First of all, I want to apologize for missing my review of “Chappie” last week. I believe that I’ve only missed one review in my three year tenure of writing movie reviews. The punchline would have been: skip it, it has an interesting concept that is mired in terrible writing and is almost entirely unlikeable.
“Cinderella” is a story that needs no introduction. Perhaps much more accurately, it’s the latest Disney movie to be on the receiving end of a reintroduction.
Kenneth Branagh, the director of “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” and “Thor” and; amusingly, the actor who played Gilderoy Lockhart in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” helms this live-action remake to good effect. Branagh has an eye for conveying the “air of nobility.” It’s a subtle distinction indicated by how characters carry themselves. For a story like “Cinderella,” the distinction of what nobility is, where it comes from and how it impacts the world is a great asset in an effort to add a more human element to such a classic fairytale.
Relative newcomer Lily James shines as the titular character “Cinderella.” The roots of the “Cinderella” fairytale are still solidly ensconced in outmoded notions when it comes to gender roles. That said, this latest adaptation does move the needle in the right direction, James’ performance as Cinderella is both strong and kind, perhaps not in equal measure, but she is so much more than a pretty face.
Conversely, Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” is spectacular as the Prince. The interactions between Cinderella and the Prince have more substance to them than what I remember of the original Disney animated feature.
I enjoyed my time watching “Cinderella.” It moves a little slowly in places and I am very unhappy that Cate Blanchett gets top billing just because she’s the biggest name. I understand that’s how the cinema industry works, (and I love Cate Blanchett) but it’s upsetting to watch the credits role and read – “Cinderella” – “Starring” – “Cate Blanchett.” I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Lily James who plays the film’s namesake to at least have her name show up first. Also, as my wife, Renee, pointed out, the dress is the wrong shade of blue. Other than those small annoyances, “Cinderella” is a worthy remake of a timeless classic.
Well, it’s fast-and-furious at the Statehouse, with financing of public schools mesmerizing most of the legislators and hangers-on who either have an interest in public schools or are wondering what happens to the issues they care about while the school issue boils.
The school issue? How does the state distribute the roughly $3 billion a year for the next two years that Gov. Sam Brownback proposes to spend (or more, apparently, if a court demands it) to help finance schools? Is that enough money to finance the public schools “adequately” as the Kansas Constitution calls for?
That’s the big fight, but there’s another one waiting to enter the ring: Taxes.
While whatever happens with school finance plays out, remember that the Legislature can’t clock out and go home until it has adopted a balanced budget.
That balanced budget is sure to require more taxes—even the governor proposed raising taxes (on cigarettes and liquor) to make his budget pencil out—and when the school business is finally settled, it’s still going to take more taxes to make things balance.
***
Surprisingly, the conservative school finance talking point that seems to be the most popular is that the 23-year-old school finance formula is “complicated.” Maybe “complicated” is a tragic flaw in the current formula, which if fully funded would require a boost of state spending on K-12. But then, cell phones are “complicated” and nobody’s tossing them aside in favor of simpler-to-understand black dial telephones.
***
So, whether it sticks or not, lawmakers may this week have a number to plug into the budget for K-12, and so far both House and Senate budget committees have tentatively adopted most of the rest of the spending recommendations of the governor—which remember, require increased revenues. Oh, the Statehouse crowd tends to use the phrase “revenue enhancement.” Regular people say “taxes.”
At this point, while the budget folks are assembling this week their Mega appropriations bill which will determine how much the state will spend in the next two fiscal years, the tax mavens are assembling options to finance that budget.
There is a lot on the table. There’s a bill to eliminate that first $20,000 of value of your home from the state’s 20-mill school levy which is worth $47 per homeowner, to putting the sales tax back on your utility bills, worth more than $140 million. And, of course, those cigarette and liquor tax increases which few around the Statehouse take seriously.
Mess with income taxes? That’s more complicated. Remember, those 190,000 Kansas businesses that we thought were not paying Kansas income taxes due to the 2012/13 tax breaks? That number is now more than 300,000. And boost their taxes to more than zero and you are singling them out, aren’t you?
There’s no way to know, because it isn’t one of those check-offs on the income tax form, but there is a suspicion that most of those now-300,000-plus Kansans who don’t pay state income taxes…just might be registered Republicans, who are wondering about who to support in 2016.
Now, if there was just a way to check in with that non-income tax crowd—by party affiliation—to see whether they are a little embarrassed by their status and might not mind a little…just a little…income tax liability. H’mmm.
We’ll see whether the tax committees have made their own assessment of the politics of tax increases that focuses on folks who aren’t now taxpayers. Won’t we?
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com.
Stacie Minson, KSU Watershed Specialist Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds
Working with urban homeowners in teaching and educating on water quality issues is important to protect Big Creek and local water supplies.
