Webster defines to teach as: to give instruction; to train by example, practice or exercise.

 Wow, that sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?

 This is National Education Week. The Emporia State Federal Credit Union, Country Mart North, the Emporia School District and the Emporia NEA delivered cookies to all USD 253 facilities yesterday to say “thank you” to teachers. That’s a nice touch, but not nearly enough. Teachers deserve more than just a cookie.

 Dan Rather said, "The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.”

 Horace Mann said,     "Teachers teach because they care. Teaching young people is what they do best. It requires long hours, patience, and care."   

 Charles Platt said,   "Compassionate teachers fill a void left by working parents who aren't able to devote enough attention to their children.”

 William Arthur Ward said,     "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."

 Thank a teacher today.

 If you love to read, thank a teacher.

 If you learned a second language, thank a teacher.

 If you can write a good sentence, thank a teacher.
 

 The National Teacher’s Hall of Fame Auction is tomorrow night right here on KVOE. You can go kvoe.com right now and see the items for sale then tune in and support teachers everywhere. It’s a lot of fun.

 Thank you teachers, you are our future.

 I’m Steve Sauder

As messy as the presidential race has gotten we are lucky locally to have clear choices in contested races with the potential to restore our state government to one about which we can be proud.

Today my thoughts on three state candidate races and the Supreme Court Retention question.

In the three races for the state legislature we have excellent choices with experience being the key difference in the contestants.

Jeff Longbine seeks to return to the Kansas Senate. His story is interesting. He grew up in Emporia as a star athlete from a prominent family. He had all makings of a playboy. But, at an earlier than expected age he found himself in the lead position at the family’s automobile dealership. 

Jeff’s performance as an automobile dealer is well documented, but it’s the rest of the story that amazes me.

Slightly over a decade ago Longbine decided to run for the Emporia City Commission where he excelled as a problem solver. When the opportunity to run for the Senate developed he stepped up and he has done well. He is being touted for a leadership position in the coalition designed to fix the damage done by the Brownback administration.

His opponent has tried to paint Longbine as a “Brownback enabler” but nothing could be further from the truth.

Longbine has stayed free from labels and is seen as a solution person by his colleagues. The Emporia Gazette wrote “Jeff has used his negotiating skills to bring parties together on divided issues.”

Emporia will be best represented with one of the leaders in the group shepherding our state’s recovery than by a freshman senator trying to find her office.

Mark Schreiber brings a different kind of experience to his task. He has been working with the legislature for nearly 30 years. He knows his way around the capital and knows most all the people he will be working with. Also amazing is how closely his demeanor resembles that of the person he desires to replace. Maybe that’s why Don Hill was willing to retire!

Make no mistake Schreiber will be his own man, but he does hold the moderate principles we so desperately need in Topeka.

In endorsing Theresa Briggs my choice is for known over unknown. Theresa has proven herself as a leader in difficult situations. Both as the leader for Drug Free Schools and as a Lyon County Commissioner her job had challenges. In both cases she was up to the task. Now living in rural Kansas, Theresa adds a new dimension to her qualifications.

Theresa will be a problem solver in Topeka.

The Supreme Court Justice Retention issue is easy for me. I’ll keep them all because I don’t trust Governor Brownback to appoint their replacements.

Votes for Longbine, Schreiber, and Briggs and “Yes” for the Supreme Court judges will be positive steps in helping Kansas regain its pride.

I’m Steve Sauder

It’s been awhile since the Gazette and KVOE disagreed on anything, so let’s change that today.

The Gazette’s Chris Walker took County Commissioner Scott Briggs to task for voting “NO” on the proposed rezoning of the 318 acre Price tract asking “what was he really thinking…”

Briggs told me he was thinking rezoning the tract to heavy industrial without knowledge of what the use would be was not in the best interest of the people he represents and who own the adjacent property.

An option on the land had been obtained by Emporia Enterprises because a major U.S. company was considering Emporia for a large distribution center. Even though Briggs was not convinced this project was what our area needs – more on that later – he supported the plan until the distribution center people chose another Kansas community.

Emporia Enterprises chose to keep pursuing rezoning because the tract is extremely well situated. It is an especially nice site because rail access and utilities are present. Only roads need to be added.

The rub occurred when residents of the area became uncomfortable with the proposed heavy industrial zoning without knowing the future use of the property.

I am fairly certain Mr. Walker would not be happy if land near his rural property were rezoned heavy industrial without knowing who might be his potential neighbor.

Making Briggs out as the bad guy was unfair. He and his neighbors were ready to support the change with the certainty that a distribution center would be built there. When those plans fell through attitudes changed rapidly.

Briggs mentioned at the Lyon County Commission meeting he’d like to see a new vision for economic development. In a conversation with me Scott suggested while the distribution center would have created jobs he is not sure that’s all Lyon County should be seeking.

His point was this. Lyon County sits near the bottom of the list of Kansas counties when per capita income is ranked. Adding 200 jobs paying below $20 an hour will not move the meter on our per capita income dilemma. That’s what Briggs is talking about when he says we need to examine our vision.

We agree.

We also agree when the Commissions – Lyon County and Emporia City say they want their future economic development efforts to be tied to Emporia State University and the Technical College.

This is not saying the efforts of the RDA are misguided just saying let’s expand our vision. With city-county cooperation at an all time best it’s time for action. A comprehensive plan would be a great place to start.

I’m Steve Sauder and there’s Something to Think About.

The usual rules when it comes to talking with others about religion and politics are “agree to disagree” and “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

This presidential election has certainly not been normal.

Please note there are – of course – historic divisions in the ideas put forth to lead our country. This is not about any of those issues.

Mr. Trump’s campaign featured messages of intolerance of people of other religions, races, and women. He did not adhere to the normal rules of discourse.

Mr. Trump received endorsements from KKK and other white supremacists groups -  he has yet to disavow these associations.

Calls to “unify” and “give him a chance” have been touted this past week. But President Elect Trump is showing little sign of distancing himself from Candidate Trump.

Since the election, he has named Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Bannon is the head of a neo-conservative media site featuring memes by anonymous white supremacists opposing immigration, multiculturalism, and feminism.

Among the United States core values are “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and “all people are created equal.” These are not values reflected in what Mr. Trump has said, in his actions, and in the people he’s choosing to assist him lead this diverse country.

Do I want Mr. Trump to fail? As president leading our nation, no – I want his agenda items that push racism and divisiveness to fail.

Mostly I want him to learn. I want him to learn that words mean things and invoke feelings that lead to actions that he can not turn on and off like a tap. Learn that people coming to believe if they don’t think they have it “great” they should blame others – usually those who are different from them. I want him to learn that children are listening and watching.

As a parent, we are always modeling behavior for our children. Just as these behaviors include being respectful and polite, they also include when to stand up and speak out.

Another age old adage is “Respect is earned, not given.”

Laura, give me a call.