Opinion
Put your tax refund to work
Not everyone gets one, but it’s always a welcome sight — a tax refund.¬† If you receive a refund this year, how can you best put it to work? The answer depends, to a large extent, on the size of your refund. In 2012, the average tax refund was about $3,000, according to the IRS. Let’s look at a few possibilities for how you might use this amount: • Help fund your IRA — In 2013, you can now put in up to $5,500 per year (up from $5,000 in 2012...
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Exclude long-term care services from KanCare Maintaining quality services for Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities is very important to me
Exclude long-term care services from KanCare Maintaining quality services for Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities is very important to me. I am very concerned that the State will include long-term care services for persons with developmental disabilities in its managed care plan for Kansas beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Managed care models were designed to help contain costs associated with acute medical needs. Long-term car...
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Taxes and spending
Clearly the main topic in last year’s state election season was the Governor’s tax cut bill which the 2012 legislature passed. Many asserted that the drastic cuts in income tax would cause huge cuts in our local school finances and in social service spending. This would necessitate associated gigantic increases in, the hated, PROPERTY TAX! Now that the legislature is in session, tax policy is indeed at the top of the action item list and we w...
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Tips on choosing - and using - a tax preparer
When you first started out in your adult life, things were probably pretty simple: no house, no spouse, no kids, few investments. So, when it came time to do your taxes, you might have gotten along just fine by using Form 1040EZ - which, as the name suggests, is pretty darn easy to use. Fast forward a few years, however, and here you are today: family, mortgage, 401(k), IRA, stocks, bonds, debts, charitable contributions. Now, when you sit do...
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‘Ready or NOT, KanCare is here’
“A melon forced off the vine will not be sweet.”¬†¬† -- Author Unknown January 1, 2013 is a day that will live in infamy for thousands of Kansans with disabilities. On that day, the state of Kansas handed over one-third of its budget to three out of state, for-profit insurance companies. Come hell and high water, despite attempts to slow it down, KanCare started. No one was ready, including the managed care companies themselves. The only savi...
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Celebrating successes in our community
Here it is February already and I know my New Year’s resolutions are not exactly holding firm! While resolutions are typically personal plans and goals, the start of 2013 also presents an opportunity for the Chamber to review the past and refine plans for the future. So, one of my resolutions for 2013 for the Chamber is to do even more to identify and celebrate the successes in our community. By my unofficial count, Chanute had 26 businesses...
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USD 413 ‘rocks’ include a vision
Opportunity abounds for educators in USD 413! Indeed, it is an exciting time for teachers and learners in Chanute Public Schools! Many changes are taking place in education at the national, state, and local levels.   One such change is the adoption of the Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards (Common Core Standards). Transitioning to the new standards is a challenging task. To assist in this process, our district recently held the...
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Adventure Lover’s Open House on Feb. 9
On Saturday, Feb. 9 the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum is hosting its annual Adventure Lover’s Open House. From 10-5 the museum will be open free-of-charge. Everyone is invited to tour museum exhibits including the special exhibit “Foreign Press: Advertising Adventure Abroad,” featuring foreign printed editions of the Johnsons’ books, movie posters, and marketing materials. In preparation for Valentine’s Day the Safari Museum¬Æ is offer...
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Getting bang out of your buck
Are you going to get out of it what you put in? This is part of my speech I give to all incoming freshmen at NCCC. I speak to all of the “First Year Seminar” class (formally called College Orientation) with the purpose of welcoming them to NCCC, but also warning them that the college experience is up to them. I compare college to a bank account – You get out of it exactly what you put into it, with interest. Those who sit in their rooms playi...
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Southwind Extension District is for everyone
Previously Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension district director, highlighted many of the services provided through your local Extension office that are geared more toward the agriculture side, but we also provide a multitude of services geared toward Family and Consumer Sciences. Together, the Southwind Extension District truly has something to offer everyone! Was your garden overly abundant and you want to preserve some of the bounty? We can...
