Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability in Kansas and continues to increase at an alarming rate—by almost 60 percent over the past 15 years.

This increase has paralleled the growing number of adult Kansans who are overweight or obese.

On Friday, the Kansas Depart­­ment of Health and Environment and Kansas Diabetes Advisory Council unveiled a statewide strategy for reducing diabetes in Kansas.

The Kansas Diabetes Plan provides guidance for collaborative statewide efforts to reduce the burden of diabetes and improve the health of Kansans over the next five years.

“We now know what actions can be taken to delay and even prevent the onset of diabetes and minimize its damaging health effects,” said Roderick L. Bremby, secretary of KDHE.

“Adopting a healthy lifestyle, choosing healthier eating habits and increasing physical activity can reduce the chances of you and your children developing diabetes.”

Diabetes is one of the most common, complex and costly chronic health conditions in Kansas and the Unites States.

In Kansas, 7.1 percent of adults—more than 150,000—have been diagnosed with diabetes and nearly 65,000 more have diabetes but are undiagnosed.

If trends in obesity and Type 2 diabetes continue, children born in 2000 will face a 1 in 3 chance of developing diabetes at some point during their lifetime. In Latino children, this risk is predicted to be even higher—a 1 in 2 chance.

People with diabetes are at increased risk of serious and potentially fatal health complications, including cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney failure, nervous system damage and lower limb amputations.

Research indicates that healthy eating habits, being physically active and other lifestyle modifications can prevent or delay the development of diabetes.

For this reason, KDHE and its partners, through the Kansas Diabetes Plan, will be enhancing health education efforts designed to inform Kansans of the steps they can take to minimize their risk.

“This plan is a call to action, urging individuals, communities and organizations to take an active role in implementing the Kansas Diabetes Plan to improve quality and years of life for Kansans living with diabetes,” Bremby said.

The Kansas Diabetes Plan is available on the KDHE Web site at www.kdheks.gov/diabetes.

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The Kansas Sampler Founda­tion announced several weeks ago that it is now taking nominations for art for the next 8 Wonders of Kansas contest.

Nominations will be taken through July and can be submitted online at 8wonders.org or sent to 978 Arapaho Road, Inman, KS 67546.

Art is the second of eight rural culture elements that will be showcased in the 8 Wonders contests.

The architecture contest was completed June 30 and results are posted at 8wonders.org.

After a four-month focus on art, the elements of commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history, and people will each be featured. The overall 8 Wonders of Kansas were announced by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Kansas Day, Jan. 29, 2008.

Nominations must have physical evidence that is publicly accessible to the public.

For instance, a nomination for artist Birger Sandzen would include the Sandzen Gallery in Lindsborg. The nomination description should include reasons why the nominee is unique to Kansas or the midwest.

Foundation director Marci Penner said, “We’re not just looking for a great art gallery, for example, but one that can distinguish itself with characteristics that are unique to any other art gallery in the state.”

The Inman-based Founda­tion has long used the eight elements to help see a community with new eyes. The series of contests are designed to educate the public about what there is to see and do in Kansas and to encourage travel.

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Members of this year’s initial iLEAD group are: front row (from left), Taylor Harms, Katey Ehrlich, Lauren Geis and Beth Riffel; back row, Chad Mueller, Karl Riffel, Bryce Roberts, Nicholas Meyer, Kim Harms. “We saw this core group of kids that have loads of potential and have lots of things in common, and decided we needed to put something officially in place to focus on developing (leadership),” Riffel said.

Leadership development is the central purpose of a new program the Marion County 4-H clubs installed this year.

Made up of 11 4-Hers age 12 and up that are enrolled in livestock projects, iLEAD is in its pilot year. According to sponsors Beth Riffel and Kim Harms, it has already been successful.

Riffel, a Marion County native and editor of the Manhattan-based Grass & Grain newspaper, said she and Harms felt there needed to be more leadership training in the local 4-H program.

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The Marion County Commis­sion Monday continued to discuss the possibility of putting county workers, and thus the courthouse schedule, on a four-day work week to save energy.

Commission Chairman Bob Hein said he talked to the county clerk of Gove County in Gove, and she told him the four-day week, started there June 1 for the same energy savings, seems to be working very well.

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Jim Lehrman of Goessel displays two of the model planes in his collection. He plans to open an exhibit of model planes in the old family-owned Lehrman Oil Co. building on Goessel’s Main Street.David Vogel /Free Press

Since he was a boy, Jim Lehrman has had a passion for building and flying model airplanes. And he enjoys sharing that passion with the experienced modeler as well as the uninitiated.

In August, Lehrman hopes to share his hobby with the local folks in Goessel.

Growing up in that community, Lehrman was introduced at a young age to the traditional model airplanes made of the balsa wood frame and a light covering.

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The Marion County Commission decided Monday to vote in a week on how it would generate tax funds to support bonds for a new jail.

The question on whether to approve this tax for bonds on a new $8.5 million community corrections center will come before the countywide vote­­ in the Nov. 4 general election.

In discussions with Tony Rangel and Dennis Smith, architects with Law/Kingdon Inc. of Wichita, the commissioners seemed to be leaning toward a 1 percent county sales tax that bond counsel projected would generate $960,000 annually with $251,113 surplus to meet a $708,887 annual bond payment.

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