kansas – Page 16 – Hays Post Archive

Lawmakers keeping a watchful eye on Supreme Court

Posted on February 17, 2014February 17, 2014

There’s a new pastime among Kansas Statehouse insiders—we’re calling it “ReFresh Friday.”

Huh?

Yes, it’s the act of hitting the refresh button on your computer to see whether the Kansas Supreme Court has issued at about 9:30 a.m. on any Friday, along with its other decisions, the Gannon v. Kansas school finance case decision.

Because the 9:30 a.m. release time is not precise (that’s why you have to ReFresh the court website frequently, and we figured the odd capitalization might give someone an idea for a T-shirt plus ReFresh Friday makes a nice companion day to Throwback Thursday, the day you post old photos on social media), you hit the button over and over again to check.

Catching the first glimpse of the decision that might order the state to spend upwards of $440 million on school finance is something that will carry bragging rights…no matter which way the decision goes.

A decision that the state has under-funded its support for K-12 education sets off a battle between the Legislature, the governor and the courts over who is responsible for financing education and whether the court can order the state to actually pay a judgment handed down by the court. It gets into tricky constitutional law, whether the Supreme Court can order the Legislature to make an appropriation.

A “no-harm, no-foul” ruling? A possibility, too.

But the legislative anxiety over the decision—and being the first to know it—has apparently spurred a couple of bills that target the Kansas Supreme Court and specifically its Chief Justice Lawton Nuss for a trim of his authority.

One of those bills flatly orders that no court in Kansas can spend any money on hiring lobbyists. Not a lot of court-hired lobbyists around the Statehouse, lobbying, for, say, nicer robes, or maybe softer chairs, but it’s a little tug on the leash for the Kansas judiciary.

Another takes from the chief justice the authority to designate the chief judge of each of the state’s 31 judicial districts. That’s a little perk of being chief justice, designating the district court chiefs. The bill would have the judges in each district vote among themselves for the job of being in charge, and making an extra $1,000 a year.

The bill would also have the 14-member Court of Appeals elect its own chief judge—just another diminution of the chief justice’s authority that might lead to some interesting little campaigns that the general public will never hear about.

And, of course there are the resolutions that would let the governor choose his own Supreme Court justices without any nomination commission in the way…and another that would elect those justices.

Oh, and did we mention that the Supreme Court needs a little extra money in its budget to avoid furloughs for its non-judge staff?

Makes you wonder how hard some legislators are hitting that ReFresh button, doesn’t it?

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.

Police on the lookout for Pratt County cattle rustlers

Posted on February 17, 2014

Hutch Post

The Pratt County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of 12 head of black and black/white faced cows. The cows weigh between 1,300 and 1,500 pounds. They are bred and could calve any day.

They have a “WF” brand on the right hip, with a red ear tag in the right ear with the initials “DW” on the front of the tag and a phone number on the back. The theft occurred sometime during the night of Feb. 11 from a pasture in the northwest part of Pratt County.

Anyone with information on this theft is asked to call the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 672-4133. Tips also can be made to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 296-8200 or by going to the KBI website.

Contracts on the agenda for Monday USD 489 meeting

Posted on February 17, 2014

The Hays USD 489 Board of Education will meet in regular session at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Rockwell Administration Center.

The agenda includes:

• Consideration of contract extensions for central office administrators through the 2014-15 school year.

• A presentation from teachers from the Hays High School science department on a December trip to the National Science Teachers Association meeting in Denver.

• Approval of the 2014-15 school calendar.

• Consideration of the negotiated agreement for 2013-16 between the district and local Service Employees International Union.

• Consideration of a board self-evaluation tool offered by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

A complete agenda, with supporting documents, can be viewed HERE.

KIOGA chief examines energy goals for 2014

Posted on February 17, 2014

In 2014, we will decide if America continues to march toward global energy leadership or remains content to play a supporting role in the global energy market. We can erase what for decades has been America’s greatest economic vulnerability – our dependence on energy sources from other continents, particularly from less stable and friendly nations – and fundamentally alter the geopolitical landscape for decades to come, all while providing a much needed boost to our economy. But only if we get our energy policy right.

