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Why Sunshine Week matters

March 14, 20109:11 p.m.

Today is the start of Sunshine Week, a national initiative on the importance of open government and freedom of information.

It’s about making sure the public has access to information that affects lives and communities.

While many government records are open to the public, Kansas law still allows many important records to be kept from public view.

Consider the closed child-in-need-of-care records, which include the SRS investigation used to decide whether to remove a child from the home. Numerous times, family
members have offered to give us the CINC reports on their cases. Usually they are parents who are angry that SRS took their child, or grandparents who are upset that
SRS left the child in the home. Even though the parents want to give us the filesto write stories about their particular case, we can’t look at them. They are closed
under state law, and reading them is a misdemeanor.

Not being able to review records has a chilling effect on our ability to report on government’s intervention in the lives of children and families.Closed records also rob
residents of their abilityto scrutinize how the public institutions their taxes support are doing their jobs.The state allows media and others to petition the court in the
case of a child’s death or near death, but even that doesn’t assure the records will be open. Remember Adam Herrman, the 10-year-old boy from Towanda who
disappeared a decade ago? The Eagle, KWCH-12 and the Associated Press filed a motion in Butler County District Court to get the SRS child-in-need-of-care record on
Adam. We hoped to find out more about the police and SRS investigation into allegations that Adam was being abused. We also wanted to know just how a child could
vanish for 10 years without anyone noticing.

The judge declined to release the records, saying there was no finding that the child was dead even though prosecutors and police were investigating the disappearance
as a possible homicide.Here are other cases where open records would better serve the public. These are routinely available in other states.

„øChild care records. Want a list of all child care homes in Wichita so you can pick the best one? Forget it. We had hoped to build a searchable database on our web
site, Kansas.com, to allow parents needing day care to search child care homes, view the inspection reports and read the inspectors’ comments. State agencies are
prohibited by law from releasing a list of the child care homes. Parents can call the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in Topeka and ask about violations at
an individual home, but it is not as convenient as searching a database.

„øWant to know what reason police had to arrest someone? You won’t be able to find that out either. Kansas is the only state that closes probable-cause affidavits,
which spell out the legal justification for arresting a person.

„øWant to know which neighborhoods in the county are gaining value the fastest? Real estate sales records are closed to the public. The Sedgwick County Appraiser’s
Office has posted sales information on its web site for those who wish to challenge their property appraisals. But past information is not available under the law, making it
impossible for anyone but real estate agents and appraisers to track trends over time.

By Jean Hays | Filed under News content | Comments

Series centers on search for meaning in war

Dec. 5, 20088:02 p.m.

On Sunday, we start “For Alex,” a seven-part series about a family’s search for answers about the Iraq War and whether their son, Sgt. Alex Funcheon who was killed April 29, 2007, by a roadside bomb, died for nothing.

Their search led them to a meeting with President Bush aboard Air Force One after he dedicated a youth center in Wichita and into the life of a wounded soldier, who survived because Alex’s body had shielded him from the blast inside the Humvee.

Roy Wenzl met the Funcheon family after he wrote about President Bush’s visit to Wichita June 15, 2007, during which Bush met with the Funcheons — Bob and Karen and their daughter, Gloria. The Funcheons said they wanted to keep their conversation with the president private and politely declined to talk to Wenzl.
But they also thought their story might benefit other soldiers and their families by underscoring how they wanted the war to be meaningful.

Over several months, Wenzl spoke with the family and with soldiers who had served in Iraq with Alex.
He read diary entries of Alex’s sister, the e-mails between Alex and his family, and accompanied Bob to the cemetery for one of his graveside talks with his son.

They shared intimate details.

Bob talked about the pain of never getting to meet the man his son eventually became.

Gloria talked about how her mother retreated to the bathroom every day and turned on the fan thinking no one could hear her sobbing.

On Kansas.com, you can read Wenzl’s  account of why he wrote the story.

It’s a story we hope resonates with readers as the country continues to debate the war in Iraq.

