As the 2018 elections approach, Greg Orman continues to do the citizens of Kansas a disservice with his dead-in-the water independent campaign. His floundering effort, with its treasurer resigning and endorsing Democrat Laura Kelly, is denying Kansas voters a clear referendum-like choice on whether to reject or embrace Sam Brownback’s policies.
Burdett Loomis, Professor, Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Science, University of Kansas
To review, Brownback barely defeated House Minority Leader Paul Davis in 2014. Opinions differ as to why, but I see the wave of GOP outside money that washed over Kansas in support of endangered Senator Pat Roberts as nationalizing the entire election and helping Brownback eke out a victory. Indeed, approval for Brownback’s tax policies was already underwater in 2014, and it sank lower after the election.
In 2016, Brownback was not on the ballot, but many right-wing Republicans, who had supported his extensive, high-income-oriented tax cuts, proved vulnerable. A host of moderate Republicans and Democrats won enough seats to override Brownback’s 2017 veto of higher income taxes and then, in 2018, these legislators responded to the Kansas Supreme Court by passing a $500 million increase in school funding.
Score one (2014) for Brownback and one (2016) for his opponents. Nevertheless, neither election represented an actual referendum on Brownback and his policies, given his absence from the 2016 ballot and the Roberts factor in 2014. Moreover, with Brownback gone from the state and the introduction of independent Orman, the 2018 election will also constitute an imperfect referendum.
Regardless, Brownback’s legacy powerfully affects this contest for governor.
Most remarkable in 2018 is Kris Kobach’s complete embrace, and then some, of Brownback’s tax-cutting experiment, albeit with a few twists. He simultaneously argues that he will fund classroom education (by his definition) and rebuild our infrastructure, all through economic growth. That’s Brownback reincarnated.
As a social conservative, Kobach has moved father right than Brownback in advocating against non-existent voter fraud and beating the anti-immigrant drum as loud as he can.
In sum, Kobach has doubled-down on Brownback’s far-right record.
If this election posed a simple yes-no vote on Brownback’s legacy or Kobach’s policy positions, Kobach would likely lose. Instead, the 2018 governor’s race comes down to its candidates. Putting aside the minor independent candidate and the Libertarian, a straight-up contest between Republican Kobach and Democrat Laura Kelly would probably, even in red-state Kansas, elect the moderate Democrat, given Kobach’s apparent ceiling of 43 or 44 percent.
While not as flashy as Kobach (no machine gun trucks), Kelly may well be exactly the person to continue the progress of the last two legislative sessions, to say nothing of prudently addressing education, health care (expanding Medicaid), and infrastructure. A 14-year state senator, Kelly would bring a range of legislative experience not seen since the productive Bennett-Carlin-Hayden years, 1974-1990.
Enter the man behind door #3, independent Greg Orman, who turns the entire idea of a Brownback referendum on its head. If Orman, with his steady nine-percent support in the polls, siphons off enough votes, mostly from Kelly, the state could easily elect a minority-supported governor who has negative approval ratings and who supports the failed economic policies of Sam Brownback. That would be a travesty.
To paraphrase Sinclair Lewis, “It can happen here.” But it need not. As Orman supporters go to the polls, they should think twice, or three times, before wasting a vote that would allow the widely discredited views of Kobach and Brownback to prevail.
Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man arrested in Northwest Kansas in May for shooting of a Menards employee in Wichita is scheduled for sentencing Friday, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney’s office.
Security camera images of Williamson prior to the shooting at Menards -photo courtesy Wichita Police
Dominic Williamson, 19, was arrested in connection with shooting a store loss prevention officer at Menards in the 3600 Block of North Maize Road in Wichita.
The store loss prevention officer observed Williamson and a woman exit the business carrying a home surveillance system they had not paid for. The employee contacted the suspects outside the business and the man brandished a handgun and fired one shot striking the employee in the abdomen and fled the scene in a Black Mercedes Wagon with a Montana license plates.
The following day officers investigated a traffic complaint of an erratic driver of a gray Nissan car on Interstate 70 at the U.S. 183 Bypass.
Deputies attempted a traffic stop at which time the driver, who was later identified as 18-year-old Dominic Joseph Williamson, fled.
Officers deployed stop sticks, deflating three tires, but Williamson continued to flee westbound on Interstate 70.
