The specter of Sam Brownback haunted the Kansas statehouse last week in the form of a proposition that would place unchecked power for funding public schools in the legislature’s hands.
Beginning with his election as governor in 2010 Brownback and his allies blamed the Kansas Supreme Court for the state’s financial distress. Remember that they tried to intimidate the Court into submission on school funding. That did not work. They next proposed to pack the Court with partisan judges. That went nowhere. Then they campaigned to oust judges standing for retention. Voters rejected that ploy.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University.
Brownback acolytes are now back for a last hurrah—pushing forward on the former governor’s call to rewrite the Kansas Constitution and slam the door on the Court from ever again reviewing the adequacy of funding public schools. House Judiciary Chair Blaine Finch hosted the ghost by ramming an amendment out of his committee after a couple hours of hearings.
This move is powered by the same shadowy folks who gave Kansans the five-year nightmare of unbalanced budgets, unfair taxes, and record debt, from 2011 through 2016. The Kansas State Chamber in alliance with dark money operations such as American for Prosperity and Club for Growth demanded elimination of the state income tax and elected radical Republicans to do their bidding. Names such as Koch, Murfin, Crossman, and Hill heavily bankrolled the debacle.
This right-wing coalition cares little about adequate funding of public schools. During their emasculation of state finance base funding for schools was cut, block grants then capped funding levels, and taxpayer funds were diverted to private schools. Only the Kansas Supreme Court stood in their way.
As if to shout out their disdain for public schools, in the waning hours before first adjournment Senate President Susan Wagle and Majority Leader Jim Denning spooked the senate into emergency action to pass millions more in tax cuts instead of addressing the adequacy of school finance.
Imagine, if you will, the scary prospect of granting this coalition absolute power to fund public schools. Kansans would soon be looking to Oklahoma—with four-day school weeks and teachers’ salaries ranked at the bottom—as a model for school finance.
The coalition’s constitutional proposition has little chance of passing, but that is not their objective. They are seeking campaign fodder to be used in a blizzard of postcard smears to beguile and mislead Kansas voters. That might undo the will of Kansas voters who rebuked the Chamber and its allies in 2016.
Kansas voters should know by now the political tactics of this coalition. They have already set up the “Kansas Coalition for Fair Funding,” a pleasant sounding front to finance their crusade with dark money from deep pockets. They will use legislative votes on the constitutional amendment to target centrist lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, who undid the disastrous tax experiment last year and are currently moving the funding of public schools in the right direction.
Get ready for a postcard campaign of spooky ghost stories. Charges will be scurrilous. Graphics will be dark. Scaremongering will prevail.
So, Kansas voters, take a hint from the movie theme: “Who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters!” Call out for those voters of 2016 to return to the ballot box in 2018 and forever entomb the toxic ghost of Brownback past.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University and formerly served with Kansas Governors Bennett and Hayden.
Please be advised that beginning Thursday, April 19, 2018, diamond grinding work will begin on 27th Street between Sherman Avenue and Fort Street.
Traffic control will be set in areas of work during working hours and moved off to the side at the end of the work day. Access to entrances will remain open to traffic.
This location of the project, part of the 2018 Street Maintenance Program, is scheduled to be completed within two weeks.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Office of Project Management at 785-628-7350 or the contractor, Diamond Surface, Inc., at 763-420-5009.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – First District Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend) is pleased that the House Agriculture Committee approved an amendment he authored to the 2018 Farm Bill Wednesday that will ease wildfire victims’ ability to access assistance.
“As we watch wildfires again burn across Kansas and Oklahoma this week, it brings back unfortunate memories of the large fires we experienced just over a year ago that many producers are still rebuilding from. While the USDA’s response to help producers recover has been good, it is important that we take time to also identify ways to improve for future disasters,” Rep. Marshall said.
The amendment would streamline the application and approval process for producers to receive much-needed resources sooner when utilizing the Emergency Conservation Program to rebuild destroyed fences. It also simplifies the administration of the program for Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees.
This change would allow victims of future disasters to receive 75 percent of the “total allowable cost” after a fence has been destroyed in a qualifying disaster. This amendment was based on an ECP improvement bill crafted by Rep. Marshall and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS).
“I’ve met with wildfire victims, county, state and national USDA staff, and producer organizations. Together we discussed the challenges from every level, and this amendment helps all involved in the recovery process,” Rep. Marshall said.
The changes to the Emergency Conservation Program will make certain that the FSA resources get to those impacted producers quickly and efficiently.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and searching for a suspect.
