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‘The Nocturne Diaries’ is Eliza Gilkyson’s  20th release since she began recording in 1969. Hollywood born and raised, she has called Austin, Texas home for most of the last 30 years with stints in Santa Fe and Los Angeles as well.  The new record has been described as “…a journey through the dark night of the soul that ends at the light of day…a stubborn ray of hope…” It will be released on March 18.

We will listen to ‘The Nocturne Diaries’ in its entirety this week on High Plains Morning

The Kansas Supreme Court released its decision in the school finance case.  The unanimous decision found the lower court partially erred in its conclusion, and remanded it for further consideration.  The ruling also stated the lower court properly found the state’s funding mechanism had created “unconstitutional, wealth-based disparities” among school districts according to an article from the Kansas Health Institute. 

Deadsticking is a term used for fishing a bait, usually a soft plastic but not always, very slowly during the winter months when water temperatures are at their lowest. When the water is cold, fish become lethargic. They must eat but they prefer a meal that remains somewhat stationary rather than something they must chase down. Thus the reason that 1.5 inch soft plastic shad imitations held motionless near the top of big schools of white bass provided so much excitement at Cedar Creek Lake last week.

Deadsticking is a term used for fishing a bait, usually a soft plastic but not always, very slowly during the winter months when water temperatures are at their lowest. When the water is cold, fish become lethargic. They must eat but they prefer a meal that remains somewhat stationary rather than something they must chase down. Thus the reason that 1.5 inch soft plastic shad imitations held motionless near the top of big schools of white bass provided so much excitement at Cedar Creek Lake last week.

If you took an evening walk or happened to look out your window eastward last Thursday, you saw what some call the Worm Moon, a term American Indians introduced.  While these nomadic people didn’t follow a Julian calendar, they knew the importance of using seasonal lunar phases to record passing time.

A growing population and inadequate electricity supply has kept a looming energy crisis over Texans.  Rolling blackouts would come, or so it was predicted.  This month, a report from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) release its annual forecast of how much electricity Texas will have in the coming years, and thing don’t look so bad according to StateImpact Texas.

Small, abandoned refineries dot the High Plains, but the domestic oil boom of domestic light-crude is breathing new life into some of them said a recent article in the New York Times.  

Representatives Bud Estes and John Ewy, as well as Senator Garrett Love were in Dodge City, Kansas, recently for an open forum.  The delegates shared their position on elections, mortgage fees, and EPA regulations according to a recent article from the Dodge City Daily Globe.

A trip to the county extension office for a botanical diagnosis of a sickly tree branch paid off with reassurance that all was well.  While I was there I was also served up a refresher course in wise watering practices for our consistently dry and thirsty area.  We reviewed some things I knew about, but am sometimes lax in following.  And I learned a thing or two about making every precious drop of moisture count, even when rainfall is skimpy.   

The results are in from the Texas Primary.  Here’s the scoreboard from the Texas Tribune. 

A cloning project at West Texas A&M University is poised to enter the next phase of creating cattle that will produce top quality beef recently reported the Amarillo Globe-News.

Milton Wolf is trying to unseat three-term U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in the Kansas Republican primary.  Wolf now has the support of a national tea party political action committee according to a recent article in The Wichita Eagle. 

The “Frying Pan-Arkansas” project conduit as been planned since the 1960s when the Pueblo Dam was built, but due to lack of funding was never completed.  The Bureau of Reclamation recently signed a Record of Decision giving the project the green light according to an article by The Colorado Springs Independent.  

Deborah Clark and her husband Emory apply the principles of holistic ranch management, and they use managed intensive grazing on their stocker cattle operation on 14,000 acres in north-central Texas.

Here is where some key issues stand at the midpoint of the legislative session according to a recent article in the Wichita Eagle.

In Kansas, The Kansas Health Institute recently reported that more than 10,000 Kansans applied or Medicaid or CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) in January.  That is an increase of 20% over the monthly average since the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace was launched.

Susan Gibson is a CMA award-winning songwriter based in Wimberley, Texas. Over the last 10 years Susan has logged hundreds of thousands of miles, hundreds of gigs and 4 CDs.

To celebrate her 10 year mark, she has just released her new live CD 'The Second Hand', recorded live at The Bugle Boy in LaGrange, Texas.

Tomorrow is the Primary in the great state of Texas.  To help you make your choices, here are some resources.

Most climate models paint a bleak picture for the Great Plains a century from now: It will likely be warmer and the air will be richer with carbon dioxide. Though scientists don’t yet know how exactly the climate will change, new studies show it could be a boon to some invasive plant species.  

A growing problem

The Republican primary is the election that matters in the state of Texas.  The winners of Tuesday’s race and the following May 27 runoff election will mostly likely win in November according to The Texas Tribune. 

This breakfast is easy to make, and easy to clean up.  The only pan you need is a cast iron skillet. 

Here’s a challenge: can you tell the difference between handmade and machine made bread? Handmade means no mixers, no dough hooks, and no electronic devices of any kind until it’s time to pop those risen loaves or rolls in the oven. If taste buds can’t tell a significant difference, why would anyone choose an old-fashioned technique to do a job?

Folks living in rural areas across the High Plains know when the weather is warm, propane is cheap.  When it gets cold, both demand and the price go up.  But, this season the price skyrocketed to unheard of levels due to the combination of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster, wet corn, and a string of winter storms. according to a recent article from StateImpact Oklahoma.

Hydrochloric acid is commonly using in horizontal drilling because it’s relatively cheap, but companies are looking for safer alternatives to protect workers and the environment reported StateImpact Oklahoma. 

Do federal regulations allow banks to deal with marijuana dispensaries? And how high is too high to drive?

These are two of the questions pressed by a developing recreational marijuana industry in Colorado.

After a month of love in the form of hearts and roses, we'll take a final look at a plant that is actually a noxious weed. But it's long been a part of my botanical background, having been introduced to me by my hill-country grandmother, a woman who planted by the signs and believed there was power in both the light and the dark of the moon.  Today we'll look at loveweed, an ages old method of finding true love long before internet dating sites.     

Senator Pat Roberts is working to renew ties in his home state reported Jonathan Martin for the New York Times.  Tea Partly influences have changed his long Washington, D.C. history to a liability, and the 77-year old senator is working to adjust his position to better his chances at re-election say his aides.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently released a report, “Early Reading Proficiency in the United States.”  According to The Dodge City Daily Globe a majority of Kansas children are not reading proficiently by fourth grade.

Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico have until the end of the year to improve the railroad track or lose the Southwest Chief passenger rail line.  According to The New York Times Amtrak has asked the three states to put up $40 million over the next 20 years to help pay for track upgrades and maintenance to keep the track viable.  Unless all three states pitch in, Amtrak says it will potentially drop nine small-town stations in favor of existing track in Texas and Oklahoma. 

Rancher Grady Grissom discusses the lessons he's learned from deploying a deferred-rotation system of managed grazing on his 14,000-acre ranch. But he doesn't like the term "grazing system.