Opinion
Apple juice is safe
By Kylie Ludwig Family and Consumer Sciences Agent Arsenic and apple juice. Not words you like to see in the same sentence. There has been publicity recently over the amount of arsenic in the apple juice that many children drink. The Food and Drug Administration has every confidence in the safety of apple juice. Arsenic is present in the environment as a naturally occurring substance or as a result of contamination from human activity. It is ...
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Public Mind
CROP Walk set for Sept. 25 To The Sun: Hunger and poverty are rampant n our world, and escalating in the current economic conditions. Something can and must be done about them. Our local CROP Hunger Walk is a great place to start. For a few hours and a few miles, friends and neighbors will be coming together to, in the words of I John 3:18, “… love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, at 2 p.m., the...
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How to cope with a forage shortfall
By Keith Martin Agriculture Wildcat Extension District-Labette The current costs for feedstuffs make it more expensive than ever to meet the nutrient demands of beef cattle. It would seem logical to attack this challenge from both the demand and supply side if possible. Because of the high cost for wintering a cow, the payoff from culling those less productive cows has never been greater. There are some cows in any herd which simply are not p...
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September is good time to overseed lawn
By Donna Seeley Garden Guide I've been scanning through the September edition of the Kansas City Gardener. They are a zone (5) cooler than we are, and this summer they have gotten a bit more rain. The summer calendar shows September is the best time to overseed or plant a fescue or bluegrass lawn, and to fertilize them with high nitrogen fertilizer. Zoysia season is winding down, so do not fertilize or aerate this grass. Keep leaves raked to a...
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Public Mind
Religion and politics in GOP debate To The Sun: I watched the Republican “so-called debate” last Wednesday hoping to hear the candidates’ views on how they would approach the office of the presidency.  The interviewers, in my opinion, attempted to ask questions that might clarify the candidates’ positions on statements they had made and the differences between them and their opponents. The attempt was quickly quelled by a vitriolic Newt Gingri...
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You can be a spur of change in our community
By Fred Gress Parsons City Manager First of all, I would like to thank the Parsons Sun for introducing yet another opportunity for the city of Parsons to share information with our residents. This is what I hope will become a monthly column for our citizens to get a glimpse of how the city government operates. If you have questions about city government or topics you would like covered in a future column, please send your request to HYPERLINK ...
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Crepe myrtle blooms in heat
By Donna Seeley Garden Guide I was never very impressed with the shrub crepe or crape myrtle. It was colorful in late summer when nothing much else was in bloom, but even the colors were lack-luster, I thought.  I doubt they were very hardy then, also. We built a Dairy Queen in Meridian,  Miss., in 1955 and moved there to run it. Believe me, it was a big undertaking for us and three kids. My father said to me, "Daughter, you cannot make it in...
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Snack smart
By Kylie Ludwig Kansas State University Extension Many of us eat more often than three meals a day. We love to snack. But, is snacking OK? Yes, it can be. Try the following tips for snacking smart. Plan your snack times. Don’t snack too close to a meal. Plan to have one snack between breakfast and lunch. Plan to have one snack between lunch and dinner. Think before you snack. Avoid grazing. Eating all day long can lead to mindless eating and ...
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Public Mind
Veterinarian: Stop allowing animal abuse To The Sun: I want to correct some statements recently made in a Sun article. It was stated that I take in strays for free and try to adopt them all. This is not correct. The fact is that I do not. From time to time, strays are dumped off at Parsons Pet Hospital and quite a few do get euthanized. However, I am not a shelter, I do not have the funds to support any strays, I do not have the room to house...
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Our View
Too austere? Remember all that talk about cutting this and trimming that from the state budget? The words cut this program, eliminate these jobs, cut state worker pay rang from the Statehouse this year. Well, legislators must have done something right, because projections are that the state budget will have a surplus of $180 million at the end of the fiscal year. That’s right, we may see a budget surplus in Kansas in June 2012. Perhaps all the...