The average homeowner is mostly unaware that their daily habits affect water quality. In most people’s minds, they pay a monthly utility bill to insure a clean, safe water supply while also paying the bill to take care of their waste water.
The problem lies with all of the water used outside their homes to water their lawns, gardens, and landscapes, wash cars, wash down driveways, wash down pet pens, etc. All of these non-point pollution sources create water quality issues.
To engage homeowners to learn about water quality, the Roll Out the Rain Barrel project was started in 2009 in partnership with the City of Hays, Coca-Cola Enterprise, Inc., Ellis and Ellsworth County Conservation Districts, Dr. Jean Gleischner, Fort Hays State University Agriculture Department, Ellis County K-State Research & Extension, KSU Agricultural Research Center and Ellis County Master Gardeners.
The 2015 Roll Out the Rain Barrel Workshop will be in Hays on Thursday, April 9.
Homeowners are given the opportunity to conserve water to use in the landscape because of drought conditions but ultimately are protecting local water supplies. The Roll Out the Rain Barrel workshops have been successful and built upon one another to generate more interest in harvesting rain water for the home landscape and protecting local water quality.
Using data from the WRAPS project and Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) database, reduction loads were estimated. Theoretically estimated load reduction for total gallons collected – 5,280 barrels @55 gallons = 290,400 gallons/event. From WRAPS data, mean total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids were calculated from storm flow concentrations for the 290,400 gallons/event collected.
Using the best management practice of stopping water before reaching the stream, thereby eliminating the vessel of transportation for pollutants during each storm event, pollutants were reduced: total nitrogen (less 4 pounds (lbs)), total phosphorus (less 1 pound (lbs)), and total suspended solids (less 680 pound (lbs)).
Using a conservative number of 15 storm events of at least 0.25 inches precipitation during the harvesting season (March 1 through October 1) loads could be reduced by 60 lbs of TN, 15 lbs of TP, and 4,080 lbs of TSS respectively annually.
These may not seem like large numbers in improving water quality but are small steps towards protection efforts from urban residents and an easy way for residents to engage in conservation and protection.
We had our grandson Jacob Friesen for the afternoon and night, and we always try to plan some “in-the-woods” time when he’s here.
We needed to bring our deer-blind-trailer in for the summer, so the afternoon was planned around that trip, and as unlikely as it was, hoping we could find an elusive dropped deer antler, known as a “shed” as we tromped around through the woods.
His dad Dustin Friesen’s last instructions when dropping him off were “Find a good stick; every boy needs a good stick.”
He loves going to our deer-blind tower, so that was our first stop. The first hurdle was talking him into leaving his Kindle electronic tablet in the truck, which Grandma Joyce accomplished with her mix of wisdom, patience and suggestion. For the next hour, we all went back to school.
There are still cattle in the stalk field around our tower blind, so the lessons began by discussing all the intricacies of cow poop; the difference between fresh cow pies you don’t step on and the old dry ones you can; why bugs were crawling around on them and why wild turkeys would eventually visit them to pick undigested grain out of them.
Next was a lesson on the big cow tracks in the dust that he thought were deer tracks. The farmer had just burned the pasture next door and cut a bunch of trees for firewood in the process. We talked about and marveled at the huge thorns on the locust trees he’d cut. We discussed why he had burned all the tall dead grass and how it would soon grow back lush and green and make better feed for the cows.
To keep from walking through all the black ash from the burnt grass, we walked down in the now-dry creek bed that wound and snaked its way through the pasture. We talked about the distinct trail in the middle of the creek bed made by all the various animals that used it as a convenient highway, making for easy traveling and keeping them out of sight in the process.
We made certain to dodge all the “pokey things” that stuck out into the creek. We saw lots of neat stuff and by that time had quite a collection of “good sticks,” but alas, no antlers, so Jacob soon lost interest and back to the truck we went. After a picture of him on top of the row of big round hay bales, we were off to collect the hunting trailer which was parked on the other end of the property.
Our grandson Jacob Friesen with the shed antler and cow jawbone.
After quickly hooking up the trailer in the back corner of a hay field, I asked Jacob to come along for a hike through the adjacent woods, but staying-in-the-truck-with-the-Kindle tablet was winning out. At Grandma’s suggestion to try and find her an antler, he reluctantly came along. We slid down into the creek bed and up the other side into the woods and began walking. We had only gone a few yards when there it was; lying along the creek gleaming in the sun like an ivory colored… well, deer antler! After another quick lesson, he took off by himself like a shot to try and find another.
