BALTIMORE (AP) — The NAACP announced on Saturday it would embark on a nationwide listening tour to talk to its local members and help figure out what the future of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization should be.
The announcement came at the beginning of its 108th national convention in Baltimore, the location of its national headquarters.
Leon Russell, the NAACP’s national board chairman, said the organization needs to figure out how best to support civil rights workers on the ground in communities who are working on issues like police brutality, the upcoming census, redistricting and voter suppression.
Talking with local members will help them figure out how to “address the issues and challenges that face African-Americans and our communities,” Russell said.
The first stop on the listening tour will be in Detroit on Aug. 24, followed by San Antonio, Texas in September, officials said.
The tour should “expand our reach, touch our people, engage more diverse audiences and reinforce our focus on civil rights in this age of great political and social uncertainty,” said Derrick Johnson, chair of the convention and vice chair of the NAACP Board of Directors.
The NAACP has in recent years been overshadowed at street-level advocacy by groups like Black Lives Matter as nationwide concern increased over the deaths of black men, women and children at the hands of the police.
Russell said the NAACP has coexisted during the civil rights movement with younger groups like the Congress of Racial Equality, while Johnson pointed out that all of the organizations today are working toward the same goal of equality and fairness.
“In fact, many of the young people who are in the ranks of those organizations come out of the ranks of the NAACP. It’s not a competition,” Johnson said.
The NAACP parted ways with its president and CEO Cornell William Brooks in May. Russell said they hoped to have a new president in place by the end of the year but the board is not rushing the process.
“We’re going to sit down and really be intentional on how we do this, where we look and how we look,” Russell said.
President Donald Trump declined an invitation to speak at the annual convention. Trump also did not speak to the NAACP convention last year, citing scheduling conflicts with the Republican National Convention.
The plane crashed just before 10:30 a.m. Sunday-photo courtesy KCTV
CHICAGO (AP) — Funeral services have been set for an Illinois man killed along with a passenger when his World War II-era aircraft crashed in Kansas last weekend.
Visitation for Vlado Lenoch of Burr Ridge will be held Sunday in the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook. His funeral will be held Monday at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church in Western Springs.
The 64-year-old Lenoch and 34-year-old Bethany Root were killed Sunday when their P-51 Mustang fighter crashed in a field about 10 miles from an airport in Atchison, Kansas.
The crash occurred one day after the fighter flew in a festival that celebrates famed aviator Amelia Earhart in her Kansas hometown.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the plane crash.
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Bryan Noone, from the Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Institute at HaysMed, by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
Fort Hays State University’s Dr. Greg Weisenborn, associate professor of management, was recently elected as president of the Sustainable Development Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE).
Weisenborn was recognized for his contribution toward advancing the knowledge and practice of sustainability in the fields of industrial engineering and operations management. Weisenborn also received the third “Excellence in Teaching Sustainability” award for 2016 at the annual IIE Conference in Anaheim, California. He is an active member of the Sustainability Task Force and the Food and Hunger Initiatives Committee at FHSU.
The mission of the IISE Sustainable Development Division is to advance the general welfare of humankind by applying the resources and creative abilities of the industrial engineering profession to the development of sustainable societies.
The division has a total of 2,341 members, including 1,802 students, and supports student interests in sustainable development and operations management. The FHSU Department of Management supports campus sustainability efforts through academic programs, student life and research.
Allison Railsback, Mankato sophomore majoring in agricultural business at Fort Hays State University, recently received national recognition at the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif.
Railsback, president of Kansas Phi Beta Lambda, competed in several events, including business presentation and sales presentation, for which she earned sixth and ninth place respectively.
During the business presentation event, Railsback gave a seven-minute presentation to judges about social media in the workplace. For the sales presentation event, she presented a seven-minute sales pitch to judges on buying a weekend getaway package to the fictional Willow Lake Bed and Breakfast.
Railsback, a virtual member of PBL, presented an update on Kansas PBL, networked with business leaders, voted for officers and walked for the March of the Dimes.
Railsback said that more than 1,800 of America’s best and brightest college students made the trip to Anaheim to compete for the opportunity to win more than $95,000 in cash awards.
Attention you so-called “enemies of the people” and alleged purveyors of biased reporting: There’s reason to think fewer people than last year might see you that way, despite the ongoing, politicized attacks from multiple quarters on the news media’s credibility.
President Donald Trump hurled that “enemies” epithet at journalists some time ago, and continues to complain about biased news coverage nearly every time there are news accounts regarding contacts with Russian officials by his administration.
