TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Tea party challenger Milton Wolf is planning a 45-stop bus tour of Kansas to boost his campaign for the U.S. Senate ahead of the state’s Republican primary.
Wolf’s campaign says he will launch the bus tour with a Saturday morning send-off from his campaign headquarters in Overland Park. It plans an afternoon event at Chisholm Creek Park in Wichita, followed by an evening rally there.
Wolf doesn’t plan to take a break from the tour until it ends Aug. 2 at his campaign headquarters.
Wolf is a 43-year-old Leawood radiologist trying to unseat three-term Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in the Aug. 5 primary. Two lesser-known candidates are also on the GOP ballot.
Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor and Lawrence attorney Patrick Wiesner, are seeking the Democratic nomination.
A warming trend can be expected over the weekend period. There will also be a slight chance for thunderstorms across portions of western Kansas and north central Kansas Saturday evening and again Sunday evening
Today Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 79. South wind 6 to 11 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 62. South wind 8 to 14 mph. Saturday Sunny, with a high near 90. Breezy, with a south wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Saturday Night A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 1am and 2am. Mostly clear, with a low around 68. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 97. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 22 mph. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Breezy. Monday Mostly sunny, wit
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas saw its unemployment rate inch up to 4.9 percent in June but also experience modest, over-the-year growth in private-sector jobs.
The state Department of Labor reported Thursday that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose from 4.8 percent in May. However, June’s figure still was significantly better than the 5.6 percent recorded in June 2013.
The department also said the number of nonfarm, private-sector jobs grew by about 1.3 percent in June, compared with June 2013. Nearly 1.13 million Kansans held such jobs, up 15,000 from June 2013.
Government employment also grew 1.3 percent, to about 255,000. State, local and federal agencies added 3,400 jobs over the year. The most robust over-the-year job growth occurred in construction. Employment in the industry grew by 6.9 percent, or 3,900 jobs.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Rifle Association has endorsed Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election and is calling the Republican a strong champion of gun-ownership rights.
The association cited Brownback’s support for multiple measures since taking office in 2011.
He’s signed legislation nullifying local gun restrictions and allowing people with concealed carry permits to bring their weapons into more public buildings.
He also signed legislation declaring that the federal government has no authority to regulate guns manufactured, sold and kept only in Kansas.
Association President Patricia Stoneking posted an announcement Wednesday evening on her Facebook page. Brownback campaign spokesman John Milburn said he’s pleased.
Democratic challenger Paul Davis’ campaign did not immediately respond.
Brownback faces Wichita business owner Jennifer Winn in the Aug. 5 GOP primary, and she said she strongly supports gun rights.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
From a small town to the big stage. That’s a journey which many entertainers have attempted, and it is a tough road. Today we’ll meet a singer-songwriter who is making such a journey. He is not forgetting his small town roots. In fact, he is honoring them.
Logan Mize is a rising star in country music. He is a Kansas native, having grown up at Clearwater, population 2,173 people. That’s rural – but there’s more. Logan’s father grew up at the community of Turon, population 432. Now, that’s rural.
Logan Mize will play the Ellis County Fair on July 18, opening for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Click HERE for more.
In Clearwater, Logan’s grandfather Nolan Mize owns the grocery store named Mize Thriftway. Logan started working there at age 12.
Logan took piano lessons as a kid and then got into sports. He went to some country music concerts and they made a deep impression. In the back of his mind, a seed was planted.
But his immediate concerns were sports and school. He played football so well that he had the opportunity to play at Hutchinson Community College and studied agriculture. He was then recruited to play at Southern Illinois University. Meanwhile, he had taken up the guitar and begun writing and performing songs.
Southern Illinois University is located only a three-hour drive from Nashville. Logan started going to Nashville and learning about the country music scene. He decided to give it a try.
Logan Mize
What followed sounds like the lyrics of a country music song, or maybe the plot of a movie: Small-town Kansas boy goes to Nashville, goes through hard times, meets a good woman, and hits it big. Logan arrived in Nashville with just $60 and a tank of gas. He got a job as a dump truck driver. That and other odd jobs allowed him to stay in Nashville until he signed his first songwriting deal.
Logan’s first album, “Logan Mize,” was released in 2009. It was followed in 2012 with “Nobody in Nashville,” which charted to No. 49 on Billboard Country Albums Chart and No. 15 on Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart.
Logan has reconnected with his family roots in country music. While in his early 20s, he learned that his great-uncle Billy Mize (a Kansas native) had been a pioneer in country music in California. The elder Mize, now in his 80s, helped popularize the Bakersfield country sound made famous by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard in the 1960s.
“When I found out about him, I really researched the Bakersfield sound,” Logan said. “Buck Owens was in Billy’s band. (Billy) even co-founded the ACM (Academy of Country Music).”
Logan is now carrying on that family tradition. He has been the opening act for Lady Antebellum, Leann Rimes, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, Charlie Daniels Band, Blake Shelton, Stoney LaRue, Billy Currington, and a special tribute with Merle Haggard. In fall 2013, he accompanied Leann Rimes on a tour of the United Kingdom in Glasgow, London, Birmingham and Manchester.