We ended the adventure with a great shed antler, the jawbone of a dead cow complete with teeth, a dried Catalpa bean-pod shaped like a mustache and a collection of “good” sticks. I can see in the future it’s going to be a challenge to compete with technology for Jacob’s company in the woods, but as long as I still have strength and breath, I’ll keep trying!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
109th Dist. State Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill
March 13, 2015
Troy L. Waymaster, State Representative
Kansas House district, 109
The Classroom Learning Assuring Student Success Act
A great deal of time was spent listening, debating and reviewing the components of House Substitute for Senate Bill 7, Creating the Classroom Learning Assuring Student Success Act (CLASS) also known as the block grant funding bill for K-12 education.
The most critical aspect of this bill is that K-12 education would be financed by the state to the school districts by a block grant for the same funding amount as the 2014-2015 school year instead of by the current school finance formula that has been the mechanism for education finance since 1992.
A breakdown of those amounts would be determined by the amount of dollars that each district received in 2014-2015 for General State Aid, Capital Outlay State Aid, Virtual School State Aid, the amount of tax proceeds collected by the school district for Ancillary School Facilities Tax Levy, Cost-of-Living Tax Levy, Declining Enrollment Tax Levy, and the amount of KPERS employer obligations. In the block grant idea, the following components would be removed when determining the funding: the Ancillary School Facilities weighting, the Cost-of-Living weighting, and the Declining Enrollment Weighting.
There are additional important provisions to the bill.
One of those other provisions would be the creation of an extraordinary need fund. This fund would start with a balance of $4 million in the school year of 2014-2015, then for school years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 four percent added would be added from the state general fund. The purpose of this fund is to help school districts with any unforeseen hardships during the time of the block grants.
Other provisions are that local school districts could authorize special local tax levies that meet current laws and they could adopt a local option budget and levy an amount that does not exceed the limit already set in place by statute, which would occur through the authorization of a local vote.
While we worked the bill in Appropriations Committee, many amendments were added to the initial piece of legislation. A sunset date amendment that I proposed passed. A specific sunset date on the legislation was needed to force the Legislature to create a new school finance formula. That date, as reflected in the amendment, is June 30, 2017.
On Thursday, this major piece of legislation was debated and amended by the entire House of Representatives. There were many in the House the opposed the change of funding K-12 education in Kansas, and there were those that applauded the notion of retiring the existing school finance formula and go to the block grant funding so a new formula could be created.
Although I agree that there may need to be changes to the existing formula, there is uncertainty of not knowing what the formula created would be and how that would impact our rural schools. In order to retire or change the existing formula, we need more time to address the concerns of how a new formula would affect our schools in Kansas. The bill did pass out of the House 64-57 on Friday morning and now goes to the Kansas Senate.
KDOT Hay Harvesting
The Kansas Department of Transportation announced that permits will be issued to landowners wanting to harvest hay on Kansas highway right of way.
Those with land adjacent to the right of way will be given permit priority from January 1 until March 31. After March 31, permits to harvest will be issued in the order in which they are received. The permits will expire September 30.
Hay harvesting on right of way along state and federal highways without a permit is illegal and is trespassing, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Permits can be canceled at any time by either party and all operations shall be in accord with requirements and guidelines set by KDOT. Any person, firm or corporation wanting to mow or bale hay needs to submit a permit application to the KDOT office in his area. No hay harvesting will take place along interstates, and access to any right of way shall be determined by KDOT.
For additional information, contact the local KDOT office or by calling the KDOT Bureau of Maintenance in Topeka at (785) 296-3576.
Visitors and Contact Information
On Tuesday, March 10, the Kansas Small Business Development Center held its annual award ceremony for small businesses throughout the state of Kansas. It was my pleasure to stand with Senator Elaine Bowers, Marty and Rhett Kingsbury from Kingsbury Service in Smith Center as they were honored as an emerging business of the year in the Rotunda of the State Capitol.
On Wednesday, March 11, El Dean and Kathy Holthus, Smith Center, and I testified in the House Transportation Committee to support the renaming of K-8 as the “Home on the Range” Highway. Also on Wednesday, Jewell County Farm Bureau and several Rock Hills High School students visited the statehouse.
It is an honor to serve the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns and questions. I appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas.
Troy L. Waymaster,
State Representative
109th Kansas House
300 SW 10th
Topeka, KS 66612
Lucia Bain is Kansas Room librarian at Hays Public Library.
Some say that March “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a little less lion and a little more lamb. I think everyone feels this way, which is odd since we’ve had a fairly mild winter with little snow or ice. However, this has been the worst cold and flu season I can remember. Everyone’s been sick at least once and some families have been sick since the dawn of 2015 (mine). If the end of winter means the end of this perpetual season for sickness, then I say bring on spring.