The pursuit finally ended in Trego County just east of Collyer when Williamson lost control of the vehicle after a tactical vehicle intervention.
Williamson
The suspect’s vehicle entered the north ditch and rolled several times before coming to rest on its top.
Williamson was arrested without further incident.
He was evaluated by medical staff and later booked into the Ellis County Detention Facility.
Williamson was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing and eluding, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and numerous traffic violations in addition to the charges in Sedgwick County.
The 17-year-old female suspect in the shooting was taken into custody in Derby after a high-speed police chase.
Kids Voting once will again be set up Tuesday, Nov. 6., at the seven polling sites in Hays.
Students K-12 can go with their parents to the voting polls and vote through the Kids Voting Program.
All students that vote will receive an “I voted” sticker and a coupon for a free meal from McDonald’s.
Kids Voting polls will be open from 7 to 8 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. Votes will be tallied by Hays High School government students, and results will be published.
RUSSELL – Russell Main Street, Inc. is seeking nominations for the annual family of the year event, formerly organized by Post Rock Family Services. Selection of the family will be made from an evaluation conducted by the Board of Directors of Russell Main Street, Inc.
The honored family will be chosen based on their strong family values, appreciation and affection for each other, commitment to each other, positive communication, and contribution to the Russell community.
Russell Main Street, Inc. invites the community to participate by nominating families who possess the above qualities. Persons wanting to nominate a family should submit, in writing, their nomination with the family’s name, address, and phone number to Russell Main Street, Inc. 207 E. 8th Street, Russell, KS 67665 or submit by e-mailing [email protected].
Deadline for nominations is Friday, November 9, 2018.
Those not eligible for nomination are members of the Russell Main Street, Inc. Board of Directors or employees of Russell Main Street, Inc.
Fort Hays State University is partnering with several other sponsors in bringing to Hays a workshop on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – or drones.
The workshop is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in FHSU’s Robbins Center. Registration is $20, which includes lunch.
Applications of UAS technology have had a multi-billion dollar effect on the economy in the past five years. The workshop will bring together representatives from federal and state regulatory institutions, along with academic and industry experts, to share experiences in how best to integrate UAS opportunities and applications in this rapidly expanding industry.
Sessions will include presentations from representatives of organizations including the Federal Aviation Administration; the Kansas Department of Transportation – UAS Division; and Kansas State Polytechnic – Aviation Research Center. A panel discussion will feature 10 people who are applying UAS technology in their businesses.
Other sponsors are the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce, Grow Hays, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas’ Small Business Development Center, Kansas State University Polytechnic and the UAS Cluster Initiative of Oklahoma and Kansas.
LAWRENCE (AP) — Two filmmakers traveled hundreds of miles on foot in Kansas to create a documentary on the beauty of their home state and the people who live there.
Filmmakers Patrick Ross and Joshua Nathan will show a portion of their film, “Kansas: An Eclogue,” at Lawrence’s Watkins Museum of History on Friday, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. The screening will be followed by a discussion with a panel of writers and filmmakers who also have found inspiration in the state.
Ross and Nathan trekked across Kansas for seven weeks in 2015, documenting monuments, land and people.
“The walk was very important to us to stay on the back roads, stay on the dirt roads, see who we met and let that guide the trip in the moment,” Nathan said.
The filmmakers decided to begin in Garden City and walk to each of the “Eight Wonders of Kansas” selected by Marci Penner, executive director of cultural preservation group the Kansas Sampler Foundation. The wonders include the Monument Rocks and Castle Rock in Grove County, St. Fidelis Basilica in Victoria, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County and the Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Barton and Stafford counties.
Nathan and Ross finished their journey in Lawrence.
The filmmakers didn’t plan where they would stay during their hike, instead relying on Kansas hospitality to find safe places to sleep.
“We would approach farmhouses with our bags, we’d knock on the door and explain who we were and what we were doing and we’d ask if we could camp,” Nathan said. “More often than not, we would actually be allowed inside into a spare bedroom.”
Ross said the approach led them to meet many people along the way who supported their project.
