(Pictured from left to right: Sunflower Electric Power Corporation President and CEO Stuart Lowry, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Wilson Communications CEO and General Manager Brian Boisvert.)
Office of Sen. Jerry Moran
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, hosted Sunflower Electric Power Corporation President and CEO Stuart Lowry of Hays, and Wilson Communications CEO and General Manager Brian Boisvert of Wilson, at his subcommittee hearing on rural development in the 21st century.
“One of my top priorities is making certain our policies maintain and improve the quality of life in rural areas, in turn making rural America an attractive place for young people to return to live, work and raise a family,” Sen. Moran said. “USDA Rural Development’s overarching mission is to provide the opportunity and environment necessary for rural communities to remain strong. It’s important for people in Washington to hear directly from Kansans as the subcommittee examines the agency’s efforts in meeting that goal.”
Sen. Moran invited Lowry and Boisvert to testify because of their experience and knowledge in making certain USDA Rural Development programs are working for rural Kansas, including providing access to the latest in telecommunications and keeping utility rates affordable. The witness panel also highlighted the impact overregulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal government agencies is having on the ability of borrowers participating in USDA Rural Development programs to pay back their loans.
The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee oversees the budget and operations within the USDA and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Earlier this year, Sen. Moran held a hearing in the subcommittee with FDA Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff to look into the agency’s implementation of updated food safety systems. Sen. Moran also hosted FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor in Kansas last week to visit Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and tour a cattle feedlot in Great Bend, Kan., as part of his ongoing efforts to oversee the USDA and FDA and educate people in Washington about issues important to Kansas.
Photo by Andy Marso Mark Rude, executive director of the Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3, said Kansas water law generally is sound, but if the courts and the water office don’t interpret it the same way, it’s not effective. He spoke Thursday to a special legislative committee.
Kansas is making slow progress toward fulfilling Gov. Sam Brownback’s vision of a 50-year plan to preserve the state’s water supply.
But in the meantime, disputes over water among western Kansas residents are growing. Legislators now are talking about the need to not just conserve water but also reform the judicial process for deciding water rights.
Rep. Don Hineman is a Republican from Dighton whose western Kansas district sits atop the key Ogallala aquifer.
He told a special agriculture committee Thursday that the state needs to prepare for additional water rights cases because ongoing conservation efforts probably won’t be enough to prevent more wells from running dry.
“We know that the Ogallala is being depleted,” Hineman said.
“The state is taking steps to mitigate that and extend the life of the Ogallala to the extent we can, but we know that for at least the foreseeable future the resource will continue to decline. As it does, there will inevitably be increasing disputes among water rights holders.”
A trickle of disputes
Some of those disputes are in progress. Kansans who think someone with lesser water rights has impaired their water supply have two options: They can seek an administrative remedy through the state’s Division of Water Resources or they can file suit in district court. Lane Letourneau, director of the Division of Water Resources, told the 2015 Special Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources that his office is handling “two or three” disputes right now.
In addition, he said, one water impairment claim was filed in district court earlier this year and a second remains in litigation. The case still in litigation, Garetson Brothers LLC v. American Warrior Inc., spurred Hineman to introduce House Bill 2245.
It would provide more guidelines about which water disputes can go to court and what the court should consider in those cases.
Mark Rude, executive director of Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3, said the Garetson Brothers case also raised concerns for him. The court used a broad definition of “impairment,” he said, that differed from what the state’s water office generally uses.
Rude said Kansas water law generally is sound, but if the courts and the water office don’t interpret it the same way, it’s not effective. “We have a house of cards,”
Rude said. Sen. Marci Francisco, a Democrat from Lawrence who is on the special agriculture committee, said some language in HB 2245 concerned her.
It seemed to give regional groundwater management districts some authority over the state’s chief engineer, she said. Francisco also said she would like the committee to hear from Burke Griggs, the water resource division’s legal counsel, before making recommendations on the bill.