As Wenzl wrote on the online account, the story is “ not only about what people did and said, but what they thought about four men dying one day in a war where the purpose and meaning will be talked about for decades to come.”

Jean Hays

By Jean Hays | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Why we do background checks on candidates

Oct. 17, 20089:54 p.m.

A few readers wanted to know why we were looking into the background of candidates.

Some voters believe that the character of individuals running for office matters as much as their stance on issues.

One way to judge character is to determine how they have lived their lives.

Every election, we run background checks on all candidates. We check for bankruptcies, civil court cases, criminal charges and police reports. We find out if they have held the offices they claim to have held. When possible, we check the college degrees they list.

Usually voters don’t notice the background checks because we don’t find that much.

During the primary we found that two legislative candidates had financial problems. We reported on both.

During the general election, we recently reported on one candidate who had two DUIs, 59 housing code violations, one bankruptcy and seven women who had filed police reports complaining about his behavior.

We’re not the only ones delving into backgrounds. Political parties sometimes do opposition research. And this election a few candidates — or friends of candidates — have used private investigators to check into the backgrounds of opponents.

Our job is to provide information about the candidates. Whether any of that information matters is up to the voters.

By Jean Hays | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments Off

Take our comics survey

Oct. 17, 20089:53 p.m.

As much as I love news, my favorite part of the paper has always been the comics.

This Sunday I  hope you’ll take a close look at the comics survey in our Arts & Leisure section and online at Kansas.com.

Every few years we survey readers to determine the popularity of current comics. It also gives readers the chance to check out new comics and see if any of them are good enough to replace the current lineup.

If you’re a regular reader of our comics section, this is your chance to tell us what you like or dislike.The survey will take only a few minutes to complete.

Here are some of the new comics that Lori Linenberger, our features editor, has picked out for your consideration:

Argyle Sweater: Launched in 2006, this is a situational comic featuring absurd but often cerebral humor.

DeFlocked: Four outcasts — a sheep, two dogs and an 8-year-old boy — are forced to coexist in American suburbia.

Family Tree: The Tree family — Maggie and Ames and their kids Twig and Ted — take on modern life.

Ollie and Quentin: Best friends Ollie (a seagull) and Quentin (a lugworm) go on adventurous romps together.

The Pajama Diaries: Jill, a young mom and career woman, records her family life in a day-by-day account.

Red and Rover: Ten-year-old Red and his dog Rover share their extraordinary friendship.

Scary Gary: Gary, a retired vampire, and his henchman, Leopold, move to the suburbs to seek a peaceful life.

By Jean Hays | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

2008 Elections

Sept. 20, 20084:43 p.m.

Today’s paper featured a story by Deb Gruver about Sedgwick County Commission candidate Craig Gabel not paying his property taxes to the county he hopes to serve.

 

In Sunday’s paper, will be a story by Tim Potter detailing police and court filings related to Republican Mark Schoenhofer, who hopes to unseat District Attorney Nola Foulston and blames her for spreading rumors about him in a race that is proving as contentious as the Roberts/Slattery U.S. Senate race.

 

The 2008 elections are well under way.

In the next six weeks at Kansas.com and in The Eagle, we’ll explore the candidates’ backgrounds, qualifications, and positions on local issues.

 Soon you’ll be able to go to the online voters guide at Kansas.com, plug in your address and get a list of all candidates that will appear on your ballot, along with links to their photos, positions on issues and a list of their campaign appearances so you can meet them in person.

 Later this week, in the local/state section, we will begin running policy positions of candidates in area legislative races.

 Every Wednesday on the nation/world page inside the A section, you’ll find the results of the latest McClatchy/IPOS poll on the presidential race. We’ll also highlight the differences between the two candidates and their plans for the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

 Throughout the election, we want to hear from voters.

 We invite you to make your case on the Web site for why your favorite candidate deserves to be elected or why you think the Wichita public school district’s bond issue should pass or fail.

 Marcia Werts, who is heading our election coverage, is putting together panel of likely voters to watch and judge the presidential debates.  Contact her at mwerts@wichitaeagle.com for details or to volunteer.

