Details of the community meetings:

10:00 AM Morton County Community Meeting
Location: Morton County Civic Center
400 East Orchard Street
Elkhart, KS

Noon Stevens County Community Meeting/Lunch
Location: Memorial Hall
200 East 6th Street
Hugoton, KS

2:00 PM Seward County Community Meeting
Location: Seward County Events Center
810 Stadium Ave.
Liberal, KS

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Gov. Sam Brownback heads to southwestern

Kansas this week for a fresh look at conditions caused by

persistent drought.

Brownback toured the rain-deprived counties of Finney, Gray,

Haskell and Meade in early May. On Wednesday he plans to visit

Morton, Stevens and Seward counties, in the southwestern-most

corner of the state.

Nearly half of Kansas has been declared in a drought emergency

because of extreme conditions for the past year. Some western

sections have barely received half their normal rainfall since late

spring of 2010.

Brownback will visit Wednesday with agriculture producers and

local government leaders about the drought’s effects. Also making

the trip will be Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman and Water Office

Executive Director Tracy Streeter.