He has also appeared on national television. He was in a widely viewed “Fabric Of Our Lives” cotton commercial with a star of the ABC-TV show “Nashville.” He and his band are shown performing on stage at Music City’s legendary Station Inn. Logan also played himself and sang with his band in an episode of The CW’s hit drama Hart of Dixie.
Logan has even been named the state’s Official Kansas Tourism Ambassador by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism. For more information, go to www.loganmize.com or www.travelks.com/loganmize.
From a small town to the big stage. That’s a challenging journey which many entertainers have attempted, but Logan Mize is making it happen. As he performed in front of thousands of screaming fans on the big stage at Country Stampede, it must have been exciting to think of his small town roots. We commend Logan Mize for making a difference as an ambassador for Kansas.
And there’s more. Remember the movie plot where he met a good woman? The good woman whom he met in real life is a Nashville performer and a Kansan as well. We’ll learn about that next week.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Researchers at Kansas State University say their research and a recent change in bedbug fumigation will make it cheaper to get rid of the pests.
The Wichita Eagle reports a prepared statement from the university says bedbug infestations in the U.S. have grown and the bugs have developed a resistance to many insecticides.
Entomology professor Tom Phillips specializes in fumigant gases. He recently tested a sulfuryl fluoride known as Vikanea and found that it could be effective even at one-third of the rate of other products.
Phillips says his discovery means consumers will pay less money to get rid of bedbugs because less chemical is being used.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Agriculture Department is allowing emergency haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program acreage in 44 Kansas counties.
Adrian Polansky is state executive director of the Kansas Farm Service Agency. He said Thursday the authorization provides relief for livestock producers who have suffered through severe drought. The drought has depleted hay supplies and affected the growth of hay and pasture in parts of Kansas. He says many producers cannot maintain their current herds without it.
The agency used its authority to allow the emergency measure once the primary nesting and rearing season ended in July 15 in counties designated on the U.S. Drought Monitor Map as being in a severe drought.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A former Republican congresswoman from Kansas said she never endorsed Democratic challenger Paul Davis in the gubernatorial race against incumbent Sam Brownback, despite being included on a list of GOP backers.
The Kansas City Star reports that Jan Meyers said she would never publicly endorse a Democratic challenger over a sitting Republican governor.
Davis announced earlier this week that more than 100 former and current GOP officials had endorsed him through a new group called Republicans for Kansas Values. Meyers’ name was one of the most prominent on the list.
Meyers said she joined the group because she’s a GOP moderate, but she said she didn’t endorse Davis. She said there must have been some miscommunication.
Meyers represented the Kansas City-area 3rd District from 1985 to 1997.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials have identified other recent points of potential measles exposure in Wichita.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says a cook at the restaurant, Sumo by Nambara, was reported as a new measles case on Thursday. The employee has been off since Sunday. The health department says anyone who dined at the restaurant on July 11 or 12 is at risk for developing measles.
KDHE says people attending an informal softball tournament at the South Lakes Softball Complex on July 4 also may have been exposed to the disease. Eight teams from Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas attended the tournament.
The potential exposure comes from a previously identified case, the KDHE said, but no confirmed cases have been linked to this event.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal authorities have charged FedEx Corp. with assisting illegal pharmacies by knowingly delivering dangerous drugs to customers without prescriptions.
The Department of Justice announced the charges Thursday. The charges allege the Memphis, Tennessee, shipping company conspired with two related online pharmacies for 10 years ending in 2010.
FedEx is accused of shipping the powerful sleeping aid Ambien, anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and other drugs to customers with no legitimate medical need and lacking valid prescriptions.
FedEx insists it did nothing wrong. A company spokesman says it will plead not guilty and “defend against this attack” on its integrity.
FedEx first disclosed the federal investigation in a regulatory filing in November 2012. The company said at that time it had done nothing wrong and intended to fight any charges.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Republican group wants a Kansas state representative to apologize for characterizing GOP politicians supporting a Democratic candidate as “nursing home” residents.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis announced earlier through Republicans for Kansas Values that dozens of former and current GOP officials endorsed him rather than likely GOP nominee Gov. Sam Brownback in the 2014 election.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Republicans for Kansas Values wants an apology from Republican State Rep. J.R. Claeys, who posted a comment on Twitter saying the organization had “really raided the nursing home” to find Republican Davis supporters.
Claeys said Thursday, however, the Davis campaign owes “Kansans an apology” for listing Brownback supporters who didn’t actually support Davis. On Thursday, former Congresswoman Jan Meyers, who was listed as supporting Davis, said she supports Brownback.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials have issued warnings for seven lakes around the state because of toxic algae.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a release Thursday that high levels of toxic blue-green algae have been found at Chisolm Creek Park Lake in Sedgwick County, Marion Reservoir, Memorial Park Lake in Barton County, Milford Reservoir in Clay, Geary and Dickinson counties, Jewell State Fishing Lake, Lake Warnock in Atchison County and South Park Lake in Johnson County.
Warnings mean water conditions aren’t safe for direct contact and that wading, skiing and swimming should be prohibited.