She praised a presentation Griggs gave at the annual Kansas Water Conference in August, when he suggested Kansas might want to establish a special water court to redistribute the limited water rights, similar to a bankruptcy court divvying up assets among creditors.
Sen. Garrett Love, a Republican from Montezuma and member of the committee, said any changes to water law are likely to be controversial. But he said there’s support for creating a “good, solid framework” for dispute resolution. Right now the water office and courts have the resources to absorb the handful of disputes coming their way, Love said, but if the number increases as expected that could change. “
At that point it would be a lot more difficult in terms of the costs to the court system going up, and to the water office as well,” Love said. “That would be a future thing.”
The governor’s plan
Susan Metzger, assistant secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture and former policy chief of the water office, briefed the committee on progress toward the governor’s 50-year plan. Metzger said a sub-Cabinet group of water experts has been meeting monthly since May to discuss how to coordinate the governor’s plan, which includes several local and regional goals. –
However, a blue ribbon task force focused on how to fund the vision has yet to form, and that delay has frustrated some lawmakers. “That one’s been a little slower to come together, but we are making progress,” Metzger said.
She said task force members should be announced before the governor’s water conference Nov. 18 in Manhattan, and they will start meeting during the legislative session that begins in January.
Local agreements popular
Metzger said legislation passed last session is helping make the governor’s vision a reality. One of the most effective changes, she said, was an expansion of a program that allows small local groups to enter into voluntary agreements. A 2012 bill allowed groundwater management districts to enter their members into such agreements, called local enhanced management areas, or LEMAs.
The Agriculture Department had high hopes for the program, but so far only one district has signed up. A bill approved last session expanded the program to allow informal groups of neighbors to petition the Agriculture Department for the right to form their own conservation area.
Metzger said that has proved more popular. The department is in “real serious discussions” with about 10 to 15 petitioners, she said, ranging in size from a single family with five water rights to a group of western Kansas landowners whose conservation agreement would cover half a county.
“We’re really excited about this possibility,” she said. Metzger said the department also is still working on a plan to increase fines for landowners who overpump their water rights. Stakeholders have been calling for that change for years. “We heard consistently that our current penalty matrix was not harsh enough to deter overpumping,” Metzger said. “
We’re seeking feedback on what the should be the penalty matrix that would actually deter the behavior.” She provided no timeline for presenting a draft of new overpumping regulations.
The Agriculture Department also would like to increase the fine for failing to submit an annual water use report. The fine is currently $250, and Metzger said a small number of Kansans routinely fail to file their reports.
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
Hays emergency responders on Friday afternoon worked the scene of a multiple-vehicle traffic accident on 27th Street just west of the intersection of 27th and Donald.
Eyewitness reports said a car that had left the scene pulled in front of another car, the second car then swerved into a pickup truck that rolled onto its passenger side and into a culvert.
The driver of the truck refused medical service, but the driver of the car was transported to Hays Medical Center for treatment.
The extent of that driver’s injuries are unknown at this time.
Witness at the scene also reported the driver of the car that initiated the accident was stopped in a nearby parking lot with HPD on scene.
By approximately 4 p.m., the car had been cleared from the roadway and traffic was resuming to normal.
A second accident, this one at 27th and Broadway, was called in shortly after the 27th and Donald incident was reported, at this time it is unclear if the accidents were related.
Check Hays Post for details as they become available.
OSAGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a Topeka man who collapsed after sheriff’s deputies used stun guns on him during a domestic dispute.
The Osage County Sheriff’s Office says Kenneth Schick died during the confrontation early Tuesday at a home in the county.
Deputies who went to the home encountered a domestic dispute that included a hostage situation. The sheriff’s news release said deputies used stun guns and a disabling spray to gain control of Schick.
He was taken to a Topeka hospital, where he died. The cause of death hasn’t been released.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Osage County Sheriff’s Office declined further comment until the KBI completes its investigation.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be on the ballot for the Kansas GOP caucus in March.
The real estate magnate has paid the $15,000 filing fee to be on the party’s caucus March 5. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are already on the ballot.
