ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal community will be in for a very special opportunity late next month.

The Kansas Supreme Court will be conducting a special session Tuesday, Sept. 22. The court will be in session from 6:30 to 7:30 that evening in Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. Kansas Supreme Court Public Information Director Lisa Taylor said the session will be part of the court’s ongoing outreach to help familiarize Kansans with the court’s work and its overall role in the state’s judicial process.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

In July, Seward County commissioners voted to approve a pay scale adjustment for the treasurer’s office setting minimum pay at $19 an hour, with some making as much as $30 an hour.

Treasurer Mary Rose and Deputy Treasurer Cassandra Martinez Ware would make between $31 and $42 an hour on the scale.

Aug. 3, commissioners voted to rescind that adjustment, and Rose and Martinez Ware addressed that issue with the board at the county’s recent budget work session. However, those concerns, according to Martinez Ware, fell on deaf ears, while other departments were respectfully considered.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and while it is important to emphasize the importance of routine vaccinations for children returning to classrooms, Immunize Kansas Coalition Board Chair Anne Zajic said it is just as important to emphasize vaccines for people of all ages.

While fall and wintertime tend to be thought of as the height of cold and flu season, Zajic said August was chosen for NIAM because of the need for back to school vaccines.

“Families are visiting their health care providers,” she said. “We celebrate in August so we can get that message out. As families are returning to providers for the beginning of the school year for physicals, it’s a great time to start checking in about those annual vaccines.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The dog days of summer are well upon the U.S., and in many rural areas, that means dealing with insect bites and the illness that could come with them.

CDC data shows tick-bite ER visits are currently at their highest levels for this point in the year since at least 2017, and approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease annually. Statistics also show an estimated 31 million Americans are bitten by ticks every year.

Recent reporting also shows West Nile virus cases have hit a 22-year spike this year, and mosquitos with West Nile virus have been found all over the country from Texas to California to Rhode Island.