It's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, the challenge of helping veterans with PTSD may be getting a little easier thanks to new legislation.

And a Wichita organization that's stepping up.

And help is in sight for vision impaired children around the world.

Thanks to a Wichita organization with a simple and big idea.

It's a big announcement that could change the future for young kids in developing nations.

Those stories plus, Kansas Wild Edge are queued up and ready to roll in this week's edition of Positively Kansas.

Positively Kansas is brought to you in part by.

Before investing your hard earned money, make sure your financial advisor understands your objectives.

Mark Douglass CFP Serving our community for over 20 years, providing customized financial solutions that focus on the individual.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 930,000 Kansans in various programs.

Independent member of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, an independent licensee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, supports its program.

Support provided by the F Price Customer Memorial Trust and Trust Bank Trustee.

Bringing you the Kansas Wild Edge segments on Positively Kansas.

Many Kansas military veterans are in need of service dogs to help them cope with life.

And a new federal act becoming law will get more train service dogs in the hands of Kansas vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans supporters tell Chris Frank this is a breakthrough for vets.

No, no.

Good job.

Nice to meet you.

This is Rocky, a two year old standard poodle.

Rocky is a service dog in training and the classroom on this fall evening is chicken and pickle in East Wichita.

Army veteran Kerry Lauer brought Rocky into this training program through a veterans help group called Midwest Battle Buddies.

Army veteran Carla Robbins brought her dog, Booboo.

Robbins and Booboo have been with the Midwest Battle Buddies program several years.

Booboo is a trained service dog, as the vest indicates, but also continues in training.

Rusty Hoggard is with hands full dog training.

Now he's teaching these two veterans techniques they can use to train their dogs on their own.

We're going to go ahead and meet over there among the four-way and we'll do leash.

Walking around.

Distractions.

We'll get started with some basic ideas.

Businesses like Chicken and Pickle allow drug trainers like Hogwarts to bring dogs in training here.

Chicken Pickle is probably going to be where you're going to be challenged the most with your dogs.

Trainers say it's important to put the dogs in busy public environments to get them used to distractions, including learning not to react to non-service dogs and not be tempted to chase a misguided pickleball through training.

The dogs are reminded their mission is to focus on their owner, not the distractions.

So want to make sure you guys do your focusing games.

Off you go.

Sit.

Thank you.

Good job.

Look at me.

Watch for your dogs just to give you a look.

And if they're looking at.

You, say, good.

And give them a cookie.

Training service dogs for vets has become all the more important because of a new government program.

PAWS Act is a is a very big thing.

PAWS is a catchy acronym.

Standing for Puppies Assisting Wounded Service Members.

The Paws for Veterans Therapy Act forces the Veterans Administration to recognize vets with PTSD and other disabilities needs for trained service dogs.

We're going to increase the.

Population of veterans seeking a.

Service.

Dog tenfold, easily.

Before Paws, the VA recognized service dogs for vets with proven physical disabilities, including visual and hearing impairments.

This is going to open the doors wide open.

Newman says the service dog needs have always been there for vets, but the Paws for Veterans Therapy Act requires the VA to start a five year pilot program to provide canine training to eligible veterans.

Anxiety is the biggest thing.

Many of our veterans could not leave their homes.

Army veteran Phillip Owens, service dog named King, helps him stay calm around others.

Before I got him, I had a hard time with people in public.

People crowding around me was really getting me nervous and I would start throwing elbows and fast.

Army vet Alan Fitzgerald says his dog named Joker, has saved his life.

He's basically trained to.

Pick up on my symptoms from PTSD.

The PAWS Act requires the VA to partner with nonprofit organizations to get service dogs trained for vets.

Newman says Midwest Battle Buddies wants to be the premier provider and trainer of service dogs for veterans in the greater Wichita area.

Newman says it costs about $30,000 to train a service dog over a two or more year program.

But he's concerned that with the lack of state regulations, there are trainers offering service dogs that aren't properly trained to do the job they're supposed to.

There's a lot of trainers out there that are doing programs.

Six months and under and.

Saying this is a certified dog because there is nobody to tell them they can't do it.

That law has to change to make it specific what needs to happen and over what period of time and how it's done.

Newman says purchasing the service dog vest and placing it on a dog doesn't mean it's trained for anything.

Not everybody has the.

Skills to train a service dog.

We go through a.

Very extensive up to.

Two year program.

Complaints of untrained dogs in public are growing nationwide.

Those of us that need service dogs and those that are getting their so-called certifications off line are going to get one.

And they are just hurting us as people because their dogs aren't really certified.

They're not trained for any specific purpose.

It's why Newman and others are calling for state laws to establish dog training standards with expected outcomes.

What needs to happen in Kansas?

Kansas needs to pick up the ball and run with it and create the program.

That's going to be the example for the rest of the country to follow.

In the meantime, these vets will continue with their dogs training.

Just like we had.

They're not robots.