But such criticism comes with varying levels of vitriol from a variety of quarters, and started long before Trump took office. Often, the harshest criticism of the media comes just as much from those who consume news as from those who make it.
This year, however, there are signs that the public’s disdain for the media has somewhat abated. The 2017 “State of the First Amendment” survey, released over the July 4 holiday by the First Amendment Center of the Newseum Institute in partnership with the Fors Marsh Group, found that:
A solid majority of the public — about 68 percent — still believes in the importance of news media as a watchdog on democracy.
Less than half (43.2 percent) said they believe the news media tries to report the news without bias; but this figure is a marked improvement from 2015 (23 percent) and 2016 (24 percent).
There are some likely reasons for this shift: A significant amount of TV, online and print journalism has shifted from the softer “horse race” focus of the 2016 election to this year’s focus on hard news and complex issues. And — with more than a bit of irony — as more Americans are inclined only to consume news from sources that line up with their individual perspectives, there’s a likely parallel increase in the “trust factor” in those sources, even if they resemble echo chambers more than truth-tellers. Among those who believe that media tries to report unbiased information, most expressed a preference for news information that aligns with their own views (60.7 percent). Those more critical of media efforts to report news without bias were also less prone to report a preference for news aligned with their own views (49.1 percent).
So, no celebratory back flips in the nation’s newsrooms, please, especially since the uptick only puts the “bias” figure roughly back to levels seen in 2013 and 2014 (46 percent and 41 percent, respectively).
Those inclined to support the work of today’s journalists hope that the drop in those who perceive media bias generally stems from that combination of dramatically increased visibility of news operations and their reporting on serious news, such as health care reform and investigations of Russian influence in the 2016 election. For my own part, I believe more people saw reporting of real news, not fluffy “click-bait” features and dramatic but mostly meaningless polling reports, and it earned back some of their lost approval and trust.
Here’s an idea for journalists nationwide: Keep trying hard news, accountability reporting on issues that — while not necessarily “sexy” — matter the most to people and their communities, such as jobs, health care, education, and local and state government.
For years, news industry moguls and newsroom leaders have sought ways to reverse their dwindling income, which has led to fewer newsrooms resources and less real journalism, and which in turn has prompted additional loss of consumers. Clearly, mushy stories about the travails of celebrities, feel-good stories, and valuing tweets over investigative reporting are not working out that well.
Acting on this realization will mean putting an emphasis on innovation and finding new ways to report on subjects that, in themselves, don’t necessarily draw in a new generation of readers. But therein is the opportunity for those who will be the news media success stories of the 21st century. This year’s survey results show that the opportunity is there, that news consumers are hungry for imaginative reporting on issues that directly impact their lives.
But we can still take comfort in the 20 percent drop in those who presume journalists are incapable of reporting without bias: Attitudes can change, and trust can be regained.
Read the full report.
Editor’s Note: A version of this column appeared earlier on the Newseum Institute website as part of the 2017 State of the First Amendment report.
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute. He can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter at @genefac.
A weekend full of activities, both at the Ellis County Fairgrounds and in Downtown Hays will culminate with a city-wide celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of the city, county, and historic Fort Hays, at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 23, in Municipal Park. Plans include a picnic lunch with BBQ and birthday cake, free admission to the Hays Aquatic Park, and free admission to the Ellis County Historical Society Museum. The public is invited.
Sunday’s events begin with a community church service at 10 a.m. organized by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation and the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance.
“DHDC was excited to take on organizing many of the events the community will get to enjoy on Sunday,” said Sara Bloom, DHDC executive director. “It was an honor to partner with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, City of Hays and ECMA to create a true city-wide celebration of our history and our future.”
At 11 a.m. Mayor Shaun Musil, along with city and county commissioners, will take the stage and issue special proclamations to mark the occasion.
“This event will be a celebration of Hays, its founders, and our entire community,” said Musil. “For 150 years, residents of Hays have experienced good times and challenging times. Through it all, the pioneer spirit has brought people from various walks of life and different backgrounds together to establish, develop, and maintain our great city of Hays. We hope everyone has an awesome time throughout the weekend.”
The Sister Cities committee of Hays will honor a group of officials who will be visiting from Hays’ sister city, Santa Maria de Fe, in Paraguay.
Following the ceremony, the City of Hays and the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau will provide a free BBQ lunch catered by TK’s Smokehaus to the first 750 attendees, as well as birthday cake by Augustine’s Bakery.
Other activities to be on site at Municipal Park include the Snow Cone Express truck, inflatable bounce houses, airbrush tattoos, and balloon animals. In addition, the Hays Aquatic Park will be open free of charge.