What better way to celebrate the end of winter than with music? On Sunday, March 15 at 2 PM the library will be hosting the City of McPherson Bagpipe Band. This extremely popular annual concert ushers in the new season of spring with traditional Celtic music played by an ensemble of bagpipes and drums. The players also take time to explain the traditional attire and accessories worn by bagpipers. Fun for the whole family, this concert is free, but you better come early if you want a good seat. Usually it’s standing room only by 2 PM!
Last month’s inaugural meeting of the Genealogy Group was very well attended! We’ll be having regular meetings on the third Saturday of each month. This month our meeting will be held on the 21st at 10 AM in the gallery. To be part of the group, you needn’t come to every meeting or have tons of experience with genealogy research. The meetings are open to everyone with all levels of experience. The group is focused on answering each other’s questions about genealogy research by learning from each other and using the group’s collective brain. Please consider attending the genealogy group if you have questions, reservations or an interest your family history.
One thing I miss about Missouri are the Lenten fish-fries on Fridays. Almost every Catholic and Lutheran parish has one. My home-parish has a catfish fry every Friday during Lent and sometimes I’m tempted to drive the eight hours to Missouri just for the fish. For whatever reasons, fish fries in western Kansas are few and far between. So this month, I’ll be borrowing a recipe from the Volga Germans for “fish medallions.” These fried fish cakes make a delicious, meat-free meal for Lenten observers or fish lovers. I’ll be teaching a cooking class on fish medallions on Friday, March 27th at 5 PM. You’ll be able to make and enjoy your own fish for dinner! Registration is required, so please call 625-9014 or email [email protected] to reserve your spot.
Here’s hoping that March and the beginning of spring usher in a new season of health and happiness for all Hays families.
The Kansas Room is located in the basement of the Hays Public Library and is open from 9 AM to 4 PM Tuesday through Saturday, and by request.
Lucia Bain is Kansas Room librarian at the Hays Public Library.
Gene Policinski is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center
Once again, the brutal language of racism tests our commitment to free speech.
Only a bigot could approve of the chant using the “N-word” sung by Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) members at the University of Oklahoma on a charter bus Saturday, loudly proclaiming African Americans would never be admitted to their fraternity chapter and gleefully mentioning lynching.
Consider the “song” in all its awful nature:
There will never be a nigger at SAE
There will never be a nigger at SAE
You can hang him from a tree
But he’ll never sign with me
There will never be a nigger at SAE
What could be worse?
How about this taking place on the same weekend the nation was commemorating the 50th anniversary of the famed civil rights confrontation at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge?
Awful. Disgusting. Repellent. Sickening.
But also, protected free speech.
The 10-second video clip was sent anonymously by email Sunday afternoon to the student newspaper, The Oklahoma Daily, and to a campus organization. Within hours, it had the nation’s attention.
University president David Boren — a former governor and U.S. senator — was outraged. He quickly ordered the fraternity house vacated and closed, declaring that “effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between this University and the local SAE chapter are hereby severed.”
A day later, he expelled two students whom he identified as being in “leadership” roles connected to the obnoxious singing. And it’s there where President Boren crossed a clear constitutional line.
Condemning the song in the strongest possible way, at multiple occasions: Yes: Exactly the kind of response the First Amendment provides for — more speech to counter speech you don’t like.
Shutting down the frat house: The university’s Regents apparently own the building and may evict occupants. The national governing body of SAE, as a private operation, also had the right to end its affiliation and to close down its own local chapter.
But a host of cases reaching all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, some involving similarly repugnant behavior — a fraternity’s “ugly woman” contest, for example — say clearly that content-based punishments of individual speakers will not stand.
The former governor and U.S. senator said Monday that any punishments would be “carefully directed” to pass constitutional muster and cited his belief the singing students were creating a “hostile learning environment.” But saying it’s so doesn’t make it legal — or right.
Boren and a few scholars have raised the specter of potential civil rights violations or violation of the school’s student code of “rights and responsibilities,” and indirectly embraced the underlying logic of what courts have called “optimum conditions for learning” and a university’s “substantial interest in maintaining an educational environment free of discrimination and racism.”
But even those worthy elements run up against the core First Amendment principle that government may not punish anyone for the content of their speech or for having a view that many — or even most — find offensive.
Put most simply: We have the right to offend others and to freedom from the fear of being punished for expressing such views.
If the expulsions are challenged in court, the university will have the difficult task of proving that this one-time incident constituted a direct or pervasive threat or provocation, substantially affected the ability of OU students to get a good education, and that there were no other, more-narrowly focused actions than expulsion available to counter the negative impact. The student code would fall even more quickly before the First Amendment right of free speech — which cannot be signed away or overridden via a college rulebook.
Clearly, the public excoriation, rallies, marches, closing of the frat house and already announced plans for the university community to conduct meetings and seminars to put more emphasis on diversity, offer such alternative — and longer-lasting — remedies. And all of those are more First Amendment-oriented than expulsion.
