MCPHERSON – Over a dozen rural grass fires have been reported across central Kansas this week.

The largest fire this week was reported at Sioux Road and 2nd Avenue in McPherson County on Wednesday afternoon.

Marquette Fire Chief Kerry Linder said the controlled burn that got away was one of the biggest he has seen in his twenty years.

“A farmer told me they estimated this fire burned over 2000 acres and was over four-miles long and a mile wide,” he said.

Ten fire companies from across several counties responded to the fire.

“The fire burned toward the southwest and even burned into Ellsworth County,” Linder said.

“Our area of McPherson County called a burn ban after this one. We needed some time to get things cleaned up and reorganized,” he said.

Some counties wait for red flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service before they issue a burn ban. In McPherson, the fire district has authority to announce a ban.

This week the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Kansas Interagency Wildfire Council offered the following tips and best practices to help ensure a burn doesn’t become a wildfire:

Know all state and local fire restrictions. Check with county officials who are charged with deciding whether burning is permissible based on local conditions.
Notify neighbors as a courtesy prior to burning.
Postpone the burn if unsure of the fuel and weather conditions.
Have adequate resources and equipment available to prevent escaped fires.
Consider smoke management to avoid unsafe roads and air quality conditions.
Do not burn to the ends of the field. Setting boundaries, “back burning” and keeping the fire off of fence rows will pre­vent out-of-control burns.

Kansas experienced a significant increase in acres burned between 2013 and 2014. Total acres burned rose from 22,482 in 2013 to 184,716 in 2014 – more than 8 times as many field burns in just one year.

By Austin Fisher and Amelia Arvesen
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn pressed Kansas legislators Thursday to join Arkansas, Georgia and Florida in compelling Congress to call a constitutional convention to adopt limits on power of an “out-of-control” federal government.
Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who resigned in January from the Senate, told state lawmakers Thursday that they must flex their authority under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to rein in the “irresponsible, unaccountable and unrestrained” federal government in Washington, D.C.

“I’m here to tell you that they’re never going to give up any of their power,” Coburn said.

Identical resolutions were presented in the Kansas House and Senate. If both chambers pass the resolution, at least 34 states would then have to pass resolutions on the same issue to hold a convention. There has not been a constitutional convention since the original in 1787.

Opposition came from Richard Fry, an attorney with the Patriot Coalition, who said if members in Washington are ignoring their oath to a 100–year-old constitution, they won’t start obeying a new one.
“State legislatures already have the necessary constitutional authority to rein in a rogue federal government without amending the U.S. Constitution,” Fry said.
Instead, Fry called the American people to “fulfill our moral and patriotic duty” to hold the government accountable to more strictly interpret the Constitution.
In the House committee hearing, Rep. Brett Hildabrand (R-Shawnee) agreed with Fry.
“If they don’t follow the law now, why would they after the convention?” Hildabrand said.
Coburn responded by restating the importance of states reclaiming power.
“If they don’t comply we may have to have another convention to place sanctions on those who don’t follow the law,” Coburn said.
In the Senate committee, Sen. Tom Holland (D-Baldwin City) expressed his concern with Kansas’ method for choosing legislators as convention delegates, worried that some might have interests in influential businesses like Koch Industries. He worried voters would become increasingly disenfranchised.
“My fear is that those special money interests will invariably find a way to weasel their way into these conventions,” Holland said.

Coburn said the interest in money will always exist.

“Do we do something or do we not do something?” Coburn said. “When people start doubting, then we start falling apart.”

Bel Aire resident Blake Branson said a convention could potentially weaken the Constitution if entrusted to the least liberty conscious states.

“A truly dangerous amendment will be one that looks like a beautiful compromise,” Branson said.

Coburn said it isn’t a partisan issue — conservatives and liberals would not push to change the First or Second Amendment. He said the people want freedom and confidence in a good government.

“I actually think the American people are smarter than the people in Washington by far, and I think Kansans are smarter than who we’ve sent to Washington,” Coburn said.

Paul Degener, a Shawnee County resident, said amending the Constitution through Article V is too dangerous because the federal government will have control over who the convention delegates are, which amendments would be considered and how the convention would be conducted.

“Proponents…are putting too much trust in the Congress,” Degener said. “Our federal government has implemented at least five of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto with the help of the state legislatures. Do not give them the opportunity of finishing the job by calling for a convention.”

The resolution’s language calls to address “abuses of power” like the “crushing national debt through improper and imprudent spending” and “manipulative” federal mandates.

So far, the measure has 14 sponsors of 40 total in the Senate and 41 of 125 in the House. If it came to a vote, a two-thirds majority in both sides of the Legislature would be required for passage.

Austin Fisher is a University of Kansas senior from Lawrence majoring in journalism. Amelia Arvesen is a University of Kansas senior from San Ramon, Calif., majoring in journalism.

OTTAWA – Two people were injured in an accident just after 11:30 p.m. on Friday in Franklin County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Chevy Impala driven by Julia M. Gillespie, 45, Ottawa, was southbound on the shoulder of the ramp from Eisenhower to Interstate 35 in Ottawa and struck a semi.

Gillespie was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. A passenger in the semi Harbhajan S Dhuna, 55, Shelby Township, MI., was transported to Ransom Memorial Hospital.

The driver of the semi Navdeep Singh, 34, Flushing, MI., was not injured.

The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the collision.