ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Kansas representation at the federal level could see a shift, and one of the candidates wanting to help make that happen is Colin McRoberts, who is running to lead the state’s Big First district.

As McRoberts tells it, politics was not exactly in the cards until recently.

“Right now, I teach at the University of Kansas, mostly business law, negotiation and some other business-related classes. I am a lawyer by training,” McRoberts said. “After law school, I worked as a litigator, defending family businesses from fraud, suing some big financial agencies and work like that. I left my law practice when I met my wife – she’s a scientist, and we had to be able to move around her career, so I left my practice and became a consultant and went into the field of negotiation. I spent the next 10 years or so really traveling the world and advising people of how to negotiate better deals. When we moved to Lawrence, I didn’t like doing all the traveling because I wanted to be home with the family more. We had a kid, so I found the job at KU, and I’ve been teaching there ever since. I’ve been in Lawrence for about a decade and teaching at KU for about six years now. I’d never thought about politics, I’d never really been involved in politics and didn’t even register as a Democrat until a few years ago when I wanted to vote in the primary.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Wind energy continues to be a hot topic of discussion locally, and while much of the conversation centering around the potential installment of turbines in Seward County has focused on the opposition, some voices in favor of the project are beginning to be heard as well.

Monday during the citizens comments portion of the county commission’s regular meeting, Ryan Martin, a strong opponent of turbines in the county, again spoke, saying numerous videos, documentaries and even surveys have been put about the concerns about the project and any future wind projects in the county.

Martin said one survey showed about 70 percent of respondents speaking out against turbines in the county, and he added the project is not about economic development.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

A recent Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans.

Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

With the recent stay order issued by the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals allowing the county to reduce property tax to revenue neutral, workers in the Seward County Treasurer’s office have now begun processing new statements, checks and credits for property owners.

Treasurer Mary Rose said an initial complaint came through after commissioners in September 2025 narrowly voted to pass a 17-mill property tax increase.  She said before the Dec. 31, 2025, deadline, she had sent a total of 173 complaints to BOTA, and from there, conversations with the county attorney started regarding the complaints.

Rose, though, said the only part she played in the initial discussion was her belief regarding what she thought should happen in the Revenue Neutral Rate process.