Boren made it clear how he feels about the content of the SAE members’ speech:
“To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves ‘Sooners.’ Real Sooners are not racist. Real Sooners are not bigots.”
A call for fairness and equality that follows in the path set out by those Selma marchers five decades ago — including the hope of a better future.
But can any real question remain that by expelling them, this public university wasn’t punishing the two students — and potentially more involved in the incident — for the content and viewpoint expressed in that reprehensible “song”?
Let’s not compound one wrong with another.
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-baswed Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]
Since 2010, Republican majorities have grown, now controlling both houses of Congress and 30 state legislatures, along with 31 governorships. Look at a congressional district map of the U.S., and you’ll see an ocean of red, bounded by blue slivers on the coasts and some blue patches in the upper Midwest and around various urban areas.
The rise of red state Republicans has changed the face of American politics, but with very different implications in D.C. and in state capitals like Topeka.
Burdett Loomis
In Washington, the GOP influx has taken legislative dysfunction to new highs. The Senate, with its filibuster rules, has long proven problematic, as it needs 60 votes to pass any significant legislation. But this condition has been exacerbated by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who famously stated in 2010, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
Earlier this week McConnell called on the states to actively reject Obama’s environmental executive order, thus protecting Kentucky coal operators. Even more incredible, and disturbing, was the fact that 47 senators, including McConnell, Pat Roberts, and Jerry Moran, signed on to Arkansas Tea Party Senator Tom Cotton’s letter that purposefully undermines presidential negotiations with Iran over nuclear weapons.
Remarkably, the House is currently more dysfunctional than the Senate.
Despite the largest GOP majority since the 1920s, Speaker Boehner cannot command the loyalty of many House Republicans, even when it comes to not shutting down funding for the Department of Homeland Security – whose spending in Kansas will total almost a billion dollars. Like the 47 senators, many GOP representatives are more obsessed with poking Obama in the eye than they are worried about legislating for the security of the country.
So, in DC, red state Republicans foster gridlock, broken only on occasion by extraordinary negotiations and face-saving short-term deals.
In Kansas and other deep red states, the impact of the past three elections is different; rather than deadlock, we have policies passed with far too little deliberation or consideration. Want everyone to pack a firearm? No problem. Call it “constitutional carry,” and it slides through the legislative process.
What about school finance, the state’s largest budget item in a year when we face $600 million in revenue shortfalls and a court mandate to increase funding? Just ram through a “block grant” proposal that was hastily concocted and given the most cursory of hearings. Then stick the House school funding bill into an already passed Senate bill, via the “gut and go” bill replacement tactic, and send it back to the Senate for an up or down vote.
On occasion, the red-state express will be slowed down a bit, as with the so-called moderates’ so-called victory in the House that increased the number of items in teachers’ contracts subject to bargaining. But right behind this “victory” is a bill that will sharply and arbitrarily cut negotiating rights for all public employees.
Likewise, changes in higher education funding, often reflecting legislators’ personal whims and vendettas, find wide acceptance, even as universities struggle with substantial previous cuts. So when Salina Sen. Tom Arpke somehow intuited that almost ten million bucks should be switched out of KU’s accounts, that was that. No serious discussion, no coherent rationale.
In sum, the congressional and state legislative red state victories of Republicans over the past four years have produced major effects: stalemate in Washington and hurried batches of legislation in the states.
What’s lost, tragically, is serious deliberation on important issues, whether in Washington or Topeka. And this lack of real deliberation weakens, even threatens, our democracy in both state and nation.
Burdett Loomis is a professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
Because in Topeka most everything is political, the Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion last week that puts it on the side of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution—and is probably wondering whether anyone noticed.
That Fourth Amendment, you might recall from your high school government class, is the protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. Now, it doesn’t get as many T-shirts printed as the 1st (freedom of expression) or the big-time Second Amendment about the right to pack guns, but No. 4 is a relatively popular amendment on a slow day.
Here’s what happened: A couple cops in Emporia on the afternoon of June 22, 2011, went to a house to serve a warrant on someone, and instead found that guy’s friends walking around the side of the house with dogs on leashes. The dogs get loose, and while one cop is talking to the dog guys who had picked up the leashes, the other cop wanders around to the back of the house to see whether the dog owners or anyone else had weapons that they might or might not ambush the cops with.
Oh, and around at the back of the house, the law enforcement officer spotted a drain pipe with a baggie of methamphetamine next to it. The dope was taken, the men arrested, and then the constitutional fun started.
