Salt City Sound

This week, instead of the traditional format for That Podcast in Hutch I’m going to send you over to another podcast to check out – The Higher Points. Nate Hiatt and Nick Sowers produce The Higher Points – where they bring in a variety of guests to have meaningful and insightful conversations. This week, they asked if I would join them – and I had a good time visiting with them. We covered a lot of ground and had a really good visit. Nate’s family also owns High Point Pharms – which grows and produces local CBD products. Their tag line is “We Know it Because We Grow it.” 

There’s been a little transition period coming out of the legislative session and getting back on track with “normal” life. I’m working on getting some new guests lined up and producing more powerful content for everyone. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy my visit with Nate and Nick. https://www.thehigherpoints.com/

Warning: This episode contains some graphic depictions of death and death scene investigation. If you’re sensitive to this sort of thing, proceed with caution. 

For the next several weeks, I want to focus on the issue of overdose deaths and in particular fentanyl poisoning. And it is poisoning, because most people who are dying from fentanyl use are completely unaware of the substance’s presence. 

The numbers are staggering, too. In the first half of 2021, there were 388 overdose fatalities, which is a 54 percent increase over the same time in 2020. That gives Kansas the 3rd highest overdose death increase in the country. But what are we doing about it? Well, not much, it turns out. And efforts this year in the Kansas House to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips have met unreasonable resistance from a handful of members in the Kansas Senate. 

Those members have wrongly argued that fentanyl testing strips (FTS) won’t save lives – and that allowing these to be legal will somehow encourage people to use drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you’ll come to understand that in the next several episodes. The research and data on this is clear – when people have tools like FTS, and they learn of the presence of fentanyl, users adjust their behaviors in life saving ways. 

Last week, I visit with former U.S. Attorney Stephen McCallister. He was appointed in 2018 by President Trump to serve the state of Kansas. You’ll hear him explain how fentanyl grew in severity during his time in that role, and how the introduction of fentanyl has been “game changing” in what we thought we knew about drugs in America. 

In this  episode, you’ll hear from Sharon Mandel, who is the special deputy coroner for Shawnee County. In her work as a death investigator for Forensic Medical of Kansas, she’s seeing more people who have died of drug overdoses, including an increased death rate from fentanyl – which is often found in counterfeit Oxycontin pills called “Dirty 30s.”

The CDC recorded more than 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S in 2021 – a new record. Historically, over 60 percent of those deaths are the fault of fentanyl. The DEA recently sent out an alert about the abundance of fake pills laced with fentanyl, and small town police departments are finding fentanyl-laced marijuanana. Whatever judgements people might have about drugs and drug use, the facts are clear: Fentanyl deaths are increasing at an alarming rate, and they’re striking every segment of our society. Inaction, or old thinking, is no longer an option if we have any hope to save lives. 

Stephen McCallister – https://law.ku.edu/people/stephen-mcallister

Sharon Mandel – https://www.washburnlaw.edu/publications/washburnlawyer/issues/49-2/04.pdf

For the next several weeks, I want to focus on the issue of overdose deaths and in particular fentanyl poisoning. And it is poisoning, because most people who are dying from fentanyl use are completely unaware of the substance’s presence. The numbers are staggering, too. In the first half of 2021, there were 388 overdose fatalities, which is a 54 percent increase over the same time in 2020. That gives Kansas the 3rd highest overdose death increase in the country. But what are we doing about it? Well, not much, it turns out. And efforts this year in the Kansas House to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips have met unreasonable resistance from a handful of members in the Kansas Senate. Those members have wrongly argued that fentanyl testing strips (FTS) won’t save lives – and that allowing these to be legal will somehow encourage people to use drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you’ll come to understand that in the next several episodes. The research and data on this is clear – when people have tools like FTS, and they learn of the presence of fentanyl, users adjust their behaviors in life saving ways. In the first episode, I visit with former U.S. Attorney Stephen McCallister. He was appointed in 2018 by President Trump to serve the state of Kansas. You’ll hear him explain how fentanyl grew in severity during his time in that role, and how the introduction of fentanyl has been “game changing” in what we thought we knew about drugs in America. In the second episode, you’ll hear from Sharon Mandel, who is the special deputy coroner for Shawnee County. In her work as a death investigator for Forensic Medical of Kansas, she’s seeing more people who have died of drug overdoses, including an increased death rate from fentanyl – which is often found in counterfeit Oxycontin pills called “Dirty 30s.”The CDC recorded more than 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S in 2021 – a new record. Historically, nearly 70 percent of those deaths are the fault of fentanyl. The DEA recently sent out an alert about the abundance of fake pills laced with fentanyl, and small town police departments are finding fentanyl-laced marijuanana. Whatever judgements people might have about drugs and drug use, the facts are clear: Fentanyl deaths are increasing at an alarming rate, and they’re striking every segment of our society. Stephen McCallister – https://law.ku.edu/people/stephen-mcallisterSharon Mandel – https://www.washburnlaw.edu/publications/washburnlawyer/issues/49-2/04.pdf

Lynn Rogers currently serves as the Kansas State Treasurer – a role most known for helping people find out if they have any unclaimed property. Most of us have likely seen or stopped by the Treasurer’s booth at the Kansas State Fair over the years. There’s much more to the job than giving people their abandoned money, and Lynn helps explain some of the daily ins and outs of the job. But Lynn has held a number of public service positions throughout his career. He’s been Lieutenant Governor, and Kansas Senator, a Wichita School Board member, and even a member of his children’s parent teacher association. He also has an extensive career in finance and farm credit services – and he’s managed that career through some rocky waters. In this podcast, we explore some of what he’s learned throughout his years of service, and how some of the work he’s done has created new experiences and opportunities that have both enriched his life and broadened his horizons. 