Today, thanks to the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of America’s independent oil and natural gas industry, our nation has the potential to free ourselves of foreign energy dependence. Implementing smart, pro-growth energy policies will help to ensure that future Americans only know their country as an energy leader.

Later this year, we will choose who will lead us in Washington, D.C. Those choices will have a lasting and profound impact on the direction of our nation’s energy policy. The collective decisions of the 2014 voters will shape whether and the extent to which our nation fulfills its potential as an energy superpower.

Energy is fundamental to our society, and thanks to American innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, our nation stands among the world’s leader in energy production and is poised to be THE leader if we get American energy policy right. The question we have before us now is whether we have the vision and wisdom to take full advantage of our vast energy resources.

The energy policy choices we make today are among the most important and far reaching policy decisions we will make in the 21st century. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reshape, realign, and reorder the world’s energy market and improve domestic prosperity to an unprecedented degree. But only if we get our nation’s energy policy right today.

If we are to continue our nation’s current positive energy trends, we must implement energy policies based on current reality and our potential as an energy leader, not political ideologies or the wishes of professional environmental groups.

American energy policy should reflect the reality that someone will benefit from helping meet the world’s ever-growing need for energy. Because energy, specifically oil and natural gas, will remain foundational to our way of life.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 25 years from now, oil and natural gas will still be responsible for providing nearly 60% of the country’s energy and more than 90% of our transportation fuels. And worldwide, EIA projects demand for liquid fuels will increase by 20% in the next 20 years, driven by the development of emerging markets and nations as many of them

lift themselves out of poverty, improve the standard of living, and increase the economic opportunity for their citizens.

It should be a simple choice. Do we as a nation decide to use our vast energy resources to help meet the world’s growing energy needs and in the process boost our global competitiveness, realign our foreign policy goals and national security priorities, encourage America’s 21st century manufacturing renaissance, provide millions-more Americans with good-paying jobs and provide billions of dollars in revenue to local, state, and federal governments in the coming decades, or not?

Today, thanks to the American entrepreneurial spirit of the independent oil and natural gas producer along with innovations in oil and natural gas development, the U.S. is the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

And here’s one more fact. The American people get it and stand with us on today’s most important energy policy questions. They understand that pro-growth energy policies will translate into millions of stable, good-paying jobs, which could go a long way to lowering unemployment.

It is little wonder that, according to recent polls, most Americans (77%) want to see this nation increase production of domestic oil and natural gas. Ninety two percent (92%) of American voters agree that increased production of domestic oil and natural gas resources could lead to more jobs in the U.S.

The public’s strong support and the oil and natural gas industry’s ability to cut through the partisan noise and stale ideology of our critics is due to the industry’s years-long effort to ensure that American energy policy is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. It is an American prosperity and leadership issue.

As we look ahead to November’s elections and beyond, we need to continue forward-looking energy policy discussions to spur more pro-energy policies and to ensure that our nation’s discussion on energy policy is based on fact and reality, not political ideology and hyperbole.

We need to harness the collective will and wisdom of the American voters to generate discussion on our nation’s bright energy future and to better align our nation’s political science with our geologic science, because right now the former all too often drives energy policy. We need to ensure that as our elected representatives and appointed officials make energy policy, the will of the American people is uppermost in their minds and the dominant voice in the energy policy discussion.

What we want, and what the American people deserve, is energy policy that continues the trend of our nation becoming energy self-sufficient and a global energy leader. We need to send a message to lawmakers at all levels of government that the time to end the intrusion of extreme political ideology or personal agendas in the energy policy debate is now; and that the only limits on our nation’s energy potential will be self-imposed by short-sighted, politically motivated energy policy decisions. The American public and future generations deserve better.

Ed Cross is president of the Kansas Independent Gas & Oil Association.

Judge sets fall trial date over use of restraints in juvie

Posted on February 14, 2014February 14, 2014

WICHITA (AP) — A federal judge has scheduled a trial for a man who claims the juvenile detention center in Sedgwick County violated his rights by using a restraining chair as punishment.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot set the Oct. 14 date in the wake of last year’s appeals court ruling that Brandon Blackmon is entitled to a trial.

