President Obama greets visitors after his Kansas City speech
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — About 300 people stood outside the theater where President Obama spoke in Kansas City, Missouri.
Protesters and supporters mingled Wednesday outside the Uptown Theater, monitored by nearby police.
Protesters carried several signs, some of which read “Arrest Obama,” and “Obama, Israel is a democracy? Define democracy.”
There were a few arguments among the protesters, whose chants included “liberate Palestine.”
Among the protesters was John Brown, a 41-year-old autoworker from Kansas City, Missouri, who said he hasn’t had a raise in 13 years and is looking forward to Obama leaving office.
Sharon Donahue, a 52-year-old Kansas City resident, carried an album of magazine photos she keeps of Obama and his family and says she feels Obama “stands up for a lot of good things.”
A national magazine that focuses on diversity published a two-page spread in its summer edition about Dr. Mirta M. Martin’s selection as the ninth president of Fort Hays State University.
Martin
Martin was born in Cuba. As a young child, she escaped with her grandmother and a sister to Spain, where she grew up, and eventually the family made their way to the United States. With her exposure to a variety of cultures and the ability to speak four languages, she was an obvious choice to be featured in the national magazine, Racing Toward Diversity, which is published in Cary, N.C.
The story, which relates Dr. Martin’s appointment by the Kansas Board of Regents, originally appeared in the High Plains Journal of Dodge City. The story was written by Larry Dreiling, senior field editor for the Journal and also an FHSU alumnus and an instructor of informatics on the Hays campus.
Martin, who officially began her duties on July 1, said the story “is a reminder to anyone that achieving the American dream is possible.”
She said diversity is not just about gender or ethnicity.
“It is about diversity of thought,” she said. “The wealth that is achieved through the strength of our different viewpoints is what makes this great nation of ours unique and strong.”
SALINA — The Salina Police Department continues to investigate reports of counterfeit money being passed at area businesses.
Capt. Mike Sweeney said the latest reports of funny money being used occurred between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Monday, when a middle-aged white female with two small children used a phony $20 bill at Pretzel Maker in Central Mall.
Then, between 5 and 6 p.m., a white male — with a slim build and wearing a hardhat — used five bogus $10 bills to purchase items at Kwik Shop at 2003 S. Ohio.
A counterfeit $100 bill was found in a bank deposit from the Casey’s at 500 N. Ohio on Tuesday. It’s believed it was passed on July 25.
Sweeney is encouraging businesses to educate their employees on how to spot counterfeit bills by looking for the security strips, watermarks and the feel of the bill.
In the 1984 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Walter Mondale declared that, if elected, he would raise taxes.
During his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, Mondale said: “By the end of my first term, I will reduce the Reagan budget deficit by two‑thirds. Let’s tell the truth. It must be done, it must be done. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.”
Rod Haxton is editor/owner of the Scott County Record.
The Minnesota senator was subsequently pummeled in the general election, losing every state but his own and the District of Columbia. Ronald Reagan won re-election in one of the biggest landslides in political history.
Maybe Mondale would have lost to Reagan anyway. But the lesson wasn’t lost on politicians. Voters say they want honesty from their politicians but, in reality, they don’t.
Some politicians are delusional. They are unable to accept the facts for what they are. Reaganomics is a failed policy. Only someone who continues to believe that man roamed the earth with dinosaurs and that climate change is a giant hoax continues to believe otherwise.
Mondale knew what he was talking about. As president, Reagan raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office, including four times in just two years. Former GOP Senator Alan Simpson pointed out that, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration – I was there.”
Reagan added $1.86 trillion to the national debt while he was in office – a time when $1 trillion was real money. By the time Reagan left office the debt had nearly doubled from when he was first elected.
Yet that hasn’t stopped every conservative Republican over the past 15 years from declaring themselves a tax-cut disciple of Reagan while ignoring his true record and the economic toll inflicted by Reaganomics at the federal and state levels.
Why the history lesson?
In the three decades since that 1984 presidential election, candidates in both political parties have been careful not to repeat Mondale’s mistake. Tax increases are the third-rail in politics. You can’t talk about them, even as your state or your nation are sinking in red ink.
Just ask Democrat Paul Davis who will likely be challenging Gov. Sam Brownback in the general election.
Davis has been critical of Gov. Brownback’s tax policies because they are not sustainable. Kansas is digging itself into a fiscal hole that is undercutting education, our state’s infrastructure, aid to children in low-income families and assistance to our elderly.