Trump has led the GOP presidential race in most national polls for several weeks.
His closest challenger is Ben Carson, who was visiting Topeka and Overland Park on Friday. Carson has not yet filed for the caucus.
Sixty-one percent of respondents to the 2015 Kansas Speaks survey of public opinion in Kansas think that Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax policy has been a “failure” or a “tremendous failure” in terms of economic growth.
“Neither success nor failure” was the opinion of 32 percent, 7 percent said it was at least “a success,” and only 0.2 percent said it was “a tremendous success.”
Kansas Speaks 2015 is the seventh in the series of annual surveys conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University.
About three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents to the 2015 Kansas Speaks survey of public opinion in Kansas still think Kansas is at least a “good” place to live, a number that is down almost 10 percent from a year ago, when 85 percent thought Kansas was at least a “good” place to live.
Meanwhile, the “poor” or “very poor” opinion was up slightly, to 5 percent in 2015 over 3 percent in 2014.
More than a third (37 percent) rated the Kansas economy as at least “good,” 38 percent said the economy is “fair,” and 26 percent rated the economy as “poor” or “very poor.” The rating was lower among Democrats and those leaning Democrat.
Over half of respondents, 51 percent, were at least “moderately concerned” that the Kansas economy would seriously threaten their or their family’s welfare over the next year, 27 percent were “slightly concerned,” and 23 percent were “not concerned at all.” Female respondents were more concerned than males, and concern was also high among respondents with lower household incomes. Overall, however, respondents were less concerned in 2015 than they have been since 2009.
The Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University conducted the 2015 Kansas Speaks survey from Sept. 14 to Oct. 5. A random sample of adult residents of Kansas age 18 and older was surveyed by telephone to assess their attitudes and opinions regarding various issues of interest to Kansas citizens.
A total of 1,252 Kansas residents were contacted; 638 completed the survey, a 50.9-percent response rate. The margin of error was 4.1 percent at a 95-percent confidence level.
• Asked who they would vote for in the next presidential election, 18 percent said Donald Trump, 11 percent said Hillary Clinton, 11 percent said Ben Carson, and 8 percent said Marco Rubio. Forty percent did not know who they would vote for.
• Almost half (47 percent) of respondents supported allowing same-sex couples to be legally married and have the full rights of heterosexual couples, 21 percent favored civil union that would give same-sex couples full spousal rights, but not marriage, and 32 percent opposed same-sex marriage in any way.
• Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act was supported “strongly” or “somewhat” by 62 percent; 38 percent “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed expansion.
• Allowing firearms on college campuses in Kansas except by security personnel was opposed by 58 percent, 26 percent favored allowing certain restrictions from colleges on the open and concealed carry of firearms, and 16 percent supported allowing open and concealed carry on college campuses.
• Fifty-six percent said the school funding system change resulted in them paying higher taxes and fees.
• Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents said the state block grant system resulted in a lower quality of education for public school children in their school districts.
• On immigration, 53 percent supported “a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants with no criminal record,” 13 percent thought some undocumented immigrants should be deported, 7 percent supported “deporting most undocumented immigrants,” and 27 percent support “deporting all undocumented immigrants.”
• A little more than half (51 percent) of respondents said that a private business owner should have to provide the same services to same-sex couples as they provide to heterosexual couples.
• Respondents expressed high levels of satisfaction with their state senators, representatives and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, with more than 40 percent of them being “very” or “somewhat satisfied.” Twenty-eight percent of respondents were “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with President Obama, and 18 percent were “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with Gov. Sam Brownback.
• More than half of respondents did not know the name of their state representatives or senators.
• More than two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents said taxes on large corporations should be increased. Only 9 percent felt they should be decreased. Democrats and those leaning Democrat were more likely to feel taxes on large corporations should increase.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a bank inside the Wichita State University student center was robbed.
A crime alert that the university sent to students, faculty and staff says a man walked into the Commerce Bank in the Rhatigan Student Center around 3 p.m. Thursday. The alert says bank staff members were threatened and that an undetermined amount of money was taken.