“The beauty of our journey was that we discovered this ripple effect of coming in contact with someone in isolated, rural communities and for them to pass along to their close friends or people along our route that we might come in contact with,” Ross said. “In the modern age, if you are a kind and trustworthy individual, people in Kansas seem to open their doors.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Opening a new polling site in the historic Wild West town of Dodge City, Kansas, just days before the election is not in the public’s interest because it would likely create more voter confusion, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
The Dodge City Civic Center was the previous polling location. The Expo Center is the only location for voters on Tuesday -google map
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree denied the motion by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas seeking a temporary court order forcing Ford County Clerk Deborah Cox to reopen a voting location at the old Civic Center location after she moved the city’s only polling site to a facility outside city limits and more than a mile from the nearest bus stop.
The judge noted that since Sept. 28, Cox notified voters of the change by letter and through the media — advertising in newspapers, on the radio and on the county’s website.
“For the court to insert itself into this process on the eve of the election — by ordering the reopening of the Civic Center either as the only polling location or a second polling location — likely would create more voter confusion than it might cure,” Crabtree wrote.
The only polling site for the city’s now 13,000 registered voters for two decades was the Civic Center in a mostly white part of town. Cox decided to move the site to a new county Expo Center after learning that a construction project was planned for late October at the Civic Center — though work had not started as of Thursday.
The ACLU asked Crabtree to order Cox to open both the old and new polling sites for Tuesday for Election Day. The ACLU argues that moving the only polling site makes it more difficult for the city’s mostly Hispanic population to vote.
Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said in an emailed statement that while they are disappointed by the ruling, they are also encouraged by much of it and hopeful about their prospects as the case moves forward.
“Had voters learned of her decision sooner, our case may have prevailed,” Kubic said. “She can rest easy — for now —that she was able to run out the clock. We’re all left to wonder, however, what might have been accomplished had she merely chosen to work with us and with our clients.”
Cox’s attorney, Bradley Schlozman, said they are pleased with the result and his client “will now once again turn her efforts to administering what will hopefully be a smooth election next Tuesday for all voters.”
Crabtree said the court has not decided whether the plaintiffs will ultimately succeed on their constitutional claims, and said that the court has concluded that they have not shown that they are likely to prevail on their lawsuit.
The hearing ended with Crabtree questioning Cox and her attorneys about arrangements for voters who show up at the old polling site. They said the city has offered to take voters from their homes and jobs to the new polling place, and Cox said she reached out to the city again Thursday morning about moving voters between the old and new polling sites.
“They do have a limited number of buses, however,” she said.
Cox’s conflict with the ACLU over the single polling site stretches back to at least May, when Johnny Dunlap, the Ford County Democratic Party chairman and a volunteer for an ACLU voting rights project, asked her to open a second polling site for Dodge City, according to testimony. Both he and Cox testified that Dunlap and her office had further run-ins during the August primary, and in October, the ACLU asked Cox to publicize a hotline for its voting rights project on her office’s website.
She forwarded that request to the Kansas secretary of state’s office in an Oct. 22 email saying, “LOL.”
“What I really meant is, ‘Here we go again. Where is it going to stop?'” Cox testified.
Crabtree wrote in his ruling he was troubled by Cox’s reaction to the letter and questioned “whether it manifests a disregard for the ‘fundamental significance’ that our Constitution places on the right to vote.”
The southwest Kansas city, located 160 miles (257 kilometers) west of Wichita, once was a destination for cattle drives where cowboys and gunslingers tangled. In recent decades, meatpacking plants have drawn to the town thousands of Hispanics, who now make up a majority of the 27,000 population.
The ACLU sued on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens and Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, the 18-year-old son of Mexican immigrants who will be voting for the first time in next week’s election.
Rangel-Lopez testified by phone that his father, who became a U.S. citizen in 2004, has had to wait an hour and sometimes two hours to vote at the single polling place.
As for the new polling site, he said, “It’s just in the middle of nowhere.”
___
A federal judge says it is not in the public interest to order a western Kansas county to open another polling site in Dodge City just days before the election.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said in a written ruling Thursday evening that the request from the American Civil Liberties Union for an order to open a second polling would likely cause more voter confusion than it might cure.
He notes the city has offered for the past 20 years only one polling location for its 13,000 registered voters. But he says that while another location might mitigate concerns about long lines during certain times, the plaintiffs have had 20 years to present that claim.
Crabtree wrote he was troubled by Ford County Clerk Deborah Cox’s reaction to an ACLU that she forwarded to the Secretary of State’s office with the comment “LOL.”