The Ellis County Historical Society Museum will have special Sunday hours from noon to five and will offer free admission for the day. New exhibits on display include “Where the Buffalo Roam,” as well as exhibits on the history of “Wild Bill” Hickok, Fort Hays State University, and Kathryn O’Loughlin.
For a full list of planned sesquicentennial activities at Historic Fort Hays, call 785-625-6812 or visit www.kshs.org/fort_hays.
The DHDC is located at 106 W. 12th St. The Hays CVB is located at 2700 Vine St. For additional information about Sunday’s event, call DHDC at 785-621-4171 or CVB at 785-628-8202 or visit www.downtownhays.com or www.visithays.com.
Tymar Friendly, right, works with classmates Legna Dominguez and Stephanie Nguyen on a science project. The three were eighth graders at KIPP Endeavor Academy last year. ELLE MOXLEY / KCUR
There are fewer high school age students enrolled in public schools in Kansas City than there are in the elementary grades.
But while charter operators say there aren’t enough high school options, Kansas City Public Schools officials argue there are too many.
Supt. Mark Bedell can’t even keep them all straight. “We have 14 different middle school options – or is it 13?” he asks the district spokeswoman. “Twenty-three. There are 23 different middle school options.” That includes charters. Bedell shakes his head.
Kansas City families don’t make just one school choice. Again and again, year after year, they decide whether to stay or go.
Turns out, a lot of them are going.
Education leaders just aren’t sure where.
Charter perspective
I first met Tymar Friendly back in February, on a school tour for moms with kids about to start kindergarten. His East Side charter school, KIPP Endeavor Academy, was our first stop. We knocked on the door of his language arts classroom.
“Oh my God, that’s a large group,” says a wide-eyed Tymar. He quickly regains composure and introduces himself. He wants to know if we had any questions.
“Do you know where you’re going to high school next year?” Haley Bowman, KIPP’s director of development, asks
“Oh yeah,” he says. “Today, I just got from my teacher, he said I just got accepted to Lincoln.”
“Nice job!” Bowman exclaims. Tymar beams. The moms congratulate him. One of them even went to Lincoln.
“I went to shadow day last Wednesday,” Tymar tells us. “It was amazing.”
I decided it was finally time for me to do a story on how Kansas City families choose high schools. So in May, I went back to KIPP and asked Tymar what he remembered about the day he got into Lincoln.
“When Mr. Swartzlander told me, it actually made me jump two feet into the air,” Tymar recalls.
Tymar’s mom really wanted him to go to Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, an elite district school. After visiting, Tymar really wanted to go there, too. But when I asked Tymar if any of his classmates were headed to Lincoln, he wasn’t sure. That’s because KIPP places eighth graders at so many high schools.
“Sion, at Lincoln, at Cristo Rey,” says Josh Swartzlander, KIPP’s director of high school placement, ticking off each school on his fingers.
Swartzlander is thrilled anytime a kid like Tymar gets an acceptance letter. But the work’s not over. KIPP counselors support students all the way through high school and into college.
“We are literally going into all the buildings across the city to meet with our students,” Swartzlander tells me. “Obviously that’s a logistical challenge that you don’t face when you’re in the same building.”
KIPP opened as a middle school in 2007. Last year it expanded down, to kindergarten. School leaders want to open a high school, but Bowman says the timeline for that is uncertain.
“Our students and families are asking for a high school. We just see a huge need in Kansas City for more free, public schools that are a high academic rigor and quality,” she says.
District pushback
Bedell and other district officials aren’t so sure the answer is more high school seats. When he took the job last year, Bedell promised to work with the charters that compete with KCPS for students. But as more charter school operators have announced their intention to expand, the district has gotten more aggressive about recruitment.
“While there were good intentions with charters, and good intentions with the things we’re doing in our school system, the oversaturation is actually working against all of us because enrollment is down,” Bedell says.
Bedell thinks families are still leaving city schools for big suburban districts like Shawnee Mission and Blue Springs, they’re just putting off the move until their kids are older.
I’ve had families tell me there just aren’t that many options for kids who can’t get into a top school like Lincoln. So I ask the mayor’s education advisor, Julie Holland.
She’s very diplomatic.
“That is a great question, and I think when you’re talking specifically around that topic, you might be talking about families that are on the west side of Troost,” Holland says.
A city divided
Holland says Kansas City is having two conversations about education – one on the economically disadvantaged East Side, and one in more affluent, majority white neighborhoods.
