Topic: Population density

Interview of Earl Watkins, December 19, 2023

Interviewed by Rex Buchanan and Mike Lennen

Earl Watkins recalls his years of work with Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative headquartered in Hays, KS. Watkins describes navigating between requirements to provide power to member-owners and requirements of lenders, regulators, and other policymakers. He paints a picture of the unique position of a G&T cooperative in an industry dominated by large investor-owned utilities serving primarily densely populated areas. He also reflects how the co-op business model serves well a sparsely populated portion of Kansas where self-reliance is an important element of the Show Moreregional culture. Show Less

Interview of Eber Phelps, July 26, 2024

Interviewed by Chris Courtwright

Eber Phelps' interview covers the 18 years he served in the Kansas Legislature. Phelps paints a picture of the changes in the political culture and environment that occurred during his tenure. He blamed his loss in 2012 on the Brownback tax cuts, and his win in 2016 on the Brownback tax cuts. He lost because he voted against the tax experiment; he defeated Sue Boldra because of the problems the tax experiment caused in the Kansas economy and her insistence that nothing was wrong. The interview covers how Phelps became interested in politics, and the Show Morework he did on education and economic development. His work on the Insurance committee with chairman Bob Tomlinson stands in stark contrast to the current mode of work in the Legislature. The description of how the Mayor and city council found a way to solve a pressing water problem reveals his belief in community engagement. The interview closes with a discussion of how state government changed during his tenure. He noted there were 18 Democratic legislators elected from west of Salina when he was sworn in in 1996 and tax returns were filed on paper. Today, everything is online, and the makeup of the legislature is completely different.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Robert St.Peter, January 23, 2026

Interviewed by Jim McLean

This is the opening interview for the series, Healthy Kansans. Dr. Bob St. Peter will be interviewing all the rest of the participants in this series, so Jim McLean wanted to use this interview to establish his expertise. St. Peter was President and CEO of the Kansas Health Institute for 24 years, developing and expanding their services in Kansas. Prior to that he had extensive experience in Washington DC with health policy [see his biography]. For this series of interviews, St. Peter defines health in the broadest terms and points out why the health rankings Show Moreare valuable information for policy makers. The Kansas Health Foundation which created KHI really wanted the KHI to look at a broad set of issues that influenced how healthy we are as a city, as a county, as a state, and how education, housing and transportation influenced a person's health. St. Peter points out that health in Kansas isn't getting worse. People in Kansas are living longer, generally experiencing lower rates of cardiovascular disease, stroke, etc. So, it is not that our collective health is getting worse; it is that our relative standing compared to other states is getting worse. Other states are doing better and are faster than Kansas in improving the health outcomes for their citizens. Kansas should be working on this as well. Show Less