So we have good days and bad days and they have good days and bad days.

So there are days where the dog's right on point and they're fabulous and it's the best I've ever had.

And then there are other days you look at them and go, Where did you come from?

Yeah.

And that's why training is ongoing.

The bond that.

Develops because these dogs, these dogs save our lives.

They do a good thing.

They keep us.

They they allow us to function.

They keep us functioning.

But it's why supporters of the PAWS Act worked for years to get it passed into law.

Now the challenge will be to get service dogs trained to meet the immediate needs for positively Kansas.

This is Chris Frank reporting.

Gary Numan says there's now a two year waiting list to get a dog from an ADA accredited trainer.

He says with passage of the PAWS Act, that waiting list could bulge to perhaps five years because of the increased demand for service dogs to the wild side of Kansas life and some underwater creatures that might go after you if you corner them.

But as Mike Blair shows us in this week's Kansas Wild Edge report, snapping turtles are usually content to share the water with you if you play nice.

It's a may day and a newly hatched reptile is crossing the road.

This is a common snapping turtle, an animal normally found only in water.

It's looking for its first home, though tiny.

It's not to be trifled with.

It's not like its friendlier cousins, especially the red eared slider commonly sold as babies in pet shops.

A little snapper will bite hard, and often it's never recommended as a pet and that's especially because it gets big.

It's extremely powerful.

At 25 pounds and common snappers can live almost 100 years and grow throughout life to wild weights of 40 to £75.

Then they are veritable aquatic monsters at the top of the food chain in their watery homes with virtually no natural enemies.

They live throughout the eastern half of the U.S. snapping turtles stay submerged.

Most of their lives.

They live in lakes, ponds and streams.

They move only to find new waters or to lay eggs and warm soil.

That.

They breathe their through nostrils located at the very tip of the nose and their long necks allow them to snorkel.

They can go without breathing for up to 3 hours during warm months in winter hibernation.

They can survive six months under the ice by allowing gaseous exchange of oxygen and water across membranes of the mouth and throat.

Some aquatic turtles commonly bask, crawling up on logs to soak up the sun's warmth, especially in cool weather.

Snapping turtles almost never exhibit this behavior, staying under water in all conditions.

Even so, it very rarely occurs.

Mating occurs from April through November.

Sperm can be stored for up to several years by the female.

Eggs normally hatch in May and June.

Snapping turtles have powerful hook jaws and nasty dispositions.

They can strike like a snake and they readily bite when cornered on land.

Large ones can bite off the ends of fingers, but in the water they are docile and they move away from humans.

Therefore, they should not be feared when swimming in natural waters.

Snapping turtles are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter.

They readily scavenge dead fish and wildlife that sink to the bottom.

They also eat aquatic plants like duckweed.

But they are capable predators to waiting motionless, underwater for minnows, frogs or snakes that come close and being quite powerful.

They are able to catch larger prey like ducks, coots and shorebirds.

That venture near snapping turtles.

Don't try to make friends.

Just let them do their thing in the Midwestern outdoors.

I'm Mike Blair.

For Positively Kansas.

Just like the snapping turtle, the wild buck can be an ornery creature, depending on the company.

In this special bonus wild edge, Mike's camera captures a late night confrontation.

Oh, cool.

Dog was a buck just old enough and big enough that he considered himself boss of these parts.

And when I put out waste corn at a bait site, he naturally laid claim to the food I used to trail camera to record all the action day and night when I wasn't there.

The video was low resolution and somewhat grainy, but it provided a fascinating eye on the outdoors.

You couldn't get any other way anyway.

Oh, coon dog would share when there was plenty, but if supplies ran low, everyone knew to give him first dibs.

That is everyone except those pesky raccoons.

Sometimes as many as 26 that hit the chow each night.

And they could put that corn away.

Feathered deer pretty much tried to get along, but not good dog.

He always had an attitude and he didn't like any challenge to his authority.

He'd strut around even when no one else was there, and you could see it was best not to mess with him.

He marked the corn pile as his own territory, falling out of bare spot in the dirt and then peeing across his hawk glands to leave his own special scent.

If he joined a party, he'd better make room.

A month back before the red or deer mating season was close, he was gentler in his warnings.

He'd make eye contact with his smaller rivals.

Stepping forward as a reminder, he was 15 times their size.

But as November approached and fighting urges grew, he upped the ante.

He threatened a powerful kick that could land like a hammer blow.

And the raccoons wisely moved away.

But those antlers on Coon Dog's head weren't just decorations.

And finally, he got real about teaching in Coons.

A lesson.

Ouch.

This was more serious than it looked since sharp antler tips were easily capable of opening deep wounds.

In fact, rival bugs could be killed by such weapons in a serious fight.

Some of these food skirmishes no doubt led to injuries, especially when a raccoon was hit hard enough to roll it across the ground at the end.