Bottom line, a lot of white families that will send their kids to well-regarded K-8 charters don’t want to enroll them in majority black high schools, which most KCPS neighborhood schools are.
That’s a problem when the research shows socioeconomically diverse schools close the achievement gap fastest, Holland says.
“How do we create schools like that where all kids can benefit, but it’s not something that’s very exclusive, where you’re having to test in, or live in a certain area or affluent neighborhood to have access to it?” she wonders.
Holland says more information is needed about why families leave public schools, whether for private high schools or suburban districts.
“We need to verify with actual interviews, finding these families, asking the question, ‘So why did you leave? Why did you move out at this juncture?’” says Holland.
Her team is trying to do that now.
Meanwhile two charters popular with Brookside families are adding high school seats west of Troost. Academie Lafayette is in talks to buy the old Derrick Thomas Academy, and Crossroads Academy will open its doors to ninth graders this fall.
Elle Moxley covers schools and politics for KCUR a partner in the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
(L to R) Sister Cities Santa Maria, Paraguay delegation Erma Elizabetk Del Puerto de Ramirez, Milciades Ramon Mancuello and Isabelino Victor Martinez Galiano address the Hays city commission assisted by translator Max Maximov, Sister Cities of Hays.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The sesquicentennial celebration of Hays has been made even more special this weekend with an honored delegation of visitors from Paraguay.
Four people from Hays’ Sister City Santa Maria de Fe, Paraguay, are in town to enjoy the festivities, including a dedication and reception Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Hays Public Library of the permanent display “Worlds Apart, Cities Together.” It was created by local artist Cody Custer to honor the Sister City relationship.
The Sister Cities display will be dedicated Saturday in the Hays Public Library. (Courtesy photo)
The group arrived in Hays Thursday in time to attend the city commission work session. One delegation member, Erma Elizabetk Del Puerto de Ramirez, is a Santa Maria city commission member as well as director of the Institute of Technology in Santa Maria.
With assistance from translator Max Maximov of the Hays Sister Cities group, she told the commission the “Santa Maria mayor and city commission send their appreciation of the Sister Cities partnership and congratulations to Hays on its 150th birthday.”
Santa Maria is considerably older. Established as a Jesuit mission in the 1600s, Santa Maria today has a population of about 4,000 and is located in southern Paraguay, some 160 miles from the country’s capital Asuncion.
Del Puerto de Ramirez was pleased to point out the similarities in the two municipalities’ governing bodies. Although Santa Maria is not incorporated and does not have a city manager, residents of both towns elect representatives to the city commissions, five year terms in Santa Maria, four and two year terms in Hays. The commissioners then elect their own chairman (Santa Maria) or mayor (Hays). “That’s what happens here,” replied the Hays commissioners.
Marianna Beach in 2012 (Courtesy Gwen Lang)
Isabelino Victor Martinez Galiano, is manager of Jesuit’s Museum, where the Santa Maria/Hays partnership began 41 years ago with a financial donation from Hays resident Marianna Beach for construction of the museum.
“It’s a great joy and great honor to be here. It’s been 40 years of conversations and unity between the two cities,” Martinez Galiano said through translation.
“This is an opportunity to thank the ‘natural’ ‘ ambassadors Ross and Marian Beach who in 1976 paved the way for this day to come true.” “We’re very proud to have you here,” Mayor Shaun Musil replied in greeting the delegation. The museum was dedicated Oct. 25, 1979. A document on display there signed by former Hays Mayor Dan Rupp.
The flag of Paraguay flies in Hays at the Sister Cities Plaza , 13th and Hall, which is sponsored by the Hays Rotary Club.
The Santa Maria tourism coordinator and manager of the town’s only hotel, introduced himself to the commission. Milciades Ramon Mancuello lived for a time in Scotland where he learned hospitality management, and some English.
Maximov, who teaches Spanish and German at Fort Hays State University, has visited Santa Maria twice, working to revive and help strengthen the Sister Cities partnership which had languished over the years.
Erma Elizabetk Del Puerto de Ramirez is a Santa Maria city commission member as well as director of the Institute of Technology in Santa Maria.
According to Del Puerto de Ramirez, many Santa Maria residents her age remember as school children they received small packages from young Hays students filled with items such as books, pencils and postcards. “Hays, our Sister City, was an intangible place that was always there. We grew up with these little interchanges.” She plans to update and continue the gift exchanges with Hays officials during a formal presentation at the 150th anniversary proclamation Sunday at 11 a.m. in Municipal Park.
A toast to Sister Cities Santa Maria and Hays, June 1, 2016, in Hays.