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Ask Reno By Reno Jain, R.D., L.D. September is Cholesterol Education Month, a wake-up call to make sure you know your cholesterol levels and how to keep them under control. Cholesterol is a fat (lipid) produced by the liver. It is a waxy sterol and is transported in the blood plasma of all animals.  It is mostly found in foods of animal origin such as dairy products, eggs and meat. The body needs some cholesterol to function properly, desirab...
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Lodge offers unforgettable views
By Debbie Hoppes Travel Columnist Drive to Paris in a day? Yes, if it's Paris, Ark. And just outside Paris is Cowie Winery and Arkansas Historic Wine Museum. Arkansas has seven working winearies open to the public, one at Eureka Springs, one in Hot Springs, Cowie Winery, and four in or near Altus. All welcome visitors, all offer tastings of their wares, all offer retail sales, and some offer winery tours. All seven wineries may be visited in ...
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Public Mind 08311
Red Cross mobilizes for Irene To The Sun: Volunteers and supplies are being mobilized from North Carolina to the New England area by the American Red Cross in response to Hurricane Irene. We have more than 200 emergency response vehicles assigned in the area to distribute meals, snacks and clean-up supplies to affected neighborhoods. We have sent an initial 60,000 shelf stable meals to Richmond, Va., and 60,000 to Massachusetts; and are workin...
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Another View
Lawrence Journal-World In this day and age when taxes are receiving as much attention as ever, you would expect our political leaders to insist on transparency for the taxes we do pay. But that isn't always the case. There are now at least 43 locations across Kansas, including two in Lawrence, that charge a special sales tax that is over and above the standard sales tax charged in their communities. Do you know where the 43 are? Many people d...
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Kan. capital case raises insanity defense issue
LYNDON — A northeast Kansas jury will decide whether to recommend a death sentence for a man convicted of killing his estranged wife and three other family members after his attorneys failed to convince jurors he was too mentally ill at the time to be held legally responsible for the killings. James Kraig Kahler's trial highlighted the state's unusual rule for determining when a mental illness or defect warrants a criminal defendant's acquitta...
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Shelters won't solve pet problem
I’ve read and heard a lot recently about the issue of animal management within the city of Parsons. As a citizen I don’t want Parsons to be perceived as a community where animal abuse is rampant and homeless animals are on every street corner. This judgment can easily be made based on the rhetoric. Are there homeless animals in town? Yes. Are there abused and neglected animals in this city, county and within every municipality in Kansas? Yes...
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Gardener to slow down
Time flies by. Don has been forced by a bad shoulder to quit playing golf, and I am, more or less, giving up gardening. If I do it right, it hurts. I wish I had planted more perennials. They are more costly, but once planted, they continue to come back. Because I don't seem to have much luck with the little $4 size coming back, the few I have were about $9, and if you lose two, like I have this year (photinia), you don't buy many. Of course, ...
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Pathways to the Future
The communities of Parsons and Labette County have seen incredible growth during the last few years. Labette Community College is excited to see this growth on campus and the expansion of health care in this area. The LCC Foundation is in the final months of the largest capital campaign in the college’s history. We currently stand at $9,282,744 to reach the total goal of $10.4 million by Dec. 31. The foundation has the opportunity gain an ad...
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Travel article
On my recent road trip, I left Harrison, Ark., and headed south. There is really no way to travel that route without traveling on a winding road — some more so that others. So even though it might not be that far from point A to point B, you have to take roads into consideration. Lunch time found me in Ozark, Ark. Ozark was the first real town in Franklin County and was founded in 1835. A boat landing was built at the the north bend of the Ar...
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Public Mind
To The Sun: Earlier this month, another charming structure in Oswego met the same fate as so many others have before. The building sat on the northeast corner of Fifth and Merchant and was a feature on my daily walk between home and school. Even as a little kid I was fascinated with architecture and history, and it is very disturbing to me to see the charm of a town I love being reduced to vacant lots and metal buildings. There are various w...
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