Just after 2p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a residence in the 1700 block of SE Morrison Street in Topeka on a report of a shooting, according to Lt. Manual Munoz.
Officers found a woman in critical condition. She was transported to a local hospital for treatment of life threatening injuries, according Munoz.
Witnesses described a black male wearing dark clothing leaving the area to the west just after gunshots were heard.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
On April 26 at 9:30 AM at the Cottonwood Extension Office, located at 601 Main in Hays, and at 1:30 p.m. in Great Bend at the Cottonwood Extension Office, located at 1800 12th.
Producers are invited to bring in samples of their wheat and learn how to see if the crop sustained freeze damage. NW Area Agronomist Lucas Haag and Agriculture agents Stacy Campbell and Alicia Boor will be there to discuss the possible damage, and help producers determine if their wheat sustained damage or not.
Though the 2017-2018 legislative session is drawing to a close, the insurance gap for thousands of Kansans is not. Kansas has yet to expand Medicaid (known as “KanCare”) for low-income individuals. This especially impacts rural communities, where accessing health care is already difficult.
I am particularly concerned about uninsured young adults. I grew up in McCracken, graduated from Ellis High School, and I’m now a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas. Many of the students I have taught worry about whether they can afford to go to the doctor, fill a prescription, or have a medical procedure done. This is true not only at KU, but in Hays and in rural communities throughout our state.
Experiences in young adulthood have an impact on future health and well-being. These Kansans are at higher risk of developing long-term health problems, incur heavier debt, and may be less competitive on the job market.
The ACA expanded the age range for dependent coverage to 26, but that only helps those whose parents have insurance. Many young adults work low-wage jobs and end up in a coverage gap – they earn too much to be eligible for KanCare, but not enough to qualify for help to buy private coverage.
In Ellis County, KS, nearly half of 18 to 24 year olds have incomes that are less than the federal poverty level. Many of them lack health coverage.
I am proud to have grown up in McCracken, and I care about the future of rural communities in Kansas. I advocate for expansion of KanCare because the future of rural Kansas depends on the health and productivity of our young people. If you feel this way too, contact your state legislators and let them know you support KanCare expansion.
U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister holds a press conference on the Garden City bomb plot verdict. HUGO PHAN / KMUW
Three men were found guilty Wednesday of conspiring to blow up an apartment complex in western Kansas that housed Somali immigrants.
Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were convicted of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. They were also found guilty of conspiring to violate the housing rights of their intended victims. Wright also was found guilty of lying to the FBI.
Wright, Allen and Stein-photos Sedgwick Co.
The men could face life in prison. Sentencing is set for June 27.
Stein, of Wright, Kansas, and Wright, of Beaver County, Okla., are both 49; Stein, of Liberal, Kansas, is 50.
The jury returned its verdict Wednesday just before 2 p.m., less than a day after beginning deliberations.
“It’s a good day for Garden City, a good day for Kansas and the United States to continue putting the message that our communities will not tolerate such nonsense or criminal behavior,” Garden City Police Chief Michael Utz said after the verdict was announced.
“If individuals hear something or see something they need to say something to stop this kind of activity … so we can prevent a death or mass casualties.”
Adan Keynan, the owner of the African Shop in Garden City, said the verdict should make everyone in the community happy. He worried about the impact on the town if the men had been found not guilty.
“There’s so many things going on in this country … injustices,” he said. “People were worried about (an acquittal). People would have been heartbroken.”
Prosecutors said the three men planned to bomb the Garden City apartment complex, which also housed a mosque, the day after the 2016 presidential election to give America a “forced wake-up call” on dangers they believed were posed by immigrants. They were arrested in October 2016.
“They wanted to send the message that Muslims are not welcome here – not in Garden City, not in Kansas, not in America,” prosecutor Risa Berkower said during the trial.
The key prosecution witness in the case was Dan Day, an FBI informant who recorded hours of conversation with the three men, who were part of the Kansas Security Force militia.
Day said he approached authorities after becoming increasingly concerned about the defendants’ discussions to kill Muslim immigrants.
“They had set their minds on getting rid of all the … Muslims, killing them,” he testified during the trial.
The defense attorneys argued that Day’s recordings of the men talking didn’t reflect a conspiracy, just “banter” and constitutionally protected free speech.
“It is not morally right to hold such hate, but it is not legally wrong,” said James Pratt, Stein’s attorney.
The free speech debate was personified by one witness, a member of a militia whom Stein tried to recruit to his cause.