The Wichita Eagle reports that a Sedgwick County emergency dispatcher says the man “tossed them a note” over the counter.
The WSU alert said no one saw any weapons. No one was injured.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to come forward.
FINNEY COUNTY – A Southwest Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 7:30a.m. on Friday in Finney County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Kenworth semi driven by Zachary R. Humphreys, 31, Abilene, was eastbound on Kansas 156 seventeen miles north of Cimarron.
The semi crossed the centerline at a bridge and hit a westbound 2009 Chevy pickup driven by Wayne S Herron, 53, Jetmore.
Herron was transported to St. Catherine’s Medical Center.
Humphreys and a passenger in the Chevy Samuel A. Herron, 28, were not injured.
They were all properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A French-based airplane parts manufacturer has broken ground on a new addition as it prepares to move its North American headquarters to Wichita.
Gov. Sam Brownback joined Figeac-Aero officials Friday for the groundbreaking on a 70,000- square-foot expansion and a new structure at its northeast Wichita manufacturing plant. It plans to hire 200 more workers in the next five years.
The estimated project cost is more than $20 million. It is expected to be completed by 2016.
In Wichita, the company manufactures parts for Airbus, Bombardier, Triumph, Gulfstream, Embraer and Spirit AeroSystems.
The Wichita Eagle reports the city and Sedgwick County have each approved $250,000 loans to the company. The city also approved a five-year property tax abatement and industrial revenue bonds to abate sales taxes for the project.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) issued the following statement following President Obama’s veto of the fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill:
“The president’s veto of our nation’s defense authorization bill is a reckless political maneuver that leaves our nation at risk. Our greatest constitutional responsibility is protecting our nation, and we must make certain our men and women in uniform are trained, ready and able to defend our nation from the ever-changing threats we face – especially in the rapidly deteriorating Middle East. By rejecting the bipartisan work of Congress, the president is putting the safety of those who serve our country at risk.”
The bill passed with broad support from senators who recognized the importance of putting the defense of the country ahead of engaging in a show of partisan politics. Funding for the military in fiscal year 2016 will remain in question pending a congressional override of the president’s veto.
Politics is like a pendulum. It can swing as far to one side as possible, but eventually it makes its way back to center. Over the last three election cycles, Kansas politics has swung increasingly to the right. Just when we thought it could go no further after 2012, conservative Republican legislative victories in 2014 coupled with Governor Sam Brownback’s re-election showed that the pendulum could actually go further right.
Chapman Rackaway is a Professor of Political Science at Fort Hays State University.
So perhaps there is still room for conservatives to add more victories in the 2016 cycle. But more than likely, the pendulum should start moving back to center. To do that, center-right Republicans have to figure out their mission and develop their own alternative to the state party machinery.
A number of individual candidates have decided to run in the GOP primaries for 2016 versus conservative Republicans who have won office during the rightward swing Kansas has experienced since 2010. Dinah Sykes has already announced she is running against Greg Smith for Johnson County’s 21st District Senate seat and is running a very aggressive campaign.
Popular former Garden City mayor and current state representative John Doll is running against Larry Powell, who himself upended a moderate Republican in former Majority Leader Steve Morris during the 2012 primaries. More center-right candidates are likely thinking that their time to run is now. While most of the action appears to be in the Senate, others think centrists have a better chance of winning a governing coalition in the state House. While focus has been on those candidates, an important prerequisite for center-right Republicans to compete electorally is support.
The real test of moderate Republican strength will come in their ability to coalesce around a single organized leadership structure and message. One significant advantage Governor Brownback’s allies have had during the last three elections is a revived state GOP apparatus. From voter files to interest group connections, and from campaign plans to staffing, the Kansas Republican Party has been a support network for the legion of candidates that swept the legislature. Moderate Republicans and Democrats, by contrast, were either completely disorganized (the moderate GOP members) or playing catch-up (Democrats) with the new GOP machine in Topeka.