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View from the sports desk: Won’t be going to Cooperstown
I am crossing the Baseball Hall of Fame off my list of dream travel destinations. When it was announced that the group of baseball writers who selects players for induction to the Hall of Fame announced that no one on the ballot was fit for inclusion this year, they sent the message to my generation that they didn’t want us to visit their museum The Hall of Fame is a place that honors the great professional baseball players. In their youth, p...
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Resolved, the process works
Lee Smithyman President of the Kansas Bar Association The rule of law is about process. Lawyers work within the judicial process on a daily basis. We understand that a fair and even-handed process promotes a fair and even-handed result, typically the correct result. Americans have faith in the checks and balances within our democracy. We elect our legislators to enact the statutes desired by the majority. We elect our gubernatorial and presi...
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View from the sports desk: Hail to Harwood Heaven
I took my first-ever trip to Lawrence’s fabled Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday to witness the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and their statistically insignificant opponents from American University. It seems like every major college football and basketball team these days annually puts a few inept teams that can be used for automatic easy wins on the schedule.¬†American University was there to serve that function for Kansas last weekend, and t...
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Expertise, resources available through Extension
Kansas State University provides research-based information through many avenues. Locally, your contact is the Southwind Extension District in Erie, Fort Scott and Iola. Hundreds of publications and fact sheets, written by K-State researchers and specialists, are available through the university’s Publications Library, www.ksre.ksu.edu/library Another alternative is to research the information provided on the Southwind website, www.southwind....
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Make some New Year’s (financial) resolutions for 2013
Once again, it’s time to make some New Year’s resolutions. This year, in addition to promising yourself that you’ll hit the gym more often, learn a new language or take up a musical instrument — all worthy goals, of course — why not set some financial resolutions? Consider these suggestions: • Boost your retirement account contributions. If your income will rise this year, consider putting more money into your employer-sponsored retirement p...
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‘Shame, shame, shame’
Do you ever get embarrassed by others actions? Whether it is your kids, spouse, friends, etc? I am embarrassed by our two Kansas Senators; Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts. In December, the U.S. Senate had the opportunity to join more than 120 nations in ratifying a treaty affirming the rights of people with disabilities. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities aimed to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of...
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Make your resolutions stick  
New Year’s resolutions — they’re easy to make but easier to break. Why is it so hard to make the healthy changes that we know can help us feel better and live longer? And why is it so hard to make them last? Some of the most common New Year’s resolutions are losing weight, getting more physical activity, eating more nutritious foods, quitting cigarettes, reducing stress and sleeping better. But no matter which healthy resolution you choose, r...
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State Forest Service offering low-cost seedlings 
Even though winter begins this week, don’t let that stop you from thinking about spring and ordering conservation trees. The Kansas Forest Service is offering low-cost conservation tree and shrub seedlings for purchase again this year. These seedlings are to be used in conservation plantings, such as home/livestock windbreaks, living snow fences, Christmas tree plantations, firewood lots, habitats for game birds and wildlife, barriers to redu...
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View from the sports desk: My newest conspiracy theory
Sometimes, we turn on the television and see something so terrible, a series of decisions so horrific, that there is no rational way to explain them.¬†Utter sadness and despair for humanity is sometimes the only possible reaction to such stomach-churning events. I’m sure that’s how we all felt last weekend, watching the latest Kansas City Chiefs game. This tragic loss to the hapless Oakland Raiders somehow didn’t inspire the Chiefs’ ownership...
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Find other aspect of Irish culture to highlight
My given name is “Brian Patrick McDowell” because apparently my parents wanted me to grow up to be either an alcoholic or a leprechaun. Lately, I have been thinking about my Irish heritage and cultural identity since the University of Notre Dame clinched the top college football ranking and a spot in the BCS championship game. I read sports stories all the time about Native Americans complaining about negative stereotypes that surround sport...
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