One of those arrested didn’t own the house but was staying there and maintained that the wandering officer had unreasonably searched the property, violating the constitutional protection of good old Amendment 4. The area searched: The curtilage of the property. Curtilage is that area around a house, typically in the backyard, that can’t be seen from the street and where a homeowner might relax, maybe even barbecue, and it is considered protected from unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant—just like the inside of the home.
Well, the Emporia judge said that the dope found at the back of the house was in the curtilage, where the police look-about was an unconstitutional search of a citizen’s home, and that neither the backyard dope nor that dope they later found in the pocket of one of the guys out front, who was arrested based on the backyard dope, could be used as evidence.
The Kansas Court of Appeals? It overturned the local judge, and the Kansas Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals last week, saying the Emporia District Court judge had the right view of the Constitution.
We doubt that the Supreme Court is going to start wearing “I protect your curtilage” T-shirts (or what color they would be); it did protect that constitutional right against searches of homes and their backyards.
You have to wonder whether any Constitution-waving legislators who are snipping away at the funding and method of selecting Supreme Court justices will notice—or decide that even though the Supremes ruled against the state over school finance laws, maybe the Supreme Court isn’t the problem.
It could, we suppose, be portrayed as a Supreme Court move to prevent prosecution of a couple fellas for violating drug laws, no matter whether it took an unconstitutional search to make the case. Gotta wave that Constitution, but maybe not so energetically when it concerns dopers?
Interesting case, but don’t look for the Supreme Court to tell legislators that they put the Court of Appeals back on the leash under a system in which the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission selects candidates for vacant high court seats, and now the governor just appoints subject to Senate confirmation the Appeals Court judges.
Because it doesn’t take much of a stretch to determine the Kansas Supreme Court is within the curtilage of the Statehouse, and you probably ought not look at what happens there.
Oh…and don’t mention the Kansas Supreme Court this spring when your spouse tells you to mow the curtilage…
Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.
“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and the traveler, there might begin a mutual love.” — Roman Payne
I remember my parents, co-workers, friends and others wondered why I wanted to take the 10-mile hike up I-635 followed by a nearly 230-mile journey west to this metropolis in the middle of Western Kansas to go to school. It was a move that almost everybody in my life questioned at the time.
“Why Hays?” they said. “What’s out there? It’s boring.”
Today, I hope I can give answers as I prepare to close this five-and-a-half-year chapter. I’ll be back.
I had one goal in high school and that was to graduate and get out of Kansas City. I had friends and supporters, but it wasn’t my place at the time. I was just like any teenager who thought they knew everything. I wanted to escape. About a month into my senior year of high school, I received a recruitment DVD from Fort Hays State’s Media Studies Department. After watching it, I decided to ask my mom to go visit — and the rest was history.
After moving away from the Kansas City area in August, I quickly started to get involved in several student groups, including the Sigma Chi Fraternity, which gave me a base of friends for my stay. They aren’t just friends anymore, but a set of brothers. We’ve laughed and cried together while creating our own college anecdotes throughout the past few years. My mother questioned the decision, but because of the ideals that were installed and my experiences, I believe I’ve became a better person. Sigma Chi at Fort Hays State proves that the traditional stereotypical view of “frats” don’t exist everywhere.
Thank you, Hays, for providing a solid group of people that have and continue to support me.
Throughout my five years at Fort Hays State, I was also fortunate to advance the ranks at our campus radio and television station, now known as the Tiger Media Network. Within a week on campus, I had a camera in my hand. A year later I was reporting. Fast-forward another year and I found myself producing a newscast. Nowadays I feel like my junior year resume could match up with any graduate of a big-name J-School.
Thank you, Hays, for the opportunities you’ve rewarded to me. I feel confident that my experience in this career has equipped me for this next step.
I decided to add another year on after a scheduling fluke my senior year of college that set me up with a semester full of research projects. After discussing it with my friends and family, it seemed right to cut back and do things right. Thank God I did. About a year later, before graduation, I landed my first job with Eagle, writing for something my grandmother calls “ahead of its time.” Throughout the past year and a half, I rushed around our newsroom as another piece of a convergent media puzzle. The experience provided me with an opportunity to follow a couple of underdogs and cover the POTUS during a stop in Kansas. Throw a weekly radio show into the mix, and there’s not much more a freshman reporter can ask for.
But the time has come to move on. My friends here are slowly heading to other place and starting their next chapters and my parents are starting to age. The story says if you don’t get to know them now, you’ll regret it later on. It’s time to move on to a bigger market — where my dreams and goals can continue to advance.
As I reminisce on my time here, I can’t help but to say thank you to the people that make this place beat. It’s a thriving, wonderful little town out here on the plains with a bolstering economy and wonderful personalities that each have a different, unique story to tell.
Last year, I followed Mirta Martin’s journey to a university presidency-an enthusiastic, energetic woman who inspires almost every person she meets with her tale of the American Dream.