The smart ones knew to stay out of harm's way, and lately they create a polite space when coon dog comes to dine.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

One of my favorite things about doing this television show is that I get to meet people who are making the world a better place.

And that for me is the highlight.

And I don't think there's anyone that I know of anyway that hasn't reached further to make the world a better place.

Then my guests, Bellavia, Mather and Bellavia, I'm so excited to have you here.

Thank you for taking time to come and chat about your new newest venture.

Well, thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

Now we know Bellavia from Trees of Life, and we'll talk maybe a little bit about that towards the end.

But you've got a new project right now that you're working on that you want to talk about, and it has to do with glasses.

So you want to tell me what you're doing?

Well, I retired when I was 79 and new team came in very capable.

Able team.

And I wanted to keep out of their hair, so to say.

That's a good way to do it.

So I was looking for something.

I can be of help.

And by the time my eyes got bad because of macular degeneration and I could not see and the question became in my mind that if I cannot see this, my then what about little children who may get some eye problems and cannot see?

So I started investigating as to what can I do to be of help?

And there's a lady here up tomorrow like this and Salina and Linda Lawrence.

And she suggested that one of the places where I can make a major contribution is to get baby glasses made, pediatric glasses for little children, 0 to 3 or four or five year old.

And I've got a pair in my hand.

You have your head?

Mm hmm.

And these are sold quite expensive.

These are quite expensive.

They are made in the European countries, and they're priced according to what the market would be in the developed world.

Which means they're out of reach for anything.

Out of reach.

Way out of reach for many people.

So with her help and know how, I started looking for people who might be able to manufacture these glasses in the developing world for prices that are suitable for them.

And it was not at all to make even a dime because we have not.

But just to make these glasses available for poor people in developing countries.

Now they seem like they're going to last a long time.

So what were you trying to make happen with these and what is possible?

Number one, the quality of these glasses, because when you have making glasses for very young children, you have children reach out and they don't like anything on their eyes.

So they have to be very made of very flexible material.

They have to be made.

So they are because children change their eyesight.

Very often, their eyesight develops.

So the glasses should be set.

So they are changeable.

They can be strapped to the back.

So these are all very special materials.

And to prevent any blindness, them hitting them in their eyes are the thing.

So it's a very specialized material.

So if we want to help you do this, is there a way we can help you or are you looking for people to help you?

It is really to create awareness.

There are two things.

One is to create awareness among people.

Ordinarily, these would be hundreds of dollars, but by getting them made in India, in this case, we can help children for a fraction of the price.

So you and I just for few dollars, we can help a child get eyesight.

Total eyesight.

And second is to create awareness among us ordinary mortals around the world.

That little bit of help.

Little bit of help can sometimes save life because a child who has small eye defects, minor eye defects, if those those remain untreated, they go untreated, they can become major problem.

And more than half of blindness comes from not being able to get glasses when you're quite young.

Really?

I did not know that.

How fascinating.

Well, these are really high quality.

And you know, I think I need some of these because I'm constantly pulling them off and breaking frames and doing crazy stuff.

So this was really a smart design.

And I love them.

They're beautiful.

Well, thank you.

And to go back because we did touch on at the top your Trees of Life program you've planted or or helped facilitate the planting of 200 million moringa trees across the world.

Why did you do that for some of the doesn't know the program or understand it why did you do that?

Well, that was done because moringa leaves of its leaves of a tree called Moringa Olive Farah.

They are full of vitamins and minerals.

And for people who cannot afford these tonics or way of medicine minerals in the market, they can grow this tree right outside their yard.

Right in their yard.

And get the advantage of complete vitamins and minerals and this leaf is 30% protein.

So to get that high amount of protein right at their doorsteps, not having to go to a pharmacy to buy those things, and we had to make people aware of the value of this tree that grows wild in their countries and people planted them.

Yeah, I looked it up.

I thought, this is crazy.

Seven times the vitamin C of an orange, four times the vitamin A of carrots, four times as much calcium as milk.

Plus the fact that it also has protein.

I mean, that is amazing to me.

Yes.

So great program.

If we want to help with that program, is there a way we can do it?

Certainly small donations make a tremendous difference.

Just small.

Small change.

Awesome.

So we will definitely donate to Trees of Life.

I love the fact that you did not rest on your laurels with that program, although it's been highly successful and you found another way to help out.

Thank you so much for all you're doing.

Thank you very much for having me.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

We hope you enjoyed the show.

Till we meet again.

I'm serious.

God, be safe and be happy.

Positively.

Kansas is brought to you in part by program support provided by the F price Cosby Memorial Trust and Trust Bank Trustee bringing you the Kansas Wild Edge segments on Positively Kansas.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 930,000 Kansans in various programs.

Independent member owned Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, an independent licensee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, supports KPTS.

Before investing your hard earned money.

Make sure your financial advisor understands your objectives.

Mark Douglass CFP Serving our community for over 20 years, providing customized financial solutions that focus on the individual.