This isn’t some wild-eyed theory. It’s a fact.
While granting tax cuts to our wealthiest citizens and to corporations, the Brownback Administration’s solution to those who have seen cuts in food and child care assistance is simple: “Get a job.” Or if you already have a job, “Get a better job.” Unfortunately, since the Kansas Legislature has been reshaped in the image of Gov. Brownback, thanks to the Tea Party insurgency and considerable financial backing of the Koch brothers, there’s very little room for debate on the state’s fiscal policy.
Bringing reality back into Kansas politics has to begin with the Democratic wing and its gubernatorial candidate.
Davis obviously knows what must be done. In a recent economic message, he said that, if elected, he will stop automatic income tax reductions already passed by the legislature, but not yet in effect. That is only part of the solution. It would only prevent us from sliding deeper into debt.
But unless that plan is accompanied by tax increases, there is no way that the state can begin to restore much needed funding to programs that have suffered under Brownback and the GOP-controlled legislature.
And should Davis dare to mention tax increases – even though it’s the only reasonable solution that can bail us out of this disastrous course – one has to wonder if he would suffer the Mondale blowback?
To some degree it’s inevitable.
There will always be that part of the Republican base – the Tea Party wingnuts – who cheer efforts to shut down the IRS, who are opposed to government spending as long as it doesn’t affect their Social Security or Medicare payments and who don’t see the correlation between tax cuts to our wealthiest individuals while we increase property taxes to offset lost revenue.
Those individuals just don’t get it . . . never will.
There’s no reason we can’t treat the rest of the electorate in Kansas like adults.
It takes money to provide our children the best opportunities to succeed in the classroom, to make sure young children don’t have to go to bed hungry at night, to improve our highways and care for our elderly.
Doing what’s right and what’s best for our citizens comes with a price tag.
Conservative Republicans want you to believe they can keep marking down that cost like we’re in the bargain basement of a department store, but they’re wrong. They’re not just wrong . . . they’re lying to you. Those cuts come with a consequence to Kansas families and to our future.
Paul Davis should tell Kansas voters not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.
Mondale paid the price for being honest. It’s time that ultraconservatives paid the price for being dishonest.
Rod Haxton is editor/owner of the Scott County Record. [email protected]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — President Barack Obama says the House GOP’s vote to file a lawsuit against him is taking away from time they could be spending on issues that are important to the American people.
Obama is calling the lawsuit accusing him of exceeding his powers in enforcing his health care law a “political stunt.” He says the only reason he’s taking action on his own is because Congress isn’t doing anything to help him.
A party-line vote on pursuing the lawsuit is expected when the House takes up the measure Wednesday afternoon.
Obama took a sharply partisan tone in his remarks ahead of the vote, saying Republicans should “stop just hating all the time”. He says he knows they’re not happy that he’s president, but says they only have a few years left until they “can be mad at the next president.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting U.S. surgeon general is asking Americans to give up their love of sunbathing and indoor tanning beds, citing an alarming 200 percent jump in the number of deadly melanoma cases diagnosed since 1973.
Rear Adm. Boris Lushniak says in a new report that nearly 5 million people in the U.S. are treated for all forms of skin cancer each year at a cost of $8 billion. He says that state and local officials should do more to help people cover up, such as providing more shade at parks, and that colleges should discourage indoor tanning beds on their campuses, much as they would tobacco use.
Lushniak says skin cancer rates won’t change until American attitudes do. Tanned skin, he warns, is damaged skin.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Boeing recently auctioned off items from its Wichita hangars as the airplane manufacturer prepares to leave Kansas.
At one time Boeing employed as many as 40,000 people in Wichita and for decades was the state’s largest private employer. But Boeing Wichita’s work has been moved elsewhere and most of its 2,100 Wichita employees have moved with Boeing, have been laid off or have retired.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Boeing Wichita crews built parts for Boeing commercial jets and maintained and modified military aircraft. The company announced in 2012 it was closing its Wichita facilities and held a large auction last week.
A small crew has been tying up loose ends in Wichita, but Boeing says much of that work will be finished by the end of this week.
GARFIELD- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Pawnee County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Ford Mustang driven by Katelyn N. Weins, 24, Nickerson, was westbound on U.S. 56 just east of Garfield.
The Mustang crossed the center line and struck an eastbound freightliner semi on the 4th axle tire and rim.
Both vehicles briefly blocked traffic in in both lanes of U.S. 56.
Weins was transported to Pawnee Valley Community hospital in Larned.