Blackmon sued as an adult in 2005 over treatment he received at the facility as an 11-year-old while awaiting trial on criminal charges that were later dismissed.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said jailers had made “liberal use” of the restraining chair, in which a person is immobilized with straps.

The appeals court upheld a lower court’s refusal to dismiss Blackmon’s lawsuit against the Sedgwick County Board of Commissioners and its employees.

800-pound snowball smashes into college dorm

Posted on February 14, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two math majors at Reed College lost control of a massive snowball that rolled into a dorm, knocking in part of a bedroom wall.

No one was injured.

The students began making the snowball last week during a rare snowstorm in Portland, Ore.

Nobody weighed it, but college spokesman Kevin Myers says it was estimated to weigh 800 pounds or more.

The students responsible for the runaway snowball reported the incident and have not been disciplined. Myers says they didn’t intend to cause damage and feel awful about what happened.

A maintenance manager told Reed Magazine it will cost several thousand dollars to repair the building.

DCF chief defends $48 million TANF carryover

Posted on February 14, 2014

By DAVE RANNEY
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Phyllis Gilmore on Thursday defended her agency against criticism that it is holding back federal grant dollars that could be used to help needy families.

“I think saving for a rainy day is the prudent thing to do, but to me this looks and feels like a significant amount of money sitting on the sidelines, money that we could be using to address some critical needs,” said Rep. Melissa Rooker, a Fairway Republican, who said she was troubled by the idea of mothers of months-old infants going without quality childcare while one of the state’s lead welfare agencies held $48 million in reserve.

But Gilmore said the unspent money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund was good to have.

“It would be less than prudent for there not to be some carryover,” Gilmore said, testifying before the House Committee on Children and Seniors.

The fund currently has about $48 million in it.

More poor children, fewer benefits

Gilmore said she knew of no formula for calculating how much should be left unspent at the end of the fiscal year, but records showed that previous administrations typically ended up with between $30 million and $40 million a year in carrier over balances.

She said the agency was open to discussing how much should be left unspent in the coming fiscal year.

Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed – and legislators are considering – using some of the money to pay for after-school reading programs in southeast and southwest Kansas. The governor’s Reading Roadmap initiative is expected to cost about $9 million a year for three years.

But advocates for children and the poor have criticized DCF for holding the TANF money while the number of Kansas children living in poverty is increasing.

“No one is against there being a balance from one year to the next,” said Karen Wulfkuhle, executive director of United Community Services of Johnson County, in a later interview. “It just seems like there’s an opportunity here to invest some of these dollars in evidence-based programs that truly make a positive difference in people’s lives. But we don’t see much of that happening.”

Last year, the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children, released a report showing that the number of Kansas children living in poverty had increased from 21 percent in 2011 to 23 percent in 2012.

The increase, according to the report, coincided with DCF enacting policies that led to thousands of families being dropped from the state’s TANF rolls.

“What this means is that we have more people living in poverty but receiving fewer benefits,” said Christie Appelhanz, vice president for public affairs at KAC.

A bridge, not a garage

Gilmore did not dispute the statistics, but told committee members that DCF is committed to encouraging low-income parents to find jobs so they can work their way out of poverty.

The TANF program, she said, was meant to be a “bridge” out of poverty, not a “garage.”

Gilmore said DCF now expects mothers receiving TANF-funded public assistance to rejoin the workforce two months after giving birth. Previously, the policy allowed mothers to be at home for six months after a delivery.

“We felt that six months was more than any working person receives,” Gilmore said.

The policy change took effect in May 2013.

The agency has not kept track of how families affected by the policy change have fared as a result of it, Gilmore said.

But she said neither she nor Karen Beckerman, DCF’s director of strengthening families services, had received telephone calls from TANF mothers reporting difficulties.

“That’s not a surprise,” said Leadell Ediger, in a later telephone interview. “If you talked to these moms, they’d say, ‘What’s the use? There’s no one at DCF who’s going to help me.’ And that assumes that when they call DCF, they could actually talk to somebody.”

Ediger is executive director of Child Care Aware of Kansas, a nonprofit agency based in Salina that works to improve the quality of child care programs.

