen sample to assess the quality of the sperm he is producing,” Larson said.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/34c0200d-54c2-42ed-8c22-c5b544676d44">Dry fields contribute to damage by alfalfa weevils, says K-State entomologist</a>Relating to the semen sample, K-State veterinarian Brian Lubbers explained what the base criteria are for the semen to pass.“We want 70% of the bull’s sperm cells to be normal morphology and 30% of those cells to have a normal, forward-progressive motility,” Lubbers said.These tests are typically done in the spring before the bulls are turned out into breeding pastures with the females.Unfortunately, not all bulls pass their breeding soundness exam. That can happen for a variety of reasons, said the veterinarians.So that begs the question: What should producers do with a bull who fails the exam?“It really depends on the age of the bull and why he failed,” Lubbers said.If the bull is around 12 months of age and he fails on semen quality, Larson recommends producers retest the bull in a few weeks.“Because of the cattle breeds that we have in the U.S., I don’t expect all bulls will be fertile at 12 months of age, but by the time they are 15 months old, their age should not be a limiting factor,” Larson said.Lubbers said there are some health challenges relating to a bull’s movement that can cause him to fail on exam day, but as he recovers that should not be a barrier to him passing a future evaluation.“If he has a foot abscess, he will fail the exam but that is easy to treat and his prognosis of being able to return to breeding is good,” Lubbers said. “However, if he only has 20% normal sperm under the microscope, he may never pass. And that is why some fails are different than others.”To hear the full discussion, listen to&nbsp;<a href="https://ksre-learn.com/cattle-chat-bulls-fail-breeding-exam">Cattle Chat</a>&nbsp;on your preferred streaming platform.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/95a4c0cb-94f9-49fc-b6f3-0949cee40f68">North Central Kansas counties prepare for 'Big Kansas Road Trip'</a>