Christie and Curt Brungardt: They’ve taken one of the hardest situations that any parent has to go through and turned it into a thriving organization. Christie recently thanked me for an article I did on the five-year anniversary of Jana’s Campaign in December. While I appreciated the comment, I couldn’t help but thank her and Curt for saving so many lives through their relentless efforts in light of a terrible situation.
Or how about Brenda Meder? She works tirelessly to keep a thriving arts community going each and every day by inspiring young artists while continuously appreciating the work of those that have added a few gray hairs.
And, on a more personal note, my now-former coworkers at Eagle. During my tenure, they supported my education at FHSU, and they’ve been even more supportive over the past two weeks despite the minor inconveniences that my absence will bring.
That’s just a tiny, microscopic sample of the numerous, amazing anecdotes that happen every day in this community. These stories don’t happen everywhere, but they happen in Hays and I stand thankful today that I got to meet and associate with this community during my short stay. During my final meeting with my boss, I reminded him of one of his quotes during his introduction about people constantly “berating a community and looking at everything that’s wrong” — and finding a way around it.
But as I take my final look at this town for what may be months or even years, I chose to do the opposite as I say goodbye. This place has provided me with a beautiful, different aspect on life, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Thank you, Hays, for letting this city kid experience the wonderful Western Kansas hospitality for the past 5 ½ years. Today, I stand humble and thankful for my decision to spend a little bit of my life here and, when weddings, formals and even funerals come around and it’s time to take another look back, the memories I made here are sure to put a smile on my face. Just like the one found in Jeff Durall’s office.
Thank you, Hays. I’ll be back.
Nick Budd joined the staff of Hays Post/Eagle Radio in 2014.
Caring for the environment used to be tough duty. However, during the last couple of decades, it’s become a marketing opportunity.
Manufacturers are churning out more and more environmentally friendly products and retailers are finding in many cases they can be sold at a premium. But beware – not everything sold in the green garden is all roses. Over the long haul, selling “green” may be a lot more difficult than selling soap flakes.
Phosphate-free detergent, lead-free gas, aerosol sprays minus the chlorofluorocarbons and other green garden goodies have been available in some form or another since the early ‘80s. Today, they are nearly as common, or in some cases, more so than farm-fresh eggs, free-range chickens, hogs and cattle, fresh vegetables – you name it.
During this nearly 30-year growing period, consumers embraced the notion of buying green with a zeal that was almost patriotic. As they become more environmentally tuned in day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year, greenies bought beyond what was even required by law in a religious frenzy.
Some companies have launched their own label green brands. Many of these companies have grown their green products by the hundreds.
Many of these items are simply repackaged old ideas, you know, what’s old becomes new when introduced to a new generation of consumers especially those who choose to paint themselves green.
One such item is baking soda, which has been marketed as a more environmentally friendly way to scour pots and pans.
Can you believe it?
My mother and her mother before her used and understood that baking soda was the only real way to keep their kitchens clean or green nearly a century ago.
Another green product that has rocketed off the supermarket shelves are biodegradable garbage bags made from corn extract.
One item that’s become green is dishwasher detergent and it’s worthless. The only way to clean your dishes, knives and forks and pots and pans with today’s detergent is to run your machine half full or a couple times. I know this is the truth, because I’ve had to do so.
I’ve even visited with appliance dealers that have told me today’s dishwasher detergents no longer have phosphates (banned as unsafe for our environment) which cleaned our tableware and did it right. Today’s dishwasher detergents are not formulated to remove hard water minerals during the main wash cycle.
Lemi Shine promises to solve this problem.
Combined with your auto dish detergent, Lemi Shine removes tough hard water spots, stains and film during the main wash cycle, so says the product commercial. You will be pleased to know that Lemi Shine is comprised of 100 percent all natural fruit acids and oils. That’s right, Lemi Shine contains no phosphates or fillers.
Now don’t you feel better?
Even that revered group that I now belong to, the aging Baby Boomers, is boarding the green train.
Just the other day I read U.S. residents older than 55 are opting for unbleached bathroom paper. Not only is it the correct way to help Mother Earth, it’s also softer and easier on the ole’ bottom. I swear to God I didn’t make this up, although I kinda’ wish I had.
When will the pendulum swing the other way – toward a common-sense compromise?
Maybe it already is. Some companies who have wrapped themselves in green are finding doing so has not seemed to raise their credibility with consumers. Some in the public who walk among us are skeptical of any large organization that board the green bandwagon, particularly those that have little direct contact with the environment.
Although consumers, myself included, may want to accept social responsibility, few want to forgo quality in the products they buy.
To green or not to green?