TANF money is still available for the mothers to help them pay for child care so they can work, but Ediger said it can be difficult for mothers to find quality care for children younger than six months old, especially if the mothers are working evening or night shifts for low wages. Many child-care providers limit the number of TANF-financed children they will take because what the state pays is half or less the going market rate, she said.

Foster care update

Gilmore also updated the committee on the state’s foster care programs, noting that the number of children in the system “was not declining.”

In December, 5,912 foster children were in out-of-home placements, the most in state history.

Also in December, 1,010 foster children were available for adoption; also a record number.

Gilmore said DCF was having trouble hiring child protection workers in sparsely populated western Kansas.

The hiring effort also has been hampered by low salaries and what she called an image problem.

“It’s a myth that we’re not hiring social workers,” she said. “That’s not true.”

Coalition launches online ‘ticker’ showing foregone federal dollars

Posted on February 14, 2014

By KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The Kansas Medicaid Access Coalition has launched a new website showing how much Kansas is losing in federal aid dollars by refusing to expand its Medicaid program in keeping with the Affordable Care Act.

The website, HowMuchHasKSLeftOnTheTable.com, displays a continuous “ticker” showing how many dollars Kansas is “leaving on the table.”

The sum was about $47.8 million by mid-day Friday.

“We launched this website because our state’s leadership has chosen not to accept federal funds to expand the Medicaid program,” said Sean Gatewood, a coalition spokesman. “Instead, our federal tax dollars are going to states like California and New York to provide health insurance coverage to their residents. Meanwhile, as many as 100,000 hardworking Kansans remain uninsured.”

The coalition includes more than 50 social service and consumer groups. The Kansas Hospital Association also is pushing Kansas policymakers to rethink their opposition to Medicaid expansion.

Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders have said they fear the federal aid money would dry up in the future leaving Kansas to pick up much of the added cost.

About 78,000 Kansans currently without health insurance could potentially gain it, should state leaders choose to open up the program, which serves low-income elderly, disabled and children. Kansas currently has some of the most restrictive eligibility standards in the nation.

Russell woman wins ‘Walking Dead’ lottery drawing

Posted on February 14, 2014February 14, 2014

TOPEKA — Five Kansas Lottery players, including Deborah Nuss, Russell, were picked as the winners of the lottery’s “The Walking Dead” second-chance drawing.

The drawing was this week at lottery headquarters in Topeka.

Each of the five second-chance winners will receive a 32-inch television, Blu-ray player and Blu-ray DVDs of all three seasons of “The Walking Dead” series. Other winners were Cecil Weible, Hutchinson; Gary Reiter, Kincaid; Michael Garcia, Dodge City; and Craig McGee, Garnett.

Players who entered their non-winning $2 “The Walking Dead” scratch tickets online were eligible for the drawing.

House committee rejects KU basketball apartments

Posted on February 14, 2014February 14, 2014

TOPEKA (AP) — The University of Kansas went one-for-two before state legislative committees considering bonding authority for two major projects.

A House committee Thursday rejected the university’s request for $17.5 million in bonding authority to build 66 high-end apartments, with 32 used by student-athletes. University officials say they need the upscale living to compete for basketball recruits.

Two state representatives on the House Education Budget Committee said the project was extravagant, and the university’s sports boosters could pay for it.

Earlier Thursday, a House-Senate committee approved the university’s request for bonding authority for a $75 million health education building at the KU Medical Center.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported the university wants the state to pay $15 million over several years. The committee recommended approval of the first $1.4 million.

House committee hears testimony on climate-change policy

Posted on February 14, 2014February 14, 2014

By HANNAH WISE
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — The Kansas House Committee on Energy and Environment heard testimony Thursday on a non-binding resolution to oppose President Barack Obama’s recent plan to curb the effects of climate change.

The president’s Climate Action Plan from June 2013 calls for the United States, by 2020, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels. It is up to the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt and enforce the plan.

House Resolution 6043 asserts the president’s plan is based on assumptions, incorrect models and a lack of peer-reviewed scientific evidence. It also states the Earth’s climate is not influenced by greenhouse gas emissions from humans, but rather it is following a natural cycle that has been previously observed for thousands of years.

Supporters of the resolution, including Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, argued the climate change debate is one rooted in politics rather than science.