___
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas county clerk who moved the only polling site for the historic Wild West town of Dodge City sought to reassure a federal judge that voters can take buses to get there and that people who show up in the wrong place will get help.
But Ford County Clerk Deborah Cox acknowledged during a federal court hearing Thursday that she’s still uncertain about arrangements for moving people to the new facility outside the city limits if they show up at the old site in town instead.
The only polling site for the city’s now 13,000 registered voters for two decades was a civic center in a mostly white part of town. Cox decided to move the site to a new county Expo Center after learning that a construction project was planned for late October at the civic center — though work had not started as of Thursday.
The American Civil Liberties Union asked U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree to order Cox to open both the old and new polling sites for Tuesday for Election Day. The ACLU argues that moving the only polling site makes it more difficult for the city’s mostly Hispanic population to vote.
The hearing ended with Crabtree questioning Cox and her attorneys about arrangements for voters who show up at the old polling site. They said the city has offered to take voters from their homes and jobs to the new polling place, and Cox said she reached out to the city again Thursday morning about moving voters between the old and new polling sites.
“They do have a limited number of buses, however,” she said.
Crabtree did not issue a ruling from the bench but said he would have a decision soon because, “I know what day Election Day is.”
The southwest Kansas city, located 160 miles (257 kilometers) west of Wichita, once was a destination for cattle drives where cowboys and gunslingers tangled. In recent decades, meatpacking plants have drawn to the town thousands of Hispanics, who now make up a majority of the 27,000 population.
Cox is a Republican who has served as the elected county clerk since 2016. She sent a notice to voters on Sept. 28 that she was moving the location for the upcoming election outside the city limits to the new Expo Center, which she acknowledged in the mailing was inconvenient. It is more than a mile from the nearest bus stop.
The ACLU sued on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens and Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, the 18-year-old son of Mexican immigrants who will be voting for the first time in November.
Rangel-Lopez testified by phone that his father, who became a U.S. citizen in 2004, has had to wait an hour and sometimes two hours to vote at the single polling place.
As for the new polling site, he said, “It’s just in the middle of nowhere.”
Johnny Dunlap, the Ford County Democratic Party chairman, said that in his opinion, the city’s bus system “does not have the capacity” to move potentially several thousand voters.
Cox testified that she wasn’t notified formally of plans for a late-October start for a construction project at the civic center until the end of August. She said state law required her to notify voters by early October.
She said she needed a site as large as the civic center, and the only other potential venue was an arena near a casino, even further outside town.
Cox and Bryan Caskey, the state elections director in the Kansas secretary of state’s office, questioned whether Ford County would have enough time to find and program equipment, find and train election workers and make other arrangements for a second polling site. Caskey noted Kansas law requires election officials to assign each voter to only one polling place on Election Day, a further complication.
“I don’t like to use the word impossible because I don’t work in impossibilities. It would be extraordinarily difficult,” Caskey told reporters after the hearing. “It would be even more so without violating several state laws.”
Today Sunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. South southeast wind 6 to 11 mph.
Saturday A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 7 to 12 mph becoming north northwest 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday NightMostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph.
SundaySunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The longtime owner of a barbecue restaurant pleaded guilty to using customers’ credit cards to fund spending sprees.
Sander-photo Johnson Co.
Matthew Sander, owner of Smokin’ Joe’s Bar-B-Q in Olathe, pleaded guilty Thursday to seven counts of identity theft, four counts of theft and one count of criminal use of a credit card.
A plea agreement calls for Sander to serve a year in prison and make full restitution.
Assistant District Attorney Alex Scott said two of the cases Sander pleaded guilty to involved him using credit cards customers had inadvertently left behind at the restaurant.
In a third case, Sander stole a woman’s purse from her seat at a restaurant bar in Overland Park and used her debit card.
TOPEKA – One of America’s top wildlife-watching events is happening now in central Kansas, as huge clouds of sandhill cranes, along with a few endangered whooping cranes, pass through and rest during their annual southward migration. This amazing spectacle will be observed on Saturday, Nov. 3, during the “Celebration of Cranes” at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Stafford County. Audubon of Kansas is sponsoring the event and invites anyone interested to view and learn about cranes with the help of expert guides.
