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Human Animal Bond is celebrating its 30th anniversary June 23 at the Leavenworth First United Church in the fellowship hall from 2-4 p.m.The Human Animal Bond program started in 1994 with the purpose of encouraging the human/animal bond among military members and families. The military veterinary corps wrote a regulation for this animal-assisted therapy program to begin on all military posts. Fort Leavenworth Human Animal Bond is one of the few volunteer programs that has continued since its inception. HAB pet partners may be dogs, cats or rabbits. All pets must pass a temperament test to ensure that they are a good fit as a therapy pet. They must also be evaluated by a veterinarian and have a current health certificate. Through the years, HAB has visited many locations. HAB therapy visits include schools, libraries, senior living facilities, hospitals, correctional facilities, first responders, universities, Fort Leavenworth facilities and adults living with dementia. As part of the community, HAB participates in the Veterans Day Parade, HOPE Rescue event, Lansing Fall Festival and events on post.

Misting Dunning admits she has a vice but it’s a sweet one. Dunning launched her business, Sugar Vice, out of her home in Basehor during the pandemic. While cake offerings were her initial idea, the pandemic arrived just as she was getting ready to open. This forced her to turn her thoughts to smaller treats that could be individually packaged.“I always had this dream of doing some kind of baking thing,” Dunning said. “But I’d always wanted to do cakes. But COVID hit. ... Nobody wanted a cake. Everything was packaged. After COVID, I decided (the packaging) was not just for COVID. I kept it for freshness. It offers a better product.”Dunning is a cottage baker, which means she can sell to private clients or as a vendor. She has a vendor booth at the Leavenworth Farmers Market at Haymarket Square on Saturdays. Her hand-crafted products are not available at storefronts or wholesale. Among her products are macaroons, cake pops, sea salt caramels, decorated cookies and cocoa bombs for hot chocolate. Dunning said she originally started Sugar Vice to fulfill a request from a friend to make cookies for her daughter’s swim team. The cookies were such a hit that more requests started coming in. She realized her early childhood kitchen experiences had brought her to this point in her life.“As a child, I spent a great deal of time with my grandma in her kitchen,” Dunning said. “She was a phenomenal cook and baker. She made everything from scratch and was patient while I ‘helped’ her. I think of her a lot while I’m baking.” Her salted caramels have become a customer favorite – each caramel is hand-wrapped. Making the caramels started as a gift-giving project, a special way of staying connected with family at special occasions.“I make them for every one of my family members at Christmas,” Dunning said. “That expanded into making them for my co-workers. Now, people really look forward to those.“I have been making sea salt caramels for almost 12 years. Making caramels is a tricky endeavor. The cooking has to be exacting or the batch fails. They require patience.”Dunning sells several varieties of cookies but one remains a staple.“I do sell different flavors of sugar cookies,” Dunning said. “But my biggest, most popular seller is just my regular vanilla sugar cookie. And it’s my personal favorite.”Dunning likes to explore flavor profiles and fusions.“Most of my flavored cookies have a different icing as well,” Dunning said. “I have a pumpkin sugar cookie and they come with a marshmallow icing. The Oreo cookies have crushed Oreo bits and marshmallow icing. The lemon cookies are made with real lemons and the icing is lemon with some real lemon juice in it.”Dunning, who works full-time as an accountant, said that her cookie venture gives her an outlet for creativity. “I think people are surprised when they find out about the baking,” Dunning said.In decorating the cookies, Dunning has fun giving her cookies different expressions.“I do like putting faces on things because it makes them cute,” Dunning said. One of Dunning’s more complex creations is a confetti-pinata-style cookie. It has three layers with a hollow in the middle that, when broken apart, candies spill out.“Each of the frosting colors in the rainbow cookie is individually dyed, not airbrushed,” Dunning said.New this year, Dunning started custom-designing her cookie cutters. “My husband used to teach CAD and so I do a basic design, send it to him and he sends (the finished design) back to me,” Dunning said.Dunning said having a home-based business works best for her family priorities and work-life balance as a parent.“I like the flexibility of being available for my kids,” Dunning said. “It’s just such a non-negotiable part of my life right now. That’s just the season I’m in.” For pre-ordering or more information about Sugar Vice, visit sugar-vice.square.site or find her booth on Saturdays at Haymarket Square.

A Leavenworth man has pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for the 2022 death of a woman.

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The Leavenworth County treasurer said he is conducting his own investigation into money that was stolen before he took office.