“The lack of real debate and the lack of real science, together with the refusal by the alarmists to even recognize the existence of any credible debate, cause me to conclude that there is only one logical explanation for what is occurring,” Knox said. “This is all political.”

Sedgwick County Commission Richard Ranzau and Edward Cross, president of the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association also spoke in support of the resolution.

During his testimony, Cross commended Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s recent submission of an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals case American Farm Bureau Federation v. Environmental Protection Agency. Schmidt’s brief is in support of the plaintiff, the American Farm Bureau.

Cross said the lawsuit shows that states are not in support of increased regulation by the federal government and Obama’s plan would infringe upon state sovereignty.

Rep. Dennis Hedke, R-Wichita, also testified in support of the resolution. Hedke is the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Environment. He argued that the Earth is in “an interglacial period of warming” and that it is not influenced by actions of humans.

Rep. Ed Trimmer, D-Winfield, questioned the scientific accuracy of evidence presented by Hedke and called for Chuck Rice a scientist from Kansas State University to testify. Rice said that peer-reviewed scientific literature says there is uncertainty about climate change, but it is clear that there is a heat build-up happening in the deep ocean and the heat has the potential to transition into the atmosphere.

Opponents of the resolution argued that the Legislature should be discussing solutions to climate change issues, rather than spending time to pass a non-binding resolution.

“It is embarrassing that Kansas is still fighting the climate change battle instead of progressing to solutions,” said Lynn Hunter, a health teacher from Winfield.

Rabbi Moti Rieber, coordinator for Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, and Zach Pistora, a lobbyist for the Kansas Sierra Club, both strongly opposed the resolution. They echoed statements by Hunter that by supporting the resolution, Kansas would be ignoring the climate change issue.

“Putting your fingers in your ears and humming is not an option,” Rieber said.

Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, and Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin, questioned why the committee was considering the resolution at all.

“Do you really think that passing this achieves any practical purpose?” asked Menghini. “I can’t help but feel like we are spinning our wheels here.”

Jennings on the other hand said that while he believes that the EPA regulations at the state level are “virtually impossible” to enact. He also expressed concerns about the committee making a decision without clear facts.

“I do not wish to make a statement that is not based on fact,” Jennings said. “There are clearly parts of this which are based in dispute.”

Pilot uninjured after small plane flips on landing in Ellsworth

Posted on February 14, 2014

ELLSWORTH — No one was injured when a plane flipped while attempting to land at Ellsworth Municipal Airport at 4:14 p.m. Thursday.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 2000 Cessna single-engine, fixed-wing plane was coming in for a landing when it drifted to the left. The left rear tire caught a snow bank, pulling the nose down.

The nose hit the ground and the airplane flipped.

The pilot, Adam R. Martin, 21, Baldwin City, was not injured, the KHP said.

R9 Ranch: Long-term solution to water crisis set in motion

Posted on February 14, 2014

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

Hays City Commissioner Eber Phelps called a resolution to build a water pipeline from Hays to Edwards County a “historic moment” when a motion passed at Thursday’s city commission meeting.

The resolution of intent allows city staff to take the first official step in the long process of developing the R9 Ranch south of Hays as a future water source for the city.

“This is our go-ahead to begin the regulatory process. There are a lot of filings that have to take place with the Division of Water Resources before we can even think about the project and actually bringing the water up from the ranch,” said city manager Toby Dougherty. “So (passing the motion) sets the wheels in motion.”

Cost estimates for the project are approximately $65 million, and Dougherty has said the regulatory approval process could take between five and 15 years. A portion of the funding likely already is available, the result of special sales tax dedicated to fund water projects has been collected since 1992. Through the years, a reserve of approximately $27 million has been built up in the water project fund.

“On the big-picture scale, the city of Hays has been talking about water for 60 years now or longer and has identified many possible options,” he said. “R9 Ranch appears the most viable option when it comes to providing a long-term water source for Hays.

Commissioner Ron Mellick agreed.

“We have looked high and low, and (R9 Ranch) seems to be the only long-term feasible project we can do as far as supplying water for the city of Hays in the future — hopefully for 50-plus years,” he said.

Dougherty said city staff have run cost estimates on the $65 million project — and believe the project is affordable due to the water sales tax put in place in 1992 to fund water projects.