The semi driver Alfredo Alvarenga-Ortega, 34, Dodge City was not injured.
The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
DENVER (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is holding its second day of hearings in Denver on its new rules for cutting power-plant pollution.
Utility and coal company representatives said the rules were unclear and unreasonable, and they warned that jobs and communities could suffer. Renewable-energy executives said their industry will bring jobs, profits and innovations
States would have wide latitude in choosing how to meet the administration’s goals. That leaves an uncertain fate for some of the West’s large coal-fired power plants
Wednesday’s hearing runs until 8 p.m.
The EPA is also holding hearings on the rules in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Washington this week.
On a recent afternoon my husband, Lyn, and I decided to take a drive to enjoy some of the flowers growing in Hays.
We observed several beautiful residential yards and especially enjoyed the colorful flowers in front of the Historical Society at Main and 7th Street. We admired the colorful planters situated on the sidewalks in the business district along Main Street and the very interesting (and instructive) drought tolerant plantings located in front of the City Hall at 1507 Main Street.
We then toured Frontier Park, at the intersection of Main and the Highway 183 bypass, where, on the east side one sees Russian Sage and Slack-eyed Susan, two of my favorite perennials for our more arid area. More colorful flowers grace the entry of Frontier Park on the west side of Main.
We then ventured to Ekey Park, located at Holmes and 18th, where we again observed Russian Sage planted with Knockout Roses along with numerous Day Lilies that were blooming on that day. Sunrise Park, located at Lawrence and 29th Street, features numerous plantings of ornamental grasses as well as a planting of colorful geraniums. Elizabeth Polly Park, located west of Indian Trail between 26th and 27th Streets (east of Centennial Towers), contains several very attractive beds near the statue of Elizabeth Polly. This provides a serene quiet place to walk and enjoy nature.
We finished our tour observing the lovely flower beds, located in Seven Hills Park on the north side of 33rd Street along Canal Street, and the especially colorful and beautiful bed that is found at the intersection just south of 33rd Street on Canal Street as well.
These are just a few of the locations around our city where we all have the opportunity to “stop and smell the flowers” and enjoy the hard work of the people who work for the Hays Parks Department – especially Jo Ann Schroller. I encourage you to take an afternoon or an evening to observe these beautiful flower beds and the many opportunities for relaxation which are available in your city parks.
As one travels around this area of Kansas this summer, it is so refreshing to see water in the ponds and the green pastures which were not so green or ponds so full in recent years.
Since experiencing a wetter than normal June, we need to be aware that our area is a long way from receiving the moisture needed to replenish our water resources.
As of 8 a.m. on July 28th, the Hays area is 0.66 inches above normal for the year thanks to the rainfall that was received during June.
However, rainfall totals are 0.56 inches below normal for July.
When examining the drought period from January 2011 through July 28, 2014, the Hays area is still 12.66 inches below normal.
Even if our area were to receive the needed moisture to replenish our rainfall deficit, the Hays area is located in a more arid area of Kansas which requires us to be responsible in the ways that we use our valuable water resources.
For questions or comments regarding anything discussed in this article please contact the Hays Parks Department at 785-628-7375.
Janis Lee is vice chairwoman of Hays Beautification Committee.
MAIZE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas mother of a 27-year-old autistic son has joined with three other mothers of special needs children and young adults to create a business where they all can work.
MOXI Junction is a coffeehouse, bakery and art gallery that opened Monday in Maize, north of Wichita. It’s the idea of Joanna Kilgore, who says she was desperate to find a job for her son Laran, who had struggled to find work after high school.
The Wichita Eagle reports MOXI stands for Moms of Exceptional Individuals and serves as a workplace for mothers and their children who would otherwise be unemployed.
Kilgore says about 100 people showed up for a ribbon cutting on Monday and helped meet her goal of 200 coffees sold in a day.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The national debate over the labeling of bioengineered foods has shifted to a congressional primary race in south-central Kansas.
Outside money from political action committees is entering the race in its final days. That’s because congressman Mike Pompeo introduced legislation in April that would block states from requiring mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.
Former congressman Todd Tiahrt has made Pompeo’s bill a campaign issue in his 4th District challenge.
The Washington-based Food Policy Action is spending $40,000 for digital advertising on social media supporting Tiahrt. It is joined by Every Voice Action, which has begun airing the first of $100,000 in television ads on the issue.
Weighing in on the other side of the bioengineered food labeling flap is the American Chemistry Council. It is spending $165,200 supporting Pompeo.