 I’d like your thoughts on issues we should cover and questions we should pose to candidates.  Please feel free to contact me at jhays@wichitaeagle.com or 316-268-6557.

 

 

By Jean Hays | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments Off

Why we are publishing government salaries

Aug. 15, 20088:33 p.m.

On Sunday’s front page you will find a package of stories that will be controversial for some and interesting for others.
We’re writing about how much individuals in government are paid. Also beginning Sunday you will find searchable databases on Kansas.com containing the salaries of city, county, school district and state government employees.

Some employees may question whether this respects their privacy.

Salaries are personal. We understand that.

But public salaries also are public information and are paid for by public tax dollars. Taxpayers have a right to see where their money is going.

A few state governments, such as Georgia, Iowa and Missouri, have put salaries for state government employees online for all to see.

The state of Kansas plans to do the same through www.kansas.gov/kanview a new site designed to promote transparency in government and budgets.

There are several reasons for making the information available:

1. Government is one of the largest employers. Wages it offers can help influence the pay scale for the rest of the area.

2. Salaries are a large part of a government’s budget, just as they are for any private company. For example, the city of Wichita spends more than 70 percent of its general fund, which is fed by property taxes, on salaries.
Ed Flentje, a Wichita State University professor who served as interim manager, warned in his proposed city budget that the amount the city pays in wages is increasing faster than the amount of money flowing into the general fund. If that trend doesn’t change, the city will either have to cut spending or increase taxes within three years.
Recent elections indicated that taxpayers are expecting local governments to be more accountable for how they spend money. It’s hard to tell just where tax money is going, if salary information is kept secret.

3. Finally, it’s interesting. KU athletic director Lew Perkins is paid $646,281, with about 28 percent of that coming from the state’s general fund. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is paid $106,948. Here’s a question for the next dinner table debate — what makes an athletic director worth six times more than a state’s governor?

By Jean Hays | Filed under News content, People, Reader issues | Comments

Why we ran the photo containing a racial slur

July 27, 20085:54 a.m.

Some might find the photo on the front page of Sunday’s paper of a defaced Obama sign objectionable.
We debated whether to run a photo of something that we could so easily describe in words.
Tell someone that a campaign sign of a black candidate was defaced with a racial slur, and it’s not hard to imagine what the sign said or what it looked like.
On one hand, we thought that running the photo might be fanning the flames of racism. That we were insensitive to older readers who lived through some of the painful experiences of the civil rights movement. That we were helping to spread a message scrawled by a bigot that only a few people would have seen before the sign was taken down.
On the other hand, some felt strongly that we should shine a light on racism that still exists in our community and not hide it.
The article by Christina Woods states that the Obama campaign is furthering a dialogue on race.
The photo should also spark discussion.
By running the photo we are saying that this isn’t typical behavior. This is wrong.
We didn’t want it to be a dominant photograph on the front page, because we didn’t feel like the sentiment expressed dominates our reality today.
It is a vestige of an ugly past. But as Christina’s article points out, our future is much more hopeful.

By Jean Hays | Filed under Current Affairs, Newspaper ethics, Politics | Comments

Meet the Eagle’s new Topeka reporter

Jan. 12, 200812:22 a.m.

The legislative session begins Monday. Lawmakers will decide whether to ban smoking in public places statewide, restrict immigration, fix health care and spend money to protect Wichita’s water supply and its aviation industry.

Jeannine KorandaThis year, the Wichita Eagle has a new reporter to help keep you up to date on the developments. Jeannine Koranda, who grew up in Prairie Village, joined the Eagle in December.

Koranda has a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois in Springfield. She spent a year as a reporter in Ireland and most recently worked in the Oregon bureau for the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Wash.

She joins David Klepper and Jim Sullinger of the Kansas City Star in reporting from the newspapers’ jointly operated Topeka bureau.

You may reach her at 785-296-3006 or jkoranda@wichitaeagle.com.

By Jean Hays | Filed under People | Comments Off