{"id":67677,"date":"2022-09-26T11:02:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=67677"},"modified":"2022-09-26T11:02:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:02:17","slug":"hammond-campaigns-alongside-weed-eating-goats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=67677","title":{"rendered":"Hammond campaigns alongside weed-eating goats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STORY BY ISAK SMITH
PHOTOS BY KATI RIVERA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidate Ed Hammond\u2019s Campaign<\/a> for Kansas\u2019s 111th district visited a local goat grazing event to raise awareness for both the campaign and sustainable agricultural practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event took place at the Jennings\/Bird Farm at 1395 Rome Rd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A little boy plays with one of the smaller goats. A handful of these baby goats were roaming around the owner’s property outside the fenced area.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Two smaller goats were venturing on their own while having a little snack break.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Each goat has a unique collar and name tag. The goat pictured had the beautiful name, Dip-Stick.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There were three herding dogs in charge of maintaining the flock of goats. This particular dog was focused on one of the smaller goats roaming outside of the fence.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another one of the herding dogs. This one seems to be on his break.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The goats are more effective than farming equipment because they are able to get closer to the river and down the steep cliffs, like the goat pictured. \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My picture-taking buddy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mary Hammond stands in the middle of the goat herd.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One goat uses a tree to reach the higher leaves on the branches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ed Hammond stands with the land owner John Jennings.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mary Hammond and the owner of the goats, Mary, talk about the details of Mary\u2019s business.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of the smaller, Spotty, goats takes a break from snacking.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Many goats preferred to start their snacking on the tree leaves instead of the grass.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Bird, the owner of the property, described the idea of helping host the campaign event for. Hammond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he decided to run, I thought he would be a natural fit for Hays. He\u2019s the perfect guy at the right time because he\u2019s not trying to climb a political ladder and he\u2019s got a proven ability to negotiate\u2026\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammond spoke clearly about his plans if elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first item on the agenda would be to expand Medicaid without the threat of a governor vetoing the bill as has happened in the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is worth about t$17.5 million to our community. On top of that, we would qualify for 343 funding. Which is a federal program that gives us access to prescription drugs at a lower rate\u2013about forty percent lower than it is,\u201c he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammond went on to explain how the county is ineligible for funding at the moment and needs to change the criteria for Medicaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next priority he outlined was to increase school funding for special education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to do what we can for these students. It\u2019s a shame that it happened, but we had to transfer out $1.5 million \u2013that\u2019s the equivalent of 22 teaching positions,\u201d Hammond said. \u201cI think we should just listen to the Supreme Court, fund schools how they should be and let the community live and prosper\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cIn addition to that, people think special ed funding is for kids that have trouble learning, but it\u2019s the other end of the spectrum too, the bright kids that are in advanced programs are also special ed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, Hammond hopes to secure more funding for Fort Hays. He made clear how despite WSU and FHSU maintaining similar enrollment numbers, the two schools received $83 million and only $31 million respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat inequity makes no sense to me, and I know why it happened, and it has to do with the formula base that they\u2019ve used. I think that needs to be changed to fairly fund Fort Hays,\u201d Hammond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formula base that they\u2019re using is 2001 enrollments when FHSU enrolled about 6,000 students. As Fort Hays grew, it never got any additional funding for its growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammond made the analogy between securing the funding he described and a company moving to town: \u201cif you add all that together it\u2019s at least $100 million for the community for a four-year period. It\u2019s like having a big manufacturing facility come in. Its tremendous economic benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about how the campaign was going Hammond replied that it was going well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a little warm. We\u2019re knocking on all the doors in the district and it\u2019s about 6,000 doors, and we\u2019re about halfway done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crew generally works from 5-8 p.m.knocking on doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just out handing out stuff, we want to talk to them. I really want to know what they think, and they want to know what I stand for, and we can have those discussions and it works out pretty well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammond\u2019s campaign is optimistic about the 2022 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goats were provided by Mary Powell, a Hays local who operates the Barnyard Weed Warriors<\/a> goat rental service to manage weeds on acres of land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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