This week Kansas Legislature passed a bill to allow the use of driverless vehicles – specifically large trucks. In the lead up to the vote, the big groups that support it (Koch Industries, Walmart, Americans for Prosperity, and the Kansas Chamber) sent out a brief explaining why this is needed. They relied largely on the truck driver shortage. Since I’ve been tied up in Topeka, and since this was a topic of conversation up here, it seemed like a good time to pull out a previous episode with my friend Tim Smith. Tim has been a longtime trucker, and spent much of his career as a long haul trucker. If we’re going to make policy decisions and say it’s because of a driver shortage, we might want to hear from people who have done the job. The conversation with Tim has been one of the most-listened episodes. You’ll learn a bunch of things about trucking you never knew before – and you’ll have a better understanding of why people are leaving the industry. link to the bill http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/ccrb_sb313_01_0000.pdfThe report from the ATA – https://www.trucking.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/ATA%20Driver%20Shortage%20Report%202021%20Executive%20Summary.FINAL_.pdf

I want to thank everyone for all of your patience, prayers, and support during the past couple of weeks. And I especially want to thank Jackson for stepping in to keep That Podcast in Hutch rolling while I focused on a family crisis. Mitch is out of the hospital, working toward recovery, and doing much better than the first days after the accident. So many of you reached out with thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement. Our family feels blessed to have such a good community of thoughtful and caring people. I’m glad to be back in the studio – and this week my guest is Chris Courtwright. He’s a member of the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform, and he worked for 34 years as the principal economist for the Kansas Department of Legislative Research. In that role, he provided members of the legislature with non-partisan economic information to help inform policy decisions. He also served on the prestigious Consensus Revenue Estimating group – which crunches data and trends in the economy to create an estimate of tax receipts in the coming year. This group’s work forms the basis of every governor’s budget – and it is the information on which all budget and tax decisions are based each fiscal year. Chris and I talk about his experiences in those roles, as well as the ongoing discussion about the effort to eliminate the state sales tax on groceries. This is an idea that’s been talked about for years – but there’s been a real effort to get it done this session. Chris has a lot of historical knowledge about the sales tax on groceries, and I think you’ll find his insights interesting and educational. 

In this week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch, guest host Jackson Swearer returns to talk to Amanda Wilke about the challenges and opportunities facing childcare providers.A lack of quality, affordable childcare is an issue facing many communities right now, and Hutch is no exception. In our conversation, Amanda shared some of the challenges she faces in her certified in-home daycare. I was particularly struck by some of the ways that well-intentioned regulations on her industry seem to drive up costs for providers and limit their ability to generate revenue. Despite the challenges, however, there are also opportunities. We talked about how new grants available during and after COVID might help make childcare both more affordable and better for kids.Throughout our time together, I could not ignore the passion that Amanda showed for providing safe and educational experiences for children. We talked about some of the new and creative opportunities for families she is bringing to Hutchinson. These included a free community group Amanda started called Nature Play Hutch, as well as a new program she hopes to offer this summer called Tinkergarten. Listeners who are interested can find out more at www.tinkergarten.com/leaders/amanda.wilke

In this week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch, guest host Jackson Swearer visits with Dave Sotelo, Human Relations Officer for the City of Hutchinson.Jason had a family emergency this week, so I (Jackson) returned to fill in as host for the podcast. I was excited to get to talk to Dave Sotelo about his work to address discrimination and promote harmonious relations between all people in our community. We begin with Dave explaining his work and the role of the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission. From there, our discussion moves from abstract concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion to the personal story of one young man’s struggle to find his place in the United States.As you listen while Dave shares about his experience immigrating to the United States at age 12, I hope you will reflect on the times when you may have felt excluded and the impact that had on you. You won’t find any easy answers to the complex political issues surrounding immigration here. But perhaps Dave’s story will encourage you to consider the ways that we might all work to ensure everyone who wants to make a good life for themselves and contribute to our society can be included in our community.

Sometimes serendipity emerges from disappointment. This week I had made arrangements for another guest – who I still hope to get on the show. But on the scheduled day for recording, illness had struck and she couldn’t make it. So I had to scramble to find someone else to interview. Luckily, I had read this column written by Rep. Heather Meyer, from Overland Park’s 29th House District. And since she works in the building, I had already visited with about making an appearance on That Podcast in Hutch. Heather is a Type 1 diabetic. Many of you know that my son, Mitch (who wrote and performed all the musical bits for this show) also has Type 1 diabetes. We both have very personal experiences with this disease, and we both intimately know how much it affects the lives of patients, and their friends and family. But Heather’s story is layered with an additional complication – she has spent much of her life without health insurance, and thus, the inability to effectively treat this debilitating and life-threatening disease. This has created additional health concerns – which is a common by-product of diabetics who have to ration insulin or fail to properly measure blood sugar levels in an effort to stretch financial resources. This episode is personal to me. Diabetics experience complicated lives that require constant effort and thought – and their lives are made infinitely more difficult when they can’t afford the care they need to stay alive and fully engage daily life. 

In this week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I visit with John Donley, with the firm Devine, Donley, and Murray Governmental Affairs. I got to know John through work in the Kansas legislature. John represents a number of agriculture interests, including the Kansas Farm Bureau. I wanted to visit with John about his work, and some of the challenges farmers and ranchers face everyday – and in the face of emerging world events. I think you’ll learn something about the way a lobbyist approaches the work in Topeka, as well as gain some good insight about the daily lives of Kansas farmers and ranchers.