Also with the Paraguay delegation is Derlis Hernan Maidana Zarza, governor of Misiones, who was unable to attend the city commission meeting. He visited Hays last year for the first time with a Sister Cities delegation.
The group has a full itinerary, including visits to Fort Hays State University, where they were to meet Mauricio Etcheverry, an FHSU soccer athlete from Asuncion, Paraguay. They’ll be attending the Ellis County Fair, have already watched a Hays Larks baseball game, and will meet with Hays business people working in similar professions.
Sunday evening, the Sister Cities members will enjoy a private dinner at the home of Mayor Musil and his wife Heather, who is a member of the Hays Sister Cities Advisory Board.
The Santa Maria delegation will head back to Paraguay Monday morning from Wichita.
PRATT – Resident hunters and hunters purchasing deer permits available over the counter can obtain their 2017 permits beginning August 1. Deer permits available over the counter for the 2017 season include:
Resident Any-Season White-tailed Deer permits – valid for one white-tailed deer buck, doe or fawn – may be used statewide in any season, using equipment legal for that season.
$42.50 General Residents
$22.50 Resident Landowner/Resident Tenant
$87.50 Nonresident Tenant
$12.50 Resident Youth (15 and Younger)
Resident Archery Either-species/Either-sex Deer permits – valid for one white-tailed or mule deer buck, doe or fawn – may be used statewide with archery equipment only during archery season.
$42.50 General Residents
$22.50 Resident Landowner/Resident Tenant
$87.50 Nonresident Tenant
$12.50 Resident Youth (15 and Younger)
Resident Muzzleloader Either-species/Either-sex Deer permits – valid for one white-tailed or mule deer buck, doe or fawn – may be used either in the East Zone (3, 4, 5, 7, 16) OR the West Zone (1, 2, 17, 18) during the early muzzleloader season and the regular firearm season. Hunters may use muzzleloading equipment only with this permit.
$42.50 General Residents
$22.50 Resident Landowner/Resident Tenant
$87.50 Nonresident Tenant
$12.50 Resident Youth (15 and Younger)
Hunt-Own-Land Deer Permits – valid any white-tailed or mule deer only on land owned or operated by the landowner or tenant during muzzleloader, archery, and firearm seasons using equipment legal for that season – are $22.50. These permits may only be obtained by individuals who qualify as resident landowners or tenants, including family members living with the landowner or tenant.
Resident Antlerless White-tailed Deer permits – valid for any white-tailed deer without a visible antler protruding from the skull – are available to any hunter who has first purchased a resident deer permit that allows the taking of an antlered deer, unless the antlerless permit is purchased on or after Dec. 30.
$22.50 General Residents
$10.00 Resident Youth (15 and younger)
Hunters may obtain up to five Antlerless White-tailed Deer permits; the first is valid in Deer Management Units 1 thru 17 and 19, including lands managed by the Department. Additional Antlerless White-tailed Deer permits are valid in units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10A, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 19, on private land with landowner permission, Walk-In-Hunting Areas, and Glen Elder, Kanopolis, Lovewell, Norton, Webster and Wilson Wildlife Areas and Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge.
No Antlerless White-tailed Deer permits are valid in Unit 18, and Either-Species Antlerless-Only permits are not available for 2017.
For more information, visit ksoutdoors.com or call 620-672-5911.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Merrifield flied out to Melky Cabrera to score Alcides Escobar, who led off the inning with a single.
The Royals, who trailed 5-1 after two innings, got their third walk-off victory in five days. The White Sox have lost seven straight and 10 of 11.
Alex Gordon had three hits and drove in three Royals runs, while Merrifield also had a two-run double in the fourth.
Neftali Feliz (1-0), the seventh Kansas City pitcher, picked up the win, throwing seven pitches in a scoreless 10th.
Tyler Clippard (1-6), who was acquired in a Tuesday trade with the New York Yankees, took the loss in his White Sox debut.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say one of three men convicted in the killing of a Kansas woman initially left to die in a car’s trunk has been resentenced.
The Kansas City Star reports that 29-year-old Joseph Mattox won’t be eligible for parole for 50 years under the life sentence imposed Wednesday after he waived his right to a jury trial. The Kansas Supreme Court tossed his original Hard 50 sentence because a judge, not a jury, imposed it. His attorney argues he should be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Prosecutors say 18-year-old Keighley Alyea of Overland Park, was attacked and thrown into a car’s trunk in 2009 before being beaten and stabbed to death when she regained consciousness and began screaming. Her body was found in Missouri’s Cass County.
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Bryan Noone, from the Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Institute at HaysMed, by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