Regardless of structure, if more candidates like Sykes and Doll emerge we will at least see more competitive campaigns next year. But to win on a statewide basis, those center-right candidates will need a source of fundraising, voter data, and volunteers. Those vital sources tend to be provided by political party organizations. Moderates don’t have a state committee of their own right now to shore up their candidates’ efforts.
Center-right Republicans seem to be stuck in neutral today. No single group has emerged to become the organizational structure around which center-right candidates coalesce nor provided a unifying message for centrists. Republicans who oppose the state’s current rightward trajectory also seem to lack a vision of what they want to do beyond getting rid of Sam Brownback and his allies. Moderate groups’ online posts look eerily similar to Paul Davis’ message during the 2014 campaign, essentially saying everything Brownback does is wrong and little else. To emerge as the voice of moderate Kansas, centrists need to develop a message defining what they are beyond not being Brownback-style conservatives.
What, essentially, does it mean to be a centrist in the state of Kansas in 2015? Besides disagreeing with Brownback, we have little idea. Conservatives, by comparison, can unite behind a single brand and a popular message of tax reduction, giving them a significant advantage.
Without a strong message and stronger support, the pendulum will stay to the right in Kansas for some time to come.
Chapman Rackaway is a Professor of Political Science at Fort Hays State University.
Fort Hays State hosts the 2015 MIAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning at Sand Plum Nature Trail, just outside of Victoria, Kan. Nine men’s teams and 11 women’s teams will compete in the event. Missouri Southern is the defending conference champion in both men’s and women’s cross country.
The event is set to begin at 10 am with the women’s 6K race. The men follow with their 8K race at 11 am. The awards presentation will be held at 12:15 pm.
Tyler Rush of Missouri Southern is the top returner of the men’s top 10 finishers at the 2014 MIAA Championships in Bolivar, Mo. A sophomore last year, Rush finished second in a time of 24:47.04. Other returners from last year’s top 10 include Austin Bogina of Pittsburg State, Wick Cunningham of Northwest Missouri State, Drew Cargill of Southwest Baptist, and Nicholas Stewart of Lindenwood.
On the women’s side, Elizabeth Luckel of Southwest Baptist is the top returner of the top 10 finishers at the 2014 MIAA Championships. A junior last year, Luckel won the individual title on her home course with a time of 21:38.54, over 13 seconds faster than the next finisher. She will be a favorite for the title once again this year. Other returners from last year’s top 10 include Hannah DeVries of Pittsburg State, Emily Harris of Missouri Southern, Kindra Emberton of Missouri Southern, Maddie Brown of Central Oklahoma, and Katherine Sitzes of Southwest Baptist.
Fort Hays State’s Cory Keehn looks for the fourth All-MIAA honor of his career. After earning honorable mention status his freshman year, Keehn was an All-MIAA performer as a sophomore and junior. He won the individual MIAA championship as a sophomore in 2012 and then took 10th as a junior in 2013. Following a redshirt year in 2014, Keehn is back in 2015 as one of the top runners in the MIAA.
On the women’s side for FHSU, Chelsea Jackson and Micki Krzesinski each earned honorable mention all-conference status in 2014. Jackson finished 11th and Krzesinski finished 18th at last year’s conference meet. Both have been frontrunners for the Tigers this year as they look to break into the top 10 overall.
Live results will be available for the event at the Championships Central Page link above.
No changes will be made in the new employment contract for members of the Hays Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 513.
The city and the union had been at an impasse on the 2016-2018 employment contract since June 3 and a subsequent mediation was unsuccessful.
During a hearing at Thursday night’s city commission meeting, representatives of both sides presented their concerns.
Representing the union was Harold Schlectweg, Wichita, who said employees wanted formal input each year into how much they pay and how much the city contributes for health insurance. City Manager Toby Dougherty reminded commissioners they had already determined the $9,500 cap per employee would not change for the next three years.
Following the hearing, city commissioners voted unanimously to keep the 2016-2018 employment contract as is. Local 513 represents employees in Public Works, Parks and Utilities.
