The Biden administration is readying a proposal to shore up the cybersecurity of the U.S. water supply, a system maintained by thousands of organizations with sometimes glaring vulnerabilities to hackers. The plan broadens a White House initiative to persuade key industrial companies to upgrade technology for detecting cyberattacks. U.S. officials hope water utilities will analyze and voluntarily report such data to help authorities monitor threats to different types of critical infrastructure. The White House previously said it would expand the program to water utilities this year as part of a push to prevent hackers from breaking into the increasingly digitized control [...]

It’s not exactly farm to fork, but it’s close. By buying bread made in Arlington, jelly cooked in Hutchinson and coffee roasted in Inman, consumers are not only getting a product produced in Kansas, but they are keeping jobs in Reno County and helping the Kansas economy. ... “The economic impact, even of those small sales, trickles down into the local economy,” said Frank Choriego, associate director of the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Wichita State University. If 500 people spend $100 locally, that’s $50,000 coming back into Hutchinson and Reno County, Choriego said. At least 80 to 90% of [...]

In a case of first impression, this appeal presents us with three questions that arise from applying the Retail Electric Suppliers Act. First, can an oral agreement between a city manager and the general manager of an electric cooperative allowing the city to provide electricity to a territory outside that city be enforceable, even though that agreement has not been approved by the Commission as required by the Act? Second, can the equitable doctrines of laches, estoppel, and waiver render such a contract valid, even though that contract is void according to the statutes? Third, may a supplier of electricity receive [...]

“What has really kind of changed in open records is the county gets a lot more statewide requests where an interest group is asking every county for a batch of information.” And, these groups are wanting the documents electronically, he said. “This is, of course, completely legal and the county is happy to help them with these requests as long as they’re under the (Kansas Open Records Act), but it just makes complying with the request awkward,” he said. So the change would make clear that the county will ask to be reimbursed for the staff time involved in fulfilling them. [...]

Eighteen robotic dinosaurs are coming to Topeka. So is a 40-foot-long replica of Sue, the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered. Visit Topeka and its partners in attracting tourism shared that news Monday while announcing that a series of dinosaur-themed attractions will be on display here early next year as part of a campaign called "Topeka Dino Days." Source: CJonline

While John Barbur isn’t the Lorax — an orange-furred, fantasy creature from a Dr. Seuss story — he has protected and cared for all the trees in Abilene since 1991. Before his time on the Abilene tree board, Barbur gained a degree in forestry management from the University of Missouri, which included specific classes in Agronomy. Agronomy means the study of producing and using plants in agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, recreation and land restoration. Source: Abilene Reflector-Chronicle