“Basically, we’re wanting to draw attention to Quivira at this very special time of the year,” said Ron Klataske, Audubon of Kansas director. “It’s a time when one can rely on there being thousands of sandhill cranes at Quivira. It’s also one of the very few places where one has a reasonably good chance of being able to see whooping cranes. It may be at a distance, but it’s always such a special event when you get to see one.”
As they have for centuries, sandhill cranes are currently migrating from nesting grounds in Alaska and northern Canada to wintering grounds in southern U.S. and Central America. Tens of thousands pause for several weeks in central Kansas at the world-class marshes at Quivira NWR, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and the Nature Conservancy’s Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve in Barton County. The mid-continent population of sandhill cranes was estimated at more than 1 million birds last spring in surveys on the Platte River in Nebraska; a record. With numbers like that, viewing opportunities at staging areas can be fantastic.
Whooping cranes, which number just more than 400 in the wild, are doing the same. A large percentage of those birds will stop in Kansas during migration, and several have already been spotted at Quivira NWR this fall.
Every year some of America’s top wildlife photographers and bird-watchers make long treks to enjoy both species at the refuge. Still, Klataske said it’s rare to see a dozen vehicles on Quivira when the birds are in.
He is hoping guided van tours will make a wildlife-watching trip to Quivira easier for the public. Experienced guides will take guests to pre-scouted spots to show them the birds, and give valuable advice on how the public can come back and enjoy such wildlife shows on their own at Quivira.
“These days we have so many families and kids who just don’t get out and experience nature,” said Klataske. “That’s a shame because we have some very, very fine places where people can go enjoy watching wildlife in Kansas. It’s free and it’s actually very easy once you learn where and when. If we’re going to keep these places, like Quivira, it’s important that people learn to cherish them, and to support them.”
Saturday’s tours begin at 8 a.m., from the Quivira Headquarters/Visitors Center. The refuge is about 30 miles west of Hutchinson, a few miles north of Highway 50, with signage pointing the way. Klataske requests people RSVP at [email protected], so enough tour vans can be available. All is free.
Tours are scheduled for two hours. Late in the day Saturday, Klataske and others will gather on the refuge’s Wildlife Drive, by the Big Salt Marsh, to watch the sandhills return in sizable flocks silhouetted against the sunset. When it’s dark, he’ll stay a bit longer to listen to the loud sounds of thousands of calling sandhill cranes and geese in the darkness.
“It’s such a wonderful experience, it really is, that usually only a very few serious birders ever get to enjoy,” he said. “We’re really hoping we can change that by sharing. Ideally, this will become an annual event. There’s no question it’s more than special enough for that.”
KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Kansas City hospital says an employee who posted photos of herself and another person in blackface no longer works there.
The controversial Facebook post screenshot courtesy KCUR
Saint Luke’s Health System spokeswoman Laurel Gifford says its Saint Luke’s East Hospital became aware of the photos on Monday and an investigation was initiated.
A screen shot of the Facebook post showing the employee and a man in blackface, dressed as Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The woman’s Facebook page has since been removed. She doesn’t have a listed phone number.
Gifford says she can’t comment on personnel matters, other than to say that the individual is no longer an employee.
The situation arose after Megyn Kelly was fired from her NBC morning show after suggesting it was OK for white people to wear blackface at Halloween.
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Kansas prison officials say two correctional officers were injured while responding to a fight between inmates at El Dorado Correctional Facility.
El Dorado Correctional Facility
Corrections department spokesman Samir Arif says the fight occurred Friday. He said the officers were treated on-site and their injuries were not life-threatening.
The names of the officers weren’t released.
The corrections department didn’t release information about the fight, including whether any inmates were injured and whether any weapons were involved.
SEWARD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged child abuse and made an arrest.
On Sunday, officers responded to Southwest Medical Center after reported child abuse, according to Liberal Police Captain Robert Rogers. A three year old child had been brought to the emergency room by family members. Her condition deteriorated while at the hospital and life saving measures were conducted.
She was later air lifted to a Wichita hospital where she continues to be treated.
The injuries sustained appeared to be of an intentional nature, according to Rogers. Other possible signs of abuse were also discovered.
As a result of the investigation, police arrested the child’s 20-year-old mother for child abuse and attempted first degree murder.
An affidavit was forwarded to the Seward County Attorney’s Office for the determination of formal charges.