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
There is an old adage that says if you drop a frog into boiling water it will immediately jump out, but if you put that same frog into a pot of cool water then slowly raise the water temperature to boiling, the frog will likely be boiled.
The gist of the proverb is that we will instantly react to sudden changes around us, but if those changes come slowly and subtly, it may be too late to properly react once we notice.
House Concurrent Resolution 5008 just now starting its journey through the Kansas legislature would amend the state constitution to guarantee Kansas residents the right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife here in our state.
My first reaction was “Do we really need this?” Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to become like the frog in the pot and eventually lose my hunting, fishing and trapping rights after years of slow and subtle attacks on those rights by the likes of PETA and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS.)
But this is Kansas after all, and I really don’t worry much about us Kansans being out-muscled nor out-witted by that sort of thinking. I also know that federal law still trumps state law, so we can pass all the laws and resolutions we want here in KS, but if something contrary gets passed at the federal level, it’s all for naught. I could only hope that the bills co-authors Adam Lusker from Fontenac and Travis Couture-Lovelady from Palco had some reasoning in mind that I was missing.
I spoke with Rep. Lusker on the phone and here are some points they hope to make with this proposed constitutional amendment. First, they want its passage to show groups like PETA and HSUS just how seriously we Kansans value our right to hunt, fish and trap, making them think twice about trying to force their agendas here in Kansas; sort of the ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure principle.
Secondly they want to show Kansas sportsmen and women that our state leaders take our hunting, fishing and trapping rights seriously enough to do whatever they have to do to protect them. Also by doing this they want sportsmen across the country to take notice that Kansas also wants their business as well.
If ratified by two-thirds of the house and two-thirds of the senate, House Concurrent Resolution 5008 will appear on the ballet in the next regular election year, 2016. If passed by the voters in Kansas, that should add even more teeth to its intent. I’m still not sure we need an amendment to our state constitution to guarantee our right to hunt, fish and trap here in the state of Kansas, but things take awhile to grow on me.
I have to say that the points presented to me by Rep. Lusker were very valid and thought-provoking. In the mean time, let’s all exercise those rights to the fullest and Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve Gilliland, Inamna, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
It’s as simple as putting one step in front of another. That’s the idea behind Walk Kansas, an eight-week program that starts March 15, designed to promote activity, good nutrition and better health. Even Kansans who do not routinely walk or have other fitness routines find Walk Kansas to be an easy way to get moving.
Groups of six people, one serving as a captain, work together toward a common goal – typically to exercise at least 150 minutes per person per week. Although the team does not actually walk across Kansas, by exercising 150 minutes per week, a team of six people would be able to cover the 423-mile distance across Kansas in eight weeks.
Teams that want a greater challenge can set a goal to walk the equivalent of across the state and back, 846 miles or around the perimeter of Kansas, 1,200 miles. The walking can be done individually or in groups, on a treadmill at home, in your neighborhood, or at a gym – whatever works for each individual.
The cost to participate is only $3 per person which covers weekly newsletters, extra activities and statewide program support. An optional Walk Kansas t-shirt can be ordered at an additional cost. Register your team at the Ellis County Extension Office by March 9; walking begins March 15 through May 9. Team registration materials are available at the Extension Office, 601 Main Street in Hays, or online at www.ellis.ksu.edu under “Health and Nutrition.”
Although walking is easy for most people, any moderate-to-vigorous activity can count for Walk Kansas as long as you do it for at least 10 consecutive minutes at a time. So if you play basketball, ride a bike, or work in the garden, Walk Kansas is still a great fit for you.
Team members record minutes of exercise and cups of fruits and vegetables eaten each day and report the totals to their team captain at the end of the week. The captain tallies team totals and reports to the Walk Kansas website each week. The website converts the time walked into miles. Teams can track their progress across or around the state on the website map.
Physical activity reduces stress, combats depression, improves heart health and helps fight off unwanted pounds – and you feel better almost immediately after getting some exercise.
This year’s theme is “Walk Tall, Walk Strong, Walk Kansas, with an emphasis on posture, strength training (which can count toward Walk Kansas minutes), and walking or any activity that promotes cardiovascular health.
Don’t have a team? Contact the Ellis County Extension Office and ask to be placed on a team.
This year marks the 14 th year for Walk Kansas. With a cumulative total of 203,250 participants over the first 13 years, it is considered one of the most successful K-State Research and Extension programs in the state’s extension history.
“We have a lot of conveniences in our lives today,” said Sharolyn Jackson, statewide Walk Kansas coordinator. “Taking care of ourselves is a privilege. Investing in your personal health now pays off down the road, and being physically active is one of the most important steps we can take to improve our health.”
For more information or to register your Walk Kansas team, contact the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main Street, Suite A, Hays, (785) 628-9430.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