The witness had previously posted on Facebook that he wanted to kill all Muslims. The prosecution said that the witness was not on trial because he refused Stein’s invitation to join the plot and, unlike the defendants, his words never became actions.
The defense countered that if the witness thought the defendants were going too far, he should have contacted law enforcement.
The defense also argued that Day was not a hero, as the prosecution portrayed him, but a bounty hunter who exploited the defendants and pushed them along at times when the plan seemed to be falling apart. Day was paid more than $32,000 for his work as an informant, according to court testimony.
The attorneys maintained throughout the trial that the FBI manipulated the case against the defendants.
“The FBI created and directed all of this,”said Richard Federico, Allen’s lawyer.
In a news conference after the trial, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said the verdict vindicated the FBI regarding the defense’s accusations.
“Part of that certainly was an attack on the FBI itself,” he said. “And the jury obviously felt this was well done, the evidence was there and they returned guilty verdicts.”
Pratt, Stein’s attorney, said that when Stein suggested backing out of the plan, Day urged him to stay. Multiple audio clips were played throughout the trial, taken from the hundreds of hours of recordings covertly captured by Day. In one clip, the three defendants are heard discussing putting knives and ball bearings into a bomb to maximize the damage.
“The only reason in the world to put ball bearings and razor blades inside a bomb is because you want to kill as many people as you can,” prosecutor Tony Mattivi said.
The plan unraveled when Allen’s ex-girlfriend reported him to police in Liberal, Kansas, for alleged domestic violence. She also told law enforcement the men had weapons and were making explosives. Wright and Stein were arrested soon after.
“Now that they’ve been found guilty, there can be some ease and some peace of mind,” Finney County Sheriff Kevin Bascue said Wednesday. “But I don’t think this community will ever forget.”
Stephan Bisaha is an education reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha.
Frank Morris of KCUR and Ben Kuebrich of HPPR contributed to this report.
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By ROXANA HEGEMAN
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal jury on Wednesday found three men guilty of plotting to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali refugees in Kansas.
Wright, Allen and Stein-photos Sedgwick Co.
Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were convicted of one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of conspiracy against civil rights. Wright was convicted of a charge of lying to the FBI. Sentencing is set for June 27.
The three men were indicted in October 2016 for plotting an attack for the day after the presidential election in the meatpacking town of Garden City, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) west of Wichita.
Prosecutors have said that a fellow militia member, Dan Day, tipped off federal authorities after becoming alarmed by the escalating talk of violence and later agreed to wear a wire as a paid informant. The government’s case featured months of profanity-laced recordings in which militia members discussed plans and referred to the Somalis as “cockroaches.”
Wright is captured in one recording saying he hoped an attack on the Somalis would “wake people up” and inspire others to take similar action against Muslims.
The government argued that the men formed a splinter group of the militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as “the Crusaders.” The testimony and recordings indicate the men tried to recruit other members of the Kansas Security Force to join them.
According to prosecutors, Stein was recorded discussing the type of fuel and fertilizer bomb that Timothy McVeigh used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people. Stein was arrested when he delivered 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of fertilizer to undercover FBI agents to make explosives.
Attorneys for the defense said the FBI set up the men with a paid informant and all the talk about violence wasn’t serious. They said the men had a right to free speech and association under the U.S. Constitution.
Prosecutors argued the plot was more than just words, telling jurors that the men also manufactured homemade explosives and tested them.
RUSH COUNTY — Three people were injured in an accident just after 6p.m. Wednesday in Rush County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Dodge pickup driven by Thomas G. Harmon, 18, Otis, was northbound on County Road 370 five miles west of Albert.
The driver lost control on the gravel. The pickup left the roadway hit the ditch embankment and rolled.
Harmon and passenger Rebekah Harmon, 14, and Ryan Harmon, 10, both of Otis were transported to the hospital in Great Bend. The passengers were properly restrained at the time of the accident. The KHP did not have confirmation the driver was wearing a seat belt.
Today Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Elevated to near-critical fire weather conditions will develop late this afternoon across mainly far southwest and west central KS #kswxpic.twitter.com/5Kf4xdsauI
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 37. East southeast wind 9 to 13 mph.
Friday A 30 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Southeast wind 10 to 16 mph.
Friday NightShowers before 1am, then rain likely after 1am. Low around 41. East southeast wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
SaturdayRain likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 52. East southeast wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Saturday NightA 30 percent chance of rain before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.
